A New English Grammar Logical and Historical v1 1000048198

A NEW
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
LOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
HENRY
pÊET,
M.A., Ph.D.,
LL.D.
Ftrmtrh
PmuUnt
tj
Ml
PUlnhgitat Sadtlf
Rdil"rtf'T"iiOldatEngliik TtiU; A^nî
'
Cura Pattstalis' md
'
OnHm%-
AulkOT
af'An AnfleSaxai
Riadtr'
'A Fhti' ami 'A Saaui
Middit-Engliik
Prvtitr'
'A PrmuT
t/ SfelHn Snglah,'
'A
Hittmy of Eiitliik
Ssmidt'
'A Primir
tf
PkemtUa; 'Slullr/i
NalHTt-Pfttry,' tlC.
PAST I
DTTKODUtraiON,
FHONOLOQT,
AND
AOCIDXNOB
AT THE
CLARENDON
PRESS
1900
T,Goo(^le
PREFACE
This work is intended to supply
the
want
of
a
Ecientific
English
grammar,
founded
on an independent
critical
survey
of the latest results of
linguistic investigation as
far
as they bear, directly or indirectly, on
the
English
laiûage.
Although historical,
this
grammar
is
not one-sidedly
historical: it is at the
same
time
a logical
grammar.
It
will be
seen
that I have taken considerable trouble
to
define
accurately not only
the
parts
of
speech,
but also the
primary
grammatical categories
'word,' 'inflection,' 'sentence,'
etc.,
which have hitherto been oflen
neglected,
and sometimes
ignored, by grammarians.
Even in the
more
beaten tracks
I have found
many
obstacles and difficulties which it has
cost
me
years
of hard
thought to
conquer
"
often
only
partially.
Practical
teachers,
who
generally
confine themselves
to one
book and
one
method, are
often
hardly
able
to realize how unsettled
grammar
still is. I remember
once reading a
paper
on
grammar
before the
Philological
Society, in which I
modestly
advanced the view that
cannon
in cannon-ball
was not an adjective.
When I had finished
my paper,
an
English philologist,
who was also
a teacher,
got up,
and told
me
that
my
criticisms
were superfluous,
as no practical
teacher
possessed
of
common sense
would
think of
callingcarmon
in cannon-ball
an
adjective.
There- upon
another eminent
philologist,
who
was not
only a
schoolmaster,
but had written
an English
grammar, got
up,
and, to the intense amusement of the
meeting,
maintained
that cannon in eannon-ball
was an adjective
and
nothing
else;
and
although
he refused to commit himself to a
comparison
cannoner, cannones/,
he found another
speaker
to
support
him.
Again, one
would
imagine
that if
anything
in
grammar
is
perfectlyclear,
it is the function of
prepositions;
and
yet
when I refer to
five different
grammars,
I find the
following
five
definitions, some
of
which
directly
contradict the others
:
"
1. Prepositions are so named,
because
they
were originally
prefixed
to
the verb to
modify
its
meaning (Morris;
Ele- mentary
Lessons in Historical
English Grammar).
3.
A
preposition
is a word which when
placed
before
a noun or a
pronoun
denotes
some
relation in which
a
thing,or some
action
or
attribute of
a thing,
stands Eo
something
else
(Mason: EnglishGrammar).
3.
A
preposition
is
a
word which shows the relation of
one
word
to another
(Smith
and Hall: School Manual of
English
Grammar).
4.
A
preposition
is
a
word that
can
be
placed
before
a noun or
pronoun,
so
that the
preposition
and
noun
or
pronoun
together can
make
up
an
adjective-phrase
or an adverb-phrase(Abbott:
How
to Tell the Parts of
Speech).
5.
A
preposition
is
a
word
prefixed
to a noun or
its
PREFACE. VII
equivalent
to make
up
a
qualifying
or adverb-phrase{Bain
:
A
HigherEnglishGrammar).
It is also
worthy
of note that,
with
one
exception,
all
the above definitionsinsist
on
the
prefixing
of the
prepo^tion,
although
a preposition
that followa its noun-word
(such
as
the
Latin
tmus)
is as
much
a
preposition
as one
that
precedes
it
This is
evidently
the result of
an
attempt
to make the
definition harmonize with the
etymology
of the
name.
In
some
grammars
the definitions of the
parts
of
speech
are
literally nothing
more
than
quibblingetymolcês.
It is
a
singular
fact that
some
of those who
protest
most
loudly
against
the servileimitation of Latin
grammar
are
the
greatest
sinners in this
respecL
This is
one
of the
reasons why
I have abstained from
explaining
the
etymology
of
granmiaticalterms,
which is
really
no more a
part
of
grammar
than the
etymology
tH
such
a
word
as
oxygen
is
a
part
of
chemistry.Although
the
existing grammaticalterminology
is
objectionable enough
in
many respects,
it has
at
least the
practical
merit of
affordinga certsun number of technical terms of definite
and
generally
acceptedapplication,
and I
see no
advantage
in
substituting a misleading
term such
as
pouessivt case
for the traditional
^wk'A'i'^.
Of
course,
whenever the
existing
terminology
is
confusing,ambiguous,or defective,
it is
our
duty
to
try
to
improve
it I have
myself
been
as
conservative
as
possible.
Where the
usage
varies,
I
adopt
what
seems
the best
nomenclature,
and
use
it
consistently. Thus,
in
common
with the
majority
of
Englishgrammarians,
I
prefer
Mun to subslanlive" not however for the sake of the
quibblingetymological
definition
of a noun as 'the
name
of
anything,'
but
simply
because i( is shorter. Where the
existing
nomenclature is
defective,
I
have,
of
course,
been
obliged
to coin
new expressions.
The
multiplication
of
grammatical
terms is
certainlyan evil,
but it is
an unavoidable
one:
it is
only by repeatedexperiment
and
by
a slow
process
of elimination and of survival of the fittest
that
we
shall
ever
attain
a
uniform
terminology.
Some of
my
new names are mere shortenings
of "miliar
expressions,
as when I shorten
'
verbal
nouns
and
adjectives
'
into verbal
as a convenient
name
to include the 'un-finite'
forms of
the
verb. I have
always
tried to make the
new names
suggest
associations with the
existingterminology.
I have
also tried to avoid
arbitrary
restrictions in the
application
of terms
already
in familiar
use. Thus I
prefer
to
use
setteenct
as a general
term to include
'clause,'
rather than
to
attempt
enforcing
a distinction which is
not
warranted
by popularlanguage.
On the
same principle
I
reject
phrase
altogetheras " grammatical
term,
because of the endless
confusions that arise between the various
arbitrary meanings
given
to
it
by
diiferent
grammarians
and its
popularmeaning.
I also
avoid the
arbitrary
distinction between
'
complex
'
and
'
compound
'
sentence
by using
the former
only,
and shortening
compUx
sentence into
compkx.
I have
lasdy
avoided
the
common English
fault of
parading
German terms when
there are
good English
ones to hand
;
thus I
prefer
muialion
to
umlaut,bUnding
to contamination.
As I have
alreadysaid,
this
grammar
is not
one-sidedly
or ianatically
historical. The old belief in the value of
historicaland
comparativephilology
as an
aid to the
practical
study
of
languês
has been
rudely
shaken of late
years;
but the
practice
of
interlarding even
the most
elementary
English
grammars
with
scraps
of historicaland
comparative
philology
is stillalmost universal. In the
good
old
days
T,Goo(^lc
of Schleichei and Brachel, when the main
principles
of
Arian and Romance
etymology
could be tabulated in
a
brief
space,
and with
a
delusive
simplicity
and
symmetry,
this
practicewas plausibleenough;
but
nowadays,
when
even the
phoneticchanges
from Latm to French
can hardly
be mastered
by specialists themselves,
and Grimm's Law
has
to be
supplemented
by
Vemer's
Law and
a
host of
other
Laws,
all of them liable to endless
complicationsby
analogical
influences
(which we are no
longer
allowed to
dismiss
as
irregularities),
common sense
and
honesty
command
us to
give
up
the
attempt
to make
comparative
philology
and
etymology a
part
of
ordinary
education.
And
now
that it is
generally
admitted that the
principles
of
language
and its
development can
be better
explained
by English
itselfthan
by
any
dead
language,
it
seems
most
rational to
proceed
from the known to the unknown "
to
learn
as
much
as we can
from
the
history
of
English
itself
befcK^
attempting
a wider
survey,
forwhich the student
willthen
be
thoroughlyprepared. Thus,
what better
preparation qan
there be for the
study
of Vemer's Law than
an acquaintance
with the
precisely analogous
Modem
Englishchange
(" 863)? Again,
the results of
ComparativePhilologyare so
meagre
and
so
problematical
in
many cases,
that it is
more
profitable
to treat
of the
origin
of
inflections,
parts
of
speech,
etc. from the
point
of view of
general
grammar,
as
I have
done in this book.
A less ambitiouB
program
would further allow of
greater-
thoroughness
within its
narrower
limits. If historical
English
grammar
were
bounded
definitely by
Old
English (Anglo-Saxon)
at one end, an elementaiy
knowledge
of Old
Englishmight reasonably
be made the indispensable
prelude
to
the historical
study
of English. It
seems
strange
that at this time or
day
it should
be
necessary
to insist that this is the
indispensable
foundation: that
cramming
up
a Middle
English
text
is
no
more
a
preparation
for the
study
of the
English language
tiian it ia for
the
study
of
English
literature
;
that until
our
whole
system
of
teaching
these
subjects
and
examining
in them has
been
radically reformed,
the Extension movement cannot be
put
on
that definite
footing
which
every
true friend of education
wishes it to
assume.
In this
grammar
1 have taken
pains
to make the Old
English
foundation
as
sound
as possible,especiallyby
eliminating
the
numerous errors
that have been handed
down from
grammar
to
grammar,
or
have resulted from
taking
words from the dictionaries without verification. I
have
spent many weary
hours in
hunting
up
words and
forms
given
in MStzner's
grammar,
merely
to
find that
they
have
no
existence.
I have also
paid great
attention to the distinctions of
dialect,
and the
chronol"^y
of the
language.
Dr. Morris
has
already
made the discrimination of the Middle
English
dialects
a
part
of historical
grammar
teaching.
This
grammar
is the first to do the
same
for the Old
English
period.
It is well
known
that the German
grammars
make
a complete
confusion between the different
periods
of
Modern
English,
all
grammars
"
Englishas
well
as
German "
ignoring
the distinction between
the
literary
and
spoken
language.
This
again
has been
completely
reformed in
the
present grammar,
in which the
spoken language
has
had its
proper
importance
assigned
to it.
As
regards
its
scope,
this
grammar
is
strictly elementary,
as
far,at least,as a
grammar
which is scientificand historical
and not
purely descriptivecan
be said to answer
T,Goo(^le
PREFACE.
.
'W-'
to this
description.
It confines itselftherefore as
much
as
possible
to the main
grammaUcal phenomena
and main
lines
of
development;
and
being
based
on
the
language
of the
present
time,
it
ignores
historicaldetails which do
not bear
on
Present
English.
As
one
of the most direct
praclicaj
uses
of
English
grammar
is that it
serves as a
preparation
for the
study
of
foreignlanguages,
I have
throughout
endeavoured to
bring
out
clearly
the relation of
English
grammar
to
general
grammar,
with
especial
reference to the
languages
that
are
most studied in
England,
and
to Old
English,
as
may
be
seen in
my
treatment of the
cases ("ii8)
and of the subjunctive
mood
("agn).
As
my
exposition
claims to be
scientific,
I confine
myself
to the
statement and
explanation
of
"cts,
without
attempting
to settlethe relativecorrectness of
divergent
usages.
If
an
'
ungrammatical
'
expreswon
such as it u me
is in
general
use
among
educated
people,
I
accept
it
as such, dmply
adding
that itis avoided in die
literary language.
So also
in
dealing
with such
spellingsas
Aonor
(" 1710),
I make
no
comments, leaving
the reader to draw the natural inference
from the facts
stated,
namely
that the
English
retention of the older
spelling
honour is a
piece
of
conservatism
which is inconsistent with
our abandonment of
tmperour,
etc.
I have made
my
exposition
as concrete as
possibleby
embodying
every
rule or
principle
in
an
example.
That
there
are not
enough examples
I
am
fully
aware;
but this
-,-,
is
a defect which
could not be avoided in
a firstedition
of limited
space.
I
am at variance with most German
philolc^îsts
in
completely
separating
the
descriptive
and
logical
part
of
grammar
xii PREFACE.
from the historical:itwill be
seen
that in
m}'
introduction
1
explainfully
the
grammaticalcategories,
and
even treat
of the
parts
of
speech
in det^l before
enlerit^
on a
single
historical
question,on
the
principle
that it is
no use explaining
the
origin
of
a phenomenon
tillthe learner has
some
practical acquaintance
with that
phenomenon.
In this introduction I
may
seem to have
gone
too much
into
generalities,
as,
for
instance,
in the section on
the
history
of
language.'Why not,'
the reader
may say,
'have
simply
referred
us
to Professor Max MUller's Leclurts
on
the Science
ofLanguage,
and Professor Earle's
PhiMo^ of
the
English
Tonguei'
But these
works,
admirable as
tliey
are
in some
respects,
are not suited to serve as
introductions to
my
grammar.
I have therefore been
obliged
to introduce
my
readers to the fundamental
principles
of
lii^;uistic
science
in
my
own
way.
Like Professor
Bain,
I treat of the
parts
of
speech
in detail
apart
from their inflections
and the detailsof their formal
characteristics.
In
my
treatment of sentences I
may
call attention to the
new
method of
organicanalysis,
which instead of mechanically
cutting
up
a complex
sentence into
single
sentences
or clauses,
triesto
analyse
it Into lesser
groups,
each with
a
definitestructure of its
own.
An essential feature of this
grammar
is that it is
on a
phonetic
basis. It is
now generallyrecognized,
except
in
hopelessly
obscurantist
circles,
that
phonology
is the indispensable
foundation of all
linguistic study,
whether
practical
or
scientific " above
all,
of historical
grammar.
I have made
my
exposition
as
brief and
simpleas possible,
in consideration
of the
difficulty
of
getting
instruction in the
subject,
and
the lamentable want of teachers.
T,Goo(^le
PREFACE. xiii
The
ground having
thus been
(ullyprepared,
I have been
able in the accidence to follow
a purely
historical
exposition.
In the section
on Derivation I have been carefnl
to
exclude
alldetailsthat do not
belong
to
granunar,
but to the
etymological
dictionary:
from
an
Englishpoint
of view
buhop
has
Dotbing
whatever to do with the
prefixtpi-.
In
preparing
this
grammar,
I have been influencedfrom
so
many quarters,
that itvould not be
possible
to acknowledge
my
oblâtionsfully.
The
grammars
I have made
most use of
are
those of
M^tzner,Abbott,Bain,Hall,Mason,
and Morris. I have also to
acknowledge
my
obligations
to the Parallel Grammar
Series,
especially
to Professor
Sonnenschein's Latin
Grammar,
from which
nearly
all
my
Latin
quotations
are
taken.
My
treatment of the suffix-alt
(" ^75')
^'
^^'P
^^ show what
a
debt
English
grammar
wUl
some day
owe to
The Ntw
EnglishDictionary.
In
Ihe Introduction I
owe more to H. Paul's
Frinaipien
der
SprachgachichU
than to
any
one
book" at least in the
historical
.sections.
I must also
specially
mention
Jespersen's
StuJier ovtr
etigeltke
Kasus,which is the most
original
and
stimukuinginvestigation
in
English
grammar
that has
appeared
for
a
long
time. I
need not
here
repeat
the acknow- ledgments
that I have made in the
prefaces
to
my
History
of
English
Sounds, etc.
There
is,on
the other
hand,
much in this
grammar
that
is
originalMany
of
my
grammaticalinvestigations have,
of
course,
been
alreadypublishedelsewhere,
such
as
the
weakening
of Old
English
eo into
ea,
a
("1068)
in the
Philological Society's Proceedings,1880-1,
p. 75.
I
may
call
special
attention to
my paper
on Words, Logic
and
Grammar
(Phil.
Soc. Transs.
1875-6),
in which will be
found the
gcmis
of
many
of the
'
new
views
'
which have
been
re-imported
into this
country
from
Germany.
In
conclusion,
1 need
hardly
say
that I shallbe
grateful
for
any
criticisms
and
suggestions.
HENRY SWEET.
South
Park, Reigatb,
16
Dtc.
iSyi.
T,Goo(^le
CONTENTS
INTBODtTCn O W.
GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE
i
Definition of Grammar
5 1
,
Objects
of Grammar
j
9.
Defi- nition
of
Langnage i
i6. Form and
Meaning 5 1
7.
Province
of Giaminai {18.
Connection iietween Form anil
Meaning
In Grammai
S
ig.
Isolation; Irregularity { 10.
Gram- matical
and
Logical Categories
{
34. Divergence
between
Grammatical and
Lc^cal Categories |
16.
Logloal Oat"gorleB.
Ideas
Kxpressed by
Words
I2
Substances and Itieir Attrtbntes
f
18.
Qnalilien f
34.
General and
Special
Words
{
37.
Combination of Words
to
Express Tlioughts
...
16
Adjmict-wotds
and Head-words
{
40.
Snbject
and Predicate
i
41.
AssumpdoD (Attribution) {
44.
SnbordinatioQ and
Coordination
i
45.
Qnunmatioal
CategorieB.
Words
13,
Foim -words
f "|S.
Word-formation
24
CompositioD i 63.
Derivation
S Cq.
Infleaions
28
Relations between Words
....-"
3o
Parts of
Speech 35
CUssificstloii of the Parts of
Speech
( 1 00.
Conversion of
the Puts of
Speech $
log.
Relations between
Logical
and Grammaiical Cate- gories
40
FnllnesE of
ExpiesEion; Ellipse
}
109.
UDifotmity
of Ez-
preBuou
{
113. Adequacy
of
Expresuon
{
114. Divergeace
betweoi
Logic
and Grunmai
; Antigramiuatical
CoDstrac-
tions
i
116.
PARTS OF SPEECH IN DETAIL.
Form
49
lodecticHi*
f
116. Gender
{
141.
Fonn-wotds
$ 147.
Meaning
54
Oonoreto ICaniiB
{
150
: CUss-douds
i
Igl ;
CollectiTe
Noonaj
153;
Material Nouns
(
ijj ; Proper
Names
( 156.
Abatraot Noima
i 165.
Function 62
Aêotives.
Form
65
Meaning 67
Function
Fronouiui.
/
Form'".
"
"""., 69
Meaning
\
Function/
Classes of Pronouns
PerstHial Pronomu
f loo. PosMuive Pionoiuis
i
103.
Em- phatic
Pronooos
i
105.
Reflexive ProDouna
i
107,
Re-
dprocal
ProDomiE
$ no.
Interrcâtive
Prononas
" iii.
Relative aad
Conjunctive
Pronouns
{
ai6. DeRoite Pro-
nonns S
114.
Indefinite Prononns
{
119.
Quantitative
Pronouns
{
131. Negative
Pronouns
| 236.
ITumeralB
Verba.
T,Goo(^le
COlfTENTS. XVII
Meaning
--'
. . .
S9
Tntosilive and Intranailive
% 148.
Reflexive Verbs
S
854.
Reciprocal
Verbs
( 156. Impeisonal
Verbs
"
157.
FuDctioD
93
Form-classes
96
NunbeT
" iGg.
Parson
(
i'jo.
Tense
{
171
:
Simple
and
Componnd
Tenses
5
274
; Primary
and
Secondaiy
Tenses
{
379; Complete
and
Incomplete Tenses! 181;Tense-aspects
(Duration, etc)
f 183;
DeEnile and IndefiniteTeoses
1
183.
Mood: Fact-mood and
Thongbt-mood(Indicative,
Snb-
jnnctive, etc) !
"93 ; Imperative
Mood
S 308.
Voice
(Active,Fasdre,ReflezlTe)
f
311.
MimeUaneona Forms
(Negative, Empliatii^ Interrogative) J
317.
Verbala
11;
Infinitiveand
Snpine }
331,
Gerund
J
314. Participles
Adverb* 118
Form
. . 119
Meaning
.
120
Function
123
lodepandent
Adverbs
S 35S
:
SenCence-modi^ngi 364;
Sentence-adTerbs
S 36S. Dependent Adverbs
% 369
:
Correlative
Adverbs
5 370 ;
Relative and
Conjnactive
Ad- verbs
{
373.
Oonnaetton between
Adverbs and other
Parti of
Bpsaoh
:
Connection
between
Adverbs and
Adjec- tives
{ 376 ;
Connection between
Adverbs and Pronouns
1
377 i
Connection between Adverbs and
Prepositions
5 380;
Connection between Adverbs and
Conjunctions { 381.
FrapoBitlons.
Form
134
Function
136
Meaning 139
ConjODotlons.
Form
140
Function
" 140
Meaning 144
xvm COJiTTEJi^S.
Coordinative and Subordinative
Conjunctions
. . 149
Detached
Conjunctions
150
InteijeotlonB
151
WORD-GROUPS
153
SENTENCES
155
Relations between Sentences 160
CIrhscs and
Complexes{ 46a
:
Inserted,Paienthellc,and
Appended
Clanses
{ 467;
Extended
Complexes
f
473;
Sequences
{483 ;
Relations between
Sentences,Complexes,
and
Seqnences
{
4S5.
Classes of Sentences
170
Pait-of-SpeechRelaiiims
{
496.
Relations between
Subject
and Predicate
{
goo.
HISTORY OF LANGUAGE.
Changes
in
Language 176
Effects of
Change
on the Relaticms between Words {
533.
Efiecta of
Change
on
Langtiage
as a Means of
Expression
f S"8. I
I-f^cal
Control of
Changes
I
Ellipse "
534.
Analogy(
535.
Origin
and
Development
of
Laiûage . . .
i
Development
of Grammatical
Catôries
{
551.
Origin
of
Parts of
SpeechJ 560.
Relations of
Languages
to
one
another
. . *
2i
LinguisticSeparation: Origin
of Dialects and
Cog- nate
Languages
v
Influenceof
one
Language
on
another
. . .
"
DIVISIONS AND METHODS OF GRAMMAR a
Accidence and
Syntax J 581.
Grammar and
DictioDaiJ
{ 583. DcBcriptive
and Historical Grammar
{ 586.
Gram- matical
DifRcnlties
i 589.
Giammatical
Analy^
t
591.
HISTORY OF ENGLISH -
.
"i
Periods
i
594. Cerate Langaages{
595.
^
T,Goo(^le
CONTENTS.
Old
Ensliah
3
ChamcCeiistics
of Old
English % 605.
Latin Influence
f6o6.
Celtic
Inflnencef607.
ScandinsTJui Inflnence
{
Gd8.
French Influence
"
6io.
Ulddle
EngUsli
3
Dia1ect"ofMlddleEnglisliStii4. Struggle
between French
and
English{ 617.
Rise of the London Dialect
{ 619.
Scandinaviui Influence
{
6ai. Frmch Influence
%
611.
Latin Influence
"
61:;.
If odem
BngllBh
3:
Influence of other
Languages{ 634,
Periods
% 638.
Fresent
BngllBh
3
Strata
% 646.
PHOHOLOOT.
PHONETICS.
Analysis
s:
Throat-ionnds : Breath "nd Voice
% 651.
Nasal Sounds
(653.
ConBonante
S fijj.
Vowels
i 654.
Vowel-like Con- sonants
I
655.
SyntheaiB
3:
Quantity
S 658.
Stress
{ 659.
Intonation
(
66t. Glides
i
6G4. Sjllables (
666.
Diphthongs{ 66^.
Vowels
a;
Rounding%669. Tongue-retmction { (170.Tongne-heigbt
i67".
Acoustic
Qualities ofVowelij 673.
The Vowels in
Detail
% 674.
OonooiUUltS
3;
Form
f 691.
Place
{ 698.Compound
Consonants ; Round- ing,
Fronting
{
Joj.
Intermediate Positions
J
707.
The
Aspiratej 70S.
Table
{709.
R in
English( Jti.
LAWS OF SOUND-CHANGE
..... a;
OLD ENGLISH SOUNDS.
Orthognkphy.
bs
XX CONTBJfTS.
Fronunolatlon
. . . . . . .241
Streea
243
Qviantit?
245
ToweU
245
Mutation
{
7gl.
Consonant InflnniceS
754.
Consonants
249
Oradation
, 251
MIDDLE ENGLISH SOUNDS.
Orthography
253
Stress
255
Quantity 356
Vowela
357
Consonants
. .
261
MODERN ENGLISH SOUND-CHANGES.
Orthography 267
Vowels
374
Consonants
279
PRESENT ENGLISH.
Stress
383
Woid-ttreBs
{ 879.
Stress In
Word-groupl
and
Compounds
f
889.
Extension of
Compound-
itnas
{ 918. Gronp-com-
ponads"
933-_
Stre"s Adwiced in
Componnds % 916.
As- sumptive
(Attributive) Compounds
and
Gronpa%
919.
Quantity 397
AOOIDEKOB.
^
NOUNS.
Old
English
301
' Gender
|
945.
Strong
and Weak
$ 94S.
Cases
i
949.
IS
5
950.
T,Goo(^le
CONTENTS. XXi
Eftply
Middle
English
305
lAt"
Kiddle
Ibigllab
311
Uodeni
Sngllsh
........ 312
ADJECTIVES.
InfleoUons.
Old
English
322
Middle
English
, . . 324
Modem
English..,.,.,. 325
Comparison.
Old
English
335
Middle
English
,
326
Modem
English 326
IiTûlar
Comparison 327
PRONOUNS
(331^
Fersoaal PronounB.
Old
English
333 \
Middle
English
334
j
Modem
English 338)
FoBBesBlve PronovuuL
'
Old
English 343
Middle
English
344
Modern
English , 345
Sell
Old
English 346
Middle
English 347
Modem
English 347
DemonstratiTa "Ptvaovna.
Old
English 343
Middle
English
349
Modem
English
35
'
One,
A
; None,
No
352
Interrogatlvo
and RelaUre Pi-onouna
. . . 353
Definite Fronouiui
355
Indefinite Fronouna
355
Quantitative
Pronouns
......
358
NUMERALS.
Cardinal
359
Ordinal.
363
VERBS.
Old
llngllBh
Verba
364
Inflections
S
1177. Strong
Verbs
(
1
190.
Weak Vo-bs
i 1301.
Preterite-Present Verbs
( uii.
Middle
Engliah
Verbi
374
Early
Middle
English11)14.
Lale Middle
Engllsli f
1139.
Modem
Bngllah
Verbs
383
Present
English
Verbs
391
Irr^pilai-
Verba In Modem
English
. . 393
Consonantal Verbs
. . .
.'
. . . 394
With
vowel-change
:
pret.
vowel e i
1293 j
00
"
1300 ;
o
i
1301 ;
on.
J
1301,
With t instead of d
{
1304.
Wilh t
loEtead of d and
Towel-chsnge
:
pret,
vowel
e i
1311 ;
o
{ 1311.
Witbtinstead of-ded
f 1333.
With coosonuit-Ion
i
1334.
With coa"onuit-lois
and
vowel-change
:
prat.
vowel Ee i
1335 ;
o i
1336,
Invariable Verbs.
401
u
%
1344;
aiS
134s;
"" 134^; "Sis*?;
"" S
'354;
ii"356; dS 136a; n J 1363.
Vocalic Verbs
405
ptet.
vowel an
J 1364;
"
J 136S :
"
S ij8a ;
e i
1395;
oi
i
'405 ;
"
* '408
;
a i
M" ;
o S
M'3 ;
"^ S '418;
0
S 1438;
n
5 1446;
nw {
1450.
Mixed Verbs
418
Isolated Forms
4^
qnotli{ 1473 ; hight{
1474 ; idept %
1475 ;
wont
S 1476.
T,Goo(^le
CONTENTS. xxiii
Anomalous Verbs
430
can i
1479
:
dare
% 14S0;
may
{ 1481;
mast {
14S3; ought
i 14SJ;
ahaU
% 1484;
trill
% 1485;
wot
f 1486;
need
{ 1487;
be
S 1488i
have
% 1493 ;
do
1
1493.
PARTICLES.
Adverb-endinga 438
Adverbs from Nouhb and
Adjeotivea . . . 431
FroDomlnal Adverbs
433
Corralatlve Fartlolaa
436
Fronomlnol
CotdimottonB
......
436
N'egatloii
"nd AfBrm"tian
437
GomparlBon
of Adverba
438
FrapositiouB 440
Old
Engliah| 1518.
Middle and ModeiD
English{
1535.
Inteajeotiona ........ 443
COMPOSITION.
OldXngllBh 444
Meaninc
of
CompoimdB
..:... 448
DERIVATION.
Native Elementi.
Prefixes
......... 450
i-i 15^.1570; Sg-5iS7ii be-"is7"i
for-
S i573 ; |e-
S1574;
mis."
1575;
of-
(1576;
on-
S 1577; t5-Slj79[
nn-
S 1580;
wan-
51581.
SufGses 456
Nonn-fonnmg. a)
Concrete : -ten
%
1590 ;
-end
f
1591 ;
-ere S
1591 ;
-estre
S
1593 ; -ing{
1594 ; -ling{
1595 ;
-en
(1596. b)Abstract:-nisii597;-n"iS98;-o|-,-|"Ji599i
.nag, -ing
{
1600 " dom
"
1601
;
-hid
f
1601
;
-Hie
f 1(03;
-radeo
( 1604;-icipe" 1605.
Adjective-fonnlTig
:
-ede
i
1606
;
-ea |
1607; -ij}
1608
;
-at
i 1609; -som f
t6io" -feald
i
ifiii
;
-AiU
j
i6ia
;
-leu
{ 1613
;
-lit
i 1614;
-WMTd
i 1615.
Verb-fonning
: -m { iSiSj
-sUn
} 1617;
IxitB
f
1618,
Toreisn
lilflinantB
468
Prefises
468
ab".
abs,
"- { 1613; ad-,
"-
{ 1614
;
amb-
i 1615 ; amphi-
$1616;
an-
i 1617;
MU- { i6ig; ante-
^1639; anti-S 1630;
"pO-
i 1631
;
bi-
{ l63" ;
cita-
i 1633
;
cironm-
" 1634 ;
d"- t 1635 ;
com- { 1636
; oootra-,
counter-
{ 1637;
de-
{ 1639 ;
demi-
1 1639 ;
di-
j 1640;
dia-
{ 1641 ;
dis-
i 1S41;
en- i 1643 ;
endo-
{ 1644; epi-
{ 1645;
ei-
J 1646,1647
;
eio- S 1648 ;
citra-
i 1649.;hyper-{ 1650 ; hypo- { 1651;
In-
{ 1651, 1653; inter-,
enter-
| 1654;
intio-
i
1655;
neU-
f 1666 ;
ne-
{ 1657;
non- S 165B
;
ob-
J 1659; paw-
i
1660
; pei-
f
1661
; poat-
{
166a
; pre-
( 1663; prater-
I 1664;
pro-
i 1665,
16M
:
pros-
i 1667;
re-
(
1668
;
retro-
{ 1669;
se- i 1670;
lemi-
f 1671;
tine-
{ 1671;
sub-
1 1673;
sabtec-i 16741 SQp^'-l 1675;
eapra-
{ 1676;
m-
1 1677
; vya-
{ 1678 ;
trans-
i 1679;
ultra-
{
t68o.
Suffixes
479
Nonn-fonnliig.a)
Fenonal
: -ee }
1681
; ~ar, -e(e)T,
-ier
1 1683; -or S 1684; -ard,-art
i 1687; -ewS 1688;
-ist
S 1689;
-ite
f 1690 ;
-trii
{ 1691.b)
Dlmiimtire
: -ule,
-cule
1 1691; -et,
-let
S
1693. c)
AbitracC
:
-7, -ey
{ 1694;
-icCi
-as,
-ite
i 1698;
-cy, -sj
{ 1699; -ad,
-id
i
1700;
-ade
t
170a; -age
t
1703;
-menl
(
1704;
-ion
{ 1706;
-ana
{1707; -aace,
-ence $ J 708
; -ancy, -ency
J
1
709 ; -01,
-our
{ 1710! -ory
{
1711; -ry
f
1711;
-u(e {
171J;
-lam
{
1714;
-icism
I
1715;
-ate i 1716;
-itnde
"
1717; -qr
( 1718.
AdjecttTe-fonning
r
-ble
1
1719,
1720; -bund,
-bond
S
i7"i ;
"Ic,'iqne
{
1733 ;
-ical
" 1716;
-iac
i
1717 ;
-id
J 171S;
-old
J
1719;
-a!,
-iai
J
1730;
-il"
-ile
(
'734
"
-*""
-"""
1
173s ;
-ean " 1738 :
-ian
j
1739
: "ne,
-In
{
1740 ; -ant,
-ent
I174J;
-lent}
1743;
-ai
j
1744; -aiy
i
1745;
-ior
I1746; -ete i
1747; -ose,
-ona i 1748;
-eaque
{ lygoj
-".
-te
i
1751.
Veib-fiMming
:
-Cj% 1756!
-iih
f
1757;
-ke,
-ise
j 1758.
T,Goo^le
nf
INTRODUCTION.
GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE.
Definition
of
Grammar.
1. Grammar
may
be
regarded
either Trom
a
theoretical
or
a practicalpoint
of view. From the theoretical
point
of
view
grammar
is the
soieace of
language.
'
By 'language' we
understand
languages
in
general,
as opposed
to one or more
speciallanguages.
S.
The firstbusiness of
grammar,
as
of
every
other
science,
is to observe the facts
and, gheaomena
with which it has to
^
deal,and to clarify and state them
methodically.
A
grammar
w^cBTuiiflneriBeTf
to this is called
a defloriptive
grammar.
Thus
a descriptive
grammar
dealing
with Modern
English
would state such facts
as
that / call is made into / called to
.
show that the action of
calling
took
place
in the
past
instead
of in the
present ;
and would
go
on to state that I
go
is made
into I
went,
I hold mto
I
Md, to
express
the
same change
of
meaning
"
or,
in the technical
terminology
of
grammar,
that
most
Modem
English
'
verbs' form their
'preterite' by adding
"
-id,
the verbs
go
and
Ao/rfhaving
the
exceptional or 'irregular'
preterites
wmi and htld
respectively.
8.
When
we
have
a
clear
statement
of such
grammatical
phenomena, we naturally
wish
to
know the
reason
of
them,
T,Goo(^le
2
INTRODVCTIOff.
[(4.
and how
they
arose.
In this
way
descriptive
grammaT
lays
the
foundations of "Sxplanafavy
grammar.
There are
threechiefmethods of
explaining
the
phenomena
of
language,
by
the
help,namely,
of
(a)
historical
grammar,
(^)comparative
grammar,
and
if)general
grammar.
^ 4,.
(a)
HiBtorioal
grammar
tries to
explain
the
phenomena
of
a
languageby tracing
them back to their earlier
stages
in that
language.j
Thus,
if
we
go
back
a
few centuries
in the
history
of
thcEngliahlanguage,
we
shall find that
went
was
originally
the
preterite
of
a
verb to
wend, meaning
'to
turn'"
a
meaning
still
partially preserved
in such
literary
phrases
as to wend onis
way,
to wend homewards. The
historical
explanation
of the
preterite
of
go
is therefore that
it was
originally
the
preterite
of another verb of similar
meaning.
But if
we
take the
preterite held,
and
trace it
bacif
even
to the oldest
English
of the
eighth
century,
we
cannot
explain
its
origin.
To do
this,we require
the
help
of
^
6.
(J)
Comparative grammar,
which
compares
the
grammatical
phenomena
of
a language
with those of
ihp
cognate
languages,
that
is,languages
which
are
relatedto it
throughhaving
arisen from a common
parent
languag^
Just
as the Romance
languages
"
lulian,Spaniali,
FrencKTetc." are
cognate
to
one
another
throughbeingindependentdevelopments
of their
parent
language Latin,so
also
English
is
cognate
with
Dutch,
German, Danish,Swedish,
and the other Germanic
languages.
Now in the oldest Germanic
languages
the
preterite
of hold
appears
in
some
such form as
hchald,
being
formed,
lilte
âny
other Germanic
preterites, by reduplication,
that
is,repetition
ofthe
beginning
of the word. The Germanic
languages
themselves
are
cognate
with
Greek,
Lai
in,Sanskrit,
and the other
members of the Arian
family
of
languages;
and
as com-
paxative grammar
finds
reduplicatedpreterites
in these languages
also" thus Latin
mordeo,
'
I
bite,'
has
preterite momordi,
'I bit'" it infers that such
preterites
formed
part
of the
Parent Arian
language"
the
hypothetical
ancestor of allthe
/
f 7.]
3
lajiguages
mentioned in this
paragraph.
We
see
then that
comparative
grammar
is
really
a branch of historical
grammar,
only
it takes us a long
way
further back than
we
could
go
by confining
ourselves to
one language.
The historical
explanation
of htld afforded
by comparative
grammar
is,
therefore,
that it is
a contraction of
an originally redupli- cated
form. Historical and
comparative
grammar
content
themselves with
tracing
the
phenomena
of
a language
"
or
of
a
group
or "imily
of
cognate
languages
" as
\as back
as
pos^ble,
without
attempting
to
explain
the
origin
of the oldest
forms thus arrived at.
To do this is the task of
6.
(r)
Q"Qeral
grammar
(philosophical grammar),
which
is not concerned with the details of
one
speciallanguage
family
of
languages,
but with the
general principles
which
underlie the
grammaticalphenomena
of all
languages.
*~-)fr
dealing
with such
a. phenomenon as reduplication, gerieral
grammar'
asks
("i)
what are the factsabout
reduplication
in those
languages
in which
we can
observe it
clearly?
and
{fi)
what
is the
explanation
of those facts" what
are
the
generalprin~
ciples
on
which
theydepend?
Thus
general
grammar
first
of all tells
us
that
reduplication
is
widely
used in
primitive
languages
all
over
the world to
strengthen
the
meaning
of
words in various
ways,
as
when
man'tnan isused
to
express
'more than
one
man'
or
'many
men,'
big-big
is used
to
express
'
very
big,'
and
so on. Hence itinfers that in Parent
Arian
past
time in verbs
was regarded as more
emphatic
"
because more
definite " than
present
time,
and
so was
expressed by reduplication.
7.
The
explanation
of
grammatical phenomena
often"
seems
self-evident" a matter of
'
common sense.' Thus
the
origin
of the
preterite
of wml
hardlyrequires
to be
explained
to
any
one
who is
acquainted
with
UteraryEnglish.
But
even
in such
cases as
this
we can never dispense
with
historical
and
comparative
grammar,
for
experience
has
ôwn that eui
examination of the older forms of
a
language
lich'l
".Gotit^le
4
mTRODUCTION.
\\
E
may
at
any
time
prove
that what
appears
at first
sight
to be
a
self-evident
explanation
is untenable. Thus it would
seem natural to
suppose
that the familiar
phrase
Pll Itll
you
tciai is
a
shortening
of the
longerphrase
/ uiiilleti
you
whal
it is
;
but historicaland
comparativeinvestigation
shows that
w?iat is here used in the sense of
'
something,'
which
was one
of its
regularmeanings
in Old
Ki^lish
"
a meaning
which the
cognate
Gennan word
was
still
J^s, so
that the
longerphrase
is
really
an
expansion
of the
original
shorter
one,
the result
of the
meaning
of the what contained in it
having
become
obsolete.
^
8. Considered from
a practical point
of
view,
grammar
is
,
the art of
language.
Objectsor
Grahmak.
0. The main
object
of
practical
grammar
is to
give
"
or
rather,help
to
give
"
a
mastery
of
foreignlanguages
either
"^
li^ng_ordead,
including
earlier
stages
of the native
language,
aa
when
a
modem
Englishman
sets to work to learn the Old
English
of
King
Alfred's time with the
help
of
a
grammar
and
dictionary.
Thia
mastery
may
amount
only
to
under"
Standing
the
language
in its written
or spoken form,or
may
include the
power
of
expression
both in
speaking
and
writing,
10. Grammar in the widest
sens"
of the word is therefore
both the science and the art of
language.
But
as the
scimjific
studjoflanguage
is
more definitely expressedby
'gjulology;'
the term
grammar
is
generally
used to
imply
a
mainlypracticalanalysis
of
one
special
language,
in
which
'
study general principles
and theoretical
explanationsare
subordinated
to concise statements of
facts,
and
definite
rules.
/ 11. We
study
the
grammar
of
our own
language
for other
/objects
than those for which
we
study
the
grammar
of
foreign
f
languages.
We do not
study
grammar
in order
to
get
a practical
mastery
of
our own
language,
because in the
T,Goo(^le
(1+)
GRAMMAS AND LANGUAGE.
5
nature of
things
we must have that
mastery
before
we
begin
to
studjr
granunar
at all. Nor is
grammai
of much use
/
/
in
correcting vulgarisms, provincialisms,
and other
linguistic
"/
defects,
for these
are more
dependent
on socialinfluenceat
home and at school than
on grammaticaltrdning.
12. In
considering
the
use
of
grammar
as a corrective of
what
are
called
'ungrammatical' expressions,
it must be
borne in mind that the rules of
grammar
have
no
value
except
as statements
of facts
:
whatever is in
general
use
in
a language
is for that
very
reason
grammatically
correct
A
vulgarism
and the
corresponding
standard
or politeex- pression
are
equally grammatical
" each in its
own sphere
"
if
only ihcy
are in
general
use. But whenever
usage
is
not fixed" whenever
we
hesitate between difi'erent
ways
of
expression,
or have t" find
a new
way
of
expression
" then
grammar
comes in,
and
helpsus to decide which
expressionj
is
most
in accordance with the
genius
of the
langoage,
leas/
ambiguous,
most
concise,or
in
any
other
way
belter fittedto
express
what is
required.
IS.
The native
language
should be studied from the
point
of view of
general
grammar.
We thus learn to
compare
the
granmiatical phenomena
of
our own
language
with those d
other
languages,
and' to criticize
impartially
its
defects,so
that
we are better
prepared
for the
divergent
grammatical
structure of other
languages.
In this
way
the
study
of
English
grammar
is the best
possible
preparation
for the
study
of
foreign languages.
14. The
study
of
grammar
has also
a varieTy
of less direct
uses. Grammar
being
itselfa
science,
affords
a
training
ia scientificmethods
generally.
It also
helpsus to
get
a
clearer
knowledge
of the
things
and ideas
expressed by
language;
as
the
poet says
of Prometheus: "
He
gave
Man
speech,
and
speech
euaitd
ihougkl,
which is the
measure of
ike
Universe.
(Shelley,Prometheus.)
6
INTRODUCTION.
tS '5-
16.
Lastly,
grammar
satisfies
a
rational
curiosity
about the
structure and
origin
of
our own
and other
languages,
and
teaches us to
take
an interest in what
we
hear and utter
every
day
of
our
lives.
Definition
op Language.
.6.
Language
is the
expression
of ideas
by
means
of
speeoh^^^ds
combined into worda.' Words
are combined
into
eÎeiicea,
this
combination
answering
10
that
of ideas into
thoughts.
Thus in Latin the word Urra
expresses
the idea
'
the
earth,'
and rotunda
expresses
the
idea
'
round,'
and these two words
are
combined
together
to
form the sentence
ferra
rotunda,
which
expresses
the
thought
'the
earih is round.' Different
languages
have different
sounds
(sound-systems),
and attach different
meanings
to the
combinations
of sounds into
words,
and of words
into
sentences,
Form
and
Meaning.
17. There
are,
then,two sides to
language
" two
ways
of
looking
at it: there is the formal
side,
which is concerned
with the
outer
form of words and
sentences,
and the
logioal
side,
which is concerned with their inner
lueaningT
'Tfiiis
~tKrformal sideof such
a
word
as man
is that itis made
up
of
certain
sounds
standing
in
a
certain relation to one
another"
followingone
another in
a
certain
order,etc. So also the
form of such
a sentence as
the
man
helped
the
boy
consists in
its
beingcomposed
of certain words
followingone another
in a certain
order,
and
standing
in other relations to
one
another;
and
we can
alter the form of
a Sentence
by merely
changing
the order of the words of which' it is made
up,
as
in the
boy helped
the
man.
The
study
of the forma! side of
language
is based
on phonetics
" the science of
speech-
sounds
;
the
study
of the
l(îcal
side^
language
is based
on
psychology
" the science of
mind.^-Sul
phonetics and
D,g,i,7?"iT,Goo^le
\
Si8.]
GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE,
7
psychology
do not coDstitute the scienceof
language, being
ODlypreparations
for it
: language
and
grammar
are concerned
not with form and
meaning separately,
but vith the
connections between
diem,
these
being
the real
phenomena
of
language.
Frovince
of Grauhar.
18. But it is
only
a
part
of these
linguistic phenomena
that
fallunder the
province
of
granunar.
Grammar " like
"
Other sciences" deals
only
with what
can be
brougtf
under
"
//
general lftW8_and
stated in the form of
generalrules, and
ignoresisolated
phenomena.
Thus
grammar
is not con-
/;
cemed with the
meanings
of such
primary
words as
m"u^^
''''") S'"o^,
gf"^!
and
relegates
them to the ":ollection^|K~(^'
isolatedfacts called the
diotionary
or
lexicon,
where
they
|j
constitute what we
may
call the lexioal side of
la^^B^
But the
processes
by
which words are
joined
toget^^^'
form
sentences,
the
changestheyundergo
in these
processes,
and the formation of new words
by composition
and derivation,
" all this is the
province
of
grammar
as
opposed
to the
dictionary.
Thus the fact that iree becomes /r"j when we
speak
of
more than one tree
is a
generalone,
for in
English
the
plural
of
nearly
all
names
of
things
isfonned inthis
way
"
by
the addition of
t :
the formation of the
plural
of
nouns
is therefore
a
part
of
English
grammar.
So aUo if
we
have
once learntto
join
the words free and
grow
in such sentences
as tie free
grows,
Irees
grow,
the trees are
growing,
we are
able to construct as
many
more sentences as we
likeon the
pattern
of
these, ifiweonly
know the words
required
to make
them
up:
the fonnation of
sentences
is thereforean
essential
part
of the
grammar
of alllanguages.
The business
of
the
grammarian
is tOifindout
lije^êneral
principles
on
which
such
processes
depend,
and to frame a grammatical
terminology
for
stating
these
general principles
in the form
of
8
INTRODUCTION.
[" i?.
definite
grammaticalrules,
such
as
'the
regularplural
oT
Englishnouns
is formed
by adding
/.'
CoKNECnoN
BETWEEN
FoRM
AND
MeaNINO
IM
GraMHAK.
IB. We have
now to
consider
more closely
the connection
between form and
meaning
in
grammar.
This connection is
often'
imperfect.
Different
grammatical
functions are
often
marked
by
the
same form,as
in Irtt-sand
grow-t
;
for the
s
in
irets has
a
totally
different
meaning
from what it has in
grmjs.
On the other hand
we
often find the
same meaning
expressedby
a
variety
of
forms,
as
in the
plurals Irea,children,
men,
the
'
singulars
'
of which
are tret,child,
man
respectively.
Although
there is no
formal likeness whatever in these
plurals,
yet
they
all not
only
mean
exactly
the
same,
but
are
used to"build
up
sentences in
exactly
the
same
way;
wherever in
a Eentence we
put
Irees instead of
tree,
there also
we
^^t put
children instead of
child,
and nun
instead of
man " in other
words,
all these forms have
exactly
the
same
grammatical
function. So also the addition of -"/in I called
as
distinguished
from /
call,
the
change
of / hold into /
held,
and the substitutionof / went for /
go,
all
mean exactly
the
same thing
"
namely
the
change
from
present
to
past
time.
Isolation;
Irregularity.
ao.
We have
seen
that the
phenomena
of
language
are of
two
kinds
:
those that can be
brought
under
general
rules,
and those that cannot
(18).
The
onlyphenomena
that
can
"'
be
brought
under
general
rules
are those thathave
something
in
common by
which
they are
associated
together
in the
mind
by
the
psychological
process
of
group-aBsooiatioii,
.
by
which
aa80oiatiou"gn"ui)H
are
formed. There
are
in
every
language
an
endless number of these
groups,
and one
and the
same
word
may
belong
to several such
groups
at
once.
Thus the words
trees,towns,boys
form
an
association-
"
group
through having
the same
'
inflection
'
-s,
and
having
T,Googlc
1 ij.]
the
meaniog
'
more-than-oneness
'
in
common;
this
group
is
therefore both
a
formal and
a
logical one.
The
plurals trets,
children,
men,
on
the other
hand,
constitute
a logicai,
but not
a formal,
group
" as far,at
least,as
their inflectionis
con*
cerned " for
they
are
associated
logelheronlyby
the
meaning
of their
endings.
Tree,
wood,forest, park,
etc. are
also
associated
by
iheir
meaning only,
but in
a
different
way.
We
see
then that the
single
word Irte can enter intoat leastthree
different
association-groups.
31. When a word stands outside
an
association-
group,
it
is said to be
isolated.
Thus,
if
we take
away
Irte from the
group
tree,wood,forest, etc.,
and
put
itwith tcwn and
ioy,
it
is,as
far
as
its
meaning
is
concerned,no
longera
member
of a
group,
but is isolated. But
although
the three words
tree,toum,
doyare
isolatedfrom
one
another in
meaning, yet
the fact of their all
being
able to form
plurals
in
-s
"
together
with other
grammatical
characteristics that
they
have
in
common
" makes them members of another
group,
which
we
express
grammatically by calling
them all
'nouns,'
or,
more
generally, by saying
that
they
all
belong
to the
same
'piart
of
speech.'
It is
easy
to
see
from this last
example
that there is
no
such
thingas
absolute isolation
:
every
word
has
something
in
coniinon
with
some
other word in the
23. Hence when
we speak
of
isolation, we generally mean
partial
isolation. Thus (he
plural
men
forms
part
of the
group
trees,towns, boys,
etc.
by
virtue of its
meaning,
but
stands outside this
group
as
far
as
itsform is concerned.
33. When
one
and the
same grammatical
function is
per- formed
by
a
variety
of
grammatical
forms,that form which is
used in the
greatest
number of words is
caJlgii-tL'' rngular
form.
Thus, as
the
majority
o^jfjfflfs^^ things
in
English
form their
pluralsby adding
j^lijg
jg called the
regular plural
ending.
Those forms
w|rfth are
in
the
minority
" such
as
the
plural
children" aifâlied
irregular
forms
or
irrega-
10 INTSODVCTION.
f*
i4-
larities. But
although
such
an irregular
inflection
as
ihe
-rm
in children is
so
isolated in fonn that there is
no
other
word in which it
occurs,
itstillforms
part
of the
group
con- stituted
by
the whole
body
of
English noun-pIurals,
both
regular
and
irregular, by
virtue of its
grammatical
function.
But if
every
noun
in
English
formed its
plural
in
a
difTerent
way,
BO
that
we
could not tellbeforehand
what its
plural
would
be,
then such
plurals
as men and children could
hardly
be called
irregular,
because there would be
no general
rule
to which
they
would be
exceptions:
they would,
from
a
grammaticalpoint
of
view,
be
as
completely
isolated
grammatically
as
the
primary
words
tree,man, etc.,
are
in
meaning
;
and the formation of the
plural
of
nouns
would
belong
rather
to the
dictionary
than to the
grammar.
/ We
sec
from such considerations that itis not
alwayseasy
to
/
draw the line between what
belongs
to the
grammar
and what
I
belongs
to the
dictionary.
'
Grauhatical
and
Logical Categomes.
.
34.
A
group
of
grammatical
forms
ejtpresîng^^t
âme
meaning
"
having
the same
Junctionjhônfifinifwi n
gram-
tnatioal
category.
Thus the addition of
j:|jn/r"i,
of
-rm
in cMt/rfli,
and the
change
of
a into e
in
men
together
constitute"
or help
to constitute" the
grammatical
category
'
phiral
of
nouns,'which,again,
fallsunder wider
grammatical
categories,
such
as
'number'
(singular
and
pluralnumber),
'
inflection.'So also the inflectionsin /
called,
I
held,
etc.
constitutethe
grammaticalcategory
'preterite
tense of
verbs.'
2S.
Every grammaticalcategory
is
tljeexpression
of some
general
idea" some
logrical
categor^ Thus the
grammatical
category
'plural'
expresses
'
more-than-oneness,'
and
thereforefallsunder the wider
logicalcategories
of
'
number
'
'
quantity ;
responHTto
the
logical
category
'
time.'
:v
GRAMMAR
AND LANGUAGE.
Divergence
between Grammatical and
Logical
Categories.
86. But in actual
language
" which is
always
an
imperfect
instrument of
thought
" the
grammatical
and
logical
cate-
gories
do
not
always exactlycorrespond
to one
another.
Thus in the
word-group a ten
pound
nok
compared
with ten
poundt, plurality
is not
expressedgrammaticallyby
any
inflection
of
found,
but is leftto be inferred from the
meaniiig
of /". In such
a
wuid-f^roup
as
many
a
man,
the
divergence
between the
grammatical
and the
corresponding logical
category
is Still
stronger;
for the word
many
shows that
'
more
than
one
'
is
meant,
and
yet
the combination
a man
is the
regulargrainmaticalexpression
of 'oneness' or the
singular
number.
27.
For this
reason itwill be advisable to
get
clear notions
of the
logical
categoriescommonly expressed
in
language
before
dealing
with the
correspondinggrammatical
categories
" that
is,
to learn to
distinguish
between what
we
say
and how
we
say
it. Under the head of
logical
categories
we wili.learn-to.
regard-Kords-soIely
"om the
bgical_Eoint_pf..wew
"
lo^classifj
them
entirely
_byLtbeJikas.
thex_?JHS^' making,
for
instance,no
distinction between
a man
in
many
a man
and
mm
in
many
men,
but
regarding
them both
as espressions
of the idea of
'
more-than-oneness.'
Under the
head of
grammatical categories,on
the other
hand, we
will
regardman,
not
only
in
one man
but also in
many
a
man,
as
belonging
to one
and the
same
category
of
'singular
number,' although,
of
course,
we
shall
point
out
such
divergences
between form and
meaning,
and
try
to
explain
the
origin
of them.
12 INTRODUCTION.
]\*\-
LOGICAL CATEGORIES.
^f***
Ideas
Expressed br
Words.
Substances
and thsir Attkibutis.
38. The ideas of which
thoughts
are
made
up
are concerned
mainly
with subBtaooes
(materialthings)
and their
attributes. Suhstances
are
known to U9 solelyby
their
attributes,
that
is,
the
impressions
these substances make on
our senses.
Thus the substance
'gold'
is known
to us by
its attributes of
'hardness,''heaviness,' 'yellow
colour,'etc.,
which
together
make
up
our idea of the substance
'gold.'
Such words
as
gold,
man,
house
are,
therefore,
substance-
words
;
such words
as hard, hardness,heavy,heavily, weight,
yeilow
are attribute-words.
20. These
jast^^l^xpress
pencanentaUnbiites.
There
are
also
changing
attributes
or
phenomena.
Thus
'man'
Is known
to us not
onlyby'â
number of
permanent
attributes
"
'shape,''size,'
etc.,
" but also
by
the
phenomena
'movement,'
'speech,' 'thought,'
etc. Hence we call
move,
movement,
motion, speak,speaking,speech,
think,thought,thoughtjul,
thoughtfully, etc.,
phenomenon-
words.
30. For
convenience,
words
denoting
permanent
attributes
and those
denotingchanging
attributes
or phenomena, are
included under the common name abstract.
Every
word
which is not a
subsfance-word must therefore be
an
abstract
word. In
grammar
substance- words
are
generally
called
concrete. Thus
gold
is
a concrete word.
'
Concrete
'
and
'
abstract
'
also have
a
totally
different
lo^cal
meaning (38).
In this" which is the
original"
sense
of the
word,
substance- words
can
be abstract
as
well
as concrete.
Relations between
Substances
and their
Attributes.
81.
It is
evidently impossible
to think of a substance without
thinking
of itsattributes.
"
But it is
equally impossiHe
to
D,o,i,7."i-,Goo^le
7-
*34-]
LOGICAL CATEGORIES. 1
3
think of all these attributes
at once.
When
wc
think of
a
substance,we are
reminded
only
of
some
"
perhapsonlyone
"
of its attributes
;
and under differentcircumstances different
attributes become
prominent
in
our
minds. Thus in
com-
.
paring
'
hair
'
to
'
gold,' we
think
only
of the colour of
gold,
not of itshardness
or
weight.
82. It is
equally
evident that the
only
way
in which
we
can form an
idea of
any
attribute,
such
as
'
yellow,'
is
by
thinking
of
a.
number of
yellowsubstances,
such
as 'gold,'
'
buttercups,'
etc,
33, But
itjs
easier to think of
an
attribute
apart
from
substances
than it is to th"ink of
a
substance
apart
from its
attributes. Phenomena are
still
more
independent
than
permanent
attributes.
Thus,
althoughwe
know that without
something
to bum "
wood, coals,etc. " there
can
be
no fire,
and that what
we
call
electricity
can
only
show itself in
connection
with matter
(substances), yet
when
we see a
fire in
the
distance,a
moving light,
or a
flash of
lightning,
we are
inclined to consider these
phenomena
as independentobjects.
Among
uncivilised
races,
indeed,
such
phenomena as
fire
and
electricity
are
regardedas livingbeings,
and
are even
worshipped as gods.
.
QiuuniRs,--
84.
When
we distinguish
between
a
/all
man
and
a
short
man,
tall and short
are cvjdi-ptly fltjrihntp-wnrds.
But when
we distinguish
between
many mm,
all
mm,
and
some mm or
few mm,
we cannot
say
that
many,
all,
seme, few
are attribute-
words; they are
only^ôaliflOT^
When
we
say
some
Englithmen
are tali,or manjTEnglishmen
are tall,
the
majority^
of
Englishmm
are
tall.Englishmen are
mostlytall,
the
words
som*, mar^,
majority,mostly
do not
give
us
any
informatioi)
about Englishmen : they merely qualify,or limit,or define
the idea
expressedby Englishmen. Englishmen
are
tall
by
itself
might mean
'all
Englishmen,'
'many
Englishmen,'
'
some
.H,le
14
/NTXODVCriON.
[I 35.
Englishmen,'or 'only st
few
Englishmen'; so we
add
the words
all,
many,
some,6tD,etc.,
to
qualify
the idea expressed
by Etiglishmen.
V
Attribute-words
may
be
qualified
as
well
as
substance- w("ds. Thus
very\a
a
very Ursng
man
qualifies
the attribute-word
tlrimg.
^-ûalifiers themselves
may
be
qualified,
as
in
very many
Engluimen.
It is
easy
to
distinguish
between an attribute-word and
a
qualifier by asking ourselves,
Does this
word,
which at first
sight
looks like
an attribute-word,give
us
any
direct information
about the word it is connected with ? Thus it is
easy
to
see
that
even
in such
a statement as we
are
seven,
the word
seven
does not
really
tell
us anything
about the
persons designated
by
we,
at least not
in the
same
way
as we are
young,
we
~'jig2ukr-ei^
yiaulA^
In
many cases,
Indeed,
a
qualifier
t be used timtafe
a statement with at all Thus ftom
th^se tall
men we can
infer these
men are tall,
but
we cannot
make
seme Englishmen
into
'Englishmen
are
some,
or half
the
"0 *tkt island
was hal/^
36. The
qualifiers
we
have hitherto been
considering
are
all
quantitative
words. There is another
important
class
of
qualifiers
called
miark-worda, which, as
it
were, pat
a
mark
on
the word
they are
associated
with,
singling
it
out
or
pointing
to
it in various
ways.
Thus this and
that,
here
and
there,as
in this
house,
the
man there,are
mark-words of
place;
now,
then
are
mark-words of
time;
while such mark-
words as
the
point
out an
object
in
thought,
as
in
giveme
the
book,
meaning
'
the book
.you
know
of,'
'
the book
we were
speaking
about.' Sdme mark-words,
instead of
merely
qualifying
a word,
act as
substitutes for it Thus the mark-
word he
may
be used
as a substitute for the words
John,
the
man, etc.,
and the mark-word it
may
be used
as a
substiCute
for th* book.
86.
Attribute-words
may
be used
as qualifiers.
Thus
when we
say
give me
thai red
hook,not the dlue
one,
although
red and blue
give
information about the two books,
theyare
not
used for that
purpose,
but
simply
to
distinguish
between
",
^w
i 39.]
LOGICAL CATEGORIES.
15
the two books
:
rtd and Uue
are in fact here used as mark-
words, though they
still
preserve
their fiillattributive
meanings.
When attribute- words
are
used in this
way,
we
call
them
qnahfying
attribute-words.
General and Speqal Words.
87. Some attributesare
of
more general application
than
I
others. Thus there
are more
things
that
we can call rtd\
than there
are that
we can
caJl dark red
or
yellowishred,
and
red itselffallsunder the still
more general
attribute colour.
So also the
qualifiers
many,
few,
some
fall under the
more
general
category
of
quantity.
The
same
gradationsare
seen
also in substance-words. Thus cast iron and
wrought
iron
go
under
iron; iron,t"êther
with
gold,silver, lead,
etc
goes
under
me/al;
and metal itself
goes
under
mineral,
and
so on.
38. The. more
apeoial
a wordJSr
tiie-
more
maaning
it
haa. Thus iron
implies
all the attributes
impliedby
the
'
more
general
word
melal,and,
in
addition,
all the attributes
that
distinguish
iron from
gold
and the other metals.
89. Even if
we
confine ourselves to a singleword, we can
make the
same distinction.Thus the word
man
may suggest
the idea eitherof
'
man
in
general,'
as
in
man is
mortal,or of
one
particular man,
as
when
we
talk of this
man or
the
man.
We call the former the
generalizing (abstract),
the latter
1
the apeoisUsiiig
(concrete)
use
of the word
man. The|
specializing
use evidently
puts
more meaning
into the word
:
the
man not
onlyimplies
all the attributes that
men
have in
common,
but also
implies
further attributes
by
which
we
distinguish
'the man' from other men.
It must
be observed that the
logical
and the
grammatical
meanings
of the terms abstraot and ooiioret" are
distinctand
even contradictory.
When
we
talk of
'
man
in the abstract
'
we
are using
abstract in its
logical sense,
while in
grammar
abstract
is a
convenient
means
of
including
attributes and
phenomena
INTRODUCTION.
[Sô.
me (SO).
Hence in
grammar
it is best to
restrict these words to their
graniina.tical meaning, using
gmtraliiing
ajid
spiiialimng
to
express
their
logicalmeaning.
OombiBatioo of Words to
express Thoughts.
Adjunct-
WORDS and
Head
-words.
40. The most general
relationbetween words in
sentences
from a
logical point
of îew is that of
adjnnot-word
and
bead-word, or,
as we
may
also
express
it,
of modifler and
modified.
Thus in the
sentences
tall
men art not
always
sirotig,
all
mm art
not
strong,
tall,
strong,
and all
are
adjunct-
words
modifying
the
meaning
of the head-word
mm.
So
also
dark,gm'ci,guickly are
adjunct-words
in dark
red,
he has
a
quickstep,
he walks
quickly.
Stone is
an
adjunct-word
in
stone
wall,
wall
of stone,
because it modifies
(defines)
the
meaning
of wall. So also dooi
{books)
is
an
adjunct-word
in
bookseller, bookselling,
sale
ofbooks,
he sells
books,
he sold his
hooks,
the
corresponding
head-words
being'seller, selling, sale,
sells,
sold.
'
41. The distinctionbetween
adjunct-word
and head-word
is
only
a
relative
one ;
the
same word
may
be
a head-word
/
in one
sentence or
context,
and
an
adjunct-word
in
another,
.' and the
same
word
may
even
be
a
head-word and
an
adjunct-
I
word at
the
same
time. Thus
va
he is
very strong,strong
is
\
an
adjunct-word
to
he,
and at the
same time
head-word,
to
\
the
adjunct-word
very,
which,
again,
may
itselfbe a head-
Nôrd,
as
in he is not
very strong.
Subject and Predicate.
48. As
we
have
seen
(16),
such
a
thought
as
'die earth
isround
'
ismade
up
of the two ideas
'
the earth
'
and
'
round
'
or
'roundness.' All
thoughtsrequire
at leasttwo ideas
:
(a)
what we
think
of,
calledthe
subjeot
" in this
case
'
the
earth,'
and
(5)
what
we
think
concerningit,
called the
predioate.
i44.]
LOGICAL CATEGORIES.
I7
namely
that itis
'round,'or
has the attribute of
'
round neas.'
Hehce in such a sentence as
the earth is
round,we
callear/h
a
subject-word,
round
a
predicate-
word. In this
example
the
predicate-word
" or
predicate,
as we
may
call itfor the
sake of shortness
"
is
an
attribute-word
;
but the
predicate
may
be also a
qualifier, as in he is
here,we art seven.
48.
Subject
and
predicate
may
be
joined together
in
various
ways.
In the above
example
the connection between
them is affirmed
(slated
as a
fact)
"
such a sentence
as
the
earthis round
being
thereforecalled
an
'
affirmative
'
sentence;
but it
may
also be stated
doubtfully,
as
in
perhaps
the earth is
round,or denied,as
in the earth is not
fiat,
and the relation
between
subject
and
predicate
may
be modified in various
other
ways.
Assumption.
/
M. If instead of
stating
some attributeor
qualification [
about the
subject,
we take itfor
granted,as
in" \
For so
the whole round earth is
every way
\
bound
by gold
chains about the
feet of
God,
(Tbnnyson)
the
predicate
becomes
an
assumptlTe (commonly
called
'
attributive
'},
and the word round "
as
alsowhole" issaid to
be used
assumptively (attributively).
From such
a collocation
as the mund earth
we can infer the statement the earth is
rotmd. Thus
assumption
may
be
regarded
as
implied
or
latent
predication,
and
predication
itself
may
be
regardedas
strengthened or
developed assumption.
Assumption
b
generally
called
'
attribution
'
in
grammars ;
but this term
is
objectionable
because it is liable to cause con-
fiision with the
logical
term 'attribute.'
It is
easy
to see
that
every
assumptive
word must
be
an
adjonct-wordas
well
as
every
predicate, just
as
every
subject-
word must be
a
head-word. But
every
adjunct-word
ia not
necessarily
an
assumptive,
for in
grammar
we use
this term
in
contrast
with
.'predicative,'
so
that when we
call a word
VOL. I. c
l8 INTRODVCTION.
tS+S-
'assumptive,' we
generallyimply
that it can be used also as
a
predicate.
Thus the and
very
in the
earth,
very good
are
adjunct- words,
but there would be no
object
in
calling
them
assumptives.
But in
grammaT
such
qualifying
words
as
whole,
all,
seven are said to be used
attributively
In such
word-groups
as the whole
earth,
all
men,
seven men
;
for
although
we cannot
make all
men into the statement *men
art
all,
we can make the
statement we are
seven,
there
are seven
oflis,
and,besides,we
feelthat all men is
anaI"ôus
to
good men,
etc
Subordination
and
Coordination.
45. The relationof
adjunct-word
lo head-word is
one
of
subordinatioii. But ideas can also be connected
t"^ther
with Utile
or no
subordination of
one to the other"
theycan
stand in
a coordinate relation to one another. Thus in
you
and I will be there
before
the
others,
we cannot
say
that
eitherof the two
words connected
by
and is subordinated to
the olher
: we
do not
necessarily
think of
'you'
firstand
then
join
'
I
'
on
to
it,
but we
think of the two
simultaneously,
justas we should do if
we
expressed
the idea of
'you
and 1'
by
the
single
word we. You and / in the
.above sentence
are
also coordinate
throughhaving
the same
predicate
in
common.
46.
Even in
predication
the subordination
to
the
subject-
word is often
very
slight,
for
although
the
subject
is
generally
more prominent
in
our minds than the
predicate,
the union
of
subject
and
predicate
in
thought
is
instantaneous,
and
if
the two are
of
nearlyequalimportance,
it
may
sometimes be
almost a matter of indiETerence which idea is
regarded
as
subject,
and which
as predicate.
Thus it does not matter
much whether
we
say
the
firstday of
the week is
Sund4y",
or
Sunday
is the
firstday of
the
week,just
as
in
numbering
the
days
of the week
we might
write eitheri
Sunday,
a
Monday,
etc.,
or Sunday
i,
Monday
2,
etc.
47.
So also there are
degrees
of subordinationof
assumptives
to theirhead"words.
D,g,l,7?"lT,G0t"^le
,
i
i 51.]
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES.
19,
Wb^n
an
assnmpttve
is,as it
were,
detached from its head- word"as
in
Alfred,king of England, compared
with
king
Alfred,
where
king
is
entirety
subordinate" it is said to be in
,
apposltloii to it.
(80.)
-^
4S, The most
general
classification
according
to
grammatical
categories
is into
words, word-groups,
and
sentenoes.
40. Sentences
_are_macle
up
of words, but
we
speakjn
sentences. j"t wnrHg^gltlimigh
it
may happen
that
a sentence
is made
up
of a single
word. A sentence isa word or combination
of words
capable
of
expressing
a
thought,
that
is,
a
combination of a logical predicate
mth a logical subject (42).
Thus
cornel,
he went
away
arc
both sentences. When a
sentence is
expressedby
a singleword, as
in the case of
come /,
the word is called a sentenoe-word.
When
two
or more sentences are
joinedtogether
to
express
a single
completethought,they
constitute a complex sentence,
the
simple
sentences of which the
complex
sentence is made
up
being
called
olauses.^
Thus the
complex
sentence if
you
art
right,
I
am
wrong
is made
up
of the two clauses if
you
an right
and /
am
wrong.
60. When words
are joinedttêthergrammatically
and
logically
without
forming
a full
sentence,
we
call the combination
a word-group.
Thus
man
ofhonour,
the roundness
of
the
earth,
the round
earth,going
away,
his
goingaway
are
"
word-groups.
When words
come
together
without there
being any
special
connection between
them, they may
be said to
constitute a
word-eollootitlon.
61. In a continuous discourse there is no separation
between
the
words,
except
where
we
pause
to
take breath,or
ao INTRODUCTION.
["
%*.
for
emphasis:
the words of
a sentence are run
togetherexactly
in the same
way
as
the
syllables
of
a
word
are.
Thus
in
ordinarypronunciation
the
two words of the sentence kU
her I
are run
togetherexactly
in the
same
way
as the two
syllables
of the word
tdkr,
the two
groups
being
identicalin
sound "
(tela).
Until
we
know the
meaning
of
(telG)
" which
we cannot do without
a
sufficientcontext "
we not
only
cannot divide it into
words,
but
we cannot even
tellwhether
itis
one
word
or two words.
63.
_A
word
may
be defined
as an
mltiinate inctependent
een"e-nmt.
A
sentence such
as
cats calch mice is
an
inde-
"pendent sense-unit,
but it is not an
ultimate
one,
for it
can
be subdivided into the smaller
independent
sense-units calt
(orcat),calch,
mice. We call such
a
sound-group
as cai
an
ultimate sense-unit because it
cannot
be divided into lesser
sense-units. We call
arbitraryan
ultimate sense-unit for the
same
reason;
for arU and
trary
by
themselves make
nonsense.
Such
a sound-group as
tripod
is also
an ultimate
sense-unit, because,although
its
two
syllables
Irt
(trai)
and
pod
are
by
themselves real
sense-units,
yet
their
meaning
has
no
connection with that of
tripod
itself.
Cal,
arbitrary,
tripodare
further
independent
sense-units:
they can
stand
anywhere
in
a
sentence,
and enter into
any
combinations
with other words that
are not
contrary
to their
meaning
and
the
principles
of
English
grammar,
The inflected word cais can
be divided into
cats,
but the
second
element,though
it has the definite
meaning
of
plurality,
is not an
independentsense-unit,
and the connection between
co/f and the uninflected cal is
so
intimate that
we cannot
regard
the two as
distinct words.
Besides,
such
a
pluralas
mice
cannot
possibly
be divided into two sense-units.
68. By
form,
words are
distinguished by
the different
sounds of which
they are
made
up,
by
the different order
of these sounds
{tip,pit),by
their
length"especiallyas
",
6 570
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES. 21
nleasured
by
the number of
syllables,
and
by
stress
{âbstract,
to
ah'stracf),
and intonation.
AJthough,
as we have
seen (61),
there is
no
necessary separation
of words in
sentences, yet
in aU
languages
words
are to
soine extent marked off
by
their form. Thus in
some
languages
the stress is
always
on
the first
syllable
of
a
polysyllabic word,
so that a
strong
stress
always
shows the
beginning
of
a new
word, justas a
loiidernote
in music shows the
beginning
of
a
bar. And in all
languages
certain sounds and certain sound-
groups
occur
only
in certain
positions.
Thus in
English,
whenever
we
hear the sound
("])
"
as
in
king (kiq),wc
know that it
cannot form the
beginning
of a word.
64. A word
may
occur
in
more
than
one
form. Thus
in
English
we
have the distinction between
emphatic(hiz),
as
in it is
his,
not
ker's,
and
unemphatic(iz),
as
in H is his
mm.
In such
cases we
do not
regard
the two forms
as
different
words, being,indeed, generally
insensible of the
difference between them. Such
pairs
are
called
donblgta.
If
a pair
of doublets
diverge
in
meaning as well as form,so
^
,
that the
gap
between them cannot be
bridgedover
without the \
/
help
of historical
grammar,
tfaen
we
feel them to be distinct
words,as
in the case
of
^'and off,
which
were originally
both
modi"catioDS of Old
Englishof.
65. It sometimes
happens
that
a
word has
a
different
form when it is abBOlate " that
is,
stands alone" from what
ithas when it is
oonjoint
" that
is,grammatically
associated
with another word. Thus we
have the absolute form
mine,
as
in t/ is
mint,corresponding
to the
conjoint
form
my,
as
in H is
my
book.
66.
If, on
the other
hand,
the
same combination of
sounds
expresses
several distinct
meanings
which
cannot be
a5scv:iatedtogether, as
in bear
(theanima!)
and to
bear,
then
we
feel the two sound-combinations to be distinct
words,
for in
language
we cannot
go
by
form
alone,
apart
from
meaning.
Such
pairs
are called
homonyms.
67.
When
we call words ultimatesense-units,
we
do
not
D,o,i,7."i.,Goo(^le
aa
im-RODVCTlON.
\s 58.
imply
that
theyrepresent
ultimate ideas. On the
contrary,
many
words "
indeed most words "
express
a
good
many
ideas at once.
Such
a
word as
rain,
for
instance,
contains
in itselfthe elements of
a
sentence, though
of
course not
put
in the form of a statement: Tain means
roughlyspeaking
'
drops
of water
falling
from the
sky.'
Such a word as
baker
is still
more complex:
it
impliesselling
as
well
as making
bread,biscuits, buns,
and other food of the
same
kind. In
fact,we
put
ideas into words not because of their
simplicity
or primitive ness,
but because of their
importance
to
us;
and
whenever it is convenient to
express
a
group'
of ideas
by
a
single
word, language generally
finds the means to do
so.
FORU-WORDS.
66.
In such a sentence as
ihi tarth is
round,
we
have
no
difficulty
in
recognising
earth and round
as ultimate
independent
sense-units
expressing
the two essentialelements of
every
thought^subject
and
predicate.
Such words as /he and
is,
on
the other
hand, though independent
in
form, are not
independent
in
meaning:
the and is
by
themselves do not
convey any
ideas,
as
earth and round do. We callsuch words
as
the and is
form-worda,
because
theyare
words in form
only.
When
a
form-word is
entirely
devoid of
meaning,
we
may
call it
an
empty word,
as
opposed
to full words
such
as
earth and round. It is
easy
to see
that the and is in
the earth is round
belong
to this class of form-words.
Although
is sometimes has the
independent meaning
'existence,' as
in
Troy
is
no
more,
it is
easy
to see
that in
the earth is round it has no meaning
of its
own,
and serves
only
to show that the word which follows it"
namely
round
" is
a predicate,
or,
in other
words,
it
serves to connect
subject
and
predicate.
We
see then that
is,though
it has
no independentmeanii^,
has
a definite
grammatical
function
" it is
a grammatical
form-word. The in the
earth,on the
other hand,
has not even a
grammaticalfunction,
and
serves
T,Goo(^le
5 6i.]
33
only
to show that larlh is to be taken in (he sense of
'
terres- trial
globe,'
and not in that of
'
mould,' which it
might
otherwise
have; so that
althoughformallyindependent
of
tarlh " for
we can
put
another word between
themj as in t)u
whole earth" it
is,logically speaking,
almost a
part
of
it,as
if it
were a derivative
prefix,
likethe
unin unkttawn
(68).
of a farm-wnr^ ^^\^
cnmplhmg^
(h^
inHqiîifl^m
m^j..Miir-
^
a juILword;""^come^ as in
ke htcamt
primt minister,
is
an
example
of such a
'
fullform-word,'for it combines the full
meaning
'
change
'
with the
grammatical
function of the form-
word is ; ke became
means
'
he
changed
his
condition,' and
the full
sentence
implies
'
he is
(was)prime
minister.'
ao. In most
languages
there is a natural
tendency10
subordinate form-words to full words in stress. This is
especially
the case in
English.
Thus in the earth is round
(-Si'asjj
-iz
-raund)
we
have two fullwords with
strong
stress,
and two form-WOr'l'^
"'^b wPaV
^ne^^ ;
anH^
as
lyP RT
in
such a sentence as
Troy
-is no more
(5S),
is itselfhas
a
strong
Pitrpw
wb^n
it hapi a
full mi-aninn-
61. Another
practical t^
of.form--.KQrdgJj_that they
may
often be omitted with a slightchange
in the form of the
seaieuL'e " soiiitFtTra e s
wiihout
any
change at all" oir'in
transla'tTng'"~inlo~some
other
language.
Thus the form-
word
cf
in man
of
honour is omitted in the
synonymous
expression
honourable
man,
and the earth is rotmd
may
be
expressed
in Latin
by
terra
rotunda,literally
'earth
round,'
where both form-words
are
omitted. So also some in
some
people
think
differently, being
a fu!iword has
strong
stress and
cannot be omitted
;
while in
give
me some more bread it has
weak
stress,
and
might
be omitted without loss of clearness,
being
here used as a fonn-word like the French
du,
literally
'
of
the,'
in du
pain
'
some bread,'
'
bread.'
Even such words as
piece
and
lump are
used
nearly
as form-
words in such
groups
as a
pieceof "bread,,
a
lump of 'leiid,
24
INTRODUCTION.
as
is shown
by
their diminished strei
practically
almost the same
meaning
a
It
will,
of
course,
be understood that itis not
alwayseasy
"
or even
possible"
to draw a definiteline between full words and
form-words.
Word-formstion.
62. We have hitherto confined
our
attention
to
sim]^
words,
that
is,
words which in their uninflected form cannot
be divided into lessersense-units. But there
are
also
oom-
plex
words,
which can
be divided in this
way.
Complex
words are
of two kinds,
(n)oompound
words
or
compounds,
such
as blackbird,
fonned
by composition,
and
{^)
derived
words
or derivatives,
such as
unknown, ktrptr,
formed
by
derivation,
that
is,by adding
derivative
elements,
such
as
un-,
-er. Compoution
and derivation
are
included under
the common
designation
ofword-formation or
word-forming
processes.
Composition.
68. A
compound
is
a
combination of
two words
equivalent
formally
and
logically
to a
simple
word. Thus in the
compound
word blackbird the elements of the
compound
"
the words of which it is made
up
"
are as
distinct
as
in the
word-group
black
bird;
but
apart
from this,
blackbird is
as
much
a single,
indivisibleword
as
the
monosyllabic
word
swan
compared
with such
a
word-group
as while bird.
64. The formal distinctionbetween
a
compound
and
a
word-group
pvjHgdily
i"i
that in
v^ i-nnipniiiiH
the elements
are
associated more closelytogether.
Just
as
in the
simple
word
Iripod
the
two
syllables
Iri and
pod
are inseparable
from
one
another,
and follow
one
another in
a
fixed
order,
so
also the
elements
of blackbird
are inseparable
from
one
another and
follow
one
another in
an
absolutely
fixed order.
Justas
tripod
forms its
plural
tripods,
so also such
compounds
as
S67-]
25
blackbird,ha/box,
foim their
pluralsblackbirds, halboxts,
the
first elements of these
compounds being as
incapable
of
change
of form as the first
syllable
of
Iripod
itself.But such
a word-groupas a
box
for a
hal
can
be
freely
altered
not
only
into a
box
for hats,
but also into boxes
for
halt
;
and
the elements of the
word-group
a
black bird
may
be modified
and
separated
in various
ways,
as in
so black
a bird,
the black- est
bird,
birds black and while.
66. The formal
unity
of
a
compound
is often further
strengthened by
its
havingonlyone
strong
stress. Thus,
just
as
the
single
strong
stress in the
simple
word
-Iripod
makes
us
feel that it is
a single,
indivisible
word,
sp
also the
single
stress in -blackbirdmskts
us
feel that itis a
single,
indivisible
word
as opposed
to the
group
-black
-bird,
in which both
syllables
have the
same
strong
stress.
But
unity
of stress by
itselfis not
enough
to constitute
a
compouD^^
;
rli""
""
'"""
rr""p
'*"
"""
tEMnr^nly one
strong
"
stress,
and
yet
we cacn
of its
separability
and
w
66. Wejiay sum
up
the formal characteristics of
com-
pounds by
saying
that
thev^^mplv
formal isnlatinti
r
fhf
elements of
a compound are brought
into suc^
close
connection
with
one
another that
they are
isolated from the
other words of the sentence in which
they
occur.
07. ppniv
a
rnmpniinfl
vitaA ia nnt
onlyinflf;rtf^
HIta
a
^BipplA
vnT(\^
hilt irr
rnpnkU
r,t
tntiaan^
i'"tft_
frCsh
COm-
pounds,
and of
taking
derivativeelements. Thus the
compound
midship
and the
simple'
word man are combined
together
in the
compound midship-Tnan.
We callsuch
cono-
pounds
aeoondary compounds, as
opposed
to primary
ct^pounds.
such
as blackbird. From the
compound
moonlight
the derivative
moonlight-tr
is formed.
In such
compounds
as
firelighter
the -er
is not a
derivative
ending
added to the whole
compound,
but the
compound
is
made
up
at
fire
and the
already
derived word
lighter.
a6 INTRODUCTION.
\_\
68.
68. It is evident that
compounds
must have
special
meanings
of their
own,
for otherwise there would be no
object
in
distinguishing
them from
word-groups
" in distinguishing,
for
instance,
between "blackbird and 'black -bird.
Hence
we
find that while the
meaning
of such
a
word-
group
as
black bird is inferred
as a matter of
course
from
the
meanings
of ihe
separate
words of which it is made
ap,
this is not the
case
with
a compound
such
as
blackbird
i
there
is,
for
instance,nothing
in the
meaning
of the words
black and bird to tell
us that
a
blackbird is
a
bird with
a
yellow
beak. Blackbird
is,therefore,to some
extent,
an.
ultimate
sense-unit;
and
ytt
it consists of two
words,
each
having an independentmeaning
of its
own,
the
meaning
of
both woras
entering
into that of the
compound
formed
by
them. We
may express
this in other words
J^ .saying
that
the
meaning
of
a
compound isîsolated fromêjneaning^
of
itselements.
Logical,
without
formal,
isolation is not
enough
to constitute
a
compound.
The
meaning
of such
a sentence as
how
doyou
do t cannot
be
fully
inferred from the
meanings
of the words of
which it is made
up ;
and
yet
we do not callthis
groap
a compound,
bec-iuse it does not differ
formally
from
any
other
sentence
made
up
of
Independent
words and
capable
of various
modifications of form.
Again,although
The Red Sea
means
one particularsea"
the
meaning
of the combination
being
therefore
strongly
isolated"
yet
as the
group
does not diflfer
grammatically
in
any way
fi^m the black bird and other
groups
in which there is
no
logicalisolation,
we cannot call it
a
compound.
But there ia
a
class of combinations called
group-oompoimds
(440),
which
are
really
intermediate between true
compounds
i
and
word-groups.
DERIVATIOtl.
69.
Such
a
derivativeelement
as im-
in un-knoum is
an
ultimate
sense-unjt
with
a
very
definite
meaning,beingso
far
on a
level
with the word nol. But it is not
independent;
for
D,r,i7-"i-,Goo(^le
% 7^^
37
while nol can
stand
alone,
and
can
be
put
before
any
woid
with which the
general
rules of
English
grammar
allow it to
be
associated, un- cannot
stand
alone,
and
can
be used
only
with certain words
;
thus
we cannot
fonn such derivatives
as
"umahilt,'unrtligious, answering
to the
word-groups
not
white,
not
religioiu, aiihough
there is
nothing
in the rules of
English
grammar
to forbid such combinations.
70.
When a derivativeelement
comes before the
body
of
the word,
itis called
a
prefix -,
when it
comes
after
it,
it is
called a sniQx or
ending.
Thus
un- and ^
in unknown
and become
are
prefixes,
-er
and
-ness
in
keeper
and
goodness
are
suffixes.
71.
Derivation is sometimes
accompanied by
sound-
change,
as in national
(luejanal)
from nation
(neifsn),
breadth
from broad
compared
with truth from true. Sometimes
a.
process
analogous
to derivation is carried
on
by
sound-
change alone,
without the addition of
any
derivative
element,
as
in
tofiUhoTafiill, compared
with to
gladden
from
glad.
Derivation
by sound-change
alone
can
generally
be
traced
back to an
earlier
stage
of derivation
by sound-change
and
addition
together,which,again,
is
a
later
stage
of derivation
by
addition alone. Thus the difference between national and
nation
m
Present
English
is the result of the earlier
English
tendency
to shorten the vowels in the first
syllables
of
longer
72. Derivation,being
a
process
for
formingnew words,
necessarily
alters the
meaning
of the derived
word. The
meanings
of derivativeelements
are
often
vague
and
irregular.
Thus itis not
easy
to see much
community
of
meanii^
in the
prefix
bein such words
as
become,befall, beset,nor
between the
complex
become and the
simple
come. The suffix
-ness
in
goodness,badness,redness,
etc. is
an
example
of
a
derivative wliich is much more
regular
in its
meaning,
but
even
here we
should not be able to infer the
meaning
of
business
from thatof
buty.
INTRODUCTION.
Xnfleotions.
78.
By
inflection
we understand
an
addition to a whole
class of words
expressing
some
grammaticalfunction,or a
meaning
so generalas not to constitutea new
woul. Thus
the inflection
-t
isadded to
tru,
etc. to
exprrf?
the
meaning
of
plurality,
this
meaning being
so
generala one
that
we-
feeltreit
to be
essentially
the
same
word
as
the uninflected
singular
tree.
,
So also the
preterite
inflection-ed is added to
fall,live,stop,
etc. to
express past
time;
and the
genitive
inflection
-i
" which is distinctin
meaning
and
origin
from
the
plural
inflection" has the
grammatical
function of
making
such words
as
tree,day,
etc. into
a
particular
classof
adjunct-
words,
and thus of
connecting
words
together
in
sentences,
as
in
a day'sjourney,
where
dajfsdcSaesj'ourrtey
in the
same
way
as
long
in
a
long
journey.
As words are
always
liable to
develop
a
variety
of
meanings,
itsometimes
happens
that the
plural
of
a
word has
a different
meaning
from the
singular,
as
in sands =
'sandy
shore of the
sea'
compared
with sand. But such
changes
of
meaning are
secondary ones,
which look
place
after the formation of the
74. Inflection
by
addition
is,
like
derivation,
sometimes
initial
" at the
beginning
of the uninflected
word,or bsee "
but
generally
flnsl " at the end of the base. We have
an
example
of initialinflection in the
augment
of the Greeli
verb,
which
expresses past
time,as
in
/-/w^/cn'
I
was
striking'
compared
with the
presenttiipio
'I
strike,'
and the German
and
Old
English
ge-
by
which these
languages
mark the
preterite participles
of
verbs,
as
in German
gemacht.
Old
"
Englishgemacod
'
made,'
from German
machen,
Old
English
macian
'
to
make.' As inflectionis
mainly
finalin
English
and the other
languages cognate
with
it,
initialinflection
in
T,GoO(^le
178.]
29
"
these
languages
is
generally accompaniedby
finalinflection "
4-tupt-on, ge-mac-od.
Hence there is a tendency
to restrict
the term 'inflection'to 6nal additions to a word,
and to
regard
ge-
etc. as derivative
prefixes.
75. InQe^V^
is often
accompaniedby sound-change, as
in the
plural
leaves from
lea/,preterite though-t
from think.
Sometimes inflectionis effected
entirelyby sound-change,
as in nun from
man,
laio from see.
As in
derivation, the forms with
sound-changeare
generally
of later
origin.
76.
Sometimes an inflectionalfunction is
performedby
a
variety
of distinct
forms,as
in the
plurals Irees, children.,
men,
and the
preterites called, thought, saw,
held. As the
change
of
child into children and of man into men has
exactly
the same
meaning as
that of tree into
trees,
we do not hesitateto
regard
allthese
changes
as constituting one and the
same
inflection,
however distinct
they
may
be in
origin,
and
so
also with the
preterites called,thought,etc.
It sometimes
even happens
that differentwords stand in
an
inflectional
relationto
one another,
with or without the
help
of inflection.
Thus
went,
was stand in the same relation to
_goes,
is as
called, saw to
calls, sees
;
and the uninflected me stands in the
same
relationto / as the inflectedhi-m does to he.
Here,
again,
we
do not hesitateto call went the
preterite
oi
go,
and
me
the
objective
case of /.
77. The absence of inflection "
negatiTe
infieotion"
often
has the same function as
positive
inflection. Thus
the absence of the
plural
inflection-j
in tree
expresses
the
singular
number.
78.
Inflectionshave the
Eame_^-ammatical
functionsas
form-words.
Thus the
genitive
inflection-s
in
a day's
work y
has exactly
the same
function as the form-word
"/
in Iht
1/
zvork ^
a lifetime.
30
INTRODUCTION.
[(79.
When
a
fonn-word is much
shortened,
it
may
become
phonetically
indistinguishable
from
an inflection, as
in
John
is here
(djonzhia),
where the
(z)is,phonetically speaking,
as much
a
part
of the
preceding
word
as the
genitive
-i in
John's
book
(djonibuk).
But
we can
easilysee
that
inyoAw
is here the
(i)
is an
independent
word in
spite
of its shoilfcss,
by
trans- posing
itin such
a sentence as
here t'l
John (hiszdjon),
the inflectional
-f
in
Johfii
book
being,on
the other
band,absolutely
inseparable
from itsbase.
78.
Inflection is
very
similar to derivation,not
only
in
form,
but also,
in
some
cases,
in
meaning.
Thus
although
the
plural
inflectionin such
a
word
as Irets
only
adds
to the
meaning
of free without otherwise
allering it,
yet
ines
may
to
some
estent be
regardedas a new word" as
approximating
in
meanii^
to
such words
as
forest
and
park.
In
fact
modern English
does treat
plurals
of
nouns to some extent
as
if
theywere new words;
for
justas man
has
a
genitive
matis,so
also the
plural
men
has
a
genitivemetis,as
if it
were an independent
word.
80. Conversely,
there
are some
derivativeelements which
are
very
similar to inflections.Thus the
change
of
xohite
into whileness, good
into
goodness, etc.,
can hardly
be said
to
form
a new word,
for it
comes to the
|ame thing
whether
we
say
snow
is while or snow
has the allfihute
of
whiteness. In
fact,
Ihe
onlyuse
of Che
change
of white into whUemss is
to
give
greater
freedom in the use of the word in
sentences.
But,on
the other
hand,
in such derivatives
as business,his
Highness,
there is
a
considerable
change
of
meaning,
really
amouDling
to
the formation of
a new
word.
Belations between Words.
81. There are
five
ways
of
indicating
the relations
between
words in
word-groups
and sentences :
(a)
word-order,or
posi-
'
;
lion,{b)stress,(f)
intonation,
{d)
the
use
of
form-words, and
V
(*)
inflection.
S 85.]
$1
82. The
Amplest
and most abstract
way
of
sfaowing
the
relations between words is
by
theirorder. We
see
how the
meaning
of
a sentence
may
depend
on the order of itswords
by comparing
/Ae
man
helped
the
boy
with Ihe
boyhelped
the
man,
where the distinctionbetween
subject
and
adjunct
to the
predicatedependsentirely
on
the word-order.
88. We
can see
how stress altersthe
meaning
of
a sentence
by comparing
thai is
-my
book with thai is
-my
book;
the latter
realty
means
'it is
my
book and not
some one
else's.'
84. We
can see
how
intonatioii shows the relationbetween
words
by comparing
a sentence such
asyou
are
ready
?',
uttered with
a
rising tone,
with the
same sentence utteredwith
the
falling
tone of such
a sentence as
/
am
rtady^.
While
the
falling
tone
expresses
statement,
the
rising
tone
expresses
question,so
that the
rising
tone
in
you
are ready
has the
same
meaning
as the
change
of word-order in
are
you
ready
?
The above
are
examples
of aentenoe-strMB and BaBtenoa-
Intonation as
distinguished
from word-streos and 'word-
iatonation.
English
uses both sentence- stress and word-stress
to
express
differences of
meaning (the
latter in such
pairs
as
'abstract and to
ai'siract),
while intonation is used in
English
only
to
modify
the
meaning
of sentences. Word- intonation
occurs
in
many foreignlanguages,
such
as
Old Greek and
Chinese
(the
'
Chinese tones
'),
where it is used to
distinguish
the
meanings
of
separate
words. Thus in Old Greek oikoi'aX
home' and Hkoi
'houses' were distingubhedsolelyby
their
intonation,
both words
having
the
same
sounds and the
same
strong
stress on the first
syllable.
85. Stress and
intonation,however,
have not much in-
fiuence on
the
grammatical
structure of
sentences,
sentence-
stress being
used
mostly
for
emphasis,
and intonation to
express
shades of
feeling,
such as curiosity, dogmatism,
contempt,
though,
as we
have
seen,
it is also used to
express
purelylogicalmeanings
such
as
question.
Variations of
stress
and intonation
are
also
limited in number. The
3*
WTRODVCTtON.
[f
8".
distinctiODGthat can
be made
t^
word-order are
still
more
limited,so
that if
a
languagedepended entirely on
word-
order to show
grammaticalrelations,
it would have to use
the
same word-order to
express
a
great
variety
of different
meanings.
Hence
no languagecan relyexclusively
on these
three,
but
requires
the
help
either of form-words
or
inflections,
which afford
as
many
grammatical
distinctions
as are
necessary.
86.
The nature of f"sm-wordfi and InfleotioiXB has been
alreadyexplained.
Some
languages,
such as
Chinese,
show
grammatical
relations
entirely by means
of word-order and
fonn-words.
Others,
such as Latin,relymainly on
inflections,
though they
use
many
form-words
as well,
with
which,
indeed,no language
can
dispense.
We call such
a
language
as
Chinese
an iaolatiiiglanguage as
distinguished
from
an
inlleotional
language
such as Latin.
English
is
mainly
an
isolating language
which has
preserveda
few inflections.
The classificationof
languagesaccording
to their
structure,
without
regard
to their
relationship,
is called the
morpho-
loglottl,
as
opposed
to the
gonaalogloal
dassification.
English
and Latin
are
genealogically
related
by being
both members of
the Arian
family
of
languages,
but
they
difier
widelymorpho- logically.
English
and
Chinese,on the other
band,
show
great
morphological
resemblance without
being
in
any way genea-
Icîcally
related.
87.
We
havejiow
to connidtr how these means (A
gTsm-
matical "
inij''riiiMi;_i.ii|iiiirir"
rtiml
nnlri)
fiiim
wriiilfi,
and
inltectiohs, are
used in
language
to
express
logical
relations.
88. The first
main_diyision_is
that
^f
modiiînK and
OOBneotiro
The in the earth is
a modifying
form-word
; is,
and in the earth is
round,
you
and
I,
are connective form-
words. So also ihe
plural
inflectionin trees is
msdifying,
while the
genitive
inflectionin
a day'swork is connective. A
modifying
form
requiresonlyone
word to make
sense {the
earth,trees'),
while
a
connective form
requires
two words to
(9'-]
33
make
sense
(you
and
I,a days work).
The relalionsbetween
words in sentences are
therefore shown
mainlybj connectives,
while modifiers have almost the function of word-formers
(88).
89. When two words
are
associated
togethergrammati- cally,
theirrelation
may
be
one
either of ooordinatioii
or
of
Bnbordiiiatioa
(45).
Coordination is shown either
by
word-order
only,
or
by
the
use of form-words,as
in
mm,
womtn,
and
children,
where the first
twp
full-words
are connected
onlyby
their
position,
while the lasttwo
aic
connected
by
the
"fonn-word and.
00. Subordination
implies
the relîon of
head-word and
adjonot-word
(40).
But there
are
degrees
of subordination.
When the subordination of
an assumptive(attributive)
word to its head-word is
so slight
that the two are
almost
coordinate,
the
adjunct-word
is said to be in
apposition
to its head-word. Thus in
kirigAlfred
the
adjunct-
word is
a
pure
assumptive
"
as
much
so as
good
in the
good
king"an^
has the usual
position
6ran
assumptive
word in
English,
that
is,
before itshea3-word, while in
Alfred
the
b'ng
or
Alfred,king of England,
it stands in
apposition
to its
head-word in
a
different
position
and in
a more
independent
01. In the above
examples
the relationbetween head-word
and
adjunct-word
is
onlyvaguely
indicated
by position, being
mainly
infeiredfrom the
meaning
of the words.- fiutin such
a sentence as
/
bought
thesehooks at Mr. Smith's the bookseller's,
the connection between the
adjunct-words
these and
bookselUr's and their head-words is shown
_by
each
adjunct-
word
taking
the inflection of its head-word.
This
repetiti"Hi
of the inflectionof
a head-word in its
adjunct-worn
is
called
oonoord,
and the
two
words
are said to
agree
in whatever
grammatical
form
they
have in
common: the concord between
these and books consists in their
agreeing
in number "
that
is,
in both
havingplural
inflection
;
and the concord between
bookseller'sand Smith's consists in their both
having
34
INTRODUCTION.
[|
9*.
the
same genitive
iDflection. In such
groups
as
gretn
treet,
the treet became
green,
there ii
no
concord,
as
if
we were to
say
'thit bookt instead of these booki. In
a
highly
inflected
concord-language
such
as Latin,
green
in the above
examples
would take ihe
plural
inflectionof trees
just
as much as this
vould.
99.
The concord-inflectionof an
adjunct-word
is not
only
logicallysuperfluous,
but often
unmeaning.
Thus it is
evident that the idea
expressedby
this and
grem
does
not
admit of
plurality
" for
we cannot form
an
idea of
'more
than
one
this
'
or
of
'
more
than
one
greenness
'
" and
consequently
that the
plural
inflectionof this in
these trees Is in
itselfdevoid of
meaning.
Soch concord-inflectionshave
indeed
only
an
indirect
grammatical function,
namely
that
of
indicating
the connection between head-word and
adjunct-
word: the
plural
inflection of this in these trees does not
modify
its
meaning
m
the
slightest degree,
but
onlyserves to
connect it with another word
having
the
same inflection,
namely
trees.
S8.
When the relations between words
are shown
1^
word-order,
concord is not of much
use,
and
consequently
is reduced to
very
narrow limits in such
a
language as
English. Conversely,
in
a
highly
inflectional
languagewith
a
highlydeveloped
system
of
concord,
such
as Latin,
fixed
word-order is not
required
to show the
grammatical relations
between words. Even in
Englishwe might
put
these
and
trees
far
apart
in
a sentence and
yet
easilyjoin
them
together
in
thotightby
their
having
the
same inflectim. Hence in
such
a language
as
Latitiubeword-order is much freerthan
in
English,
the
position
of words
being
determined
mainlyby
considerations of
emphasis
and
euphony.
84. When
a
word assumes a certain
gfammaticat
form
throughbeing
associated
with another
word,
the
modified
word is said to be
gordmed by
the
other'one,
and the
governing
word is said to
govern
the
grammatical
form in
",Goo(^lc
S 98.]
35
question.
Thus in
a day'swork, day's
is
governed
by work,
and work itselfis said to
govern
the
genitive case.
So also
in I
sie him,
him is
governed\"yset,
and
see
is said
to
govern
the
objective
case
him. In /
thoughtof him,
the form-word
tf/'also
governs
the
objective
case.
FartB "a
SpeMli.
OS. As
regards
their function i:
under certain classes called
parta
of
speeoli,
all the memhers
"Uf 64ch of These classes
having
certain formal characteristics
in common
which
distinguish
them from the members of the
other classes.
Each of these classes has
a name
of its
own
"
noun,
adjective, verb,
etc.
86. Thus,
if
we
compare nouns,
such
as
snow, tree,
man,
with
adjectives,
such
as
big,white,
green,
and
verbs,
such
as
melt,
grow,
speak,
we
shall find that all
nouns
whose
meaning
admits
of it
agree
in*
having plural
inflections"
generally
formed
by adding
s
(trees) ;
that
adjectives
have
no plural
inflecdons,
but have
degrees
of
comparison {big,
digger,
l"igg'i')
" which
nouns
and verbs have not
;
that verbs have
inflectionsof their
own
distinctfrom those of the
other
parts
of
speech (/
grow,
he
grows,
grown)
;
that each
part
of
speech
has
special
form-words associated with it
{a
tree,
the
tree
;
to
grow,
is
growing,
has
grown);
and that each
pari
of
speech
has
a more or
less definite
position
in the
sentence
with
regard
to other
parts
of
speech{whitesn"w,
the
snow
melts,
the
green
tree,
the tree
is
green).
B7.
If
we
examine the funotlonB of these three
classes,
w^
see
at once Ihat^ll
vertewejiredicaliKejKflrds
" that
they
state"
sofflethinjj
alHiliTa"
subject- word,
which is
generallya
notm {the
sitow
melts);
that
adjectivesare oflen used
as
assumptive
words
{whitesnow),
and
so on.
08.
'If
we
examine the
meanizigB
of the words
belonging
to
the differed
parts
of
speech,we
shall find that such
nouns
36
tNTRODUCTtON.
[(99.
as
tretimow, man,
are all
Bubstance-worda,while the
adjectives
and verbs
given
above are alt
attribute-words,
the
adjectives expressing
permanent
attributes,
the verba
changing
attributesor
phenomena.
We
can
easily
see that theie
is a
natural connection between the functions and
meanings
of these
parts
of
speech.
We
see
that the most natural
waj
of
speaking
of
a
substance is to
imply
or state
some attribute
about it
(tviiie
snow,
Ih4
snow
mtlls);
and that
permanent
attributes,
such
as
'
whiteness,'
can
often be taken for
granted,
while
phenomena,
such
as
'melting,' being
often sudden and
unexpected,require
to be stated
ezplicitly.
eo. But this
ctmnection,thoughnatural,
is not
necessarr.
In
language
it is often
necessary
to
state,
as well
as
imply,
permanent
attributes
ilhe
tree is
green),
and it is sometimes
convenient to make statements about attributes
as
well
as
substances.
Thus,
instead of
using
the word whtU as a
nutans
of
implyingsomething
about
snow or
any
other substance,
we
may
wish to state
or imply something
about the
attributeitself, as
when
we
say
whilentssis
an allribuie
of
snow,
or
talkof the
dazzling
tohiteness
oftht
snow.
It is
easy
to
see
that there is
no
difference of
meaning
between wkite-
ntss
is
an
attribute
of snmo
and
snow
is white
:
the difference
between
white-^d
the noun whiteness is
purely
formal and
functional"
gilkmmatical,
not
logical.
Classification of the Parts
of
Speech.
100.
The
parts
of
speech
in inflectional
languages are
divided into two
main.groups,deoUnable,
that
is,capable
of
inflection,
and
indeoliiiable,
that
is,incapable
of inflection.
101.
The declinable
pajts
of
speech
fallunder the three
main
divisions,
nouns,
adjeotlTed,
and
mrbs,
which have
been
already
described. Ptodouiib
are a special
class of
nouns
and
adjectives,
and
are
accordinglydistinguished as
noun-pronoans,
such as
7,th^f,
and
adjeotlTe-prononna,
such
as
my
and tiat in
my
book,
that
man.
ITiuQerala
are
,Goo(jle
Sioj.]
37
another
special
class of
nouns
and
adjectives:
Ihree in Ihree
0/
us
is
9.
aoun-nmneral,
in three
men an adjeotlTe-
nnmeral. Verbals ue a
class of words intermediate
between verbs
on
the'ohe
hand and
nouns
and
adjectives
on
the
other
: they
do not
express
predication,
but
keep'
allthe
other
meanings
and
grammatical
functionsof the verbs from
which
they
are
formed. Noun-verbals
comprise
iuflni-
tirfiB,
such
as
^0
in / will
go,
I wish lo
go,
and
gemndB,
sach as
going
in / ihink
of going. Adjective-verbals
comprise
various
partioiples,
such
as melting
and melted in melt-
ingmow,
the snow is melted.
102. Indeclinable words
or
partioles
com^mse
adverbs,
prepositions, CDDJunctions,
and
interjections.
The main
function of
adTerbB,'S^chas quickly
and
very,
is to
serve as
adjunct-words
to verbs and to other
particles, as
in the
snow
melted
quickly,
very
quickly. PrepositionB,
such
as
of,are
joined
to
nourw to
make them into
adjunct-words, as
in
man
,
of honour,
where
of
honour is
equivalent
10 the
adjective
honourable.
Oonjunotioiis,
such
as
(f,
are
used
mainly
to show the connection between
sentences,
as
in
ifyou
do
so,
you
will
repent
it.
luteijeotiona,
such
a"
aht alas
I,
are A
sentence-words
(49)expressing
various emotions.
103. For convenience we include
nouns
in the limited
sense
of the
wofd,
nonn-pronouns,
noun-numerals and
gerunds
under the common
designationBfflUX-vQcd.
So also
wa
include
adjectives, adjective-pronouns, adjective-
numerals and
participlss
under the
common designation
artjflnMTfl-woi'H. ^
The term
'
verb
'
is sometimes used to include the
verbals,
sometimes to exclude them. When
necessary,
the
predicative
forms of the verb
as
opposed
to the verbals
are
included
" imder the term flmte verb:
thus in I think
ofgoif^,
think
is a
finiteverb as
opposed
to the verbal
(gerund)going,
althoi^h
both
are included under the term
'
verb' in itswider
T,Goo(^le
3"
INTRODVCTIOff.
t" ""4-
104.
The
following is,then,our -ciassification of the
parts
of
speech
in
English:
Inonn-wordB
:
noun,
noun-pronoun,
noun-
numeiul,infinitive, gerund.
adjeotiTe-wonJa : adjective, tdjective-pio-
noun,
adjective-numeral, participles,
verb
:
finite
verb,
vertxUs
(infinitive, gerund,
participles),
indeclinable
(psrtioleB):
adverb,
preposition, (injunction,
interjection.
The distinction between the two classes which for convenience
we distinguish as
declinable and indeclinable
parts
of
speech
is
not
entirely dependenton the
presence
or
absence of
inflection,
but
really
goes
deeper,corresponding,
to some
extent,
to the
distinction between head-word and
adjunct-word.
The
great
majority
of the
particles
are
used
only
as
adjunct-words,
many
of them
beingonlyfonn-words,
while the
noun-words, adjective-
words and verbs
generally
stand to the
particles
in the relat)"m
of head-words.
GOHVERSION
01 THE
PaSTS
OV
SpEECH.
106.
When
we
talk of iht whittmss
of
the
snow
instead of
saying
tht
smoui
it
white,we make the
adjective
vnkik into the
noun
whitmesi
by adding
the derivative
ending -nets.
But
in
Ei^lish,as
in
many
other
languages,
wiMcan
oên
oon-
vert a word,
that
is,
msike it into another
part
of
speech
without
any
modtlication
or addition,
except,
of
course,
the
necessary
change
of
inflection,
etc. Thus
we can
make the
verb walk in hi walh into
a noun
by simplygiving
it the
same
formal characteiisticsas
other
nouns,
as
in ^ teeka
walk,
three
differmi
walks
e/lifi.
We callwalk in these two
collocations
a
converted
noun,
meaning
a word which has
been made into
a noun by
conversion.
Conversion bears
some
resemblance to
derivation, although
the
mere
change
of
a
verb into
a noun can hardly
be sud to
make
a new
word of it.
*
% I07.]
-
GRAMMATICAL CATEGOX/ES.
39
But
although
conversion does not involve
any
nlyratinn
jn
the
meaning
of a word,
yet
the
use
of
a word as a different
part
of
speech naturally
leads to
duuxgE.nce
of
meaning.
Theie
is,
for
instance,
in
nouns a.
natural
tendency
to
develop
a concrete
meaning (98). Thus,
while the
noun
wa/6 in the
examples
given
above
keeps
the abstract
meaning
of the verb from which
itis formed"
although
there is a
slightchange
of
meaning
in
the second
exampleît
has assumed
a concrete
meaning
in
gravel
wa/k""
meaning
which cuts it off both from the verb
U walk and the abstract noun
walk.
lOe. The test of
conversion
is that the converted word
adopts
all the formal characteristics
(inflection, etc.)
of the
part
of
speech
it has been made into. Thus walk in fielook
a walk is
a noun
because it takes the form-word the before-
it,
because it
can
take
a pluralending
s,
and
so on.
The
question,
which
part
of
speecha
word
belongs
to is thus
one
of
form, not of
meaning.
The nouns
in silk
thread,gold
watch are
used
as attribute-words
very
much
as
the
adjective
tilken,
but nevertheless
theyare not
adjectives
in the above
collocations
: we could not
say
"very
silk,
'more
silk,as we
could
say very
silken, more
silken
;
in fact
more
silk
by
itself
would
suggest
a totally
different
idea,namely
that of 'a
larger
quantity
of silk.'
107.
Butjiere
are cases
of
partialoonTergioaf
in
which,'
a
word
reallypartakes
of the formal
peculiarities
of
two
different
|Arts
of
speech.
Thus in tie
goodare hapj"y, good
takes the ibrm-word /he before itlike
a
noun,
and stands
as
the
subject
of
a sentence
like
a
noun,
and
yet
in itswant of
plural
inflectionit is
an adjective,
not a noun.
Goods in
goods
and
challels, on
the other
hand,
shows
completeconversion
of
an
iidjective
into
a noun.
It is sometimes doubtful what
part
of
speech
a
word
belongs
to. The less marked the formal characteristicsof
a
word,
the
more difficult it is to settle what
part
of
speech
it
belongs
to.
Hence
particles
offer
more difficulty
than declinable
words,
as
we
see
in the
difficulty
of
distinguishing
between adverbs and
conjunctions.
Hence also the
more
iafleciional
a language
is.
T,Goo(^le
40
INTRODVCTION.
[i
108.
the eaaier tbc discriminatioi)of the
parts
of
speech
is. Thus in
Enîsh,
where the
adjeaive
is
nearlyindeclinable,
it is
more
difficukto
distinguish
itfrom other
parts
of
speech
than in Latin.
Belatioiu between
Iiogioal
and Qnunmatioal
Gstegoriefl.
108.
We have
alreadyseen
that the
correspondence
between words and tbe ideas
they
express
is often
imperfect
(26).
Even vben tbe
graimnatical
and
logical categories
do
not
directly
contradict one another,
the
expression
of ideas
in
language
may
stillbe
imperfect
in various
ways.
Some- times
we
express
the
same
idea twice
over,as
in concord
(61),
while sometimes
we
do not
express
it at
all,
but leave
itto be inferred from the
context;
sometimes
we
have
more
than one
way
of
expressing
the
same
idea;
and sometimes
we can
express
an
idea
onlyimperfectly, or not at ill.
It must not be assumed that defective
correspondence
between
logical
and
grammaticalcategories
is
necessarilyinjurious
ttr'
language
considered
as a means
of
e;tpression.
On the
contrary,
illogical
and
urâmmatical
constructions often add
gready
to
ease,
and
even
to
accuracy,
of
expression(E28).
Fullness
or Expression; Elufsi.
109. The two extremes as regards
fullnessof
expression
are redunduioe on
the
one side,
and
ellipse
on
the otl^r.
110. Bedundanoe is
easy
b3
recognise,as
in the ph^se
/ will know the
reason
why=I
will know tht
reason
of it\
here the idea of
'
reason
'
is
expressed
twice
over
"
by
rtason
itselfand
by why.
The best
example
of
grammatical
redundance
is afforded
by
concord
(91).
From a
logicalpoint
of
view there is redundance not
only
in such constructionsas
Oust frets but also in two
trees,
ten
trees,etc.,
where tbe
numeral
by
itselfis
enough
to show
plurality
without the
noun-inflection.
IIL Tbe
oppositephenomenon
of
ellipse
offers
more
difficulties.When there are two forms for
expressing
the
5 iia.j
41
same idea,one
shorter than the
other,
itis not
always
safe to
assume
that the shorter form is
an
elliptical
variation of the
longer one.
Thus
we cannot
say
that cornel is an elliptical
form of
come
Ihou !
'.
come
thou I is rather an extended or
redundant form of comtl
;
for,as the
pronoun
is
really
superfluous"commands
being gênerally
addressed to some one
person
" comtl is the normal form of
expression.
Such
an
expression
as the
colloquial glad
to hear itÎ
am glad
to
hear
it,is,
on
the other
hand,
really elliptical, partly
because
the
meaning
is
not
clear without the
pronoun
/,
but still
more
because the fuller
expression
is
more
in
harmony
with
the
principles
of
English
grammar,
and is in
more
frequent
use
than the shorter
one.
The most unmistakeable
ellipses
are-
those which
give
rise to
grammaticallyimpossible
constructions. Thus he is
stopping
at his uncles is
elliptical
not so
much because the
missing
word home after tmcUs
suggests
itselfwithout an
effort,
but because without it the
preposition
at
seems to
govern
the
genitive case,
which is im-
pos^ble
in
English.
In
ellipse
the addition of ihe
missing
word must not involve
any
change
of construction. Thus
this is mine
cannot
be
expanded
into 'thisis mine
hat,
etc.,
which shows that thisis mine is not an elliptical
form of this
is
my
hat,
any
more
than the trees are
green
is an
elliptical
form
of the frees are
green
trees. Hence we cannot
assume an
ellipse
in the
parallel
construction this is
his,although
it
can
be
expanded
without
change
into this-is his
hat,
etc. From
thiswe can see
that the
practical
rule
is,never to assume an
ellipse
unless It
seems grammatically
necessary.
"^
lis.
What
might
at first
sight
seem to be
ellipse
is often
a
different
phenomenon, namely
what
we
may
call
oondensfr-
tioE.
We "have"
seen that in sentence-words
subject
and
predicate
are expressedby one
word
(49),
Now as
such
a
'
sentence-wordas
come/ is not either
logically or
historically
a
shortened form of
coTne ihou
/,
it cannot
b^
regarded
as an
'
elliptical,
but
only
as a
condensed
expressie^^We
have another
4a
INTRODUCTiOH.
[" 114.
kind of condensalion in Buch a
constniction
as
what
you say
it
true,
which
IB
nearlyequivalent
to
you say
tomelUng
which is
trvt. Here the word wheU does
duty
for two words at
once:
it stands in
one grammaticai
felation to
tt^,
and in another
to it. Bat itwould not be
good English
Co
expand
what
you
say
is true into
'what
you say,
that is true. So there is
no
ellipse
in this
case.
All
we can
do is to
acknowledge
the
fact that in such sentences what unites the
grammatical
functions ofthe two words
something
and which
;
and
we
do this
by calling
it a
'
condensed relative
pronoun
'
as opposed
to
the
ordinary
relative
pronoun
which in
something
which it
true.
Uniformity
of
Expression.
118. In a
perfectlai^:uage
there would be one distinct
form,
and
only
one,
to
express
each
separate
grammatical
meaning.
But this
uniformity
and
simplicity
of
expression
is
never
carried out
fully
in
any
actual
language.
We have
alreadyseen
that in inflectionthe
same grammatical
function
is often
dischargedby
a
variety
of distinct
forms,
and the
same
form used to
express
a variety
of distinct
grammatical
functions
(76).
In
languages
of mixed
moiphological
structure,
such
as English,we
find the
same
grammatical
relation
expressed by
different
categories
of
grammatical
forms " sometimes
by inflection,
sometimes
by form-words,
sometimes
by word-order, as
in
a da^s work,
the work
0/
a life,
night
work " and the
same grammatical
relation
is often shown
by
several
grammatical
forms at once.
Thus,
while in the
hiyhelped
the
man
the differentrelationsin
which the
two nouns stand to
the verb
are
shown
by
the
word-order
only,
the
same
relationsbetween
noun-pronouns,
as
in he
helpedhim, are
shown
by
inflection
as
well
as
word-order.
Adequacy of
Expression.
114. As
regardsadequacy,
the
expression
of
grammatical
categories
may
be
imperfect,
or whollywarning.
The
gram-
T,Goo(^le
4 llj.]
GSAMMATICAI. CATEGORIES.
43
matical relations between words
can be shown
onlyimperfectly
by
word-order
;
for
as
the number of different
positions
a word
can
take in
a sentence
is
necessarily limited,
the
same
position
must be used
to
express
a variety
of
grammatical
relations,
that
is,
if
any great
use
is made of word-
order. Thus the
nouns
and
pronouns
coming
afterthe verbs
in the
following English
sentences
stand in various different
relationsto those verbs
:
I
saw a man
;
he became
a
lajvyer; tiey
gave
Aim
a house
;
theymadt
Mm
a bishop.
In such
a language
as
Latin the differentrelations in which these words stand would
be
clearly
shown
by
their inflection. In
Latin,
him in
they
gave
him
a
house would be
put
in the dative
or
'indirect
object'
case,
house in the accusative
or
'direct
object'case.
In
English
the distinction between direct and indirect
object
is
expressed,
not
by inflection,
but
imperfectly by word-order,
the indirect
coming
before the direct
object
in such sentences
as
that
givenabove,although
in
some
constructions the order
is
reversed,
as in
give
it met We
can distinguish
between the
directand the indirect
objectby
the latter
being
able to take
the
preposition
to before it
;
ihey
gave
the house to
him
; give
it to mtl
Hence,
although
it would be
quite
incorrect to
say
that me
in
give
it
me
/ is in the dative
case,
it is correct
to
say
that it stands in the dative
or indirect
objectrelation,
for in
Englishwe really
have
a feeling
of this
grammatical
relation, although
we cannot
express
it
very
clearly.
116. So
also,
when
we
say
that
prepositions
govern
the
objective
case
in
English,
we mean
that
a
pronoun
such
as
/
or he,
when connected with
a preposition,
must be
put
in the
objective
case
me,
him instead of the nominative
/,he,
as
in
vn'fh
me,
to Mm. "ut
as
there is
no
distinction between
nominative and
objective
in
nouns,
we cannot
say
that the
nouns
in with
pleasure,
to
sea,
are
in the
objective case,
and
consequentiy
itis
hardly
correct to
say
that
theyare governed
grammaticallyby
these
prepositions, althoi^:h
with
me,
etc.,
would
justify
us
in
saying
that these
nouns
stand in the
T,Goo(^lc
44
INTRODVCTION.
[1
ii6
objective relation,
and
we are tolerablj
certain that if
English
nouns
had distinctnominative and
objective
inflecticKis
the]'
would assume
the latterinflectionafter
prepositions.
But the
k^cal
connection between
preposition
and noun-word is
just
as
strong
in vaith
pltamre
as
in wilh
nt :
vn'lk
governs
/Aarar;logically just
as
much
as
it
governs
nu. layouand T,
which means
practically
the
same
ayou
with
me,
there is
no
grammatical
government,
and
yet
au/
may
be said to
govern
/
logically
almost
as
much
as
with
governs
mt.
Bat it
will be
most convenient to use
'
government
'
strictly
in the
sense
of
grammatical
government,
and to
express
logical
government
by
the term nukUflofttiim. Thus we can
say
that and
\ayou
and I modifies
/,
while vaith in wilh nu both
modifies and
governs me, government
alwaysimjdying
modification
as
well.
DiVZKOENCZ
BKTWieii LOGIC AND
GRAMMAR
;
Antigrahmatical Constructions.
lie.
If,
In the
divergence
between
logic
and
grammar,
logictriumphs
over
grammar,
we
have
an
antagnunnutioal
construction, as
in tht
party
were asttmbled,
where
a
verb in tt"e
plural Ijofri)
is associated with
a noun
in the
Angular{party)
gainst
the
grammaticalprinciples
of concord. From a
logical point
of view there is
no
inconsistency
in
this,
for
party
combines the idea of
a singlebody
of
people
with that
of the
separate
individualsof which it is
composed.
117.
Antigrammatical
constructions
arc
sometimes the
resultof
attraction,
which is
generally
a
purely
mechanical
process,
being
the result of
simplecontiguity, by
which
a
word ismade to
^ree
with another word with which itwould
otherwise not be connected
grammatically, as
in the
opinion
of
several eminent
lawyeri were
in his
favour,
where
were,
althoughgrammatically
connected with the
singularnoun
Ionian,
is
put
in the
plural
as
ifitwere
governedby lawyers.
118.
Antigrammaticalness
may
lie
not
in
any
one con-
.vGoc^le
S laa]
45
struction,
but in the relation between two or more consinic-
tions. Thus in such a
colloquial
sentence as
my
friend,
token ht htard
il,
ht
lattghtd,
the
beginning
of the sentence
makes
us
expect
laughed
instead of hi
laughed,
which
again
makes
us
expect
a
different
beginning:
my
friend
htard
il;
when he heard
il,
he
laughed.
This want of
grammatical
sequence
we
call
^wosLatbia,
the
ponstruction
itself
being
called an ansoolitthoiL or
'
grammatical
break.' Anacolu-
thia,then,
consists in
beginning
with
one grammaticalconstruction,
and then
changing
to a
different
one,
so that the
first half
of the statement remains
uuGnished,
the last half
being
connected with itnot
grammatically
but
onlylogically.
Anacohitbia is the resulteither of
forgetting
the
beginning
of
the statement " that
is,forgetting
its
grammatical
form" or
of confusion of
thought
caused
by
a
complex arrangement
of
clauses. Thus the anacoluthia in the
example given
is the
result of
my
friend
being separated
from
laughedby
the
dause when he heard
it;
and if this clause is
got
out of the
way,
there is
no longer
any
inducement to
make the
con-
Structjon anacolutbic
:
my
friend
latched
when he heard il.
We have
a more
marked anacoluthon in the
colloquial
sentence
he is
alwayspolUe
to
people
he thinks he
can
gel
anything
out
ofthem^the grammatical
sentence
he is
alwayspolite
io
people
out
of
whom he Ihinis he
can
gel
anything,
or
he is
ahvays polite
to
people
when he thinks he
can
gel
anything
out
of
them.
119. When
a
grammatical
construction
misrepresents
the
logical
relationsof the ideas
expressedbj it,
it is said to be
Batil"ôal.
lao.
The most
frequent
cause
of
antilogical
constructions
is
shiftiilg.
In such
a sentence as
the
majorityofEnglish- men
are
tall
(or
the
majority of Englishmen
are
short)
compared
with most
Englishmen
are tall. Englishmen
are mostly
tall,
we
have
shifting
in itsmost rudimentaryform,namely
T,Goo(^lc
4.6 INTRODUCTION.
\\
i*a
shifUng
of
prominence.
It is evident that in the
thought
eipressed
in differentfonna
by
these three
sentences,
the
prominent
and
logically imporUnt
ideas
are those of
'
Eng-
Ushnen
'
and
'
tall,'
and that
majorily, most,mostly,
aU
express
a mere
qualification
of the ideas
expressed by
the other two
words. In the last two seotences the
logically prominent
words
are
made
grammaticaDypraainent
as well"
as far,at
least, as
the roles of
English
gramniar
will allow"
especially
in the last
sentence,
where the
subject
is
put
firstin die
sentence.
But in the firstsentence not
onlyare the
logical
relationsof head-word and
adjunct-word
reversed" the word
expressing
the idea of 'most'
being
made a
grammatical
head-word,
to which the
logical
head-word is subordinated"
but the word which is the least
importantlogically
of all
three is
put
first and made the
subject
of the
sentence.
Again,
in these sentences the
Ic^calpredicate
is
lail,
for
'tallness'is what
we state about
Englishmen.
But from
a
purelygrammatical point
of view tall
cannot be a
predicate-
word,
for it is not a
finiteveri". If the term
'
grammatical
predicate
'
is
to
be restrictedto a
singleword,
the
only
word
in these sentences that
can
be called
predicate
is
are,
and tall
must
be
regardedas an adjunct
to
it,justas
it is
an
adjunct
to
grew
in the
boy
grew
tall. But
as
the veii" to 6eia
entirely
destituteof
meaning
in
ordinaryEnglish(68),
itis
impossible
to regard
are tall,even
grammatically, as equivalent
to 'exist
in a state of tallness
'
or
anything
of the
kind,so that the
only
way
of
getting
out
of the
diCGculty
is
by regardingare
tallas a
group-predicate,
in which
are
is
a
kind of
prefix
to
make tall into
a
predicate.
Are in
are
tall
has,indeed,much
the same
liinction
as
the
-s
in the
boy
grows
tall,
and
justas
we regard
the combination
grows
" and not the
-s
by
itself
"as
constituting
the
predicate, so
also
we are
justified
in
regarding
the
group
are
tall
as
the
grammaticalpredicate.
So also in the
'
group-verbs
'
/
am
seeing,
I have
seen,
I shall
have
teen,
compared
with the
simple
verbs /
see,
I
saw,
what
T,Goo(^le
(laa.]
47
we
may
regard
as
the
logical
centre of
gravity
is shifiedfrom
the verbs
see, saw,
10 the verbals
seeing, seen,
and
yet
these
groups
could not be used as
predicates
without the
logically
insignificant
form-words
am,
have,
shall. We call the
logically prominent
element of
a
group
the nucleus. Thus
the nudei of the
groups
Ihe
majorityof Englishmen,
I shall
have
seen
are
Englishmen
and
seen.
So also the nucleus of
the
group
a pieceof
bread is
bread, for
piece,although
grammatically
the head-word of the
group,
is
really
little
more
than
a
form-word not
onlylogically,
but also to some
extent formally
"
through
its weak
stress
(81.1).
In this
case,
then,
the formal criteria
may
be said
to contradict one
another.
121, It will be seen
that
we use the terms
head-word,
subject, etc.,
both in
a logical
and a
grammatical
sense,
distinguishing
when
necessary
between
logical
and
grammatical
j
head-word,
etc
We
are
able to do this because most of the (
distinctions
expressedby
these terms have
no
definite
gram-
\
matical
expression,
a grammaticaladjunct-word,
for
instance,
j
being represented by a variety
of
parts
of
speech,
while dif-i
^
ferent
parts
of
speech
share
even
in
predication.
Hence
we;
cannot recognisegrammaticalhead-words,
adjunct-
word s,|
etc., mechanicallyby
their form
as we can
recognisean'
inflectionor
any
other definite
grammatical form. Such
inflections as
the
genitive
case
have
grammatical
functions
and
often more or
less definite
meanings
of their
own,
but
when we
say
that such
a
word as
fohn's
is in the
genidve
case,
we
think more of the "ct that it ends in
s
than of
anything
else. This definitenesswoidd be lost if
we were to set
up
a
*
logical genitive
'
as opp"osed
to
a.grammaticalgenitive,
calling
for instance the
group
ofJohn
a
logical
genitive.
The
utmost we
should allow ourselves would be
to call
ofJohn
a
'
genitive-equivalent,'
132.
We can
observe
a more
marked kind of
shifting
in
the
Latin lauddium M 'to be about to be
praised,'
which
48
INTRODUCTION.
[( nj
means,
literally,
'
to-be-goneto-praise
'
instead of
'
to-go
to-
be-piaised.'
las. In
language
the
logical
connections between words
extend
over a
wider
area
than the
purelygrammaticalones.
Thus in such a sentence as
/
camt
home
yesterdaymorning,
the
grammaticalpredicate
to
/
is
eanu,
home and
yetlerday
beinggrammatically
connected with the
predicateonly,
while
meming
is
an
adjunct
Xo
yesterdayonly.
But in
thought
""r-
lerday
is
as
much
part
of the
predicateas came itself, tame-
homeyesltrday-morningbeing
the
logicalpredicate,which,
from a
grammaticalpoint
of view
may
be
regarded
either
as
an
extended
predicateor a group-predicate.
124.
Hence such
a sentence as
I like
boys
when
they
are
quietor
/ like
qtnei
boyspractically means
'
I like
quietness
'
as
much
as
'
I like
boys.'
Such
a
sentence,
indeed,as
I like
boys
to be
quiet
does not
imply even
the
slightest liking
for
boys,as
the other sentences do. And
yet
in thislast
sentence
the
only
word that / Hkt
governs
grammatically
is
boys,
to
be
quietbeingonly
a
grammaticaladjunct
to
hoys;
while from a
logicalpoint
of view / likeis connected
directly
with to be
quiet,
to which
boys
is
a
Ic^caladjunct,
dte sentence
being logically equivalent
to
'
I like
quietness
of
boys.'
We
may
callthis
phenomenon
'indirect
government.'
"y 126.
Grammatical and
logical
anomaUes oflen arise
through
the
blending
of two differentconstructions. Thus
in
colloquial Enghsh
the two constructions these
things
and
this kind
of things
have resulted in the
blending
Ihestkind
of
things.
So also the
plural
themselves
may
be
regarded
as a
blending
of
himsel/aaA
ourselves
T,Googlc
^
J-
PARTS OF SPEECH IN DETAIL.
"
*!
ITouiu.
Foul
126.
The inflectioiis of
nouns
in
Englishare
those of
number and case.
137. As
regardsnumber, most
languagesdistinguish
between
siiigidaF
and
plural,sotfie
havinga
third
number,
the diuL
EnglishhaTonlysingular {irei),
and
plural{frees).
The
singlirar
expresses
'
oneness,'or
else leaves the number
indefinite, as
in
man is
mortal,
Ihe
lionis lit
king of
beasts.
The dual
expresses
'
twoness'
;
thus in such
phrases
as to use
ones
Qies
and ears those
languês
which have this number
would
puteyes
and ears
in the dual The
plural
expresses
'
more-than-oneness
'
;
in those
languages
which have
a
dual
it
expresses
'
more-than-twoness.'
Thus in Old
English
the
plural
jw
'
we
'
implies
at leastthree
persons,
'
we two
'
being
expressedby
the
dual
viif.
We have a trace of the distinctionbetween dual and
plural
in the
reciprocalnoun-pronouns
tcKh othgr (dual)and one
another
(plural).
128. The most
important
cases
in
languagegenerally'
are
the nominative,vocative,accusative, dative,genitive,
instrumental,
locative.
120. The
nomiaatiTe
is the
'
subject-case,'
its main
fonction
being
to mark the
subject
of
a sentence. Thus in
the earth is
round,
ihe tarth is a round
ball,
earth would be
expressedby
a noun
in the nominative
by
all
languages
which have the nominative
inflection,
such
as
Ladn
;
and if
ball
were
inflectedin such
a language,
it also would
be
put
VOL. I, X
50
INTRODUCTION.
[| 130.
in
the nominative to show that it is
an adjunct
to
the other
nominative earlh
\
and in
a concord-language
round in both
sentences
would ftlsobe
put
in the nominative.
Id
English
there is
no special
nominative inflectionof
nouns,
so
that all
we can
say
is that in the
Englishsentence
tht earlh it
round,
earth stands in the nominative
relation, or
is
nominatival.
UO.
The
TooatlTe
is the
'
exclamation-case,'
or,
in other
words,
itis
a noun
used
as a
sentence-word
;
we might
therefore
callitthe
'
Bentence-case.' Sir I is
an example
of
a noun
in the vocative relation.
181.
The aooiuatlTe or 'direct
object
case' serves
to
complete
the
meaning
of
a
transitive verb
(348).
Thus in
the
man
Seal lie
dqy,
Ihe
man saw
Ihe
ioy,boy
is in the
accusative
relation, being regarded
as
the direct
object
of the
actions
expressedhy
heal and
saw. Every
noun which
follows a
verb in
English
is
not
necessarily
in the
object
relation to the
verb,
but
may
stand in the
subject (nomina'
tive)
relation. Thus in such sentences as
John
became a
lawyer,
he fwned
Meihodiil,
although
the
nouns
hnoyer
and
MtthodisI
may
be said to
modify
the
meanings
of the verbs
became and
turned,theyare much
more
intimately
connected
with the
subject-words John,
he,
the verb
being
little
more
than
a
link between the two
pairs
of noun-words
John . . . lauiyer,
he
. . .
Methodist;
whereas in he beat Ihe
boy,boy
is not connected"except
very
indirectly
" with
he,
and modifies beai
only,just
as
in the
compounds boybeaier,boy-beating.
In
such a sentence a^
he is
a
laayer,
where is has
no meaning
of its
own,
iazvyercannot,
of
course,
be said to
modify
that
meaning
in
any
way,
182. If another noun-word is
required
to
complete
the
meaning
of
a
transitive
verb,
it is
generally
in the
dative
or
'
indirect
object'relation, as
in that
man
gave my
brother
an
orange,
where brother would be
put
in the dative
case
in
such a
language
as
Latin
or
German. As we see
from this
example,
the dative
generally
denotes the
person
affected
by
T,Goo(^le
i
138.1
JVOWKT.
51
or
interestedin the action
expressedb;
the verb
;
the dative
is therefore the
'
interest-case.' Hence in such sentences as
^
helpai
Ihe
man,
fu
injured
the
man,
the
noun would be
put
in the dative in
many
languages.
In
Englishwe should call
lit
man
in such constructions
simply
the
object
of the
verb,
for in
English
we
recognisean
îndirect objectonl)'by
its
standingalongside
of
a noun in the direct
object
relation
^1).
188. The
genitiTe
case,
as
in
JoMs book,a da^s work,
fhows that the
noun
in the
genitivecase
{John's)
is
an
adjunct
to another word "
generallya noun
;
it
may
therefore
be
regarded as
the
'adjective case,'a
da^s being
equivalent too/ a day (78),
and
0/
honour
beingequivalent
to the
adjective
honourable
(102).
184.
The
mBtmmental case
expresses
the instrument
or
manner
of
an
action. Thus in struck
bylighlning, by degrees,
the
nouns
lightning, degrees
are
in the instrumental relation.
195.
The looBtive
case
expresses
place.
Thus in lo
sbp
al
home,
lo live in the
country,
the
two nouns are
in the
locative relation.
136.
The instrumental and
locative"especially
the former
"
may
be
regarded as
'adverb
cases,'
for,
like
adverbs,
nouns
in these
cases are
used
chiefly
to
modifyverbs,
and
by
degrees
is
exactly equivalent
to
the adverb
gradually.
187.
There
are
many
other
meanings
which
are expressed
by
case-inflecdonsin different
languages.
Thus
some
languages
have
a
'comitadve case' to
express
'accompanied
by,'
and
many
primitivelanguages
have
a
variety
of cases to
express
minute distinctions of
position,
on,
in,or near an
object,etc.
185. The
meanings
of
cases axe
often
very
varied,
and
when
we
give
a case a certain name we
do not
imply
that it
is
confined to the functions
expressedby
that name.
Thus
in Greek the dative
case not
on]y
denotes an
interest
or
indirect
objectrelation,
but also has the functions of the
sa
S%
INTRODUCTION.
[J 139.
instnimental and locative
cases of more
highly
inflected
139. All
cases
except
the nominative and vocative
are
included under the
common tenn
oblique
cases.
140.
English
has
only one
inflected
case,
the
genitive,
{man's, men's),
the uninflected base
constituting
the
common
case {matt,men),
which is
equivalent
to the
nominative,
vocative,accusative,
and dative of such
a languageas
Latin.
141. But in that
special
class of
nouns
called
personal
pronouns
we
find a
totally
different
system
of
case-inflection,
namely,
a nomin"tive
{ie),
and
an otgeotiTe case
{îmj,
which latter
corresponds
to the accusative
{I
saw
Mm)
and
the dative
{give
it htm
I)
of
more highly
inflected
languages.
But the nominative
case
of the
pronouns
in
English, though
originally a
strict
nominative,
has lost
many
of its
grammatical
functions. In
spoken English,
such
a nominative as
^
or
/ is
hardly
vsed
except
as a
conjoint form,
"
as a kind
of
prefix
to the finiteverb
Qu sees,
he
saw,
J have
seen),
the
objective
case being always
substituted for the nominative
when used
absolutely
in
vulgarspeech,as
in
i7 u
mi,
and
often also in educated
speech.
Qander.
143.
Gender is the
expression
of sex-distinctions
by
means
of
grammatical
forms.
143. In nature
things
are distinguished by
sex as male,
such as 'man,' 'son,'
'cock';
femalei
such as 'woman,'
'daughter,'
'hen';
and
neuter,
that
is,
neither male
nor
female,
such
as 'stone,' 'tree,'
'hand.'
144. All
languages
have
separate
words fc^ man,''woman,'
'son,'
'daughter,' etc.,
with which
they
can
form
gender-
denoting^
groups
or compounds,
such
as
man-semanl,
woman-
servanl,
coci-sparrow,hen-sparrow,
etc. Some
languages
ako
mark the distinctionsof
sex
in
pronouns,
as in the
T,Goo(^le
f 146.]
Hfovifs.
53
Ei^lishht,she,
it. With the
help
of these
pronouns
we are
able to mark
sex
in such
compounds aa
he-goaf, the-gaai.
146. If
we
did not know the
meanings
of such words
as
tuoman
and
daughter,
we
should not be able
to tellwhether
the;
denoted male, or female,
or lifeless
thingsk
fint in
many
languages
there are
words which show
sex
hy
their
fomi
:
thus in
English
we
know that such words
as auihorest,
baroness,
lionessdenote female
beingsby
the
ending
-ess;
even
if
we
did
not
know the
meanings
of these
words, we
should stillbe able to
guess
that
they
denoted female
beings.
This
denoting
of
sex by
means
of
grammatical
form is called
gender.
The
only
certain test of
gender
in all
languages
is
the use
of the
pronouns
he,she,it,by
which
we can
distin^
guish
nouns as he-nouns,she-nouns,
and
it-nouns, according
as theyare spoken
of
or
referred to as he,she,or
i/. Thus
baroness is
a she-word,
but
burgess
is
a he-word,
although
it
has the
same ending,
and business is
an it-noun. In
grammar,
he-words are called
masauliiie,
she-words
fenjiiiiike,
it-
words neuter.
146. In
English
the
grammaticalcategorygender
generally
agrees
with the
Ic^cal
category
sex
;
that
is,
feminine
nouns are names
of female
beings,
and
so on.
When
gender
agrees
with sex
in this
way,
it is caUed natural
gender.
But
gender
and sex do not
always
agree.
Thus, even
in
Englishwe
calla
shipshe,
and in books the sun
is calledhe
instead of it. In such
languages
as Latin,German, and.Old
English
this is carried much farther
;
thus in Old
English,
/bot
is a
he-noun
or masculine,
and hand is feminine. In
such
languages
not
onlyare names
of
things
made masculine
and feminine,
but
even names
of male and female
beings
have
genders
which contradict the natural
sex.
Thus in
Old
Englishh^' woman,'
'wife' is
neuter,
and
tci/-mamt
'
woman,'
literally
'
wife-man,'
is masculine. When
gender
"
diverges
from
sex in
this
way,
it is called
granunatioal
gender;
thus the Old
Englishvii/mann
is
a
grammatical
54
INTRODUCTION.
[| 147
masculine,
vhile Old
English
mann
'
man
'
is a natural
Torm-worda.
147.
Tbe moat
important
form-words associated with
nouns are
tbe indefinitearticlea
{aman),
the definitearlicle
t)ie
{lie
man),
and the
prepositions,
such
as
"^,to,
wUh.
148.
The
meaning
of
nouns
is often modified
by
the
pre- tence
OT
absence of the
articles,
as
in v"here dots Baker livef
compared
with where dots the daker
live?,
iron it
a
melal,
compared
with an
iron to iron imfh. The
presence
or
absence of
an
article often
goes
band in band with inflection
;
dius the
plural
of a man
is
mm,
and the absence of the
articlesa or
the in the
singularman generally
shows that it
Stands in tbe vocative relation.
IIB. Puttinga preposition
before
a noun
is
grammatically
equivalent
to
adding
an inflection.Thus
of
a man means
exactly
the same as a man's,
and to him
means
the
same as
him in
give
it him I So also with
difficulty correspondsto
the instrumental case
in such a
language
as
Sanskrit.
Meaning.
Oonorete Vooiu.
ISO.
Tbe
primary
and most characteristic
use
of
notins
as regards
iheir
meaning
is to
express
substances. Sub- stance-nouns,
or oonorete
nouns,
as tbeyare generally called,
are
divided into
the two main classesof
oommon
nouns,
such as
man,
and
proper namefi,
such
as Plato. Common
nouns,
again,are
subdivided into
olass-nouns,
such
as
man,
and material
nouns,
such
as
iron. Colleotive
nouns,
such
as crowd,are
a
subdivisionof
class-nouns,
allother class-nouns
being
included under the head of individaal
nouns ;
/
,
f
individual(nan)
I class-nouns
1
"
.
, ,,
/ common nouns
I
\ collective
\croum)
concrete
X \ material
nouns
(irot^
\
proper
names {Plato)
Class-Nouns.
ISl.
We call such
a word as man a class-word
(class-nonn)
because it stands For a class
or
number of individual
things
having
certain attributes in
common by
which
they
are
distinguished
fiom other classes of
things,
such
as
'
monkeys,'
'
trees,'
'
houses.' Hence
monkey,tree,
house
are
also class-
words. AD these words are individual class-words
as
dis-
tinguished
from
ooUeotive class-words such
as crcrwd
(1S3).
IBS. Class-nouns
denotingonlya singleobjectare called
Bingnlar
class-nouns,
or,
more
briefly, singular nouns.
Thus
in
popularlanguage mn
and
moon are
singularnouns as
opposed
to
plural
nouns,
such
as
tree,man, although
in
the scientific
language
of
astronomy
sun
and
moon are as
much
plural
nouns
as
the other two.
Singularnouns are
just
as
much class-nouns as pluralnouns are : even
if agro- nomy
had not revealed the existence of other
suns
and
moons,
we
should still
regard
sun
and
moon as class-words
on
the
ground
that
ifyi%
had occasion to
speak
of other bodies "
either real
or
imaginary
"
resemblingour sim
and
moon,
we
should
unhesitatingly
extend the old
names to these
new
objects.
Singular
and
plural
nouns
must,
of
course,
not bo confounded
with nouns
in the
singularor
plural
inflection.
ColkcUve Nouns.
163.
Collective
nouns
express
a number of
things
collected
together
so
that
they
may
be
regarded as a
singleobject.
Crowd, fiut,
nation
are
collective
words. Crowd
means a
number of human
beingsso
close
together
that at
a
distance
they
seem to form
a
solid
mass.
So also
fiat
means a
number of
shipssailingtogether
under
one command;
and
nation means a
number of
peoplebound, togetherby
a common
language,
government,
habitsof
life, etc.
164. Collective
nouns are as
much class-words
a?
indi-
5(1
INTRODUCTION.
[j Ijj.
vidual
nouns
such
as man are : we can think of
a
number
of crowds
or
fleetsor of different nations
as
well
as of a
single
crowd, fleet,
etc. Crowd etc.
are,
therefore,at the
same
time
plural
nouns.
Vniversi
rtay
be
regarded
as a
singular
collective
noun.
Material Nomu.
156.
Such words as iron,glass,bread,
water do
not express
any
definite
thing,as
the class-words trn etc.
do,
but
each of them includes the whole
mass
of
matter
possessing
the attributes
impliedby
the word. Thus iron
means not
only
the nails and the hammer I
may
have in
my
hands at
this
present
moment,
but all the iron in the
universe,
whatever
may
be Ihe form
or
quantity
of each
portion
of it.
Material words thus make
us
think
more
of the attributes
they
suggest
than of the
thing
itself. Thus iron makes us
think of
hardness,weight,liability
to
rust, etc.,
associated
together
in a
substance of indefiniteform. Hence material
words
approach
very
near
in
meaning
to
pure
attribute
When
a
material
noun
is used to
express
an
individual
object
"" definite
shape,
it is
no
longera
material
noun,
but
a class-
noun.
Thus iron in the
sense of
'implement
to smooth cloth
with,' or
glass
in the sense of 'vessel
to
drink out of'
are
pure
class-nouns.
Proper.
JVames.
166. Such words as man
and crowd
suggest
an indefinite
number of
separate
objects,
and such
a word as iron
suggests
part
of
an
indefinitemass
of
matter.
We include class-
nouns
and material
nouns
under the term
common
notins,
meaning
that such
a
designation
as man
is shared "
or
may
be shared " in
common
by
an
indefinite number of individual
men,
and that such
a
designation
as
iron is shared in
common
by portions
of
an indeflnitel)' largemass.
None of
these
S 159.1
NOUNS.
57
words
by
themselves
suggest
a
definiteindividualor el
definite
portion
of matter.
167. One
way
of
making an indefiniteclass-noun definite
is
by qualifying
itwith
a
mark-word
(86),
such
as
ihis
or the,
as
when
we
make the indelinite
man,
river into the definite
IMt
mem,
the
man,
the river. But mark-words define
only
relatively,
not
absolutely
:
the
man,
or its
equivalenthe,by
itself
does,not enable
me to
identify
the
person
tillI know
exactly
who is referred to
;
and the
river
may
mean the
Thames,
but it
may
also
mean
the
Rhine,or
the
Nile,or
any
other river which is
uppermost
in the
thoughts
of the
speaker
"
generally,
of
course,
the river which is
nearest to the
place
where he lives.
'
ITBme-words
or
proper names,
such
as Plato,London,
Thames also mark off individualsof a class,
and exclude
other individualsof the
same
class,
but
they
are
absolute or
piermanent,
not relativeand
shifting
marks:
we
can
shiiithe
designation
the river from the Thames
to the
Rhine,
and from the Rhine to the
Nile,but
we cannot do this
with the
designation
Ike
Thames, etc.
168. A
proper
name
need not be confined
to a
single,^
individual,
but
may
include
a
definite
group
of
individuals, as
weseeinfamilynames
(surnames),
such
as
Cc/Ziw:
a surname''
by
itselfdoes not tell
us
which individual of the
familyia^
meant, 'although
it marks off all the members of the
family
from the members of other families. Surnames
are,
therefore,
oolleotiTS
name-words, as opposed
to indiTidual
name-words,
such
as
the christian
name
John,
and the
names Plato,London,
etc.
Th" United Stales is also
a collective
name-word, as
opposed
to the
state-names
Maine,
Virginia, etc.,
which
are individualname-words.
1S9. It often
happens
that the
same name
is
applied
to a
number
of unconnected
objects,simply
because the number
of
objects
that
we have to name
is
so
great
that itis
impossible
to find
a perfectly
distinctivename for
each,
and
to be
certainthat the name we use
has not been used before
;
and
T,Goo(^le
58
INTRODUCTFON.
[5
160.
this
applies
to
proper
as
well
as common names.
Thus
there b
a
Boston in
England
and another in the United
States of North
America,
and such a name as
John
is
given
every year
to a
large
number of children. Even such
a name
9a
John
Collins
may
be
ambiguous ;
whence the
practice
of
giving
more
than one christian
name,
as
mjohn
Sluart Mill.
But however
imperfect
the result
may
be,
the intention is the
same
in all
proper names,
that
is,
to exclude
ordinary
individuals of the
same class,
and it is this intention which
puts
the
ambiguous John on a
levelwith the
unambiguous
Plato.
Conversely,
the fact that such a word
as sun
in
popularlanguage
expresses
only
a
singleobject,
does not
make it
a
proper
name,
because in the word
sun
there is
no
intention of
excluding
other
possible
suns.
160. As
regards
their relation to
common words,
proper
names
fall imder two well-defined
classes,according as
r
they
are
connected or
unconnected with
common
words in
the
same language.
Such christian names as Patience,
Violet,
and such surnames as Brown,
Smith
may
be called
ocmneot"d
namefl.
because all these
sound-groups
express
not
only
name-nouns
but also
a variety
of
conmion words,
patienet
being
an
abstract
noun,
braaon
an
adjective,
smith
a
class-noun,
and
so on.
So also such
place-names
as
Nem-
castle.
The Strand
are
connected
names.
Such
proper
names
as Philip, John,London, Thames,
on
the other
hand, are un-
oonnsoted.
The hi"tory^f
language
shows however that all
unconnected names were originally
connected
;
that is to
say,
that aD
proper
names
have arisen from
limiting
the
applicadon
of some common
word to one
particular object.
Just
as
the first
man
who
was
calledBrovM was so
called
because of his brown hair
or
brown
complexion,so
also the
first
man
who was called
Philip
was so calledbecause of his
love of horses
or
skillin
driving
or
riding ;
for in Greek "
the
language
in which this
name was
firstformed " it
was
originally
an
adjective (jihilippos) meanii^
'
fond of horses.'
f 163.1
NOUNS.
59
Proper
names are
thus
never
arbitrary
in their
origin:we
can be certain that there
was
always
a reason
for
a name
when
it
was
first
given,
however fanciful this
reason
may
have
been,
and however much the
meaning
and
use of the name
may
have
changed
afterwards.
lai.
As
regards
theirform,
proper
names
may
consistof
a
single
word
or a
word-group,
which,again,
may
be made
up
of
proper
names,
as
in
John
Stuart
Milt,or of
common words,
as
in
S^k Sired,or
of
a
mixture of
proper
names
and
common words, as
in
John
the
Bapiisi,
Edward the First.
Proper
names
may
also consistof
phrases
or even sentences,
169. As
regards
their
meaning,
proper
names
fallunder
a
great
variety
of
heads,
such as
personal
names,
which,
again,
include christian
names, surnames, patron3miics,
or
names
formed from the Other's
name,
such
as Wiiliamson
'son of
William'; geographioal names, includingplace-
names,
such
as England, London, Islington, river-names,
mountain-names,
etc.
;
names
of natural
objects,horses,
dogs,
or animals,trees
(as
in Burnkam
beeches'), stars,
con-
stelladons;names of artifloial
otêots,
such as
ships,
steam-engines, guns,
bells
{BigBen).
168. Such classifications
evidently give
part
of the
meaning
of a
proper
name.
Thus itis
part
of the
meaning
of such
proper
names as
John
and Plato that
they
denote
persons,
and not
places,
etc.
But
theymean more
than this
:
theyimply
'male human
being,' just
as Mmv implies
'female human
being.'
Each name
has besides a vast number of
special
meanings.
Thus the
name
Flalo
implies
all the characteristics
"
personal attributes,actions,feelings,thoughts,
writings,
etc
" that
distinguish
the
man
Plato from allother
men.
It
is,therefore,
incorrect to
say
that
proper
names are devoid
of
meaning.
On the
contrary,they
have
more
meaning
than
common
words
through being
more
highlyspecialized (38).
The mistake has arisen from
confusingunmeaning
with
unconnected
(160).
60 INTRODUCTION.
H 164.
164.
Proper
names are
alwajrB
liableto
change
into com-
mon
words. One
way
in which this
change
may
begin
is
b;
the
metaphorical
use of
a
proper
name to
exprcBB
other
persons
who
possess
some attribute
or
attributes
impliedby
the
proper
name. Thus, as
Plato
was a
philosopher, we
may
say
or
any
other
philosopher
that he is
a
tecond
Plata,
or,
more
briefly,
a
Plato. In the same
way
a
strong
man
may
be called
a
Hercules. Another
way
in which
proper
names
may
be made into common words is
seen
in such
a word
as china,which means a
particular
kind of earthenware
which
was originally brought
from China. In such
cases as
these,a
proper
name
is made into a
noun. Proper names
are
also made into
verbs,
either
indirectly as in j^
heetar,or
directly,
as
in Ai
boycoli.Proper
names are
often used in a
more or
less
arbitrary
way
to form
names
of
newly
invented
articlesof
trade,as
in
Wellington boot,
shortened to
vxUingion,
Gladstone
Ix^
;
or
of
new
plants,
trees,
minerals,
etc.,
as
in
fuchsia(so
called from the German botanist
Fuehs,which,
again,
means
'
fox,'from the
slyness
attributed
to some one
of his
ancestors),
Blenheim
orange
(a
kind of
appleshaped
hke
an
orange,
and first
grown
at
Blenheim,the seat of the
duke of
Marlborough,
so
called from the
victory won
by
the
duke of
Marlborough
at
Blenheim),
Prussian blue.
It must be bome in mind that
every
name
is not a
proper
name.
BieS^m
orange
is
a name that
was
givenarbitrarily"
though
leas
arbitrarily
than such a name as
Wellington
boots"
to a new kind of
apple,
but
as
it includes all
individual
apples
or
apple-trees
of
the same kind,
instead of
excludingthem,
itis
a
common,
not a
proper
name. So also such a nickname
as
Tory
is
appliedindiscriminately
to all
men of certain
political
views,
and istherefore an
ordinary
class-word. But when
king
Edward the First was
caLed
Longshanks,
this nickname
was
used to distinguish
him from the other
Englishmen
of the
tim^
whether
longlegged
or
shortlegged,
and
consequently
was a true
proper
name.
Such
an epithet
as
the discoverer
0/
the circulation
of
tht
T,Goo(^le
i
167.]
jvoi/jvs.
"
61
iloed
or
tks
first
Christian
tmptror of
Rome isnot a
proper name,
for,although
it almost
necessarily
denotes
one
single,
definite
individual,
itdoes
so
by
virtue of its
meaning
and
grammatical
constniction,
and not
by
any
arbitrary
restriction. Such an
epithetas ike man
witk the iron
mask, on
the other
hand)
approachesvery
near to a
proper name,
because there
might
be
several
men
who have worn
iron
masks,
and
we use
this
epithet
to denote
one
particular
man
in
history
whose
identity
is still
disputed.
Abstract
IToana^
165. The
secondar]ruse
of
nouns as
regards
their
meaning
is
to
express
attributesand
phenomena,
attribute-
nouns
and
phenomenon-nouns being
included under the
common
designation
abstraot "Otms.
166.
Permanent attributes
being primaril]r expressedby
adjectives,
most attribute-nouns
are
formed from
adjectives
by
various derivative
processes
;
thus the attribute-nouns
redness,length, height, stupidity, prudence
are formed from the
adjectives red,long,high,stupid, prudent. Changing
attributes
or
phenomena being primarilyexpressedby verbs,
most
phenomenon-words are derivativesof verbs
;
thus the
phenomenon-nounsreading,action, conversation, proof,speech
-are formed from the verbs
read,act,converse,
prove,
speak.
Many
abstract
nouns are also fonned
b^
the direct
conyer-
sion of
a
verb into
a noun
;
thus from the verbs to
run,
to
ride,to sound are formed the
nouns
in such collocations
as
a good
run,
to
go
for
a
ride,
a
loud sound. When ah
adjective
is converted into a
noun,
it
generally
becomes
concrete,
and often
undergoes
further
changes
of
meaning,
as
in the
noun
goods
from
the^
adjective good,
the reds and
yellows
in
a
picture,
which
means
the
yellow
and red
portions
of the
picture,
redness xaA
yellowness beingpurely
abstract.
167.
But there
are
many
abstract
nouns
which
are
neither
derived
nor
converted from
adjectives
or verbs. Such abstract
nouns are
"
beaufy;lightning,
thunder,shadow; day,night.
T,Goo(^le
63
INTRODUCTION.
[(
1(8.
sumtner,
lainler
;
ditfost,
fevtr
;
joy, hop*
; tost,
energy.
Most of the ideas
expressedby
these words
are so
indispensable
and ^miliar that
nouns were
framed to
express
them
directly(57).
The
adjectives
and verbs
coiresponding
to
these
independent
abstract
nouns are
either
distinct
words,
such
as to bunt
corresponding
to
fire,or are
derivativesfrom
them,
such
as
easy,
beautiful
from
ease,
beauty.
168. Some
nouns,
especially
those of
complex meaning,
may
be
regardedas half-abstiact, or intermediate between
abstractand concrete. Thus north and toulk
are abstract if
regarded
from the
point
of view of the
rising
and
setting
of
the
enn,
while
theyare concrete if
we
regard
them
merely
as
parts
of the earth
or pointson
the horizon
or
in the
sky.
160. Particlesand
interjections
are occasionally
converted
into
nouns. Thus
we
say,
'
there is
an ^
in that,'
meaning
some reservationor condition. So also in
Leave Now to
dogs
and
apes
I Man has Forever.
(Browning)
170. Words
belonging
to all
parts
of
speech
may
be used
as nouns
to
express
the word itself
apart
from its
meaning,as
when we
say
'
j)r
is
a
conjunction,'
'
the
objective
case of/
isme!
Function.
171.
The
primary grammatical
function of
nouns
is
to
serve as head-words. A head-word
may
be modified
by
havingsomething
either
impliedor
stated about it. Hence
a noun
may
be modified cither
by an assumptive(attributive)
word or a predicate.
Thus the
nouns
sntwa, height,action,
ride are modified
by assumptive
words in
melting
snow,
a
great
height,
a
generous
action,
a
longride,
and
by predicative
words and
word-groups
in the
snow
has
melted,
ike
height
is
enormous,
such an action is not
justifiable,
the ride
was loo
long.
The
assumptive
or
predicative
word
may
be a mere qualifier,
as in all
men,
the men are here.
I
T,Goo(^le
i 173.]
NOUNS.
63
172.
The
secondar)'
function of
nouns is to serve as
Bdjimat-woTdfl, by modifying
other
nouns or
verbs,
178. When
a noun
is
put
before the
noun
it modifies it
"
is called
an
aBBumptive (attributive)
noun.
Thus in
king
Alfred
the first
noun
is
assumptive.
When
a
material
noun
Is used
assumptively
it resembles
an
adjective,
as
in slow
wall, gold
chain. But
we can see the
general
difference
between
an assumptivenoun
and
an
assumptiveadjective by
comparing gold
chain with
golden
hair. Golden
is a
pure
attribute-word, expressing
one
only
of the attributesof
gold,
namely
its
colour;
while the
assumptive
noun
gold
in
gold
chain
implies
all the attributesof
gold,a gold
chiun
having
not
only
the colour of
gold,
but also its
weight,hardness, etc.
There is the
same
distinctionbetween silkenhair
or silky
hair
and silkthread. As
thinking
of all the attributes of
a sub-
Stance
is
practically
the same
thing as thinking
of the
substance
itself,
it
really
does not matter much whether
we
regard
slone and
gold
in
stone wall,gold
chain
as concrete
or
abstract words.
In
noun-compounds
such
as
man-servant, cattle-market,
cannon-ball,
the first
noun
is
an
adjunct
to the second
exactly
as
in stone
wall,
etc. It is in "ct difficultto decide whether to
regard
stone in slone wail
as an
element of
a
compound or not
It
certainly
has
something
of the
fixity
of
a
compound: we
cannot
separate
its elements
as we can
separate
those of
a
'
green
tree in so
green
a tree
;
we can
hardly
even make stone
'.
"wall into the wall is stone. But
as
both elements of such
groups keep
their
strong stress,
and
as
there is
not marked
isolation of
meaning,
it is
equallyjustifiable
to
regard
them
as
mere
word-groupsanalogous
to
the combination of
an
assumptive
adjective
with its
noun.
In
fact,
in older
Englisha gold
chain was called a
golden chain,
and
we can
stillwrite silken
thread instead of silk thread without
any change
of
meaning.
This has led
some
people
to
regardstone,gold
in stone
wall,
gold
chain" ani
even cannon
in cannon-ball"
as
adjectives.
There
can, indeed,
be no
question
that the combination
gold
chain bears
a close resemblance to
golden hair,
not
onlylogi-
T,Goo(^le
64 INTRODUCTION.
[I"74-
caUy,
but also
grammatically,
which
we need not be
surprised
at when
we consider that
^0/1/,
etc. are material
nouns,
and that
these niaterial nouns
approach
very
near
in
meaning
to
pure
attribute-words
(166).
Material nouns resemble
adjectives
formally
in not
taking
any
articles, so
that while man-servaiti
etc are
clearly
shown to be
compounds by
the want of the
articlesa or the which man would
require
ifit
were independent,
the absence of the articles from the material
nouns
slant,
etc.
not
only
does not make stent wall a
compound,
but increases
^^~ the
difficulty
of
distinguishing
these
nouns
"om
adjectives.
But
as the most marked formal characteristic of
adjectives
is
comparison,
and as
comparison
of stone
in
stone wall is impossible,
even
if the
meaning
of the combination allowed
it,
s/
"
while there would be no
grammaticalobjection
to
making
stony
road,golden
hair into stonier
road,
tke most
golden hair,we
must refuse to admit that
assumptive
nouns have
any
of the
really
distinctive features of
adjectives.
174.
A noun
following
a
verb
may
serve as
adjunct
to the
verb
a]one,as
in /
saw
the
man,
or
the verb
may
be
on]y a
Unk to connect the
adjunct
noun
with the
subjectnoun-word,
as
in 1^ btcamt a iawjier,
ht is a lauêr
(181).
Of the relations
in which a
verb-modifying
noun
stands to itsverb the
most
important
are
those of the direct and indirect
object,
which have been
alreadyexplained(131,182),
But there
are
"
a variety
of other relations in which
an
adjunct
noun can
,
stand to its
verb,
most of which make the
adjunctnoun
grammatically equivalent
to an adverb,as
in "
staffed
the
nighicompared
with ht
stoppedlong,
he walked all
day,
he
ran
a race
(262,
268).
For the use
of
a noun as complement
lo
'
a
noun-word
governedhj
a verb,as
in
Ihey
made him
king,
\
see "267.
176.
A
noun
in
an oblique
case
"
or
oblique
case relation"
or
governedby
a
preposition
is
always an
adjunct
word.
Thus
dt^s
and
of
honour in
a
days work, a man of honour,
(
are
adjunct
words
or word-groups,as
also
boy
in he beat the
ioycompared
with
ioy-ieatii^.
In
fact,
the
only
noims that
are
not
adjunct
words are
those that are
in the
subject
rela-
D,g,l,7?"lT,G(.""Ogle
S 178.]
ADyBCTIVBS,-
65
don,
as
in Ihe earth is round. Even
a
nominatival noun is
an adjunct-word
when itisnot a subject-word,
as in
thetarth
is
a
globe,
where
globe
is
an adjunct
to earth.
t/
AdjeotiTes.
Form.
176.
The
onlyregular
inflectionsof
adjectives
in
English
are
those of
oomparison,
which,however, inay
be
regarded
as being
almost as much a
process
of derivation
as
of inflection
(78).
There
are two
degrees
of
comparison,
the
oom-
parative
and
snperlative,
m contrast to which the
uncom-
paredadjective
is said
to be in the
poeitire degree.
The
comparative
is formed
by adding
-er,
or prefixing
the form-
word
mwe,
the
superlative byadding
-w/ or
prefixing
the fom"-
word most. Thus from the
positives big,btauHfulare
formed
the
comparativesbigger,
more
beautiful,
and the
superlatives
biggest,
most
beautiful.
111.
In
concord-languages,
such
as Latin,adjectives
have
inflections
corresponding
to those of
nouns^though
generally
not
esacdy
the
same
in form. The
general
rule in such
langui^s
is that
adjectives
agree
with their
nouns" that is,
the nouns to
which
theyserve as
adjuncts,
whether
assump-
dvely
or predicatively
" in
case, number,
and
gender,
Thus
in such
a sentence as
he has
beautiful daughters, beautiful
would take the
same
inflections
as daughters, namely
the
accusative
case,
pluralnumber,
and feminine
gender. Eng- lish
stillhas
a trace of
adjective-concord
in the
adjective-
pronouns
this and
that,
which have
pluralsthese, those, as
in
these men
compared
with this
Toan.
Otherwise
English
adjectives
have
no
inflectionsof
case, number,
or
gender,
17 B. In
languages
which inflect their
adjectives,
the
accompanyingnoun
is often
dropped
when it
can
be
easily
supplied
"om the
contest,
the
adjective
inflections
being
enough
to show the
gender,number,
and
grammatical
relations
of the
resulting
free
aclJeatiTe.
Thus in such Ian-
VOL. 1. r
T,Goo(^le
66 INTRODUCTION.
[" 179.
guages
Ihe
good
in the masculine
singular
wotild
understood to mean
'
the
good
man,'
and in the feminine
plural
itwould
mean
'
the
good
women,'
while
good
in
neuter
plural
would be understood to mean
'
goodthings.*
such instances as these there is
no
conversion of the
adjective
into
a noun :
the
noun
is
simplydropped,
and the
adjective
keeps
its
own
inflections
unchanged.
Thus in German i
gUU
'the
good (woman)'
forms its
genitivesingular
dir
guten
'
of the
good (woman)
'
with an
excludvelyadjective
inflection
;
for
ifgute
were a
noun,
itwould remain
unchanged
in the
genitive singular,
likethe feminine noun
die
lanle
'
the
aunt,'genitive singular
der lanti.
170.
But in
English
such free
adjectives
could not be used
without
ambiguitybecauseof
the want of
adjective
inflections;
hence in
Englishan
ordinaryadjective [foradjective
pronouns
see " 193]
cannot
be used
as a noun
without
being
converted
" either
whollyor partially"
into
a
noun,
and even then its
use
is often much restricted. When
we
talk of
goods
and
chattelsor
the reds and
yellows
m a plelure, good,red,
yellow
are
pure
nouns,
as
much
so as
ehatteh ^-oA
picture
themselves.
These are
therefore
cases of
completeconversion,
which is
frequently accompaniedby
considerable
changes
of
meaning,
as
in the
case
of
goods.
But when
we speak
of the Irui
and Iki
beautiful, meaning
'
what is
true,'
'
what is
beautiful,'
or
say
that Ihe
good are hapfy,meaning
'
good peopleare
happy,'
the conversion is
onlypartial,
for
aUhough
the
good
in this sentence has
exactly
the
same grammatical
function
as men or
any
other
noun
in the
plural,
it does not take the
plural
inflectionwhich itwould
require
if it
were a
real
noun
;
and in it
as
well
as
in the
true
and ihe
beautiful,
the fcxm-word
the has
a
differentfuncdon from what itwould have with a
noun
;
forwe
could not
say
the
men
in the sense
of
'
men in
,
180. Another
way
of
using
an adjective
without
its
noun
in
English
is to substitutethe
unmeaning
noun-pionoun
one
T,Goo(^le
S 183,] ADyECTIVES. .
67
for the
noun,
the inSection of the
noun
being
transferredto
this.
pr"9-word,
x" we
may
callit. In this
way
we can
distinguish
between the
smgular
a
good me
aud the-
pluralôorf
ones,,
as
in
give
me a book,an
interesling
one
"
one
tall
man
and two short
ones.
In such
cases a
concord-language
would
of
course employ
the inflected
adjective
without
any
noun or
prop-word.
These
prop-formsare generally
used in
Engbsh
only
when the
adjective
is
absolute,
that
is,
when its
nouD
can
be
suppliedgrammatically
from the context : we cannot
use
good
ones
in the
general sense
of the
good,
but
only
with
referenceto a
preceding
noun.
Meanihg.
18L The
primaryuse
of
adjectives as regards
their
meaning
is to
express
^ attributes of substance-words. Such
adjisctives as iig,
green,
good xce
pure
attribute-adjeotiTeB :
they
express
simple
attributes
apart
from the
substances in
which these attributes
are
found. These
adjectives are
also
fonnallyindependent
of
nouns. Adjectives
formed from
nouns
also oflen
express
simple attributes,
as
in
golden
hair.
182. When
an
adjective
expresses
a
group
of
attributes,
it
approaches
near
in
meaning
to a
substance-word,
and when
an adjective
formed from a substance
-noun
expresses
allthe
attributes
belonging
to that
noun,
it is
practically
identical
with itin
meaning.
Thus the
English
climate
means
exactly
the
same as
(he climate
ofEngland,
and
a
silkenthread
means
exactly
the
same as a
thread
0/
silk. We callsuch
adjectives
substance-adjectives
or oonorete
adjectives.
It is evident
thatthese
adjectives
fallunder the
same
classes
as
the
nouns
to which
they
correspond
in
meaning.
Thus human in the
human mind is
a class-adjective,
silken in tHken thread and
wooden in wooden
spoon
are material
adjectives,
and
English
is
a name-adjective,
as
also Crimean in Crimean war =
'
the
War in the Crimea.'
188.
In EUcKa combination as
ForeignOffice='
ofBc^ for
68 INTRODUCTiON.
[|
\Z^
tnuisacting
the buainess of the nation with
foreigncountries,'
the
adjectirc
may
be called
a ooudAtued
adjective,
for it
nnpliesadjective +
noun.
164. In
OHuidering
the
meaning
of
adjeciives, we most
caiefiitly distinguisli
between attributive
adjectives,
racb
ms
we
have bitbertobeen
considering,
and
QiuUiyins adjective*,
which do not
imply
or state attributes,
but
merely
limit
or
define the noun theyare
associated with
(84).
Some of
these
quaUfyingadjectives
have
perfecdy
definite
meatdngs,
such as
mofl)',
while
otben,
such as the articles
a
and
Ikt,
have
only
more or less
vague
grammaticalAuctions,most "rf
tbem
belonging
to
the class of
adjective-pronouns.
186.
The
only
words of which attributes
can
be
impUed
or
stated are substance-words,
that
Is,
concrete nouns.
Hence
every
adjective
which is associated with
an abstract
noun must
be
regarded
as a
qualifying,
not as an attribute-
adjective.
Thus,
while
great
in
great
man is
a true attribute-
adjective,
itis
only
a
qualifier
in
a
greatheight, greatsh^dify.
So also
guick
and rath
are
qualifying adjectives
in
juickmotion,
rath aetiont,
FuKcnoN.
186. Ute
grammatical
function of
adjectives
is
to serve
as adjuncts
to
noim-words. We
distinguish adjectivesas
aanunptive (attributive)
and
predicative
accordingas
theyimply
or state an
attribute
or qualification
ofthe
noun-
word. Thus
we
have
assimiptiveadjectives
in
good
men,
many men, great
goodnest, quickmotion,
and
predicative adjectives
in ht is
good,
his
goodnest
is
great,
riding
is
healthy,to
err
it human. In
riding
is
a heallhyexercise, hecdilff is,
of
course,
an
assumptive adjective, although
itforms
part
of the
predicate-group.
187.
An
adjective following
a
verb
logically
modifies the
noun-word which is the
subject
of the
verb,
as
in "
u
rea^,
where
ready
modifies he. If the verb has
an
independent
T,Googlc
i 151.]
PHONOUXS.
fi9
meaning,
the
adjective
may
be said to
modiry
itto a
certain
extent, ^though even then it is
an
adjunctmainly
to the
subject-word, as
in ^ turned red. Here
red not
only
tells
us that
'
he
'
is
red,
but
may
also be said to tell
us
^m
he
tamed. In these instances the
adjective
follows
a
link-
verb
(262).
If
a
word
having
the form of
an
adjective
follows
an independentverb, as
in he breathtd
hard,
it
must be
regarded
as converted into
an
adverb. For the
use
of
an
adjective
as
complement
to
a
preceding
noun-word
governedby
a verb,as
in to
paint a
house
while,see " 867.
188. When
an
adjective
serves as
adjunct
to another adjective
which follows
it,
it must be
regardedas an adverb,
as
in dark
red,deepred,greenishyeilow,
unless
we
prefer
to
regard
these
groups
as
compounds.
But such
groups
as
muth
greater,
littlebetter
cannot well be
regarded
as compounds,
so
itis better to
regard
dark in dark red also
as an
adverb,especially
as
both
elements in such
groups
retain their
strong stress,
and there is
no
special
isolationin
meaning.
Such a
group
as guiek^revolving,
with its
predominantstress
on
the first
element,
makes
more
the
impression
of
a
compound.
Pronouns.
ISB. Every
pronoun
is either
a noun "
noun-pronoun
or
sim[dy
pronoun,
or an
adjective
"
odjeotive-proiioan.
Many
pronouns
are
used both
as nouns and
as
adjectives,
in
which case the
adjective
use
is
generally
the
primary
and the
more important
;
thus that is
a
noun-pronoun
in / know that
an
adjective-pronoun
in that
man,
that
fact.
Form.
190. Pronouns are
distinguished
from
ordinary nouns
and
adjectives by
various formal characteristics.
IBl. Some
of the
noun-pronouns
have
special
inflections
(h, htm),
and
special
distinctions(A
gender{he,she,it).
TO
INTRODUCTION.
[| iqi.
IBS.
When
an adjective-pronoun
is made into
a
noun,
it
"otnetimes takes the
ordinary
noun-inflections, as
in the
other,
plural
tht ethers
{Jhe
othershave come
compared
with the other
mm),
and sometiincs
keeps
its
adjective
forro,
that
is, remains
indeclinable, as
in
some
iMni
difftrenily=:tovu
nun
think
differently.
198. The
adjective-pronouns
differfrixn
ordinaryadjectives
in the
following
features
:
"
(tf)Many
of them
can
be used
absolutely
without
any
prop-
word
(180):
he hat seme
bread,
Ihavi tome too. Some
of them have
special
absolute forms
:
he has fu" Books,
I have
none
either.
(b)
Most of them
can
be converted into
noun-pronouns
without the restrictionsthat
apply
to
ordinaryadjectives
(179)
:
msteh remains to be
done,
many
think
differently.
Some
of
them, however,
cannot be converted into
nouns or
used
absolutely
without
the addition of
some
prop-word,
such
as
one,
body,thing:
has
anyone
eomtf hat
anybody
eoauf
everything
went
wrong.
{"")They
are
often
peculiar
in their
use of the articles.
Some of them
never take them
at all,
such
as this,that,and,
of
course,
the articles
a and the themselves
;
others
only
with
some change
of
meaning or function,as in to
take a Itilê
trouble,
the whole
day,compared
with to take liUle
trouble,
whole
loaves;
while
others,
again,
take them in
peculiar
positions,
as
in all the
day compared
with the
longest day.
It is often difificult to draw the line between
adjective-
pronouna
and
ordinaryadjectives.
But if
an
adjective
does
not
show
any
of the above formal
peculiarities,
it
cannot be
regarded
as a
pronoun,
however much it
may
resemble
an
adjective- pronoun
in
meaning.
Thus several is
a
pronoun
becauM it
can
be used
absolutely, as
in / have several
;
but
although
divers has the same
meaning
as
several,
we cannot
say
*/ have divers
any
more
than
we can
say
"/ have
good
in
the
sense
of I have
good
books
"
so
divers
can
be
regardedonly
as an ordinaryadjective.
T,Goo(^le
PRONOUN'S.
MSANING.
194.
If
we
compare pronouns
with
ordinary
nouns
and
adjectives,
we
shall find that
pronouns
always
have
a
very
generd meaning.
Thus the
noun-pronoun you
means
'
anyone
that I
am speakingto,'
and the
adjective-
pronoun
Ike
can
be
prefixed
to
any
noun to
single
itout from other
nouns.
We
might
therefore from a
purelylogical point
of
view define
pronouns
as
general
nonnB
and
adjeotiTes,
as
opposed
to the
ordinaryspecialnouns
and
adjectives,
bearing
in mind that
some nouns and
adjectives are more
general
in their
meaning
than others. Hence
a noun of
generalmeaning
is often almost
equivalent
to a
pronoun.
Thus
men
say,
people
say
mean
much the
same as th^
say,
and in
a book it does not matter much whether the
author
speaks
of himself
as
/
or
(he
aulhor,
the
writer,or
whether he
speaks
of his reader
as
you
or the reader. In
fact the distinctionbetween
men
say
and
/hey
say
is
purely
formal
: we
restrictthe
name
pronoun
to
Ihey
because it has
formal
peculiarities
of its
own
which
keep
it
apart
from such
nouns as
man,
however
general
the latter
may
be in
meaning.
We have also seen
(198.i)
that it is sometimes difficult
to
draw the line between
ordinaryqualifying adjectives
" which
always
have
a more or
less
generalmeaning
" and
adjective-
pronouns.
Function.
190. The
granunatical
function of
pronotms
isto serve as
marfe-wordis'
(35).
When
a man
says
of himself / tht'nk
insteadof Wiiliam Smith thinks"
or
whatever his
name
may
be " or when he
speaks
of some other man as he,
instead of
calling
him
by
his
name,
or saying
the
man
who
was
here
yesterday, etc.,
he does much the same as
the
man
who makes
a cross
instead of
sîng
his
name,
or
puts
a block of wood
on
his
library
shelfto show where
a
book has been taken out.
Just
as
the cross or
the block
may
stand for
any
one name or
73 INTRODVCT!0!f.
[( ip6.
any
one book, eo also the
pronouns
/,
he
may
stand for
any
one noun whose
meaning
allows of these
pronouns
being
applied
to
it,
and
they
may
be transferred from
one noun to
another
:
he
may
point
to William Smith at
one time,
and to
John
Collins at another.
They
are
thus
shifting
or moveable
mark-wordB,
name-words
(proper
names),
such
as
William
Smith,
being
permanent
or
fised mark-words
(167).
106. A
noun-pronoun
is at the
same
time
a substitute
for
a noun or
group
of
nouns.
Pronouns
are
used
partly
for the sake of
brevity,
as when we
say jiou
instead rf
'
the
person
I
am
speaking
to
now,'partly
to avoid the
repetition
of
a
noun,
and
partly
to avoid the
necessity
of definitestate- ment,
197.
As the
cross at the end of
a
receipt
or similar
document
only
tellsus
that
a name
is
meant,
without
telling
us what the
name is,so
also
a
pronoun
has no
independent
meaning
of itsown: it
conveys
onlyenough
information
to
let
us
know what
noun
it refers to. It is true that Ae
generally
means 'male
being'
and
she
generallymeans
'
female
being,'
but the distinctionof
sex in these
pronouns
is made
only
for the sake of
more distinctreference
;
and
when
we
refer to a ship
as she,
the word she is
as
devoid of
independent meaning
as
the
cross
which stands for a name.
196.
Adding
an
adjective-pronoun
to a noun
is
equivalent
to
putting
a
mark
on
the noun. Thus, to
single
out
one
particular
book in a
library catalogueby calling
itthe book
or
this
book,or to
single
out one particular
house in
a row
by
calling
itthe
house,
is
equivalent
to
ticking
off the
name of
the book in the
catalogue
or
chalkinga cross on
the door of
the house.
Adjective-pronouns
can
be shiftedfrom one noun
10
another in the
same
way
as a pencil
tick can
be shifted
from the titleof
one
book to that of another in the
catalogue.
The difference between
noun-pronouns
and
adjective-pronouns
is,
of
course,
that while
a
noun-pronoun
lakes the
place
of
a
noun,
an adjective-pronoun
can
only qualify
it
:
T,Goo(^le
f aofc]
PRONOVyS.
73
the differenceis the
Same as
that between
making a cross
stand for
a
name,
and
simplyadding
it
to a name. Thus
when
we
talk of
a man or a woman as the
man,
Ike
woTnan,
we only
put
a mark on the nouns
;
but when
wc talk of
a
man as
ieoi
z woman as she,we substitutedie mark-words
Ae,
she for the
nouns
man,
woman. So also when
we talk of
Wiiliam Smith
as
he,
we
substitute
a moveable
general
mark-
word for
a fixed,specialdesignation.
As man
and
umman
are nouns
of
comparatively generalmeaning,
the
groups
the
man,
the woman
approach
very
near in
meanmg
and function
to the
noun-pronouns
he,
she.
Classes
of Pronouns.
109.
As
regards
theirfunction in the
sentence,
pronouns
fallunder two main
divisions, independent
and
dependent.
A sentence or
clause introduced
by a
dependent
pronoun
cannot
stand
alone,
but makes
us
expect
another
(independent)
sentence,
called the
principal
sentence or clause,
without which the
dependent
clause is
incomplete.
Thus
the
dependent
pronoun
in who
was
here
yesterday
makes
us
expect
some
such
principal
clause
as
/ know the
man
" /
know the man
who
was
here
yesterday,
wliilea sentence introduced
by
the
coirespondingindependent
pronoun
he
can stand
alone" fie
was
here
yesterday. Dependent
pronouns
are
subdivided intorelattre
anij
eonjunotiTe.
All
pronouns
also fallunder the heads of definite and indefinite. The
more special
divisions
are
personal, poaaesaiTe,anphatio,
refleziTe,reoiprooal,interrtâtiTe, negative, qaanti-
tative.
These divisions
cross one another in various
ways.
Thus an
emphatic
pronoun may
be either
personal
or
possessive,
besides
necessarilybeing
either
dependent or
independent,
and definiteor indefinite.
Personal Fronouni.
200.
The
personal
pronouns
are
all
noun-pronouns.
They
have
plural-
and
case-inflections,
and some of them
T,Goo(^le
74
INTRODUCTION.
[faoi.
distinguish gender, The^
zre distinguished by peiwm,
as first, second,
third
pcison pronouns.
The
pronoun
of
41
the flrat
person singular, /,means
'
the
speaker,'
that
is,
'
from the
point
of view of the
speaker
himself. The first
person
plural
iw
is not
really
the
phirai
of
I,
whose
meaning
does not admit of
plurality : tee means either
'
I
+
you
'
(j/ou
itself
meaning
either
one or more
than
one person),or
'1+ he,she,it,
or
they';
that
is,
the
only
way
of
making
a
plural
to /is
t^ associadng
with itthe idea of the seoHtd
or third
person pronouns.
The
pronoun
of the woMid
penon
is
you,
which is both
singular
='
you
man,'
'you
woman,'etc.,
and
pluial='
you
people,'
the old
singular
/Aou
being preservedonly
in the
higherliterary language.
But
in combination with the
emphatic
pronoun
uff^(SOS)
we
nJpke a
distinction between the
singularyoundf
and the
pliiral yourstlvtt.
The
pronouns
of the third
person
distinguish
gender
in the
singular,
but not
in the
plural:
singular
masculine
ht,
feminine
sht,
neuter
it,plural
for all
gendersIhgi,
The
reason
of the
gender
not
being
marked
in the
plural
is that
a
number of
persons may
be of different
sexes,
and itis not worth while
stopping
to consider whether
Ihgi
means
'
the
men
'
""
'
the women
'
or
'
the men and the
women together.'
Gender is to
some extent
distinguished
in Ae
plural
of the
interrogative
pronoun
"wke,
which is
really
a
special
kind of
personalpronoun
(201.i).
301.
Most of the
personal
pronouns
are definite
pronouns
; theypoint
to some
definite
person
or thing,
The
French
on \a. on
dU
'theysay'is,
on the other
hand, an
indefinite
pronoun
of the third
person
singular.
This
indefinite
personal
pronoun
is
represented
in
Englishsome- times
by
ont,
sometimes
by
the definite
personal
pronouns
you
and
Ih^
; oiu
would Ihink
so,
you
would 'ihink
so, Ihey
say.
Altboi^h
the
designation'personalpronoun'
is
generally
confined to the above
pronouns,
there
are several other
pro-
T,Googlc
t M3.)
PROyOUNS.
75
nouns
which far convenience are classed under diflerent
heads,
* and
yet
aie
reallypersonalpronouns.
Such
pronouns
are
the
interrogative
and relative
mho,
what
(211).
a02.
It must be observed that the
neuter
pronoun
il does
not
always
refer to
a
definite
thing,
but is often
entirely
unmeaning.
Thus in it rains the it is
a mere
prop-word,
the
logical subject
of the sentence
being
contained in rains
itself
(67).
Fosaoartve Pronoona.
208.
The
possessive prcniDuns
are
exactly parallel
to the
personal
pronouns,
each
personal
pronoun
having
its
own
possessive,
so that the
possessive
pronouns
make the
same
distinctionsof number and
person
aa
the
personal
pronouns.
Thus to
the
personal
pronoun
he
corresponds
the
possessive
third
person
his in his book. The
possessive
pronouns may
be
regarded
either
as
noun-pronouns
in the
genitive, or as
personal
noun-pronouns
made into
adjectives.
That
is,we
may
regard
kit in his hook either
aa standing
in the
same
relation to
of
him as John's
does to
of
John^
or aa he made
into an
adjective.
It must be observed that
a
possessive
pronoun
does not
necessarily imply possession
any
more
than a
genitive
case
does
:
when
a
slave talks
of his
master,
or
the master of his
headache,
itdoes not mean
that the slave
possesses
the
master,
or the master
possesses
the
headache.
Some of the
possessives,
such
as
his and
its, certainly
have
the inSections of
genitives
"
although
the vowel of his isnot
the
same as
that of
he;
but
others,
such
as
my
" the
possessive
of /"have not
;
for the
regulargenitive
of / would be
"/"j. Some of the
possessives
make
a distinctionbetween
oimjcdnt
and absolute forms. Thus
my
m
my
Book,
my
mm book isthe
conjoint
form
corresponding
to the absolute
-
mine. The
conjoint
form is used when the
possesdve
pronoun
comes
before its
noun.
The absolute form is
used
when there isno
accompanyingnoun, being
itself
equivalent
76
INTRODUCTION.
[| ao^.
eitherto an
adjective,
as in thi hook is
mint,
or to a
pore
noun:
ht dots not seem to know Iht disHneUtm httuieenmint
and fkitu. Those
pronouns
which have the
genitive ending
t
in the
conjoint form,
such
as
his and
its,
do not make
an;
distinctionbetween
conjoint
and absolute
:
his
book,
it is his.
Some of the
others,
such
as her,
take the
genitive
i in the
absolute form
:
her
book,
it is hers. As there is not a trace
of
genitive
inflectionin such
possessives as
my, mate,
and
as
the distinctionbetween
conjoint
and absolute is more characteristic
of
adjectives
tlian of
noUns,
we can
have
no
hesitation
in
regardingpossessive
pronouns,
taken as a whole,
as
adjec-
'
livesrather than
as genidvecases of
noun-pronouns.
S04. The
possessive
pronouns
in
Englishare :
first
person
singular
my
(absolute mine), pluralour (absolute ours) ;
second
person
singularthy (absolute Mne), plural
your (absolute
yours);
third
person
singular
masculine
his,
feminine her
(absolute hers),
neuter
its,plural
/heir
(absolute iheirt).
Thy,
thine occurs
only
in the
higherliterary language,your{s)
being
substituted far it in
ordinarylajiguage.
The
genitives
on^s and whose of the indefiniteone and the
interrogative
and relative who
may
also be
regarded
as
possessive
pronouns.
Xmpliatia
Prononna.
206.
The
personal
pronouns
are
made
emphatic by
adding
the
noun-pronoun
self,pluralselves,
2a m
I
did
it
myself,
we
did it
ourselves,
where the
personal
pronoun
is
put
in the
possessiveform, as
before an
ordinary
noun;
while in other
combinations,
such
as himself, themselves,
the
personal pronoun
is in the
objective case, se^,
selves
bang
in
a
kind of
apposition
to it.
206.
The
possessive
pronouns
are
made
emphaticby
adding
the
adjective
-pronoun
own:
my
own book,
il is
my
own.
From these
emphatic possessivepronouns, new, doubly
emphatic noun-pronouns
are
formed
by adding self:
my
own
self
T,Goo(^lc
BeflsxlTe Fronoune.
307. The
compounds
of the
personal
pronouns
with
self
are
also used 2S reflesive
pronouns,
as
in
itv
should
try
to see
ourselves
as
others
see
us,
whefe ourselves is the reflexive
pronoun
corresponding
to the
ordinary personal
pronoun
us.
\^
refleiive
pronoun
is
a personal
pronoun
standing
in the
object-relation
to a verb,or
else
joined
to
it
by a preposition^
as
in he Ihtttks
too much
of himself
,
being
at
the
same
dme
a
repetition
of the
logicalsubject
of the verb. In
we see ourselves
the reflexive
pronoun
stands in the direct
object-relation
to the verb
see,
and refers
us
back to
toe,
which is the
subject
of the verb, In
John
told him
to
give himselfplentyoftime,
the reflexive
pronoun
himself
Siia.n6sin the indirect
object-
relation to the verbal
(verb-equivalent)
to
give,
and refers
us
back to the
logicalsubject
of
give,namely him,
told him
ia
give himselfbeing equivalent
to
told him that he should
give
himself{AA").
308. It will be observed that in the last sentence the
reflexive
pronoun
refers back to
the
logicalsubject
of the verb-
equivalent
it
follows,
which
logicalsubject
is in this
sentence
not
the
grammatical subject
in the sentence.
In
English a
reflexive
pronoun
always
refers back in this
way
to the
nearest
logicalsubject
of the
preceding
verb
or
verbal. But in
some
languages,
such
as Latin, a reflexive
pronoun
necessarily
refers back to the
grammaticalsubject
of the
sentence, so
that in Latin the above sentence would
imply
that
John
himself
was
to have
plenty
of time
given
him. So also in
such
a sentence as
he
beggedme to
defendhim,
htm would take
the reflexive form in lAixa"âvit ut si
defenderem
" which
would be
impossible
in
English,
because the
logicalsubject
of
the verbal to
defend
is
me,
which is not of the
same
person
as
him, and
cannot therefore be
repeatedby
it. The Latin
reflexives
are
therefore
granunatioal reflndreB,
the
English
logioftlreflexiTM.
INTRODUCTION.
S09. The
'
emphatic
fonns of the
possessive
pronouns
are
used also as reflexives, as
in ^
goes
in his
mm
carriage
;
but
when itis not
necessary
to
emphasize
the reflexive
meaning,
we
generallj
use
the
simplepossessives
in
a
reBexive
sense,
as
in ^ Au sold his
carriage,
ht drivts kit
carriagehimself.
In allthesesentences such
a language
as
Latin would
employ
the reflexiveforms.
Beo^^rooal
Frononna.
210.
The
group-pronouns
eath
othersone another,
in such
sentences as iheyhelp
each
oiherfthey
would
net
speak
to eaeh
other,
he told the three children to
helpone
another,
are
called
reciprocal
pronouns.
Reciprocal
pronouns,
like
reflexives,
stand as
adjuncts
to a
verb
or verbal,
and at the
same
time
refer back to the
logical subject
of the verb
or
verbal But
this
subject,
as
well
as
the
reciprocal
pronouns
themselves,
must
cUways
be in the
plur^.
Each ether
generally tmpUes
only two,
one
another more than two
persons,
though
this
distinction
is not
always strictly
observed.
Reciprocal
pronouns
are
necessarily phiral,
because there is
always
a
cross*
relationbetween the
subjects
and the
reciprocal
pronouns.
Thus
th^ help
each other means
'
A
helpsB,
and B
helps
A.'
Interrogative PfonounB.
'
21L The
interrogative or questioning
pronouns
in
English
are whoi what,
which. Who is used
only
as a noun. It has
two
genders,
the
penional, including
masculine and
feniinine,
expressed by who,
and the
neuter, expressed
hyjvhal
;
who
is thai
man?,
who is that
woman?,
what is that
thing?
These forms
are pluralas
well
as
singular
:
who
are
those
men?,
who
are
these
women?,
what
are
those
things?
We
see
thatthe distinctionsmade in the
interrogative
pronouns
are
much
vaguer
than in the
personal
pronouns,
the dlstinc-
T,Goo(^le
iaij.]
PRONOUNS.
79
tions made in
kt,
the,th^ being
levelledin
tuhotalthough,
on
the other
hand,
the retention of the
singularforms
of the in-
terrc^tive
pronoun
in the
plural
enables it
to
distinguish
the
neuter from the
personalgender
in the
pluralas
well
as the
singular.
The
reason
of this
greatervagueness
of the interrogative
pronouns
is,
of
course,
that
a
question
is
naturally
Vaguer
than
a
statement,
for all
questionsimply
a certain
amount of
ignorance.
Who and what also differfrom
he,
she
and il in
havinga common genitive or
possessive
form whose.
Who has
an
objective
case
whom, parallel
to
him,
for
which, however,
the uninfected who is substituted in the
spokenlanguage,
as
in
who{m)
do
you
mtan
?
212. What differsfrom who in
being
used as an
adjective
as
well as a noun.
In both functions it
can
be used
b
a
personalsense,
but
in
a
meaning
differentfrom that of lohai
whafis fuf,
whai
woman is that?
213. Which,
like
what,
is
mainly
neuter
in
meaning,though
itis used
personally
as
well. Itisboth
a noun
and
an
adjective,
and is
indeclinable,
not
havingeven a
possessiveform,
as
what has
:
which
(of
those
thirds)
do
you
want?,
which
boy
do
you
mean
f
214. When
an interrogative
pronoun
is used
to introduce
an independent
sentence
(IBB),
the
interrogation
issaid to be
direct. When itintroduces a clause
dependent
on a
principal
clause
containing
a statement or
question,
the
interrc^-
tion is said to be indirect. Thus ve
have indirect
interrogation
in such
a sentence as
/ asked him who he
was
and what he
wanted,contrasting
with the direct
interrogation
sentences
who
are
you
i",
who is he
f,
whai does he want/
216.
It must be borne in mind that an interrogative
pro-
notm
is
always
the^^^rediMte
of the sentence
it
introduces,
whether the sentence is
independent
or dependent.
Thus
the
questions
who is he
/,(/ashed)
who he
was
correspond
to
the statement he is
somebody.
INTRODUCTION.
BalfttlTfl and
ConJnnotlTe
Fronaona.
2ie.
In
English
the
inteirogative
pronouns
who, what,
which and the definite
pronoun
thai
are
used also
as relative
(andconjunctive)
pronouns.
Tliat ^vhen used as a relative
is
indeclinable,
as
in the
men
that
were hertyttttrday compared
with those
men,
being
used also
only
as a
noun,
not
as an
adjective.
The
use
of
who,what,
which
as
relativesis
parallel
to
their
use as interrogatives :
the relative who is used
onl^
as a
noun,
the relativeswhat and which both as nouns and
as
adjectives,
the
use
of these three
pronouns
as
regards
inflection
being
much the
same
when
they
are
relative
as
when
theyare
intemâlive.
The
English
relative
pronouns
also
agree
with the
interrogative
pronouns
in
making no
distinctionsof
person ;
thus who
can
referto /
as
well
as to
he
or to a noun : /,
who know all
aiout.
it" he who imrws "
iht
man
who knows.
217. The relative
pronoun
makes the clause itintroduces
" the relativeclause" into an adjunct
to some noun-word
"
called the antecedent " in the
principal
clause. Thus in /
hum the
ma"
who
was
here
yesifrdqy,
the clause who
was
here'êsiirday
is
an adjunct
to the antecedent
man in the
principal
clause / know the
man
;
and in /
say
itwho know
it,
the antecedent is the
pronoun
/. It is
easy
to see that
a
relativeclause is
an
adjunct,
because
we can
often substitute
an adjunct-woid"generally
a
participle (adjective- verbal)
"
for the relative clause without
change
of
meaning,as in the
window
looking
on
the
garden,
the lostchild-= the window ivhich
locks
on
the
garden,
the child that
was
lost
or
the child witch
was
lost. Sometiti^s the whole of the
principal
sentence
constitutesthe
antecedent,
which isthen
a eenteooe-^nteoe-
dent,
as in
/
said
nothing,
which made him still
more
angty,
where / said
nothing
is
equivalent
to
such
a
wor4'group
(noun-group)
a^
nty
sayingnothing
or
my
silenct.
1 s"o.] PSOM"U?/S. 8l
218.
In the above
examples
the relativeclause ia
logically,
as
well
as fonnally, an
adjunct,
subordinate to its
antecedent.
But in
some cases a
relative
pronoun
is used to
join
on a
clause which is
lexically
coordinate
(46)
to the
principal
clause. Thus in the sentence
I told
John,
who toldhis
hrothtr,
and he told his
wife,
the relative
pronoun
loho has
exactly
the
same
meaning as
and A^ in the
following sentence, We call
such relatives " which
are
equivalent
to iini/+personal
pronoun,
being
thus relatives in form
only
"
progressiTe
relaHve
noun-pronouns.
In
spoken English
relative
noun-pronouns
arc
omitted in
;tions,
as
in the
man
I
saw
yesterday
="i!bK
literary
ft
whcm I
saw yesterday.
319. The function of
a
relative
adjective-pronoun
is to
make the
noun
it
qualifies relative,
the combination relative
adjective + noun being
thus
equivalent
to a
relative
noun-
pronoun.
Thus in the last
example
in
" 217 we might
refer
to / said
nothingby
the relative
group
which
proceeding
instead of the
simple
noun-relative which: I said
nothing,
wluch
proceeding limine
made him stillmore
angry.
So also
we
might
referXaPlalo
as
whic A
philosopher
'mste3.dof
simply
aswhc,
3S0. It Bome^mes
happens
that the antecedentto a
relative
noun-pronoun
is
not
expressed
either
by
a noun- word or
a
sentence,
the relativeitself
doing duty
forthe antecedent
as
well. Such a relativeiscalled a oosctenaed relatlTe
(112).
Only
tDho and what
are
used as
condensed
relatives,
what
being
the
more frequent
of the two
in this use.
The clause
introduced
by
a
condensed relative
precedes,
instead of
following,
the
principal
clause: what
you
say
is
quitetrue',
what I
say
I
mean
;
what isdone cannot he undone
; who{ever)
said thai
was
mistaken. In the firstof
these sentences
the
condensed relativewhat is the
object
of the verb
say
in the
#
83
ItfTRODUCTIOff.
[|
mi.
relative
clause,
and is ftt the
same
time the
subject
of the
verb U in the
principal clause,
while in the second senteiuê
itis the
object
in both
clauses,
and
id
the thirdsentence
itis
the
subject
in both clauses. If we
alter the constnictton
of such
sentences,
the
missing
antecedent is often restored;
iV is
quitt
Irue what
you say ;
if I
say
a
thing,
J mean it.
Nevertheless,
in such
a sentence as -whaf
you
say
is
quite
Ime
we are not sensibleof
any
omission,
because we
feelthatwhaf
unitesin itself relativeand antecedent :
itisrelative
by
virtue
of itsform,
while its
prominentposition
at the
beginning
of
the
clause-group
seems
to make it
belong
to the
principal
-
clause also.
221. The
interrogative
pronouns
are
also used as oon-
JtmctiTe
proQcnms
in
English.
A
conjunctive
pronoun
makes the clause itintroduces" the
conjunctive
clause" into
an
adjunct
to the verb in the
principal clause,
which
we
may
call the antecedent verb. Thus in I know who
you
are,
the
conjunctive
pronoun
ivho is the
subject
of the verb
are
in
the
conjunctive
clause who
you are,
and this
conjunctive
clause is an
adjunct
to the verb know in the
principal
clause,
standing
in the same direct
object
relationto this verb
as
the noun-word
you
in / know
you.
In / wonder what hi
meant,
I asked what he
meant,
what is the
object
of the verb
of the
conjunctive clause,
and ihigclause is the
object
of the
verb of the
principal
clause. In such
a
senCfnce
as thisit
what I
mean,
the
conjunctive
what is the
object
cS the verb
of the
conjunctiveclause,
and thisclause stands in
apposition
to the
subject
of the
principal clause,being
therefore in the
nominative relation.
222,
Such
a sentence as this is what Ii
mean
may
be
changed
into what I
mean
is this with
a
condensed reladve
instead of
a conjunctive.
So also /
say
what
I
mean^=tbhat
I
say
I
mean.
II
we
confinedourselves to such
sentences as
these,
we might
be inclinedto
regarda conjunctive
pronoun
T,Goo(jle
\
} MsO
PRONOUNS.
83
as
condensed or contracted: this is what I me"m=tMs is that
which I
mean.
But
we
do not feel such a sentence as
/
know who
you
ar^ to be
equivalent
to / know him who
you
are or
/ know the
man
who
you
are
;
and even
/
say
what /
mean
has not
exactly
the
same meaningas what I
say
I
mean.
238"
So far from
identifying conjunctive
with condensed
relative
pronouns,
we do not feelthem to be relativeat
all,
but rather associate them with the
interrogative
pronouns.
Not
only
do we use
the
same
pronouns
conjunctively
which
we use intenogatively,
but the form of a
conjunctive
sentence
is identical with that of
an
indirect
interrogation.
Thus I
asked whai he meant is both
an
indirect
interrogation
sentence
and 2 conjunctive
sentence.
All indirect
interrogation
sentences
are
necessarily
conjunctive, although
all
conjunctive
sentences are not
interrogative.
But
even in an affirmative
conjunctive
sentence
such
as
/ know what he
means,
the what
is feltto introduce
a sort
of answer to the
impliedquestion
what does he mean? The
affinity
between
conjunctive
and
Interrogative
sentences is also shown in such
sentences as
/ know who
you are,
where the
in the
conjunctive
clause is the
unmeaning
fonn-word
are,
the real
logicalpredicatebeing v"}",exactly
as
in the
interrogative
sentence
wAd
or^.^tw?(216).
Definite Freneona.
234.
The definite
pronouns
Mix,that,
the
aie primarily
adjectives.
Such definite
pronouns
as
the and
yonder
are
used
onlyas
adjectives,
and
although
this and that
are
used
as nouns as well as
adjectives,
yet
we generally
think of them
as
qualifying some noun.
\
226. Definite
pronouns
fall under various subdivisions.
^DemoiurtratiTe
prononnB point
to
something
in
space
or
time,as
in this
house,
that
day.
Beferenoe
pronouiu
(generally
included under
demonstratives) point
to something
in
thought.
When
we
talk of this
man,
that
man,
or
84
tNTRODUCTTON.
(|
"i6.
0it
man,
meaning
a man
that has
just
been
mentioned,thU,
that and Iht
are
reference
pronouns.
Tlu,
which is the
ty[Hcal
reference
adjective-pronoun,
is called the definite Brtioto.
' As
we
see,
this and thai
are
both demonstrative and reference
pronouns,
while tht is
a
reference
pronoun
only.
Reference
pronouns
are distinguished as
bacdc-pointing
and for-
mrds-poUitiJig,according
as
diey
refer to
somethingr
that
has been said
or to
something
that is to follow. Thus thai
in / kntiw thai is
back-pointing,
while fMs in thit is what I
mean
is
forwards-pdnting.
S20.
The distinction between definite and indefinite
applies
also
to
personal
pronouns.
Thus he is
definite,
they
in
they
say
indefinite. The distinction between donon-
"tiativeand reference
pronouns
applies
also
to the definite
personal
pronoun
;
thus in tuho is he?
meaning
'
who is the
roan standing
there ?
'
^ is
a
place-demonstratiTe.
The
main difference between the
personal
and the definite
pronouns
is that the former
are
primarilynouns,
while the
definite
pronouns
are primarilyadjectives.
227. Such is
a
definite
pronoun
of
quantity
and
quality
when used
as an
adjective,
as
in tuch
a
yuaniiiy,
I
tuvtr
heard such nonsense.
In its
larer use as a noun
it
approaches
very
near
in
meaning
to an
ordinarypersonal
pronoun,
as in
"^
suth is the
kingdomof
heaven.
228.
The
same,
as
in the
same
day,
1 will do tht
tame, may
be
redded
as a
definite
pronoun
of
identity.
Xndeflnlto Fronouna.
^
220. The most
important
of the indefinite
pronouns
isthe
Indefinite article
a, an,
which,
hke the definite
article,
is
used only
as an
adjective.
The indefinitearticle
puts
a
mark on a
noun,
but without
identifying or definingit,having
thus a
function
exactly
contrary
to thatof the definitearticle:
a man wants
to
speaktoyou ;
Ida
not knew who he
is;
he is
not the man
who
was
here
yesterday.
The
noun-pronoun
i "33.]
PRONOUNS. 85
most
nearlycorresponding
to the intteGnitearticleis the
indefinite
^rsonal pronoun one,
(hey
= French
on.
The
iadefintte
otu must be
distinguished
from the numeral one
(237);
it is used both
as an
indefinite
personal
pronoun
and
as a
prop-word(180).
280. Other indefinite
pronouns
are some
in
some Srtad.any
in
any
knife
will
do,
the
corresponding negative
no {absolute
none),
for which nol
any
is substituted in
spoken English,
as
in I hewe nol
any
bread,
I have no!
"in"'=
the
literary
I have
no bread,
I have
none.
The
nouns
corresponding
to
these
adjective-pronouns
arc
formed with
prop-words:someone,
somebody,
iomelhing;
anyone,
anybody,anything;
no
one,
nobotfy, nothing.
2S1.
Other
{/heother,another),
in the
sense
of 'different,'
as
in
give
me
another
plate,
this
one
is not clean
;
/ liie the
other
{book) best,
is
an
indefinite
pronoun
of
quality.
In the
sense
of
'additional,' 'another of the
same kind,'as
in
give
me
another
pieceof bread,
it is
a
quantitative pronouir'
(236).
The
group-pronoun
one
another isused
as a
reciprdcaL^
(210).
-^
"T
QuantdtaitiTe
Pronouns.
232.
Quantity
is of two
kinds,
(a)
continuom
quantity,
expressed by
such words
as
size,big,long,much, less,
and
{b)
difloretd or
broken
quantity,
called
'
number,'expressedby
such words as number,
numerous, count,
three,both,
many.
Many quantitative
nouns
and
adjectives,
such
as size,num-
^, *%?!l"î numerous,
have
nothing
to
distinguish
them
grammatically
from
ordinary
nouns
and
adjectives,
while
others,
such
as much, less,both,
many,
have
more or
less of
the formal characteristicsof
pronouns.
238.
Many
of the
pronouns
included under the other
classes
imply quantity.
Thus the indefinite
some
in
some
bread
implies
'not much,'
/
implies'one,'
etc.
But these
words
onlyimplyquantity,
the
expression
of distinctions of
86 INTXODUCTtON.
[(
"".
quantity
not
being
their main
(unction,
and therefore itU
not
necessary
to class them as
specially quantitative.
284. The chief
pronouns
of contintious
quantity
are much,
more,
as
in
more bread,
most
\niore
and ntoit are
also
pronouns
of
number],
a
littlt,
as
in
n
UHk bread
\lilile by
itselfis
an ordinaryadjective,
as also in
a
Utile
loaf,
etc],
less,least,
all
the,
the
whole,
as
in all the
day,
the whole
dy
[allby
itselfis
a
pronoun
of
number,
and whole
by
itselfis
an ordinaryadjective], enough.
285. The
pronouns
of number
are
distinguished as ocA-
leotive and
aeparstiTe.
A collective
pronoun,
such
as dli.
makes us think of a number of
objects
in
-a
mass;
a
separative
pronoun,
such
as each,
makes
us
think of them
one hj
one. The collective
pronouns
are :
the
emphatic
some,
as
in
sonie
pe"^le
think
so
[theunemphatic
some
in
some bread,
I
saw some
peoplethere,
is
an
indefinite
pronoun], several, /em,
many,
more,
as
in
more men
than
women, most,
all
;
both,
other in
the
sense
of
'
additional
'
(281).
The
separative
pronouns
are:
every,
each,
the alternativeeither
="'
cme
of two' with its
negative
neither,
several in
they
went their several
ways.
There are also
nouns
formed with
prop-words:
everyone,
everybody,
everything,
each
one.
The
group pronoim
each
ether is used
as a reciprocal (210).
ITêgative
Fronouns.
286.
The
pronouns beginning
with
"" are
negativeor
not'pronouns.
Neither is the
negativecorresponding
to the
positive
either. No and itsabsolute form
none are in form
negatives
of
one,
though
in
meaning they
are
negatives
of
iijtCi
ôt
any
being
indeed substituted for
no,
none in
spoken
English(230).
From
no are formed the
noun-pronouns
no
one,
nobody,nothing.
T,Goo(^le
{ 34"J NUMERALS.
8?
Numerals.
287. The mimerals
one, two, three,
etc. differfrom (he
pronouns
of
number,
such
as
some, many,
all,
in
expressing
distinctions of discrete
quantitydefinitely
instead of indefinitely.
The diiferencebetween
one
the numeral and
one
the
pronoun
(829)
is that the numeral one makea
us
think of
'
one
'
as
opposed
to
'
two
'
etc.,
while
one
the
pronoun
makes
ns think
only
of
a
vague
singling
out from
an
indefinite
number of
objects,
the
meaning
*
oneness
'
being
so much
forgotten
that
we use one as ^
prop-word
in the
plural
"
some
good ones.
288. Numerals,being
intended to
give
definiteinform-
aiion,
have
nothing
of the character of mark-words about
them. In
fonn,however,they
have all the characteristics of
pronouns.
They
can be used
freely
both
as
adjectives,
as
in
three
men,
we are
seven,
and as nouns: the
three,
all
three,
three
ofus,
by
twos and threes.
2S8. The above remarks
applymainly
to cordioal
numerals"
enf,
two, three, ten,hundred,
etc. Ordinal numerals
"
first,second,third,tenth,hundredth,
etc."
arc
primarily
adjectives,
their
use as nouns
being
limited like that of the
other
adjectives.
Verbs.
Form.
340.
The
ordinary
inflectionsof
an
English
verb " including
the verbals
"
are as follows:"
(a)
Third
person,
singularnumber,
presenttense,
indicative
mood
: calls, sees.
{h)
Preterite tense : called,
saw.
(f)
Present
participle
and
gerund:
calling, seeing.
{d)
Preterite
participle :
called, seen.
In most verbs the finite
preterite
and the
preterite participle
have the
same
form " called.
T,Googlt
88 INTRODUCTIOff.
tS
14'-
241.
The
common
foim call
expresses
four
grammatical
categories : {a)
present
indicative,
with the
exception
of the
third
person
singukr{eatls),
as
in I
call,Iheycali;(6)
present
subjunctive,
as
in
if^ call;{c)imperative
mood, as
in
callI
;
(rf)infinitive,
as
in leihim call,
243. In
English,
verbs are
modified
partlyby inflection,
partlyby
form-words "
particles
and verbs " which latter
constitute the
periphrastio
forms of the verb. Inflections
and
periphrastic
forms
together
make
up
the
oonjugatioc
of
a
verb.
243.
The
form-particle
in
{preposition
or
adverb)
is
prefixed
to the
common
form of the
verb,
this combination
constituting
the
supine
or periphrastic infinitive, as in / wish
to
see,
which has the
same
grammatical
function as
the infinitive
in J will
see.
Hence
we
often include the
supine
under
the term infinitive. The adverb not also enters into the
periphrastic
forms of the
verb,especially
in the
spoken language,
as
in / don'I
know,
which is the
negative
form of / knma.
244.
The form-verbs used to
modify
the
English
verb
are
called
auxiliary
verbs,or
auxiliaries. The chief auxiliaries
are be,have,do,will,shall,
vtay.
When
a
fullverb is
associated
with
an
auxiliary,
it is
always
made into a verbal,so
that the function of
predication
is transferredto the
auxiliary.
Thus the finiteinflectedverb in the
present
indicativehe
sees
becomes an
infinitivein the future tense he will
see,
a
present
participle
in the definiteindicativehe is
seeing,
and
a
preterite
participle
in the
perfect
tense he has
seen. If,as isoften the
case,
a periphrastic
form is made
up
of
more
than
one
auxiliary, onlyone
of these
keeps
itsfinite
form,
allthe others
being
made into
verbals,
as
in he has been
seeing,
he will
have
seen,
where has and will
are the
only
finiteverbs.
Many
of the auxiliaries
are
used also
as
full verbs. Thus
"aiillin / iviildo
ii,
ivhelher
you
like it
or not is not a form-
word,
but a
full word
meaning
'
1
am
determined to.' Such
combinations do not form
part
of the
verb-conjugation.
T,Goo(^le
( 148-]
VERBS:
MEANING. 89
We have seen
that
inflecting
a noun
and
putting
a preposition
before it
express
the same grammatical
function
(78),
so
that
of
men
stands to men's in the same
relation s"
ke has seen to
he
saw, although
the two verb-forms
differ
slightly
in
meaning.
But while it is most convenient to treat
of noun-inflections
and
the use
of
prepositionsseparately,
the inflectional and
periphrastic
forms (rfthe verb are so
mixed
up
that in
treating
of
the
meanings
of verb-forms it is
impossible
to
separate
them.
Thus /
see
and / rfp
see
differ
only
in the latter
being
more
emphatic.
246. In
Ei^lish
the finiteverb must always
be
accompanied
by
a subject-word,
except
in the
imperative{sett).
If there is no
other
noun-word, a
personal
pronoun
most
be used
:
tie
man came
;
J know who
came
;
he
came.
Hence the addition of the
unmeaning
it in it rains
(202).
The
pronouns
are
omitted
only
in
colloquial, elliptical phrases,
such as dotit knoviÎ dotit know.
Meaning.
246. The
primary
use
of verbs
as regards
their
meaning
is to
express
phenomena (changing attributes),
as in
come,
fall,
grow,
die
. [compare
the
perm_anent
attribute-word
dead\
walk, strike,
see,
live,
think. In other verbs the idea of
phenomenality
ia less
predominant,as
in
livt,
shine"
compared
with_âfA, Atiwi/i;;
j/awrf"
compared with_/i//,r('w; lit,
sleep.
In
exist,
which is the most abstract and
general
of all
verbs that have
an
independentmeaning,
we can realisethe
sense ofphenomenalityonlybythe
contrast with non-existence.
247. Verbs
are classed
according
to their
meaning
as
tronsitlTe and
intranfiitiTe, reflexive,reciprocal,
im-
personaL
TnuultiT" and Intranatttre Terba.
218. Tranaitive
verbs,
such
as slrike,
see,
like, requirea
noun-word
or
noun-equivalent
in the direct
object
relationto
serve
as
complement
to them,
that
is,complete
theirmean- ing,
as in he struck him
;
the
ma" saw
the
boy
;
boys
like
Jam
;
90
tNTRODUCTlOlf.
[$
J49.
/ do not like
having
my
hair cut. Verbs which do
not take
a
dinct-object
noun-word after ihcm
are
called
intmuitiTe,
SHch
as
come,
/all,
live. Itiseasier to form
a
complete sentence
wiib an intransitivethan vith
a
transitive
verb,as
in
he
Jill,
the tree lives. But transitiveverbs
can
also stand
without
any
object-noun,
not
only
when the
object-noun
may
be understood from the
context,
as
in /
ste, meaning
'
I see
what
you
mean,' but also when the
object
idea is
so
vague
or
uncertain that itis not
necessary
or
easy
so to express
it,as
in blind
men
saw,
where taw means
'
saw
things
in
general,'
that
is,
'
received the
power
of
sight.'
In /see=
'
I
see
what
you
mean,'
the verb is
fully
Cran^tive" the omission
of the
object-wordor word-group being onlyan
ellipse
" while in Hind
men saw
it
may
be
regarded
as
half
intransitive.
249. Transitive verbs
are
sometimes used without
an
object-word
for
a different
reason,
namely,
that thdr
grammatical subject
is
logically
their direct
object,
as
in
tie book sells
well,
meat will not
keep
in hot
ijoeather,
which
mean
'
theyare selling
the book
well,'
'
we cannot
keep
meal
in hot
weather,'
the
subject
not
beingexpressed
because of
its
Indefiniteness, just
as the
object
isnot
expressed
in blind
men saw for the
same reason.
We callsellsand
keep
in such
constructions
pasHlval
verbs.
This inversion of the relationsbetween
subject
and
object
is
also
expressedby
a
definite
grammatical
form oilled the
panive
voice
(8U).
360. Intransitiveverbs
can
often be converted into transi-
tives
by a slightchange
of
meaning, as
in Ihe
groom
walks
Iht horse
about,
where walk
means
'
cause to walk,'
'
make
walL' So also in Iran
a thorn info
my
fingercompared
with
a
thorn
ran into
my
finger.
Such transitives
are
called
oattea-
tive verbs.
For the
converse change
of
a
transitiveverb into
an intransitive,
as
in to
slopshort,see S
266.
""
T,Goo(^le
i 353.]
VERBS: MEAXmG.
9I
2S1.
When
an intransitiveverb
requires
a.
noun-word to
complete
its
meaning,
the noun-word is
joined
to
it
by a
preposition, forming a
prepoeitioiLalcomplemeot,
as
in
he
came to London
;
he looked al the house
;
Hhoughl of
that
;
he
thinkt
0/
going
abroad. We
can sec
from these
esamples
that the distinction between transitive and intransitiveis
m^nly formal,
for think
of
and the transitiveverb consider in
I considered that have
practically
the
same
meaning,
and think
itselfis iised
transitively
in
some phrases,as
/
Ihoughi
as
much. So also the
slight
difference in
meaning
between ht
looked al the house and he
saw
the house has
nottung
to do
with
one
verb
beingintransitive,
the other transitive' The
meaning
of
a
transitive
as
well
as an
intransitiveverb
may
be extended
or
defined
by
a
preposition-
group,
as
in to
fill
a
glass
with
water,
to
accuse a
person of dishonesty.
When
the combination of
an
intransitive verb with
a
preposition
is
logically
equivalent
to a
transitive
verb,we
call the combination
a
group-verb.
Thus think
of
is the
group-verb
corresponding
to the transitiveverb consider.
262. When
an
btransitive verb lakes
a noun
in the
common
form after
it,as
in ts run a mile,
to
slop
Ike
night,
these
nouns are not
ordinarycomplement-nouns,
as
in lo
sti^
a
horse,
to
stop
in the
house,
but
are equivalent
to adverbs.
Thus the
night
in to
stop
the
night
stands in the
same
relation
to
stop
as
the adverb or
adverb-group
in to
stop
long,
to
stop
for
a short lime.
We call
a
mile and the
night
in such
constructions
adverbial
objects
of the verb.
268. Sometimes an
intransitive verb is followed
by
a noun
in the
common
form which
repeats
the
meaning
of the
verb,
as
in
sleep
the
sleepof
the
just, fight
a
goodfight,
where the
noun Is
simply
the verb converted into
a
noun,
and
va. fighta
hattle, run a
race,
where the noun
repeats
the
meaning,
but
not the
form,
of the verb. Such
object-nouns
are
called
cognate obj^ta.
A
cognate
object-noun
must
necessarily
be
an
abstract
noun.
9a
INTRODUCTION.
[|
")+
BallexiTe Verbs.
-'
254.
In such a sentence as he contradicts
himsttf,
we
have
a
tranadve verb followed
by
a
reflexive
pronoun
in the
object-
relation. So also in to wash
oaeself,
to
keeponeself
in
the
background.
But in to wash in cold
water,
to
keep
in Ik
iaeôund,
to
keepquiet,
the
reflesivity
is not
expressedby
any pronoun,
but is
implied
in the verb
itself,
which is thus
changed
from a
transitive into
an
intransitive reflexive
verb.
Some
languages
have
special
inflections
or
other formal
marks to show when
a
verb is used in
a
reflexive
sense,
such
as
the Greek
'
middle voice'
(318).
26B. It often
happens
that after
a
verb lias been
changed
in this
way,
the reflexive
meaning
is lost
sightof,so that all
we
feel
is
the
change
from transitiveto intransitive.
Thus,
while such intransitivesas
/owoj'îzni/i/rNjtiave
a
definitively
reflexive
meaning,
to
keep
in to
keepquiet
is
hardly
feltto ,be
equivalent
to
keeponeself,
but rather to
'
remain,'
'
stay,'
etc
So also there is
nothingspecially
reflexivein to
stop
the
night,
although
in he
stopped
short=' be
pulled
himself
up,'
the
reflexive
meaning
still
lingers.
We
may
call these verbs converted
intr"nsitlTeB. The
greater
the
change
of
meaning
in
a
converted
intransitive,
the less there remains of the
reflexive
meaning.
Thus the intransitive side in ht stole
away
is
so
detached in
meaning
from the transitivesteal that
we
do
not now regard
the former
as reflexive.
In
some
IaTig:uages
the combination of
a
transitiveverb with
a
reflexive
pronoun
is used
passivally.
Thus in
French,
se
"vend,
literally
'sells
itself,'
is used to
mean
'is
sold,' being
thus
equivalent
to sellsin the book sells
well,
Beciprooal
Varbs.
ace.
In such sentences
as
theyfought
each
other,they
fought
one another,we
quarrelled
with each
other,we have the
combination of a
verb with
a
reciprocal
pronoun.
If these
S a59-]
VERBS: FUNCTION.
93
pronouns
are
dropped,
and the idea of
reciprocity
13 implied
in the verb itself, itbecomes
a
reoiprooal verb,
a transitive
verb
becoming
intransitiveat the
same
time,
Fi'ghl
and
quarrel
are
reciprocal
verbs in such sentences as thosetwo
dogs alwaysfight
when
theymeet;
we quarrelled,
and made it
up again.
In such
a verb
as meet
in
we
shall meet
again
soon,
the
reciprocal meaning
is less
protninent,
Imperoonal
Verbs.
267.
Impersonalverbs,
such
as !o
rain,
to
freeze,
to
mow,
to thunder,are
words
expressing
natural
phenomena,
and
unitinglogicalsubject
and
predicate
in
one word,raining,
for
instance, beingequivalent
to
'drops
of water
falling
from
the
sky,'or,
more
briefly, 'falling
water.' So also to
freete
means
that the
temperature
of the air is below
freezing-point,
while in it thunders
'
sky
'
might
be
regardedas the
logical
subject.Hence,
when such a noun as
rain is made into
a
verb,
itnot
only
does not
require,
but cannot
take,a
logical
subject,
whether
expressedby
a noun or a
pronoun.
But
as
in
English
a
finiteverb must be
precededby
a noun-word of
some kind,
the
unmeaning
it is
prefixedas a
prop-word
"
a
purely
grarmnatical empty subject-word.
These verbs
are
called
'impersonal'
because
they
allow of no variations of
person.
Nor
can
they
be used in the
plural
Of course
there is
nothing
to
prevent
these verbs from
being
made into
personal
verbs
by
a
metaphorical change
of
meaning,
as
when we
speak
of
thundering
out
a
command.
Function.
258. The
grammatical
function of a finiteverb
is to serve
as a
predicate-word,
that
ts,
in
an
ordinary
afllinnative
sentence
to state
something
about the
subject
of the
sentence,
which is
expressedby a
noun-word
or
noun-equivalent
word-
group
:
the
sun shines;
fie
sleeps;
to stand all
day
tires
one;
standing
tires
me;
that
you
should think
so
surprises
tHe.
2B0.
Although
in
English
the verb must have a
subject-
94
INTRODVCTION.
(|
a6o.
word before
it,
except
in the
imperative(800),
it must be
observed thsttthe inflection^t
in
comts
is
equivalent
to a
pronoun,
foritteUs
us thatthe verb must refer ^
ht,
she
"x
it
as
subject
ifit does not refer to
some
other noun-irord.
Hence in he
eomes
the
subject
is
reallyexpressed
twice
over
='he come-he.'
260. In
highly
inflected
Ia]ig:nages,
such
as Ladn, wheie
each
person
of the verb has
a distinct
ending,
the
personal
pronouns
are superfluous,
and
are therefore
prefixed only
ias
emphasis,so
that in Latin vmid
'
come-I
'
can
stand alone
as a
sentence-word. Even in
English
the
imperative
come
I
does not
requirea
pronoun,
because itwould be
superfluous,
command
beingnecessarily in
the second
person.
361. But
although
the
Latin venio and the
English
etmul
are sentence-words,
the
predicative
element
predominates
in
them. In such a
Latin
sentence as Caesar venit 'Caesar
comes,'
where the
subject
is a noun of
very
definite and
specialmeaning,
the inflectionOf the verb becomes a mere
mark of
concord,
likethe
s
of
comes.
In
English, too,we can
expand
come
I into
come
thou
I, making
come into
an
exclusively
predicative
wprd.
262.
Although
verbs
are
necessary
for
predican'on,
there
are
many
verbs which
are
incapable
of
forming Ii^ca)
predicates
by
themselves,
and
require
the
help
of
some
other
part
of
speech
"
generally
an
adjective-word
or noun-word.
There is
one
verb,
indeed " the verb to be" which is absolutely
unmeaning by
itself. Thus he is
conveys
no sense
whatever. It tells
us
that
predication
is
intended,
but
we cannot
tellwhat that
predication
is tillsome other word is added
" he is
reatiy,
he is
a laujyer,
he is hen. We call such
verba
Unlc-TOrbB,
because
they
serve to connect the
predicate
with
its
subject.
To he is
a
pure
link-verb,
that
is,a
pure
form-
word,
devoid of
independentmeaning, althoughhaving
the
inflections of a
verb enables itto
express
distinctionsof
time
T,Goo(^le
i a66.1
VERBS: FUh'CTION.
95
andother shades of
meaning,as
in he
was
here
compared
with he is here.
363. Other
Imk-words,
vliile
having
thesame
grammatical
function of
connectingsubject
and
predicate,
have also definite
meanings
of their
own.
Thus lum and become in he turned
red,
ht became
a Melhodiii,
while
connectingsubject
and
predicate
in the
same
way
as lo be
does,
have also the
meaning
'
change.'
Thus he turned red combines the
meanings
'
be
changed
'
and
'
he is red
'
or
'he
was
red.' So also
look,
seem
in he looks
pleased,
he
seems
pleased.
But
although
these
verbs have
some independentmeaning
of their
own,
none
of
them can stand alone
; we
cannot
say
he
became,
he
seems
without
a predicative complement,
and
we can
make he turns stand
alone
only
by changing
its
meaning
and function
so
that itia
no longer
a link-verb.
*
264. All link-verbs
are necessarily
intransitive.
Many
intransitive
verbs which are
not
regular
link-verbs " that is to
say,
which
can
stand alone without
any
predicative complement
"
are occasionally
used
as
such. We call such verbs
half
link-TOrbs.
Examples are: the tree
grew
tall;
he lived a
saint,
and died
a
martyr.
We feelthat the firstof these
sentences
is
equivalent
to
'
the tree
grew,
and became
tall,'
taU
being
not
merely a predicate
to
tree,
but
serving
also to
moAify
grew.
In such
a sentence as
the invalid
grew
strong
again,
grew
is
a
pure
link-verb, beingequivalent
to becapte.
265. Verbs
are
often'followed
by more
than
one
noun-word
standing
to them in differentrelations,
266.
The most
frequent
case is when
a transitive verb ia
followed
by
a directand an indirect
object, as
in
give
it
me,
where it
is the direct
object
of the
verb,
and
me
its indirect
objectstanding
in the interest-relation. In such combinations
the two
objects
do
not stand in
any
special
relationto
one another,
being
connected
togetheronly
indirectly
by
beingobjectsto
the
same verb.
9* INTRODUCTION.
[(jj;.
867.
But in such combinations
as
ih^
made him
king,
Ihey
eUcUd Sir Isaac Nrwhn
prtsident,
the
firstnoun-wotd
after the transitiveverb is its direct
object,
and the second
noun-word is
a
complement
to the other
one :
th^
modi him
makesusask'madehimwhat?',
and this
question
isanswered
by
the noun
king,
which
we
call the
oltieot-oomplemeiit
But these
object-corn plemeiusare
also
connected with the
verb
itself, as we see
by changing
these sentences into
Ih^
made
a kingofHim; Ihey
elected
a
president, namely
Sir Isaac
Newton.
King,therefore,
in
Ihey
made him
king
is at the
same
time the direct
object
of make and the
complement
to
him. So also in
they
called him
a
fool; they
called him had
names;
thtexaminers asked
me three
questions.
The
object
comptemeat
can be
an
infinitive
or
supine,
that
is,
a noun-
verbal
;
/
seat)
him
come
;
I want him to come
;
I Hie
doysto he
quiet.
It can also be
an
adjective
or adjective-
verba]
participle)
: to
paini
a
house white
;
th^
made him
angry;
1
taw
him
coming;
I
saw
it dene.
FOKH-Cl
ASSES.
368. The forms which make
up
the
conjugation
of
a finite
verb are classed
under the
of
nnmber,
person,
tense, mood,
and voioe. There are
also
some
other miscellaneous
categories
included under the head of
'forms.'
S69. The
onlygrammatical
category
that verbs have in
common
with
nouns
is that of
munber, although
it is
expressed
in
totally
different
ways
in these two
parts
of
speech.
In the
regularEnglish
verbs the
only
distinction between
singular
and
plural
is that the third
person present
indicative
ends
in
s
in the
singular, as in ^
sees,
they
see,
allthe Other
persons
having
the common form in the
singular
as well as
the
plural,
so
that there isno
inflectionaldistinctionbetween
T,Goo(^le
{
873-]
VERBS: TENSE.
97
I
set
and
we
see,
etc, There is
no
distinction made in the
'
preterite
: ht
saw,
iieysaiv.
More distinctions are
made in
some
of the
irregular
verbs: /
am,
ux
are;
ht
was, Ikey
There
are no dtslinctionsof
send"r
in the
Englishverb,
as
there are in the Arabic
verb,
and in such Latin
periphrastic
forms
as mfr"tus est
'
he
wondered,'
mirsta est
'
she wondered.'
370. There are
three
persons
of
verbs,first, second,
and
third,
corresponding
to
the three
persons
of the
personal
pronouns.
The
onl^personal
inflectionof the
Englishregular
verbs is the
s
of the third
person
singular
present
indicative
" he
sees.
In the other forms of the
regular
verb there
are
no distinctionsof
person.
Some of the
irregular
verbs make
further distinctions
: I
am,
you
are,
he
is,
we are.
271. The
only
tense
which is
expressedby
inflection in
English
is the
preterite
{I called,
I
saw),
the absence of the
preterite
inflection
constituting
the
present
tense
(/eall,
I
see).
The other
tenses are
formed
by
means
of
auxiliaries,
thus the
future
(7
shaH
see,
he will
see)
is formed
by
the combination
of the
auxiliary
shall
or
will with the
infinitive,
the
perfect
tense
{I
have
seen)
consists of
have+ilie preterite participle,
the definitetenses
(/
am
seeing,
I
was
seeing)
consist of ie
+tht
present
participle.
873. Tense is
primarily
the
grammaticalexpression
of
distinctions of time.
S7".
Every
occurrence,
considered from the
point
of view
of
time,
must be either
past,
as
in /
was here
yesterday,
present,
as
in " tV here
today,
he is here
now,
or future,as
in ^
wiU it here tomorrow. We call
was
the
preterite
tense of
the verb to ie"
using 'past'as a
general
term to include
other varieties of
past
time besides the
preterite
" is the
pr""
"ent,
and will be the future tense
of the same verb.
VOL. I. H
9"
tNTRODVCTtON.
(f v^.
Simplt
and
Compound
Temet.
574.
Tbe
pment,
preterite,
and future are
simple
tenses.
But there
are
also
oompoand tenses,
the most
important
of
which
beloDg
to the
perfect-group, compriuDg
the
pê"^,
pluperfect,
and future
perfect.
These
compound
tenses
combine
present,past
and future
respectively
îrith
a
time
anteriorto each of these
periods: perfect(presentpeTfeGt)=
preterite +
present,pluperfect (pastperfect )=pFe-pretcrite +
preterite,
and future
perfect=pre-ruture+future.
575.
The
perfect (/iiai"" fff")combines
past
and
present
time. Thus / have
ccwu
in the senteitce / have com* to
steyou
combines ttietwo ideas
'
I
came
here
'
and
'
I
am
here now.'
So also ht hot Hved ktrt
a
good
many yean
means that ht
lived here in the
pas^
and Hves here in the
present
The
perfect
therefore
expresses
an occurrence
which
began
in tbe
past
and is connected with tbe
present,
either
by
actual
con- tinuance
up
to the
presenttime,
as
in the latter
example,or
in its
results, as
in the former
example,
where
aldioug^
tbe
action
of
coming
is
completed,
its
result-^namely 'being
bere '"is feltto
belong
to die
present.
The
simple
preterite,
on
the other
hand,
expresses
a
past
occurrence
without
any
reference
to
tbe
present
Ofieti,indeed,
the
preterite
entirely
cuts
away
an occttrrence
from the
present
;
thus the
lêterite
he livedhere
/or some
time
implies
that
'
he
'
is
dead,
or
has
gone
to live somewhere else.
Although
the
preterite
in
/
came to see
you
does not
necessarily imply
'
I went
away
again,'
it
certainly
detaches the
coming
from the
present,or,
at
any
rate,
throws
more emphasison
the
coming
here in the
past
than
on the
being
here in
present.
Hence /
eame
to
m
you
and / have
come to see
you
really
express
the
same rda-
tibns of
time,
but from different
points
of view.
276.
Tbe
idnperfbot (/
had
seen)
stands in the
same relation
to
the
Bibi[de preterite
as the
perfect
does to the
present,
that
is,
it
expresses
an occurrence which took
place before
T,Goo(^le
f "r9.]
VERBS: TEJVSB.
99
the time denoted
by a preterite tense,
and
yet
continuing
into the
latter;
thus inthe sentence when I had
sem tvtrylking
in
Edmhurgh,
I went m h
Glasgow,
the action
expressed
by
had
seen
isshown to have taken
place
before that
expressed
by Wenf,
and
yet
the two actions are
felt to be connected
leather.
277. The fbtnre
parfisot(/
shall ham
seen)
stands in the
same
relation to ibt
simple
fiituie
;
that
is,
it
expresses
an
occurrence takingpiact
in the
future,'
and
jtt
before the
occurrence expressedby
the
accompanying simirie fiiture,
the
two occurrences
beingregarded
as connected
tcîher
in the
same
way
as
in the
perfect
and
pluperfect,
aS in
I
shall have
finished
my
teller
fy
the
limeyoK come back,
where
come,
though
a
present
in
form,
is
logically
a
future,
and would be
expressed
by
a
future tense
in
many
languages.
278.
The
liiture-group
of
compound
tenses is
represented
by
the future
preterite.
If
we regardsm occurrence
as impenifing
in the
past
insteadof in the
present,
we have
the ftitnto
preterite
tense
(/
should
tee,
he would
ne),
as in
I knew how il would turn
out,compared
with I know haw it
Un'llturn
out,
where wHl turn is
simple
future.
Primary
and
Secondary
Tenses.
S70.
When
we
apeak
of
an occurrence as
past,etc.,
we
must have some
point
of time from which to measure it
When
we measure
the time of
an occurrence
from the time
when
we are speaking,
that
is,
from the
present,
the tense
which
expresses
the time of the
occurrence is called
a
primary
tense. The
present,
preterite, future,
and
perfectare
primary
tenses. A
seoOQcUry tense,
on the other
hand,
is
measured,
not from the time when
we are
speaking,
but from
some
past
or
fiiture time
^
wAich
we are ^"eaking,
and
consequendya sentence
containinga
secotidiu-y
tetue makes
us
expect
another
sentence
containing
a verb in
a
pnmaty
lOO INTRODVCTIOlf.
[f
jSo.
tense to
show the time rroro which thai of the
secondary
tense
is to be measured. The
pluperfect
and fbture
perfect
are
both
secondary
tenses. Thus such
a sentence as
I had
finished writing
my
leHtr makes
us
expect
another sentence
containing
a
preterite,
such
aa
when he
came " / had
finished
writingmy
letterwhen he
came.
The definite
preterite {I
was
seeing)
is also a
secondarytense,
as
in /
toas
writing
a letkr
when he
came.
These two tenses are
both measured from
a
past
primary
tense. The future
perfect(/
tiaU
have
teen)
is measured from
a
future
primary
tense.
280. The
primary
tense
required
to
supplementa secondary
tense i"eed not
always
be
expressed
if itis clear frun
the context.
Thus
we can
shorten /
am glad
you
have
come
at last;
I have been
waiting/or
you
a
long
time into I have
been
wailingfor
you
a
long
time.
When
a secondary
tense
ii
freely
used without
being
referred
to an expressedprimary tense,
it is called
an
independent
Moondarr
tense. The Latin
'imperfect'{vid/bam),
which
otherwise
corresponds
to the
English
definite
preterite {was
seeing)
is
an
independentsecondarypreterite
;
Verr/s
tn/lam'
mOtut
JurBre
in
forum
vinit
(preterite) ;
drdlbant
(imperfect)
ocvlf,
tetd ex Ore erUdilUds iminlbat
(imperfect], 'Verres,
inflamed with
passion,
came
into the forum
;
his
eyes gleamed,
in his whole countenance
ferocity
was
conspicuous.'
Here the
gleaming-
of Verres'
eyes
is stated
as an
independent"ct,
but
not as an
isolated
one,
being
put
in the
imperfect
to show that
it
was
going
on
while
something
else
happened,namely
his
coming
into the forum. In
English,
on
the other
hand,
we
Cannot indicate this subordination without
associating
the
primary
and
secondary
tense more closelytogether:
when
Verres
came
into
tkefitrum,
his
ês
were
gleaming.
Complete
and
IneemfiU/e
Tenses,
S81.
It is evident that
an occurrence of which
we
speak
in the
present
must be
incomplete
at the
lime,
for if
itwere
completed,
it would
no longerbelong
to the
present.
Thus
thf
clock is
striking
twelve
implies
that itIs in the middle of
T,Goo(^le
(aSj.]
VERBS: TENSE,
lOI
Striking,
and that
we
know beforehand
that there
ought
to
be,
and
probably
will
be,
twelve strokes. As
soon as
the
laststroke has sounded, we are
obliged
to
use
the
perfect,
and
say
lie cloek kai
(/""/)
siruck
twihie. Here the
perfect
denotes
completion
in the
present
:
itis
a
oomplete perfect.
So also in / have lived
tny
li/emeaning
'
the aaive
part
of
my
lifeis over,'/ have lived is a
complete perfect.
But in
/ have lived here a
good
many years,
I have lived is
an
in'
oomplete perfect,
for the
speaker
is
necessarily implied
to
be still
living
in the
place
referredto.
In LatiD the tense called
'perfect'{vfdl)coiresponds
not
only
to the
English perfect(/
have
seen),
but also to the
Englishpreterite {Isaw),so
that the idea of
past
time is
more
prominent
in itthan in the
English
perfect.
Hence it is used
only
as a
complete perfect,
the
English incompleteperfect
being expressed
in Latin
by
the
present,
as
in
jam
din Mc
habite 'I have lived here a
long time,'Uterally
'I live here
alreadylong,'
282.
When
we distinguish
between
complete
and incomplete
secondarytenses,
we
mean,
of
course,
complete
or
incomplete
with reference to the
accompanying primary
tenses.
Thus in / had writlen
my
klter when he
came,
the
action
of
writing
is
representedas being
finished at the time
denoted
by
the
preterite
came,
so
that / had writlen is here a
complete(pluperfect)
tense.
In /
was writing
a letterwhen
he
came,
on
the other
hand,
the action of
writing
is
represented
as going
on at
the time shown
by
the
preterite
came,
so
that
I
was writing
ishere
an
incomplete (definite preterite)
tense.
Tense-aspects: Duration,etc.
28S.
By
tense-aspect
we
understand distinctions of
time
independent
of
any
reference to
past, present,
or future.
Thus the duration of
an occurrence
is
independent
of the
relationof the time of the
occurrence to die time when
we
are
speaking
or
of which
we are speaking.
The distinction
of duration between
/ell
and
lay
in he
fell
down,
and he
lay
lOa
im-RODVCTION.
W rf+
llm^t
marly
am hour,or
between to
laugh
and to bunt out
laughinghas,
of
coutec,
netbing
to do vfhh
grammar,
because
itis not shown
by
any
grammaticalfonns,
but
by
tbe
meaning
of the words dtemselves. But in
some
languages
such dis-
tinclions of
meaning
are
shown
by
inflection. Thus in
Greek tbe
present
infinitive
gtldn
means
'
to
laugh,'
the
'
aorist
'
infinitive
gelisai
means
'
to burst out
laughing.'
We
may
calltbe former of these a
long tense,
the latter
a ahmt
tense.
In
English
the definite
perfect
/ hav* beem
tteing
generally
expresses
duration,as
in / have bee*
lOr/AV^
leilers
all
d^ compared
with / hmt wriliin
onlyme
teller
to-day.
Have been
writingis,therefore, a long
tense.
I have
wrillat,
on
the other hand,
is neutral
as
regards
duration,
being
sometimes
a short,
sometimes
a long
tense.
Long
tenses
may
be either oontinnooB
or
reoumnt, denoting
repetition,
habit,etc.
Thus
we
have a continuous
present
in ht
livesin the
country,
a recurrent
present
in ?u
goet
to
Germai^
twice
ajiear.
The absolute duration of
an occurrence
is
often
disregarded
in
language,
an occurrence
of considerable
lengthbeing
often
put
on a
levelwith
one
that is
quite
short
or even instantaneous. This is
generally
the
case
when a
succession of occurrences arc narrated. Thus in
describing
a
journey,
we
passedIhrotigh
. .
,
we
stopped
a
minute
.
,
,
we
stopped
three
days . ,
,
we set out
for
..
are all
regarded
umply as
points
in a series. When tenses are
used in this
way,
without
regard
to theh absolute
duration,we
may
call
them
point-tenses.
284. There
are
many
other
tense-aspects
of more
special
meaning.
Thus
futurity
may
be
regarded
from various
points
of
view,according
to the
certainty
or
uncertainty
of
the
impendingoccurrence, or
its nearness or remoteness.
In
Englishwe
have an immediate future formed with the
auxiliary
^0,
as
in /
am
afraid
it is
going
to
rain,compared
with /
am a/raid
itwill rain to-morrovi.
285.
Some
languages
have
special
inchoative tenses to
T,Goo(^le
i
"88.] VERBS: TBJVSB.
103
express
an occurrence as only justbeginning, or an
action
as only attempted.
Those
languages
which have not
speciaj
forms for this
purpose
sometimes use
various
incomplete
tenses instead. Thus in Latin the
imperfect(380. i)
is
used to
express attempt,
as
in comules sidahant tumulium
'
the consuls tried to
put
down the disturbance,'
compared
with eonmUs sedatiinmt
(perfect\
lumultum
'
the
qobsuIs
put
down the disturbance.'
260. We
can see
from this last
example
that a tense
which was
originally
meant
only
to
express
distinctionsof
time
may
come to
imply
a
variety
of
specialmeanings.
Thus, as
present
time is
necessarily incomplete(381), past
time
naturally
"
though
nol
necessarily
"
suggestscompletion.
Future time
suggests
uncertainty.
When
an occurrence expressed
by a
secondary
tense
is
thought
of
as going on
when
something else,
expressedby
a
primary tense,
happens,
we connect the fonner with the idea of
long
duration,the latterwith that of short duration
(288).
387. It is these
impliedmeanings
which make it often
difficultto
compare
die tenses of one
language
with those of
another,or to define theu exact
meanings.
Definiie
and
Indefinite
Tenses.
288. Tenses differ
greatly
in definiteness.The shorter
a
tense is,
the
more
definite it
generally
is both in
duration
and in its relation to the distinctionsof
past,present,
and
futm%.
Long
tenses
" whether continuous
or recurrent "
are
generally
more
indefinite. The difference between
a
definiteand
an
indefinitetense is
seen
by comparing
the
English
definite
present
in /
am
ivriiitig a
leilerwith the
indefiniteI write
my
Uttersin the
evening;
the former
means
'
I
am writing
at this
present
moment,' the latter means
'
when I write
letters,
I write them in the
evening.'
So also
the
shorter the intervalbetween
present
and
future,the more
definitethe time of the future
occurrence
is,
and the
more
104
INTRODUCTIOtt.
((
1S9.
likely
it is
to come
off
;
hence the immediate fiitare
(384)
is
more definitethan the
ordinary
future.
388. We
see
that the indefinite
present(/icrt'ft) includes,
to some
extent,past
and future
as veil
as
present
This is
eq)ecially
the
case
in such statements
as
Ihe
tun
ritts in tht
tasi,pIoHnuM
itIhe heavieU melai. The verbs in such
sentences
do not
express any
distinctionsof lime at
all,
and it
is
only
because
predication
and tense-disiinctions
are associated
together
in verbs that
we are
obliged
to
put
verbs in
such sentences in
some
"ke
tense.
For die
purpose
of such
sUtementB
the
present
ia best
suited,as
being
in itselfthe
most indefiniteof the
tenses.
When the
present
is used in
this
way
without
implying
any
real distinctionsof
time,
we
call it the neutral
present
Other
tenses
may
be used
as
neutral tenses. In Latin the
perfect('gnomic perfect ')
is
employed
as a
neutrtd tense
as
well
as
the
present
S80. Althoughwe
have confined ourselves hithertoto the
meanings
of
tenses,
it
must not be
forgotten
that 'tense'
alwaysimpliesgrammatical
form. There
are
many ways
of
expressing
distinctions of time which tiave
nothitag
to do
with tense. Thus in / s/arf tomorrow
futurity
is
expressed
by
the adverb
tomorrow,
the verb itself
being
in the
present
tense. We call/ start
present,
because this form
generally
expresses present
time,
and when a form has once received
a
definite
name,
it
keeps
it
through
every
variety
of
meaning.
Again,
distinctions
analogous
to those
expressedby
tenses
may
be
expressedlexically by
the use
of distinctwords
(283),or by grammatical
forms distinctfrom tense-inflections.
Thus distinctions of time
may
be
expressed
by
derivation, as
in the Latin inchoative verbs in
-sco,
such as
albescS
'
begin
to
grow
white,'
where the inchoative
meaning
is
part
of the verb itself,
and has
nothing
to do with
tense.
In
French, however,
the derivative
ending
of the Latin
inchoatives
was
firstextended to a variety
of verbs which did
not take itin
Latin,
and was then restricted to certain
tenses of
T,Goo(^le
( 293-]
VERBS: MOOD.
I05
these verbs, and
so came to be
part
of
pure
tense-inflectioDs,
as
in the
imperfectilfimssait
'he
finishedi'
which would
answer
to
a
Latin
"fitasclbat
'
began
to
finish,'
the leal Latin
imperfect
201.
After
seeing
how tenses
develop
allkinds cf
special
meanings
out of what
were
originally only
distinctionsof
time,
we need not be
surprised
to find tenses sometimes used
to
express
ideas which have
no
connection at allwith distinctions
of time. Thus
the
preterite
htteioin
if
I knew his address
I
would wrile to him,
expresses present
time
just
as
much
as
know in ] know his address
now,
so I shall write io
him,
the
chai^
of
the
present
knew into the
preterite
/nnv
expressing
hypothesisas
opposed
to a statement of fact.
202. The
followingare
the chief tenses used tn
English
in
simple
statements
:
"
Present.
Pretirile.
Perfect.
Pluperfect.
Future
Perfect.
I shall have seen. I shall have been
seeing.
Preterite Future. 1 should
see.
I should be
seeing.
293.
By
the moods of a verb we
undofstand
'grammatical
forms
expressing
differentrelationsbetween
subject
and
predicate.
Thus,
if
a
language
has
special
forms to
express
commands as
distinguished
irom
statements, we include the
forms that
express
command under the term
'
imperative
mood,' Thus in
English
comet is in the
imperativemood,
while the statement he
comes is
in the 'indicative mood.
In
many grammars
the term 'mood' is still
applied
to the
infinitive,
which is
accordingly
called 'the infinitive
mood,'
although
the
infinitive,
which is
a noun-verbal,
has
nothing
in
n
with the moods of finiteverbs.
",Goo(^lc
io6 iNTxoDircnojf.
ti
J94.
SM. From the
point
of view of mood-distinctions statements
fallunder
two
main
divisicma, according
as
the^
state
somethingas a fact
or oa\y as a thought.
Thus tl is
trve,
it is noi
true,
I think
so,
are
all
meant to
imply
statement of
bets as
opposed
to mere thoughts.
Whether snch statements
are
really
true "
reallystatements
of bets " is
no concern
of
grammar,
which deals
only
with the
meaning
of the form
itself. From a grammaticalpoint
of
view,moreover,
doabt-
fbl
statements,
snch as
perhaps
it is
true,
are just
as
much
Statements of lact
as
the most
positive
assertions.
28B. There
are
various
ways
of
stating
in the form of
a
thoughtas opposed
to a
fact. The most unmislakeable
one
is
by stating
in the form of
a hypothesis, as
when the fact*
statements it is
true,
it isml
true,
are
made into the
hypothetical
clauses
if
itis
true,if
it is not true. Mere both
pairs
of
sentences offer
us a subject
and
a predicate standing
to one
another in the
opposite
relationsof
affirmation
and
negaUon,
but while the first
two sentences
express
the affirmation and
negation
as facts,
the last
two
merely
suggest
them as
obje^
of
thought.
In
fact,we
often
aay
supposing(thatis,
'
thinking
')
itis true insteadof
if
it is true. A
hypothetical
clause
requires a
principal
clause to
complete
the
sense,
the whole
combination
being
calleda
oonditiooal sentence. Thus
^
yeu
are
right,
I
am
wrong
is
a conditional
sentence,
-/
a"
wrong
being
the
principal
clause.
CoQcesBive clauses, sudi
as even
if
it is
true,although
it is
true,
are a
variety
of
hyt"o-
theticalclauses.
396. Another
way
of
statingsomethingas a thought
is
by
stating
it
as a
wish,
as
in God save
the
queen
/ and / wish it
were
true,
where / wish
states a fact,
it
were true
expresses
a
wish. Clauses of
purpose
are a special
class of wish-sentences
:
/ wrote to him that he
might
know I
was at home
;
they
took
away
the
knife
lesthe should cut
himself.
287.
When
we
repeat
a statement made
by
another
person,
we can
do
so in different
ways.
We
can
quote
his
-very
T,Goo(^le
I aggO
VESBS: MOOD.
lOJ
words, as
in
/ohtisaid,
'
/
am sorry.'
Here the
speaker
makes his
own
statement, namely,
that
John
said
something,
and then lets
John,
as it
were,
make his
own statement
in his
own words,so
that the whole
sentence contains two
separate
sts^tements
of facts. This
way
of
repeating
statements is
called
direot
narâticm.
When
the
speaker
repeaU
what
was
said to
him
in his
own worda we have indirect norra-
tlon,
a.a aijohn
said
[thai)
he
was
sorry.
Here
John'sbeing
sorry
is not stated
by John
himself at all. Nor is it stated
as a
feet
even
by
the
speaker,
who mentions it
only
as an
idea
suggested
to him
by
some one else. Hence the
subyect
of all indirectnarration is a statement not of factsbut of
thoughts.
398. We will
now
consider the
expression
of these different
kinds
of statement in
language.
When there
are only
two moods in
a
language
to
express
statements,
a fact-mood
and a
thought-mood, as
is the
case
in
Latin,French,German,
and Old
English,
thesemoods are
distinguished
as indioa-
tire
(fact-mood)
and
anlijunctiTe
Jthought-mood).
Some
languages
have
special
moods
to
distinguish
differentkinds of
thought-
statements, Thus Greek
has,
in addition to the
indicative and
subjunctivemoods,
an
optatlTe mood,
used
primarily
to
express
wish,
which in such
languagesas
Latin
is
expressedby
the
subg'unctive.
290. In
English
the
only
inflectional moods are
the
in;
dicativeMid
subjunctive^
But the inflectionsof the
English
verb
are so
scanQ'
that
we
need not
be
surprised
to find
that
the distinction between indicative and
subjunctive
is
very
slight.
Thft
onlyregularjiiflection by
which
the_subjunctive
isdIstinguiBhed from the indicativein
English
is that of the..
tEird
person
singylai
present,
whidi
drops,
the
s
of the
în- dicative
{hesees)
in the
subjunctive {hesee).
In the verb lo
i",however,
further
distinctionsare made :
indicative /
am,
htis,he
was,
subjunctive
I
be,
he
be,
he
uiere,althougji
in the
T,Goo(^le
I08 INTRODUCTIOif.
[(
300.
Spokenlanguage
the
only
distinctionthat is stilt
kept
up
is
that between teas and
wert. Consequently
the sense of the
distinctionin function between
subjunctive
and indicative has
almost died out
in
English,
and we use the
subjunctive
wtrt
only
in combination with other mood-forms
(801),
the other
subjunctive
inflections
survivingonly
in
a
few
specialphrases
and
constructions,
such as God saoe thi
queen
!,
where the
subjunctive
expresses
wish,being
thus
equivalent
to the Greek
optative.
800. The few (lisCinctions
that
English
makes between
"ct-Btatements and
thought-statements
are
mainlyexpressed,
not
by
inflections, but
by
auxiliaries
(periphrastic moods),
and
hy peculiar
uses of tense-distinctions.The
following
are
the
auxiliary
forms
:
(a)
The combination afshould and would with
the infinitive
{should
ste^tVQuld set),
when used in
the
principal
clause of
conditional sentences
(S9S),
iscalledthe
oonditiopftl mood.
The conditional mood
has the sanieTdrm
as
the future
preterite
tense
(278).
(J)
The combination of
may
and its
preterite^m^^Ladlh.
the
infinmVe'(may nt, might see)
is called the
naitntnniga
m.6o^Ts~m
may you
he
happy
! where it
expresses
wish,
let
iJie
dog
loose thai he
may
run
about
a
little
;
we
let Ifu
dog
looM that he
mighl mtt
about
a
lifik,
where it
expresses
purpose.
{c)
The combination of the finiteforms of the verb to be
vrilhthe
supine(t"
to
see,
was to
su,
wert to
see)
is caQecf
the
"e^jmicdTe
mood. This combination is
so
callei)
because
it
primarilyexpresses compulsion or
obligation,
as iawhal
am
I to do
f,
what is fy be
done
f In this
sense it can
hardly
be considered
a
mood. But it is used
as a
pure
mood in
conditional
sentences, as
in
^
iV
were to
rain,
I do not know
what
we
shalldo.
301.
We
use tenses to
express
thought-statements
in the
hypothetical
clauses
of conditional
sentences,
as in i/ 1 knew
T,Goo(^le
{
304.]
VERBS: MOOD.
IO9
_Jiisaddress,
I wetdd write to him
(3"1);if
it
were possible
I
would do it. In the latter
example (as
also in
i/
ii
were to
" SOO)
the
hypothesis
is shown not
only by
the
preterite
tense,
but also
by
the
subjunctive inflection,
which ia
really
supeifluous.
When
a thoug-ht-
statement is
expressedby
a
tense
in this
way,
we
call it
a
tenaa-mood. Were in
^
it
were
is
a gabiTinotiTe tame-mood.
802. Aa
we
see,
in
some
conditional sentences aQ three
ways
of
expressmg
thought-statements are
used " inflectional
mood
(subjunctive), auxiliary
mood
(conditional),
and tense-
mood
(preterite).
For convenience we
willinclude all these
methods of
expression
under the teim
thought-form.
We
understand,then,by thougbt-fonn
any
grammtUical
form
meant to show that
a statement is of
a
thoughtas opposed
to a
fact.
SOS.
As
might
be
expected,
we
find that in
language
the
correspondence
between fact-statements and
thought-
statements on
the
one hand,
and fact-forms and
thought-
forms on the
other,
is
not
alwaysperfectly logical,
That is
to
say,
in such
languagesas Latin,we
do not
always
find
"ct-statements
expressedby
the indicative mood and
thought
statements
expressedby
the
subjunctive mood,
other
languages
showing divergences
of their
own,
so
that the detailsof the
use
of the
subjunctive
in different
languagesnever entirely
agree,
in
spite
of the
agreement
in
generalprinciples.
804,
The
mere
stating
of
an occurrence as a
thought
and
not as a fact need not
necessarily
throw
any
doubt on the
truth of the statement Thus when I
repeat
a statement made
to me
by
someone
else,
and
repeat
it in indirect instead of
direct narration
(3B7),
I
may
do so
because I doubt the
truth of the
statement,
but I
may
also do
so
merely
because
I do not remember
the exact words of the
statement,
or
because I want to shorten it. Nevertheless in
some
cases
thought-statement
does almost
necessarily imply
that the
no
INTHODUCTIOff.
[( 305.
Statement
isfolse. Thus in
Latin,
while
a tnie reason is
pot
in the indicativebecause the reason
stated is
a
fact,
a reasixl
which the
speaker
believes to be folse must
neceBsarily
be
put
in the
subjunctive,
because to him itis a statement of a
thought,
not of
a
fact. Hence the rule of Latin
grammar
that
Ae
subjunctive
in
a
causal clause states a
rejected
reason,
ai
in the sentence pugilisingemUnmt, nm fnod
deltani
("abj.)t
tid
^mia profMndeni"
vote omnt
corput
mlendHvr
(iodic).,
'
boxers
groui,
not because
they
are
in
pain,
but becauie in
uttering
the sound the whole
body
istraced
up.'
SOS.
Hence there is in all
luiguages
a
tendency
to use
the
subjunctive
"
or whatever
thought-forms
the
langfuage
may possess
" to
imply
doubt
or
d"iial as
opposed
to certain^
or affirmation.
This is
especially
noticeablein
conditional
sentences. Conditional sentences are
of two binds
:
(a)
those which do not
implyanything
as to the fulfilmentof
the condition,
such
as
if
you
are right,
I
am
wrong,
where
the
speaker
does not let
us
know whether he thinks the
other
one to be in the
rightor
not; {S)
those which
imply
the
rejection
of the
hypothesis,
such
as
t/you
were
right,
I should
be
wrong,
which
may
be
expanded
into
if
you
were
right"
which is net the ease
" / should be
wrong.
We
distingui^
these two kinds of sentences as
sentences of
opmi
OtoiditioB
and of
r"}floted
oonditioD.
Now"ldK"agh
allcoiulitional
sentences
express
thought-statnnents
as
opposed
to fact-
statements " for
even a sentence of
open
condition does
nothing
more than leave the tru^ of the statement
open
without in
any way
confirming
it"
^yet
as
it is
justas
important
to
distinguish
between
open
and
rejected
conditions
as to
distinguish
between
accepted
and
rejected
reasons,
most
languagesuse the indicativein
sentences
of
open
condition
" not to
imply
that the condition will be fulfilled, but
merely
to show that it is not
rejected.
306.
In
English
the distinctions between
tliongbt-form
and
T,Goo(^le
f
309.1
VERBS: MOOD. Ill
fact-form
are to a
great
extent levelled. Thus the
English
verb
makes
no dtetinctionbetween true and ftilse
reasons,
or
between direct and indirect narration. In
fact,
the whole
distinctionbetween indicativeand
subjunctive, as
carried out
by
such
languages
as Latin,French,
and
Gennan,
offers
great
difficultiesto
English-speakers
who have not been trainedin
generalprinciples
of
grammar
and the
study
of inflected
languages.
807.
The
generalprinciple
in
English
is not to mark the
distinction between fact-statements and
tbonght-eUttelnents
*
where it is
superfluous,
that
is,
where it is
clearly
ôwn
by
the
context.
Thus
English
does not mark the distinction
between true and false
reasons by
any
change
of mood
simply
because the
rejected
reason is
always nimiistakeabty
marked
by
the
negative
flHin of the clause
{^1
because
. .
,).
For the same reason EngUsh
finds it
wMiecessary't"
maMI
the distinction between direct and indirect
nanati^
by
any
modiGcation of mood. Such
a distinction, on
the other
hand, as
that between
open
and
rejected
condition is
not
shown
by
the
context,
and
being
a
useful
one
is
accordingly
marked
by grammatical
form.
ImperaHot
Mood.
SOS.
tn the
imperative
mood the relationbetween
subject
artd
predicate
is not that of
statement,
as
in the
indicative,
subjunctive, optative, etc.,
but of,
hOTtation,
that
is,command,
request,
etc. The
imperative
does not state a command,
but addresses it
direcUy
to another
person.
Hence
the statement of
a
command in the indicative
(/
Ull
you
logo I)
or
of a wish in the
optativeor subjunctive {God save
the
queen
I)are
quite
distinct from the
imperative,
which does
not
imply
statement of
any
kind.
SOO. As the
imperative
can
be used
only
in
addressing
someone,
the
subject
of
an
imperative
sentence must
always
be in the second
person,
and
so an English
verb in the im-
Iia INTRODUCTION.
[( 3W-
perative
does not
require
a
pronoun
to
mark distinctions of
pcTson,
as
itwould in
a
mood of
statement,
but
can form a
sentence
bf itseir,
any
defining or
additional words that
may
be
required
either for clearness
or emphasis
"
including
tbe
personalpronouns"being
added
separately:
come
I;
eotiu,
John!',come, you
boys
I The inflectionof the
imperativeis,
then,
a
purelynegative
one
(77),beingmerely
the
common
ToriD of the verb used aa a sentence-word in the second
person,
no
distinction
being
made between
singular
and
plural,
any
more
than in the indicative
(you
set).
810.
Although
there cannot be
any
imperative
of the first
person
singularor
third
person
singularor
plural,
there
can
be
an
imperative
"" tbe first
person
plural
when itis
equivalent
to /
or
we-k-you,
the bortation
being
addressed
to the
implied
"'0".
In
English
this form of the
imperative
is expressed
by
the
ansUiary
verb Itlwith the infinitive
:
let
us
go
I
Voloa.
811.
By
voice
we mean
different
grammatical
ways
of
expressing
the relationbetween a transitiveverb and its
subject
and
object
The two
chief voices are the ootlTe
(A*saw^
and Che
paasiTe {he
was
seen).
812.
In
English
the
passive
is formed
by combining
the
finiteforms of the
auxiliary
verb
i^
^
yjth
*^'*
p**";!!'*
p*"i-
dple
of the verb. Thus tbe activeforms /
see,
I
taw,
I hme
Seen,
I shall
see
become in the
passive
/
am
seen,
I
was
seen,
I have been
seen,
I shall be
teen.
818. In
a sentence with
a
fullyexpressed
transitive
verb,
such
as
the
dog
kilkd the
rat,although
there is
only
one
subject,
namely,dog,
yet
from
a
logical point
of view the
statement
about
killing applies
to the
object-word
rat
as
well
as
to the
subject-word dog
;
and it
may
happen
that
we
wish to
state the
killing
rather with reference to the rat than the
dog.
It
may
also
happen
that all
we
know is that the rat was
killed,
without
knowing
how itwas
killed. In
short,we
may
with
Saifi.]
VERBS: VOtCE.
II3
to make the
object-word
rai into the
sobject-word
of the
sentence. This
we
do
by cbangii^
the active form UHtdiDiD
the
conespondingpassive
fonnivai kUkd: At rat was
kiUed.
The
originalsubject
is
added,
if
necessary,
by
means of the
preposition iy
: tie rai
was
kUUd
by
the
efi^.
In tUs acxe-
tence ratis the liiiTertecl
objeot
and
by
Iht
tbî
tHe'in-
Tfli;|"il
gnhjftAt. Tig tiUlgtTC"vtMce
13,
therefore, a
gram-
\
matical device for
(a)bringii^
the
object
ofa transitiveverb
\
into
promiDence by making
it die
subject
of the
sentence,
|
tmA
(^)(f*"i"u""'\"T
the
necegsily
of
naming
the
subject
of
I
.aJiaiuitive veiK
'
514. When the
active sentence
Ihty
madt lum
king(307)
is
changed
into the
passive
form he
was
madt
kttig,
both the
nouns stand in the nominative
insttâd
of the accusative relation,
one of them
iju)being
the
aubject-word,
and the other
(""^)being
in
ai^Muition
to the
subject
Both of them
are,
therefore, inverted
objects.
In such sentences
only
one of
the
object-wordscan
be made into the
subject
of the
passive
sentence.
515.
But when such
a sentence as ihrjrnmitter
itrW
im
-"
Jhrtegues/ions
is made
passive,
either of the
object-words
niaybe made the
Btibject
of the
passive
sentence :
/
was
asked Ihrtt
qutsHms
by
the exatitintr
;
thru
pustions^ sittf
asked
toe by
the examiner. It willbe
observeSTHatTn
the last
senlflliLTIhB
oTjje^^word me
is
kept unchanged,
and in the
precedingsentence,ajthough
there is
nothing
in the form of
qusslions
to tell
us
what
grammatical
relationit stands
in,
yet
we
certainly
feel itto be
parallel
with
me
va
the other
sentence,
that is
to
say,
it remains in the
object
relation. We
call
me and
questions
in such
construction^
retained
objflgtat__
disdngoishing
them,
if
necessary,
as retained
uulJiect
and
retaineddirect
olêclsrespectively.
For the
passive
construction / -was spokento,
see {
886.
816. Some
languages,
such
as Greek,
have
a reflexive,
VOL. I. I
1
14
INTRODUCTION.
[i317.
or middle
voioe,as
itisalso
called,
in which the actionof the
verb isreferred back to the
subject
in various
ways.
In the
direct iwflexiTe the
implied
pnmoun
stands in the direct
objectlelation, by
which the
necessarily
transitiveverb becomes
intranaitive
;
thus in Greek from the transitivebM
'I wash' isfonncd the direct middle intransitive
lo"omai^\
wash
myself).
In the indirectreflexive
a
pronoun
standiog
in the indirect
object
relation is
implied,as
in the Gre^
priOcmai
'
I make for
myself,'
'
gain,'
from the active
priUS
'
I make.' In Greek the
change
from active to middle isoften
accompaniedby
further
chai^ês
of
meaning.
Thus the active
pHiho
*I
persuade'
becomes in the middle
pMhomai*
I let
myself
be
persuaded,'
'
I
obey.'
Latin also has
deponent
verbs,as theyare called,
which unite
passive
inflectionwith
active
meaning,
such
as loqvor
'
I
speak/
these verbs
being
remains of
an
older middle voice. In Greek also the inflections
of the middle and
passive
voices
are nearly
identical
We can tee
from this last
example
that
reflezivity
and
passivity
often
approach
in
meanii^,
for
/persuade myself
^lA
lam
persuadedmean much the
same
thing.
It will be observed
that when
a
transitiveverb is made
passive,
itbecomes
.equivalent
to an
intransitive
verb,iV
is
seen,
for
instance, beingequivalent
to it
appears.
So
also,as we
have
seen,
when
a transitivevetb
is made into
a direct
reHexift,
itbecomes intransitive.
Lastly,
we
have seen that it is often diGGcult to decide whether a
transitiveverb that has become intransitive is to be
regarded
as
reflexive
or
not
(366).
AU this shows the close cannection
there is between
intransitive, reflexive,
and
passive
verbs.
Historically, passive
verbs
seem generally
to have
deveUped
'
out of middle verbs
(compare
266.
1).
/
HiseaUanaoua 7oTnu.
817.
The
English
verb has
specialauxiliary
forms to express
negntioD, emphasis
and
intnrrogntion, as
in the
negative
I do ncl su
(ai
dount
sij)compared
with the
un-
emphaiic
positive
/
see,
the
emphaticpositive
/ do
tee,
and |
tlie
imerrogaiive
do I
tee
f
T,Goo(^le
818.
These difTetent forms
are
comliuncd in various
v/aye.
Thus lionot I
ste
/
(dount
ai
sij)
is
negativeintcrrogalive.
VwbalB.
8ie. Tile verbals are
intermediate between finiteverbs
on
the
one
hand and
nouns
and
adjectives on
the other.
They
are
incapable
of
expressingpredication,
and lose
several of
the formal distinctionsthat characterize
verbs,namely number,
person,
and mood. But
they
preserve
the distinctionsof
tense and
voice,though
often
more vaguely
than in the finite
verb.
They
preserve
the
special
functions and
meanings
of
the verbs from which
they are formed, a
transitive verb
remaining
transitive
as a verbal,one
that is
joined
to ite
complement
by
means
of a
preposition keeping
that
preposition
when it becomes
a verbal,
and
so on. Thus the verbs
and the
corresponding
verbals have the
same
constructions in
ûch sentences as
when I
saw
him I
thoughttf
you
and
sieittg
(gerund)
him made
me
think
(infin.) of
you.
320, In
treating
of the verbals
apart
from the finite
verb,
we
exclude the verbals used in the
periphrastic
forms
/
shtdl
see,
I have
seen, etc.,
where the verbals
are,
from
a
logical
point
of
view,predicates(120).
Even from a
purely
grammatical
point
of
view,
these
periphrastic
forms
may
be
regarded
as
verb-groups
in which the
original
function of the verbals
is lost
sight
of. No
one,
for
instance,
realizes that
seen
in
the active form /
have seen is
a passiveparticiple,
or can
understand without historical
investigation
how it
came
to be
used in such
a construction. We must therefore
distinguish
between
periphrase-verbala
and
independent TerliaUi,
the latter
only being
real noun-words and
adjective-words.
It
is with these latterthat
we have
now to deal
InnNITIVB
AND
SuPINX.
S21.
The
inflnitiTe,
a"'m I
eanseeit,
and the
nipiiw,
as
in / wish to
tee it,are
noun-verbals.
lid INTKQDUCTU"/f.
[11"-
The infinitiveis loiiietima oJled the 'infinitivemood'
823. The
simple
infinitive and
supineare
primarily active,
but there is also
a
phut"I mplne,
as
in
Ihithotut u lo Ui.
328. There are
also
periphrastic tenses,
both active and
pasfiive,
of the
supine,
such as
the
perfect
activeU" kavt
tte"
isiidthe
[H^sent
passive
in Ihitkeua it ta it kt
or
sold.
GXKUNS.
834. The
gerund,
as
in Iremtmier
leang
Urn,
is
a noun-
verbal,
the
present
participle,
which has the
same fonn,being
an adjective-verbal,
as in
nmmng
waitr. The
gerund
also
differsfrom the
present
paiticiple
in not
entering
into the
periphrastic
forms of the finiteverb.
83fi. The
gerund
haa
periphrastic
forms to
express
distinctions
of tense
and
voice,as
in / rmumitr
haeingitem htm,
I domlUlii
being
asied to mai* a
tpetci,
836. The
gerund
isless of a
verb than the infinitiveinas- much
as
itdoes not join
in the
conjugation
of
thefinite
vctb,
and more of
a noon,
inasmuch as it
can be
joined
to
another
noun
by
means
of a
preposition, as
in / iad rut tie
plauurt of knowing Um,
which cannot be done with the
infinitive or supine,
837. But in
many
cases
tbe
gerund
and the infinitive
can
be used almost
indifferently;
thus
seeing
is
believing
could
also be
expressedby
to see
is to believe.
838. In
teeing
is
believing
the two
gerunds are nearly
equivalent
to abstract nouns
such
as
sight,inspection, belief,
ertdence, although
the two classes of words
are kept
apart
by
differenceof
grammatica)
construction
:
compare
seeinga
thing
with the
nghl "fa thing;
believing a
person
with
beliîn
a
person.
S2B.
But when
an
abstractword in
-ing
is infiectedlike
a
noun
and isassociated
with
adjectives
and other
noun7modi-
fiers without
keeping
any
verb constructions,
it
must be
T,Goo(^lc
(SSsl
VERBALS.
117
regardedas a
noun,
as in I
never saw such
doings.
But
untila
verbal has been isolated fTOm its
verb by
change
of
meaning;
"
especiall]' by takitig
a c""crete
meaniDg,:as
in
wire
netting
" it is
not
entirelyon
the same
footing
as
ordinaiy
nouns.
Pakticiplrs.
880.
Participles
are
adjective-verbab.
- -
SSI.
The
simple[orticitês
are the
present
aotlTe
parti-
oiple,
such as
leeit^,
rtutmng
in
seeing
a
crowd,
I
stopped
and /
saw
him
running
to catch the
train,
and the
preterite
paasiTe participle,
such
as
called,
thrown in
a
boy
eaUtd
John,
I taw hint thrown out
of
his
trap.
383. The
present
participle
is sometimes used
passivally,
as
in there is
an answer
watting,
where
waiting
=
'
being
waited
.
for.' The
preterite participle,
on
the other
hand,
has
an
actival
meaning
in some isolated
constructions,
as
in
a
learned
man
=
'
a man who has leamt
much.'
888. There are
periphrastic participles,
such
as the
perfect
active
participle having
seen in
havingseen
all that
was
to be seen at
Rome,
we went
on to
Naples,
and the
present
passiveparticiple being
seen
in
net
being
seen by
any
one,
he
escaped.
884.
Participles
retainthe
meanings
and constructions
of
the verbs
they
are
formed from when
they
are
equivalent
to
clauses,
as
in the
examplesjustgiven,where,
for
instance,
having
seen
is
equivalent
to when
we
had seen.
885. On the other
hand,
in such combinations
as
runnit^
water,
a
charming view,
a
ruined
man,
an
ill-built
house the
participles
are
pure
adjectives, being
put
before
nouns like
ordinuy adjectives,
and several of them
being capableof
comparisoniôre,
most
charming),
while
they
are all
isdated
from dieir verbs in
meaning
"
except perhaps
in the firstin- stance
" and In the
case of ill-built in construction alst^
forthere
is
no
verb *toilt-build. But
many pasuve
participles
used
as
1 1
8
INTRODUCTION.
[( 33*-
adjectives
retain
traces
of their verb
origin
in
preferring
mueh to
very
as a modifier
;
thus much
pleaud
sounds better
dian
vety
pUased,just
as we
say
it
pleased
me
mueh,
Adverba.
880.
There are two main classesof adverbs
corresponding
to
the distinctionbetveen
adjective-pronouns
and
ordinary
or
'
special
'
adjectives (104).
Qflnerol
adrerlM,
such as
here,Ihtre,
where,
now,
then,
soon, quite,
very,
not,
resem-
Me
adjective-pronouns
in function and
meaning.
Thus
the general
adverbs
here,there,modify
the
verb sland in
stand here I stand there I in die
same
way
as the
adjective-
pronouns
('generaladjectives')
this and that
modify
the
noun position
in take this
position I,
take that
position!,
allfour
words
having
the
same
demonstrative
meaning.
The adverbs
ffoio
and thtn have a
similar
meaning,only applied
fo time
instead of
place
;
quite
and
very express
generalquaUfications
of
quantity ;
and not
expresses
the
most abstract and
general
of all
qualifications, namely negation.
837.
Most
general
adverbs
are at the
same time
primary
adverbs,showing
no connection with the other
parts
of
speech,except
the other
particles
"
prepositions
and
conjunctions.
Thus the adverbs
m and
"^
in
come m I
come
1^
I
are used also
as prepositions, as
in to
stay
in the
house,
he
eamt
up
the
road,
but
theyare not related to
ordinary
nouns,
adjectives,
or verbs.
888.
BpeotaX adverbs,on
the Other
hand,
show their
likeness to
adjectives
as opposed
to
adjective-pronouns by
the fact that most
of them are formed
directly
from
adjectives
by adding 'ly;
thus from the
adjectives bright,quickare
formed the
special
adverbs
brightly, quickly.
These adverbs
ore,
therefore,
at the
same
time
seoondary
adverbs" formed
from other
parts
of
speech.
Some adverbs
are
formed from
adjectives by
direct
conversion,
such
x"/uli
in
/uti
many
=
(34".]
ADVERBS.
II9
'
veiy
many,'
hard in w"ork hard. Other
seconder
adverbs
are formed
from
nouns,
and
occasionally
from
verbs,
such as
home in
go
home, bang
in
go
bang,
formed from
honu,
to
hang.
aSB.
Adverb-groaps
" that
is,word-groupshaving
the
grammatical
function of adverbs" are
formed in various
ways,
sometimes
by joining
a
preposition
to a noun or an
adjective
used
as a
noun,
as
in
today,upstairs,
in
short;
sometimes
by
other
combinations,
into which adverbs themselves
ofleti
enter,
such
as nevertheUst,
hffmever. Such
combinatbns
as
the above
may
be
regardedas compound
adverbs because
of their isolation of
meaning, although
some
of them
are
written as two words. Bot it is difficult
to draw the line between
adverb-groups
and
compound
340.
It will be
seen
that
some secondary
adverbs
are
more
general
in their
meaning
than
others,although
nbt
so
general
as
the
primary
adverbs. The
adverlry^//has,
however,
the same
generalmeaning as
very,
although
it is
much
more
restrictedin its
application.
It must be observed
that
very
itself
was once a
secondary
adverb formed
by
conversion from the
adjective
very
'
true
'
" which is stdl
preserved
in the
superlative
veriest"
so
that ithad
originally
the same meaning as
the derived adverb
verify.
But the
adverb
very
has
divergedso
much in
meaning
from its
adjective
that the connection
between
them is
no longer
felt
Form.
841.
The
Mily
adverbs that
can
be
reci^nizedby
their
form are
the
special
adverbs in
-ly,
such
as
brightly, gia'ckly
;
"
but it must be borne in mind that tins test is
not decisive,
for there
are
several
adjectives
in
-ly,
such
as
goodiy,
manly.
343.
Most
primary
adverbs are indeclinable. But
secondary
advertis formed from
adjectives
are
compared
like
lao
INTRODVCTJON.
[(J43.
adjectives:quick,quichtr,quickttt,
as
in
tomi
pack (or
quickfy),
we
will
tee
who is done
juiekett, usefiiify,
more
usefully,
most
usefully,
as
in
more
usefully employed.
A few
primaty
adverbs
are
also
capable
of
comparison:wdm,
sooner,
toonett,
MEANINa.
848.
Adverbs
are
classed
according
to their
meaning
under tfaetnain heads of
place,time,order,quantity, manner,
cause,
and assertion. Some adverbs have
a variety
of
meanings,
which necessitates
putting
the
same
adverb into
several classes
:
"
844.
(a)
AdrerbB of
plaoe,
such as iere,there,vhtre,
away, up,
dawn, in,out,inside,
outside,
above,belmo,together.
Many
of these are
used also as
prepositions,
such as
up,
down, in,inside,
outside, above,
below. Most of the adverbs
of
place
express
moticoi as well
as
rest,
as
in he came here,
he went
away,
he went
in,th^ flocked together compared
with
he stood
there,
he
is
away
on a
holid(^,
he is
in,they
stood
together.
In the
hterarylanguage
there is
a
group
of adverbs
expressing
motimi
to, namely hither,thither, whither,
with
a
corresponding
group
expressing
motion flrom "
hence,thence,
whence,
which in the
ordinarylanguê
are
expressedbyfrom
here,
etc. When these adverbs
are used,
the
corresponding
here,there,
where are restrictedto the
meaning
of rest.
There is often used
as a
pure
farm~word without
any
meaning
of its
own.
When used in this
way
itloses its stress and is
weakened to
(%3r],
which
we
call
'
the weak there
'
as
distinguished
from 'the
Btmag
there'^^fîea).
Thus in the sentence
there is
no one
there
("3
z nou wwi ""),
the firstthere is weak
and a mere form-werd,
while the second there is
strong
and
keeps
itsfull
meaning as an
adverb of
place.
845.
{i)
Adverbs of time admit various
other suh-
divinons :
now,
today,
at
once,
immediatelyare
adverbs of
present
tiioe,
then,yesterday,lately, formerly,once,
in /
T,Googlc
1
347']
ADVERBS. 121
thought
so
once,
are
adverbs of
past time, aftertBards,
to-
nterram, soo",prese}iify,
are
adverbs of fatnre time. Some ad"
verbs of
time,
such
as henceforth,
combine
present
and future
time,=now+in
the future. Such adverbs as al
onei,
im-
nudiatelymig-ht
alto be
regarded
as
adverbs of immediate
fiitarity,
as
compared
with
prtstHtly,
which
impliesdela^.
Ecer,
never,
always,conlinuousfy
are
adverbs of continuous
time
or dnratioiL,
while
often, frequentfy, occasionally, seldom,
rarefy,once,
again,twice,daily, j/earfy, annually, periddieally
are
adverbs of discrete time
or repetitioii,
the distinction
between continuous and discrete time
being analogous
to
that between continuous and discrete
quantity
(S8S).
It must
be observed that some
adverbs which would
seem to
express
continuous
time,
such
as
continually, incessantly, per- petually,
are not
reallyequivalent
to
'
continuously,'
but
express
vtaf
frequît rap"tition:
he
comes
here
continually
"
every
other
day
;
it rains
incessantly
" almost without
ceasing.
318.
{c)
Place and time both fallunder the head of
(nrder.
Hence the
analogy
in
meaning
between sucii
place"adverbs
as
here,there,
where and the time-adverbs
now,
ihn,
when.
Hence also the use
of
some adverbs of
place
in a
temporal
meaning,
as
in here he
stopped
short in hit
speech,
where here
means
'
at this
point
of
time,'
all these events came
together
meaning
that
theyhappened
at
the
same
time.
347.
(rf)
Adverbi of
Quantity.
Of adverbs of
quanti^,
degree,measure,
some
express
definite
measure,
such
as
eqnaify, less, least,
more,
most,
as
in
equallyhappy,
less
hap^,
most
happy,
some
indefinite
measure,
such
as
Ultle, a lilSe,
tightly, much,
very,
greatly, excessively,
as
in
littlethe
worse,
a
little
belter,
much
pleased,very glad.
Rather
in I would
rather is an adverb of
definite,
in rather
good
of indefinite
measure.
Others
express
oaosal
quantity,
that
is,quantity
in itsrelation to
purpose
or
result,
such
as enough,sufficunlly,
lee,
ioo much,
too little.
Others,âin,
express
quantity
in its
relation to
unity (part
and
wbole^
such
as
wholly,, quite.
1
sa
tNTRODVCTlON.
[(548.
compldely, perfectly, exactly,almost,nearly, hardly,scarcefy.
To these
are
allied adverbe of
addition,
such aa
alto,
besides,
too
(which
is also used to
express
excess),
and
sxoluion,
such
as
only,merely.
So and
as
\a not so
good
as,
than in better
than,
the in the
more
the merrier
are
adverbs of
oompariBOn,
the
expressiog
double
compaiisoa
or
pnôrtioti.
Most adverbs of
quantity
express
continuous
qnantity.
Of those that
express
discrete
quantity,
such
as
twice in twice
as
many,
some are used also
as
adverbs of time.
It will be obserred that
many
adverbs of time
are
also
adject ive-pFononni
of
quantity,
such
as
less,least,
more, most,
enough.
848.
(")
AdverlM of
muiner,
such
as how, thus,
so, as.
Hie. So and as are
adverbs of
manner
in itis done
so,
do
as
you
are
toldI like is
an
adverb of
manner
in
sing
like
a bird.
These
are general
adverbs of manner. There is also
an
unlimited number of
special
adverbs of
manner,
such
as
well and illin well
done,
ill
done,
most of them formed from
adjectives by adding-ly,
such
as
gm'ckly, wisely,knowingly,
avowedly. Many
of these
are
used
as
adverbs of
quantity,
being practically equivalent
to
very,
as
in
remarka"lyclever,
horribfy duU,awfullytired, piercingly
cold,
849.
(y)
AdTerbfl of
oanse,
such as
there/ore,
where- fore,
why, because, accordingly.
Adverbs which
belong
to
the
other classes
are
also used to
express cause,
such as the
place-adverbs hence,whence,
the time-adverb
then,as
in
will
you
do it
thenf,
and the adverb of
manner
so,
which
in the
spo^n language
takes the
place
qI
therefore, as
in
soyou
will
not do it?
350.
(f)
Adverbs of aasertion
express
afflmiation,
sdch a,s
yes, yea;
denial
or
Delation,
such as
no,
nay, not;
asseveration,includingcertainty, doubt,etc.,
such
as
surHy,
certainly, assuredly, truly, undoubtedly, indeed,perhaps, possibly.
Of these
^M,Âi, no, nay
are sentence-adverbs
(368).
T,Goo(^le
J 357-1
ADVERBS.
1
23
361. Adverbs are
also used
metaphorically
to
express
a
variety
of occasional
meanings.
Thus
iogethtr
in
theycm-
spirtdtogether
expresses
the idea of
cooperation,
derived
metaphorically
from the idea of
proximity
in
place.
863. Genejal adverbs also fallunder other classes similar
to those under vbich
pronouns
fall Thus
we hare
deflnito
adverbs,
such as htrt,
there
(ofplace),
nno,
then
(of
time), so,
thus
(ofmanner),corresponding
to the definite
pronouns
Ikii,
thai
;
here
beingequivalent
to
in this
fâce,now to
at this
time,
then to at that
time,
thus to in this
way,
so Ut in
that
way,
868. Zndeflnite adverbs are formed
by combining
the indefinite
pronouns any
and
some
with
interrogative adverbs,
and
by combining interrogative
pronouns
with the adverbs
ever
and
-soever : anywhere,somewhere,wherever,wheresoever,
whenever,whensoever,anyhow, somehow, however,
howsoever.
S64.
NegatlTe
adverbs are fonned,
like
negative
pro*
nouns, by prefixing
"- and no- :
n-ever,
nowhere,
nohow. It
willbe observed that
nc
is
compounded
with the
interrogative
form of the adverbs.
8S6.
Most of the
interrogBtlTS
adverbs
begin
with
wh,
like the
interrogative
pronouns:
where
(ofplace),
when
(of
time),
why (ofcause) ;
how
(of
manner).
FtmcnoN.
856.
General
adverbs,
like
pronouns,
admit of
a
division
into
independent
and
dependent.
An
independent adverb,
such
as
very
ia he is
very tail, simply
modifies some word
(or
sentence),
while a dependentadverb not
only
modifies
some
word,
but at the
same
time makes
us
expect
somethingmore
to
complete
the sense.
Thus the
dependent
adverb
at m
he is
as
talimakes
us
expect
as
I
(am)
or some
such
completion
of the
sense.
CoirelatiTe adverbs are a
special
class
of
dependent
adverbs.
387.
All adverbs faM under the two beads of word-modi-
134
IffTRODUCTtON.
[J"!.
fying
and
lentMioe-modlfyiiiB,although
itisoften difficult
10
distingtiish
b"tw"en Ae two cluaes.
All
^lecial
admbt
are indepeadcnt
word-modifiera.
litdspondant
AdvwriM.
Wwd-Modifywg.
868.
The
gtanuiMtical
function
of
independent
word-
modilying
adverbs is to
modify adjectfrcs, adrcibs,vu'bB,
and
occauonall)'
nouns.
Their
siost
imp("tant
fanctioB is
in connection with
verbs,
adverbs
landing
in the
same
iriation
to verbs
as
adjectives
do to
nouns,
as we see
b}rcomparing
" he toalh
quickly
with ht is
a piiciwaiter,
hi htu a
gmeh
^.
The
great majority
of adverbs indeed"
especially secondary
adverbs in
-ly
"
aie used
only
in ctBinection with verbs.
8B8"
The adverbs which
modifyadjectives
and adverbs
are all
general
adverbs of
degree(quantity), as in
quiu rigid,
very
good,
mett
hiauti/ul,
most
btauti/uify, /ear/uifyugly.
Most "rfthese adverbs cannot be used with verbs. These
adverbs
can
modifya group-adverb,33
'm
ht is
quite
in the
wrong,
lam
kal/tkret^h
my
work,
where the adverbs
quiU,
Ao^
do not
modify
the
prepositions
M and
MrofffA,
but
modify
the whole
group
in each case.
800. Adverbs follow their
verbs,
as
in "
came quickly,
he
came
home
yeslerd"yi,
and
precedeadjectives
and
adverbs,
as
in
very
quick,qw'cily :
enough,
however,follows,
as in
gwd
enei^h,
not
quicklyenough.
861. Wh6n an adverb modifies
a
noun,
the noun is
generally
feltto be
equivalent
to an
adjective
or
verb,
as
in jb ir
quite
a
gentleman,
he ii
quite
the
genlleman='ht
is
a complete
or
perfectgentleman,'
he is
fiiUy
master
0/
the
subject,
compared
with he is
quite
gentUmanfy,
he has
fulfy
mastered the
subject.
862. A
noun-modifying
adverb
evidently apprmches
very
near
in function to an
adjective.
In such
a
construction as
{36j.]
ADYBRBS.
1X5
he is
quite
a
gentletnoH
we Teel that
gui/e
is
not an adjective,
because,
ifit
were,
it would
come afier,
iiutead of before the
Vtide
a,
as
in " is a
perfectgmtieman.
But in such
con-
Stnictioiis as
you
are
the
vny
wta"
I
want,
he is
an
ontj/son,
we muEl
regard
very
and
ohIj/as adjectives, onfybeing
of
course an
adverb in eucb a conBtmction
as
he is
onlya
child.
Hence
we Bee
that
although
the adverb
loeS ia used as
an
adjective
and feltto be such in ie it
guitewell,
the conversion
isnot
complete,
for
we
cannot talkof
*
4
well
matt.
803. In such conBtnictions
as thehouse
here,
the
man there,
the adverb followsitsnoun instead of
precedingit,
because
these combinations are
feltto be
contractionsof such
^Kfx-
tences w
thehome
is here,
tht
man standi ihtre, etc"
Smtence-Modi/yitig.
864.
Aa
assertion, denial,
etc.,
consist in
stating \ certain
relation between the
subject
and
predicate
of
a
sentence,
it
follows that adverbs of assertion
(850)
cannot
modify
either
subjectce predicateexclusively,
but
modify
the
relationbetween
them,
that
is,modify
the
generalmeaning
of the
sentence.
Thus
ftrlainfy
in /
certainly
think
so
does not
modify
thiTfk
alone,as
ifthe sentence were equivalent
to
/ think with
certainly
or
/ think
correctly,
but the whole sentence is
equivalent
to
it is certainthai I think
so.
That
such isthe
meaning
of the adverb isconfirmed
by
the fonn of the
sentence,
for if
certainly
modified think
only,
itwould follow
it,as
the adverb
so
does in / think
so. Nor
can
it
modify7,
because adverbs
precede
the noun-words
theymodify. Lastly,
the freedom
with which
certainly
can
be moved about in the
sentence
seems to show that it does not
belong specially
to
any
one
word in it
: certainly
I think
so,
I
certainly
think
so,
I think
so
certainly.
866.
In the
same
way
the adverb not
la
I do not
think
so
is
a
sentence-modifier
serving
to
deny
or
negative
the connection
between the
subject
/ and the
predicate
think s".
Here
also
Iltf JNTRODVCTtOK.
[J
366-
tbe
grammatical
form confinns the
grammaticalanalysis,
for
noi is
joinedon to the
unmeaning
fonn-word
do,
which
serves
only as a
prop
for the
negativeparticle, so
that
by attaching
M0^ to the
one unmeaning
word in the
sentence, we
seem,
as
it
were,
to distributethe
negationover
the whole
sentence.
866.
But
in such
a sentence w ht is not
a
fool,
the not
might fbrmally
be associatedwith the
noun as
well
as
with
the
verb,being
in
a position
which would enable it to
modify
either. In fact such sentences
have in the
spokenlanguage
two forms
(hij
iznt
"
fnwl)
and
(hijz
not a
fiiwl).
In the
former the
negationbeing
attached
specially
to an unmeaning
fisrm-word must
necessarily logically modify
the whole
sentence,
just
a"'m.I dottot Ikink
so
(ai
dount
]7ii]k sou),
so
that
the sentence is
equivalent
to
'
I
deny
that he is
a
fool.' In
the other form of the sentence the not is detached from the
verb,
and is thus at
liberty
to
modify
the
following
noun,
so
that the sentence is felt to be
equivalent
Vo
he is
no
fool,
where there
can
be
no
doubt that the
negativeadjective-
pronoun
no modifies the
noim, so
that
(hijz
not a
fuwl)
is
almost
equivalent
to
'
I assert that he is the
opposite
of a
fool.'
Again,
in such
a sentence as
he
gave
his
meney
not
from
Senevolentebut
from ostentation,
not cannot be
regarded
as a sentence-modifier,
for if
so,
the sentence
would
imply
'
he does not
give
money
'
while it
means
the exact
opposite.
We
see
from these
examples
not
only
that ttie
same
adverb
may
be sometimes a
sentence-modifier,
sometimes
an ordinary
word-modifier,
but that there is ên
great difficulty
in distin-
gnisbing
between word-modification and sentence-modification
generally.
This is
especially
the case
when
a verb
is the word
that
seems to
be modified. If the verb has
no meaning
of its
own,
it cannot of
course
be
logically
"
though
it
may
be
grammatically
" modified
by
the adverb. But if the verb has
a
distinct
meaning
of its
owtt,
its
importance
in the sentence
makes
any
modification of it almost
I"^callyequivalent
to
modification
of the whole sentence. Thus there
can
be
no
doubt that an
adverb of motion such
as
home in its
rûlar
T,Goo(^le
f 369.]
ADVEXBS.
137
position
aftera. verb of motion such
as
go
must be
rârded
as
speciallymodifying
that
verb,
and
yet
in such
a sentence as
Jokn-
came
home
yuUr day
,
home
praaically
modifies not came
only,
but the whole
sentence,
for it is
not
any
one at
any
time
that
came home,
but it
\aJohn
that
came
home,
and he
came
home
yesterday.
In
grammar
we
are,
of
course,
bound to consider such
questions
as
much
as
possible
from a.
purelygrammaticalpoint
of
view,
and from the
grammaticalpoint
of view there
can
be
no
doubt
that homt
vajohn
came
home modifies
came,
and
came
only.
867.
Some
sentence-modifftng
adverbs
single
out one
particular word, althoughthey
still
modify
the sentence as a
whole,
evm
and
only
in
even
Homer sometimes
nods,
where
even Bomtr= Homer
himself,only
a
fool
would do
thai,
are
examples
of such
'word-sentencc-modifying,'
word-
emphaaizing
adverbs. In such
a
sentence
as
he is
onlya
common soldier,
only
is
a
word-modifying
adverb.
Sentence- A dverls.
868.
The
answer to
the
question
is he here?
can be either
the affirmative
yes
or
the
negative
no.
It is evident
tbatjvj
and
no are sentence-modifying
adverbs and at the
same
time
sentence-words Uke
come!,JohnI,
alas!,
no
in the above
example
is
equivalent
lohe is nol here
;
it
is,therefore, at
the
^me time the absolute form
corresponding
to the
conjwnt
wXL
There is
no
conjoint
adverb
corresponding
to
yes,
because the
ordinary
form of the sentence
{he
is
here)
is
taken to
imply
affiimation. The nearest
approach
to such a
conjoint
affirmativeadverb is the
emphatic
assertive
certainly
{he
is
certainly here),which,
like
many
other
adverbs,can
also be used
absolutely
"
though
without
any
change
of
form" as in the answer to the
question
will
you
come
toof
Dependent
Advsrbi.
860. Dependent
adverbs
are
of two kinds,
vord-intro*
duoing
and
untflncA-introduoiiig.
A
sentence
containing
laS
INTXODVCTIOlf.
[f371X
a
word-introducing
adverb
can be
Buppleinented by
a woid or
word-group
as
well
a" a
sentence,
as in A" i" laUer
iânym,
he isiaUer
Ihanyouare
;
whilea sentence-
introducing
adverb
requires
a
full
sentence,
as
in / huw how itit dont.
CoXXKLATin AOVXKBS.
870.
These are a
special
class of
word-introducing
dependent
adverbs.
By
correlation
we understand the
use
of
two or more
form-words of similar
meaning
and function
belonging
to the same
part
of
speech,
and
standing
to one
another in a
relation of mutual
dependence. lU
. .
Of
in
he is
ntarly
as
/allas
you {are),
so
,.
at
in he it no/ so
tail
at
yott
{are),
the
. .
tie in the
more
the
merrier,
tie
more
you
beatthem the beller
th^
he
are
examples
of
correlation-pairs.
The distinctionbetween as
tail
as
you
and as talias
you
are
is,
of
course, parallel
to that between than
you
and
Ihanyou
are
(809).
It will be observed that
although
correlation-
pairs
often consist in the
repetition
of the
same word,they
may
be made
up
of two different
words, provided
these
words are parallel
in function and
meaning.
In correlation-
purs
the second correlativerefersback to the first
something
in the same
way
as a
reladve refersback to its
antecedent,
he it
as
tail as
you
being equivalent
to 'he is tall in the
degree
in which
you
are
tall.' Coireladon consists therefore
in mutual
logical dependence
and
paraUeltsm
of the members
of the
correlation-pair.
871.
Adverbs
of
more
independentmeaning
may
also
form
correlation-pairs,
such as
partly
, . partly,
sometimes
. .
tomelimes,
now
. . now,
as
in he did if
partly from benevoknct,
partly Jrom
osltntation
;
sometimes
grave,
sometimes
gay,
{jum
graot,
now gay).
S72.
The members of
a correlation-pair
sometunes become
fixed so as to
form
aorrelation-grotipBor cor-
reladon compounds,
such as to
andjre; up
and down
;
here,
"there,
and everywhere.
T,Goo(^le
(
3730
ADVERBS.
119
No
pair
of related words
can
be
rârded as a
cotrelation-
pair
unless in addition to the characteristicsof mutual
logical
dependence
itshows
grammaticalparallelism.
Thus
an antecedent
noun
and its relative
pronoun
(men
, ,
who)
cannot
be
r^^rded
as correlative,
because
theybelong
to dilTerent
parts
of
speech,
the
pronoun
being
also
markedly
subordinated to the
noun
;
and
even when the antecedent is
a
personalpronoun
{I
-who
.
.)we
do
not feel the two to be
grammaticallyparallel
and
on a footing
of
equality.
But if
we
could
expand
ivhat
Isay
I
nttatt
into 'wkat I
say,ikat
I mean-"t
might
call icAa/
. .
that in such
a construction correlatives.
More
. .
than in he is
more
industrious than his brother
cannot be
regarded
as a correlation-pair
for another
reason,
namely,
that the
analogy
of he is
stronger
than his brother
shows that it is
simpler
to
tegfard
than as
joined
on to the
group
more-industrious,
more
itself
being
too closely
connected
with its
adjective
to be able to enter into
a correlation-pair by
itself. So
. .
that in /
was so
tired that I could not
go at^
further cxKctaX be
regarded
as a correlation-pair
for the
same
reason.
Relative and
Conjunctive
Advtrbs.
878.
Dependentsentence-introducing
adverbs
are
subdivided
into relative and
oonJimotiTe adverbs, corresponding
to relativeand
conjunctive
pronouns.
Thus the
place-adverb
there in
we
slopped
there
a
week is
an
independent
adverb
corresponding
to the
independent
pronoun
that in we stopped
in that
place.
In
we
went
on
to
Rome,
whtre
we stopped
a week,
where is
a
relative
(progressive)
adverb
corresponding
to the relative
pronoun
which in we
went
on to
Rome,
in which
place
we
stopped
a week.
In /
know where he
is,
where is
a conjunctive
adverb
answering
to the
conjunctive
pronouns
who
or
what in / know who he
it,
I know
in what
place
he it. All the
interrogative
adverbs
are
used
relatively
and
conjunctively
as
well. Thus
why
isrelativein the
reason
why,
how is
conjunctive
in
/ know how it is done. In
/
asked how it
was done,
how is both
a conjunctive
and an
indirect
intenogation
adverb,
justas
the
pronoun
what isboth
conjunctive
and
indirectly interrogative
in / asked what it
wot.
VOL. L X
I
JO
INTRODUCTIOff.
[*
371-
874. The
conjunctive
adverb of affirmation
that,
as
in
/ know that itit
trut,
thai it is true is
a /tut,
and the conjunctive
adverbs of doubt t/ and
whither,as
in / wonder
if
it
is
Irue,
I do not
know whether it is true
or
tat,
have no
corresponding interrogative adverb,
because sacb
an
adverb
would be
superfluous
In such
a sentence as
is it true?
where the form
of tbe sentence
by
itselfshows that it is
iotenogative.
Compare
the
analogous
want of
a conjoint
adverb of affinna-
tion
(868).
Tbe
conjunctive
that is often
dropped
in
Spoken English)as
in / know it is true.
375.
In the
cases we have hitherto been
considering,
the
dependent adverb,
where it introduces a word,
a word-group, or a
sentence,
does
so
in order to
modify
some one
word " it is a
word-modifying,
not a
sentence-modifying
adverb
;
but in
some cases
definite
formal criteria fail us.
In clauses which contain relative
pronouns
it is
easy
to
distinguish
between reference to
a single
word
{the
man
. . who)
and reference to a whole
sentence
(/
said
nothing,
which
. . ),
because the antecedent
to a
relative
pronoun
has definite formal characteristics
by
which
we can recognize
it to some extent
independently
of its
meaning
;
but when
we
have to deal
with relative and other connective
adverbs,
there
are
often
no
formal criteria
by
which we can
tellwhether
theymodiiy
single
words
or
whole sentences. In such
a sentence as
/ know when he
came we
do not hesitate to
regard
when hi
came as
associated
specially
with the verb know. In he
cam
to
the house when I
was
out,
he
came while I
was out we
are
also inclined to
regard
when J
was
out,
while I
was
out
as adjuncts
to came.
But in he
came
yesterday
because he knew
I
was
out
we are
inclined to
regard
because he knew I
was
out
as an adjunct
to the whole
sentence he
came yesterday, or,
in other
words, as connecting
the two sentences
togetheras
T,Goo(^lc
f 377-]
ADVERBS.
151
"wholes,
instead of
merelyjoining
the second clause to a
single
word in the first. If
so,
we mnst
regard
because
as a
conjunction,
not an adverb. But he
came
while I
was
out
may
imply
that he
came
because I
was
out,
so
that
we
should have to
regard
while
as an
adverb in
one shade of
meaning
and
a
conjunction
in the other.
This is
why
itis
most
practical
to class all
sentence-connecting
adverbs
as conjunctions
without
slopping
to
enquire
into
the exact
way
in which the
connection is efiected
(SBl).
Oonneetton between Adverba and other Parte of
Speech.
ConnecU'onbetween Adverbs and
Adjectives.
870.
An
adjective
aftera tink-verb often
approaches
in
meaning
to an adverb, especisdly
when the link-verb has
some independentmeaning, as
in " looks
very angry,
he
stood
firm,compared
with he stared at him
angrily,
to stand
firmly
on
his
feet.
In to stare
angrily,
stare has
so fiilland
independent
a meaning
thatits
adjunctangrily
is feltto be
a
pure
adverb in
meaning as
well
as
fonn
;
but looks in he looks
angry,
although
it has
enough independentmeaning
to take
an
adjunct-word
of its
own,
is,on
the other
hand,
almost
equivalent
to the
pure
link-verb
is,so that
angry
from this
point
of view is fell to be
logically as
well
as
grammatically
an adjective.
In
some cases adjectivesare
used
as
complete
adverbs without
any
change
of
form,as
in to drink
deep,
to
work
hard,
especially
when
compared,as
in ^ works harder
than
ever,
I know where itcan
be done
cheapest.
Connectionbetween Adverbs and Pronouns.
877. We have
already
seen that
general
adverbs resemble
pronouns
(386).
In
some cases
the
similarity
of adverbs
to
pronouns
in
grammatical
function is
so
great
that
we can
hardly
tellwhich
part
of
speech
the word
belongs to. In
such combinations
as
/ think
so,
I told
you so,
the adverb
so
13a
im-RODVCTIOH.
[|378.
does
not merelymodify
itsverb tike
an
adverb "
as
if/ think
so
meant 'I think in that
way
'
" but
answers the
question
'
think what ?
',so
that itis
logically equivalent
to a
pronoun
io the direct
object
relation,
and
we mightchange
the above
sentences into / thiidt
thai,
I told
you
that without
any per- ceptible
change
of
meaning.
In he likes
it,
and
so
do
I;
he
iS/ondt^H,
and
so am I, so
is feltto be
equivalent partly
to
a
pronoun
of reference" 'he tikes
it,
and that
(Le.liking)
do I
'-partly
to
'
also.'
87B.
In who
eltef,
what tisef the adverb the has
no
longer
the sense of
'
otherwise,'
but is almost feltto be
equivalent
to the
pronoun
another,although
It ismoat convenient
to
regard
who
else,
etc. as group-compounds
like
whoever,
whosoever. The
adverbjwi"r
in look
yonder,
the
manyonder
(compare
the
man there," 86S)
has been converted into
a
pure
pronoun
'vayonder
man.
879.
In Old
English
and Modem German such
combinations
as
in
it,
in
what,
in
which,are
made into
here-in,
there-in,
where-in
;
such
a
combination as
the house in which
he lives
being expressedby
the house wherein he
lives,
the
adverbs
here,there,
where
being
substituted for the neuter
pronouns
it
{this, thai),
what,
which. The
reason of this is
that lifeless
objectsare generallystationary,
and hence c^n
come to
be looked at from
a
purely
local
point
of view.
Hence instead of
saying
'
be isin
it,'
meaning
'
he is in the
house'
or
'he isin that
(this)
room,'we
may say
^
u m
there
or he is in
here,
as
the
case
may
be;
and instead of
saying
the
book is on
it,meaning
'
on the shelf,' we
say
itis
up
there. The difference between thisModem
English
and the
Old
English
usage
is that in the latter
they
said here in =
'here inside,'
instead of in
here,
and then
ran the two
adverbs
togetherso as to form
a single
word.
Connectionbetween Adverbs and
Pr^sitions.
S80. In such a sentence
aa/ohn
is
stronger
than
Thomas,
I 381.J
ADVERBS.
133
the adverb than has an
evident
aimilarit)'
to a preposition
:
it
makes tlie
noun
T^mat into
an adjunct
to
stronger,
just
as
the
preposition beyondmight
do in such
a sentence as
*Joht
IS
strongbeyond
ITiomas. In fact Ihan
governs
an objective
case like
a
preposition
in such a construction as
Beelxebub,
than
whom.
Salon
except,
none
higher
sal.
(Miltok.)
Than and as
may
also be
regardedas case-governing
advcibs
in such constroctionsas
he is taller than
me,
he is as
strong
at
me,
although
it is
simpler
to
regard
the
pronouns
heic
as
absolute
pronouns,
as
in it is me.
ConnectionietweenAdverbs and
CoHJuncliont.
861. When
an
adverb introduces
a sentence as a modifier,
not of a
vord in tlie
precedingsentence,
but of the whole
sentence,
the adverb becomes
indistinguishable
from
a conjunction
(S7S)
;
and
as
itis often difficult to
distinguish
between
word-modification and sentence-modification
(306.i),
itisfor
ordinarygrammatical
purposes
most convenient
to
regard
all
sentence-introducing
adverbs as
conjimctions
(40B).
Thus, although
it is not
strictly
correct to call the
sentence-introducing
like in do lite I do!
a. conjunctionas
opposed
to the
'
adverb
'
likein shs
sings
like
a bird,
yet
the
rule
'
Hie is
an adverb,not a
conjunction
in standard
English,'
or
'
itis
vulgar
to use
like
as a
conjunction,'
cannot
be
expressed
so shortly
and
conveniendy
if
we
refuse to callthe
sentence-connecting
like
a.
conjunction.
382.
Word-connecting
adverbs such as than and the
correlative
as
. .
.as
bear
an
equally
close resemblance to
word-connectingconjunctions
such
as
and
(403).
But
aa
sentence-connecting
is
regarded
as
the most characteristic
function of
conjunctions,
it is not usual to extend the
designation
'
conjunction
'
to such adverbs.
J34
llfTRODUCTlOlf. [(383.
Fnpotitioiu.
Form.
388.
Prepoutions,
like
adveibs,are
of two kinds,primaTy
and
secondary. Primary prepositions,
such as of,in,on,
lo,HU,for,
with,by,
are
connected
only
with the two
other
classes of
particles
" adverbs and
conjunctions.
Most
prepositions
are
used also as
adverbs
;
thus
^
is
a preposition
in
ht
paatd by
Ike
house,
an
adverb in ht
pasted
by.
A few
are
used also
as conjunctions (orconjunctional adverbs),
such as
/('//in waii till he
tomes,
for
in the sense
of
'
because.'
Some
prepositions
are not used
as adverbs,
such
as
^
fo,for.
Originally, however,offyiM
the adverb
corresponding
to
of,
and too was
the adverb
corresponding
to to.
But now offxaA
too have
diverged
so
much from the
corresponding prepositions
that there is
no
longer
any
association between them.
884.
Secondary prepositions
are formed from the declinable
parts
of
speech.
Thus across is formed from the
noun cross
;
round
in waH round the
gardm, along
are
formed
from the
adjectives round,long;
ûA
excepting, except, during,
fast
in
half
past one,
are formed from the verbs
except,
dure
^
endure,
pass.
885.
There are also
oompound prepositions,
some
primary,
formed from other
prepositions
and fiom
adverbs,
such
as
into,upon^throughout,
and
some secondary,
formed
"
partly
at least" from declinable
words,
such
as
notivilh-
standing.
386.
There isalso
an
important
classof
grotip-prepoHi-
tiona,
such as
fy means of,for
the sake
of
with
regardlo,
consisting
of a noun
governedby
a
precedingpreposition
and followed
by
another
preposition,
which
grammatically
governs
the
following
noun,
althoughlogically
the
noun
is
governedby
the whole
group.
Thns in Ittiilldo it
for
lie
I jSy.]
FREPOSITIO^rS.
135
sait
o/peact,
the
'oaM'a
peace
is
governedgrammaticall}' by of,
but
logically by
the
fpoap/or-lhe-take-of.
The
group-preposition
becaust
of
contains
only
one
distinct
independentpreposition,
bnt the ^ is
really
a
weakening
of the
[n"position by.
887.
Prepositionsare
put
before noun-words.
They
govern
personal
pronouns
in the
objective
case :
lo
me, 0/
him. In more
highly
inflected
languages,prepositions
generally
govern
a
variety
of
cases,
the same
preposition
often
governing
several
cases
vith
corresponding
differences
of
meaning.
Thus in Latin and German such a
preposition
as in
governs
the accusative
case
when
associated
with verbs of motion
or a
noun-word
expressing
the end
or goal
of the motion
expressedby
the
verb;
while it
governs
some case
equivalent
to the locative
(in
Latin the
ablative,
in German the
dative)
when rest is
expressed,
the
same
distinction
being
made with
on
and
other
preposiiions. Through
want of the
necessary
inflections
English
has lost this
distinction, so
that
a new compound
preposition
into has been formed to denote
motion,
as
in ^
came
into the house" wiieTt:Latin would have in the
house with house the accusative"
compared
with ht is in /he
house,
where Latin would have the ablative. But
we
still
use
the adverb in
to
express
motion,as
in he
earns
in. A
preposition
need not be
prefixedimmediately
to
its
noun,
but
may
be
separated
from it
by intervening adjuncts
to
the
noun,
as
in
on a
very
high
hill. In
a
concord
-language
the
declinable
adjuncts
a
and
iigh
would of
course
be
put
in
the same case as hill We
may
call the combination of
a preposition
with the words it
governs
a
prepositioQ-
sroup.
In some languagesprepositions follow,
instead of
preceding
the
noun-words
theygovern,
either
generally
or
only
in
special
cases.
Even in
English
therein is
equivalent
to in
there,
in
it
1^6
INTRODVCTIOtf. \\388.
(879),altbonshm
in therein is not a tnte
preposition
but
an
adverb.
888.
Frcpo^tions
Bometimes
govern
sdjectives, e^"ecially
in adverbial
groups
such as in
thorl,after
all.
They
also
govern
adverte,
as in
lillntm,
since
lhfn,/rom
here. In such
constructions the
adjectives
and adverbs must be
regarded
as converted
nouns,
being
also
logically
equivalent
to nouns :
in ihor/=''m
a
short,
statement,'
'in few
words';
tiUnmr^
'
tillthe
present
time.'
FuNcnoH.
889. The
grammatical
function
of
a
preposition
is to
make the noun-word it
governs
into
an
adjunct-word.
A
preposition-group
may
serve as adjunct
to "
{a)
A
noun-word,as
in
a man of honour,
a
widow with
three
children, freedomfrom
care.
(i)
An
adjective, as
in black in t}^
face,freefrom care,
goodfor nothing.
(c)
A
verb,as
in climb
up
a
tree,
I
thought ofit,
he did it
with the
greatest
ease.
{d)
A
sentence,
as
in /
itopped
at home because
of
the
rain,
he
caught
cold
throughgetting
wet.
It willbe observed that in such constructionsthe
adjunct-
group
is
generally
a sentence-equivalent, rain,
for
instance,
being
a
subject- predicate
word
(367),
and
throughgetting
-wet
being equivalent
to the clause because he
got
wet. Even if
the
preposition-group
is made
up
with
a concrete
noun-word,
as
in /
caught
cold
through
you
or
it
was
all
through
you
that
I
caughtcold,we can mentallyespand
the
preposition-group
into
a phrase
such
as
'
through
your
persuading
me to
go
out
in the rain.'
Prepositions
are,
therefore, logically equivalent
to
conjunctions,
and
we can
make the firstsecMoixinio I
stopped
at home becauseitrained "
widi the
conjimction
because inslead of the
group-preposition
T,Goo(^le
1 394.]
PREPOSITIONS.
137
iecaust
5^"
without
any
change
of
meaning. Conversely,
we
can
express
we saw
(he
lighining beforewe
Heard fht
thunder,
where
hefert
is a
conjunction,
in the fonn of we saw the
lightningbe/orehearing
the
thunder,
where
be/ore
is a
preposition.
In such
a sentence as
ajler
the old
ting's
death his
son came
to the throne the
way
of
expression
makes it
necessary
to
put
the
preposition-group first,
which makes the
preposition
resemble
a
conjunction
still
more.
The normal order
may
be restored
by
a
slightchange
:
the son came to the throne
after
the old
king's
death.
880.
A
preposition-group qualifying a noun
isoften
equivalent
to an adjective;
thus
0/
honour
m man
of
honour is
equivalent
to honourable
;
and
a man with
a
red
nose means
the
same as a red-nosed
man.
891. As
adjectives
and verbs
are generallyqualified by
adverbs,a
preposition-group qualifying
an adjective or
verb
is
generally equivalent
to an adverb. Tbas blind
ofone
eye
means
much the
same 3.5 partially blind,
and wilh
ease means
exactly
the
same as
easily.
SB9.
Adding
a
preposition
to a noun-word has the
same
function
as
inflection. Thus the
preposition-group ofJohn
means esactly
the
same as
the
genitive John's,
and wilh
ease
is
equivalent
to the instrumental
case bf those
languages
which have that inflection.
393.
Prepositions
serve alsoto
express
a
variety
of
more
generalgrammatical
relations. Thai
'm
thetown
ofBirming'
ham the
^denotes apposition,
the
group
beingequivalent
to
Birmingham
the
town. In the rat
was
killed
by
the
dog,
the
fy
is the
sign
of the inverted
subjeci,
the
group
by-the-dog
beinglogically equivalent
to a
nominative
case.
894. Although a
preposition
is
grammatically
associated
wilh the noun-word it
governs,
it is in
meaning
associated
quite
as closely
with the
word
modified
by
the
preposition-
group
" in
some cases even more
so,
especially
when the
138
INTRODUCTION.
B
MS-
bead-woid is
a
verb. Thus in such sentences as / ssm
hm
pan
fy
the window and
run across
Iht road and tellMm la
come here,
the
prepositions are so closely
associatedwith the
preceding
verbs that
we can omit the
nouns
that folbw them
without
altering
the
meaning,
except
that
we
make it
vaguer:
/
saw
him
pass
"y,run across
and tellkirn to
come
here. So
we
may
legudpass-fy
and
run-across
in such constnictions
as
group-Torba, logically equivalent
to such
simple
transitiTe
verbs
aafiass
and
cross
in he
passed
the
house,
he crossed
iht
road,just
as look-at, tfttntt-o/,
attend-to
are
to
survey,
consider,
etc.
89G.
In
English
such
group-verbs
can be
put
in the
passive
voice in imitation of the transitiveverbs which they
resemble in
meaning,
as in ithas been
thoughtof,
he shall be
attended to.
396. In such
group-verbs
the
preposition
followsthe verb
so closely
that it is often
completely
detached from the
noun-word it
originally governed.
When
a preposition
is
used in this
way
we callit
a
detoohed
preposition.
Detached
prepositions are
liableto be disassociated from their
noun-
words not
only
in
position,
but also in
grammatical
constnic-
ticm,as
in he
was
thoughtof,
where the detached
prepo^tion
is no
longer
able to
govern
the
pronoun
in the
objective
case
because the
passive
construction necessitates
putting
the
pronoun
in the nominative. -
Prepositions
are
also detached
in
some
constructions in connection
with
interrogative
and
dependent
pronouns
and
adverbs,as
in who
are
you
speaking
off,
I do not know what he is
thinkingof,
where is he
going lof,
I wonder where he
came
from
;
such constructions as of
whom
are
you
speaking
?
being
confined to
the
literary language.
It
willbe observed that here too the detached
preposition
losesthe
power
of
governing
the
pronoun
in the
objective case,
the who
in who
are
you
speaking off being
feltto be the
logical
nominative
in the sentence. In such sentences
as"'0"
are
thevery
man we were
speaking of,
that isthe
place
he came from,
which
I J98.] .PREPOSITIONS.
139
in the
literary language
would become
"o"
are the
very
man
of
whom
we wert speaking,
Ihat is Ihe
placefrom
which he came
{whence
he
came),
the
dependent
pronoun
or adverb isomitled,
so
that the detached
preposition
is
grammaticall]r
isolated
or
absolute,being
referred back
logically
to who
indplace
" the
logical subjects
of the
independent
clause.
Although
detached
prepositions approach
very
near to adverbs,
yet
tbey
cannot be
regardedas
fulladverbs for the
simple
reason that
those
prepositions
which
are otherwise never
used as adverbs,
such
as if,can
be detached with
perfect
freedom.
MEANIK6.
897.
The
meanings expressedby prepositions are
very
numerous,
but
they
may
be classed under the three heads rf
(d)
space, including place,rest,
and
motion, (i)tdme,
and
(c)
other abstract
relations,
such
as
quantity, manner, cause,
deprivation.
898. All three classesof
meaningsare
often
expressedby
the
same
preposition.
Each
preposition generally
has
some
one fundamental
meaning
which
runs
through
one or more
of the above classes. Thus /o and
/rom as
prepositions
of
space
have
exactlyoppositemeanings,as
in the road
from
London to
York,
he went
from
London lo Fork. As the
space
preposition from
expresses
the
beginning
of
a
sequence
or
directionand the
starting-point
of
motion, so
also
as a
preposition
of time it
expresses
the
beginning
of
a
ptt'icA" from
Ihat lime" and
as an
abstract
preposition
it
expresses
the
beginning
of
change,
while
to in accordance with its
primary
meaning
expresses
the end
or
result of
a change,as
in lo
change
from
black to
rid,
from
also
expressingmetaphori- cally
the
various causal relationsof
origin, inference,
etc.,
as in
to result
from,
to
infer from.
INTRODUCTIOlf.
Form.
3B9, Of the
primary conjunctions
themost unmistakeable
are those words which
are
used
as conjunctions,
and
as conjunctions
only,
such
as
and and
or.
Some
Englishconjunc- tions
are
also
prepositions,
such
as for,
since. As the
pre- positional
use
of these words is the
original one,
they
nmy
be
regardedas
secondary conjunctions.
The connection between
conjunctions
and adverbs has
been already
treated
of
(881).
400. Some
conjunctions are simple,
such as
and and
or,
some
mnnponiLd,
such
as
although.
There are
also
group-
oonjunotiom,
such
as
in order
thai,as soon
as,
as if,
most
of which contain eithera
simpleconjunction,
such as
^
or
one or more adverbs.
401.
Conjunctions
are
often used
correlatively (870).
Both
,
.
and, though. . yet
are examples
of correlative
con junction-pairs.
402.
Conjunctions generally precede
the word or sentence
tbeymodify.
Function.
403. The
grammatical
function of
conjunctions
is
to connect
words with words and
sentences
with sentences. Con- junctions
are
therefore of two kinds,word-conneotiiig
and
sentence-eoimeotiiig.
A sentence introduced
by
a con-
jun"ôn(or
any
particle equivalent
to a conjunction)
iscalled
a
prepared Nntence,
sentences which are
not introduced
in this
way
being
caUed
onprepared (458).
The
same
conjunction
is often used both
as a
word-connecter and
as a
senlence-conrecter. Thus and is a
word-connecter in two
and three maie
Jive,
and
a sentence-connecter
in he wen/
one
"way
and I went another
(wvy). By
'
connect
'
we mean
the
statement of
any
kind of
relation;
hence such
a conjunction
T,Goo(^le
1 405.] CONJUJ^CTTOfTS. 141
as or
in answer
yti
or
not, which,
in
one
sense, separates
instead of
joining
together
the two words it
comes
between,
isas
much a
conjunction
as
ow^ itself.
401. Conjunctionsare puiely
connective words:
they
connect
without
governing;
and this is what
distinguishes
word-connectingconjunctions
from
prepositions.
These two
dasses of words resemble each other
closely,
as we see by
comparing
John
and I
went Ihert with
John
went there with
me.
But in
John
with
me,
the
preposition
coimects the two
noan-words onlyin4ireclly,
by combining
with the
pronoun
to
form an adjunct-group
which modifies
John,
the
preposition
at the same
time
governing
the
pronoun
in the
objective
case,
and in
John
and
1,on
the other
hand,
not
only
has no
governing
relationto either
word,
but
can
hardly
be said to
modify
eitherof them
even
logically,
or to subordinate
one
to the
other,
except
in
as
far
as
the unavoidable
necessity
of
puUing
one
word afterthe other
necessarily
leads to
putting
the less
important
word
last,
and
so making
it
appear
to be
subordinated.
In two and three make
jive
there cannot be
any
Ic^cal
subordination^/^rw
being,indeed,a more
important
factor than two "
although
from
a
grammaticalpoint
of view
we are obliged
to
regard
threeas
joined
on to the other
word,
and
so
subordinatedto it
406.
Such
a sentence as he it tallbut not
strongmight
be
'
expanded
into he is
tall,
but he is not
strong
without
any
ct^nge
of form
except
the
repetition
of he
is,
so
that
we
might regard
but not
strong
as an
elliptical
or contracted
sentence (488),
and
but,accordingly,
as a sentence-connecting
instead of a
word-connecting conjunction.
So also
such a
sentence as
Mr. Smith and
Professor
Green called
whikyou
were out
might
be
expanded
into Mr. Smith called
first,
and then
Professor
Green called
by himself,
but itwould
generally
be taken
to mean
that
they
called
together
"
that Mr. Smith
brought
Professor Green with him. In Mr.
and Mrt. Smith called (0 take
leave;
the and would almost
142
INTRODUCTION.
[*40*.
necessaril)'
have the lalterfunction
;
and Itwould
evidenlty
be absurd
to
expand
he alt three
piecesof
bread
and butlerinto
he ate three
piecesof bread,
and he ate three
piecesof butter;
while
to
expand
two and three make
five
into two makes
five
and three makes
five
would result in
nonsense.
Again,
the
grammatical
structure of such
a sentence as Caesar and
Pompey
were
both
great
men
makes it
impossible
to
expand
ft into two full sentences without
completelyrecasting
it
It is
evident,therefore,
that from
a
grammaticalpoint
of
new
itis not
onlysimplest
and
easiest,
but also most
correct to
regard
but m he is tallbut not
strong,
he is tallbut weak
as a
word
-connecter,tall-but-not-strong,
lall-but-weak
being
group-
predicateslogically equivalent
to such
a
group
as
tallness-
with-weakness in such
a
sentence as he combines lallness
with weakness.
400. But the main function of
conjunctions
is to connect
sentences,
The
most unmistakeable
conjunctionsare
those
which connect sentences as wholes,
without
entering
into
any
special
relationswith
any
of the
separate
words of which the
sentences are
made
up.
Thus in the sentence -combination
he went one
way
and I went
another,we cannot
say
that and
is associated with
or
modifies either
logically or grammatically
any
one
word in either
sentence.
407.
But it sometimes
happens
that the form of
a
sentence
is modified
by
a
conjunction.
Thus in German
.the verb of a
clause introduced
by
such
a conjunctionas
if
is
always
put
at the end of the clause,so
that such
a
clause ssif
it is true
appears
in German as
'ifil
true
is,
the
verb
having
the
same
position
as
in
English
in
an
independent
sentence such
as
itis true. Sometimes the addition
of a conjunction
is
attended,
in
English
as
in other
languages,
by
changes
in the individual words
composing
the
sentence,
as
in
if
I knew
it,
if it
were
true,compared
with I know
it,
U
is true. But such
changes
are
quite
differentfrom the
mechanical
change
of *wilh I into with me : we
feel that the
T,Goo(^le
1 409.] CONJUNCTIONS. 143
change
of htmo into knew is
only
an imperfect
metiiod of
modifying
the whole sentence.
In
fact,
the
change
in if it
wen true is
really independent
of the
conjunctionif,
which
may
be
droppedaltc^ther
without
altering
the
sense,
wtre
il
tme
havingexactly
the
same meaning as ifH wtre
trut.
408. We have
already
seen
(876)
that the distinction
between
pure
conjunctions
and
dependent
adverbs is that
while the former
join
sentences
togetheras wholes,
the latter
join
the sentence
they
introduce to some
word in the other
sentence,
so
that their
sentence-joinii^
function
is,to some
extent,
a
secondary
one.
Strictly speaking,
if
we
call when
in I knoivwhtn he
came a conjunction, wc ought
to call the
pronoun
who in / know who
came a
conjunction
also,
specially
when we observe that in such a sentence as
why
consult
John,
who knows
nothing
about it it has the full
caiisal
meaning
of the
conjunctionbecause,
this sentence
beingequivalent
to it is
no use consulting John,
because he
knmvs
nothing
about
it.
In
fact it is
only
the
difficulty
of
distinguishing
between
dependent
adverbs and
conjunctions
that makes
us
include'them all
under the latterhead.
409. There is also
a
class of
independent
adTerbi
which
closely
resemble
conjunctions,
such
as
stilland
ncTter-
theless, as
'\a.
your arguments
are
strongj
still
{nevertheless)
they
do not convinte
me, compared
with
your arguments
are
strong,
but
they
do
not convince
me.
For convenience
we
may
call such adverbs
hitlf-ooDJunotionB.
The difference
between half-and full
conjunctions
is that
half-conjunctions
coimect
logically only,
not
formally
also,as
full
conjunctions
do.
Two clauses connected
by
a
full
conjunctionrun on
without
a
pause
and constitute
^
singlecomplex sentence,
while
two sentences connected
oy
a
half-conjunction
may
be "
and often
are"
separatedby
a
pause,
and the whole
group
is felt
to
be
a logical
not a
formal
group.
Hence,
in
writing,
sentences connected
by
full
conjunctions
are
generally separatedby
a
comma,
or not at all,
while
sen-
144
iNTRODUCTIOff.
U
410.
tences
connected
bj half-conjunctiona are separatedby
1
semicolon or full
stop.
The difference between these two
classes of
particleB
is
analogous
to
that between an
independent
pronotm
such
as
ht and the
corresponding
dependent
pronoun
who
: justaB
he refersto a preceding
sentence
telling
us
who
'
be
'
is,so
also sHU and necerthdas
refer
.us
back to a sentence
which the
one they
introduce
seems to contradict;
and
yet
the sentences introduced
by
these three words are all
formallyindependent
of Ihe
preceding
ones.
410. It willbe observed that
half-conjunctions
are is one
respect
more closely
alliedto full
conjunctions
than dependent
adverbs
arc,
namely
that
they never
refer back
grammaticaUy
to
any
one word in the
preceding
sentence.
411.
Half-conjunctions are
necessarily sentence-modifying
adverbs.
Many
of them do not
necessarily
stand at the
beginning
of the
sentence,
as
is
always
the case
with
pure
conjunctions
in
English.
Thus the
half-conjunction
haaxvir
can
stand at the
beginning,
in the
middle,or at the
end of
a
sentence : howeotr,
I told him il would not do" / told
him,
however,
ilwould not do "
/ toldhim it icouldnot
do,
howeotr.
So also nevtrlktUst stands at the end of the sentence in he
did it nevertheless. In this
way
half-conjunctions arc
oflen
used
concurrently
with full
ones,
as
in
^ however,. .
=
buiif.
.
412.
But
half-conjunctions
often
single
out one particular
word in the sentence
they
introduce.
Also,too,
which
are
the
half-conjunctions correspondmg
to
and,
often have this
function,
as
in / alto will
go,
I will
go
too,
where
theysingle
out /,although
ô is
put
at the other end of the sentence.
Compare
the sunilar
use
of
even
in even Homer sometimes
nods
(307).
Meaning.
418. The
conjunctions (mcluding dependent adverbs)
and
T,Googlc
i 416.] CONJUNCTIONS.
145
half-conjunctions are
classed
according
to
tlieir.nieînj:
as
afGrmatiy^ (copulative),
alternative,
negative,:
adyersatiyei
concessive,hypothetical, temporal,
and causal.
414. The chief affinnatlTe
or
copulative cojijuocttQit
I9
and,
which
simply
connects
without
implying
any
special
kind of connection. It is thus the most abstract and
general
in
meaning
of all the
pure
conjunctions.
The
correlative
p^rs
both
. .
ami,
not
only
. .
but have the
same
meaning
as and,
but
are more emphatic.
The half-ccn-
junctioncorresponding
to and is
also,
for which too is
substituted in the
spokenlanguage.
Likewiie and
ai
voell
as
have the
same function,
but
are more
emphatic.
There
are besides a
large
number of affirmative
half-conjunctions
with various shades of
meaning,
such
as further,
moreover,
noto,
well. Thus now
in not this
man,
but Barabbas
;
now
Barabbas
was a
thief,
adds
an
explanatory
circumstance
;
the
other words show a
step
in
an
argument,
etc.
41s,
The chief oltematiTfl
conjunction
is
or,
whose
emphatic
fonn is the conelative eithir
. .
or.
Alternative
conjunctions imply
that
one only
of two or more words,
word-groups,
or sentences
joinedtogetherby
them is
to be
taken into
consideration,
it
being
left
open
which is
to be
selected. Thus
answer
yes
or
no!,
ansTver
either
yes
or
no!
implies
the
expectation
of
one
of these
answers,
and
one
only,
the
speaker
not
knowing
which
answer
will be
given.
These
are examples
of
strong
altematiTeB. When
or
implies
indifference, as
in
give
me two or
three
nails,
it is
a
weak
oltematiTe,
and is often used to
express
a mere
verbal
alternative, as
in Christ
or
the
Messiah,
Canute
or
Cnul,
which is also
expressedby
the adverb alias. It is to
be observed that the
emphatic.either
. .
or always
has the
strong
meaning.
41fl. The chief
negatiTe conjunctions
are
the correlative
neither
. . nor,
the
simple
nor
being
in less
frequentuse.
They
are
of course formed from the alternativeseither, or by
J46 JNTRODVCTtON.
[|417-
[vefiziag
tb"
negative
"-,
and
may
therefore be included
under the alternative
conjunctions.
It is evident that
negativing
an alternative" that
is,Torbiddingus to select
any
of
the members of it" is
equivalent
to
negativing
all of them.
Thus hi has neither
relatione, nor
friends,
nor mortfy=he
hat
not either
relations, or
friends,
or
money
is
equivalent
to he has
not
any
relations,
he has not
any
friends,
he has not
any money.
Hence the
negation
of
an
alternative
simply
amounts 10 the
negation
of
an aEBrmative,so
that
nor
is
equivalent
to and
not,
as
in / remained
silent, nor
did he
speak
a
single
word,
417. The chief adTeisatiTe
conjunction
is hut. Advei-
sativesadd
something
which is
unexpected, or,
at
any
rate,
does not follow
naturally
from what has
just
been
said,or
seems to check the natural
progress
of
a narration,argument,
etc. Thus the idea of
'trying'naturally
suggests
that of
'succeeding,*
and hence words
or
word-groupsexpres^g
these two ideas in their natural
sequence
are joinedtogether
by
and : he triedseveral
limes,
and al last suteeeded.
Failure,
on
the other
hand,
though
a
frequent
result of
trying,
b felt
to check this
natural
sequence,
and
so a statement of failure
is
joined
on to a statement of
attempt
by
means oi but: he
tried
hard,
hut did not succeed. But if there is
anything
in
the
foregoing
context which
prepares
us
for the idea of
unsuccessful
attempt,
then the statement of failure is
joined
onbyK"rf:
he is
very
unlucky;
he is
alwaystrying
new
things,
and
alwaysfailing.
But
most
frequently
connects
the
con- trasts
of afBrmation and
negation,as
in he is
rich,
but
not
happy.
There
are
several
half-conjunc
lionsused
advcrsatively,
such as
still, nevertheless, however, only,
and several half-
conjunction
groups,
such
as al the
same
time,for
all
thai,
in
spileof
that.
418. The
oonceBslTe
conjunctions
are closely
allied
to the
adversative.The
most
important
of them are
though,allhoi^k,
and the correlative
though .
. yet.
Though
and
although
imply
that Ihe statement
they
introduce will be followed
by
T,Googlc
1
410.] CONJUNCTIONS. I47
one
with
an
adversative
meaning.
Thus in
allhough
1 dislike
Iht
man,
I have not
anything
to
say
againsthim,
the concessive
conjunction
states the
speakei^s
dislikeof another
man,
but
at the
same
time
warns us againstinferring
that he will
speaic
illof that
man. So also in
thoughdeep
yet
clear
(said
of the
Thames
as
it
once was)the.deepness
of the riveris
admitted,
but
we are
warned
againstinferring
that the river istherefore
wanting
inclearness. The differencebetween an
adversative
and
a
concessive
conjunction
is
that the former refers
back,
the latter
forwards. Hence the correlative
though
. . yet
is
reallyequivalent
to
although
. .
hut,so
that if
we
drop
the
though,
the
remaining^yf/
is almost identicalin
meaning
with
bui
: deep
yet
clear=
deep
but clear.
4ie. The chief
bypotlietaoslconjuncdon
is if. Unlessis
a
negatiTO hypothetical conjunction =i)^"e)/:
unless I
am
misiaken=i/
1 am
not mistaken. There are also a
variety
of
hypothetical group-conjunctions,
such
as
in
case,
supposing
tM, providedthat,
which are often shortened into
supposing,
suppose,
provided.
420.
There
are some
conjunctions
which
express
hypothesis
with other
meanings. Otherwise,
for which or is
substituted in the
spoken language,
has the
meaning
'
if
otherwise,'
and
expresses
bypotlietioal difPerence,
as
in
we must make
haste,
otherwise
(or)
we
shall be too
late,
where
otherwise means
'
if
we act
differently,'
that
is,
'
if
we do
not
make
haste,'
the
negationimpliedreferringback,
so
that otherwise is
quite
distinct in
meaning
from
unless,
in
which the
negation
refersforwards.
The correlative
pair
whether
. .
or
expresses
alternative hypothesisi aa in
he
willhave to do it whether he likesitor not,
HypotlietloBl
ocmoesBicai is
expressedby
even
if:
even
if ht is
mistaken,
you
need not
tell him
so. Hypothetioal oomparium
is
expressedby as if:
he started
as
if he had been shot.
The
hypothetical ând whether,
which are
pure
conjuncliona,
must be distinguished
from the
dependent
adverbs
if
and
ivhetker
(874).
148
INTRODUCTIOlf.
\_\43I.
4ai',
The
t"mponl
conjunctions,
or
conjunctions
of
time,
are cMinected
partly
with
adverbs,
such
as
when and
as,
partly
with
preposidonB,
such as
btfore, after, sinct,unlit,
till.
While
is
associated n-ith when
throughbeginning
with tbe
same
consonant,
which
is,however,a mere chance,
while
beiQKoriginally
a noun
meaning
'
time
'
quite
unconnected
withwhen. The most
markedly
adverbialof these is
when,
which is used
(d)
as an
independent interrogative adverb,as
in vhen
did he
eome
/
;
(J)
as a
relative
adverb,
as in " re- members
theHmt when Iherewere no
railways;
(f)
a
conjunctive
adverb,
as in / know when he came
;
and
(iQ
less distinctly
as an adverb,thoughhardly
as a
pure
conjunction
:
he
came
when I
was out
;
I had
scarcely begtm,
when I was
in-
terrupied again;
when he
came,
I
was not at home. While,
as,
and tlK
conjunctions
formed from
prepositions
are
used
only
in constructions similarto those
given
above imder
(d)
:
he came
while I
was
oul
;
as
he
passedby,
he lookedin at Ike
window;
he came be/ore
I had
finished breakfast;
wail tillI
have
finishedmy
letter. There
are
many
secondary
and
group
-conjunctions
of
time,
most of which
express
Immedi-
ateoMB,
such as
directly
in
directly
he
came; immediately,
at
soon as,
justas,
j'usl after,
etc.
Adverbs of
plaoB
are not
regarded
as
conjunctions even
when
they
are used in tbe same constructions as
while,etc.,as
in / will
stay
where I am.
428. Oaosal
conjunctions
are subdividedintofour
classes,
conjunctions
of
cause,
of
effect,
of
result,
and of
purpose.
498.
The two chief
conjunctions
of oatue are
because,
which states
an
immediate and direct
cause, xadfor,
whidi
adds an
explanation
or
reason,
often
as a
kind of afterthought
: we
took
our
umbrellas,
because
we were
afraid
it
would rain
; for
the barometer had been
falling for
some time.
For
is,accordingly, freely
used aftera
pause,
and istherefore
only
a
half-conjunction.
Since and
as,
which are
primarily
/
T,Goo(^le
5 HiS.] CONJUNCTIONS. I49
conjuncdona
of
time,
are
used also
as
pure
craijunctions
of
424.
The chief
conjunction
of
e"feot
is
thtrifori,
for
which
io
is subsiitoted in the
spoken language:
ilis
gef^ng
late,SO
I will
go
home. The
temporal
Ihen is also used
as a
conjunction
of effect
:
then
you
had better
go
home. Accord- ingly
and
consequently are secondaryconjunctions
of effect.
All
conjunctions
of effect
are
half-conjunctions,
because
the)'
introduce what
are logically independentclauses,
aS we see
by comparing
it is
gettinglate,
so
I will
go
home with
tH
itis
gettinglate,
I will
go
home. In each of these two sentences
only
one
clause is
prepared
:
in the firstsentence
only
the
independent
clause is
prepared,
in the second it is left
unprepared.
In
langUEês
which favour
correlation, such
as
Old
English,
both clauses in such sentences are
often
prepared,
so
that the two sentences
appear
in the form of because
itis
getting
late
therefore
I will
go
home
or
therefore
I will
go
home because it is
getting
late.
436. The chief
conjunction
of
purpose
is that
together
with the
more
emphatic
in order that:
we sow
(inorder)
that
we
may reap.
ITegatiTe purpose
or
avoidance is
expressed
by
lest,
for which
so
that
. .
not is
generally
substituted in
the
spoken language
: they
took
away
the
knife
lest he should
cut
Mmself=they
look
away
the
knife
so
that he should not cut
himself.
y
COOHDINATIVE
AND'
SuBOBDINATlVE
CONJUNCTIONS.
426. We have
seen
(404)
that such a
conjunctionas
and
does not
logically
subordinate the word
or sentence it introduces
to what
goes
before. Thus in such
a sentence
as
he is
'
tall and
strong,strong
is
as
much
a
predication-element as
'
tall,
neitheradjectivebeing,
from
a logicalpoint
of
view,
subordinated to the
other,so
that
we can
transpose
them
without
affectmg
the
sense :
he is
strong
and tall. We call
150
INTRODUCTION.
LI4*7-
such
conjunctions
ooradinatlTe
conjunctions,
or,
more
shortly, oo-ooEjonotioni.
427.
A
sabordinatiTe
conjunction,
or "ab-oonjnnotion,
on the other
hand,
makes the word
or sentence it introduces
into
a logical adjunct
to what
precedes.
Thus the sub-con-
jnnetionîn
if ii ii
fine,
I
will
go
mattes il is
fine
into
an
adjunct
to
I will
go,
and
we cannot shifl:
if
from
one
clause
to
the
other,
as we
could
and,
without
altering
the
sense or
making
nonsense.
438.
Of the
pure
conjunctions
the
followingare co-
ocdinative: and,
both
, .
and
j or,
either
. .or; nor,
neither
. .
nor;-
but. The half-
conjunctionsbelonging
to the
same
classes as these are
also
coordinative,
such as also,
nevertheless,
however.
429. All the other
pure
conjunctions
and all
dependent
adverbs are
subordinative
: though,although,though. . ytl;
if,unless,
whether
. . or;
because,
since,as,
thai
;
when,
at,
while,before, after,
since in their
various
meanings.
The
half-conjunctions belonging
to the
same classesas the
above are
often
regarded
as
sub-conjunctions, especially
those
of
cause"
/or,therefore, accordingly.
480.
If
we
take the word
conjunction
in its widest
sense,
we
may saj
that and and that in / knvm thai iiis true
represent
the two extremes
of abstract coordination and abstract
subordination
Detached
Conjunctions.
481.
The
co-conjunctions and,
or, nor,
but,are otten
so
detached from
what
precedes
them that
they
are almost
equivalent
to
half-conjunctions,
as
in the
following
passê,
where the detached
conjunctions
are
in Roman letters
:
"
Jf
any
artist,
I do not
say
had
executed,
but had
merely
conceivedin his mind the
system
of
the
sun,
and the
stars,
and
planets, they
not
existing,
and had
painted
to
us in words, or
upon canvas,
the
spectacle
now
afforded by
the
nightly
cofx
of
T,Goo(^le
(434.1 INTERJECTIONS.
IÎ
hiavtn,
great
would be
our
admiration. Or had ifc
imagined
Ihe
scenery
0/
this
earth,
the
mountains,
the
stas,
and the
rivers;
the
grass,
and the
fivwers,
and the colours which attend the
setting
and the
risingsun,
and the hues
of
the
atmosphere,
these
things
not
be/ore existing, truly
we should have been astonished.
But
noui
these
things
are
looked
on with little
wonder,
and to be
conscious
of
them with intense
delight
is esteemed to be the
distinguishing
mark
of
a refined
and
extraordinary
person.
(Shsllii
:
On
Life.)
48a.
It isevident thatthe detached
or
and but in this
passage
have a Tunction differentfrom and
vaguer
than thatof the
same conjunctions as they
occur undetached in the first
paragraph
of it. Detached
conjunctions
are oftenmarked
by
strong
stress,especially
when
theyare followed, as isoften the
case,
by
an
adverb or
half-
conjunction
or a
parenthetic word-group
or sentence,
as
when the
paragraphs
of
a
long
argument
begin
with
and,indeed,
. . ; nor,
on
the other
hand,
, . ;
but,
if
we
consider
.....
etc.
A detached
conjunction
stands in the
same
relationto an
undetached one as a
progressive
relative
(318)
does to an
ordinary
relative.
InteijeotioQS.
488.
Interjecdons
are sentence- words
expressing
various
emotions,
such as
"
surprise
:
0!,
eh
I,ah!,
ha
!,
aha
!,
the firstoften
expressing
mere
attentionor interest
(real or
affected)
in what issaid.
Joy: hfrrahl,
huzza!
approbation
:
bravo !
grief:
ah
!,
alas
!,height
I
dislike, vexation,
etc. ; pah /,ugh !,pshaw!,tut/,fie
I
These are
all emotional
interjeotions.
484,
There is also
a
class of
interjections
of
more definite
meaning,which,
instead of
merelyexpressingan
emotion of
the
speaker,
are
equivalent
to
imperative sentences,
and
may
15*
INTR0DVCTI6N.
[(435-
thereforebe calledimperstiTe inteijeotioiia.
Thus instead
of the
imperatives
look
!,
beholdI ve
may
in
writing
use
the
inteijeclion
hi Another
imperativeinterjection
is huh!
from which a verb to hush has been formed.
ASS.
EzpletiTes
and
oaths,
of which there is
a targe
number in
English,
are a
class of
interjections intermediate
in function between the two former
classes, being
used
partly
to
express
emotion,partly
to
influence the actions of other
human
beings
and animals.
486,
Of the above
interjections
some are
primary,some
secondary. Primary interjections
are mostlyreproductions
of the sounds
we
make
involuntarily
when under the
influence
of various emotions. It will be observed that
many
of the
written
interjections
" such as
lut! "
are imperfect
attempts
to
espress
sounds which do not occur
in the
non-interjec-
lional words of ihe
language.
Thus tut I
represents
one
of that class of sounds known
as
'
clicks,'
which form
part
of the
reÛr non-inierjcctional
sound-
system
of
many
barbarous
languages,
such
as
Zulu and the
native
laiûages
of California. It
represents
the
'point-click,*
formed
by putting
the
point
of the
tongue
in the
t-positiou,
and
sucking
the air from under
it,so
that when the
contact
is
loosened,a smacking
sound is
produced.
Some written
interjections represent
a familiar sound in an un"miliar occurrence.'
Thus hush !
represents
the consonant
(J)
uttered without
437.
Seaondary interjections
are
ordinary
words which
have
come
to be used
as interjections by
various
processes
of isolation. Thus the old-fashioned
expletiveutarryl
is
simply
the name
of the
VirginMary
with the vowel shortened.
Bravo! is an Italian
adjective
or
adverb
meaning 'good,'
'
well
done,'
which in Italian itself
came to be used
as an
interjection,
and
was
then
imported
into
English.
438.
If
an
ordinary
word is used
as an
interjection
without
being
isolatedeither in form "
as in
marry
I"
or
in
meaning
"
as in the case of bravo 1"
we cannot
regard
it as a
hill
T,Goo(^le
i
++1.]
WORD-GROUPS.
153
interjection,
but
only
as an exolamation-woTd.
Good!,
shame I
are examples
of
exclamation-vords,one
being,
an
exclamation-adjective,
the other
an exclamation-noun. For
shame / is
an example
of
an
dxolamation-groap.
489.
Interjections occasionally
imitate the constructions
of the other
parts
of
speech.
Thus aht
governs
an
objective
case
iaakjnel
;
alas! takes
a noun-adjunctby means of the
preposition _/^/-, as
in alas
for
the
deedf,or
without
any preposition,
as
in alas the
heavyday
1
WORD-GROUPS.
V
440.
Word'^pûps
differ
greatly
in the closeness with
which theirelements " that
is,
the words of
which
they
are
made
up
"
are associated
together. Many word-groups
resemble sentences
in the freedom with which
they
allow
one
word to be substituted for another of like
grammatical
function,
or
a new
word to be introduced. We call such word-
groups
Cfee
groapa.
Thus the free
group
/w
my
sake
can
be made into
for
his
sake,
for
his
own sake,
and the skeleton
for . .
sake can be
transposed
into
for
the sake
of.
But in
such
groups
as
son-in-law, man-o/'-ztiar, bread-and-butkr,
cup
and
saucer,
no such variations
are possible,
the order of the
elements of these
groups
being
as
rigidly
fixed
as
in
a compound
word. We callsuch combinations
groap-oompound^
to
distinguish
them from full
compounds
such
as blackbird.
The essentialdifferencebetween the two kinds of
compounds
.
is seen in the
pluralssons-in-low,
etc.,
where the firstelement
is
independent enough
to take
an
inflectionof its
own. We
have another kind of
groupK:ompounds
in
no use=:
useless,
whatsoever,
moreover,
etc.
Most of these resemble true
compounds
in
having
one
predominant
stress : 'son-in-law,
bread and
-butler,
"mkatso'ever.
441. Word-groups (and group-compounds)
can
be
put
154
INTRODUCTION.
C*
44"-
before
a
single
noun so as to form a kind of
compoand
with
it,by
which the members of the
group
are
often
It^cally
united
togethermore closely
than when the
group
is
detached,
although
for convenience
they
are
separated
in
writing.
Thus cat and
doglift
is
analogousto
homt-Ufe,
good
all round
man to
priieman,
etc.
These
compounds
also have
one
predominant
stress : cai atid
"daglife, good
ail -round
man,
442.
Even in
derivation, word-groapsare
treated like
single
words, a
derivative
ending being
added to the last
member of the
group,
while it modifies the
meaning
of the
whole
group,
by
which it binds them
together more closely
than
they
are connected in the nnderived
group.
Thus from
the free
group
old maid isformed the fixed derivative
group
old-maidish.
We have a peculiar
kind of
group-derivation
in
artificial
floriitcorresponding
to
artificial fiower,
in which
.^tw/rf
is felt
to be equiv^ntto
"Jiower-ist,
the whole
group
meaning
not
'a floristwho is
artificial,'
bnt
'
artificial-flawcr-maker.'
443.
In infiectionitis
quite
common in
English
to treat a
word-group
likea
single
word. Not
onlygroup-compounds
such
as
son-in-law form their
genitives
sm-in-law's,
etc.,
but
also free
groups,
as
in the
man
I
saw
ytslerday's father,
where it would make
nonsense
to
regardyesterdayas
the
genitive
of the
singlev/oidyesterday.
Here,
as
in
old-maidish,
it is the final modification which binds the elements of the
group
closely together.
444. In this
way
a
word-group
may
be
grammatically
equivalent
to a
part
of
speech:
in the
example justgiven
the
word-group
not
only
has the
meanings
and
grammatical
functions of a
singlenoun,
but takes the inflectionof a noun.
So also the
group
no use
in it is
no use isan
adjective equiva*
lent
;
and the combination preposition +
noun-word is
equivalent
to an
adverb,
as
in wiik
ease=easily.
T,Goo(^le
(
448.]
SENTENCES.
155
445.
Word"group9
often
approach
very
near in
grammatical
function to sentences.
If
we
take
a simple
sentence and
change
its finiteverb into
a verbal,
the
resulting
Torbal-
groap
has
rcallj'
as
much
meaning
in itas the
correEponding
sentence,
as we see
by comparing
the sentence he
came home
with the
verbal-group
his
cemmg
home. In
a
verbal-group
containing
an infinitive, a
noun"word in the
objective
relation
maybe
a
logical subject,
as m
I want kirnlo
ge
home=I
wish
he would
go
home.
SENTENCES.
446. Sentences " like
word-groups
" consistof
significant
elements,
or words.
447. A sentence is a
word
or
group
of words
capable
of
expressing
a
completethought
or
meaning.
Whether
or not
a given
word
or
group
of words is
capable
of
doing
this
in
anyone
languagedepends
on the
way
in which that
language
^
constructs
its sentences " that
is,on
their form. Thus in
Latin comet
would be
a complete sentence,
but not in
English,although
in itself comes
is
as intelUgible as
the
complete
sentence some one comes or some one
is
coming,
A
sentence is,therefore,
'
a word
or
group
of words whose forml
makes
us
expect
it to
express
a
full
meaning.'
We
say
'expect,'
because it
depends on
the context whether
or not
any
one sentence
expresses
a
completemeaning. Thus,
such a sentence 'as
he is
coming,though complete
in
form,
shows
on
the faceof it that it is
incomplete
in
meaning,
for
he means
'
some one
who has been mentioned
before,'
and
makes
us
ask
'
who is keV Nevertheless he is
coming
is
a
complete
sentence because it has the
same
form
aa/ohn
is
coming,
J
am
coming,etc.,
which are
complete
in
meaning
as
well as form " as
far,
at
least,
as
any
one sentence can
be
said to be
complete.
448.
As
regards
the relation between the
meaning
of the
T,Goo(^le
I5fi
INTRODUCTION.
(S449.
sentence and the
meanings
of its
elementSjsentdnces are
of
two kinds,
general
and
special.
A
general
aeutezioe
is
one
whose
meaning
isthe
necessary
resultof the
meanings
of the
separate
words of which itis made
up
and the
principles
on
which words
are
joinedtogether grammatically.
Thus
any
one who knows the
meanings
of such words
as have,book,
dog,
unele,etc.,
and the rulesof
English
grammar
can
form
any
number of 'OUendorffian' sentences such
as
I have
a book;
my
unclehas the
bigdog,
but I
have the
goodbook,
and
so on.
In
special
Mntenoea or
idioms,
on
the other
hand,
such
as
how do
you
do
f,
I
canttol
helpit,
the
meaning
of the whole
cannot
be inferred from the
meanings
of its elements. In
fact,
in / cannot
helpit,help
may
be said to be used in the
sense
of
'
hinder,'
'
prevent,'
which isthe
opposite
of itsordi- nary
meaning.
In
idioms, therefore,
the
meEtning
of the
whole isisolated
against
thatof the
parts,
just
as
in
compound
words
(as).
But most idioms,thoughirregular
in
meaning,
are
quiteregular
and normal in
form,
/
cannot
helpit,
for
instance,being formally
on a
level with such
a
general
sentence I cannot see
him:
just
as the latter
can
be made
into
we cannot see him, they
cannot
see him, etc.,so
also /
cannot
help
it
can
be made into we could not
helpbeinglate,
etc. Such an idiom as how do
you
do? is
more fossilized,
being capable
of
very
littlevariation
: we
could
hardly
say
how did
you
do
yesterday
?
449. Hence
we can
make how do
you
do into
a
word with
pluralinflection, as
in
hoto-do-you'do' s "were
exchanged.
Forgelmenot,
the
name
of
a flower,
is
an example
of
a
group
.compound
" with isolationof
meaning
" formed
directly
from
a sentence.
460. Sentences" likewords " differin fulnessof
meaning.
Just
as
there
are
empty
words,so
also there
are
empty
seotenoee
(orclauses),
as opposed
to full
ones.
Thus in the
complex
sentence
is it
me
{thal)you
want ? the firstclauseis
itmtf, thoughgrammatically
an
independent
clause,
is
l"^c-
US'O
-SENTENCES..
I57
allysuperfiuous,
and the
same meaning"might
be
expressed
by getting
rtd of
it,
and
putting
the
mt
into the
dependent
clause,
which then becomes an
independent
sentence " .do
you
want me? The clause is it mef is evidently
made
up
solely
in order to make the me more prominent by bringing
it
nearer
the
beginning
of the sentence and
making
itthe
logical
subject.
Hence, although
such
empty
clauses
are,
as cUttseS,
devoid of
meaning,theynecessarily
contain an
emphatic
full-
word.
461. As
every
sentence is the
e^cpression
of
a thought,
and
as
thought
consists in
joiningtogethersubject
and
predicate,
and
as
the idea of
predication
is
expressed
in
Englishby a
(finite) verb,
it follows that
every
normal
English
sentence
^
ought
to contain at least two words "
a
subject-word
and
a
predicative
verb. Hence also
every group
of words which
contains a verb
is,grammaticallyspeaking,
a sentence.
453. In some
cases,
however, a completemeaning
is
exr
pressedby
a
single
word "
a Bentenoe-word
" such
as
come!
='I command
you
to come,'
where the
subjectbeing
self*
evident,
the
predicate-
word
by
itselfis
enough
to constitute
a
'
sentence.
In
Jokn!='\
ask
John
to come" to attend to
me,' etc.,
the
subject-word
does
duty
for the
predicate
as
well,
which is omitted because of its
vagueness.
In
yes='
I
agree
with
you,'
'
I will do
so,'
etc.,no,
alai/='l am
sorry
for it,'
etc.,
subject
and
predicate
isfelt
onlyvaguely.
We
see,
then,
that these
'
one-word-sentenccs
*
are
of two kinds,
consisting (a)
of
a
definite
subject
or
predicate
standingalone,
and
(S)
of
a
word which is in itselfneither
definite
subject
nor
definite
predicate
" in which the ideas of
subject
and
predicate
are not
differentiated,
but
are
'condensed,'
as
it
were,
in
one
word,
,
From
a grammaticalpoint
of view these condensed
sentences are hardly
sentences at
all,
tHit
rather
something
intermediate between
word and
sentence.
A
group
of words without
a finiteverb
(orverbal)
may
also be
equivalent
to a sentence "
may
constitute
a
158
IfiTRODVCTION.
[(453.
"entenoe-groiip.
Tht
mart
the merrier is sn
example
of
a
sentence-group
which is
equivalent
to a
combination of two
clauses.
Manj'
other
examples
ore afforded
hj proverbs,
sayings,
titles(rf
books,
etc,
sach
as
tellerlak Han
never,
Meature
for
Meature.
468. A
sentence isnot
onlya logical
but a
phoneticvtavy.
A continuous discourse from a
phoneticpoint
of view consists
of
a succession of sounds divided into
brMth-gzonps
by
the
pauses
required
for
taking
breath. Within these
breath-groups
there is
no
separation
ot the individualwords
(81).
For the sake of clearness
we generally
wait to take
breath till
we come to the end of
a
statement,question, etc,
so
that
a
breath-group
is
generallyequivalent
to a MnN-
groap,
that
is,a sentence. In
a
dialogue,
which ia the
simplest
and most natural
way
of
using language,
the short
sentences
of which it
mostly
consists
are
marked off
by
a
complete
cessation of the
speaker's
voice. The end of a
sentence
may
be marked
phonetically
in other
ways,
especially
by
intonation. Thus in
English
we
mark the close (^
a
statement
by a fallington^
while
a rising
tone shows
that
the statement
is
incomplete,or
that
a
question
is intended.
In
writingwe
mark off the end of a
complete
statement
by
various marlu of
punctuation,especially
the fiitl
slop
(.).
4S4.
A
long
sense-group
or
sentence is often divided into
smaller
sense-groups
by change
of intonation,
etc.,
or
by
a
slight
pause.
The slower
or the more
emphatically
we speak,
the more
pauses
we
make. In
writing,
these smaller divisims
are generally
marked
by
a comma
(,), showing
the rise of
the voice which tellsas that
though
we have arrived at the
end of
a
sentence,yet
the
sense
is not
complete
till
we come
to
the
falling
tone indicated
by
the full
stop,
semicolon,etc
Thus in when I
came back,
I
found
no one
at home
we
have
two simple
sentences or
clauses united in this
way
into
a
complex
sentence.
466.
The form and functionof
a sentence
may
be
regarded
."i-+Go6gle
1 458.]
SENTENCES.
159
from two
points
of
view,
interna] smd external. Theintemftl
structure
of
a sentence
is determined
by
the relationsbetween
the words of which it is made
up
(81),
in
Englishespecially
by
theirorder. The
most
important
distinctions in the internal
structure
of
sentences arc
those
by
which
they
express
the
differentrelationsbetween
subject
and
predicate
in
statement,
question,
etc.
(18).
460. But
we
must also consider the
exteraal relationsof
sentences, by
which
we regard
each sentence as a whole or
unit,
without
troubling
cmrselves about the relationsbetween
the words of which itis made
up.
When
we
look at sentences
from this
point
of
view,we
find that
theycan
stand in the
same
relations to other sentences and to
single
words
as
words do to
one
another. Thus in /
see
jmt
are mislaken,
the clause
you
are
mislaken stands in the
same grammatical
relationto the verb
iw as
the noun-word Ihat does in / know
Ihaf.
467. There
are
two
ways
of
showing
the external relations
of
sentences.
One is
by
their order.
Just
as words
in sentences have a more or
less fixed
order,so
also in
groups
of sentences the sentences or
clauses follow each other
in a certain fixed order. Thus in the above
example
the
adjunct-clause
follows the
head-clause,
while in other combinations
the order is
reversed,as
in if
jam
are ready,we
will
start at
once.
456. Another
way
of
allowing
the external relations of
sentences
is
by
the
help
of form-words,
such
as
relative and
conjunctive
pronouns,
adverbs,
and
conjunctions,
allof which
generally
come at
the
beginning
of the
sentence.
A
sentence
modified
by a
form-word is called
a
prepared
sentence.
Thus in /jM thai
you
are mistaken,
thai
you
are
mistaken is
a
prepared
sentence or clause,as
compared
with the
unprepared
clause
j'tfu
are
mistaken in I
see
you
are mistaken.
The external relations of
sentences cannot be shown
by
inflection,
because
an
inflectedsentence
is
necessarily
con-
l60 INTRODUCTION.
[|459.
verted into a
word
(440).
For the
same reason they
arc
incapable
oif
derivation. Sentences are
also
incapable
of
com-
posiiion
in the
way
words
are compounded
;
in a
complex
senEence there is
no
isolation of the
meaning
of the whole
against
that of the clauses of which it is made
ujx
Relatiohs
between
Sentences.
45B.
Simple
sentences are
of two kinds,independent
and
dependent [cp.IBB].
An
independent
sentence is
one
whose
grammatical
structure allows it to stand
alone. A
dependent
sentence is one
that cannot stand
alone,
but
makes
us
expect
another
"
generally
an
independent
"
sentence
to
complete
its
meaning.
Thus in the
complex sentence
whtn I
came hack,
I
found
no one
at
home,
the first
sentence
is
dependent,
the second
independent.
All
prepared
sentences introduced
by dependent
words,
whether
pronouns,
adverbs,or conjunctions,
are necessarilydependent.
Thus in the above
example
the
dependent
sentence when I
came
bad isintroduced
by
the
dependent
adverb
or
conjunction
when.
Unprepared dependent
sentences
may
generally
be
expanded
into
prepared
sentences. Thus the
unprepared
sentences
in
you
are
the
man
I
want,
I
see
you
are
mistaken
may
be
expanded
into whom I
waTii,
thai
you
are
mistaken,
480. Sentences are also
distinguished
as ooordinate
and
sabordinate, accordingas they are
introduced
by a
coordinativeor a subordinative
conjunction (420).
Sentences introduced
by a progressive
relative
pronoun
or
adverb must be
regardedas coordinate
(218,878).
461.
The distincdon
between
independent
and
dependent
does not
alwaysexactly
agree
with that between coordinate
and
subordinate,
because the former is
a purelygrammatical
distinction,
the latter
a
logical
one.
Hence
although
allinde- pendent
sentences are
necessarily coordinate,
it does not
follow that all coordinate sentences
are
necessarily
independent.
In fact alt sentences introduced
b^ conjunctions
( 464.] SEffTE!^CES. 161
are
grammaticallydependent.
Thus such a coordinatesen- tence
as
and I will ride
can no more
stand alone than
a
BUbordinate one such
as
while I
ride,
both
equallyrequiring
a
preceding independent sentence to
complete
their
meaning :
you
shall walk and I will ride
; you
shall
walk,
while I ride.
So also it makes
nonsense to introduce
a sentence with
or
without
telling us
what the other alternativeis;
.
A sentence introduced
by a
detached
conjunction(481)
must,
of
course,
be
regardedas independent.
ClaUBM and
ComplexM.
462. Two
or more
sentences
may
be
joinedtogether
to
form a
singlecomplex sentence,
or
oomplex,
as we
may
call
it for the sake of
brevity.
When
simple
sentences are
joined
together
in this
way
we
call
then;iolauseB.
468. In
every
complex
there is one independent
clause,
called the
principal olauae,tt^ther
with at least
one
dependent
clause,
which stands in the relationof
adjunct
to the
prindpal
clause. The
dependent
clause
may
be either
coordinate
or
subordinate. We
";all
a
coordinate clause a
00-olAiue,
a subordinate clause
a
Bab-olaose. Thus
myou
shall walk,
and I will
ride,
the firstclause is the
principal
clause,
and the second is
a
co-clause.
Inj-iware
the
man
J
ivaff/i'the
second clause^/wiiff/" is
a sub-clause. So also
in_yo"
s/iall walk while
I
ride.
40i.
When
a
principal
clause is followed
by
one or more
co-clauses"
as
in the"first of the
examples given
above " it
may
itselfbe called
a co-clause,as being
coordinate with the
clauses that follow it
"
,
In such
a sentence as
Ihe
more
you
beat
them,
the better
ih^
be,
the two clauses
are so mutuallydependent on
each other
that it is difficultto decide which is the
principalclause,
and
whether
theyare not both
dependent.
For
grammaticalpur- poses
we
may
regard
the first
as
the
principal
clause
simply
on
the
ground
of its
coming
first
VOL. I. u
l6a tNTRODVCTION.
[(465.
44S. A
complex
in which the
principal
clause is modified
by
a
co-clause is
called,
for the sake of
brevity,a 00-
eomplex,
and
one
in which it is modified
by
a
sub-clause
is called
a
milt-oomplex.
Thus the first
complex
in
"
468
is
a co-complex,
the other two are sub-complexes.
406. As itis most
natural to
put
the
principal
clause first
in
a
complex,
itisnot
generally
necessary
to callattention to
the order of the clauses
except
when the
adjunct-clause
is
put
before
the head-clause. This is
impossible
with co-
complexes,
but is
frequent
with
sub-complexes.
When
a
sub-clause
comes
before its
principalclause,
the fonner is
called the
ftont-olause,
the latterthe after-olauso. Thus
in the
sub-complex
if I
can,
I will do
it,
the
hypothetical
sub-clause if I
can
is called the
front-clause,
and the
principal
clause / voiU do
it is called the after-clause.
Inserted, Parenlhelic,
and
Appended
Clauses.
4fi7-
When
a
sub-clause is
put
inside another
clause,so
as to cut itin
two,
itis called
an Inserted olaiue
;
thus in
/
hope,
if all
goes
well,
to
finish
it
tomorrow,
the sub-clause
if all
goes
well is inserted in the
principal
clause /
hope
to
finish
it tomorrow.
4flB.
If
we
expand
this
complex
into /
h(^,
if all
goes
well,
thai I shall
finish
it
tomorrow,
we
have
a three-clause
instead of
a
two-clause
complex,
and the inserted
clause,
instead of
interrupting
a
simple
sentence,
only
breaks the
continuity
between a
principal
clause and
a sub-clause which
is
more
intimately
connected with the
principal
clause than
the inserted clause is. When
a
clause is inserted in this
way
it
may
be called
a
middle clause.
469. A clause
may
be inserted into a
dependent clause,
9S va
he is
a
man,
who,
if he
chose,might
do
great
things.
Here the inserted clause tfhe chose is
put
immediately
after
the sentence-link
who,
which is
a
frequent position
of an
inserted clause.
T,Goo^le
1 47".]
SENTENCES.
163
470. When an
insertedclause contains
an
insertedclause
in itself " which last
may
again
contain an inserted clause"
the
process
is called
inoapBulation,
and the whole
group
is
called
an incapsulation-comples.
471.
When
an independent
sentence ia
inserted, it iscalled
a
parentiietio
sentenoe or a
parenthesis.
Thus in J shall
fansh
it,
I
hope,by
the end
of
the
week,
I
hope
is
a
parenthesis.
In this
example
the
parenthetic
sentence contains
a
transitive
verb without
an
object- word,
the
logical object
of
hoptbeing
reallyexpressedby
the
sentence into which the
parenthesis
is
inserted,
so
that /
hope
is
logically
the
principalclause,
the whole sentence
being equivalent
\a
I
hopt
I shall
finish
it
by
the end
of
the week. So also with the
frequent
parenthetic
use
of verbs of
saying,etc,
as
in
this,
I
say,
is the
place.
Sometimes
a parenthesis" especially
when itsverb
does not
require
to be
supplementedby
an object-word,
etc.
" is
to a sub-clause, as
in the two brothers
"r"they
were
Iwins^-were
exactlyalike,
where the
parenthesis
explainswhy they
were alike,
and is thus
equivalent
to a
causal clause. So also in the
frequentparenthesescontaining
the verb mean :
he
says
" /
mean
John
Smith " that
...
In
the above
examples
the
parenthesesare
unprepared.
But
co-clauses and sentences introduced
by
half-
conjunctions
can
also be used
parenthetically, as
in if
you
are
in the
wrong
"
and I
am sure
you
are
in the
wrong" you
must
apologiu,
where we
may
substitute the
half'Conjunction_/or
for the
co-
conjunction
and. In this
we
have
an example
of what
may
be called
a
middle
parenthesis (cp.46B),and,
at the
same
time,
of
a
parenthesis
which is
a
complex
instead of
being
a simple
sentence.
472. In such
a sentence as
/am
a doctor,
you
know,
the
second clause is
exactlyanalogous
to a parenthesis,
except
that it
comes at the end. We
may
call such a clause an
appended
olanM.
1^4 tffTRODVCTtOfr.
[|475.
Exlenitd
Compltxts.
473.
A
compIeiE
wfaich consists
of
more
than two clauses
iscalled
an
extended
complex.
474. The
simplest
kind of extended
complex
is
one
which
consists of
a principal
clause followed
by
two or more co-
clauses
:
/ rtad ike
paper,
and Ihm I wrote a ietUr,
and then
I went
for
a
walk. In such
complexes
the clauses stand in
no
special
relation to one
another,being
connected
only
117
forming
part
of the same
complex.
475.
But if
an
extended
complex
contains
a sub-clause,
the sub-clause must
necessarily
be
speciaUy
connected with
some
other clause which acts as principal
clause to
it,
fonn-
ing
with it
a lesser
complex
within the extended
complex.
Thus in such
an
extended
complex as
I
began
to write
a
Utter,
but I could not
finishit,
because I
was
interrupted,
the
sub-clause because I
was interrupted
is
inseparably
connected
with the
preceding
clause,forming
with it the
sub-comptex
/ could not
finishit,
because I
was
interrupted.
The sub-clause
cannot therefore enter into
special
relations with
any
other
clause but this in the extended
complex,
so
that it has no
direct connection with the clause /
began
to write
a
letter;
but the combination of which it forms
part
" the lesser
complex
"
can
do
so :
in the above
example
the lesser
complex
is
put
in
a
coordinate relationto the clause /
bân
to write
a
letter
by
means
of the
conjunction
but,so
that the whole
extended
complex
consists of a principal
clause followed
by
a
coordinate
sub-complex,
which we
may express
brieSy
thus
:
principal -^
coordinate
sub-complex.
It will be seen
that such extended
complexes
contain two
principal
clauses.
We call the
principal
clause of the lesser
complex
" I could
not
finish
it" the
eeoondary prinoipat olamse,
as
opposed
to
the
primary principal
clause /
began
to write
a
Utter,
which is the
principal
clause of the whole
extended^con^lex.
478.
It is evident that extended
complexes containing
T,Goo(^le
I 480.]
SENTENCES.
165
Bub-clauses admit of
a
great
vaiiety
of
form,
for the lesser
complexes
contained in them
may
be
co-complexes
as
well
as sub-complexes,
and
they
may
be
joined
to the
primary
principal
clause
subordinately as
well
as coordinately.
Thus
in the extended
complex
it
u a
book which I have read
onee,
and which I
hope
to read
again,
we
have the combination
principal +
subordinate
co-complex.
In Jam anxious became
the letter I
expected
has not arrived
we
have
principal 4-
subordinate
sub-complex,
/
expectedbeing
an
insertedclause
("7".
477- We
can
also have
a principalcomplex
instead of
a
principal clause,as
in the earth is
a big
ball that is
always
spinning
round like
a
lop,
and at the
same time it
moves
round
the
sun
in
a
ffVf/^=
principal sub-complex-f
co-clause. This
scheme
can
of
course
be varied
by substituting a
co-complex
or a sub-clause.
478. But
an
arrangement
consisting entirely
of
co-complexes
and co-clauses in
any
order'is
indistinguishable
from
an
extended
complex
made
by addingon
separate
co-clauses
to a
principal
clause. Thus such
an
extended
complex
as
/
have written
a
letter,
but I wrote it in
a
hurry,
and it is
very
badly
written
can
be
analysedonly
into
separate
clauses,
and
does not contain
any
lesser
complexes,as
itwould if
a sub- clause
were
substitutedfor
one
of the
co-clauses,
thus I hone
zvrittena
letter,
but itis
very
badlywritten,
because I
was
in
"t
^Br/j'=principal-f
coordinate
sub-complex.
479. In the
examples given above,
the
principal
clause
precedes,
but its
place
may
be taken
by
a front-clause
or
front
complex
: 1/
it is
a mistake,
you
are
responsible /or it,
and
so am
/^front clause
-f-
co-
complex.
480. Four-clause
complexes containing
sub-clauses
are
of two kinds.
(a)
Some of them consist of
two complexes
:
/ have
always thought,
and I
always
shall think
that it was a
mistake which could have been avoided =
co-
complex +
subordinate
sub-complex;
t/ we
watch
a
ship
l66 INTRODUCTIOH.
U
481.
when she
"
sailing
out to
sea,
we can see
that the earth
a
nwn(/= front
sub-complei+
sub
complex. (S)
The other
class of four-clause
complexes
consist of
a principal
ctaosc
and
a
clause-groupconsisting
of
a secondary principal
clause combined with
a
lesser
complex
:
/ meant to eaU
on
you
yesterday
i
but a
friend of
yours
told me
he had
heard
ymt
were not at
Ai"mr=princiDal-t-
coordinate
(principal
+
subordinate
sub-complex).
481.
Extended
complexes consisting
of
more
flianfour
clauses often contain
groups
of two
complexes,
as
in the
following
ax-clause
complex:
there it not
generally
much
dew, if
the
sky
is not clear
;
because,
if the
sfy
it
tbmdy,
the clouds
present
the earth
from gtving
out itt heal
;
and
tf
the earth is not cold
enough,
the dew wilt
not settleoh it^
sub-complex-t-
subordinate
(sub-complex +
coordinate sub-
complex).
It will be observed that in this
example
there
are two secondaryprincipal
clauses" /A" clouds
prevent
the
earth
. ,
,
and the dno will not settle
on
it.
483.
In a
complex
the clauses must be
Joinedtogether
by
conjunctions, or
else the
adjunct-clauses
must be
dependent,
as
\nyou
are the
man
1
want. When two or more
inde-
piendent
sentences are associated
together logically
in the
same
way
as
in
a complex,
the combination is called
a
oequenoe.
Thus
we
have an adversative
sequence
\a
am
I
right,am
I
wrong
f which is
logically
equivalent
to the
complex
am
I
right,or am
I
wrong
? Such
a
sequence
is therefore
equivalent
to a co-complex.
Such
a causal
sequence
as
lam
sure
of
it:
I
saw
it
myselfis,on
the Other
hand,
equivalent
to the
sub-complex
/am
sure
ofit,
becauseI
saw
it
myself .
In both
of
these
examples
the
adjunct-sentence
is
unprepared.
We
callsuch
sequences
nnpFepared sequences.
483. The
onlyprepared
sentences
that
can
form
part
of
a
sequence
are
those which
are
introduced
by
a
half-
T,Goo(^le
i 4B7.]
SENTENCES. 16?
conjunction; as
in the
prepared
sequence
I
was tiredi so
I
"went to
btd,compared
with the
unprepared'
sequence
/
am
tired: I eannoi
go any
Jitrlhtr,
and the
complex
1
was so
tired thai I could not
go any
further.
464.
When
a
sequence
is made
up
partly
of
prepared,
paitly
of
unprepared senlences,
it is called
a
partially
prepared sequeaoe.
Bolatfoiu iMtwMn
Bentenoei, Complexes,
and
Bequeaoea.
460.
Although
the distinction between sentence and
complex
is
generallyquite clear,
there
are some simple
sentences which
approach
very
near to
complexes.
486. A
word-group containinga
verbal often differs
only grammatically
from the
same
group
with the verbal
made into
a
finite
verb,
that
is,
from
a
sentence
(446).
Hence such a
simple
sentence as
/ heard
of
his
coming
home
can
be
expanded
into the
complex
I heard that he had
come
home. So also / wish him to
come
back
may
be
expanded
into I wish he would
come
hack. Such sentences as
I heard
of
his
coming home,
I wish him to come back,
which
contain in themselves the
germs
of
dependentsentences,
are
called extended sentenoea.
467. Extended
complexes
can
often be
simplified by
substituting
an extended sentence for
a lesser
complex.
Thus in
we can see
that the earth is
round,
if
we
watch
a
ship
when she is
sailing
out to
sea,
the
sub-complexcan
be shortened into
if
we
watch a
ship sailing
out to
sea,
and this extended sentence
itself
can
be tiirlher reduced to
the
verbal-group by watching
a
ship sailing
out to sea. A
complex
can sometimes be shortened
.
into an
ordinary
unextended sentence
by
a slightchange
;
thus the
principal
clause in the above extended
complex
could be shortened
into
we can see
the roundness
of
the earth.
Indeed,
the whole
four-clause
complex
can
be shortened into the
simple
sen-
T,GoO(^le
l68 tNTRODVCTIOlf.
\\
488.
lence tot can tte Ihe ramdness
(Ât
earth
by toaUhinga ship
saiHt^
ami h sea.
488. Another
way
in which
complexes
are
shortened is
by making sentence-connecting
into word-
connecting
conjunctions,
as
when the
complex
he is
loll,
but he is not
Strong
is made into a
simple
sentence
with
a
group
predicate
" ht is
tall,
but not
strong.
Such sentences
may
be
regarded
as a
kind of extended
sentences,
but itisbetter to
distinguish
them from the extended sentences we
have
just
been
consideringby calling
them contracted aentenoes.
When
a
complex
is shortened
merelyby omitting
to
repeat
a
personal
pronoun,
as
in /
wrote
a letter,
and then went out
for
a walk;
he
went
away,
hut
soon came
back
again,
the
contraction is
so slight
that
we can
hardlyregard
wrote a
letterand then went
for
a walk as a
group-predicate,
and itis -
therefore better to call such
complexes
oantrooted complexes,
and
so
distinguish
them from contracted
sentences,
such
as
he is tall lut not
strong,
which
are really
distinctin
form "
and,
to some
extent,
even
in
meaning
" from
complexes.
We must
distinguish
between contraction and
ellipse.
In
such
a sentence as
the
first
month is called
January,
ike second
February,
the second clause is not
merely contracted,
it is
elliptical,
both
meaning
and
grammatical
construction
requiring
the
repetition
of is
called;
for if
we
regarded
fh4 second
February
as anything
but
a sentence,
itwould
imply
that there
were
two
Februarys
in the
year.
So
also in
if possible,
I -aiillcome
tomorrow,
we must assume
ellipse
in the front clause.
48B. As
co-complexesare more
easily
shortened than
sub-complexes,
most extended
complexes
contain
more
of
the latter than of the
former, especially
in the
spoken
language,
which
always
avoids
unnecessarily long
complexes.
490. A sentence
containing
a
parenthesis
is not
grammatically
a
complex,
for
any
connection there
may
be
between the two is
logical,
not
grammatical
:
it remains
a
T,Goo(^le
i 493.]
SENTENCES.
169
simple
Benteace. So also if
a
parentheais
isintroduced into
a
complex
it does not in
any way
alter the
grammatical
relattonBbetween the clauses of the
complex.
491. It sometimes
happens
that
a sub-clause Stands
alone,
as
if it
were an independent
sentence " is detoohed. The
principal
clause to such a detached clause is understood
from the
context.
Detached clauses
are most
frequent
in
answers,
where the
principal
clause is inferred from the
question; why
do not
you
do iif because J
can not. Here the
detached clause becauseI
can no/ stands for the
complex
/rfu
net do
il,
because lean not " where the sub-clause is
elliptical
"
the
principal
clause not
beiiêxpressed
because it has been
already expressed
in a
slightly
diiferentfoim
by
the
question
itself.
492. The distinctionbetween
complex
and
sequence
is
often
very
slight.
When the sentences of which
a
sequence
is
made
up
are uttered with
a
risingtone,
and
are tun
together
with little
or no
pause"
being separated
in
writing
onlyby commas" they
are
practically equivalent
to
clauses,
as in the
unprepared
sequence
/
came,
I
saw,
I
conquered,
and the
prepared
sequence
tkert
was no one thntiso
I went
away.
483. An extended
group
of
sentences
is often
composed
partly
of
dependentclauses,partly
of sentences either
unpre-
paredor introduced
by half-conjunctions, so
that the whole
group
is
partly
a complex, partly
a
sequence.
We callsuch
groups
mixed
oomplexes
or
mixed
sequenoea,
according
to which element is
predominant.
In the two
following
examples
we
have mixed
complexesconsisting
of
a
complex
followedin
one
instance
by
an unpreparedsentence,
in the
other
by one
introduced
by a half-conjunction :
/ would not
doit if I
were
you
:
you
are sure to
repent
it
some
lime
or
other
we went out
/or
a walk,
but it came on to
rain,so we soon
came hack. Mixed
sequences
are generally
coordinate : lie
came,
he
saw,
and he
conquered.
INTRODUCTION,
Classes of Sentences.
404. The most obvious
way
of
dassifjring
sentences is
according
to the form-wordt
by
which
theyare
introduced.
Thus
a sentence
beginning
with but is
necessarily an
adversative
sentence
(orclause).
A clause
beginning
with htcaust
is
a
causal
clause,
and the
complex
of which it forma
part
is
a
causal
complex.
Sentences
beginning
with affirmative
conjunctions
such
as
and
are
called
copulative
sentences. Those
beginning
with
negativeconjunctions
such
as itor are
generally
included under alternative sentences.
Clause^
introduced
by dependent
pronouns
and adverbs
arc
either relative
or
conjunctive
clauses.
406.
Unprepared
sentences are
classed
according
to the
nature of the form-word
required
to
make them into
prepared
sentences.
Thus Iwantîohom I uianl
inyou
aretheman I
waul is
an unprepand
relative
c\a.\ix,H
is trtu=lkai itis true
in I think it it true is
an unpreparedconjunctive
clause. So
also /
come,
I
taw,
I
conquered
is a
copulative unprepared
sequence.
The
principal
cUuse in
loe
took our umbrellas because
we
were afraid
it would rain
ma.y
be
regardedas an
unprepared
clause of effect
(424).
Part of
Bpeeoh
Bslattona.
406.
We have
alreadyseen
(46S)
that
dependent
clauses
stand to their
principal
clauses in relationssimilarto those in
which
single
words stand. From this
point
of view clauses
fallunder the three main heads of
noun-olai^seB, adjective-
clauses,
and adverb-olROses.
When we
call a clause
a noun- etc.
clause,
we
do
not mean
to
imply
that it
partakes
of the inflections
or
any
other formal
châcteristics
of
a noun
;
for itis evident that itwould
thereby
cease
to
be
a
sentence,
and would be converted into
a notu.
We use
ihe terms
noun-clause,
etc.
Mily
because of their
con-
:e
and beciiuse
ihey
cannot
cause misunderstanding.
",
1 499-]
SENTENCES.
171
497"
A
noun-olaiue
may
stand to its
principal
clausf in
the
relationof
(a)subject, {b)predicate, (c)
direct
object, (rf)
apposition :
"
(a)subject
noun-clause: what
you say
is true " thai
you
should think
so is
quite
na/ural.
(J)predicate
noun-clause : thisiswhat I
mean
"
my^nion
is thai he is mistaken.
(f)object
noun-clause :
/ kn"fw what he means " what he
wants
I
cantu)/ make cut " I think
you
are mistaken,
{d)apposition
noun-clause : the wish that he
may
succeed
is
very
general
" the
fact
that he is
a
foreigner
does not excuse
488.
AdjeotiTB-olaQMs
alwaysmodify
a
noun,
as
in j^
door
which leads into the
garden=the
door
leading
into the
garden,
the
man
I
saw
yesterday,
the home where I
was bom,
thetown he lives
in,
the
reason why
I did not do
it,
the
way
in
which it is
done,
the
way
it it done.
The difTerence in
meaning
between
a
noun-clause and
an
adjective-
clause isoften
veiy
slight, as we see
by comparing
the
noun-clause in I knoiv inhere he lives with the
adjective-dause
in I knovf the
place
where he lives.
The distinction between
apposition
noun-clauses and
adjec*
tive-clauses
is,
of
course, analogous
to that between
a noun
in
apposition
and
an adjective : an
apposition
noun-clause is
more
independent
of its
noun
than
an
adjective-dauseis,so
that itis
more
difficultto shorten the former.
409.
An adveTb- clause stands to its
principal
clause in
tbe
same
relation
as an
adverb. Thus the adverb-clauseain
he
came
while I
was
out,
he
came before
I had
gone
out
are
equivalent
to the adverb then in he
came then. Adverb-clauses
are
classed
according
lo their
meaning
as adverb-clauseaof
lime,place,cause,
etc. Thus the
adverb-clauses
given
above
are adverb-clauses of
time,
a clause
beginning
with because is
an
adverb-clause of
cause,
etc.
Hence a
clause introduced
by
a
relative
expressing
cause
INTRODUCrrOtf.
BelftUoiu betwMn
SultJ^ct
ctnd Fredioate.
600. In
thought,subject
and
predicate
stand to one
another in
a
variety
of
relations,
and these relations
are
indicated in
language
more or
less
imperfectly \"^changes
in
the form of sentences. In their function of
expressing
the
relationsbetween
subject
and
predicate
sentences fallunder
the four main
groups
"
(a)
sentences of
statement,
oi
declarative
sentences, (fi)
sentences of
exclamation, or
ezol"matiTe
sentences, (c)
sentences of
question,
or inter-
rogatiTe sentences,
and
("/)
sentences of faortation
or
imperative
sentences.
BOl.
(a)
SeolBratLve sentences are
of two kinds,
(a)
sentences
of
positivestatement,
or afOrmative
sentences,
such
as
the
moon
is
fuli lonight,
and
(3)negatiTe sentences,
such
as
the
moon
is not
full tonight.
But
sentences containing
a
negation
are
often
equivalent
to aESrmative sentences
with
a
negativepredicate(886).
The word-order of
a normal
declarativesentence
in
English
is that the
subject
precedes
the
predicate.
602.
(")
lôlamative
sentences,
such
as
haw
bright
the
moon
is
tonight !,
how well he rides
\,
what
a
fool
hi looks
!,
may
be
regarded
as
emphatic
affirmative sentences:
they
express
wonder, joy,grief,indignation,
and other kinds of
excitement,
either intellectual
or
emotional. In
English
the
of
an
exclamative
sentence comes
afterthe
subject,
as
in
a
declarativesentence " the
moon
is
. .
" but the word which is
emphasized by
the exclamation is
put
at the
beginning
of the sentence
precededby
an
interrogative
word such as
how
or
what" how
bright. .
,
what
a
fool
, .
In these two
examples
the
emphasized
word is the
logical, as opposed
to the
grammatical,predicate
;
in hojo
well he rides I it is
only
an adjunct
to the
verb,
the verb
being
T,GoO(^le
i 504.]
SE^fTENCES.
173
in this
case the
logical
as
well
as
the
gmmtnatica)predicsUe.
Kxclamative sentences
approach closely
in fonn to inter-
rcâtive
sentences
(603)-
In
writing
we
mark ezclamative
sentences with the mark of exclamation
or
admiration
(I),
with which
we
also mark the
imperative
sentences.
^
608^ {c)Interrogative
sentences
implyignorance
about
Ac
predicate,
and
express
the desire of
enlightenment
about
it.
They are
of
two kinds,general
and
special
Qaner^
intorrogatiTe
sentences,
such
as
is Ihe
moon
/uU iontghi ?,
state a
subject
and
predicate,
and
enquire
whether the relation
between ihem is affirmative
or negative,
that
is,they expect
the answers
yts
or
no,
itis or it is
not,
yes
it
is,no
it is
not,
etc. General
interrogative
are
formallydistinguished
from declarative
sentences
by having
the
grammaticalpredicate
at the
beginning
of the
sentence,
so as to indicate that
the
speaker
is
mainly
interestedin the
predicate.Negative
(general)
intorrogntlTe
sentences,
such
as
is not the
moon
fullUmigM ?, imply
the
expectation
of
an
affirmative
answer,
the not
seeming
to forbid
or challenge
denial
=' if the moon
isw"t fall" which I believe it is"
say
so.' General interrogative
sentences are
uttered with a
rising
tone (is
tkt
moon
fulltonight')
instead of the
falling
tone which characterizes
not
only
declarative and
exclamatorysentences,
but also
specialinterrogative
sentences.
804.
Spetdal interrtîatiTesentences,
such
as
who is
he?,
what
It
his
name?,
wAtre does he
Uve?,
when did he
comet',
how did he
come
?, begin
with
an interrogative word,
whose
meaning
indicates what kind of information is
sought.
Thus,
if the
sentence
begins
with
who, we know that the
speaker
wishes to be informed about the
identity
ofthe
person
indicated
by
the
subject-word
;
if the sentence
begins
with
where, we know that information about the
place
of
some
thing
or occurrence is
sought,
and
so on. Hence these
questions
are
answered,
not
by
yes
or
no,
but
by
some word
which
specializes
the
meaning
indicated
by
the
Interrogative
174
INTRODUCTION.
[1
505.
word. Thus the answer to whtrt dots he livtf
may
be not
far Jrom
htre,
im
London,
in the north
ofLondon,
etc.,
with
various
degrees
of
definiteness,
or
the
uiswer
may
be evaded
by
the other
speakersaying
I do not
know,
etc.
Special
interrogative
sentences are
distinguished
from
general
interrogative
sentences by being
uttered with a
falling
tone
(who
is
he'),
likedeclarativeand
imperativesentences,
becan^
they
are feltto be
equivalent
to
imperativesentences,
whe" did he
eomt
?,
for
instance,being equivalent
to
'
I know be
came
some
time " other
;
I
want to know when.*
When
a spedalinterrogative
sentence is uttered with
a
rising
lone,
it
implies
that the
speaker
wishes for the
repetition
of
an
answer,
thus what it his name'?
means
'tell
roe
bis
name
again.'
SOS. There isanother class of
special interrogative
questions
which
are
still
more
definite than those introduced
by
inten"âtivewords, namely,
alternative
queaMona,
- such
M
isiean
Oxford
or a Cambridge man F,
which
are cbaracter-
ized
by
the
presence
of the
strong
alternative
conjunction
(us),
and do not differfrom
generalquestions
in
form,
except
that
they are
uttered with
a falling tone, being,
like
the other class of
special questions, equivalent
to a
command
^
'
I know he is one or
the other
;
tellme which he is.' But
the
answers
to these
questions are
defined
even more definitely
than in the other
class,being,
in
fact,given
in the
question
keeif. If
a
weak is substituted for
a
strong
alternative
con-
jtmction
In these
sentences,
the
question
becomes
a general
one,
isuttered with
a risingtone,
and is answered
with^tvor
no;
it ht an Oxford
or
Cambridge
man' ?
meaning really
'has he studied at Oxford
or Cambridge
" I do
n^
care
which "
as opposed
to the
University
of
London,
the German
nniversities,
etc.' As
alreadyremarked,
alternative
questions
require
very
definite
answers
;
thus in the
example given,
the
answer
must be either
Oxfordor Cambridge.
But there is
a
class of altamatlTe
%vdisc9^ questions,
such
as
art
you
T,Goo(^le
JS09.J
SBNTBffCBS.
1
75
riady,or are
yeu
ml? uttered with
a falling tone,
which
are,
however,
answered in the
same
way
aa
generalquestions;
although,
beingemphatic,theygenerally
receive
an
emphatic
answer"
^f,
/
am ready,
etc. In
writing,
allkinds of
questions
are
marked
by
the note of
interrogation (f),
606-
(rf)Imperative
sentences are those which
contain
a verb in the
imperative
mood,
expressinghortadon,
by
which
we
understand
any
appeal
to others
by
which
we endeavour
to influence their
actions,especially
entreaty, request,
and
command, as
in
come!,
you
do it at
omet,
do
cornel,
do
tiotdotbati,
do not
you
do that!
Imperative
sentences are
uttered with
a felling
tone.
In
writingtbey are
generally
marked
by
the note of exclamation
(I)
607.
It must be understood that the above divisions
are
grammatical,
and therefore
mainly
formal.
Thus,
although
imperative
sentences serve
to
express
certain
meanings,
yet
we
call
a sentence
'imperative' primarily
because it has
a
certain form which
distinguishes
it from declarative etc, sentences.
And
althoughimperative
sentences
are
the most
convenient means we have of
expressinghortation, we can
also
express
it
by purely
declarative
sentences,
such ii
I
big
you
to
come,
I innst
on
your
doing
it at
once.
BOS.
The
meaning
of
an imperative
sentence
may
also be
expressedby
a sentence in the
general interrogative form,
such as
v^lôuhejwtt
1= ht
quiet
I But
as
such
sentences
are
uttered with
a falling
tone "
being accordingly
written
with the note of
exclamation"they are formally
intermediate
between the
two classes,
and
may
therefore be called
fanperatJTO-interrogative sentences.
S09.
So also a declarativesentence
may
imply
a
question,
as
in the
doubtfiil^cw
will soon it
ready
',
which has the
rising
tone of
a true
question,
and the
more decided
you
wHl be
thereat
six,then\v\ac\it3kta
the
answer
"""
for
granted,
and
is
accordingly
uttered with
a falling
tone.
T,Goo(^le
lyfi
INTRODUCTION.
[|
510.
610.
The above divisions
apply
to
independent
sentences.
For
dependent
declarative clauses
(indirect narration)
see
"397,
and for
dependentinterrogative
clauses
(indirect
interrogation)
see
%
214.
ffiSTORY OF LANGUAGE.
Olianges
in
Language.
011.
The most
important
fact in the
history
of
language
is
that it is
always obaoging. Words,
parts
of words " inflections,
derivative
elements,
etc. "
word-groups,
and sentences
are alwayschanging,
both in form and
meaning
:
the
pronunciation
of words
changes,
and their
meaning changes;
inflections
change
both in form and
meaning: word-groups
and sentences
change
theirform in various
ways
"
by altering
the order of their
words, by changes
of stress and intonation
" and are
liable to
change
their
meaning also,so
that the
meaning
of the
word-group
or sentence can no longer
be
inferred from that of the words of which it is made
up.
These
changes
are inevitable.
fil2.
Sound-changes (phonetic changes,changes
of
pronunciation)
are
inevitable,
because all
speech-sounds
are
the
resultof certain definiteactions
or
positions
of the
organs
of
speech
"
tongue,
lips,
etc.
;
and the
slightest
deviationfrom the
position
which
produces
a
sound alters that sotmd. Thus
the vowel-sonnd
expressed by 0
in
no
is
producedby drawing
back the
tongue
and
narrowing
the
lip-opening
;
and if
we
draw back the
tongue
still
more and raise it
so as to make
the
month-passage narrower,
and at the
same
time
narrow
the
lip-opening by bringing
the
lips
closer
together,
the sound
passes
by degrees
into the u
in ruU
;
while if
we
open
the
lips
and widen the
mouth-passage,
the sound of
0
passes
into
diat of the a
m/alher.
Now in
utteringa
sound it is
as
impossible always
to bit
exactly
the
same position
of the
T,Goo(^le
"'
i
5*3-3
HISTORY OP LANGUAGE: CHANGES.
I??
organs
of
speech
as
it would be
3,1wa.ys
to hit the
mark
exactly
in
shooting
with
a bow or a
gun.
For this
reason
children never
reproduceexactly
the sounds
they
learn
by
imitation from their
parents;
and even
when this deviation is
so slight aB to
escape
notice,
it is liable to be increased in
afterUfe
by
carelessness and laziness of
pronunciation.
But
the initialdeviation is often
so
marked that it
can
be
expressed
in
writing, as
when children in
trying
to imitatethe sound of
([?)
in thin make itinto
(f).
We call
sound-changes
due to
the tendencies of the
organs
of
speech"
such
as
the
change
of
(o)
into
(u)or (a)
"
o^ânla
soun
d-
changes
;
and we
call
changes
due to defectiveimitation" such
as
that of
(|))
into
(f)
" imitatiTe
sound-changes.
Organic
and imitative sound-
changes
are
both the result of
something
in the sound itself)
and
are
therefore included under the
common designation
internal
sound-changes.
External
sound-changes,
on
the
other hand,
have
nothing
to
do with the nature of the sound
changed,
but
are
the result of the influence of other words
associatedin
some
way
"
generally by similarity
of
meaning
" with the words
containing
that
sound, as
in the
change
of
ipakt
into
spokeby
the influence of
spoken(63B).
618.
The
meaninga
of words
change
because the
meaning
of
a word is
alwaysmore or
less
vague,
and
we are always
extending
or
narrowing (generalizing
or specializing)
the
meanings
of the words we use
" often
quiteunconsciously.
Thus in the
present
English
the
meaning
of the word
morn-
it^
has been extended
go as to include what in Scotland is
stillcalled Hor
forenoon,
the word
morning originally denoting
the time of
day just
after sunrise
;
but
as
the
sun
risesat
differentdmes at different
seasons
of the
year,
the distinctioo
between
morning
9x^6.
forenoon
was
always
liable to be
confused.
We
have an
example
of
narrowing
the
meaning
of
a
word in the modem
English
use of dur
to signify
one
qiecial
kind of wild
animal,
while in Old
English
the word "
in the fonn of fl"r" meant
'
wild animal in
general,' being
vol,. i" K
T,Goo(^le
178
INTRODUCTION.
[|
514.
applied
to foxes,wolves,
etc.,
as well as
deer
; Shakespere
still
uses the word in its older and
more
generalmeaning
"
But
mice,
and rait,
and
tuch tmall deer
Hate been Toiii
s
foodfor
teTitn
long
year.
(KingLear.)
514.
Of these
processes,
extension is the
more important,
especially
that kind of extension known
as
mMaphor, by
which
we use
the
name
of
a
material
objector an attributeto
express
some more
abstract idea
suggestedby
the
original
meaning
of the word, as
when
we call a
sly
man a
fox,
or
say
that the
sun
isthe
source ofl^ht
and heal
on
the
analogy
of source
of
a river,
thus
using
the ^mihar word
source to
express
the more abstract idea of
'
cause
'
or
'
origin.'
So
also when
we speak
of
a
brigfil
idea or dark schemes. It
was mainlyby
the
help
of
metaphor
that
primitive man was
able to
enlarge
bis
originally
scanty
stock of words
so aa to
Rnd an
expression
for each
new
idea
as
it
arose
in his mind.
616.
The
use
and
meaning
of inflections
changes
in the
same
way.
Thus the
genitive
case
in Modem
English
has
not
the
same
functions as
in Old
English.
So also with
derivative
elements,etc.
616. Linguistic changes
ofien lake the form of the loss of
sounds,sound-groups,
parts
of words,
and
complete
words.
By phoneticchange a
sound
may
be
so
weakened
as to
become almost
inaudible, so
that its
dropping
is almost inevitable.
Sounds and
syllables
may
be
dropped
because
they
are superfluous"
because the word is
intelligible
without
them,
as
when examinalion is shortened to exam.
Words
may
drop
out of sentences
for the
same reason.
617. The addition of
a
sound is
generally only
apparent
when itisthe result of
organicchange.
Thus the
change
"A
(nr)
into
(ndr)
in Modern
English
thunder from Old
English
Imnor, genitive fiunres,
is
really
a change
of the second half
of the
(n)
into
(d).
-
But soimds
may
be added to
words,
and words added
to
"entices by
external influences.
1519-3
HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES.
I79
61s. Most of these
changes
of form and
meaning are
gradoal
in their
operation
"
especially
the internal sOund-
changes
"
so
that most of them
are
carried out tmoni'
soioasly bj
those who
speak
the
language,
and
are
therefore
beyond
their control. The
speakers
of a
language
cannot
prevent
it from
changing
;
all
theycan do is to retard the
changes(682).
These
changes
are
the result of natural
tendencies of the
organs
of
speech
and of the human
mind,
and
are
therefore to a
great
extent nnifonn in their
operation.
Thus if
one child in
a
community
says
(fruu)
instead
of
through,we
expect
other children to do the
same,
because
if
one
child finds it easier to
pronounce
(f)
than
(}?),
other
children will
probably
"nd iteasier too. So also if
one man
gets
into the habit of
using
a
word which
originally
meant
'
wild animal
'
in the
sense
of
'
deer,'
because deer
are
the
most
important
wild animals in the
place
where he
hves,
itis
natural
to
expect
that most of his
neighbours
will
get
into
the
flame
habit. Even when different
changes
of the same
sound,etc. are
made
by
different
speakers
of the
community,
one
change
will
generally
get
the
upper
hand,
either from
havii^
the
majority
of
speakerson
its
side,or because it is
more
convenient
or
easierto
carry
out.
619. Each
linguistic
change
is
regular
in its
operation.
If the
meaning
of
a
word is
changed
in
one sentence,
wc
expect
to find it
changed
in all the other sentences
in which
it
occurs.
So also if
a
sound is
changed
in
one word, we
expect
to find it
changed
in allother words.
Thus,
if
we
find'
that a child
learning
to
speak
makes
{{")
into
(f)
in the words
think and
three,we can assume
with tolerable
certainty
that
itcarriesout the
change
in all the other words that contain
a
(]?).
If"
as
is
generally
the
case
" the
change
is the result
of
inability
to form the sound
(^),
it is evident that itmust bt
carried out with
no
exception.
But
one
sound-change
may
be less
general
than another. One child
may
charge
all
0))'s
into
(f)'B,
while another
may pronounce
such words
as
l80
INTRODUCTION.
[|sao.
Ihtnk'i.TA
Ihingcorrectly,
while
substituting (f)
in
thrciigh
and
three,
that
is,
is the combination
(]"r). Agun, a
third
child
might change
Ih in ihink into
one sound,
and M
in
Ihrough
into
a
different
sound,carrying
out these
changes
in
all the words
containing (]").
We
see
then that the
same
sound
may
undergo
different
changes
under differentdream-
Stances " differentcombinations with other
sounds,
different
positions
in the word
(initial, etc.)
Thus, to take
an example
from
chaises
which have
actually
occurred in
English,
we
iind that
(k)
has been
dropped
in the
special
combination
kH, as
in know
(nou),knowledge,
but
only
when
initial, the
old k
beingkept
in such
a
word as aeknowledge,
where it is
precededby
a vowel.
520. It 6"Hnetimes
happens
that the
same
word
changês
in
two or more
different
ways,
according
to its
surroundings.
Thus in
English
the indefinitearticle
an
drops
its
"
before
another word
beginning
with
a consonant, as in a tnan
compared
with
an
enemy.
When
a
word
splits
up
in this
way,
the
resulting,
forms
are
called doublets
(64).
521. Stress has
a
great
influence on
sound-change,
and
often
gives
riseto doublets. Thus in the Middle
English
of
Chaucer with and
of were pronounced
with finalvoiceless
consonants
(wi[), of),
but in the transitionto
Early
Modem
English
the final consonants of these words became voiced
when
theywere
uttered with weak
stress,
the
original
sounds
bemg preserved
when
they
were uttered
with
strong
stress,
so
that,for
instance,
ufV^ was
pronounced(wiS)
in such a sentence
as
'
I will
go
with
you,
not with
him,'
and was
pronounced
(wi)")
in such
a sentence as
'
not wilh
him,
but
agaimi
him.'
We call such
pairsas
(wi^), wiS)
stress-doablets. In the
case
of
an,
a
and of
strong
and weak wilh the differentiation
of form isnot
accompaniedby
any
differentiationof
meaning
and
function,
but in the case
of Middle
English0/
therehas
been differentiation in both
ways.
In Old and Middle
English0/ was
used in the
sense
of
'
of
'
and
'
off,' but in
T,Goo(^le
t s"".]
fflSTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES.
l8i
Early
Modem
English
the weak
(ov)was
gradually
restricted
to the less
emphaticmeaning,
while the
more marked adverbial
meaning
was appropriated by
the
strong(of),
which was
written
off
to
distinguish
itfrom the
preposition o/= (ov).
In
the
present
English(of)
has become
(sf),
and the two
words " the adverb and the
preposition
" have
diverged
so
completely
in fonn and
meaning
that the connection
between them is
forgotten.
In fiict
of
itselfhas
split
up
into stress-doubletsin the
present
English
" the
strong(ov)
and the weak
(sv,a).
Such
pairsas
whole and Aa/"" both finm Old
English
hJU
'complete,healthy'
" are not
orgianicdoublets,
but dikleotal
doublets,
whole
tieing
the
regular
Standard
English
descendant
of
hsJ,
while hale is
an
importation
from the Northern dialect
of
English,
in which Old
English
A
appears regularlyas
a,
instead of
becoming
o,
as
in the standard dialect.
Effects
of
Chamgb on the
Relations
between Words.
622. It isevident that when two or more words resemble
each other in form
or meaning, or
stand in
any
other
relation to one another,
these relations
are
liable to be
modified
by linguistic changes,
which must further
modify
them in the directioneitlierof
otmvei^noe
or
divergeiioe.
If
convergent
changes
are
carried tax
enough,
the resultis
the
loTelling
of distinctionsbetween the words. Thus in
Modem
English
the two words
no
and know have been
bronght
closer and ck"ser
togetherby
convergent
sound-
change
tillat last
they
have been
phonetically
levelledunder
the
common
form
(nou).
We call such
phonetically
levelled
pairs
homonyms.
Such
homonyms as
bear
(the
animal)
and lo bear show
levelling
in
spellingas
well
as
sound.
Convergent change
of
meaning,
if carried out as
far
as
possible
" to
the
point
of
levelling
" results in
a
synonym.
Thus to
buy
and fo
purchase
are
synonyms.
Divergent
change
is most noticeable in doublets. Thus
we
have
divergentsound-change
in the Modem
English
o/,off.
l8a INTRODUCTION.
["S"3'
fi28.
Linguisticchanges
have a
great
effect
oa aaso-
oiation-groiipa(30). Convergent
and
divergentchanges
have,
directly opposite
eiFects.
Convergent changes
fomi
new
. association-groups, by bringing
words into connection
with one another which
originally
had little
or
nothing
in
common. Thus
buy
and
purchase
now form an assocJation-
group
of a
very
intimate kind
throughhavingexactly
the
same meaning,
but
purchase originally
meant 'to
pursue,'
and
onlygraduallypassed
into its
present
meaning through
that of
'
attain,'
'
acquire,'so
that the two words
were
originally quite
disassociatedfrom
one
another in
meaning
as
well
as
form.
524.
Divergentchanges
tend to break
up
association-
groups
and
to
isolate the members of
a
group
from one
another. Thus in
English
words of
foreignorigin
the
addition of a derivative element often
causes
shifting
of
stress,
as we see by comparing "photograph,pho-lographer,
pholc-graphic,
where the stress falls
on a
different
syllable
in
each
word,
so
that
a
vowe! which is
strong
in one word is
weak
in another
;
and
as
weak vowels
are
oflen weakened
tc
(3)
in
English,
the
spoken
fonns of these words
differ
much
more
than their written forms would
lead us to
expect:
("fbntsgner, fa-togrsfs, fouts-grsefik).
As the consonant
skeletoD of these words remains unaltered
t(êther
with
their
meaning,
the
shifting
stress and the
great
difference
in ttievowels is not
enough
to break
up
the association-
group,
imt
merely
loosens the connection between its
members. In the
case
of
of
and
off(621),
where there
has been
change
not
only
of form but of
meaning,
the
assodation has been not
only
loosened,
but
completely
broken, bo
that the two words are
isolated from
one
another.
626. IsolatioiL often leads to
the creation
of
new
grammatical
categories.
As
we
have
seen
(68),
isolation is the
essence
of
compositionas opposed
to mere word-grouping.
SjiS.]
183
So also the distinctionbetween
an
idiom and
an ordinary
'general
'
sentence is that in the fonner the
meaning
of the
whole is isolated from that of its elements
(448).
The
development
of
proper
names out of common nouns and
adjectives
Is also
a
process
of isolation
:
when the nickname
OT surname
Brrnvn or Smith was
specially assigned
to one
particular
man
in
a community, although
there
were
perhaps
other brown
men
and other smiths in
it,
isolationhad
begun;
and when these
appellations
had become iixed
family
names,
being
given
to the descendants of these
men
without
regard
to
their
complexion or trade,
the isolationwas
complete
as hx
as the
meaning was concerned,so
that the
proper
names
Brown and Smith
no tonger
had
anythingin common
with
the words brown and smith
except
in
form, being partially
isolated from them in form
as
well
by
the
divergentuse
of
the
article,
etc.
(148).
The
change of full-words into form-
words,
the use of
nouns
and
adjectives
as particles,
etc. all
go
hand in hand with isolation. Thus the
conjunction
hecame
appears
in Middle
English
in the form of the
group
bl
cause pal 'by
the
cause that,*
'
through
the
cause that,'
but in Modem
English
it has been
completely
isolatedfrom
itselements
by
and
caust not
onlyby change
of
grammatical
function,
but also
by
the
weakening
of bl into be and the
shortening
of the vowel in the second
syllable,
formal
isolation
being
carried stillfurther in the careless
colloquial
pronunciation (fcoz).
538.
Linguistic changesgive
riseto
grammatical
irrega*
laritieB.
The two main classesof
changes
that
produce
irregularities
are
convergent
changes
of
meaning,
and divergent
BOimd-changes.
What
we
call
an
'
inflection
'
often
consists of
a
number of differentforms
having
distinct
though
similar
meanings,
which
graduallyconveiged so that
they
came to
be identical in
meaning
and
grammatical function.
Thus the
originalreduplication
in the
preterite held,the
vowel-change
in
saw,
and the addition of ^ in
called, all
184
ItTTRODVCTION.
[|S'?-
express
the
sanie grammaticalfunction, although
there
can
be no donbt diat
they
each bad
a
distinct
meaning originally.
837-
We
can
observe the effectof
divergentBound-change
in the variationsof the
preterite-endii^
4 in
eaUti,stopped
(stopt),
and the
accompanying
vowel- and
consonant-
changes
in SQch
preterites
as
kepi,taught
from
ieep,
teach.
Here the
originalunity
has been broken
up
by purely
phoneticchanges.
Effects of Change on Lakouaoe as a
Means
of
Expression.
638.
We
can see
from what has been said that
lingui^c
changes
have two
opposite
effects
on language
considered
as
a means
of
expressing
ideas.
They
have
a oonstmotive
and
a deatruotiTe effect
:
sometimes
Iheyhelp
to build
up
the
language,
and make it better fitted
to
express
ideas;
sometimes, on
the other
band, they
tend to break
up
its
structure,
and make itunfit for the
expression
of ideas.
G9".
It is evident that
many
of the
changes
we have been
considering
are
mainly
constructive. Thus the differentiatioD
of Old
English0/
mto the Modem
English
doublets
^
and
off
enables
us to
express
two
distinctsets of ideas
by
distinct
words
instead of
havingonly
one
word for both. The language
has therefore
gained
in
precisionby
each
a change.
So also such
a
process
of isolationas
that
by
which
we are
able to introduce a causal sentence
by means
of the
mono- syllable
(koz)
instead of the cumbrous
word-groupby
the
cause
that has not
only
made the
language
more
precise
but has
also made it
more
concise.
630.
But it
19
equally
evident that
many
changes
result
only
in the
multipUcation
of
superfluous
distinctions. Thus
strong
(wifi)
and weak
(wiS)
is
a
superfluous one,
for the
sentence-stress
by
itselfis
enough
la
tell
us whether the word is
emphatic
or noL The distinction
between
a
and
an
is
equallysuperfluous.
In fact doublets
f 63I-]
185
are always superfluous,
except
when
theydevelop
useful distinctions
of
meaning,which,
in ihe nature of
things, they
do
only occasionally.
When
convergent
changes result in the
formation of
synonyms,
such
as
btgtn, commence, theyevidently
make
one
member of the
pairsuperfluous.
So also of the
various
ways
of
forming
the
plural
in
English,
all
except
one
" that
is,
of
course,
the
regular ending
s
"
are
superfluous.
681.
Many changesare not
onlysuperfluous
but
injurious.
The formation of
homonyms,
such
as a dear,
to
bear,although
not
positively
destructive,
always
tends to make the
language
ambiguous.
And
althoughchange
of
meaning
"
especially
metaphor
" is
an
essentialfactorin
building
up
the
vocabulary
of a
language,
yet
the
great
varied
of often almost contradictory
meanings
which
may
be
therebydeveloped
in the
same
word often tend
to obscure clearnessof
expression.Among
purely
destructive
changes,
the most
important
are
those
which affectinflectionalelements. When inflections consist
"
as
they
often do"
mainly
of final weak
vowels,theyare
pecuHarly
liable
to be
shortened,obscured,
and
finally
dropped altogether.
Thus in the
popular
Latin of the
Empire
weak inflectional
endingssoon began
to shorten their
vowels and
drop
their final
consonants,
so that,
for
instance,
the nominative
singularmensa
'
table,'
the accusative
mensam,
and the ablative
mensa were
levelledunder the
common form
mesa,
the distinction between nominative dominus 'lord' and
accusative
dominum,
between
accusative,dative,genitive,
ablative kominem
'
man,' komint, hominis,
homifie were
by
degreesentirely lost,
the inevitable
consequence
being
that
the
feeling
for the
grammatical
distinctionsof
case vas
first
weakened,
and then
lost,
so that
even
those
case-endings
which from their
greater
fullness" such
as
the
genitiveplural
ending
in
mensarum,
dominorum
"
were
less liable
to
phonetic
decay,
were
also
discarded,so that in Italian the nouns
have
entirely
lostthe old case-inflections.
INTRODUCTION.
IiOgicftl
Control of
Changes.
683.
Now
although
the
speakers
of
a
language
have
no
power
of
absolutely preventingchanges
in it" for
we have
no
evidence of a
language
ever having
been
preservedabsolutely
unchanged
even
for
a
few centuries"
yet
they
have considerable
control
over
it. In the first
place,theycan
resist
change,
and retard it. When
parents
correct the
mispronnn-
ciations of their
children,
and when
boys
at school ridicule
the
pronunciations
and
expressions
of those
boys
who do not
conform to the
pronunciations
and
expressions
of the
majority,
theyare
all
doing
theirbest to
prevent
change.
In
"ct,
if
they
did
not,
the
languages
of two successive
generations
would become
mutuallyunintelligible.
Hence
every generation
can
tolerate
only
a
certain amount of
change,so
that if
a languagechanges
much in
one
direction,
ithas
to
make
up
for it
by being
conservative in another direction. Thus
English
obscures and shortens its
vowels,
but ison the whole
very
conservative in itsconsonants. Modem French,on the
other hand, drops
consonants
freely,
as we see by comparing
Modem French bilewith Old French
bale,
which
was imported
into Middle
English,
and still
keeps
itsconsonants
unimpaired
in the Modern
Englishbeast,although
the vowel has undergone
considerable
changes.Again,
in Modem French
many
of the Old French final consonants which
are preserved
in
writing
are
not
pronounced,
as
in mats
(m").
Now the
tendency
to
drop
finalconsonants is
as
natural to
English
people
as to French,
but
as consonant-
dropping
and vowel-
weakeningleather
would have made
Englishunintelligible
and unfit for the communication of
ideas,
itwas
necessary
to
check one or
other of these
changes.
From a
variety
of
complicated
causes it was found
more
necessary
to check
consonant-
weakening
than vowel-
weakening
in
English.
Whether the
attempt
to arrest a
certain
change
is successful
T,GoO(^le
S535-]
187
or not
depends,
of
course, partly
on
the
ease
with which itis
controlled. Thus the
change
of
(f")
into
(f)
is
easily
observed
and
easilycorrected,so although
it is
begun by
thousands of
children in
every
generation,
it has
never
been able to
get
a
permanent footing,
while other
changes
which
were less
easy
of control have establishedthemselves
firmly, some of which
have been
more
injiuious
than that of
(]))
into
(f)
would
have been,
ess.
The
speakers
of
a languagealways
have the
power
of
discarding superfluous forms,especially one
of
a pair
of
synonyms
and doublets. Hence
English
has
now
got
rid of
the
superfluous
distinctionbetween
(wit)
and
(wi))) by simply
discarding
the latterform.
EUipH.
5S4. When
a languagedrops
words in
groups
and sentences
because these words
are not
absolutely required
to
make
sense,
we
have the
phenomenon
of
ellipse (111).
We
must
distinguish
between
logical
and historical
eHipse.
Ziogioal ellipseimpliesonly
that
some
word is
wanting
to
complete
the
grammaticalconstruction, as in at
my
unclt's.
Historioal
ellipseimplies
that
a
word is
missing
which at
an earliefperiod
of the
languageactually
formed
part
of the
sentence,
and itdoes not matter whether the
missing
word is
grammatically
necessary
or
superfluous.
In the
examplejust
given
the
ellipse
ishistorical
as
well
as
grammatical. But in
such a
phrase
as
go
to sea
compared
with
go
damn to the
river,
there is
no
historical
ellipse,
because such
phraseswere framed
at a
period
when there
was no
definitearticleat allin
English,
and a
few of them
becoming
isolated from the
rest,
were able
to resistthe introduction of the articleand
so
have
kept
the
shorter form to the
present
day.
Angiogy.
6S6.
The mdn factor in
getting
rid of
irregularities
is
gronp-inflnenoe,
or
analogy"
the influence exercised
by
l88 INTRODVCTlOfr.
["53S.
the members of
an as3ociation^;ronp
on one
another. We
have
alreadyseen (33)
that
irregulaiity
consists in
partial
isolation from
an
association
-group
through
some formal
difference. Thus the
irregular plurals
nu" etc
belong
to the
same
group
as
the
regularplurals
trets
etc.,
bnt stand outside
itto some
extent
through
not
having
the
same
ending.
The
irregularity
and isolationof such
pluralsas mm
is the more
conspicuous
because of the small number of
irregular plurals
in
Enghsh,
and the
overwhelminglylarge
number oT nouns
that have their
plural
in
-t.
This
preponderance
of die
j-plurals
isitself the resultof
group-influence.
In Old
Enîsh
there
were a
variety
of
regularnoun-plurals,
and the
ending
-at,
from which the Modem
English-(;)#
is
descended,was
onlyone
of several
endings,
all of which
were
added to a
considerable number of
nouns,
the
ending
-as itself
being
confined to certain masculine
nouns,
such
as slan 'stone,*
plural
slSnas. Other
pluralendings
in
frequent
use were
-a,
-",
-an.
Many
neuter nouns were unchanged
in the
plural,
and
we
still
preserve
this formation in
shtep.
In Middle
English
the distinctions of
grammadcal gender were soon
lost,
and
as
it
was
found inconvenient not to
distinguish
between singular
and
plural,
such neuter nouns as
Afif
'house' instead of
remsuningunchanged
in the
plural
were
allowed to take the
ending
.^=Old
English
-tff of the
cor-
responding
masculine
nouns,
whence the Modern
English
plural
Afwj'M=0!d
Englishkus;
and this
ending was
bf
degrees
extended to all
nouns
except
a
few such
as
man, ox,
so that the
ending
-en
in oxtn=0\A
Englishoxan,
instead
of
being
on an
equalfooting
with the
ending
-es,
as
it
originally
was,
came
to be
an
isolated" that
is,
an
irregular
"
inflection. The
change
thereforeof such
an
Old
English
plural
as tiaman
(singular
ttama)
into the Modem
English
noma
is not a
phoneticchange
of
n
into
s
" which would
be
impossible
" but is an
external, analogical change
due to
the influenceof the Old
English
inflectionin tianas
etc.
'
I
538.]
189
586.
Which foim in
an associaiion-group
gets
the
u[^t
hand in cases
of
analt^,dependspartly
on
its natural
preponderance
in the
group,
partlyon
its
efficiency as
a means
of
expression.
A form
may
preponderate
either
by being
used in the
greatest
number of
words,or by being
used in
those words which
are
in most
frequentuse,
so
that
a
form
which isused in
a
comparatively
small number of
very
important
words
may
preponderate
over one
which is used in a
greater
number of words. The
efficiency
of
a
form
depends
partly
on its
phonetic
distinctness"
a hissing
consonant such
as J being,
for
instance,preferable
to an
obscure vowel"
partly
on its
logicaldistinctness,
that
is,
its freedom from
ambiguity
and
hability
to
be confused with other forms.
From this
point
of view the
Englishplural
-s
is
objectionable,
because ithas the
same
form
as
the
genitive singular (man's).
687.
Analogy
isnot
onlyan
instrument of
change,
but is
a
part
of the
daily
lifeof
language.
In
speakinga language
we learn
only a
few of the
grammatically
modified words
ready-made
;
allthe others
we
form
on
the
pattern
of those
already
learnt. Thus when
we
firsthave to
speak
of
an unfamiliar
animal,
such as a
zebra,
in the
plural,
we
do not
stop
to think whether
we
have heard the word used in the
plural
before,
but we
form a
plural
zebras without hesitationon
the
pattern
of such familiar
plurals as
horses,donkeys,
etc.
6SS. Nowitis evident that thismethod of
inflecting or
Other- wise
modifying
words
by
pattern
or analogy
may
lead
us
into
mistakes when we
have to deal with
irregularities
which
are
not in
very
frequent
use.
Thus an
uneducated
speaker
who
had to
form the
plural
ot
fungus
would
naturally
make it
"funguses
on
the
analogy
of
mushrooms,
mosses, etc.j
insteadof
fungi-
But if
an irregular
form is
so
frequent
inthe
language
thatwe
not
only
learn it
ready-made,
but hear and
repeat
it
incessantly,
it fizes itself
so
firmly
in the
memory
that we
have
no
occasion to form it
by
pattern,
and it remains un- affected
by
the influenceof the
regular
forms. Thus we are
igO
INTRODUCTION.
[(
539.
so
used to such
an irregular plural
as men
that itis
onlyby
an
effort that
we
could make it into 'maris. But if
by
any
chance such
a
word became rare or
partially obsolete,
it
would
certainly
and
inevitably
take the
plural
-s,
at least
m
the
vulgar
and
colloquial language.
This is
why
in all
languages"at
leastin theirnatural
colloquial
form " the
irregularities
always
occur
in the conmionest words,irregular
forms
of
rarer
words
being
confined to the
higherliterary language.
S88. No one would mistake the
change
of n into
s
in the
plural
names=:0\d
Englishnaman
for
an organic
sound-
change,
but would at once recognize
it
as an analogical, external
change.
In
some
cases,
however, analogical
sound-
changemight
be mistaken for internal"
organic
or
imitative
"
sound-changeby
anyone
who
was not
acquainted
with the
internal
sound-changes
of the
language
in
question.
Thus
the
change
of
a into o
in
spoie='ihs
earlier
spake,
broh=
brake,
etc.,although
at first
sight
it looks like
an organic
sound-change
" the
organicchange
of
a
into 0
beingfrequent
in
many
languages
" isin Modem
English
confined
entirely
to
these
verb-preterites,
there
being
no
such
change
in
take,
name,
etc. This
change
is not
only
confined to
preterites
of
verbs,
but is further confined to those verbs which have
0 in
their
preterite participles, so
there
can
be
no
doubt that the
change
of
spake
into
spoke
is the resultof the influence of the
preterite participle spoken,through
the
similarity
in
meaning
between he
spake
and he has
spoken.
B40. In the
cases we
have hitherto been
considering,
the
analogy
is
logical,
that
is,
associationsof
meaning or
grammatical
function lead to the
change
of
a
sound into another
one
which
may
be
totally
different Eut there is also a
purely
formal
or
phonetio analogy, by
which the
meaning
of a
word is modified
by
that of another word because the
latteris similarin form
to the other. Thus the word
parbctt
was
originally
formed
by prefixing per-
'
throagh,'
so
that it
originally
meant
'
to boil
thoroughly.'
But
now
the
meaning
5S43-]
HISTORY OP LANGUAGE: CHANGES.
I91
of the
prefix
has been
forgotten through
its
change
of
form,.
and it has been associated wiib the
noun
part,
so
that ifae.
word has now taken the
exactlyoppositemeaning
of
'
boil
imperfectly.'
S41.
We
can also see phonetic analogy
in the
fomiliariia-
tioa of unfamiliar
wonJs, commonly
known
as
'popular
etymology,'
as
in the
change
oi
asparagus
into
sparrow-grast
"
a
form
which,though now
vulgar,
was
in
general
use
in
the last
century.
Familiarization consists
simply
in substituting
familiar for unfamiliar sounds
or
syllables,
without
regard
to the
meaning,although
the
process
isoften
helped
by some chance
coincidence,as
in the
present
example,
where the fact of
asparagus
being
a
vegetable
has
helped
to
fix the
change
of the unfamiliar
gut
into the familiar and
sigiuficant
grass.
B42.
Althoughanalogy
works most
vigorously
when
a
few
fiMms
are brought
under the influence of
a large
association-
group,
or one
which contains words in
very
frequent use,
yet
"
as we see
from the
examples justgiven
of
phonetic
analogy
" it can
also work in
groups
of
only
two words.
When the
groups
are so small,
it often
happens
that the
foTtns
or
words influence each other
partially
and
mutually,
instead of one
only beinginfluenced,
the result
being
a
blending.
The eflectof
blendingon grammatical
constructions has beeri
ah-eady
treated of
(126).
S48.
Analogy
not
onlyhelps
to
get
rid of
irregularities,
but
helps
also to
bringgrammaticalcategories
into
harmony
with the
logical
ones
(26).
In
primitivelanguagestheyare
generaUy
in
harmony,
but in
more advanced
languagesthey
frequently disagree,as
in the contrast of
grammatical
to
natural
gender (146).
Thus in Old
English
and in German
words
denoting
yoiing
children and
young
of animals are
neut^. Hence also diminutive words were made
neuter,
such
as
Old
English
magd-en,
German
mdd-chat,which
origi-
I9"
INTRODUCTlOlf.
ft
544.
nallymeant
'
little
maid,'
'
little
girl,'
bat afterwards
came to
be
applied
to
full-grown
women,
still
having
theirneuter
gender,though
it had become
unmeaning.
But in both
languages
such words
came to be referred to as
'
she
'
as
well
as
'
it
'
on
the
analogy
of other
words
which
were
grammatically
feminine and also denoted female
beings.
German
^
has not
gone any
further than this
: although
in German
'^
mUdthen is referred to
as
"
she,'it
always
takes
a
neuter
articleand
adjective.
But in Middle
Englishwe
find such
grammatical
neuters as metden
'
girl
'
and
wi/
'
woman
'
made
into
regular
feminine
nouns.
Origin
and
Berelc^ment
of
Lsngoage.
6M.
Language begins
with associationsbetween sounds
and ideas, 'These associations
may
be of various kinds. The
most obvious kind is that
seen
in imitatiTe words,
such
as
cuckoo,buxz,
hisi. We have another kind of associationin
symbolioal words,
such
as
the Latin bibere
'
to drink,'where
the
hp-c(Hisonant
b
symbolizes
the action of the
lips
in drink- ing.
We have also
inteijootionalwords,
such as
the Old
Englishy/twt/' enemy'
" whence the Modern
English"fm^
"
which
wag originally
fonned from
an interjection
of dislike
similar to
pah
I or
fie
I So also the
pronoun
me
and the
words
mamma,
mother,
allseem to be made
up
with the
consonant
m
because itis
easiest,
and the
one
firstuttered
by
infants. But there is so
littlenatural connection
or resemblance
between sounds and ideas that
we
may
be
sure
that
when
language
first
arose,
the names
given
to things,
attributes,
etc,
often had
very
littleconnection with what
they
meant,
and that the connection was
often
almosta matter cS
chance. But there must
always
have been
somt
connection
"
some
association,
646. At firsteach sound
or
sound-groupexpressed
rather
a thought
than
an
idea. Thus when
men
fiistsaid cuckoo t
f (48.]
I93
in order to communicate
an
idea to other
men,
they
meant to
express
some
such
thoughtas
'there is the cuckoo'
or
'I
hear the cuckoo.' If the
speakerpointed
somewhere at
the
same time,
it
meant,
of
course,
'
there is the cuckoo.' There
can
be
no
doubt that
primitivespeechwas
thus
partly
made
up
of
gestTiro.
Such
a sound-gronpas
cu(koo
was,
therefore,
not a true
word,
but
something
between
a
word and
a sentence
"
a
kind of Bentenae-vord.
fi46. When
peoplebegan
to
join
such
a
significant
sound-
group
as
cuckoo
to
other
significant sound-groups
"
as,
for
instance,to a sound-groupmeaning 'sing'or
'song'
"
so
that the
meaning
of the
one
might
be taken in connection
with that of the other"
so that,
for
instance,
cuehoQ
sing or
cuekeo
tong
meant
'
tbe cuckoo
sings
'
or
'
the cuckoo
sang,'
then
cuckoo,
etc.,
instead of
beingsentences,
came to be
parts
of sentences or worda.
547. Language
thus
arose
spontaneously
in individuals
through
the haUt of
associating
sounds with ideas
through
mimicr^j
etc. This
was done at first
merely
for amusement :
tbe idea of
using
these sounds to communicate wishes,information,
etc.,
to others
was an
after-thought
This afterthought
was
tbe result of
community
of
impression
among
differentindividuals
:
the
sound-group
cuckoo
naturally
suggested
the idea of the bird that makes the sound to all who
were
fiimiliarwith it
1148. Of
course,
when the conitection
was foncifiil, or
vague
"
as if,
for
instance,
hist
were
used to
signify
not
only
'hiss,'
but also
'serpent,' 'cat,'
and 'steam' " it became
necessary
to make it
more
definite
;
and this could
cmly
be
done
by a
number of individuals
conântlymeeting together
and
settling definitely
what
meaning
to
give
to each sound-
group.
Of course
this
process
of selection came about of
itself, unconsciously,
and
was not the resnlt of deliberate
choice and
consultation,
which would, indeed,
have been
imposrible
at a time when
languagewas not
yet
evolved.
194
lNrRODUCTIOl"f.
[(
549.
649.
When
language
had reached this
stage,
the
connection
between words and the ideas
theyexpressed
was no
longer
self-evident,
except
in
a few
cases,
and the detailsof
the
language
had to be learnt
one \"jone \"'j
the infants of
the
community
and
by strangers.
SSO. Language
thus
beginsspontaneously
in the
individual,
but is
developed
and
preserved bjr
the
community,
Dbyklofhknt
of
Grahkaticai. Catbgobixs.
6S1.
As
we
have
seen,
languageimplies
the
power
of
joining
words
together
into
sentences)jnst
as
ideas
are
joined
together
to form
thoughts(16).
062.
At firstwords
were
joinedtogether
without
any
definiteorder" it did
not matter whether
people
said cuckoo
singOT a'ng
cutkeo
;
in other
words,
the sentence had
no
form.
658.
After
a
while
peoplebegan
to
put
the words in
sentences
in a more
definite order. Even before the
logical
s^!?iificance
of word-order had dawned
on
their
minds,
some
sentenceswhich bad become familiar
by
incessant
repetition
would
naturally
settledown to a
fixed word-order
;
and when
this
had been carried out in a number of
separate sentences,
some generalprindple
of word-order could not fail to be
evolved. There
are
various
principles
of word-order. The
natural
logical
word-order isto
put
the
subject
firstand the
adjunct-word
after
it,so that,
for
instance,
euckoo
sotig
or
evekoo
ting
would mean
'
the cuckoo
sings
'
or
'
the
singing
cuckoo,'
and
sing(orsong)
cuckoo would
mean
'
the
song
(or
singing)
of the cuckoo.'
664. But there
are other
principles
of word-order,
which
sometimes contradict this
purelylogical
order.
Empb"tia
word-order consists in
putting
firstthat word
which is most
prominent
in the
speaker's
mind. Thus in such a sentence
as
thai
man
is
a
good
man or
it is
a
good man,
it
is evident that
good
is a more important
word than the
accompanying
man,
because the idea
expressedby
the
i SS6.]
195
latter
word has been
alreadyexpressedby
Ihal
man or
ht.
Hence
many
languages
which
generally
put
an assumptive
adjective
afterits
noun
often
put
the
adjective
firstwhen it is
emphatic.
It is evident that in
a language
which admits
emphatic word-order,
the
same sentence
may appear
in
a
variety
of
forms,as
^
as
the order of itswords is concerned.
Even such
a simple
sentence as
the cat
caught
a mouse or
the
cat killed
a mouse
may
admit of
a variety
of natural word-
orders. If the
speaker
sees,
or
thinks
of,
the
mouse coming
out of itshole and
running
about before the cat
appears,
the
natural order is
mouse
cat catch
;
ifhe
sees a dead
mouse
and
the cat
runningaway,the
natural order \^
mouse
kill
cat,
vWtAi
we
express
more
accuratelyby
the
passive
construction
a
mouse
has been killed
fy
the cat. We need not
therefore be
surprised
to find that different
languages
have different
principles
of word-order.
66S.
But whatever the word-order of each
primitive
language
may
have
been,
it must at firsthave been
a
fixed
one,
for not
only
is
a
fixed word-order
necessary
in
an
unin-
fiected
language
"
as we see
by comparing
the
comparatively
fixed word-order of
English
with the free word-order of Latin
" but without fixed word-order inflectionscould
never
have developed
themselves. And not
onlyinflection,
but
composition,
derivation,
the
development
of
form-words,are
allthe result of
fixedword-order,aided,as we
shall
see, by
differences of
stress.
65S.
Primitive
language consisted, then,
of series of lull-
words in fixed orders. At firstsentences
were
formed with
an effort,
each word
being
uttered with
strong
stress and
followed
by
a slight
pause
"
^just as we are
still
apt
to
speaka
foreignlanguage.
In
time,however,
certain combinations
which occurred
frequentlywere run over more
rapidly,
and
Joinedtogether
without
any pause.
In this
way
logical
word-
groups
were formed,
such as
bigman or man
big,
Utile
man,
eld
brother,
young
hrother,
sharp
stones'
i"at,' jrellow
stones
'gold,'
white tione='
Sliver,'
etc. Then words
forming
part
ig6
tNTSODUCTtON.
[(557.
of such
groups
which were feltto be subordinate to the
other word
or words, came to be utleied with dimitusbed
stress,
so that
a
distinctioncould be
made,
for
instance,
between
'me "iere= 'l
un
here,'
and 'inait
-A^"='the man
here
'
or
'
this man.' In this
way
logical
groups
developed
into fonnal
stress-groups,
the diminishedstress of snbordinat"
words
servhig
not
only
to show that
theywere logically
subordinate,
but also to bind the two members of the
group
together
and mark them off from the other words and word-
groups
in the sentence.
When this formal isobtion was
accompaniedby
isolationof
meaning,
these
groups develt^d
into
oomponndfl,
so
that it
was now posuble
to make sndi
distinctions
as
that between tltieibird and Nackbird in
English.
fi87. It is evident that of the words thus subordinated in
stress and
meaning
some
would be in
more generaltise
than
others. Such
an adjective as
while would be
apedally
subordinated
to
but few Bubstance-wwds
;
bat
such
an
adjunct
as
here or ffus would be connected with almost all sudi
words. All
primitive languages
show a
great
variety
of such
demonstrative
words,
whose
meanings
become more
and
more definiteand fixed as
the
languagede^'elops.
When a
word which
originally pointed
to an object
in
space
came to
be used
as a mere reference-word, so that,
for
instance,mux-
here meant
simply
'
the man,'
it became
a
form-word. So
also when some such distinction
was
made
as between
lopM/=:'the,top
of the hill'and
M/-/0"='on
the
hill,'
A^
in the lattercollocatioo
was on
its
way
to become
a mere
form-word" in this
case,
a
preposition
" and if the Aill-word
lop
became obsolete
throughbeingsupplanted by a different
word of similar
meaning,
such
as summil,
the isolationof the
form-word would be
complete.
858.
When a word is
always
subordinated to other words
both in
meaning
and
stress,
it is natural to slur it
over,
and
obscure its sound in various
ways.
Such obscurations of
T,Goo(^le
1 SS9-]
I97
subordinatewords as we can observe in the
English(dgonz
hia,
dgonl
kno, hijl\tx^=Jo}m
is
here,
John
will
come,
he will
come,
have occurred in all
primitive languages.
666.
If
a
form-word is obscured
so
much that it becomes
an inseparable
part
of the word it
modifies,
and is at the
same
time isolatedfrom the full-word of which it is
a
weakening,
it
ceases
to be
a word,
and becomes
part
of
a
word
;
and if
itforms
part
of
a
number of
words,so as to be
easily
recc%-
nized as a
general
modifier,itbecomes either
a
derivative
or
an inflectionalelement. If it makes the
words it modifies
into
new words "
as
when in
English
the addition of
(-man)
to
shop
makes it into the
new
word
shopman
" itis
a deriT"-
tive,or at least
a composition-element
on its
way
to become
a derivative;
if itleaves the
specialmeaning
of the words it
modifies
unaltered,
and
merely
adds some generalqualification,
and shows that
they
stand in certain
grammatical
relations
to other words in the
sentence,
it is an inflection. Mere
obscuration without isolation is not
enough
to constitute
a
derivative
or inflection.Thus the
(1)
in
(hijl)=^
will,does
not constitute
an inflection,
because it is added
indifferently
to all
words,
and because
we can
change
the
unemphatic
(hijl)
into the
emphatic
(hijwil),
and
so
break
up
the
connection
between the two words and
restore the
original
full
form of the
(1).(^man)
in
shopman, on
the other
hand,
thoughonlya weakening
of the fullword
(man),
cannot be
used
anywhere
in
a sentence as
the
unemphatic
form of
man,
and is
inseparably
connected with the word itmodifies.
We
can see
how form-words
develop
into true inflectionsin
the French future
aimtrai,
'
I shall
love,'which
comes from
the late Latin
amare hoBeo,
'
I
have to love,' We
can still
divide aimerai into the French words aimer
at,
'to-love
(I)
have,'
but the
pluralaimerons,
'we shall
love,'
is isolated
from aimtr and
avons,
'
we
have.' Aimerai itselfis
really
isolated, though
to a
less
degree;
for 'aimer ai is as impossible
a construction in French
as */o love have would he
198
INTRODVCTIOK.
[S560.
in
English.
The
English(nl)
in
uvnV, shan't
may
be
regarded
as on
the
way
to become
an
infiectional
element,
for
it b
isolated
from the fiillfonn no/
grammatically as
well as
phonetically,
for this contraction
never occurs
except
after
certain
verbs,
which
are
themselves isolated in the contracted
fonn,as
in
(wount)compared
with
(wilnot)
v)iU
Origin of the
Parts
or
Spezch.
660.
It is evident that the relationsbetween full-words in
sentences are dependent
to some extent on
the
meaning
of
the fullwords. Thus in a
primitivelanguage
there would
be
a
tendency
to use
substance-words,
such as trie,
man,
snow,
and
pergonal
pronouns,
such
as /,he,m^nly
as
subject-
words,
and to use
permanent
attribute
-words,
such
as while,
h^, assumptively
in connection with the above substance-
words,as
in
distinguishing
between the
big
man
and the lillle
6(11.
These
permanent
attribute-words would not be used
much as
predicates
because the whiteness of
snow,
etc. would
be taken for
granted,
and not
require
to be stated
expressly.
The words most
frequently
used
as
predicates
would be
phenomenon-words,
such as
/all,melt,
come,
which cannot
so easily
be taken for
granted
in connection with theirhead- words,
and must therefore be staled
expressly.
662. Substance-words and
phenomenon-words
would
therefore have different
posidohs
in the
sentence,
and
by
degrees
different form-words would cluster round them.
Substance-words would be
naturally
modified
by
words expressing
distinctions of
place
and number
;
thus the idea
of 'tree'would excite the ideas of 'one tree,' 'more than
one tree,'
'
by
the
tree,'
'
behind the
tree,' etc. Phenomenon-
words,on
the other
hand, would not
require
these
modifiers,
but would be modified
by
other words
expressing
distinctions
of
time and other
accompaniments
of
phenomena
;
thus the
S sS6.]
199
idea
'
come
'
would excite the idea of
'
come
in the
past,'
'
come
in the
future,' etc.
663.
But the
necessity
of
using
permanent
attribute-
words,
and
qualifiers,
such
as here,there, as predicates,
would
be
very
soon
felt
;
itwould
soon
be
necessary
"
or,
at
least,
convenient
"
to distinguish
between the
man
here and ty
man
is here
;
and after
a
time it would even be desirable to distinguish
between
melting
tmw
and the
snow
melts. Some languages
began by making
the distinction
entirely by
means of
position.
Thus in Chinese
green
tree means
'
a
green
tree
'
or
'
the
green
tree,'
and tree
green
means
'
the
tree is
green,'
etc.
564.
Many primitivelanguages
marked the
predicate
formallytryjoiningon to it
a personal
pronoun,
'
the cuckoo
sings
'
being expressedby
cuckoo
song-him,
cuckoo
its-song,
or
somethingequivalent.
This
clumsy
device is found in
languages
all
over
the world. We
can
still
see
the
primitive
first
person pronoun
in the
English
a-m,
which
originally
meant 'exigence of-me' or'
my
being.'
666.
Such
a
thoughtas
'the tree is
green'
could be
expressedsimilarly by
the tree
i/s-green{ness),
but
such
a
thought as
'the
man
is there' would be
more naturally
expressedby
a
construction
equivalent
to the
man stands
there
or
the
man
stays
there. So also 'the tree is
green'
could be
expressed by
the tree
grows green.
In course of
time some
of the verbs used in this
way
lost all
independent
meaning
and became
pure
link-verbs. We
can
easilysee
how this
happens by thinking
of such Modem
English
phrases
as
He stood
convicted,
to rest
content,etc,
where stood
does not
imply standing
or rest
resting, thes^
verbs
being
equivalent
to was
and to be. We need not therefore be
surprised
to find that
was
itself
originally
meant
'
dwelt
'
or
'
remained,'
and that be
originally
meant
'
grow.'
666.
In this
way
verbs that
were originally phenomenon-
words came to have the
purelygrammatical
function of
predication.
So also form-words
or
inflectionswhich marked
aoo INTRODUCTION.
[(567.
onginal
substance-words
graduallycame to
suggest
the
grammatical
conception
of
'
subject-vord
'
;
and when it became
necessaiy
to make BtatementB about attributesor
phenomena
"
to make
statements
about
'
whiteness," "lling,'etc.
" the formal
marks
which at
first
belongedonly
to substance-words
were
transferred to abstract
words,bo thatthe inflectionsand other
formal characteristics of such words
as tru no
longer
necessarily
marked them
off
as substance-words,
but
only
denoted
those
grammatical
functions which
we
conveniendj
sum
up
by calling
tru
a
'
noun
'-ûnctions which ithas in
common
with
many
purely
abstract words, such as
whilmtu and
897.
The further
development
of the
parts
of
speech
is
the result
of the
various
processes
of
sound-change,change
of
meaning
and
grammaticalfunction,differentiation,
isolation,
analogy, etc.,
which have been
already
described. Thua
analogybrought
about concord
(81),by
which declinable
adjectives
are distinguished
from indeclinable adverbs
;
sound-change
and isolationmade nouns and
adjectives
into
particles.
Belations of
LaogoageB to one another.
seS.
It is evident from what has been said about the
origin
of
language
that wherever human
beings
are
gathered
together
in
a
community,
however
small,
there
was a
proba- bility
of that
community developinga language
of its
own.
Hence, as the number of such communities must have been
indefinitely
great
in the
earlyperiods
of man's
history,
there
must have been
an indefinite number of
separate,
imcon-
nected
languages.
But
as civihzation
increased,
and it became
necessary
to use
singlelanguagesover
wider
areas,
an
immense number of
languagesspoken only by
small and
obscure communities became extinct"
a
process
which
we
can observe
going
on sdll.
669.
The differencebetween
languages
is not
always
the
J 571-1
HISTORV OP LANGUAGE. aoi
result of difFerenceaof
origin.
On the
contrai7,
almost
eveiy
language
bears
a more or
less close resemblance to certain
other
languages
" a resemblance which cannot be
explained
except
on
the
supposition
that allthese
languagesare
modifications
of
one
and the same
language.
We call such languages
cognate languages, belonging
to the same
fbmily
of
languages,
and descended from a common
parent language.
Thus
English, Latin,
and Greek
are
cognate
languages
belonging
to the Arian
family,
and descended from Parent
Arian. We have
no
directrecords of this
parent language,
and
can
only reconstruct
it
hypothetically by comparing
its
extant descendants
together,
and
so finding
out what
original
featuresofthe
parent
language
are
preserved
in them. Id other
cases, however,
the
parent
language
has been
preserved
"
though,
of
course, only
in
a
'
dead,'
written form "
so
that
we
do not
require
to construct it
hypothetically.
Thus
French,
Italian,
Spanish,
and
Portugueseare
allRomance
languages,
descended from Latin in its
spoken
form.
Lingnlatio
Separation
:
Origin
of Dialeoto aoid
Cognate Languages.
870.
The
unity
of
a
language
can be
kept
up
onlyby
free
and uniform intercourse
between all the members of the
community
which
speaks
the
language.
If the
community
is too
largeor unwieldy
to admit of this
intercourse,
the
languagebegins
to
split
up
mto an infinitenumber of
dialects,
each dialect
differing
but
slightly
from the dialect nearest to
it,
but
differing considerably"
in
course
of time" from those
farthest
away
from it
fi71.
If
a
dialect
or
group
of dialectswhich has arisen in
this
way
is
separatedby
natural
boundaries,
such
as a
river
or mountain-chain,
from the other
dialects,
or
by a
different'
govenunent,
or
if communication is checked in
any
other
way,
there will be
a
corresponding linguistic divergence
: the
lOi iNTRObUCTtON.
\s
5J3.
dialectsthus cut off from the
rest
wilt
divergerapidly
and
develop
many
featuresof tbeii
own.
S72. But when
a
nation thus
speakinga variety
of dialects
attains
a
highdegree
of
civilization,
that
unity
and centraliza^
don which resultsin
one town
becoming
the
capital,
results
also in
one
definitedialect"
generally,
of
course,
that of the
capital
itself "
being
used
as
the
general
means of communication
throughout
the whole
territory, especially if,as
is
generally
the
case,
the dialectshave
alreadydivergedso
much from
each other that
some at leastofthem
are mutuallyunintelligible.
673. If this centralization
goes
on
long enough,
this
common or
standard dialect swallows
up
the local
dialects,
although
beforethat
happens
it is
generally considerably
influenced
by them,
every
standard dialect
importing
a certain
number ofwords from
its
c(^!:nate
dialects. Thus in modem
Englishwe
find the dialectalhale
by
the "'de of the standard
whoU{^'i\.1).
674. There is
no
definite distinction between dialeot
and
language.
Dialects
develop
into
languages by
further
divergentchanges,so
that
a
group
of dialects becomes
a
"mily
of
cognate
languages.
When
we
descrit"etwo or more
forms of
speech as
'
distinct but
cognate languages,'
we
generallyimply
that
they
are
mutuallyunintelligible
and that
they
are spoken by
distinctnationalities,
676,
Uniformity
of intercourse between the
speakers
of
a
language
may
be checked in various
ways
besides
separation
in
space.
Even in
only moderately
civilized communities
class
separation
leads to the distinctionbetween
aristocratic,
refined,or
educated
speech
on
the
one hand,
and
vulgar
speech
on
the other. So also each
trade,profession, coterie,
etc. tends to
develop
its
own
technical
language or slang.
We
may
callthese non-local dialectsthe strata of
language.
576.
Again,religion
and literaturetend to
keep
up
words,
grammatical forms,
and
expressions
that have ceased 10
be
part
of the
language
of
everyday
life. Hence
we
get
sacred
IS?80
MISTQRY OF LANGUAGE.
iOJ
or
liturgioal strata,
such
as
the
language
of the
English
Prayer-book,
and various
Utersir
strata.
For in literature
itself
wc must distiiûish
between the
language
of
poetrr
and of
proee,
and
âin,
between the
higher
and the lower
prose,
the latter
approaching
most to the
spoken language.
Hence also
we
make
a
distinction between the
Uterary
and
the
spoken
or colloquial language. Although
thisdistinction
is not
dependent
on writing
"
bdng
found in the
languages
of illiterate
savages"yet
the
preservation
of an archaic
literary language
is
greatlyhelpedb;
its
being
at the
same
time
a
written
language.
S77.
It is
important
to observe that the
literary language
is
alwayscolloquial
in its
origin:
all
literary
forms which
differ from the
contemporary
spoken language
are
really
fossilized
coUoquialisms
of
an
earlier
period.
Thus such
forms as
tkoa
hast,
fie
hath,
which
are now
used
only
in the
liturgical
and
poedcalstrata,were once
in
common
colloquial
use. Literarylanguagesare
therefore to some extent ana- chronisms,
being
a
mixture of the
contemporary
spoken
language
with the
spokenlanguages
of earlier
periods.
For this
reason
the
study
of
a
language
should
always
be based " as
far
as possible
"
on
the
spokenlanguage
of the
period
which
is
being
dealtwith.
Influence of
one
language
on another.
678.
Not
only
dialects influence each
other,
but also distinct
languages,
whether
cognate
or
not,
the
degree
of influence
depending
entirely on
the
intimacy
of
intercoursebetween the
speakers
of the two
languages.
There
is,indeed,no limit
to
the mixture of
languages
in
sounds, inflections,
and
grammar
generally,
as well
as
in
vocabulary.
But
a
veiy
strong
influence of
one
language
on another
generally
ends
in the
complete
extinction of the weaker
one,
so
that
a
great
many
of these
strongly
mixed
languages
have
perished
without
leaving
any permanent
record.
T,Goo(^le
INTRODUCTION,
DIVISIONS AND METHODS OF GRAMMAR.
B7e. We have
seen
(3)
that
a
grammar may
be either
deBoriptdTs or explanatory,
the latter
falling
tinder tbe-
heads of
historioal,otnnparatiTe,
and
general
grammar.
/
5S0. It is evident that all
study
of
grammar
must
begin
y
with
beingpurelydescriptive.
Thus it is
no use attempting
to
study
the
history
of inflectionsin different
periods
of
a
language
or
in
a
group
of
cognate
languages,
if
we
have not
previously got
a
dear idea of what inflections
really
are
;
and
it is neither
profitable
nor
interesting
to
compare
languages
or
periods
of
languages
of which
we
have
no
practical
descriptive
knowledge.
Nor can we enter on
the
study
of
general
grammar
till
we
have learntto
analyse
at least
one
spedal
languagegrammatically.
Accidence and Syntax.
581. The business of
grammar
is to state and
ezpl^n
those relations between forms and
meanings
which
can
be
brought
under
general
rules
(18).Theoretically Bpeaking,
these two
"
form and
meaning"
are
inseparable,
and in a
perfect languagethey
would be
so
;
but in
languagesas they
actually
are,
fonn is
never
in
completeharmony
with
meaning
" there is
always a divergence
between the two
(26).
This
divergence
makes itnot
onlypossible,
but
desirable,
to
treat
form and
meaning separately
" at least, to some
extent
That
part
of
grammar
which
concerns
itself
specially
with
forms,
and
ignores
their
meaning
as
much as
possible,
is
called aooideuoe. That
part
of
grammar
which
ignores
distinctionsof form as much
as
possible,
and concentrates
itself on
their
meaning,
iscalled
Hyntax.
Thus
an
English
grammar
in
dealing
with the
plurals
of nouns
would under
accidence stale
briefly
tfae
meaning
of
plural-
inflectionsin
T,Goo(^le
f SSa.l
DIVISIONS OF GRAMMAR.
10$
general,
but would
give
this infonnation
solely
in order to
identify
them"
so
as,
for
instance,to
distinguish
between the
pluraltrea,
the
genitive Johns,
and the verb-inflectionin
comes: Having once given
this
information,
accidence does
not concern
itselffurther with the shades of
meaning ex-
'
pressedby
the
plural-inflection
of
nouns, but,
on
the other
hand, carefully
describes all the details of its form " how
G(xne nouns
take final
s,
while others add
-en,
etc.
Syntax,
aa
the other
hand, ignores
such formal distinctions
as
those between the
pluralstrees,oxen, etc.,
or
rather takes
for
granted
that the student is
acquainted
with
them,
and
considers
only
the different
meanings
and
grammatical
functions
of
noun-plurals
in
general,especially as
opposed
to the
singular.
The business of
syntax
is,therefore,
to
explain
the
meaiiing and
junctionol
grammatical forms7"especially the
various
ways
in which words
are joinedtogether
in
sentences.
In
some
grammars syntax
is
regarded entirely
Trora the
latter
point
of
view,so that it is identified with the
analysis
of
sentences,
the
meaning
of
grammatical
forms
being
included
under accidence.
Although
this is
narrowing
the
scope
of
syntax
too
much,
it is
no
doubt sometimes most convenient to
treat of the
meaning
of
grammatical
forms under
accidence,
espedally
when the variations of
meaning are
either
very
slight,
or else so
great
that
they
cannot be
brought
under
general
SSa.
Syntax
may
be studiedfrom two
points
of view. We
can
either start
from the
grammaticalforms,
and
explain
their
uses,
as when we describe the
meanings
and functions
of the
genitive
case or
the
subjunctive
mood
;
or we
may
take a grammaticalcategory,
and describe the differentforms
by
which it is
expressed,
as
when
we givean account of the
different
ways
in which
predication
is
expressed
"
by
a
single
verb,by
the verb lo be with
an adjective
or noun-word, etc.
We
distinguish
these as tonaxX
and
Icôal
syntax respectively.
It isevident that the firstbusiness of
syntax
is to deal
with the
phenomena
of
languageformally, reservinglogical
ao5 INTRODUCTIOy.
[| 583.
Btatements
" whidi
arc
often
very
useful and instructive" till
all the
(prammalical
fonns of the
language
bave had their
functions
expliuned.
It is evident that
logical
sjrntax
belongs
more to
general
grammar
than to the
special
grammar
of
one
GkAIOUR and DiCTIOftAKT.
'
S88.
We have
seen
(18)
that the
grammar
isd
bran the
dictionary by dealingmainly
with those
phenomena
of
language
which
can
be
brought
under
generalrules,
while
the
dictionary
deals with isolated
phenomena.
On this
principle
itIs
easy
to see
that such
phenomena
as
word-order
must
belongexclusively
to the
grammar,
while such isolated
phenomena
as
the
meanings
of
primary
full-words must
belong
as exclusively
to the
dictionary.
It is also
easy
to see
thatinflections
belong
to the
grammar.
In
"ct,
the
grammar
of such
a highly
inflected
language
as
Latin consists
mainly
i
of a
description
of the fonns and functions of
inflections,
and
'the
ways
in which
theyjoin
words
together
in sentences.
6S4. But when
a language
makes
an
extensive
tise of
form-words,
many
difGcultiesarise
;
for the distinctionbetween
form-word and full-word is often uncertain and
fluctuating.
Even
in
dealing
with Latin it is
a
question
whether
or not
prepositions
should be included in the
grammar
;
but
as
in
Latin the
prepositions
are
only
a kind of auxiliaries
to the
cases,
the
treatment of
prepositions
is
regarded
rather
as an
appendix
to the
grammar
than
as an integral
part
of it In
English,
on the other
hand,
the
prepositions play
so
important
a grammatical
part
that
they
are really
of
more
wei^t
than the
scanty
remains of case-inflection, so
that
theycan
no more
be excluded from
English
grammar
than such
periphrastic
verb-forms as miriliu esl
'
he
wondered,'
compared
with vldil
'
he
saw,'can be excluded from Latin
grammar.
But the number of
prepositions
and other form-words is
so
great,
and their
meanings are SO various,
that in
a
grammar
I
587.]
207
of limited
length
iti3
necessary
to select
a
part
of the
facts,
and omit detailswhich do not bear
directly on grammatical
questions.
686. Kor is historical
grammar
concerned with the
e^*
mologies
of isolated
words,
for which it refers the student
to an
etymological dictionary.
DESCRIFTrVI AKD
HISTORICAL GsAUHAR.
686. In
studying grammar
it is
important
to
keep
the
descriptive
and the historicaT vTew
apart.
The first
object
in
studyinggrammainsTo-Jcam
to observe
linguistic
facts
as
they
are,
not as
they oughl
to
be, or as
they
were
in
an
earlier
stage
of the
language.
When the historicalview of
language
gets
the
upper
hand,
it is
apt
to
degenerate
into
one-sided
antiquarianphilology,
which
regardsliving
languages
merely
as
stepping-stones
to earUer
periods,
and
studies
a
tiunily
of
languagessolely
in order to
reconstruct
their
parent
language,ignoringas
much as
possible
the
cbaracteristic
independent
developments
in the
separate
687.
The first
thing
in
studying
a
language
is to learn to
look at its
phenomena
from the
point
of view of the
speakers
of the
language
" to understand what iscalled
'
the
genius
of
the
language,'
that
is,
the
generalprinciples
on which its
are
imconsciously
framed
by
the
speakers
of the
language.
In
every
language
the
feeling
for
certain
logical
and
is
more
highly
developed
than for others. Thus
English
has
no
forms to
express
clearly(except
in
a few
specialcases)
the distinction
between fact-statementsand
thought-
statements
(2B4),
which
in Latin
are most
carefully distinguished by means
of the
subjunctive
mood
;
nor
has
English
any
distinctand
unambiguous
way
of
marking
the direct
object
relationand distinguishing
itfrom the nominative
relation,
while in
Latin,
agun,
these
two
relations
are
sharply distinguished by
the accusa-
ao8 INTROBVCTIOtf.
[|
sB8.
live and nominative inflections. Hence it is
against
the
genius
of
English
to set
up
an
accusative
case
in imitation
of Latin
grammar;
and
although
English
sti]l
preserves
traces of
a subjunctive mood,
we have
to
acknowledge
that
the
language
has
entirely
lost the
feeling
for the
original
function of the mood
as an expression
of
thought-statements,
so
that the few constructions in which
we
still
keep
the old
inflectionare
only
fossilizedarchaisms. Distinctionsof verb-
tense,
and the
use
of
prepositions
and of
verbal-groups
instead of
dependent sentences
are,
on the other
hand,
highljr developed
in
English,
and
are
part
of the
genius
of
the
language.
The
fiunilty by
which
we
instinctively
know
whether
a certun
form
or construction is in accordance with
the
genins
of the
language
or
not,
is called
'
the
linguistic
sense.' This
"culty
is
naturally
more
highlydeveloped
in
some
people
than in others
;
but it
can always
be
strengthened
by training,
and the firstbusiness of
grammar
is to
cnltivateitas
far
as
possible.
S8B.
From the
descriptive point
of view
grammatical
phenomena
are
of two kinds,living
and dead. In
English
Buch forms as
the
plural
-i
and the derivative
ending"mets
are living(orproductive) forms,
because
they
are stillused
freely
to fonn
new
inflectedand derived words on
the
pattern
of those
alreadyexisting
in the
langut^^
:
when
a
new noun
is introduced into the
language,
we can
give
it
a
plural
in
-J,
and when a new adjective
is
formed,
we can
generally
form
a
derivative in
-nets from it. Dead
(or
sterile)
forms,
on
the other
hand, cannot be
reproducedby
pattern
or analogy,
but
are
preservedonly
in certain words
which have to be learntone
by
one.
Most
irregular
Gnms "
such as the
plural
men
"
are dead,being onlyexceptionally
reproducedby analogy.
In
English
this form is so dead
that
even
such a noun as
Norman forms its
plural
Normans.
So also such derivativesas
/or-
in
forgive
are
dead. Dead
forms tend to become fossilisedin
meaning
and isolated
I
589.]
aog
from one another
;
thus
forgive
uid
forbid
have
nothing
in
common
except
the form of their
prefix.
Dead forms
are
sometimes
reproduced by
analogy
for the
sake of
amusement
in
colloquial language,
as
when in
English
viink, collide, pipeclay
form their
preterites*wunk, 'collode,
*Pqpeclewon
the
analogycSsunk, rode,slew,
forms which have
been
taken
seriously hy
some
learned
foreigners.
We
can,
of
course,
distinguish
between dead and
living
forms
in
a 'dead'
language"
that
is,
a
language
which is
no
longer
Gpolcen,
such
as Latin,as
well
as
in
a
'
living
'
language
such
as French. Thus the Latin
genitive
in
pater-familiis
is a dead
form,
the
livinggenitivebmig/amilia^.
GxAmuTicAL DnncuLTiES.
S89.
It isevident that the
linguistic sense can be based
only
on living
forms and constructions which
occur
fre-
quenll}'
and in
a
variet}'
of drcumstances. Hence tf
a
form
or construction survives
only
in a
few isolated
sentences,
or
if its
meaning
has become
fossilized, our
linguistic
sense
may
be at a
loss with
regard
to it,
because
we
have learnt it
ready-made
and therefore
mechanically,
without
having
had
occasion either to form it afresh
on
the
pattern
of similar
forms
or conatroctions, or to form other constructicms in
imitation of it. / Aad
rather,
in such sentences aa
/ had
riUher not do it
now,
is
an
example
of such an isolated
construction,
in
rârd
to
which
our
grammatical
instinct
leaves us at fault In this construction
we hardly
know
whether to
regard
had
as a
fiill verb
or an auxiliary : we
ask
ourselves,
If itis a
Ml
verb,
what is its direct
object
" rather
"x
noti;
either
supposition
goes
against
our
hnguistic sense
;
and, on
ttieother hand, such a constructionas
*/ had do it
is
grammaticallyimpossible.
In the more colloquial
form /
would rather
. .
these difficulties
disappear.
From
a purely
logical
and
descriptive point
of view such difficulties as
those
presentedby
/ had rather
are simply
insmrnonntable
;
and
it is better to take such constructions as wholes,
without
grammatical
analysis-^just
as we
take such a word as man
VOL. I. t
aio INTRODUCTION.
LI
Sjo-
as a whtde,
without
attempting
to
explain
how its
meaning
resultsfrom the sounds of which itis made
up.
Blendings,
such
as Ihtmselvet,
and
elliptical
constructions also offer
specialgrammatical
difBculties.
680. All such difficulties
require
the
help
of historical
grammar.
Sometimes, indeed,
the historical
explanation
is
self-evident, as in the case
of the
blending
these kind
0/ihings
and the
ellipse\a
ht is al Mr. Smih's. The
difBculty
of
such forms and constructions
as
Ihtmsehes and / had
ralfur,
on
the other
hand, can
be cleared
up
on]/ hy
detailed
historical
investigation.
Even in
cases
where the
explanation
seems self-evident,
historical
investigation
is
necessary
as
a
corrective
(7).
Thus, as
the
colloquial
Fd rather
may
be
a contraction either of / had rather or
/
wouid
rather,
we
might
get
rid of the
difficuky by assuming
the latterto be
the
original
form,
and
supposing
I had
to
be
an erroneous
ezpandon
of I'd. But historical
investigation
shows
/ had
rather
to
be the
original
form.
Grammatical Analysis.
681.
Before
analysing
a sentence or
other
passage grammatically,
it should
generally
be
analysed
from a
logical
point
of
view,
especially
ifitinvolves
any
divergence
between
logical
and
grammaticalcategories.
Thus in
analysing
such
a complexas it is
jiou
thai I
mean,
we
should understand
clearly
that it
expresses
a
simplethought,
and is
Ic^cally
equivalent
to a
singlesentence,
the
principal
clause it is
you
being only
an
empty
sentence
(460).
682.
Analysis
from
a
purelydescriptive point
of view
should then follow. The
most
elementary
step
in this
analyas
is
to settlewhat
parts
of
speech
the
separate
words
belong to,
an
operationgenerally
known
as
pareittg.
The
relations between the words should then be
analjêd,
and
lastly
the relationsof the whole sentence to other
sentences
should be
analysed,
if
necessary.
If
any
constructiondoes
1
S94-]
msrosr of engush. an
not admit of
grammaticalanalysis
from the
descriptive point
of
view,
the fact should be
acknowledged,
and the constrnc-
ti(Kt
designated
as
'istdated
'
or
abnonnal.
S9S.
Any
bistorica}
or
comparativequestions
that
may
arise should then be considered
;
and when it seems advis-
able,special
constructions
majr
be examined
in the
light
of
general
grammar,
and
compared
with
parallel
constructions
in other
languages
whether
cognate
or not.
Historical and
general grammar
should be admitted
only
when
they
do not confuse the learner. In
learninga foreign
language
they
should be used
sparingly
and
cautiously.
HISTORY OF ENGUSH.
Periods.
604.
The
name
'Englishlanguage'
in its widest sense
comprehends
the
language
of the
Englishpeople
from their
firstsettlement in Britain to the
present
time. For the sake
of convenience
we distinguish
three main
stages
in the history
of the
language,namely
Old
English (OE),
Middle
EngllBh (M"),
and Uodem
English (MnE).
OE
may
be defined as
the
period
ol
fullendings(mdna,
name, sunu,
sidnat),
ME
as
the
period
of leuelUd
endingsiôm,
sunne,
sunt, stptus),
MnE
as
the
period
of lost
endings {moon,
sun,
son, siones=:Si.Q'aai,).
We further
distinguish periods
of transition
between these main
stages,
each of which latterisfurther
divided into
an
early
and
a late
period.
The dates of these
periodsare,
roughly,as
follows
:-:"
Early
Old
English(E.
of
Alfred)
. , . 700-900
Late Old
English(E.
of
iElfric)
. . . 900-1100
Transition Old
English(E.
of
Layamon)
. .
iioo-iaoo
Early
Middle.
English(".
of the Ancren
Riwle)
. 1200-1300
Late Middle
English(E.
of
Chaucei)
. . . 1300-1400
Transition Middle
English(Caxton
E.)
. . 1400-1500
Early
Modem
English
(Tudor
E.
;
E. of Shake-
spere) IS00-16SO
Late Modem
English
i6jo-
412 INTRODVCTIOlf.
[|
595.
to which
may
be added
Present
Sngliab, by
which
we
understand the
Enghsh
of the
present
time
as spoken,
written,
and understood
by
educated
people,
that
is,roughly
speaking,itfth-centary English.
Cognate Languages.
6B6,
Englishbelongs
to the Arian
(orAryan)fomily
of languages,
descended from
a hypothetical
Parent Arian
language,
the chief of which
are
given
in the
followingtable,
different
periods
of their
developmentbemg separated by
dashes
:
"
(A)
Bftst-Arian,or
Asiatic
:
(j)
Sanskrit,
the sacred
language
of India" Pali"
Bengali
and the other Oaorisu
languages
of India.
(f")
Iranian
languages
:
Zend
or Old Bactrian. Old
Persian,
which isthe
language
of the Cuneiform
inscriptions
"
Modem Persian.
(c)Armenian,
which is
reallyhalf-way
between East- and
Wesl-Arian.
(B)
'West-Arian or
European :
("/)
Greek " Romaic
or
Modem Greek.
If)
Latin" the Bomanoe
languages;Italian,Proven9al,
French
(Old French,
Modem
French),Spanish,Portuguese,
Roumanian.
(/)
Celtio
languages.
Gaulish. The Ooidelio
group
:
Irish,Manx,
Gaelic. The
Cymric
group
: Welsh, Cornish,
Breton
{introduced
from
Britain).
(g)
Slavonio languages.
Old Bulgarian
"
Russian,
Polish,Bohemian, Servian,Bulgarian.
(A)
Baltic
languages.
Lithuanian,
Lettish.
(1)
Oermanio languages.
696.
The Germanic
group,
to
which
Ei^lishbelongs,
consists of the
followinglanguages
;
"
(A)
East-Gemuuiia :
(a)
Gothic.
\b) Soandlnavian
languages.
WoBt-Scandinavian
group
;
1 6ot.]
HISTORY OF ENGLISH.
aij
Norwegian,
Icelandic. East-Scandinavian
group:
Danish,
Swedish.
(B)
WeBt-Gtonuanio
;
if)
tow 0"nuan
languages.
Old Saxon "
Dutch,
Flemisfa.
Atô-Frisian
group
: English,
Frisian.
(rf)High Gennan, or
Gennan.
S97.
English
is then
a
member of the
Anglo-Frisian
groop
of the Low Gennan
languages.
Old
EngliBh.
fi9B.
In the fifth
centuiy
" or
perhaps
earlier" Britain
was
partiallj conqueredby
a variety
of Germanic tribes from the
other side of the German
Ocean,
the chief of which
were
"
(a)
Saxons
(OE Seaxan),
from the
country
between the
Elbe and the Rhine.
(")Angles (OE EngU),
from the districtstillcalled
Angehi (OE Angel)
in the South of
Schleswig.
(f)
Jntes
(OE Giotas)
from the North of
Schleswig.
SOB.
The firstsettlement is said to have been thatof the
Jutes,
who took Kent and the Isle of
Wight
eoo. The Saxons
occupied
the
country
south
of the
Thames;
except
Cornwall,
where the Britons still
kept
their
nationality.
Some of the Saxons settled in
Sussex,
which
means
'
South-Saxons
'
(OE Sup-staxan)
;
some
north of
the Thames in
Middlesex,
which
means 'Middle-Saxons'
(OE Middel-siaxan),
and
Essex,
which
means
'
East-Saxons'
(OE EasJ-seaxan)
;
the
remainhigportion
of the
tribe
being
called
'
West-Saxons
'
(OE Wesl-seaxan,
Wes-seaxan),
whence
their state is called Wessex.
eOL
The rest of
England was
occupiedby
the
Angles.
Suffolk
(OE 5-^-/o/.:='
South-people')
and Norfolk
(OE
iVe"";;iyti/ir=' North-people') were
included under the
name
of
East-Anglia
(OE âj/-"!fft='East-anglians').
Another
tribe of
Angliansoccupied
what
are now the Midland Coun-
314
WTRODUCTION.
[*
(kw.
ticB,
betw"n the Thames and the Humber. These
were
called Ueroiana
(0" Mierci),
which means
'
borderers,'
from OE
taearc
'
mark,'
'
boundary.'
Merck
was so
called
becEuise it bordered
on Wales,
the
country
of the Welsh
or
'
foreigners
'
(OE
Wiaias, Wiliseemmn),
the
name given
by
the
English
to the native Britons, The
country
north
trfthe Humber
was
occupiedby a variety
of
Anglian
tribes
included imder the
name of Northumbrituu
(OE
Norp-
Aymire).
Ancient Northumbria extended
up
to the Firth
of
Forth,
and thus included the
greater part
of what is
now
the Lowlands of Scotland.
603. All these tribes
spoke
the same
Anglo-Frisian
language
with
slight
diiferencesof dialect. These differences
increased
by degrees,so
that
already
in the 8ch
century
we can distinguish
four main dialects
:
ITorth-
umbrian and
UotoImi,
which
together
constitute the
Anglian
group;
and West-Baxon and
Kentdsh,
which
together
constitute the Smthem
group.
Kentish
was
originally
more
akin to the
Anglian
than the
Saxon
dialects,
but in
course
of time itwas
strongly
inSuenced
by
West-Saxon.
608.
All these tribes
agreed
in
calling
their common
language English (OE ^nglisi),
that
is,'Anglish,'
because
the
Angles
were
for
a long
time the dominant tribe. The
supremacy
afterwards
passed
to
the
West-Saxons, and their
capital, Winchester,
became the
capital
of
England;
and
West-Saxon became the official
and, to a
great
extent,
the
literary language
all
over England.
The West-Saxons still
continued to call their
languageEnglish,
the
name Angl"-
Sason
(OE Angel-siaxan)being
used
only
as a
collective
name
for the
people,
not the
language.
604.
In thisbook OE words are
alwaysgiven
" unless the
contrary
is stated" in their
Early
West-Saxon
forms;
that
is,
in the dialectof
King
Alfred.
|6o8.]
HISTORY OF ENGLISH.
315
Characteristics
of
Old English.
606. The characteristics of OE are those of the other Low
German
languages.
It
was, aa compared
with
MnE, a
highly
inflected
language, being
in this
respect
intermediatebetween
Latin and Modem Gennan. In its
syntax
it
closely
resembled
Modem German. It also resembled Modem
Gennan in
havingan
unlimited
power
of
fomiing
new words
by
derivation and
composition,as
when it made Scr^s and
Pharisees into
'
bookers and
separation-saints
'
(OE
hocerat
and
sunJor-iân).
Latin Intlusncz.
606. Nevertheless it
adopted
many
Latin
words, some
of
which it
brought
wiih it from the Continent " such words
as
j/riz/
'
highroad,'
'
street,'
mil
'
mile,'catere
'
emperor
'
from
Latin
{via)slrSia,
milia
{passuum),
Caesar while others
were leamt from the Romanized
Britons,
such
as ceaster
'
city,'
ladtn
'
language
'
from
caslra,(Jingva)
Laftna. These
are
all
popular
words. There, is another
layer
of learned
words which
came
in afterthe introduction of
Christianity
in
59 J.
Such words
are
ieofol
'
devil,'
mynsfer
'
monastery,' _/Srf
'
verse,' from
diaiolus,
monaslerium,versus.
CsLTic Intluincx.
607.
Very
few Celtic words
came
into
OE,
because the
Britons themselves
were
to
a
great
extent
Romanized,
especially
the inhabitants of the
cities,
who
were mainly
the
descendants of the Roman
legionary
soldiers,
dry
'
sorcerer
'
is
an
example
of
a
Celtic word in OE.
SCAHDINAVIAN InFLUXNCK.
608. Towards the
end of the 8th
century
Scandinavian
pirates
"
chiefly
from
Norway,
but also from Denmark,
all
beingindiscriminately
called
'
Danes
'
by
the
Anglo-Saxons
"
began
to
harass the coasts of
England. By
the end of
tb?
aifi INTRODUCTION.
[(609.
next
century
they
had
conquered
and settled
"ast-Anglia (in
870),
Mercia
(in874),
and Northumbria
(in876); although
in the next
century
they
were
forced to
acknowledge
the
supremacy
of the West-Saxon
kings.
Id 1016 the whole of
England
was
conquered by
the
Danes, and
England was
ruled
by
Danish
kings
till
1043,
when the
Anglo-Saxon
royal
line
was
restoredin the
person
of Edward the Confessor.
609.
It is not tillthe close of the OE
period
that Scandi- navian
words
appear.
Even Late Northumbrian
(of
about
970)
is
entirely
free from Scandinavian influence.
Frknch Influknck.
610. With the accession of Edward the Confessor in
1043
Norman influence
begins
;
and in 1066 the battleof
Hastings
made the Norman duke William
king
of
England,although
the actual
conquest
was
not
completed
till
1071.
eil.
The Nonnans
were
Scandinavian
by race,
but their
language
was a
dialectof Old French.
612. The influence of Norman French
on OE
was
of
course even slighter
than that of
Scandinavian,so that it
does not become
a
Victor of
importance
tillthe ME
period.
Nevertheless several French words
passed
into
literary
OE
even
before the
Conquest,
such
as easUl
'castle,'
tapun
'
fowi'
Xiddle
TingHgh.
618.
In itsMiddle
periodEnglish
went
through
much the
same
changes as
the other Gcnnanic
languages,though
at a
quicker
rate.
Many
of the sounds
were
changed,
most of the
old inflections
were lost,
their
placebeing supplied
by
form-
words "
prepositions, auxiliary verbs,
etc." and
many
words
became obsolete.
Dialects
of
Midduc Enolish.
614. The Norman
Conquest,by depriving
the old West-
3axon of
its
literary
and
political
supremacy, gave
free
play
k
617.]
HISTORY OF ENGLISH.
317
to
the
development
of the dialects.
Although
the ME
dialects
are
continuations of the OE
ones,
it is convenient to call
most of them
by
different
names.
The main divisions
are
ZTturtliem,corresponding
to the Old
Northumbrian,Mid- land,
corresponding
to the Old
Mercian,
Soatbam,
corresponding
to
the old West-Saxon,
and
EentislL We include
the first two under the tenn 'North-Thames
English/the
lasttwo under
'
South-Thames
English,'
616. Of these dialectsthe Midland
was
the
predominating
one. Its
commanding position
in the heart of
England
enabled it to ezerdse
a
direct influence
on
all the other
dialects,
while Southern and Northern
were
completely
cut
.
off from
one
another. Hence
even the earliestSouthern of
about I20O shows considerableinfluence of the Midland "
or
Old Mercian " dialect
616. It is to be observed that the
changes
which distinguish
one period
of
English
from another went on much
fasterin the North of
England
than in the South. In
"ict,
the Old Northumbrian dialectof the loth
century
had
already
entered
on
its transition
period
" characterized
by a
general
confusion in the
use
of
inflections,
and
was
thus almost
on a
levelwith the
Early
Southern Middle
English
of about
1200.
Again,
the Northern dialect in its
Early
Middle
period
had
got
rid of
nearly
all the inflectionsthat
are not
preserved
in
Mn", being
tbus several centuries ahead of the South-Thames
dialects. The Midland dialects
were more conservative than
the
Northern,
though
less
so than the
South-Thames dialects.
It will be
seen,
then,
that the criteriaof
full, levelled,
and lost
endingsby
which
we distinguish
the
periods
of
English(604)
applyonly
to the South-Thames dialects.
Struggle
betwkek
French
and Engush.
617. For
a long
time the
two
languages,
French
and
English,kept
abnost
enturely
apart.
The
English
of
laoo is
almost as
free from French words
as
the
English
of
1050;
ai8 INTRODUCTION.
[|
618.
and itwas not tillafter
1300
that French words
began
to be
adopted
wholesale into
English.
618. Meanwhile
Englishwas
steadily gaining
the
upper
hand. In
1258 we
find it
officially employed
in the Proclama-
lion of
Henry
III. In the next
centuiy
French
gradually
fell
into disuse
even
among
the
aristocracy.
In
1361 English
was
introduced in the courts of law instead of French. About the
same
time
English
took the
place
of French as
the vehicle of
instruction in schools.
Rise
of thx
Lokdon Dialect.
619.
In the ME
period
the dialects had
divergedso
much
that
speakers
of the extreme Northern and extreme Southern
dialectswere no
longer
able to understand
one another,
and
the need of
a common
dialectbecame
pressing.
Such
a
common
dialect
can
be formed
only
in
a centre of intercourse
where
speakers
from all
parts
of the
country
meet
constantly.
Such a centre was London,
which
now was not
only
the
capital
of
England,
but also a
place
of
great
and
growing
commercial
importance.
620. The London
dialect,as we
find it in its earliest
document,
the Proclamation of
Henry III,shows such
a
mixture of Midland and Southern forms
as we might
expect
from
its
position
on the border-line between these two
dialects. The Midland dialectwas
intermediate between the
two
extremes,
Northern and
Southern,not
only geographi- cally
but also
linguisticalty;
so
that
speakers
of Midland
could understand both Northern and Southern much better
than Northerners and Southerners could understand
one
another. Hence the Midland element tn
the London dialect
made the latter
peculiarly
fittedto serve as a means of
general
communication. Hence also the Midland element
in the London dialectbecame
stronger
and
stronger
in the
course of the ME
period,
tillat last
even Northern forms
T,Goo(^le
1
6ii.]
HISTORY OF ENGUSH.
119
passed
into it
through
the mediam of the Midland
dialect,
while Southern influence became weaker and weaker.
SCAHDINAVIAN INFLUENCE.
621. Of the Scandinavian settlersin
England
the Nor- wegians
spoke a West-Scandinavian,
the Danes
an
East-
Scandinavian
dialect,
the difference between these dialects
being
however
very
slight,
The Scandinavian words imported
into
English
seem to be
mostly
Danish.
Although
the Scandinavian dialects
were not
intelligible to the
Anglo-
Saxons,
yet
the
cognate
languagesEnglish
and Scandinavian
were so similar in structure and had
so
many
words in
common
" hiii
'
house,'
land
'
land,'
for
instance,being
both
English
and Scandinavian " that the
languages
blended together
with the
same facility as
the
races
that
spoke
them.
English
got
the
upper
hand,
but Scandinavian
nevertheless
left its mark
on
every
Englishdialect,especially
the East-
Midland and Northern dialects,
where the
populationwas
half Scandinavian.
///,/ro "ii
'
to and
fro,'
iipuitdin
'
bound
for a
place,' are examples
of Scandinavian words in
English
(Icelandic
t7i-r
'
bad,'
/ra
'
from,"
iSimt
'
ready').
French iNnuBNCs.
022. The Norman French introduced into
England was
not a
uniform
dialect,
but
wag
itself
split
up
into localvarieties
or sub-dialects,
which in the Norman
spoken
in
England
"
the
'
Ai^lo-Nonnan
'
or
'Anglo-French'language
"
were
mixed
hither indiscriminately.
The accession of
Henry
of
Anjou
in
1154
brought
in the influence of another French
dialect" the
Angevin.
The loss of
Normandy
in
1304 put
an
end to the influence of Continental Norman
;
and hence*
forth
Anglo-Frenchwas
influenced
onlyby
the
literary
French
of
Paris,
this ParisianFrench
having
the
same predominance
among
the French dialectsas London
English
had
among
the
English
dialects. At the time when the influence of
Anglo-
230
INTRODUCTION.
[|633.
French
on
Englishbegins
to be
important
" that
is,
in the late
ME
period
" ît
was,
therefore,a
mixture of Old French of
different
periods
and different
dialects,
modified
by changes
of its
own,
and also
by
the inflnence of
English
itself,
especially
in its
pronunciation.
628.
Old French
was a
languagestanding
in the
same
relation to its
parent language
Latin
as
MnE to OE,
and
Modem Danish to Old Icelandic. It
was
thereforenot
only
remotelycognate
with ME " both
languagesbeing
of West-
Arian
origin
" but
was also in much the
same
stage
of
development.
This
similarity
in
general
character between
the two
languagesgreatly
increased their
influence on one
another.
024. French influence
on English
is most marked in the
vocabulary.
Soon after the
Conquest English
ceased for
severalcenturiesto
be the
language
of the
higher
purposes
of
life,
and sank almost to a mere
peasant's
dialect. So when
English
came
again
into
general
use,
it had lost a
great part
of its
highervocabulary,
for which it had to
use
French
words,
such as
sir,
Juke
;
captain,
army,
ialtU
\ sermon, preach.
Even when the
English
word was
kept,
the
same
idea
was
often
expressedby
a
French
word,
whence
numerous
synonyms
such
as
work and
labmtr,
uieak
sad/ieile.
Latin Influenck.
026.
In Old French itself
we must
distinguish
between
popular
and learned
words. The
popular
words in Old
French,
such
as
sire
'
lord,'from Latin senior
'
older,'are
simply
Ladn words which have
undergone those
changes
which take
place
in
every
language
whose
development
is
natural and
unimpeded.
But
as
Latin
was
kept
up
as an
independent
" we might
almost
say
a living
"
language
throughout
the Middle
Ages,
Latin words
were
imported
into Old French
as
well as the other Romance
languages,
being
used firstin
books,
then in
ordinaryspeech.
These
T,Goo(^le
t 631.]
HISTORY OF ENGLISH.
221
learned words were
keptas
much
as possibleunchanged,
beingpronounced
as theywere
written. It oflen
happened
that
a
Latin word which had assumed
a
popular
form in
French, was
re-imported
direct from
Latin,so that chrono- logical
doublets
were
formed,suph as rat'A/*
'
wretched
'
and
eaptif,
both from Latin
caplivui,
whence the
Englishcailiff
and
captxvt.
626. These learned French words
were
introduced into
ME in
great
numbers. Hence when Latin words
came to
be
importeddirectiy
into
EngHsh,theywere
put
into
a
French
shape
on
the
analogy
of those Latin words which had
really
been
brought
in
through
French. Thus when
a
word in
-Ko,
such
as
mminSlio,
was
taken direct from
Latin,
it
was
made into -tion
(Mn" nomination)on
the
analogy
of the
older
importations,
such
as nation
(ME ndcioun).
627.
French had also
some
influence
on English
syntax,
and
many
French idioms and
phraseswere
adopted
into
spokenEnglishthrough
imitation of the
aristocracy.
628. On the
whole,however,
the influence of French
on
the
grammatical
structure of
English
was not
great,
the
numerous
^reements
between the two
lai^piages being
the
resultof
independentdevelopment,
Hodem
'Bng"**'-
628.
In the Middle
periodliterary Englishwas
stilldis- tinctly
an
inflectional
language.
In the Modem
period
it
became
mainlyuninflectional,
with
onlj
scanty
remans of
the older inflections.
680.
The Modern
period
is that of the
completeascen-
. dency
of the London
dialect,
which henceforth is the
only
one
used in
writingthroughoutEngland,
Henceforth the
other dialectsof
England
continued to exist
onlyas
illiterate
forms of
speech
confined within
narrow areas.
681. The Northern dialectof Scotland was more independent
of the influence of the London dialect
;
but
long
before
T,
aaa
introduction.
[j
63a.
the union "^ the
ciowns
of the two countries in
1603 Htcrajy
Scotch showed
strong
Englishinfluence, and
by
the time of
the onion of the Scotch and
Englishpaiiianients
in
1
707,
literary
Scotch
was
wholly
uumikted to
UteiaxyEnglish.
Literary English
had indeed been the
Uturgical language
of
Scotland
ever
since the
Reformation,
when the
English
trans- lation
of the Bible
was adopted
without
any aHempt
to
adapt
it
to
the Northern dialectof Scotland. But the
pure
'
Broad
Scotch
'
continued to be the
spokenlanguage
of the
tipper
as
well
as
the lower classesboth in town and
country up
to the
end of the last
century.
ess. In
England,on the
contrary,
London
Eng^h was
not
only
a
literary,
but also
a qraken language,
which
every
educated man
acquired
more or
less
perfectly,
whatever his
native dialect
might
be
; although,
of
course,
it
was always
liableto be influenced
by
the localdialectsin various'
degrees,
according
to the education of the
speaker
and other circumstances.
This influence is still
veiy strong
in
Scotland,
whose educated
speech,though
almost
pure
English
in
vocabulary
and
grammar,
is in its Boonds
stron^y
dialectal.
ess.
The
q)read
of Modem London
English"or
'
Stan- dard
English,' as we
may
now
call it"
was greatly
aided
by
the introduction of
printing
in
1476.
The
publication
of
Tindal's translationof the New Testament in
rgag paved
the
way
for the Authorized Version of 161
1,
which made
Early
Modem London
English
what
itliasever since been "
the sacred or
liturgical language
ofthewliole
English-speaking
race.
Influbncx op othsk
Lasguagzs.
684.
In the
Early
Modem
period,
the Renascence " the
revival of the
study
of the classicalauthors of Greece and
Rome" led to the
adoption
of
an
immense number of Greek
as
well
as
Latin
words,
the Greek words
being generally
Latinized, just
as the Latin words
imported
into Middle
English
were Frenchified.
S 639.]
HISTORY OF BNGUSH.
2*3
636. As the first
prtê
writings
were
moGtly
either
trans- lations
from
Latin,or
else the work of scholars to whom
Latin
was
in
some
respects
a more
natural
means
of
expression
than
English,
it
was inevitable that
Early
MnE
prose
was greatly
influenced
by
Latin,not
only
in vocabulary,
but also in
grammatical
structure and idioms. In a
few
generations
many
Latin " and
some Greek " words and
expressions
which
were at first
purely
learned and technical
passed
into the
language
of
everyday
life
;
while,on the
other
hand,
many
others became obsolete.
686.
As the relations of
England
with other countries
became
more extended,
many
words
were
imported
into
English
from almost
every
European language,e^cially
Dutch, French,Italian, Spanish,
and
Portuguese,
and from
many
other
languagesbesides,
such as Arabic,Persian,
and
Turkish,
and the native
languages
of America.
687. Standard
English
has
always
been influenced
by
the
different
English
dialects. The
literary
revival of Broad
Scotch at the end of the last
century
by
Scott and Bums has
introduced
many
Scotch words into
literary English.
pERions.
6SB.
The main
general
difi'crencebetween
Early
and Late
MnE isthat the former is the
period
of
experiment
and
comparative
licence both in the
importation
and in the formation
of
new words, idioms,
and
grammatical
constructions.
The
Late MnE
periodis,on
the other
hand,
one of selectionand
organization.
The most marked differencesin detail
are
the
great
sound-changesundergone by
the
spokenlanguage
"
changes
which have been
completelydisguised by
the
fixity
of the
orthography.
Present
English.
680. In the second half of the
present
century
the
old local dialects had
begun
to die
out,
especially
in
334
INTRODUCTION.
[S640
England,
where
theyare
graduallypving
way
to
Standard
English.
040.
But
on
the
other hand
new
local dialects
are
developing
themselves
by cleavage
of the
common London dialect
in the Modem
period
"
especially
the Late Modem
period
"
mainlythrough
colonization.
64L The
English
colonization of Ireland in the
Early
Modern
period
made
Early
Modern Standard
English
the
generallanguage
of culture
throughout
the island. Hence
the
present
vulgarIrish-English
is
reallyan independent
dialect of Standard
English,
which is in
many
cases more
archaic than the
present
London
dialect,
although
many
of its
peculiarities
are
the result of the influence of Celtic
Irish, The
speech
of the educated IrishisPresent Sundard
English
mixed in various
degrees
with
vulgarIrish-English.
642.
Through
the colonization of BritishNorth America
in the 16th and
17th centuries,
the American
English
of the
United States and Canada is another
independent
modification
of Standard
English,though
much less archaic than
Irish-English.
Educated American
English
is
now almost
entirely independent
of British
influence,
and differsfrom it
considerably, though
as
yet
not
enough
to make the two
dialects" American
English
and British
English
"
mutually
unintelligible.
American
English
itselfis
beginning
to
split
up
into dialects.
648. Australia and New Zealand
were
colonized
during
the
presentcentury,
and dieir educated
speech
differsbut
slightly
from British
English,
except
that the influenceof the
vulgar
London
or
'
Cockney
'
dialectis
stronger
inAustralasian
than in
British
English.
644. These
new dialectal differences are
mainly
ob- servable
in the
spoken language. LiteraryEnglish
still
maintains its
unityeverywhere,
a
few 'Americanisms'
ex^
cepted,
the differencesof the
spoken
dialects
being
utilisedin
Uteraluie
only
for comic
piu-poses,
or to
give
what is called
T,Goo(^le
i 647.]
fflSTORY OF ENGLISH.
425
'
local
colour,'
the
rqircduction
of the real dialect
being
generallyonlypartial
and often inaccurate.
646. This
grammar
deals
mainly
with educated British
English,
the standard for which is the educated
speech
of
London and the South of
England generally.
Stkata.
646. Of thisStandard
Englishwe must
distinguish
'strata,'
or non-local dialects.
047.
The main divisbn is that between the
spokenor
colloquial,
and thevnitten or
Uterary language.
The
spoken
language
is
again distingmshed
as
educated
or
polite
colloquial,
and
vulgarcolloquial.
The
vulgarspeech
of Iion-
-
don and the district
immediately
round London ia called
Cookney.
There are also varieties of
literary English.
The
language
of
prose
often
approaches
very
closely
to that
of
ordinary
conversation
;
while that of
poetry
"
and,to some
extent,
of
higher,imaginative
prose
as
well" ischaracterised
by
many
peculiar
words and
forms,
many
of which
are
Early
Modem
colloquialisms
which have become obsoletein
the
spokenlanguage.
The
liturgical language
of the Bible
and the Church Services is still
pure
Early
MnE
;
it has
strongly
influenced the
spoken
as
well
as
the written
English
of the
present
day.
The
language
of
proverbs
and other
sayings
also contains
many
archaisms.
FHOHOLOaT.
PHONETICS.
648.
Phonetics is the science of
Bpeecb"50unds.
649.
As Uie
ordinary or
nomio
spelling
does not
always
show the real
pronunciation,
it is
necessary
to use a
plumetio spelling, which, to
prevent
confusion,we
enclose
in
(
).
Thus
(ssskl)
is the
phoneticspelling
of Nomic circle.
AnalysiB.
680. The foundation of
speech-sounds
is breath
expelled
from
the
lungs,
and
variously
modified
by
the vocal
organs
"
throat,
nose,
mouth, lips.
Each sound is the resultof certain
definite actions
or
positions
of the vocal
organs,
by
which
the
sound-passage
assumes a
certain definite
shape.
Tkkoat-sounds
:
Breath
and
Voice.
661.
The firstmodification the breath
undergoes
is in the
throat If the vocal
chords,
which
are
stretched
across
the
inside of the throat,are kept
apart
so
that the air
can
pass
through
with but little
hindrance,we
have
breath,
as
in
ordinarybreathingor sighing,
and in the consonant
(h),
as
in
high.
If the chords
are broughttogether
so as to
vibrate,
we
have
Toico, as
in
murmuring or
in the word
err.
Nasal Sounds.
662.
If the
passage
into the
nose
is left
open,
we
have
a nasal sound,
such as
(m)
in
am.
In the formation of all
T,Goo(^le
( 66".]
PHONETICS.
MJ
sounds that are not nasal" non-nasal strands" such
as
the
(b)
in
atnier,
the
nose-paBsage
is closed
by pressing
back
the nvnla
or
soft
palate.
CoHSONANn.
8S8. If the
mouth-passage
is narrowed
so as to cause
aodibte friction " that
is,
a
hissing
or
buzzing
sound " a
oonsoiuiit is
produced.
Thus if
we bring
the lower
lip
against
the
upper
teeth,
and send out
breath,
we
form the
'
lip-teeth-breath,' or,
more
briefly,
the
'
lip-teeth
'
consonant
(f).
If
we
form
an
(f)
with
throat-vibration, we
get
the
corresponding
'
Up-teeth-voice
'
consonant
(v).
Breath or
voiceless consonants are
sometimes
expressedby adding(A)
to the
symbol
of the
corresponding
voice
consonant,
thus
{vA)
as
in
why,
is the breath consonant
corresponding
to the
voice consonant
(w)
as
in wt'tu,
'
Stopped'
consonants are
formed with
complete
stoppage
of the
mouth-passage.
Thus
the
'lip-stop'
consonant
(p)
is formed
by bringing
the
tips
together
so as
completely
to
stop
the
passage
of air,
VowiLs.
651.
If the
mouth-passage
is left
so
open
as not to cause
audible
friction,
and voiced breath is sent
throughit,
we
have
a TOWdl,
such
as
(aa)
in
faihtr. Every
alterationin the
shape
of
the mouth
produces
a
different
voweL Thus
a
s"ght
alterationof the
(aa)-position produces
the vowel
(se)
in
man.
VowKL-UKE Consonant.
668. Some
consonants have
hardly
any
friction when
voiced,
and
are
called
vowel-like consonants. Such
consonants
are
(I), as
in Uttit
(litl),
and
(m).
SynthesiB.
666.
We have
now to consider fte
syntlieeia
of
sounds,
aaS
.
PHONOLOGY.
[fSs;,
that
is,
the different
wajv
in vhich
theyare
jcnncdleather
in
speech.
667. When eoonda
are
joinedtogether
we have to consider
their
rektive
quantitjr,BtireM,
and iatouatLon.
QUANTITT.
658.
By quantity,
sounds
are distin^shedas
long,
half-
long
or medium,
and
short, 'long' being
often used to
include
half-longas well In
phonetic
notation
long
and
half-longvowels are
doubted,
short vowels
being
written
single,
as
in
(masma) murmur.
The
length
of consonants is
onlyoccasionally
marked
by doubling.
Stress.
659. There
are
three main
degrees
of
stress
or
loudness
:
BtroiLg,half-strong or medium,
and weak. Thus in
con-
tradieithe last
syllable
is
strong,
the first
half-strong,
the next
weak. We mark
strong
stress
by (*), half-strong by (:),
these
marks
being
put
before the sound
on
which the stressed
syllable
begins,
weak or
unstressed
syllables being
leftunmarked :
{:kontradikt).
Weak stress is marked when
necessary
by
prefixing (-),
as
in
(-itreinz)
'itrains.'
660. Sounds which
occur
only
in unstressed
s^lables,
such
as
the short
(a)
in
(msams)murmur,
are
called weak.
Intonation.
661.
Intonation
or tone iseither
level,riaing,
or
fiUling,
marked
respe"aively (",
',').
The leveltone
is
not
much used
in
speech.
The
rising
cone is heard in
questions,
such
as
what',
the
falling
in
answers,
such as no'. Besides these
BUnple
tones,
there
aie
oompoimd tones,
formed
byuniting
a rising
and
a falling
tone
in one syllable.
The
oompoond
rise or falling-rising
tone
(marked'')
may
be heard in lakt
tart
! when used
wamingly
;
the
ocanponnd
fUl
or
rising-
falling
tone
(marked")
may
be heard ia
oil
when
expressing
sarcasm.
j
667.]
PHONETICS.
339
662.
The leVeltone
may
be either
high
or low
in
pitch,
and the other tones
may
begin
either in
a high or a
low
pitch.
When
excited,we
speak
in
a highpitchor key
;
when
depressed,
in
a
low
key.
663.
The non-level tones can
pass
through
different
interr"Ui.
The
greater
the
interval,
the more
emphatic
the
tone becomes. Thus what' with
a slight
rise
expresses
mere enquiry,
but with
a
long
rise"
rising
from
a
very
low to a
very
high pitch
" it
expresses
surprise
or
indignation.
Glides.
664. Glides
are
sounds
producedduring
the transition from
one
sound to another. Thus in
(kii)
k^ we
have the
glide
from the
(k)-position
to the
(ii)-position,
which does
not,
however, require
to
be
written,as
it is
impliedby
the
positions
of
(k)
and
(ii),
686. Consonants
are
oRen
joinedtogether
without
any
glide,
not
only
as
(nd)
in
hand^
where
the
(d)
is formed
by continuing
the
(n),
the
nose-passage
being
closed at the
same time,
but also in such words
as
the
English
act
(aekt).
Syllables.
666.
A
syllable
is
a vowel,
either alone or in combhiation
with
consonants,
uttered with
a singleimpulse
of stress.
Every
fresh
impulse
of stress makes
a new syllable,
the beginning
of the
syllable corresponding
with the
beginning
""
the stress, Thus
(a't^k)
attack has two
syllables,
the first
syllable consisting
of the vowel
(a)
uttered with weak
stress,
the second of
(trek)
uttered with
a new impulse
of stress
beginning
on the
(t).
Vowel-like consonants often form
syllables
in the same
way
as vowels,
as
in
"iA"=(bEet-l).
667.
If two vowels
are
utteredwith one
impulse
of
stress,
to as to form a
singlesyllable,
the comt"nation is called
a
330
PHONOLOGY.
[|
668.
diphtluHiB,
such
as
(oi)
in "/. Most
diphthongs
have the
stress on the firstelement. If three vowels
are
combined in
this
way,
we
have
a triphthong,
as
in
(fai3)/r".
A
simple
long vowel,
such as (""),
la
called
a
mmopbttioiv.
We
now
have to
consider sounds
mote
in detail.
Vcnrela.
668.
As
every
alterationin the
shape
of the mouth
produces
a
different
vowel,
the number of vowels is infinite.
Hence what
we
callthe
vowels,
(a),(i)etc.,
are really
groups
of
an
indefinitenumber of vowels
difTeiing
very
slightly
from
one
another.
ROUHDIKO.
669.
The
shape
of the
mouth-passageby
which vowels
are
fonned
depends partlyon
the
position
of the
tongue,
partly
on
that of the
lips.
If the
lip-opening
is narrowed
while the
tongue
isin
a
certain
position,
the
resulting
vowel
issaid to be rounded. Thus
(y)
in French lunt is the round
vowel
corresponding
to the unrounded
(ii),
which is
nearly
the
sound in
English
ht,
both vowels
having
the
same
tongue-
podtion.
Tonoue-Rktractiok.
670.
The
tongue-positions depend partlyon
the
degree
of retraction of the
tongue,
partlyon
its
height or
distance
from the
palate.
671.
If the root of the
tongne
is drawn
back,we
have
a
back
vowel,
such
as
the
(aa)
va.
father.
If the fore
part
of
the
tongue
is
advanced,we have a firont
vowel,
such
as
(ii).
ir the
longue
is left in its neutral
position,
intermediate
between back and
front, we have
a mixed vowel,
such
as
(w).
Tohgue-Hkight,
672.
If the
tongue
is raised
as
close to the
palate
as is
possible
without
making
the vowel into a consonant, a
T,Goo(^lc
{ fi73']
PHONETICS.
%y.
high
vowel is formed. Thus
(i)
is
a high-front vowel,
(u),
as
in
fvll,
a.
high-back-round
vowel. There are two other
degrees
of
height,
mid and low. For convenience
we
may
include mid and low vowels under the common name
'
un-
high'
vowels, distinguishing
them
as
olose and
open,
according
to the
degree
of
openness
of the
mouth-passage.
We denote
open
vowels,
when
necessary,
by
italics. French
/ in iU\" the mid-front-closc
vowel,
or,
more
briefly,
the front-
close
vowel,
for when a
vowel is not
expressly
called
high,
we assume
itto be
un-high, Englishif)
in
men
is the
corresponding
mid
-front-open
vowel. The Scotch vowel in
tntn
is
more
open
than the
English,being
a tow-front vowel
;
but
these
English
and Scotch vowels
are so
similar that
we
include them under the
common name
'
front-open.'Very
open
vowels
are
called broad,
(se)
in
man
is
a
broad front
vowel. The distinctionof close and
open
applies
also to the
high
vowels. Thus French
(i)
in
fini
is the close
high
front
vowel, English{f)
'\a
finny
is the
open
high
front vowel.
Acoustic
Qualities of
Vowels.
678.
If
we
compare
the acoustic
qualities
of the vowels "
that
is,
the
impressionthey
make
on
the
ear
"
we
find tliat
they
differin
pitch
and
clearness,
close
(i)having
the
highest
pitch
and clearest
sound,
while
(u)
has the
deepest
sound.
Tongue-re
tractionand
lip-rounding
txithhave the
same effect
of
lowering
the
pitch
and
dulling
the sound of the vowels.
Thus the back and mixed vowels
(aa,aa)are
duller in sound
than the front vowels
(i,e, eg),
and the front round vowel
(y)
is duller than the
corresponding
unrounded vowel
(i).
Hence
vowels formed in
quite
different
ways
ofl^nhave the
same
pitch,
which makes them
very
similarin sound. Thus the
English
mixed vowel
(m)
and the French front round vowel
(oe)
in
peur.
are
very
similar in sMmd.
"3"
PHONOLOGY.
[|674.
The VowiLS
in
Dktail.
The
following
are
the most
impntant
vovels.
(A)
Unrounded vowels.
674.
(a)
'
clear back.' This vowel occurs
only long
in
English,
in such words
as
(âsSSi)
father,farihtr,
(aamz)
alms,
arms.
Short
(a)
occurs
in French and
German,
and in
many
Englishdialects, as
in the Yorkshire
man.
676.
(v)
'dull back.' The
English
vowel
m
son, sun,
courage
(k^rids).
676.
(a)
'
mixed
'
or
'
neutral
'
vowel.
(t99n)lum, (bdsd)
liird. The short
(a)
in
(m"ma)
murmur
is
a
weak vowel
(660).
677.
(i)
'
high
front.'Qose
(i)
in French
/"",
the short E.
i
beingalways
open.
Weak
open
(i)
" which,
when
necessary,
we
write
(1)
" as
in
(pell)
pttly
is
opener
than the
strong
(i)
in
pit,beingreally
intermediate between
{x)
and
{e).Long
close
(ii)
is the older ". sound in such words
as
see, sea,
receive,
machine,
and this sound is still
preserved
In Scotland and the
North of
England.
In the South of
England
itis
diphthongized
into
(1)
followed
by
very
close
(i),
which is
nearly
the
sound of the
consonant
(j)inîw,
so we
write
(sij),
etc.
678.
(e)
'
front' French / is close front The E.
vowel
in
mm,
bread,
leopard(lepdd)
is
open
front
{e).
Before
(s)"
with which itforms
a diphthong
" itis Still
opener,
as
in
(fes)
fare,fair,(tSea)
there,
their. The
long
close front
(ee)
is
still
preserved
in Scotch in such words
as
name,
day,
where
Standard ". has the
diphthong(a).
678.
(se)
'
broad front' The ". vowel in
man,
thresh.
(B)
Round vowels.
680.
(u)
'
high
back round.' Close in French
sou,
the E.
short
(")la/uU,good being always
open.
The older close
(uu)
in such words
as
moon, move,you
(juu)
is still
kept
in
Scotland and the North of
England,
but in the South of
Eng-
T,Goo(^le
i 687.]
PHONETICS,
"33
land itbecomes
("w)
with
a distinct
(w).
Weak
open
(u), as
in
vabu,
is the
high
mixed round
vowel,which,
whea
necefleaiy,
we write
(fl)
"
(vxija).
081.
(o)
'
back round.' Close in French htau
(bo).
Close
(00)
in Scotch
no, know,
where Standard ". has the
diphthong
(oq).
The
(o)
in the
diphthong(in),
as
in
b"y,
is the
same
open
sound. Weak
(o),
as in
October,
is the
open
mixed
vowel, which,
when
necessary,
we
write
(d)
"
(Oktoubs),
Weak
(flu), as
ia/ellow,
is
hardly
to be
distinguished
from
ifi).
682.
(o)
'
broad back round.' This is the sound of the E.
shoit vowels in
nol,
whal. The
long
broad vowel is heard in
such words
as naughl,/alL
For convenience
we
write the
short vowel
(o),
the
long(3)
in Standard
E."
(not,not).
ess.
(y)'high
front
round
'=
rounded
(i).
French
une,
German Uber.
684.
(oe)
'
front-round.' Close in French
/"*,
whose vowel
is a rounded French /.
Open
in French
peur.
Nasal Vowtls.
686. If a vowel is formed with the
nose-passage open,
it
is said
to be
naaal,
which
we
mark
by (n).
Thus
we
have
nasal
(a,s)
in French
sang,
sans
(san),
vin
(vten).
Diphthongs.
686. We call
(ei,
ou
;
ij,uw)
half
diphthongs,
because
they
are not
very
distinct,
their
two elements
differing only
in
height.
687- Poll
diphthongs, on
the other
hand,
such
as
(ai, au,
oi)
are
made
up
of vowels as distinct
as possible
from
one
another. But in
E.,as
in
many
other
languages,
the elements
of such
diphthongs
are not
kept
so
distinct
as
theymight
be.
Thus,
while the
diphthong
in Italian
aura
is
really a clear
(a)
followed
\ff
a high
close
(u),
the
corresponding
E.
diphthong
in house
begins
with
a
mixed vowel
resembling(e),
and ends
with an
indistinct mixed
(S),
the E.
diphthong(ou)ending
*34
PHOlfOLOGY.
[|688.
nearly
in the
same
way.
So also the E.
diphthong
in
tohy,
time
begins
with
a
mixed vowel and ends in
a
sound between
(i)
and
(e).
The E.
(ei, oi)
end in the same
way.
So
by
writing(bans,
whai,
taim)
we merely
indicate
a movement
from
openness
to closeness eitherof the
mouth-passage
or
the
686. There is another class of mnnnTir
diphUiongs
ending
in
(a),
as
in
iear,
here
(hia),/are,/atr (frt), poor (pua),
piire{p}U9),tttore {mxt).
There are also murmur
triphthongs,
as
ai^re (bis), ioyal(loisl).
689. The
following
table
will show the relationsof the
chief vowels
more clearly.
Those marked
*
do not occur
690.
The relations of the
English
vowels
may
be shown
thus:
Short
:.
. .
"e a i
e.seo
o
I-ong
:
. . .
aa
33 a
( Half
diphthongs: .
ij
ei
uw ou
J
Full
diphthongs:
.
ai,au
oi
(
Mturmor diphthongs:
is e3 u3 as
6Q1.
Consonants admit of a
two-fold division
(a)by
'amy, {b)by plaoe.
Form.
693.
By
form there
are
five classes
:"
603.
{a)Op"n,
in which the
passage
is narrowed without
stoppage,
such
as
(a).
684.
{6)Side,
formed
by stopping
the middle of the
passage
and
leaving
it
open
at the
sides,as
in
(1).
685.
(e)Stopped,
formed
by complete
closure. The
voiceless
stops (k,t,p)
are
in
English
followed
by
a
breath
glide
or
slightpuff
of
breath,
thus c"2/ almost
=(khieth).
606.
{d)
JXamal
consonants are
formed with
complete
closure
of the
mouth-passage,
the
nose-passage
being
left
open,
as
in
(m).
When
an
unstopped (open
or
side)
consonant
is formed with the
nose-passage open,
it is said to bt
687.
(e)
Trills
are
the result of vibration of the flexible
parts
of the mouth. Thus in the trilled Scotch
(r)
the
pojiit
of the
tongue
vibrates
against
the
gums,
the ".
(r)
in red
being
an
open
consonant without
any
trilL
Placx.
888.
By place
there
are
also five classes:
"
fl89.
(f")Baok,
foimed
by
the
root of the
tongue,
such as
{k,r|)
in
h'ng (kiij).
The back
open .
consonant
(i)
is the
sound of cA in the Scotch and German
ioci. The
corresponding
voice consonant
(s)
is heard in German
sage,
700.
{i)Front,
formed
by
the middle of the
tongue,
such
as
the front
open
voice consonant
(j)
in
jrou,
which is
really
a
consonantal
(i).
The
corresponding
breath
consonant
(()
is heard in German icA and Scotch
iue,
Hugh
(quu),
which in Southern E. is
pronounced (hjuw).
701.
(c)Point,
formed
by
the
tip
of the
tongue.
In the
potnt-gnm consonants,
such
as
".
(t,d,
n, 1)
the
point
of
the
tongue
is
brought against
the
gums
just
behind the teeth
;
in the
point-teeth consonants,
such
as
the
point-teeth-open
"36
PHONOLOGY.
.
["70a.
0")
in
Ihin,
it is
brought^Înst
the teeth. The voice consonant
coTTCBponding
to
()")
is
(S)
in then.
703.
id)Blade,
fonned
by
the blade of the
tongue
" that
part
of it which is
immediately
behind the
point (s,z)
are
"blade consonants. In the
blade-point consonants,
such
as
the
blade-point
open
(/)
in
ike,
the blade
position
is modified
by raising
the
point
of the
tongue.
The
corresponding
voice consonant
(5)
isheard in
measure
(megs),
708.
The
point
and blade consonants are
included under
the
name
of forward consonants.
704.
(")Iiip,
formed
by
the
lips,
such as (p,
m).
The
lip-open
consonant
{"ft)
isthe sound
produced
in
blowing
out
a candle;
the
corresponding
voice consonant occurs
in
German in such words
as
guelle(kjStls)
;
(f,v)
are
lip-teeth,
consonants.
(w;"),
as
in
tv^,
and
(w)
are
lip-baok
consonants,
fonned
by narrowing
the
lip-opening
and
raising
the back of the
tongue
at the
same time,
(w)being
a consonantal
(u).
In Southern E.
(wA)
isoften
pronounced(w).
Compound Consonants :
RouNDtMO,
Fronting.
706.
(w^,w) are reallyoomponnd consonants,
formed in
two
places
at once.
If insteadof
back-modifying
the
lip-
open
consonant,
as
in
(wA),
we
lip-modify
or round the
back-open
consonant
(x),we
get
the
back-round consonant
(xiv)
in German auch. Other consonants
may
be rounded
in the
same
way,
which
we
express
by adding(iv);
thus
(rzfed)
is red
pronounced
with
a rounded
(r).
708.
When
a consonant is modified
by raising
the front
of the
tongue,
it is said to be front-modifled
or fronted,
which
we
express
by adding {/).
Thus the
lip-open
front-
modified consonant is the sound in French htii
(|3/lt) ;
it is
almost a consonantal
(y).
Interukdiati Positions.
707.
Beddes the main
positions
known
as back, front,
etc,
there are an indefinite number of intermediate
positions,
T,Goo(^lc
5 7".]
PHONETICS,
237
-which
we
disdngntsh roughly
as inner or nearer the
throat,
and outer or nearer
the
lips.
Thus
we have inner
(k)
before back
vowels,as
in
cam,
outer
(k)
before front
vowds,
as
in
key.
".
(r),
as
in
rtd,
is an
inner
point
consonant
The Aspirate,
708.
The
aspirate (h)
is
partly
an
open
throat
consonant,
partly
a
breath
vowel-glide.
Thus
(h)
in hook is
mainly
formed
by unvoicing
the
beginning
of the
(u),
almost
as
if
"we were to write the word
(wAuk).
So also the
(h)
in A*
resembles
a weakened
(g). (h)
also occurs
before the
consonant
(j),
as in liw
(hjuw).
708. The
following
is
a
table of the chief consonants.
Those marked
*
do not occur
in E.
710. We
generally
write
(rh), etc.,
mstead of
(rX)
for the
sake of convenience.
R
IN
English.
711.
(r)
in E.
occurs
only
befcx'ea
vowel
following
itwithout
any pause,
as
in kere he it
{hisrijiz);
before a
consonant or
ajS
PHOlfOLOGY.
*
[(7i".
a
pauu
h is
dropped,leavingonly
the
preceding(a),
as
in
hirt the
ii,
ht ii htri
(hiafij
iz,
bij
z
his).
This
(a)
is ab-
"orbed
1^ a preceding(m, aa),as
in
err,
erring, far,far
OBXiy
("^ anil),"a,
faar
awei).
After
(?)
the
(a)
is
kept
finally,
but
dropped
before the
(r),
as in
pour, pouring (pss,
p^rii)), being
also
dropped
before a consonant in tlie
same
word, as
in
pourtd(pad).
712. Short
strong
vowel
+ (r)
occurs
onlymedially, as in
iptrii, merit,
fourage
(kBridj),
tony.
713. Weak
(ar.Or),as
in
a/Ur ail,mtasuring(aaftw
si,
mârii]),
otu or
otier
(weq
Or
vSa),drop
the
(r)
when not
followed
by
a vowel, as
in
afUrwardt (aaflawadx),
two or
Ihre*
(tuw
fi
]mj).
714. In Scotch and Irish
".
and in
many
of the dialects""
England (r)
is
kept
as a consonant " often trilled "
eveiy-
where,ia/ar,/ar
6aei,as well as in
/or away.
LAWS
OF SOUND-CHANGE.
716. Sound-changes
fallunder two main classes" internal
and external.
716. Internal
changes
are either
organic
or acoustic.
Organio changesare
due to the natural tendencies of the
organs
of
speech,
as
in the
change
of OE stdn into Mn"
sioru
through
the neural
tendency
to
pronounce
a back vowel
without
opening
the mouth
fully,
and
so to round it.
717. Aoouatio
changesare
the resultof the
impressions
which sounds make
on
the
ear,
as when one sound is substituted
for another because of their likeness to the
car :
thus
children often make
Ihrough(jjtuw)
into
(fruw),
and
point(r)
is
changed
into back
(;)
in French and other
languages.
These are imitative
changes.
718. Ertemal
changes are
those which
are
independent
of
organic
and acoustic tendencies. Thus the
change
of
T,Goo(^le
I yai.]
LAWS OF SOUND-CHANGE.
239
Spake
into
spoke
in Mn" is not the result of
any
tendency to
change
a
into
o
in
Mn",
but of the influence of the
preterite
participle spoken(589).
719.
Internal
changes
are
further
distinguished as
iscd"tive
and combinative. iBolative
changes,
such
as
that of 0" "
into MnE
6,
affecta sound without
regard
to its
surroundings,
while in oombmative
changes one
sound is modified
by
another one
close to
it,as
in the
change
of ME
(au)
in row
into MnE
(s33)through(s3u)
cff
(sou).
Here
ve have two
distinctcombinative
changes
:
firstthe
rounding
of the
(a)
by
the influence of the
following(u),
and then the
towering
of
the
high (u)
tillitis
merged
into the
(a).
We
see that the
influence of
one
sound
on
another is either
baaicvards, as
in the change
of
(au)
into
(du),
or
fOTvarda, as in the
change
of
(au)
into
(00).
720.
All combinative
changesare, besides,
either
convergent
or
divergent Convergent
changes, as
of
(au)
into
(ou)
are organic,being
due to the
tendency
to
save trouble
by making
the
passage
from
one
sound to another
as short
and
easy
as possible.
Complete
c"Hivergence
or
aasiniilation in
diphthongs
makes them into
monophthongs,as
when
(au)
becomes
(03),
and in this
case
is called
Bmoothuig.
721.
Divergent changes
are
oilen
partlyacoustic,
being
due to
the
striving
for
distinctness, as
when the half
diphthong
(ou)
in MD
is made into full
(au)
in
Cockney
E. But
oleaving, by
which a
long
vowel is made into
a
diphthong,
is
an
isolative
organicchange
;
itconsists
generally
in
forming
the firsthalf of the vowel with
greateropenness
"
either of
the mouth-
or
the
lip-passage"
than the second. We
see
the
beginning
of
cleaving
in the ".
change
of
(ii, uu)
into
(ij, uv),
vhicb
by divergence
could
easily
become
(ei,ou) or
(si,du)
and then
(ai,au).
.
733.
We
see
from all these
changes
that even the most
violent
changes
" such
as
that of
(ii)
into
(ai)
"
are the
reÎt
340
PHONOLOGY.
[\713.
of
"
number of
very
slightchanges
" that
sound-changes,
like all other
changes
in
language,are
gradual. Organic
BOund-changesare mainly
the result of
carelessness, by
which the
speaker
failsto hitthe
exact
position
for
forming
a sound, or laziness,
as
in combinative
changes.
738. The losa of sounds or
sound-dropping
is the result
partly
of
laziness, partly
of the sound's
indistinctness, aa
in
the
frequentdropping
of weak
vowels,or evea syllables, as
in the familiar
iâ")=
because;partly
of
economy,
or the tendency
to
get
rid of
superfluous
distinctions. Thus
tmg
was
pronounced (siijg)
in
ME,
but
as
(ij)occure
only
before
(g)
and
(k),
the
(g)
could be
dropped
without
confiiung (siij)
with
(sii)k)
sink,
and
so
the
superfluous(g)
has been
dropped
inMnS.
OLD-ENGLISH SOUNDS.
Ortht^fraphy.
924.
The
Anglo-Saxonsbrought
with them to
England
theirnational Runic
alphabet,
which was
founded
on one
of
the Old Greek
alphabetsor possibly
the Latin. On their
conversion to
Christianity theyadopted
the Latin
alphabet
in its British
form,to which
they
afterwards added the
two
Runic letters
^=fh
and
p=u'.
In the British-Latin
alphabet
" and
consequently
in the OE
alphabet
as
well" severalof
the lettershad
peculiar
forms,
g
for instance
being
written
;.
798.
Each letterof the Latin
alphabet
was used to denote
die OE sound
nearest to that which the letter had in the
pronunciation
of British
Latin,
which
was more
archaic than
diatof the Continental Latia
7M. Spelling
in OE
was purelyphonetic
:
the OE scribes
wrote as theyspoke,
as far as
the defects of their
alphabet
would allow them to do
so.
787'
In thisbook
we supplement
the defectivedistinctions
T,Goo(^le
i Jig.i
OLD ENGUSH.
141
of the OE
orthographyby addingdisicrittcs,
which
gives
the
following new letters "
"",g,
i,
g,
3,etc.,(")denoting
vowel-
lengUi.
Froniinoiatioii
.
738. The vowels had the
same
sounds
as
in
our
phonetic
notation,
the unmodified vowels
being
all close
except
a.
o={a),
as
ia/aran
'
go,'
'
travel
'; long
in sidn
'
stone.' e=
close
(e),
as
in
eUta
'
eat
'
;
loi^
in mi
'
me.' There was also
an
open e,
which
we write
f,
as
in
Mfie
'
food.' t= close
(i),
as
in wtian
'know';
long
in
win
'wine.' i;=cIose
(o),as
in God
'God'; long
in
god 'good.'
There
was
also
an
open
broad
0,
which
we
write
f
,
as
in
Ipng 'long,'
u=
close
(u),
as
in
jwiu
'
son
'
;
long
in hits
'
house.'
j'=close
(y)as
in
sytm
'
sin
'
;
long
in
Jj/r
'
fire,' The letter
_"-
thus
preserved
in OE its
original
Latin and Greek sound of
French
u;
thus the Greek word AHmnos
'l^'mn' was
Im- ported
into Latin in the form of
iymnus"ihe
y
beingsimply
a
tailed Greek
"" which,
again,
was
imported
into OE In
the form of
jimm,
the first vowel
having
the
same
sound
in allthree
languages. a={x),
as
in
/ixder
'
father
'
;
long
in halan
'
heal,'
ee had the sound of close
(oe),
as
in blatstan
'
bless
'
;
loi^
in
/xi
'
feet' The
diphthongs
ea,
a"
had the
stress on
the first
element,
which
was
open
"
=(Ee)
" in
az,
ia
('aea, 'sEea^
close in
to,
to ('eo, 'eeo)
:
heard
'
hard,'dead
'
dead
'
;
eor^
'
earth,'deop
'
deep.'
In ie the two
elements
were originally pronounced separately,
but in
ordinary
West-
Sazon the
diphthongwas
smoothed into
open
(1),
as
in uUra
'
older,'
'
elder
'
;
long
in hieran
'
hear.'
739, The
following
consonants
require
notice.
f=(k),
as
in
cetu
'
bold.'
i={o),resembling
in sound
our
cA=(tJ),
as
in dt'riie
'
church.' These two sounds
are sometimes
distinguished
in the
manuscriptsby writing
A for the back-
consonant, as
in
iene,
and
keeping
c to denote the front
sound,
g
when not initialwas pronounced {%),
as
in
di^qt
T01~t
"
343
PHONQLOGV.
[|
730.
'days,'hnrg 'dtj,'hdlga
'sunt,*
except
in the combination
tig,
which
was
pronounced (i)g),
as
in
long
'
long,'
UHgoH
'
sing.'
^
in the combination
tg
was a
front
stop,
this
combination
having
the sound
(liq),
as
in
tfngoH
'
nnge,'
where the OE
g
has
a
sound
very
amilar to that of
die MnE
g
in
tinge, eg
had the sound
(qq),
as
in
hry^
*
bridge,' where, again,
the 0" soimd
closely
resembles the
(djjj
of
hridgt',
the r ID
this
digraph
is intended to indicate
the Iront
sound,
the less
frequent (gg) being
generally
written
gg,
as
in
/rogga
'
frog.'
Initial
^
also
had the sound
(q),
but
seems
also to
have been
pronounced
(j)
:
geard
'
yard,'
'
court,'
gemimtn
'
taken.' Non-initial
g
had the sound
(j),except
in the comUnations
ng.ig ;
dag
(day), s{g"^
'
says,' hgrgian
'
ravage.'
730.
j;=(ks),
but in
many
words it was
originally
pro-
ootmced
(zs),
as
in
vxoxoh 'grow.'
TSL /,*,J"
had the voice sounds
(v,
x, B)
between vowels
and between
r,
I and
vowels,as
in
drifait
'
dnvt,'
_îMan
'
freexe,' eor^
'
earth.'
789.
Inidal A had the same sound
as
in ".
iw, as
in Mmt
'
white,'=(wA).
So also
il,hr,
hi
represented
the vcaceless
sounds of
(1, i,
n)respectively, as
in h"d
'
tosd,'
Jiraig
'
ring,'
Amu/u 'nut' In Aw etc the A and the
w were
originally
pronounced separately.
Non-initial A"
'strong
A' " had
the sound of
(x)
in Scotch
iocA,as
in
fiurA
'
through
'
;
in
some
words it had the sound of
(()
in German
icA,
especially
after
a
front
vowel,as iagrtiA^'sig^t.'
7S8. r was
always
trilled, as
in Scotch,
e, g,
te
were
|"t"nouncedclearly
before consonants in such words
as
cnaojati 'know,'
gnagan
'gnaw,'
wrikm
'
write,'
lolae 'tuke-
734.
DouUe consonants were pronounced double, or
long,
as
in
maun
'
man
'
" distinctfrom
grman
'
I
remember,'
where the
n was quite
short "
tiiHne
'
sun
'
(the
mh as
in
feit-
ifiift)
distinctfrom
stum
'
son.'
T,Goo(^le
k
740.]
OLD ENGUSB.
243
Streaa.
786.
In OE the
generalprinciple
of word-stt^BS
is to
put
the
strong
stress on
the first
syllable
of
a word, as
in -jisias
'
fisiies,' -fiiiere
'
Gsher,'ryhhmi
'
rightlywise,'
'
righteous,'
"misdad
'
misdeed.'
786.
In
sentences,
form-words and words of subordinate
meaning
generally
had weak
stress,
as
in
Mn"; conjunctloiis,
such as and
'
and,'prepo^tions,
such
as
o/"
'
of,'
'
off,' on
'
on,'
and
many
other
particles
had weak
stress,
as
also
many
of
the
pronouns,
such as ";
'
I,'including
the definitearticle
"
'
the.' So also in
separate
words the inflectional and derivative
elements were
subordinated in
stress to the
body
of the
word.
787-
The stress of full-words themselves
was
often subordinated
to
that of other full-words. In OE
an adjunct-word
is
generally
put
before the
noun
it
modifies,
and takes
a
stroller
stress
than its
head-word,as in
the
combination
adjective
or
genitive -(-noun :
-god:mann 'a
good
man,'
-godt
:ddda
'
good deeds,'-J"as-cyninga
:sunu
'
the
king's
son.'
788.
In
compounds
the
same
principle was
followed: the
modifying
word
came first,
and took the chief
stress,
as
in
ryhlivis.
So also the
compound ddmdag 'judgment-day'
had
the same
stress as
ddmes
dag
'
day
of
judgment,'
'
doomsday.'
But there are some exceptionsto this rule of
putting
the
stress on
the firstelement of
compounds :
"
789.
Group-compounds
of
preposition + noun,
such as
the
adverbs
of
dune
'
down," literally
'
off-the-hill,' as in hi iode
of"me
'
he went
down,'
on-hat
'
back,'
Uterally
'
on-the-back,'
iO'dag
'
today,' were
of
course
originally independent
word-
groups
inwhich the
prepositions were without stress in accordance
with the
generalrule,so
that the stress
necessarily
fell
on
the
succeeding
noun.
740.
Adverbs of fulland distinct
meaning
are treated like
adjectives
as
regardsstress, taking
strong
stress when followed
244
PHONOLOGV.
["
741.
by
another word with which
they
form
a
group,
aa
in "wide
ge.tutu
'widelyseen,'
'seen far and wide'
[compare
the
compound wideuP 'widelyknown].
So also when a verb
follows, as
in -inn 'îkn
'
go
in,'
-^ ntandan
'
stand
by,'
'
help.'
But ifthe verb
precedes,
ittakes the
principal
stress :
ii 'iode
:ittn
'
he went
in,'
ii -ttod Urn Hi
'
he
helped
him.' When
these
particles precede
their
verbs,they
are
felt
to form com-
poimda
with them
through
the
group
having
the same stress as
compounds
in
general,
so
that
we
may
write these
groups
as
single
words "
inngdti,
bislandan. But
as
these
{articles are,
as
we
see,
liableto be
separated
from their verbs in other
constructions,
we
callthem
MpBFftble particles.
741.
But if these
particles are compounded
with nouns or
adjectives
instead of
verbs,they
cannot
be
shifted,
as
in
"trmgang
'going
in,'
'entrance,'bUpell'by-tale,' 'parable,'
whose elements
can no more
be
separated
than those of
ryhtwis,
etc
742.
In OE there is also
a
class of
inseparable particles,
such
ax/cr-ia/orgie/an
'
forgive,'
which has
no
connection
with the
preposition /or
'
for,'never occurring
as an
independent
word. These
inseparableparticles ought
strictly
speaking
to be
regardedas
derivative
elements,
likethe un-
in
"urKu}"'unknown,'
but
as
many
of them lost their
independence
only
at a
comparatively
recent
period
in
OE,
it is
aUowable to
Tt^nA for-gie/an, eta,
as compounds.
The inseparable
prefix
în
^'f///a"
'
beset
'
is,indeed,
the same
word
as
the
preposition
be
'
by,'althou(^they
have
diverged
in
meaning.
748.
While abstract nouns compounded
with
inseparable
particles
throw the stress on to the
particle
in the usual
way,
as
in
"forv^rd
'
destruction,' parallel
to
inngang,
the
corresponding
verbs take the stress on
the verb
itself,
as
in
/br-
"weorpan 'perish,' forgiefan.
This
shifting
of
stress
is
often
accompanied by phoneticweakening
of the
particle
;
thus to the
strong
form of the
prefix
in
"btgaag'going
T,Googlc
I
"?.]
OLD BNGUSH.
145
round,''cultivation,' 'worship'corresponds
the weak bein
began'go
round,''cultivate,'
etc.,iesiftan.
The
explanation
of this is
that/oroiyrd, Hgang, inngang,etc,
were
inseparablecompounds already
in Parent
Germanic,at a
time when
forweorPan,
etc. were
still
separable compounds
like
inn-gOa.
At that time the two elements of
forwtor^ftut
etc could stand in
any
order,
and the
principal
stress could fell
eitheron the
particle or
the
verb,according
as
the
one or
the
other was the more
emphatic.
After a
time,
some of the
prefixes,
such
as
for-,
became
vague
in
meaning,
so that
they
lost not
only
their stress but their
independence.
Quantity.
744.
Long
vowels inweak
syllables were shortened in
OE,
as
in
btgSn(748).
745.
On the other hand short final
strong
vowels
were
lengthened,
as
in hud
'who,'^
'thou'=GerDianic
hwa,J"u.
Hence the short vowel of the unstressed article
se
in
-u
mann
'
the
man
'
is
lengthened
when the word is used in the
sense of
'
he,'as
in 'ti -Jie
'
he
who.'
746.
In
Anglian,
short vowels were
lengthened
before
vowel-like consonants
followed
by
another consonant "
'group-lengthening'
"
as
in d/i 'old,'
le"g 'long,'
hima
'blind,'
dumb
'dumb'="arly
West-Saxon
eald,Igng,long
blind,
dumb. These
lengthenings
appear
also in Late West-
Saxon.
Vowels.
747. A (^, "i
ea.
These vowels all
correspond
to
Germanic
a,
still
preserved
m Modem
German;
thus OE
mann,/ader,
heard=GeTiBxa
mann,
vaier,hart.
Germanic
a
in the Oldest K
was keptonly
before
nasals, as
in
mann,
hand, long. Everywhere
else it was fronted to
(E,
as
in
v)at
'
was,'acer
'
fiekJ,'
fader.
Before
'
group
r
and
/,'
that
is,
before r
and / foUowed
by
a
consonant,
and before
strong
h the
voice-g^de(9)
was developed,as
in ".
(hidriij) "
711,
which afterwardB
by phoneticdivergencedeveloped
into full
94^
PHONOLOGY.
[|74S.
(a),as
in
heard,earm
'
arm
'
; fall,
eald
'
old
'
; ge-seah
'
saw,'
eakia
'eight,' vxaxan
(7S0).
Before
a back vowel in the
next
syllable a became the back vowel
a,
as
in
dagas
'
days,'
dagum
'
to
days
'
dat,compared
with
dag
'
day,'
gen.
dagtt.
These
arc the West-Saxon forms. In
Anglian a
before
nasals became
^~as
also often in
Early
West-Saxon " and
a
before
group
/ became
a,
so
that the
Anglian
fonns
are
vîtn,
^nd (746),l"Hg
;
heard,
etc.
;
all,
Old
(746).
748.
i,e,
eo.
In
Germanic, e before
group-nasals
became
i,
whence 0" iindan
'
bind,'singan
'
sing
'
compared
with
AeôH 'help.'
In OE itself
e
also became i before
single
nasals, as
in m'lnan
'
take
'
compared
with t^lan
'
steal.* The
vowel in such words as wilan
'
know
'
isGennanic and Aiian
i. In OE e before
group
r became eo much in the
same
way
as a became ea (747),as
in sUorra
'
star,'
eorpe.e,
1 became
eo,
10
before
a
back "
especially a
back round " vowel in the
next
syllable,
as
in
hetfon
'
heaven,'
cliopian
'
call,'
the forais
ht/im, clipian
also
occurring.
For the
chai^
of weak eo into
m, 0,
aa in
{e)amêom
'
am,'
sec "1067.
748.
a,
o-
In
Germanic, 0
became
u
before
group-nasals,
and in OE itself
o
became
u
before
singlenasals,
whence OE
gebunden
'
bound
'
compared
with
geholpen
'
helped,'
genumm
'
taken
'
compared
with
gesiolen
'
stolen.' In such
a word
as
sutm
'
son,'
the
u s are
Germanic and Arian.
760.
The Germanic vowel
a
is
preserved
in
West-Saxon,
as
in
/^
'
danger,'q/im
'
evening,'
being
narrowed to
"
in
Anglian
and
Kentish-;/%r, ên.
Mutation.
781.
Mutation isthe influence exercised
by
a vowel on the
vowel of
a precedingsyllable, by
which the firstvowel is
modified in the direction of the second
one.
Thus in OE
gecoren
'
chosen
'=
Old
High
German
gtkoran,
compared
with
T,Goo^lc
S7S3.]
OLD ENGUSH.
^47
OE
curtm
later
evrott
'
\bey
chose,'u
has been lowered to o
by
a.
This is therefore
an
n-mutation
of
".
76S. But the most
important
mutations in OE arc the
trtrnt
mutations,
caused
by
Germanic i and
/,
which after
they
bad caused the mutation were
generally
lost
or modified
in OE. In these mutations the influence of the t
otj
on the
vowel
was not direct
;
the " or J
firstfront-modified the
precedii^consonant,
which in its
turn influenced the
pre-
cedii^ vowel;
thus OE
fnJe
'end'
from Germanic andio
passed through
the
following
stages:(an/'d/l, m/'4n), ptdi,
fnde.
In most cases
these firontedconsonants
were
un"onted
after
they
had modified the
precedingvowel,as we see
in the
case otfndt.
But the fronted
c
and
g
" which
we
write
i,g
"
were kept,
as
in
iw/i'Aj
'
exiled
man,'
whidi is
our
MnE
word
wretch,compared
with
wraat
'
state of
exile,' wrecan
'
drive,'
si^"m
'
say'compared
with
sagu
'
saying,'
'
saw.'
758.
The
following are
the mutations in their
Early
West-
Sason forms
:
"
e
. . .
t ieran
'
carry,' lirej"
(Oldest
E.
birip)
'
carries'
;
cwefian
'
say,'
nut
A
(Oldest
E.
cwidx)
'
saying,'
'
speech.'
b(b)...^ /aran
'
go,'
'
trvtl,'
/frioH
'
coavey'
;
mamt
'
man
'
mftm
(Germanicmatmi)
'
men.'
A
"
fi. isl
'whole,''sound,'
iaiait
'heal';
Jn
'one,'
an^
'
any.'
This
'
mutation
d
'
remains in the
non- West-
Saxon
dialects,
which
change
Gennanic d into
e. For
convenience
we
will in future
distinguish
the
West-Saxon
Gennanic d
by writing
it
",
as in
"/m
contrasted with
hdlam. Mutated Germanic d
remains
unchanged
in West-
Saxon, as
in Jê
'physician' (Oldest
E.
ifet),
rfrfrf'deed'
(Germanicdddt),
and becomes ^ in the odier dialects
: liie,
did.
60,
SO
"
le. eald
'
old,'
ieldra
'
older,'
nieii
(Germanic
tuMi)
'
night
'
;
^tord
'
herd
'
iitrdt
'
shepherd,'
In Late
T,Goo(^lc
248 PHONOLOGY.
[(
T54.
West-Saxon this
w becomes
_""
or
"':
yldra,mht, hyrdt.
In
Anglian
the
one
ie
appears
as
^,
the other as 1';
fWa, (idra,
n^kt;
hirdi
(OldestAnghan hirdi).
da, eo
. . .
Ie.
gelia/a
'
belief/
gelie/an
'
believe,' /afu
'
increase
'
(noun),
eac
'
alao/ietati
'
to increase
'
;gtiion
'
see,'
^m"w'
visible.'Kin Late West-Saxon
becomes_y,i:^"^^f^,
Uan,getynt.
In the other dialectsitbecomes
":
gelifan,iian,
gesiru.
u
. . . y.
Jul!
'
full,' gefyllaa
'
to
fill,'
eyning
'
king.'
_"-
in
Late Kentish becomes e
by lowering
and
imrounding,
as
in
gefillan.
u
. . . $. fw^
'
known,' epjian
'
proclaim,' mus
'
mouse,'
mjii
'
mice.'
y
becomes
e
in Late
Kentish,as
in
tnes.
O
.
. .
ca.
dohlor
'
daughter,'
dat. daskitr.
a was unrounded
into e
in Late
OE,
the
change beginningalready
in
Early
West-Saxon
: dthler. As Germanic
0 became
u
before 1'in
the
same
way
as e became 1'
(768),
"
is the most usual 0"
mutation of
o,
as
in
gold
'
gold,' gylden(older guldirC)
'
golden,'
fox
'
fox,'
j^xm
'
vixen.'
6
...
a.
/oda
'
iooA,'
/Sdan
"
feed,'
/SI
'
ioot,'
Ja/
'feet*
S afterwards became
#,
the
changebeginning
in
Early
West-
Saxon
: fedan,/it.
Consonant Influemck.
764.
In West-Saxon the front
glide
between
i,g
and
a
foUowing
vowel often
developed
into
a
fulle
forming
a
diphthong
v.ith
the vowel.
766,
6bb-,gss- passed through(cjae,
ce'se,
qjse,
qe-se)
and
then
by phoneticdivergence
and
stress-shifting (ce'a,
cea,
etc.)
into
iea-,gea-,
as in stetd
'
shall,'
geqf
'
gave
'
[compare
(wcb/i
'said']
= non-West- Saxon
stcei, gaf.
This ta was
mutated into ie in West-Saxon in such words as the
noun
HtU
'
chill
'
compared
with calan
'
be
cold,'gies/
'
stranger,' [compare
German
îW/]=non-
West-Saxon
("//*,
gfst.
760. 6A-,^"-
became
iea-,gia-,
as
in
siiap
'
stieep' giôn
T,Googlc
I
763.]
OLD ENGLISH.
349
'
they
gave
'
[compare
cwddm
'
they
said
']
=
non- West-Saxon
step,
iifon.
767. 6e-itfi-
became
iit-, git-,
as
in Hitld
'
shield,' gitfan
'give' [compareoo^^]
= non- West-Saxon
siild,said,
gefan.
7S8. Through
Bimilar
chaiêa
g
followed
by
a
diphthong
in West-Saxon often
corresponds
to
Gennanic/
which in
OE
seems
to have been made into the
stop
consonant
(q),
as
in
gear
'
yew
'
Anglian
ger, geoe
'
yoke,'
geotig
'
young,'
compared
with German
yjAr {=GcnniDicJar),joci,Jatig,
768.
In
Anglian,
the back
consonants
e,
ft,
g
smooth a
pre-
ceding diphthong,
ta became
a,
as
in
gesah,waxan^
non-Anglian(West-Saxon
and
Kentish) /"j^"iA, weaxan. to
became
e,
as xafehian
'
fight,'
iwwc
'
work
'
(noon)
"
where,as
is often the
case,
the influence of the back consonant
passes
through
an intervening
vowel-like
consonant
" = West Saxon
feohlan,
wtorc.
ia,
to
became
^,
as
in
nr, ^^
'
eye,'
MH
'
high,'
fiigan
'to
fly'=West-Saxon iac,
eagi,
hiak,fiesgan.
760. w
often
changesa following to
into
0 or
",
especially
In Late
OE, as
in swtot/or
'
sister,'
later
swustor,
itatord, tword,
rwurd
'
sword.'
Ootuonuita.
761.
In OE A between vowels or
between vowel-like
consonants
and vowels was
dropped,
often with
lengthening
of the
preceding
vowel,as
\a/urh'hjrrow,' dat.
plur./"rwB,
Wtalk
'
foreigner,'
'
Welshman,' plur, Wealat, Weaias,
"
Wttliti
"Welsh.' When two vowels came
together
in this
way,
they
were
often made into
a
diphthong,
as
in
gesion
'
see
'
from
'gtseohan[compare
^wûA
'saw'].
76S. Open
g, g
became h before
a
breath
consonant,
as
in
byht
'
bending
'
[6ugan
'
bend
'].
768.
Final
open g
was
also unvoiced in Late
West-Saxon,
as
in IroA
'
trough,'
gtndh
'
enough,'
terA=earlier
lrog,gtneg,
burg.
a5o
PHONOLOGY.
[1764.
704. r
is often
transposed,
as
in iervan
'
nin
'
" the
("iginal
form
beingpreserved
in
gerinmrn
'
run
together,'
'
coagulate
'
"
especially
in Late
Northumbrian, as
in
Jnrda
'
third
'
=
West-Sazon
pridia
[compare
prio
'
three
'].
766.
3
is often
transposed
in the same
way,
as in Late
West-Sazon dxtoH
'
ask,'eirft
'
curly
'
=:earlier
Staan, eritp.
766. r
in
some words does not
correspond
to Gennaoic
r
but
to a
Germanic modificationof
s,
as
in wSron
'
were
'
compared
with
tvat
'
was,'
gecoren
'
chosen,'
eyre
'
choice
'
compared
with êotaii
'
choose.' So also
g
and d often
represent
Germanic modifications of A and
P respectively, as
in
cwddoH,
cvBtds
compared
with
ewefioM,sUtgen
'
struck,'
shga
'
slayer
'
compared
with tliaa
[from"j/eaAnw]
'
strike,'
'
kill.' These
changesare
the resultof weak stress of the
syllable containing
s,
J",
h in
Early
Germanic. Hence
we
call the
resulting
r
'weak r' to
distinguish
it from r=Ger-
manic
r,
and so
with the other
consonants.
767.
"
in the combinations
tp,djr,tp
becomes
t,
to which
a
preceding
d Isassimilated
giving
the combinations
//,st,
as
in
Early
West-Sazon bitt=
htlep
'Utes' and
U^p 'waits,'
iUtt 'chooses' from
tiotan. We
occasionally
find
Pat
lot
written instead of
Pat Pat, showing
that consonants in
separate
words
were
assimilated,
pmtk
'that'
(conjunction)
is
regularly
written
so,
being equivalent
to
paipt.
768. Double consonants in 0" often
represent
a Germanic
single
consonant
+y,
as
in
sillan
'
give
'
sl^poH
'
injure,'
sfUan
'
set
'=Gothic
saljan, skaân,satjan,
the
singleconsonant
appearing
in such forms as
s(Iep, stiPep, sfUp
'
he
gives,'
etc.,
which
point
to older 'salip, etc. Germanic
^f.gj^fj
appear
in 0"
respectively
as
ti, ^
and
M, as
in
wrgua
*
one
exiled,'
Ifegan
'
]a.y,' if
66cm
'
raise
'
compared
with
wraeti
'
Etote of
exile,' /ag
'
he
lay,' Aa/in
'
raised' Germanic
fy,
on
the other
hand,
appears
as
ri in
OE,
as
in
dorian
'
injure
'
[cp.
daru
'
injury'].
769.
In OE itself
c,t,p
att often doubled before
r
and
/,
"
770.1
OLD ENGLISH.
%^\
as
in
Mier,
Utter
'
bitter
'
[q),
ii/an
'
bite
'], esppel
'
apple
'
[cp.
apulder
'
apple-tree '],nAdrt,
n"ddre
'
serpent,' /od(d}or
'
food
*
;
and in the laterforms mmit
plur.
of miêt
'
great,"
dioppraadj., deopper
adv.
'
deeper.'
GteadstUm.
770.
By gradationwe
understand certdn traditional
connections
between the vowels " most
clearly
shown in the
conju-
'
gation
of the
'
strong
'
verbs" which enable
us
to
classify
them nnder the
followinggradatioiL-seriM:
"
a...O.
.ôff'proceed.'/^-'proceeded'jySr'journey,'
ge/ara,^tfira
'
companion.'
e
(i,eo). . .
a
(te,ea)
. . .
u
(o).
windan
'
wind,'
wand
'
he
wound,'
wundott
'
they
wound
'
; wptdan
'
turn.' iertm
'
carry,' "xr,
term
;
iyr-J"m
'
burden.'
btorgan
'
prefect,' iearg,
iurgon, geiorgm; beorg
'
mountain,'
htrg
'
fortress,'
'
city,'
dorg 'pledge,' 'security,' borgian
'borrow.'
ft (",eft) .
. .
d. 6ter
'
he
carried,'
bttron
'
they
carried'
;
Air
'
bier.'
tprac
'
he
spoke,' spr"con
'
theyspoke
'
;
sprSi
'speech.'
i
...
ft
...
L wri/ait' wiile'wrdi'ha
wrote,'
writon
'they
wrote
'
;
gewrit
'
writing
'
(nonn). belifan
'
remain
'
;
laf
'
residue,'
'
remains,'
whence
by
mutation
Id/an
'
leave.'
So
(A)...
da
...
n
(o).
iiosan
'
choose,'ieas
'
he
chose,'
ewon
'they
chose,'
^fceren
'chosen';
eyre
'choice.'
Jbr-
leesan
'
lose
'
;
leas
'
devoid
of,'
S-lUsan
'
release
'
;
iondn
'
be
lost,''perish,'Sugan 'bend,''bow,'
biag,bugon,gtbogen;
beag,
'
ring
'
; b(â
'
bow
'
(noun),by^
'
bending.'
These vowel-relationsare
the result of
a variety
of
complicated
chaises
in Germanic and
Arian,
their ultimate cause
being
shifting
of stress and variations of intonation in Parent Arian.
Thus in the
pret. pi.
and
past participles
the root-vowels
were
without stress in Arian
;
hence the short vowels in
'wrilen,curon, 'Coren, -bogen
" and also in
ge%urit,bega,
etc. "
15*
PHONOLQCY.
rt
771.
are
weakenings
of the
diphthongs
and
long
vowels in
wriian,
UosoM, bSgan,
where
they
had fiillstress.
Hence also the weakened vowels are associated with weak
r,g,
d
(760),
as
in
cnron
compared
with Uosoh.
MIDDLE ENGUSH.
771.
In the HE
period
the OE
was
snpenededby
the
Old French
orthograidiy
" Norman at firat,
but afterwards
772.
Old French
orthographywas founded
on
the traditional
prontinciation
of Z^tin
;
bat
by
the time French
was
firstwrittendown "
probably
in the
gtfa
century
" the tradition
of the Old Latin
pronunciation
had been
partially
lost
778.
In the
9th
century
pronunciation
of
Latin,
y
had lost
itsold
value,having
been unrounded into
(i),
and so had
come to be a mere orthografJiic
variant of
1.
So when
Latin
u was fronted to
ijy)
in
French, as
in Itmt
(lyyna)
"om Latin
/wna,
the
" was kept
as the
symbol
of tlie
new
sound
(7).
And when the French
orthography
was introduced
into
England,
the sound of OE
y
was
representedby
u,
which we
write U to
distinguish
it from ME
" = OE
u.
Hence in
early
Southern ME
iwmt
'
sun
'
and
sUnnt
'
sin
'=
OE
synn
were
written alike. In Old French there
was a
diph-
diongw'=(yi),
which in
Anglo-French
was smoothed
into
(yy),
and so was used"
together
with
simpleu " to
express
(yy)
not
only
in French
words,
such v"
fruit,frUi
'
fruit,' but also
in E.
words,
such
as
/ia'r, /Hr
'fire,'
builden 'build'=OE
/yr,
fyldan,dyidan,
774.
y,
being
dius
superfluous,
was almost
completely
disused for
a
time in
Early
M",
but in Late ME "
as
in Late
Old French " it
was writtenin
many
cases instead of
i;
because
D,o,i,7."i.,Goo^le
" 119.]
MIDDLB BNGUSH.
453
i
was
written vitbout
any
dot,
and
so was
liableto be mistaken
for
a
part
of another
letter,
especiallr n, m,
u.
Hence
itbecame nsual to
writer
in such words
as bytidm,
wyuts^
0"
bindan,wifts.
It
also became UBoal to write
""
at the end
of
words,as
in
matiy,
"fiiy=Earty
ME
numi',
d^,
775. In
Eaily
Nonnan French
o
in
many
words had
a
sound between close
(o)
and
(u),
and
as w
represented
the
sound
(y)
as
well
as
(u)
in ME
as
in
French,
it
was
found
convenient to use o
for the sound
(u)
" in which
case we
write it 9"
especially
in combination with such letters
as
k,
m,
u
(= v)
where
u
would
cause
graphicconiiision, as
in cSmen
'come,'
Okie 'love't=OE
ctiman,
lu/ii;
also before
single
consonants followed
by a vowel, as
in iS/e
'but,'
cHrciê
'courage,'
because the earlier ME
spelliiîuie,
curage
seemed to
suggest (yy).
776. In Late Parisian the older
diphthong (ou)
was
smoothed into
(uu),as
in doua
(duuts)
'
sweet,'
and so ou
was
introduced into Late ME
as the
symbol
of
(uu),
as
in
fuHS =
earlierbus = OE hiis
'
house,'
the actual sound remaining
unchanged.
777.
In Late Latin
e was written instead of
ae, oe,
which
fellinto
disuse,
the classical
caelum,
poena,
for
instuice,being
written
edatm,
pena \
and
BO
in Old French
t was
used to
express open
as
weir
as
close
(e),
and this
usage
passed
into
ME. We write the
long
ME
open
sound
/
to
distinguish
^d
'
dead
'
from did
'
deed,'
the latter
having
the close sound.
So also
we
express
the
long
open
o
by ^,
as-
in
st^
'
stone
'
distinguished
from
mmie
'
moon,'
the two sounds not
being
generally distinguished
"
any
more
than the two ee "
in ME
orthography.
The Old French
diphthong
u was smoothed
into close
(ee)
in
Anglo-French,
and
so came to
express
the
latter sound in such words as
mesciie/'tnisch]ei,'Ue/''AeM.'
778.
In Parisian
French,
Latin
c =
(k)
before front
vowels,as
in
eiei, passedthrough(ts)
into
(s).
In
some cases
it
developed
into
(tj),
which combination was
expressedby
"54
PHONOLOGY.
CI
779-
r^ as
in efaai. Latin
"'=(g)
became
'
soft
'
(^)
before front
vowets,as
in
getU
'
exploit
'
from Latin
gesia,
Latin
j
=
(j)
also
developed
into
("^),
as
in/Ei=LatinîiM.
Latin
qv,gv
=(kw, gw) soon dropped
tbdr
(w)
in Old
French,so
that
gu,
gu
came to be
regarded
as symbols
of
'
hard
'
(k,g)
respec-
tivel)', eq)eciaUy
before front
vowels,as
in
quz,
langut
from
Latin
ftS, la^va,
the former
being
also
expressedb^
""h:
770. Hence In ME the old e was
written il before front
vowels,as
in
img, aa
also when
douUed, as
in
^'iie
'
thick,'
aa
beingexpressedby
the
Early
Old French
gu,
as
in
gviiu
'
queen
'
= OE cwin.
c was kept
before back vowels and
generally
before
consonants,
aa
in
amun, eSmai,ciftu
'
clean.'
The ME
development
of OE i
having nearly
the sound
of French
eh,
this
digraph was
nsed to
express
it,as
in
chirclu= OE Hritt.
c =
(s)
was
used
only
in French
words,
such
iafice.
780. In ME the difference in form between the OE
%.
(734)
and the French
g
was
utilized
phonetically.
The
letter
g
was assigned
to
(g),
as
in
god
'
good,'
and the soft
French
j',
as
in
gaU
'
exploit,'
and also to the ME
development
of OE
stopped
g,
which had
nearly
the sound of
(dg),
as in
tengen
'
singe,'briggt
'
bridge
'.= OE
tpigan,
hrycg.
Hard
g
was also
expressedby
the French
^,
as
itstillisin
tmgut
= OE,
lunge,
J
=
(dj)
was
written
only
in French
words,
such
vijuggtn'judge.'
g,
on the other
hand, was
restrictedto the
open
sounds,
both back and
front,as
in
doffs,
âig
= OE
dagos,
gta^,
the lattersound
bdng
afterwards
expressedby
j",
as
in MnE
:
yJhig.young.
761. Afler
mucii
fluctuationOE
strong
h
was
written
gh,
as
in
right,doghkr.
782.
Latin
s
still
kept
its sound
(dz)
in
Early
Old French
" where it
was
also used to
express
(ts),
as
in data
'
sve^' "
and did not become
simple(2)
till
a
later
period
Hence itis
not tilltb" end of the ME
period
that
theybegan
to write s
T,Goo(^le
S 786.1
MIDDLE ENOLISfT.
"55
instead
of f =
(t)
in ".
words,as
in wikU
"
weazel,'
generally
written
weselt.
788. The Latin sound
(w),
wbich
was
expressed
indifferently
bj
the
angular
v or
the round
v,
became
(v)
in Old
French,
the old
symbol being kept,
so
u,
v became the
symbol
of voiced
OE/in ME, as
in
luve = OE
iu/it.
The
sound
(w)
was
introduced
again
into Old French from Old
German in such words
as warie,
from Oid Low German
warda
(=
OE vxard
'
custody'), developing
into
(gw),
later
(g)
in Parisian"
^Mzriilf.
In those Old French dialectswhich
kept
German
(w)
itwas
expressedby
two
angularus joined
together,
whence
we
stillcall the
ligature
'
double u.' In
ME
to soon
superseded
the OE
p
(724).
As
iv
in OE tnSw
'snow'
was
practically
an
(u),
in ME
w came into
general
use
in
diphthongs, as
in
snow,
kcnoÔE.
hu,
the
^k'^(uu)
in
the latter
beingonlya
written
diphthong.
784.
The other Runic letter
p was
used
throughout
the
M"
period,
but the
digraph
th
soon came
into
use to
express
the voice
as
well
as the breath sound of
J",
as
in
hrjPen,
brtfhm
(br""n)
'
breathe,'hr^p,
hretk
(br"f")
'
breath,' In
Old French fk
was written
only
in teamed
words,
proper
names, etc.,
and had the sound
(t),
which itoften
kept
in ME
as well;we
still
pronounce
such words
as
Thomas with
a
(t),
as
in ME. Old French
ph={^
was also used
only
in
learned words and
names, y being
often substitutedfor it
;
it
was used in ME in such learned words
as
phisik
'
physic,'
also written
^Mi.
BtrOM.
785. In ME the
noun-
and
adjective-prefixes al-,mit-,
im-
throw the stress forward,as
in
atmihli,mtfded, untup
'
unknown
'=0E
'ahiikl^,"misd"d,
-uncup.
786-
In Old French the stress
generally
fell
on
the
same
syllable
as
in
Latin,as
in
iuriure= Latin nd-luram.
Through
2^6
PHONOLOGY.
[\ ;87.
the
dropping
of final L^n
syllables
many
French
words
thus
came
to have the stress on
the last
syllable, as in
onour
=ko-norem,prle=pietaltm.
When firstintroduced into ME
French words
kept
their
original
stress :
nd'/Sre,
irtiur,piti;
but such words afterwards threw the stress back
on to the
first
syllable by
the
analogy
of the native ".
worda,
sach
as
'fader
^
"ioii, becoming -natUn, etc.
787.
In
longer
French
words,
where it would have been
inconvenient to throw the
stress back to the first
syllable,
it
was
drawn back from the end to the middle of the
word, as
in
tSsereyneli,
con'dicioun
(kon'disiuun)
and the other words
in -ioun =: Latin -ierum.
788.
Many
words of French
origincompounded
with
particles,
such
as a-vow
(a'vun), de/mse,dis-fse (dis'fras), keep
their
original
stress
by
the
analogy
of native words such as
a'fiseH,
becumen.
Quantity.
78B.
The first
quantity-change
that took
place
in
ME
was
the
lengthening
of OE short
consonants after
a
short
strong
vowel,so
that OE in
'
in
'
and itm
'
dwelling
'
were
levelledunder the latterform
;
and
as
it
was no
longerneces- sary
to
mark the
distinction,
the OE double consonants were
written
single, as
in
al,
"ja"=OE
tail,mann.
But double
consonants before vowels
were
kept
in ME in
pronunciation
as
well
as
spelling,
so that,
for
instance,
""""
'sun'=OE
tumu was kept
distinctfrom
time
'
son
'=0"
simu,
these two
words never
rhyming
on one another in veiê.
780.
The OE
group-lengthenings
were kept
up
in
ME, as
in
gld,Igrtg, ilind,dumi,
doumb^ Old
Anglian 3!d,Igng,Blind,
dOmb. Otherwise OE
long
vowels
were generally
shortened
before two
consonants,
as
in
atkien,
wisdom
[compare
ME
HW
'wise'], ktpte'kept'
pret.
= OE
ascian,wudom, cipte.
But
length
was
often
preserved
before
tt,
as
in
l^d
'
least,'
prist
'prieBt'=OE lasl,preotL
T,Goo^le
} ?94-l
MIDDLE ENGLISH.
457
la the transition irom ME to Mn" the
long
vowels before
ng
and mb
were
shortened,
whence MnE
long,
young
0^)f
dumb
compared
with old
(ould),
blind
(blaind).
Hence also
OE
-one,
-gac appears
as
-tmk in
MnE,
while OE
-ang,
-gng
appears
as
'("^,35
in /nMJoOEA/anf
compared
vnX^
lang-'OE
long.
791.
In Late ME shortvowels before
a
angle
consonant
followed
by
another vowel
were lengthened,
as
in
ndme, mfte
'meat,'brgkm
'
broken
'=Early
ME
name,mel",ihroken=0'E.
noma,
mitt,gelrocm.
We callthese
lengtiiened
vowels
'
new-
Ibngs'
as
opposed
to the
'old-longs'
in such words as win
'wine'=OE vm.
But the
high
vowels
t, H,
u were never
lengthened,
as
in torittn
'
written,'
dilde
'
did,'titne = OE
geiorilen, ^di, sunu.
793.
Vowels
were not
lengthened
in fiiul
strong
syllables,
as
in
smal,swan,jiqf'gAve'
God=ÔE
smal,swan,gea/,
God,
because the finalconsonants
had
already
been
lengthened
(789).
798-
Short vowels
are
often
preserved
in Late
as
well
as
Early
ME before a single
consonant
followed
by
the full
vowel
1,
as
in
mani,
pent,
bodi,
or
weak e
+ a
vowel-like
consonant
(r,
1,
n, m),
as in
hamer,/eler, coper;
sadil,hovel;teven,
troden,
allof which stillhave short vowels in Present
English.
This iscalled
baok-flhoitoning. Originally long
vowels
are
sometimes back-shortened in
ME, as
in
laper
from OE
lidpor.
But there
are
several
exceptions
to the
generalprinciple
of
back-shortening, as inLate ME
aker,cradel, slglm
= OE
(Bcer,
tradol,geslolen.
The
eicplanation
of back-
shortening
is that the
lengthening
is shiftedfrom the
strong
vowel to the final i or the vowel-like
consonant, just
as
in Present
English
pity
is often
lengthened
"
into
(p,UO [M4].
Vowels.
794. In ME the OE weak vowels
are generally
levelled
under
e,
especially
when final
:
ME
name,
beren,
stinesiOE.
258
PHONOLOGY.
W 705.
nama,
beran,sunu.
There
was a tendency
to
drop
weak
e
altogelher
after
another weak
sellable,
as
in
Iddi,
'
lady'
from
OE
hUfdigt.
796-
Many
words which in OE end in
a
consonant,
take
final
e
in
ME,
which
they
get
from the OE inflected
forms;
thus ME
qtiint'queen'
comes not from the OE
nom.
sing.
twin,
but from the
ace.
sing,cwene, plur.
nom.
cwtna,
etc.
Other
examples
are
sinne
'
sin,'
dale
'
valley,'
iede
'
prayer
'
= OE
synn,
dml,gebed,plurals
synna,
dalu,gebedu.
Such
forms as narzw
'
narrow,'j'^toe
'
y^\]ow'
=
0'Enearu,geolu,
plurals nearwe, geolwe
arose
in the
same
way.
796. a.
In the
strong
vowels the most marked and
earliest
change
isthe
smoothing
of the OE
diphthongs,
shown
in Late ME
hard,sltrrt
'
staî,' ir^d
'
hrend,'dip'deep'=OE
heard,steorra,bread,
deop.
IVt.
In
Early
ME
ea became
{ae),
which
was generally
written
t,
as
in
herd,
wes=GY.
heard,
was.
This broad
(k)
was
then stillfurther broadened to
(a), giving
Late M"
hard,
was.
OE a was kept throughout
in such words
as
man,
farm=^0'".mann,/aran,
ME
a
in such words
as
al,half,
comes
from
Anglianall,half,
not from West-Saxon
tall, heal/.
79s.
i,
H. In North-Thames ". i
corresponds
not
only
to OE
i,
as
in
smip=OS. smip,
but also to
OEj', as
in
sinm,
dide. But
(y)
was
still
preserved
in the Southern
dialect,
as
in
sUtme,
dude,beingrepresented by "
in Middle as
well
as Old
Kentish,as
in
smtu.
The London dialect
generally
has i=
O'E.y,
but
some
words have the
Southern,
and the few the
Kentish forms
:
smne,
biist,
iemel=OE
synn,
bys^ 'occupied,'
cyrtul,'
kernel.' In
some
words
(y)
was
broadened
to
(u),
especially
after
lip-consonants,
as
in ivSrien
'worry,'
mSche
'
much' =iOE
ivyrgan,my
iel,
mieel.
788. e.
OE close
(e)
became
open
(")
in
EarlyME, so
that OE
e
and
/
were
levelled under the latter
sound,
which
we
write
amply e
in
ME, as
in
helpeit, elm,rest,
"wA=OE
helpan,
elan
; r$st,mite.
OE
to
also became
open
e in Late
T,Goo(^le
{ 804.}
MIDDLE
ENGLISH.
259
ME, as
in
trpe,
Aevene. All these
*s are
liableto be
lengthened
in Late ME
(791),
as
in
fien,mf/e.
800.
a.
0"
u was
keptunchanged
in
M", as in
suiu.
801.
o.
OE close
o became
open
in
Early ME, as in
yoli,
noie,
bodien
'
proclaim
'ÔE
^/c,
nosu,
iodian,being
liableto
lengthening
in Late
ME, as
in
ngse, bgdim.
802. The OE
long
vowels
t,e, a, u,
d were
geDerally
preserved
unchanged
in
ME,
/,
a
being
also the
representatives
of
OE/o, ia
respectively (789):mn,kene 'bold,'
(J^,j/'sea,'
hfvtd
'
head,'hiis,hous,god
'
good
'
= OE
win,cent, deop,sd,
hia/od, hus,gdd.
So also
WS.fmdm,fild
'
field,'
Mnd'
dog,'
aw-rf'word'=Anglian/j""fo",_/?W, iund,
word
{lAlB).
i
is sometimes the resultof
raising Anglian
i before
open g
and
fronts,as
in
u
'eye,'
HA
'high
'=01d
Anglian^",;^^,
West-
Saxon
eage,
hiah,
the
open^=(j) being
absorbed. So also
open g
was absorbed in ME
by a
preceding
" or
",
as vafutl
'
bird,'
iuen later iowm
'
bend '=0E
fugol,hugan.
It is
to be observed that ME i
represents
not
only
the common
OE # in
cint,
but also the
Anglian
/= West-Saxon "* and
u,
as
in
ivm
'
evening,' didt
'
deed,'Aeren
'
hear,'
ftent
'
seen
*=
West-Saxon
ên, d"d, kieran,gment.
But
/=""
is
frequent
before and after
r,
as
in
driden
'
dread,'
^p-
'
there,'
iv(ren
'
were
'=
West-Saxon
07fdr"dan,p"r,
w"r"m.
803. In South-Thames E.
a
and H when shortened
pass
througha into
a,
while in Northern not
onlyAnglian
/=t8
but also
a
shorten to
i.
Midland
generallyshowing
the
same
tendency.
Hence such words
as
OE
ht^dige 'lady,'
l"dde
'
led,'
n"ddre
'
serpent,'
otidr"dde
'
feared
'
appear
in Southern
as lavtdi,ladi,ladde,naddre,dradde,
in Northern
as
l"/di, ledi,
ledde,neddre,
drtddt. But Southern has
t
in
some words,
such
a"fiesh=0'Efiasi.
804. OE
a
remained
unchanged
in the Northern
dialect,
as
in
gd 'go,'
iidn=OE
gSn,
sidn.
In South-Thames
".,
and to a
great
extent in
Midland,
itwas
rounded into broad
zSo pmmLOGY.
rt805.
i- gp, itS"-
So also JQ
IptigsÔE. IStig.
This
change
took
place
before the introduction of such French words
as
dame,
eih-age,
which therefore
kept
their
a
in South-Thames E.
as
well as Northern.
SOS.
OEJ)
became i in North-Thames
E.,as
also in the
I^ndon
dialect,
but was
preserved
in the Southern
dialect,
as
in
/iir
'
fire,' kSpen
'
make known
'
= OE
^r, tyl"an,
which also
preserved
Late West-Saxon
j'=older
",
as in
Mrm
'
hear,'
br"im
'
bruise
"
=
Early
West-Saxon
Keran,
brusan. Kentish
kept
its
e,
as in mis 'mice.' fi was
brought
into London E in French words
containing
u,
ui,as
in diu,
eSre,/ruil,/riit ;
when final
or
before
a
vowel itbecame
eu,
as
is shown
hy
such
spellings
as
vertew,
crewel=veriu,
cruel.
806. MoU of the ME
diphthongsare
the result c^ the
weakening
of OE
w
and
open g
and
g
aftervowels,w and
open g
becoming
w,
as
in
d{u, dao,
draueH=0'E
diaw,
dragan,
open^
becoming i',
as
in
K;n'way'=OE
weg.
The
glide
between a back vowel and
a following
h
developed
into
diphthongic
w,
which
was sometimes
written,
sometimes
not,
as
in
iroghte, iroughic
'
brought
'
= OE irvAte. The following
are
the ME
diphthongs:
"
^=0"
te^,
as
in
dai,
saide' s"id'=OE
d"fg,sagde.
ei=OE(g,eg,
sain
wet,
!eide 'laid'
=OEioeg, ligde.
S1=0E
eg,
as
in hit
'hay'=OE heg. ^"=:Anglian
gr^,
West-Saxon
gr"g.
But OE
ig generally
becomes i in
ME
{803).
4i=0E
ag,
as
in
kfie''key'=c^.
oi
occurs
only
in French
words,
such
as/tn'e,
vois.
an = OE
ag,
as
in drauen.
In such words as
laughler
from
Scandinavian hiahtr it is the resultof
glide-development.
In
words
of French
origin
au
corresponds
sometimes to Old
French
au,
as
in
canst,
sometimes to Old French nasal
a
before
a
nasal
consonant,
as
in
chaumbre,
servaunl=.0\i
French chamhre
(tfaamnbra), etc.,
the
spellings chambre, etc
T,Goo(^le
f
808.]
MIDDLE ENGLISH. afil
without
u occurring
also in
ME,
where the
pronunciation
varied between
pure
(aan)
and
(au),
which
was an ", imitation
of the former.
fiii=^0"
im, taw,
as in
nime 'new*=01d
Anglianntime,
West-Saxon inw*. French 6 had this sound in certain
cases
(80S}.
$u=
OE
aw, taw,
as
in
d{u.
ou=OE
ow,
og,
as
in
low,
b"rwe=0'E
tow,iâ.
drt=OE
ow,
as in s/ou
'place,'
blawm
'
bloom '=0E
slow,
ilatvan. In
Early
ME this
diphthong
also resultsfrom
the
development
of
a glide
before
A, as
in induh" also
written inch"
'
enough,'
from OE
ênoh,
earlier
gm^ (768);
this du becomes uu
in late ME
:
ynougk(tnuux).
9U=0E did, ^,
as
in
bl^n
'blow'
(wind),potn
'
own
'
= OE
MSwan,
agen.
807. In the above
description
of the ME
vowel-system,
vowels of
foreignorigin
have been
referred to
only
when
they
offer
peculiarities
of their own. The other vowels
which
were
introduced in
foreign
words were
identifiedwith
the native
vowels,
and went
through
the
same changes
in the
later
periods
of the
language.
Thus
(uu)
in ME
erunt
'
crown,'
where itis of French
origin,
and in dun
'
feathers,'
'
down,'where itisof Scandinavian
origin,
went
through
the
same
changes
as
the
(uu)
in /liis.So also the ME
diphthong
(ei)
in i"6eien
'
obey,'
where it is of French
origin,
and in
Aeileti
'
greet,'
where it is of Scandinavian
origin,
is
entirely
on a
levelwith the native
diphthong
in
wa.
These remarks
apply
also to the consonants.
CoDsonanta.
808. In Old French h
was
silentin most words of T^tln
origin
"
being
oflen
dropped
in
writing
as well as
pronunciation
" but
was always pronounced
in certain words "
a6" phonolouy.
w 809,
mostly
of German
origin
"
which,
of
course, kept
their h
when
imported
into ME both in
spelling
and
pronunciation,
the silent French h
being
sometimes
written,
sometimes
not,
but
never pronounced.
ME bad silentFrench k in such
words
as
onur, honour,hour,
horrible.
809. OE
hr-,hi-,
hn- became voiced in
ME, aa
in
ring,
lud,vSte;
hw-
was
kept,being
written
wh, as
in what.
The
change
of hr to
r,
etc. was not a
phoneticweakening,
but
was a
process
of
levelling,
the few words
beginning
with
hr,
etc.
being absorbed,as
it
were,
into the much
larger
group
of
words
banning
with the voiced sounds. k"w
was
preserved
because of its
occurrence
in
gome
very frequentwords,
such
as
what,
when.
810. The hisses were voiced
initially
in all native words
in South-Thames
"., as
shown
by
such
spellings as voik,
sitên,
but not in French
words,
such
as
/{sU
'
feast,' sauf
'
safe,'
because this
change
had been carried out
before the
introductionof French words. Southern
v was
introduced
into the London dialectin
a few
words,
such as
vixm=OE.
fyxtn,
feminine
oi/ox,vat=QiS./al
'vessel.'
811. OE i and
stopped
g
developed
into the
compound
consonants
(c^,qj)
" that
is,nearly
into their MnE sounds
(tj.dj)
"
as
in
child,
sengen,
OE
ti,
eg
being
written
cck,
gg=(ccq, qqj),
as
in
wrecche,
seggen
'say'ÔE wriiia,
sicgan.
813.
Open
OE
g
was rounded into
(%w),
which
passed
into
{w)
and then
(u)(806).Uf=0"^was kept
afier
a consonant,
as
m/oktxn 'follow'=OEyo^jii",
818.
Strong
h
was
rounded into
(xw)
in the same
way,
as
shown
by
its influence
on
preceding
vowels
(806).
As
finalh in ME often
corresponded
to medial
iv
in such
pairs
as "t$h
sing.,
indttie
plur.=Late
OE
genoh,gtn^t,
OE final
h
was changed
into
w
when an e was
added "
as was
frequently
the
case
(7D6)
: thus ME
furwi
'
furrow,'
hohtx
'
hollow '=0E
/urh,
holh. When final
e was
dropped
at
T,Goo(^le
f 831.]
MIDDLE ENGLISH.
463
the end of the ME
period,a resulting
final
w was changed
to u :
folu,
holu.
814.
Open
g
was generally
weakened to
1'afterconsonants
as well
as
in
diphthongs:
bUritn
'bury,'
heU
'belly'sOE
byrgan,
h[l^.
816. Final
OE front h was
voiced in ME when
a
vowel
was added;
thus hik
'high'
has
pi.hi^,
Ke
(802),
frcnn
which
a new
uninHected fonn A)
was
formed.
816. In OE the
Anglian
dialects seem to
have
changed
medial
I,
g
to
c,g
before
a
back
vowel,
as
in
Angliansecan=
West-Saxon seian. Hence in ME
we ofien find Nottti-
Tliames
k,as
in
sike,corresponding
to South-Thames
eh,as
in
seche,
MnE
having
[he Northern form in
seek,
the Southern
in beseech. So also MnE
cold,gall point
to
Anglian cald,
galU,
chalk
to Southern iealc.
817. Scandinavian words
keep
their
(k)
and
(g),
as
in
kelel
'
kelfle,'
ger/i
'
girth.'
The Northern forms mtkel
'great,'
give,
etc.,=Somhern
mUchel,yiven,
may
also be due to Scan- dinavian
influence.
818. In
some cases the fluctuation between the two
classes of
consonants is due to
change
of vowel in inflection.
Thus the Standard ME
gaU
'
gate
'
points
to
die OE
pi.
ga/u,
the Northern
^"^"
to the
sing,(Anglian) gal.
So also
begmrun=OB. ieginnanowes
its
^
to the
pret.
and
past
partic,begann,begutmen,
818.
ng
kept
its
(g)
not
only
in such words as
finger,
English,
but also in
sing,singer,
etc.
830. si
passedthrough(sj)
into
(J),
written
sch,ssh,sh,
as
in
short,skrud,fish=OK
siorl,
siritd, fist.
Scandinavian sk
was kept
before all
vowels,as
in
skin,
i'^= Icelandic
sl^
'
cloud.'
621. The combinations
Ir,nr are
made into
Idr,
ndr in
ME
by making
the second half of the / and
n
into a
stopped
consonant,
so as to facilitatethe transition to the
r,
as
in
alder
(thetree), J"under
from OE aler
genitive
aire,fitmor
264
PHONOLOGY.
[fSii.
genitive /unr^j'.
So also ml became oi^/ in
/I'm^/'
thimble'
from OE
pym{f^
'
thumbslall,'
literally
'
little
thumb,'
from
puma
'
thumb.'
822.
Several of the consonants were liableto be
dropped
in weak
syllables.
Thus
to the
strong
t'cA
'
I '=0E ii there
coirespondeda
weak
i,
which in Late ME almost
supplanted
the
strong
ich. Weak final
n was
frequently dropped,
as in
game,
bmdt
infin.,
ilnindt
past
partic.=OE
gamtn,
Undan,
gthunden.
So also the
dropping
of / in mucht=0'E.
miiel,
/cA=OE
dU
'each,'
of the
w
and / in sucA=OE.
suxli,
seems to have
begim
in weak
(unstressed)
forms
of these
T,Goo(^le
MIDDIB ENCUsa.
English Voweu.
fHONOLOGY.
MODEKK
EnGUSH VoWELS.
T,Googlc
MODERN MNGUSH.
%6y
MODERN ENGLISH
SOUND-CHANGES.
628. The
sound-changes
in
MnE are so
great
that their
historyrequires
a threefold divisionof the
period
into
First MnE
....
1500-1600
Second MnE
....
1600-1700
Third MnE
.... ijoo-
"ITiese divisions
are
necessarily
somewhat
arbitrary.
In
reality.
First MnE extended
some
way
into the
following
century.
Orthograpliy.
824. In FirstMnE weak
e was generally dropped
"
always
when final"
as
in
(naam, fal,sttwnz)=ME
name,
/alte{n),
slgnes.
At the
same
time double consonants
between vowels
were shortened,as
in
(filiij,
fiibr,silii))
= ME
shilling, fuller,
sillinge.
But
as
the
doubling
served to show that the
preceding
vowel
was short,
the ME
spellings
were
retained,
and
the
doublingwas
extended to words which in ME had
a
singleconsonant,
as
in
penny,
herring,
copper
='KE.
peni,
hiring,
coper.
Final
e
being
now
silent
was
often omitted in
writing,so
that such words as
ME belle
were
written bell
with
a
final double
consonant,
which led to a
frequent
doubling
of final ME consonants to show shortness of the
precedingvowel,
as
in
all,small,glass=ME al,smal,glas.
But
this
doublingwas not carried out
uniformly.
So
as
the
dropping
of final
e
in such words
as
ha/e
(haat), hope
(h(wp)=
ME
'td/ien,
hgpien
would have led to confusion with such
words
as hal,hop,
finale was
kept
in
them,
and
came at last
to be
regardedas a
mark of the
length
of the
preceding
vowel
;
and
accordingly
was added to
many
words which
had
no
final
e
in
ME, as
in
wine,s/one,/be=MK vim, sl^n,
fg. e was always kept
after
v
whether the
preceding
vowel
was
long
or short,
because
v was
generally
written
u,
and
a68
PHONOLOGY.
[|8jj.
such
a
word
as
lout-^-ViY,ISvewould have been mistaken for
low ifthe
"
had been
dropped.
82B.
The
writing
of
^
for i'
was carried to
ât
lengdis
in
Early
MnE.
y
or
ie
was always
written
finally as
in
many,
marn'e, ciHc,
but otherwise the two letterswere written almost
at random.
This
use
of 'ie is the result of the
weakening
of
ME ' tem
such words as
tfuUdCe
'
mtlody,'ckivalrle,
which at the end of
the ME
period
drew back the
stress from the
ending(787),so
that the Snal
" was dropped
and the f
shortened,
and the
ending
was
written
indifferently
-it
or
-y.
8ae. The close and
open
ME
vowel-pairse, f
and
o, "
divergedmore
and
more
in sound in
EarlyMnE, so
that it
became
necessary
to
distinguish
them in
writing.
In ME
",
00 were used to
express
the close and
open
sounds indiscriminately,
but in
Early
MnE
they
were gradually
restricted
to the close
sounds,
as
in
see,
moon^MS.
si,
vwne,
OE
sii^,
mSna,
the
open
sounds
being expressedby
the addition of
the
open
vowel
a,
as
in
sea,
boat =
ME
j/,
bgl,
OE
sS,
6dt.
The latter sound
was,
however, more frequentlyexpressed
by single
o
with
length-^
afterthe
following consonant,
as in
stone.
Single"4-length-", on
the other
hand, expressed
the
close
sound, especially
in less familiar
words,
such
as eom-
plele, extreme,
ee
beingrarely
written in such words.
827. In
Early
MnE i and
/, m
and
v were
stillwritten
almost
indifferentiy
both as vowels and
consonants,
so that,
for
instance,
us,
vine,join,
could be written
vs,
uine,ioyne;
'
but
an
arbitrary
distinction
began
to be
made, by
which
descending
i and
angularu were
used
only
as
consonants,
as
at
present.
This reform
came
from
Italythrough
France.
828.
In First MnE the
orthographywas
still
quiteun- settled,
but after
a
time it
was
found more convenient to
keep
one spelling
for each
word,even
when there
were
differences
of
pronunciation
;
and
as
the number of books and readers
increased,
the fixed
oribography adopted by printers
became
1 831.]
MODERN ENGLISH. 469
more and more
general,
tillin the Third MnE
period
it
settleddown into its
piesent
shape,
except
in
a
few isolated
words such
as cloatkes,
fyger,
which in the
beginning
of the
presentcentury
were
made into
clothes, têr.
829.
But
as
the sounds of the
language
went on changing
with
even
greater
rapidity
than
before,
the
difficulty
of master*
ing
the traditional
spelling
has increased
year
by
year ;
so
that
although
a knowledge
of the standard
orthography
is
the tnain test of education and
refinement,
few
even
of the
upper
classeshave
a perfect
mastery
of it.
880. We
express
this
divergence
between
spelling
and
pronunciation by calling
the
present
Englishspelling
on-
pfaonetio.
The
orthography
of Old
Englishwas,
on
the
contrary,
a phonetdo one
" in
intention, at least,
and
as
far
as
the defects of the Roman
alphabet
on
which it
was
based
would allow. Thus in OK the letter1'
was
used to
express
the vowel
(i)
abort and
long,
and
was
used to
express
that
sound
only,
while in the
unphonetic
MnE
orthography
it
expresses
such distinct sounds
as
(i,
ai,ij),
as
In
bit,hilt,
tnachint. But asJhe Latin
alphabet
does not
provideenough
lettersfor the OE
sounds,
it
was
necessary
to use
the
same
letterto
express
a variety
of
sounds,as
when
s was
used to
express
(2)
as
well
as
(s),
g,
especially, being
used
to
express
a
considerable number of distinct sounds
(729).
Middle
Englishorttx^raphy, being
based
on
that of Old French,
which was much worse than that of British
Latin,was corre- spondingly
defective. But
even
in the
Early
MnE
period
the
spelling was
sdll in intention
mainly phonetic: people
tried to make their
spelling
represent
their actual
pronunciation,
whereas
now we
learn the
speUing
of each word
mechanically,by
eye,
without
paying
much
regard
to its
pronunciation.
881. The first
beginnings
of
intentionally unphonetic
spellings
appear
at the end of the Old French
period,
when
"t;inologioal apellingB were introduced,
by
which,
for
270
PHONOLOGY.
[|831.
insttnce, French
dtU,
dttlt
was
made into d^t
by
the influence
of itsLatin
original ithitum,
and
parftt,parfil(Modem
French
parfai()
was made into
par/aid by
the influence of
"LMm.
per/eclum.
So also Old French auiour
(Modem
French
auleur) came to be written auclour
by
the influence of its
Latin
original
auclorem. This
latinizing
oflen led to
etyroo-
Ic^cally
incorrect
spellings.
Thus the Latin rA"/rw-
'
orator
'
(from
Greek
rhtlor)
was
written
rethor,
because th
was a
more
familiar combination of lettersthan rh.
By
the influence
of
rethor,
auiour was made into
aulhour,so as to
give
the
word
a more learned
appearance.
All these iimovations
made their
way
into
English,
where
some
of them
were
further
developed.
Thus the
two
spellings
of auiour
vere
blended into the form auclhour
by
the sideof
auclour,aulhour,
and ME
parfilwas
latinized into
ptrfil, perftct.
None of
these
spellings had, at
first,
any
influence
on
the
pronunciation
either of French
or
English.
Modern French
has,
indeed,discarded these
'
silent
'
lettersin
most of the above
words. This
writing
of silent
consonants
in French
was
probably
first
suggestedby .r
having
been,
dropped
in
pronunciation
before another consonant
in Old French itselfin
such words as uh
'
island
'
from Latin
insula,
which in late
Old French
was
pronounced (iil3)=Early
Old French
(izis),
the vowel
being lengthened,so
that
by degrees * was
often
inserted without
regard
to
etymology
as a sign
of
length,as
mpasle 'pale'=earlier pale
from "LAtin
pallidum.
When the
French isle
was
introduced into
English,
the silent
s was
introduced in the native word
tland,
which
was
written
island,
the
two words
having reallynothing
in
common except
their
meaning.
Other native
English
words
were misr
spelt
in this
way.
Thus
anient from OE
aniefn(from
Greek
aniiphdnathrough
some
Low Latin
form)
was
written
anihem,
to
give
it
a more teamed
appearance.
832. In
course
of time these false
spellings began
to
inQuence the
pronunciation.
Thus
although
in
Early
MnE
T,Googlc
5 835-]
MODERN ENGUSH.
371
perfect
was still
pronounced(perfet), by degrees
the
pedantic
pronunciation(perfekt)
came
into
generaluse.
So also with
many
other latiniaed words.
888. In Latin Ih
occurs only
in words of Greek
origin,
and in the
popularlanguage
it
was
made into
(t),
so
that
both in OE and ME th in
Latin,
and
consequently
in
foreign
words
generallywas pronounced (t),being
often
written
so.
Even in
Early
MnE this
pronunciation
was still
very
frequent,
not
only
in such words
as
author,
but also
where the th was
etymological, especially
in
proper names,
such
as
Thomas. Even in Second MnE
we
stillfind such
pronunciations as
apothecary(potikari),
Catherine
(ksetam).
We
still
keep(t)
in
Thomas,
and
even write itin the shortened
forms
Tom, Kale;
but in
most of the other words "
including
author,anthem,
etc," the influenceof the
spelling
has introduced
the
(jT)-sound.
834. Ever since the
beginning
of the Third MnE
period
spelling
on pronunciation
has been
stronger
and
stronger,
so
that
our pronunciation
of
many
words is
a.
pure
matter of
chance,
and
gives
rise to forms
which
are, against
the
genius
of the
language.
Thus the
ME milne
'
mill,'
kilne
'
kiln'both
passedthroughmiln,
kiln
into
(mil,kil)
in
Early MnE,
the former word
being spelt
phonetically mill,
while the
latter, being
less
familiar, kept
its old
spelling,
the result of which' is that the
purely
artificial
pronunciation(kiln)
was
afterwards introduced. For
other
examples
of artificial
'spelling-pronunciations'
see
""
856, 868,
873. In Present
Englishwe
learn
so
many
new
words"names of
newly-imported
articlesof
trade,new
in- ventions
and scientific
discoveries, etc."
by reading
them in
newspapers
and books
long
before
we ever
hear them
pronounced,
that each of us
guesses
at the
pronunciation
from
the
spelling,
and when the word comes
into
generaluse
the
wrong
pronunciation
often
prevails,
836.
But there is
now so
much intercourse
with
foreign
27a
PHONOLOGY.
[|836.
counlries,
and
foreignlanguagesare so
much
studied,that
foreign
words often
keep
their
pronunciation
as
far
as is
consistent with
English
habits of
speech.
Thus a
keeps
its
(aa)-Bound
instead of the
English (ei)
in such words as
Jrama,
vote,
promtTUide,
the older
pronunciations(dreiina)
etc.
being
now ahnost extinct
;
and 1 is
pronounced (ij)
instead
of
(ai)
in imitation of the French
pronunciation
in snch
wwds as
pique,faligut, tnacAine,
and
many
other words in
"inf. Even the French nasal vowels
are
imperfectly
imitated
in such words
as
mniti
(-aanwij),
often further
AngUdsed
into
(oi]wij). Among
the
consonants,
eA,
whose
regular
sound is
(tj),
is
pronomiced (k)
in Greek
words,
snch as
fiaot,
in imitation of the
popular
LUin and French
pronunciation,
and
(f)
in French words such
as
the
partJally
anglicizedchamfiagiu(Jxm'pein). Again,
ez
=
(ts)
in the
Italian
meeBotin/o,j=Q)
in the Hebrew
halltlujah,
etc.
880.
We
are now
able to
answer the
question. Why
is
Eng^h spellingunphonetic?
The main
reason
is that it
has not followedthe
changes
of
pronunciation.
The
present
Ei^lishspelling
represents
not thesounds of Present
English,
but those of
Early
MnE
or
rather Late ME. Such
a
spelling
as knighlis
not in itself
unphonetic;
on
the
contrary,
it is a
phoneticrepresentation
"
though
an
imperfect
one
" of the
sound-group(kni^t),
which in ME
was the
pronunciation
of
one
of the words which
we now
pronounce
(nait),
the other
one having
been
pronounced(ni^t)
in
ME,
and written
accordingly nighi.
Such
a
spelling
as
island
is,
on
the other
hand, unphonetic
from
every
point
of
view,
because
it insertsa
letterwhich is not
pronounced
now,
and never
was
pronounced.
Such
a
spelling
as
author
was
also
originally
unphonetic, though
it has
now
become
phonetic
" but
only by corrupting
the
pronunciation
and
obscuring
the
etymology
of the word.
887.
Another reason
why
onr
spelling
is
imperfect
is that
it is founded
on two
orthographic
bases :
(a)
the traditional
T,Goo(^le
{ 841.]
MODERN ENGUSH.
373
Englishbasis,which, as we
see,
is
mainlyM";
and
(j)
a
great variety
of
foreignbases,chief]}'
Modern French. We
sec the effectof thismixture of bases in the three
pronunciations
of ch.
838. A third
reason why our
speliing
is
imperfect,
is thai
its bases
are
all
imperfect.
Such defects
as writing
the initial
consonants
in
gtt
and
gtm
(dsem)
with the
same
letter
are
defects not of MnE
spellingitself,
but of the Old French
basis of ME
spelling.
839. When
we
call
Englishspellingunphonetic,
we do
not mean
that itis
whollyunphonetic.
A
whollyunphonetic
orthography"one
in which
none
of the
separate
letters
expressed
any
definitesound whatever^-could not be mastered
by
the most retentive
memory.
What makes it
possible
to
roaster our
present spelling
is that
many
of the words
are
still
speltphonetically
;
thug such
spellings
as
win, set,stop,
put
are as
phonetic
as
any
in Latin itself.
840.
English spelling
has
never
been
intentionally unphonetic
"
except
in
a few,
etymologicalspellings
" but has
been forced into
being unphoneticby
a variety
of circumstances.
We need not therefore be
surprised
that
many
attempts
have been made to reform it,
Already
in the i6th
century
there
were
many
spelling-reformers,
some
of them
scholarsof
high reputation;
but the
systems
theyproposed
were too cumbrous and
intricate
for
practical
use.
Never- theless
they
introduced
many
reforms,
such as
the
separation
"^
V
and
u,
tt
and
ea,
oo
and
oa
(826),
which
were purely
phonetic
reforms.
841. Most of the reformed
spellings
that have been
proposed
are on
the basts of the
English
values of the
letters:
they
take the most
frequentsymbol
for each sound in
the traditional
gelling,
and
use
it
consistently
to
express
that
sound,using,
for
instance, " to denote the sound
(ij)
not
only
in
ste,
but also in
seal,seise, pique,keeping,
of
course,
i for
the
corresponding
short vowel
in sil. But it is
evidentiy
VOL. I. T
"74
PHONQLOCy.
tl841.
unphonetic
to make
tt
the
long
of
t,
and to
asugn
e
itselfto
another distinct
sound,namely
that in set. Such
a
sptem
is
(dionetic,
but itis
phonetic
on an
unphonetic
basis.
613. As the
attempt
to
get
a phonetic
basis
piactically
necesatates a return in most cases to the
original
Roman
values of the
letters, especially
in the
vowels,
such a
system
is said to be on
the 'Romic' basis. The Bioad Romic
notation used in thisbook is
an
example
of such a
system.
In an Romic
systems
the
long
vowels have the same
signsas
the short
ones,
with such modificationsas are
required
to
show the
quantity,
as
in
sit,siit, sU=sil,
seal; diphthongs
and
consonant-groups
are expressedby combinii^
the
s^ns
of the elements of which
they
are
made
up,
as
in
kss=x,
the
superfluous
Roman letters
being
used to
denote sounds
not
properlysymbolizedbefore,as
when
x is used for the
sound of Scotch ch in
lock,
and the defects of the Roman
alphabet being supplementedby
the use of new letterssuch
as 'turned t'"
t.
Vowels,
B4S. The most convenient
way
of
dealing
with the Mn"
vowels isto take each Late ME vowel
separately,
and trace
its
history
down to the
present
time.
644. a was gradually
advanced to the broad
(s),
so
that such words
as
man,
sat had
exactly
their
present pronunciation
in Second MnE. But in First MnE the old
*
(fi)-sound
was
still
kept by
many
speakers.
Before /
not
followed
by a
vowel
a kept
its back
sound,
and the
glide
between it and the /
developed
into an
(u),
so that such
words
is/all,
calm became
(faul, kaulm),being
sometimes
written
fauli
etc.
{a)
was also
kept
after
(w,wh),
as in
was,
what,
where it
w^s
rounded in Second MnE,
whence the
present
(woz,whot),although
there was no rounding
when
a
back consonant followed,as
in
wax, wag.
In Second
MnE
(ae)
was lengthened
before
(a,Jj)
and in
some
other
T,Goo(^le
{ 8so.]
MODERN ENGLISH,
^75
cases,
as
ia
glass,path (glseses, pBeael').
At the end of the
Third MoE
period
this
(asx)
was
broadened into
(aa),
which
is the
present
sound "
(glaas, paa)").
84".
i,
e
have
generally
remained
unchanged.
"ut in
FirstMn" er
final
or before a consonant became
(ar)as in
star,hart,
heart=M"
ikrre,htrt,
htrtt. Not in the weak htr.
846. n was preserved
in First
Mn", as
in
full,
come
(kum).
In Second Mn" it
was
unrounded to
(a),
which
was
afterwards lowered to
its
present
sound
(b)
"
(fel, k^m).
But before this
lowering
took
place
the
(a)
was generally
rounded back
again
to
(u)
between
a
lip-consonant
and
(1),
as
in
Jull,
wool=ME
wSlle,
and in other words after
lip-
consonants,
as
in wood='ViE,
wdde,put.
847. '".
generally
appears
as t
in
MnE,
into which ithad
already
been unrounded in the London dialect of ME, Thus
MnEhas^//,
stn=OE.
g0llan,
synn.
But
(y)
was
preserved
in First MnE in
some
words stillwritten with the French
",
such as
busy,buty=OE bysig,iyrgan.
848. o
kept
itsME sound
{o)
in First MnE, as
in
top,
ox,
and
was
broadened to its
present
sound in Second
MnE,
beinglengthened
before the
same consonants which
lengthen
(ae),
as m.
froth,cross, off.
In
Early
MnE
a
glide-(u)
developed
between
(o)
and /
not followed
by
a vowel,as
in hmvl
(ImuI)
=;0E bolla" where it
was expressed
in
writing"y^/i(foulk)
where it
was
not written
any
more
than in the
parallel fall
(8M).
849. " underwent the
same changes
as
a,
beinggradually
narrowed
tillit
passed
from
(sese)
into
(te),
as
in
name,
takt,
this last
change being completed
before the Second MnE
lengthening
of
(")
b
path,
etc. In Third MnE
(")
was fiirthei
narrowed into close
(ee),
which in the
presentcentury
was
cleflinto
(ei, ri).
850. I was diphthongized
in First MnE
by lowering
and
retracting
the
tongue
in the firsthalf of the vowel
(721)
tillit
became (si), as
in
wim, vice,
with
a
very
high
close
(a),
which
2l6
PHONOLOGY.
[|Sji.
was
broadened in the next two
periods,
tillthe
diphthong
became
almost
î),
as at
present.
851.
d,4-
Late M" /
probably
had
a
very
close sound
between
(ee)
and
(ii),
and when in First MnE the old I had
become
(si),
the old /
developed
into full
(ii),
as
in
ue,field=
ME
ti{"), /eld,
ME
/
keeping
its
open
sound
{ee),
as
in
sea,
there,
this
(")being
narrowed to
(ee)
in Second
MnE,
which
by
the middle
of the Third MnE
period
was
further narrowed
\x"
(ii),
ME i and
/
being
thus
levelled, as
in
(sii)=j"e,
sea.
But the
change
into
(ii)
was
arrested
by
a
preceding
r in
break,
great
(breik, greit),
which
were,
bowevei^
also
pronounced
(briik, griit)
in the last
century.
In First MnE
/
was
often shortened to
(e),especially
before
stops,
as
in
bread,heavy.
663. "
was
diphthongized
in the
same
way
as
f,becoming
(du)
with
very
close
(fi),
as
in
h/mte,
crown,
the firstelement
being gradually
unrounded and broadened into its
present
sound^between
(s)
and
(ae).
In nwm=OE
mm, sloop,droop
ME " has been
preserved
from the
change
into
(au)
by
followinglip-
consonants.
868.
5,
9-
When
u
had become
(6u),
ME
o
" which
was
probaUy
a
very
close sound between
(oo)
and
(uu)
"
^was
moved
up
into the
place
of the old
u,
as
in
loo,
moon
(tuu,
muun).
g
kept
its
open
sound
{oo)
at first, as
in
go, stone,
and
was
narrowed to close
(oo)
in Second
MnE,
which in the
presentcentury
was
cleft into
(ou,oo).
The older sound
has been
preserved
in broad
(brad) through
the influence of
the
(r). (uu)=M"
d was
shortened in
some
words in
First MnE, as
in
flood(flud),
mother,gum=OE ftod,moder^
gdma,
whence the
present
forms
(flsd)
etc. There
was
another shortening
of
(uu)
in Second
MnE especially
before
stops,
as
in
good (gud),
book,
bosom. These words did not
change
their
(n)
into
(e),
because this
change
was
aheady
ccunpleted.
T,Goo(^le
S857.]
MODERN ENGUSir.
2??
854.
ai,
ei. In MnE the ME
diphthongs ei,//
shortened
their first
elements,
and
so were
levelled under ei. As ai
became
(êi)
in First Mn"
by
the
regularchange
of
(a)
into
(ec)
" which in this
case was
hastened
by
the
fronting
influence
of the
(i)
" ai and ei became
very
similar in
sound,
so
that there was a
tendency
to level ei under
ai,as
in
way,
hay,r^=M" wei,hii,clii=OS.d^.
The weak
Ihey,
their
kept ei,as
also several olher
words, especially
before
gh, as
in
neighbour,eight.
In Second MnE these
diphthongs
were
smoothed into
(""),
so that tail and tah etc, had the same
sound,
and went
through
the
same
changes.
88B. oi was
sometimes
kept
m First
MnE,
but in
some
[Hronunciations
the
(i)
raised the
preceding(o)
to
(u),
such
words as
boil
having
the two
pronunciations (boil)
and
(buil).
In Second MnE this
(u)
underwent its
regularchange
into
(a,b);
and the
resulting(bI)
was so
similar in sound to the
(si)
of
wint,etc.,
that it
was
levelled under
it,
and boiletc.
was pronounced(bail)
and
(boil),
the former
being
the more
usual
pronunciation.
In the nest
period(boil)
etc.
again
got
the
upper
hand
by
the
help
of the
spelling,
and the
noun
bile = OE
byle
'
ulcer
'
was mistakenly
made into Soil.
868. au was
kept
in First
MnE,
but soon
passed
into
open
(jj)
" the
long
of
our
vowel in no/ "
as
in
saw,
/all(844),
which in the Third
period was
narrowed to its
present
sound
In some
words
au
lost its
(u),
as
in
laugh,
which in Second
MnE
passed through(lasf)
into
(laeref),
whence the
present
(laaf))
half"
3.\sowritten
haul/^halve.
au=French
a before
nasals
(806)generally
went
through
the same changes,as
in
auni,commaiu)nd,la\u)mp.
867.
ou,
fi;
û.
At the end of the ME
period
the
cleaving
of finalU into
eu
(606)
had been extended
to non-
finalU as well,so that this sound was completely
levelled
under
eu,
which in First MnE became
(iiu, iu)by
the
regular
change
of i into
(ii), as
in
duke,fruit,new,
true
" also written
trewe='ME
dUc, frUi, mwe,
trewe.
ME
/"
remained in
278
PHONOLOGY.
[1858.
First
MnE,
but with the usual
shortening
of the first
element,
as
v^ftw (feu)=M"_^tw,
and became
(iu)
in Second
MnE,
all the three ME sounds
fl,m, pt
being
thus levelledunder
(iu).
In the Third
period(iu)
shifted the stress
on
to
the
second
element,becoming(i'uu, juu).
The
(j)
was
afterwards
dropped
after
(r,J,5)
and often after
(1),as
in
true,
chtue"
now
written choose"
juice,
htte. In
Cockney
and
New-Eng- land
American it is
dropped
afier all the other consonants as
well,as
in
mw,
dufy,beingkeptonlyinitially, as
in union.
868.
du, "u
both became
(ofu)
or
(ou)
in First
MnE, as
in
grew,
know,
soul^ME
growen,
kngwen,sgule,
which in the
Second
period
was
smoothed into
(00)
and then narrowed
into
(00),
as
in
go
(853),
so
that know and
no etc. had the
same vowel.
Weak Voweb.
869.
In First MnE
long
weak vowels
were
generally
shortened,
as
in honour
(onur), image
(imadg, iniEedg),
nation
(naasjun,nsesesjun)=MEoniir,image,
naa'un. Weak
diphthongs
were
kept,
as in nature
(naatiur)=MEnature,
certain.
Short vowels were
generallykept,as
in
moral,
person,
sorrow
(soru),
but
e
before
r was
obscured to
(a),
as
in
belter,
and
occasionally
other vowels
as
well in such words
as scholar,
honour,nature. But there
was
also
an artificial
pronunciation
which tried
to follow the
spelling, pronouncing
not
only
(skolar)
etc. but also
(naasjon, kondisjon) etc.,although
the
o
in nation
was only
another
way
of
spelling
(u)
as
in
son=
OE sunu.
"
ou,
(TO=ME
(u,uu) was
also often
pronounced
(o)
or even
(ou)
in
honour,
emperour,sorrow,
etc.
860. In Second MnE the natural
pronunciationgot
the
upper
hand
again.
Weak
(u)passedby regularchange
into
(b),
as
in
(n^jEn)nation,
and such
pronunciationsas
(piktsr)=/('f/"",
which
are now vulgarisms,
were
in
general
use.
As
(e)
was
very
similar in sound to
(9),
there
was a
tendency
to make
(s)
the
general
weak
vowel,although
the
T,Goo(^le
" 863.]
MODERN ENGLISH.
179
older clear weak vowels
were
still
kept
in
many
cases,
as
in
(nEeJensel, nse/onsel)
national,now
pronounced (nsejsnsl).
In Second MnE weak initialvowels
were
often
dropped,
especially
in
long
words, as in
apprmtiee(prentis)
esiaU
(str"t), opinion(pinjsn).
We still
keep
the short form of
the firstword in the
expression 'prentice
hand,
but the vowel
has
generally
been restored
by
spelling.
Coneonanta.
861.
During
the transitionfrom ME
to MnE the
hisses/,
s,/,
became voiced in weak
syllables, especially
in inflectional
-es,
as
in the
gen.
sing,
manms
and the
pltu-. stones,
whence
MnE
(mfenz,stounz),
the breath sounds
being preserved
in
strong
monosyllables
such
as
ges^
/"M=MnE (gijs, pens)
contrasting
with
î'M=MnE (peniz).
The
same change
was
carried out in weak
monosyllables,
so
that
numerous
doublets
were
formed. Thus the
emphatic
adverb
5/=MnE
offpreserved
its
(f),
while the
preposition ^was
weakened
to
(ov).
There
were
similar doublets of
wij",is,hit,etc
Initial
p was
voiced in the weak forms of
some
very
frequent
"
mosdy pronominal
words " such
as J"e,pi,Pin,
Pal,
pouh=MnE
(Si,8ij,Sain,Sset,
Sou),
the
strong
forms
being
now
lost.
These
changes probably began
in collocationswhere the
biss-con sonant was
flanked
by
voice
sounds,
as
in mannes
mdd,
ofa
man, toPeman,
where
of
a, to}e
etc would
naturally become
(0va,
too%e)on
the
analogy
of wives
genitive
of
wtf,
where the
alternation
of/
and v
is of OE
origin.
862. The
voicing
of weak
(tj)
into
(dg)
in
knov"kdge=
ME
kngjvliche
is
quiteparailel
to the
voicing
of weak
(s)
in
stones.
We have the
same weakening
in the Present
English
pronunciation
of such words
as
ostrich
(ostridg)
and the
ending
-wich in
Greenwich,
Norwich.
863.
Towards the end of the First MnE
period (s)
preceded
by
a
weak vowel and followed
by
a
strong
vowel
38o PHONOLOGY.
[(8S4.
became
(z),
whence the Present
English
distinctionbetween
txtri
(ig'233t)
and exercise
(-eksasaiz),
the
(s)being
preserved
unchanged
in the latterword because it is followed
by a
weak vowel. Other
examples
are
exhibit
compared
with
exhibition, example,anxiety(aeg-zaiiti) compared
with
anxious
(aeri/ss),
where the
change
of
(s)
into
(J)
is a
later
one (870),dessert, disease, dissolve,
transact.
Exceptions
to this rule
are
the result of
analogy.
Thus to
aisml
(A'stnt)
owes
its
(s)
to influence of the
adjective
absent
("aebsant),
research to the influence of search.
864.
Initial
(h),
which was
preservedthrough
Firet and
Second MnE, began
to
be
dropped
at the end of the last
century,
but has
now
been restored in Standard ".
by
the
combined influence of the
speUing
and of the
speakers
of
Scotch and Irish
".,
where it has
always
been
preserved.
It
is also
preserved
in American
E.,
while it has been almost
completely
lostin the dialectsof
England
"
including
Cock- ney
E." as
also in
vulgar
Australian.
666.
But
(h)
is
alwaysdropped
in weak
syllables
when
not at the
beginning
of the
sentence,
as in
(-hij
sed
-ij
wsz
redi)
he said he
was ready,
whence the distinctionbetween
the
emphatic('him)
and the
unemphatic
(-im).
The
dropping
of A in weak
syllables
is
very
old. Even in
OE
we
find such
spellings as
eora,
Eadelm=-heora
'their,'
Ead-
helm
(a
man's
name).
866.
As
we
have
seen, strong
h
appears
in ME in the
form of
(s)
and
(xw).
In First MnE the former
was
weakened to a mere
brealh-glide,
and then
dropped,
the
preceding
vowel
beinglengthened,
so that ME
night (ni^t)
passed through (niht)
into
(niit),
whence
by
the
regular
change (nsit).
But the older
(niht)
was still
kept
up
by
some
speakers,
and the co-existence of
(nait)
and
(niht)
gave
rise to the
blending(ndiht) or (nai^t), which,
although
artificial, seems
to have been not uncommon
in
speech.
The
gh
in
high,
nigh,weigh,
etc.=ME
high,
hi
was
T,Goo(^le
i 869.]
MODERN ENGLISH. 48 1
generally
silent. The
back-j-j
was
kept
in euch
words
as
laugh,Ihought,enough(lauxui, ^ffoxuA,)\ixwt,inusic),
and
in
many
words the
Up
element
was esaêrated
in Second
MnE tillit became
(0" (Isf, Ise^f,
Jwft, Jwot,inrf)"
which
in
drc^ by
the side of
draught"
\yaCafrom ME
dr(^hi"\a"
been
adopted
in the
spelling.
867. r was
keptunchanged
in First
MnE, being
afterwards
gradually
weakened tillit lost its trill
everywhere^
Towards the end of the Third
period
it
began
to be
droppedeverywhereexcept
before
a vowel,as
in the
present
Standard ".
808.
Already
in First MnE
(r)
had
developed
a
glide
before it in such words
as fire,flower(faiar, flOuar) -
ME
fir,flur,
and had broadened
a
preceding
e
into
(a),
as
in
star
(846).
In Second MnE It
began
to
modifypreceding
vowels in the direction of
(a),
so
that
er, ir,
ur came
to be
levelledunder
(ar)
or
(-er),
asm her
{hw)fir,bird,fur,
turn.
In Third MnE itmodified
preceding(ee)=a,ai,
ei
to
("),
as
in
care
(kf^r), fair,
their
contrasting
with
name (neem),fail,
veil;
and towards the end of this
period
itbroadened a
preceding
(")
into
(a),
as
in
star,
hard. ME
/r,
or
appear
in
Third MnE sometimes
as
(iir, uur),
as
in
fear,
moor,
being
sometimes broadened into
{eex,
ar),
as
in
there,bear,floor.
In the
present century (r)
has been
dropped everywhere
except
before
a vowel,r final
or
before
a consonant
being
represented only by a
precedingglide-(a},
as
in
(fala)
=
Early
MnE
(f3iar) =
ME
fir.
This
(a)=r
has broadened
preceding(ij,
uw)
into
(i,u),as
in here
(hia), poor,
cure
(kjua) contrasting
with he
(hij), fiool(puwl).
The
glide-(a)
before
(r)
was
finally
absorbed
by
a
preceding
mixed or
broad
vowel,
(bt)
in her etc.
passingthrough(sa)
into
(aa),
(aa,
oa)
into
(aa,a),
as
in
star,floor.
869. L
Already
in FirstMnE
(1)hegaa
to be
dropped
between
(u)
and
a
followingconsonant,
as
in
half(haulf,
hauf),/ott (foulk, fouk);
also in should
(Juuld, Juld,|ud).
382 PHONOLOGY.
[|870.
would, could,
where the
(1)
vas at first
dropped otily
vben
these words were weak.
870.
m,%.
In Second and Third MnE the combinations
(sj,zj)
became
(J,3),
as
in nation
{fuelvo)='"ii\j
MnE
(ii3e!esjun)=ME
nScioun
(naasi-uun),
sure
(sivr, sjuur,Juur),
usual
(iuzinel, juuguEel),
such words
as
nature,
verdure
passingthrough(tixceljur, n"ftj3r, verdjur, verdjar)
into the
present
(neit/a, vsadga).
871. w
in First MnE
was kept
before
(r),
which it
rounded,
and was then
dropped itself, as
in write
(nesit),
the
(r)being
afterwards unrounded.
We can see the influence of this rounded r in the
vulgar
(ro'g)=wrap,
where
(nc)
had the
same rounding
effect
on the
following
vowel
as
in
was
(844).
872.
In Second MnE w was
dropped
in weak
syllables,
especially
in
"ward,-wards,as
in Edward
(edard),
backwards
(bskardz).
We still
drop
the
10
in towards
(tadz),
but it has
been restored in the other words
through
spelling,
except
in
vulgarspeech.
The weak
ending
-wich
drops
the la
in all familiar
place-names,
such
as
Greemvich
(grinids).
878. k
was
keptinitially
before
(n)
in First MnE, as
in
know
[compareacknowledge^
the
(n)being
unvoiced,
and the
(k)
afterwards
dropped,so
that in Second MnE
(knou,kn^cu)
became
(nôo),
this
(nA)being
afterwards levelledunder the
more
frequent(n)
in
no,
etc.
874.
g
was
dropped
before
(n)
in Second MnE
as
in
876.
In First MnE medial
(i}g)
was
shortened
to
(i))
in
such words as
singer(siqar), singing^M^ (siijger),
etc,
by
the
analogy
of final
(ij)
in
sing;
but
(qg)
was kept
in the
comparison
of
adjectives, as
in
logger, longest.
87d.
t,
d. In Second MnE
(t)precededby
the hisses
(s,f)
and followed
by
the vowel-likeconsonants
(I,
n,
m)
T,Goo(^le
(
88i.]
PRESENT ENGLISH: STRESS.
283
"was regularly dropped,
as
in thiiSe
(ImsI), fasttn(fseECsn),
chestnut,Christmas,
often.
VII. In First MnE
(d)precededby
a
vowel and followed
by (r)
vas opened
into
(S)
in
many
words,
such
as father,
Ugether,
hither =0%
fadtr.
Late lAY.
fader,fader (798),
OE
tffgadre,
hidtr.
Conversely(5)
often became
(d)
in
First MnE in combination with
(r)
and
(1),
as
in
murther,
murder, rudder,fiddle=0'E,morfior,rdJ"or,fiPele.
878. b.
In First MnE final
(b)
was dropped
after
(m),as
in lamb. Hence b
was
added in
wriiing
to words which in
ME had
only
m,
as
in
limb,
numb=ME,
Urn,
inumen
'taken,'
'
seized'=0E
genumen.
PRESENT ENGLISH.
Word-Stress,
678.
The characteristic
features
of Present
English
stress
arc some
of them of OE
origin,
whll^ others
developed
themselves
in ME and in the different
periods
of
MnE, some
beingapparently
of
very
recent
origin.
880.
In Present
English,as
in
OE,
the most
general
principle
of
stress isthat Subordinatewords "
especially
form-
words " have weak
stress. Thus in ^ i"
a man of
the
world,
the subordinate words
he,is,
a, of
the all have weak Stress.
Hence the weakened
stress in
a :pieceof bread,
and the
distinctionbetween
-sotn^
bread and
-some
-people (61.i).
881. The
OE
principle
of
putting
the stress on
the first
syllable
of
a
word
generally
resulted in the
principal
stress
being
on
the
root-syllable
of inflected
or
derived words.
This
principle
is still
maintained in MnE in native
words, as
in
fearful, fearfully, fearless, fearlessness, fisher,fishery,
fisherman
(fijaman).
284
PHONOLOGY.
\S
S8a.
883.
We have seen
that
already
in ME
many
long
words
of French
origin
with the stress on
the last
syllable
threw
it back on to the first
syllable by
the
analogy
of the native
stress
(787).
In MnE this
tendency
has become
stronger
and
stronger,
so
that (he
first-syllable
stress in such words
as
honour,
piiy,emptror,
justify,
which in Late ME
was only
occasional,
has
now
become fixed. Even in the
present
centurymany
of these words have thrown back their stress
to the first
syllable,
such
as
balcony,crystalline, recondite,
which in the last
century
were
stressed
on
their second
syllables.
883. Native words which had weak stress on
the first
syllable
in OE and
ME,
such
as
arite,become,forgive,to-day,
still
keep
this stress in
MnE, as also those French words
which
preserveda
similarstress in
ME
through
their
resemblance
to the above native
words,
such
as
irv"m},
defend.
884.
Many
other
foreign
words have also
preserved
their
advanced stress. There
are
many
foreign
derivative
endings
"
chiefly
Greek and
Latin,
often modified in their
passage
through
French " which
regularly
take the
stress,
such
as
-tsgue,
-tion,
-sion
etc.,
-TKlify, -grapfgi,
as
in
picturesque, grotesque,
imagination, position, possibility, photography,
in all of
which the stress is taken
away
from the root-
syllable,
on
which it fallsin the shorter forms
imagine,possible, photograph
etc.
Many
words which
were imported
from French
and other
foreignlanguages
in the MnE
periodkeep
their
advanced stress even
when the
analogy
of other words
points
to
throwing
it back on the first
syllable,
such
as machine,
ffl/M""
which show their French
originby
the
pronunciation
of ('
as
(ij) " champagne,
canoe,
gazelle.
Words which
were
importedstraight
from Latin
generally keep
the Latin
stress,
as
ia
pa-pyrus,
even
when the final
syllable
is
dropped,
as
in
create,
se'vtre.
Words of Greek
origin
follow the Latin
accentuation as
well
as
the Latin
spelling, so
that the
original
Greek stress is
preserved
In
Englishonly
when It
T,Goo(^le
S 887,]
PSESENT ENGLISH: STRESS.
%%^
happens
to be
preserved
in Latin
also,
as
in
genesis,
museum
=
Greek
^/mm/j,
mouseion.
88fi.
But
foreign
words
even
of recent introduction are
always
liabJe to liave their stress thrown back
on to the first
syllable, or,
at
any rate,
towards the
beginning
of the
word,
as soon as
they
become
popular,
which in Latin words is
generally
shown
by
their
shortening
or
dropping
their
endings,
as
in 'a"(A/0r= Latin
au'dtlor,'di'sciplitu^hMin discrplina,
phi-losop^
='Laim
philoSophia
from Gj^\
philosophiS.
880.
When
a
foreign
word is used in different*
senses,
it
often
happens
that in its
more
familiar
meaning
it throws
the stress back,
keeping
the
original
stress
in the less familiar
meaning.
Thus
we keep
the
original
Latin stress in the adjective
au'gusi
and the
name
Augusim=\a,\.\a au-gustus,
but
throw it back
in
the month-name
-August.
So also the adjective
mrnuie
keeps
itsLatin
stress,
which is thrown back in
the
more
familiar
noun
-minute.
887.
In
many
cases
where the
same
foreign
word isused
both
as a noun and
a
verb in
English,
it
keeps
itsend-stress
when used
as a
verb
by
the
analogy
of the native verbs which
have the same
stress,
while the
corresponding
noun- or
adjective-form
takes the stress on
the first
syllable, so
that the
distinctionbetween such words
as
the
noun 'accenl and the
verb io accent is
reallyultimately
due
to
the
analogy
of the
OE
pairs -forwyrd,/orweorpan etc.,
which
analogy was
gready
aided
by
the fact that
many
verbs of French and
Latin
origin
also threw forward their stress
;
thus the
contrast
between
the
foreign
verbs
in-duce,
in-vade etc. and the
native
nouns -income,-insight
etc.
led to the distinction
between -the
noun
-insult and the verb in-suU from Latin
msuttare. The
followingare
additional
examples
of such
pairs:
'absent to ab'sent I
'compound
to
compound
'abstract to abstract -extract Io ex-tract
'"iffix
to
a'ffix
I
-frequent
to
frequent
l86 PHONOLOGY.
[(888.
object
to
ob-ject
j
'product to
product
'present
to
preient
I
'rebel to rrbel
In
some
cases,
however,
the
noun-
and
adjective-forms keep
the
verb-stress, as
in advice
{to
advise),
crment.
888. The nonnai stress of
a
word is
always
liable to be
changêdby
considerations of
emphasis,
even a
weak word
or
syllable beingcapable
of
taking
strong
stress
if
emphasized,
as
in thai is the
thing
to
do,especially
in
cases
of
contrast,
as
in to
give
and
-forgive,
not
"subjecUve
but
"objective, against
the
normal
s^ss/orgive,sub-jeclive, objective.
In some cases
this
contrasting
stress has
permanently
altered
the normal
stress.
Thus,
while in most words the
ending-or
is
pronounced
weak
(-sr),as
in
actor, author,
it is
regularly
pronounced
with
strong
(or)
in those words where it is
contrasted
with the
correspondingpassiveending
-",
as
in lessor
(le'sâ)
'one
who
lets
a
house' contrasted with lessee
(le'sij)
'one to whom the house is
let,'
as
the nonnai
pronunciation
(less)
would lead to confusion with the
adjective
lesser.
Stress
iw
Wobd-Gkoups
and
Compoukds.
889.
The most characteristicfeature of Present
English
stress
isits
greatdevelopment
of
even
stress,
many
combinations
which had the
strong
stress on one syllableonly
in
OE now
having
it
equally
distributed
over two
syllables.
890. Thus in the free
groups,
adjectiveor genitive+
noun,
the
regular
stress is
even,
as
in
a
'good'man,
a
'virtuous
"woman,
a
-greatimprovement,
the
-Aing's
'son. So also to
the OE -wide
xup
corresponds
the Present
English'widely
"known,-widelydiffused.
891.
In OE the combination
adjective -f-noun might
be
either
a
free
group
or a
compound,
which
were distinguished
from one another
by
the
adjective being
declinable in the
group,
indeclinable in the
compound,
both combinations
having
the stress on the first element. Thus the
group
'god
d"d
'
good
deed
'
and the
compound godded
'
benefit
'
T,Goo(^le
{ 894-]
PRESENT ENGLISH: STRESS.
287
appear
in the dative
pluralas godum
d"dum and
godd"dmt
respectively.
So also the
compound nvicstolfor 'quicksilver,'
literally
'
living
silver
'
has
genitive
cwkseolfres,
the
firstelement
remaining
undeclined.
892. In
MdE,
adjectives
have become indeclinable, so
that
It would
hardly
be
possible
to
distinguish compounds begin-
ing
with
adjectives
from free
groups,
were
it not for the
difference of
stress,
the combination
adjective +
noun with
the stress on
the firstelement
being a compound
in
Present
English,as
in
-quicksilver,
while the even-stressed
'good
'deed
can
only
be
regardedas a
group,
so that the OE
compound
godd"d
must be
regardedas
having
been either lostor
separated
into a
free
group
in Present
English.
On the other
hand,
many
OE free combinations of
adjective -f-
noun have
developed
into
compounds
in
MnE,
as
in blackberries = OE
blace
hp-igan, Englishman
= OE
Prtglisi
mamt,
in the latter
example
with obscuration of the second
element,showing
the.
intimateness of the
composition.
893.
But the
tendency
to
give adjectives
fullstress is so
strong
that
even
stress is found in
many
combinations whose
meaning
is
quiteas
much isolated as in the above instances
of
uneven
stress,
such
as" -
'high'road, publichouse,
easy
chair,shooting
star.
Prussie
acid,
Prussian
blue,
Indian ink.
old
age,
common
seme,
safeconduct,high treason,leading
article.
Even
Gtiess
is
the rule when the
adjective
followsthe
noun,
AS
in Prince
Consort,
Princess
Royal,poet
laureate,
894. In
the OE combination
genitive-f-noun
there is
nothing
to tell
us
whether it is to be
regardedas
a
group
or a
compound,
for this
combination
always
has the stress on
the
first
element,which,being alreadyinflected,
is
incapable
of
any
further
grammatical
modification. But
in Present
Englishwe can distinguish clearly
between even-stress
genitive
groups
such
as 'king's
son,
and
uneven-stress genitive
288 PHONOLOGY.
[(
895.
compounds
such
as
the
plant-name
ermii
i-foot,
whose
stress
is
perfectly parallel
to that of Other
compound names
of
natural
objects {8B6).
Many genitivecompounds
have been obscured
by
sound-
change
and
contraction,
such
as Engla"td=0'E. ^ngla-land
'land of the
AngUans' (OE plural
nominative
^ngU).
SdB. Even stress has further made its
way
into
some
of
the old
compounds,
where the
logical
relation between the
elements of the
compound
resembles that between the
elements of
a
free
group,
especially
when the firstelement is
feltto be
equivalent
to an
adjective,
as
in
-gold-ring
compared
with the OE
compound gold/at
'
gold
vessel.' When
OE
'gyldeti :hring,
where
gyldtn
is
a declinable
adjective,
had been made into the even-stressed
-gdlden'ring,
it was
natural to transferthis stress to the
compound gold-ring.
896.
But uneven
"
first-syllable
" stress is
also
preserved
in Present
Englishcompounds.
In some
compounds
the
uneven stress seems to be the result of the second element
being
less
logically prominent
than the
first, throughbeinga
word of
generalmeaning
and
frequentoccurrence
in
compounds.
Thus in such
a
compound
as
appUlree
we should
expect
even
stress,
as
in
applepudding,
silk
thread,etc.,
an
appletree being simply
'
a tree that bears
apples,' just
as a
silkthread isa
'
thread made of silk
'
;
and the
uneven stress
is
simply
the resultof the
frequency
of the second element in
appletree
and the other
compounds
in
-tree,
there
being
so
many
different kinds of fruit-treesthat when
we
hear the
words
apple-,
pear-
etc. as
the firstelements of
compounds,
we
add the word tree almost
as a matter of
course.
In such
compounds
the second element
is,
in
fact,
on
the
way
to become
a mere
derivative
ending,especially
when it
undergoes
phoneticweakening through
this
very
want of
prominence,
as
isoften the case
with the
ending
-man
in such
compoimds
as
shopman (Jopmsn),clergân,
Englishman,
which
are
logicallyon a
level with such
even-stress
compounds
as
T,Goo(^le
( 8m.]
PRESEm'
ENGLISH; STRESS^ 289
EtigUthbey.
The result of these tendendea is that
many
compound
names of natural
objects
and of classesof hutnan
beings,together
with
some
ending
in
time-words of
general
meaning,
take first-elementstress :
"
"goldfish, eanarybird, furiUdove, dragonfly;
appUtrte,fruit-
Iree,
rosebush,bu/rooi;
sandslow^greyhound,
bhckhird
;
blue-
bell,
blackbeny;quicksiher
" eroto'
s-fooi,
cat's-mint;
Mrdseye
(a
kind of
tobacco).
Englishman, Englishwoman,Jreemason,
blaeksmilh-~-
ladies'-man,
la^s-maid,
bridesmaid.
summertime,
dinnertime
j iir/hday, dogdays
"
midnigki,
midsummer.
887.
But in most
coropomids
uneven stress does not
imjdy
any
logicalsubordination,
but is
onlya means
of
joining
the
two elements
more closelytogetheror isolating
the
meaning
of the
whole,as wc see
very
clearly by comparing
blackbird
with black bird.
808. We
may
therefore define the
Icâl
distinctionbetween
even and
uneven stress
by saying
that
even
stress
balances as it
were the two elements
against
one
another
and
puts
them on a footing
of
eqnality,
and to some extent
separates
them,
while
uneven stress either subordinatesone
element to the
other,as
in
appUtree, or indicatesa close
logical
union,as
in blackbird.
898. One resultof thisisthat
even stress isoften
preserved
in
newly-formed
compounds or
gro^
merely
because the
meaning
of the two elements is stillfresh in the minds of
those who
use
the
compound, so
that
they
are balanced
againstone another,
while
a
similar
compound
which
was
formed
long
ago,
and has become
traditional, so
that the
originalmeaning
of its elements is
no longer prominent,
keeps
its
original uneven
stress,
or
substitutes
uneven
for
even
Stress.
Thus
we
have
even stress
in modem
place-names
such as
-Nevj
-Fork,
New
Zealand,
He West
End, Redkill,
contrasted
with
uneven stress in older names such as New-
VOL.I.
u
990
PHONOLOGY.
["90o-
cattlt, Newport,Longwood,Redfynch
" where
^M='slope
of
hiU.'
Uneven stress
in
place-names
is often the result of the want
ol
prominence
"A the second
element,
which is often
obscured,
as
in /Atf
Highlands,
th$
M"dla"dt, Kingston
[-ion=timml,
Bradford [=iroad/ord}.
We will now
consider the stress of
compounds
more
in
detail, according
to the
part
of
speech
to which the
compound
belongs.
Compound
Nouns.
900.
Compounds
of
noon or adjeotiTe+ noun regularly
take
uneven stress when
a
ca,U3a)relationis
implied.
A
very
numerous
class of causal
compounds
are
those in which the
firstelement
expresses
the
purpose
or object
of the second
;
thus
toyshop
is
a shop
for
selling
and
buyingtoys,
a watchdog
is a
dog
for
watching.
The
following
are
further
examples
of these
purpose-compounds:
"
"greenhoust, dtningroom,fire/dace, fimxrpol,fiawerpot-
s/and,pockelbook;schoolroom,guidebook, footpath,dancing'
master,
stabU-bty, post-office,
vxatiurciKk
;
coal-mine,gravel-
pit;
summer-house,
90L In other causal
compounds
the second element expresses
the result of the
first,
or
dependence
on
it
;
thus coal-
tar is
tar obtained
iiopicoal,a steam-engine
is
a machine
whose
workingdependson steam. Other
examples
are "
"viind/aU, rainbow,
chiilblain
; lampblack,
water-colours
i
oil-lamp,sundial,-
sunflower ;
thundercloud,thunderstorm,
foiacco-smoie, rain-water.
902. Another well-defined class of uneven-stress noun-
compounds
are those which
express
phenomena
or
actions.
In the
following
the firstelement
may
be said to stand in the
direct
object
relation
to the second
:
"
"painstaking, screwdriver,bookseller,
slockbroker
;
man-
T,Goo(^le
f9oa.]
PRESENT ENGUSH
;
STRESS.
Z^\
slavghier,
bloeisM
; goldsmith,
shoeblack;
fiawtr-shea),
carl-
load.
905. In the
following: phenomenon-compounds
the first,
element stands to the second in
a
variety
of other relations;"
"earthquake, shipwreck ; grasthopptr ;
cricket-match,
wali-
ing-lotir, dinner-par
fy; sunrise, moonlight; eyesigU;headache;
garrison-life, priestcra/t.
904. We
now
have to consider the
use
of
even Stress in
noun-compounds.
In
even
stress,
as already
remarked
(89S),
the firstelement is
generally
feltto be
equivalent
to an
adjective.
This is
especially
dear in those even-stress
compounds
in vhich the firstelement
{a)
expresses
something
that
resembles
the second
element,as in
sponge-cake
=
'
sponge-like
cake,'
'
spongy
cake,'
(i)
defines the Bex or
age
of the second
element,as
in
man
cook =
'
male
cook,'
and
(f)
denotes the
material
of which the second element is
made, as in silk
thread:"
(a)
"hawwindm), rocksalt, loaf
sugar; copper
heeeh,moss
rose,
silver sand.
The last three
go against
the
analogy
of
goldfish
etc.
(896)
;
'
but beech is
evidently
too
speciala
word to be subordinated in
the
same
way
as tree etc
(S)
'MiMi
-ci^k,
lady doctor,boy
messenger,
in/antpheno- menon
; tomcat,
buck
rabbit,
pollparrot.
So also in
he-goat,
she-goal.
(f)
-brick
"house,
stone
wall,gravelwalk,
straw
hat,silver
spoon;
olive
oil;
meal
pie,jam tart,ginger
ale.
906.
Even stress is also used when
a
generalplace-word,
such as road,
square,
is defined
by
another noun
" often
a
proper
name " or
adjective
put
before
it,
as
in
Oxford
Road. So also when the
name
of
a place
is
prefixed
to
a noun
to show where the lattercomes from.
Examples
are
"
'Oxford-Road,
MincingLane,
Hanover
Square,
London
agt
PHOffOLOGY.
[|906.
Bridge,
Wimbledon Cimmon " North
Road,
Smith Park " St.
"James's
Square.
'Turkey'carpel, Indiaruiber,Ceylon
-tea.
But when the noun street takes the
place
of road etc. in such
compounds,
it is subordinated in
stress because of its
greater
frequeacy(898)
:"
'Oêrd Strut,
Ftnehureh Street"
Higkstriet"
Princes
Street.
g06.
Compounds
of rerb
+
notm are
necessarily phenomenon-compounds,
and therefore take
uneven stress
(90s).
In them the
noun
stands somelimes in the
object-,
sometimes in the
subject-relation
to the
verb,
the relation
being
doubUul in
some
compounds. Examples
art "
hreahvaier,
scarecrow,
telltale, breakfast (brekfsst) ;
rattle- snake,
leapfrogs drawbridge;
whirlwind,leapyear,
washtub.
CompoundAdjectives.
907.
Compound adjectives consisting
of
noun -f-adjeo-
tlTe-word
generally
have
uneven stress,especially
when the
second element is
a participle :
"
"godlike, jelly-like, foolhardy,
colourblind, vuatkerwist,
bloodthirsty,
waterproof;heartrending, spirit-stirring; nm-
burnt,
careworn,
bloodshot.
Compounds ending
in -ed
tacked
on to a noun
where there is
no
correspondingverb,
such
as
harebrained,humpbacked,
have
the
same stress as
sunburnt,etc.,
but
they
were not
originally
participles, having
the
adjective-ending
-ede in OE.
908. Combinations of
adJeotiTe + adjeotive
have
even
stress;
many
of them
are
used also
as nouns:
"
'deaf-'mute, north-west,whitey-broam,greenishyellow;
half-mad,dead-rtpe, redhot,broiling
hot.
SOS. The
analogous
combinations of
numerals,
which are
used both
as nouns and
adjectives,
have the
same even
stress :
"
T,Goo(^le
S
9""-J
PHESEJ'n- ENGLISH
;
STRESS.
493
"twenty-oiu,
a "hundrtd and
-ten,
two
hundrtd,
Ihree
thousand.
Compound
Verbs.
910. The
great
majority
of
compound
verbs
are made
up
of adverbs and verba
(913),compounds
of verbs with other
parts
of
speechbeingrare,
and of modem
origin.
These
compounds
of nonn or
adjeotlTe +
verb
generally
have
uneven stress :
"
"irowieat,
originally
'to threaten
or censure
by
contraction
of the
eyebrows,' kiln-dry ;
whitewash,blindfold.
Adverbs and Pronouns in
Composition.
911.
Koon-compoiuids consisting
of adverb
+ ooon,
and
adieotiTe-compounds consisting
of adverb
+
preterite
partioiplegenerally
have
uneven stress :"
"forefinger, foreground,afterthought, bystander, underlip,
up
train,downfall,
outcry,
throughjourn^.
inborn,downcast,thoroughbred.
912. The
numerous compound
verbs formed of adverb
+
verb and of verb
+
adverb have
even stress :
"
fore'warn,
overcome,
undergo,
outbid.
past
-by,
draw
bach,
break
down,
lake
in,
look
out,
run
918. Nouns and
adjectives
formed from these verbs
by
derivation
or
inflection
keep
the
same even stress :"
fore-runntr, forewarning; passer
by,lookingon.
fore-warned;
grown up,
broken
down,
worn out
914. So also if
they
are
converted into nouns without
change
of
meaning,
as
in
an -over'load, a look-out, a break- down.
816.
But if
theyare
made into
nouns or adjectives
with
a
distinct
change
of
meaning,
the stress becomes
uneven :
"
a -drawback,a
runaway,
a
go-between,
tumSU-down
(adj.)
916.
There
are
many
compounds
of
pronotm+pronotm
and
of
prcmoun
+ adverb in which the
principle
of
pulling
394
PHONOLOGY.
[(
917.
the stress on
the
modifying
element is
very
clearly
carried
out;
in the
following
the
modifying
element comes first,
so
that
first-syllable
stress is the result:
"
"someone
somebody lOHUlhing
somewhere somehow
anyone anybody anything anywhere ai^hoto
everyone everybody
everything everywhere
"
no
one
nobody nothing
nowha-e "
So also in -tlstwhere.
817. In other
compounds
the
modifying
element
follows,
so
that the
stress
is thrown forwards
:"
someone
'else,
somewhere
else,
whatever else.
who'ever,whosoever,whatever,whenever,wherever,
how-
ExTENSiON
OF
Compound-Stress.
918.
In Present
English
some words made
up
of
inseparable
elements
take
even stress as
if
they
were
compound
words.
819.
Some
prefixes
which have
a
very
definite
meanu;^
and
are phonetically capable
of
being
detached from the
body
of
a
word have in
consequence
come to be felt
as independent
words,
the
prefis
and the
body
of the word
being
balanced
against
one another,as
it
were, by
each
receivingequal
stress.
Foreign,
as
well
as
nadve,inseparable prefixes
are
treated in this
way
:
"
Nouns :
-unbe'lief,
-mirconduct,
misunderstanding,
noncon- ductor,
ex-manager,
sub-committee, arefAishop, juxtaposition,
anHradical.
Adjectives:unseen, uncouth,unkind; superhuman.
Verbs:
misjudge, unbend,nacoiier, gainsay,
cross-examine
;
re-cover
^'cover
^în,'
re-examine.
mis-take
keeps
itstraditional ME stress because itis isolated
from take.
820.
Even
simple
words of
more
than
one syllable
sometimes have their
syllables
detached in this
way.
This is
T,Goo(^le
I 9JS.]
PRESENT
ENGIJSM
;
STRESS.
495
frequent
with
exclamations,
which
naturally
tend to take
even stress
through
the endeavour to make each
syllable as
loud
as
possible
:"
'hii'bl, bravo!,amen!,
encore!
Exclamations
are
also uttered with advanced stress
(92B).
621. The
same
striWng
after distinctness leads
to even
stress
in
many
foreign
words,
especially
proper
names :
"
'Berlin,Chintte,
"Waterloo.
922.
The /"m-numerals take level
stress on
the
analogy
of
the
group-numerals twenty-one,
etc. :" "
"thirteen,
fourteen, seventeen,
nineteen.
Group-Compownds.
628.
Group-compounds
formed
by joiningtogether
two
nouns
by
the
conjunction
and
or a
preposition
"
generally of
" throw the
stress on to the second
element,as being
the
modifying
one. The
following are examples
of
uniZ-groups
:
"
cup
and
'saucer,
knife
and
fork,
bread and butter.
When other
parts
of
speech
are joinedtogether
in this
way,
they keep even stress ; 'no-w and
"then,
to and
fro,
more and
more, Jive
and
twenty,
black and tan.
Or-groups
have
even
stress
when the or is a
strong alternative, as
in
'sooner or
'later,
the stress
being
thrown back when the or is
weak, as
in
on
"hour
or
so,
a
step
or two.
624. The
followingare examples
of
group-compounds
formed with
prepositions
1"
man
of
'properly,
man-of-war,woman
of
the
world,people
of rank,a
cup of tea,
a pair ofgloves,
matter
offad,
mother-
of-pearl;commander-in-chief,
a box
on
the
ear,
head
over
heels.
626. If
an adjective precedes
the second
noun,
the chief
stress falls
on
that
adjective :
"
cat-o'
-nine-tails,
fack-of
-all-trades.
The stress is thrown back
vafather-in-laai,
etc.
30
phonology.
[{916.
,
Stkess Advanced
in
Cohpovnos.
926.
In maniind the stress is thrown forward. This is
more frequent
in wordf of three
or more
syllables,
cs-
'pecially
in
proper
names
and words
lengthenedby
derivative
syllables
:"
pochthandktrfhirf, Southampim,Newfoundiand,
arch-
"bishoprie \ârchbishop\, out-rageout \^"mirage\.
So also in
Fiiigeraid,portfolio, portmattteau,
which
are
felt
as coiapounda,though
obscured,
827.
Stress ia thrown forward when
a
titleis followed
by
a
proper
name :
"
Mr.
-Smith,
Miss
Carnaby,Lord
John,
King Hmry,
Prime Arthur.
028.
In exclamations the stress is sometimes
even
(B20),
but is often advanced,as
in
a-ha!,good -morning
I Hence
even-stress
compounds
such
as -Blackhettth, Oxford
Road
become Blacfrheaih,etc. when
used
as exclamations,compounds
in which the stress is thrown
back,such as
-Oxford
Strut,keeping
their stress
unchanged
when used as exclamations.
AssuMPTivx
(Attributivk)
Compounds
and Groups.
029.
When an even-stress
compound or
group,
or
simple
word
stressed like
a compound
is
put
before
a noun which it
modifies
assumptively,
the
stress is thrown
on the firstelement
of the
compound or
group
:
"
"Btrlin -wool
[but
-xeool
from 'Berlin],
Waterloo
station,
a
Chinese mandarin
;
non-commissioned
officer ;
underdone meat.
secondhand
bookseller,
North
Country
surgeon,
ten-pound
note,twenfy-jive
members
;
All Saints'
day; goodlooking
man,
slrongminded
woman,
hardboiled
eggs,
weli-inown
voice;
furned-up
nose, grcwn-up
daughter.
-black-and-ian
-terrier, jive-and-hvenly
blackbirds.
Compare
also
a seven
o'eloek
-dinner,
and
a
-goodfor
",Goo(^le
(935.]
PRESENT
ENGUSH; QUA
NTITY.
49?
nothing
"fdlaw with
"w
dine at 'stvm
o'-clociand V it
'good
Jbr 'nothing,
080.
When
a groap-compound
in which the stress
is
already
thrown forward is used
assumptively,
it
k"eps
its
stress unaltered,
the stress
of the bead-word
being
subordinated
:-~-
cat and
-dog.-life,
coek and htiU
story,
rag
boittand -iotlk
.merckan/
;
ianh
"/England
nok.
9S1.
This is also done with
some even-stress
groups
in
which the connection between the elements is
not
close
;
"
a
droamed -rat
:look,
dead letter
o^ce,
a
Michael
Angelo
style,
the Charles Dtchens tdUum,
882.
So also in
longer
groups
:
a
good
all 'round
.-man,
tie
emjiloyer/ liadiUfy for 'injury
:bill,
the
commons
enclosureconsoU'dafion:act.
Qnantit;.
088.
In Mn" there is
a generaltendency
to
shorten
bng
vowels.
As
we
have seen
(801,883),long
vowels are
olten
shortened before certain consonants in native
words,as
in
blood
(blisd)
= OE and ME blbd.
984.
There is also
a
tendency
to shorten
long
vowels "
or
keep strong
short vowels from
being lengthened
" wfara
followed
by
a
single
consonant and
a
weak
vowel,
in words
of French
origin,
whether
popular
or learned,as
in
cavern,
caviiycompared
with
cave
; gratify, graUtudecompared
with
grateful;parish,method,benefit, relative,
astonish, philosophy,
astronomy,pleasure(plegs)compared
with
please,
courage
(k^rid^), flourish.
685. But when the consonant is followed
by
two weak
vowels
^
preceding
strong
vowel is often
lengthened,
as
in
atheist, radiant,patient,tedious, especially
in the derivative
endings-tion,-sion,etc, precededby
a
strong
vowel,as
in
nation,-admiration, adhesion,notion,corrosion,although
" is
tgS
PHOftOLOGY.
[|93"""
not
lengthened
under these
circumstances,"s
in
hideous,
ptHHoH.
Short vowels
are
also
preserved
when the two short
vowels
are precededby
certain
consonanU,
such
as n
and
ik,
as
in
cimpamon,/athi0M,
986.
There
are
also
a
variety
of other
exceptions, eqtedally
before certain
endings,
such
as -al,
-ive,-y,
-n
and
-r
preceded
by
weak
vowels,as
in
fatal,dtcuive,
navy
compared
with
noDâie,bacim,
paper,
labour,
those in
-n
and
-r
beii^probably
the resnltof the influence of native
words,
such
as
the
preterite
participles taken,shaken,
etc.,
and the ntunerous derivativesin
-tr,
sudi
as
maker.
087.
But
some
of these words with
long
vowels shorten
them when another
syllable
is
added,as
in national
compared
with
nation,
tyrannous
cmnpared
with
fyrant.
B88. In words which have been
imported
direct frc"n
Latin and Greek,
the vowels are
generallylong
under the
circumstances described
above,as
in
basis, ether,
regent,
crisis,
focus,sfr^ht.
But there
are
several
exceptions,
such
as
simib
(simili),
chemist,
the
quantity varying
in
some words,
such
as
pathos(pei}x"s, pi^ws).
esa. In Present
Engli^ we can
distinguish
three
degrees
of vowel
quantity.Long
vowels and
difJithongs
preserve
their full
quantityonly
when
final, as
in
toy, tee,no, why,
or
when followed
by
a finalvoice
consonant,
as
in
home,raise,
succeed,
wine. Before breath consonants they
become half-
long,
as
in
race, seat,knife.
940.
In all these
cases
the consonant is short If
a
short
strong
vowel isfollowed
by
a
singleconsonant,
that
consonant
is
lengthened, as
in
jiU,
win
(winn),set,
this
lengthening
having
taken
placealready
in M"
(789).
But if the final
consonant is voiced"
especially
if it is
a
voice
stop
" the
vowel is often
lengthened
instead of the
consonant,
as
in bed
(Ived), d^ compared
with
dock,
his
(hiw),length being
often distributedabout
equallyover
the vowel and the
con-
T,Goo(^le
f M30
PXESEATT
ENGUSH; QUANTITY. 299
sonant. It willbe observed that vhen these
naturatl;
short
vowels
are
lengthened
in this
way,
their
quality
remains unchanged;
thus the
lengthened
vowel of
dog
remains
distinct
from the
(a)
of davi.
In
English,therefore,
in the combination
strong
vowel4 final
consonant,
either the vowel must be
long
or the consonant.
The combination short
strong
vowel -I-short final consonant
offers
great
difficultiesto
English speakers,
as
in the German
maun
(man).
941. The combination short
Strong
vowel
+
short consonant
occurs
in
English only
before
a
weak
vowel,as
in
filling(filii)) compared
vrith
fill(fill), lesser,
many,
cupboard
(Itcbsd), a
vowel-likeconsonant
acting
like
a
weak
vowel,as
in eatiU
(keetl), written,
troiille. A weak vowel
beginning
another word has the
same
effect,
if the two words
are run
together
without
any pause,
asinjf//(^(fil -H),
let
ut
gel
it
(}el
-38
get
-it)compared
with
get
them
(gett Bam).
"
Long
vowels
and
diphthongs
under these conditions
are partially
shortened,
as
in
Hdy compared
with
tide,
chosen
(tjouzn)
compared
with
chose,
the vowel-like consonant in the latter
example acting
like
a
weak vowel.
Half-long
vowels and
diphthongsare
partially
shortened in the
same
way,
as
in
tightercompared
with
t^hl,
the
diphthong
in
tighter
being
therefore stillshorter
than in
tidy.
S4S. In weak
syllables simple
vowels become
quiteshort,
and a
followingconsonant remains short
abo,
as
in
pity,
pitied,letter,
setting,
A
vowellike
consonant remains short
under the
same circumstances, as
in settle
(sell),
bitten
îtn).
943. Final
consonants are
long,as we
have
seen,
after
Strong
short vowels. In final
consonant-groups
the
separate
consonants are short if the last of them is
voiceless, as
in
built,since,slapped.
A
consonant before
a
voice-consonant
is
lengthened,
especially
when
a vowel-like consonant
is followed
by
a
voice-stopconsonant,
as
in build
(billd),
bend
compared
with built
(biit), bent.
300
PHONOLOGY.
\\
944.
Two
consonimts in
a
weak
syllable
are,
of
course,
short,
as
044.
When
long
words
are drawled,
any
naturally long
sounds
they
may
contain
are,
of
course,
lengthened
still
more.
If the word congists of a
strong
short vowel followed
by
a
single
consonant and
a
short weak
vowel,
the
strong
vowel
is not
lengthened,
but the
length
is thrown
("i to the weak
vowel,
which is
lengthened
without
change
of
quality,
and
without
taking
any
additional
stress,
as
in what
a
piiyf
("pjt/i"),
slt^
htr I
T,Gop(^le
ACCIBENOE.
Gendex.
945. There are three
genders
of
nouns
in OE "
mason-
lise,
fsminme,
and neuter. The
genders
of nouns are
most
clearly
shown
by
the
accompanying
definitearticle
'
the
'
"
masculine
tt,
feminine
tic,
and neuter pal.
The
gender
is
partlynatural,
partlygrammatical.
It is to be noted that
by
natural
gender names
of children and
young
animals
are nenter: ^1 Hid, Pat
beam
'child,' ^^/ ttalf
'calf.'
In the
same
way
dinunutives
are neuter : pat
magd-en
'
maiden/
'
girl.'
Names of
things
and abstractions are
often
neuter,
but
as
often masculine
or
feminine
: fiat
luafod
'
head,'/la/
hits
'
house
'
;
te
finger
'
finger,' se hgrt
'
army
'
;
iio Hand
'
hand,'sio
wyitn
'
joy,'
Names of
living
beings
sometimes have
a
grammatical
gender
which contradicts
the natural
geixler
;
thus
J"af vnf
'
woman,'
'
wife
'
is
neuter.
946. The
gender
is sometimes shown
by
the form of the
word. Thus all
nouns
ending
in
-a are masculine,
such
as
se mdna
'
moon,' sto
suntu
'
sun
'
being
feminine.
847.
Compound nouns
follow the
gender
of the last
element Hence
te na/matm
'
woman' Is
masculise,
because
te
marni
'
bnmiui
being'
is mascoltne.
303
ACCIDENCE.
[f948.
StKONO
AMD
WlAK.
046. All nouns
belong
to one
of
two classes"
strong
and
weak. Wsak
nouns are those which inflect
mainly
with
-n,
such
as it sUorra
'
star,' plural
nominative
J"i
steorran,twau,
genitivesingular
pare tutman.
All others
are
strong,
such
as St t/Sn
'
Etcme,'
genitive ungularr/Saet, plural
nominative
Casks.
948. OE
nouns
have four
cases, nominstlTe, atxnua-
tlTfl,d"tiTe, geniUye,
which
are not
always clearly
distinguished.
The accusative is the
same as
the nominative in
all
plurals,
in the
singular
of all
neuter
nouns,
and in the
singular
of allmasculine
strong
nouns.
Masculine and neuter
nouns
differ
very
litUe in their inflections. The inflections
of
weak
nouns are nearly
the
same
in all three
genders.
The dative
pluralending
of
nearly
allnouns is
-mm.
OSa.
Some neuters have
a pluralending-ni,
such
as (ild,
plural
til^ft,iildrum,Hldra.
The
pluralending-"
is
dropped
after
a long syllable,
that
is,one containing%
'
Wbecever the accmatiTe ii not
giraitepuateljr,
it
w
the
tune
m
T,Goo(^le
i 9SS-] NOUNS;
OLD ENGLISH.
303
long vowel,
as in
his, or
containing
a vowel followed
by
more
than
one
consonant,
as
\afole
'
nations.'
8S4. The
-"
of the
nom.
sing,
is,
likethe
-"
of the neuter
plur.nom., keptonly
aflera short
syllable.
Some
strong
feminines
ending
in
a consonant have the
ace.
sing,
the
same as
the
nom.,
such
as
d^d
'
deed/ ace. sing,d^d;
but
in Late 0" most of these
are declined like
tymt,
with
ace
sing,
diide.
Nom.
fage'eye'
lagan
tirice 'church' HriCan
Aca
lagt lagan
tiriian
eirtian
Dat.
iagoH lagum
tiriian Hriium
Gen.
lagan lagtna
iiriian tiriiena
056. There
are besides a number of
Irregular
strong
nouns. The most
important
of these
are
the mntaticni-
nonns,
such
as
the masculine mann 'man,'/et 'foot,'tS/i
'tooth,'plur.
mpm,
_/?/{/a/),
tip,
the feminine ide
'
book,'
gos
'
goose,'
mOt
'
mouse,'burg
'
city,' plur.dec,gis,
mps,
byrig.
ACCIDENCE.
Masculine Mutation-n
Sing.
B67" Nom.
moan
DaL
mpin
Gen.
mantut
Sing-
PIuT.
pi fit
fit fitum
files fita
Feminine Mutation-nouns.
Sing.
Pliir. I
Sing.
Plur.
966. Nom.
bttrg,
burh
byrig
mAt
myi
Dat.
iyrig burgum]
mys
mSium
Gen.
burgt burga
\
mUtt mtisa
968. The
masc. lutm 'son' has dat.and
gen.
sing,
and
nom.
pinr.swia,
the fem, dwu
'
door
'
being
declined in the
same
way.
So also the fem. iand has dat. and
gen.
sing,
and
nom. pInr./tattda,
the
original
-u
of the
nom.
sing,having
been
dropped
because of the
precedir^ longsyllable.
BOO.
Some
masc. names
of nadons occur
only
in the
plur.,ending
in
-t,
such
as
îigie
'the
English,'
dat.
^n-
glum,
gen.
fitigla.
Some of these have
a
weak
gen.
plur.,
such
as
Staxe
'
Saxons,'
Mierie
'
Mercians,'
gen.
Seaxna,
Mitrina.
961. The rcladon
ship-
words in
wr, or,
such as
fader
'
"ther,'
modor
'
mother,'brS/ior
'
brother
'
are
partlyregular,
partly
indeclinable,
the dat.
sing,generally having
mutation
:
"
Sing.
Plur.
Nom.
Jader fadtras
Dat.
fader figdemm
Gen.
fader,faderes fadera
Sing.
Plur.
brdpor brBpor,brB^ru
briper brdj/rum
brdpor brd^ra
902.
Some
nouns are indeclinable,
such
as
the abstract
fem. nouns
in
-u,
such
as
ieldu
'
old
age,'
str[rigu
'
strength.'
The fem. m'M
'
night
'
is indeclinable in die
sing,
and in
the nom.
plur.,
the
masc.
monafi
'
month
'
being
also indeclinable
in the
nom. phir
;
we
still
preserve
these
unchanged
plurals
in the
compounds forlnighiÔS.Jiavoerliem
niekl
'
fourteen
nights
'
and tuxlvemonth.
Some
nouns are
inde-
T,Goo(^le
ig6g.1
JVOl/MS: BARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH.
305
clinable in the daL
sing.,
such
as
ham
'
home,'as
in cet hant
*
at
home.'
The inflectionof
nouns
isattended
by
various modilications
which fallunder the
general
head of OE
sound-changes.
968. Nouns
ending
in weak
-el,-ol,-en, -er,
etc. often
drop
their vowel before
an
inflection
beginning
with
a
vowel,
thus
"
{tiêi
'
angel,'
"
/ugol
'
bird,'
wo
sawol
'
soul,'
âi vkipen 'weapon,'^s/
mundor
'wonder,''miracle,'
have
pluralsenglas, /uglai,sawla,
vktpnu,
wundru. This short:
ening
is most
frequent
after
a precedinglong syllable,
the
weak vowel
being generallykept
after
a
short
syllable, as
in
D61.
For the
change
of
a
into
a.
in such
nouns as se dc^
'
day,'
te s/af
'
staff,'
gen.
sing,daês,stafes,plur.nom.
dagat,stafat, pat fat
'
vessel,'
'
dish,' pat
dai
'
dale,'
'
valley,'
gen.
sing,fates,dales,plur.nom.
faiu, dalu,
see
"
747.
966. For the
dropping
of A in such
nouns as se
Wealh
'
Welshman,' plur.WialOs, se
teolh
'
seal,'plur.seolas,see
"
761.
866.
In Late OE final h and medial
g
alternate in such
words
as "
froh
(earUer
OE
Irog),plur,
trogas,
seo burk,
gen.
sing,burge,
se
heorh
'
mountain,'plur.beorgas(768).
967. Final -"
in the
nom. sing,
of
some
nouns,
such
as se
beam
'
gfove,'
pal
meolu
'
meal,'seo
sieadu
'
shadow,'
'
shade,'
tlo stnu
'
sinew
'
is
a weakening
of
original
w,
which
reappears
before an
inflection
beginning
with
a vowel,as
in the
gen.
sing,bearwes,meohves,sieadwe,
sinwe. This
-u
is
dropped
after
a long syllable, as
in
seo
mdd
'
meadow,' plur.
m"dwa.
968.
The
dropping
of h before vowels
(761)
leads to
contraction,as
in
pat feoh 'money,'
gen. ang.
feos.
Oldest
"DgliBh_/%0A".
Earl7
Hiddle
WngliBh.
869.
In
Early
Southern the dd
gender-distinctions
in
nouns were
still
partially kept
up.
By degrees,however,
the
3o6
ACCIDENCE.
[K970.
inflections of the
adjectives
and the definite article
were
dropped;
and when the Earliest Southern
)"", J"eo, Pft
were
levelled"
as theysoon were
" under the uninflected
^, so
that
f""0
tilnMt=OE slo
sytm
axApft
hus
became^ ilhttu,pehit,
tbe old
genderswere graduallyforgotten, simply
because
there
was
nothing
to mark them. From the
very
beginning
of tbe ME
period
tbe natural feminine
gender
of such
words as
milmmom, MfMfat=OE
anfimmH, nuegdeit began
to
prevail
over tbe
gnunmatical
masculine and
neuter,
these
words
being
referredto
by
the feminine
pronoun
hio
'
she.'
fi70. The first
great
change
in the old
system
of inflections
was
the
levelling
of weak vowels under
~*
(704^. By
this
change
the distinctionsof
gender
in the 0" weak fi^ms
mdtta,
twuu, iagt
were
levelled in tbe
Eariy
Southem forms
mme, tutuu,
m; as
far as tbe
endinp were concerned.
The
distinctions of
case were
almost
entirely
effaced
by
this
change
in such words
as
OE
sttnu,
dat and
gen.
sing,
and
nom. plur.
swu, caru, ace.,
dat,
and
gen. sg. eart,noTa.
plur.
eara.
So also the inflectionsinOE slant
(datsing.),
stina
(gen.
plur.), tHpu (com.plur.)
were
levelledimder the
same
final
-".
971. The
onlyendings
which could withstand this levelling
were tbe
gen. sing,ts,
the
iK"m. plur.-"u,
which both
became -tt
in
ME, as
in
s^tut=0'S.sfdntt, ttditas,
the weak
-an,
which became
-e",
the
gen.
plur.-mh,
which became
-Mt.
The dat.
plur.-urn became
-em
;
bat
as
this
was
the
only
case
ending
in
m,
the consonant was
levelledunder tbe more
frequent
n,
so
that M"
-m
represented
OE -urn as
wdl
as
-om,
as
in iviren = OE
itfiron, gt/rrvm.
97a. The
general
result(^ these
changeswag not
only
to
obscure the distinctionsof the
cases,
but also in
some classes
di
nouns to obscure the distinction between
singular
and
plural.
The confusion
was most
marked in the feminine
nouns,
where the
changeswe
have been
considering
gave
the
following
as the
endingscorresponding
to those of the OE
nouns
earu, tynn,
mmu
ret^pfttively
:"
T,Goo(^le
i 977.]
ffOUm: EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH.
307
Sing.
Nom.
-" -
-"
-*
Ace
-t t
-en'
Dat.
-* -t
-tt^
Gen. -e "*
-en*
Plur. Nom. -*"-"" -""
Dat. 'en -ert 'tm
Gen.
-etie t -ent
978.
It is evident that the fonns marked
*
in the ab"ove
table
are
in the
minority,
while at the
same
time most of ihem
obscure the distinctionbetween
singular
and
plural.They were
accordingly
got
rid of
by
the
analogical
extension of those
forms which were
in the
majority
and
more
distinctive. The
-e
of
care
and
sunne was
extended to the OE
nom,
synn,
which
became
ME sUnne. The
plural-en
of sunnen=OE. sunnan
was
extended to
allfeminine
nouna
" ME
caren,
silnrten=0'E
eara, syrma.
As
-en was now
ihe distinctivemark of the
plural,
it
was
given
up
in the
singular
of
sunne,
whose
oblique
cases
took the same
foim
as the
nominative,as
in the other
two
classes. The final result was that all feminine nouns
were unifonnly
declinedas
follows:"
Sing.
Plur.
Nom. -* -en
Ace -4 -en
Dat. -* -en
Gen. -f
-MM
974.
As
might
be
expected,
the
gen.
plur.-etu was
often
levelled under the other
plural
cases, becoming
-en.
975.
Weak masculines and neuters
were
declined in the
same
way
"
sii^,
name, tie,plur.
namen.
Hen. The
only
distinction
between masculine and neuter weak nouns
"
namely
in the
ace. sing.(OE naman, lage)was
thus lost.
676.
The
originally
strong
masculine jk"=OE
jawnwas
naturallyregardedas a
weak
noun,
and formed its
plural
mnen.
977,
'f=the OE neuter
plur.ending
-u was
made into
308
ACCIDENCE.
[| 978.
"en
in the
same
way
for the sake of
distinctness, as
in
diofieti,
ckildreK=0^
dioftu, Hldru,
"ng.
diovel,
child. In
many
of
these words -"=0"
-u was
exten"itedto the
singular,
as
in
daU
'
valley,'
bede
'
prayer,'=0"dal._geb"d, plur. dahi,gebedit.
These OE
[durals
became
daljtn,
heden in ME.
978. The
remaining
masculine and neuter nouns kept
their
original
strong
forms. The daL
sing,
in -* was kept
at
first,
but oflen
dropped,
because such forms
as loriV,
warden
OE
wege,
worde
suggested
a weak
singular,
and so
the dat.
sing,vas
levelled under the
nom.
in such words"
iwt',
word
" in accordance with the
general
ME
tendency.
The dat.
plur.
-m=0"
-urn was disused for
a
similar
reason"
because
it
Buêsted
a weak
plural
"
beingkeptonly
in
a
few adverbial
phrases,
such
as vdur
slpen
'
four times
'=OE_/eower sifntm,
the
nom. plur.being
used
as a
dative. The
gen.
plur.
-"=
OE
-a was
sometimes
kept,
but the
more
distinctweak
ending
-ene was
often used instead"
kingau,
as
in aire
ktagauking
'
king
of all
kings,'
wdrdene insteadof
kinge,
worde " both of
these forms
being graduallysupplantedby
the nominative.
In the neuter
plur.
the OE undeclined forms
were
still
kept
"
Mis,
word " but the
strong
masc. ending
was
often extended
to the
neuters, so as to
distinguish
the two
numbers "
Ames,
wordes.
The
following are
then the
regularEarly
Southern ME
noun-inflections,
those which
are
liableto be
droppedbeing
in( ):-
Strong
Masculine and Neuter.
fi78.
Sit%.
Nom.
stjH
loSrd
Dat.
stQn{e)wdrd{e)
Geo.
stgnes
viSrdes
Plur.
stents
w6rd,
wSrdes
slants,(sipen) wSrd,
-wdrdes
stine{iU),slgnes wSrde{He),iodrdes
080.
The neuters
child,
li 'egg'
have
plur.ehsidren,
firen,corresponding
to 0"
iildru,
Sgru,
v,Goo^le
J 984-]
NOUNS: EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH.
Strong
and Weak Feminme.
Sing.
Nom.
liinne,
cMrche
Dat.
sUnne,
ehircke
Gen.
sUnne,
ehircke
Plur.
sunnen,
chirchen
limnm,
ckirchen
tUrm!n(t),chirchen(e)
982. Some
originally
strong
f"inininesdo not take
-e in
the
nom.
and
ace sing.,
such
aa
kgnd
'
hand,'
miht
'
might,'
cu
'
cow.*
Weak Masculine and Neater.
983.
Sing.
1 Plur.
Nom. ivire H* iviren Hen
DaL ivire lit iviren Htn
Gen. ivire iU \
iveren(e)
iien(e)
884. Those of the old mutation
plural;
which are
still
preserved
in Mn"
were
of
course kept
in
Early
ME
as
well
:
man (men),vot,
tS^,
gos, mus,
plur.
men, vH,
tip,
ges,
mSs.
The OE
wi/mann plur.wlfinptn
appears
in
Early
Southern
ME
as
wUmmon, wUtnmen,
in
Early
Midland
as
wimman,
ttammen.
In allthese words the mutation was
confined to the
plur.,
such 0" datives
as
mpm
being
made into
monnt or
tnon.
In the
plur.on
the other hand the mutated forms
were
gradually
extended to the dat and
gen.,
men
supplanting
manne,
mannen.
Most of the feminine
irregular
nouns do
not take
"
in the
nom.
and
ace. sing.
The OE feminine
noun burg
appears
in ME sometimes as burh,
sometimes
as
buTwe
plur.iurtoen,
later
burwes,
the old mutated dat.
sing,being preservedas
the second elemeiU of
place-names
in the fonn of -itfrt"in the other dialects-beri,-bin-"
as
in CanttrbUri
'Canterbury'=the
OE dat.
Cantwarabyri^.
This arose from the
phrase
'
at the
city,'
at
governing
the
dadve in
OE, as
in at
pSre byrig,
^riiichbecame of ter bUri
In ME
(767),
whence the MnE
Atlerbury.
In the
case
of
hdc,plur.
hoken,bakes,
the mutation
was completely
lost.
3IO
ACCIDENCE.
[J985.
968.
The
Fdationship-WDrds
voder,mdder,
tester
gener-
My
remained
unchanged
in the
î^., having
the
regular
pluralsvaderet,modren,
tSstrm.
brdPer
of course lost the
0" matation in the dat.
Bing.,
which became
broper.
But
ihiBmutation was
transferred to the
plur.
on the
analogy
of
fit,
men, etc,
so
that
bro/"rt=0'E. brcjru
became
brepre,
and
then,by
the usual
changre
of
plural-t
into
-en,
hriPren.
080. nifU,mSneft
and
some
others remained uninflecledin
the
plural.
987.
The OE
vowel-change
in
d^, plur.dagos,
was
preserved
in the ME
dp,
dot
plur.davxs, although
a new
plur.
dates
was soon
formed direct from the
sing.
dai.
088.
Final
e was
dropped
after
a weak
vowel,as
in
l(fdi
'\3idy'=0Eila/d(fe.
The
pluralending
-^without avowel
occurs only
in
long
French
words,as in
porlurs
'
paiiours,'
vatimera
'
vestments,'
where
2=(ts).
la Old French such
a
word
aa vestiment is mflected thus"
Sing.
Nom. vestimens Plur. Norn. vtsHmeni
Ace vestimmi Ace vtstimetu
As the distinction between
tUHn,
and
ace.
bad been lost in
ME,
the French -s was
naturally
identifiedwith the
English
plur-
mflection-es.
080. In
Early
Midland
and Northern the distinctions
of
grammaticalgenderwere
entirely
lost
during
the transition
from OE,
strong
and weak forms
being
also done
away
with,
except
in
a
few isolated foims^
The natural
consequence
was
that the
-es
of the
genitive
was extended to weak
nouns and to all feminine
nouns,
the
plur.
-n
being
then extended in the same
way,
firstto
strong
neuters,
then to weak
nouns
and feminine
nouns
generally.
The finalresult
was
that the
onlyregular
inflections
leftwere
gen.
sing,
-ts,
plur.nom.
and
gen.
-"r,
the
distinctionbetween
nom.
and
gen.
plur.beingkept
up
only
in
irregular plurals
such as
mm, gen.
meimes.
T,Goo(^le
t99\-}
ffOUNS: LATE MIDDLE ENGLISH.
31
1
I"te
Hiddle-EngUab.
890. Standard ME follows the
Early
Midland dialect
in its
noun
-inflection
3 :
it has
only
one
case,
the
genitive;
the
originalnominative,accusative,
and dative
being
now
merged
in
one
'
common
case'
:
"
Sing.
Common
wSrd,
linne
Gen.
wdrdes,
sititus
Plur. Common
wSrdes,
sinnes
Gen.
wdrdis,
sinnes
BOl.
The
e of -es
" the
gen.
as
well
as
the
plur.ending-
is often
dropped
in
Englishas
well as
French words after
a
weak
syllable, as in/aders(aiso /ddres), iddys(alsolaifyes),
and afler
a
strong
vowel,
in order to avoid
hiatus,as
in
Jgs
'
foes.' Also in
pens
= earlier
penies,
of which
pens
was
(Higinatly
the weak
fonn,
the word
having
lost its stress in
such combinations as
/wg
penies[compare
the Mn. ". two- pence
(tcpsns)].
8B2.
The whole
ending
-es
is often
dropped
in French
words and
proper
names ending
in
a hiss-consonant, as
in
the
gen.
sing. Troiius,V^nus,
and the
plurals
cSs 'cases,'
vers
(alsoverses).
This is the result of French
influence,
for in Old French such
a
word
as
vers,
whose
s
is
part
of the
body
of the
word,
was
necessarily
indeclinable
:
"
Sing-
Nom.
vers
Plur. Nom,
vers
Ace.
vers
Ace.
vers
093. Originally
feminine
noune
sometimes
keep
their
earlier
j-less
gen.
sing., as
in
pe
chirche
dgre,
his
lady
gr"ce.
We still
preserve
this form in
Lady-day compared
with
Lorfs
4ay.
984.
Manjr originally
neuter nouns
with
imchanged
plurals
still
keep these,
such
""/olk,der,hors,
np
'cattle,'
ship,swin,
kin
'
kmd,' ping,
yfr.
It must
be observed
that
most
of these
plur^s
have
a
collective
meaning;
thus the
3:a
AcciDEffCE.
\\
995.
^xa.folk
is oftener used in the
sense
of
'people
in
generar
than in ihatof'
nations,'
and in MnE twint is used
exclusively
in the collective
plural
sense,
not
being
used in the
singular
at all. The invariable
plurals ytight, motu^,
winUr
(0" plur.
ttiin/m, winier)
are also
kept.
But several of these words
bîn
to take the
regularplnralending,especially
when not
preceded
by
numerals:
Pinges,
yfrtt,
mottjts.fit
when used
as a
measure was
also made invariable in tbe
plor^ on
the
analogy
of tbe old neaxst
pound,
and the other invariablewords
which were
frequendyjoined
to
numerals,
such as
winter.
085. In its
generalmeaning/A keeps
its
mutation-plural
fit.
So also
man, a)dm{m)a"i, t^,
etc. have
plurab
mat,
wBm{m)m,
lifi, etc.
098.
The weak
plural-ending -tn
is
preserved
not
only
in
exe
plur.oxen,
but also in other words which have
now
lost it in the
spoken language,
such as atche,tuchen,h"tt,
U
'
eye,'Un, /g
'
foe,'
/gn,
ig
'
toe,'
Ign,
tcho
'
shoe,'
schon.
In other words this
ending
is
a
ME
extension,as
in
bripren,
ehiUren,dehtren,
suslren.
eow
has
plur.liyn=OiE.
cm,
plur.
ly,
the northern dialect
keeping
the older form H.
Modem
EngUsh.
887.
By
the
beginning
of the MnE
period
the
j
of
inflectional
-m
had been voiced
(861),(s)being kept
only
in
monosyllables
such
as
getse, pence.
In
Early
MnE the t wrs kepi
after
a
hiss-consonant for the sake of
distinctness,
as
in horses
(horsez),
and
was
dropped
everywhere
else,
the
(z)being necessarily
unvoiced after
a
voiceless
consonant,
as
in beasti
(bwsts)
from beasies
(Ivratez),
while it
was
of
course
preserved
after vowels and voiced
consonants,
as
in
dig/s,
heads
(hrnlz).
888.
The ME
dropping
of
-ts
after hiss-consonants is
still
kept
up
in
a
few
phrases
such
as for
old
acqttaintance
ifike,
forJesus'
sake;
but in the
spokenlanguage
the
-"t
is
T,Goo(^le
f 999.]
NOUNS: MODERN ENGLISH.
3I3
generallykept,as
in S/.
James's Square,
where it is also
written. Such
genitives
as Eneas',
Socrates'
wife
occur
only
in the
literary language;
in the
spoken language
the
full
-gs
is
added, or
else the construction
of
Mneas etc. is
used.
One result dL the contraction of inflectional
-m
in MnE is that
radical
s
has been sometimes mistaken for the
pluralinflection,
so that an
originalsingular
has been made into
a
plural,
as
in
the
case
of
alms,
eaves,
riches,summons:
these
'apparent
plurals
'
correspond
to the OE
singularsalmtsse,(fese(plur.
(fesan)
and the Old French
singular?rickesse, seinonse.
Most of these
apparent
pluralsare not used in the
singular
;
but
summons
is used in the
sing,
without
any change"
o
summons. There
are some
plurals
which form
a
curtailed singular
by throwing
off
the radical final
s.
Thus the collective
pluralpease=ih.t
OE weak
pluralpiosan
has
developed
a
singular
pea,
whence
a new
orthographicpluralpeas
has been
farmed. In
vulgarEnglish
such curtailed
singularsare
frequently
formed horn names of nations in
-est,
such
as Chinee,
Portuguee
from
Chinese,Portuguese.
Inflectional
plurals
often
come to be used
as singularsby
change
of
meaning,
such
as
tuws, sixpence.They
may
then
form
new plurals,
such
as
sixpences.
98d. The ME
(and0")
alternation of breath and voice
consonants in the inflectionof such native words
as
wif,
gen. sing,wiiies, ptur.
vrivts has been
kept
up
only partially
in MnE. Ithas been
entirely
abandoned in the
gen.
sing.,
which is now formed afresh from the
common case
"
wifii.
We
still
keep
the voice consonant
in such
plurals
as
umes,
paths
(paatSz),
but such
a pluralas
the earlierMnE turves
has been made into
turfs.
We still
keep
the
gen.
sing,
calves in the
compounds
calves-
head,
calves-foot expressing
articlesof food
;
otherwise
ccUf
has
the
regular
gen.
sing,calf's.
The
following
are the
main
types
of noun-inflection
in
Present
EiÎisb:
"
314
ACCIDENCE.
[|
loott.
lOOO.
50ff.
OfMMm h39
dag
kxt waif
^ws mzn
Gtn. Ipsa
dogi
lueti waifa
^wsii
nueni
P/"r. Common hssix
dogi
kxts
waivi
gtjs meD
Gen. fassii
dogi
kxla waivi
gijsii
menz
Present
English
has
developed
a vooativ" case
in
a
few
words
(lOO^ ")"
like hone
are
inflectedwords
ending
In tbe hisses
(s,
"
;
/,5),
mdi
as
puce,
hex,
toe,
adu, Juk,
churti
(iJm^ ^pv
Like doe
are
inflected nouns
ending
in
a
vowel
or
any
voiced consonant
except
(s,5),
such
as
day,lady,netghiour
(neibs),
mile,dove,
son,
lord.
Dice
(forgaining)
and
pence,
tbe
plursls
of die and
penny
have
(a)
because
they
were shortened to
monosyllablesalready
in
ME,
diet
(forcoining)
and
penniet being
new-formations
from the
singularson
the
analogy
of the
regularpluralsd^s,
ladies,
etc.
Like
rg^
are inflected nouns
ending
in
any
breath
consonant
except(s,W
such
as
earth,
cliff,
clerk,
bishep.
1001. AH the
nouns
inflected Kke
wife
" 'voice-breath
nouns' "
show
a
longsyllable
before the inflection in Late
ME, as
in s/aves=Late ME slanei
(Early
ME
slaves),
wolves
=ME
wuhts. Hence
noons
with
originat
short t'
never
make this
change"/)'/^
(pi)"s), cliff*.
The
only
voice-
breath
noun ending
in
(s)
is
house,plural
houses
(hauiiz).
The chiefvoice-breath
nouns
in
Q))
are
baih
(baa))),
ballis
(baaSz}=Late
ME
baP, bapes (ba)", baaVes),path,oaih,
mouth, clothes
was
originally
tbe
plural
of
cloth,
which
sow
forms a
regularplural
of its
own
" cloths. The
gre^
majority
of
nouns
in
(^)keep
the breath-sound in the
plural
;
such
nouns are
moth, death,hearth,health,
hirth.
Some,
such
as lath,truth,youth
have both
pronunciations,
that with
voice consonants
in the
pluralbeing,
of
course,
the (rider
one.
Nouns in
-f
show the
change more frequently:
after
long
Late ME
vowels,as
in
life,
knife,
wjfe^thief, leaf,
T,Goo(^le
i looj.]
JfOCTNS: MODERN ENGUSH.
315
loaf;
after
/,
as
in
ha^.calf, elfself, shelfvto^.
Nouns in
-rf,
Buch as
dwarf scarf,turf wharf
made this
change
in
Earl^
Mn" "
dtoarvtt,
etc. " but
they
now
generaUykeep
theyin
the
plural
"
Jwarfs,
etc.
Nouns in
-oâlso
keep
the
^
as
in
htwft,rwfs.
So also
btUtf
But the French
noun
^^Gtill keeps
its
pluralhemes,which, however,
is
now
isolated
from its
singular, through
the latter
having
lost its
original meaaing
'
ox.' ttmit was
originally
the
[Jural
of
jiS^(Late
M"
ti"tf, ttSpa),
but
havingdiverged
fiom it in
meaning,
it has now devel(q"ed
a new
singular t/ave,
while
liaff'
itsdfbaa
developed
a new
idiiral xta^s,
as
in
army staffs.
Ikregulak Plurals.
lOOa. The
following mutatioQ-plurola are
still in
common UK :
woi^
mm
; woman,
wenun
(wumso,wimin),
this
pluj.being
Southern in
spelling, though
Midland in
pronundation;_/êi/,_/"/; goose, geese;
tooth,teeth;louse,litt;
mouse,
mice.
1008. The
onlyn-plnnda
in common use are
ex,
oxen
;
child,
childrm. brother aow has the
regularplural
Mothers,
the old
plural
brethren
being
used
only
in a
metaphorical
sense, cow
also has a
regularpluralcews,
the older hint
occurringonly
in the
higherht"ûylanguage.
1004. theep
and deer
keep
theii
nnolianged plnnUs.
Weak
(-mdn),
as
in
tradesman,gentleman,Engiiskman
b also
invariable.
The full sound
(-raen)is,however, preservedtn addressing
a
number of
peopki
so we can distinguish
the
common
plural
(djentlmsn)
from the vocative
plur.(djentlmen).
1005.
These
are
the
onlyabsolutely
invariablewords. In
allother invariablewords the
unchangedpluralimplies
either
measure
or collectiveness. As in Late
ME, so
also in Mn"
many
nouns
of
measure have an unchanged pluralonly
when
pneceded
by a numeral,as
in
two
dozen knives
cc"npared
with
doetnt
of
knives
;
and
many
of ihem
keep
it
only
in
groups
or
3l6
ACCIDENCE.
[(
1006.
compounds
such
i"
ten-pound
note
compared
vhh ten
poundt,
the earlierMnE im
pound being
now obsolete
or vulgar.
It
is
only
when
a noun
of
measure
is used also
as an
ordinary
descriptive
noun that it
occasionally keeps
its
unchanged
plural
under oU
drcumstances,as
in how
many
stmt does he
we^kf
1006.
While the
use
of the
unchanged plural
of
measure
has been
gradually
restrictedin
MnE,
the
unchanged
collective
plural
has been extended, swine has
now
los^ its singular,
the
sing,
and
separative plur.being expressedbypig,
pigs.
But in most cases
the collectiveand
separative plurals
are
used side
by
side,as
in to catch
fishcompared
with the
slotyof
the three
fishes.
These details
belong
rather to
Syntax
than to
Accidence,
and
will be considered more
fully
under the former head.
FoRKiGH Plurals.
1007.
Many foreign
words"
especially
Latin and Greek "
keep
their
originalplurals,
but
some
of them have also
regularEnglishplurals ;
some
have the two
plurals
in
different
meanings.
Some
are
used
only
in the
plural.
Some
are
unchanged
in the
plural.
1008. The most
important
Latin
endingsare :"
"a
. " .
-SB :
formula,fwvutla;
larva,
nebula, minutife Is
used
only
in the
plural.
-us
. . .
-i:
fungus, ftmgt
;
hippopolamus, mcleus,radius,
terminui,
tumulus,
anthropophagi. Magi,
literati
occur only
in the
plural.
The
regularplurals funguses,hippopolamuses
etc.,
also
occur,
especially
in the
spoken language,
crocus
always
has
pluralcrocuses, genius
in its
ordinarymeaning
has the
regularplural geniuses
;
in that "rf
'
spirit
'
it
keeps
the
Latin
pluralgenii.
Latin
nouns
in
-us
which form their
pluralsby
other
endings
than
-i',
either
keep them,
as
in
genus,
plur.
genera,
or
else make them
regular,
as in
census,
plur.censuses
(Latin census,
plur.censSs),
T,Goo(^lc
"
loio.]
XOU/fS: MODERN ENGLISH.
317
-am
...
-a: desidtralum,
deiiderala;erratum, effiuvium.
M
anj
of these
are
used
only
in the
plur^
:
addenda,agenda,
arcana,
data,^hemtra.
memorandum has
plur.
memoranda
and mimorandums.
Others, such as encomium,
millenium
have
onljj-plurals.
In the
spokeo language
there is
a tendency
10 make the
a-plural
into
a
singular
from which a new
plural
is fbnned.
Thus
stratum,
strata is made into
strata,
stratas on
the
analogy
of the
ending
-er, -or, etc.,animalculum,
animalcula is nude
into
animalcula,
animalcula on the
analogy
of
formula,
for-
TMula. The difficulties in connection with the last word
are
best avoided
by using
the shonened fonn
animalcule,plur.
OMimalcules.
-ia
. . .
-es :
analysis, analyses ;
axis,basis,crisis, hypothesis,
metamorphosis,oasis,parenthesis,antipodes,aborigines
are
used
only
in the
plur.
In these latter the
ending
is
pronounceddistinctly (-ij'z).
So also in careful
speakingwe
distinguish
the
plur.(psrenîsijz)
from the
sing.(p3Ten)"isis),
but in
ordinaryspeech
the
-es
is shortened to
(-is)
so
that
no
distinctionis made between
sing,
and
plur.
in the
more
familiar words.
-es
. . . .
-es : series,species, superjicies.
These
plurals
are unchanged
both in
spelling
and
pronunciation
"
(sJaiz,
si"'iz).
-ix,
-yx,
-ex
. . .
-foes:
index, indicts;helix,cafyx,
vortex. These
plurals hardly
occur
in the
spokenlanguage,
which substitutes the
regular
forms in ^miliar words
: indexes,
calyxes.
The former of these
plurals
isalso used in
writing,
the
plur.
indices
being
necessary
only
when the word has
its
special
mathematical
meaning.
1008. There
are
other isolated Latin
plurals;
genus,
genera
; stamen,
stamina. But stamen
generally
has
a
regular
plur.
stamens,
and stamina is
now
used as a sing,
in
a
special
sense.
1010. -on
...
-a
is
a
Greek
plur.: phenomenon,pheno-
JiS
ACCWBNCB.
[Jioii.
mtna
;
anacolutkon,
au/oma/oM,
crikrion. The three Ust also
have
regiilkT [ûnds, u
also
phmMunom
in the
groups
infant
phenomtnen
etc.
1011. We have Italian
plurals
in
bandit,
handiHi
[abo
b(mdils\ ;
diUttante,
Jileftanii^whtn the
English["YHiuncia-
tion
(dili'tKnti)
makes
no distinctionbetween
sing,
and
plur.
"
virtuoto,
virtuoti
[also virtmsos\.
lOlX.
The Hebrew
pluralsehtmbim, tert^himare
collective,
and
are
occasioiutlly
used
as
singiilars
in
Eariy
MnE "
a
cherubim, cherub and
seraph
also have
regularplurals,
especiallj'
in their
metaphorical meanings.
1018.
The French
pluralending
x
in btaux
(also 6eaus),
flambeaux
is
pronounced(z).
1014. The
plural
of Mr.
(mistsr)
is
expressed by
the different
word Messrs.
(mesM),
in fullMessieurs. Mr. is
a
weak
form of ME meister from old French
mtistrt,
the
corresponding
strong
form
being
master. Messieurs is the French
mes
Siettrt
'my
I,ordB,'
the
MBg.
of which is Monsieur, The
plural
of the feminine Madam=Freach
ma
Dame
'mj Lady'
'aMts"i"net=V)nacbmetJ}awet'myLAdiee,' which,however,
is not much used in
English,
1010.'
The
tendency
of the
language
now
is to
gel
rid(rf
foreign plurals
as much
as possible,
except
where the
foreign
plur.marks a differenceof
meanii^.
iHFLHCnON
OF
WoRD-GrOUPS.
Qfnitive.
lOie. When
adjunct-words
are
joined
to a novn so as to
form
a
word-group,
the
genitive
inflection is added to the last
member of the
group,
whether that lastmember iathe head-
noun or
not,
a" vci the old
Ung^ston,
kingAlfredssen,
the
kingtÊngland
s
ton,
the
man
I
sawyetierdcg/'t ton.
So also
in
group-compounds:
the
knigkl-erranl's,
the son-in-iaui't.
T,Goo(^le
iiaao.J
WOUNS: MODERN ENGLISH.
319
1017. In the firat
example ^ven
above the inflectionsof
tfaewords
precedingkii^s
have
simplj'
been
dropped
" OB
pat taidan
cynitiget
ttmu.
In
the second
example
the mflec-
tioa of
king
has been
dropped
" OE
Mlfredttcyningtssumt.
The third
example
shows
a
further
step,
which
was firstmade
in
MnE, the ME construction
beingP* kir^tstutu of Eng- land.
A stillfurther
step
is made in the fourth
example,
in
which the
genitive ending
isadded
to an
indeclinable
adverb,
inflecting really
the whole
groop
t/u-mati-I'taw-yattrdqy.
Hence in the first
example
also we
ma)*
regard
the
"" as
-
inflecting
not
Mug,
but the whole
group
tht-eld-king.
Plural
1016.
The
principle
of
group-inflection
is not carriedso
farwith the
pluralending.
When
a noun
is modified
by
a
following
adverb or
preposition-group,
the
noun
itselfis
inflected,
as
in
hangert-on, /alheri-in-law,
commandert~in-
cki^.
If the firstelement is not
a
noun,
the inflectionis
natur^y
put
at the
end, as
in /A"
thrtt-ptr-tmttt go-betwenu,
forgttmtnott.
lOlfi.
In the
rare
combination of
a uoun
with a
following
adjective
the
same
rule
was
formerlyr"dlowed,as
in eourU'
martial,knighit-erroMi,
but now
it is
more
usual to
put
the
inflectionat the
end,
generaltendency
of the
language
"
tourl-marlialt, kitighl-erranit
"
except
in
such
groups
as
ttalet-gtneral,
in
which the old
pluriU
has
become fixed,through
the
sing,being
disused.
In
groups
consisting
of two titlesboth elements
are inflected, as
in
lordt-heuloMntt, lordt-jusUcet, knighlt-tmplart.
So also in
men-tervoHtt,
vtomen-tirvatUt.
lOao. When
a noun
of titleetc. is
put
before another
noun,
the older rule
was
that the
adjunct-noun
took the inflection.
We still follow thisrule in the combination Afatrs.
Smi/h
;
but
such
combinations as /heJUittetSmith,
iht brothtrt
",Goo(^le
^ZO
ACCTDEyCB.
W loai.
Smith
now
sound
pedantic,
the Tormer
being
also liable lo
cause
confusion with Mn.
(misiz),
and in
colloquial
language
it isusual
Xa
v".y
Uu Mm
Smiths,
tit two Doctor
Thomsons,
etc^
the construction in the
case
of
brothers, etc-,being
often
evaded
b; saying
the Smith brothers.
Sfxllinq.
1081. The f of the
plural
-es is
always kept
in
writing
when
pronounced,
as
in
fithts, or
when
required
to show the
sound of
a precedingletter, as
in clothes
compared
with elotkt.
But
superfluous e
is stiU
kept
in
many
instances. Thus itis
always
written after
v
(834),as
in shelves.
Finals
is written
it before
plural-j, as
in
spies,
cities. This is
a traditioDof
Early
Mn",
in which ie
was
written in the
singularas
well
(82S),
as
it stillis in
some words,
such
as He,
die" both of
which
are
verbs as weU
as nonn""
the old
equivalent
ye
being
stillwritten in
lye,dye
for Uie sake of
distinction,
y
preceded
by
another
vowel is
keptunchanged,
aa
in
dt^s,boys.
Weak
-ey
was
till
lately changed
into u before the
|dural
-s,
and this
filing
is still
frequent
in
some words,
such
as
ponies,
but in
most words there is
no change
"
chimneys,valleys,
aiiaii
has
pluralalkalies,
the few other words in
""" none
of whidi
are
in
frequentuse
"
generally adding
the
-s
mdiout
",
as in
raUit. Most words in
frequent
use
have
plural
~oa
whether
the
singular
ends in -oe or simple
-o :
foe,foes
\ woe,
woes
;
potato, potatoes;negro, pfgroet.
Nouns in -io take
only
-t,
as
in
fiôs,raHot, as
also most
of the less familiar words:
dominos,grottos,virtuosos, quartos.
The
endings -ies,~oes
were kept
to show that the
s was voiced,
=(i),simple-it,
-os
suggesting
the t"eath sound
(s),
as
in
this, crisis,
chaos. The
plurals
of
proper
names
and "rfwords
belonging
to other
parts
of
speech
used as nouns are
sometimes written in the
ordinary
way,
sometimes by adding s precededby
an
apostrophe,
80 as to
distinguish
the
body
of the word from the
T,Googlc
i
io*i.]
NOUJVS: MODERN BNGUSH.
321
ending,
the
apostrophebeing
often omitted when there is no
fear of confusion
;
ayes
and
noes,
aye'sand
no's,
pro's
and
eon's,
pros
and
cons,
the two
Mary's,
the two
Marys,
the
Perctes,
to
mmd one's F's and
Qs.
Propernames
ending
in
a
hiss-
consonant
simply
add the
apostrophe,as
in /" Chambers'
and CasseUs
of
the
future,
also written Chamberses in accordance
with the
pronunciation.
1032. The written
genitive ending
is
's,
which is added to
the
common
singer
fonn without
any
further
change: maris,
iadys,)iegrds.
The
regular
gea
plur.
of
nouns
is distinguished
in
writii^
from the
gen.
sing,by
the
apostrophe
being
put
afterthe
genitive inflection, as in birds' nests
compared
with a birds
nest,
the viegroes'
quarter (gen.sing.
tteSTo's),
beaux'
(gen.sing,deaiit).
The
gen.
plur.
of sucli
irregular
nouns as man
iswritten in the
same
way
as
the
gen.
sing.:man's,men's;goose's, gees/s.
The
apostropheby
itselfis often written in the
gen.
sing,
of
nouns
ending
in
a
hiss-consonant,especially
proper
names: Socrates'
wisdom.
Chambers'
Cyclopedia,
Co^ cleverness. This
spellingwas
OTiginally phonetic(BBS);
but the full
(-iz)
is
now always
kept
in
pronunciation,
the
correspondingspelling Clutmheris,
etc being
also used. In
Early
Mn" the
apostrophe
was
at
firstintended
only
to show contraction of
-es,
and
was
accordingly
used
freely
in the
plural
as
well
as
the
genitive
inflection,
the
spelling
birds
bdi^,
of
course,
used for the
gen.
plur.
as weU
as
the
gen.
sing.
The
gradnal
restriction
of the
apostrophe
to the
genitiveapparentiy
arose "om the
belief that such a
genitive
as princes
in the
princes
book was
a shortening
of
princehis,as shown
by
silch
spellings
aa the
prince
his book. This belief and this
spelling
arose
very
naturally
from the fact that
princes
and
prince
his had the
same sound,
weak his
havingdropped
its
(h)
in such collocations
even
in the 0"
period(866).
Besides
being
a
mark of
contraction the
apostrophewas
found usdiilin
distinguishii^
between the
body
of
an
unfamiUar
word and its
inflections,
VOL. I. "
3M
ACCIDENCE.
[(
lojj.
being
stillused for this
purpose
even
in the
plural
inOection
(1021).
Hence itwas
liableto
be omitted
in
familiar words
"whether
plurab
or
genitives.
We still
generally
write the
genitiws
iti,
iert,jroMrr
without it,though we ymic
one's.
ADJECTIVES.
Old Ensusb.
1038. In OE the
adjectives
have the three
genders
of
Roiins,
and the
same inflections,
though
with
partially
different
forms,together
with the distinctionof
strong
and weak. In
the
strong
masc.
and neut
sing,they
have
an instrumental
case,
which in the
feminine,
in the
plural,
and in the weak
declensionâs also in the
noun-infiectiona " is
represented
by
the dative.
1034.
Adjectives
agree
with
their nouns in
gender,
number,
and
case :
He cdmon mid
hmgum sUpum, na mam-
gum
'
they
came
with
longships,
not
many.'
1025. The weak form is used afterthe definite
articleand
other
definingwords,as
in
m gdda
cymng
'
the
good king,'
u
Mlga
'the
holy (man),'
whence the weak
masc. noun
hdiga
'
saint,' Jidshalgancyningas
'
these
holykings,'
compared
with
ium god eyning
'
a
certain
good king,'hSê
mimt
'
holy
men.'
The weak form is also used
as a vocative ; /" liofii
friondl
'thou dear friend 1'
1026. The
following are
the
strong
inflectionsof
gad,
the
forms which differfrom those of the
nouns
being
marked
*
:"
Masc Neut. Fern.
Sing.
Nom,
gdd gBd gSd
Ace
gSdn^ gdd gdd*
Dat.
gddvm* gSdunt* jft"f*
T,Goo(^le
Instr-
^dde
gsdt
gSiire*
Gen,
gddet gddet gOdre"
rtur.
Nom.
gdde* gdd
gdde*
^"^_
^
_"
'
Dat. g6dum
Gen, gddra*
1027.
The weak fonns
are
identicalwith those of the weak
nouns, except
in the
gen,
plur.,
which, however, sometimes
appears
as -ena with the
same ending
as
in the
nouns,
instead
of
taking
the
ending
of the
strong
adjectives
:
"
Masc Neut.
Fein.
Sing,
Nom.
gSda gdde gdde
Ace,
gddan
gdde gSdan
Dat
gddan
gddan
gddan
Gen,
gdtlart gddan gddan
Plur,
Nom.
gddan
Dat gddvm
Gen. gBdra'
1038. The
""
of the
strong
fem.
nom. dng.
and the
strong
neut. nom.
plur,
is
kept
under the same
circumstances as in
the
noun-indections;
thus sum
'
some' has sumu
in the above
cases,
as opposed
to the
long-sjllable
god. Adjectives
in
-el,
-en,
etc,
drop
the
" as
in noun-inflecdon
;
thus
iol^,
mtiel,
Sgen
'
own,'
have
pluralsAa/ge,miiU, Sgne,
Where final
-u
is
a
weakening
of
-w,
the
w
is restored
before an inflection
t"egin"
njng
with a vowel, as
in
nearu
'
narrow,'
salu
'
sallow,' geobt
'
yellow,' pluralstuarux,
salwe,geobve.
In late OE final
-h alternates with medial
g
in such forms as
gendh
'
enough
'
[earlier ênog'],
plur.
genoge.
The
dropping
of weak h
between vowels leads to contraction;
thug heak
'high,'
Mercian hih,
has
plural
hia
(fromhiahe)
in Mercian as
well
83 EarlyWest-Saxon,
which in the later
lang:uage
is made
into
heage
on
the
analogy oigenoh,
genoge.
1038.
Some adjectivesare
indeclinable,
such as
/ela
*
raxay.'
ACCIDENCE.
Middle Engush.
1080.
Tbe
levelling
of noun-inflectionsin ME and the loss
of
gender
distinctions
naturally
led to the
disregard
of concord.
Hence the
case-endings
in the
singular
of
strong
adjectives
began
to
falloff at the
beginning
of the ME
period.
The
distinctionbetween
singular
and
plural
and between
strong
and weak inflection
vras preserved
in the
adjectives
as well
as
in the
nouns,
god represented
the
strong
singular, gdie
the
strong plural
and the weak
singular.
As the
weak
form
of tbe
adjective
was
generally
followed
by a
noun,
it
was
superfluous
to mark the distinctionof number in the
adjective,
and
consequendy
the weak
singularending
-e was
used
also in the
plural.
The result
was
that in Late ME the
adjective
had
only
two
inflections, one
positive,
in
-",
the
other
negative, consisting
in the absence of the inflectional
-e :
"
StrongSing,gdd
Weak
Sing.gSde
Plur.
gdde
Plur.
g6de
1081. The weak fonn is used much as
in 0" : )"e
ySngt
sSnm
'
the
young
sun,'^tt
tike mSnk
'
this
same monk,'
niy
ruigrm brdjier
'my
sworn brother,'
live
hrdPtr
I 'dear
brotherI
'
I0S3.
Adjecdves
in
-t,
such
as newt
'
new,'
are,
of
course,
invariable. Other
adjectives
become invariable
by dropping
the inflectional
-e
after
a
weak
syllable, especially
-t,
as in/"
^li man,
but also in such
adjectives
as
ppm,
cursed,
hotKst.
loss.
In tbe Northern dialect aU
adjectives
became indeclinable
already
in the
Earlyperiodthrough
loss of final
weak -e.
1034. The old
cases were
partially preserved
in the Earliest
ME. The
gen,
plur.ending
-"=0E
-ra,
as
in
aire
kingene
ifrtg=OE.
eallra
cyningacyning,lingeredlongest,
because
of its
distinctiveness. In Late ME
alder,
from earlier aire
through aldre,
became
a sort of
prefix
to
superlatives, as
in
T,Goo(^lc
aUtrhtit 'best of
all';
in
Early
MtiE
Sbake^"ere
stillhas
alderUe/at
'
dearest of
alL'
MODSRH EhOLISH.
loss. In MnE the loss of final
-t
made tbe
adjectives
in-
declinable
as
far
as case
and number
are
concerned.
Adjec- tives
thus became
formallyindistinguishable
from adverbS)
except
by
their
syntactical
relations,
the
only change
of form
that
was
left
to
them"
namely
comparison
"
being
shared
by
adverbs. But
Early
MnE still
preserved
a trace of the ME
inBections in the distinction between
enough sing.,
eitmo
plur.
=ME
inoh,mowt.
Oui-Enolish.
1089- In OE the
comparative
is formed
by adding
-ra
and
is
declined
like
a
weak
adjective, as
in
liof-ra
'
dearer*
masc^
li^re
fern,and
neut.,
tbe
corresponding
adverbs
ending
in
-or :
Uof
or,
hear dor. The
superlative
is formed
by adding -m/,
and
may
be either
strong
or
weak
; liofott
'
dearest,' u
leofosla mann,
Tbe
uninSected form of the
superlative
is used also
aa an
adverb
:
lio/osl,
heardeti. Some
adjectives
form their
comparison
with
mutation,
the
superlative ending
in
-est,
as
in
lang
'
long,'
Ipi^re, Ifftgesi,
neah
'near,'superlative nUhs/,
ffif:)r/
(Anglian
neh,nest,
next).
In
some comparisons
the
comparative
and
superlativeare
formed from
a
word distinctfrom that which
constitutes the
positive ; god [adverbwsl],iflera[adverbbji],
bgtst.The
positive
of
some comparatives
and
superlatives
is
represented
onlyby an adverb;
thus to Jrra 'former'
(intime)
aresi 'first'
coiresponds
the adverb
or
'
formerly.' Many
of
these form the
superlative
with
-m,
which is
an
older form
than
-St. The
original
form of this
superlative
is
seen
in
/or-ma 'first,' tbe
positive
of which is
representedby
the
3a6
ACCIDENCE.
[S 103;.
adverby^"
'
before.' But in most cases
the
meaning
of this
old
superlative endingwas forgotten,
and the
ending
-tt was
added "
genenll;
with mutation "
giving
the double
superlative
-tiuil. Thus from
/orma
the
new superlative fyrmesf
"
most foremost,'
'
first
'
was
fonned. Other
examples
ore
orjimul
from inne
'
inside,' norfi
'
north.'
Miodlk-Ekgush.
10S7.
In
Earl;
ME the
endings
are
"",
-ere
[advertnal
-er],
-est : Uo/, Uofre[ilaver],
Uovett. The insertion of e
in the
comparativeending -ere
is
probably
due to the influence
of the
superlative.
In Late ME the final
""
of
-erg was
dropped,
because
precededby
a
weak
syllable, so
that the
distinctionbetween
adjective
and adverb was
levelled.
MoDKUt Engush.
1088.
In MnE the
endings
are
the
same as in Late ME "
"er,
-est. We have also
a perlphraatto
comparison,
which
ton^sts in
prefixing
the adverbs
mare, most,
as
in
beauH/ul,
more beautiful,
most
beautiful by
the side of
hard,harder,
hardest.
PeTiphraslic comparison
appears
already
in
Eariy
ME. At firstthe
two methods of
comparison
were
used
indiscriminately
;
but
by degrees
the
periphrastic comparison
has
come
in MnE to be
appliedchiefly
to
longer
and
more
unfamiliar
adjectives,
the inflectional
comparison being
restricted
more
and
more to the shorter
adjecdves, namely
"
{a)monosyllables,
such as
big,high,
young,
tad,
{S)dissyllabic adjectives
with the stress
on
the kst
syllable,
such
as polite,
severe,
complete,
minute. But
many
of
these have the
periphrastic comparison,
which is the
more
usual of the two
when the
adjective
ends in
a heavy
consonant-group,
as
in
abrupt,
correct,
distinct, ancient,/re'
(e)
many
dissyllabic adjectives
with the stress on
the
T,Goo(^le
t
n"4".]
ADySCTIVES.
33?
first
syllable,
such
aa /ender, bitter,
narrow,
happy,
easy,
earfyi
lovefy,
and othersin
-ly, able,simple, wheksome,
ertul. Those io
-iM, 'f.and
-j/have the
periphrastic
comparison,so as to avoid
the
repetition
of the hiss-consonant
in the
superlative :
selfish,
childish]adverse',honest,
earnest,
modest. So also
those in
-ive,
such
aa active,apparently
because most of them are
long
words,
the shorter
ones
being mostly
words whose
meaning
does not lend itselfto
comparison.
Such
an
adjective as
pUasant,
on
the
contrary,
is
compared by
inflectionin
spite
of its
heavyending,
because its
meaning
makes it liableto
frequent comparison.
1089. The
periphrastic comparison
is followed"
(d)by
alt
adjectives
of
more
than two
syllables,
such
as
difficult, ^norant, important,comfortable, respectable
" all of
which
have besides
heavyendings"twni'KJ,
generous, necessary,
general, satisfactory.
(3)by
those in
-ful,
such as
useful, awful,cheerful,
respecffW.
{c)by
those in -ed and
-ing:
learned,wretched,
vneked-
cunning,
tempting,charming,improving.
These
adjectives
are
not inflected because
they
have the form of
verbals,
althoughsome
of
them,
such as wretched and
cunning,
are
of a different
origin,
wicked sometimes has
superlative
wickedest,
1040. In
Early
ME such
comparisons
as more sad,most
sad,beautifuller, heaulifulltst were
frequent ;
and
they
are
stilt
used in
poetry
and the
higher
prose.
1041. Doable
comparison
was
frequent
in
EariyMnE,
as
in
more
braver,
most unUndest. Ttus
now survives
only
as a vulgarism.
Irregular Comparison.
1042.
In ME and MnE the old mutation in such
com-
parisons
as
OE
lang{Igng, igr^), lingre, Igngest
was
gradually
got
rid of
by
the introduction of the vowel of the
positive,
348
ACCIDENCE.
ft 1043.
vbence the Md"
Umger,iongat.
Mutation is
preservedonlj
in
a
few
irregular
and isolated fonns. Other
inregnlaiities
are
the resultof ME
sound-changes
"
late,
laUer " of various
concisions and mixtures of
originally
distinct words and
iorms"/ar,/urtker
" and of the retention of different-word
comparatives
and
superlatives
"
good,
heUer.
1018. 1'he double
superlative ending
-tnesi was
naturally
associatedwith tnast
'
most,'
and
already
in Late 0" we
find
such forms
ns^y/nuitf by
the side
oiylemesl
inaa ute 'outside
';
inMEwc find the
endii^
-metl and
-mltl
side
by
side,
the
latter
ultimately getting
the
upper
hand. In the few
cases
of
mutation the vowel of the
positive was gradually
extended
to the other two
degrees;already
in OE
we
find utettutl
instead of
ytenutl.
So also 0"
fyrmtst
was
made into
formtsl
in ME
by
the influenceol
forma anAfore,
whence the
t/ioE.
foremosi.
In OE the
positives
of
a/lemest
'last'and
niptmtst
'lowest'
were representedby
the adverbs
c0ar
'after'and
tUper,nmJ"or 'downwards,''down,'these
being
themselves old
comparatives.
In ME the fullforms of the
po"tivesa/ier,nejxrwere introduced into the
superlatives,
'
whence the MnE
a/itrmosi, mthermosf,a new superiative
untiermos/
being
formed
on
the
analogy
of nelhermosl. A
superlative ending
-ermost
having
thus established
itself,
other
superlatives
of
placewere
formed
directly
from
comparatives
by adding-mosi,
as
in
lozoermos/,
uppermost
in imitation of
nethermost and
undermost,
uttermost
by
the sideof
utmost,
itmer-
most. So also
(rom/urtAerwas
formed
a
superlative _/1wMff"-
most,
from which
again
was formed a double
comparative
furthermore,perhaps partlyby
the influence of
evermore.
The 0" midmest
was
made into
middlemost,and on the
analogy
of this form
superlatives
such
as highmosiwere
formed direct from
adjectives, highmost being perhaps
regardedas a
transpoution
of most
high.
To the OE
superlatives norpmest,sUpmesl
correspond
as positives
the
adverbs
norp,iup,
which
were
also used
as nouns. Hence
T,Goo(^le
1
1047.] ADJECTIVES.
339
in Mn"
we
have
Bupeiiatives
in -most formed
directly
from
noons,
such
as
topmost,
enimast.
The
following
are
the
irregukicomparisons
of Mn"
:"
I eltUr tldest
\
\older oldest
\
1044.
OE tali
(aid),
uldra
{jMra\
ieldest
(fldesff.
The
comparisons
elder,
eldest are used to
express
differences of
age
from a more abstract
point
of view than
elJer,oldest, as
in
elder Mother
compared
with he is older than he looks.
"o". A",
jSf 'SL,\
OE lat 'slow*
[adv.
late
'slowly,' 'late'],
lafra
[adv.
later'],
latost. latter=ME hUer with
back-shortening,
last
is a
shortening
of M"
latest,
not
by phoneticchange,
but
apparently by
the
analogy
of
best,least,
etc.
When latterand
last
developedspecial meanings,
the
new
comparisonslater,
latest
were
foimed
directly
from late.
in^fl M,f
S
""'**
utmost,
uttermost I
"w"D. out
\gutfr
outmost,
outermost
\
OE ute adv.
'
outside,'
pierra [adv."/or], ylmest,yiemett.
Even in OE the vowel of the
positive
is extended to the
other
degrees: uterra, utetneit,
whence
by back-shortening
the MnE
uiter, etc.,outer,
etc.
being
new-formations from out.
1047 far
\f"^her
farthest
\
lUftT.
Jar
\j"îf^^^
furlhestS
OE-feorr
adv. and
occasionally adj.
'
fsj'fitrra
[adv. /""/"],
fierresl. feorr
became
by regularchangeMEy%r, l/laE/ar.
To the OE
adverby"r*'before,'
'in front'
corresponds
the
comparalivey^r/r"i\a.A\./urpor\ so:^x\.fy rest, fyrst,forma,
firmest.
The
comparative
adverb
fierrwas soon confused
with the
positive feorr
in ME
through
the
tendency
to
give
Up
mutation in
comparison,
and the
more distinct
y^rAir
took
its
place,jf"rr
and
_/"f^r havingnearly
the
same
meaning.
When ME
Jlrst=0'E fyrst
became the ordinal
numeral
T,GoogIe
330
ACCIDENCE.
[f
1048.
corresponding
to
^
'one'"
taking
tbe
place
of GE.
/orma
'first' "
a new
superlative /iuf^/waa
fonned
iiom/urper^
0"
furpor.
Lastly,
the vowel of tbe
positive
was
extended
to the other
degrees,giving/arlhtr, farthest.
The old
superlative _^rma being
no
longer
recognizableas sach,was
regardedas a positive,
whence a new
comparativeyb-f"r
was
made in imitation of loiter.
io".
"^*
j~r^ ^,,1
OE niah
[niK)
adverb
(rarely adjective),
niarra
[adv.
niar\
mehil,
nUxl
{next).
The MnE
positive adjective
and adverb
near
is the old
comparativeadverb,
made into a
positiveon
the
analogy
of
here,
there
as
well
as far.
It is
compared
regularly
nearer, ruarest,
tbe old
superlative
next
being
isolated from it. The old
positive
is
representedby
the
adjective
and adverb
ntgk,
which is obsolete in the
spoken
language.
1048.
goedifoelti
btller best
OE
god [adv.well,
^l''*'" [^dv.hfl'], Sftst.
The
dropping
of die / in 6esi is not
phonetic,
but is the result of tbe
influenceof
mast,
etc
lOBO. 6ad
worst
worst
OE
}^l,
wiersa
[adv.wiers^,superl.
wierresl,wiersi,
Anglianwyrsa,
etc.
In ME ill from Scandinavian Ulr
came
into
use concurrently
with
Svtl,tvel,evel,our
present
evil
being
the Kentish form. In ME
a new
adjective
with
the
same
meaning"
iarfift "
was developed by change
of
meaning
and
shortening
from tbe 0"
noun
baddel
'
effeminate
person.'
In MnE had has
gained
the
upper
hand, though
worst
and worsi are
still
comparisons
of evil and ill
as
welt as
of bad. In the Soudiern ME
wurst, timrst,
u was
developed
out
of fi=Late West-Saxon
or
Anglian_^by
the influence
of the
w.
In
Early
MnE
a new
double
comparativeworser
T,Goo(^le
I 10S3.]
PROIfOUNS.
331
was fonned. Both
worstr and the double
superlative
worsat occur
in
Vulgar
MnE.
OE
iytd,
lassa
[adv.1^],
lasl. The
new formation Ustet
is,
of
course,
a
double
comparative
like
worstr
(lOSO).
1062. Tttueh
more most.
OE
miiel,
mora
[adv.md],
nuisf. In Late West-SaxoD
miiii became
myiel by
m,
whence
Southern ME
milfM, muchdj).
The
Early
Midland fonn is
still
preserved
in the
name Mitchell,which also shows the
original meaning 'big,'
'
tall.'In OE
ma,
originally
an adverb,
is used
as a neuter noun
governing
the
genitive
in the
sense
of
'
more in
number,' as
in
m^ âra
witena
'
more
of the
councillors.' In ME
m/=OE
mi came to be used
as an
adjective,
and in
Early
ME
moe was
regardedas
tbe com-
parative
of
many=0% man^. moe
has now been levelled
under more=0^ mira neut.
mare,
so
that
more,
most are the
comparisons
both of mutA and of
many.
In ME " and
akeady
in Late OE " the S of
mora,
ma was
extended to the
super-
iMive,
which became
most,mgsl,
MnE motl.
PRONOUNS.
1058.
In OE the inflectionsof the
personal
pronouns
of
tbe firstand second
persons
" ii
'
1,'^
'
thou
'
"
are altogether
peculiar
and anomalous. The
personal
pronouns
of thethird
person
" ie
'
he,'
At'i
'
it,'ieo
'
she
'
" have inflectionssimilar
to
those of the
adjectives
:
compare
ace.
sing.masc. iitte,
dat
sing.
masc.
Aim with
gddne,godum.
So also the
interrogative
pronoun
kwS,
hwmt
'
who,'
'
what/
and the demonstrative
pronouns
si
'
that,'
'
the
'
and
/"et
'
this
'
have uiflections
similar to (hose of
strongadjectives.
The main
peculiarities
of the
pronoun
inflections
as distinguished
from (hose of the
adjectives
are
(a)
that
they
are sometimes made
up
of
different
T,GoogIe
33"
ACCIDBNCB.
[J
IOS4-
words,
thoB U "cc. mf,
m ace. /mm,
and
(^)
that die neuter
sometimes has a
specialending -/,
as
in hit'W
compiled
with
Aj,huiat,^,
whidi in 0" is the
neuter of ti. Some
of
the
pronouns
have,
tike the
adjectives, an
instrumental
case.
The
personal
pronouns
of the firstand second
persons
have
a
dual number
:
""'/
'
we two,'
gil
'
ye
two.' These
dual forms were kept
in the earliest
ME,
but
were soon lost,
together
with other characteristicfeatures di the OE
prononn
inflections.
But theirtwo
main characteristics
are
still
preserved
even
in Mn" in such fbnns as I, me and
toko,
what.
1064. The
rcmainii^
0"
pronouns
have the inflectionsof
ordinarystrong adjectives,
whether
they are
used
as
adjectives
or nouns.
Thus the
adjective-pronoun mm
in
atm rnatm
'
a
certain
man
'
and the
noun-pronoui
sum
*
a
certain
one
'
both have
plural
sume,
as in
sunu
mfm
cwAdon, sume ew"don
'
some
(people)
said
'
;
and there
was a
singular
neuter noon-
pronoun
tail,as
in
sfletalljiatpu hafti
'sell all that thou
hast,' as
weD as a
pluraledlU, as
in ttdU ttntitdrodon'all
wondered.' So also
htvfli
'
which,'iwfU
'
such,'^"r
'
other,'
anig'
'
any,'
nan
'
none,'
'
no
'
had the
pluralskwfUe, sw^lie,
djiri,îii,
none,
which
were
used both as
adjectives
and
nouns.
OE
pronouns
onlyoccasionally
take weak inflection,
as
in ii
selfa
'I
myself'compared
with i"
self,
ace
n?
stlfm.
1065"
In ME the old
plurals
in
"" were kept,as
in alh
mat
'
all
men,'
alle
^ livej"
'
allthat live.' But in MnE the
"e was dropped
general rule,so
that
these
pronouns
became invariable in the
plural,as
in
some
Ihiak
differently,
beloved
by
all,of
such is the
kingdom of
heaven.
1066.
The
regularly
inflected
pronouns
had
a
gen.
sing.
masc.
and neut.
in
-es
in OE The OE
noun-genitive dpres
'another
man's' survives in the MnE
other's,
another's. So
also either's=0'E.dgprestiom^/^=^hwte/"er.
TheMnE
genitive
one's is
a
new-formation.
T,Goo(^le
)
lofii.]
psojfovjvs.
333
1087. It is
prabablj
the old
genitive
over's"
together
with
the desire of distinctness " which led to the fonnadon of
a
new plnral
o/iers instead of the invariable
o/ier,
which
was
still
preserved
at the
beginning
of the
Early
Mn"
period,
as
in when olher
are
glad,
then is he tad. The
pluralones
of the
prop-wordone,
as
in Ihe
young ones,
is,
of
course,
a
stilllater
formation,
VenotaH Fronooiu.
1088. The
following are
the inflectionsof the
personal
pronouns
"
încluding,
for
convenience,
the
interrogative
hwa
" laterforms
being
in
{ )
:
"
ki hit klo
hit hie
(hfi
him Mrt
he(hy,heo)
hU {hf,
heo)
him (heom)
hira,
heora
Dat. h-!vSm
(iivOm)
Gen. huiees
Instr,
hwf
1060.
The
change
of the
plur.
htm into heom isthe result
of the influence of the
gen.
plur.
heora
together
with the
desire to
distinguish
between
singular
and
plnral.
The late
nom. plur.
heo is the resultof
levelling
under heom and heora.
lOeo.
Many
of the above inflections had weak
forms,
in
which
long
vowels
were shortened,such
as
weak
/",
heo=
strong
^fi,
fiio.
loei. The
genilives
mm,
etc.
are
used not
onlyas
posses-
sives,
but as
pure
genitives
;
thus
Hgemttndtpin
'
I remembo'ed
T,GoogIe
334
ACCIDENCE.
[(
ie.6".
thee,'
ii^tmunde
his
'
I remembered him
(orit)
'
are
parallel
\a
ii
iemundtpas mounts
'
I remembered the man.'
Middlx-Englisii.
1062. In ME the
genitive
of the
personal
pronouns
was
gradually
restrictedto the function of a
possessive
pronoun,
though
itstill retained
something
of its
independence
in
snch
phrasesas ourt
allir
kÛ
'
the salvation of
us
all'=0E Ore
ealirahSlu.
1008.
The distincdon between accusativeand dative
was
done
away
with,
these two cases being
levelled under
one
which
we
callthe
'
objective
'
case,
this
objective case being
really
the old dative used also
as an accusative. This esten-
sion of the dative
began already
in
OE,
me,
fie,
us,
tow
being
the
r^âr
accusatives
even
in
Early
West-Sazon. The
explanation
is that
as
the
personal
pronouns generally
refer
to
livingbongs,
we naturally
think of
'
I,'
'
you,'
etc. not
as
mere
passiveobjects
of
striking, calling, sending,etc.,
but
as
being
to some extent
actively
interested in these
processes ;
and hence we are
inclined to use
the
interest-caseor dative
to
express
the
personalcomplement even
of
purelytransitive
verbs. Hence
even
in OE
theybegan
to
say
he
slog
mi
'
he
struck
me
'
instead of Ai
slog
mei in the
same sense as
he
sl^g
Jime
siSn
'
he Struck the
stone,'
but from a different
point
of
view. In ME the
change
was
carried out
consistently.
Mm
supplanting
hine and
so on.
Sut with the
specifically
neuter
pronouns
the
process
was
reversed
:
H
and what
being
mainly thought
of
as passivecomplements
of
verbs,
not
onlykept
their old accusatives" which
was made still
more
easy
by
these accusatives
having
the
same
form
as the
Dominadves" but used them to
express
the much
rarer relation
of
interest,
and
so
the old accusative it has
come to
represent
the dadve as
well
as the accusative in
MnE,
while
the
old dative him
serves as accusative
as well as dative.
1064.
In ME "
as also in OE " all
the
third
person pro-
" io"7.]
psomum.
335
nouns
hid weal forms without h- :
nnemphalic
or
weak im
by
the side of
emphatic
or
strong
him, although
in
writing
only
the
emphatic
form
was used,
just
as
in Mn"
we
write /
saw him,
whether the him is
emphatic(him)
or weak
(im).
But
even
in the earliestMidland
we findilwritten
eveiTwbere
by
the side of
he,etc.,
showing
that this
originally
weak foim
bad
supplanted
the
strong
one.
The
reason
is that
it
was so
rarely
necessary
to
emphaaze
the
impersonal
pronoun
that
the
strong
hit was
forgotten
and disused. But hit
was
preserved
in South-Thames
English
up
to the end of the Late
ME
period.
1068. OE ii
split
Up
into toe two forms icA
(North-
Thames
(V)
and
I.
The latter" which
was,
of
course,
originally
the weak
foim-^gradually supplanted
the fuller
form,
which became extinct in Standard
ME, although
itsdll
survives
in the dialectsof the West of
England.
loed. So also the weak
us
(with
short
vowel)gradually
supplanted
the
strongus,
ous.
1067. In 0" the
"
of
"o,
to was
oflen weakened to a when
these
diphthongs
were
uttered with weak
stress,
so
that such
a
pronoun
as
heora
'
their
'
developeda
weak form htara.
In Late OE weak
diphthongsbegan
to shifttheirstress on
to the second
element,
the
length
of
ia,
eg being
shiftedwith
the stress. The firstelements of the
diphthongswere then
shortened and weakened till
they
became a weak
(j),
which
was
then liableto be
droppedaltogether.
Hence
we
get
the
followingchanges,
which in some cases were
fully
carried
out in Late Old-
Northumbrian,
while in others
theywere not
carried out tillthe ME
period:"
"M 'Ma ra
ja a
"io rS
je
S
Already
in
Early
Old-
Anglian
we find weak hmra
by
the
side of the older
strong
heora. In
Early
ME heara
passed
through (hjare)
into
hare,
and in the same
way
Late
OE heom
'
them
'
became ham. The weak OE heo
"
she,'
33fi
ACCIDBNCB.
[|
1068.
which in Late OE also
expreSKd 'they,' passeddirough
the
same change,becoming
ha. This weak ha
was then
extended to the masc
sing.
So in
Earlf
Southern
we
find
the
following
strong
and weak
pairs
with
a
in the latter: hi
(Afl)
'he,'
hlo
(ha)
'she,''they,'
heom
(Aom)
'them,'
hurt
{hare)
'
their.' Aa
was liableto
drop
its A
by
stillfurther
weakening,
whence the
Early
MnE a=Ae in
guaiA'a, quotha,
'a nuaf tuedt. It
must
be noted that such forms
as
heo and
a
represent
the two extremes of
emphaticstrength
on the one
hand and enclitic weakness on the other,
and that there
were
other intermediate
weakenings
;
also that when
a
weak form
was developed,
that weak form
might
afterwards take
strong
stress,
and that the
original
strong
form
mig^
itselflose its
stress and
develop
a new weakening.
Thus we
find the
strong
heore weakened into hore in the same
way
as
the weak
heart was further weakened into hart.
1068.
Strong
Aa"' she'
passedthrough^
into
(hjoo,jAoo),
which lastisthe
Early
Midland
form,
written
gho parallel
to
wha
'wbo'=(wifaui}.
But the feminine demonstrative
tea
'
that one,'
'
she
'
gradually
took the
place
of
heo,
at firstin
the Midland
dialect,
and then in the Standard ME.
aeo
passedthroughtea
(sjoo)
into iho in
some
dialectswith the
change
of
(sj)
into
(f).
This
shd, being
a weak
fonn,
existed side
by
side with the
Strongslo,
and in some Midland
dialectsthe two were
blended
together
into
a new form
shio,
which became she
by
the
regularchange
of lo into I.
Strong
heo was soon discarded,
because this vowel
change
levelledit
under the masculine hi.
1069. tow
in its weak form
passedthrough(joow)
into
(juuw),
written
êw,
which then
becamej'0K'=(juu),
the
(w)
firstchanging
the
o
into
u,
and then
being
itselfabsorbed
by
the
". Eariy
Southern has ok with
dropping
of the
t, just
as
in hore=:heort.
1070.
The Late 0"
tendency
to confuse heo
'
she
'
and Me
'
they
'
under the common form ^ led to a more
extended
T,Goo(^lc
" lo?!.]
FRONOdNS.
337
use
of the demonstrative
plund
Jii
'they.'
In the M"
period
this
usage
was
especially developed
in North-Thames
English.
But
as^
also had the
strong
demonstrative mean*
in^
'
those
ones,'
'
those,'
and
as
Scandinavian influence was
stroi^
in North-Thames
English, J"a
in the
sense
of
'
they
'
was
made into
J"eiby
the influence of Scandinavian
ptir
'
they,'
where the
-r
is
only
the inflectionof the
nom. masc.
plur.,
as
in Danir
'
Danes '=0E
Dpu.
The influence of
the Scandinavian dat. and
gen.
plur.J"eim
'
to ihtni'
Jtira
'
their
'
also
changed
the old
^m, }"Sra
into
ptm, peire. Par
in North-Thames ". In Late ME
ka
found its
vay
into
the Standard
dialect, which,however,
still
generally ke[d
the
Southern dative hem and the
possessive
here from the earlier
Southern
emphatichtom,
heore.
1071. The
following
are,
then,
the chief forms of the
personal
pronouns
in
Early
ME,
the North-Thames forms
being
in
( ):
"
Sing.
Nom.
j":A,f(iV,f)
pa
whS{wha),wk{t('ttihai)
Obj.
mi
J"g
-wham
Plur, Nom. wi
5/
Obj.
ftr,
us du
(S"w,7,a)
Sing.
Nom.
hi,
ha hit
(it) hio,
ha
(ihS,shS)
Obj. hint,
him kit (ii) Aire
35*
ACCIDEffCS.
[(1073.
1078.
In Late ME the
Early
ME tokam took the vowel of
die nom. icjIo,
in which
Eai)y
ME
p
was made into dose 0 by
v".
1074. In ME the
plural
ye, yaw
was
used in
respectful
and ceremonious address instead of the
singularP"m, pi by
nnilatioQ of Old French.
1078.
In OE weak
maim,
man
'
man
'
was
used
as an indefinite
pronoun
= French
on,
with the verb in the third
person
sing.
In
ME
itwas shortened and weakened into
mm, me,
as in nu
sei/i 'theysay'=OE
man
sê}".
In Late ME it
was
confused with the
plur.
mm
and
gradually
disused,mt
itii"
being
made intomm
teim.
Modern Engusb.
1076.
In
Early
MnE the
use
of the ceremonious
plural
ye,ytm
was so
much extended that itbecame die usual
polite
form of
address,
the
migular
Ihou
being
used
mainly
to express
familiarity
and
contempt,
which latter
use brought
about
its
complete
disuse in the
spoken language
of the
present
century,
which therefore makes
no
distinctionof number in
the
personal
pronoun
of the second
person.
But
we
still
preserve
the old thou in the
poetical
and
liturgical language.
1077.
In
Early
MnE the
objective
form
you
came to be
used
as a
nominativej
and in Present
English
you
has
completely
supplanted
yt
in the
spoken language.
The
change
is
partly
the result of
a general
confusion between nominative
and
objectivem MnE, partly
of the influence of the
singular
pronoun
ihou. In
Early
MnE the ME
//,
yi
became
(tSii,
jii),
which
were
shortened into
(Si,ji)
when
weak. So also ME
/uw,
yam
became
Early
MnE
(tSSu,
j6u)by
the
regularchange
of
(uu)
into
(6u),
the short
(u)
of the ME weak forms
being necessarilypreserved
unchanged
in the
Early
MnE
(tSu,ju).
In
Early
MnE
thou and
ye
were liable to lose their vowels before another
T,Goo(^le
J io8o.l PJiONOUNS.
339
word
beguiqing
with
a
vowel
or A+ vowel,bo
that Ihou
art,
ye
are were shortened into
iKart,j/are,justas
i/u earth was
shortened into fftearlh. This
gave
the
following Earl;
Mn"
forms of the second
person pronoun
:
"
Nom.
(Mu, 6u,fl) (jii.jij)
obj.
{8ii,ai) (jeu.ju)
1078.
It willbe observed that each of these
pronouns
has
two
groups
of
endings
which have
exactlyoppositefunctions,
('"u),
etc.
being
the nominative
ending
in the
singular
ihou,
but the
objective ending
in the
plural
you,
while
(-ii)
is the
objectiveending
in the
ungular,
the
nominative
ending
in the
[dural.
The naturalresultof this
was
that the
associations
between foirn and
grammatical
function became
unsettled,
and when
ye, you
came to be
frequently
used in
a singular
meaning,
Ihou
(60u)
and
you
(jSu)
were
associated
together,
tillat last
you
came to be
regarded
as a nominative. This
confusion
was increased
by
the shortened forms
yare,etc.,
in which it was
impossible
to know whether
they was a
contraction of
_y*
or of
you,
1079. The
phoneticsimilanty
between
/Ate and
ye
led to
the
frequent
use
of
^"
as an objective, especially
in the weak
form
(ji),
which
was
nsed
indifferently
as an
objective
or a
nominative,being
oflen further weakened
by dropping
the
consonant,
as
in
harkee,harkee,iookee,
thanket. Such forms
iS
I tell
ye
(ji)
were
still
frequent
a few
generations
ago,
and
(i)
may
stillbe heard in how do
you
do 9
(hau
d i
duw),
but
such forms
as (luki, )!Eei]ki)
survive
only
as
vulgarisms.
lOSO.-As
(Sttu)
and
(8u),(j"u)
and
(ju)divergedcon- siderably
in
soimd, one
member of each
pair
was
got
rid of
ii"
the
course
of Uie
Early
MnE
period,namely
the weak
(tSu)
and the
strong (jOu),
whose
place
was taken
by (juu),
"
a
'
lengthening
of weak
(ju).
As this
(uu)
did not
develop
till
afterthe
change
of ME
(uu)
mto
(8u)
had been
completed,
it
was,
of
course, preserved
from
that
change.
340
ACCIDENCE.
[(
1081.
1081. We have
seen
that the
ending-^*)
in the second
person pronouns
is the mark both of the nominative
{ye)
and the
objective {thee).
The same cross-association runs
throughsome
of the other
pronouns
:
"
Norn.
'.he,ihe,V)e,yi
Obj. :
vw,
tkte
1083. The factthat in four cases out of six
-m
is the n""n.
endingexplains
\iovi
yt
was
able to maintain itself
as a nom.
in
spite
of the
support
given
Xayeu
by
the
sing.
ihou.
1088.
Confusions between nominative and
objective
may
occur
in
any
language through misunderstanding
gram-.
matical
categories.
Thus in Ihe Bible
we
find whom do
men
say
that
lamf,
where what
ought
to be the nominative
is
put
in the
objectivethrough
attraction
(117)
"
through
beingregarded
as
the
object
of the verb
s"^',
and
although
OE
is
strictin its distinction between
nom.
and
accusative,
yet
the OE version shows the
same
attraction
:
hwane
sfigaj".
m^nnPat
ly
mannes sunu
? But
as longas a language
marks
the distinctions of
case
with
clearness,
such confusions
are
confined to isolated constructions. In
MnE, however,
the
distinction between nominative and objectivewas
marked
only
in a few
words,
and
even
there
was
marked in
a
way
which
inevitably
led to confusion
;
and even
apart
from this
cross-associationthere
was no imiformity:
thus in the
pairs
I,
mi;
ie,
him
; ice,
us
ihe
objective cases
have no
formal
characteristic in
common.
|Hence in MnE the
linguistic
sense
for the distinction between nominative and
objective
has been almost
as
much weakened
as
that for the distinction
between indicative and
subjunctive.
1084. In
Early
MnE the
usage
was more'
tinsetded than
it is
now,
the nominative
beingas freely
substitutedfor the
objective as vice-versa, as in such constnictiona
as
'tween
you
and I.
you
and I
were so
frequently joined
togetheras
nominatives"
:"0M
and I will
go
together,
etc.
" that the three
T,Goo(^lc
t
loSdJ
PRONOl/IfS.
341
words formed
a sort
of
gronp-compouud,
whose lastelement
became invariable.
1085. The
tendency
of Later MnE
is to
merge
the dis-
.tinction of nominative and
objective
in that of
oonjoint
and
absoltite,
that
is,to
keep
the old nominative forms
only
when in immediate connection with
a
verb" /
am
;
taut he"
so
that,
as the
pronouns
in the nominative
generally precede
the
verb,
/,
he,
etc. are felt
almost to be
inseparable
verb-
fonningprefixes,
as
in /
call,
compared
with lo eaU. When
a
pronoun
follovs
a verb,
it
generally
stands in the
objective
relation
;
hence,on the
analogy
of he
saw
me,
tell
me, etc.,
the
literary
1/ it I iB made into if it
me
in the
spoken
lan-
g:uage,
BO
that
me
is felt to be the absolute form of the
conjoint
7, being
also used
as the answer to the
question
who it there
f,
etc. In the
vulgarlangui^^
this is carried
out
consistently,
the
slightest separation
from the verb
being
enough
to elicitthe
objective
form,as in jr"
and
John came
home
yMttrday=S!a^polite/oA"
and I
came
home
yesterday,
them that is
here=:/hey
that
. .
In Standard
spoken
Er^lish
the absolute
use
of the
objective
forms is
most
marked in the
case of
me,
which is
put
on a levelwith the
old nominatives
he,
etc. :
it it
me,
it it
he,
itis she. But the
usage
varies,
and in
more careless
speed)
such constructions
as
('/is
him,
it is
ut xtt
frequent.
Id the written
language
the absolute use of the
objective
forms isnot
recognized;
and
as such
expressions
as
it is
me are
stilldenounced
as
incorrect
by
the
grammars, many peopletry
to avoid them in
speech
as
well
as writing.
The result
of this
reaction is that the me
as
between
John
("f^m",^fi"w/"?^
.iHifMtfsounds
vulgar
and
ungrammatical,
and is
consequendy
corrected into
/occasionally
in
speech,
but
oftenest
in
writing,
the
Early
MnE construction
being
thus
revived.
1080.
The
tendency
to use
the nominadve forms before
the verb has had the
contrary
effect on the
pronoun
who.
T,Goo(^lc
34a
ACCIDENCE.
\_\1087.
Already
in
Early
MnE whdm do
you
mean
f
was
made into
who do
you
mean
f
on
the
analogy
of /
meaH
.
.
,
you
mean
. .
,
etc.
In Present
spoken English
iviom
may
be
said to be
extinct,
except
in the
rare
construction with
a
preposition
immediately
before
it,as
in
^
wiom
are
you
speaimg
i'=ithe
more purely colloquial
wio
are
you
tpeai-
mg
^?
1\m use
of
y"m
before the verb in
you mean, you see,
etc,
seems to be in
opposition
to the
general tendency
which made
wio
prevail
over
whom.
But, as we
have
seen,
the extension
of the
objective
form
you
is
not
really
a case
of deliberate substitution
of the
objective
for the
nominative,
but is the- result of
the
phonetic
similarity
of the nominative thou.
1087.
The
pronouns
Ihou,
ihte and
ye
are now
confined
to
the
liturgical
and the
higher literarylanguage.
In the
singular
nom.
tkou and
obj.
Ihee is
strictly
maintained. In the Bible
ye
is the
nom.
and
you
is
the
corresponding obj.,
but in the
present
language
of
poetry
there is
a tendency
to use
^.
in the
obj.as
well
as
the
nom.,
in order
to
avoid the
prosaic
_j'0"
:
ye tee,
Iseeye.
The old
singular
second
person pronoun
is still
kept
up
by
the sect
known
as Society
of Friends
or
Quakers,
but in the
form of tkee for the
nom. as
well
as obj."
evidently by
the
influence of
he,
etc,
which is confinned
by
the fact that in
Quaker English
thee takes the verb in the third
person
sing.
instead of the old second
person
sing.:
thee
has,
thee kad=liiA
literary
thou
hast,
thou hadst.
1088. In
Early
MnE them
"
which
seems to
be
a
weak
form of ME
peim
"
finally
got
the
upper
hand of ME
hem,
which has survived
only as a
weak
form,
being
written 'em
from the mistaken idea that it
was a shortening
of them. We
still
use (gm) as a
weak form of
)pemby
the side of
(Sam),
but
only
in
very
familiar
speech.
1080. The MnE
it,
her
are
also
equivalent
to
MG weak
( I093-]
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.
343
1080.
The ME weak ha occurs
occasion^y
in
Early
MnE in the fonn of
'a,
a,
but
only
in
very
familiar, cireless
speech.
Such forms
as quo/haare
stillused in the
literal^
language
when
quaintneas
is aimed at.
1081.
The
followingare
the
present
forms of the
personal
pronouns
in
literary
and
spoken Englishrespectively,
weak
forms
being
in
( )
;
"
lOea. The
shortening (-s)="foccurs only
in !e/t. In
Early
MnE it
was more
general.
FoetiesslTe Frononns.
Old English.
1088.
The OE
possessive
pronouns
are the
genitives
of
the correspondingpersonal
pronouns
:
min
'
my,'
ire
'our,'
/"!
'
thy,'
tower 'your,'
hit
'
his,its,'
hire
'
her,'hira,
heora
"
their.' The
possessives
of the third
person
"
Ait, Aire,
^f'ra" together
with hwas
'
whose,'are indeclinable,
those
T,GoogIe
344
ACCIDENCE.
[1
1094.
of the firstand second
person
"
mm,
pxn, Sre,iawer-~hûg
declined like
strong
adjectives :
mid hit
friembtm
'
with his
friends,'
m'd
mnum/riimdum.
MiDDLK English.
1094. In ME hit was made
declinable
on the
analogs
of
Kin,
etc.,
that
it,
it took
a pluralending-t,
as
ia alle
hist
mm compared
with OE laHe his
mpm.
This
being
the
only
inflectionof the
possessives
in
M",
those
ending
in
-e
necesaarilj
remained or became indeclinable. The
Early
ME
5wer,
s"r=0" tower
took final-e in Late ME
by
the
analogy
of
iire,becomingjww*.
1006. mm
and
fiin dropped
their finaln before
a consonant
in
Early
ME " ml
fader
"
keeping
it before
a vowel
or ^+vowel : mn
arm,
Jnn
herle. In Late ME the " was
often
dropped
before a
vowel
as
well. The n
was,
of
course,
alwayskept
when the
possessives were
used
absolutely, or
when
they
followed their
noun ;
hit is
mitt,
broj"er mm I
1096.
In Late ME the
possessives ending
in
-e
generally
take the
genitiveending
-t when used
absolutely:
/o mm
hous
or
loyoures;
al
Pis gold
is oures=0'E. 15 minum hOse
oJ"pe
tS iowrum
',
tall
pis gold
is Sre. This -f is
an extension
of the -t of his
:
his
gold,]"atgold
ithis.
1097. In the weak forms
long
vowels
were
sometimes
shortened "
min,
"w"" and final
t was
dropped
:
hir,
our,
etc.
1098. In North- Thames
EnglishJm brought
with it the
possessive /"'r"=
Icelandic
)"eira,
which
gradually
made its
way
into the London
dialect,
where it also
appears
in the
weak (ana
fieriparallel
to
J"e^-=Peim.
1099. The
following
ar^ the
possessive
pronouns
in
Standard
ME,
weak
fot^ns being
in
( )
;
"
Conjoint
:
min,
mi
{min,mi);
Jnn,Jn
{fiitt,
pi)
;
hit
(ha);
hire,
Mr
{her)
; oure,
our
;
jioure,your ;
htre,her,peiri,fieir
{Ptre,Per).
T,Goo(^le
II03.]
I-OSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.
Absolute
; min
;
pm
;
his
;
hires,htrs,heru,
htrs
;
'urs;youres, yours;
heres,
hers.
1100.
The
Early
ME
possessive
what became whos i
Late ME
through
the influence otwhd.
Modern English.
1101.
In
Early
MnE his was
stillthe
possessive
of it
as
well as
he: it
(theserpent)
shall bruise
thy head,
and Ihm
shall bruise his heel
(Bible).
But
already
in the Midland
dialect of ME the want
of
a specialpossessive
for it
was
suppliedby using
the uninflected li^
as a
possessive
insteadof
his
;
and this
usage appears
also in
Early
MnE
:
the
hedge-
spar
rmo
fed
the cuckoo
so long
that it'shnd itshead bittm
off
by
it
young
(Shakespere).
Towards the end of the
Early
MnE
period
the
present
genitive
its
came
into
generaluse
"
a
form
which does not occur at all in the
Bible,
and
very
rarely
in
Shakespere.
1102. The
ME
distinctionbetween
conjoint mine,
thineand
my,
thy was
Still
kept
up
in
EarlyMnE, but the shorter forms
were frequently
used before vowels
:
mine
eyes,my eyes.
In
the
higherliterary language
the distinction is still
kept
up
:
mine
eyes,
mine host. But
many
modem
poets
drop
the
n
before sounded
(h),
as
in
my
hearf='Eaxly
MnE mine
heart,
keeping
it
only
before vowels and silenth
+ vowel,as
in mine
honour.
1103. The
following are
the
present
forms of the
possessive
pronouns
in the
literary
and
spoken languages:
"
Conjoint:
my,jnine;
thy,thine;his;its;her;
our;your;
their;
whose.
AbBOlnte:
mine; thine; hit; its;
hers;
ours; yours;
theirs;
whose.
34*5
ACCIDENCE.
W
1
104.
Oonjoint:
mu
(mat,mi);
yast, par
(j6r,jsr);hiz{ii);
its
;
hsar
(ar) ;
Bear
(tfsr) ;
haws
(uwz),
Absolute
:
maia
\
yoaz,
jaaz
;
biz
;
its
;
hsdz
;
Seaz
;
huwz.
"7m"'j in
ime
losetonis Hmt
may
be
regarded
as an indefinite
possessive
pronoun.
Self.
Old-English.
U04. In OE the
emphaticstl/-~'Lait
West-Saxon
sylf"
is added to nouns and
personal
pronouns,
being generally
inflectedlikea
strong
adjective
in
agreement
with its head- word:
God
self
kit
geworhu
'
God himself made
it,' ntU-nui
)m cwAdon Mm
ttlfum
'
as
they
said to
themselves,'
he
/orgeat
his
tel/es
'
he
forgot
himself.' In the nominative the weak-
inflected
selfit
is used in the
same
way
:
God
seâ,
ii
stlfa.
Weak
lelf
is also used in the
sense
of
'
same,'being
treated
like
a
pore
adjective
:
}y
(instr.) Îfan dage
'
on
the
same
day.'
1105. In
OE the
personal
pronouns
are
used also
as
reflexive
pronouns,
as
tbef
stillare in such
phrasesas
he
looked aboul him
compared
with he mutt late
.care 0/himself.
OE
self
does not make
a
pronoun
reflexive,
but
simply
emphasizes one
that is
already
so,
as in
v^siton
him
selfum,
the shorter
it^seton
him
beingenot^h
to
express
the
meamng
'
wished for themselves.' Hence such
a
phrase
as
hi
ofitieode
hme
mightmean
either
'
he stabbed him
'
(someone
else),
or
'
he stabbed himself.'
By degrees
hi
ofstieode
hine
sel/ne,
which at firstmeant both
'
he stabbed that
very
man
'
and
'
he stabbed
himself,' "qs
restrictedto
the latter
Qteaning,
the
simple
hine.Mm,
etc.,beii^
restrictedmore
and
more to the non-reflexive
meaning,
so that
already
in
Early
ME
we
find
self, sillfustd
very
much
as
in
MnE.
1106. In OE a
personal
pronoun
in the dative is often
added
reflezively to a
pronoun
in the
nominative,
but without
T,Goo(^le
(
iiw).]
PXONOVifS: SELF.
347
tnatenallj affecting
its
meaning,
as
in ^ ondrld kim
Jxme
jnatm
'
be was afraidof the man,'
literal!}'
'
feared for
himself,'
Aw
gtwiton
him
'
ihe^ depaned'
This
pleonastic
dative is
often added to
"^ sel/ii
in this
way
:
ii
hifi
him
selfgikii"a)"tr,
sunu
and
fader
'
he
(thephoenix)
is himself to-bimself both
(pronoun),
s""i
and
father,' U mi
selfgew^
'I
myself
de- parted,'
lu htm
ielfa siiafreafof
lice
'
be to-bimself himself
pushed
tbe robe from
thebody'='he
took off his robe.'
1107.
Mîn
OE was occasionally
used
as a noun without
any
accompanyii^;
head-word
: sHaJisynnigm ofertelfes
m"P I
'
strike
ye
tbe sinful
one on
his mouth 1
'
Middle English.
1106.
In ME the
meaning
and ftmction of the datives ml
and Jie
in the combinations ich
me
self,
pu l"e
selfetc.,
were
soon forgotten,
so
that these constructions became unmeaning,
which led to tbe
change
of
me
and
pi
into the
posses-
sives
tta,
Jn,selfbeingregarded
as a
noun,
as shown in sucb
constructions as
ml
self
have^
'
myself
has
'
compared
with
in
self
havesi
'
thyself
hast.'
On the
analogy
of
wistlf, jAself
the
pluralsureselfyireself
were
formed. The dative was
preserved
in
himself
'
himself,itself,'
plur.
himself(Late
ME
a\so
Jiemse^.
hirestlf'
heiseW could of course be
regarded
eitheras
dative
or possessive.
The forms
-selve, -selvenalso
occur : miselve,miselven,himselve,
himsehien, selven is
probably
tbe OE dat.
sing,
or plur.seûm,
selve
being
eithera
shortening
of selven
or
else = OE weak
selfa.
Modern English.
IIOS.
In
Early
MnE
self
came
to be
regardedmore and
more as a
noun,
which led to such constructions
as the
Shakespcriantfyfair
self,
Targuin'sse^.
A
new
plural
selves was now
formed
on
the
analogy
of
shelf, shelves, etc
:
myself,
ourselves,
to
your gross
selves
(Shakespere).
T,Goo(^le
348
ACCIDENCE.
\Smo.
lUO. But the older dative
was
still
preserved
in
himself,
themselves,
iisel/
must
also be
regardedas
containii^
the
objective (=dative)
case
of it rather than as a
contraction of
i/j
self.
In Present
Englishwe
have the forms his
self,
thtir
selvesin
vulgarspeech;
and
even tn
the Standard diaiectthese
forms
are
necessary
when
own
is added
;
his
aum
se^.
1111. Tlie
following
are
the forms of the
spoken
language:"
Sing,myself; yourself;himself, itself, herself.
Plur. ourselves
;
yourselves
;
//temselves.
To these
may
be added tiieindefinite
oneself.
1112. It will be observed that
yourself, yourselves
make
a
distinctionbetween
sing,
and
plur.
which is lost in the
simple
you,
the
sing,thyself being,
of
course,
preservedonly
in the
higher literarylanguage.
So also
a
form
ourselfoccurs
occasionally
in older writers in the
sense
of
'm}'self';
but in
the
present
literary language
an
author
speaks
of himself
as
ourselves,
ifhe uses the
plural.
- Ills.
In the
literary languageself
is used
as an
independent
noun :
till
Glory'sself
is
twilight (Byron)
;
then,
all
forgeûlofself
,
she wandered into the
village.
1114. In the
spoken language
the
emphatic
and refiexive
meanings
of
myself,etc.,
are
distinguished by
the
Stress,
these
forms
having
strong
stress when
emphatic,
weak when
reflexive,
as
in I did it
myself compAred
with he roused
himself
The OE
selfa"
an
adjective
is
representedby
the
compound
self-lame
in MitE
;
tke
selfsamething.
DemonBtrativv.
Old Ehgush.
1118. The OE demonstrative
se
'
that,this,the,he,'
etc.,
and
ês
'
this,
this
one
'
are
inflected
as
follows
:
"
T,Goo(^le
(iiig.]
DEMONSTRATIVE
PRONOUNS.
349
Masc. Neut. Fem. Masc. Neut
Fern.
Sing.
Nom.
si{se) Jjat sio
pis (j"es) /ds /"ias
Ace
Jjone Pat p"
pUnt pis pis
Dat.
pSm,pam pgtre ptssum pisu[ft)
Gen.
pas
pire pissts pisse{re)
iDstr.
p^ psrt Pys pisse(re)
Plur. Nom.
J"lt pas
Dat.
psm, pam pissum
Gen.
para,petra pissa,pissera
The forms
si,
pis are used
only
as
noim-pronouns
in die
scnae of
'
this
one,'
'
he.'
MiDDLi English.
1116. In ME
the
f
of the OE
si,se,
sio was
made into
p
by
the influenceof the
more numerous
fonus
beginning
with
p,
and
(APts,Pu,pios.
1117. The
resulting pe,pal,peowas at first
used,as
in
OE,
both
as a demonstrative and
as a
definite article. But
by
degrees
the neuter
sing,/a/
and the
plur,pa were
restricted
to the demonstrative
meaning.
In
Early
Southern
/"//
hus
= 0"
Pai
hus is stillused in the
sense
of
'
the house
'
as
well
as of
'
that house
'
;
but in Late ME
pat
is restrictedto the
more
emphatic meaning,
as
in Mn". This restriction
was
stillmore marked in the
plur.
;
already
in the Earliest
M"^
men,Ps
^^
^CC used
only
in the demonstrative
meanings
'those
men,'
'those houses.'
1118.
Ps was now
regardedas
the
plur.
of
pal,
and was
completely
disassociated from the definitearticle. Hence it
became
necessary
to eliminate the old
,^forms
"
ace. sing.
fem. and
nom. plur.
" from the inflection of the definite
article. This
was
done
by extending
the nom.
sing.
fem.
firstto the
ace.
sing,
fem,"
peo
siitmt = OE
pi
synru
as
well
as sio
synrt
" and then to the
plur.
nom.; Jte
siltmen=OE
Patyrma.
.
1119. The old
^j"
the
ace. sing.
fem. and
nom. plur.
of
T,Googlt
350
ACCtDBNCB.
[fiijo.
}"a
"
VIS now associated with the dd
/d,
tQI at lastME
pi
and
/jtrwere
complctd/
cooAued,
/^f beingregardedas ^
with the
pltual-t added,so Qiat
t"S
""""]
/^ "t'"
both
came
to mean
'
those men.'
lUO, The fbnn
fift
was now diminated from the inflection
t^Ptt
in the
same
way
as
f^ was eliminated from the infiec-
tioD
fJipt,
the fem.
sii^.nom. /cot bring
extended firstto
the
ace
fem.
ang.
and then to the nom.
plur.
: Ptoi sibuitsiOE,
fiiot
synM
anA
pUs
tymu,
peos
tliimeH=0%
JtSt
tytma.
IISL The
fiillowing
are
the fall inflectJcwBof the
Earlj
Southern demonstratives
conespondingto
0"
u
and
fiet
:
1132.
Bnt
already
in
Earljr
Southern there
was a
tendency
to
make the definite article indeclinable"
/".
The main
causes of this
were
(a)
the want of stress of the
article,
which
made its
endingsindistinct, (2)
the
general
loss of the
sense
of
gender-
and
case-distinctions,
and
(c)
the confusion wUch
arose
from
onng///
both as an articleand a demonstrative.
U28.
The
new
demonstrative
)hU was
in like
manner
extended to the masc. and fem.
sing,
and then
to the
oblique
cases
of the
"ng.,
so
that
k^l
hut,pat
man were
sharply
distinguished
from
pt
man,
pe
hiis.
1124.
The neuter
/fj
was
extended in the
same
way
: pit
man,
pis his,pit
cu e OE
pes mann, pis kits, pios eu.
112B.
At firstthe indeclinable
"a/ was not
always
restricted
to
itsdemonstrative
meaning,
but
was
used also
as an
article
in allthree
genders.
This
usage
survived in Late M" in
a
few combinations : paipn
'ttie
oat,'Pal oper
'
the
other,' /u/
T,Goo(^le
i
1130.]
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS.
351
tike
'
the same
'=
OE
" tka,Pat ikt,etc.
The fina!/ of the
/"ai was
often
regarded
as
the
beginning
of tbe next word,
and the
a was
weakened to ; so as to make the curtailed
"ri
into the definitearticle
pe,
the firsttwo of the above combinations
being
written
f"e
Ign,
pe toper.
Tkt tother has been
preserved
to the
present day
in
vulgarEnglish,
In
Early
MnE the tother and the ether
were
blended into
tother,
which
was
stillused in the
literary language
of the last
centuiy.
That ilk is stillused in Scotland in the
phrase
A.
of
that
ilk,
meaning
tliat Mr. A.'s
sumame
is the
same
word
as
the titleof
his
estate.
In
newspaper
English
the combination is
ignorantiy
made into the
pleonastic
the
same
ilk,
as
in
consumption,
and
endless other ills
of
the
same
ilk
(Pall
Mall
Gazette).
U26. In the
plural,
where there
was no
distinction of
gender,pg, pgs
and
peos
became indeclinable
even sooner
than the
singulars /a/,îV.
1137,
The
plural ôc
'
these
'
was
discarded in Late
ME,
and
a new pluralwas
formed direct from
pis by adding
the
regularadjective pluralending e, givingpise,
which also
appears
in the weak form
pese,
like hese=hise.
pese
may,
however,
be the resultof the influence of the older
peos,peos,
which in Late M" would htcome
Pis,pes.
Modern English.
1128. Standard MnE
finally
settleddown to the dnnon-
strativeforms"
Sing.
thai this
Plur. those these
1139.
In
Early
MnE the articlethe is often shortened to
ti' before vawels and h
+ vowels,as
in tU
enemy,
th'hill,
and
even
before other
consonants,
as in
tNworld,where
the
w
was probablydropped.
1180.
In the
present
spoken English
the has two
forms,
(Si)
before a vowel,as
in
(Sienimi), (Ss)
before
a
consonant,
as
in
(Samsn,
%"
has).
T,GoogIe
ACCIDENCE.
one,
a
; none,
no.
1181.
In 0" the numeral an
'
one,'which was
inflected
Uke a
strong
adjective(but
with ace.
sing.
masc.
anm)^
was
occasionaUy
used also in
an
indefinite
sense,
which
sometimes
approached
very
near
to that of the indefinite article
:
an
mann='a certain
man,'
'a man'; although
in
most cases
the indefinitearticle
was not
expressed
at all: on
dlire
fyrig
lip
cynii^
'
in each
city
there is
a
king.'
Weak (bM is used in the
specialsense
of 'alone': ii ana stod
'I stood alone.' MnE a/one=OE "a// d"a
'
entirely
alone.'
1132.
From
m was
formed the
negativenan
'none'=*m
in 'not one,'which
was
used both
as a noun
" ndnne
ne
gthdl}"
'he heals
no
one' " and, more
frequently,
as an
adjective:
nan mann
'no man,' nan
Jtitig
'no
thing,'
'no-
11S8. In ME an
developed
into
a regular
indefinitearticle.
When used in this
way
it lost
\1^
stress and shortened its
vowel,becoming an.
As this
shortening
took
place
before
the
change
of J into
g,
the article
an was
isolated from the
numeral
^ff
'
one.'
A^
11S4. In ME
^, npn,
an
dropped
weir
final
n
in the
same
way
as min and
J"in
before
ayftSnonant,
keeping
it
before
a
vowel
or
A
+
vowel :
g
man''
one maai^
arm,
she
dcfi
n^
harm Id
n" man,
a
man,
an gldman.
i^^Bd n^
kept
their
n
of
course
when, used
absolutely. ^"
1185. In MnE the
strong
words
gn
and
ngh
ll^lied these
distinctions,
but in different
ways.
In the
case
'of
otu
the
shortened form
was given
up,
om being
used before vowels
as
well
as consonants : ont
man,
one arm.
It
is to be noted
that in
Early
MnE
ont
kept
the sound
(twn).
But
aheady
in
the Western dialectsof ME ithad been
diphthongized
into
(wun),
whence the
present (wwi),
the other
pronunciation
being
still
preserved
in
alone,only.
use.
none
went the
opposite
way,
the fullerform
being
J1138.]
INTERR. AND REL. PRONOUNS.
353
preservedonlyabsolutely
" I have
Hiwif"
the shorter
no being
used as
the
conjoint
form before vowels and
conEonants
alike
:
no
man,
no other.
1137.
The article
an
has
kept
the ME variation: a
man,
an
enemy.
In
Early
MnE the fullform
was
also
kept
before h
:
'
an
house. We
now
say
a house,a history,
etc. But
we
generally
use an
before h in weak
syllables,
where it is then
dropped
in
pronunciation, as
in on
historical event. As
one
itselfis
now pronounced
(w"n),
it takes
a
before it
:
eueh
a
one.
So also
"=(juw,jus)now takes a before
it,as
in
a
unil,
like
a youth.
But
an
unit,
an
useless waste
oflife"x
stillfound in the
literary language,being
traditionsof the
earlier
pronunciation
of
u as
(-iu).
In ME the distinction in
meaning
between
pn
and
an was
not always strictly
carried out at
first,
the
strong pn being
sometimes
used
aa an
indefinite
article,
and
an being
sometimes used
in the
sense
of 'one.' This latter
usage
has survived to the
present day
in
a
few
phrases,
such
as a
day
or
tivo,they
are
both
ofan
age.
InterrogatiTe
and Kelative.
1188.
The
interrogative
pronouns
in 0"
are hw3, hwcet,
whose inflectionshave been
alreadygiven(1068),hw^li,hwili,
I.ateWest-Saxon
hwjfU
'
which
'
(implying
'
more
than
one '),
and fyvmjier
'
which of two.'
htv^le
is
a shortening
of
'hwaUi,
hwili of *hmli{
(with
the
a
assimilated
to
the
following%),
where ha}a~ is the
original
short form of hvoa
(746),
and
-Ue is
a shortening
of
tic,
the
originalmeaning
of the
compound
being
'
who-like
'
or
'
what-like.'
frnxsper
was
originally
formed from "hma with the
same comparative
derivative
endingas
m/urpor (1048). hwjlc
is used both
as a noun
and an adjective, generally
in
a more
definite
sense
than
hwd,
htval,
though
itmust sometimes be translated
by
who
or what,
especially
when
an
adjective, kiviUbeing
the
onlyadjective
form
of hwa and
hu^t, aa
in
haiflie
mede hcehbe
gif
'
what
reward
have
ye
f
'
T,GoogIe
354
ACCIDENCE.
W
1139-
1180.
In ME
hu"(U dropped
the
I,probably
at
first
only
when unstressed:
Early
Southern hmUch from Late West-
Sason
hwyli.
Late ME which
bein^
a Midland form.
1140. In OE keod and kvoat
were
used
onlyas
nouns,
but
in
ME
what
was
used
as an
indeclinable
adjective
of allthree
genders:
whal
ping,
what
man.
This
earlyuse
of iv/iu/as
an
adjective
was
helpedby
its resemWance to Jmt.
The OE
use
of W'S^with
a nounJii
.the_gen. plur.,
as
in hwat
manna
f
'
what kind of
men,'
'
wbat
men
'
also
paved
the
way
for the
later
use
of the word
as an adjective, justas md
+
gen.
plur.
developed
into
an
adjective (1062).
When the
language
was
able to
distinguish
between whai
Ihing
and which
thing,
the
latter
pronoun
was
gradually
restrictedto its
more
definite
meaning.
Utt.
huKsper,Anglian hcfpir
from
"hwajnr, was used
both as a
pronoun='
which
of two,'
and
as an
adverb and
a
conjunction=:'whether.'
It
now
survives
onlyas an adverb,
which
having
taken the
place
of the
pronoun.
The
pronoun
whether stillsurvived in
Early MnE^âs
in whether
of
them
twain did the will
of
his
father
f
corresponding
to the OE
hwwper
para
twigra
dyde
}xbs
fader
willan f
114S. There
were no simple
relative
pronouns
In
OE,
there
being only
an
indeclinable relative
particle l"e,
which
was
generally joined
to the
noun-pronoun
*/
: " mann se- pt
. .
'the
man
who
. .
! p"mptnP"m-Pe
. .
'the men to
whom
.
.' si
by
itself
was
also used
as a
relative
: se mann
si
. .
,
he
pcEt
beaeen
êseahptBl
him
geiewed
wearp
'he
saw
the beacon that
was
shown to him.' In ME
that became
an
indeclinable relative
as
in MnE
-.
he that will
. .
114S.
Although
the OE
interrogative
pronouns
were not
used
relatively, they
were
freely
used
conjunctively,
a
usage
which
naturally
grew
out of their
interrogativemeaning,
hwtBiwiltpu?
'what do
you
wish?' for
instance,suggesting
such constructions
as
iu ascode
pom cyninghwaper
hi toolde
T,Goo(^le
I
1
146.]
DEFINITE PRONOUNS.
355
'he asked
the
king
which of the two he wished,'hi
kordap
and n^ Awam
'
he hoards and knows not for whom.' In ME
zoigsooD came to.
be used as a
relative,
as also in MnE
:
/"
man
who
. ,
,
the
woman
wfw
. ,
,
what
being
stiUrestricted
to the
conjunctive
use.
Definite.
1144. Besides ti and
pis
there
was
in OE a
third demonstrative
pronounÂin,
which however became obsolete
already
in
Early
West-Saxon.
It
was preserved
in North-Thames
English,being
stillin common use
in the north of
England
and Scotland in the form oi
yon.
In TAaS.
jim
has been
confused with the adverb
yond,yonder"yond cloud,yonder
kill
" of
which it
was supposed
to be
a
shoriened form,
and
was consequently
written
yoti. yond
is
now completely
obsolete,
xaAyonder
is
more
frequent
than_y!w
in the
literary
language,
both
being
obsolete in the
spoken language.
1115.
The OE demonstrative of
qualitysivfU,iwiU,
Late West-Saxon
svyli^'nualk,
*swilic
'
so -like,'
*ava
being
the older form of swd
'
so,'dropped
its/ in ME in the
same
way
as hwgU did,
Southern siatich
becoming
swueh
by
w,
which was
then absorbed
by
the
ti,
giving
such. The traditionof the Midland form
swtch isstill
preserved
in the
vulgar
sich.
Indefinite.
1146. The
particle
a
'
always
'
was
in OE
prefixed
to
pn"-
nouns
and adverbs "
especially interrogative
ones
" to
give
them
an
indefinite
sense,
as
in dhwdr
'
anywhere,' ahwaper
'
either of twa'
Interrogative
pronouns
and adverbs were
also used in
an indefinite
sense
without
any
prefix, as
in
g'^
hold
pat
boc awri/an wile
'
if
anyone
wants to make
a
copy
of
this
book.' The indefinite
meaning
grows
naturally
out of
the
interrogative,
such
a
question
as
'
who ?
'
being necessarily
indefinite,
for if
we
knew who the
person
was,
we
should not
3.5*
ACCIDENCE.
I 1147.
ask the
question.
The indefinite
meaning was
made
more
prominentby putting
the
interrogative
word between
nua
. .
swS 'aa
. .
as': swi-kwa-swa
'whoever,'
swa-kwtit'Swa
'
whatever,' said-kit^li-twa
'
whichever.' In ME the first
tuid
was dropped
in these
groups
: to^tp, what-sg.
In Late
OE
Sfre
'
ever,'
*
always
'
is aometimes added like the older
i "
thoughmore loosely
" to
express
indefiniteness, as
in tail
p"Bt"5fr*b{lsfwas
(Chronicle1048)
'whatever
was best';
and in ME this
usage
was
much
extended,
whence the Mn"
whosoevtr,whatsoever,and,
with
dropping
of the
now
superfluous
so,
whoever,whatever,whichever,etc.
1147.
In OE the
noun
wihi
'
creature,' 'thing,'
came to be
regarded
almost as a
pronoun,
and when the indefiniteS-
was
prefixed
to it,
the
origin
of the
resulting
noun-pronoun
awihi was
forgotten,
and it
was contracted to dulU,aht,
aht.
The
prefixo-
also
appears
in the form of
o-,
whence the
parallel
forms
awiht,
oht. Hence ME has both
aukt,aht,
and
ouki,
oht. In OE
negative
forms
were
obtained
by prefixing
n- : nawiht,nauht,naht,nrnviht, noht,
whence ME
nauht,naht,
and
nouhl,
noht. The fluctuationbetween au and
ou
in these
words stillcontinued in
MnE, even
when the two
spellings
ha^
come to
represent
the
same
sound
(a).
We
now write
only
atight, making
an
arbitrary
distinction between
naught
and
twughl.
In OE
nauht,
etc. were
used
as
adverbs='
not
at
all,'
'
by no means,'
and in ME
they
became less and legs
emphatic,especially
in the weak
forms,
which
dropped
the
h,
becoming nat, not,
which at last became
equivalent
to the
older ne
'
not.' In the Present
spokenEnglish
the
strong
forms
aught
and
naught,naught
have been
supersededby
anything
and
nothing
from OE
inigpitig,nSnfiing.
But
we
still
keep
the derivative
naughty,
which in
Early
MnE had
die older
meaning
'
good
for
nothing,' 'worthless';
and
we
use nought
to
express
the
zero
in
arithmetic,writingnaught
in (he
sense
of
'
nothing
'
"
a sense
which is
now
obsolete in
the
spoken language.
But
(at)
is in
common
colloquid
use
T,Goo^le
1 1161.]
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS.
357
as a
shonened form of
nought,
as
in
(desimsl
at
wen)=01.
This
form
probablyarose
from die
frequent
use of
noi^hf
afler numbers
ending
in
n
"
ont, seven,
nim,
/en"{vftti
not)
being naturally
shortened to
(wen at),
the shortened form
being
then used afterallthe other numerals
as well.
1148. some=0" stm has two
forms,
strong (s^m)
and
weak
(s9ro)[61],
It is stillused as a plural
noun-pronoun,
the
singularbeing represented. b)'
the
compounds
someone,
somebody,something.
In ME the two indefinite
pronouns
nun Bud what
were
combined in sumw/tat
to
express
the
same meaning as something
;
somewhat is
now used
onlyas
an adverb.
1149. any=the
0"
noun
and
adjective
anig,
formed
from dst 'one'
by
the derivative
ending '^,
which causes
mutation of the
preceding
vowel. In Late ME
fni
was
back-shortened
(798)
to
ens,
which
was often made into
ant
by
the influence of
an. Early
MnE has both
eny
and
an"';
and Mn"
keeps
the former in
speech,
the latterin
writing.
The OE
negativenSnig was
supplanted by
npn
in ME.
a"y
is now
used
only
as an
adjective,
the
corresponding
noun
beingrepresented by
the
compound
anyone,
anybody, at^lhing.
In
Early
MnE
any
was
stillused
as a noun :
who ishere
so
vile?
. . .
ifany,sptak
!
(Shakespere).
1160.
other=the OE
strong
noun
and
adjecdvedfier:
/"tESSPres noma
'the other man's
name,' }""opre
mptn
'the
other men.' For the later inflectionsof other
see ""1066,
1067.
IIBI.
The
reciprocal
noun
-pronouns
one another,
each other
are
now
inseparablecompounds,
but their elements
were
orifpnally separate
words with
independent
inflections
;
th^
lovt
each other
meant
originally 'theylove,
each-one
(nom.)
the-other
(ace.).'
In 0"
we
find such constructions
as
Sgftw"BPer
bpeme
oftradUie iildrd/de
'
each the-other
repeat- edly
drove out'
(said
of the five
sons
of
a
king);
and
even
in Early
MnE
we stillfind reminiscences of the
original
T,GoogIe
358
ACCIDENCE,
l\1152.
constniclion
: witk
grudy force
tach othtr doth assail
(Spenser).
QaantitatiTe.
For
much, more,
most
;
a
little, less, least,see %i lO"l,
lOBS,
For
enough see ^
lOSS.
USa. both=M"
6"^
from OE
*bs-pa
'both
those,'
'both
the,'
bd
being
the fem. and neut. fonn
corresponding
to
the
masc.
ieên
'
both,'
just
as the fem. and neut lujd
'
two
'
correspond
to
the
masc.
hvigm.
1153.
esoh=OE dk from
*dffiltc, titerally
'ever each,'
where the
ê-
has the
same collective
meaning
as
in
gefira
'
companion,'
etc. aU in ME became
(kh,
and " with the
same
dropping
of the /
as
in which "
fch,
the Northern form
beingilk,
which
was
thus confounded with ilk 's3me'=0E
ilea, each is atill a noun as
welt
as an
adjective, though
there
isalso
a
compound
noun-form tach
one.
1164.
ereryis a
ME
compound
of
^re (1146)
and dk,
the earliestME form
being fvrflch,
then
fvrich,
which in
Late ME
was
shortened to
fveri. every
is
now
used
onlyas
an
adjective,
the
noun
being
representedby
the
compounds
everyone,
everybody, everything.
1165. eitlier=OE
^per, aghwaj^
from
*
Ugihwafier.
OE
SgPer
has the
meaning
of Latin
ttterqtu
'
each of two,'
'
both of
two,'
the
meaning
'
one
of
two,'
Latin
alieruter,
beingexpressedby akuia}"er
without the collective
ge-,
which
often shortened to ^}"er,djier.
The differenceof
meaning
is
seen in such sentences as cm Sgperehtalfe
ias
'
on
both sides
of the river
'
and
gtf
he
mtPerpissa
forldtt
'
if he
gives
up
eitherof these two
things.'
In ME the
pronoun
puper=OE.
auPerwas
gradually disused,
and
f//w=OE e^perwas
used
to
express
boih
meanings.
In MnE eitlxr is
now restricted
to the alternative
meaning
alteruler.
In ME both
iêr
and
fuper
continued to be used as conjunctions,
weak ^^
being
conimcted lo
gPer,pr,or.S^r..or
T,Goo(^le
( ii59-i
NUMERALS: CARDINAL.
359
'either
. .
or'" in which the fiistmember
kept
it" fullerfonn
because
it
kept
the
strong
stress
"
was
in Late ME made into
^fer . . "7r,
as
in MnE.
US6.
In OE there
was a negative
form
corresponding
to
auper
: nShwafier,nauper,ndper,ndkoDaPer,noper.
In ME
it was
preserved
as a
conjunction,
the weak form
being
shortened to nor.
The
strong
form
nguper
was,
on
the other
hand,
made into a
new^fonnation
nlipiron
the
analogy
of
fifier,being
used both
as a
pronoun
and "s
the firstmember
of the correlative
conjunction-
group
nfiper
. . . nor,
as
in MnE.
1167.
In MnE titfierand neit/ur
are
used both
as adjectives
and as nouns.
1168.
There
are a
few
quantitative
pronouns
remaining,
whose
etymology
and
history
deserves notice
:
"
seveTal has the
same
fonn in ME and old
French;
it
comes
from the Late Lalin
sipardlis, corresponding
to Old
Latin
teparSiilis
'
separatile.'
tev=OE./ia,/eawe plur.
inany=OE manig.
Late West-Saxon
mamg
by
the analogy
of
anig.
ME
mam,
mmi widi
back-shortening. Early
MnE
(mani,meni).
CardinaL
1159. The cardinal numerals i-ia are expressedby
the
following
isolatedwords :
"
one. OE
an,
two. OE
masc.
twigen,
neut. and fern.Iv)d.
Already
in
the EarliestME hvd was
extended to the
masc. ;
hvd
mm=
OE
hvigen
m^n.
But
tweien,
twiu=.QiF.
iniegm
was
preserved,
and, indeed,
survives in the
present
literary English
in the form of
twain,
but
was
used
indiscriminately
in all
3*50
ACCIDENCE.
W
ij6o.
three
genders.
In Late M"
A(^=OE
Aua became two
by
the
same
influence of the
u" as
in who
(1078).
In
Early
Mn" the
(w)
of
(twun)
was soon absorbed,giving(tuu).
three. OE
prU, neut. and fem.
prio.
In ME the latter
form was
extended to the
tnasc., becoming /r/
in I^te ME.
ftmr. OE
/iower,
which in ME became
fower, four,
the t
being
absorbed
by
the two
Up-consonants
between
which it stood.
five.
O'E./t/.
absolute
/(/"- /if,
like the other isolated
numerate above
three,though
uninflected when
joined
to
a
noun,
is
generally
inflectedwhen used
absolutely
:
/if
tHfnn,
htora vktron
fift
'
there
were
five of them.' In ME both
fonna were
kept,
the
conjoint yi/
and the absolute
^/rct,
the
latter
beingby degrees
extended to the
conjoint use,
whence
the
MnETfoA
six. OE
siex,six,Angliantex,
seven. OE
seofim.
eight.
0"
foi/a,AnglianaA/a,
whence ME
eigAU,
nine. 0"
m'gon.
ME
nigtn,ran,
absolute nine.
ten.
OE
fftn,Anglian
tin. ME ten with
shortening.
eleven. 0"
indkofan.
ME
enieven,eilesm,
absolute
e-Uvew.
twelve. OE
twelf,
absolute
iwil/e.
ME
fwelf,
twelve.
1160. The teen-numerals
13-19
are
compounds
of the
unitswith
-(lent, Anglian
-tene :"
thirteen. OE
pridene,PrilHene,preoHene,
ME
priitene.
The MnE form shows the
same
consonant-transposition
as
in/"V-rf{U70).
foorteen. OE
JeowerStne.
fifteen. OE
ftftUnt.
In ME
fiftine
the
t was
shortened
before the
consonant-group.
sixteen.
0" sixltene.
Beventeen. 0"
seofoniiene.
eighteen.
OE
takiafiene, Anglian
ahtatim. ME
e^hlefhu,
contracted
eighiim.
S H65.]
numerals: cardinal.
361
nineteen. OE
mgîRate.
ME
idgmtem,
mnline.
uei. The
ty-numerals
20-90
are
fonned in OE
by
combining
the units with
-tig,
which
was
originally
" noun
meaning
'
a
lot of
ten,'
'
half
a score,'so
that
twenty
originally
meant
'
two tens.'The numerals
70-90
also
prefix
hund-
:
"
twenty.
0"
twentig
from
*twên-tig,twenlig.
thirty. 0'KPrtt{g,J"ritlig.
ME.
/n'/A,
Late East-Midland,
îrti,
with the same
transposition
as in Ifurd.
forty. O'E./ecmertig.
fifty. OE/i^g. lSS.fi/ti.
sLrir.
OE
sixtig.
seventy.
OE
huttdstofonlig.
ME
seovmi^g,
sevettii.
eighty.
OE
hundeahtat^,Anglian hundahtat^.
ninety.
OE
hundnigonlig.
1162.' In OE the
ty-numerals
are
sometimes declined
as
adjectives,
as
in
afterPritigradngafxee
'
after the
space
of
thirtydays.'
When undeclined
they
are
used in their
original
function of nouns
governing
the
genitive
:
sixtig
mila brSd
'
Kxty
miles broad.'
1163.
The
high
numerals hundred and thonsond
are
in
OE neuter
nouns, iund,
hundred and
J"iismd,governing
the
genitive:
twd hund winlra 'two hundred winters
(years),'
pusend manna
'
a thousand
men.'
1164. In OE there
was no
numeral
higher
than thousand.
million,
ME
millioun,
is the French form of Late Latin
millio,ace.
millidntm formed from Latin mille 'thousand,'
billion, triUion, etc. are
much later
formations,
in which the
Latin
preês
hi- and iri-
(as
in
biennial,
irienniat)
were
substitutedfor the initial
syllable
of
million,
so
that billion
was
regardedas a sort
of contractionof "bimillion. milliard
is
a Modern French formation from Latin
mille,or
rather
from
million, by substituting
the
augmentative ending
-ard
for
-on,
so that the word means
'big
million,'
million itself
originally meaning
'
group
of thousands.'
1166.
ITumerBl-groupB
are
either
oumnlatiTe, as
in
3"Sa
ACCIDENCE.
[J
1166.
Afwi/y-îvs30-|-g, OT multiple, as
in Am ^"fKfr'"tf=a
X lOO.
Jn such cumulative
groups
as
twmiy-fiBt
the units
always
came
fint iu
OEr"/^
and
twettlig
manita
" and
ve
still
say
five-and-twtnly
as
well
as
iwtnfy-five,
but
only
with the kmrer
tj-namerals
;
thus
we hardlfever
say
ht is
fiveandfi/fy.
1166.
In
speaking
we
generally
count
by
hundreds
up
to
1900,
especially
in dates. Thus
1066, 1891 are
called ten
hundred and
six/y-tix,eighken
hundred and
ninefy-otu, or,
more briefly
ten
sixty-six, eighteen ninety-one.
1167. The
high
numerals are not
used
alone,
but
require
a 01 one
before
them,
the latterwhen
emphatic,
as
in
one
hundred,
not two hundred,
d
in
a hundred, a thoutand,etc.
may
be the indefinite
article,
but ia
more probably
the weak
one,
as in a
c/oyor
two
(1187.i).
1168.
In Mn" all the numerals
are
treated
as
adjectives
followed
by
nouns
in the
plural, a-kundred,
etc.
being
a
kind
of
group-adjective:
ten
men, twenty men,
a
hundred
men,
two
thousand
men.
1160.
But allthe numerals
can
also be used
as noims
with
plurals
in
-*. They oecesGarily
become nouns
when their
head-word is
suppressed, as
in
units, lens,
and
hundreds,
to
go
on all
/ours,
there
were
ten
of
us;
bat
even
when the head- word
is
expressed,
the numeral
may
be made into a noon
whenever ithas
any
independence
of
meaning,
as
in thousands
^people.
OrdinaL
1170. Most of the ordinal nomerals
are
derivatives of the
cardinal
ones,
but the firsttwo ordinals are
expressedby
distinctwords
:
"
flrgt is the
GS,fyrest,
which
originally
meant 'foremost'
(1047);
but this
meaning
was
sometimes so
much weakened
that
_;5''''''''
became
practically equivalent
Xo
forma,
which is
the
regular
0" ordinal
corresponding
to an.
T,Goo(^le
JII73-]
NUMERALS: ORDINAL.
363
seoond was introduced in
ME, being
the French fonn of
Latin unmdus. The OE word
was dj"er,
which
was
discarded
because of the
ambiguityresulting
from it
having
also the
meaning
'
other.'
1ibird=OEJ"riticia,
Late Northumbrian
/tiri/a, ME/('r"i".
The other OE ordJnds below
20 are
fcamed from the
cardinals
by adding-pa,
the
/ becoming
/ after
t 01
/,
and
final
M
of die cardinals
beingdropped
:
"
t"mxQi=OE
fiowerfia, /eorpa,ME./ourJ'e
\fyp./ourlteH,
fariy.]
flfth=OE
/i//a,
ME
^/e. Early
MnE
^.
In later
MnE the lA
was restored
by
the influence of the other
ordinals,as
also in
Early
MnE six/.
mxt}i=ÔE sixta.
aeventh=0"
sto/bpa
is
a Late ME new-formation direct
"om the cardinal. So also
ninth,Imth,
elmmth.
eighth=0" eahiojm,Anglian ahlopa,
where the
0
is the
older form of the
a
in the cardinal
tahia,
ahta.
ninths OE
nigopa.
tentli=OE tiopa
with the unmutated vowel of the cardinal
lUn.
eleTenth=OE
ptdUoJkt.
twelfths
OE
tmlfla.
117L
The OE teen-ordinals end in
-tiopa^
which in ME
was
made in
-iinpt,
a new-formation from the cardinal
ending -tine,as
in
fi/linJ"e=0"./t/liopa.
1172. The OE
ty-ordinals
end in
-tigopa,-Hogopa,
which
in ME became
-Itoptt
and then
-ttpehy
cardinals r OE
twmtigoPa,
Late ME
twentipe.
In
Early
MnE e was
introduced
by
the
analogy
of the verb-inflection
-eth,
but these ordinals
were
Still
pronounced(twenti)", îrti))),
etc.,
although
the
spelling
has
now
altered the
prontmciation
uito
(twenti-ij"),
etc,
1173.
In
Early
MnE the ordinal
ending
-ih
was extended
to the
high
numerals,
which before had
no
ordinal forms
:
364
ACCIDENCE.
[|
1174.
hunSredlh,
which
was
proDounced(bundre))),
Ihousandlh,
1174. The 0" ordinals
were
inflected
as
weak
adjectives.
U75. In ordinal
groups
onlj
the lastmember of the
group
takes the ordinal form,
the others
being
leftin the shorter
cardinal form:
htimty-fifih
at fivt-and-twentitlh,
hundred and
secmd. This
usage
prevailedalready
in
OE, as
in
on J"dm
Iwd-and-twentigopan doge,
where tw" is
kept
in the
neuter,
althoughd(^
is
masculine,
because it forms
a sort of
group
compound
with the ordinal.
1178. The ordinals
are
used as nouns
in MnE in the
combination of two numerals to
express
fractional
numbers,
as
in fuK thirds
rfan
inch.
VERBS.
Intlictiohs.
1177. There are two main
conjugadona
of verbs in
0",
Btrong
and
weak, distinguished mainlyby
the formation of
their
preterites
and
preterite participles.
If
we
compare
these
parts
of the verb with its
infinitive, we
find that
strong
verbs,
such as
bindan
'
to bind,'
form their
preterite by vowel-change
" iand 'he bound '"and add
-at
in the
preterite partidple
with or
without
vowel-change,
/"-
being
often
pre"zed,
in
weak as
weU
as
strong
verbs"
-geiunden
'
bound
';
while weak
verbs,
such
as
fueran
'
hear,'
form their
preterite
and
preterite
participle
with the
help
o( dor i:
kierde,gehlired.
1178.
The
followingare
the chief verb
endings
of the
active
voice, including
the
preteriteparticiplepassive.
Where two
endingsare given,
the second is that of the
weak verbs. Observe that all three
persons
have the
same
ending
in the
plural,
and that the
imperative
exists
only
in the
second
person.
T,Goo(^le
yURBS: OLD MNGLISff.
365
"a)
Infinitive
-eat
Gerund
-enne
tttde
-en,-ed.
- 1179.
Verbs whose root ends in
a
vowel
generalljr
contract
;
thus Hon
'
to see,'
gdn
'
to
go,'conjugate
id
sio,
ii
gS,
we
sioP^wegSP compared
with ii
binde,
wl
bindap.
1180.
For the
pluralending-a}",
both indie,and
imper.,
-e
is substituted when the
pronoun
comes
immediately
after
the verb
:
gi
bindqP,
but binde
î.
So also
ga
gil compared
with
ge
gdj".
These forms
were
originally subjunctives,
binde
ge
beinga shortening
of bindm
gi.
So also
ta
gS
wl
'
let
us go.'
This
change was
often extended
by analogy
to
the
ending
-on,
as
in mo/e
ive
'
laay
ve,'soiie
ge
'
yt
sought'
compared
with
we
mdlon,
gi
lohlon.
1181. The
passivevoice,
and
many
forms of the activevoice
as well,
are
expressedby
the combination of
auxiliary
verbs
with the
pret.
particand, more rarely,
the
pres.
partic.
The
chief
auxiliary
verbs are wesan
*
be,'weorjian
'
become,'
and
habban
'
have,'as
in A/
mat ge/unden,
hi
wearp
ge/unden
'
he
was found,'
he is
gecumen
'
he has
come,'
he
hte/p
gefimden
'
he has found.'
1182. But besides the
pret.
partic,
there is
a trace of the
old Germanic
passive
in the form halle from
halan,
which is
both
pres.
'
is
named, called,'
and
pret
'
was
called.'
1188. The infinitive was
originally
an
indecUnable abstract
noun
formed from the
correspondingverb,
so
that bindan
originally
meant
'
binding,'
'
act
of
binding.'
The
gerund
is
a
366
ACCIDENCE.
[ii'84.
similarly
formed
noun
in the dative
case governed by
the
preposition to,
which
always precedesit,as
in hi is
to
cumenru 'he is to come
'=
Latin vmturus at. It often
takes the
a of the infin." Id cumajuit.
1184. The
preL
partic,as alreadystated,generally
takes
ge-
before
it;
bnt
not
if the verb
already
has
ge-
or a
similar
inseparable prefix,
as
in
/orgie/en
'
forgiven,'
dlttsed
'
re- deemed.'
In West- Saxon AwriM
generally
takes
^*- throughout
: gehuran,gehiered.
1186. Both
participles are
declined like
adjectives : we
sindou
geevmene,
hi
h"ef}"
hint
gefundenne
'
he has found him,'
literally
'
he
possesses
him found,' But in the ktei
language
the
pret
partic
in comlHiiadon with
auxiliary
kaiban became
indeclinable
through
the
originalmeaning having
been
forgotten
: hi
hafp
hint
gefundm.
1186. In the older
language
the second
person
sing,
ends
in
-s: Pu lufas
'thou
lovest,' l"" lufadti.
But
already
in
Early
West-Saxon the
regular
forms
are
liâst, brfadest.
1187. In Late Northumbrian inflectional
/
became
t: ni
bindis,we
bindas.
1188. In Late OE the
subj.plur.ending
-tn was
made
into -on
by
indie,as
in
gy/f^
ivdron
'if
they were,'
compared
with
Early
West-Saxon
gif
Mi
wdren.
1189.
In Late OE the -it of the and
pers.
sing,
j^-et.
indie, of weak verbs is extended to the
subj.
:
gyf
pit
btfodetf
'
if
yoM
loved'=Early
West-Saxon
^j'"/*iu/bde.
Strong Vbrbs.
1190. In the
strong
verbs the
plur.
of the
pret.
indie.
often has
a
vowel different from that of the
sing.
:
lif
Scaid,
we
bundon. The and
sing.
pret.
indie, and the whole
pret.
subj.always
have the vowel of the
pret.
plur.
indie.
:
pu
btmdt,gif
ii
bunde,
gif
we
bundm. The
followingare the
Early
West -Saxon infections of the
strong
verb btndan :
"
T,Goo(^le
VERBS: OLD ENGLISH.
367
llOL Scnne
strong
verbs
are
inflectedlikeweak verbs
everywhere
except
in the
preterite
forms. Thus
swfrian
'
swear,'
preL tutor,
is inflected
like_^rtizn (120S)
:
pres.
indie,
siofrê,
sivfresl,
swp-eP, swfriaj) ; subj,
pres,
swp-iê,swfrigm ;
imper.
iu){re,
tw^riap;
pres.
partic.swiriêndt. Many
strong
verbs with double
consonants,
such
as
biddan
'
pray,'
'
ask'
pret.
bad,are inflectedlike
s^tlan(1207)
:
pres.
indie.
iidde,
biist
{bidesi),
bill
{bideji),
biddajt
; subj.
pres.
biddi,
bidden;
imper.bide,biddaji;
pres.
partic.
hiddende.
All of tkese
verbs,
both
strong
and
weak,
had
a /'
before
their
endings
in Germanic
(788)
"
'swatjan,*farjan,'bidjan,
'saijan;
and hence allof them mutate their root-vowels. The
strong
verb
wipan 'weep'
is also
a 'j-verb/as
shown
by
its
mutation,
the
Anglian
form
being wdftan,
and is declined like
the weak verb
hferan,
which however has the same
endings
as
a
strong
verb in the infinitiveand
present tenses,
and
so
there
is
nothing
to
distinguish
the inflections of
"wipati
from those of
the
ordinaryj-lessstrong
verbs
:
pres. 'aiê,vilpst{wipes(),
wipp {wipip),-wipap
;
imper.wip,
etc
1192. The Germanic forms of the
endings-st,-p
were
-is,
-ip,
which
are
still
preserved
in the oldest
English
: bindis,
hindip.
In West-Saxon these
endings
mutated
a preceding
vowel and then
dropped
their
own vowels,as
in
pi ^cst,
hit
griwP
from lucem
'
close,'
'
lock,'
grbwan
'
grow.'
The
re-
368
ACCIDENCE.
[fti93-
suiting
consonant-combinations were modified in various
ways
(767)
:
t]",
d^,dd/"were
made into
tl,i,
as
in Idll
'
lets,'
but
'
waits,'
Bia
'
asks,'
i/fn/
'
stands
'
from id/an
'
let,' didan,
biddan,
slandan
;
and
sp
became
tt,
as
in
iieil
'
chooses
'
from
iiotan. Similar
changes
took
place
in the and
pers.
sing.:
/lu
bilil
'
you
ask,'jdfi
Hes/. In
Anglian
the full
endings
-et
(-tfJ/),
-"/were restored,
the immutated vowels
being
at
the aame
time restoied
: U/eJi,bidep,bidep,biddep,s^ndtp;
biddes,
iioMs.
1183.
The
vowel-changes
in the
strong
verbs
are
generally
due to
gradation (770),
which is often
accompanied by
consonant-change,
aa in
weorPan,gfwordm (766).
But
in
some
verbs the vowel of the
pret.
isthe resultof contraction
of Gennanic and Arian
reduplication;
thus hiold 'held'
(infin. htaldaii)
is a contraction of
'hekold,
*!teha2d. Traces
of this
reduplication are preserved
in
a
few OE
preterites,
such
as
he-hl,
later hit
(infin.
Mian
'call,'
'
command
*)=
Germanic *hehaH
(Gothic
haihait).
1194. The
following
are the classes under which the
strong
verbs ^
according
to their
vowel-changes,
each
class
being
named after
a characteristicverb. A few examples
only
are
given
of each class. The
specialAnglian
forms are
given
in
( ).
The forms
are given
in the order
infin.,
pret.
sing.,
pret.
plur.,
pret.
panic.
I.
Bedupliaati'Te
or
foil-class.
llSfi. The
pret,
sing,
and
plur.
has
to or
i,
the
pret
partic. keeping
the vowel of the infin.:^
feailan{/allatt)
'fall'
Jioll /gallon paUen [failen)
healdan
{hatdan)
'hold' /Hold hioldon htaldm
{halden)
cndwan 'know' cniow eniowon cnSwî
grdwan
'
grow
'
grlow grfowon grSti/en
biaian 'beat
'
blot bioton biateit
"idJ'"tM'command*
k^K)t hl{k)lon
hSten
laim'ltA'
lit llton littn
T,Goo(^le
(I199-] VM^BS;
OLD ENGLISH.
369
II.
Shake-class.
1196.
These verbs have in the infin.
a, ta, or,
in
j-verbs
the mutiitioiis
;, u,
in the
pret.
sing,
and
plur,5,
in the
pret
partic.
a,
a :
"
faran 'go' fdr firon faren
sCacan
'
shake
'
side iidcon scacat
Ttfbian(768)
'raise*
hOf hsfon hafm, haftn
III. Bind-class.
1197.
In the infin.
t, it,t,
10
followed
by
two consonants
one at least of which is
nearlyalways a
vowellike
con-
sooant "
r, l,n,m;
in the
pret
sing.
a,cE,ea;
in the
pret.
phir."
;
in the
pret
parlic. ",
o.
bindan 'bind*
iaiid,bgnd
bundon bunden
iieldatt{geldoH)
'
pay
'
êaid
(gSld)
guidon golden
heipan 'help' kealji(hOip) hvlpon kolpm
Aerj/a"
(764)
'burst' barst burston
borstm
iveorpan
'become'
wearP
wurdon wcrden
fcohiati{/ehlan)
'
fight
'
/eait(fai/) Juhton fohlen
rV. Bear-class.
1198.
In the infin,
e,
ie,
i followed
by
"
single
consonant
which is
generally
vowellike
;
in breean the voweUike
consonant
precedes
the vowel
;
in the
pret."Dg. a,a,ea;
in the
pret.plur.d, ea,S,d;
in the
pret.partic. 0,
u :
"
^"n""'
carry'
bar b"ron
boren
breean
'brrak* brae brAcon
brocen
sHeran
(ictrtm)
*
cut
'
slear (scar)
siiaron (iciron)
sioren
niman
'
take
'
nam, npm
tinman,
Hdmon HumtH
V. GiTe-cIagg.
1199. In the infin.
e,
ie,and,
in the
j-verbs
"',
followed
by
a
single,
non-vowellike
consonant,
this class
differing
from
th"
last
only
in the
pret.
partic,
which
keeps
the vowel of the
infin., the muUted ( of
the
j-verbs
returning
to t:
"
VOL. I. B
b
370
ACCIDENCE.
* [(
isoo.
sprtcan
'
speak
'
sprae sprAeoH tprteen
tiftan'^V sat sAton setai
litgoH'ln' lag logon,lAgon Ugen
VI. Sblne-class.
1200. In the infin.
i; pret
sing,
a; pret
plur.
and
pret.
partic.
i:
"
drifan
'drive'
drOf drifon drifem
iHnan
'
shine
'
liS* iHnan slinen
wrftan
'
write
'
wrat toriton viriien
VII. Ohoose-class.
1201. In the infin.
to,
it
; pret.
sing,
ia
; pret
plur.
u
;
pret.
partic
o :
"
Hodatt'cotamaaA' bind budcn boden
ilosoK
'
choose
'
Has
euron coreit
friosan
'
freeze
'
frfas fruron froren
bOgoM
'
bend
'
hiag,
biah
hugo* bogen
Weak Veres.
1202. The weak verbs
fall under two
main
groups,
according
as
the vowel of the infin.is mutated
or not The
mutation-group comprises
two
classes,
the bear-class
(Ai^run)
and the wean-class
(w/ntiiff),
the uomutated verbs constituting
the third
or
lore-class
{lufiati).
1208. The
followingare
the
Early
West-Sazon format-
Indie.
Subj.
Pres.
Sing,
i
Hert hurt
3 hUrst hlert
3
hierP
hlert
Plur.
hferap
Meren
Pret
Sing,
i
Mferdi hlerde
2
kierdfst hterde
3
hUrde hUrd*
Plur. hUrdon hierden
T,Goo(^le
i laofi.]
VERBS; OLD ENGUSH.
3?!
Imper.Sing.
ter Infin. Alerati
Plur,
hStrap
Gerund to hUrtnnt
Partic. Pres. kUrendt
Fret hiertd.
1204.
This class adds -de in the
prct.
and -ed in the
pret.
partic,
where the
t
is liableto be
dropped
when
an
inflectional
vowel is
added,as
in the
nom.
plur. gefuerde.
Verbs
ending
in
/,
d, c drop
the
e
in the uninflected form
also,
as
in
aspid
'
sent
'
(infin. dsptdati),
where iîsa
shortening
of
dd. After the breath-consonants
/,
c
the inflectionald is
unvoiced,
and
c
becomes h
: melon
'
find,'
'
meet
'
gemelt,
taian
'
show
'
êliM.
But the full forms
aspided,gemiled
also
occur,
especially
in
Anghan.
Similar
changes
take
place
in the
pret
~tde,-p{p)de
become
-He,-pie,
as
in
gemilte
'
found,'^p/e
'
dipped
'
(infin. dyppan).
The inflectionald
isalso unvoiced after
tt
and the other
bieath-consonants, as
in
missan
'
miss
'
miiie,compared
with r"sde
'
rushed
'
from
rSsan,
where the
s={z).
In
dypte
the
/
is,
of
course,
a
shortening
of
fp.
There
are
similar
shortenmgs
in
spfdan,
tptdt,fyUan,fylde,
etc.
1306. I b. Seek-class. In this subdivision of the hear-
class the vowel of the infin.is unmutated in the
pret.
and
pret.partic,
the inflections
being
the same as
in the other
verbs of the hear-class
;"
sgllan
'
give
'
lealde
(sHide) geseald{gesoid)
iiCan
(sScan)
'
seek
'
sSAie,
sohie
iesSht,gesoht
1206. Those wilh
n
followed
by
i or
g"PpUan
'
think,'
bringan
'
bring'"drop
the nasal and
lengthen
the
preceding
vowel and
modify
it in other
ways
; pfnân,PohU, gefiohl
= Germanic
*p"miijan, 'panhta,an
before H
having
been
regularly changed
to nasal
S,
which in OE
as regularly
became d.
Long
vowels
were
shortened in OE before
ht,
so
that
pdhie,etc became
pohU.
Seek-verbs in
-(ticarry
the
sba
372
ACCIDENCE.
[jno?.
mutated vowel
/
into the
pret.
and
ptret.
partic
in Late West-
Saxon
:
tlr^tan,
'
Btretch,' tirtahle,
tirtahl
(tirahie, tirahi)
later
strfhU, striU.
1207.
It willbe observed that allverbs of the hear-class
have
longsyllables
in the infin."either
a longvowel,
as
in
hUran, or a
vowel followed
by
two
consonants,
as
in
sptdan,
fyUan.
In the
latterverb the "!/isGermanic
[cp.
the
adjective
/ull\
and is therefore
keptthrough
allthe inflectionsof
the
verb,
except
where I iawritten for U before a consonant
in contracted forms
;
pres.
indie,
fylle, fylUst{JyUi\fyiitp
{/ylp\fyll^k
; imper.sing,fyll,
etc.
But most of the
\-erbs of thisclasswith double
consonants
in the
infin.,
such
as
sittan
'
set,' are
inflectedUke
stroi^
j-verbs
such
as
biddan
(1191),
the double consonant
being
also shortened in the
pret.
and
pret partic.
;
pres.
indie
t{lte, SfUt{situ), sfft
(siUJ"), "
tfllap
;
subj. s{/Je{tt) ;
bnper.
sÛ,
tfiia/" ;
pres.part,
iitlmde;
pret.sfUt^
*siUde,
pret
particgesfitd, gtsilt.
Some of these
verbs
belong
to
the
seek-division,
such
as
iâ"
'
say
'
:
pres.
mdic.
t[ige,sigsl{sfges), i[gP{sigep),
siiiaj"; imper.
W"
^l^'^P'i
P^^B.
panic,siigende;
preL
tc^"it, pret.partic.
gesagd.
So also
i{llan
has
pres.
indie,
t^, t{lp{silep^t 'fHap,
imper.iiU,sillap, etc.
II. Wean-class.
ia08. All of these verbs have infin.
-tan
and
a short root-
syllable
with a mutated vowel.
They
fonn their
pret.
in
-ede,
and their
pret.
partic.
in
-ed,
which is never contracted. The
following
are the
Early
West-Sazon forms of
wptian
'
accus-
T,Goo(^le
f
i"io.] VMSBS;
OLD ENGUSH.
373
Indie
Subj.
Fret.
Sing,i wpude wgrude
3
Wfttedfsi Wfnede
3 wgnede
wfttede
Plur.
w^nedon viftteden
Imper.
Sing.
vi(He
Icfin.
lugman
Plur.
wgniap
Gerund Id
wîgenne
Partic. Pre3.
'wftiigende
Pret.
gelv(ned.
So
ilaafp'ian
'
carry
'
\^/aran
'
go
']
styrian
'
stir.'
IIL Iiore-class.
1209. In Germanic these verbs had infinitives
-ati, -dn,
of which
-tan
is
a
later
development
and therefore does not
cause
mutation like the
-tan of the
wean-class,
which is of
Germanic
origin.
The
following
are
the
Early
West-Saxon
forms
;
"
Indie.
Subj.
Pres.
Sing.I lufip lufiê
Irregtdar
Weak Vtrbs.
laiO.
Some weak
verbs,
such
as lihhan 'live,' show
a
mixture
of the inflectionsof the hear- and the love-class
:
pres,
indie.
Ubbe,
kofatt,kofap,libbap
; subj.libM^)
;
imper.
374
ACCIDENCE.
[|
i"ii.
Uofa,
libbap;
pres.
partic.
libbtndt;
pret.
lifdt,
pret
partic.
i-Ufd.
FsKTKRmt-FKESXHT VerBS.
1211.
These
verbs
have for their
presents
old
strongpre- terites;
thus the
preterite-prcBent
verb aw/ 'I know'
was
orig^naltf
a
strong
preterite
of the shine-class. The
present
of theseverbs
differshowever from the
strong
preterites
in the
and
sing,indie,
which ends in /or
j/,
a
/before the inflectional
/ also
becoming
f: iiiieal'\^^l pusitall;
iicann 'I
know,'
pu
cami
;
it w"t
'
I
know,'}"i
wast.
1212. From these
presents
new
weak
preterites
are formed
with various
irregular changes:
sieeUe,cufie,
witte.
1213.
Many
of these verbs
are defective,
the
infin,,
imper.,
and
participles being
often
wanting.
The
subj.
is often
substituted for the
imper.sing.
The
following are the inflections
of wilan
'
know
'
:"
HMdle-Engdlati.
Early Middle Emolish.
1314.
The ME
levelling
of weak vowels under
e
had
a
comparatively slight
effect
on
the verb
inflections,
especially
i
laio.] VERBS;
EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH.
375
in
Early
Southern,where the OE verb-inflectionswere
preserved
verj-
faithfully.
But the inevitable
change
of
-a, -eat,
-afi,
-ode into
-e, -"tt,-tp,-ede,
as
in
Utot,luoest, luvep,
lucedt
=OE
Itâ,
hifail, btfaj", lufodt, necessarily
led
to a
complete
levelling
of the old
wean-
and love-clagsesof weak
verbs,
the
ME love-class
including
allthe OE ian-verbs whether
accom-
paoied by
mutation
or not.
1216. The Southern
tendency
to
drop
final
" firstaffected
the infin.and
pret.
paitic.
:
Early
Southern
innden,hlnde;
ibunden,
ib"nde.
1216. The
tendency
to shorten double
consonants
in weak
syllables
made the OE
gerund
IS imdentu into ME
/d
bmdent.
1217.
The
tendency
to
drop
final weak
t
after another
weak
syllable (794)
led to the
shortening
of lo bindene into
le
iinden,
which made
itliable to be
confused with the intin.
So also Ani"=OE
hifge,lufianwas
oflen shortened to luvi.
lo the South-Thames dialects this
-1
afterwards
came to be
regarded
as the
special
mark of the
infin.,
being
sometimes
extended to
strong
verbs
as
well
as weak verbs with OE infin.
1218.
In
Early
Southern the
pres.
partic. ending
is
-mde,
as in
mndinde,hertnde,
which
probably
owes its1 to the influence
of the verbal nouns
in
-itige, -tng=OE -ing,
-utig,
such
as lenniige=0'Eleornung.
1219.
Early
Southern
keepstheprefixi-=OE^^:
i"Sndert,
i/iered= OE
gebuttdat, gehired.
1320.
The roost
important
change
in die
strong
verbs is
that
many
of them became weak.
Already
in OE such verbs
as
il^KM
'
deep,'
ondrddaa
'
fear,'
bad the weak
preterites
sliiptt,
ottdrddd*
\yj
the side of the
strong
sl^,ondred;
in
Late West-Saxon
hibban
'raise' has the weak
pret.
h{/de
by
the side of
strong
ho/,
and
so on.
In ME this is carried
much further. Thus
even
in the earliest
ME
we find the
OE
strong
preterites
W
'
let,'
u"eop
'
wept
'
representednot
376
ACCW"NCB.
[|
iKi.
onlfby
/F/,
v^,
bat abo
bj
d"e weak
Jic/lfr, w^^, although
sndi fonos aa
nqft
stillstuvive in Standard I^te HE.
Man;
other weak and
strof^
fonns existed tide
bj
tide for
a
long
time
;
and
although
in Hn" the weak fnms have
nearly
atwaysprevailed,
this
was
not
always
the case in
ME, where,
for
instance,
such
a
weak
pret.
as
hrfde
'
raised
'
was
in the
Late ME
period
discarded in "voar "^ the aew-formed
strong
preL
iaf,
the old
li^being
also
preserved.
laSL
The inflectKKW of the
atnaig
verbs that remained
were
modified
by
various
levelling
influences. The mutation
in die contracted forms of the 0"
presents
was
got
rid
o(
by bringing
in the nnmnmted vowd of the
infin.,
etc.,
as
in
ier^
'
carries,' fret
'
treads,'sAmi
'
stands,'
infin.
itrett,
tredtn,
tîideK='Eat[y
West-Saxon
Uerfi
(iir^), tritt, s^.
1232. The
gradation
of consonaiils in the OE
ieotan,
gecoren,
etc was
gcrt
rid "tf
by carrying
the
t through:
chiasen,
chistH,c^,
ichoteit.
1328.
In thislastverb
we can also observe the extension
of rAssOE ^ to
the
originalc
"tfthe
preL
panic.,so as to
make initialeh tmifonn
through
the whole verb. We
can
observe the
opposite levelling
of th under
f
in such verb-forms
as
kervm, 6arf=OE Marfan,itarf,
vriiicfa have taken their
back-consonant from the OE
pret
pltir.
cur/on
and
fa%t
panic,eorfm.
1224. But in
some
verbs the old
conson
ant-gradations
were
preserved,
as mforUsm 'Vxe,'
forlfs./orioren.
1226. Some of the ME
changes
had the
contrary
effectof
creating
new
distinctions. Thus OE
S,
""
was
regularly
shortened before
consonant-groups,
and the
resulting a was
afterwards broadened to a
(797),as in the OE
pret.
iShle
'showed,'
which in ME
passed through
ttehk into
tahu,
whence
MnE
taught.
In
many
preterites
and
pret participles
these
changes
gave
rise
only
to
divei^nce
of
quantity, as
in
miten,nuttt,
imel=0'E
gemitan,etc.,
and in Northern Udde=
Southern
ladde from
l^dm
'lead'=OE
ladan,l"idt.
T,Goo(^le
( i*J9] VERBS;
EARLY MIDDLE BNGUSH.
377
1336. The
followiag are
the inflectionsof the
strong
verb
blttdm,
and of the weak verbs hertn
'
hear
'
and
luvien,as
representatives
of the
two classesof weak verbs in
Early
Southern
:"
1321. In the forms binde
gi,
bunde
gl,
-e
is substituted
for
-tp(U80).
1338. It will be observed that the distinctionbetween the
two classesof weak verbs is
very
slight,
the lof the love-class
being
often
dropped
" i
luve,ivl luvefi, etc." while the
imper.
sing.
Aire has taken the
"
of
iuvie,
luve.
1230. In
Early
Midlsuid
many
levellings
which
are
only
just beiginning
in
Early
Southern
are fiUly
carried
out
The love-classlost their i
entirely,
and
as
the hear-class
generally
had the full
Anglianendings-est, -ep,
there is
only
T,GoogIe
378
ACCIDENCE.
{| 1J30.
one set of inflections for the two classes:
heren,
h/en=
Southern
hirtH,
luvien. On the other
hand,
the contracted
fonns of the he"T-claES
are extended to the
love-class, as in
iirji
'
befits,'
'
becomes
'
preL
iirde =
0%
êfyrefi, iebyrtde,
infin.
gefyriiai (wean-class).
1280. The characteristicfeature of the Midland verb is its
extensioD of the
plur.ending-m
of the
subj.
pres,
and of the
pret.
indie,and
subj.
"
gi/ptilufm,pet eatnen
'
came,'
gifj"ei
cSmen,
pti
brohtm " to the
present
indie
plor.: wi
lufm,pei
f"fftm=Soutbeni
we luviep,
Heo
cumep.
But the older
-{ijp
is
kept
in the
imper.plur.
: cumepl.bipl
'be
ye'=Southem
cumep,beop.
138L In
Early
Midland the
gerundwas completely
levelled
imder the infin.
: Id
dinden,Id fiirett.
1282. In Midland the
pres.
panic,keeps
the old
ending:
bindende, Jierende, lufende.
The
n
of the infin. and
strong
pret
partic.
is never
dropped
as
in Southern. The
pret.
partic.
loses its
prefix
^t-.
1288. The distinctioD between
single
and double
consonant
forms in the old
j-verbs,
such
as h{bban,hi/ep,hSf,
ha/en
and
libban,Uofap,lifde,
which
was
still
kept
up
in
Early
Southern "
hehben,hevep
\
libbm,ievep,liveP
"
began
to
break
down
m
Early
Midland
through
the extension of the
single
consonant fonns
;
thus in
Early
Midland
we
find
pres.
plur.
indie.
^f^=Early
Southern
libbep, although
the older infin.
lihbm is still
kept
in
EarlyMidland;
but
hefm
is used not
onlyas a
pres.
plur.,
but also as an
infin.
Northern.
1284.
In the Northern dialect inflectionalp
had been
changed
to
s,
and finaln had
begun
to
drop
off
already
in the
OE
period:
Old Northumbrian
bt'nda,bindas,
îni"t= Mercian
bindep,bindap,
bindan. In the
Early
Middle
period
weak
final
e was
dropped,
so
that the infin.Sttde=0\dL Nonhum-
brian binda became
monosyllabic
Und,
under which the
T,Goo(^le
i i"38.] VERBS;
EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH.
379
gerund
15 hind-vss levelled. The
subj,
^de=0\A North,
sing,
and
plur.
h'nde
was
reduced to the
same
monosyllabte.
Hence also the
pret.
plur.
ktrden
was reduced to the
same
form as
the
sing.
" herd. The effect of these
changeson a
strongpret.
such
as
that of bind
was to leave
only
two forms
"band ist and
3rd
pers.
sing,indie,
and bund and
pers.
sing,
and
plur,
and
subj.generally
" and the vowel
change
was soon
got
rid of
by
extension of the vowel of the
ist and
3rd
person
sing,
indie.
: t band,fiuband,we
band.
1380. In Late Old Northumbrian the old
ending
of the
and
person pres. -m, -as,
etc. was preservedby
the influence
of the
new 3rd
person
-a,
-at
=
-tp,-a}".Hence in
Early
Horthern -es became
the
common ending
of the and and
3rd
persons
indie,
pres.
sing.
In the
pres.
indie,
plur.-"
= older
"as,
~ias was
dropped
when the verb
was
immediately
preceded
or
followed
by
its
pronoun
: wi
pat bitides, r/un hindes;
we
bind,pai
Und. The 'absolute' form
was
afterwards
extended
to
the
ist
pers.
sing,
as
well; iPat
bindes.
1S36.
The
n
of the
strong pret.
partic. was not lost in Old
Northumbrian because of the inflectedforms
gehunient,
etc.,
by
whose
influence the
n was
restored in the
uninflected
form
;
hence
it
was
alwayskept
in the ME Northern dialect
as well.
12S7.
The Northern fonn of the
pres.
partic.
is -and:
bindand,
An-iww/= Midland and OE
bindende, herende.
Southern
bindinde,
hirinde. This a is tbe resultof Scandinavian influence
;
Icel.
bindandi,
heyrandi.
ias8.
The
following
are
then the most distinctiveverb-
inflections of the three dialects in their
Early
Middle
periods:
"
Southern. Midland. Northern.
Indie. Pres.
Sing,i
bfndt Hnde bind
a
Hndest,
binist bfndest bindes
3
binde^,
bint
HruieP
bindes
Plur.
kindep
binden
bfês)
T,GoogIe
Southern.
Midland. Nortbem.
Impcr. Sing.
Hnd bUtd Mmd
Plur.
Hftdep Hndtp bf7id(es)
Pres, Partic. bfndiMdt bttidenJe bfndand
Latr Miodlk-Engusb.
1288.
The
most
important change
in Standard ME and
in Late South-Thamea
Englishgenerally
is the further assimilation
of the
prea.
partic,
to the verbal
nouns
in
-itigeby
which the earlier î"'ni2r became
Bint^nge,^change
of which
we see traces
already
in
Early Southern, as
in heo ridm
stng-
tTigt
'they
rode
singing
'=OEA"n""B
singende.
But
as
the
verbal
nouns also occur without final
-e,
the distinction between
Urninge partic.
and
krning noun was not
entirely
losL
1340.
Early
ME d
was
changed
to / in the weak
pret
and
pret,
partic.
of verbs
in
rd. Id,
nd\
girte,girt,
infin.
girdm;
bilk,
bill infin. Uldm
; wmk,
wmt infin. wmdtn =
Early
Southern
gUrde, gUrd\ bBlde,bald; wende,
wend. This
change
served to
distinguish
such fonns
as
lu tende
pres.
subj.
and he iente
pret.,
which in
Early
ME
were
both
expressed
by
the firstform. But it is also carried out
in
some
words with
l,ll,n,nn: filen
'
feel
'/il/e ;
dwellen,
dwelU
; mfnen,
mettie
;
bretmm 'bum,' brmle;
and after
^=(2}
and
v,
where it
un- voices
these
consonants: iosiett-ÔS.
lostan,loste;IfDenÔE
la/an,UfU, Iqfk.
1241.
In Standard ME
we see
the
same
levelling
and
simplifying
tendencies at work
as
in
Early
Midland and
Northern. The old
vowel-change
in such
preterites
as bgrid
is still
Icept
up,
but the short form
bgnd
is oflen extended
throughout
the
pret
: Jni bgnd,we bpnd as
well
as pu bounde,
we boundAji).
1242.
In
some
verbs of the bear- and
give-class
the
i of
the
plural
is sometimes
extended to the
sing,
as
in
Hr, set
by
the side
oibar,
ja/=OE
bter,jiz/plur. bdron, sdlon,
Anglian
beron,
seton.
T,Goo(^le
S 1148.] VERBS;
LATE MIDDLE ENGLISH.
381
1243. Influence of the
strong
plur.
pret.
on the
sii^.
is
also seen in such
sing,preterites
as slom,jaiff=Early
Southern
slSh
plur.slowen.
Late OE
doh, ilogoa,
OE
seah,
sawon,
1244. In Late ME the
pret.
partic. begins
to influence the
pret.
plur.
As
a
general
rule the old
pret, plurals
were
preserved
in Late ME
only
when
they
had the
same vowel
as
the
pret
partic,
as
in
J"eibounden,peidrUnken,pti
wSnnm
(class 3),
Ttdm,
writen
(class 6);
otherwise the
plur,
pret,
took
the vowel of the
pret,
partic, : J"eiholpen,/oghlm, chgsen.
1245. The
sing,
of the
imper.began
to be extended to the
plur
:
hind
'
bind
ye
'
by
the side of
bmdej".
1246. In the love-class of weak verbs the
( was
dropped
entirely,
and the
pret.
ending
-ede
was
often shortened
to
-ed
generalprinciple
of
dropping
weak
e
after
a
weak
syllable ;
hi
ISvep,
he ISved.
1S47, Some of the above
changes
may
be the result of
Midland
influence,
of which
we
have an
undoubted
example
in the substitutionof -en
(-e)
for
-ep
in the
plur.
indie,
pres.
-^
was,
of
coiirse,
kept
In the
plur. imper.,although
here also
the Midland
ending
seems to occur in itsshortened form -t ;
binde.
1248. The
following
are the Sundard ME inflectionsof
the three verbs whose
Early
ME inflectionshave been
given
already
:
"
T,GoogIe
Observe that the
preterites
of this class have
split
up
into
two
groups,
one
with
o,
the other with
(uu)[SOS}-
VERBS;
MODERN ENGLISH.
383
1266.
Tbe main innovation in the MnE verb-inflections
was
the introduction of the Northern
-j
in the
3rd
pers.
sing.
pres.
in"c.^he calls" which
was
introduced into Standard
Englishthrough
the medium of the Midland dialect It did
not
entirelysupplant
the older -tk
" he callelh " which still
survivesin the
higherUleraiylanguage.
1267.
The MnE verb is further characterized
by
the
development
of
a
gemnd.
When the
pres.
partic. ending
"inge
lost itsfinal
vowel,
the last
vestige
of a fonnal distinction
between
such a
pres.
partic.
as lerning
and the verb-noun
lerningdisappeared.
In OE the number of verb-nouna in
-ung,
-ing
was limited,especially
in the earlier
stages
of the
language.
In ME their number
increased,
and when the
pres.
partic.
in
-ingi
was
fully
established,
and became indistinguishable
in form from the
ing-nouns,
these could be
formed at
pleasure
from
any
verb
; or,
in other
words,
every
pres,
partic.
could be used
as a
verb-noun. At first " in
Early
MnE
as
well
as
ME " these words
were
used
entirely
as
nouns
"
taking
the articleIke before them and the
preposition
of
aftei
them,
etc. "
as
in it ihanied him
for
the
saving
of
his
li/i,
where
saving
isused
exactly
like the abstract
noun
preservation
;
but
by degreestheywere
treated like
infinitives,
the article
beingdropped
and the
following
noun joined
on
to them
as to (he
corresponding
finite
verb; so
thatthe above
sentence was
shortened to he thanked him
for saving
his
life.
T,GoogIe
384
ACCIDENCE.
[( 1158.
In such
constnictions,
vhich
began
in
EarlyMnE,
saving
etc
are true noun-verbals or
geninds.
1258.
In MnE the
dropping
of weal final
e,
together
with
the ME
tendency
to
drop
finalweak
m,
had
a
great
effectin
Amplifying
the veib-inflections.The
monosyllabic
bind became
the
representative
of the
following
ME forms
:
pres.
indie ist
pers.
sing,
i
Snde, plur.
uw
iintle(n), etc.,
pres.
subj.
ihide,imde{n).
The
levelling
of the distinctionbetween the
prcL
and
pret.
partic
which had
begun
in ME
was
completed
in the MnE forms ierd
(ktard),
laved
representing
ME
herdt,
Slt!ed{t)
and
(i)herd, (f)lSved.
Such weak verbs
as set and cast
became invariable in the
pret.
and
pret
partic. :
infin.
sel, pret
sel,pret.
partic.
"/=ME
seiie(n), selte,{i)sel.
Moreover in
such verbs the distinctionbetween
strong
and weak
conjugation
is effaced:
compare
sel
pret.
sel
with let
pret.
/"/=0E
s(llan, sitU;
Idlan,
Ul.
12BS. The weak vowel of the
endings-esl,-elh,
-^s,
-ed
was
dropped
in
Early
MnE in the
spoken language,except
that full
-tsl,
-et was always kept
after the hiss-consonants
(s,
z
; J,3),beingsubject
to
exactly
the same
rules
as
the noun-inffectional
-es
(887),as
in
tnissesl, misses,
rtsist,
rises, wishes,singes.
Full -ed
was preserved
after the
pdnt-
stops
/,d,as
in
kaled,wanted,wtddtd,
wounded='KE
hSiede,
etc. Otherwise allthese
endingswere shortened in
speech
without
regard
to the ME forms " in loves
(luvz),
tovest,
Iffoelh
(luvf),
as well
as heares,hears,heartsi,
htarelh. In
this
way
the distinction between the two classes of weak
verbs
was
finally
done
away
with
as
far
as the
endingswere
concerned,
the distinction
beingonly partially recognizable
in
the
sound-changes
in such verbs as hear,
heard
Qair,bard);
feeljeli; leach,taught.
1260. But in the
higherlaiâge
the lull
endings ~tsl,
-elh,
-ed
were
freely
used after all consonants
in""fferentiy,
especially
in
poetry,
for the sake of the metre, -ts was not
used in this
way
because the lesslamiliar-tthcould
always
be
T,Goo(^le
i 1163.] VERBS;
MODERN ENGLISH.
385
substituted for it. Some
very
common verbs
were,
however,
used
only
in the short
forms,
such as dosf,
doth,mays/,
ivouMsi,
especially
the contracted
hast,hoik,
had= ME
havest,
hast
etc. -tsl was
generally
shortened in weak
preterites, as
in
Imedst, critdst. -estand -e/hare
obsolete in Present
English
except
in the
higherlanguage,
in which
they naturally keep
theirfull
forms,
except
in
dosl,
kath etc.
The
higher
language
also
keeps
full-td in
many
forms where the
spoken
language
contracts,
as
in Moved
(bilîd)compared
with
hved
(Icvd),
biased
are
the
peacemakers.
1361. The vowel of the full
endings
is
now
weak
(i),
as
"i
(raidst, raiziz,
raizifi, heitid),
and in
Early
MnE
as
well 03
Late ME it
was
often written
i,y
instead of
e,
as
in
Early
MnE thou
spekyst,
he
dwelli/h, putlyth, passid,armyd.
lS6a.
In
writing,
the silent
e of
-ts was generally
omitted
in
EarlyMnE, as in
sils,binds;
but not after
v,
as
in
hves,
nor,
of
course,
where
required
to show the
pronunciation
of
a
precedingletter,
as
in shs'tus.The other
endings
were sometimes
written in
full,
sometimes without the
e,
whose absence
was often marked
by an apostrophe:seemed,seem'd,
seemd.
The "st two
spellings
continued in
common use
up
to
the
second half of the last
century,
the full
spelling bemg
now
preferred.
But -aid is written without the
e
in
monosyllables
such as said,
paid (Early
MnE also
paitd,payed,payd\.
The
omission of the "
in
heard
compared
v'lXh
/eared
is
necessary
to show the
pronunciation.
1208.
The
consonant
of
shortened -es was
assimilated
as
regards
breath and voice to
the
preceding
consonant in the
game
way
as
in the noun-inflections: lets,
leads
(1"a1z),
loves
(luvz).
The
same
assimilations took
place
with shortened
-ed:
iffoed
(luvd),
breathed
(brwBd),
thanked
("ai)kt),
blessed.
-ed bdng
thus used to
express
(t),
this
spelling
was
often
extended to such
preterites as burnt,smell,
which were
written
humed, smelted, althoughthey
come
from ME
brenle,
tmelte.
Bat
the
phoneticspellings
thanUt,
thankt
(thank'd), dropt,
306
ACCIDENCE.
[( I"6^.
erost
(erou'S),
aceunt also came into
partial
use,
and some
of them have become fixed,
such
as
pail
in
halfpast
one
compared
with the time has
passedguickly.
The above are
organicchanges.
We have
now to consider
the internal
changes
in the
verb-inflections, beginning
with
those of
a
levelling
character.
1364. The
change
of
strong
to
weak verbs which
we
observe in ME went on
in the transitionfrom ME
to MnE,
and,
in
some
cases,
in MnE itself. Thus the
Early
MnE
preterite
clomb and the
pret
p"rtic.
mollm have
now
become
climbed,
milted. But
some
of the weak forms that
arose
in
Early
MnE have
now been
discarded,
such
as
the
Shakesperian
pret.
participles eomed,
becomed
1366. On the other
hand,
several weak verbs have been
made
strong
by
the
analogy
of
strong
verbs,
such
as stick,
sttuk
(OE
slician,
sHcode) by
the
analogy
of
stitig, stung; wear,
wore,
worn {OE Wfrian,w^rede) by
the
analogy
oi
swear, swore,
sworn.
So also several weak verbs in
-ow
have taken
preL
participles
in
-own
by
the
anal"^y
of
knt/w,known, etc,
keeping
the
original
weak
pret
: show,
pret.
showed,
pret.
panic,
shcfwn
(OE tiiawian,sieawode).
1366. The
levelling
of the short
quantity
of the vowels in
the
sing,
of
strong
preterites
under the
long quantity
of the
preL
partic,
and infin.
seen
in Late ME bar =
Early
ME
b[r,\
bar is carried much further in
MnE, as
in
brahe,spakt=
Late
I
ME
brak,spak,
pret.
partic. br^km,
infin.
broken
etc
When
I
a certain number of
preterites
in
a
had been thus
lengthened,
others
were lengthened
without
regard
to the
length
of the
other
parts
of the
verb,
such
as
came,
bad"=1A'E.
cam,
bad,
infin.
cSmen,bidden,although
the latterhad a
long
vowel in
the
pret,
partic. bfden.
1267.
There isalso
a regular
process
of
voice-levelling
in
the MnE
Strongverb,by
which final
(s,f)
in the
pret
sing,
becomes voiced
as
in the infin.and
pret.
partic,
aa in rest,
T,Goo(^le
i
i"7o.] VERBS;
MODERN
ENGLISH.
387
chose,
g/we,
drove=ME
rgt,
dp, gaf,drgf,
infin,
rlsm,
driven
etc.,pret.
parlic.
drivtn etc.
1368. The dJstinclion between
pret
^ng,
and
plur.
was
levelled, as we
have
seen,
in the MnE weak verbs
by phonetic
changes.
In the
strong
verbs it
was levelled
b;
external,
analogicalchanges. Already
in ME
strong
verbs the vowel
of the
sing,was
often carried into the
plur., especially
when
the
plur.
had
a
vowel differentfrom that of the
pret,
parlic,
as
in
pet
ital instead of
^1'
steUn
(pret. partic. sigleii).
Hence
such
Early
MnE
preterites as hare,brake,
gave,
sal
correspond
to
ME
singulars.
1269- In
many
cases,
however,
MnE
strong
preterites
have
the vowel of the M"
pret.
plur.
We have seen
that in Lale
ME there was an
intimate connection between the vowel of the
pret.piur.
and of the
pret.
partic.
in
strong
verbs,
so
that at last
the
pret
plur.,
when it differed from the
pret.
sing.,
almost
always
had the vowel of the
pret.
partic.
Hence in MnE the
vowel of the
pret.
plur.
when thus
supportedby
the
pret.
partic
was
often able to
supplant
the
original singular-vowel.
This was carried
out consistently
in those verbs of the bind-
class which had ME
(uu)
in the
pret
plur.
and
pret.
partic. :
bound,fotmd=y^ bpnd,/^nd, plur.
hounden
etc.
The
same
change
look
place
in other verbs of the
bind-class, and in
some
of the shine- and
choose-class,
many
verbs
having
two
preterites
in
Early
MnE, one representing
the ME
pret.
sing.,
the other with the vowel of the
plur.:began,begun;
tang,
tung; stang,slung;
/aughl,/oughi=MK bigan,
sgng,
si^ng,
faught
"
bit; rode, rid; wrote,
wri/=ME
hgl,rpd, ivrpl.
The
present
forms of these
preterites
are
began,
sa?ig,
stung,
fought,bit,rode,wrote,
the
tendencyevidently being
to favour
the
originalsing,
forms.
1270.
But there has been in MnE
a
further assimilationof
the
pret.
to the
pret.
partic,
which has affected
nearly
allverbs
of the bear-class with ME
p
in the
pret.
partic: already
in
Early
MnE
we
find the
preterites
bore,broke,spoie by
the side
c c a
388
ACCIDEf/CB.
[J 1271.
of
bart,brakfj
spake
= ME
"Sr, brak, spak,
ME
slal
being
represented by
stole
on\y
in
Early
MnE. In Present
English
tare etc. survive
only
in the
higherlanguage.
1S71. When a direct association had thus been established
between the
pret
and
pret.
partic
the
two
parts
of the
verb
began
to be confused "
a
confusion which
was
helped
by
the
pret.
partic.
in I ktrseseen etc.
havingnearly
the same
meaning
as
the
pret
/
saw etc. "
so
that the
pret.
began
to
be substitutedfor the
pret.
partic.
in
some
verbs,especially
when the older form of the
pret.
partic. was
liableto be forgotten
through
not
being
in
very
frequent
use
"
as
in the
case
of
ME jAinm from shmen " or
ambiguous
" as
in the
case
of
ME
stpndm,
which
was
both
pret. partic.
and infin." or
anomalous and
irregular
in
any way,
as
in
sjlencompared
with the infin.siUen. Hence in MnE the
originalpreterites
shone,stood,
sat have
supplanted
the older
pret.
participles.
In
Early
MnE this
was carried stillfurther than in Standard
Present
English,
as
in
took,shook,arose = taken,shaken,
arisen.
1273.
In the above
examples
the
pret participles
shone
etc. lost theirfinaln
through
the substitutionof a form with
a
differentvowel. Such
pret.
participles as bound,b^vn=:
ME
bounden,b^Snnen
may
be considered either as
the
result
of extension of the MnE
pret.
forms bound
etc.,
or of
dropping
the
e
of the curtailedME forms
{i)bounde,
etc.
It sometimes
happens
that the
pret. partic.
ending -en
is
dropped
in
a
verb,
but
preserved
in
an adjective
formed from
the
pret.
partic.
before it had lost the
-en,
as
in the
adjectives
drunken,
bounden
(in
bounden
duty)compared
with the
pret.
participles drunk,
bound.
1378.
In
Early
MnE the
ending
-est was
extended to the
pret.
indie, of
strong
verbs
:
thou
boundest,
thou
spakest=
ME
bounde,b^nd,spak.
The
rare
Early
MnE
dropping
of -st in
weak
as
well
as
strong
preterites,
as in thou
saw,
thou
maked,
thou had is
probably
ihe resultof Northern influence. But in
T,Goo(^le
I I375-] verbs;
modern ENGUSH.
389
Present
English,
poets
often
instinctively drop
thisharsh and
heavy
inflection, especially
when the verb is
separated
from
its
pronoun:
where thou
mce
formed Ihy paradise(Byton).
Verbs whose
pret.
is the
same as
the
pres.
"
especially
those
in 'St"
frequently drop
the inflectional
si,
or else add itwith
an
intervening
-ed for the sake of distinctness
:
thou caskdsl
or
thou cast.
1S74.
The
following
is the
Early
MnE
conjugaUon
of the
strong
verb
set
and the weak verb call:"
Besides the above inflections there are others which
occur
onlyas
isolated archaisms. The contracted -t='elh has left
a trace in the foim list
'
wishes,'
'
likes,'
as
in Iti Aim do it "mhen
ke
list^QY.
lyst
[lystef}
from the weak verb
lystan.
All three
ME indie,
pluralsare
found in the
Early
MnE
literary language,
the most
frequent
of which " the Midland
-en " survives in the
Shakesperianthey
-waxen in their mirth. The Southern -elk
and the Northern
-es are
much less
frequent.
The infin.
or
gerund
in
-en
survives in
Shakespere: to killtn.
1876.
The
followingexamples
will show the
regular
development
of the differentclassesof
strong
verbs in
literary
MnE.
It will be observed thai the best-
preserved
classes
are the
3rd
and the
6[h,
the others
being
so reduced in the
T,GoogIe
39"
AcciDENCEi
Uijye.
number of their
verbs,
and there
being
so much
diveûce
of
foim,
that
they
retsun
hardly
a trace of their 0"
characteristics :
"
The Late ME
preterites
in
(-uu)=:0"-oh,
such
as drow,
slow,were
in
Early
MnE levelledunder the
more numerous
ew-vtihs of the fall-class
: draw,
drew
; slay,
slew.
T,Goo(^le
f liSfi.] verbs;
present ENGLISH.
39
1
vtrile wrote written
bitt
bit bitten
shine shone shone
The occasional
Early
Mn"
preterites drove,
strove,etc^
are
probably
Northern forms.
VII. Oboose-class.
1283.
Jreete froze froten
eheese chose chcien
Present English.
1288.
In the
present
SpoltenEnglish
the earliersubstitution
aijiousee,you
saw
fortiou
seest,
thou
sawest,
and of he
tees
for
he seelh has been
completely
carried
out,
so
that the older
"st and -Ih survive
only
in
proverbs
and in
phrases
taken from
Ihe
higherliterary language,
where
the older forms
still
eurvive.
Having
tracedthe
English
verb down to its most reduced
MnE
fonn,
itwill
now
be
more
instructiveto
regard
it from
a
purelydescriptive,
unhistorical
point
of view.
1284, If
we
examine the Present
English
verb from this
point
of
view,
the first
thing
that strikes
us
is that the traditional
distinctionbetween
strong
and weak verbs
cat) no
longer
be maintained
:
without
going
back to ME
we cannot
tellwhether such
preterites
as
sal,lit,led,held,
infinitives
tit,
light, lead,hold,arc
strong
or
weak.
lasfi. We
are
therefore
compelled
to make a new division
into oooBOiiaiitiil and Tooalio. Consonantal verbs
are
those which form their
preterites
and
pret.
participles by
adding
d
or
/,
such as called,looted,heard,burnt,
infinitives
call,look,hear,
hurn. Vocalic verbs
are those which form
their
preterites or
pret,
participles by vowel-change
without
the additionof
any
consonant, except
that the
pret.
partic.
of
some
of these verbs adds -en : sing,
sang, sung ;
bind,bound,
Sound;
run, ran,
run
"
drive,drove,driven; speak,spoke,
spoken
; see,
saw,
seen.
Under
the
vocalic verbs
we must also
393
ACCIDENCE.
[J
i"86.
include the inTariabto verbs:
Ut, let,ht\ cast,cast,
casl.
Mixed verbs show
a
miztUTe cX consonantal and vocalic
inflection
:
crow, crew,
crmmd
;
shmv,showed,
shown.
1286. The
great
majority
of verbs
belong
to the
regular consonantal
conjugation,
their
pret.
and
pret.
partic. endingbeing
"
a.
(-id)
after
(t)
and
(d)
:
dcUghled,
nodded.
"
b.
(-d)
afterthe other voice sounds :
played, raised, saved,
turned,
dragged.
c.
(-t)
afterthe other breath consonants : hissed,
pushed,
looked.
1287-
Compared
with these verbs those of the vocalicclass
must be
regardedas
irregular, although
many
of them fall
under
more or
less uniform classes. There
are also
irregular
consonantal
verbs,
such
as
bum, buml, compared
with the
regularturrt,
turned. There isalso
a
small classof
specially
irregular
or
anomalous
verbs,
such
as be,
was,
been,some
of
which^mostly comprising
the old
preterite-present
verbs"
are defective,
such
as
(/}can,
could,
which has
no
infin.
or
participles.
The
irregular
verbs therefore
comprise
all
the vocalic and anomalous verbs
together
with
some
of the
consonantal,
all
regular
verbs
being
consonantal All
newly
formed verbs
are
conjugatedconsonantally,
the consonantal
inflections
being
the
onlyliving or productive ones.
1288. As
regards
the relation of consonantal and vocalic
to weak and
strong,
the
followinggeneral
rules
may
be laid
down: "
a.
Vocalic verbs with
pret.
partic.
in
-en are
Strong.
6. Vocalic verbs not
ending
in /
or
cf in the
pret
are
stroi^.
c.
Vocalic verbs
ending
in / or
rf in the
pret.
may
be
either
strong
or
weak.
d. Invariable verbs
"
which
always
end in / or
d "
are
almost
always
weak.
128B. The
followingare
the inflections of the consonantal
verb calland the vocalic verb
see
in
Spoken English
;
"
T,Goo^lc
VERBS;
IRREGULAR.
Pres. ItuHc.
Sing.
I
k3l
SIJIIJ
1S90. Observe that in the
regularconjugation
the
only
distinctive
'
positive
'
inflections
are
-j,
-d,
-ing,
the
common
form
call
being only
a
negativeinflection;also that the
common
form
represents
the whole of the
prea.
indie and
Eobj.except
the
3rd
pers.
sing.
pres.
indie,
the
imper.,
and
the infin.
(and supine);
while -ed
represents
the
pret
indie,
and
subj.together
with the
pret.
partic. ;
and
even
-ing
has
two distinct
functions,
the
onlyunambiguous
inflection
tieing
the
s,
which
has,however,
the
same
form
as
the two noun-
inflections,
the
gen.
and the
plur.
In
Vulgar English
the inflectional
-s
is extended to all the
other
persons
of the
pres.
indie: I
says, ycu
says,
vie
says,
they
says.
This cannot be the result of Northern
influence,
for in
Northern the
s was not added when the
pronoun
was
prefixed,
the Northern forms
being
I
say
etc. It is
more
probable
that
the
*,
being
the mark of the
pres.,
was
estended for distinctness.
1291. The
subj.
is
very
littleused
even
in the educated form
of
SpokenEnglish,
and in
vulgarspeech
it
disappears entirely.
Irregular
Verba in Modem
EngUah.
1292.
In the
following
sections the
vowel-changes
are
arranged
in the
alphabetic
order of the vowels of the
preterites
in their
phoneticspelling,
to which the
alphabetic
order of the vowels of the infinitive is
subordinated,
thus
(ei
. . ,
e)
as
in
say,
said,
and then
(ij
. . e),as
in
fiee, fled.
precede(is. .
n),
and (his is followed
by (uw
. .
o),
etc.
Fonns that
occur only
in the
higher literary language
are
marked *. Obsolete forms
are
marked t.
Consonantal
Verbs.
Wltb
Vowel-ohMige.
Verbs which lake the
regulai
consonantal inflection
(d,t),
but with
vowel-change
:"
"
Vmoel-ekange(ei
" .
e),
129S.
Bay,
said,
(sei, sed).
In this verb the
vowel-change
in the
pret.
is
ezceptionallr
carried out in the
3rd sing.
pres.
indic-as well^sez)
i"^s.
0" weak I b
siigan,
se^de,sa^d.
In
ME the
^-forms
of this verb
were preserved
in South-
Thames
English;
but in the North-Thames dialects
the^-
forms
J^w/,
^^(A, imper.
s^ge
were
extended to the
original
(^-forms;
i
site,
infin.
sein,seim,
pres,
partic.
seimde. These
became
the Standard ME forais also. The OE
pret.K^de
" Late West-Saxon i"A"
developedregularly
into saidt in
ME,
which
was
also made into seidi
by
Other
parts
of the verb. In
Early
MnE
we
find the shortened
(sed)
" which
was probably
at first
a
weak form "
as
well
as
the
full
(said) ; (sed)
is
probably
an
Early
MnE
shortening
of
(")
=
ME
(ai)
" a
shortening
which also
took place
in
says.
All
the other OE
ly-verbs
show
a
similar extension of the
^-forms
in
ME, so
that the OE infinitives
Itigan, Iiigatt, byigan
appear
in MnE
as
lie
(ME lim),lay(ME leim),buy (ME him),
which
correspondphonetically
to the OE
imperativeslige,lê,byge.
Vowtl-change(ij
. ,
e).
1294.
floe,
fled
(flij, fled).
OE
strong
VII
pm (ffldest
'Eng"shJIio^n),paA, piur.ûgon,
pret
partic._^(^CTi.
There
was
another OE verb of the
same class,some
of whose forms
were
identicalwith forms of
_/?"",namely fllogan
'
fly,' p"^
{Jlea/i),
pret.
plur.Jlugon,
pret.
partic, flogen.
As the two
T,Goo(^le
i 1300.] VERBS;
IRREGULAR.
395
verbs
were
similar in
meaning also,theywere frequenlly confounded
in Late
West-Sason,
the distinctive forms
o^Jteogan
being
used in the
sense
of
'
flee
'
as well
as
in that of
'
fly,'
aoAfleimbeing
used in the
sense
of
'fly.'
This confusion
has lasted to
the
present
day,
in
as
far
as
many
modem
writers
vsefiyconsistently
in the
sense
of
'
ran away.'
FUt
is
now
obsoletein the
spoken language.
In ME the confii-
"on
between the two verbs
was
often avoided
by using
the
weak
vtibêdm=OE^f
dan
{^Sdan)'Qow,'
'be at
lughtide'
(saidof
the
sea)
from OE
_/?"/'
flood 'in the
sense
of 'flee,' its
pret /eddtcoming gradually
to be
regardedas
the
preL
of the
old
alToiig
jJion,ên.
This
developmentwas probablyhelped
by
the Scandinavian weak
verb_â
'
flee,'
^tl.Jiypi.
1205.
creep, crept (krijp, krept).
0"
strong
VII
rrn"/""",
creap,croptn.
In ME
cripen
developeda
weak
pret.crepU
by
the side of the
strongcrcp.
1296.
leap, lept (lijp, lept).
0"
strong
I
hleapan,hliop,
hle(^m.
ME
Ifpm,Up
and
lê.
1297.
sleep, slept (shjp,slept).
0"
strong
I
sldpan,
iUp, sldpm,
there
beii^
also
a
weak
pret.
sldpte.
ME
sllpm,slip
and
skpU.
129S.
Bweep, swept (swijp, swept).
OE
strong
I
sumpan,
sweop, swdpm,
which in ME became
by regularchange
swgpen,swip,swgpen.
There
was a
weak OE verb
swipian,
sweopian, 'beat,'
which in ME became
swepien,swip[i)m,
and was then confused in
meaning
with
swgpen.
The MnE
sweep
seems to
point
to a
blending
of ME
swipen
and the
pret.sTvip.
1299.
weep, wept (wijp,wept).
OE
strong
I
j-veib
wepan
{uiSpan),
weop,tvopm.
ME has
pret wlp
and
wepte.
Vowel-change (is. . ee).
13(iO.
hear,
heard
(hiar,
haad).
OE
weak I
hiiran,
Merde, Anglian
hiran, herde,
whence ME
hiren,
herde with
the usual
shortening.
In
Early
MnE the
(e)
of the
pret.
was
T,Goo(^lc
396
ACCIDENCE. [|
ijoi.
regalarly
broadened to
(a)
befwe the
(r), giving(hiisr, hud).
The
spellii^
heard shows the not
unfrequentlengthening
of
ME
e
berore
(r)-combinations,
which,
of
course, preserved
it
from the
change
into
(a);
(h""rd)
was
then shortened to
(herd),
whence the Present
English(h3"(l).
Vowel-ehange(uw
. . o).
1801.
shoe,
shod
(Juw,|od).
OE
stdian,tiode,gtsiod.
ME
s}"m,
pret.
partic
ishid. The MnE
shortening
is
parallel
to that in rod
compared
with
rood^
botb=OE rod,
shod is
now
used
chiefly as an
adjective,
shoe
beingconjugated
regulatiy
ihoed.
Vowel-ehange (e . .
on).
1802.
seU,
Bold
(sel, sould).
0" weak I b
sitlan, sealde,
Anglian
salde
'give.'
ME
ullen,s"ldt,isgld.
In OE the
meaning
'sell'
was
only occasionally implied
in the
more
general
one
of
'
give,' as in
i{llanwip tvtorpt
'
give
for
a
value
(price)'='sell.'
1308.
teU,
told
(tet, tould).
OE weak I b
////an,
/ealde
Anglian
/aide. ME
Mm, /pide.
With t inetaad of d.
1804.
bum,
burnt. In OE the intransitive'bum'
was
expressedby
the
strong
verb III
ii'erttan.
Late West-Sason
hyman, Anglianbeornan,
pret.
bgrn,ham,
pret.
ptur.burnon,
pret.
partic.gehurtuti
;
the transitive
by
the weak
bmrnan,
bamde. In these two verbs the
r
had been
transposed,
the
Germanic forma
being *hrinnan,"brannjan,
with which
compare
the Scandinavian
strong
brinna,
pret.
brann,
pret.
partic
brumiitm,
and
the weak
brpma, brpidt.
In ME the
originally
transitiveand intransitiveforms
came
to be used indiscriminately
in both
senses,
the weak forms
graduallygetting
the
upper
hand. In Standard ME the Northern "
originally
T,Googlc
I J3II.] VERBS;
IRREGULAR.
397
Scandinavian " fonn
brinntn,brenlt was used both
transitively
and
intransitively,
the
strong
Northern form " also
originally
Scandinavian " brinnen
occurring
less
frequently, generally
in
its
original
intransitive
sense.
The other dialectsshow
a
great
variety
of forms
:
Early
Southern
heomm, ifrntn,
her-
nen.
Early
Midland
b^rnm,iernen,hrtnnen.
Early
Northern
brin
(transitive
as vrellas
intrans.),
bren. The infin.
bumen
seems
to occur
firstin Late Midland
;
the it
is either taken
from the old
pret.
partic.
or
is
more
probably
the result of
lip-cansonant
b
on the
following
ee
of
Anglian
beornan. The
pret.
^ren/ survived for
some
time in
Early
MnE.
1806.
dwell,
dwelt. M"
dwellm,
dwelie from Scandina- vian
dv^lja
'
remain,'not from OE
dw^ltan,
which had the
meaning
'
lead
astray.'
1306.
learn,
learnt.
OEleomian,leom("ie;MElem{t)m,
ienufe,
later lern/e. The
adjective
/M""rf
preserves
the foUer
form of
the
pret.
partic.
1807.
pen, pent.
OE
fiftman,
pfnde
'
impound
'
;
ME
pennen,
ptnde,
fmle.
1808. smell,
amelt. OE
smilUm
'
strike.'
1809.
Hpell,wpelt
OE
speHian,ipeltode
'relate'
\spen
neut.
'
tidings'].
ME
Ûien
'
spell.'
ISIO.
Bpill, Bpilt
OE
spildan,sjiillan,
pret.
tpilde
'destroy.'
1811.
spoil, spoilt.
ME
spoilm,detpoilm
from Old
French
spolier, dtspoilkr [from
Latin
spoUare'strip,' 'plunder']
was
associated with
spilltn
from OE
spilian,
so
that when
spillen
took, the
specialsense
'waste
liquids,'
'spill,' spoiTm
took the old
meaning
of
spillen, namely
'
destroy,'
and formed
a
pret.
spoilie on
the
analogy
of
spillt.spoil
in the
sense
of
'
ûnder
'
ia
regular.
T,GoogIe
398
ACCIDENCE.
\S
'3"-
WlUi t Inataad of d and
Yoval-oluuics.
Vmvei-changt(ij
, . e).
1812.
(be)reftve,
*bereft,
bereaTed. 0"
{pi"êafian,
riafode.
ME
birfvm,hirpide, bireftt, hirafU,
the last
being
the Standard ME fonn.
131S.
oleaTB,
oleft 'divide,'
'adhere.' 0"
strong
VII
cliofan, deaf,elofen
'
divide
'
;
ME
eleven,
dgf,e^vm.
OE
weak III
cUofioH,elifian
'
adhere
'
;
ME
dfvien,c^vtdt.
There was
also
a
strong
verb VI in OE
ehfan
'
adhere,'
ME
cUvm
pret.
pariic.
eliven
'
adhere,'
'
climb.' In ME
c^/l
Northern
daf,originally
pret.
of
diven,
was used also
as
pret.
oi
eleven,
whose
pret.partic. clgven
had in Laie ME the
same
vowel as
cl^.
A
new
weak
pret.
cU/le
was then fonned from
diven. In the EarliestMnE deeve 'divide'
kept(ii)=ME
close
i,
but
was soon
confused
with cleave
(kl/n)
'
adhere '^
Early
ME
elevien.
Late ME
ctp)ien, so
that
it was
written
with
ea.
The MnE
pret.
dove
may
be
regarded
either
as
the descendant of the OE
pret.
daf
or as
the ME
pret.
c^f
(from
OE
deaf)
levelled under the
pret.
partic. eleven.
The other MnE
pret.
dave isof
course
the Northern form of
OE
d3f.
The
following are
the forms of the two verbs in
MnE:"
deceoe
'
divide
'
; dove,felave,deft;doven,
deft,
icleaved.
eleave
'
adhere
'
;
fdape,
cleaved
;
cleaved.
The latteris
now obsolete in the
spoken language;
and the other cleaveisnot much used
except
in some
special
technical
expressions,
cloven survives
onlyas an adjective,
as
in cloven
foot.
1814.
deal,
dfliat
(dijl, delt).
OE
ddkm,
dalde.
1816-
dream, dreamt,
dreamed
(drijm,
dremt,
drijmd).
OE
drieman,Anglian
driman
'
modulate
'
[dream
'
melody,'
'
joy"],
The ME
drfinen,dremde,
drem{p)lt got
the
meaning
'
dream
'
from the Scandinavian
drSyma
'
dream
'
[Scandina-
T,Googlc
f 13JJ.] VERBS;
IRREGULAR.
399
vian
noun drgumr
'
dream
'].
In
Early
MnE the verb was
levelledunder the
noun drtam,
the
ME
pret.being
however
kept
in
spelling"
rfrwn/"
as
well
as
pronunciation by
the side
of the
new
pret.
dreatntd. The
spelling
drtami
is,
of
course,
a
blending
oidrtmisnA dreamed.
1816.
ftel,
felt.
OY./elan{falari)/eldt.
1317.
lean, leant,
leaned
(lijn, lent,lijnd).
OE hUonicm
{hlinian), Aleonode;
ME
Î'm {h'men), Iftude.
The
pret
kanl
comes
from another OE verb
meaning
'
to lean,'
namely
hlanan,Mande;
ME
Ifnen^
knde.
Unit.
1318.
kneel,
knelt. ME
knelen,kiulde,
knelu of Scandi- navian
origin,
1819.
leave,
left. OE
la/an,la/de.
ME
^m, k/k,
lafte.
1320.
moon,
meant
(mijn,mcnt).
OE
mdnan,
jndnde
'
mean,'
'
complain,'
ME
mpten,
vunde,
mente.
Vowel-change(ai. . o).
1321.
buy,
bcnvlit (bai,bst).
OE
fyigan,
iokfe. ME
hiiggen,
biggen,
hUm,
Mm
(1293),pret.
bohte,
bouhte.
Vowel-change(uw . . o).
1923,
lose,
lost. OE
strong
VII
forliosan,/orleas,
forhrtn
'
destroy,'
'
lose,'
weak III losi'an
'
go
to
waste,'
'
get
lost.' ME
Usen,forleten
'
lose,'
Ifi,/brl^s,loren,ferloren.
The
dropping
of 'Cat
for-
is due to the influence of hsien=
0"
loiian,
whose
transitive
use,
as
in ^/ losede al kit
folc
'
he
lost
all his
people(army)
'
is due to the influence
ofjbrlesen.
Hence the
pret.
partic.
I'losed,
later
los/,
came to be used as
the
pret.
partic.
of
Usen,
when the old
pret,
participles
loren,
forlorenhad
come to be isolatedfrom theirverbs
in
meaning
"
MnE "lorn
in
love-lorn, tlc.,/orlorn,
which are now
used
only
as adjectives.
In
Early
MnE lese took
(on)
from the
adjective
lodseand verb loosen
[ME/Jj,
losnen from Scandinavian
T,GoogIe
40O
ACCIDENCE.
E| 1313.
Iguts
'
fnt,'
"
loose,'
Iputtia
'
get
loose
"],being
at first
writlen
lc"K,
then
leie,
to
diatinguish
it from the
adjective
hose.
With t Instead of -dad.
1823.
gird, girt, girded.
0'S.gyrdaH,gyrde.
1831.
build,
buUt, tbuilded.
0"
byldm, byUe.
1820.
gild, gUt,
gildsd.
OZ
gytdm,
gylde.
ISae.
bend, bent,
tbended.
OH
hptdan 'bind,''bend'
[hindan, preL
band 'bind
'J.
The
pret.
bendtd is
now
used
only
as an adjective
in bended knee.
1327. blend, tblent,
blended. OE
strong
I
blandan
*
mix.' Weak
OE
bipidan
has
only
the
meaning
'
blind.'
1826.
lend,
lent. OE
lanan,
lande. ME
Iptdm,
Unden
is
a
new-fonnation from the OE
preterite -fonns,
posfflUy
with
influence of senden
'send';
from lenden
2. new
pret
Uttde,
lenie
was
fonned
on
the
analt^
of
sinden,
sente,
etc.
1329.
rend,
rent. OE
r{ndan {hrpidan), rpide.
1830. Mud,
sent
OE
sptdan, sgnde.
133L tshend, tsbent.
OE
stptdan,
sifnde
'pot
to
shame
'
[tianddisgrace].
1832.
spend, ênt.
OE
spptdan, spgnde
from
Latin
txptndere.
1S3S.
*wend,
vent. OE
wgndan
'turn'
tmns.
{windan
strong
III 'turn'
inirans.]
The
pret.
went is
now
used
only
as
the
pret.
of
^
0
(1468).
With Oonoonant-lou.
1884.
make,
made. 0"
manan,
maeede. ME
maii'en,
maiede, imaked,Late
M"
mdh'en,
contracted
mSde,
{i)niSd.
With Conionant-loM and
Towel-ohange.
Vowel-change
(ou
. .
SB).
1836. Clothe, ol"d,
clothed. OE
eldj"im,tlaôdt
\c^
'cloth'].
Scandinavian
klapa, kl"pdi,
whence ME
t^Sm,
tlttide
Northern
cUdde, as
well
as c^Mi^, ci"ptdi;
" 1339-1
VERBS;
IRREGULAR,
401
Vffuxl-change (se
, " o),
ISSd.
oatob; oaoglit.
ME
ecKchm, caughlt
from Old
French (aehur
[Low
Ladn
capliare
= Latia
caplare,
a
trequentative
"rf
eaj"ert
'
seize
'].
cockier is
probablya
Notth-
East French
(Picard)
form
;
tbe Parisian fonn
being
chacier
(Modem French
chatstr),
whence the MnE
chace,
chase, ME
cacchm
having
the
same meaning
and tbe
same
termination
as lacchen,laughtt
from 0"
Idiian,
geldktt
'
seize,'
'
catch
'
[compare
MnE
lakh], naturally
formed its
preterite
in tbe
same
way.
1387. diatraot
; -tdistraught,
diBtraoted. 0"
striitan
'stretch,'
prct
sireahle, ilrfhte,
appears
in ME in the form of
streccken, siraughte, itreighie,
the
pret.
partic.ilre^kt being
still
kept
in Mn"
as an adjective
"
straightliterally
'
stretched
out' In Late ME the Latin distractus
was imported as an adj.
distract
(Frenchdistrait),
which
was
made into
distraught by
the influence of
straughl.
When distract
was
made into a
verb
in
EarlyMn", distraughtwas naturally regarded
as
its
participle. Through
further confusion
itraught
itself
was
used in the
sense
of
'
distracted,'
and
a new
partic. -^bestraught
was
formed
on the
analogy
of ieset.
Vowel-change (93
. . 0).
1938.
wotlt;
'wrought, worked
{v/âk,rat).
0"
wyrian,
Anglian wircan,
the
correspondingnoun being
weore.
Late West-Saxon
wore,
Anglian
were,
which in
ME
influenced the verb. The ME forms
are :
Southern
aiUrehm,
wSrchen with the usual
change
of wU- to
wu~,
Midland
werken.
Northern wirk. The 0"
pret.
worUe underwent the usual
r-transposition
in ME,
becoming wrohte,
MnE
wrot^hl,
which in
ordinaryspeech
survives
onlyas an adjective, as
in
wrought
iron.
Vowel-change (i. "
o).
"1339.
bring; brought (briij, brat).
OE
briugan,
brohie.
403 ACCIDENCE. [f1340.
1340. think
; thought.
In 0" there
were two weak la
verbs of allied fonn and
meaning
:
J"piian,
ôhte
'
think
'
;
fytUan,ptihte
'
seem,'
which
was
impersonal,
me
Pytiip
'
it
seems to me
'
having
much the
same
meaning
as li?
fyttie.
In ME
fiptian
became
regularly penchtn
in South-Thames
English, ^ni^M
in North- Thames
English
;
andy^ni'iin
became
^nchm, pinchen
in South-Thames
English, pinken
in North-
Thames
English.
The
pret,
Puhlewas soon disused, pfAj*)hU
tidting
its
place
:
he
pohte
'
he
thought,'
Mm
l"ohte
'
it seemed
to
him.' In Standard ME the two verbs
were
still
kept
apart
in the infin.and
present
tenses,
which had the Midland
forms
penken,t Penke
;
pinken,
mi
Pinhtp,
etc.
;
but in the
compound Hpinken 'consider'=:0"
beppUan,
the latterhad
alreadybegun
to encroach. In Northern
pink completely
supplantedpenk,as
in MnE. Hence MnE think is histor-
ically=OE/jîiM,
and its
pret
ihet^hi=0'E. pohte,
the
pret
of the lost
ppUan,
Vaaxl-change (ij. . 0).
ia4L
leek; sought; beseeoh; besought.
0"
seian
{sîan),
sohfe. ME South- Thames
sichen,bisichtn,
North-
Thames
seken,
bisiken. The MnE seek and beseech
are
therefore
from different dialects of ME.
Shakespere
has the
Midland form not
only
in
seek,
but also in beseek.
1342.
reach; -trsnght,
reaohed. OE rdian,
rdhte.
ME
rfchen, ra{u)ghU,
Northern
reghie.
1843.
teach; tai^t.
OE
l"ian,
idhte .'shov: ME
^hen,/a(u)gh/e,
which
gradually supplanted l^ren
'
teach '=
OE Idran.
Invariable Verbs.
("")"
1844. oast.
ME cai/en from Scandinavian weak
kas/a,
kastapi.
In
Early
MnE there isalso
a regulai
pret.
casUd.
T,Goo(^lc
I '3SJ.] VERBS;
IRREGULAR.
403
(ai).
1340. *dight
'
adorn
'
as
in sloried window
richlydight
(Milton).0" dihlan
'arrange,''appoint'
from the Latin
dicldrt.
1846. out.
ME kullm.
1347. Blint. OE
siylian
'lock,'
'bolt'
{gaeol
'shot,'
'dart';
tiiolan
strong
VII
'shoot'].
ME
sehUilen,
schtdtm.
1348. thruBt ME
prOsIm,prusUn
from Scandinavian
prysfa,
1S40. let OE
strong
I
Idtan,lit,
Idten. ME
leUn,
pret.
strong
lit,
and weak Ufte from 'leltc.In MnE the short vowel
of this weak
pret
was extended to the
infin.,
etc. The
obsolete
verb kl
'
hinder,'still
preserved
in the
phrase
kt
or
hindrance,
is the OE weak
////on, Ittte,
connected with lat
'
Blow,'
laltadv.
'
late.'
I860, set.
OE
sittan,sitli,
connected with the
strong
verb V
sitlan,
pret.
sat.
I8S1. shed. OE
strong
I
siadan,stiadan,
slid
'
separate,'
a
meaning
still
preserved
in the
noun
watershed. ME
schfden
fonned a
weak
pret.
schadde,schedde,
and
developed
the
new meaning 'separate
into
drops,'
'shed.' In MnE
the short vowel of the
pret.
was
extended to the
pres.,etc.,
as
in kl.
1888. Bbred. OE
siriadian,
striadode. ME-
schrêrt,
schredde,
the short vowel
being
afterwards extended
to
the
pres.,
etc.
1863.
spread.
OE
sprddan, spradde.
ME
spridtn,
spradde,spredde,
the short vowel of the
pret.
being
afterwards
extended to the other
parts
of the verb.
404
ACCIDENCE.
tS"a54.
(W).
1864. borat 0"
strong
III
berslan,hartl. Bun/on,
"eiorttm.
In this verb the
r
is
transposed,having
its
originalposition
in the Scandinavian forms
brtsia,brasi,
brtulum,
brcntitttt.The Scandinavian verb influenced the
ME forms : heorsim,bursim, breslen,
brusten
; pret.
barsl,
bras/;
pret.
parlic.borsten,bursien,brotten,bruslen. The
Standard ME forms are brulm,
brast,
broskn.
The
tt
of
the infin.burs/m is the result of the influence of the
Up-
consonant b
on
the earlier
m,
as
in bum
(1304),
the
u
being
afterwards extended to the
pret.
partic.
The
Strong pret
paitic.
burslm survived in
Early
MnE.
1366. hurt.
ME
AOr/en,
hurUn.
(i)-
1356. hit. ME kUlen from Scandinavian hitia
'
find'
1887.
knit. OE
cnyHan
'tie'
[ciw/ia'knot'].
The
invariablepret-form
is
now preservedonlyas an adjective
in well-knil,
etc. Otherwise the
pret.-form
is
regular
"
knilled.
1868.
quit.
ME
quUen pret
guUlt
from Old French
quHer
from Latin
qviilus.
In MnE the shortened vowel of
[he
pret.
was extended to the rest of the verb. The derivative
requite keeps
its
originallength,havinga
pret.panic
reqttil
in
Early
MnE.
acguU
is invariable
in
Early
MuE
All these verbs are now
regular.
1869.
rid.
ME
redden,rUddtn,
ridden
'
rescue,'
'
separate
fighters'
is
apparently
a blending
of OE
hrjddan
'rescue'
and
ScandinavianryPJa
pret.
rudda
'
clear
away,'
1380.
Slit. OE
Strong
VI
sliiatt, slat,
sliten. ME has
both
strong
sliten, pret partic
sliten,
and a
weak verb ititten,
which
may
have existed in OE.
1861. eplit
ME
splatlen,
of which
Early
MnE
splette
is
probably
a
Northern form,
spletseems
to have been made
into
splitby
the influenceof slit.
T,Googlc
ii3fi8.] VERBS;
IRREGULAR
(VOCALlC) 405
(O).
1862. oort.
ME tKlm from Old French coiUr
(Modem
French
co"ter)
fro'm Laiin cdnslSrt,
1863.
put.
WE.
pulltn.
Vocalic
Vxrbs.
Vowtl-ckange (ai. , an),
1864. bind;
bound.
OE
strong
III
bindan,hand,
bundm.
The older
pret.partic.
iastill
preserved
in boundm
duly.
1865.
find;
found. OE
strong
III
findan,/and
"
more
generally vtakfunde^ûnden.
ME
pret_/(6ii/,_/i"""aS?.
1866.
grind; groond.
OE
strong
111
grtndan,grand,
grunden.
1867. wind;
wound. OE
strong
III vnndan,
wana,
wundm. The verb wind in to wind
a
horn
was
formed
directfrom the
noun
wind,
and
was
conjugated
weak "
pret.
winded " in
Early
MnE. The
noun
wind had the
same
sound as
the verb wind in
Early
MnE "
(wsind);
so
that
vhen the
noun came to be
pronounced (wind),
as
it is in
Present
English,
the verb iMnt/
'blow,'
which
kept
the older
pronunciation,was
isolated from the
noun
wind and
associated
with the old
strong
verb
wind,
and took a
strongpre- terite-form
wound" he wound lie horn.
Vowel-change (ai. . b),
1868.
strike
;
Btruok. OE
strong
VI
s/rffan, time,
sirtcen
'
move about,'
'
touch
lightly.'
ME
striken, sirgk
(Northern
itrSk),
striken.
Early
MnE
strike,
pret.
stroke, stroke,struck,
pret partic.
stricken, sirttcken,
struck.
T,GoogIe
40fi
ACCIDENCE.
[(1369.
Vmml-changt("
. .
").
IS60.
hang; hung, hanged.
OE
strong
I hon
(rrom
eariier
'Asian),hing,hangtn,
the
g
being a weakening
of
the k of the
infin.,
where o=Gennanic
an
(1206),
so
that
kon=Gtira"xac *hanhan. There
was
also a weak intransitive
kangian,hangode,
hon itself
being,
used
transitively.
In
Early
ME the consonantal variation in the
strong
verb
was soon
levelled
:
sometimes the infinitiveform
was
extended to the
pret.
partic.
which was made into
{a)hdn ;
but afterwards the
ng-forms
got
the
upper
hand,
beingsupportedby
the weak
verb
hangim,
and
a new
strong
infin.
hangen was formed,
pret,
ieng,
pret.
partic, kangm.
In
some
dialects the
pret.
was
shortened to
fieng
with short close
(e),
which
being
an
Unfamiliar sound in ME
was made into i. T\As
new
pret.
hing,
which is
frequent
in
some Midland
dialects, was made
into
an
infin.in Northern
by
the
analogy
of the
bind-class,
with
pret.
hang,
which afterwards made its
way
into the
Standard dialectin the form of
hpng parallel
to
sgng
'
sang.'
A
pret.
partic.
hung was
further
developedon
the
analogy
of
sing,
sang, sung,
and
hung was
then extended to the
pret.
sing,
in the
same
way
as
clung,
etc.
(1269),
the older infin.
hang beingpreserved
in the Standard dialect In MnE the
Strong
form
hung
is both transitiveand
intransitive,
hanged
being
used
onlytransitively,
contrary
to the OE
usage.
Vowel-change (i. . 9).
1970. dig ; dog,
tdigged.
ME
diggen,diggtdt, equivalent
to OE dician
\dtc'ditch'],
of which it
seems to be
a
modification
by some analogical
influence. The vocalic
pret.
dug developed
itselftowards the end of the
Early
MnE
period;
itisnot found in the Bible.
1871.
oling; olnng,
OE
strong
III
clingan,
clang,
clungen
'wither,' ME
elmgen, clgng,clungen'shrivel,'
'
adhere,'
'
hang,*
Si38a.] VERBS;
IRREGULAR
{VOCALIC). 407
1872.
fling
; flung.
ME
strong
III
fimgen
from weak
Scandinavian
flingja[compare
ME
wing
from Scandinavian
vpigr\.fiirtgmwas,
of
course,
made
strong
on the
analogy
of
tting
and the other
strong
verbs in
"ing.
1373.
sling; slung.
M"
strong
III
sh'ngtn
from
Scandinavian
sloitgva,
which
passed through siengm
into
dingen,
and then became
strong
in the
same
way
as
fiing.
The
pret.
slang
occurs
in the Bible,
1S74.
slink;
slunk. OE
strong
III slincan.
1876.
spin
; spun.
OE
strong
111
spinnan.
The
pret.
span
is now obsolete.
1376.
atiok; stuok,
tstlcked
'pierce,'
'adhere.' OE
siician
{^Kocian),
sticode
'pierce,'
'adhere.'
ME
strong
V
sleken,stak,
s/eiett and s/oien
[likespoken
= 0'E
spectfi]
'
pierce,'
'
imprison,'
which
may represent
an
OE
strong
verb, t/uei
may
owe
its
" to the influence of
s/ung.
1877.
sting
; stung.
OE
strong
III
stingan.
1878.
string
;
strung, Btringed.
This verb is
a
MnE
formation from the ME
noun string
from Scandinavian
sirgngr,
with the usual
change
of Scandinavian
-pig
into
-ing.
We
keep
the older consonantal inflexion in
stringed
instruments.
1S78.
swing ; swung.
OE
strong
III
swingan.
1380. win
;
won. OE
Strong
HI winnan
'
make
war,'
geminnan
'
conquer,'
'
gain.'
1381.
wring ; wrung.
OE
strong
III
varingan.
Vowel-change(3. .
e
. . t).
1382. run
;
ran
;
run. OE
strong
III
iman, ieman
{eornan),
Late
We st-Saxon
_f/r
nun,
pret.grn, am, pret.partic
urnen,
with the
same
transposition
of the
r as
in
bum,
the older
forms
being preserved
in
gerinnan 'coagulate,'
literally
'run
together,'
gerann, gerunnen.
The ME verb
was influenced
by
the two Scandinavian
verbs,
the
strong
rinna,
rann,
runm'nn
and the weak
r^nna,
r/ndi,
the Standard ME forms
T,GoogIe
4o8
ACCIDENCE.
[%1383.
being
indeed
entirely
Scandinavian
:
rtntitn, ran,
ininnen.
The
Early
Southern forms of the inGn.
are t'rtun,
eomett,
urnen
probnbIy=tfr"m
from Late
West-Sazpn
_)twi".
The
infin.
run
appears
in Northern
by
the side of the Scandi- navian
rin. As there is no reason why
the
regularrin,
ran,
rvK should have been disturbed
by
the extension of the
pret
pardc.
form to the
infin., etc.
gainst
the
analogy
of
win,
etc.,
itseems most
probable
that the
"
of the infin.
was
originally
a
Southern
development
out of
eraen, perhaps'by
the influ*
ence
of hum.
Vowel-change {i. . SB).
1383.
sit;
sat. OE
strong
V
j-verbsiilan,tat,
teten.
ME
silien,
sat,
selen and also siien with the vowel of the
infin. From the ME
partic.
silen is derived the obsolete
MnE
pret.
and
pret.
panic,sil,
which made the verb invariable.
The obsolete MnE
pret.
sale is due to the
analogy
of
came, spake,etc.,
the short sat
being kept
up
at the same time
by
the short vowel of the Infin.sil.
1384.
spit; spat.
There were in OE two weak verbs of
the same
meaning spiltan, spille
and
spdlan,spdlte,
both of
which were
kept
in
ME,
where the
pret.
sp"tle
became
regu*
larlyspatle.
The MnE
spH,
spat
is,therefore, a mixture of
two
distinctverbs.
Vmxl-change^ . .
SB
. . v).
1886.
begin; began; begrm.
OE
strong
YWheginnan,
onginnan,
later
aginnan.
The MnE shortened
'gin
appears
early
in ME
;
the coexistence of risen and arisen
no
doubt
led to the
shortening ofaginnen
into
ginnen.
1386.
drink; drank;
dnmk. OE
strong
III ^rinc-off.
The OE
pret.
partic.
rfr""(l"i,
ME drSnken survives in the adjective
drunken,
the shortened form drunk
being
also used
as
an
adjective.
In MnE the use of
drank
as a
partic.
" as
also
of
began,
etc."
was formerly
more frequent
;
but the
panic.
T,Goo(^le
i 1394.] VERBS!
IRREGULAR
{VOCALIC).
409
drank is still
frequently
used,apparently
in order to avoid the
form
drunk,
which
suggests
drunken,
1887.
Ting; rang; rung.
OE
{fi)ringan
is
apparently
weak.
1388.
shrinlc;shnmk;
shronk. OE
strong
III sirii^
1389.
sing;
sang; song.
OE
strong
III
fd^^wi.
1890. sink
;
sank
;
Bonk. OE
strong
III sincan. The
full
pret.
partic.
is still
preserved
as an adjective,
as in tunien
rock.
1891.
spring;
sprang; sprang.
OE
strong
III
f/ri"îtff.
1S83.
stink; stank;
stunk. OE
strong
III slincan
'rise'
(said
of
dust,
vapour,
etc.),
'
have a
good
or
bad
odour,'
as in wel'Slincmie
'
fragrant.'
1398.
swim;
swam;
swum.
OE
strong
ill swimmaa.
Vowtl-change ^ . .
is
. . i-n).
1894.
(for)bld;-bad;
-bidden. OE
strong
V
j-verb
iiddan,had.
Men
'
pray,'
'
ask
'
; strong
VII
biodan,Had,
Men
'
offer,'
"
command.' The
corresponding
ME forms
are itdden,had, hfden
and"
by
the
analogy
of the infin."
hidden
;
hiden,b"d,hên.
But
aheady
in
Early
ME the two
verbs
began
to be confused, hidden in the
specialsense of
'
ask
to one's house,'
'
invite
'
soon
got
confused with
heden,
which
developed
the
meaning
'
offer an invitation,'
the
con-
ftision
being
aided
by
the weak verb
bgd{t)en=0'S.
hodian
'
announce
'
" itself connected with heodan. Hence
even in
Early
ME
we
find ihodenused in the
sense
of 'invited,' It
was
still
more
natural to soften down the command
expressedby
heden
by
the substitution of the milder hidden. The
pret.
had
Boon supplantedhjd by taking
to
itself the
meaning
'commanded,'
except
in the
emphaticforheden,
which in
Standard ME
only rarely
has the
pret.
forbad
instead of
forh"d.
The
following
are the Standard ME forma"
T,GoO(^lc
4IO
ACCIDENCE.
\S
1395.
Uddtn, biden; bad; h(den,hgdtn.
/orbiJen ; /orbfd(forbad) ; ferh"dm.
In thetian"don to Mn" the Jii/-fonns
were
gradually
extended
till
theyeotirely supplanted
the others. The relationbetween
the two forms had and badt is the same as that between sat
and saU
(1266).
In
Early
MnE the
pret.
partic.was
oflen
shortened to hid,
which was used also as a
pret.,
so
that the
verb became invariable. The
umple
bid is now obsolete In
the
spokenlangu^^,
its
placebeing
taken
by
kU.
Vawtl-changt fij. . e).
1890.
bleed;
bled. OE weak hUdan
{b!adan),
bUdie.
[i/"/' blood'].
1896. breed
;
bred. 0" weak hridan
(brSdan),
bridde.
[brad
'
brood
'].
1897.
feed;
fed. OE
vieak/idan (/adan),yedde. Ifoda
'food'].
1898.
lead;
led. OE weak
ladan,
ISdde.
1899.
meet;
met. OE weak mnbn
{m"lan)
mllte.
\gemdt
'
meeting'].
1400. read
;
read
(rijd
;
red).
OE weak
rddan,
rdddt.
1401.
Bpeed ; sped.
OE weak
îdan {spadan), spidde.
Many
verbs
analogous
to the above now follow the
regular
conjugation,
such
Asgreel,
seem^QY.
grltan,grltie,
etc.
Vowtl-ehange ^j. .
e
. . ij-n).
1403. eat
;
ate
;
eaten. OE
strong
V,
with
exceidional
(Germanic) lengthening
in the
pret.
sing., ttan,dt,
pret.plur.
dUm,
pret.
partic
ekn. ME
itm, if,at,{len,
the
pret
at
being
of course due to the influence of the other verbs of
the
same
class.
Vowtl-change (ou. .
e).
1408. hold
;
held, OE
strong
1
healdatt,
kdldan
;
klold;
T,Goo(^le
i 1408.] VERBS;
[flRECULAR
(VOCAUC). 4II
gthealdm,gehSlden
ME
hgldm; held,held,Mid; ihplden.
We
still
preserve
the fullerfonn of the
pret.panic,
in bihelden.
Vowil-ehangi {0. .
e
. . D-n).
1404.
fUl; fell;
follen.
0"
strong
\
fiallart, /allan
;
fioll;/tallm, fallen. lAE/alUn; /el,/el,jil; failen.
Vmoel-change(ai. .
di
. .
ei-n).
1406.
lie
;
U7
;
lain. OE
strong
V
j-verbHigan,lag,
geUgen,imper.
sing,ligt,
etc.
The M"
development
of ihis
verb is
analogous
to that of the other
cg-verbs(1393).
In
Early
Southern the infin.
liggm was
preserved by
the side of
(he
imper.Ue;
but in the North-Thames dialects it was
levelledunder the
g-forms, becoming Rn,
Gen. The Standard
ME forms
are Um, lai,
pret.
partic.leien,
lein. In
vulgar
MnE the
preterite-forms
have led to the
completelevelling
of this verb under the transitive
lay;
and this
change
is
making
its
way
into educated
speech.
Vowel-change (c
.
.
ei
. . b),
1406.
come; came;
come.
0"
strong
IV,
with
anomalous
weak vowel in the
pres.
and infin. and
exceptional
extension of the vowel of the
pret.
plur.
to the
pret.
sing,:
cuman; ewom,c5m; c{w)omon\
cumtn.
The
pret,
com was
preserved
in Standard
ME,
but was
partially supplantedby
the
new
formation
cam on
the
analogy
of the
strong
verb IV
nimen
'
take,'
nam,
nSmen.
cam
underwent the
usual
lengthening
into
came
in MnE.
Vowel-change (i. .
ei
. . i-n).
1407.
give
; gave ;
given.
OE
gie/an,gyfan,gefan,
gtofan
; geaf,gaf; gic/en, gy/en, gcfm.
Vmuel-change (ai. . i).
1408.
light; Ut,
Ughted.
OE weak
lihlan,
lihk
'
illuminate
'
and
'
make
light,'
'
alleviate
'
\leoUadj.
'
light
of
412
ACCIDENCE.
t|
1409.
colour'and
'
light
of
weight'\
There
was "
thirdOE weak
verb
liktan,
alihian
'
alight
from a horse.' The MnE
verb
lighl
in
l^ht m must be referred to this last. The
consonantal
preterite-form
A'/ does
not,
of
course,
appear
till
ligJii
had become
(bit),
that
is,
in the MnE
period,
when it
arose
from imitation of
6i",
bil,etc. The
verb
alighi
stilt
keeps
the older consonantal
infiexion,
which is also used in the
.
other verbs.
Vowel-ehangt (fu. .
i
. . i-n),
1409.
Wte; bit;
bitten. OE
strong
VI SUan. The
shortened
pret.
partic.
is still
kept
m the
phrase
tkt biler bit.
1410.
oliide; ohid;
obidden. OE weak
iidan,
HJde.
ME
ehldm,
chiide. In
Early
MnE the verb
was
made
sb^ng
"
chide,
chodt,chidden
"
on
the
analogy
of
ride,rode,
ridden.
The
pret.
partic. was
then shortened to
chid,
and extended to
the
pret
The verb is
nearly
obsolete in the
present
spoken
English.
1411.
bide, bid,
bidden is
a
strong
verb of^milar recent
formation,
except
that it does not seem to have
developed
any pret.
analtûs
to
Early
MnE chode
:
0"
ipdan,hydde,
ME
hiden,
hidde.
Vowel-change(i j
, .
ij
. . ij-n).
1413.
beat; beat;
beaten. OE
strong
I
Ha/an, heol,
ilaien.
Vowel-change (tu. . o).
1413. sbine
;
shone.
OE
strong
VI
sSnan, silht,
simen.
Vowel-change (e. .
o
. ,
o-n).
1414.
(for)get;fin-got; forgotten, got
In OE the
strong
V verb
gitlan,gy/an,getan; geat,gal; gietm,
gyien,
geten
occurs only
in the
compounds begittan'get,'
ongielan
'andeiht"ad,'
/orgie/an
'forget'
and
a
few others. In ME
T,GoogIe
t
I4JO.] VERBS;
IRREGULAR
{VOCALIC.)
413
bîUn,begtten
was shortened to
giUn,
gtlm
through
the influence
of the Scandinavian
geta,gat,gtiinn
'
get,' or
rather
the Scandinavian word
was substitutedfor it.
141S.
tread; trod;
trodden. OE
strong
V.
Iredan,
trad,trtdm,
ME
trfden,trad,
trfden
and "
by
the
analogy
of
broken,etc."
Irgden,
treden.
Vmml-change(ij. .
o
. . o-n).
lUfl. seethe
; tsod,
aeethed
; sodden, tsod,
seethed.
OE
strong
VII
ieoJ"an, siap,
soden. sodden is
now
used
as an
adjective,
which has been made into
a
verb with
a
pret.
paitic.
saddened,
which is
extensively
used insteadat soddtn.
Vowel-change (uw . . o).
1417'
Bhoot;
shot.
OE
strong
VII
stiolan,s(eat,
stolen.
Standard ME
schelen, schjl,
schoten. There is also
an infin.
schuten in ME,
whose
u
probably
=tf from OE
io,
as in choost
(1487),
which afterwards became
(uu)
and
was
written
00
in
Early
MnK
Vowel-change (ai. . ou).
1418.
olimb; tolomb,
climbed. OE
strong
III clin^
man,
clamm,
clummen and also climhan,clamh, clumhen,
although
the latteris found
only
in late texts. ME
cUntmen,
clam,
clSmmen and
climien,cigmb(clami),
clgmSen,
Vowel-change(ai
. .
oa
. . i-n).
1410.
(a)bide;
fbode, tbid, bided; tbiden, -f-bid,
bided. OE
strong
VI bidan
'wait,'
dbidan 'endure.' ME
(a)biden, Igd,biden,
there
being
also
a
weak
pret.
abtdde,
1420.
drive; drove, tdreve;
driven. OE
strong
VI
drtfan.
Like
the other verbs of thisseries drive had in MnE
a curtailed
pret.
partic. (driv),
which was
extended to the
pret.
It
was
not much used in
writingbecause,being necessarily
written
drm,
it
was
liableto be
confounded with the
pres.
T,GoogIe
414
ACCIDENCE,
(i
14)1.
USL lids
;
rod", tiid;
xUdm,
tiid. OE
strong
VI
ridait.
1432.
(s)riae;nwe;
ziMO. OE
Etrong
VI
{al^nsoM.
The
MnE
pretcrite-Ibnn (ris)was not
mnch used in
writiiig
beoune there
was no
convenient
wa;
trf
ezpFCSsiDg
its
sonad.
USS.
afariTe; tahrove,
"bn'rod
;
ahriTen. 0"
strong
VI
tMfan
'
decree.'
1434.
cmite; amote;
""'*ti"
0"
strong
VI
tmiian
'smear.'
1436.
atride; atjwde; tatridden,
atrode. OE ttridan.
1426. attire
;
atzors
;
atriTsn.
ME
strong
VI
sirivat,
ilr^f,
ttriven,
which is the Old French atriver
[from
Old
Low-Gennan
stri^
'
strife
']
made into
a
strong
verb
on
the
analog}'
of driveM.
1437. thriTB
;
fhrore
;
thriven. ME
driven
from the
Scandinavian
strong
reflexive
vahprâsk.
1438.
write; wrote,
twiit
;
written, fwrit.
OE
strcm^
VI
uir"an.
Voaxl-change(ei. .
on).
1430. wake
;
woke,
waked. 0"
strong
II
luacaft,wdc,
waem, generally compounded
with
on-
"onwaean,
awacan.
{on)wacan
and the weak
a{wacnian),
wacian
'
keep
awake
'
are
intransitive. The
corresponding
transitive verb is
ivfiian,
wtahtt, Wihie.
ME has
{a)waken,
wok,
waken and
wakim, wakede; wakawHy wak{e)nedt.
The
(ou)
instead of
(uw)
in the MnE vnke is
probably
due to the influence of the
numerous preterites
of the shine-class"
rose,
etc.
1480. atave
; Btore,
staved.
This verb
was
firstformed
in MnE from the
noun slave
'
piece
of
a cask,'
itself
a late
formation from
stases,plur.
of
staff.
Its vocalic
inflexion is
of
course
the result of
analogy.
Vowel-change(ei. .
OU
. .
ou-n).
1481.
break; broke, tbrate; Invken,
tbrtdce. OE
etrong
IV
brecan,
brae,
brocen.
n,r,i,7P"iT,Got)'^le
{
1439.] VEUSS;
IRREGULAR
(VOCALIC). 415
Virwel-change (ij. .
oa
. . ou-n).
1432.
freese; frose; fi-onn,
tfrore OE
strong
VII
/rlosan,/rias,/rorm.
148S.
heave; hove, heaved; thoren, hove,
heaved.
OE
strong
]-verb
II
kibban,hdf,hafm.
ME
kehbin,hpm ;
k^, haf; kgven,hfum,
the last form
being
due
to
the influence
of the
infin.,
while
fiaf, hgvenare
due to the influence
of
vfvm, waf,wên (1436).
There
was
also
a
weak M"
pret. ke/de,
hemii. The Mn" hevt
probabl}'points
to a
ME
pret,h^
with the vowel of the
pret partic.
1484.
speak; spoke, tapake; spoken, tapoke.
OK
strong
V
sprecan,sprac,sprecm.
In Late OE thisverb
began
to
drop
its
r "
especially
in the Kentish dialect. In ME the
r disappearedentirely,
and the
preL
partic.
took
0 on
the
analogy
of
broien,etc. :
spoken, spai,tpfien, spgkm.
1436.
steal; stole;
stolen. OE
s,\ion%lMsUlan,}tal,
stolen.
1436.
weave; wove, weaved; woven,
weaved. OE
strong
V
we/an,wctf,wtfm.
ME
nifven,
waf,ttên,wgven.
Vowel-change (uw , .
on
. .
ou-n).
1487.
ohoose;
obose;
chosen. OE
strong
VII
ieosan,
teas,
eoren.
ME
ekesen, ckfs,
chosen. There
was also a
West-
Midland infin.chSien with the
regular
West-Midland
change
of OE ft into a. In
Early
MnE
(t/iuz)
became
(ifuuz),
which
was
written
phonetically choose,
although
the
older
spelling
ehuse survived tillthe end of the last
century,
chese
also
occurs
in
Early
MnE.
Vowel-change (ai. . o).
1488.
flght; fought.
OE
strong
\\\
feohlan(fehlan);
feaht{faht);
fohlen.
ME
figUen,faugh/,foughitn.
In the
pret.
Early
MnE fluctuatesbetween
au
and
ou.
Vowel-change (e9. .
s
. . 3-n).
1189^ bear;
bore, ibwe;
born(e).
OE
stiong
IV
T,GoogIe
4l6 ACCIDENCE.
b
1440.
btran,bar,
boren, Mn" makes
a
distinctionbetween bom in
the
sense of French "5 and iw"='carTied' which did not
existin OE
or
M";
1440.
swear; swore, i-swsre;
sworn.
OE
strong
j-
verb II
swfrian,
susofy nvarm, sworen,
the
0
of the lastform
being
due to the iDfluence of the
preceding
w.
ME
swerim,
swirm ; swor,
sivSr
; su^reiu
swar is,
of
course,
dne to the
analogy
of
ên,
bar.
1441.
teur; tore, ttore;
torn. 0"
alrong
IV fernn.
1442.
wesr; wore, tware;
worn. OE weak
wpian,
wfrede
'wear clothes.'The vocalicforma
were
first
developed
in
Early
Mn"
by
the
analc^
of bear.
Vowel-change (ei
. .
o).
1449.
freight; 'fraught, freighted.
The Late ME
weak verb
/raughten[imported
from
Dutch?]
was
made into
freight
in
Early
MnE
by
the inflaence of the
synonj'mous
frel,
and
/raught
itself
came to be
regarded
as
the
pret
of
this new verb
freighiby
a
vague
association with
vwk,
wrought,etc.
But
fraught
was
stillused as a
pres.
in
Early
MnE :
the
goodship. . ,
and the
fraughUng
touts within her
(Shakespere).
Vowel-chat^t (i"
. .
9
. . 0-n).
1444.
shear; tshore, tshare, sheared; slunn,
i-sheared. OE
strong
IV seieran
(tieran);
siear
{siar);
siertn.
Vowel-charge (ij . .
o
. . ij-n).
1446.
see; saw;
seen.
0"
strong
V
jfcn
; leahisal^',
sawon (slgoti); sewen
{seget^.
In Late Northumbrian the
adjective
^m/ot=
West-Saxon
^"jw"
'visible'
was
used
as the
pret,
partic. Early
ME
seon, sen;
seih
(Southern), sah,
sauh
pret.
plur.
s^wen,
uien
; pret.
partic. seien,
sein. In Late
ME die
pret.
sing,
forms
dropped
the k
by
the influence of
the
pret.plur.
and
pret
partic,givingset,
sat
and
saw,
the
last
bemg
the usual North-Thames form,
especially
in
T,Goo(^le
{ I45I.] VERBS;
IHKECULAR
[VOCALIC).
417
Northumbrian,
which also
kept
the Old- Northumbrian
preL
partic.
in the fonn of
sin.
The Standard ME inflections
are
J"(") ;
seigh,
sat; (i)mn.
In MnE the Northern
preL
saw
and
pret
partic
seen were
inUoduced into the Standard
dialect.
Vowel-change (ae
, . ,
u).
1446.
Btand;
stood. 0"
strong
II with
n
inserted in
the
pres.
etc. : sfandan,stdd,
standen.
Vowel-ciatige (ei. . .
U
. . . ei-n),
1447.
forsake; forsook;
forsaken. OE
strong
II
forsaean
'
renounce,'
'
deny.'
1448.
shake; shook;
shaken. OE
strong
II
sâran.
1440.
take; took; taken,
*ta'en. ME
strong
lliiien,
ioi,
taken from Scandinavian
laka,tok,ifkinn.
In Northern
this verb
was
contracted like
make,
and the
pret.
partic.
iden
passed
into Standard MnK.
Vowel-change
(ai. . .
uw
. . . ou-n).
1460-
fly; flew;
flown. OE
strong
Yll
Jleogan{fiegan,
pgan)
;
filag,fieah{Jleh)
; Jlugon;
fiogen.
ME
flen, pen ;
fieigh,fiey"yit\i
the
same
dropping
of final^
as
in j"'=OE
gesah"fiy;pret.^j.fiowen,fl^wm(influence
of
pret.partic);
pret.
partic/[^rti.
The
Early
MnE
pret._/frtf (fliu) probably
arose
in the
same
way
as
drew, etc.
(1S77).
Vowel-change (ei
. . .
uw
. . . ei-n).
1461-
slay; slew;
slain. OE
strong
II sUan
(from
sUahafi);slog,sloh; slagen,slagen,slggen.
ME Southern
slfn.
Midland
sl"n.
Northern sld
; sloh.
Late ME
slough,
slow
=(sluu) ; pret.
particslawen,sleita,
slain. In
MnE,
the ai of
the
pret.
partic
was extended to the
infin.,
and the
ow of the
pret.
underwent the usual
analogical change
into ew. The
T,GoogIe
4l8
ACCIDENCE.
[(
1451.
archaic fomiB sUe =
sha,
prct.
situ still
lingered
in
Early
MnE.
Vowelnhange(ou. . .
nw
. . . ou-n).
UBS. blow
;
blew
; blown,
blowed. OE
strong
I
tlSuktH
'
blow
'
(ofwind),ileoio,
blSwtn and iidwan
'
bloom,'
MeBto,
bldwtn. M"
bl^wen,blew, hlgwen
and
blowen,blew,
blowtn,
1463.
orow; orew, crowed; -j-orown,
crowed. OE
strong
I
crawan,
criow,
crSwtn.
1454.
grow; grew; grown.
OE
strong
I
grdwan,
greoK, grdwm.
14BS.
know; knew;
known. OE
strong
I
enSwan,
cniow,
cndwm.
Vowel-changt
{a. . .
nw
. . .
o-n).
1466.
draw; drew;
drawn. OE
strong
II
dragon;
drog,
drbh
;
dragen.
Mixed Verbs.
1467.
There
are
several verbs which have
a
strong pret.
panic,
in
-fit
with
a
regular
consonantal
pret.
Some of
these are old
strong
verbs which
have become
partiallj
consonantal
;
but others
are
veak
verbs which have taken
the
panic,ending -en
by
the influence of old
strong
verbs
which
iheyhappen
to resemble. In the
following
listthe
latterclass are marked
X.
1468.
go; went; gone.
OE
strong
I
gSn,
gangan;
giong,
code
(weak); gegan, gcgangtn.
ME
g^n),gange(n) ;
yddi,
wente
;
ggin),
gangen.
In ME the
longer
form
gang
was
gradually
restriciedto the Northern dialect. The curtailed
Southern
pret.
partic.^îs
still
preserved
in the adverb
ô=OE
agon
'
passed
'
(oftime).
1469.
grave,
graved; graven, graved.
OE
strong
II
gra/an,grbf,gra/en.
1460.
hew; hewed; hewn,
hewed. 0"
strong
I
iS/nqtan,
heow,
heawin.
T,Goo(^le
I i47".] VEKBS;
MIXED.
419
1461.
tladd, load; tladed, loaded; laden, l-laded,
tlooden,
loaded. 0"
strong
II
hladan.Mod, hlatdm,
hladtn.
The Mn"
change
of lade into load " the older fonn
being
slili
preserved
in
Ji//yAi(/('n^
as
well
as
in the
pret.
panic-
laden " is
through
the infiuence of the
noun load,
ME
lSdt=
OE ISd
(fern.)
'
leading,'
'
way
'
"
a meaning
still
preserved
in
loadstar " connected with ladan
'lead,'
which had also the
meaning 'carry,'
as
it stillhas in the dialectal
expression
lead
hay,
etc. Thus in ME
Igde
came to mean 'load,'
and
was at
last confused with the verb l"dtn.
1462. melt
;
melted
;
molten,
melted. OE
strong
III
melton, molten is
now
used
onlyas an adjective.
1468. mow
;
mowed
; mown,
mowed. OE
strong
I
mSwan, meow,
laavjen,
1464.
rive; rived; riven,
rived.
ME
strong
VI
riven,
r^,
riven from the Scandinavian
ri/a.
1466.
loaw ;
Bswed
; Bswn,
Bawed. ME weak
taui{i)en.
Mn" sawn
by
the
analogy
of drawn.
1466.
shape ; shaped ; shapen,
shaped.
OE
strong
II
j-verbsiicppan,
siyppan [sifppan) ; stop; siapen,siapen.
In ME this verb
was
influenced "
or
rather
supplanted
"
by
the ScandinaviaJ] verb
skapa,sk^.
1467- shave
;
shaved
;
shaven,
shaved. OE
strong
II
siafan, siof,siafen.
1468.
Jahow; showed; shown,
showed.
OE weak
steawian,
siiawode
'
survey,'
'
look at.' ME
scîi(i)eH,
sc^wien.
Northern schaw.
Early
MnE shew and shim.
shown
by
the
analogy
of
known, etc.
1469.
sow; sowed; sown,
sowed. OE
strong
1
jowon,
stow,
sawen.
'
1470.
{strew ;
strewed
; strewn,
strewed. OE weak
slrgwian,
stremotan,
ME
strewen,sirgwen,
strawen. strewn
by tbe,anatogy
oiAeivn.
1471.
swell; swelled; swollen,
swelled. 0"
strong
III
J
/
T,GoogIe
ACCTDES'CE.
IsolatedForms.
1472.
Some obsolete verbs occur
ariy
m isolated
fonns,
namelyquolh, highl, iclepi,
wont.
1475.
qooth.
OE
strong
V
nutpan,cwap, cwiidon,
gfcwedm
'
aay.'
In ME the
strong
consonant of the infin.
was
keptthroughout
;
ewipen,caiap,icwepm
;
so also
hicwepm'bequeath,'
which in Mn" is consonantal
"
bi-
quealhed.
In Late ME the
simple
cwtpen
was
gradually
disused
except
in the
pret.sing.
As
cwaP
nas often unstressed
in such combinations as
cwaP -he,
it
developed
a
weak form
cwod,quodthrough
the
regular rounding
of unstressed
a
into
0 afler a
lip-consonant,
as in OE 6s7i)old=ext\\î Oswald.
The
explanation
of the rfisthat
cwap
hi etc. were made into
(kwajiee)
which became
(kwaSee, kwoBee);
and when
(kwoV)
was
detached and received
strong
stress
"
as it naturally
would
"
thefinal
(8), being
an
unfamiliarsound in
strong
syllables,
was
changed
into
(d).
The form
quolh
isa blending
of
strongquath
and weak
quod,quolhbeing
obsoleteis
now
generally pronounced artificially (kwouj))
on
the
analc^
of
both;
but the older
colloquial pronunciation
was
(kwB)")
or
")"
1474.
bight
'
is
named,called,'
'
was
called,'
ME
higkle
is
a
blending
of theOE
passive
form h"tlt
(1162)
and
hihl,
theactive
pret.
ofthe
same
verb kalan.
1476.
iolept"
ME
idiped, OE^"/#^rf
'called'the
pret.
panic,
of the weak verb
dtopian, clipian.
1476. wont 'accustomed
'=iOE^""wwx/,
pret.
partic.
of
the weak verb
geuiunian \geumna
'
custom,'
'
habit.'] Being
unfamiliar,
this word is now
artificially pronounced (wount)
insteadoftheearUerand correct
(went).
Akomalous Verbs.
1477. Most of the MnE verbs that we
class
as anomalous
are
old
preterite- present
verbs. Two of these
preterite-
T,Goo(^le
i '479-]
VEKBS;
ANOMALOUS.
431
present
verbs " dare and
owe
= OE
dtarr,
Sg
" have been
made
regular
in certain
meanings.
The
original
inflections of
these verbs have been much curtailedin
MnE, most of them
havingonly
the inflections of the finite
present
and
preterite.
The
only
one
which has
an
infin.is
dare,
which seems to
have taken itfrom the
regularly
inflected verb dare. Two of
the old
preterite-present
verbs " muil and
ought
"
occur now
only
in the OE
preterite forma,
which have taken the
place
of the OE
present
mol and
ag,
so
that these verba
are
incapable
of
marking
pres.
and
pret.
1478.
In the
present
Spoken English
the
preterite-present
verbs,tcêther
with need and the other anomalous verbs
6e,
have,
do,
are
the
onlyones
which have the
particle
ml
joined
to them
directly
instead of with the
help
of
an
auxiliary verb,
as
in
/(ra""o/(kaant) compared
wilh / da nai
see,
the nc/
being
shortened to
(nt),
oflen with modification of the verb itself.
Most of the anomalous verbs have also
very
distinctweak
forms,
which
we
will
put
in
( ).
147S.
can, canst; ooold,
oooldst 0"
cann, canst,
plur.cunnm
; pret.
cHJm;
infin.
ctitman
'
know.' There is
a
weak OE verb
cunnian,
cunnode
'try,'
which must not be
confounded with
cunnan
'
know
'
;
from this cunm'an
comes
the MnE con
'
peruse,'
'
study,'which,
beingunfamiliar,
is
now
pronouncedartificially (kon)
instead of the correct
(ken).
ME
can,
canst,plur.cSnnen,can;
couj"e,
coude
;
infin.cSniun.
eoude is
a weakening
of
coupe,whichprobablybegan
like that
o^
quap
into
quod (1473),
as
(kuuji'ee,
Vm^Ke)=ceupehe,
the detached
(kuuS)being
made into
(kuud),
which became eoutie
by blending
with
coupe.
The
Late ME
participle-adjective cinninge
seems to have been
introducedfrom the Northern
dialect,
where it
appears
in the
form
of
cunnand,
which is
no doubt
the Scandinavian
adjective
and
pres.
partic.
kunnandi
'
knowing,'
'
sagacious,'
from
liann
'
knows,'
infin.kuana. The Scandinavian noun formed
from ibis
adj.
" kuntiandi
(fem.)
'
knowledge
'
"
was
also in-
433
ACCIDENCE.
[(1480.
troduced into
MnE,
being
made into
cSnmnge
in the Standard
dialect. In the transition to Mn" the weak eoude
entirely
supplanted
the
strong
coulhe,
and in
Early
MnE it
was made
into could
on
the
analogy
of should and
Tt"DuId=OE
siolde,
wolde. The
(uu)
of
coud,could,was shortened when
unstressed,
which
prevented
itfrom
beingdiphthongized
likethe
(uu)
in houtt
;
and the
(1)
of all three verbs was
dropped
in
theirweak forms, so
that could had two forms,
the
strong
(kold)
and the weak
(kud).
At the
same
time the
meaning
'knowing' graduallydeveloped
into
'being
able.' Tlie
SpokenEnglish
forms of this
verb,including
the weak and
negativeforms,are :
"
kaen
(ksn),
kaant
;
kud
(ksd),
kudnt
The defective forms of this verb
are supplied
by
be able
; can
you
do
it
t;
I shall not
be able to do it.
1480.
dare, darest, (he)dare, -t'dares;durst;
infin.-
dare. OE
dtarr,dearst,durron; dorste;
ME
rfor,
tiSr
(as
in the
pret.
bar),darsl;
dorste,
dursti with ihe
u
of OE
durron
;
infin.
durren,daren,
of which- the former
represents
the
probable
0" infin.
durran,
the latter
beinga
new-formation
from dar. In MnE dare in the transitive
sense
of
'
challenge
'
has become
quiteregular:
he dared him to
do it.
The intransitive
pres.
panic,daring
is used
onlyas an adjective.
The
pret.
durst is littleused in the
spoken language,
where the
literary
/ durst not
interrupt
him is
represented by
/ did not dare to
interrupt
him. The
pres.
dare ia most frequent
in the
phrase
/ dare
sqy='
I
think,'
'
it is
probable.'
1481.
mar, mayst; might, might"t.
OE
inc^,
}m
meahl
{nuehi), mihl,plur.
magon; pret.
meahte
{m"Ehte]
mihle
'
be able.'
\Qx"jd^^k
magen,
meaht,
miht
'power,''force.']
The ME forms seem to
have been influenced
by
another OE
preterite-present
verb of similar
meaning,namely deag,
deah
'
avail
'
plur.dugon
"
pret.
doh/e
;
infin.
dugan.
The
ME
forms
are : mai, mtht,and,
vejy
late,
mayst, plur,
mawen.
T,Goo(^le
i 1484.]
VERBS;
ANOMALOUS.
443
mawen,
moun
; pret.
mahte,tnihte,
mokit. This lastsurvived
as a
vulgarism (moat)
to the end of the
17thcentury.
The
meaning
of the verb
developed
in MnE intothat of 'have
permission.'
The
SpokenEnglish
forms are
:
"
mei,
meint
; mait,
maitnt.
I46S. -tmote
(muut);
must. 0"
mol, mosl,moion;
mSsWrnsLy.'
ME
moi,most,mokn;
mdsle. The
pres,
survived
only
as an
archaism in
Early
MnE:
as
/air
as
/air
moU be
(Spenser). Already
in ME the
pret.
was used in the
sense
of the
pres.,
and in
Early
MnE this
usage
became
fixed. It
began
with the use
of the
pret.subj.
"
which
was
practically indistinguishable
from the
pret.
indic.
"
to
express
mild
command,
so
that/tw
mbsie-='
yxi^
would be
able,' 'you
might'
was
understood to mean
'you
willhave
to,'
'you
must.' The vowel of moste
passedthrough (uu)
into
(u)
in
Early
MnE,
the
shortening hainngprobablybegun
in Ihe
weak form. The
SpokenEnglish
forms of thisverb are :"
m^s,t(mast, mss),
mesnt.
1483.
(owe);
ousht.
0'^Sg,Sh,puiiht,aht,-^\ra.^m',
pret.
ahU,
ahte
;
infin.
agan
'
possess.'
The
adjective i^m
'
own
'
is
an
old
pret.
partic.
of thisverb. From
agm
is
formed the weak verb
ogHtan,
'
appropriate,'
'
possess.'
In
Early
ME aA/e
developed regularly
into
aiu)kle,
but afterwards
p
was introducedfrom ihe infin.
etc.,
giving p{u)iU.
In
ME
paien
in the
sense
of
'possess'
soon took
regular
weak inflection "
i
gwe,
wisvitp,
etc.^still
keeping
the older
puhk
as its
pret.
The
meaning'possess' gradually
developed
into that of
'
have
a
debt,'
'
owe,'which,again,
developed
the abstract
meaning
'
ought,' especially
in the
pret.,
which
by degrees
took the function of a
pres.
in the
same
way
as must
(1482).
The
SpokenEnglish
forms
are :"
at,
3tnt.
1484.
shaU,
shalt
; should,abooldat. OE sieal
{sitet).
siialt
{iiall),
siulen;siolde,
Northumbrian sâlJt
by
the
4*4
ACCIDENCE.
[(
1485.
analogy
of
walde{U6S)=wolde.
TAE,
schal,schall, sckulen,
KkuUen
(by
the
analogy
of
loillen)
;
ichoide,
sckulde
(by
the
influence of
schitkri).
In
Northern,
weak sh became
t,
as
in
Itiglis= English [compare
Scotch Scots from
ScoiiisX},
whence the Northern
(originally only weak)
forms
sal,
said.
Of the two
Early
MnE fonns of the
preL,strong(|uld)
and
weak
(Jud),
only
the latterhas survived. The
spoken
forms
are;"
Jsel(Jl), Jaant; Jud(Jwl), Judnt.
1486.
will,
wilt
; would, woilldtot;imper,
will. This
verb
was
in OE
originally
a
strong
subjunctive preterite,
with
which
pres.
indie,forms
were
afterwards mixed
: wile,wille,
wilt,
willap
; wolde,
walde
(originally
weak
?);
infin. wiUan.
In OE thisverb
has,together
with several other verbs in
very
frequent
use,
specialnegative
forms,
the resultof contraction
with
a preceding
w
'
not
'
:
ii
nyle,pu nylt,
hi
nyk,"minyllap
;
nolde,
etc. One of these
negative
forms is still
preserved
in
the
phrasewillyniUy,Early
MnE will
he,
nill he=OB, mile
he,nyle
he. The ME forms
are ;
wile,wHle,will,wSlt,willefi,
wilUn,
wSllen
;
wolde,walde,wSlde,
whose
(u)
is the
result of
pres,
forms
wSle,
etc.,
which
were
probably
at firstweak
forms,
in which the
w
rounded the following
vowel and
gradually
assimilated it to itself. In
Early
MnE
(wud)
was
the weak form of
(wuEd).
The
spoken
forms
are :
"
wil
(1), wount;
wud
(wad,ad),
wudnt.
'
1486. twot
;
twist.
OE
wSt,wast,
wiion
;
wiste
;
witan
;
wiknde. The
adjective gewiss
'
certain
'
is
an old
pret.
partic.
of
thisverb. ME
w^/,wpsl,witm;
infin.
wi/en;
pres.
partic.
wilinge.
In
Early
MnE wot was sometimes made the base
of
a
regular
verb
;
he
wotkth,
wots,
pret.
wotted,
pres.
partic.
wotting.
The old
pre?,
partic.
stillsurvives in the adverb
un- wittingly,
and the infin.in the adverb
phrase
to wif=vii.
T,Goo(^le
i I*"".] VBJ/JiS;
ANOMALOUS.
4"5
The ME
adjective
nt"t*"OE
"ewiss
has in MdE been often
wrongly
divided i
wit,
as
if it
were the
pronoun
/ with
a
verb
equivalent
to
wot, a
view which has been further
supported
in
recent times
by
the chance resemblance of the Modem German
equivalent aiwot,namelyweiss,plur.
wissen.
14S7. need. This verb
agrees
wilh the
preterite-present
verbs in
having
no j-inflection and in
taUng
not without
any
auxiliary
"
he need not
(nijdnt).
The lossofthe
s
"
which
seems
to
have
begun
in the transitionfrom ME to
MnE " is
apparently
partly
the resultof
similarity
of
meaning
to that of the
preterite-present
verbs;
but theabsence of the inflectional
s
is
partly
due to the verb need
'
require
'
being
formed
directly
from the
noun need
through
the
ambiguity
of such
sentences
as
Early
MnE uj?iaineed all this waste? There
were two
weak verbs formed from the
noun
in OE
"
medan,nydan
{nedan)
and neadian. Both had the
meaning
'
compel,'
which
theykept
in
Early
ME. The later
meaning
'
require
'
was
probably
theresultof
making
the
noun need in such sentences
as
that
quoted
above into a
verb.
We now come to the anomalous
auxiliary
verbs
he,have,
do.
1488.
The verb be in OE is made
up
of three distinct
roots
;
that
seen in
(a)ij,are, (S)was,
and
(c)
be
:
"
4"6
ACCtDBNCB.
[(1489.
1480.
The ta
in tart and the
Anglian
tarn,
earon is a
weakening
of
to
(lOeS),preserved
in the West-Saxon
torn
and the occasional
Mr/,
eorun.
In I,ateNoithumbrian this
ta undergoes
the usual further
weakening
into
a :
am,
arp,
1480.
The Standard ME forms are:
am,
art, is, Si(n);
subj.it,be(n);
pret.was, "^("),was, wê(n);
pret.
subj.,
a^{e),W"fe(H);imper. 6i, bep;
infin.
b^n); participles
biinge,bi(n).
The ME
pret.
partic.
is,
of
course,
an
analogical
new-fonnation. The North-Thames
plur.ar[n)
is still
rare
in Standard
ME,
but is
firmly
establishedin
Early
MnE,
which inflects:
am,
art,is,
art;
subj.bt-,
pret.
was,
wast, tvert,plur. wtrt;
subj.
pret.wtre, wirt,wire;
infin.
ie;
partic. being,
bttn. The
use
of be in the
pres.
uidic.is still
kept
up
in
Early
MnE : /
bt,
thou
bust,thtybe,etc.
;
the
form he bts
is,however,
very
rare.
There is in MnE
a
tendency
to
get
rid of the
distinctively subjunctive
inflections
of this verb not
onlyby using
thou bttst
as
if it
were a
subjunctive
" if thou bttst=
if
thou he" but also
by
substituting
if I
was
for if I
were,
etc, was = were was
frequent
in the last
century
not
onlyas a
subjunctive,
but also in the
indic.ôwvaas.
In the
present
Spoken English
the distinction
between
was
and
wtrt
is
strictly m^ntained,
the
substitution
of
was
for
were beinga
vulgarism.
The
subj.
pres.
is,on
the other
hand, extinct in the
spokenlanguage,
except
in
a
few
phrases.
The
following
are
the inflections
of be in
spokenEnglish:
T,Goo(^le
i M93.] VERBS;
ANOMALOUS.
427
Imper.
and Infin.
bij
Pres. Panic, aod Genmd
bijiij
Fret. Paitic.
bijn,
bin
1491. The
negative
forms left blank in the
pres.
are
generallysuppliedby (eint)
in familiar
speech,
which
is,
however,
feltto be a
vulgarism,
and is avoided
by
many
educated
speakers,
who
say
(aim not)
instead of
(aieint),
(aaju not)
instead
of
(eint
ju).
1482. have. The OE inflections resemble those of
libban
(1210)
: hahbe,hafqsl, ha/sl,hafap,ha/p,plur.hahbap
;
subj.hmbbe, hahbtn;
pret fusfde;imper. hafa,
hahbap;
infin.
habban; panic,habbende,êhafd.
In ME the old bb
was graduallysupplantedby
the
"=OEyof
the other
forms,
the
V
itself
being
often
dropped by
contraction. The
Standard ME forms
are : hê,
weak
hav, hast,haP, plur.
Mvf{n),kan, Aari;
pret.
hadde\
pret.
partic.
had. In ME
the weak short-vowel forms
gradually supplanted
the
long-
vowel
ones;
but
we keep
the
long-vowel
forms in the
derivative
behave,
pret.
behaved=ME hehaven. The MnE
literary
forms
are: have, hast,hath,
hat
plur.have; subj.
pres.
have;
pret.
indie
had, hadsl;
pret.
subj.had; imper.
and infin.
have; partic. having,
had.
Early
MnE still
kept
the shortened inhn.
ha,
a=M" han: she
mtgkl a
been
(Shakespere).
In Present
English
the infinitive
(a)occurs
only
in
vulgar
or
very
indistinct
speech.
The distinctive
spoken
forms of have in Present
English
are :
"
hiev
(sv,v),
hsevntj
hxz
(sz,
z, s),
hxznt;
heed
(sd,d),
hiednt; hsevii).
The distinctionbetween
subj.
and indie,is
entirely
lost.
1468. do. 0"
do,
desf
{das/),
dip
{dap),plur. dSP;
pret.
weak
dj/de;imper.do, dop;
infin.
don; partic. donde,
gedon.
The mutation in
dest,dip
is
common to all the
dialects. In Standard ME the
0
of the other
parts
of the
verb
supplanted
the
older S:
do, dost,doP, plur.don; dUe;
'\m^tr.dd,ddp; partic. rf^/n^sdd{n).
In MnE
(uu)=ME 6
428
ACCIDENCE.
[(
1494.
was Bhortened in the weak forms of
dott,doth,does,done,
whence the
present
forma
(d^st, dej),
dxt,
den),
which have
supplanted
the
Early
MoE
strong
forms
fduust),
etc. The
spoken
forms in Present
English
are t
duw
{d", d),
dount
;
dcz
(dsz),
deznt
;
did,
didnt
;
den.
PARTICLES.
1404.
All the 0"
particles
are
eiêr
prunary
or
"econdar;
(387).
The
seconduyparticles
are formed
from other
(declinable) parts
of
speech;
thus ham in he
iode Mm 'he
went home' is fonned from the
masc. noon
h3m
'home,'
'homestead.'
Primaryparticles,
such
as
6e
*
hy,'
raid
'
so
'
are not formed froinother
parts
of
speech.
There is no strictdivisionbetween the
three classesof
particles,
most
of the
prepositions being
used also
as
adverbs,
some adverbs
being
used also
as
conjunctions.
Thus ""risa
preposition
in dr
daê
'
before
da7(break),'
an adverb is he
efi
was
papa
swd he ar was
'
he
was
pope
again
as he
was
before,'
and a
conjunction
in dr
)""et fiod
cant
'
before the
floodcame.'
1406. Some
of the
particles
are
simple,
some
derivativa,
such
as
uf-an
'
above,' some
oomponnd
{group-compounds),
such
as
be-neoJ"an
'
beneath,'
which is
compounded
with the
preposition
ie. The above are
primary
adverbs.
Secondary
particles
also
admit of the
same divisions,
such
as
ham,iqÎiie
'
tnJy,' ealne-weg
'
always,' literally
'
alt
(the) way.'
AdTerb-endingB.
1486. In
OE,
adverbs are
regularly
formed from
adjectives
byadding-e,
a
preceding
a
beinggenerally changed
to a :
diope 'deeply,'
hearde
'strongly,' 'severely,'
neanoe
'narrowly,'
late
'slowly,'
'wilh
delay'
from
diop,
heard
'hard,' 'strong,'
'
severe,' nearu,
lat
'
slow,' swij"e
'
very
'
from the obsolete
adjective swij"'strong,' preserved
in
proper
names
such
as
T,Goo^le
{ 141)8.]
PARTICLES
;
ADVERB-ENDIh'CS.
449
Swipfmn
'
Swithin,'
literally
'
SIrong
cub,'
Adjectives
with
a
mutated vowel often have
an unmutated vowel in the
advei'b,
as in
sdfu
'
gently,'
'
luxuriously,'
suiS/e
'
sweetly'
corresponding
to the
adjectives se/ie(scefie),
swete
(suxiie).
The
numerous
adjectives
in -Hi form theiradverbs in
-Hie,
the
original length
of the vowel
beingkept,
as in
igesHit
'terribly,' ges4iligUte 'blessedly,' 'happily'
from
(geslii,
gesdliglii \fgtia
'
terror,'
siil
'
favourable
time,'
'
luck
'].
But
gtsAliglii
occurs also in the
shorter,
form
gtsdlig;
and
hence in thisand similar
cases
the adverb could be
regarded
as
formed
directly
from the shorter
Adjective" ges^l^-Iki
from
gesAUg,
In this
way
-Bit came to be
regarded
as an
independent adverb-ending equivalent
to
-e,
which,through
being
more distinct,
it
gradually supplanted
in
many
words.
Hence -Ra was sometimes added
directly,
withoutthere
being
any
adjective
in -Hi.
1407. In ME the two
endings
-e and -Uehe
were
both
kept,
the latter
appearing
as -likein
EarlyMidland,
as in
depWucompared
with
Early
Southern
dcopUche.
i49B. When final
-t was
dropped
in North-Thames
English
the distinction between the
adj.
hard and the adverb
hard(e),
etc. was
lost.
By degrees
also the
adverb-ending
-likewas
levelledunder the
adjective-ending
-/i=Southem
-lich,
and -Itthen became
a
regular adverb-ending.
In Late
ME it
was
introduced into the Standard
dialect,
where it
supplanted
the
Early
Southern
-Uche,
as in
diply,hardfy,
openly.
But
-ly
was
also retained as an
adjective-ending,
as
itstill isin such a word as
goodly
= OE
godlii,
ME
godlich,
godii.
Some of the MnE adverbs which have the
same
form
as
adjectives,
as
in
pull
hard,
speakImtd,
talk like
a
foreigner
compared
with a
hard
pull,
etc.
are,
of
course,
the descendants
of the OE adverbs in
-e,
such
as heardt,
hlude,gelice;
but others are
new-formations
on
the
analogy
of these
traditional
ones, especially
those in
^=0E -ig,
as in
preUy
well,mighly fine,
for the OE
adjectives
in
-ig
formed their
430
ACCIDENCE.
[(
1499.
adverbs in
-igUti{mihiigliie)
to avoid the
ambiguity
of
-ê,
which
might
be mistaken for
the
plur.,
etc. inflection.
1490.
In Old French the uninflected forms of
adjectives
"
originaBj
the neut.
sing.
" were
used
as adverbs,
which
were
introduced into
ME,
whence such Mn" adverbs
as
in
fuslready,
skul elost
[Old
French clot from Latin
clausum\,
quiet[Latin
gviilum\
iwr"'=ME
verrai
'true,''tnily,'
Old
French vend
[Modem
French
vr"a\
from Latin
virax,
veracem.
1600.
In Present
English,
adverbs in
-fy
are
formed
freely
from all kinds of
adjectives,
is
in
deeply, fooliihly, "willingly,
affectedly.
Through
the
shortening
of double
consonants
the
(1)
is
dropped
after
adjectives ending
in
(1),
as
in
fulfy
(fuU), nobly.
The addition of
-ly
is attended
by
various
changes
of
spelling,
as
in
merrily,gaily[old-fashioned
English
and American
gayly\fiiUy,nchly
from
merry, gay,
full,
nobU. Adverbs in
-ly
are not often formed from
adjectives
that
already
end in
-ly,
these
adjectives generally
forming
their adverbs
by periphrases,
such
as
in
a
lively
manner,
in
a
friendly
way.
Some MnE adverbs in
-lyare
formed direct from
nouns,
such
as
namely
;
but such adverbs
as daify,yearly,quarterly
in he is
paid quarterly
are old
adjectives
used
as
adverbs.
A less
frequent
adverb-ending
Id OE
was
-unga,
-inga,by
which adverbs
were
formed from
adjectives:
eailunga'ca^MtA'j'
ierringa'angrily,'
from
eail,
ierre. There
was
also in
OE
a
class of adverbs formed from
nouns-^mostly
names
of
parts
of the
body
"
by adding -Hng
and
prefixing
the
prepositicm
OH,
such as on
bacling
'backwards.'
By blending
these two
endings
a new
ending
-lunga,-Unga
was formed,as
in
grund-
lunga
'from the
foundations,''completely.'
In ME the
ending -lings
is
frequent,
the adverbial
-es
(1601) being
often
added, as
in
hfdlinge(s)
'
headlong,'nffselinge(i)
'on
the
nosCt'
'at full
length,'sidelinge(s) 'sideways.'
In MnE this
ending
has been confused with
the
adjective long.
Hence in
Early
MnE we
find
sideling, sidelong^s\Avfra.y%,' falling axiAflatlong;,
as
in the blow
fellflatlong,
that
is,
'
was
given
with the flat
of
f I5"3-]
PARTICLES;
ADVERBS.
431
the sword iosteadof the
point.'
In Present
Englishheadiong
is still
an
adverb,j'j(/"/i"t^ being
an
adjective
"
a
sidelimg. glance.
The older
sidelinge
was
regardedas a
pres.
partic,
and from
itwas foimed a verb to sidle
{upto).
So also the ME adverb
grdvelinge 'grovellingly'
was made into the verb
ôt/*/.
ISOL
In ME and MnE some new
adverb-endings
arose
out
of OE adverbial
phrases.
Thus the OE on
opre
wlsan
'in another
way'\whe
weak fem.
'manner,'
'way']
was
shortened and hardened into the
group
oPreTtase, dPtrunse;
and Id MnE -tvisewas used to form
new
adverbs,
such as
likewise,
nowise. The
noun
way
was
used in like
mannei to
form
adverb-groups
such as
midway,noway,
whence
noways
vith the usual addition of
-s. -wise,
and
-it/qys
were
often
confused, as in
Iengtkwise= lengthways,
endwise,
coastwise.
The
nouns time and whiie=0'E weak masc. Uma and
strong
fem.Aim/
'
time,'
have also
come to
be used
as
adverb-endings
in such words
as
meantime,
someh'me(s), ofttimes, Centimes,
meamehiU,somewhile, otherwfiile{s),
the lasttwo
being
now
obsolete.
Adverbs formed direct ftom Nouns and
AdJeotlTeB.
1S02.
Many
0" adverbs are formed directfrom nouns
or
adjectives,
eitherinflected
or
uninflected. The
following
are uninflected, bemg
formed from
nouns in the
ace
sing,
and
adjectives
in the neut.
sing.
: ham, narp,sup,east,west;
tail
'
entirely,'
niah
'
nearly,' ên^
'
sufficiently.'
The most
important
inflectional
endings
are -urn
and
1603. -nm:
kwilum
'sometimes,'
stundum 'at intervals'
\slund strong
fem.
'
period'].
-md!um from the neut. noun
(HtW
'mark,'
'
point
of time' is a
frequent
adverb
-ending,
as
in
styiiemdlum
'
piecemeal,' fioccmMum
'
in
troops.'
From
adjectives
are formed milium
'
greatly,' lyilum
and
lyllum
'
by
little and
little,'
'
by degrees.'
The isolated
ME wKlSm is
still
preserved
in the
higher language.
-mAlum inM"
passed
D,g,i,7?"iT,Goo(^le
432
ACCIDBKCE.
[(
1J04.
through
-milm into
-mete,as
in
dropmile, picemeU,
where
styete
was
replacedby
itsFrench
equivalent.
1501. -68
in OE
was
extended to fem.
nouns as an
adverb-
ending
:
dteges
and nihiei
'
by day
and
by night,'
sumeres
and
winira
\winira
masc
gen.
like
simd\,
medes
'
of
necessity
'
\med fem.];
talks
'entirely,' {lUs
'otherwise' from
a lost
adjective.
The
adverb-ending
-weardes
interchanges
with the
nninflected
-weard,as
in
hamweard(es)
'
homewards.' In
M" and Mn" this
ending
was
dropped
in
some words, as
in
Late ME
day
and
night;
but it was more
oflen
extended,
especially
to adverbs which in OE ended in
a
vowel
or
n,
in
order to make them
more distinct, as
in
iiôq"'^= Early
Mn"
ahoai,
OE
ealnew^,
pws
'once'=OE
isw,
the mutated S
being supplantedby ^=the
OE d in
an,
twits
'
twice,' ^rits
'thrice'=OE
fiviwa,priwa.
OE heonont 'hence'
(1608)
became it{o)nnt
in
Early ME,
and
by
the addition of
-*,
henaes,
OE
Panon
'
thence,'
hwanon
'
whence
'
becoming
Late ME
Jxnnes,
whmnts
by
the influence of hennes. So also
OE
iippan(IKU)
'since'
passedthrough sipfitn,
sin into
sipem,
sins. This extension of -s went on
in MnE
also,
as
in someHmts'êa.TMtY MnE
somttimt,
which is still
preserved
in the higherlanguage.
Some adverbs in
-es
took final t in
Early
MnE
or
Late
ME,
as
in
amidst,betwixt,whilst,amongst
'^ME. amiddes "
a
blending
of OE onmiddan and tdmiddes "
bttwix{t), ivhilts,
amgng.
1605-
The
following
are
examples
of OE
group-adverba
:
ealneweg,ealrug 'always,' gtorsfandag 'yesterday,'
on
weg
'
away,'on
hac
'
backwards,'
'
back,'ofdine
'
down,'literally
'off the
hill,' toda^ 'today,'
where to
governs
an
exceptional
form of the dative. All the above show isolation either of
form
or meaning,
and therefore
approximate
to
compounds.
Such collocations, on
the other hand, as on
ii/e
'alive'
literally
'in
life,' on
slApe
'in
sleep,asleep,'
on tornost 'in
earnest'show no
isolationeitherof
meaiung
or form.
But
In ME there was a
tendency
to shorten weak
0/
and
on to a
i 1508.] PARTICLES;
ADVERBS.
433
whenever
they
were
closely
associatedwith the
following
word. Hence the ME fomis
adutu,
adun 'down'
adv.,
awai,ahak,atwi,
aslipe,
the
a
having
been
dropped
in the
MnE adverbs
doitm,
back. The
same
weakening
took
place
in ME and
Early
MnE
combinations, as
in
aclock, now
written
o'el"Kk=of(lhe)
clock,
and also in freer
combinations,
a"
in
go
a
fishing
= OE
gStt
on
fisinoji,
twice a
day
= OE
/wiwa on
d^t.
In MnE this
a was taken for the indef.
article,
so that in
jackanapes =jai:k-of'afies
itwas made into
oh before a vowel.
Some French
group-adverbs
formed with the
preposition
a
were introduced into
ME,
where
they
were of course
put
on
a level with the similarnative combinations:
aârl,apos^
MnE
apace.
1606. In ME theOE
prepodlion
hebecame bi
(1686),
but
the old be
was
kept
in
compounds
such as
be/oren
= OE be-
/oran,
and also in
some traditional collocationssuch
as
OE
be sldan
'
by
the
side,'
ME
beside,
which
was now
completely
isolatedfrom bi
Pe{re) side, just
as
aUve was
isolatedfrom in
at kit
^
etc. But the
new
prepiosition
"i
was
sometimes
introducedintothese
groups,being
however shortened to bi:
bifore,
biside. On the
analogy
of the older
compounds
the
new-fonnation^
cause
'
by
the
cause
'
was made into
bicause,
because.
1607. In ME and MnE the
place
of
a
lostor obscured
ending
was sometimes
supplied by
a
preposition, giving
rise
to new
group-adverbs,
such
^s
of
a tru//i=OK
sol)es, ofright
=0E
ryhtes,
bt
pecemile=ÔE. styiimAlum,
by
liiikand lHiU=
OE
lyllum
and
iyilum.
Sometimes a
preposition
was added even
when the
ending
was
clear,
as in n/ unawares,
Fronomjnal
Adverbs.
1608.
Among
the OE
primary
adverbs
there is
a
sym- metrical
group
of adverbs of
place,
connected with the
VOL. I. "
f
434
ACCIDENCE,
tiijog.
pronouns
he,J"at, hival,
their
endingsexpressingrespectively
rest,
motion
to,
and motion from
:
"
Rest Motion
to Motion from
A/r'here' AiiaSw'
'
hither
'
Aîmmmi 'hence'
pAr^thtn' ^(rfrfr
'thither'
pantm
'thence'
kwAr
'
where
'
kadder
'
whither
'
AwaMcn
'
whence
'
The ME M in Aitier etc.
is due to the influence of the
r
(877).
1609. The
ending -tr, -an,
-on
of the other
primaiy
adverbs has
no
very
definite
meaning
: of-er
'
lyiiKil
expressing
both motion and
rest,
und-er,
afl-er ;
inn-an
'
within,'
uf-an
'
above
'
[connected
with
o/ir],
hindan
'
beliind,'
/bran
'
in front.' The
ending -an
was,
however,
extended to
the
noun-derived adverbs
nor^ etc.,
where it
kept
its definite
meaning ; norpatt
'
from the
north,'supart
'
from the south.'
"on,
-an
often takes final
-*: fuonone,
ulan{e)
'outside.' The
adverbs
Ponne 'then,''than,'
hwonne 'when'
are
also
pronominal.
1610.
Many
OE adverbs
are
formed
directly
from
pronouns.
The
neuter pal
is used
as a conjunctionexactly
as
in MnE: he
sagdeJ"at
;
he
scegdeJial
hi wdre
gearu,
literally
'
he said that
:
(namely)
he
was
ready.'
So also the
pronoun
hwisj'er
is used in the
same
way
as whether. The indeclinable
pe
is used
as a
relative
pronoun,
both alone and in
combination with si
(1143),
and is used also as a
particle
in
a
variety
of
meanings
"
'
when,'
'
because
'
etc. It is also
added to
particles
to make them into
conjunctions,
or mark
them more
distinctly as such,as \a}"cah-Pe
'
although'
conjunc-
t]on,/ieah
'
though'being
an
adverb,/"'//e
'that
'
conj.=/"//"
(767).
Inflected
pronouns
are also used as
particles,ly,
the instrumental of
Jvzt,
is used in the
sense of
'
therefore,'
'
because,'
and to
express
measure
and
proportion, as
in
/y
ma
'
the
more,'
correlative
py . . . Py=
MnE Ihe
...
the ia the
more
ihe merrier. The
change
of
py
into the is the result of
loss
of stress and confusion with the
indeclinable/*,huv,
the
T,Goo(^le
jijij.]
PARTICLES
;
ADVERBS.
455
irstnimental of
hmat,
is used in the
sense
of itsMn" descendant
why.
1611- There
are
many
group-particles
in OE
consisting
of
a
preposition governinga
pronoun
in the dat.
or
instr. The
combination with the
prepoHtion
alone
generally
forms
an
adverb"^/^wP"m, for Jim, for Jy
'
therefore
'"the
corresponding
conjunctionsbeing
formed
by
the addition of
A
"
/or
âm pt,for Pon fit,for py Pe
'
because,'ar Pom pe
'
before,'a/lerpSm pe
'
after
'
"
or pai :
to
pant Pat,
to
pon
pat
'
in order that.'
sippan,leoppan
'
since
'
contains
an
obsolete
preposition -^p'
'
since
'"sippan=sfp-pon
with
shortening
of the I.
18X2.
There
are similar
group-particles
formed
by
combi-
nUions of
pronouns
with
nouns
and adverbs formed from
adjectives,
such
as
pa
kwtk
Pe
'while,'literally
'the time
when'
\pd
kimit
ace.
fem.
sing,],
nS
py
las
'nevertheless,'
'
notwithstanding,' literally
'
not
by-thatless,' py
las
pe
'
lest,'
literally
'
by-that
lessthat.'
1618.
The
group-adverbs _/%r-î,_/V-/fl",_/"r-îM
continued
in
use
throughout
the ME
period,
but became obsolete in
MnE. The
groups
in
-pe were
modified in various
ways.
In
Early
ME the
ambiguous pe was
generally
made into
Pat, as \B.
for-pt-pal, Pt-whtUPat, or
droppedentirely, as
in
peih,pouh
conj,=
OE
peak pe. Pat
often took the
place
of
the inflected
pronoun,
as
in
for-pal, fr-pai,after-Pat,
and
the new-formations
til-pat, before-pat.
But
even
in the Earliest
ME the
pronouns
were dropped,
so
that the bare
prepositions
_/tr,
gr,
before
etc. were
used
as
conjunctions,
as
in
MnE,
this
shorteningbeing helpedby
the fact that
even
in
OE the
prepositions
""r
'
before
'
and butan
'
without
'
were
used also
as
conjunctions,
the latterin the
sense
of
'
except,'
'
unless.'
pe-hwile-Pewas
shortened to fit'kwtli
and then to
hivSe,
whence the later
whiUs, whilst,
the older the
while,
while still
surviving
in the
higherlanguage.
OE
py
las
Pe
Ffs
43*5
ACCIDENCE.
rt
1514.
dropped
the
Py
in
Early Mn",
and
s^ was made into ii
(767}"givingUkiU,
shortened
kite,
lest.
Oorrelatire Fartioles.
1514. OE correlative
particles
are
:"/... ^ (1610);
swA
. . . stvd,as
in
twd Aunt
swa sww
'
as
white
as
snow'
;
pS.. " .
pa,Pomu
. . .
potmt
'
then
. . .
when
'
as
in
^"
A"
cam,
pa
eodt
ii
'
when he
came,
I
went,'
the second
(demonstrative)
pa,
poHtu being
omitted in Mn". Indefinite adverbs
are
formed
like indefinite
pronouns
(1146)
with correlative
swa
"
swa
hw4r
swa
'
wherever.'
Ifilfi. In ME the firsttwo
groups
were
preserved
in the
form of
/"
. .
.pe
and
alsva^.
. . ase,
as
... as, alswp being
a
strong,
as(e)
aweak form of
the OE
group
eall-swd
'entirely
so.'
In the other correlative
groups
one
of the members was
generally
omitted in
ME, as
in the ME and MnE
equivalents
of the OE
pd.
. .
Pa, ponnt
. . .
ponne,
where the relativewhm
was
substituted for
penne
= OE
Ponne,
the second member
being
omitted.
So also
swa
iaiiir
swa
appears
as
wifr sS
in ME.
Pronominal
Oonjnnotlons.
1S16. In OE the
neuter
pronouns
Super,nSuper,agPer
(1140,IISS)
are
often used
adverbially
in connection with
the correlative
conjunction-pairs
ge . . . gi
'
both
. . .
and,'
eppe
. . .
oppe
'either
. . .
or,' m
. . .
ne
'neither
. . .
nor,'
standing
in a
kind of
opposition
to them
:
Ate
cupon agper,
ge
god ge yfel
'
they
knew
each-of-the-two,
both
good
and
evil'
;
se geswpiied
bip auper,opPe en
node
opPe on
lichaman
'be who is afflicted
either-way,
either in mind
or
in
body';
Ak ne ciiponnan-pingyfeles, ndPer ne on
sprAle
ru on weorct
'
they
knew
nothing
of
evil,
no-way,
neither in
speechnor
in
action.'
1817.
In
Early
ME the firstcorrelative
conjunction
was
dropped
in such
combinations,so
that the adverbial
pronoun
T,Goo(^le
i 1518.]
PARTICLES
J
NEGATION.
437
was
brought
into direct correlationwith the second
conjunc-
tion,
OE
rt"Per
nt ne
being
made into
n^per
. . . ne,
ndPtr
. .
.ru
(1166)
etc, :
wgiw
on
spee/te
tie on werke. The
original
pronoun
afterwards
supplanted
the second
conjunctionas
well,
where, being unstressed,
it
was
liable to
shortening,
whence the
pairsgjtr {eiper) . . .or, ngPer (netfier)
. . .
nor :
fOeri
man
schal have
^pergod iPer
iivel
"
etpergod or Uvel.
The weak
or,
nor were onlyrarely
introduced into the first
clause
as
well
;
but in the
higherlanguagewe
stilluse or
, , ,
or
instead of eiihtr
. . .
or.
The
new conjunctions soon came
to be used without
any
correlative, as
in the
Early
Mn" he
mihle ridm
"Jier
ggn.
The correlativebolk
. . .
and
arose
in
the
same
way
as
either
. . .
or
etc.,
the
beginning
of It
being
seen
in such
an
OE construction
as
^ ^
geseoJ",J"al
he hie
gtnirtde,
and him
eac
forgtaf
He
lif,
'
they
see
both
(neut
sing.)
that he has saved
them,
and has also
given
them eternal
life.'
ITegation
and
Aifiimatioii.
1518.
The
negativeparticle
in OE is
ne,
which
drops
its
vowel in some combinations before
2
vowel,
or
A
or w followed
by
a vowel,
these consonants
being
also
dropped,
nwi-
being
made into
ny- ;
thus eom
'
am,' hee/P
'
has,'
hafdt
'
had,'wdf
'knows,'
wisle 'knew,'
wiU
'will,'
wolde 'would' have the
negative
forms
neom
'
am not,'
na/p,nis/de, not,nyste,nyh,
noMe.
Some
pronouns
and adverbs have similar
negative
forms,
such
as nan
'
none,'ndAwtsper,nauper
'
neither,' nawihl,
nahi,nawihi,
noht
'
nothing,'
nd
'
not
'
from
an,
akwxptr,
awihi
(owiht),
a
'
ever.' In sentences
the
ne is
prefixed
to the
verb,
being
contracted with it if
possible,
and to all the other words
in the sentence that admit of contracted
negative
forms: n"n
ne
dorstenan
ping
dscian 'no-one durst ask
anything.'
Ifthe
sentence
does not contain
any
such contracted
negatives
in
additionto the
negatived verb,
the
stronger
nd or
nah/ isadded
438
ACCIDENCE.
W IS19.
to
support
the ni
before the verb
: pmt
kus n" w
ftM
'
the
bouse did not "I1.'
ISie.
In M" the
usage
is often the
same as
ia'OE
:
hi
t^ver
widdt
hoping.
But the we^ fcmn of
nSxoiht,
namely ttcU,
not
(1147)
from
being;a mere
strengthening
of
the
nt, began
to
supplantit,as
in to
me
schi wifi not do
Pat
grSce,
althoughne
isoften
kept,
as in
2^ ne
wSl not ban
mi
""
1520.
In MnE
ne
disappeared entirely.
At tbe
same
time
the influence of Latin
grammar
led
to the
adoption
of
the
logical principle
that
'
two
negatives
con^dict each other and
make
an affirmative,'
which is
now
strictiy
earned oat in the
Standard
language, spoken as
well
as
written,though
the old
pleonastic negativesare
still
kept
up
in
vulgar
speech,as
in /
don't
know
nothing
ahtmt t'/=the educated I do not know
aity-
Ihing
about it or
I know
nothing
about it.
Ifi21.
Although
OE nakt
was
preferred
to
"a as
the auxiliary
negative
in
ME,
the latter held its
ground
in certain
collocations, especially
before
comparative adjectives
and
adverbs,
and is stilt
kept
in such
phrases9S he is no belter
;
no
more of
this! And
no
is
always
used as the absolute
negation
"
in
answer to
questions
etc."
together
with
nay,
which
is the Scandinavian
net
'
no,'literally
'
not-ever.'
nay
is
now
obsolete in
speech.
16SS.
The 0"
particles
of affirmation are
^la,
Anglian
ga, gi,ME_"/,Early
MnE
(j")
Second MnE
(jii, jee),
which
is
now obsolete;and^nÔE
^j",
Anglian
êse,
ME and
Early
TAviB.
yis,yes. gise
is
an
old
group-compoimd
of
"ea
and the
subjunctive
i"
'
be it
'
;
it
was
therefore
originally
an
emphatic
affirmative.
Compuison
of Adverbs.
1623.
The
comparison
of adverbs has
already
been treated
of under
Adjectives(1086).
In OE the
regular
forms of
adverb-comparison
were
-e, -or,
-ost and
-Hie,-licor, -liocor,
T,Goo(^le
iijae.] PARTICLES;
COMPARISON.
439
"licoit,
-Uocost:
deopt, deoplUe
; diopor.
Late OE
dioppor (788),
"
deoplicor
;
diopost, deoplicotl.
There
was also a
smallerclass
wWûtation
in the
higher degrees,
the
endings being-t,-,
-est,
aj in
langi
'
for
a
longtime,' ip^,Ipigesl.
Most of the
adverbs which admit of
comparison
are
formed from
adjectives
;
but
primary
adverbs alsoadmit of direct
comparison,
with and without mutation
:
o/l
'
often,' of/or, oftost ;
Sr
'
before,'
aror,
"rest.
isa4.
In MnE the
comparison -tr,
-est
is,
as a
general
rule,applied only
to those adverbs which have
no
spedal
adverbial
ending
in the
positive, especially
those which have
the aame form as the
corresponding adjectives,
such as hard
"
as
in
pullharder, pull
hardest"
loud,
qtdek,fast, long.
The
comparison
of
primaryadverbs,
as
in
oflen=.OE oft, oftmer,
9ftmesf,
has in some cases been carriedfurtherthan in
OE,
as
in
lO"n, saoner, soonest, seldomer,
the OE
sotta,
seldon
not
admitting
of
comparison.
Adverbs in
-ly
are
comparedperi-
phrastically
:
Jully,
more
fully, mast/ulfy.
But in the
spoken
language
these adverbs often form their
comparisons by
inflection from the
corresponding adjective
:
easy,
easier
"
as
in easier saidikon done
"
easiest
; cheaply, cheaper, cheapest
"
as
in where it
can
bedone
cheapest.
162fi.
The
following
adverbs are
comparedirregulariy
in
MnE:"
well;better;
best.
OEwel; bft;i//f/,
which
dropped
its
/ in ME beston
the
analogy
of
m^st,
etc.
badly{evilly, ill); worse,
worst.
OEyfii;
wiers
{wyrs) ;
wierrest,
wierst
{wyrresl, wyrsf).
much,more,
most.
OEmiW?;
ttta{re);
mast.
HUk,kss,
least. OE
^tle, ^t\
ISs
;
last.
far;farther, further ;farthest, fur
Ihst.
OEfeorr; êrr;
ficrrest.
1526.
There
are
besidesvariousisolatedforms which have
been
treatedof under the
comparison
of
adjectives.
From
the
comparative
adverb rather
=OEhrq^r
'quicker,'
'sooner'
440
ACCtDBffCB.
[(
1517.
A
po^tive
adjective
ratht was
formed in MnE
" the rathe
prim- rose
(Milton)
" which is
now
obsolete.
1B27. From
some
of the isolated
comparatives
and
superlatives,
whose
meaning
has been
forgotten
and which have
come
to be
regarded
as
positives,
adverbs have been formed
l^ adding-ly
:
formerly, laiterly, laslly.
PREPOSITIONS.
Old-Engush.
1528. Of the OE
prepositions
some are
simple, some
oompound.
Most of the latter
are
made
up
of
prepositions
"
especiaUy
be" and
place-adverbs ending
in
-an, -on,
he- becom- ing
b- before
a
vowel,
such contracted forms
as
bu/an
'above'
=
'be-ufan, being
made into
new
compounds,
such
as
onbufan
'above.'
The
following
are
the most
important
of
these
compound prepositions
:
"
nt
:
aiforan
'
before.'
be
'
by
'
;
baftan
'
behind,'
bt/oran
'
before,'
bêondafi
'htyonA'
behindan'hcYanA.,'
bitinan
'
within, '^m^^^n 'beneath,'
bufan
'
above,'
buian
'
outside.'
on :
onforatt
'
before,'oninnan
'
within,'
onbufan
'
above,
ottu/ân
'
upon,'
onhutan
'
around.'
t6:
/ôran
'before.'
under
: undenuqân
'
beneath.'
wij)
'
towards
'
: wtj"mrum
'
within,'toijiu/an
'
without.'
ymb
'
around
'
:
ymbutan
'
around.'
1629.
Other
compound prepositions
are
formed of
prepo-
siiions-f- nouns or
adjectives
in the four
cases
governedby
OE
prepositions
" the
ace.,
dat., inslr.,
gen.
:
ongemang
'among,'literally
'into the
crowd';
ongean,
Anglian
ongfgn,
ongett,
'
against,'
and
treaties,Anglian
tbgignes,logerus
'
towards,'
'
against
'
contain
an ot"solete
noun
of uncertain
meaning;
tomiddes
'amidst' is formed from the
adj.
midd
S
"534J
PREPOSITIONS.
441
'middle'; betweotmm,
betwtx are
formed from
an
obsolete
adjective
connected with twiwa
'
twice.'
1580. Those 0"
prepositions
which
govern
both
ace.
and
dat, generally
take the
ace. to
express
motion,
the dat.
(or
instr.)
to
express
rest :
he iodt
on J"al
Aus
'
he went into the
house';
hi wunodt
on
J"am
h"se
'
he remained in the house.'
1531. As
we see
in the last
examples
the
preposition
on
does
duty
for
in,
which became extinct in Later OE.
1S82. The
0"
prepositions
are
closely
allied to the
adverbs.
Most of them
can be used
as adverbs without
any
change
of fonn. Thus
ow
is
an
adverb in hi
dyde
on kit
hyrnan
'
he
put
on his
corslet,'
the Mn" don and
1/0^being
contractions of OE
iid{n) on,
do
of.
So also in he him
iocw"Bp
'
he said to him'
compared
with
hicwaplo
him. Some
prepositions
however,
such
a^/or,
are not
used
as adverbs,
while
Others
undergochange
of form. Thus the adverbs
corresponding
to be and in
(on)
are
it and inn
:
he slod
bi,
hi slod
him
ii,
hi iodt inn
compared
with hi slod he htm
'
he stood
by
him,'
hi iode in
{on)
ficE/hSs.
The
preposition
^
is,
of
course,
the weak form due to want of
stress,
it
being
the
orig;inal
stroi^
form.
1S88.
In such combinations 2iS
pôn, fidrlo,
which in OE
are regularly
used to
express
on
it,to it,etc.
(878),
m and to
must,
of
course,
be
regardedas
adverbs,
therein,
herein
are,
indeed,
often
expressed by Pdrinne,
kirinm with the
pure
adverb inne=innan.
1634. It is to be observed that the
prepoutionswere
originally
all
adverbs,
which could
modify
either verbs
{he
stood
by)or nouns.
Adverbs
were originally
added to inflected
nouns to
express
more definitely
the
meanings already
indicated
by
the inflection. Thus 'motion to'
was originally
expressedby
the
ace. alone,as we see
in the Latin domum
venit
'
he
came
home
'
and also in the adverb home
itself,
and
the prepositions
on,
in,through,
etc.
were
put
before the
ace.
of
motion to define it
more
esactiy.
So also in
or Ji"m hute
442
ACCIDENCE.
[j
1535-
the idea of
'
rest
in
a
place
'
was
primarily expressed
b^
the
dative,
which here
represeiits
the Arian
locative
Middle
and Modkkk English,
1586. In M" the adverb hx
was
extended
to
the function
of
a
preposition
"
a
change
which had
alreadybegun
in OE
"
80
that be
was
preservedonly
in
compounds
and traditional
groups
such
as
htform,
beside.
By
the
change
of
-oh,
-on
into -e the OE
aAyerb/oran
and the
preposition^^
'
before
'
were
levelled under the
latter,
and
by
the
analogy
of the
adverbs
imu, ufe=imian, vian,
the
preposition
mid 'with'
when Qsed
as an
adverb
was
made into
midt,
as
in
/^rmide=
0"
pdrmid.
So
also/iv,
which tiad no
corresponding
adverb-form in
OE, developed
a
ME
adverby"r*, î\aJ"p-/ore,
wh^fore.
The confusion
that thus
arose
between O'S.
for
and_/iirf
was
avoided
by
an
extended
use
rf die
compound
1630.
In ME innan 'inside'
came
into
general
use as a
preposition
so as to avoid the
ambiguity
ofOEoM='
on,'
'in.'
Beinggenerally unstressed,
it
wag
shortened first to ine and
then to
in,
the
original
distinction
being
thus restored.
1687.
In
tS^/r?
from
Scandinavian_/ra and_/"-i""i=OE
/ram
were
used both
as
adverbs and
prepositions.
We
now
Mst/roonly
as an
adverb in the
phrase
to and
fro.
1688. In ME the
preposition
mid
'
with
'
got
confused with
toi^
'
against
'
"
a
confusion which would
easily
arise in such
phrases
as
^git
vjitk
(0" feohianwi^),
deal
with,
where the
relationbetween the
parties might
be considered either from
its
original point
of view
as
'
towards,'
'
against,'
or
from that
of
'
participation,'
'
having
in common.'
By degrees
the
more
marked
meaning
of OE
iviPwas
expressedby against,
and
ME
wi^
took the
meanings
of
mid,
which then became
extinct.
For the difTerentialionof OE
of,
wi}"
into MnE
of,off,(wi^
wi|.)
see S
861.
S 1S4J.] INTERJECTIONS.
443
163B,
In ME the
Tare
constructionof
prepositions
with
the
genitive
was soon
given
up
"
except
of
course in isolated
groups
such as tomiddes
"
and when the distinctioD
between the other
oblique
cases
and the
nbm. was lostin the
nouns,
and
nothing
was
leftbut the distinction of
nom. and
objective
in some
of the
personal
pronouns,
the
only
trace
fcftof
case-governmentby prepositions
was
that
they
were
sometimes followed
by
a
personal pronoun
in the
objective
case,
1640.
In 0" the adverbial
ending
-toeardis sometimes
used detached in connection with the
preposition
/o in such
congtracdons as
w^
Un
(dat.)
weard
'
towards her.' In
ME thisisoften carried
fiirther,
u in
to ivgdt
ward.
Id Troie
wardes =" toward
pe wSde,
tSwardes
Troie, /rp
Bordtux ward
compared
with
framward
TeuktsbUri,
where
framward
is a
new
formation on
the
analogy
of toward. In
Early
MnE the
BiUe stillhas to God ward.
1641.
In ME the a
of amiddts was
restoredto itsfullform
on,
for which
trt was afterwards substituted.The
body
of
the word was
then
regarded
as an
independent
noun,
so
that
at lastinmidsi
developed
intoin the midst
("^\
INTERJECTIONS.
1642.
Interjections
are
-pximaxy
and
seoondsir.
Pri- mary
interjections
are
mostly
imitations of soiuidsthat
ac- company
emoUons : ah,
o, ok,pah,pooh,
kuik. From them
other
parts
of
speech
may
be formed
;
thushush isused as a
verb
"
io hush. Such
interjections
as
what I dear me! are
secondary.
There
are
also mixed
inteijections,
made
up
of
primary
interjections
combined with other
parts
of
speech,
such as
alas from Old French
halas,
alas
[Modem
French
h/las],
made
up
of the
interjection
a
and /aj= Latin lassum
'
weary.'
1648.
The OE la ! eala I
'
oh I
'
seem to be
primary.
444
ACCIDEKCB.
[|
1544.
wa
'.
'
woe
t
'
is the same word as
the
noun
wawa,
um
'misfortune.' wOis! wHlSwSI 'alasI'
are
therefore mixed
interjections.
1S44.
Interjections
ata.j
stand in various
grammatical
relations to other words. Hence in
OE,
wd sometimes
governs
a daL, as
in
u"a /"am
mpm
I
'
woe to the
man I'
loSJS
governs
a
gen.
in such
phrases
as toild
Jiareiermfie
!
'
alas for the
misery,'
on
the
analogy
of the
gen.
after
verbs
of
repenting,
etc. As
we sec
from the above
examples,
interjections
are
frequently
connected with
prepositions
in
MnE.
COMPOSITION.
Old-SngliBh.
1B4S.
The normal
way
of
forming compounds
in OE is
by joiningtogether
two
words " which
may
be themselves
compound
or
derivativewords "the former word
being
unin-
flected,
the
latter,
if
declinable, keeping
its
power
of inflection,
and,
if a
noun, determining
the
gender
of the whole
compound.
Thus the neuter noun
goid
and the masculine
noim smij-can be combined to form the
compound masculine
noun goldsmip'goldsmith,'
So also
t^s-Zii/' evening
time' isfeminine because itslastelement is
a
feminine
noun.
These
compounds
of
nonn+nonn
are the most
frequent.
There
are
also
compounds
of
EidjeotiTfl -|-
notin,
such
as
haUg-dag
'church festival'
literally 'holy-day,' ewustolfor
'quick-silver,' 'mercury,' literally 'living silver';
of
nonu +
ad-
jective,
such
as
wm-sad
'
satiated with
wine,'
and of
adjeo tire
+ adjective,
such
as
wid-cup 'widely
known.'
1646. In the above
examples
the
part
of
speech
of the
whole
compound
is determined
by
that of the last element.
But there is a
classof
adjective + noun compounds
having
the
function of
adjectives,
such as
glad-mod
'
having
a
glad
mood,' btip-heort
'
blitheof
heart,'
'
cheerful,"
formed from
tbc
T,Goo(^le
f 1549.]
coMPOSiTioif.
445
adjectives î^f^,bRpt
and the
nouns mod,
htortt. As
we
see
from the last
example,
the
noim
is sometimes shortened in
such
compounds.
We call these
compounds
oonTWBion*
oomponiLds,
because
they
involve the conversion of a noun
into
an adjective.They are
very
old
formations,
such
conversion-compounds
as
the Greek dus-menes
'havingan
evil
mind,'havingapparently
been formed in Parent Arian.
Parent
Arian
had
also double
oonvoraioii-oomponnda,
consisting
of two nouns.
An
example
of such
compounds
is
afforded
by
the Greek rkode-ddktulos
'havii^ rose-fingers,'
'rosy-fingered' (anepithet
of the
Dawn),
The OE
ending
-lie is
really
the obscured second element of
old
conversion-compounds(1614).
1547.
The form-isolation of
compounds
in 0" consistsin
the
indeclinability
of the first element It is
only by
this
criterionthat
we can distinguish
such
compounds%.%godddd
'
benefit
'
from the
word-groupgod
ddd
'
good action,' as
in
the dative
plural gdddddum compared
with
godum
dddum.
1548. It is
onlyoccasionally
that die firstelement of
a
compound
in 0" shows
any
variation from the form ithas
when detached. But final vowels are
often
dropped,
as
in
gum-cynn
'
mankind,'
from
guma
'
man,'
sunn-Seam
'
sun- beam,'
from
tumu
'
sun,'
compared
with
sige-Uan
'
reward of
victory.'
1S4:9.
Normal 0"
compounds
take the stress on
the first
element
;
but as
word^roups beginning
with the
genitive
of
a
ndun or an
inflected
adjective
do the
same,
stress is in OE
no criterion of
composition
as
opposed
to mere
grouping.
Hence there isin OE
no
formal distinction between such a
word-group
as
-cyninges
tunu
'
king's
son,'
in which the
meaning
of the whole follows from that of its
elements,
and one
in which there is isolation of
meaning,
such as
the
plant-
name
"geacts-sure
'
sorrel,' literally
'
cuckoo's-sour.' But
as
most of the latterclass
developed
into true
compounds
in
Mn"
throughkeeping
their
uneven stress
(804),
it is
con-
446
ACCIDENCE,
[|
1550.
venient to
regard
them as 'genitive-compounds'
in OE as
well. The
following
are examples
of such OE
genitive
compounds,
many
of
which,
it will be
observed,
have been
obscured in
MnE
:"
ThD"s-dceg
'
Tuesday,'literally
'
day
of the
war-god{Tiw),
the name
being
a
translationof the Latin dies Mortis
(French
Mardi),
Sunnan-d"Fg'Sunday' \mmte 'sun'],Monan-dieg
'Monday' [mdna'moon'],îtgla-iand'England,'literally
'land of the
Anglians'[^ngleplur,'Anglians,' 'English'],
wilena-gemdl
'
parliament,' literally
'
meeting
of the wise
men
or councillors,'
often
erroneously
written
wilangemol,dagts-
lage
'
daisy,' Llerally
'
eye
of
day.'
These combinations
are
especially frequent
as
place-names,
such
as
Seoks-ug
'
Selsey,'
Kterally
'
seal's
island,'
Oxena-ford
'
Oxford,'literally
'
ford
of
oxen,'Buccinga-hdm,'Buckingham,'literally
'home of
(the
tribe
or familyof)
the
Buccings,' Dtftne^dr
'
Devon- shire,'
literally
'
province
of Devonia
'
(OE De/t^.
1660. Verbs arc
very
rarelycompounded directly
with
nouns or adjectives
in
0",
although
there is
nothing
to
prevent
verbs
being
formed firom
compound
nouns or
adjectives.
Thus from the
compotmd
noun wuldor-biag
'glory-crown,'
'aureole' is formed the verb
wuldorbeagim
'to crown,'
there
being
no
separate
verb
*biagian.
But the
frequent
combinations of verbs with
prefixes,
such as mis-don
'act amiss,'
'do
wrong,'
led to combinations with certain
adjectives
in similar adverbial
meanings,
such
3.5/idlin/ull-
fyllan
'
fullyfill,'
'
iv\fA,' Jull-wyrian
'
fullywork,'
'
complete,'
and
e/ttt
'
even,'
'
equal,'
which in
composition
expresses
the
idea of
conmiunity
or
association, as
in
efenprmvian
'
sym- pathize,'
literally
'suffer in
common
with,' The want
of
stress
in the firstelements of these
compounds
shows that
they
are
felt
as mere prefixes.
Modem
English.
1661.
In MnE
some
compounds are
formed
by adding
T,Goo(^le
f Ijsvl
COMPOSITtOff.
447
to the firstelement the Latin and Greek
connecting-vowelo,
bat
only
when the firstelement is in
a
Latin
or
Latinized
form, as
in
Angktaxon, Anglo-Indian,Franco-German, a
concavo-conoex
lens.
The
connecting
vowel o is
very
frequent
in Greek
componnds,
such
as hippo-ddmos
'
horse-taming,' philo-sopM/X
'
philosophy,'
literally
'loving
wisdom.' In such forms
as
hippo-,philg-
arc
preserved
one
of the most
frequent
forms of uninflected nouns
and
adjectives
in
a
primitivestage
of Parent Arian. ^^'hen inflections
were
fullydeveloped,
these old uninflected forms survived
onlyas
the firstelements of
compounds.
It is
possible
that such OE
compounds as dage-weorc
'
day'swork,'nikle-gaU
'nighdtâle,'literally
'night-singer,' from
dag
and
niht,
still
preserve
remains of the old
connecting
vowel.
The
ng
in the Mn"
mghiingaU
may
be due to the influence
of
evening.
In MnE handiwork the i is the OE
prefix
gt-, preserved
in
enough'Ô'E.
gendg,
the OE
form
of the
compound
being hand-geweorc.
The i- was
preserved
in MnE
probably
through
association with the
adjectivehandy,
handicraft"
G^
handcraftprobably
owes
itsi to the influence of handiwork and
1663. One of the fonnal
tests of
composition
in MnE
as
well
as
in OE is the
inseparability
and
indeclinability
of the
first
element. But
owing to
the scantiness of the inflections
in MnE and its
more
rigidword-order,
these
tests are not so
decisive in it
as
in
OE,
especially
when
an
adjective
is the
firstelement. The
great
estenaion of
even stress in
MnE,
on
the other
hand,
makes stress the main criterion for
distinguishing
between
compounds
and
word-groups(88B).
16SS. One result of this fiirther
development
of stress-
distinctions in MnZ is that
we are able to
recognize
a
special
class of MnE
genitive -compounds,distinguished
from
mere genittve-groups
in the
same
way
as
compotmds beginning
with an adjective
are
distinguished
from the
corresponding
word-groups,namely by having
uneven instead of
even
stress
(6B4).
LS84. Hence also the OE
compounds gold/al,
gddddd
448
ACCTDEffCE.
[|15^5.
have in MnE been
separated
intothe
groups -gold -vrssel, good
deed,
such OE
compovinds
as
goldsmip, cwicstelfor being
preserved
aa
compounds
in the fonn of
goldsmilh, guicksilvir
by
theiruneven stress
;
whilethe OE
groups
domes
da^,
Mac
bp-igt
have been made intothe
compoimds doomsday,
black-
1B56. Some
compK"unds
of MnE formation have
a noun
in the
plural
as theirfirst
element,
but
only
when thisnoun
in the
plund
has
developed
a
meaning
of its
own different
from that of the
singular,
so that it is isolatedfrom its
singular,
the connection between them
beii^
Eometimes
forgotten.
Such
compounds
are
chlhesbrush, cloHas-batket,
etc.,newsixy, newspaper(njuwspeips),
where the
compound
is
obscured
by
the
change
ofthe
(z)
of naos
(njuwz)
into
(s).
1556. As
regards
th"
use of the different
parts
of
speech
in
composition,
the most noticeabledifferencebetween OE
and MnE is the
greater
freedom with which in MnE verbs
enter
into
composition
with nouns and
adjectives,
the result
of thecombination
being
sometimes a
noun,
as in
ireahoaUr,
clasp-knife,
sometimes a
verb,
as in
browbeat,whitewash,
according
as the lastelementisa noun or a verb. But such
compounds
are still
comparatively rare,
the main combinations
ofverbs
being
with
particles,
as in OE.
Meaning
of
Compounds,
1657. The
general
rule of
English"
as alsoof Parent
A rian"
composition
is to
put
the
adjunct-word
before the
head-word,
on the same
principle
of
putting
the modifier
beforethemodifiedword as we followin the
group adjective
-{-noun.
Hence theorderin the
compound
blackbirdisthe
same as in the
group
blaclibird.
In such
groups
as
man-of-war, bread-and-butter,
on the
contrary,
the
modifying
element
follows,
insteadof
preceding,
and
accordingly
the stress isthrown an to the second element.
The end-strcBsin man-kind seems to show that even in a
i isSo.] COMPOSITION.
449
normal
compound
the second element
may
sametiinesbe regarded
as
the
modifying
one.
1668. In
many
cases the
logical
relationbetween the
elementsof a
compound
may
be definedwith
certaint}'
and
accuracy,
as
may
be seen from the lists
given
under the head
of stress in
compounds(896foil.).
Thus itis
perfecdy
clearthat in
goldfish
the firstelement definesthe second
one
by stating something
thatthe second element
resembles,
the
compoundbeingequivalent
to
'gold-resembling fish,'
or
more
definitely
'
go
Id-coloured fish.'So also itis evident
that
sight
in
iightseer
stands in the
same relationto seer as
it does to the verb see m he
saw the
sights,
and that
the
elements of
churchgoer
stands to one another in the same
relation
as
church and
go
do in he
goes
to church.
1650.
But in
many
cases these
logical
relations
are less
definite.Thus
a
water-plant might
mean a
plantgrowing
in the
water,
or a
plantgrowing
near the
water,or,
on
the
analogy
of
water-melon, we
might
suppose
itto mean a
plant
containing
a
great
deal of
moisture,
and
perhaps growing
in
a
comparatively dryplace.
The
logical
relationsbetween
the
elements of causal and
phenomenon-compounds
are
oftendifficult to define
accurately,
even when the
meaning
of
the
compound
itselfis
definite,
as in
sundial,
which
might
be
explained
either as a
'
dial
/"orshowing
the
position
of the
sun,'
or aa a
'
dialworked
"
as
it
were
"
dy
the
sun instead
of
by
clockwork,
etc.'
1560. It
must, indeed,
be borne in mind
that this
very
vagueness
is the chief reason
why composition
is
resorted
to :
itis
onlyby leaving open
the
logical
relationsbetween
the elements of
compounds
thatwe are able to form them
as we
want them without
stopping
to
analyzeexactly
the
logical
or
grammatical
relationsbetween thewords
we
join
together,
as we
might
have fo do if
we
connected them
tcêther by
more
definite
means,
such as
prepositions
or
inflections.
T,Goo(^le
45"
ACCIDENCE.
[|1561.
U61.
An
impc"-tant general
distinctionbetween
compounds
as
regards
their
meaning
is the
olOBeneas
of the
h^cal
connection between them. We
may
from this
point
of view
distinguish
between
oo-oomponndB
and
8n1"-oom.poimd8
in
the
same
way
as we distinguish
between
co-complexes
and
sub-complexes(466).
Thus in
a
causa)
compound
the
relation between the two elements is
an intimate
one,
like
that between the clauses of
a
causal
comfdex
sentence.
There
arc hardly
any pure
co-compounds
in
English,
such
a
combination
as deqf-mute='
a,
person
who is deaf and
dumb'
beingan even-stress
group-compound
and not a
pure
compound.
Pure
co-compounds
are
found in
Greek,and
are
very
frequent
in
Sanskrit,
where
we
find
long 'copulative'
compounds
such
as
god-angel-man'serpenl-demotu meaning
umply
'
gods,angels,men,
serpents,
and
demons,'
that
is,
'
all
living
creatures.' As we
have
seen,
the less close the
logical
relationbetween the elements of
a compound,
that
is,
the more
co-ordinativethe
compound is,
the
greater
the
tendency
in Present
English
to resolveit into
an even-stress
word-group.
DERIVATION.
ITatiTe Elements.
Prefisbs.
X86a.
Some of the OE
prefixes
are
strong
(strong"tressed),
some weak
(weak-stressed).
Noim- and
adjective-prefixes
"
that
is,prefixes
added to
nouns
and
adjectives respectively
"
.
arc generally
strong,
as
in "mU-ddd
'misdeed,'"un-cup
'unknown';
while
verb-prefixes
are
generally weak, as
in
for'gicfan 'forgive.'
When the
same
prefix
b used both
with nouns
(andadjectives)
and with
verbs,
it
generally
takes
a
shortened and weakened form in the latter
combination,
which isthe
natural
resultof itsweak stress. The
following
are
examples
of such
pairs
of
originally
identical
prefixes :"
T,Googlc
i is66.]
IfATlVE PREFIXES.
451
"attd-giet
'
intelligence
'
on-gittan
*
understand
"ee/-Jiutica'gT\iA%K'
ofpytUan'Xagrudge'
"or-panc
'
device
'
,
UppUan
'
devise
'
"H-gaag
'
circuit
'
iirgdn
'
practise
'
1568. When
a verb is formed directfrom a noun or
adjective,
the
strong
form of the
prefix
is
preserved
unchanged,
as in 'andswarum 'to answer' from the
noun
"and-swaru
'
answer/
Originally
there was a verb
*on-swgrian corresponding
to
andswaru in the same
way
as
onêlancoiresponds
to
andgief;
and the
frequent
0" form
andswfricm
is a
blending
of the
tniginal
verb and andswarian
or
andswaru.
1S04.
Conversely,
in
a noun
foiiried from
a verb (he verb-
prefix
is
preserved unchanged,
as in ^liesednes
'redemption,'
literally
'
loosenedness,'
from d-Itesan
'
release,'
'
redeem.'
It sometimes
happens
that a noun
which
originally
had
a
strong prefix
takes the
corresponding
weak
one
by
the influence
of
a verb of similar
meaning.
Thus
blgang
is oftenmade into
be-gaughy
the influenceof
faydw.
1606.
Insomecasesolderdistinctionsbetweenthestrongand
weak forms of
prefixes
have been levelled. Thus the weak
/or-
in
Jbr-don
'
destroy,' /brweorpati 'perish' appears
in the
earliestOE
as
/er-{J'er-don),for-
being
then used
only
as
the
corresponding strong
form
in such
nouns as
-/onoyrd
'
destruction,'
from which itwas
gradually
extended to verb-
forms. So also the weak
id-
in lo"recan 'break to
pieces*
is
represented by
te- in earlierOE
{irbrecan):
Its
strong
form was
originally "/itr-,
parallel
to
the
strong_/St-;
Air-
was
made into to-
bycontraction,
and then extended to the
weak forms.
180fl.
In the
case
of thesetwo
prefixes
theweak stress was
kept
in the
originally
weak forms in
spite
of the
adoption
of
the
strong
forms. But in some cases
the
prefix
not
only
kept
its
strong
form when transferredto a
verb,
but also its
Gga
45"
ACCIDENCE.
(|1567.
strong
stress
;
thusthe
prefix
mii- has
strong
stress
in "misddn
as
well
as in misdAd.
1667-
The
preGsê-,
on
the other
hand,always
has weak
stress,
not
only
before
verbs,
as
in
gesiim
'to
see,'
but also
in
nouns,
such
as
gesihp
'
sight,'
where it
originally
had
a
strong
form
*g(e-, *gea-
with
strong
stress.
1506. Frefizesto
pronouns
and
particles
are sometimes
weak,
sometimes
strong.
The
following
are themost
important
of the OE
prefixes,
the
strongbeing
marked
(').
1609. ft-. This
prefix,
whose
strong
form is
or-
(1603),
is
cognate
with the German
er-,
as in erlaubm
'
allow,'
strong
wr-,
as in
'urlaub,
the
noun
corresponding
to trlauben. Its
original meaning
was
'
out,'
'
from,'
'
forth,'
which
may
still
be tracedin such verbs
as aritan
'arise,'
aaiacan 'awake'
(Germanerwacien),
while in
many
cases
it is
practically
unmeaning
"
or,
at
most, emphatic
"
as in aieran
'carry,'
'
endure,' Sbysgian
'
occupy
'
[iysfg
'
busy'].
1670. 'ft-is
a
shorter form of aaia
'always.'
It is
a
strongprefix
which isused
only
with
pronouns
and
particles
to
give
them an indefinite
meaning,
as
in
-akwaper
'
eitherof
two,'
dkuidr
'anywhere,'
from
haaper
'which of the two?'
and kwdr
'
where ?
'
1671.
'Ag-
was
originally
d
'
always
'
followed
by
the
prefix
ge-
in itsolder form
gi-(1674),
whose i mutated the
preceding
d into
a,
and
was
then
dropped, giving i^-.
The
"I
in this
prefix
served
merely
to
emphasize
and
generalize
the collective
meaning
of the
ge-,
so
that
lig-
is
equivalent
to
'
all
'
or
'
every,'
as
in
-(rgkwcEjier
'
each of
two,'
dgkusdr
'everywhere.'
1672. be-
has $t-forits
strong
form. Itisthe
same word
as the
preposition
It
'by,'
whose
strong
form isthe adverb
hi
'
by.'
As ând 61are thereforestill
independent
words,
began,
blgang, etc.,
may
be
regarded
as
compounds
rather than deri-
T,Goo(^le
G 1576.]
NATIVE PREFIXES.
453
vatives. But the
prefixes
It-,
bl-have
diverged
so
much in
meaning
from the
independent
words
be,in,
that from an
unhistorical
point
of view the two
pairs
have
no
connection
with
one
another. Thus as
prefixes
he-and hi-
preserve
the
meaning
'
around,'
kept
also in Greek
amphi-,
which
represents
thefuUerArian form of which bi is
a
shortening.
This
primitive
meaning
is
seen
in
bigatig, iegdn,-.in
which
'
going
round'
developed
into the
meanings'worship,'
'cultivate.'
The most
gen"al
fiinction of be-is
to
8pecia.lize
the
meanit^
of transitive
verbs,
as in ieAm
'
hang
with,'
bee^t/an
'
beset,'
and to make
an
intransitive verb
transitive, as
in
beaipait
'
bewail,'be^ftUan
'
consider
'
from
w^n
'
weep,' p^nian
'
think.' In some cases
itis
privative,
as in beniman
'deprive'
\mman
'
take
'], behia/dian
'
behead.'
1678.
for,
earlierySr-, strongfor-(l66fi)
is
quite
distinct
from the
preposition y%r;
it
expresses
destruction, loss,
etc.,
as
\r
fordon
'
AesXioy! /orweorpan 'perish'
from dm
'do,'
VKorPan
'
become,'
originally
'
turn
'
[compare
Latin
veriere\
being
sometimes
onlyintcnsitive, as
in
/brbarmin
'bum
up.'
1674.
ge-,
which is
prefixed equally
to
verbs,nouns,
adjectives, pronouns,
and
particles,
has
primarily
a
collective
meaning,
as
in
ge/ira
'
companion,' originally
'
fellowtravel- ler,'
fiomyor'journey'[/aran, 'go,'
'travel''], gebro/iru
'
brothers
'
[brSjior,
'
brother
'], gehjvi
'
each
one
'
from hwS
'
who?',
beingcognate
with the Latin
cum
'with.'Itisoften
only intensitive,
and often
practically unmeaning,
as in
gemunan
'
remember,'
îm"'"(/' memory,'
'mind.' As
a
prefix
to
the
preterite participle
of
verbs,
as in
gebunden
'
bound,'
itis
really
a
grammatical
inflection
(74).
1575. -mia- is
a
prefix
both to verbs and
nouns,
as
in
misSeiati
'
displease,'
misdtid
'
misdeed.'
1676. of- is
cognate
with the
preposition
and adverb
of
'
off,
of.' The
strong
form
ce/- (1663)
isof
rare occurrence
;
in such words
as
-ofspring
'
progeny,'
ithas been
supplanted
by
the weak form. In thisword the
original meaning
of the
454
ACCIDENCE. [(
1577.
prefix
has been
preserved,
but in most cases
itis
only
inten-
sitive,
as
in
oftlian
'
kill
'
[slian
'
strike
'],
or
unmeaning,
as
in the
preterite participle ^Jyrsled
'
thirsty.'
XBTl.
0D-, Gtrong
and-
(1863),
is
represented
in German
bytH/-,ein{p)-, strong
ani-,
aa
in
tmp-fangm
'
receive'=0E
on/on,
'onl-worl
'
answer,'
with which
compare
OE
and-wyrde
'
answer,'
hterally
'
against-
wording,'
where it still
preserves
its
originalmeaning
of
'against,' being cognate
with the
Greek anJf
'
against.'
In
some
words it
expresses
'
separation,'
'change,' as
in onbindan
'unbind,'
onlucan
'unlock,'
'
open,'onwindan
'
overturn,'
'
change
to the worse.' In
many
words it is
unmeaning,
as
in ondriidan
'
dread,'
on^n-
nan
'
begin,'
167S.
on-derivatives such
as
the above must be
carefully
distinguished
from
compounds
with the
preposition
or adverb
on
'
on,'
such
as
"on-wititian
'
make
war on,'
'
aâil,'
ongiart
'
against
'
[Modem
German
"i^"^"i=older
German
engtgen,
ingtgin
owes
itsml- to confusion with the
prefix"i/-].
1679.
to-,
earlier
ft-,strong
to-
(ISOS),
is
represented
in
German
by
str-,
as
in zerirechen=-OY, lobrtcan
'break to
pieces,'
seriieilm=OE Iddalan 'distribute'
[ddl'portion,'
'
share
'].
Tins
prefixalwayskeeps
its
original meaning
of
'
separation,'
'
destruction,'
and is thus
easilydistinguished
from
compounds
with the
preposition
lo
'
to,'
such
as
-Idcyme
'arrival'
[cyme'coming'], to-gadre'together.'
1680. 'un-
'un-' is
a
prefix
to
nouns, adjectives,
and
secondaryadverbs,
and is
generallypurelynegative,
though
sometimes intensitivein the
sense
of
'
bad
'
:
unddd
'
wicked
deed,'
'
crime,' urKuJi'unknown,'
unsaf/e 'ungently,' 'severely.'
1681. -wan-
'un-'
[ivanaadjective'wanting,'
voatiiai*
'
curtail,'
'
wane
']
is
prefixed
to
adjectives,
as
in
wanhal
'
un- healthy
'
\hal
'
whole,'
'
sound
'],
1682.
In ME
ge-
was
weakened to
('-, as
in
were, i6Snde[n),
It
soon
began
to be
dropped
in the North- Thames
dialects,
as
in fff
'
like
'
= South-Thames
i/tci,
OE
gelic.
In
Standard
I IS84.I
NATIVE PREFIXES.
455
ME the
grammaticiO
1- is sometimes
kept,
sotnedmes not
"
beinggenerally dro[^d,
as
in
firt,
km^=OE
ge/h-a
'
companion,' gecynd
fern.
'
kind,'
'
nature,'
gecynde
'
natnraL'
The
prefix
seems to have been
preserved
in
poetry
for
the sake of ihe metre after it had become extinct in the
spokenlanguage.
But it has been
kept
to the
present day
in
enougk='iA'S. inoh,
OE
gtnog,
Handiwork
(1861.a),
and
in the
obGoletejwiir=
0"
^nc/i,r,r
'certain'" sometimes made
into
a
verb
(1466.i),
and in the
preterite participles yclept
=:OE
gecUopod
'
caHAoA,' yclad.
Also
through
confusion with
every
in
everywhere
from OE
*t^regekwAr.
aiiie must be referred to the OE
onlfc,
vhich bad the same
meaning
as
gellc.
1588. In ME the
prepositions ând
on were
liableto be
weakened into a
(1506).
The
same change
took
place
with
the
prefixes g/"-
and
on-,
and
as
OE d- was
shortened to
a-,
all three
prefixes
were
often levelled under
one
form. This
leveUingwas helpedby
the fact that
already
in OE there
was
a
certain confusion between these
prefixes through
the
vagueness
of their
meanings
in
many
words. Thus
we
find in OE
SMdan,
onbidan
'
await,' omvacan
and
awacan
'
awake,'ondrti-
dan
'
fear,'
ofdrddi
pret.
parllc.
'
afraid,'
the difference of
meaning t"eing
oflen
very
sUght
in other
cases,
as
in
dspidoH
'
send,'
onspidim
'
send
forth,'
agiefan
'
render,'
ofgicfan
'
re- linquish.'
of-
was
preserved
in
ofspringthrough
its
strong
stress.
So also and- in
andsware, answare. Towards the
end of the ME
period
the
prefix
a- was
dropped
in
many
words, partlythrough
its
vagueness
of
meaning, partly
through
its indistinctnessof sound. It is
now preserved
only
in
a
few
words,
such
as arise,awake,
awaken=0'E.
drisan,awacan,
Swacnian, acknowledge
=yiE.
akniuljchen,
io
which
corresponds
OE
oncnawan,
ashamed=OS.
ofsieamod,
abide^dY. onbidan
'wait,'
and the obsolete a/iirsl=OE.
o/^ri"d.
1684.
But those verbs in
on-
which
expressed
a definite
456
ACCIDENCE, i\ifSs.
reversalof the
meaning
of the verbs
tbef
were
fimned
from,
Buch
as mbindan,
saved their
prefixes
from
being
veakenei)
inlo the
ambiguous
a-
by identifying
it
with
the almost
synonjTnous
noun-
and
adjective-prefix un-,
whence the
MnE
unbind,vnloeh,
and
many
new-formalions " from French
as
well
as
English
verbs " such
as unsellle,
unhook,
unarm,
unchain.
1585. id- was
preserved
in
ME, as
in
lobreien, lorendm,
but has become obsolete in
MnE,
though
the Bible
etillhas
all tobrake his
scull,
where all is adverbial.
15Se,
/or-
is still
preserved
in
MnE, as vsi.
forbid, forswear,
forlornÔS.forloren, preterite
participle oiforllosaa
'lose';
but
many
of the ME derivativeshave become
obsolete,
and
for-
is
no
longer
a
livingprefix.
\nforego=0'". forgSn
'
go
without,'
'
forego
'
the
prefix
has been confused with (he
separable prefix
or
adverb/oM=OE_/b"
'before.'
1687.
The
mainly
noun- and
adjective prefixes
mis- and
ttn- are
still
livingprefixes, being freely
used to form
new
derivatives,
such
as misadventure,
misrepresent, unrest, unlimited,
uwhain.
1688.
The
only
old
verb-prefix
that
can
be
regardedas
still
living
is
be-,
with
which
an
immense number of
new
verbs have been formed in MnE
as
well
as
ME.
Many
of
these
have been formed
directly
from
nouns " French
as well
as
English
" such as
befriend, benighted, besiege.
The
noun
byvjord
still
keeps
the
strong form,
being
formed
on
the
analogy
of ME
iM^/;=OEi?j;^// 'parable';
but such
nouns
as
bystreet,
bystander,
may
be
regarded
rather
as
compounds
with the adverb bt. Some
nouns
have taken be- from the
corresponding verbs,
such
as
belief
=OE
gtleafa,
the
corresponding
verb
beingbelieiie=0^gene/'an,
Late
OE
beliefan.
Suffixes,
1689. Of the OE
endingssome,
which contained
i or
j
in
Germanic, cause
mutation of the
precedingvowel,as
in
gylden
'golden.'
When the
same
ending
sometimes
mutates,
{ I59I.]
NATIVE SUFFIXES.
457
sometimes
not,
the mutated forms
are
geoeralty
the
original
ones,
the unmutated forms
being
theresultof laterinfluence
of the unmulated word from which the derivative was
formed.
Thus beren
'
belonging
to a bear
'
= earlieriirm owes its" to
the influenceof the
noun
itra
'
bear.'
Noun-forming,
(a)
Concre/t.
1690- -ieJiis a diminutiveneuter
ending,
which,
although
preserved only
in
a
very
few
words,
such
as
lynien
from
futitu
'tun,' 'cask,' was no doubt in
common use
in the
spokenlanguage.
It is an extension of the
originally
diminutive
ending
-m in
mcFgden.
In ME and MnE it
appears
in the form of
-kin,-ikin,
whose fullvowel and k instead
of ch is
probably
the resultof the influence of the French
-quin,
itselfof Low German
origin.
Thus manikin 'dwarf'
is the French
mannequin,
which is itself
a
Low-German
diminutive of
man.
Other
examples
are lambkin,
napkin
[French nappe'tablecloth'],
canakin,
kilderkin.In
bumpkin
the
meaning
smallness
passes
over into that of
contempt.
In ME this
ending
was
freely
used Co fonn nicknames from
proper
names, many
of which afterwardsbecame
surnames:
Wilekin,
Wilkin from
William,
whence the MnE
Wilkinson,
which
was
again
shortenedto
Wiltins, Perkin,
shortenedfrom
Peterkin,Halkin,
whence
by phonetic spelling Havikin{s),
from
Hat,a
child's
mispronunciation
al
Harry
=
Henry.
1681. -end '-cr'is the noun-form of the
presentpar- ticiple
ending-enie,
and forms
nouns
denoting agents
from
verbs,
such
as
halend
'
healer,'
'
Saviour,'
siiotend
'
shooter,'
'warrior.'Itbecame extinctin
ME,
its
place beingsupplied
by
the
ending
-tre.
But itstill survives
disguised 'm/riend=
OE
freondliterally
'
lover,'
and
fiend=
OE
/eon4
'
enemy,'
literacy
'hater.'
lB9a.
-ere, -Are,
masc.
'
-er
'
forms
agent-denoting
nouns
from verbs : hindere
'
binder,'
Jisiere
'
fisher,'
leornere
'
learner,'
458 ACCIDENCE.
[|IS93.
godspelUre
'
evangelist
'
from the verbs
bindan,fisiian, Itomian,
gotkptUian.
It will be observed that of these verbs two are
formed
directly
from
iio\ms"^siiim
from
jis^,godsptlUan
from
godspeli
"
Diiginally goispdl
'
good tidings
'
" while Uor-
nere is associated in
meaning
with the
noun
leornung.
bocert
'scribe'
seems,
indeed,
to be formed
directly
from bx
on
the model of the Latin librdrita. Id ME the "2 in the
form
-dre was
shortened,
and underwent the
regularchange
into
a,
so that in
Early
ME
we find such forms
asfischarthy
the side oi
fischere.
In Late ME there
was a
good
deal of
confusionbetween these
endings
and the French and Laiin
endings
-er,
-ier,
-eer, "our, -or,
which often had the
same
meanings
as
the native
ending(1985).
This confusion
was
increased in
Early
MnE
by
the
levelling
of
-er, -ar, -or,
etc.
under
(ar)[869].
Hence such forms
as l:ar=OE
liogire,
tailor
compared
with
a
fait
sailtr
[OE stglan
'
sail
'].
1508. -estre fern.
'
-ess
'
;
bactstrt
'
female baker
'
[baeere
'baker'], tceppesire
'female
tapster,'
vAtegestrt'prophetess*
\vniega'prophet'].
In ME this
ending,being
unstrest,
soon
lost its final
t,
and the
resulting
-Uer came to be
regarded
as an
emphatic
form of
-er,
and
consequendy was
applied
to men as
well as
women,
so that the
Early
ME
feminines
bahsiere,
iappUkri developed
into the Late ME
masculines
baxter,tapster.
Many
of these trade-names in
"sier survive
onlyas
proper names,
such
as Baxter,Brewster,
Webster, In MnE this
ending
is also used to
express
'
one
who does
a
thinghabitually,' generally
with
an implication
of
contempt,
as
in
punster,
trickster. The
only
noun
in
-ster
which is still
distincfly
feminine is
spinster,
which
has,
however,
lost its
meaning
of
'
female
spinner,' being now
used
only
in that of
'
unmarried woman.'
1S94.
-ing
masc. : earming
'
poor
wretch
'
\earm
'
poor
'],
lylling
'little one'
[lytel 'little'].
The late OE
nijiittg
'coward,*'object
of
contempt,'
is
probably
of Scandinavian
origin(Icelandic nlpungr).
This
ending
is
specially
used to
T,Goo(^le
i 169^]
NATIVE SUFFIXES.
459
form
patronymics,
such
as
apeling
'
son
of a noble,'
'
prince
'
from
a^le
'
noble,'
'
aristocratic,'
cynmg
'
king,' literally
'
son
of a
king,'
the underived
cytie
being preservedonly
in
compounds
such
as
cynefulm
'crown,'literally 'king-helm.'
These
patronymics
are formed
freely
from
personal
names :
Scielding,^pelwulfing,Elising
'
son
of Elisha.'
Many
of
them are
preserved
as
proper
names,
such
as Maiming,
Harding, especially
in
place-names,
such as
Biilingigaie,
Islington, Reading,
so called from the clans of the
BUlingas
'sons of Bill'
etc.
This
ending
is also found in
names
of
animals,as
in
haring
'
heiring,'
and in
names
of
things,especially
coins,
such as
scilling,pfning,Jiorping{/iorpung,/iorpling)
'
farthing,' hterally
'fourth
part
(ofa. pfning)'hmafiorpa
'fourth.'
1696.
-ling masc.
in 0"
generally
expresses
affection,
familiarity, or
contempt:
diorling
'favourite,'
from deore
'
dear,'
'
precious,'
ME
derling,
MnE
darling,fisterling
'
foster-child,' hyrling
'
hireling,' underling.
There
are
many
others in
MnE, some
of which
may
be of OE
origin,
such
as
foundling,
others
being new-formations,
such
as
starveling,
worldling, nurseling, changeling.
This suffix is
frequent
in
names of
animals,generallyexpressingyouth or smallness,
as m
youngling 'young
animal,'
also used in the
sense
of
'
young
human
being,' yearling,nestling,duckling, gosling.
Some of these
may
be of OE
origin,
168a. -en
fem. with mutation
:
gyden
'
goddess,' fyxrn
'
vixen
'
from
god,/ox.
This
endinghas,besides,
a
variety
of
meanings.
It isdiminu- tive
in
magden,
and in the
compound ending
-ien
(1690);
and
occurs,
interchanging
with
-on, -n,
in
a
number of words without
showing
any
definite
meaning,
as
in
Aeo/en'heaven,*ma^m
'
poviei,' Pegen,pegn 'retainer,'
'nobleman.'
{i)
Abstract.
1607.
-niB(s), -Des(s)
fem. is the
regular ending
for forming
abstract nouns
from
adjectives
:
godnis
'
goodness,'
46o
ACCIDENCE.
lliSiJ*'
geBcnit
'
likeness,'
ieorhlnis
'
brightness.'
This
ending
is
stillin
living
use
in
MnE,
being
added to
foreign
as
well as
native
adjectives, as
in
dosetuit, gracioumets,although
many
of these do
not take itbecause
theyare alreadyprovided
with
corresponding
abstract
nouns
of
foreign
formation
;
thus
to
possible corresponds possibility,
to
charitalle, charity,
to nudi-
ocrt, mediocrify, although
such derivatives
as
ituviiailenest
are
freely
formed whenever itis found convenient.
1598. -u fem. with mutation forms abstract nouns from
adjectives
:
Ifngu
'
length,' slrpigu
'
strength,'
bradu
'
breadth,'
hSlu
'
salvation,'
haiu
'
heat,'
ieldu
'
old
age,'
archaic MnE
eld,wrap(P)u
'
anger,'
ME
ivrappt,
MnE
wrath,
from the
adjectives lang,Strang,
brad,
hSl
'
sound,'hSl,eald,wrap.
ISBB.
-u]},-]j
fem. with and without mutation:
Iriowp
"
fideUty,' Plifp
"
theft,'
ME
pi/pe,Pefte,
from Irimjoe
'
faithful,"
l)i^'thief,'
sl"wp
'
sloth,'
which in ME became
sl^pe by
the
influence of the
adjective
from which it
was formed,namely
OE
sldzD,
ME
sl^
'
indolent'
Togeogup
'
youth
'
corresponds
the
adjective
^"0H^ 'young.'
In ME the
ending-pe=OE
-pwas
substituted for ihe
equivalent
-if=OE
-",
as
being
more
distinct,
whence the MnE
length,strength, breadth,
health
=ME
lengPe,
OE
Ipigu,
etc.
Similarly
OE
diepe
from
det^
'
deep
'
has become
depth.
So also ME
welt,
MnE weal=
OE wela
'
prosperity,'
'
wealth,'
has
developeda secondary
form wealth
on
the
analogy
of health. In ME and MnE
some new
derivativesin -fh have been
formed,
not
only
from
adjectives,
as
in
warmth, dearth,
but also
directly
from
verbs,
as
ingrowth,stealth,
the latter
on
the
analogy
of
MEPiê
'theft.'
IQOO.
-ung, -ing,
fem. forms abstract nouns
from verbs:
bleisung
'
blessing,' ê^ndung
'
ending,'
'
end,'leomung,
Uom-
ing
'
learning,' rdding
'
reading,'
from the verbs
bUlsian,
T,Goo(^le
ii603.]
NATIVE SUFFIXES.
461
gepidiaHy
leomian,
rddan
(weakverb).
In OE this
ending
is
restricted in its
use,
and is
very
rarely
used to
form derivatives
from
strongverlw
because these
are
generally provided
with other
derivatives,
such
as
cyme
'
comiDg,'
gang
'going'
corresponding
to the
strong
verbs
cuman, gUn.
In ME
the
use
of
-inge, -ing
was so much extended that
at last
abstractnouns could be formed with itfrom
any
veib,
tillit
finally developed
intoa
purely grammatical
form
" the
gerund
(1367).
In MnE
many
words in
-ittg
have assumed concrete
meanings,
such as
being=
'
creature.'In
most cases these
concrete words in
-fng
express
eitherthe resultof the action
expressed by
the
verb,
as in
building
'
what is
built,'
'
edifice,'
dripping, leavings,
or
the instrumentof the action of the
verb,
as in
clothing, covering, wrapping, Jboting 'ground
to
put
the
footon.' In
some
words
-ing
has
a
collective
meaning,
as in
paling,shipping.
Some of these
words,
such
as
shipping,
shirting,
seem to be formed
directly
from nouns.
This
probably
arose
firomthe
ambiguity
of such words as
flooring,
which
might
be referredeitherto the aoMn
floor
or
the verb
lofioor.
The
following endings
were
originally independent
words
in OE itself:"
leOl. -dom masc.
is from the
noun ddm
'judgment,'
'
authority,'
and
expresses
first
'
rank,'
and then
"
especially
in combinationwith
adjectives
"
condition
generally
;
cynedom
'
royal authority,'
'
kingdom,' kinghaving
been substitutedfor
the less familiar
cyne (1684)
in
ME, bisiopdom 'bishopric'
[-nf=OE
Ttie
'government,'
'kingdom'], mariyrdom,
crit-
tindom, Jreodom
'freedom,'
wisdom. In MnE there are a
few
new-formations,
such as
dukedom. Christendom and
heathendom have now
become concrete.
In OEiOeK Idiedom
'
medicine
'
from /i"e
'
leech,'
'
phyacian
'
had a concrete
meaning.
1603.
-hfid masc. from the noun
hsd
'
rank,'
'
condition,'
463
ACCIDENCE.
[f 1603,
'
character,'
'
nature
'
;
bisiophad
'
rank
ofbishop,'
'
episcopacy,'
preoslhad
'
priesthood,'
iildhad,m^ph"d
'
virginity,'
the
more
femiliar
magdm being
substituted for
ma^p
'
virgin,'
'
maid
*
in
the ME maidenhod. widwtm-hid 'widowhood' is
really
a
group-compound
of hSd and the
genitive
of the weak
noun
widwe. In ME this
ending
became -AJc/with close
o
instead of
^,
whence the MnE
-hood;
this
change
cannot well be
organic,
and
maybe
due to the combined inSuence of -dom and the
noun
Add'bood.' The
frequent
ME fonn
-Â, -Afrfis
the result of
the
influence
of another
ending
of similar
meaning,namely-rids
from OE -rSdm
(1804),
the form -ftSdt
being
another result
of these
blendings.
In OE -had is used
"MiIy
with
nouns,
but
itsME and MnE
representatives
form derivativesfrom
adjectives
also,
such
as hardihood, likelihood,
fahehood. Many
of
the derivatives from
nouns
have taken concrete
"
mostly
collective
"
meanings,
as
in
priesthood
and the
new
-formations
brotherhood,neighbourhood.
The ME form
~)^
is
now
almost
extinct,survivingonly
in maidenhead and
Godhead,
such
Early
MnE forms
as
lusiihtad
being
now
obsolete.
1008. -l"o neut. from the
noun
lac,
whose
ordinary
meaning
is
'
gifl,'
but which shows traces
of the
older
meanings
'
game,'
'
fight,'
'
action in
general,' agreeing
with those of the
verb l"can
'
play
'
etc. :
riaflac
'
robbery
'
[riafian
'
plunder'J,
stinlac
'
phantasm,'
'
delirium,'
'
fury
'
[j
A"
'
phantasm,'
'ghost'
from tUnan
'shine,'
'appear'], wfUSc
*
marriage'
\v)^dd
'
pledge,'
'
contract
'].
This
endmg
survives
only
in
wedlock,
whose
0
is the ME
p
shortened.
UOl. -T"den
fern.,
gen.
-radenne,
from the
noun raden
'regulation,' 'agreement'[connected
with
ger^dan
'put
in
order,'
'
arrange
'
and the MnE
reatfy"] :
geferr"den
'
fellow- ship,'
'
agreement,' freondradm
'
relationship,'
'
friendship,'
mannrSden
'
allegiance,'
leonraden
'
injury
'
[liotta
'
insult,'
'injury'].
In OE this
ending was appUed only
to
nouns^
ME
keeps
many
of the OE
derivatives, frindr^dt,
tibrfde
'
relationship
'=0E
sibbraden,
and
on
the
analogy
of these
li6o7.]
NATIVE SUFFIXES.
463
formsthe
new
derivative
haUrfde, halrgde
'hatred'
[ME
hale
19 a
blending
of the OE
noun
hfle
'
violence,'
'
hostility
'
and
the
corresponding
verb
Aatian].
The
analogy
of
siirfde,
etc.
alsoledto theME
change
of OE
cynrm
'
Hne of
descendants,'
'
family
'"which is a
shortening
of
*cynn-tyne
'
kin-course
'
\ryne, 'nmning,' 'course,'
connected with ieman
'run*]
"
into
Mnrfde, whence,by
the usual insertionof d
(831),
the
Mn" kittdrei.
1605.
-adipe
masc.
'
-ship,'
from
a
lostnoun connectedvitb
the verb
scitppan 'shape,'
'create':
hiafordstipe 'lordship'
'
anihority,' /reondseipe, weorpsiipe
'honour'
[w^w^noun
and
adjective 'worth,'
'worthy'].
Concrete in
gtheorsHpe
'con- vivial
meeting,'
'
banquet
'
from
geleora
'
boon-companion,'
literally
'
fellow-beerdrinker
'
[^^-collective
+
blor
'
beer
']
and
some
others. This
ending
is
frequendy
used in MnE to
form
new derivatives, especially
from
personal words,
as in
ownership, consulship, relationship.
In 0" it isused
to form
derivativesalmost
exclusively
from
nouns,
but in MnE
we
have such derivatives
as
hardship, courtship
from the
adjective
hard and the verb to court.
Landscape
"
of which the older
spelling
was
iandskip
"
was
introduced into
English
in the
1
7th
century
from
Dutch,
where
landschap (lantsxap)
'
pro^
vince,'
'
countcy
'
came to b" used
by painters
as a
technical
term to
express
the
background
in a
painting,
inwhich sense
itcame
into
English,
the
endingbeing
at firstblended with
-ship
into
-ship,
AdJeotlTe-formlng.
ISOe. -ede forms
compoundadjectives
from
names
of
parts
of the
bodypreceded by
a
modifying
word
;
sureagede
'
blear-eyed,' literally
'
sour-eyed,' mtielhiafdede
'
big-headed,'
prihiqfdede
'three-headed.' In MnE this
ending
has been
necessarily
shortened
to
-ed,
and so has become
indistinguishable
from the
preterite participle
inflection.
1607. -en
with
mutation
generally
denotes
material, being
464
ACCIDENCE.
[(
i6o3.
alto used in the
more
general
sense
of
'
belonging
to
'
: aien
'
of oak
'
[Sc
'
oak
'], gylden
'
golden,' wylUn
'
woollen
'
[wuiie
'wool'],
s/aneti
'
of
stone,' ^"m
'heathen'
[A^ 'heath'].
In ierm from 6era
'
bear,'as
in ieren
ftll
'
a
bear's
skin,'
earlier
h'rat,
the
e
has been
brought
in from the
noun
;
so
also in
liadtK
'
leaden
'
[lead
'
lead
'].
In
MnE
these
adjectives
restore the unmutated vowel
everywhere,
as
in
golden,
woollen,on
the
analogy
of which
new
derivatives had been
formed,
such
as
vmodm, hempen.
In MnE the
simplenouns
are
generally
used instead of the material
adjectives
in
-m,
as
in
goid wakh,
stone
wail,
the full forms
being
nsed
only
in
specialmeanings,
as
in
goldenhair,although
we
sdll
use
wooden,
woollen etc. as
material
adjectives.
The
similarity
of
meaning
between roateriEU
nouns
and
adjectives (156)
has
in some cases
ted to the conversion of
adjectives
in
-en
into
nouns,
as
in A'n""=OE linen 'flaxen' from ^'
flax,'
and the
tree namts
atpen=0^ ceipe,
linden=OE. lind ttm.
[lindeln)/re
passed
through
Rndelri into linlriin
ME,
whence the
Early
MnE
linetret, now
Umt-tree\.
Some
adjectives
tn -en
with mutation
were
originally
preterite
participles
of
strong
verbs: druncen
'intoxicated,'
Ogen
'
own,'fagen
'
glad,'
whence
MnE
fain,
from
drincan,
Ogan
'possess,' gefion 'rejoice,'
the
strong
verb
coiresponding
to
^m
'
open
'
being
lost.
1609.
-ift
'
y-
'
corresponds
sometimes to Germanic
-ig,-ig,
sometimes to Germanic
-ag,
etc., causing
mutation in the
former
case,
but not in the latter
1
fial^
'
holy
'
[hal
'
entire,*
'sound'],
mddig
'
prond,'miilig'misty,' Uig 'icy';
hifig
'heavy'[connected
with
ifiian,preterite participle ha/en,
'lift'], l^sig'busy,' dyst^
'foolish,'
whence MnE
diszy.
In
MnE this
ending
has been
widely
extended,
and in
many
words it has taken the
place
of the material
-en,
li"AXi
fiery
=.
OE
0rm \/yr
'
fire'],
clayiy, gluey,
where the
Early
MnE
spelling
-ey
is
preserved,
as
it
regularly
is after vowels.
-ig
is also a
noun-ending,as
in
iodig
'
body,'ifig
'
ivy,'hunig
li6io.] DERIVATION;
NATIVE SUFFIXES.
465
'boney,'
The final
-y
with which
nouns are made
into diminu- tives
or words of
contempt
in MnE seems to be this
ending:
pitpfy,bafy
from
pufi,babe,dummy,
[ormed from dumb after
the b had become
silent, Billy
from Bill=
William, Betty,
Betsy,Lixrie,
alt three from
Elizabeth,
and
many
other familiar
names,
the earlier
spelling
-i"
beingkept
in
some
of the female
names.
1609. -isd
'
-ish
'
with mutation " which i" sometimes
got
rid of
by
the influenceof the underived word " is most frequently
used to form names of
nations,
but also in derivatives
from common nouns : ^nglisi,FrpUisl
'
French
'
\Francland
'land of the
Franks,'
'France'], StyUisi
'
Scotch'
[Siollland,
'Ireland,'
afterwards
'Scotland'],
WfUsi 'Welsh'; Herlisii
mpm
'
serfs'
[êorl 'serf'], mpmisi
'
human, 'yoivji' 'popular,'
'vulgfar.*
In ME
some
of the
names
of nations
were contracted
by
omission of the vowel of the
ending,
whence the
MnE
French,
Scotch
by
the side of the fuller
Scottish,
in both
of which the unmutated vowel has been restored
by
the influence
of
Scot,
Scotland. So also
Welsh,
the unmutated
vowel of ME Walsch " due to the influence of W"lles=OE.
Wealas
'
Welshmen
'
"
being
preservedonly
in the
proper
name
Walsh. In the other words formed from nouns
-ish
generally
expresses
contempt,
as
in
mannish,
vxmanisk
compared
with
manfy,
womanly,
childish
compared
with
childlike, brutish,swinish, uppish.
Such
adjectivesas
bookish,roguish,
in which there is
no
depredationimplied,
tend to become obsolete, -ish added
to an
adjective
expresses
simple
diminution,as
in
oldish, youngish,twutish,
longith,especially
with names of
colours,
such
as
reddish,
yellowish.
1010. -nun
'-some' forms
adjectives
from
noims,
adjectives,
and verbs: sibbsum
'peaceful,'
wynsum
'pleasant'
[wytitt
'
joy'];
langsum
'
tedious
'
;
hiersum
'
obedient
'
[hieran
'
hear,'
'
obey'J.
There
are
many
ME and MnE new-formations
; burdensome,handsome,
troublesome
; wholesome,
weari- some
;
buxom,
ME
buhsum,
formed
from the OE verb
bugatt
466 ACCWMATCE.
[i
1611.
*bow,''bend/
the
originalmeaning
of the
adjective being
'pliable,'
'
goodnatured.'
The
following endings
were
independent
words in Gei-
1811. -fbald
'
ôld
'
[Compare
the verb
/ealdati
'
fold
']
forms
adjectives
from
adjective-words, especially
numerals;
manigfeald
'
manifold,'
'
various,'
seo/on/eaid, hundftald,
'
hundredfold.'
leia. -fall
'
Jill,'
sometimes weakened to
-fol,
from the
adjective.^'//
'full,'
fonns
adjectives
from abstract
nouns:
iarfiiU
'
careful/
sorgfull
'
sorrowfiil/ synnfull
'
sinful.'There
are numu'ous
new-formations in ME and MnE "
some
from
concrete nouns :
artful, powerful,fruitful,masterful.
In
Present
English
this
ending
is shortened to
(-fl), by
which
it is
distinguished
from the
compounds handfull
(hsndfiil),
spoonftdl
etc.
1618. -leas
'-less'from the
adjective
lias
'deprivedof,'
'
without
'
[Compareferliosan
'
lose
']
forms
adjectives
from
nouns and verbs : drlias
'
without
honour/
'
wicked,' gtleafiias
'
unbelieving,'
'
sldpleas
'
sleepless
'
; êmelias
'
careless,'
rfiieleas
'
careless,'
from
gUman
'
take
care of/
rfiian
'
reck'
From -lias abstract nouns
in -leastare formed, where the
1=^
(787),
such
as sldpUasl
'
sleeplessness.'
In ME
this
ending
appears
both
as
-l^s
and
as
-Us with the vowel
shortened,
which
may
be due
to
the influence of ksse
'
less.'
It is
frequently
used in
new-formations,
such 03
fearless,
useless.
1814. -lid
'
-ly
'
: eorplii
'
earthly,' anjia
'
feminine,'
cynelU
'
royal/ freondlU
'
friendly/ giarlH
'
annual.' These
derivatives were
originally conversion-compounds
with He
'
body/
the weak vowel
being
afterwards
shortened,so
that
wifiti,
for
instance,
meant
originally
'
having
the
body
or
form of
a woman
'
(1646).
Derivativesin -liifrom
adjectives
and adverbs are
less
frequent:gSdli'i 'pleasant,'
deadlii
T,Goo(^le
5i6i8.] DERIVATION;
NATIVE SUFFIXES.
467
'mortal,'UtjAii'hateful,' ctttlit
'unique'[from
4ff 'one,'
with
exceptional mutation], 6pliiiupplii
'sublime/ This
ending
is
freely
used in new-fonnations in ME and
MnE, as
va.
primely,quarterly, sickly.
leiB, -weard,
'
-waid,'
from
an
obsolete
adjectivecon- nected
with
weor/"an=lAtm ver/ere,
forms
adjectives
from
nouns,
adjectives,
and adverbs;
Mmweard, mtddeweard,
intie-
weard from idm
'
home,'
midde
'
middle
'
adj.,
itme
"
within.'
Vflrb-formlnc-
leifl. -na isa
Scandinavian suffix
forming
weak intrand-
tive
verbs,mosdy inchoative,
from verb roots and
adjectives,
as
in Icelandic
dro/na,
'
get
broken,'
connected with
6rjSla
'break'
(pret.partic.6rt"iinn)=OE.
briotan
(pret.partic.
ôlm),
hvitna
'
become white,' harpna
'
become hard.'
Many
of theseverbs were imported
in
M",
such
as Harjina,
which
became hardntn
by
the influence of the ME
adjective
hard.
There have been
many
new-formations in ME and
MnE,
some
from
adjectives,
such
as gladden,redden,some from
nouns,
such
a"
frighlett\0Y _fyrhlu'fear'],
lengthen.
In
English
these verbs are used
transitively as
well
as intransitively.
The native verbs
awaken, faslm
are not formed direct from
waie and
fast,
but the OE weak verbs
aviacnian,fastnian
are
formed from the
nouns wacen
'
watching,' fasten
'
fastness,'
'fort,'
which
are,
of
course,
derivatives of
'wacan
'wake' and
feesl'UzKi
'firm.'
1617. -sian with mutation : clSnsian
'
cleanse,'
bladsian,
hUtsian
'
bless,'
from ilod
'
blood,'
with
shortening
of the
a,
the
original meaning being
'
to
sprinkle
(thealtar)
with
blood.' In Scandiiuivian this
ending
appears
as
-sa,
as
in
hreinsa
'
purify
'
[hreitm
'
pure
'],
whence
om rirue.
1616. -UB6aD from lot:
(1608):genialaian'approach'
frotnneak
'near,'gtryhtl"lan
'correct.' In ME
a new
Hha
468 ACCIDENCE.
[i
1619.
verb
cnguiichmwas
fonned with this
ending
from OE
cnawan
'
know,'
whence in Late ME
a noun
cngul^ht
vas formed,
which, by
the
change
of weak cA into
(d^)
gave
MnE
himiiafg*-
F"nreign
ElemenUi.
1619. The
foreign
derivative elements in
Englishare
mainly
of
French,Latin,
and Greek
origin.Many
which
were at firstintroduced into
English
in their
popular
French
forms
were
afterwards
Latinized, at firstin
spelling onl^
,
but
afterwards,
in
many cases,
in
pronunciation
also. In
some
cases
they
were
wholly
or
partially
Latinizedin French
itself,
though
sometimes" in Late Old French " in
spellingonly.
In
some cases
false
etymological spellings
of derivative elements
of Latin
originwere
introduced either in French or
English,some
of which have
corrupted
the
pronunciation.
1830.
Althoughforeign
derivatives
are
often
so disguised
as no
longer
to be
recognizableas derivatives,
yet many
foreign
derivative elements have remained
as
distinctas the
native ones. Many
of them
are
freely
used
to
form
new
derivativesfrom words of native
as
well
as
foreignorigin.
Some of them
are even detached and used as independent
words,
such
as extra.
Prefixes.
1621.
In Latin
many
of the
prefixes
are
liable
to various
changesaccording
to the
nature of the initio consonants of
the word
theymodify,
the full form of
a
prefixending
in
consonants
being generally preserved
before a vowel,
while
before consonants the final consonants of the
prefixare
liable to assimilation
and
loss;
and these variadons have
generally
been
preserved
when the words
containing
them
were imported
into French and
English.
1633.
The
foreign prefixes
will
now
be treated of in theii
alphabetical
order.
Specially
French
prefixes are
marked
*,
T,Goo(^le
(I624-] DERIVATION;
FOREIGN PREFIXES.
469
Greek
prefixes
are
marked
fi
Latin
prefixes being
left
unmarked.
1838.
ab-, abB-,
a-, 'from,away':ab-erroHon, ab-hor,
ab-rupi; att-cond,
ahs-tinent
',
a-vtrf. The
above are formed
from verb-roots,
abnirmis,
which in
En^hsh
waa
made into
ainormal
on
the
analogy
of the Latin
adj.ndrmSlts,
is an
example
of
an a ^-derivative from
a noun
"
Latin
norma
'
pattern.'
All theabove words were
taken
directly
from Latin
or
from learnedFrench. In
popular
French ab-became
av-,
but
theLatinform
was
generally restored,
as
inabus from
abusum,
whence MnE abuse. But Latin ai-b-
was
shortened,
as
in
abregier
from Latin
abbrevidre,
whence MnE
abridge,
ofwhich
MnE abbreviateis
a
learned
doublet,
taken directfrom Latin.
1624,
ad-,a-,
also in the assimilatedforms
ag-,
af-etc.,
according
to the consonant that
follows,
'
to.'In Old French
this
prefix
was
shortened to
a-,
not
only
before
consonants,
as
in mieniure
'
adventure
'
from Latin
res advenlSra
'
a
thing
about to
happen,'
but also before
vowels,
as in
aoumer
'adorn' from Latin addrnSre. The double consonants in
such Latin words as
aggravdre,assenldre=adgravSre,
ad'
seniSre were
shortenedboth in
pronunciation
and
writing
in
Old French
"
agrner,
asenier
"
double
*
being,
however,
often
kept(asten/er)
to
show that the
* was
pronounced (s)
and not
(z).
But in Late Old French therfwas often introduced
againby
the influenceof the Latin
orthography,
whence the
spellings
adventure,
adorner
etc.,
the latterword
beii^
at the same time Latinizedinitsvowel. Hence
many
of thesewords
appear
in ME in a
variety
of
forms, one,
of
early
introduction,
pure
Old
French,
the other
or others
more or
less
Latinized,
whilein
some cases
theLatinizedform
does not
appear
tillafterthe ME
period.
Thus in ME
we
have avenlure and
a contractedform
atmter,
in
Eariy
MnE
advenler,
which in the Present
English
has been lurther
Latinizedinto
adventure;
while the Latinizedadomett
appears
already
in ME
by
the side of the
pure
French
470
ACCIDENCE.
[jifiaj.
fonn
tt"mtti,
there
being
also
a blending
adumen. The
double consonants were restored in the
same
way,
sometimes
in
ME,
but
generally
not
till
later;
thus
we
have
ME
agriven,
asen/m
(alsoatsen/en)='MnEaggrieve,
asieni.
Sometimes the
preSsa- was
made into ad- from
a
mistaken
etymology,
as
in
advance,advan/age'=:MS.
avancen, ODonUê,
Old French
avaticer
being
a
verb formed from the
particle
aiM"/= Latin *ab-anfe.
16S6.
unb-,
am-, on-,
'
around
'
:
amh-ilion
; am-putate,
per-am-bulate
;
an-ci'pi/al
'
two-headed,'
'
doubtful.'
1626.
funphi-
'
around
'
: amphi-bious, amphi-thealre.
1627.
tan-
before vowels and k
-I-vowel,a- before Other
consonants,
'un-':
an-archy [comparemon-arc/g/\,
an- hydrous
'
without water
'
;
a-iheisl,
a-tom
literally
'
tmcut,'
'
indivisible.'
162S.
tana- 'up,''again,' 'apart,' 'according
to,''re- versal
'
etc. : atia-lhema,originally
'
thing
put up
or dedi- cated,'
ana-bapiisi,
'
re-baptist,' ana-tomyliterally
'
cutting up,'
iWM-/(ig"'
'
according
to
proportion,'
a"(i-â"i
"
transposition
of
letters,'
ana-chronism.
1629.
ante-,
anti-
'
before
'
:
anU-ceden/,
anU-diluvian
;
mti-cipale.Freely
used in
new-formations,
such as anle-
ehamier,anteroom,
antedate.
1830.
tanti- 'against': AnH-chrut,
antidote
literally
'given
against,' anii-pathy, anti-podes,
anti-thesis.
Freely
used in
new-fonnaiions,
such
as
anti-radical,
anti-consti- tutional,
anti-Gladstom, anti-spasmodic,
1881.
tapo-,
before vowels
op-,
before h
aph-,
the h itself
beingdropped
:
'
from,'
'
away,*
'
forth
'
etc, :
apo-copeliterally
'cuttingaway,'apo-logy, apo-strophe literally 'turningaway,'
apo-stasy;
aph-orism.
1832. bl- 'half,'
'twice': bi-enm'al
[compareannual~\,
bi-sect,
hi-valve.
M-cycle
is a
newly
formed
hybrid
from
Greek kitdos 'circle.'
1688. toftta-,
oat-,oath-,
'down,''through'
etc.: fo/a-
T,Goo(^le
J 1637.]
DERIVATION;
FOREIGN PREFIXES.
471
ract, calaslri^he, ealaltûe ;
cat-echite
;
calh-edral,
cath-
1634.
cironm-,
oirea-
'
round
'
:
eircum-navigatt,
circum- scribe,
circumslance, circumlocuHm,circumsptct, circumvent;
circu-ilous.
1085. oiB-'on thisaideof'
:
Cisalpine.
1636.
com-, con-,
00-
'
with,'
'
together,' being
another
fonn of the
preposition
cttm
'
with
'
;
often
merely
intenmtive,
likethe
cognate
OE
ê-.
In Old French the vowel of this
prefix
was made intod
through
the influenceof
cum,
which
was often
lengthened
in ME words taken from
French,
whence the MnE
{-e, au)
in
comfort, council,
counsel
etc.,
the
(o)
in such words as
conduit,
earlierMnE
(k^ndit) being
due
to
the
spelling.
In Old French
"
as also
occasionall}'
in
Latin itself " the finalconsonant of this
prefix
was often
dropped
before
consonants,
whence the MnE
covent^convent
in CoventGarden
[Latin cdnventto],
covenant. The
following
are
further
examples
of this
prefix
:
combine, commit,
compre- hend,
comfort [Old
French
comforter, cSn/orter']
; confess,
convince,
conclude, concern,
conduct,
contain
; co-agulate, coincide,
cohere
; col-ieague,
connect, corrupt.
This
prefix
isused in
oew-
formations,
such
as
com-mingle, compatriot, especially
in the
form of
CO- :
co-exist, co-operation,
co-tenant. The
predominance
of the tatter
ending
has led to the
change
of
contemporary
into
cotemporary ;
but the former is now
preferred,
as
being
nearer the Latin form.
1637.
contra-, "ontro-,
*oonnter-
'against,' originally
used
oidy
to form verbs. The Old-French form is
cunfre-,
cUntre-
with the
0
made intoS on the
analogy
of Old French
fft"-, cifn-,
out of which
English
counter- has
developed
in
the same
way
as
in counsel
etc.
But in Old French cSntre-
was
often made into contre-
by
the influenceof the Latin
spelling.
The Latin forms
arc
less
frequent
than the French
:
contradict, contravene,
contrast
[French
contrasterfrom *con-
trd-stdre'],
contraband
[bterally 'contrary
to the
proclama-
471
ACCIDENCE.
[S1638.
tion
']; conlroversy,
conirtmerl. The form counter- is used
not
only
in French words,
such as
counterfeit, countermand,
counterpart, counterpoise,
but also in
new-fonnations,
such
as
counter-attraction,
counterbalance, eounter-revoluiion,
counler-
vieigh.
counter is also UB"d
as an independentadverb,as in
to run counter
to,being partly
the Old French adverb and
preposition cUntrt,partly
the detached
prefix.
1638. de- is
partly
the Latin
(and French)
de
'
from,'
'
away,'
also
expressing
'
difference,'
'
negation,'
'
completion,'
being
often
onlyintensitive,
which is both
a
preposition
and
a
prefix; partly
French
des~,
di- from Latin dis-
'
asunder,'
'
apart,'
which often
develops
the
same negativemeaning as
A- = Latin de-:
degrade,derive,devious, literally
'out of the
path,'dethrone,devote,deny.
Ai=Latin dis-
(alsodi-,
and
assimilated
di/^: defeat[Latin'dis/acere, disfactum\, defy
literally
'renounce faith,'
delay[Latindilituni\, depart,
detach,
1688. 'demi-
'
half from Latin dtmidium : demigod,
demi-
semihrete,
demy (dimai)
is used
as an
independent
word.
1640.
fdi-
'twice':
digraph,di-phthong, dilemma,diploma.
The double ss
in
dissyllahU was
introduced in French
through
confusion with
the
Latin
prefix
dis-.
1641.
fdia-,
di-
'through';diadem,diagnosis, diameter;
diocese,
diorama.
1648.
dis,di-,
assimilateddif-
'
asunder,'
'
apart,'
'
pri- vation,'
'negation.'
The Old French form des-
[Modem
French
d^s-,
rf/-]
is still
preserved
in descant
'
tune
with
modulations.' In the other derivatives taken from Old
French the Latin dis- has been
restored,as
in disarm=Old
French
desarmer,disappoint [compare
Modem French
d/sap-
pointer'],
disdain
[compare
Modem French
d/daigner\
dis- honest,
disease,
distress
[Latin *dislrictidre'\.
The
following are
of direct Latin
origin
: discreet, dispute, dissolve, distant;different,
difficult.
The form dt- is
rare
in words of French
introduction,such as diminish,
and
not
very
frequent
in
i 1649.]
DERIVATIOlf
i
FOREIGN PREFIXES.
473
words of Latin form :
divide, dilate, digrtss, dirtcl,
divert,
dis-is
freely
used in
new-formations,
such
as
disconnect,
dis-
inherit, disingemtous, beingfrequenti}'
added to
English
words,
as in
disburden, disheartened,
disown. In ditiiieî
ME misliien ithas been substitutedfor
a
similar-sounding
native
prefix ;
so also
perhaps
in
disbelieBt,
distrust.
"en-,
*ein- 'in': see
in-,
im-.
1043.
ton-, em-,
assimilated
el-,
'in':
en^dopedia,
energy,
enthusiasm
;
emblem,
embryo,emphasis, emporium
;
ellipse.
1644.
tdndo-
'
within
'
:
endogamous
'
marrying
within
the
tribe,' endogenous
'
growing
from within.'
'enter-
'
between
'
;
see inter-.
1646.
tepi-,ep-, eph-
'
upon
'
:
epigram,epitaph, epi- demic;
^hemeral.
1646.
ex-, e-,
assimilated ef-
'
out of.' The Old French
form is
"-,
Modem French /-. es- has been
preserved
in
English only
in a few obscured
words,
such
as
essay,escape.
Wherever the
meaning
of the
prefix
has been
kept
clearit
has been restoredto itsLatin form in
English: txchange
from Old French
eschangier,
ex/end, extinguish.
The other
Latin forms
are seen
in
elegant, erect, evade;
efface, effect.
As
:c=(ks),
an initial
s
isoflen
dropped
afler
ex-,
as in
ix-pect
[comparere-speci\,
exude,
extirpate [from
Latin suddre
'sweat,'
stirps 'stem'},
ex-
is
frequently
used in
new-
formationsto
express
'
one out
of office
'
etc.,
as
in
ex-king,
ex-president, ex-secretary;
so
also in the
adjective
ex-
offcial.
1647.
+ex-,
eo- 'out
of
'
:
exodus;ecstasy.
1648.
fezo-
'
outside
'
:
exogamous
'
marryii^
outsidethe
tribe,'
exoteric'suitablefor
outer
world,
for
people
in
general.'
1649. extra-
'beyond'
isused in Latin
chiefly
wilh adjectives
:
exframundane, extraordinary,
extravagant;
so also
ID
the new'formations
extra-official, extra-parochial,
extra
474
ACCIDENCE.
[(1650.
by
itself isused in
Englishas an
adjective
and
advert), ^being
either the Latin adveib and
preposition
{xtr"
'beyond,'
or
else the detached
prefix.
Hence such combinations
as ixira
work,txtra
pay,
extra
careful, exira-tuperfine
are not derivatives,
but
word-groupsor compounds.
1660.
tliypw-
'
over,'
'
beyond
'
:
hyperbole, hyperborean,
hypercrilical.
1661.
tbypo-, hyp-, liyph-
'
tmder
'
:
hypodermic
'
belonging
to the
parts
under the
skin,'}ôcrile,hypothesis;
hyphen.
1662.
in-,im-, in-, i-,
assimilated il-
etc.
'un-'" with
which itis
cognate
as
well
as
with Greek
an
is
joined
to
adjectives
and
occasionally
to nouns.
The
following
are
examples
of words which had this
prefix
in Latin itself:
insane
[Latininsatuu], insipid, inestimaite, injury, injustice ;
impious,
imbecile
; ignoble \L.'aiinigndbilis\ ignorant;
illiberal,
immortal. In
English
this
prefix
is
appliedonly
to
foreign
words of
some
length,as
in
inequalify, injustice compared
with
unequal, unjust.
If
new
words
are
formed from
foreign
words
by
means of
Englishendingsun-
is
prefixed, as
in
ungrale/ul, undecided,compared
with
ingratitude,
indecisive.
But
un-
is also
prefixed
to some
words with
exceptionally
familiarLatin
endings
such
as
-able,
as
in
uneatable, uncon- querable
compared
with
intolerable,
invincible.
less,
in-,im-, 11-,etc. 'in,'
'into' is
mainly
a
verb-
foimer. The French form of this
prefix
is
en-, em-,
preserved
in
English
in such words
as endure,
engage, erw^;
embellish, employ.
But in
many
words of French introduction
the Latin form has been
restored,
as in
indite,
ME
enditen,inquire,imprint.
As the
spelling
makes
no
difference
in the
present
pronunciation
"
en-,
em-^{-\a,-im)
"
it fluctuates in
some
words between the Latin and French
forms,
the latter
being
now preferred
in such
cases
of
doubt,
as
in
encage,
enjoin,entitle, embark,formerly
written also
incageetc.,althoughimpeach
now follows the Latin
spelling.
T,Goo(^le
(1659.] DERIVATION:
FOREIGN PREFIXES.
475
The
follovingare
examples
of
purely
Latin words with this
prefix
: inaugm-att,induce,
invadt
; impel; illuminate,
im- merse,
irrupHoK
'
breaking
in.' There
are
man}'
new-formations
with the French form of the
prefix:
enlarge
;
embody,
enkindU,
enliven. In
impoverish
and
tmpreve
the Ladn form
of the
prefix
has taken the
place
of the less distinct
a- from
Latin
ad-,
the fonner word
beii^
the Old French
apovrir
[Ladn*appaupenre\
white the latteris
a
variationof
approve
z=aprove.
In
a
few
words,
such
as inborn,
income the
prefix
is of
Englishorigin.
1684.
inter-,
'enter- 'between.' The French fonn is
preservedonly
in
enterprise, entertain,
the Latin form
having
been substitutedin allother words of French introduction:
intercede, interfere, interpose, interpret,
interval. In
inlelleei,
intelligenl
ami theirderivativesthe Ladn assimilationbefore I
is
kept,
which is
disregarded
in other
words,
such
as
inter- lace,
interlude. This
prefix
is
frequently
used in new-formations,
such
as
interchange,
inter
national,
intertwist.
166B. intro-
'
within,'
'
into
'
; introduce, introspection.
1068.
touta-, met-,
meth-
'with,''after,'
'change':
metaphysics
'the
study
that comes afi"r
physics,'
metamorphosis;
method.
16B7. ne-
'not':
nefarious, ne-uler,
neutral.
1068. non-
'
not.' The adverb
non
'
not' is
not used as
a
derivative in
Latin,occurringonlyas
the firstelement of
a
few
group-compounds
such
as
non-nSlii
'some,'literally
'not-none,'
ndnnungvam
'sometimes.' In Modem French
and
English
it is used
as a
prefix
in such words
as
nonsense,
nondescript [Latin
non descriptum
'
not described
'],
nonentity,
as
it
already
was in Late Latin in
non-entitas. It is
freely
used in
new-formations,
such
as
non-conductor,
non-aârance,
non'
intervention.
1069.
Ob-, o(b}a-,
0-,
assimilated
oco-
etc.,
'towards,
'against':
obedient,
oblong,
oh-slacle, obviate;
os-tensible
;
omit; occasion,occur, offend, opposite.
In
some cases the
(
i673.] DERIVATION;
FOREIGN PREFIXES.
477
tuivant
'
state
messenger
or
attendant.' The
following
are
examples
of the Latin form:
procede,pro-duee,
progress,
proclaim,protract,provide
; prod-igy,prodigal.
1666. tpto-
'
before
'
: problem,
programme,
proline.
1667.
tproB-
'
towards
'
;
pros-elyleHterallj'
'
coming
towards,'
prosody.
*pur-,see
pro-.
1666.
re-, red-,
'
back,'
'
repetition,' as
in
repeat,
'
opposition,'
as in
resist, having
often
onlyan
intensitive
force,as
in
rejoice.
In French re-
often became
r- before a vowel,
but the fiillform
was
restored in
English,
as
in reenter from
French rentrer. The fullerform red- is
preserved
in
redeem,
redound
literally
'flow back'
[Latinredunddre], redolent,
redintegrate.
In
Spoken English
re-
has two forms: weak
(-ri)
in traditional derivatives such
as
receive,repeat,
re- veal;
strong
(-rij) meaning 'repetition,'
which is
freely
used in
new-formations,
such
as
reenter,
reconsider,re- introduce,
recover an
umbrella distinctfrom the traditional
recover,
1669. retro- 'backwards':
retrograde,
retrospection.
1670.
86-,
fled-
'apart,' 'away':
secede, seduce,seclusion,
select, separate;
sedition.
1671. eemi- 'half':
semicircle,
semivowel
[Latin
simi-
"vocSlis], semicolon,
semiireve. Also in
new-formations,
such
as semi-detached.
1672. sine- 'without' : sinecure,
1678.
sab-,
assimilated
boo- etc.
'
under,'
whence a
great
variety
of
secondarymeanings
" 'near,''behind,''following,'
'
inferiority,'
'
diminution,'
'
approaching,' 'help,' 'completion,'
the
primarymeaning
also
developing
into that of
'
stealth,'
'
secrecy
'
:
subterranean, subscribe, suburb,subsequent,
subordinate,
subdivide, subvention,
suborn
;
succumb,
suggest, support,
suffix, suffice, supply,
succour,
surreptitious,
sub- is
freely
used in new-fonnations, such as subcutaneous, subsoil,
sub- way,
especially
to
express
subordination
etc.,
as
in sub-corn-
1 i68i.] DERIVATIOW:
FOREIGN SUFFIXES.
479
*treB', see trans-.
1680. ultra-
'
beyond,'
both of
place
and of
quantity
and
superiority:
uUramonlatu
'beyond
the
mountains,'
that
is,
'belonging
to the Italian
party
in the Chnrch of
Rome,'
tdtramarim
'
a
colour
brought
from
beyond
the
sea,'
ulira-
mundane.
Freely
used in new-formations to
express
excess :
ultra-radical, ultra-cUrical,
whence ttiedetached ulira has
come
to be used
as an
independent adjective
in the
sense
of
'extreme,'
as in vltra
measures,
whence the derivatives
ultraist,
ullraism.
Suffixes.
1681.
The
foreign
suffixeswill
now be treatedof under
the
general
heads of
'noun-forming' etc.,
and the subdivisions
'
personal,'
'
abstract,'
the suffixesunder
each
section
beingarranged
so
that thosewhich consist
entirely
of vowels
come
first,
and are
followed
by
thosethatcontain
consonants in the
alphabetic
order of those consonants.
Noun-fbrming.
Personal.
1683.
*-ee is the
strong
form of French -/ from Latin
-atus,
and denotes the
person
who takes
a
passive
share in
an actionor
agreement,
the
corresponding
active
agentbeing
denoted
by-or,
-er.
Thus lesseeis the
person
to whom
a
bouse is let
on
lease,
as
opposed
to the
lessor;
so also
grantee,legatee, mortgagee.
Some of thesederivativeshave
no
special
active word
corresponding
to
them,
such
as
patentee, referee,
trustee. In thesewords the
passive meaning
is less
prominent,
and
patentee,
for
instance,
may
be taken to
mean
either
'
one to whom
a
patent
is
granted,'
or
'
one who
takes out a
patent
'
;
and in
some cases -w
is
a
purely
active
suffixas
in
absentee, devotee,
refugee.
The weak form of this suffixis
-y,-ey,
as in
attorney
'^G\A
French
""/"*""/
(1886).
t 1687.] DERIVATION;
FOREIGN SVFFIXES.
481
-or and 'tr
having
the
same sound
(ar)
even in
Esrty
Mn"
(869).
In some words the
opposite change
has taken
place,
as in
miner,
robber= ME
minour,
robbour.
1086. -or
is
generally
weak,
but in
legal
words such as
granlor, lessor,
where it is contrastedwidi the
pas^ve
-"
(lesa),
ittakes
strong
stress for the sake of
emphasis
and
distinctness
"
(le'sor).
-ary,
sec under
'
Adjective-forming.'
1087.
*-Brd,
-art.
Although
introducedinto
English
from
French,
this suffix is of Germanic
origin.
In the
Germanic
languages
-hard
'
hard
'
in the sense
of
'
strong,'
'brave,'
was a
frequent
termination of
proper
names
of
men, many
of which
were
introduced into Old
French,
.
whence
they passed
into
English,
such as
Richard.
Reynard,
Renard
was
originally
a
man's
name
"
Old
High
German
Reginharl
"
which was
given
to the fox in the
story
of
'
Renard the
fox,'
which was introduced into Fiance in
the twelfth
century
from Flanders. In Flemish the name
of the fox is
Reinaerl,
which in French became
Renart;
and the
story
became so
popular
in France that renard
isnow
the
only
French word for
fox,
the Old French
goupil
'fox'
survivbg only
as a
proper
name.
The name-suffix
-ard,
-art was soon used in Old French and the other
Romance
languages
to form
personal nouns,
which
were at
first
nicknames,
and had
a
depreciatory
sense.
Thus from
the Romance fonns of Latin cauda
'
tail
'
was
fonned Italian
cedardo.
Old French cSarl
'coward,'
literally '(dog)
withhistail
between his
legs.'
Other
examples
are
baslard, wiiard,
which
were
imported
from
French,
and
English formations,
such as
braggart,
drunkard,dullard, niggard, sluggard.
This suffix
isused to
expressnationality
in
Spaniard, Savoyard, probably
at firstwith
an
idea of ridicule.It was also used to form
namesof
animals,
as in
buizard,
mallard'vUddnike'
[fonned
in French firomthe
adjective maie]
; rarely
to form names
of
things,
as
in
petard, poniard
[Oid
French
/^ny 'fist'.]
VOL. I. I
i
48a
"
ACCIDENCE.
[S
"688.
-eae,
see under
'
Adjecdve-forming.'
1688.
*-"H,
French
-tsst
from Latin -issa denotes female
persons
and "
more rarely
" female animals:
goddtst,
pro-
p/uUss,prmlett, prioress, baroness,
coimteu,
shepherdess, koskst,
patroness,
manageress;
lioness, Hgreis. Exceptional
formations
in
point
of
meaning
are :
Jewess,
aegress ; mayaress=
'wife of
mayor.'
Final weak and silent
vowels are omitted
before this
suffis, as m
princess,
negress,
vo/aress (jom
prince,
negro, votary.
Nouns
m.
-er,-or
often throw out the vowel
when
-eff
is
added, as
in
tigress,
actress from
têr,
actor.-
Nouns in
-trer, -eror,
and
some
in
-urer
drop
the second
of these two weak
syllables
before
-ess,
as
in
murderess,
sorceress, congueress,
treasuress from
murderer,
sorcerer,
con'
queror,
treasurer.
Similarly
in
gmierness
from
governor.
Some words show further
changes: abbess,
anchoress from
aôtl, anchorite;
duchess
{duke),
marchioness
{marquis),
mistress
{master),
the last
being a
weak form
corresponding
to the
masc.
Mr.
(mistar).
1889.
t-ist,
Latin -ista from Greek
-istes,
generally
expresses
'trade,'
'pursuit,'
or adherence to a
party,
dogma
etc.:
artist, florist, pugiUst,chemist,scientist,
which is
a convenient
neologism
for
'
man
of science
'
;
communist,nihiiist,
royalist,
deist. It is used in
a more generalsense
in such
derivatives
as bigamist,coîst,pravincialist.
In tobacconist
from tobacco
an n
is inserted
on
the
analogy
of
botanist,
mechanist
etc.,
in
egotist by
the side of
egoist
a / on
that of
dramatist,
both insertions
being prompted by
the desire to
avoid hiatus.
The
parallel
-t-'Ost
in
phantast,
enthusiast.
1690.
+-ite,
Latin -ita from Greek
-ties,
is used to form
names
of
nations,
sects etc: Canaanite,Israelite,
the
Stagirite
'
he who
was
bom at
Stagira,'
that
is,
the
philosopher
Aristotle,
Carmelite
; Jacobite.
1691.
-trix is the Latin fem.
of -tar :
executrix,
testatrix
from
executor,
teslcstor.
T,Goo(^le
"i69S.] DERIVATION;
FOREIGN SUFFIXES.
483
DiminuHvt.
1693.
-bIo,
-oole:
tapsult, globule, pastuU',
animalcule^
also in the fullerLatin form animaleulum "
corpuscule.
The
latter
ending
was shortened to -cle in French in most words
where the diminutive
meaning was not
prominent,
whence
the
EnglisharUcU,oracle,miracle,spectacle etc.
But several
of them retain the diminutive
meaning, especially
where
i
precedes
:
eulicU
'
outer thin
skin,' particle,
vtrsielt.
1698.
-fit,
-let. -tt forms diminutive
nouns
and adjectives:
cabinet,coronet,circlet, islet,
cygnel,
leveret;dulcet,
russet. On the
analogy
of Hrclet from circle
etc.,
where the
/
came to
be
regarded
as
part
of the
suffix,
a*
new
diminutive
"Ut has
developeditself,
which is
freely
used in new-formations,
such
aa leaflet, ringlet, streamlet,
troutUt, In
many
words these suffixeshave losttheirdiminutive
meaning.
Abstract.
1694.
*-y,
-ey. -y represents
EarlyMnE,
ME and Old
French -te from Latin
-ia,
and is
chiefly
used to form abstract
nouns,
as
in
fury, modesfy,perfidy,
and in
more
popular
French
words,
such
as
barotty,
company,
courtesy, fancy.
Some of these words have more
special
and
concrete
meanings,
such as
comedy,tragedy, family,
navy.
"y
=
Latin -ia is
frequent
in
names of
countries,as
in
Italy,Germany,Sicily, Normandy, although
in
most cases
the
fullLatin
ending
has been
restored,as
in Arabia
{Araby
in
poetry),
Asia,
India,
Austria.
-y
also
correspondsto the
Latin
neuter
ending-ium, as
in
augury, monastety,
remedy,
stttdy, forming
concrete as
well
as
abstract words.
1696.
-y
is also the MnE
representative
of weak ME
-e,
which when
strong
becomes -u
in MnE
(I8S3). ^=ME
-/ from French -/= Latin -afus
(1716),
is sometimes abstract,
but
generally
concrete in
a
collective
sense or
in
names of districts
:
treafy
" the learned doublet of which is
tractate "
[Latintrac/dius]
;
clergy ; county,duc^.
T,Goo(^le
484
ACCIDENCE.
I(
1696.
1S96.
It often
answers to Old French -/e from Latin
(generally
Late
Latin)
-ata with the
same
meanijag
as -ahu :
destiny, tntry;
army,
jury;country.
1887.
The
spelling
-ey
is
a mere
variety
of
^Vt
^
in
Turkey
{ME 7\trkie\ attorn^(French-i), journey (French-/(f).
-y
and
-eyrepresent
a variety
of other Fench vowels inisolated
1688.
-ioe,'-088,
'-isefrom Latin
-ilia, -ities.
Late Latin
"icia,
which in Latin
were used
chiefly
to form abstract
nouns
from
adjectives
:
avarice, justice, malice,
notice. The
popular
Old French form
was
-esse,kept
in ME words
such as
/a"yM"'largess' [iir^* 'liberal'],
richesse'riches'
(88S.\).
These suffixes
were
also used in Old French to
form derivatives from
nouns,
whence
the MnE
cowardice,
merchandise,
which has a concrete
meaning.
There
are
some
English
new-formations in
-ice,
-ise:
practice, practise,
treatise.
1688.
-oy,-8y.
These sufSxeswere
first
developed
from
the Latin combinations
-f-ia,
-c-iain such words as
constancy,
fallacy
from Latin cbnstantia
(Late
Latin
constancia\/allacia,
themselves formed from the derivative
adjectives
cbnsians
{constantetn),faUax [Jallacem).
In MnE
they
arc
still
associated
with derivative/ and
c,
often
taking
the
place
of other
endings
of Ladn
origin, especially
-tion,
as in
conspiracy [compare
conspirator], degeneracy[degenerate], oijftHo^=Latin
cbnspirdtid
etc.
They
have the
same
abstract
meaning
in
many
other
new-formations,
such
as
intricacy, intimacy, lunaey
from
intricate, intimate, lunatic,
where the second suffix-ic is
disregarded.
In these words the
c isstillfeltto be
a modification
of the derivative
/,
but in the still
more recent formations
idioicy [also idiocy\ bankruptcy
the t is
kept
before
it,
so
that the
-cy
has
developed
into an
independent, primary
suffix. A
special
use
of thesesuffixes
ts to denote rank and
office
:
curacy,episcopacy, magistracy, papacy,
cor
netcy, ensigucy;
T,Goo(^lc
(I70".} DERlVATIOJf;
FOREIGN SUFFIXES.
485
minstreUy.
Some of the above have also
a collective sense.
Ugacy
has a concrete
meaning.
1700.
t-ad,
-idwere used to form titles of
epicpoems,
as
in Iliad
'
the taleof Ilium
or
Troy,'
Aeneid
'
the adventures
of
Aeneas,'
whence
many
new- formationsin modern
times,
such
as
Lusiad, Columbiad,
the suffix-ad
being
often used to
form titlesof satirical
poems,
such as The Dunciad
'
epic
of
dunces.'
1701.
The Greek -ad
occurs alsoin other
functions, being
used
especially
to form abstract
nouns from
numbers,
as in
monad,triad, myriad,
and decade with the French form of the
suffix.
1702. *-ade is
a French
adaptation
of Italian-ada from
Latin
-ata,
of which -/"is the
regular
French
form,
as
in
armê,
whence the
Englisharmy [compare
the
Spanish
armada\.
-ade
generally
forms collective
nouns from other
nouns :
balustrade, barricade, colonnade;
sometimes from
verbs,
as in cavalcade
[Italian
cavalcare
'
ride
'].
Italso
forms
abstract nouns from noims and verbs:
blockade, parade,
promenade,
serenade.
170S. *-age
from Latin -aiicum forms
nouns
from various
parts
of
speech
with a
greatvariety
of
meanings,
the most
marked of which
are
{a)
collective
ness,
as
in
baggage, lug- gage,
bandage, cordage, plumage,cellarage ; (b)profit
or
charge
in relationto the
root-word,
as
in
mileage
'
payment
or
allowancefor
travelling
per
mile,'
also
collectively
'
aggre- gate
of
miles,' postage, poundage, leakage ; (f)
action or state
(rank, quality): carnage, coinage, language, tillage, voyage;
bondage, courage,peertê.
-ei,
see
under
'Adjective-forming.'
1704.
-rnent,
Latin
-mentum,
forms
nouns
from verbs. It
forms abstractnouns
expressing action, state,
or
result,
as
in
argument,
emolument,
viiichin Latin
means
both 'labour'
and
'
gain.'
So also in
many
new-formations
:
agreement,
enjoyment, government, employment, punishment,
treatment,
which
T,Goo(^le
48"S
ACCIDENCE.
[J"70S.
are formed from French
verbs,
and
endearmeni, btreavemenl,
fulfilment,
which are formed from
English
verbs. Id concrete
words -mttU
expresses
sometimes themeans of an
action,
as
in
instrument, Ugamettt, pavement,
ornament,
sometimes its
result,
as in
apartment, fragment, segment.
1705. From -ment is formedthe
adjective-suffix
-mental
(1780),
as in
experimental, fundamental,
instrumenial,
whence
again
isfonned theabstractnoun-suflix
-mentality
(1718),
as in
instrummtalify.
-in,-Ine,
see
'
Adjective-foiming.
1706. -ion
(-siOD, -tion)
from Latin -10
{-ionenC),
which
forms abstractnouns from verbs:
opinion, rebellion, religion ;
eompultion, passion,
session
;
education, action, fiction, description.
Some have
developed
concrete
meanings,
such as
nation, ligion, rîon.
The
popular
Old French form of this
suffixwas
-fy,
thet
being
absorbedintothe
preceding
sound
in various
ways,
whence MnE reason
[compare
the
more
learned
ration, rational^
arson,
treason. In lessfamiliar
wordstheLatint was restored,
whence theME forms
opiniun,
condieioun,
etc. In
Early
MnE
(-iuun)
was shortenedto
(-iun), being
oftenmade into
(-ion) hy
the influenceof the
spelling.
The
spelling
-ionwas sometimes introducedinto
purely popular
words,as
in^^î"Mi=FTench_^f0"
from Latin
foetid,
whence the
leamed_^/(im.
1707. -ana
isused in new-formationsfrom names of
persons
to
signify Lterary gossip
about
them,
as
in
Johnsoniana
'
sayings
of,
or anecdotesaboutDr.
Johnson,' Walpoliana,
also
publications
bearing
on them and their
literary works,
as in
Shakesperiana.
This suffixisthe Latinneut
plur.
of
adjectives
in-anus
(1736),
as used in such
phrases
as dicta
Vergi-
liana
'
sayings
of
Virgil
'
(Vergilius).
The detachedana has
come
to be used as a nomi eitherin the
plur.
or
sing.
"
in
which lattercase
it lakes a
plur. anas,
ana's " to
signify
'
coUecdon ofanecdotesof celebrities
'
etc.,
the
plur.
ana
being
now
themost usuaL
(i7i".3
DERIVATION;
FOREIGN SUFFIXES.
487
1708.
*lliiOe,
-enoe
from Latin -anlia
(-arinit),
-mlia
(-eacia),
which form abstractnouns
from the
present
participle
endings
-dns,-ins,
ace.
anitm,
-eniem
(1742),
as
in
arrogana,
ignorance ; experimct, innocence, pemlmce,
licence,
which isalso
writtenmore
phonetically
license,
with an
arbitrary
distinction
of
meaning.
The above'words
preserve
theirLatin
roots,
but most ofthe derivatives in -once are
of French formation
:
entrance, grievance, repentance.
1706.
These
endmgs
often take
on
the suffix
-y (1684),
giving-Bnoy, -enoy,
as
in
brilliancy, consistency by
the side
of
brilliance,
consistence.In the case
of
excellence, excellency
there is a
differenceof
meaning,
Some
occur
only
in the
longer form,
such as
constancy [Constance only
as a
proper
name], infancy, agency,
cUmeney.
1710.
-or,
*-our from Latin
-or,
-orem forms abstract
nouns, chiefly
from verbs. In MnE the French
spelling
-our
is
preferred
to
the Latin
-or, especially
in
more
popular
words,
the
usage being
the
contrary
of thatwhich
prevails
with die
persona] ending
-or
(1684);
but in America the
shorter-or is
consistently
extended to the abstractor-deri-
vativesas
well,
as
in ôf)0r=British
English honour, parallel
with author. The
following
are
examples
of thissuffix :
colour,clamour,honour,
vapour; liquor, splendor,
tumor.
There are some new-formations :
demeanour,
behaviour.
1711.
The
lengthened ending-OT7=Latin-oriiu, -oria,
forms
adjectives
and abstractnonns
" in which
/,-(;) precede
the
ending
"
such as
obliga/oty, compulsory,
cursory; history,
oratory, victory.
1712.
*-ry,
Old French
-ri",
arose
from the additionof
the abstract suffix-ie
(1604)
to the French
ending-(têr
(1688),
as
in
chevalerie,
chsvakru
'
body
of
knights,'
'
chivalry'
(tornchevalier
'rider,'
'knight' (Late
Latin
caballarius].
In
English
also it
was associatedwith the
pergonal
suffix
-er
through
such derivatives
as
fishtr-y.
In MnK thissuffixis
mainly
used in derivatives from
nouns,
and
occasionally
from
wneie vesunenis are
Kept ; (e)
toe resuii or
proauci
oi acuon
ete,,
as
in
poetry,Uipestry; (/)collectivity,
as in
infantry
literally
'
band of
youths,' peasantry, yeomanry.
1718- -ure
from Latin
-ura,
which is
generally preceded
by
derivative
/,{s).
In
popular
Old French forms the / disappeared,
in the same
way
as in -"
(1683);
thus Latin
armdtura becomes in Old French
armeurt,
which in MnE
has become armour
by
the influenceofthe suffix-our. The
/ isof course
preserved
in learned
words,
such as nature.
The chieffunctionof thissuffixis to fonn abstract
nouns,
generally
from verb-roots:
figure ; capture, departure ; censure,
composure.
It alsoformsconcrete
nouns,
such as
furniture,
picture.
In some words ithas taken the
place
of
-ir,-or,
as
in
leisure,
pleasure,
ireasure=0\iFrench
leisir, pieisir,
trtsor.
-ese,
see under
'
Adjective-forming.'
I7I4.
t-ism,
Latin
-ismus,
from Greek -ismSs is
freely
used to form abstract
nouns
expressing
action,
habit
"
especially
habits of
language
or
pronunciation"
or attachment to
some
creed,
party
etc, :
Anglicism,
archaism, provincialism ;
despotism, patriotism, mannerism,pugilism ;
Calvinism, posi- tivism,
conservatism,
egotismby
the sideof
egoism
owes its
/ to
egotist {1680).
1716. In Greek thissuffixis added to
adjeciives
in -tkis
forming
the
compound
sufhx
-ikismSs,
Latin
-icismus,
whence
English-ioiam,
as in
Atticism,
empiricism, fanaticism,
Scotti- cism,
witticism.In the lasttwo -ia'sm must be
regarded
as
a
simple
derivative,
there
being
no
corresponding adjective
in
-If.
1716. -ate from Latin
-atus,
gen.
-dtus
expresses
office,
function, as
in
consulate,
episcopate
and the new-formaliona
(I7I90
DERIVATION;
FOREIGN SUFFIXES.
489
cardinalate, pro/essorak, being
sometimes used to
express
the
bolder of the
office, as
in
magistrate,
and also in
a
collective
sense,
as
in
syndicate,
elector ait
'body
of electors'
(also
'
dignity
of
Elector').
1717. 'itnde from Latin -itUdo forms abstract nouns
from
adjectives : healitude,fortiittde, lassitude,
soUieitude. In multi- tude
it has
developeda concrete
meaning.
1718.
'-ty
Latin
-tds,-totem.
Old French
-fe,
ME ~U forms
abstract
nouns
from
adjectives:
Itderty; variety;antiquity, dig-
mfy,intipidity,vam'^. -iiyis
oftenadded in this
way
to
adjective-suffixes,
so that,
for
instance, -citycorresponds
to
-cious,
as
in
capacity{capacious), /erocify, -idity
to
-id,as
in
insipi- dity,
timidity, -ality
to
-al,as
in
reality, vitality, -ility
to
-il
and
-ile, as
in
civilify,fertilify, -Uity
to
-ar,
as
in
regularify,
vulgarity,
the most
regular
and
frequent correspondence
being
that between -ble
(1719)
and
-bility,
as
in
nobilify,
durability, toluiilily.
The above
are
all of direct Latin
origin.
Others have
passedthrough
French
changes,
such
as certainly, plenty, poverty,pity,property,
the two last
having
the learned
doublets
piety,proprieQi.
In
some
words this
suffix has a concrete
meaning,
as in
cify,deity,gratuity,
university.
AdjeotlTQ-fbrmiiig,
1710. '-ble from Latin
-iilis, as in ^bilis
'
ttoUe,' /eiilis
'
weeping,'
'
doleful,'
'
to be
wept
over,"
'
lamentable,'
whence
Old French
Jleble, febU,whence, again,
our
fuhk,
of which
foible
is
a
later French
doublet,
toleraUlis
'
tolerable,'
terri-
bilis
'
terrible.'In
English
-ble is
generallypreceded by a
or
i" these
being
the vowels that most
frequently precede
it in
Latin"only esceptionally by
other
vowels,as
in soluble. In
Latin it has
no
very
definite
meaning,
and is used both in
an
active and
passivesense (as
in
flihilis');
but in
English
the
passivemeaning prevails,
-bk
being
associated with the
adjective
able from Latin
habilis, navigable,
for
instance,
being
49"
ACCIDENCE.
[J1710.
regarded
as
equivalent
to
'
ableto be
navigated'
So aJsoin
admirable, malUable, tolerable, flexible, legible,
nluile. In
some
however the suffishas
an
active
meaning,
as
in
durable,
favorabU, peaceable ; forcible,
KtuÛ. There
are
many
new
formations io
-aile,
such as wibearaile,
eatable;
reliable, dependable,
formed from
refyon, depend
on.
In the
colloquial gelatable
the
preposition
is
kept
for the sake of
1720. There is another suffix-ble of French
origin,
from
Latin
-plex(-plicem)
'
-fold,'
which
we
have in the
English
word
double, treble,
the
p
of the Latin fonn
being
restored
in
triple
and in formationsfrom the
highernumbers,
such
as
quadruple,
and in
multiple.
1781.
-bunct,
"-bond:
moribund,rubicund;oagaiond,
which isalso a nouD.
1722.
-ie,
French
-ie,
-ique
from latin -ieusand Greek
-ikds,
forms
adjectives, generally
from
nouns, many
of these
derivations
being
also used as
nouns,
some
exclusively
so.
Thus
we have the Latin
domestic, gemric,puilie, rustic
^^
Greek
catholic,
cynic, mythic,
lonie. This suffixalso forms
part
of the Latin
compound
suffix
-aiic,
as in
aquatic,
fanatic,
lunatic. There is also
a
Greek
ending
-tic
preceded
by
difTerent
vowels,
in which the / is
part
of the
body
of
the word:
emphat-u, systematic [compare^stemai-iiu\;
athletic,
phonetic; despotic.
1728. 'ie is also used to form
names
of races and languages,
as in Celtie
{Keltic),
Germanic,Italic,
and
new-
formations such as
Fimtie,Indie,Tiufgutie, Hanseatic,
formed from
Hansa,
Sanse-lowm
on
the
analogy
d Asiatic
from Asia.
1724.
Of the words in -ic some denote
persons,
such
as
catholic, domestic,
rusticand the collective
public,
allof which
are
also
adjectives,
and
lunatic,
which is
now
used
chiefly
as
a
noun;
while others denote
things,
such
as
tank,
others
language,
such as
Celtic, Gaelic,
which however is
generally
T,Goo(^lc
Si7j6.] DERIVATION;
FOREIGN SUFFIXES,
491
expressedby
-ish
{1767)-
There
are
also
many
which denote
arts and
sciences,
such
as arithmttic, logic, music,especially
in the
plur.
:
phonttics.physics [thesvag.physic
has
now a concrete
meaning], malhtmalics, optia.
In Greek
logic was
called
hilogike
Ukhni 'the
reason science,'
where the
adjective logikis
IB
in the
fem^ agreeing
with
Ukhne;
afterwards
logikeby
itself
was
used
as a
feni.
noun,
which
was adopted
into
Latin,
either
unchanged
"
logice
"
or
with the Latin fern,
ending
"
logica;
and from Latin thisand the other words of the
same
kind
passedthrough
French into
English.
In Greek these
adjectives
were kIso used as nouns in the neut
plur.,
as
in /l^
maihemaiikd,Lterally
'
the mathematical
(things).'
The Mn"
use
of the
plur.
mathema/ics is
an
imitation of this
usage,
aided
by
the
English
habit of
making adjectives
into nouns
by adding
the
plur.
s,
as
in
grtem,
news
and the
vulgar
rheumalics = rheumatism.
1726. -ic
rarelycorresponds
to Latin
-icus,
-tqvus,
as
in
pudic.
Latin
anliqvus,
anSeiu
passedthrough
French into
English,
where it
came to
be written and
pronounced
anlic(k),
the
meaning
'
ancient
'
developing
into
'
quaint,'
'odd,'
the
more
learned
spellinganlique
afterwards
giving
rise to
the
pronunciation(len'tijk)
in imitation of
French,
the two forms antic and
antiquebeing
completely
isolated
from
one another
through
the former
having
become
a
noun.
1726. Derivations in -icoften take
on
the
adjective
suffix
wi/,
the
new -icol and the shorter -ic
being
oflen used
almost
indifferently, as m
geruric{al), mylhicifiPi, pot/ic(aI),
while in other
cases
the addition of -al is
accompaniedby
a
marked
divergence
of
meaning, as
in
politic{at), comic{at}.
When
a-
word in
ic{s)
is used
exclusively
as a
noun,
the
corresponding adjective always
take -al for the sale of distinction,
as
in
cjmic(al)
"
though we still
say
cynicpkilosophtT
in the
sense of
'philosopher
who is
a
cynic'
"
musicifil),
mathimatical.
493
ACCTDBNCE.
[}
1727.
1737. t-iao forms
adjectives
" which are sometimes also
used as nouns
"
from
nouns,
the
ending
-al
being
often
added,
as in the case of -ic
(1726)
:
maniac,demomac(a!),
hypochondriacial), Syriac.
1728. -id fonoB
adjectives
from
adjectives, verbs,
and
nouns :
acid,
fiuid, intrepid,
morbid,
languid, splendid,
vivid.
Some of
these,
such as acid and
fiuid,
are also used as
nouns.
1728. t-ffld.Greek -tides from ddos 'form'makes
nouns
into
adjectives,
such as anihropoeidh
'
having
the form of
a
man.' In Latin Greek ei is written
f,
and as the
ending
was
generally precededby o,
-oidhas come to be
regarded
as an
independent
suffixin such words as
anlhr"ôid
'
resembling
man,'cycloid, rhomboid;
on the
analogy
of which there
are numerous
new-formations,
such as
alkaloid, aneroid,
tabloid,
most of which are nouns,
1780. -al. Latin-dlisisa
very frequent adjective-ending,
as
in
equal, eternal, naiural, real, royal,
which is theFrench
form
corresponding
thelearned
regal,
bothfrom Latin
regalis.
So also-ial:
esseniial, martial, pestilential.
178L -alis oftenadded
to the
adjective-Buffix
-ic
(1722),
the
resulting
-iosl
being
oiXisn
regarded
as an
independent
suffix,
whence such new-formationsas
lackadaisical,
whim-
1732. -al also forms nouns with a
greatvariety
of
meanings,
such as
individual, general;animal;mineral,
journal, capital,
allof which were
originally adjectives,
many
of ihem
being
still used as such.
1733. -alis
especially
used in MnE to form abstract
nouns,
mostly
from
verbs,
such as arrival, denial,
fitneral, proposal,
refusal,
trial. Some of these" such as
funeral
"
had the
same
ending
in
ME,
while othershad the
ending-aiUe,
which
isthe oldFrench form of the Latin
adjective
neut.
plur.
-alia
from -dlis. Thus victuals
appears
in ME in the form of
vitaille,
which is also the Old French
form,
from Latin
(1738.] DER!VAT!ON;
FOREIGN SUFFIXES.
493
mctuSlia,
which afterwards influencedthe
spelling
of the
word.
17S4. -U,-lie,
Latin
-His,-His,
the Tormer
beingmainly
from
verb-roots,
the latterfrom
nouns.
From -iiis:
ductile,
feriiU, fragile^
missile. From -Uis:
civil, hostile, juoenik,
servile. In
genlle
we have an
Englishshortening
of French
gentil,
which was re-introducedinto Mn" in the form of
genteel, gentile being
a
third doublet which
represents
the
original
Latinform
genSlis
'
belonging
to a
gins
or
family.'
The
shortening
isFrench in
Aumile, stable, subtle,
alsowritten
in the more learned form subtile. In
Early
MnE
-il,
-ile
were
both
pronoimced(-il),
bat now
many
words written
'He are
pronounced
with
(-ail) throu^
the influenceof the
spelling.
1785.
-an,
-aaa from Latin -3nus forms
adjectives
denoting
persons,
such
as
human,
pagan, republican, veteran,
many
of which are also used as nouns.
Others,
such as
publican
and the French
artisan,
are used
only
as nouns.
This suffixis used
especially
to forms
adjectives
and
nouns
denotingreligious
sects
etc.,
such as
Anglican, Puritan,
Mahometan,
and
nations,
as in
Roman, German,American;
ithas
a
similarfunctionin Elizahtthan.
1786.
The
popular
French form of this sufOx was
-ain,
which is
preserved
in
a few
English words,
such
as
captain,
villain.
VIZI,
-ane,
as in
humane,
mundane was
in
Early
MnE
a
mere
orthographic
variantof
-an,
human and humane
being
writtenat random without
any
distinctionof
meaning.
We
now
pronounce
-ane
('ein) apparently
in imitationof the
English pronunciation
of Latin
-anus.
1738.
-Ban,
French
-een,
which has the same
meaning
as
-an{e),
is a
lengthened
form of Latin
-aeus, -eus,
the
lengthening
-aednus
occurring
in Latin itself in
some
words.
By
the influenceof the
English pronunciation
of Latinthe
ending
is in
most words
pronounced ('ian),
but the older
494
ACCIDENCE.
W 1739.
pronunciation,
in which the suffixis short and
weak,
is still
kept
up
in such words
as MediUrratuan, eerulean,
herculean.
Strong-tan
in
: Mameheait,Pythagorean
;
Chaldean,European.
1789.
-ian" Latin -idnut also has the
same
meaning
as
-an,
being especially frequent
in
adjectives
and
nouns expressing
occupation,
rank etc. : htslorian, librarian, musician,
pfysician, tragedian
;
patrician, plebeian
;
Christian,
presfy-
terian;
barbarian,
AraUan,
Italian,
Iranian.
1740.
-ine,
-in from Latin
-imu,
-inus forms numerous
adjectives,
some
of which
are
also used
as nouns :
Alpine,
crystalline,
saline
; elephantine, vulpine
;
divine,feminine
;
Palatine,
Philistine
;
clandestine" Zatin. In
Early
MnE
-ine
was short,
=
(in),
when
weak-stressed,
and this is stillthe
pronunciation
in
many
words,
such
is/eminine,
while
others,
such as Alpine,
have weak
(-ain)
in imitation
of those which
throw the stress on
the
ending,
such
as
divine. The
pronunciation
(ijn)
in
marine,
machine is
an
imitation of modem
French.
1741.
There
are
many
original
nouns in Latin
"in{e),
such
as li^tme, medicine,discipline
;
dolphin,
resin. There
is
a large
number of chemical words in
-ine,-in,
such
as
caseinie), fibrin{e), protein,
iodine. When such words become
familiar
they
are
generally
written -ine and
pronounced
with
the
J'rench
(-ijn),
as
in
gelatine,glycerine.
So also in
numerous newly
formed
trade-words,
such
as brillantine,
butterine,
1742.
-ant,
-ent from the Latin
pres.
partic. endings
-dns
(-on/rm),
-ins
[^-entem'),
form
adjectives
and
nouns from verbs.
Adjectives
:
arrtânt,rehutant,ignortmt; eminent,innocent,
penileni.
Nouns
:
dependant[adjective dependent], inhabitant,
agent,
student', torrent;instant,
accident.
Many
words in -ant
are
French formations 1 brilliant. Early
MnE, Old French
brillani; pleasant;merchant,
servant.
1748.
-lent,
from Latin -lenlusand -lens
i^-leniem) ; "ênl;
pestilent, violenl,
lurbulenJ.
T,Goo(^le
(1749-1 DERIVATION;
FOREIGN SUFFIXES.
495
From these must be
distinguished
adjectives
fonned from
pieseut
participles
(1741),
such
as
henevol-ent,
insol-ttit.
-pie,
see -ble.
1744. -er
from Latin -*"":
famliar,popular,regular,
similar,singular.
The
popular
0]d French form of this
suffixwas
-tr,
and
some
of the above words
were
inuoduced
in ME
English
with
it,
such
as
singuler,
but the
ending
was
Latinized in MnE.
1746.
-apy
from Latin -irius forms
adjectives
and
personal
nouns: extraordinary, primofy,
nteessaiy,
tewôrary;
digni- tary,
incmdiaty, tecrttary.
1746. -ior. In Latin -ior
(-iorem)
is the
comparative
ending
of
adjeclivea,
which are also used
as nouns : in/erior,
superior, junior,
senior.
-ior is the
masc.
and fem.
ending,
the
om'espoDdiDg
neut.
endingbeing-iuf,
which is used also
adverbially, as
in excehius
"higher,'
for which Excelsior is
incorrectly
substituted
as an
interjection
"
origiDally
the titleof
a
poem,
747- -ese from Latin
-ensis,
-esis forms
adj*ectives
and
nouns
from
names
of countries: Chinese, Japanese,
Maltese,
Porlugusse.
It is also used
fiuuiliarly
in derivatives from
names of
authors to
express
their
language
or
style,
such
as
Johtuomse'language
of Dr.
Johnson,'
'a
pompous
and
long-
winded
styleresemblinghis,'Macaulayae.
1745.
-06e,
*'Oiu from Latin
-onsus, -mts,
which
was
used to form
adjectives
from
nouns: bellicose, jocose, verbose;
fcJ/uhus, furious,glorious, luminous,
monstrous. So also in
the
new-formations
mischievous,
murderous.
1749.
In MnE
many
Latin words
were imported
mto the
written
language
in the
nom. masc. sing,inflection,
because
that was
the one that
came
first in the dictionaries and
grammars,
-us
" which is the most
frequent
form of this
case
in Latin "
being
written
-ous on
the
analogy
of -("w=Latin
Ssus
;
thus in MnE
we
have barbarous from Latin barbarus
(fem.sing.nom.
harbara
etc.),
the
popular
Old French barbar
T,Goo(^le
49*
ACCIDENCE.
tS"75o.
being
also the M"
form; so
also in
credulous,
erroneous,
oMiious,
spurious.
The less
frequent
nOm.
sing.masc.
ending
-it is made into
-ious,as
in illustrious
[Latin
in-
l"siris, iims/ris],
scurrilous.
1750. *-eaqne
from Italian
-esco,
Latin
-iscus,
forms
adjectives
and
nouns:
arabesque,grotesque,
literally
'grotto-
like,''belonging
to a grotto,'
picturesque,statuesque.
The
noun burlesque
is also used
as a
verb.
1761.
-t, -te, -ate, -ite,
-nte. -/ often
represents
the
ending
of the Latin
pret.
passivepartic,preceded
sometimes
by
a
consonant,
but
generallyby
the vowel
a,
and occasionally
by
other vowek. Thus the
followingEnglishadjectives
come
from Latin
passiveparticiples
in -/ : content
[generally
made into
contented'], abrupt, extinct; accurate,legitimate,
private,temperate;complete;definite, exquisite, infinite;
absolute,
destitute,
minute. Others
come
from Latin
passiveparticiples
with the Ladn
change
of /into
;
in certaincombinations
:
dense,diverse,
sparse.
Some of these" such
as content " existed
as
popular
words in Old
French,
the others
being
afterwards
" in
Englishas
well as
French " formed
direcdy
from the
Latin
passiveparticiples
on
the
analogy
of the
popular
forms.
In
Latin,
adjective-participles
in -atus
were
sometimes formed
directly
from
nouns,
as
in the Latin words
correqionding
to
caudate
'
tailed,'
insensate
;
and in MnE "
especially
in gcienti"c
terminology
"
many
more
adjectives
of this kind have been
formed
directly
from
Latin
nouns,
even
where there
are no
such formations in Latin itself
;
thus we have lunulate
'
shaped
like
a
littie
moon,'
'crescent-shaped' [Latin
lunula 'litde
moon'],
angvsti/oliale
'with
narrow
leaves.' -ate was also
substituted for the French
ending
of the
passivepartic,as
in
affectionate.
1752.
Many
of these
adjectives naturallydeveloped
into
nouns.
In Latin itself
we
have
personal(masc.)
nouns
such
as
legdlus
'
one deputed,'
'
legate,'
and in Late Latin
cHrdtus,
which in ClassicalLatin is used
only
as an adjective
'
careful,'
T,Goo(^le
'
I'7S4-1
DERIVATION;
FOREIGN WFFIXES.
497
has
developed
the
meaning
'curate.'In Latin
we
have also
neater nouns in -mn fotmed from these
participle-adjectives,
such
as fflOMdîum'what is
commanded,''mandMe,'
t^tum
'
edict,'
tribiilum
'
tribute,'
and Late Latin
maituscripium
'
hand- written,'
'manuscript'Many
othershave been fonned in
modem
times,
some of which are
used
only
as
nouns,
some
alsoaa
adjectives
:
delegate, Ttprobale, favourite ; extract, dupli- cate,
precipitate.
Some of these nouns are formed from the
Latin
pret partic.
of
deponent
verbs,
which have
an
active
meaning,
such
as
ad^t
'
one
who has attained
proficiency,'
from the
deponent
verb
adipltcor
'
obtsun.'
1768. The chemical noun-suffix-ate arose from the Latin
technicalterms of the older
chemists,
who calledtheresultof
the acdon of
vinegar (Latin acetumj
on
lead
(La.^n plamdum)
piumbum
acetaium
'
vinegared lead,'
or
simply acetatum,
which
Was
regarded
as a
noun,
whence we now
say
acetate
oflead,
carbonate
ofpotoih,
nitrate
of
soda,
shortenedintonitrate.
T9
express
a less
degree
of chemicalaction the
ending
-ito
has
been
arbitrarily
formed from -ate
"
nitrite, sulphite of
soda.
1754.
In accordancewiththe
general
tendenciesof
English
many
of these
adjectives
were
made intoverbs
;
thus, as
the
adjectives
dry
and clear
(OE dryge.
Old French
cltr)
had
become
indistinguishable
from the verbs to
dry,
lo clear
(OE
Sdrygan,
Old French
clairier)
so thatthe verbsseemed to be
formed
directly
from the
adjectives,
so
also such
adjective-
participles
as content,corrupt,direct, aggravate,
debate,
moderate, sârate
came
to be used as verbs. At firstthe
ending-/(")
did
duty
for the
passive panic,
of these
new
verbs,
as
in ^ was
contract to
Lady Lucy(Shakespere),
th^
have
degenerate,
but
they
soon
began
to take
the
English
inflection
-ed,
so
that
a
distinction
was made between
the land was
desolate
(adj.)
and the land
was dtsO'
lated
(earlier desolate) by
war.
By degrees
some of the
new
participles
came .themselves
to be used as
adjectives,
such
as contented,
situated= the older
content,
situate.
The
VOL. I. K
k
498
ACCIDBlfCB.
[|I76S.
ending
-ak
having
now
the function of a
verb,
it became
usual to
adopt
Latin verbs into
English
in the fonn of their
passiveparticiplea, especially
vhen these were
formed in
"Hus
;
hence such verbs
as oiseveraie./ascinatt, venerate were
fonned directfrom the Latin verbs asseverSre etc. without the
interventionof an
adjective-partic.
in
-ale,although,
of
course,
itis not
always
certain in individualcases whether
there was
such an
intervening
form or not. This
verb-forming
-ale was
extended to verbs
imported
from
French,as in /w/aile
[French
isêr from Latin
insulare,
whence the more learned form
insulaii], feKeilaU. Lastly
-aU has been used to fohu verbs
Grom
X^tin
words where there was no
corresponding'
Latin
verb
jn -are,
as in
iticapacitaU,
formed fnm Latin
capacitSs,
incapax,subsiantiate,
vAtinalt.
-ate is also used to form
verbs from words of non-Latin
origin,
such
as assassinate.
176S. -ire from Latin -hms forms
adjectives
and nouns :
active, passive,extensive, furtive, primitive; captive, native,
representative ; aUernative, motive, prerogative.
The
popular
Old French form of this sufGs was
-if, preserved
in MnE
caitiff
" of which
captive
isthe learneddoublet"
/iMwAy.
In
some of these the
ending
was afterwards Latinized as in
plaintive
from
plaintif,
restivefrom older
restiff
which was
originally applied
to a horse which 'remained'
(French
rester')
in one
place.
Verb-forming.
1756. *-fy,
French
-jier
from Latin
-ficare, a
weakening
of
facere'do,''make,'
forms causativeverbs from nouns and
adjectives (pronouns): deify, edify, modify;fortify, pur0,
qualify [qvalis
'
such
*].
1757. ^-iab.
Many
French verbs in -ir
conjugatepartly
with -issbefore the
inflections,
which istaken from the Latin
ending
-sco
{-esco,
-isco
etc.)
of inchoativeverbs
(290.i).
In
Old French this jj=Latin sc had the sound
(J),
and in ME
itwas extended to the infin.and all
t}ke
other
parts
of
the
D,g,i,7?"iT,Goo(^le
I 1788.]
DERIVATION
;
FOREIGN SUFFIXES.
499
verbsthathad
\\,9"'\a
finushm
'
hnK\\'
fibrisi/ien
'flourish's
.
Old French
fiitir [Modem
French
finir], fiHrir,
ist
pcrs.
phir,
pres.iaAic.fmissoru, flSrissons
from Latin
ymire,
"fimt^
cere,fiorire, florisctre.
So also in
abolish, cherish, rtovrish,
perish, punish.
From such as these itwas extended in ME
to
many
French verbs which
never had
any
iss-fbrms,
as in
astonish from Old French
es/oner,diminish, dtsfingvish,
publish, vanquish.
It
was
also used in
purely Enghsh
verb-
formations,
such as
famish
from
famine.
The
original
Latin inchoative
-see
taken
directly
from Latin or which n
acquiesee, effervesce, effloresceifti).
-ate,
see
under
'
Adjective-forming.'
1768.
t-iae,-iao,
French
-istr,
Latin
'isare,
-itsSrefrom
Greek
-Uein,
isused to form verbs ftom
nouns and
adjectives.
It occurs in Greek
formations,
such
as
agonize, crystallixe,
Iheoriu
;
forms derivativesfrom Latin
words,
such as
civilOse,
patronize,
realize
;
from French
words,
as in authorize
;
and is
freely employed
in
new-fotmations,
such afi
galvanise,
metme-
riu,hypnotize.
The
spelling
-iu in imitationof the Greek
form
of the suEBz has
now
supplanted
the older-ist.
END OF PAKT t.

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