CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924087965129 CpRNELL UNfVERSfTY LIBRARY 924 087 965 129 €frt«nie« (pveee §itvm NEW ENGLISH GRAMMAR SWEET VOL. I. bonbon HENRY FRO WD E Oxford University Press Warehouse Amen Corneu, E.G. Qlw 2)orft MAC MIL LAN AND CO. 112 Fourth A\fni'e CfarenJen (preea ^tviie A NEW ENGLISH GRAMMAR LOGICAL AND HISTORICAL HENRY SWEET, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D. Formerly President of the Philological Society Editor oj^ The Oldest English Texts,* Alfreds *^Cura Pastoralis' and ^Orosius' Author of 'An Anglo-Saxon Reader* ''A First' and 'A Second Middle-English Prhner' 'A Primer of Spoken English* 'A History of English Sounds' 'A Pri^ner of Phonetics^ ' Shelley s Nature-Poetry ^ etc. PART I IBTTEODUCTIOBT, PHOBTOIiOGY, AND ACCIDENCE AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1892 PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BV HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY PREFACE This work is intended to supply the want of a scientific 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 language. 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 often neglected, and sometimes ignored, by grammarians. Even in the more beaten tracks I have found many obstacles and diflSculties which it has cost me years of hard thought to conquer — often only partially. Practical teachers, who generally confine them- selves 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 vi PREFACE. in cannon-hall 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 calling cannon 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 cannon-ball was an adjective and nothing else; and although he refused to commit himself to a comparison cannoner, cannonest, he found another speaker to support him. Again, one would imagine that if any- thing in grammar is perfectly clear, 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). 2. 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 to something else (Mason : English Grammar). 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 jquivalent to make up a qualifying or adverb-phrase (Bain : A. Higher English Grammar). It is also worthy of note that, with one exception, all ;he above definitions insist on the prefixing of the preposition, ilthough a preposition that follows its noun-word (such as ;he Latin tenus) is as much a preposition as one that pre- :edes 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 iterally nothing more than quibbling etymologies. It is 1 singular fact that some of those who protest most loudly igainst the servile imitation of Latin grammar are the great- est sinners in this respect. This is one of the reasons why I have abstained from explaining the etymology of grammatical terms, which is •eally no more a part of grammar than the etymology of such a word as oxygen is a part of chemistry. Although he existing grammatical terminology is objectionable enough n many respects, it has at least the practical merit of iffording a certain number of technical terms of definite md generally accepted application, and I see no advantage n substituting a misleading term such as possessive case or the traditional genitive. Of course, whenever the existing erminology is confusing, ambiguous, or defective, it is our luty to try to improve it. I have myself been as conservative IS possible. Where the usage varies, I adopt what seems he best nomenclature, and use it consistently. Thus, in ;ommon with the majority of English grammarians, I prefer wun to substantive — not however for the sake of the [uibbling etymological definition of a noun as 'the name if anything,' but simply because it is shorter. Where the + viii PREFACE. existing nomenclature is defective, I have, of course, been obliged to coin new expressions. The multiplication of grammatical terms is certainly an evil, but it is an un- avoidable one : it is only by repeated experiment 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 familiar 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 existing terminology. I have also tried to avoid arbitrary restrictions in the application of terms already in familiar use. Thus I prefer to use sentence as a general term to include ' clause,' rather than to attempt enforcing a distinction which is not warranted by popular language. On the same principle I reject /^riMif altogether as a grammatical term, because of the endless confusions that arise between the various arbitrary meanings given to it by different grammarians and its popular meaning. I also avoid the arbitrary distinction between ' complex ' and ' compound ' sentence by using the former only, and short- ening complex sentence into complex. I have lastly avoided the common English fault of parading German terms when there are good English ones to hand ; thus I prefer mutation to umlaut, blending to contamination. As I have already said, this grammar is not one-sidedly or fanatically historical. The old belief in the value of historical and comparative philology as an aid to the practical study of languages has been rudely shaken of late years ; but the practice of interlarding even the most elementary English grammars with scraps of historical and comparative philology is still almost universal. In the good old days PREFACE. ix Df Schleicher and Brachet, when the main principles of (Irian and Romance etymology could be tabulated in a Drief space, and with a delusive simplicity and symmetry, ;his practice was plausible enough; but nowadays, when iven the phonetic clianges from Latin to French can hardly DC mastered by specialists themselves, and Grimm's Law ias to be supplemented by Verner's Law and a host of Dther Laws, all of them liable to endless complications by inalogical influences (which we are no longer allowed to dismiss as irregularities), common sense and honesty com- mand us to give up the attempt to make comparative philology and etymology a part of ordinary education. (Vnd now that it is generally admitted that the principles Df language and its development can be better explained by English itself than by any -dead language, it seems most rational to proceed from the known to the unknown — to [earn as much as we can from the history of English itself before attempting a wider survey, for which the student will then be thoroughly prepared. Thus, what better preparation can there be for tTie study of Verner's Law than an acquaint- ance with the precisely analogous Modern English change (§ 863)? Again, the results of Comparative Philology are so meagre and so problefnatical 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 ambitious program would further allow of greater thoroughness within its narrower limits. If his- torical English grammar were bounded definitely by Old English (Anglo-Saxon) at one end, an elementary know- ledge of Old English might reasonably be made the indis- pensable prelude to the historical study of English. It X PREFACE. seems strange that at this time of day it should be necessary to insist that this is the indispensable foundation : that cramming up a Middle English text is no more a prepara- tion for the study of the English language than it is 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 educa- tion wishes it to assume. In this grammar I have taken pains to make the Old English foundation as sound as possible, especially by 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 Matzner's grammar, merely to find that they have no existence. I have also paid great attention to the distinctions of dialect, and the chronology 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 — English as 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 scientific and his- torical and not purely descriptive can be said to answer PREFACE. xi to this description. It confines itself therefore as much as possible to the main grammatical phenomena and main lines of development; and being based on the language of the present time, it ignores historical details which do not bear on Present English. As one of the most direct practical uses of English grammar is that it serves as a preparation for the study of foreign languages, 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 (§ 128) and of the sub- junctive mood (§ 294). As my exposition claims to be scientific, I confine myself to the statement and explanation of facts, without attempting to settle the relative correctness of divergent usages. If an ' ungrammatical ' expression such as it is me is in general use among educated people, I accept it as such, simply idding that it is avoided in the literary language. So also in dealing with such spellings as honor (§ 17 10), I make 10 comments, leaving the reader to draw the natural in- ference from the facts stated, namely that the English •etention of the older spelling honour is a piece of con- servatism which is inconsistent with our abandonment of •mperour, etc. I have made my exposition as concrete as possible by ;mbodying every rule or principle in an example. That here are not enough examples I am fully aware ; but this s a defect which could not be avoided in a first edition if limited space. I am at variance with most German philologists in com- iletely separating the descriptive and logical part of grammar Xll PREFACE. from the historical: it will be seen that in my introduction I explain fully the grammatical categories, and even treat of the parts of speech in detail before entering on a single historical question, on the principle that it is no use ex- plaining the origin of a phenomenon till the 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 Miiller's Lectures on the Science of Language, and Professor Earle's Philology of the English Tongue ? ' But these works, admirable as they 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 linguistic science in my own way. Like Professor Bain, I treat of the parts of speech in detail apart from their inflections and the details of their formal characteristics. In my treatment of sentences I may call attention to the new method of organic analysis, which instead of mechanic- ally cutting up a complex sentence into single sentences or clauses, tries to analyse it into lesser groups, each with a definite structure of its own. An essential feature of this grammar is that it is on a phonetic basis. It is now generally recognized, except in hopelessly obscurantist circles, that phonology is the indis- pensable foundation of all linguistic study, whether practical or scientific — above all, of historical grammar. I have made my exposition as brief and simple as possible, in consideration of the diflSculty of getting instruction in the subject, and the lamentable want of teachers. PREFACE. Xiii The ground. having thus been fully prepared, I have been ble in the accidence to follow a purely historical exposi- on. In the section on Derivation I have been careful to exclude 11 details that do not belong to grammar, but to the etymo- Dgical dictionary : from an English point of view bishop las nothing whatever to do with the prefix epi-. In preparing this grammar, I have been influenced from o many quarters, that it would not be possible to acknow- sdge my obligations fully. The grammars I have made nost use of are those of Matzner, Abbott, Bain, Hall, Mason, md Morris. I have also to acknowledge ray obligations o 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 -ate § 1751) will help to show what a debt English grammar vill some day owe to The New English Dictionary. In he Introduction I owe more to H. Paul's Prinzipien der ^prachgeschichte than to any one book — at least in the listorical sections. I must also specially mention Jespersen's ^tudier over engelske Kasus, which is the most original and timulating investigation in English grammar that has ap- )eared for a long time. I need not here repeat the acknow- edgments that I have made in the prefaces to my History if English Sounds, etc. There is, on the other hand, much in this grammar that 3 original. Many of my grammatical investigations have, if course, been already published elsewhere, such as the ifeakening of Old English eo into ea, a (§ 1068) in the 'hilological Society's Proceedings, 1880-1, p. 75. I may all special attention to my paper on Words, Logic and Grammar (Phil. Soc. Transs. 1875-6), in which will be XIV PREFACE. found the germs of many of the ' new views ' which have been re-imported into this country from Germany. In conclusion, I need hardly say that I shall be grateful for any criticisms and suggestions. HENRY SWEET. South Park, Reigate, 15 Dec. 1891. CONTENTS IITTIlODUCTIOir. PAG •RAMMAR AND LANGUAGE I Definition of Grammar § I . Objects of Grammar § 9. Defi- nition of Language § 16. Form and Meaning § 17. Province of Grammar § 18. Connection between Form and Meaning in Grammar § ig. Isolation ; Irregularity § 20. Gram- matical and Logical Categories § 24. Divergence between Grammatical and Logical Categories § 26. Logical Categories. Ideas Expressed by Words 12 Substances and their Attributes § 28. Qualifiers § 34. General and Special Words § 37. Combination of Words to Express Thoughts . . 16 Adjunct-words and Head- words § 40. Subject and Predicate § 42. Assumption (Attribution) § 44. Subordination and Coordination § 45. Orammatical Categories. Words 19 Form-words § 58. Word-formation 24 Composition § 63. Derivation § C9. Inflections 28 Relations between Words 30 :vi CONTENTS. PACE Parts of Speech 35 Classification of tiie Parts of Speech § loo. Conversion of the Parts of Speech § 105. Relations between Logical and Grammatical Cate- gories 40 Fullness of Expression ; Ellipse § 109. Uniformity of Ex- pression § 113. Adequacy of Expression § 114. Divergence between Logic and Grammar ; Antigrammatical Construc- tions § 116. PARTS OF SPEECH IN DETAIL. Nouns. Form 49 Inflections § 126. Gender § 142. Form-words § 147. Meaning 54 Concrete Nouns § 150 : Class-nouns § 151 ; Collective Nouns § 153 ; Material Nouns § 155 ; Proper Names § 156. Abstract Houns § 165. Function 62 Adjectives. Form . L 65 Meaning 67 Function 68 Pronouns. Form 69 Meaning 71 Function 71 Classes of Pronouns 73 Personal Pronouns § 200. Possessive Pronouns § 203. Em- phatic Pronouns § 205. Reflexive Pronouns § 207. Re- ciprocal Pronouns § 210. Interrogative Pronouns § 211. Relative and Conjunctive Pronouns § 216. Definite Pro- nouns § 224. Indefinite Pronouns § 229. Quantitative Pronouns § 232. Negative Pronouns § 236. Numerals 87 Verbs. Form 87 CONTENTS. XVU PAGE Meaning 89 Transitive and Intransitive § 248. Reflexive Verbs § 354. Reciprocal Verbs § 256. Impersonal Verbs § 257. Function 93 Form-classes 96 ITumber § 269. Person § 270. Tense § 271 : Simple and Compound Tenses § 274 ; Primary and Secondary Tenses § 279; Complete and Incomplete Tenses § 281; Tense-aspects (Duration, etc.) § 283 ; Definite and Indefinite Tenses § 288. Mood : Fact-mood and Thought-mood (Indicative, Sub- junctive, etc.) § 293 ; Imperative Mood § 308. Voice (Active, Passive, Reflexive) § 311. Miscellaneous Forms (Negative, Emphatic, Interrogative) § 317- Vertoals IIJ Infinitive and Supine § 321. Gerund § 324. Participles § 330- Adverbs . . 118 Form 119 Meaning . . izo Function 123 Independent Adverbs § 358 : Sentence-modifying % 364 ; Sentence-adverbs § 368. Dependent Adverbs § 369 : Correlative Adverbs § 370 ; Relative and Conjunctive Ad- verbs § 373. Connection between Adverbs and other Parts of Speech : Connection between Adverbs and Adjec- tives § 376 ; Connection between Adverbs and Pronouns § 377 i Connection between Adverbs and Prepositions § 380 ; Connection between Adverbs and Conjunctions § 381. Prepositions. Form 134 Function 136 Meaning 139 Conjunctions. Form 140 Function 14° Meaning I44 VOL. I. b XVIU CONTENTS. Coordinative and Subordinative Conjunctions Detached Conjunctions Inteijeotions WORD-GROUPS Page 149 150 153 SENTENCES 155 Relations between Sentences 160 Clauses and Complexes § 462 : InEerted, Parenthetic, and Appended Clauses § 467 ; Extended Complexes § 473 ; Sequences § 482 ; Relations between Sentences, Complexes, and Sequences § 485. Classes of Sentences 170 Part-of-Speech Relations § 496. Relations between Subject and Predicate § 500. HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. Changes in Language 176 Effects of Change on the Relations between Words § 522. Effects of Change on Language as a Means of Expression § 528. Logical Control of Changes 186 Ellipse § 634. Analogy § 535. Origin and Development of Language . . .192 Development of Grammatical Categories § 551. Origin of Parts of Speech § 560. Relations of Languages to one another . . . 200 Linguistic Separation : Origin of Dialects and Cog- nate Languages 201 Influence of one Language on another . . . 203 DIVISIONS AND METHODS OF GRAMMAR . 204 Accidence and Syntax § 581. Grammar and Dictionary § 583. Descriptive and Historical Grammar § 586. Gram- matical Difficulties § 589. Grammatical Analysis § 591. HISTORY OF ENGLISH . Periods § 594. Cognate Languages § 595. 211 CONTENTS. xix PAGE Old English 21 x Characteristics of Old English § 605. Latin Influence § 606. Celticlnfluence § 607. Scandinavian Influence § 608. French Influence § 610. Middle English 216 Dialects of Middle English § 614. Struggle between French and English § 617. Rise of the London Dialect § 619. Scandinavian Influence § 621. French Influence § 622. Latin Influence § 625. Modem English 221 Influence of other Languages § 634. Periods § 638. Present English 223 Strata § 646. PHONOLOGY. HONETICS. Analysis 226 Throat-sounds : Breath and Voice § 651. Nasal Sounds § 652. Consonants § 653. Vowels § 654. Vowel-like Con- sonants § 655. Synthesis 227 Quantity § 658. Stress § 659. Intonation § 661. Glides § 664. Syllables § 666. Diphthongs § 667. Vovrela 230 Rounding § 669. Tongue-retraction § 670. Tongue-height §672. Acoustic Qualities of Vowels § 673. The Vowels in Detail § 674. Consonants 234 Form § 692. Place § 698. Compound Consonants : Round- ing, Fronting § 705. Intermediate Positions § 707. The Aspirate § 708. Table § 709. R in English § 711. ^WS OF SOUND-CHANGE 238 .D ENGLISH SOUNDS. Orthography 240 b2 XX CONTENTS. PAGE Prontmciation 241 Stress .... 243 Quantity . . . .... 245 Vowels 24s Mutation § 751. Consonant Influence § 754- Consonants . . 249 Gradation ... 251 VEIDDLE ENGLISH SOUNDS. Orthography . . . . . . .252 Stress ... 255 Quantity ... 256 Vowels . . 257 Consonants 261 MODERN ENGLISH SOUND-CHANGES. Orthography 267 VoTiirels 274 Consonants 279 • fRESENT ENGLISH. Stress 283 Word-stress § 879. Stress in Word-groups and Compounds § 889. Extension of Compound-stress § 918. Group-com- pounds § 923. Stress Advanced in Compounds § 926. As- ;| sumptive (Attributive) Compounds and Groups § 929. Quantity 297 ACCIDENCE. >^OUNS. Old English 301 Gender § 945. Strong and Weak § 948. Cases § 949. Declensions § 950. CONTENTS. XXI PAGE !arly Middle English. . .... 305 jate Middle Englisli 311 dlodem English ... ... 312 iJECTIVES. nflections. Old English . . 322 Middle English . . 324 Modem English . . • • • ■ 325 Comparison. Old English . . . ■ ■ ■ V-l Middle English 326 Modem English 326 Irregular Comparison ... ■ . 327 :oNOUNS • • 331 Personal Pronouns. Old English . . • • 333 Middle English . • • • • 334 Modem English . . . . • • 338 Possessive Pronouns. Old English . . . • 343 Middle English 344 Modern English . 345 Self. Old English ... . • • • 346 Middle English ... . • • 347 Modern English 347 Demonstrative Pronouns. Old English • • . . ■ • 348 Middle English ... .... 349 Modem English 35 1 xxii CONTENTS. PAGE 352 One, A ; Wone, Ifo Interrogative and Belative Pronouns . -353 Definite Pronouns 355 Indefinite Pronouns 355 Quantitative Pronouns 358 NUMERALS. Cardinal 359 Ordinal 362 VERBS. Old English Verbs 364 Inflections § 11 77. Strong Verbs § 1190. Weak Verbs I 1202. Preterite-Present Verbs § 1211. Middle English Verbs 374 Early Middle English § 1214. Late Middle English § 1239. Modern English Verbs 383 Present English Verbs 391 Irregular Verbs in Modern English -393 Consonantal Verbs 394 With vowel-change: pret. vowel e § 1293; oa § 1300; o § 1301 ; ou § 1302. With t instead of d § 1304. With t instead of d and vowel-change : pret. vowel e § 1312 ; § 1321. Witht instead of-ded § 1323. With consonaut-loss § 1334. With consonant-loss and vowel-change : pret. vowel SB § 1335 ; o § 1336. Invariable Verbs. ....... 402 aa § 1344; ai § 1345 ; b § 1346 ; e § 1349 ; go § 1354 ; i §1356; o § 1362; u § 1363. Vocalic Verbs 405 pret. vowel au § 1364 ; B § 1368 : se § 1382 ; e § 1395 ; ei § 1405; i § 1408; y § 1412; o § 1413; ou § 1418; § 1438 ; u § 1446 ; uw § 1450. Mixed Verbs 418 Isolated Forms 420 quoth § 1473 ; hight § 1474 ; iclept § 1475 ; wont § 1476. CONTENTS. xxiii PAGE Anomalous Verbs 420 can § 1479 ; dare § 14S0 ; may § 1481 ; must § 1482 ; ought § 1483 ; shall § 1484 ; will § 1485 ; wot § 1486 ; need § 1487 ; be § 1488 ; have 5 1492 ; do § 1493. ARTICLES. Adverb-endingB 428 Adverbs from ITouns and Adjectives . . .431 Pronominal Adverbs 433 Correlative Particles 436 Pronominal Conjunctions 436 negation and AfBrmation 437 Comparison of Adverbs • 438 Prepositions 440 Old English § 1528. Middle and Modern English § 1535. Inteijections 443 OMPOSITION. Old ISnglish ... 444 Modem English 446 Meaning of Compounds 448 ERIVATION. Native Elements. Prefixes 450 a- § 1569, 1570 ; 5g- § 1571 ; be- § 1572 ; for- § 1573 ; ge- § 1574; mis- § 1575; of- §1576; on- §1577; to- §1579; un- § 1580; wan- §1581. Suffixes 456 Noun-forming, a) Concrete: -cen § 1590; -end § 1591 ; -ere § 1592 ; -estre § 1593 ; -ing § 1594 ; -ling § 1595 ; -en § 1596. b) Abstract : -nis § 1597 ; -u § 1598 ; -u>, -> § 1599 ; -ung, -ing § 1600 d5m § 1601 ; -had § 1602 ; -lac § 1603 ; -rSden § 1604; -scipe § 1605. xxiv CONTENTS. PAGE Adjective-forming : -ede § 1606 ; -en § 1607 ; -ig § 1608 ; -isc § 1609; -sum § 1610 feald § 1611; -fnll § 1612 ; -leas § 1613 ; -lie § 1614; -weard § 1615. Verb-forming: -na § 1616; -sian § 1617 ; IScan § 1618. Foreign Elements 468 Prefixes 468 ab-, abs, a- § 1633 ; ad-, a- § 1624 ; amb- § 1625 ; amphi- § 1636 ; an- § 1627 ; ana- § 1628 ; ante- § 1629 ; anti- § 1630 ; apo- § 1631 ; bi- § 1632; cata- § 1633; circum- § 1634; cis- § 1635 ; com- § 1636 ; contra-, counter- § 1637 ; de- § 1638 ; demi- § 1639 \ ^i- § 1640 ; dia- § 1641 ; dis- § 1642 ; en- § 1643 ; endo- § 1644 ; epi- § 1645 ; ex- § 1646, 1647 ; exo- § 1648 ; extra- § 1649 ! hyper- § 1650 ; hypo- § 1651 ; in- § 1652, 1653; inter-, enter- § 1654; intro- § 1655; meta- § 1656 ; ne- § 1657 ; non- § 1658 ; ob- § 1659 ! P^ra- % 1660 ; per- § 1661 ; post- § 1662 ; pre- § 1663 ; preter- § 1664 ; pro- § 1665, 1666 ; pros- § 1667 ; re- § 1668 ; retro- § 1669; se- § 1670; semi- § 1671 ; sine- § 1672; sub- § 1673 ; subter- § 1674 ; super- § 1675 ; supra- § 1676 ; sus- § 1677; syn- § 1678; trans- § 1679; ultra- § i68o. Suffixes ......... 47g Noun-forming, a) Personal : -ee § 1682 ; -ar, -e(e)rj -ier § 1683 ; -or § 1684 ; -ard, -art § 1687 ; -ess § 1688 ; -ist § 1689; -ite § 1690 ; -trix § 1691. b) Diminutive : -ule, -cule § 1692 ; -et, -let § 1693. c) Abstract : -y, -ey § 1694 ; -ice, -ess, -ise § 1698'; -cy, -sy § 1699; -ad, -id § 1700; -ade § 1702; -age § 1703; -ment § 1704; -ion § 1706; -ana § 1707 ; -ance, -ence § 1708 ; -ancy, -ency § 1709 ; -or, -our § 1710; -ory § 1711; -ry § 1712; -ure § 1713 ; -ism § 1714; -icism § 1715; -ate § 1716; -itude § 1717; -ty § 1718. Adjective-forming : -ble §1719, 1720 ; -bund, -bond § 1731 ; -ic, -ique § 1722 ; -ical § 1726; -iac § 1727 ; -id § 1728; -oid § 1729; -al, -ial § 1730; -il, -ile § 1734; -an, -ane § 1735 ; -ean § 1738 ; -ian § 1739 ; -ine, -in § 1740 ; -ant, -ent § 1743 ; -lent § 1743 ; -arj 1744; -ary § 1745 ; -ior §1746; -ese § 1747; -ose, -ous § 1748; -esque § 1750; -t, -te § 1751. Verb-forming : -fy § 1756 ; -ish § 1757 ; -ize. -ise § 1758. INTRODUCTION. GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. Definition of Grammar. 1. Grammar may be regarded either from a theoretical or practical point of view. From the theoretical point of ew grammar is the science of language. By 'language' we understand languages in general, as opposed one or more special languages. 2. The first business of grammar, as of every other science, to observe the facts and phenomena with which it has to ;al, and to classify and state them methodically. A grammar hich confines itself to this is called a descriptive grammar. hus a descriptive grammar dealing with Modern English ould state such facts as that / call is made into / called to low that the action of calling took place in the past instead " in the present ; and would go on to state that 1 go is made to / went, I hold into / held, to express the same change of eaning — or, in the technical terminology of grammar, that ost Modern English ' verbs' form their ' preterite' by adding i, the verbs go and hold having the exceptional or 'irregular' eterites went and held respectively. 3. When we have a clear statement of such grammatical lenomena, we naturally wish to know the reason of them, VOL. I. V B a INTRODUCTION. [§ 4 and how they arose. In this way descriptive grammar lays the foundations of explanatory grammar. There art three chief methods of explaining the phenomena of language by the help, namely, of (a) historical grammar, (p) comparative grammar, and {c) general grammar. 4. (a) Historical grammar tries to. explain the phe- nomena of a language by tracing them back to their earliei stages in that language. Thus, if we go back a few centuries in the history of the English language, we shall find that wem was originally the preterite of a verb to wend, meaning ' tc turn' — a meaning still partially preserved in such literarj phrases as to wend one's 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 back even to the oldest English of the eighth century, we cannot explain its origin. To do this, we require the help of 5. ((5) Comparative grammar, which compares the gram- matical phenomena of a language with those of the cognate lan- guages, that is, languages which are related to it through having arisen from a common parent language. Just as the Romance languages — Itahan, Spanish, French, etc. — are cognate to one another through being independent developments 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 hehald, being formed, like many other Germanic preterites, by reduplication, that is, repetition of the beginning of the word. The Germanic languages them- selves are cognate with Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, and the other members of the Arian family of languages; and as com- parative grammar finds reduplicated preterites in these lan- guages also — thus Latin mordeb, 'I bite,' has preterite momordi, 'I bit'— it infers, that such preterites formed part of the Parent Arian language — the hypothetical ancestor of all the ?.] GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 3 nguages mentioned in this paragraph. We see then that )mparative grammar is really a branch of historical grammar, ily it takes us a long way further back than we could go 7 confining ourselves to one language. The historical cplanation of held ajQForded by comparative grammar is, erefore, that it is a contraction of an originally redupli- ited form. Historical and comparative grammar content lemselves with tracing the phenomena of a language — or ' a group or family of cognate languages — as far back as Dssible, without attempting to explain the origin of the oldest irms thus arrived at. To do this is the task of 6. {c) Greneral grammar (philosophical grammar), which not concerned with the details of one special language or mily of languages, but with the general principles which iderlie the grammatical phenomena of all languages. In saling with such a phenomenon as reduplication, general rammar asks (a) what are the facts about reduplication in those nguages in which we can observe it clearly ? and {b) what the explanation of those facts — what are the general prin- ples on which they depend .? Thus general grammar first f all tells us that reduplication is widely used in primitive .nguages all over the world to strengthen the meaning of ords in various ways, as when man-man is used to express nore than one man' or 'many men,' Ug-hig is used to spress 'very big,' and so on. Hence it infers that in Parent jian past time in verbs was regarded as more emphatic — ecause more definite — than present time, and so was ^pressed by reduplication. 7. The explanation of grammatical phenomena often ;ems self-evident — a matter of ' common sense.' Thus the rigin of the preterite of went hardly requires to be ex- lained to any one who is acquainted with literary English, ut even in such cases as this we can never dispense with istorical and comparative grammar, for experience has lown that an examination of the older forms of a language 4 INTRODUCTION. [§ 8. 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 I'll tell you what is a shortening of the longer phrase / will tell you what it is ; but historical and comparative investigation shows that what is here used in the sense of ' something,' which was one of its regular meanings in Old English— a meaning which the cognate German word was still has, so that the longer phrase is really an expansion of the original shorter one, the result of the meaning of what contained in it having become obsolete. 8. Considered from a practical point of view, grammar is the art of language. Objects of Grammar. 9. The main object of practical grammar is to give — or rather, help to give — a mastery of foreign languages either living or dead, including earlier stages of the native language, as when a modern Englishman sets to work to learn the Old English of King Alfred's time with the help of a grammar and dictionary. This 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 sense of the word is therefore both the science and the art of language. But as the scientific study of language is more definitely expressed by ' philology,' the term grammar is generally used to imply a mainly practical analysis of one special language, in which study general principles and theoretical explanations are 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 languages. We do not study grammar in order to get a practical mastery of our own language, because in the 4-] GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 5 ture of things we must have that mastery before we begin study grammar at all. Nor is grammar of much use correcting vulgarisms, provincialisms, and other linguistic fects, for these are more dependent on social influence at me and at school than on grammatical training. 12. In considering the use of grammar as a corrective of lat are called ' ungrammatical' expressions, it must be me in mind that the rules of grammar have no value sept as statements of facts : whatever is in general use a language is for that very reason grammatically correct, vulgarism and the corresponding standard or polite ex-' 5ssion are equally grammatical — each in its own sphere — only they are in general use. But whenever usage is t fixed — whenever we hesitate between different ways of pression, or have to find a new way of expression — then immar comes in, and helps us to decide which expression most in accordance with the genius of the language, least ibiguous, most concise, or in any other way better fitted to press what is required. 13. The native language should be studied from the point' view of general grammar. We thus learn to compare the immatical phenomena of our own language with those of ler languages, and to criticize impartially its defects, so It we are better prepared for the divergent grammatical nature of other languages. In this way the study of iglish grammar is the best possible preparation for the idy of foreign languages. 14'. The study of grammar has also a variety of less direct 3S. Grammar being itself a science, affords a training scientific methods generally. It also helps us to get clearer knowledge of the things and ideas expressed by iguage ; as the poet says of Prometheus : — He gave Man speech, d speech created thought, which is the measure of the Universe. (Shelley, Prometheus.) 6 INTRODUCTION. [§ 15. 15. 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 of Language. 16. Language is the expression of ideas by means of speech-sounds combined into words. Words are com- bined into sentences, this combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts. Thus in Latin the word terra expresses the idea 'the earth,' and rotunda expresses the idea ' round,' and these two words are combined together to form the sentence terra rotunda, which expresses the thought 'the earth 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 logical side, which is concerned with their inner meaning. Thus the formal side of such a word as man is that it is made up of certain sounds standing in a certain relation to one another — ■ following one another in a certain order, etc. So also the form of such a sentence as the man helped the hoy consists in its being composed of certain words following one 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 hoy helped the man. The study of the formal side of language is based on phonetics — the science of speech- sounds ; the study of the logical side of language is based on psychology — the science of mind. But phonetics and 1 8.] GRAMMAR ANp LANGUAGE. 7 sychology do not constitute the science of language, being ) (ily preparations for it : language and grammar are con- (^ ;med not with form and meaning separately, but with the ( Dnnections between them, these being the real phenomena f language. Province of Grammar. 18. But it is only a part of these linguistic phenomena lat fall under the province of grammar. Grammar — like ther sciences — deals only with what can be brought under eneral laws and stated in the form of general rules, and jnores isolated phenomena. Thus grammar is not con- emed with the meanings of such primary words as man, 'ee, good, grow, and relegates them to the collection of iolated facts called the dictionary or lexicon, where they onstitute what we may call the lexical side of language, iut the processes by which words are joined together to Drm sentences, the changes they undergo in these processes, nd the formation of new words by composition and deriva- ion, — all this is the province of grammar as opposed to the lictionary. Thus the fact that tree becomes trees when we peak of more than one tree is a general one, for in English he plural of nearly all names of things is formed in this way — ly the addition of j : the formation of the plural of nouns 3 therefore a part of English grammar. So also if we have ince learnt to join the words tree and grow in such sentences ,s the tree grows, trees grow, the trees are growing, we are ,ble to construct as many more sentences as we like on the )attern of these, if we only know the words required to make hem up : the formation of sentences is therefore an essential )art of the grammar of all languages. The business of he grammarian is to find out the general principles on which uch processes depend, and to frame a grammatical termino- ogy for stating these general principles in the form of B INTRODUCTION. [§ 19- Jefinite grammatical rules, such as 'the regular plural of English nouns is formed by adding s! Connection between Form and Meaning in Grammar. 19. We have now to consider more closely the connection between form and meaning in grammar. This connection is Dften imperfect. Different grammatical functions are often marked by the same form, as in trees and grows ; for the c in trees has a totally different meaning from what it has in ■^rows. On the other hand we often find the same meaning expressed by a variety of forms, as in the plurals trees, children, men, the ' singulars ' of which are tree, child, man respectively. Although there is no formal likeness whatever in these plurals, yet they all not only mean exactly the same, but ire used to build up sentences in exactly the same way: wherever in a sentence we put trees instead of tree, there also sve must put children instead of child, and men instead of man — in other words, all these forms have exactly the same grammatical function. So also the addition of -ed in / called IS distinguished from / call, the change of / hold into I held, md the substitution of / went for / go, all mean exactly the same thing — namely the change from present to past time. Isolation ; Irregularity. 20. We have seen that the phenomena of language are of two kinds : those that can. be brought under general rules, md those that cannot (18). The only phenomena that can be brought under general rules are those that have something in common by which they are associated together in the mind by the psychological process of group-association, by which association-groups are formed. There are in svery language an endless number of these groups, and one md the same word may belong to several such groups at once. Thus the words trees, towns, boys form an association- jroup through having the same ' inflection ' s, and having 23-] GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 9 le meaning ' more-than-oneness ' in common ; this group is lerefore both a formal and a logical one. The plurals trees, hildren, men, on the other hand, constitute a logical, but not formal, group — as far, at least, as their inflection is con- ;rned — for they are associated together only by the meaning f their endings. Tree, wood, forest, park, etc. are also asso- iated by their meaning only, but in a different way. We ;e then that the single word tree can enter into at least three ifferent association-groups. 21. When a word stands outside an association-group, it 1 said to be isolated. Thus, if we take away tree from the roup tree, wood, forest, etc., and put it with town and boy, it ;, as far as its meaning is concerned, no longer a member f a group, but is isolated. But although the three words 'ee, town, boy are isolated from one another in meaning, yet le fact of their all being able to form plurals in -s — together dth other grammatical characteristics that they have in ommon — makes them members of another group, which 'e express grammatically by calling them all ' nouns,' or, lore generally, by saying that they all belong to the same part of speech.' It is easy to see from this last example lat there is no such thing as absolute isolation : every word as something in common with some other word in the inguage. 22. Hence when we speak of isolation, we generally mean artial isolation. Thus the plural men forms part of the roup trees, towns, boys, etc. by virtue of its meaning, but :ands outside this group as far as its form is concerned. 23. When one and the same grammatical function is per- )rmed by a variety of grammatical forms, that form which is sed in the greatest number of words is called the regular )rm. Thus, as the majority of names of things in English )rm their plurals by adding s, this is called the regular plural nding. Those forms which are in the minority — such as le plural children — are called irregular forms or irregu- lO INTRODUCTION. [§ 24. larities. But although such an irregular inflection as the -ren in children is so isolated in form that there is no other word in which it occurs, it still forms part of the group con- stituted by the whole body of English noun-plurals, both regular and irregular, by virtue of its grammatical function. But if every noun in English formed its plural in a different way, so that we could not tell beforehand 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 grammatical point of view, be as completely isolated gram- matically 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 see from such considerations that it is not always easy to draw the line between what belongs to the grammar and what belongs to the dictionary. Grammatical and Logical Categories. 24. A group of grammatical forms expressing the same meaning — having the same functions — constitutes a gram- matical category. Thus the addition of -s in trees, of -ren in children, and the change of a into e in men together constitute — or help to constitute — the grammatical category ' plural of nouns,' which, again, falls under wider grammatical categories, such as 'number' (singular and plural number), ' inflection.' So also the inflections in / called, I held, etc. constitute the grammatical category ' preterite tense of verbs.' 25. Every grammatical category is the expression of some general idea — some logical category. Thus the gram- matical category ' plural ' expresses ' more-than-oneness,' and therefore falls under the wider logical categories of ' number ' and ' quantity ' ; and the grammatical category ' tense ' cor- responds to the logical category ' time.' § 2 7.J GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. II Divergence between Grammatical and Logical Categories. 26. But in actual language — which is always an imperfect instrument of thought — the grammatical and logical cate- gories do not always exactly correspond to one another. Thus in the word-group a ten pound note compared with ten pounds, plurality is not expressed grammatically by any in- flection oi pound, but is left to be inferred from the meaning of ten. In such a word-group 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 regular grammatical expression of ' oneness ' or the singular number. 27. For this reason it will be advisable to get clear notions of the logical categories commonly expressed in language before dealing with the corresponding grammatical cate- gories — that is, to learn to distinguish between what we say and how we say it. Under the head of logical categories we wiU learn to regard words solely from the logical point of view — to classify them entirely by the ideas they express, making, for instance, no distinction between a man in many a man and men in many men, but regarding them both as expressions of the idea of more-than-oneness. Under the head of grammatical categories, on the other hand, we will regard man, 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. a INTRODUCTION. [§ 28. LOGICAL CATEGORIES. Ideas Expressed by Words. Substances and their Attributes. 28. The ideas of which thoughts are made up are con- ;rned mainly with substances (material things) and their ttributes. Substances are known to us solely by their [tributes, that is, the impressions these substances make on ur senses. Thus the substance ' gold ' is known to us by s attributes of ' hardness,' ' heaviness,' ' yellow colour,' etc., 'hich together make up our idea of the substance ' gold.' uch words as gold, man, house are, therefore, substance- 'ords ; such words as hard, hardness, heavy, heavily, weight, illow are attribute-words. 29. These last all express permanent attributes. There re also changing attributes or phenomena. Thus 'man' 1 known to us not only by a number of permanent attributes -' shape,' ' size,' etc., — but also by the phenomena ' move- lent,' 'speech,' 'thought,' etc. Hence we call mope, movement, lotion, speak, speaking, speech, think, thought, thoughtful, houghtfully, etc., phenomenon-words. 30. For convenience, words denoting permanent attributes nd those denoting changing attributes or phenomena, are icluded under the common name abstract. Every word 'hich is not a substance-word must therefore be an abstract 'ord. In grammar substance-words are generally called oncrete. Thus gold is a concrete word. ' Concrete ' and ' abstract ' also have a totally different logical leaning (39). In this — which is the original— sense of the 'ord, substance-words can be abstract as well as concrete. Relations between Substances and their Attributes. 31. It is evidently impossible to think of a substance with- ut thinking of its attributes. But it is equally impossible to 34-] LOGICAL CATEGORIES. 13 hink of all these attributes at once. When we think of a ubstance, we are reminded only of some — perhaps only one — if its attributes ; and under different circumstances different ittributes become prominent in our minds. Thus in com- )aring ' hair ' to ' gold,' we think only of the colour of gold, lot of its hardness or weight. 32. It is equally evident that the only way in which we ;an form an idea of any attribute, such as 'yellow,' is by hinking of a number of yellow substances, such as ' gold,' buttercups,' etc. 33. But it is easier to think of an attribute apart from substances than it is to think of a substance apart from its ittributes. Phenomena are still more independent than Dermanent attributes. Thus, although we know that, without something to burn — wood, coals, etc. — there can be no fire, md that what we call electricity can only show itself in con- lection with matter (substances), yet when we see a fire in ;he distance, a moving light, or a flash of lightning, we are nclined to consider these phenomena as independent objects, ^mong uncivilised races, indeed, such phenomena as fire md electricity are regarded as living beings, and are even tvorshipped as gods. Qualifiers. 34. When we distinguish between a tall man and a short m.an, tall and short are evidently attribute-words. But when we distinguish between many men, all men, and some men or fef men, we cannot say that many, all, some, few are attribute- words ; they are only qualifiers. When we say some Englishmen are tall, or many Englishmen are tall, the majority if Englishmen are tall. Englishmen are mostly tall, the words ^ome, many, majority, mostly do not give us any information ibout Englishmen : they merely qualify, or limit, or define the idea expressed by Englishmen. Englishmen are tall by [tself might mean 'all Englishmen,' 'many Englishmen,' ' some 4 INTRODUCTION. [§ 35- Inglishmen,' or 'only a few Englishmen'; so we add le words all, many, some, few, etc., to qualify the idea ex- ressed by Englishmen. Attribute-words may be qualified s well as substance-words. Thus very in a very strong man ualifies the attribute-word strong. Qualifiers themselves lay be qualified, as in very many Englishmen. It is easy to distinguish between an attribute-word and a ua-lifier by asking ourselves, Does this word, which at first ight looks hke an attribute-word, give us any direct informa- ion about the word it is connected with ? Thus it is easy to ee that even in such a statement as -we are seven, the word even does not really tell us anything about the persons desig- ated by we, at least not in the same way as we are young, we re English, etc. would. In many cases, indeed, a qualifier annot be used to make a statement with at all. Thus from hese tall men we can infer these jnen are tall, but we cannot yaks, some Englishmen into * Englishmen are some, or half the stand into * the island was half 35. The qualifiers we have hitherto been considering are ,11 quantitative words. There is another important class if quaUfiers called mark-words, which, as it were, put a nark on the word they are associated with, singling it out ir pointing to it in various ways. Thus this and that, here .nd there, as in this house, the man there, are mark-words of )lace ; now, then are mark-words of time ; while such mark- vords as the point out an object in thought, as in give me the took, meaning ' the book you know of,' ' the book we were ipeaking about.' Some mark-words, instead of merely lualifying a word, act as substitutes for it. Thus the mark- vord he may be used as a substitute for the words fohn, the nan, etc., and the mark-word // may be used as a substitute or the book. 36. Attribute-words may be used as quaUfiers. Thus vhen we say give me that red book, not the blue one, although -ed and blue give information about the two books, they are lot used for that purpose, but simply to distinguish between » 39-] LOGICAL CATEGORIES. 15 he two books : red and blue are in fact here used as mark- .vords, though they still preserve their full attributive mean- ngs. When attribute-words are used in this way, we call hem qualifying attribute-words. General and Special Words. 37. Some attributes are of more general application than others. Thus there are more things that we can call red ban there are that we can call dark red or yellowish red, and 'ed itself falls under the still more general attribute colour. 3o also the qualifiers many, few, some fall under the more general category of quantity. The same gradations are seen also in substance-words. Thus cast iron and wrought 'ran go under iron ; iron, together with gold, silver, lead, etc. joes under metal; and metal itself goes under mineral, and io on. 38. The more special a word is, the more meaning it las. Thus iron implies all the attributes implied by the nore general word metal, and, in addition, all the attributes hat distinguish iron from gold and the other metals. 39. Even if we confine ourselves to a single word, we can nake the same distinction. Thus the word man may suggest he idea either of ' man in general,' as in man is mortal, or of )ne particular man, as when we talk of this man or the man. fVe call the former the generalizing (abstract), the latter he specializing (concrete) use of the word man. The ipecializing use evidently puts more meaning into the word : he man not only implies all the attributes that men have in lommon, but also implies further attributes by which we listinguish ' the man ' from other men. It must be observed that the logical and the grammatical neanings of the terms abstract and concrete are distinct and ;ven contradictory. When we talk of ' man in the abstract ' we ,re using abstract in its logical sense, while in grammar abstract 3 a convenient means of including attributes and phenomena l6 INTRODUCTION. [§40. under a common name (80). Hence in grammar it is best to restrict these words to their grammatical meaning, using generalizing and specializing to express their logical meaning. Combination of Words to express Thoughts. Adjunct-words and Head-words. 40. The most general relation between words in sentences from a logical point of view is that of adjunct-word and head-word, or, as we may also express it, of modifier and modified. Thus in the sentences tall men are not always strong, all men are not strong, tall, strong, and all are adjunct- words modifying the meaning of the head-word men. So also dark, quick, quickly are adjunct-words in dark red, he has a quick step, he walks quickly. Stone is an adjunct-word in stone wall, wall of stone, because it modifies (defines) the meaning of wall. So also book {books) is an adjunct-word in book-seller, bookselling, sale of books, he sells books, he sold his books, the corresponding head-words being seller, selling, sale, sells, sold. 41. The distinction between 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- word at the same time. Thus in 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 itself be a head- word, as in he is not very strong. > Subject and Predicate. 42., As we have seen (16), such a thought as ' the earth is round ' is made up of the two ideas 'the earth' and 'round' or ' roundness.' All thoughts require at least two ideas : (a) what we think of, called the subject — in this case 'the earth,' and (p) what we think concerning it, called the predicate, 44-] LOGICAL CATEGORIES. 1 7 lamely that it is ' round,' or has the attribute of ' roundness.' ilence in such a sentence as the earth is round, we call earth L subject-word, round a predicate-word. In this example he predicate-word — or predicate, as we may call it for the ake of shortness — is an attribute-word ; but the predicate nay be also a qualifier, as in he is here, we are seven. 43. Subject and predicate may be joined together in 'arious ways. In the above example the connection between hem is aflBrmed (stated as a fact) — such a sentence as the arth is ro««). 208. It will be observed that in the last sentence the re- flexive pronoun refers back to the logical subject of the verb- equivalent it follows, which logical subject 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 logical subject of the preceding verb or verbal. But in some languages, such as Latin, a reflexive pronoun necessarily refers back to the grammatical subject 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 begged me to defend him, him would take the reflexive form in Latin — ordvit ut se defender em — which would be impossible in English, because the logical subject of the verbal to defend is me, which is not of the same person as him, and cannot therefore be repeated by it. The Latin re- flexives are therefore grammatical reflexives, the English logical reflexives. 78 INTRODUCTION. [§ 209, In English we sometimes use the simple personal pronouns in a reflexive sense, as in he looked about him. 209. The emphatic forms of the possessive pronouns are used also as reflexives, as in he goes in his own carriage ; but when it is not necessary to emphasize the reflexive meaning, we generally use the simple possessives in a reflexive sense, as in he has sold his carriage, he drives his carriage himself. In all these sentences such a language as Latin would employ the reflexive forms. Eeeiprocal Pronouns. 210. The group-pronouns each other, one another, in such sentences as they help each other, they would not speak to each other, he told the three children to help one 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 always be in the plural. Each other generally implies only two, one another more than two persons, though this distinction is not always strictly observed. Reciprocal pro- nouns are necessarily plural, because there is always a cross- relation between the subjects and the reciprocal pronouns. Thus they help each other means ' A helps B, and B helps A.' Interrogative Pronouns. - 211. The interrogative or questioning pronouns in English are who, what, which. Who is used only as a noun. It has two genders, the personal, including masculine and feminine, expressed by who, and the neuter, expressed by what : who is that man?, who is that woman?, what is that thing? These forms are plural as well as singular : who are those men?, who are those women?, what are those things? We see that the distinctions made in the interrogative pronouns are much vaguer than in the personal pronouns, the distinc- S 2I5-] PRONOUNS. 79 tions made in he, she, they being levelled in who, although, on the other hand, the retention of the singular forms of the in- terrogative pronoun in the plural enables it to distinguish the neuter from the personal gender in the plural as well as the singular. The reason of this greater vagueness of the inter- rogative pronouns is, of course, that a question is naturally vaguer than a statement, for all questions imply a certain amount of ignorance. Who and what also differ from he, she and it in having a common genitive or possessive form whose. Who has an objective case ivhom, parallel to him, from which, however, the uninflected who is substituted in the spoken language, as in who[m) do you mean ? 212. What differs from who in being used as an adjective as well as a noun. In both functions it can be used in a personal sense, but in a meaning different from that of who : what is hep, what woman is that? 213. Which, like what, is mainly neuter in meaning, though it is used personally as well. It is both a noun and an adjec- tive, and is indeclinable, not having even a possessive form, as what has : which {of those things) do you want?, which hoy do you mean ? 214. When an interrogative pronoun is used to introduce an independent sentence (199), the interrogation is said to be direct. When it introduces a clause dependent on a prin- cipal clause containing a statement or question, the interroga- tion is said to be indirect. Thus we 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 ?, who is he ?, what does he want ? 215. It must be borne in mind that an interrogative pro- noun is always the predicate of the sentence it introduces, whether the sentence is independent or dependent. Thus the questions who is he ?, {I asked) who he was correspond to the statement he is somebody. 8o INTRODUCTION. [§ 216. Eelative and Coiyiinotive Pronotms. 216. In English the interrogative pronouns who, what, which and the definite pronoun that are used also as relative (and conjunctive) pronouns. That when used as a relative is indeclinable, as in the men that were hereyesterday compared ■with those men, being used also only as a noun, not as an adjective. The use oiwho, what, which as relatives is parallel to their use as interrogatives : the relative who is used only as a noun, the relatives what 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 they are interrogative. The English relative pronouns also agree with the interrogative pronouns in making no distinctions of person ; thus who can refer to / as well as to he or to a noun : /, who know all about it — he who knows — ■ the man who knows. 217. The relative pronoun makes the clause it introduces — the relative clause — into an adjunct to some noun-word — called the antecedent — in the principal clause. Thus in / kncnx) the man who was here yesterday, the clause who was here yesterday is an adjunct to the antecedent man in the principal clause / know the man ; and in / say it who know it, the antecedent is the pronoun /. It is easy to see that a relative clause is an adjunct, because we can often substitute an adjunct-word — generally a participle (adjective- verbal) — for the relative clause without change of meaning, as in the window looking on the garden, the lost child=.the window which looks on the garden, the child that was lost or the child which was lost. Sometimes the whole of the principal sentence constitutes the antecedent, which is then a sentence-antece!' dent, as in I said nothing, which made him still more angry, where T said nothing is equivalent to such a word-group [noun -group) as my saying nothing or wy silence. I 220.] PRONOUNS. 8 1 218. In the above examples the relative clause is logically, as well as formally, an adjunct, subordinate to its antecedent. But in some cases a relative pronoun is used to Join on a clause vifhich is logically coordinate (45) to the principal clause. Thus in the sentence I told John, who fold his brother, and he told his wife, the relative pronoun who has exactly the same meaning as and he in the following sentence. We call such relatives — which are equivalent to andJr personal pro- noun, being thus relatives in form only — progressive relative noun-pronouns. In spoken English relative noun-pronouns are omitted in certain constructions, as in the man I saw yesterday =th.Q literary the man whom I saw yesterday. 219. The function of a relative adjective-pronoun is to make the noun it qualifies relative, the combination relative adjective 4- noun being thus equivalent to a relative noun- pronoun. Thus in the last example in § 217 we might refer to / said nothing by the relative group which proceeding instead of the simple noun-relative which : I said nothing, which proceeding of mine made him still more angry. So also we might refer to Plato as which philosopher \nsX&a.di of simply as who. 220. It sometimes happens that the antecedent to a rela- tive noun-pronoun is not expressed either by a noun-word or a sentence, the relative itself doing duty for the antecedent as well. Such a relative is called a condensed relative (112). Only who 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 quite true; what I say I mean ; what is done cannot be undone ; who{ever) said that was mistaken. In the first of these sentences the condensed relative what is the object of the verb say in the VOL. I. G 82 INTRODUCTION. [§ 221. relative clause, and is at the same time the subject of the verb is in the principal clause, while in the second sentence it is the object in both clauses, and in the third sentence it is the subject in both clauses. If we alter the construction of such sentences, the missing antecedent is often restored : it is quite true what you say; if I say a thing, I mean it. Nevertheless, in such a sentence as what you say is quite true we are not sensible of any omission, because we feel that what unites in itself relative and antecedent : it is relative by virtue of its form, while its prominent position at the beginning of the clause-group seems to make it belong to the principal clause also. 221. The interrogative profiouns are also used as con- junetive pronouns in English. A conjunctive pronoun makes the clause it introduces — the conjunctive clause — into an adjunct to the verb in the principal clause, which we may call the antecedent verb. Thus in / know who you are, the conjunctive pronoun who 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 relation to this verb as the noun-word you in / know you. In / wonder what he meant, I asked what he meant, what is the object of the verb of the conjunctive clause, and this clause is the object of the verb of the principal clause. In such a sentence as this is what I mean, the conjunctive what is the object of the verb of the conjunctive clause, and this clause stands in apposition to the subject of the principal clause, being therefore in the nominative relation. 222. Such a sentence as this is what I mean may be changed into what I mean is this with a condensed relative instead of a conjunctive. So also / say what I mean=whai I say I mean. If we confined ourselves to such sentences as these, we might be inclined to regard a conjunctive pronoun 5 22S-] PHONOUJVS. 83 as condensed or contracted: this is what Imean=ihis is that which I mean. But we do not feel such a sentence as / know who you are to be equivalent to / know him who you are or / know the man who you are ; and even / say what I mean has not exactly the same meaning as what I say I mean. 223. So far from identifying conjunctive with condensed relative pronouns, we do not feel them to be relative at all, but rather associate them with the interrogative pronouns. Not only do we use the same pronouns conjunctively which we use interrogatively, but the form of a conjunctive sentence is identical with that of an indirect interrogation. Thus / asked what he meant is both an indirect interrogation sentence and a conjunctive sentence. All indirect interrogation sen- tences 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 felt to introduce a sort of answer to the implied question what does he mean? The affinity between conjunctive and interrogative sentences is also shown in such sentences as / knmjo who you are, where the grammatical predicate in the conjunctive clause is the unmeaning form-word are, the real logical predicate being who, exactly as in the interrogative sentence who are you? (215). Definite Pronouns. 224. The definite pronouns this, that, the are primariljT^ adjectives. Such definite pronouns as the and yonder are V used only as adjectives, and although this and that are used ( as nouns as well as adjectives, yet we generally think of them-'' as qualifying some noun. 225. Definite pronouns fall under various subdivisions. Demonstrative pronoims point to something in space or time, as in this house, that day. Reference pronouns (generally included under demonstratives) point to some- thing in thoughts When we talk of this man, that man, or G 2 84 INTRODUCTION. [§ 226- the man, meaning a man that has just been mentioned, this, that and the are reference pronouns. The, which is the typical reference adjective-pronoun, is called the definite article. Chs. we see, this and that are both demonstrative and reference '^pronouns, while the is a reference pronoun only. Reference pronouns are distinguished as back-pointing and for- wards-pointing, according as they refer to something that has been said or to something that is to follow. Thus that in / know that is back-pointing, while this in this is what I mean is forwards-pointing. 226. The distinction between definite and indefinite applies also to personal pronouns. Thus he is definite, they in they say indefinite. The distinction between demon- strative and reference pronouns applies also to the definite personal pronoun ; thus in who is he ? meaning ' who is the man standing there ? ' ^ is a place-demonstrative. The main difference between the personal and the definite pro- nouns is that the former are primarily nouns, while the definite pronouns are primarily adjectives. 227. Such is a definite pronoun of quantity and quality when used as an adjective, as in such a quantity, I never heard such nonsense. In its rarer use as a noun it approaches very near in meaning to an ordinary personal pronoun, as in of such is the kingdom 0/ heaven. 228. The same, as in the same day, I will do the same, may be regarded as a definite pronoun of identity. Indefinite Pronouns. 229. The most important of the indefinite pronouns is the indefinite article a, an, which, like the definite article, is used only as an adjective. The indefinite article puts a mark on a noun, but without identifying or defining it, having thus a function exactly contrary to that of the definite article: a man wants to speak to you ; I do not know who he is ; he is not the man who was here yesterday. The noun-pronoun § 233-] PRONOUNS. 85 most nearly corresponding to the indefinite article is the indefinite personal pronoun one, they = French on. The indefinite one must be distinguished from the numeral one (237); it is used both as an indefinite personal pronoun and as a prop-word (180). 230. Other indefinite pronouns are some in some bread, any in any knife will do, the corresponding negative no (absolute none), for which not any is substituted in spoken English, as in / have not any bread, I have not any = the literary / have no bread, I have none. The nouns corresponding to these adjective-pronouns are formed with prop-words : someone, somebody, something ; anyone, anybody, anything ; no one, nobody, nothing. 231. Other (the other, another), in the sense of ' different,' as in give me another plate, this one is not clean ; / like 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 piece of bread, it is a quantitative pronoun (235). The group-pronoun one another is used as a reciprocal (210). Quantitative Pronouns. 232. Quantity is of two kinds, (a) continuous quantity, expressed by such words as size, big, long, much, less, and {b) discrete or broken quantity, called ' number,' expressed by such words as number, numerous, count, three, both, many. Many quantitative nouns and adjectives, such as size, num- ber big, long, 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 characteristics of pronouns. 233. 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 only imply quantity, the expression of distinctions of 86 INTRODUCTION. [§ 234- quantity not being their main function, and therefore it is not necessary to class them as specially quantitative. 234. The chief pronouns of continuous quantity are much, more, as in more bread, most [more and mosf are also pronouns of number], a little, as in a little bread [little by itself is an ordinary adjective, as also in a little loaf, etc.], less, least, all the, the whole, as in all the day, the whole day [all by itself is a pronoun of number, and whole by itself is an ordinary adjective], enough. 235. The pronouns of number are distinguished as col- lective and separative. A collective pronoun, such as all, makes us think of a number of objects in a mass ; a separa- tive pronoun, such as each, makes us think of them one by one. The collective pronouns are : the emphatic some, as in some people think so [the unemphatic some in some bread, I saw some people there, is an indefinite pronoun], several, few, many, more, as in more men than women, most, all; both, other in the sense of ' additional ' (231). The separative pronouns are : every, each, the alternative either^' ont 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 pronoun each other is used as a reciprocal (210). Wegative Pronouns. 236. The pronouns beginning with n- are negative or not-pronouns. Neither is the negative corresponding to the positive either. No and its absolute form none are in form negatives of one, though in meaning they are negatives of any, not any being indeed substituted for no, none in spoken English (230). From no are formed the noun-pronouns no one, nobody, nothing. § 34°J NUMERALS. 87 Numerals. 237. The numerals one, two, three, etc. differ from the pronouns of number, such as some, many, all, in expressing distinctions of discrete quantity definitely instead of in- definitely. The difference between one the numeral and one the pronoun (229) is that the numeral one makes us think of ' one ' as opposed to ' two ' etc., while one the pronoun makes us 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 a prop-word in the plural — some good ones. 238. Numerals, being intended to give definite inform- ation, have nothing of the character of mark-words about them. In form, 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 of us, by twos and threes. 239. The above remarks apply mainly to cardinal nu- merals — one, two, three, ten, hundred, etc. Ordinal numerals — first, second, third, tenth, hundredth, etc. — are primarily adjectives, their use as nouns being limited like that of the other adjectives. Verbs. Form. 240. The ordinary inflections of an English verb — includ- ing the verbals — are as follows : — (a) Third person, singular number, present tense, indica- tive mood : calls, sees. {5) Preterite tense : called, saw. (<:) Present participle and gerund : calling, seeing, (d) Preterite participle : called, seen. In most verbs the finite preterite and the preterite parti- ciple have the same form — called. 88 INTRODUCTION. [§ 241- 241. The common form call expresses four grammatical categories : {a) present indicative, with the exception of the ''third person singular {calls), as in I call, they call; {6) pre- sent subjunctive, as in t/he call; (c) imperative mood, as in 'call!; {d) infinitive, as in let him call. 242. In English, verbs are modified partly by inflection, partly by form-words — particles and verbs — which latter constitute the periphrastic forms of the verb. Inflections and periphrastic forms together make up the conjugation of a verb. 243. The form-particle to (preposition or adverb) is pre- fixed 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 infini- tive in / will see. Hence we often include the supine under the term infinitive. The adverb not also enters into the peri- phrastic forms of the verb, especially in the spoken language, as in / dorit know, which is the negative form of / know, 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, may. When a full verb is asso- ciated with an auxiliary, it is always made into a verbal, so that the function of predication is transferred to the auxiliary. Thus the finite inflected verb in the present indicative he sees becomes an infinitive in the future tense he will see, a present participle in the definite indicative he is seeing, and a preterite participle in the perfect tense he has seen. If, as is often the case, a periphrastic form is made up of more than one auxiliary, only one of these keeps its finite form, all the others being made into verbals, as in he has been seeing, he will have seen, where has and will are the only finite verbs. Many of the auxiliaries are used also as full verbs. Thus will in / will do it, whether you like it or not is not a form- word, but a full word meaning ' I am determined to.' Such combinations do not form part of the verb-conjugation. § 248.] 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 meiis in the same relation as he 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 prepositions separately, the inflectional and peri- phrastic forms of the verb are so mixed up that in treating of the meanings of verb-forms it is impossible to separate them. Thus / see and / do see differ only in the latter being more emphatic. 245. In English the finite verb must always be preceded by a subject-word, except in the imperative (see !). If no other noun-word comes before it, a personal pronoun must be used : iAe man came ; I 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 dorit know=I don't 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 permanent attribute-word dead^ walk, strike, see, live, think. In other verbs the idea of phenomenality is less predominant, as in live, shine — com- pared with flash, twinkle ; stand — compared withya//, rise ; lie, sleep. In exist, which is the most abstract and general of all verbs that have an independent meaning, we can realise the sense of phenomenality onlybythe contrast with non-existence. 247. Verbs are classed according to their meaning as transitive and intransitive, reflexive, reciprocal, im- personal. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs. 248. Transitive verljs, such as strike, see, like, require a noun-word or noun-equivalent in the direct object relation to serve as complement to them, that is, complete their mean- ing, as in he struck him ; the man saw the boy ; boys like jam ; 90 introduction: [§ 249- / tlo mi like having my hair cut. Verbs which do not take a direct-object noun-word after them are called intransitive, such as come, fall, live. It is easier to form a complete sen- tence with an intransitive than with a transitive verb, as in he fell, the tree lives. But transitive verbs can also stand without any object-noun, not only when the object-noun may be understood from the context, as in / see, meaning ' I see what you mean,' but also when the object idea is so vague or uncertain that it is not necessary or easy so to ex- press it, as in blind men saw, where saw means ' saw things in general,' that is, ' received the power of sight.' In / see= ' I see what you mean,' the verb is fully transitive — the omis- sion of the object-word or word-group being only an ellipse — while in blind 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 their grammatical subject is logically their direct object, as in the book sells well, meat will not keep in hot weather, which mean ' they are selling the book well,' ' we cannot keep meat in hot weather,' the subject not being expressed because of its indefiniteness, just as the object is not expressed in blind men saw for the same reason. We call sells and keep in such constructions passival verbs. This inversion of the relations between subject and object is also expressed by a definite grammatical form called the passive voice (311). 250. Intransitive verbs can often be converted into transi- tives by a slight change of meaning, as in the groom walks the horse about, where ivalk means ' cause to walk,' ' make walk.' So also in Iran a thorn into my finger compared with a thorn ran into my finger. Such transitives are called causa- tive verbs. For the converse change of a transitive verb into an intransi- tive, as in to stop short, see % 255. 5 253-1 VERBS: MEANTNG. 91 251. When an intransitive verb requires a noun-word to complete its meaning, the noun-word is joined to it by a preposition, forming a prepositional complement, as in he came to London ; he looked at the house ; I thought of that; he thinks of going abroad. We can see from these examples that the distinction between transitive and intransitive is mainly formal, for think of and the transitive verb consider in I considered that have practically the same meaning, and think itself is used transitively in some phrases, as I thought as much. So also the slight difference in meaning between he looked at the house and he saw the house has nothing to do with one verb being intransitive, the other transitive. The meaning of a transitive as well as an intransitive verb 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 com- bination a group-verb. Thus think of is the group-verb corresponding to the transitive verb consider. 252. When an intransitive verb takes a noun in the com- mon form after it, as in to run a mile, to stop the night, these nouns are not ordinary complement-nouns, as in to stop 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 time. We call a mile and the night in such con- structions adverbial objects of the verb. 253. Sometimes an intransitive verb is followed by a noun in the common form which repeats the meaning of the verb, as in sleep the sleep of the just, fight a good fight, where the noun is simply the verb converted into a noun, and in fight a battle, run a race, where the noun repeats the meaning, but not the form, of the verb. Such object-nouns are called cognate objects. A cognate object-noun must necessarily be an abstract noun. 92 INTRODUCTION. [§ 254- Eeflexive Verbs. 254. In such a sentence as he contradicts himself, we have a transitive verb followed by a reflexive pronoun in the object-relation. So also in to wash oneself, to keep oneself in the background. But in to wash in cold water, to keep in the background, to keep quiet, the reflexivity is not expressed by 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' (316). 255. It often happens that after a verb has been changed in this way, the reflexive meaning is lost sight of, so that all we feel is the change from transitive to intransitive. Thus, while such intransitives as to wash and dress have a definitively reflexive meaning, to keep in to keep quiet is hardly felt to be equivalent to keep oneself but rather to ' remain,' ' stay,' etc. So also there is nothing specially reflexive in to stop the night, although in he stopped short=' he pulled himself up,' the re- flexive meaning still lingers. We may call these verbs con- verted intransitives. The greater the change of meaning in a converted intransitive, the less there remains of the re- flexive meaning. Thus the intransitive stole in he stole away is so detached in meaning from the transitive steal that we do not now regard the former as reflexive. In some languages the combination of a transitive verb with a reflexive pronoun is used passivally. Thus in French, se vend, literally ' sells itself,' is used to mean ' is sold,' being thus equi- valent to sells in the book sells well. Eeciproeal Verbs. 256. In such sentences as they fought each other, they fought one another, we quarrelled with each other, we have the combination of a verb with a reciprocal pronoun. If these I 259-] VERBS: FUNCTION. 93 pronouns are dropped, and the idea of reciprocity is implied in the verb itself, it becomes a reciprocal verb, a transitive verb becoming intransitive at the same time. Fight and quarrel are reciprocal verbs in such sentences as those two dogs always fight when they meet ; we quarrelled, and made it up again. In such a verb as meet in we shall meet again soon, the reciprocal meaning is less prominent. Impersonal Verbs. 257. Impersonal verbs, such as to rain, to freeze, to snow, to thunder, are words expressing natural phenomena, and uniting logical subject arid predicate in one word, raining, for instance, being equivalent to ' drops of water falling from the sky,' or, more briefly, ' falling water.' So also to freeze means that the temperature of the air is below freezing-point, while in it thunders ' sky ' might be regarded as the logical subject. Hence, when such a noun as rain is made into a verb, it not only does not require, but cannot take, a logical subject, whether expressed by a noun or a pronoun. But as in English a finite verb must be preceded by a noun-word of some kind, the unmeaning it is prefixed as a prop-word — a purely grammatical 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 finite verb is to serve as a predicate-word, that is, in an ordinary affirmative sen- tence to state something about the subject of the sentence, which is expressed by a noun- word or noun-equivalent word- group : the sun shines ; he sleeps ; to stand all day tires one ; standing tires me ; that you should think so surprises me. 259. Although in English the verb must have a subject- 94 INTRODUCTION. [§ 260. word before it, except in the imperative (309), it must be observed that the inflectional j in comes is equivalent to a pronoun, for it tells us tliat the verb must refer to he, she or it as subject if it does not refer to some other noun-word. Hence in he comes the subject is really expressed twice over ■=■ ' he come-he.' 260. In highly inflected languages, such as Latin, where each person of the verb has a distinct ending, the personal pronouns are superfluous, and are therefore prefixed only for emphasis, so that in Latin venio ' come-I ' can stand alone as a sentence-word. Even in English the imperative come I does not require a pronoun, because it would be superfluous, command being necessarily in the second person. 261. But although the Latin venio and the English cornel 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 special meaning, the inflection of the verb becomes a mere mark of concord, like the s of comes. In English, too, we can expand come ! into come thou I, making come into an exclu- sively predicative word. 262. Although verbs are necessary for predication, there are many verbs which are incapable of forming logical pre- dicates 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 abso- lutely unmeaning by itself. Thus he is conveys no sense whatever. It tells us that predication is intended, but we can- not tell what that predication is till some other word is added — he is ready, he is a lawyer, he is here. We call such verbs link-verbs, because they serve to connect the predicate with its subject. To be is a pure link-verb, that is, a pure form- word, devoid of independent meaning, although having the inflections of a verb enables it to express distinctions of time §266.1 VERBS: FUNCTION. 95 and other shades of meaning, as in he was here compared with he is here. 263. Other link-words, while having the same grammatical function of connecting subject and predicate, have also definite meanings of their own. Thus turn and become in he turned red, he became a Methodist, while connecting subject and pre- dicate in the same way as to be does, have also the meaning ' change.' Thus he turned red combines the meanings ' he 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 independent meaning of their own, none of them can stand alone : we cannot say he became, he seems with- out a predicative complement, and we can make he turns stand alone only by changing its meaning and function so that it is no longer a link-verb. 264. All link-verbs are necessarily intransitive. Many in- transitive 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-verbs. Examples are : the tree grew tall; he lived a saint, and died a martyr. We feel that the first of these sen- tences is equivalent to ' the tree grew, and became tall,' tall being not merely a predicate to tree, but serving also to modify greui. In such a sentence as the invalid grew strong again, grew is a pure link-verb, being equivalent to became. 265. Verbs are often followed by more than one noun-word standing to them in different relations. 266. The most frequent case is when a transitive verb is followed by a direct and an indirect object, as in give it me, where it is the direct object of the verb, and me its indirect object, standing in the interest-relation. In such combina- tions the two objects do not stand in any special relation to one another, being connected together only indirectly by being objects to the same verb. 96 INTRODUCTION. [§ 267, 267. But in such combinations as they made him king, Ihey elected Sir Isaac Newton president, the first noun-word after the transitive verb is its direct object, and the second noun- word is a complement to the other one : they made him ■ makes us ask ' made him what ?', and this question is answered by the noun king, which we call the objeet-eomplement. But these object-complements are also connected with the verb itself, as we see by changing these sentences into they made a king of him; they elected a president, namely Sir Isaac Newton. King, therefore, in they 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 bad names ; the examiners asked me three questions. The object complement can be an infinitive or supine, that is, a noun- verbal : / saw him come ; / want him to come ; Hike boys to be quiet. It can also be an adjective or adjective-verbal (participle) : to paint a house white; they made him angry; I saw him coming; I saw it done. Form-Classes. 268. The forms which make up the conjugation of a finite verb are classed under the grammatical categories of number, person, tense, mood, and voice. There are also some other miscellaneous categories included under the head of ' forms.' Kumber. 269. The only grammatical category that verbs have in common with nouns is that of number, although it is ex- pressed in totally different ways in these two parts of speech. In the regular English verbs the only distinction between singular and plural is that the third person present indicative ends in s in the singular, as in he sees, they see, all the other persons having the common form in the singular as well as the plural, so that there is no inflectional distinction between 5 273.] VERBS: TENSE. 97 / see and we see, etc. There is no distinction made in the preterite : he saw, they saiv. More distinctions are made in some of the irregular verbs : / am, we are ; he was, they were. There are no distinctions of gender in the English verb, as there are in the Arabic verb, and in such Latin periphrastic forms as miratus est ' he wondered,' mirata est ' she wondered.' Person. 270. There are three persons of verbs, first, second, and third, corresponding to the three persons of the personal pro- nouns. The only personal inflection of the English regular verbs is the s of the third person singular present indicative — he sees. In the other forms of the regular verb there are no distinctions of person. Some of the irregular verbs make further distinctions : / am,you are, he is, we are. Tense. 271. The only tense which is expressed by inflection in English is the preterite (/ called, I saw), the absence of the preterite inflection constituting the present tense {I call, I see). The other tenses are formed by means of auxiliaries, thus the future (/ shall 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-\-ihe preterite participle, the definite tenses (/ am seeing, I was seeing) consist of be + the present participle. 272. Tense is primarily the grammatical expression of distinctions of time. 273. Every occurrence, considered from the point of view of time, must be either past, as in / was here yesterday, pre- sent, as in he is here today, he is here now, or future, as in he will be here tomorrow. We call was the preterite tense of the verb to be — using 'past' as a general terra to include other varieties of past time besides the preterite — is the pre- sent, and will be the future tense of the same verb. VOL. I. H 98 INTRODUCTION. [§ 274- Simple and Compound Tenses. 274. The present, preterite, and future are simple tenses. But there are also compound tenses, the most important of which belong to the perfect-group, comprising the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect. These compound tenses combine present, past and future respectively with a time anterior to each of these periods : perfect (present perfect) = preterite + present, pluperfect (past perfect)=pre-preterite-|- preterite, and future perfect =pre-future + future. 275. The perfect {I have seen) combines past and present time. Thus I have come in the sentence / have come to see you combines the two ideas ' I came here ' and ' I am here now.' So also he has lived here a good many years means that he lived here in the past, and lives here in the present. The perfect therefore expresses an occurrence which began in the past and is connected with the present, either by actual con- tinuance up to the present time, as in the latter example, or in its results, as in the former example, where although the action of coming is completed, its result — namely 'being here ' — is felt to belong to the present. The simple pre- terite, on the other hand, expresses a past occurrence without any reference to the present. Often, indeed, the preterite entirely cuts away an occurrence from the present ; thus the preterite he lived here for 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 emphasis on the coming here in the past than on the being here in present. Hence / came to see you and / have come to see you really express the same rela- tions of time, but from different points of view. 276. The pluperfect (/ had seen) stands in the same rela- tion to the simple preterite as the perfect does to the present, that is, it expresses an occurrence which took place before § 279-] VERBS: TENSE. 99 the time denoted by a preterite tense, and yet continuing into the latter; thus in the sentence when I had seen everything in Edinburgh, I went on to Glasgow, the action expressed by had seen is shown to have taken place before that expressed by went, and yet the two actions are felt to be connected together. 277. The future perfect (/ shall have seen) stands in the same relation to the simple future ; that is, it expresses an occurrence taking place in the future, and yet before the occurrence expressed by the accompanying simple future, the two occurrences being regarded as connected together in the same way as in the perfect and pluperfect, as in / shall have finished my letter by the timeyou 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 future-group of compound tenses is repre- sented by the future preterite. If we regard an occurrence as impending in the past instead of in the present, we have the future preterite tense (/ should see, he would see), as in / knew how it would turn out, compared with / know how it will turn out, where will turn is simple future. Primary and Secondary Tenses. 279. When we speak 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 perfect are primary tenses. A secondary tense, on the other hand, is measured, not from the time when we are speaking, but from some past or future time of which we are speaking, and consequently a sentence containing a secondary tense makes us expect another sentence containing a verb in a primary H 2 loo introduction: [§ 280. tense to show the time from which that of the secondary tense is to be measured. The pluperfect and future perfect are both secondary tenses. Thus such a sentence as / had finished writing my letter makes us expect another sentence containing a preterite, such as when he came — / had finished writing my letter when he came. The definite preterite {I was seeing) is also a secondary tense, as in / was writing a letter when he came. These two tenses are both measured from a past primary tense. The future perfect (/ shall have seen) is measured from a future primary tense. 280. The primary tense required to supplement a secon- dary tense need not always be expressed if it is clear from the context. Thus we can shorten / am glad you have come at last: I have been waiting for you a long time into I have been waiting for you a long time. When a secondary tense is freely used without being referred to an expressed primary tense, it is called an independent secondary tense. The Latin 'imperfect' (videbam), which otherwise corresponds to the English definite preterite (was seeing) is an independent secondary preterite : Verres inflam- matus furore in forum venit (preterite) ; ardebant (imperfect) oculi, toto ex ore crudelitas eminebat (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 fact, 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 closely together: when Verres came into the forum, his eyes were gleaming. Complete and Incomplete Tenses. 281. It is evident that an occurrence of which we speak in the present must be incomplete at the time, for if it were completed, it would no longer belong to the present. Thus the clock is striking twelve implies that it is in the middle of § 283.] VERBS: TSNSE. lOl striking, and that we know beforehand that there ought to be, and probably will be, twelve strokes. As soon as the last stroke has sounded, we are obliged to use the perfect, and say the clock has {just) struck twelve. Here the perfect denotes completion in the present : it is a complete perfect. So also in / have lived my life meaning ' the active part of my life is over,' / have lived is a complete perfect. But in / have lived here a good many years, I have lived is an in- complete perfect, for the speaker is necessarily implied to be still living in the place referred to. In Latin the tense called 'perfect' (vldi) corresponds not only to the English perfect (/ have seen), but also to the English preterite {J saw), so that the idea of past time is more prominent in it than in the English perfect. Hence it is used only as a complete perfect, the English incomplete perfect being expressed in Latin by the present, as in jam diu hie habito ' I have lived here a long time,' literally ' I live here already long.' 282. When we distinguish between complete and incom- plete secondary tenses, we mean, of course, complete or incomplete with reference to the accompanying primary tenses. Thus in / had written my letter when he came, the action of writing is represented as being finished at the time denoted by the preterite came, so that / had written is here a complete (pluperfect) tense. In / was writing a letter when 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 / was writing is here an incomplete (definite preterite) tense. Tense-aspects : Duration, etc. 283. 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 relation of the time of the occurrence to the time when we are speaking or of which we are speaking. The distinction of duration between fell and lay in he fell down, and he lay loa INTRODUCTION. [§ 284. there nearly an hour, or between to laugh and to hurst out laughing has, of course, nothing to do with grammar, because it is not shown by any grammatical forms, but by the meaning of the words themselves. But in some languages such dis- tinctions of meaning are shown by inflection. Thus in Greek the present infinitive geldn means ' to laugh,' the ' aorist ' infinitive geldsai means ' to burst out laughing.' We may call the former of these a long tense, the latter a short tense. In English the definite perfect / have been seeing generally expresses duration, as in / have been writing letters all day compared with T have written only one letter to-day. I have been writing is, therefore, a long tense. I have written, on the other hand, is neutral as regards duration, being sometimes a short, sometimes a long tense. Long tenses may be either continuous or recurrent, denoting repe- tition, habit, etc. Thus we have a continuous present in he lives in the country, a recurrent present in he goes to Germany twice ayear. The absolute duration of an occurrence is often disregarded in language, an occurrence of considerable length being often put on a level with one that is quite short or even instantaneous. This is generally the case when a succession of occurrences are narrated. Thus in describing a journey, we passed through . . , we stopped a minute . . , we stopped three days . . , we set out for . . are all regarded simply as points in a series. When tenses are used in this way, without regard to their 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 impending occurrence, or its nearness or remoteness. In English we have an immediate future formed with the auxiliary go, as in / am afraid it is going to rain, compared with / am afraid it will rain to-morrow. 285. Some languages have special inchoative tenses to § 288.] VERBS: TENSE. 103 express an occurrence as only just beginning, or an action as only attempted. Those languages which have not special forms for this purpose sometimes use various incomplete tenses instead. Thus in Latin the imperfect (280. i) is used to express attempt, as in cdnsules' seddbant tumultum ' the consuls tried to put down the disturbance,' compared with consules seddverunt (perfect) tumultum ' the consuls put down the disturbance.' 286. We can see from this last example that a tense which was originally meant only to express distinctions of time may come to imply a variety of special meanings. Thus, as present time is necessarily incomplete (281), past time naturally — though not necessarily — suggests completion. Future time suggests uncertainty. When an occurrence ex- pressed by a secondary tense is thought of as going on when something else, expressed by a primary tense, happens, we connect the former with the idea of long duration, the latter with that of short duration (283). 287. It is these implied meanings which make it often difficult to compare the tenses of one language with those of another, or to define their exact meanings. Definite 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 distinctions of past, present, and future. Long tenses — whether continuous or recurrent — are generally more indefinite. The difference between a definite and an indefinite tense is seen by comparing the English definite present in / am writing a letter with the indefinite / write my letters in 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 interval between present and future, the more definite the time of the future occurrence is, and the more I04 INTRODUCTION. [§ 289. likely it is to come off ; hence the immediate future (284) is more definite than the ordinary future. 289. We see that the indefinite present {I write) includes, to some extent, past and future as well as present. This is especially the case in such statements as the sun rises in the east, platinum is the heaviest metal. The verbs in such sen- tences do not express any distinctions of time at all, and it is only because predication and tense-distinctions are asso- ciated together in verbs that yie. are obliged to put verbs in such sentences in some one tense. For the purpose of such statements the present is best suited, as being in itself the most indefinite of the tenses. When the present is used in this way without implying any real distinctions of 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 neutral tense as well as the present. 290. Although we have confined ourselves hitherto to the meanings of tenses, it must not be forgotten that ' tense ' always implies grammatical form. There are many ways of expressing distinctions of time which have nothing to do with tense. Thus in / start 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 expressed by tenses may be expressed lexically by the use of distinct words (283), or by grammatical forms distinct from tense-inflec- tions. Thus distinctions of time may be expressed by derivation, as in the Latin inchoative verbs in -sco, such as albesco ' 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 first extended to a variety of verbs which did not take it in Latin, and was then restricted to certain tenses of § 293-] VERBS: MOOD. I05 these verbs, and so came to be part of pure tense-inflections, as in the imperfect ilfinissait ' he finished,' which would answer to a Latin *flmscebat ' began to finish,' the real Latin imperfect hevagjiniebat. 291. After seeing how tenses develop all kinds of special meanings out of what were originally only distinctions of time, we need not be surprised to find tenses sometimes used to express ideas which have no connection at all with distinc- tions of time. Thus the preterite knew in if I knew his address I would write to him, expresses present time just as much as know in / know his address now, so I shall write to him, the change of the present know into the preterite k?iew expressing hypothesis as opposed to a statement of fact. 292. The following are the chief tenses used in English in simple statements : — Indefinite. Definite. Present. I see. I am seeing. Preterite. I saw. I was seeing. Perfect. I have seen. I have been seeing. Pluperfect. I had seen. I had been seeing. Future. I shall see. I shall be seeing. Future Perfect. I shall have seen. I shall have been seeing. Preterite Future. I should see. I should be seeing. Mood. 293. By the moods of a verb we understand grammatical forms expressing different relations between subject and pre- dicate. Thus, if a language has special forms to express commands as distinguished from statements, we include the forms that express command under the term ' imperative mood.' Thus in English come I is in the imperative mood, 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 common with the moods of finiteVerbs. I06 INTRODUCTION. [§ 294. 294. From the point of view of mood-distinctions state- ments fall under two main divisions, according as they state something as a fact or only as a thought. Thus it is true, it is not true, I think so, are all meant to imply statement of facts as opposed to mere thoughts. Whether such statements are really true — really statements of facts — is no concern of grammar, which deals only with the meaning of the form itself. From a grammatical point of view, moreover, doubt- ful statements, such as perhaps it is true, are just as much statements of fact as the most positive assertions. 295. There are various ways of stating in the form of a thought as opposed to a fact. The most unmistakeable one is by stating in the form of a hypothesis, as when the fact- statements it is true, it is not true, are made into the hypothe- tical clauses if it is true, if it is not true. Here both pairs of sentences offer us a subject and a predicate standing to one another in the opposite relations of affirmation and negation, but while the first two sentences express the affirmation and negation as facts, the last two merely suggest them as objects of thought. In fact, we often say supposing (that is, ' think- ing ') it is true instead of if it is true. A hjrpothetical clause requires a principal clause to complete the sense, the whole combination being called a conditional sentence. Thus if you are right, I am wrong is a conditional sentence, / am wrong being the principal clause. Concessive clauses, such as even if it is true, although it is true, are a variety of hypo- thetical clauses. 296. Another way of stating something as 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 trtie expresses a wish. Clauses of purpose are a special class of wish-sen- tences : / wrote to him that he might know I was at home ; they took away the knife lest he should cut himself. 297. When we repeat a statement made by another person, we can do so in different ways. We can quote his very § 299-1 VERBS: MOOD. 107 words, as in John said, ' / 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 statements of facts. This way of repeating statements is called direct narration. When the speaker repeats what was said to him in his own words we have indirect narra- tion, as mjohn said {that) he was sorry. Here John's being sorry is not stated by John himself at all. Nor is it stated as a fact even by the speaker, who mentions it only as an idea suggested to him by some one else. Hence the subject of all indirect narration is a statement not of facts but of thoughts. 298. We will now consider the expression of these dif- ferent 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, these moods are distinguished as indica- tive (fact-mood) and subjunctive (thought-mood). Some languages have special moods to distinguish different kinds of thought-statements. Thus Greek has, in addition to the indicative and subjunctive moods, an optative mood, used primarily to express wish, which in such languages as Latin is expressed by the subjunctive. 299. In English the only inflectional moods are the in- dicative and subjunctive. But the inflections of the English verb are so scanty that we need not be surprised to find that the distinction between indicative and subjunctive is very slight. The only regular inflection by which the subjunctive is distinguished from the indicative in English is that of the third person singular present, which drops the s of the in- dicative {he sees) in the subjunctive {he see). In the verb to be however, further distinctions are made : indicative / am, he is, he was, subjunctive / 6e, he be, he were, although in the Io8 INTRODUCTION. [§ 300, spoken language the only distinction that is still kept up is that between was and were. Consequently the sense of the distinction in function between subjunctive and nidicative has almost died out in English, and we use the subjunctive were only in combination with other mood-forms (301), the other subjunctive inflections surviving only in a few special phrases and constructions, such as God save the queen !, where the subjunctive expresses wish, being thus equivalent to the Greek optative. 300. The few distinctions that English makes between fact-statements and thought-statements are mainly expressed, not by inflections, but by auxiliaries (periphrastic moods), and by peculiar uses of tense-distinctions. The following are the auxiliary forms : (a) The combination of should and would with the infinitive {should see, would see), when used in the principal clause of conditional sentences (295), is called the conditional mood. The conditional mood has the same form as the future pre- terite tense (278). (b) The combination of may and its preterite might with the infinitive (may see, might see) is called the permissive mood, as in may you be happy ! where it expresses wish, let the dog loose that he may run about a little ; we let the dog loose that he might run about a little, where it expresses purpose. {c) The combination of the finite forms of the verb to be with the supine (is to see, was to see, were to see) is called the compulsive mood. This combination is so called because it primarily expresses compulsion or obligation, as in what am I to do ?, what is to be done ? In this sense it can hardly be considered a mood. But it is used as a pure mood in conditional sentences, as in if it were to rain, I do not know what we shall do. 301. We use tenses to express thought-statements in the hypothetical clauses of conditional sentences, 2&mif I knew § 304.] VERBS: MOOD. I09 his address, I would write to him (291); if it were possible I would do it. In the latter example (as also in if it were to § 300) the hypothesis is shown not only by the preterite tense, but also by the subjunctive inflection, which is really superfluous. When a thought-statement is expressed by a tense in this way, we call it a tense-mood. Were in if it were is a subjunctive tense-mood. 302. As we see, in some conditional sentences all three ways of expressing thought-statements are used — inflectional mood (subjunctive), auxiliary mood (conditional), and tense- mood (preterite). For convenience we will include all these"^ methods of expression under the term thought-form. We / understand, then, by thought-form any grammatical form 7 meant to show that a statement is of a thought as opposed V to a fact. 303. 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 always perfectly logical. That is to say, in such languages as Latin, we do not always find fact-statements expressed by the indicative mood and thought statements expressed by the subjunctive mood, other languages showing divergences of their own, so that the details of the use of the subjunctive in different languages never entirely agree, in spite of the agreement in general principles. 304. 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 (297), 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 tjie no INTRODUCTION. [§ 30S'. statement is false. Thus in Latin, while a true reason is put in the indicative because the reason stated is a fact, a reason which the speaker believes to be false must necessarily be put in the subjunctive, because to him it is a statement of a thought, not of a fact. Hence the rule of Latin grammar that the subjunctive in a causal clause states a rejected reason, as in the sentence pugiles ingemiscunt, non quod doleant (subj.), sed quia profundendd voce omne corpus intenditur (indie)., ' boxers groan, not because they are in pain, but because in uttering the sound the whole body is braced up.' 305. Hence there is in all languages a tendency to use the subjunctive — or whatever thought-forms the language may possess — to imply doubt or denial as opposed to cer-r tainty or affirmation. This is especially noticeable in con- ditional sentences. Conditional sentences are of two kinds : (a) those which do not imply anything as to the fulfilment of 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 right or not; (5) those which imply the rejection of the hypothesis, such as if you were right, I should be wrong, which may be expanded into if you were right — which is not the case — / should be wrong. We distinguish these two kinds of sentences as sentences of open condition and of rejected condition. Now although all conditional sentences express thought-statements as opposed to fact- statements — for even a sentence of open condition does nothing more than leave the truth of the statement open without in any way confirming it — yet as it is just as im- portant to distinguish between open and rejected conditions as to distinguish between accepted and rejected reasons, most languages use the indicative in sentences of open con- dition — not to imply that the condition will be fulfilled, but merely to show that it is not rejected. 306. In Euglish the distinctions between thought-form and S 309-] VERBS: MOOD. Ill fact-form are tci a great extent levelled. Thus the English verb makes no distinction between true and false reasons, or between direct and indirect narration. In fact, the whole distinction between indicative and subjunctive, as carried out by such languages as Latin, French, and German, offers great difficulties to English-speakers who have not been trained in general principles of grammar and the study of inflected languages. 307. The general principle in English is not to mark the distinction between fact-statements and thought-statements where it is superfluous, that is, where it is clearly shown 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 unrfiistakeably marked by the negative form of the clause {not because . . ,). For the same reason English finds it unnecessary to mark the distinction between direct and indirect narration by any modification 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. Imperative Mood. 308. In the imperative mood the relation between subject and predicate is not that of statement, as in the indicative, subjunctive, optative, etc., but of hortation, that is, com- mand, request, etc. The imperative does not state a com- ) mand, but addresses it directly to another person. Hence the statement of a command in the indicative (/ tell you to go I) or of a wish in the optative or subjunctive {God save the queen !) are quite distinct from the imperative, which does not imply statement of any kind. 309. 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. [§310. perative does not require a pronoun to mark distinctions of person, as it would in a mood of statement, but can form a sentence by itself, any defining or additional words that may be required either for clearness or emphasis — including the personal pronouns — being added separately: cornel; come, John ! ; come, you boys ! The inflection of the imperative is, then, a purely negative one (77), being merely the common form of the verb used as a sentence-word in the second person, no distinction being made between singular and plural, any more than in the indicative {you see). 310. Although there cannot be any imperative of the first person singular or third person singular or plural, there can be an imperative of the first person plural when it is equiva- lent to / or we+you, the hortation being addressed to the implied_yo«. In English this form of the imperative is ex- pressed by the auxiliary verb /«/with the infinitive : lei us go! Voice. 311. By voice we mean different grammatical ways of ex- pressing the relation between a transitive verb and its subject and object. The two chief voices are the active {he saw) and the passive (Ae was seen). 312. In English the passive is formed by combining the finite forms of the auxiliary verb io be with the preterite parti- ciple of the verb. Thus the active forms / see, I saw, I have seen, I shall see become in the passive / am seen, I was seen, I have been seen, I shall be seen. 313. In a sentence with a fully expressed transitive verb, such as the dog killed the rat, although there is only one sub- ject, namely, dog, yet from a logical point of view the state- ment 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 it was killed. In short, we may wish § 3i6.] VERBS: VOICE. Ijo to make the object-word rat into the subject-word of the sentence. This we do by changing the active form killed into the corresponding passive form was killed : the rat was killed. The original subject is added, if necessary, by means of the preposition ly : the rat was killed by the dog. In this Sen- tence rat is the inverted object and by the dog is the in- verted subject. The passive voice is, therefore, a gram- matical device for (a) bringing the object of a transitive verb into prominence by making it the subject of the sentence, and (^) getting rid of the necessity of naming the subject of a transitive verb. 314. When the active sentence they made him king (267) is changed into the passive form he was made king, both the nouns stand in the nominative instead of the accusative re- lation, one of them (he') being the subject- word, and the other (king) being in apposition to the subject. Both of them are, therefore, inverted objects. In such sentences only one of the object-words can be made into the subject of the passive sentence. 315. But when such a sentence as the examiner asked me three questions is made passive, either of the object-words may be made the subject of the passive sentence : / was asked three questions by the examiner; three questions were asked me by the examiner. It will be observed that in the last sentence the object-word me is kept unchanged, and in the preceding sentence, although there is nothing in the form of questions to tell us what grammatical relation it stands in, yet we certainly feel it to be parallel with me in the other sen- tence, that is to say, it remains in the object relation. We call me and questions in such constructions retained objects, distinguishing them, if necessary, as retained indirect and retained direct objects respectively. For the passive construction / was sjioken to, see § 396. 316. Some languages, such as Greek, have a reflexive, VOL. I. I 114 INTRODUCTION. [§ 3i7- or middle voice, as it is also called, in which the action of the verb is referred back to the subject in various ways. In the direct reflexive the implied pronoun stands in the direct object relation, by which the necessarily transitive verb be- comes intransitive; thus in Greek from the transitive loHo ' I wash ' is formed the direct middle intransitive loHomai (' I wash myself). In the indirect reflexive a pronoun standing in the indirect object relation is implied, as in the Greek prdttomui ' I make for myself,' ' gain,' from the active Jird/io ' I make.' In Greek the change from active to middle is often accompanied by further changes of meaning. Thus the active peitho ' I persuade ' becomes in the middle peithomai ' I let ( myself be persuaded,' ' I obey.' Latin also has deponent verbs, as they are called, which unite passive inflection with /active meaning, such as loqvor ' I speak,' these verbs being remains of an older middle voicCi In Greek also the inflec- tions of the middle and passive voices are nearly identical. , We can see from this last example that reflexivity and passivity often approach in meaning, for I persuade myself axiA lum persuaded mean much the same thing. It will be observed that when a transitive verb is made passive, it becomes equiva- lent to an intransitive verb, it is seen, for instance, being equivalent to it appears. So also, as we have seen, when a transitive verb is made into a direct reflexive, it becomes intransitive. Lastly, we have seen that it is often difficult to decide whether a transitive verb that has become intransitive is to be regarded as reflexive or not (255). All this shows the close connection there is between intransitive, reflexive, and passive verbs. Historically, passive verbs seem generally to have developed out of middle verbs (compare 255, i). Miscellaneous Forms, 317. The English verb has special auxiliary forms to ex- press negation, emphasis and interrogation, as in the negative / do not see (ai dount sij) compared with the un- emphatic positive I see, the emphatic positive / do see, and the interrogative do I see? § 321.] VERBALS. II5 318. These different forms are combined in various ways. Thus do not I see ? (dount ai sij) is negative interrogative. Verbals. 319. The verbals are intermediate between finite verbs on the one hand and noUns aftd adjectives on the other. They are incapable of expressing predication, and lose several of the formal distinctions that characterize verbs, namely number, person, and mood. But they preserve the distinctions of 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 its complement by means of a preposition keeping that preposi- tion when it becomes a verbal, and so on. Thus the verbs and the corresponding verbals have the same constructions in such sentences as when I saw him I thought of you and seeing (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 / shall see, I have seen, etc., where the verbals are, from a logical point of view, predicates (120). Even from a purely gram- matical 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 passive participle, or can understand without historical investigation how it came to be used in such a construction. We must therefore distinguish between periphrase-verbals and independent Verbals, the latter only being real noun-words and adjective-words. It is with these latter that we have now to deal. Infinitive and Supine. 321. The infinitive, as in / can see it, and the supine, as in / wish to see it, are noun-verbals. I 2 Il6 INTRODUCTION. [§3". The infinitive is sometimes called the 'infinitive mood' (293. i). 322. The simple infinitive and supine are primarily active, but there is also a passival supine, as in this house is to let. 323. There are also periphrastic tenses, both active and passive, of the supine, such as the perfect active to have seen and the present passive in this house is to be let or sold. Gerund. 324. The gerund, as in / remember seeing him, is a noun- verbal, the present participle, which has the same form, being an adjective-verbal, as in running water. The gerund also differs from the present participle in not entering into the periphrastic forms of the finite verb. 325. The gerund has periphrastic forms to express dis- tinctions of tense and voice, as in / remember having seen him, I do not like being asked to make a speech. 326. The gerund is less of a verb than the infinitive inas- much as it does not join in the conjugation of the finite verb, and more of a noun, inasmuch as it can be joined to another noun by means of a preposition, as in / had not the pleasure of knowing him, which cannot be done with the infinitive or supine. 327. But in many cases the gerund and the infinitive can be used almost indiflferently ; thus seeing is believing could also be expressed by to see is to believe. 328. In seeing is believing the two gerunds are nearly equivalent to abstract nouns such as sight, inspection, belief, credence, although the two classes of words are kept apart by difference of grammatical construction : compare seeing a thing Viith the sight of a thing; believing a person Vi\^ belief in a person. 329. But when an abstract word in -ing is inflected like a noun and is associated with adjectives and other noun-modi- fiers without keeping any verb constructions, it must be §335-] VERBALS. 1 17 regarded as a noun, as in / never saw such doings. But until a verbal has been isolated from its verb by change of meaning — especially by taking a concrete meaning, as in wire netting — it is not entirely on the same footing as ordi- nary nouns. Participles. 330. Participles are adjective-verbals. 331. The simple participles are the present active parti- ciple, such as seeing, running in seeing a crowd, I stopped and / saw him running to catch the train, and the preterite passive participle, such as called, thrown in a boy called John, I saw him thrown out of his trap. 332. The present participle is sometimes used passivally, as in there is an answer waiting, 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 learnt much.' 333. There are periphrastic participles, such as the per- fect active participle having seen in having seen all that was to be seen at Rome, we went on to Naples, and the present passive participle being seen in not being seen by any one, he escaped. 334. Participles retain the meanings and constructions of the verbs they are formed from when they are equivalent to clauses, as in the examples just given, where, for instance, having seen is equivalent to when we had seen. 335. On the other hand, in such combinations as running water, a charming view, a ruined man, an ill-built house the participles are pure adjectives, being put before nouns like ordinary adjectives, and several of them being capable of comparison (more, most charming), while they are all isolated from their verbs in meaning — except perhaps in the first in- stance — and in the case oi ill-built va. construction also,forthere is no verb *to ill-build. But many passive participles used as Il8 INTRODUCTION. [§336. adjectives retain traces of their verb origin in preferring much to very as a modifier ; thus much pleased sounds better than very pleased, just as we say it pleased me much. Adverbs. 338. There are two main classes of adverbs corresponding to the distinction between adjective-pronouns and ordinary or ' special ' adjectives (194). General adverbs, such as here, there, where, now, then, soon, quite, very, not, resem- ble adjective-pronouns in function and meaning. Thus the general adverbs here, there, modify the verb stand in stand here ! stand there ! in the same way as the adjective- pronouns ('general adjectives') this and that modify the noun position in take this position !, take that position !, all four words having the same demonstrative meaning. The adverbs new and then have a similar meaning, only applied to time instead of place ; quite and very express general qualifications of quantity; and not expresses the mpst abstract and general of all qualifications, namely negation. 337. 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 con- junctions. Thus the adverbs in and up in come in ! come up ! are used also as prepositions, as in to stay in the house, he came up the road, but they are not related to ordinary nouns, adjectives, or verbs. 338. Special 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, quick are formed the special adverbs brightly, quickly. These adverbs are, therefore, at the same time secondary adverbs — formed from other parts of speech. Some adverbs are formed from adjectives by direct conversion, such 2& full va. full many= § 342-] ADVERBS. [I9 ' very many,' hard in work hard. Other secondary ad- verbs are formed from nouns, and occasionally from verbs, such as home in go home, hang in go hang, formed from home, to hang. 339. Adverb-groups — that is, word-groups having 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 them- selves often enter, such as nevertheless, however. Such combinations as the above may be regarded as compound adverbs because of their isolation of meaning, although some of them are written as two words. But it is difficult to draw the line between adverbrgroups and compound adverbs. 340. It will be seen that some secondary adverbs are more general in their meaning than others, although not so general as the primary adverbs. The adverb full has, however, the same general meaning as very, although it is much more restricted in its application. It must be ob- served that very itself was once a secondary adverb formed by conversion from the adjective very ' true ' — which is still preserved in the superlative veriest — so that it had originally the same meaning as the derived adverb verily. But the adverb very has diverged so much in meaning from its adjective that the connection between them is no longer felt. Form. 341. The only adverbs that can be recognized by their form are the special adverbs in -ly, such as hrightly, quickly ; but it must be borne in rnind that this test is not de- cisive, for there are several adjectives in -ly, such as goodly, manly. 342. Most primary adverbs are indeclinable. But secon- dary adverbs formed from adjectives are compared like I20 INTRODUCTION. [§ 343- adjectives: quick, quicker, quickest, as in come quick (or quickly), we will see who is done quickest, usefully, more usefully, most usefully, as in more usefully employed. A few primary adverbs are also capable of comparison : soon, sooner, soonest. Meaning. 343. Adverbs are classed according to their meaning under the main 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 : — 344. [a) Adverbs of place, such as here, there, where, away, up, down, in, out, inside, outside, above, below, 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 motion as well as rest, as in he came here, he went away, he went in, they flocked together compared with he stood here, he is away on a holiday, he is in, they stood together. In the literary language there is a group of adverbs expressing motion to, namely hither, thither, whither, with a corresponding group expressing motion from — hence, thence, whence, which in the ordinary language are expressed hyfrom here, etc. When these adverbs are used, the corresponding here, there, where are restricted to the meaning of rest. There is often used as a pure form-word without any mean- ing of its own. When used in this way it loses its stress and is weakened to (^ar), which we call 'the weak there' as distin- guished from 'the strong there' =^i^t^). Thus in the sentence there is no one there CSa z nou wBn ^Sea), the first there is weak and a mere form-word, while the second there is strong and keeps its full meaning as an adverb of place. 345. (3) Adverbs of time admit various other sub- divisions: now, today, at once, immediately are adverbs of present time, then, yesterday, lately, formerly, once, in / §347-] ADVERBS. 121 thought so once, are adverbs of past time, afterwards, to- morrow, soon, presently are adverbs of future time. Some ad- verbs of time, such as henceforth, combine present and future time, = now + in the future. Such adverbs as at once, im- mediately might also be regarded as adverbs of immediate futurity, as compared with presently, which implies delay. Ever, never, always, continuously are adverbs of continuous time or duration, while often, frequently, occasionally, seldom, rarely, once, again, twice, daily, yearly, annually, periodically are adverbs of discrete time or repetition, the distinction between continuous and discrete time being analogous to that between continuous and discrete quantity (232). It must be observed that some adverbs which would seem to express continuous time, such as continually, incessantly, per- petually, are not really equivalent to ' continuously,' but express very frequent repetition : he comes here continually — every other day ; it rains incessantly — almost without ceasing. 346. (c) Place and time both fall under the head of order. Hence the analogy in meaning between such place-adverbs as here, there, where and the time-adverbs now, then, when. Hence also the use of some adverbs of place in a temporal meaning, as in here he stopped short in his speech, where here means ' at this point of time,' all these events came together meaning that they happened at the same time. 347. {d) Adverbs of quantity. Of adverbs of quantity, degree, measure, some express definite measure, such as equally, less, least, more, most, as in equally happy, less happy, most happy, some indefinite measure, such as little, a little, slightly, much, very, greatly, excessively, as in little the worse, a little better, much pleased, very glad. Rather in I would rather is an adverb of definite, in rather good of indefinite measure. Others express causal quantity, that is, quantity in its relation to purpose or result, such as enough, sufficiently, too, too much, too little. Others, again, express quantity in its relation to unity (part and whole), such as wholly, quite. 123 INTRODUCTION. [§ 348- completely, perfectly, exactly, almost, nearly, hardly, scarcely. To these are allied adverbs of addition, such as also, besides, too (which is also used to express excess), and exclusion, such as only, merely. So and as in not so good as, than in letter than, the in the more the merrier are adverbs of comparison, the expressing double comparison or proportion. Most adverbs of quantity express con- tinuous quantity. Of those that express discrete quantity, such as twice in twice as many, some are used also as adverbs of time. It will be observed that many adverbs of time are also adjective-pronouns of quantity, such as less, least, more, most, enough. 348. {i) Adverbs of manner, such as how, thus, so, as, like. So and as are adverbs of manner in it is done so, do as you are told I 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 ill in well done, ill done, most of them formed from adjectives by adding -ly, such as quickly, wisely, knowingly, avowedly. Many of these are used as adverbs of quantity, being practically equivalent to very, as in remarkably clever, horribly dull, awfully tired, piercingly cold. 349. (_/) Adverbs of cause, such as therefore, 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 then ?, and the adverb of manner so, which in the spoken language takes the place of therefore, as in so you will not do it P 350. {g) Adverbs of assertion express afllrmation, such z.^ yes, yea ; denial or negation, such as no, nay, not; asseveration, including certainty, doubt, etc., such as surely, certainly, assuredly, truly, undoubtedly, indeed, perhaps, possibly. Of these j/«,^£a, no, nay are sentence-adverbs (368). 5 357-] ADVERBS. 123 351. Adverbs are also used metaphorically to express a variety of occasional meanings. Thus together in they con- spired together expresses the idea of co-operation, derived metaphorically from the idea of proximity in place. 352. General adverbs also fall under other classes similar to those under which pronouns fall. Thus we have definite adverbs, such as here, there (of place), now, then (of time), so, thus (of manner), corresponding to the definite pro- nouns this, that; here being equivalent to in this place, now to at this time, then to at that time, thus to in this 'way, so to in that way. 353. Indefinite adverbs are formed by combining the in- definite 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. 354. Negative adverbs are formed, like negative pro- nouns, by prefixing n- and no- : n-ever, nowhere, nohow. It will be observed that no is compounded with the interrogative form of the adverbs. 355. Most of the interrogative pronouns begin with wh, like the interrogative pronouns : where (of place), when (of time), why (of cause) ; how (of manner). Function. 356. General adverbs, like pronouns, admit of a division into independent and dependent. An independent adverb, such as very in he is very tall, simply modifies some word (or sentence), while a dependent adverb not only modifies some word, but at the same time makes us expect something more to complete the sense. Thus the dependent adverb as in he is as tall makes us expect as I (am) or some such comple- tion of the sense. Correlative adverbs are a special class of dependent adverbs. 357. All adverbs fall under the two heads of word-modi- 124 INTRODUCTION. [§ 358- fying and sentence-modifying, although it is often difficult to distinguish between the two classes. All special adverbs are independent word-modifiers. Independent Adverbs. Word-Modifying. 358. The grammatical function of independent word- modifying adverbs is to modify adjectives, adverbs, verbs, and occasionally nouns. Their most important function is in connection with verbs, adverbs standing in the same relation to verbs as adjectives do to nouns, as we see by comparing he walks quickly with he is a quick walker, he has a quick step. The great majority of adverbs indeed — especially secondary adverbs in -ly — are used only in connection with verbs. 359. The adverbs which modify adjectives and adverbs are all general adverbs of degree (quantity), as in quite right, very good, most beautiful, most beautifully, fearfully ugly. Most of these adverbs cannot be used with verbs. These adverbs can modify a group-adverb, as in he is quite in the wrong, I am half through my work, where the adverbs qrdte, half Aa not modify the prepositions in and through, but modify the whole group in each case. 360. Adverbs follow their verbs, as in he came quickly, he came home yesterday, and precede adjectives and adverbs, as in very quick, quickly : enough, however, follows, as in good enough, not quickly enough. 361. When an adverb modifies a noun, the noun is gene- rally felt to be equivalent to an adjective or verb, as in ^ ?f quite a gentleman, he is quite the gentleman^'-\\& is a complete or perfect gentieman,' he is fully master of the subject, com- pared with he is quite gentlemanly, he has fully mastered the subject. 362. A noun-modifying adverb evidently approaches very near in function to an adjective. In such a construction as § 365.] ADVERBS. 125 he is quite a gentleman we feel that quite is not an adjective, because, if it were, it would come after, instead of before the article a, as in he is a perfect gentleman. But in such con- structions as you are the very man I want, he is an only son, we must regard very and only as adjectives, only being of course an adverb in such a construction as he is only a child. Hence we see that although the adverb well is used as an adjective and felt to be such in he is quite well, the conversion' is not complete, for we cannot talk of *a well man. 363. In such constructions as the house here, the man there, the adverb follows its noun instead of preceding it, because these combinations are felt to be contractions of such sen- tences as the house is here, the man stands there, etc. Sentence-Modijying. 364. As assertion, denial, etc., consist in stating a certain relation between the subject and predicate of a sentence, it follows that adverbs of assertion (350) cannot modify either subject or predicate exclusively, but modify the relation be- tween them, that is, modify the general meaning of the sen- tence. Thus certainly in / certainly think so does not modify think alone, as if the sentence were equivalent to / think with certainty or / think correctly, but the whole sentence is equiva- lent to it is certain that I think so. That such is the meaning of the adverb is confirmed by the form of the sentence, for it' certainly modified think only, it would follow it, as the adverb so does in / think so. Nor can it modify /, because adverbs precede the noun-words they modify. 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. 365. In the same way the adverb not in / do not think so is a sentence-modifier serving to deny or negative the connection between the subject / and the predicate think so. Here also 126 INTRODUCTION. [§ 366. the grammatical form confirms the grammatical analysis, for not is joined on to the unmeaning form-word do, which serves only as a prop for the negative particle, so that by attaching not to the one unmeaning word in the sentence, we seem, as it were, to distribute the negation over the whole sentence. 366. But in such a sentence as he is not a fool, the not might formally be associated with 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 spoken language two forms (hij iznt a fuwl) and (hijz not a fuwl). In the former the negation being attached specially to an unmeaning form-word must necessarily logically modify the whole sen- tence, just as in / do not think so (ai dount }jir)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 to he is no fool, where there can be no doubt that the negative adjective- pronoun no modifies the noun, so that (hijz not s fuwl) is almost equivalent to ' I assert that he is the opposite of a fool.' Again, in such a sentence as he gave his money not from benevolence but 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 the same adverb may be sometimes a sentence-modifier, sometimes an ordinary word-modifier, but that there is often great difficulty in distin- guishing 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 gram- matically—modified by the adverb. But if the verb has a distinct meaning of its own, its importance in the sentence makes any modification of it almost logically equivalent to modification of the whole sentence. Thus there can be no doubt that an adverb of motion such as home in its regular § 369-] ADVERBS. 137 position after a verb of motion such as go must be regarded as specially modifying that verb, and yet in such a sentence as John came home yesterday, home practically modifies not came only, but the whole sentence, for it is not any one at any time that came home, but it is John 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 purely grammatical point of view, and from the grammatical point of view there can be no doubt that home in John came hom£ modifies came, and came only. 367. Some sentence-modifying adverbs single out one particular word, although they still modify the sentence as a whole, even and only in even Homer sometimes nods, where even Homer ■:= Homer himself, only a fool would do that, are examples of such 'word-sentence-modifying,' word- emphasizing adverbs. In such a sentence as he is only a common soldier, only is a word-modifying adverb. Sentence- A dverbs. 368. The answer to the question is he here ? can be either the afiSrmativej/M or the negative no. It is evident that yes and no are sentence-modifying adverbs and at the saine time sentence- words like come !, John !, alas !. no in the above example is equivalent to he is not here ; it is, therefore, at the same time the absolute form corresponding to the conjoint not. There is no conjoint adverb corresponding to yes, because the ordinary form of the sentence {he is here) is taken to imply affirmation. The nearest approach to such a conjoint affirmative adverb is the emphatic assertive certainly {he is certainly here), which, hke many other adverbs, can also be used absolutely — though without any change of form — as in the answer to the question will you come too ? Dependent Adverbs. 369. Dependent adverbs are of two kinds, ■word-intro- ducing and sentence-introducing. A sentence containing 128 INTRODUCTION. [§ 370. a word-introducing adverb can be supplemented by a word or word-group as well as a sentence, as in he is taller thanyou, he is taller than you are; while a sentence-introducing adverb requires a full sentence, as in / know how it is done. Correlative Adverbs. 370. These are a special class of word-introducing de- pendent 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, as . . as vn he is nearly as tall as you {are), so . . as in he is not so tall as you (are), the . . the in the more the merrier, the more you beat them the better they be are examples of correlation-pairs. The distinction between as tall as you and as tall as you are is, of course, parallel to that between than you and than you are (369). 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- pairs the second correlative refers back to the first something in the same way as a relative refers back to its antecedent, he is as tall as you being equivalent to ' he is tall in the degree in which you are tall.' Correlation consists therefore in mutual logical dependence and parallelism of the members of the correlation-pair. 371. Adverbs of more independent meaning may also form correlation-pairs, such as partly . . partly, sometimes . . sometimes, now . . now, as in he did it partly from benevolence, partly from ostentation ; sometimes grave, sometimes gay, (now grave, now gay). 372. The members of a correlation-pair sometimes be- come fixed so as to form correlation-groups or cor- relation compounds, such as to and fro; up and down ; here, there, and everywhere. § 373-] ADVERBS. 139 No pair of related words can be regarded as a correlation- pair unless in addition to the characteristics of mutual logical dependence it shows grammatical parallelism. Thus an ante- cedent noun and its relative pronoun {men . . who) cannot be regarded as correlative, because they belong to different parts of speech, the pronoun being also markedly subordinated to the noun ; and even when the antecedent is a personal pronoun (/ who . .) we do not feel the two to be grammatically parallel and on a footing of equality. But if we could expand what I say I mean into *what I say, that I mean we might call what . . 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. regard 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 T was so tired that T could not go any further cannot be regarded as a correlation-pair for the same reason. Relative and Conjunctive Adverbs. 373. Dependent sentence-introducing adverbs are sub- divided into relative and eonjuiictive adverbs, corre- sponding to relative and conjunctive pronouns. Thus the place-adverb there in we stopped there a week is an inde- pendent adverb corresponding to the independent pronoun that in we stopped in that place. In we went on to Rome, where we stopped a week, where is a relative (progressive) adverb corresponding to the relative pronoun which miwe 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 m. I know who he is, I know in vohat place he is. All the interrogative adverbs are used relatively and conjunctively as well. Thus why is relative in the reason why, how is conjunctive in / know how it is done. In / asked how if was done, how is both a conjunctive and an indirect interrogation adverb, just as the pronoun what is both conjunctive and indirectly interrogative in / asked what it was. VOL. I. K 130 INTRODUCTION. [§374- 374. The conjunctive adverb of afiSrmation that, as in 1 know that it is true, that it is true is a fact, and the con- junctive adverbs of doubt if and whether, as in I wonder if it is true, I do not know whether it is true or not, have no corresponding interrogative adverb, because such an adverb would be superfluous in such a sentence as is it true? where the form of the sentence by itself shows that it is interrogative. Compare the analogous want of a conjoint adverb of affirma- tion (368). The 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 ante- cedent to a relative pronoun has definite formal charac- teristics 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 tell whether they modify single words or whole sentences. In such a sentence as / know when he came we do not hesitate to regard when he came as associated specially with the verb know. In he came to the house when T was out, he came while I was out we are also inclined to regard when I 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 together as § 377-] ADVERBS. I3I wholes, instead of merely joining the second clause to a single word in the first. If so, we must regard lecause 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 it is most practical to class all sentence-connect- ing adverbs as conjunctions without stopping to enquire into the exact way in which the connection is effected (381). Connectioii between Adverbs and other Parts of Speech. Connection between Adverbs and Adjectives. 376. An adjective after a link-verb often approaches in meaning to an adverb, especially when the link-verb has some independent meaning, as in he 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 full and independent a meaning that its adjunct angrily is felt to be a pure adverb in meaning as well as form ; but looks in he looks angry, although it has enough independent meaning 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 felt to be logically as well as grammatically an adjective. In some cases adjectives are used as complete adverbs without any change of form, as in to drink deep, to work hard, especially when compared, as in he works harder than ever, I know where it can be done cheapest. Connection between Adverbs and Pronouns. 377. We have already seen that general adverbs resemble ^ pronouns (336). In some cases the similarity of adverbs to / pronouns in grammatical function is so great that we can / hardly tell which part of speech the word belongs to. In such combinations as / think so, I told you so, the adverb so K 2 13a INTRODUCTION. [§ 378- does not merely modify its verb like an adverb — as if / think so meant ' I think in that way ' — but answers the question ' think what ? ', so that it is logically equivalent to a pronoun in the direct object relation, and we might change the above sentences into I think that, I told you that without any per- ceptible change of meaning. In he likes it, and so do I; he is fond of it, and so am I, so is felt to be equivalent partly to a pronoun of reference — 'he likes it, and that (i.e. hking) do I ' — partly to ' also.' 378. In who else?, what else? the adverb else has no longer the sense of ' otherwise,' but is almost felt to be equi- valent to the pronoun another, although it is most convenient to regard who else, etc. as group-compounds like whoever, whosoever. The 2uAvtx\) yonder in lookyonder, the manyonder (compare the man there, § 363) has been converted into a pure pronoun va. yonder man. 379. In Old English and Modem German such com- binations 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 expressed by the house wherein he lives, the adverbs here, there, where being substituted for the neuter pronouns it (this, that), what, which. The reason of this is that lifeless objects are generally stationary, and hence often come to be looked at from a purely local point of view. Hence instead of saying ' he is in it,' meaning ' he is in the house * or ' he is in that (this) room,' we may say he is in there or he is in here, as the case may be; and instead of saying the hook is on it, meaning ' on the shelf,' we say it is up there. The difference between this Modern 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 together so as to form a single word. Connection between Adverbs and Prepositions. 380. In such a sentence as John is stronger than Thomas, § 382.] ADVERBS. ^li the adverb than has an evident similarity to a preposition : it makes the noun Thomas into an adjunct to stronger, just as the preposition beyond might do in such a sentence as *John is strong beyond Thomas. In fact than governs an objective case like a preposition in such a construction as Beelzebub, than whom, Satan except, fione higher sat. (Milton.) Than and as may also be regarded as case-governing adverbs in such constructions as he is taller than me, he is as strong as me, although it is simpler to regard them here as absolute pronouns, as in it is me. Connection between Adverbs and Conjunctions. 381. When an adverb introduces a sentence as a modifier," not of a word in the preceding sentence, but of the whole sentence, the adverb becomes indistinguishable from a con- junction (375) ; and as it is often difficult to distinguish be- tween word-modification and sentence-modification (366. i), it is for ordinary grammatical purposes most convenient to regard all sentence -introducing adverbs as conjunctions (408). Thus, although it is not strictly correct to call the sentence-introducing like in do like I do I a conjuncdon as opposed to the ' adverb ' like in she sings like a bird, yet the rule ' like is an adverb, not a conjunction in standard English,' or ' it is vulgar to use like as a conjunction,' cannot be ex- pressed so shortly and conveniently if we refuse to call the sentence-connecting like a conjunction. 382. Word-connecting adverbs such as than and the correlative as ... as bear an equally close resemblance to word-connecting conjunctions such as and (403). But as sentence-connecting is regarded as the most characteristic function of conjunctions, it is not usual to extend the designation ' conjunction' to such adverbs. 134 INTRODUCTION. [§ 383' Prepositions. Form. 383. Prepositions, like adverbs, are of two kinds, primary and secondary. Primary prepositions, such as of, in, on, to, till, for, with, by, are connected only with the two other classes of particles — adverbs and conjunctions. Most pre- positions are used also as adverbs ; thus ^ is a preposition in he passed by the house, an adverb in he passed by. A few are used also as conjunctions (or conjunctional adverbs), such as till in wait till he comes, for in the sense of ' because.' Some prepositions are not used as adverbs, such as of, to, for. Originally, however, offvis.s the adverb corresponding to of, and too was the adverb corresponding to to. But now off and 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 de- clinable parts of speech. Thus across is formed from the noun cross ; round in walk round the garden, along are formed from the adjectives round, long ; and excepting, except, during, past in half past one, are formed from the verbs except, dure = endure, pass. 385. There are also compotmd prepositions, some primary, formed from other prepositions and from adverbs, such as into, upon, throughout, and some secondary, formed — partly at least — from declinable words, such as notwith- standing. 386. There is also an important class of group-preposi- tions, such as by means of, for the sake of, with regard to, consisting of a noun governed by a preceding preposition and followed by another preposition, which grammatically governs the following noun, although logically the noun is governed by the whole group. Thus in I will do it for the § 387-] PREPOSITIONS. I35 sake of peace, the noun peace is governed grammatically by of, but logically by the group for-i/ie-sake-of. The group-preposition because of contains only one distinct independent preposition, but the be- is really a weakening of the preposition by. 387. Prepositions are put before noun-words. They govern personal pronouns in the objective case : to me, of him. In more highly inflected languages, prepositions generally govern a variety of cases, the same preposition often governing several cases with corresponding differ- ences of meaning. Thus in Latin and German such a preposition as in governs the accusative case when asso- ciated with verbs of motion or a noun-word expressing the end or goal of the motion expressed by 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 prepositions. Through want of the necessary inflec- tions English has lost this distinction, so that a new com- pound preposition into has been formed to denote motion, as in he came into the house — where Latin would have in the house with house the accusative — compared with he is in the house, where Latin would have the ablative. But we still use the adverb in to express motion, as in he came in. A preposition need not be prefixed immediately 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 high 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 preposition- group. In some languages prepositions follow, instead of preceding the noun-words they govern, either generally or only in special cases. Even in English therein is equivalent to in there, in it 136 INTRODUCTION. [§ 388. (379), although in in therein is not a true preposition but an adverb. 388. Prepositions sometimes govern adjectives, especially in adverbial groups such as in short, after all. They also govern adverbs, as in till now, since then, from here. In such constructions the adjectives and adverbs must be regarded as converted nouns, being also logically equivalent to nouns : in short = ' in a short statement,' 'in few words' ; till now = ' till the present time.' Function. 389. 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, freedom from care. {B) An adjective, as in blach in the face, free from care, good for nothing. (c) A verb, as in climh up a tree, I thought of it, he did it with the greatest ease. id) A sentence, as in / stopped at home because of the rain, he caught cold through getting wet. It will be observed that in such constructions the adjunct- group is generally a sentence-equivalent, rain, for instance, being a subject-predicate word (257), and through getting 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 caught cold, we can mentally expand the preposition-group into a phrase such as ' through your persuading me to go out in the rain.' Prepositions in such constructions are, therefore, logically equivalent to conjunctions, and we can make the first sentence into I stopped at home because it rained — with the conjunction because instead of the group-preposition § 394-] PREPOSITIONS. 137 because of- — without any change of meaning. Conversely, we can express we saw the lightning before we heard the thunder, where before is a conjunction, in the form of we saw the lightning before hearing the thunder, where before is a pre- position. In such a sentence as after the old king'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 resem- ble a conjunction still more. The normal order may be restored by a slight change : the son came to the throne after the old king's death. 390. A preposition-group qualifying a noun is often equi- valent to an adjective ; thus of honour in man of honour is equivalent to honourable ; and a man with a red nose means the same as a red-nosed man. 391. As adjectives and verbs are generally qualified by adverbs, a preposition-group qualifying an adjective or verb is generally equivalent to an adverb. Thus blind of one eye means much the same as partially blind, and with ease means exactly the same as easily. 392. Adding a preposition to a noun-word has the same function as inflection. Thus the preposition-group of fohn means exactly the same as the genitive fohn's, and with ease is equivalent to the instrumental case of those languages which have that inflection. 393. Prepositions serve also to express a variety of more general grammatical relations. Thus in the town of Birming- ham the 0/" denotes apposition, the group being equivalent to Birmingham the town. In the rat was killed by the dog, the by is the sign of the inverted subject, the group by-the-dog being logically equivalent to a nominative case. 394. Although a preposition is grammatically associated with 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. [S 395' head-word is a verb. Thus in such sentences as / saw him pass by the window and run across the road and tell him to come here, the prepositions are so closely associated with the preceding verbs that we can omit the nouns that follow them without altering the meaning, except that we make it vaguer: T saw him pass by, run across and tell him to come here. So we may regard /ajj-Av and run-across in such constructions as group-verbs, logically equivalent to such simple transitive verbs as pass and cross in he passed the house, he crossed the road, just as look-at, thinli-of, attend-to are logically equivalent to survey, consider, etc. 395. In English such group-verbs can be put in the passive voice in imitation of the transitive verbs which they resemble in meaning, as in it has been thought of, he shall be attended to. 396. In such group-verbs the preposition follows the 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 call it a detached preposition. Detached prepositions are liable to be disassociated from their noun- words not only in position, but also in grammatical construc- tion, as in he was thought of, where the detached preposition is no longer able to govern the pronoun in the objective case because the passive construction necessitates putting the pro- noun 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 of?, I do not know what he is thinking of, where is he going to i', I wonder where he came from ; such constructions as of whom are you speaking ? being confined to the literary language. It will be observed that here too the detached preposition loses the power of governing the pronoun in the objective case, the who in who are you speaking of.!' being felt to be the logical nomi- native in the sentence. In such sentences SLsyou are the very man we were speaking of, that is the place he came from, which § 398.] PREPOSITIONS. 1 39 in the literary language would become you are the very man of whom, we were speaking, that is the place from which he came (whence he came), the dependent pronoun or adverb is omitted, so that the detached preposition is grammatically isolated or absolute, being referred back logically to who and place — the logical subjects of the independent clause. Although de- tached prepositions approach very near to adverbs, yet they cannot be regarded as fuH adverbs for the simple reason that those prepositions which are otherwise never used as adverbs, such as of, can be detached with perfect freedom. Meaning. 397. The meanings expressed by prepositions are very numerous, but they may be classed under the three heads of (a) space, including place, rest, and motion, {&) time, and (c) other abstract relations, such as quantity, manner, cause, deprivation. 398. All three classes of meanings are often expressed by the same preposition. Each preposition generally has some one fundamental meaning which runs through one or more of the above classes. Thus to and from as prepositions of space have exactly opposite meanings, as in the road from London to York, he went from London to York. As the space preposition from expresses the beginning of a sequence or direction and the starting-point of motion, so also as a pre- position of time it expresses the beginning of a ^^exioA—from that time — 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 to change from black to red, from also expressing metaphori- cally the various causal relations of origin, inference, etc., as in to result from, to infer from. t40 INTRODUCTION^. [§ 399- Conjunctions. Form. 399. Of the primary conjunctions the most unmistakeable are those words which are used as conjunctions, and as con- junctions only, such as and and or. Some English conjunc- tions are also prepositions, such as for, since. As the pre- positional use of these words is the original one, they may be regarded as secondary conjunctions. The connection be- tween conjunctions and adverbs has been already treated of (381). 400. Some conjunctions are simple, such as and and or, some compound, such as although. There are also group- conjunctions, such as in order that, as soon as, as if, most of which contain either a simple conjunction, such as if, or one or more adverbs. 401. Conjunctions are often used correlatively (370). Both . . and, though . . yet are examples of correlative conjunction-pairs. 402. Conjunctions generally precede the word or sentence they modify. Function. 403. The grammatical function of conjunctions is to con- nect words with words and sentences with sentences. Con- junctions are therefore of two kinds, word-connecting and sentence-connecting. A sentence introduced by a con- junction (or any particle equivalent to a conjunction) is called a prepared sentence, sentences which are not introduced in this way being called unprepared (458). The same conjunction is often used both as a word-connecter and as a sentence-connecter. Thus and is a word-connecter in two and three make five, and a sentence-connecter in he went one way and I went another {way). By ' connect ' we mean the statement of any kind of relation ; hence such a conjunction § 405-] CONJUNCTIONS. 14] as or in answer yes or no I, which, in one sense, separates instead of joining together the two words it comes between, is as much a conjunction as and itself. 404. Conjunctions are purely connective words : they connect without governing; and this is what distinguishes word-connecting conjunctions from prepositions. These two classes of words resemble each other closely, as we see by comparing John and I went there with John went there with me. But in John with me, the preposition connects the two noun-words only indirectly, 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 I, on the other hand, not only has no governing relation to either word, but can hardly be said to modify either of them even logically, or to subordinate one to the other, except in as far as the unavoidable necessity of putting one word after the other necessarily leads to putting the less important word last, and so making it appear to be subordinated. In two and three make five there cannot be any^ logical subordination — three being, indeed, a more important j factor than two — although from a grammatical point of view | we are obliged to regard three as joined on to the other word, , and so subordinated to it. 405. Such a sentence as he is tall but not strong might be expanded into he is tall, hut he is not strong without any change 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-con- necting instead of a word-connecting conjunction. So also such a sentence as Mr. Smith and Professor Green called while you were out might be expanded into Mr. Smith called first, and then Professor Green called by himself, but it would generally be taken to mean that they called together — that Mr. Smith brought Professor Green with him. In Mr. and Mrs. Smith called to take leave, the and would almost 143 INTRODUCTION. [§ 406. necessarily have the latter function; and it would evidently be absurd to expand he ate three pieces of bread and butter into he ate three pieces of bread, and he ate three pieces of 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 it into two full sentences without completely recasting it. It is evident, therefore, that from a grammatical point of view it is not only simplest and easiest, but also most correct to regard hut in he is tall but not strong, he is tall but weak as a word-connecter, tall-but-not-strong, tall-but-weak being group- predicates logically equivalent to such a group as tallness- with-weakness in such a sentence as he combines tallness with weakness. 406. But the main function of conjunctions is to connect ■ sentences. The most unmistakeable conjunctions are those which connect sentences as wholes, without entering into any special relations with 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 grammati- cally 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 conjunction as if is always put at the end of the clause, so that such a clause as if it is true appears in German as *if it true is, the verb having the same position as in English in an inde- pendent sentence such as it is 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 z/" / knew it, if it were true, compared with / know it, it is true. But such changes are quite different from the me- chanical change of *with 1 into with me ; we feel that the § 409-] CONJUNCTIONS. 1 43 change of know into hnew is only an imperfect method of modifying the whole sentence. In fact, the change in if it were true is really independent of the conjunction if, which may be dropped altogether without altering the sense, were it true having exactly the same meaning as if it luere true. 408. We have already seen (375) that the distinction between pure conjunctions and dependent adverbs is that while the former join sentences together as wholes, the latter join the sentence they introduce to some word in the other sentence, so that their sentence-joining function is, to some extent, a secondary one. Strictly speaking, if we call when in / knoiv when he came a conjunction, we 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 causal meaning of the conjunction because, this sentence being equivalent to it is no use consulting John, because he knffivs 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 latter head. 409. There is also a class of independent adverbs which closely resemble conjunctions, such as still and never- theless, as in your arguments are strong ; still (nevertheless) they do not convince me, compared with your arguments are strong, but they do not convince me. For convenience we may call such adverbs lialf-eonjimctions. The difference between half- and full conjunctions is that half-conjunctions connect logically only, not formally also, as full conjunctions do. Two clauses connected by a full conjunction run on without a pause and constitute a single complex sentence, while two sentences connected by a half-conjunction may be — and often are — separated by 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 separated by a comma, or not at all, while sen- 144 introduction: [§ 410. tences connected by half-conjunctions are separated by a semicolon or full stop. The difference between these two classes of particles is analogous to that between an independent pronoun such as he and the corresponding dependent pronoun who: just as he refers to a preceding sentence telling us who ' he ' is, so also still and nevertheless 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 formally independent of the preceding ones. " 410. It will be observed that half-conjunctions are in one respect more closely allied to full conjunctions than de- pendent adverbs are, namely that they never refer back ' grammatically 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 however can stand at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence : however, I told him it would not do — / told him, however, it would not do — I told him it would not do, however. So also nevertheless stands at the end of the sentence in he did it nevertheless. In this way half-conjunctions are often used concurrently with full ones, as in i/, however, . . = but if . . 412. But half-conjunctions often single out one particular word in the sentence they introduce. Also, too, which are the half-conjunctions corresponding to and, often have this function, as in / also will go, I will go too, where they single out /, although too is put at the other end of the sentence. Compare the similar use of even in even Homer sometimes nods (367). Meaning. 413. The conjunctions (including dependent adverbs) and § 4i6.] CONJUNCTIONS. 145 half-conjunctions are classed according to their meaning as affirmative (copulative), alternative, negative, adversative, concessive, hypothetical, temporal, and causal. 414. The chief affirmatiTe or copulative conjunction is 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 pairs both . , and, not only . . hut have the same meaning as and, but are more emphatic. The half-con- ; junction corresponding to and is also, for which too is [ substituted in the spoken language. Likewise and a^ well ) 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, now, well. Thus now in "not this man, hut Barahbas ; now Barahbas was a thief, adds an explanatory circumstance ; the other words show a step in an argument, etc. 415. The chief alternative conjunction is or, whose emphatic form is the correlative either . . or. Alternative conjunctions imply that one only of two or more words, word-groups, or sentences joined together by them is to be taken into consideration, it being left open which is to be selected. Thus answer yes or no !, answer 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 alternatives. When or implies indifference, as in give me two or three nails, it is a weak alternative, and is often used to express, a mere verbal alternative, as in Christ or the Messiah, Canute or Cnut, which is also expressed by the adverb alias. It is to be observed that the emphatic either . . or always has the strong meaning. 416. The chief negative conjunctions are the correlative neither . . nor, the simple nor being in less frequent use. They are of course formed from the alternatives either, or by VOL. I. L 146 INTRODUCTION. [§ 41 7- prefixing the negative n-, and may therefore be included under the alternative conjunctions. It is evident that nega- tiving an alternative — that is, forbidding us to select any of the members of it — is equivalent to negativing all of them. Thus he has neither relations, nor friends, nor money = he has 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 to the negation of an affirmative, so that nor is equivalent to and not, as in / remained silent, nor did he speak a single word. 417. The chief adversative conjunction is lut. Adver- satives add 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-groups expressing these two ideas in their natural sequence are joined together by and: he tried several times, and at last succeeded. Failure, on the other hand, though a frequent result of trying, is felt to check this natural sequence, and so a statement of failure is joined on to a statement of attempt by means of but : he tried hard, but 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 on by and: he is very unlucky ; he is always trying new things, and always failing. But most frequently connects the con- trasts of affirmation and negation, as in he is rich, but not happy. There are several half-conjunctions used adversatively, such as still, nevertheless, however, only, and several half- conjunction groups, such as at the same time, for all that, in spile of that. 418. The concessive conjunctions are closely allied to the adversative. The most important of them are though, although, and the correlative though . .yet. Though and although imply that the statement they introduce will be followed by 5 420-] CONJUNCTIONS. 147 one with an adversative meaning. Thus in although I dislike the man, I have not anything to say against him, the concessive conjunction states the speaker's dislilie of another man, but at the same time warns us against inferring that he will speak ill of that man. So also in though deep yet clear (said of the Thames as it once was) the deepness of the river is admitted, but we are warned against inferring that the river is therefore wanting in clearness. The difference between an adversative and a concessive conjunction is that the former refers back, the latter forwards. Hence the correlative though . . yet is really equivalent to although . . but, so that if we drop the though, the remaining j/«^ is almost identical in meaning with but: deep yet clear ■:= deep but clear. 419. The chief hypothetical conjunction is if. Unless is a negative hypothetical conj unction = z/" wo/: unless 1 am mistaken=iy I am not mistaken. There are also a variety of hypothetical group-conjunctions, such as in case, supposing that, provided that, which are often shortened into supposing, suppose, provided. 420. There are some conjunctions which express hypo- thesis with other meanings. Otherwise, for which or is substituted in the spoken language, has the meaning ' if otherwise,' and expresses hypothetical difference, 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 negation implied referring back, so that otherwise is quite distinct in meaning from unless, in which the negation refers forwards. The correlative pair whether . . . or expresses alternative hypothesis, as in he will have to do it whether he likes it or not. Hypothetical concession is expressed by even if: even if he is mistaken, you need not tell him so. Hypothetical comparison is expressed by as if: he started as if he had been shot. The hypothetical z/and whether, which are pure conjunctions, must be distinguished from the dependent adverbs if and whether (374). 148 INTRODUCTION. \% \2i. 421. The temporal conjunctions, or conjunctions of time, are connected partly with adverbs, such as when and as, partly with prepositions, such as before, afler, since, until, till. While is associated with when through beginning with the same consonant, which is, however, a mere chance, while being originally a noun meaning 'time' quite unconnected with when. The most markedly adverbial of these is when, which is used (a) as an independent interrogative adverb, as in when did he come ? ; (i) as a relative adverb, as in he re- members the time when there were no railways ; [c) a conjunc- tive adverb, as in / know when he came ; and (d) less dis- tinctly as an adverb, though hardly as a pure conjunction : he came when I was out; I had scarcely begun, when I was in- terrupted again ; when he came, I was not at home. While, as, and the conjunctions formed from prepositions are used only in constructions similar to those given above under (d) : he came while I was out ; as he passed by, he looked in at the window ; he came before I had finished breakfast ; wait till I have finished my letter. There are many secondary and group-conjunctions of time, most of which express im.medi- ateness, such as directly in directly he came ; immediately, as soon as, just as, just after, etc. Adverbs of place are not regarded as conjunctions even when they are used in the same constructions as while, etc., as in / will stay where I ant. 422. Causal conjunctions are subdivided into four classes, conjunctions of cause, of effect, of result, and of purpose. 423. The two chief conjunctions of cause are because, which states an immediate and direct cause, and for, which adds an explanation or reason, often as a kind of after- thought : we took our umbrellas, because zve were afraid it would rain ; for the barometer had been falling for some time. \ For is, accordingly, freely used after a pause, and is therefore I only a half-conjunction. Since and as, which are primarily § 426.] CONJUNCTIONS. 149 conjunctions of time, are used also as pure conjunctions of cause. 424. The chief conjunction of effect is therefore, for which so is substituted in the spoken language : it is getting late, so I will go home. The temporal then is also used as a conjunction of effect : then you had better go home. Accord- ingly and consequently are secondary conjunctions of effect. All conjunctions of effect are half-conjunctions, because they introduce what are logically independent clauses, as we see by comparing it is getting late, so I will go home with as it is getting late, I will go home. In each of these two sentences only one clause is prepared : in the first sentence only the independent clause is prepared, in the second it is left un- prepared. In languages which favour correlation, such as Old English, both clauses in such sentences are often pre- pared, so that the two sentences appear in the form of because it is getting late therefore I will go home or therefore I will go home because it is getting late. 425. The chief conjunction of purpose is that together with the more emphatic in order that : we sow {in order) that we may reap. Negative 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 himself^ they took away the knife so that he should not cut himself. COORDINATIVE AND SUBORDINATIVE CoN'JUNCTIONS. 426. We have seen (404) that such a conjunction as and does not logically subordinate the word or sentence it intro- duces to what goes before. Thus in such a sentence as he is tall and strong, strong is as much a predication-element as tall, neither adjective being, from a logical point of view, subordinated to the other, so that we can transpose them without affecting the sense : he is strong and tall. We call 150 INTRODUCTION. [§ ifl',. such conjunctions coordinative conjunctions, or, more shortly, eo-eonjuiictions. 427. A subordiaative conjunction, or sub-conjunction, on the other hand, makes the word or sentence it introduces into a logical adjunct to what precedes. Thus the sub-con- junction if'va. if it is fine, I will go makes it is fine into an adjunct to I will go, and we cannot shift if from one clause to the other, as we could and, without altering the sense or making nonsense. 428. Of the pure conjunctions the following are co- ordinative : and, both . . and ; or, either . . or ; nor, neither . . nor ; but. The half-conjunctions belonging to the same classes as these are also coordinative, such as also, neverthe- less, however. 429. All the other pure conjunctions and all dependent adverbs are subordinative : though, although, though . . yet ; if, unless, whether . . or ; because, since, as, that; when, as, while, before, after, since in their various meanings. The half-conjunctions belonging to the same classes as the above are often regarded as sub-conjunctions, especially those of cause— ^cr, therefore, accordingly. 430. If we take the word conjunction in its widest sense, we may say that and and that in / know that it is true repre- sent the two extremes of abstract coordination and abstract subordination. Detached Conjunctions. 431. The co-conjunctions and, or, nor, but, are often so detached from what precedes them that they are almost equivalent to half-conjunctions, as in the following passage, where the detached conjunctions are in Roman letters : — If any artist, I do not say had executed, but had merely conceived in 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 cope of §434-1 INTERJECTIONS. 151 heaven, great would he our admiration. Or had he imagined the scenery of this earth, the mountains, the seas, and the rivers ; the grass, and the flowers, and the colours which attend the setting and the rising sun, and the hues of the atmosphere, these things not before existing, truly we should have been astonished. But now these things are looked on with little wonder, and to be conscious of them with intense delight is esteemed to be the dis- tinguishing mark of a refined and extraordinary person. (Shelley : On Life.) 432. It is evident that the detached or and but in this pas- sage have a function different from and vaguer than that of the same conjunctions as they occur undetached in the first para- graph of it. Detached conjunctions are often marked by strong stress, especially when they are followed, as is often 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 relation to an undetached one as a progressive relative (218) does to an ordinary relative. Interjections. 433. Interjections are sentence-words expressing various emotions, such as — surprise : 0!, oh I, ah I, ha !, aha !, the first often express- ing mere attention or interest (real or afiected) in what is said. joy : hurrah I, huzza 1 approbation : bravo 1 grief: ah I , alas ! , heigho! dislike, vexation, etc. : pah !, ugh !, pshaw !, tut I, fie I These are all emotional interjections. 434. There is also a class of interjections of more definite meaning, which, instead of merely expressing an emotion of the speaker, are equivalent to imperative sentences, and may 153 INTRODUCTION. [§ 435- therefore be called imperative interjections. Thus instead of the imperatives look!, behold! we may in writing use the interjection lo ! Another imperative interjection is hush! from which a verb to hush has been formed. 435. Expletives and oaths, of which there is a large 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. 436. Of the above interjections some are primary, some secondary. Primary interjections are mostly reproductions 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 iut ! — are imperfect attempts to express sounds which do not occur in the non-interjec- tional words of the language. Thus tut ! represents one of that class of sounds known as ' clicks,' which form part of the regular non-interjectional sound- system of many barbarous languages, such as Zulu and the native languages of California. It represents the ' point-click,' formed by putting the point of the tongue in the t-position, 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 unfamiliar occur- rence. Thus hush ! represents the consonant (J) uttered without a vowel. 437. Secondary interjections are ordinary words which have come to be used as interjections by various processes of isolation. Thus the old-fashioned expletive marry! is simply the name of the Virgin Mary 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 isolated either in form — as in marry ! — or in meaning — as in the case of bravo ! — we cannot regard it as a full § 44I-] WORD-GROUPS. 153 interjection, but only as an exclamation-word. Good!, shame! are examples of exclamation-words, one being an exclamation-adjective, the other an exclamation-noun. For shame ! is an example of an exclamation-group. 439. Interjections occasionally imitate the constructions of the other parts of speech. Thus ah ! governs an objective case in ah me!; alas ! takes a noun-adjunct by means of the preposition _/&r, as in alas for the deed!, or without any pre- position, as in alas the heavy day ! WORD-GROUPS. 440. Word-groups differ greatly in the closeness with which their elements — 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 func- tion, or a new word to be introduced. We call such word- groups free groups. Thus the free gionp/br my sake can be made intoybr his sake, for his own sake, and the skeleton for . . sake can be transposed into/or the sake of. But in such groups as son-in-law, man-of-war, bread-and-butter, cup and saucer, no such variations are possible, the order of the elements of these groups being as rigidly fixed as in a com- pound word. We call such combinations group-compounds, to distinguish them from full compounds such as blackbird. The essential difference between the two kinds of compounds is seen in the plurals sons-in-law, etc., where the first element is independent enough to take an inflection of its own. We have another kind of group-compounds in no use^useless, whatsoever, moreover, etc. Most of these resemble true compounds in having one pre- dominant stress : ■son-in-law, bread and 'butter, whatsoever. 441. Word-groups (and group-compounds) can be put 154 INTRODUCTION. [§ 442- before a single noun so as to form a kind of compound with it, by which the members of the group are often logically united together more closely than when the group is detached, although for convenience they are separated in writing. Thus cat and dog life is analogous to home-life, good all round man \.o prizeman, etc. These compounds also have one predominant stress : cat and 'dog life, good all 'round man. 442. Even in derivation, word-groups are 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 underived group. Thus from the free group old maid is formed the fixed derivative group old-maidish. We have a peculiar kind of group-derivation in artificial florist corresponding to artificial flower, in which florist is felt to be equivalent to ^flower-ist, the whole group meaning not 'a florist who is artificial,' but 'artificial-flower-maker.' / 443. In inflection it is qipte common in English to treat a word-group like a single word. Not only group-compounds such as son-in-law form their genitives son-in-law's, etc., but also free groups, as in the man I saw yesterday's father, where it would make nonsense to regard yesterday as the genitive of the single ^oyA yesterday. 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 just given the word-group not only has the meanings and grammatical functions of a single noun, but takes the inflection of a noun. So also the group no use in it is no use is an adjective equiva- lent ; and the combination preposition + noun-word is equiva- lent to an adverb, as in with ease-=easily. § 448.] SENTENCES. 1 55 445. Word-groups often approach very near in gramma- tical function to sentences. If we take a simple sentence and change its finite verb into a verbal, the resulting verbal- group has really as much meaning in it as the corresponding sentence, as we see by comparing the sentence he came home with the verbal-group his coming home. In a verbal-group containing an infinitive, a noun-word in the objective relation may be a logical subject, as in I want him to gohomer=.Iwish he would go home. SENTENCES. 446. Sentences — like word-groups — consist of significant elements, or words. 447. A sentence is a word or group of words capable of expressing a complete thought or meaning. Whether or not a given word or group of words is capable of doing this in any one language depends on the way in which that language constructs its sentences — that is, on their form. Thus in Latin comes would be a complete sentence, but not in English, although in itself comes is as intelligible as the com- plete sentence some one comes or some one is coming. A sentence is, therefore, ' a word or group of words whose form 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 complete meaning. Thus, such a sentence as he is coming, though complete in form, shows on the face of it that it is incomplete in meaning, for he means ' some one who has been mentioned before,' and makes us ask ' who is he ? ' Nevertheless he is coming is a complete sentence because it has the same form zs, John is coining, I 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 156 INTRODUCTION. [§ 449' sentence and the meanings of its elements, sentences are of two kinds, general and special. A general sentence is one whose meaning is the necessary result of the meanings of the separate words of which it is made up and the principles on which words are joined together grammatically. Thus any one who knows the meanings of such words as have, book, dog, uncle, etc., and the rules of English grammar can form any number of ' Ollendorffian ' sentences such as / have a hook ; my uncle has the big dog, but I have the good book, and so on. fhx special sentences or idioms, on the other hand, such ^ as hovi) do you do ?, I cannot help it, the meaning of the whole cannot be inferred from the meanings of its elements. In fact, in / cannot help it, help may be said to be used in the sense of ' hinder,' ' prevent,' which is the opposite of its ordi^ nary meaning. In idioms, therefore, the meaning of the whole is isolated against that of the parts, just as in compound words (68). But many idioms, though irregular in meaning, are quite regular and normal in form, / cannot help it, for instance, being formally on a level with such a general sentence / 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 help being late, etc. Such an idiom as how do you do? is more fossilized, being capable of very little variation: we could hardly say how did you do yesterday ? 449. Hence we can make how do you do into a word with plural inflection, as in how-do-you-do' s were exchanged. Forgetmenot, the name of a flower, is an example of a group compound — with isolation of meaning — formed directly from a sentence. 450. Sentences — like words — differ in fulness of meaning. Just as there are empty words, so also there are empty sentences (or clauses), as opposed to full ones. Thus in the complex sentence is it me {that) you want? the first clause is it me ?, though grammatically an independent clause, is logic- § 452-] SENTENCES. i^y ally superfluous, and the same meaning might be expressed by getting rid of it, and putting the me into the dependent clause, which then becomes an independent sentence — do you want me ? The clause is it me ? is evidently made up solely in order to make the me more prominent by bringing it nearer the beginning of the sentence and making it the logical subject. Hence, although such empty clauses are, as clauses, devoid of meaning, they necessarily contain an emphatic full- word. 451. As every sentence is the expression of a thought, and as thought consists in joining together subject and predicate, and as the idea of predication is expressed in English by 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, grammatically speaking, a sentence. 452. In some cases, however, a complete meaning is ex- pressed by a single word — a sentence-word — such as come ! =' I command you to come,' where the subject being self- evident, the predicate-word by itself is enough to constitute a sentence. In John /=' I 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. Inj/«='I agree with you,' 'I will do so,' etc., no, alas !-=-^\ am sorry for it,' etc., the distinction between subject and predicate is felt only vaguely. We see, then, that these ' one-word-sentences ^ are of two kinds, consisting (a) of a definite subject or predi- cate standing alone, and (3) of a word which is in itself neither definite subject nor definite predicate — in which the ideas of / subject and predicate are not differentiated, but are ' con- ■y densed,' as it were, in one word. From a grammatical point \ of view these condensed sentences are hardly sentences at all, but rather something intermediate between word and sentence. A group of words without a finite verb (or verbal) may also be equivalent to a sentence — may constitute a 158 INTRODUCTION. [§ 453- /sentence-group. The more the merrier is an example of a ■\ sentence-group which is equivalent to a combination of two / clauses. Many other examples are afforded by proverbs, sayings, titles of books, etc., such as better late than never, Measure for Measure. 453. A sentence is not only a logical but a phonetic unity. A continuous discourse from a phonetic point of view con- sists of a succession of sounds divided into breath-groups by the pauses required for taking breath. Within these breath-groups there is no separation of the individual words (51). 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 generally equivalent to a sense- group, that is, a sentence. In a dialogue, which is 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, especi- ally by intonation. Thus in English we mark the close of a statement by a falling tone, while a rising tone shows that the statement is incomplete, or that a question is intended. In writing we mark off the end of a complete statement by various marks of punctuation, especially the full stop (.). 454. 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 divisions are generally marked by a comma (,), showing the rise of the voice which tells us 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. 455. The form and function of a sentence may be regarded § 458.] SENTENCES. 1 59 from two points of view, internal and external. The internal structure of a sentence is determined by the relations between the words of which it is made up (81), in English especially by their order. The most important distinctions in the internal structure of sentences are those by which they express the different relations between subject and predicate in statement, question, etc. (43). 456. But we must also consider the external relations of sentences, by which we regard each sentence as a whole or unit, without troubhng ourselves about the relations between the words of which it is made up. When we look at sentences from this point of view, we find that they can stand in the same relations to other sentences and to single words as words do to one another. Thus in / see you are mistaken, the clzM&eyou are mistaken stands in the same grammatical relation to the verb see as the noun-word that doe's in / know that. 457. There are two ways of showing the external rela- tions 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 com- binations the order is reversed, as in if you are ready, we will start at once. 458. Another way of showing the external relations of sentences is by the help of form-words, such as relative and conjunctive pronouns, adverbs, and conjunctions, all of which generally come at the beginning of the sentence. A sentence modified by a form-word is called a prepared sentence. Thus in / see that you are mistaken, that you are mistaken is a prepared sentence or clause, as compared with the unpre- pared cl'a.v&t you are mistaken in / see you are mistaken. The external relations of sentences cannot be shown by inflection, because an inflected sentence is necessarily con- l60 INTRODUCTION. [§ 459- verted into a word (449). For the same reason they are incapable of derivation. Sentences are also incapable of com- position in the way words are compounded : in a complex sentence there is no isolation of the meaning of the whole against that of the clauses of which it is made up. Relations between Sentences. 459. Simple sentences are of two kinds, independent and dependent [cp. 199]. 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 — sen- tence to complete its meaning. Thus in the complex sen- tence when I came back, I found no one at home, the first sentence is dependent, the second independent. All pre- pared sentences introduced by dependent words, whether pro- nouns, adverbs, or conjunctions, are necessarily dependent. Thus in the above example the dependent sentence when I came lack is introduced by the dependent adverb or conjunc- tion 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 want, that you are mistaken. 460. Sentences are also distinguished as coordinate and subordinate, according as they are introduced by a coordinative or a subordinative conjunction (426). Sentences introduced by a progressive relative pronoun or adverb must be regarded as coordinate (218, 373). 461. The distinction between independent and dependent does not always exactly agree with that between coordinate and subordinate, because the former is a purely grammatical distinction, the latter a logical one. Hence although all inde- pendent sentences are necessarily coordinate, it does not follow that all coordinate sentences are necessarily inde- pendent. In fact all sentences introduced by conjunctions §464-] SENTENCES. 161 are grammatically dependent. Thus such a coordinate sen- tence as and I will ride can no more stand alone than a subordinate one such as while I ride, both equally requiriiig 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 alternative is. A sentence introduced by a detached conjunction (431) must, of course, be regarded as independent. Clauses and Complexes. 462. Two or more sentences may be joined together to form a single complex sentence, or complex, as we may call it for the sake of brevity. When simple sentences are joined together in this way we call them clauses. 463. In every complex there is one independent clause, called the principal clause, together with at least one de- pendent clause, which stands in the relation of adjunct to the principal clause. The dependent clause may be either co- ordinate or subordinate. We call a coordinate clause a co-clause, a subordinate clause a sub-clause. Thus inyou shall walk, and I will ride, the first clause is the principal clause, and the second is a co-clause. Inyou are the man I want, the second clause — I want — is a sub- clause. So also 'vnyou shall walk while I ride. 464. When a principal clause is followed by one or more co-clauses — as in the first of the examples given above — it may itself be called a co-clause, as being coordinate with the clauses that follow it. In such a sentence as the fnore you beat them, the better they be, the two clauses are so mutually dependent on each other that it is difficult to decide which is the principal clause, and whether they are not both dependent. For grammatical pur- poses we may regard the first as the principal clause simply on the ground of its coming first. VOL. I. M l63 INTRODUCTION. [§ 465- 465. A complex in which the principal clause is modified by a co-clause is called, for the sake of brevity, a co- complex, and one in which it is modified by a sub-clause is called a sub-complex. Thus the first complex in § 463 is a co-complex, the other two are sub-complexes. 466. As it is most natural to put the principal clause first in a complex, it is not generally necessary to call attention 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 principal clause, the former is called the front-clause, the latter the after-clause. Thus in the sub-complex if I can, I will do it, the hypothetical sub-clause if T can is called the front-clause, and the prin- cipal clause / will do il is called the after-clause. Inserted, Parenthetic, and Appended Clauses. 46^. When a sub-clause is put inside another clause, so as to cut it in two, it is called an inserted clause ; 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. 468. If we expand this complex into / hope, if all goes well, that 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, as in he is a man, who, if he chose, might do great things. Here the inserted clause if he chose is put immediately after the sentence-link who, which is a frequent position of an inserted clause. § 472-] SENTENCES. 163 470. When an inserted clause contains an inserted clause in itself — which last may again contain an inserted clause — the process is called iuCapsulatioii) and the whole group is called an incapsulation-complex. 471. When an independent sentence is inserted, it is called a parenthetic sentence or a parenthesis. Thus in / shall finish 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 hope being really expressed by the sentence into which the parenthesis is inserted, so that / hope is logically the principal clause, the whole sentence being equivalent to / hope I shall finish it by the end of the week. So also with the frequent pareni- thetic use of verbs of saying, etc., as in this, I say, is the place. Sometimes a parenthesis — especially when its verb does not require to be supplemented by an object-word, etc. — is logically equivalent to a sub-clause, as in the two brothers — they were twins — were exactly alike, where the parenthesis explains why they were alike, and is thus equivalent to a causal clause. So also in the frequent parentheses containing the verb mean : he says — / mean John Smith — that ... In the above examples the parentheses are 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 apologize, 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. 468), and, at the same time, of a parenthesis which is a complex instead of being a simple sentence. 472. In such a sentence zs I am a doctor, you know, the second clause is exactly analogous to a parenthesis, except that it comes at the end. We may call such a clause an appended clause. M i 164 INTRODUCTION. [§ 473- Extended Complexes. 473. A complex which consists of more than two clauses is called 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 : / read the paper, and then I wrote a letter, and then I went for a walk. In such complexes the clauses stand in no special relation to one another, being connected only by forming part of the same complex. 475. But if an extended complex contains a sub-clause, the sub-clause must necessarily be specially connected with some other clause which acts as principal clause to it, form- ing with it a lesser complex within the extended complex. Thus in such an extended complex as / began to write a letter, hut I could not finish it, because I was interrupted, the sub-clause because I was interrupted is inseparably connected with the preceding clause, forming with it the sub-complex I could not finish it, 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 T began to write a letter ; but the combination of which it forms part — the lesser com- plex — can do so : in the above example the lesser complex is put in a coordinate relation to the clause / began 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 briefly 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 secondary principal clause, as opposed to the primary principal clause / began to write a letter, which is the principal clause of the whole extended complex. 476. It is evident that extended complexes containing § 48o.] SENTENCES. 1 65 sub-clauses admit of a great variety 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 is a book which I have read once, and which I hope to read again, we have the combination" principal-!- subordinate co-complex. In I am anxious because the letter I expected has not arrived we have principal + subordinate sub-complex, / expected being an inserted clause (467). 477. We can also have a principal complex instead of a principal clause, as in the earth is a big ball that is always spinning round like a top, and at the same time it moves round the sun in a «]rc/(?= 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-com- plexes and co-clauses in any order is indistinguishable from an extended complex made by adding on 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 analysed only into separate clauses, and does not' contain any lesser complexes, as it would if a sub- clause were substituted for one of the co-clauses, thus / have written a letter, but it is very badly written, because I was in a ^«rry=principal-t- 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 : if it is a mistake, you are responsible for it, and so am /= front clause -|- co-complex. 480. Four-clause complexes containing sub-clauses are of two kinds. (a) Some of them consist of two com- plexes : / have always thought, and I always shall think that it was a mistake which could have been avoided = co- complex + subordinate sub-complex ; if we watch a ship 166 INTRODUCTION. [§ 481. •when she is sailing out to sea, we can see that the earth is round-=-iroTi!i sub-complex + sub -complex, (b) The other class of four-clause complexes consist of a principal clause and a clause-group consisting of a secondary principal clause combined with a lesser complex ; / meant to call on you yesterday, hut a friend of yours told me he had heard you were not a/ >^(;»z^=principal-)- coordinate (prin- cipal -f- subordinate sub-complex). 481. Extended complexes consisting of more than four clauses often contain groups of two complexes, as in the following six-clause complex : there is not generally much dew, if the sky is not clear ; because, if the sky is cloudy, the clouds prevent the earth from giving out its heat ; and if the earth is not cold enough, the dew will not settle on it = sub-complex -f subordinate (sub-complex -f- coordinate sub- complex). It will be observed that in this example there are two secondary principal clauses — the clouds prevent the earth . , , and the dew will not settle on it. Sequences. 482. In a complex the clauses must be joined together by conjunctions, or else the adjunct-clauses must be depen- dent, as inyou are the man I want. When two or more inde- pendent sentences are associated together logically in the same way as in a complex, the combination is called a sequence. Thus we have an adversative sequence in am I right, am I wrong ? which is logically equivalent to the complex am I right, or am I wrong ? Such a sequence is therefore equiva- lent to a corcomplex. Such a causal sequence as / am sure of it: T saw it myself is, on the other hand, equivalent to the sub-complex lam sure of it, because I saw it myself. In both of these examples the adjunct-sentence is unprepared. We call such sequences unprepared sequences. 483. The only prepared sentences that can form part of a sequence are those which are introduced by a half- § 487-] SENTENCES. l6'J conjunction, as in the prepared sequence I was tired ; so I went to bed, compared with the unprepared sequence / am tired : I cannot go any further, and the complex / was so tired that I could not go any further. 484. When a sequence is made up partly of prepared, partly of unprepared sentences, it is called a partially prepared sequence. Relations between Sentences, Complexes, and Seg.uences. 485. Although the distinction between sentence and complex is generally quite clear, there are some simple sentences which approach very near to complexes. 486. A word-group containing a verbal often differs only grammatically from the same group with the verbal made into a finite verb, that is, from a sentence (445). Hence such a simple sentence as / heard of his coming home can be expanded into the complex / heard that he had come home. So also I wish him to come hack may be ex- panded into I wish he would come hack. Such sentences as I heard of his coming home, I wish him to come hack, which contain in themselves the germs of dependent sentences, are called extended sentences. 487. 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-complex can be shortened into if we watch a ship sailing out to sea, and this extended sentence itself can be further reduced to the verbal-group hy watching a ship sailing out to sea. A complex can sometimes be shortened into an ordinary unextended sentence by a slight change ; 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- l68 INTRODUCTION. [§ 488. tence we can see the roundness of the earth by watching a ship sailing out to sea. 488. Another way in which complexes are shortened is by making sentence-connecting into word-connecting con- junctions, as when the complex he is tall, but he is not strong is made into a simple sentence with a group predi- cate — he is tall, but not strong. Such sentences may be regarded as a kind of extended sentences, but it is better to distinguish them from the extended sentences we have just been considering by calling them contracted sentences. When a complex is shortened merely by omitting to repeat a personal pronoun, as in / wrote a letter, and then went out for a walk; he went away, but soon came back again, the contraction is so slight that we can hardly regard wrote a letter and then went for a walk as a group-predicate, and it is therefore better to call such complexes eontracted com- plexes, and so distinguish them from contracted sentences, such as he is tall but not strong, which are really distinct in 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 fanuary, the 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 the second February as anything but a sentence, it would imply that there were two Februarys in the year. So also in if possible, I will come tomorrow, we must assume ellipse in the front clause. 489. As co-complexes are 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 com- plexes. 490. A sentence containing a parenthesis is not gram- matically a complex, for any connection there may be between the two is logical, not grammatical : it remains a § 493-] SENTENCES. 169 simple sentence. So also if a parenthesis is introduced into a complex it does not in any way alter the grammatical relations between the clauses of the complex. 491. It sometimes happens that a sub-clause stands alone, as if it were an independent sentence — is detached. 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 it ? because I can not. Here the detached clause because I can not stands for the complex I do not do it, because I can not — where the sub-clause is elliptical — the principal clause not being expressed because it has been already expressed in a slightly different form by the question itself. 492. The distinction between complex and sequence is often very slight. When the sentences of which a sequence is made up are uttered with a rising tone, and are run together with little or no pause — being separated in writing only by commas — they are practically equivalent to clauses, as in the unprepared sequence / came, I saw, I conquered, and the prepared sequence there was no one there, so I went away. 493. An extended group of sentences is often composed partly of dependent clauses, partly of sentences either unpre- pared or introduced by half-conjunctions, so that the whole group is partly a complex, partly a sequence. We call such groups mixed complexes or mixed sequences, according to which element is predominant. In the two following examples we have mixed complexes consisting of a complex followed in one instance by an unprepared sentence, in the other by one introduced by a half-conjunction : / would not do it if I were you : you are sure to repent it some time or other we went out for a walk, but it came on to rain, so we soon came back. Mixed sequences are generally coordinate : he came, he saw, and he conquered. I70 INTRODUCTION. [§494- Classes of Sentences. 494. The most obvious way of classifying sentences is according to the form-words by which they are introduced. Thus a sentence beginning with hut is necessarily an adver- sative sentence (or clause). A clause beginning with because is a causal clause, and the complex of which it forms part is a causal complex. Sentences beginning with affirmative con- junctions such as and are called copulative sentences. Those beginning with negative conjunctions such a,s nor are gener- ally included under alternative sentences. Clauses intro- duced by dependent pronouns and adverbs are either relative or conjunctive clauses. 495. Unprepared sentences are classed according to the nature of the form-word required to make them into prepared sentences. Thus I want^whom I want in you are the man I want is an unprepared relative clause, if is true=ihat it is true in / think it is true is an unprepared conjunctive clause. So also / came, I saw, I conquered is a copulative unprepared sequence. The principal clause in we took our umbrellas because we were afraid it would rain may be regarded as an unprepared clause of effect (424). Part of Speech Belations. 496. We have already seen (456) that dependent clauses stand to their principal clauses in relations similar to those in which single words stand. From this point of view clauses fall under the three main heads of noim-clauses, adjective- clauses, and adverb-clauses. 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 characteristics of a noun ; for it is evident that it would thereby cease to be a sentence, and would be converted into a noun. We use the terms noun-clause, etc. only because of their con- venience and because they cannot cause misunderstanding. §499-] SEJVTSJVCES. 171 497. A noim-clause may stand to its principal clause in the relation of (a) subject, {&) predicate, {c) direct object, (d) apposition : — {a) subject noun-clause : zvAai you say is true — thai you should think so is quite natural. (3) predicate noun-clause : this is what 1 mean — my opinion is that he is mistaken. (f) object noun-clause : / know what he means — what he wants I cannot make out — 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 him. 498. Adjective-clauses always modify a noun, as in the door which leads into the garden-=the door leading into the garden, the man I saw yesterday, the house where I was horn, the town he lives in, the reason why I did not do it, the way in which it is done, the way it is done. The difference in meaning between a noun-clause and an adjective-clause is often very slight, as we see by comparing the noun-clause in I know where he lives with the adjective-clause in / know 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-clause is, so that it is more difficult to shorten the former. 499. An adverb-clause stands to its principal clause in the same relation as an adverb. Thus the adverb-clauses in 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 to their meaning as adverb-clauses of time, 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 1 72 INTRODUCTION. [§ 500. (408) may be regarded as partly an adverb-, partly an adjective- clause. Kelations between Subject and Predicate. 500. 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 by changes in the form of sentences. In their function of expressing the relations between subject and predicate sentences fall under the four main groups — (a) sentences of statement, or declarative sentences, (V) sentences of exclamation, or exclamative sentences, {c) sentences of question, or inter- rogative sentences, and (d) sentences of hortation or im- perative sentences. 501. {a) Declarative sentences are of two kinds, (a) sentences of positive statement, or aflSrmative sentences, such as the moon is full tonight, and (/3) negative sentences, such as the moon is not full tonight. But sentences contain- ing a negation are often equivalent to affirmative sentences with a negative predicate (366). The word-order of a nor- mal declarative sentence in English is that the subject pre- cedes the predicate. 502. (3) Exclamative sentences, such as how bright the moon is tonight !, how well he rides !, what a fool he 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 grammatical predicate of an exclamative sentence comes after the subject, as in a declarative sentence — the moon is . . — but the word which is emphasized by the exclamation is put at the beginning of the sentence preceded by an interro- gative 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 how well he rides ! it is only an adjunct to the verb, the verb being § 504-] SENTENCES. 1 73 in this case the logical as well as the grammatical predicate. Exclamative sentences approach closely in form to inter- rogative sentences (503). In writing we mark exclamative sentences with the mark of exclamation or admiration (!), with which we also mark the imperative sentences. 503. (c) Interrogative sentences imply ignorance about the predicate, and express the desire of enlightenment about it. They are of two kinds, general and special. General interrogative sentences, such as is the moon full tonight ?, state a subject and predicate, and enquire whether the relation between them is affirmative or negative, that is, they ex- pect the answers yes or no, it is or it is not, yes it is, no it is not, etc. General interrogative are formally distinguished from declarative sentences by having the grammatical predi- cate at the beginning of the sentence, so as to indicate that the speaker is mainly interested in the predicate. Negative (general) interrogative sentences, such as is not the moon full tonight ?, imply the expectation of an affirmative answer, the not seeming to forbid or challenge denial='if the moon is not full — which I believe it is — say so.' General interro- gative sentences are uttered with a rising tone (is the moon full tonight ') instead of the falling tone which characterizes not only declarative and exclamatory sentences, but also special interrogative sentences. 504. Special interrogative sentences, such as who is he ?, what is his name ?, where does he live ?, when did he come?, 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 of the 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. [§ 50S- word. Thus the answer to where does he live ? may be not far from here, in London, in the north of London, etc., with various degrees of definiteness, or the answer may be evaded by the other speaker saying / do not know, etc. Special in- terrogative sentences are distinguislied from general interro- o-ative sentences by being uttered with a falling tone (;who is he '), like declarative and imperative sentences, because they are felt to be equivalent to imperative sentences, when did he come ?, for instance, being equivalent to ' I know he came some time or other ; I want to know when.' When a special interrogative sentence is uttered with a rising tone, it implies that the speaker wishes for the repetition of an answer, thus -what is his name ' .? means ' tell me his name again.' 505. There is another class of special interrogative ques- tions which are still more definite than those introduced by interrogative words, namely, alternative questions, such as is he an Oxford or a Cambridge man ?, which are character- ' ized by the presence of the strong alternative conjunction ) (415), and do not differ from general questions in form, \ except that they are uttered with a falling tone, being, like the other class of special questions, equivalent to a command i = ' I know he is one or the other ; tell me which he is.' But the answers to these questions are defined even more definitely than in the other class, beingj in fact, given in the question ( itself. If a weak is substituted for a strong alternative con- junction in these sentences, the question becomes a general ^ one, is uttered with a rising tone, and is answered withj/« or no ; is he an Oxford or Cambridge man ' ? meaning really ,' 'has he studied at Oxford or Cambridge — I do not care which — as opposed to the University of London, the German universities, etc' As already remarked, alternative questions require very definite answers ; thus in the example given, the answer must be either Oxford or Cambridg^^ But there is a class of alternative general questions, such as are you I 509-] SENTENCES. 1 75 ready, or are you not i' uttered with a falling tone, which are, however, answered in the same way as general questions ; although, being emphatic, they generally receive an emphatic answer— ^(?j, I am ready, etc. In writing, all kinds of ques- tions are marked by the note of interrogation (?). 606. (d) Imperative sentences are those which contain a verb in the imperative mood, expressing hortation, by which we understand any appeal to others by which we en- deavour to influence their actions, especially entreaty, request, and command, as in come .', you do it at once !, do come !, do not do that I, do not you do that I Imperative sentences are uttered with a falling tone. In writing they are generally marked by the note of exclamatitin (!) 507. 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. sen- tences. And although imperative sentences are the most convenient means we have of expressing hortation, we can also express it by purely declarative sentences, such as / beg you to come, I insist on your doing it at once. 508. The meaning of an imperative sentence may also be expressed by a sentence in the general interrogative form, such as will you be quiet !^be quiet ! But as such sentences are uttered with a falling tone — being accordingly written with the note of exclamation — they are formally inter- mediate between the two classes, and may therefore be called imperattve- interrogative sentences. 509. So also a declarative sentence may imply a question, as in the dowhtkHyou will soon be ready ', which has the rising tone of a true question, and the more decided you will be there at six, then^ , which takes the answer j/« for granted, and is accordingly uttered with a falling tone. 176 INTRODUCTION. [§ S'O- 510. The above divisions apply to independent sentences. For dependent declarative clauses (indirect narration) see § 297, and for dependent interrogative clauses (indirect in- terrogation) see § 214. HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. Changes in Language. 511. The most important fact in the history of language is that it is always changing. Words, parts of words — in- flections, derivative elements, etc. — word-groups, and sentences are always changing, both in form and meaning : the pronun- ciation of words changes, and their meaning changes; in- flections change both in form and meaning : word-groups and sentences change their form 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. 512. Sound-changes (phonetic changes, changes of pro- nunciation) are inevitable, because all speech-sounds are the result of certain definite actions or positions of the organs of speech — tongue, lips, etc. ; and the slightest deviation from the position which produces a sound alters that sound. Thus the vowel-sound expressed by in no is produced by 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 mouth-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 rule ; while if we open the lips and widen the mouth-passage, the sound of passes into that of the a m. father. Now in uttering a sound it is as impossible always to hit exactly the same position of the §513.] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES. 1 77 organs of speech as it would be always to hit the mark exactly in shooting with a bow or a gun. For this reason children never reproduce exactly the sounds they learn by imitation from their parents ; and even when this deviation is so slight as to escape notice, it is liable to be increased in after life by carelessness and laziness of pronunciation. But the initial deviation is often so marked that it can be expressed in writing, as when children in trying to imitate the sound of (}?) in thin make it into (f). We call sound-changes due to the tendencies of the organs of speech — such as the change of (o) into (u) or (a) — organic sound-changes ; and we call changes due to defective imitation — such as that of (jj) into (f ) — imitative 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 associated in some way — generally by similarity of meaning — with the words containing that sound, as in the change of spake into spoke by the influence of spoken (539). 513. The meanings of words change because the mean- ing of a word is always more or less vague, and we are always extending or narrowing (generalizing or specializing) the meanings of the words we use — often quite unconsciously. Thus in the present English the meaning of the word morn- ing has been extended so as to include what in Scotland is still called the/orenoon, the word morning originally denoting the time of day just after sunrise ; but as the sun rises at different times at different seasons of the year, the distinction between morning ^.Tid. forenoon was always liable to be con- fused. We have an example of narrowing the meaning of a word in the modern English use of deer to signify one special kind of wild animal, while in Old English the word — in the form of deor — meant ' wild animal in general,' being VOL. I. N 178 INTRODUCTION. [§ 5'4- applied to foxes, wolves, etc., as well as deer ; Shakespere still uses the word in its older and more general meaning — But mice, and rats, and such small deer Have been Tom's food for seven long year. (King Lear.) 514. Of these processes, extension is the more important, especially that kind of extension known as metaphor, by which we use the name of a material object or an attribute to express some more abstract idea suggested by the original meaning of the word, as when we call a sly man a fox, or say that the sun is the source of light and heat on thfe analogy of source of a river, thus using the familiar word source to express the more abstract idea of ' cause ' or ' origin.' So also when we speak of a bright idea or dark schemes. It was mainly by the help of metaphor that primitive man was able to enlarge his originally scanty stock of words so as to find an expression for each new idea as it arose in his mind. 515. The use and meaning of inflections changes in the same way. Thus the genitive case in Modern English has not the same functions as in Old English. So also with derivative elements, etc. 516. Linguistic changes often take the form of the loss of sounds, sound-groups, parts of words, and complete words. By phonetic change a sound may be so weakened as to become almost inaudible, so that its dropping is almost in- evitable. Sounds and syllables may be dropped because they are superfluous — because the word is intelligible without them, as when examination is shortened to exam. Words may drop out of sentences for the same reason. 517. The addition of a sound is generally only apparent when it is the result of organic change. Thus the change of (nr) into (ndr) in Modern English thunder from Old English punor, genitive punres, is really a change of the second half of the (n) into (d). But sounds may be added to words, and words added to sentences by external influences. 5 519'] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES. 179 518. Most of these changes of form and meaning are gradual in their operation — especially the internal sound- changes — so that most of them are carried out uncon- sciously by those who speak the language, and are therefore beyond their control. The speakers of a language cannot prevent it from changing; all they can do is to retard the changes (532). 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 uniform in their opera- tion. 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 (}j), other children will probably find it easier 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 lives, it is natural to expect that most of his neighbours will get into the same 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 having the majority of speakers on its side, or because it is more convenient or easier to carry out. 519. Each linguistic change is regular in its operation. If the meaning of a word is changed in one sentence, we 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 all other words. Thus, if we find that a child learning to speak makes (]j) into (f ) in the words think and three, we can assume with tolerable certainty that it carries out the change in all the other words that contain a (Jj). If — as is generally the case — the change is the result of inability to form the sound (Jj), it is evident that it must be carried out with no exception. But one sound-change may be less general than another. One child may change all (]?)'s into (f)'s, while another may pronounce such words as N 2 l8o INTRODUCTION. [§ S^o. think and thing correctly, while substituting (f) in through and three, that is, in the combination (]3r). Again, a third child might change th in think into one sound, and th in through into a different sound, carrying out these changes in all the words containing (}j). We see then that the same sound may undergo different changes under different circum- stances — different combinations with other sounds, different positions in the word (initial, etc.) Thus, to take an exam- ple from changes which have actually occurred in English, we find that (k) has been dropped in the special combination kn, as in know (nou), knowledge, but only when initial, the old k being kept in such a word as acknowledge, where it is preceded by a vowel. 520. It sometimes happens that the same word changes in two or more different ways, according to its surroundings. Thus in English the indefinite article an drops its n before another word beginning with a consonant, as in a man compared with an enemy. When a word splits up in this way, the resulting forms are called doublets (54). S 521. Stress has a great influence on sound-change, and ; often gives rise to doublets. Thus in the Middle English of Chaucer with and of were pronounced with final voiceless consonants (wij), of), but in the transition to Early Modern \ English the final consonants of these words became voiced ' when they were uttered with weak stress, the original sounds being preserved when they were uttered with strong stress, so that, for instance, with was pronounced (wi6) in such a sentence as ' I will go with you, not with him,' and was pronounced (wijj) in such a sentence as ' not with him, but against him.' We call such pairs as (wijj, wit$) stress-doublets. In the case of an, a and of strong and weak with the differentiation of form is not accompanied by any differentiation of meaning and function, but in the case of Middle English of there has been differentiation in both ways. In Old and Middle English of was used in the sense of 'of and ' off,' but in §522-1 HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES. l8l Early Modern English the weak (ov) was gradually restricted to the less emphatic meaning, while the more marked adver- bial meaning was appropriated by the strong (of), which was written off to distinguish it from the preposition of-= (ov). In the present English (of) has become (of), and the two words — the adverb and the preposition — have diverged so completely in form and meaning that the connection between them is forgotten. In fact of itself has split up into stress-doublets in the present English — the strong (ov) and the weak (gv, a). Such pairs as whole and ^3/«— both from Old English hal ' complete, healthy ' — are not organic doublets, but dialectal doublets, whole being the regular Standard English descendant of hal, while hale is an importation from the Northern dialect of English, in which Old English a appears regularly as a, instead of becoming o, as in the standard dialect. Effects of Change on the Relations between Words. 522. It is evident 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 direction either of convergence or divergence. If convergent changes are carried far enough, the result is the levelling of distinctions between the words. Thus in Modern English the two words no and know have been brought closer and closer together by convergent sound- change till at last they have been phonetically levelled under the common form (nou). We call such phonetically levelled pairs homonyms. Such homonyms as hear (the animal) and to bear show levelling in spelling as 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 to purchase are synonyms. Divergent change is most noticeable in doublets. Thus we have divergent sound-change in the Modern English of, off. 1 82 introduction: ' [§ 523- 523. Linguistic changes have a great eiFect on asso- ciation-groups (20). Convergent and divergent changes have directly opposite effects. Convergent changes form 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 association- group of a very intimate kind through having exactly the same meaning, but purchase originally meant 'to pursue,' and only gradually passed into its present meaning through that of ' attain,' ' acquire,' so that the two words were originally quite disassociated from one another in meaning as well as form. 524. Divergent changes tend to break up association- groups and to isolate the members of a group from one another. Thus in English words of foreign origin the addition of a derivative element often causes shifting of stress, as we see by comparing 'photograph, pho'tographer, photo- graphic, whete the stress falls on a different syllable in each word, so that a vowel which is strong in one word is weak in another ; and as weak vowels are often weakened to (a) in English, the spoken forms of these words differ much more than their written forms would lead us to expect: (•foutagrsef, fa-togrsfa, fouta-graefik). As the consonant skeleton of these words remains unaltered together with their meaning, the shifting stress and the great difference in the vowels is not enough to break up the association- group, but merely loosens the connection between its members. In the case of of and off (521), where there has been change not only of form but of meaning, the association has beep not only loosened, but completely broken, so that the two words are isolated from one another. 525. Isolation often leads to the creation of new gram- matical categories. As we have seen (68), isolation is the essence of composition as opposed to mere word-grouping. §526.] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES. 1 83 So also the distinction between an idiom and an ordinary ' general ' sentence is that in the former 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 or surname Brown or Smith was specially assigned to one particular man in a community, although there were perhaps other brown men and other smiths in it, isolation had begun ; and when these appellations had become fixed family names, being given to the descendants of these men without regard to their complexion or trade, the isolation was complete as far as the meaning was concerned, so that the proper names Brown and Smith no longer had anything in common with the words brown and smith except in form, being partially isolated from them in form as well by the divergent use 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 because appears in Middle English in the form of the group bi cause pat ' by the cause that,' ' through the cause that," but in Modern English it has been completely isolated from its elernents by and cause not only by change of grammatical function, but also by the weakening of bi into be and the shortening of the vowel in the second syllable, formal iso- lation being carried still further in the careless colloquial pronunciation (koz). 526. Linguistic changes give rise to grammatical irregu-" larities. The two main classes of changes that produce irregularities are convergent changes of meaning, and diver- ,' gent sound-changes. What we call an ' inflection ' often consists of a number of different forms having distinct though similar meanings, which gradually converged so that they came to be identical in meaning and grammatical function; Thus the original reduplication in the preterite held, the vowel-change in saw, and the addition of d in called, all 184 INTRODUCTION. [§ 527. express the same grammatical function, although there can be no doubt that they each had a distinct meaning originally. 527. We can observe the effect of divergent sound-change in the variations of the preterite-ending d in called, stopped (stopt), and the accompanying vowel- and consonant- changes in such preterites as kept, taught from keep, teach. Here the original unity has been broken up by purely phonetic changes. Effects of Change on Language as a Means of Expression. 528. We can see from what has been said that linguistic changes have two opposite effects on language considered as a means of expressing ideas. They have a constructive and a destructive effect : sometimes they help to build up the language, and make it better fitted to express ideas; sometimes, on the other hand, they tend to break up its structure, and make it unfit for the expression of ideas. 529. It is evident that many of the changes we have been considering are mainly constructive. Thus the differentiation of Old English of into the Modern English doublets of and off enables us to express two distinct sets of ideas by distinct words instead of having only one word for both. The lan- guage has therefore gained in precision by such a change. So also such a process of isolation as that by which we are able to introduce a causal sentence by means of the mono- syllable (koz) instead of the cumbrous word-group by the cause that has not only made the language more precise but has also made it more concise. 530. But it is equally evident that many changes result only in the multiplication of superfluous distinctions. Thus the distinction between strong (wijj) and weak (witS) is a superfluous one, for the sentence-stress by itself is enough to tell us whether the word is emphatic or not. The distinction between a and an is equally superfluous. In fact doublets §631.] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES. 185 are always superfluous, except when they develop useful dis- tinctions of meaning, which, in the nature of things, they do only occasionally. When convergent changes result in the formation of synonyms, such as begin, commence, they evidently make one member of the pair superfluous. So also of the various ways of forming the plural in English, all except one —that is, of course, the regular ending j — are superfluous. 531. Many changes are not only superfluous but injurious. The formation of homonyms, such as a bear, to bear, although not positively destructive, always tends to make the language ambiguous. And although change of meaning — especially metaphor — is an essential factor in building up the vocabulary of a language, yet the great variety of often almost contradic- tory meanings which may be thereby developed in the same word often tend to obscure clearness of expression. Among purely destructive changes, the most important are those which affect inflectional elements. When inflections consist — as they often do — mainly of final weak vowels, they are peculiarly liable to be shortened, obscured, and finally dropped altogether. Thus in the popular Latin of the Empire weak inflectional endings soon began to shorten their vowels and drop their final consonants, so that, for instance, the nominative singular mensa ' table,' the accusative mensam, and the ablative mensa were levelled under the common form mesa, the distinction between nominative dominus ' lord ' and accusative dominum, between accusative, dative, genitive, ablative hominem ' man,' hominl, hominis, homine were by degrees entirely lost, the inevitable consequence being that the feeling for the grammatical distinctions of case was first weakened, and then lost, so that even those case-endings which from their greater fullness — such as the genitive plural ending in mensdrum, dominorum — were less liable to phonetic decay, were also discarded, so that in Italian the nouns have entirely lost the old case-inflections. l86 INTRODUCTION. [5 532- Logical Control of Changes. 532. Now although the speakers of a language have no power of absolutely preventing changes in it — for we have no evidence of a language ever having been preserved absolutely- unchanged, even for a few centuries — yet they have consider- able control over it. In the first place, they can resist change, and retard it. When parents correct the mispronun- 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 ma- jority, they are all doing their best to prevent change. In fact, if they did not, the languages of two successive generations would become mutually unintelligible. Hence every genera- tion can tolerate only a certain amount of change, so that if a language changes much in one direction, it has to make up for it by being conservative in another direction. Thus English obscures and shortens its vowels, but is on the whole very conservative in its consonants. Modern French, on the other hand, drops consonants freely, as we see by comparing Modern French h^te with Old French beste, which was imported into Middle English, and still keeps its consonants unimpaired in the Modern English beast, although the vowel has under- gone considerable changes. Again, in Modern French many of the Old French final consonants which are preserved in writing are not pronounced, as in mats (m(f). Now the tendency to drop final consonants is as natural to English people as to French, but as consonant-dropping and vowel- weakening together would have made English unintelligible and unfit for the communication of ideas, it was 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 §536-] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES. 187 or not depends, of course, partly on the ease with which it is controlled. Thus the change of (]5) into (f) is easily observed and easily corrected, 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 established themselves firmly, some of which have been more injurious than that of (Ji) into (f) would have been. 533. The speakers of a language always have the power of discarding superfluous forms, especially one of a pair of synonyms and doublets. Hence English has now got rid of7 the superfluous distinction between (witS) and (wi}?) by simply j discarding the latter form. Ellipse. 534. When a language drops words in groups and sen- tences because these words are not absolutely required to make sense, we have the phenomenon of ellipse (111). We must distinguish between logical and historical ellipse. Logical ellipse implies only that some word is wanting to complete the grammatical construction, as in at my uncles. Historical ellipse implies that a word is missing which at an earlier period of the language actually formed part of the sentence, and it does not matter whether the missing word is grammatically necessary or superfluous. In the example just given the ellipse is historical as well as grammatical. But in such a phrase as go to sea compared with go down to the river, there is no historical ellipse, because such phrases were framed at a period when there was no definite article at all in English, and a few of them becoming isolated from the rest, were able to resist the introduction of the article and so have kept the shorter form to the present day. Analogy. 535. The main factor in getting rid of irregularities is group-influence, or analogy — the influence exercised by l88 INTRODUCTION. [§ 535- the members of an association-group on one another. We have already seen {23) that irregularity consists in partial isolation from an association-group through some formal difference. Thus the irregular plurals men etc. belong to the same group as the regular plurals trees etc., but stand outside it to some extent through not having the same ending. The irregularity and isolation of such plurals as men is the more conspicuous because of the small number of irregular plurals in English, and the overwhelmingly large number of nouns that have their plural in -s. This preponderance of the j-plurals is itself the result of group-influence. In Old English there were a variety of regular noun-plurals, and the ending -as, from which the Modern English -{e)s is descended, was only one 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 stdn 'stone,' plural stdnas. Other plural endings in frequent use were -a, -u, -an. Many neuter nouns were unchanged in the plural, and we still preserve this formation in sheep. In Middle English the distinctions of grammatical gender were soon lost, and as it was found inconvenient not to distinguish between singular and plural, such neuter nouns as hus ' house ' instead of remaining unchanged in the plural were allowed to take the ending -es-=0\A English -as of the cor- responding masculine nouns, whence the Modern English plural houses ^Old English htis; and this ending was by degrees extended to all nouns except a few such as man, ox, so that the ending -en in oxen-= Old English oxan, instead of being on an equal footing with the ending -es, as it origin- ally was, came to be an isolated — that is, an irregular — inflection. The change therefore of such an Old English plural as naman (singular namd) into the Modern English names is not a phonetic change of n into s — which would be impossible — but is an external, analogical change due to the influence of the Old English inflection in stdnas etc. § 538-] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES. 189 536. Which form in an association-group gets the upper hand in cases of analogy, depends partly on its natural pre- ponderance in the group, partly on 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 frequent use, so that a form which is used in a comparatively small number of very impor- tant 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 s being, for instance, preferable to an obscure vowel — partly on its logical distinctness, that is, its freedom from ambiguity and liability to be confused with other forms. From this point of view the English plural -s is objectionable, because it has the same form as the genitive singular {man's). 537. Analogy is not only an instrument of change, but is a part of the daily life of language. In speaking a language we learn only a few of the grammatically modified words ready-made ; all the others we form on the pattern of those already learnt. Thus when we first have to speak of an un- familiar 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 hesitation on the pattern of such familiar plurals as horses, donkeys, etc. 538. Nowit is evident that this method 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 oi /ungus would naturally make it *funguses on the analogy of mushrooms, mosses, etc., instead of fungi. But if an irregular form is so frequent in the language that we not only learn it ready-made, but hear and repeat it incessantly, it fixes itself so firmly in the memory that we have no occasion to form it by pattern, and it remains un- affected by the influence of the regular forms. Thus we are 190 INTRODUCTION. [§ 539- so used to such an irregular plural as men that it is only by an effort that we could make it into *mans. But if by any chance such a word became rare or partially obsolete, it would certainly and inevitably take the plural -s, at least in the vulgar and colloquial language. This is why in all lan- guages — at least in their natural colloquial form— the irregu- larities always occur in the commonest words, irregular forms of rarer words being confined to the higher literary language. 539. No one would mistake the change of n into s in the plural names^O\A English naman for an organic sound- change, but would at once recognize it as an analogical, ex- ternal change. In some cases, however, analogical sound- change might be mistaken for internal — organic or imitative — sound-change by anyone who was not acquainted with the internal sound-changes of the language in question. Thus the change of a into in spoke^=the earlier spake, broke-= brake, etc., although at first sight it looks like an organic sound-change — the organic change of a into being frequent in many languages — is in Modern 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 in their preterite participles, so there can be no doubt that the change of spake into spoke is the result of the influence of the preterite participle spoken, through the similarity in meaning between he spake and he has spoken. 540. In the cases we have hitherto been considering, the analogy is logical, that is, associations of meaning or gram- matical function lead to the change of a sound into another one which may be totally different. But there is also a purely formal or phonetic analogy, by which the meaning of a word is modified by that of another word because the latter is similar in form to the other. Thus the word parboil was originally formed by prefixing per- ' through,' so that it originally meant ' to boil thoroughly.' But now the meaning 5 S43-1 HISTORY OF LANGUAGE: CHANGES. I91 of the prefix has been forgotten through its change of form, and it has been associated with the noun part, so that the word has now taken the exactly opposite meaning of ' boil imperfectly.' 541. We can also see phonetic analogy in the familiariza- tion of unfamiliar words, commonly known as 'popular etymology,' as in the change of asparagus into sparrow-grass — a form which, though now vulgar, was in general use in the last century. Familiarization consists simply in substi- tuting familiar for unfamiliar sounds or syllables, without regard to the meaning, although the process is often 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 unfamilar gus into the familiar and significant grass. 542. Although analogy works most vigorously when a few forms 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 just given of phonetic analogy — it can also work in groups of only two words. When the groups are so small, it often happens that the forms or words influence each other partially and mutually, instead of one only being influenced, the result being a blending. The effect of blending on grammatical constructions has been already treated of (125). 543. Analogy not only helps to get rid of irregularities, but helps also to bring grammatical categories into harmony with the logical ones (26). In primitive languages they are generally in harmony, but in more advanced languages they frequently disagree, as in the contrast of grammatical to natural gender (146). Thus in Old English and in German words denoting young children and young of animals are neuter. Hence also diminutive words were made neuter, such as Old English mcegd-en, German mdd-chen, which origi- 192 INTRODUCTION. [| 544. nally meant ' little maid,' ' little girl/ but afterwards came to be applied to full-grown women, still having their neuter 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 gram- matically feminine and also denoted female beings. German has not gone any further than this : although in German madchen is referred to as ' she,' it always takes a neuter article and adjective. But in Middle English we find such grammatical neuters as meiden ' girl ' and wif ' woman ' made into regular feminine nouns. Origin and Development of Language. 544. Language begins with associations between sounds and ideas. These associations may be of various kinds. The most obvious kind is that seen in imitative words, such as cuckoo, buzz, hiss. We have another kind of association in symbolical words, such as the Latin bibere ' to drink,' where the lip-consonant b symbolizes the action of the lips in drink- ing. We have also interjectioual words, such as the Old 'English. yeond ' enemy ' — whence the Modern English _/?««<;? — which was originally formed from an interjection of dislike similar to pah ! or Jie ! So also the pronoun me and the words mamma, mother, all seem to be made up with the con- sonant m because it is easiest, and the one first uttered by infants. But there is so little natural connection or resem- blance between sounds and ideas that we may be sure that when language first arose, the names given to things, attri- butes, etc., often had very little connection with what they meant, and that the connection was often almost a matter of chance. But there must always have been some connection — some association. 545. At first each sound or sound-group expressed rather a thought than an idea. Thus when men first said cuckoo ! 5 548'-] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. 193 in order to communicate an idea to other men, they meant to express some such thought as ' there is the cuckoo ' or ' I hear the cuckoo.' If the speaker pointed somewhere at the same time, it meant, of course, ' there is the cuckoo.' There can be no doubt that primitive speech was thus partly made up of gesture. Such a sound-group as cuckoo was, therefore, not a true word, but something between a word and a sen- tence — a kind of sentenee-word. 546. When people began to join such a significant sound- group as cuckoo to other significant sound-groups — as, for instance, to a sound-group meaning ' sing ' or ' song ' — so that the meaning of the one might be taken in connection with that of the other — so that, for instance, cuckoo sing or' cuckoo song meant ' the cuckoo sings ' or ' the cuckoo sang,' then cuckoo, etc., instead of being sentences, came to be parts of sentences or words. 547. Language thus arose spontaneously in individuals' through the habit of associating sounds with ideas through mimicry, etc. This was done at first merely for amusement : ■ the idea of using these sounds to communicate wishes, infor- mation, etc., to others was an after-thought. This after- thought was the result of community of impression among difi^erent individuals : the sound-group cuckoo naturally sug- gested the idea of the bird that makes the sound to all who were familiar with it. 548. Of course, when the connection was fanciful, or vague — as if, for instance, hiss were used to signify not only ' hiss,' but also ' serpent,' ' cat,' and ' steam ' — it became necessary to make it more definite ; and this could only be done by a number of individuals constantly meeting 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 result of deliberate choice and consultation, which would, indeed, have been impossible at a time when language was not yet evolved. VOL. I. o 194 INTRODUCTION. [§ 549- 549. When language had reached this stage, the con- nection between words and the ideas they expressed was no longer self-evident, except in a few cases, and the details of the language had to be learnt one by one by the infants of the community and by strangers. 550. Language thus begins spontaneously in the individual, but is developed and preserved by the community. Development of Grammatical Categories. 551. As we have seen, language implies the power of joining words together into sentences, just as ideas are joined together to form thoughts (16). 552. At first words were joined together without any definite order — it did not matter whether people said cuckoo sing or sing cuckoo ; in other words, the sentence had no form. 553. After a while people began to put the words in sen- tences in a more definite order. Even before the logical significance of word-order had dawned on their minds, some sentences which had become familiar by incessant repetition would naturally settle down to a fixed word-order ; and when this had been carried out in a number of separate sentences, some general principle of word-order could not fail to be evolved. There are various principles of word-order. The natural logical word-order is to put the subject first and the adjunct-word after it, so that, for instance, cuckoo song or cuckoo sing would mean ' the cuckoo sings ' or ' the singing cuckoo,' and sing (or song) cuckoo would mean ' the song (or singing) of the cuckoo.' 554. But there are other principles of word-order, which sometimes contradict this purely logical order. Empliatic word-order consists in putting first that word which is most prominent in the speaker's mind. Thus in such a sen- tence as that man is a good man or he is a good man, it is evident that good is a more important word than the accompanying man, because the idea expressed by the §5Sff-] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. 195 latter word has been already expressed by thai man or he. Hence many languages which generally put an assumptive" adjective after its noun often put the adjective first when it is emphatic. It is evidenit that in a language which admits emphatic word-order, the same sentence may appear in a variety of forms, as far as the order of its words is concerned. Even such a simple sentence as the cat caught a mouse or the cat hilled a mouse may admit of a variety of natural word- orders. If the speaker sees, or thinks of, the mouse coming out of its hole and running about before the cat appears, the natural order is mouse cat catch ; if he sees a dead mouse and the cat running away, the natural order is mouse kill cat, which we express more accurately by the passive constraction a mouse has been killed by the cat. We need not therefore be surprised to find that diflferent languages have different prin- ciples of word-order. 555. But whatever the word-order of each primitive lan- guage may have been, it must at first have been a fixed one, for not only is a fixed word-order necessary in an unin- flected 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 inflections could never have de- veloped themselves. And not only inflection, but composition, derivation, the development of form- words, are all the result of fixed word-order, aided, as we shall see, by differences of stress. 556. Primitive language consisted, then, of series of full- words in fixed orders. At first sentences 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 speak a foreign language. In time, however, certain combinations which occurred frequently were run over more rapidly, and joined together without any pause. In this way logical word- groups were formed, such as big man or man big, little man, old brother, young brother, sharp stone-=.' Q.mt,' yellow stone-= ' ^o\d,' white stone=' sAvtr,' etc. Then words forming part o 2 196 TNTRODUCTION. [§ 557. of such groups which were felt to be subordinate to the other word or words, came to be uttered with diminished stress, so that a distinction could be made, for instance, be- tween •me •here = 'l am here,' and -man -here=' ih^ man here ' or ' this man.' In this way logical groups developed . into formal stress-groups, the diminished stress of subordinate words serving not only to show that they were logically sub- ordinate, 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 isolation was accompanied by isolation of meaning, these groups developed into compounds, so that it was now possible to make such distinctions as that between black bird and blackbird in English. 557. It is evident that of the words thus subordinated in stress and meaning some would be in more general use than others. Such an adjective as ivMie would be specially sub- ordinated to but few substance-words ; but such an adjunct as here or ihfs would be connected with almost all such words. All primitive languages show a great variety of such demonstrative words, whose meanings become more and more definite and fixed as the language develops. When a word which originally pointed to an object in space came to be used as a mere reference-word, so that, for instance, man- here meant simply ' the man,' it became a form-word. So also when some such distinction was made as between top hill^ ' the top of the hill ' and hill-top = ' on the hill,' top in the latter collocation was on its way to become a mere form-word— in this case, a preposition — and if the full-word top became obsolete through being supplanted by a different word of similar meaning, such as summit, the isolation of the form-word would be complete. 558. 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 5 rS9-] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. 197 subordinate words as we can observe in the English (dsonz hia, dsonl k^m, hijl k-em) = John is here, John will come, he will come, have occurred in all primitive languages. 559. 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 isolated from the full-word of which it is a weakening, it ceases to be a word, and becomes part of a word ; and if it forms part of a number of words, so as to be easily recog- nized as a general modifier, it becomes either a derivative or an inflectional element. 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 — it is a deriva- tive, or at least a composition-element on its way to become a derivative ; if it leaves the special meaning of the words it modifies unaltered, and merely adds some general qualification, and shows that they stand in certain grammatical relations to other words in the sentence, it is an mflection. Mere' obscuration without isolation is not enough to constitute a derivative or inflection. Thus the (1) in (hijl) = ^^ vuill, does not constitute an inflection, because it is added indifferently to all words, and because we can change the unemphatic (hijl) into the emphatic (hij wil), and so break up the con- nection between the two words and restore the original full form of the (1). (-man) in shopman, on the other hand, though only a weakening of the full word (msen), cannot be used anywhere in a sentence as the unemphatic form of man, and is inseparably connected with the word it modifies. We can see how form-words develop into true inflections in the French future aimerai, 'I shall love,' which comes from the late Latin amdre habeo, ' I have to love.' We can still divide aimerai into the French words aimer ai, ' to-love (I) have,' but the plural aimerons, ' we shall love,' is isolated from aimer and avons, ' we have.' Aimerai itself is really isolated, though to a less degree; for *aimer ai is as im- possible a construction in French as *io love have would be 198 INTRODUCTION. [§ 560. in English. The English (nt) in worit, shan't may be re- garded as on the way to become an inflectional element, for it is isolated from the full form not grammatically as well as phonetically, for this contraction never occurs except after certain verbs, which are themselves isolated in the con- tracted form, as in (wount) compared with (wil not) will not. OxiGiN OF THE Parts of Speech. 560. It is evident that the relations between full-words in sentences are dependent to some extent on the meaning of the full words. Thus in a primitive language there would be a tendency to use substance-words, such as tree, man, snow, and personal pronouns, such as /, he, mainly as subject- words, and to use permanent attribute-words, such as white, big, assumptively in connection with the above substance- words, as in distinguishing between the big man and the little man. 561. 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 fall, melt, come, which cannot so easily be taken for granted in connection with their head- words, and must therefore be stated expressly. 562. Substance-words and phenomenon-words would therefore have different positions in the sentence, and by degrees different form-words would cluster round them. Substance-words would be naturally modified by words ex- pressing 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 §566.] HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. 199 idea ' come ' would excite the idea of ' come in the past,' ' come in the future,' etc. 563. But the necessity of using permanent attribute- words, and qualifiers, such as here, there, as predicates, would be very soon felt ; it would soon be necessary — or, at least, convenient — to distinguish between the man here and the man is here ; and after a time it would even be desirable to distin- guish between melting snow and the snow melts. Some lan- guages 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 primitive languages marked the predicate formally by joining on to it a personal pronoun, ' the cuckoo sings ' being expressed by cuckoo song-him, cuckoo its-song, or something equivalent. 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 ' existence of-me ' or ' my being.' 565. Such a thought as ' the tree is green ' could be expressed similarly by the tree its-green{ness), but such a thought as 'the man is there* would be more naturally expressed by 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 easily see how this happens by thinking of such Modern English phrases as he stood convicted, to rest content, etc., where stood does not imply standing or rest resting, these 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.' 566. In this way verbs that were originally phenomenon- words came to have the purely grammatical function of pre- dication. So also form-words or inflections which marked aoo INTRODUCTION. [§ 567. original substance-words gradually came to suggest the gram- matical conception of ' subject-word ' ; and when it became necessary to make statements about attributes or phenomena — to make statements about 'whiteness,' 'falling,'etc. — the formal marks which at first belonged only to substance-words were transferred to abstract words, so that the inflections and other formal characteristics of such words as tree no longer neces- sarily marked them off as substance -words, but only denoted those grammatical functions which we conveniently sum up by calling tree a ' noun ' — functions which it has in common with many purely abstract words, such as whiteness and falling. 567. The further development of the parts of speech is the result of the various processes of sound-change, change of meaning and grammatical function, differentiation, isola- tion, analogy, etc., which have been already described. Thus analogy brought about concord (91), by which declinable adjectives are distinguished from indeclinable adverbs ; sound-change and isolation made nouns and adjectives into particles. Helations of Languages to one another. 568. 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 developing a language of its own. Hence, as the number of such communities must have been indefinitely great in the early periods of man's history, there must have been an indefinite number of separate, uncon- nected languages. But as civilization increased, and it be- came necessary to use single languages over wider areas, an immense number of languages spoken only by small and obscure communities became extinct — a process which we can observe going on still. 569. The difference between languages is not always the 5S71-] BISTORY OF LANGUAGE. 201 result of differences of origin. On the contrary, almost every language bears a more or less close resemblance to certain other languages — a resemblance which cannot be explained except on the supposition that all these languages are modifi- cations of one and the same language. We call such lan- guages cognate languages, belonging to the same family of languages, and descended from a common parent language. Thus English, Latin, and Greek are cognate languages be- longing to the Arian family, and descended from Parent Arian. We have no direct records of this parent language, and can only reconstruct it hypothetically by comparing Its extant descendants together, and so finding out what original features of the parent language are preserved in them. In 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 Portuguese are all Romance languages, descended from Latin in its spoken form. Iiinguistic Separation : Origin of Dialects and Cognate Languages. 570. The unity of a language can be kept up only by free and uniform intercourse between all the members of the community which speaks the language. If the community is too large or unwieldy to admit of this intercourse, the language begins to split up into an infinite number 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. 571. If a dialect or group of dialects which has arisen in this way is separated by natural boundaries, such as a river or mountain-chain, from the other dialects, or by a different government, or if communication is checked in any other way, there will be a corresponding linguistic divergence : the 202 INTRODUCTION. [§ 573- dialects thus cut off from the rest will diverge rapidly and develop many features of their own. 572. But when a nation thus speaking a variety of dialects attains a high degree of civilization, that unity and centraliza- tion which results in one town becoming the capital, results also in one definite dialect — generally, of course, that of the capital itself — being used as the general means of communi- cation throughout the whole territory, especially if, as is gener- ally the case, the dialects have already diverged so much from each other that some at least of them are mutually unintelligible. 573. If this centralization goes on long enough, this common or standard dialect swallows up the local dialects, although before that happens it is generally considerably in- fluenced by them, every standard dialect importing a certain number of words from its cognate dialects. Thus in modern English we find the dialectal hale by the side of the standard whole (521. i). jl 574. There is no definite distinction between dialect -/o/f=' South-people') and Norfolk (OE iVor;^yo/c=' North-people') were included under the name of East-Anglia (OE Easl-engle=''Es,st-Si-ngY\2in.%'). Another tribe of Anglians occupied what are now the Midland Coun- 214 INTRODUCTION. [§ 602. ties, between the Thames and the Humber. These were called Mercians (OE Mierce), which means 'borderers/ "from OE mearc 'mark,' 'boundary.' Mercia was so called because it bordered on Wales, the country of the Welsh or 'foreigners' (OE Wealas, Welisce menn), the name given by the English to the native Britons. The country north of the Humber was occupied by a variety of Anglian tribes included under the name of Northumbrians (OE Norp-hymbre). Ancient Northumbria extended up to the Firth of Forth, and thus included the greater part of what is now the Lowlands of Scotland. 602. All these tribes spoke the same Anglo-Frisian language with slight differences of dialect. These differ- ences increased by degrees, so that already in the 8th century we can distinguish four main dialects : North- umbrian and Mercian, which together constitute the Anglian group; and West-Saxon and Kentish, which together constitute the Southern group. Kentish was originally more akin to the Anglian than the Saxon dialects, but in course of time it was strongly influenced by West-Saxon. 603. All these tribes agreed in calling their commoiJ language English (OE Englisc), 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 ofl&cial and, to a great extent, the literary language all over England. The West-Saxons still continued to call their language English, the name Anglo- Saxon (OE Angel-seaxan) being used only as a collective name for the people, not the language. 604. In this book OE words are always given — unless the contrary is stated— in their Early West-Saxon forms; that is, in the dialect of King Alfred. §6o8.] HISTORY OF ENGLISH. 315 Characteristics of Old English. 605. The characteristics of OE are those of the other Low German languages. It was, as compared with MnE, a highly inflected language, being in this respect intermediate between Latin and Modern German. In its syntax it closely re- sembled Modern German. It also resembled Modern German in having an unlimited power of forming new words by derivation and composition, as when it made Scribes and Pharisees into ' bookers and separation-saints ' (OE boceras and sundor-halgan). Latin Influence. 606. Nevertheless it adopted many Latin words, some of which it brought with it from the Continent — such words as strdt ' high road,' ' street,' mil ' mile,' cdsere ' emperor ' from Latin (via) strata, niilia {passuum), Caesar while others were learnt from the Romanized Britons, such as ceaster ' city,' Iceden ' language ' from castra, (lingvd) Latina. These are all popular words. There is another layer of learned words which came in after the introduction of Christianity in 597. Such words are deofol ' devil,' mynster ' monastery, '_/«rf ' verse,' from diabolus, monasterium, versus. Celtic Influence. 607. Very few Celtic words came into OE, because the Britons themselves were to a great extent Romanized, espe- cially 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. Scandinavian Influence. 608. Towards the end of the 8th century Scandinavian pirates — chiefly from Norway, but also from Denmark, all being indiscriminately called ' Danes ' by the Anglo-Saxons — began to harass the coasts of England. By the end of the 31 6 INTRODUCTION. [§ 609. next century they had conquered and settled East-Anglia (in 870), Mercia (in 874), and Northumbria (in 876); although in the next century they were forced to acknowledge the supremacy of the West-Saxon kings. In 1016 the whole of England was conquered by the Danes, and England was ruled by Danish kings till 1042, when the Anglo-Saxon royal line was restored in the person of Edward the Confessor. 609. It is not till the close of the OE period that Scandi- navian words appear. Even Late Northumbrian (of about 970) is entirely free from Scandinavian influence. French Influence. 610. With the accession of Edward the Confessor in 1042 Norman influence begins ; and in 1066 the battle of Hastings made the Norman duke William king of England, although the actual conquest was not completed till 1071. 611. The Normans were Scandinavian by race, but their language was a dialect of 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 factor of importance till the ME period. Nevertheless several French words passed into literary OE even before the Conquest, such as castel 'castle,' capun ' fowl.' Middle English. 613. In its Middle period English went through much the same changes as the other Germanic languages, though at a quicker rate. Many of the sounds were changed, most of the old inflections were lost, their place being supplied by form- words — prepositions, auxiliary verbs, etc. — and many words became obsolete. Dialects or Middle English. 614. The Norman Conquest, by depriving the old West- Saxon of its literary and political supremacy, gave free play §6i7]. HISTORY OF ENGLISH. %1'j 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 Northern, corresponding to the Old Northumbrian, Mid- land, corresponding to the Old Mercian, Southern, corre- sponding to the old West-Saxon, and Kentish. We include the first two under the term 'North-Thames English,' the last two under ' South-Thames English.' 615. Of these dialects the Midland was the predominating one. Its commanding position in the heart of England enabled it to exercise a r^^rpp^ ipflnpnnp nn ^\\ tVip other dialects, while Southern and Northern were completely cut off from one another. Hence even the earliest Southern of about 1200 shows considerable influence of the Midland — or Old Mercian — dialect. 616. It is to be observed that the changes which distin- guish one period of English from another went on much faster in the North of England than in the South. In fact, the Old Northumbrian dialect of 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 level with the Early Southern Middle English of about 1200. Again, the Northern dialect in its Early Middle period had got rid of nearly all the inflections that are not preserved in MnE, being thus 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 criteria of full, levelled, and lost endings by which we distinguish the periods of English (694) apply only to the South-Thames dialects. Struggle between French and English. 617. For a long time the two languages, French and English, kept almost entirely apart. The English of 1200 is almost as free from French words as the English of 1050; ai8 INTRODUCTION. [§ 6i8. and it was not till after 1300 that French words began to be adopted wholesale into English. 618. Meanwhile English was steadily gaining the upper hand. In 1258 we find it officially employed in the Proclama- tion of Henry III. In the next century French gradually fell into disuse even among the aristocracy. In 1362 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 the London Dialect. 619. In the ME period the dialects had diverged so much that speakers of the extreme Northern and extreme Southern dialects were no longer able to understand one another, and the need of a common dialect became 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 dialect was intermediate between the two extremes. Northern and Southern, not only geographi- cally but also linguistically; 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 in the London dialect made the latter peculiarly fitted to serve as a means of general communication. Hence also the Midland element in the London dialect became stronger and stronger in the course of the ME period, till at last even Northern forms §622.] HISTORY OF ENGLISH. 319 passed into it through the medium of the Midland dialect, while Southern influence became weaker and weaker. Scandinavian Influence. 621. Of the Scandinavian settlers in 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 im- ported into English seem to be mostly Danish. Although the Scandinavian dialects were not intelligible to the Anglo- Saxons, yet the cognate languages English and Scandinavian were so similar in structure and had so many words in com- mon — hits ' house,' land ' land,' for instance, being both English and Scandinavian — that the languages blended to- gether with the same facility as the races that spoke them. English got the upper hand, but Scandinavian nevertheless left its mark on tv&ry English dialect, especially the East- Midland and Northern dialects, where the population was half Scandinavian. Ill, fro in ' to and fro,' bound in ' bound for a place,' are examples of Scandinavian words in England (Icelandic ill-r ' had,' /rd ' from,' dmnn ' ready '). French Influence. 622. The Norman French introduced into England was not a uniform dialect, but was itself split up into, local varieties or sub-dialects, which in the Norman spoken in England — the 'Anglo-Norman' or 'Anglo-French' language — were mixed together indiscriminately. The accession of Henry of Anjou in 1154 brought in the influence of another French dialect — the Angevin. The loss of Normandy in 1204 put an end to the influence of Continental Norman ; and hence- forth Anglo-French was influenced only by the literary French of Paris, this Parisian French having the same predominance among the French dialects as London English had among the English dialects. At the time when the influence of Anglo- 320 INTRODUCTION. [§ 623. French on English begins to be important — that is, in the late ME period— it was, therefore, a mixture of Old French of different periods and different dialects, modified by changes of its own, and also by the influence of English itself, especially in its pronunciation. 623. Old French was a language standing in the same relation to its parent language Latin as MnE to OE, and Modern Danish to Old Icelandic. It was therefore not only remotely cognate with ME — both languages being of West- Arian origin — but was also in much the same stage of development. This similarity in general character between the two languages greatly increased their influence on one another. 624. French influence on English is most marked in the vocabulary. Soon after the Conquest English ceased for several centuries to 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 higher vocabulary, for which it had to use French words, such as sir, duke ; captain, army, battle ; sermon, preach. Even when the English word was kept, the same idea was often expressed by a French word, whence numerous sy- nonyms such as work and labour, weak 2S\A. feeble. Latin Influence. 625. 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 Latin 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 first in books, then in ordinary speech. These §631.] HISTORY OF ENGLISH. 321 learned words were kept as much as possible unchanged, being pronounced as they were written. It often 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, such as caitif ' wretched ' and captif, both from Latin captivus, whence the English caitiff and captive. 626. These learned French words were introduced into ME in great numbers. Hence when Latin words came to be imported directly into English, they were 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 'tio, such as nomindtio, was taken direct from Latin, it was made into -tion (MnE nomination) on the analogy of the older importations, such as nation (ME nacioun). 627. French had also some influence on English syntax, and many French idioms and phrases were adopted into spoken English through imitation of the aristocracy. 628. On the whole, however, the influence of French on the grammatical structure of English was not great, the numerous agreements between the two languages being the result of independent development. Modern English. 629. In the Middle period literary English was still dis- tinctly an inflectional language. In the Modern period it became mainly uninflectional, with only scanty remains of the older inflections. 630. The Modern period is that of the complete ascen- dency of the London dialect, which henceforth is the only one used in writing throughout England. Henceforth the other dialects of England continued to exist only as illiterate forms of speech confined within narrow areas. 631. The Northern dialect of Scotland was more indepen- dent of the influence of the London dialect ; but long before 323 INTRODUCTION. [§ 632'. the union of the crowns of the two countries in 1603 literary Scotch showed strong English influence, and by the time of the union of the Scotch and English parliaments in 1707, literary Scotch was wholly assimilated to literary English. Literary English had indeed been the liturgical language of Scotland ever since the Reformation, when the English trans- lation of the Bible was adopted without any attempt to adapt it to the Northern dialect of Scodand. But the pure ' Broad Scotch ' continued to be the spoken language of the upper as well as the lower classes both in town and country up to the end of the last century. 632. In England, on the contrary, London English was not only a literary, but also a spoken language, which every educated man acquired more or less perfectly, whatever his native dialect might be ; although, of course, it was always liable to be influenced by the local dialects in various degrees, according to the education of the speaker and other circum- stances. This influence is still very strong in Scotland, whose educated speech, though almost pure English in vocabulary and grammar, is in its sounds strongly dialectal. 633. The spread of Modern 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 translation of the New Testament in 1525 paved the way for the Authorized Version of 161 1, which made Early Modern London English what it has ever since been — the sacred or liturgical language of the whole English-speaking race. Influence of other Languages. 634. In the Early Modern period, the Renascence — the revival of the study of the classical authors 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. § 639-] HISTOR Y OF ENGLISH. 333 635. As the first prose writings were mostly either trans- lations from Latin, or else the work of scholars to whom Latin was in some respects a more natural means of ex- pression than English, it was inevitable that Early MnE prose was greatly influenced by Latin, not only in vocabu- lary, 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. 636. As the relations of England with other countries became more extended, many words were imported into English from almost every European language, especially Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, and from many other languages besides, such as Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, and the native languages of America. 637. 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 Burns has introduced many Scotch words into literary English. Periods. 638. The main general difference between Early and Late MnE is that the former is the period of experiment and com- parative licence both in the importation and in the formation of new words, idioms, and grammatical constructions. The Late MnE period is, on the other hand, one of selection and organization. The most marked differences in detail are the great sound-changes undergone by the spoken language — changes which have been completely disguised by the fixity of the orthography. Present English. 639. In the second half of the present century the old local dialects had begun to die out, especially in 334 INTRODUCTION. [§ 640. England, where they are gradually giving way to Standard English. 640. But on the other hand new local dialects are develop- ing themselves by cleavage of the common London dialect in the Modern period — especially the Late Modern period — mainly through colonization. 641. The English colonization of Ireland in the Early Modern period made Early Modern Standard English the general language of culture throughout the island. Hence the present vulgar Irish-English is really an 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 Irish is Present Standard English mixed in various degrees with vulgar Irish-English. 642. Through the colonization of British North America in the i6th and 17th centuries, the American English of the United States and Canada is another independent modifi- cation of Standard English, though much less archaic than Irish-English. Educated American English is now almost entirely independent of British influence, and differs from it considerably, though as yet not enough to make the two dialects — American English and British Enghsh — mutually unintelligible. American English itself is beginning to split up into dialects. 643. Australia and New Zealand were colonized during the present century, and their educated speech differs but slightly from British Enghsh, except that the influence of the vulgar London or 'Cockney' dialect is stronger in Australasian than in British English. 644. These new dialectal differences are mainly ob- servable in the spoken language. Literary English still maintains its unity everywhere, a few 'Americanisms' ex- cepted, the differences of the spoken dialects being utilized in literature only for comic purposes, or to give what is called §647-] HISTORY OF ENGLISH. 325 'local colour,' the reproduction of the real dialect being generally only partial and often inaccurate. 645. This grammar deals mainly with educated British English, the standard for which is the educated speech of London and the South of England generally. Strata. 646. Of this Standard Enghsh we must distinguish 'strata,' or non-local dialects. 647. The main division is that between the spoken or colloquial, and the written or literary language. The spoken language is again distinguished as educated or pc,\ite col- loquial, and vulgar colloquial. The vulgar speech of Lon- don and the district immediately round London is called Cockney. 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 — is characterised by many peculiar words and forms, many of which are Early Modern colloquialisms which have become obsolete in the spoken language. 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. VOL. I. PHONOLOGY. PHONETICS. 648. Phonetics is the science of speech-sounds. 64=fa\ As the ordinary or Nomic spelling does not alway. jhow the real pronunciation, it is necessary to use a phonetic spelling, which, to prevent confusion, we enclose in ( ). Thus (saakl) is the phonetic spelling of Nomic circle. Analysis. 650. 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 result of certain definite actions or positions of the vocal organs, by which the sound-passage assumes a certain definite shape. Throat-sounds : Breath and Voice. 651. The first modification 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 ordinary breathing or sighing, and in the consonant (h), as in Aigh. If the chords are brought together so as to vibrate, we have voice, as in murmuring or in the word err. Nasal Sounds. 652. If the passage into the nose is left open, we have a nasal sound, such as (m) in am. In the formation of all § 656.] PHONETICS. 327 sounds that are not nasal — non-nasal sounds — such as the (b) in amber, the nose-passage is closed by pressing back the uvula or soft palate. Consonants. 653. If the mouth-passage is narrowed so as to cause audible friction — that is, a hissing or buzzing sound — a consonant 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 ' lip-teeth-voice ' consonant (v). Brefth or voiceless consonants are sometimes expressed by adding [h) to the symbol of the corresponding voice consonant, thus (wA) as in why, is the breath consonant corresponding to the voice consonant (w) as in wine. ' Stopped ' consonants are formed with complete stoppage of the mouth-passage. Thus the ' lip-stop ' consonant (p) is formed by bringing the lips together so as completely to stop the passage of air. Vowels. 654. If the mouth-passage is left so open as not to cause audible friction, and voiced breath is sent through it, we have a vowel, such as (aa) vn father. Every alteration in the shape of the mouth produces a different vowel. Thus a slight alteration of the (aa)-position produces the vowel (se) in man. , Vowel-like Consonants. 655. Some consonants have hardly any friction when voiced, and are called vowel-like consonants. Such con- sonants are (1), as in Utile (litl), and (m). Synthesis. 656. We have now to consider the synthesis of sounds, Q 2 228 PHONOLOGY. [§ 657, that is, the diiferent ways in which they are joined together in speech. 657. When sounds are joined together we have to consider their relative quantity, stress, and intonation. Quantity. 658. By quantity, sounds are distinguished as long, half- long or medium, and short, 'long' being often used to include half-long as well. In phonetic notation long and half-long vowels are doubled, short vowels being written single, as in (maama) murmur. The length of consonants is only-i^jCcasionally marked by doubling. Stress. 659. There are three main degrees of stress or loudness : strong, half-strong or medium, and weak. Thus in con- tradict the 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 syl- lable begins, weak or unstressed syllables being left unmarked : (:kontr3'dikt). Weak stress is marked when necessary by prefixing (-), as in (-it reinz) ' it rains.' 660. Sounds which occur only in unstressed syllables, such as the short (9) in (maama) murmur, are called weak. Intonation. 661. Intonation or tone is either level, rising, or faUing, marked respectively (", ', '). The level tone is not much used in speech. The rising tone is heard in questions, such as what', the falling in answers, such as no^. Besides these simple tones, there are compound tones, formed by uniting a rising and a falling tone in one syllable. The compound rise or falling-rising tone (marked ^) may be heard in take care ! when used warningly ; the compound faU or rising- falling tone (marked ") may be heard in oA ! when expressing sarcasm. § 667.] PHONETICS. 239 662. The level tone 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 high pitch or key ; when depressed, in a low key. 663. The non-level tones can pass through different intervals. 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 indigna- tion. Glides- 664. Glides are sounds produced during the transition from one sound to another. Thus in (kii) key we have the glide from the (k)-position to the (ii)-position, which does not, however, require to be written, as it is implied by the posi- tions of (k) and (ii). ' 665. Consonants are often joined together without any glide, not only in such combinations 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 combination with consonants, uttered with a single impulse of stress. Every fresh impulse of stress makes a new syllable, the be- ginning of the syllable corresponding with the beginning of the stress. Thus (a-taek) attack has two syllables, the first syllable consisting of the vowel (a) uttered with weak stress, the second of (tsek) uttered with a new impulse of stress beginning on the (t). Vowel-like consonants often form syl- lables in the same way as vowels, as in i5a///i?=(b3et-l). Diphthongs. 667. If two vowels are uttered with one impulse of stress, so as to form a single syllable, the combination is called a 230 PHONOLOGY. [§ 668. diphthong, such as (oi) in oil. Most diphthongs have the stress on the first element. If three vowels are combined in this way, we have a triphthong, as in (faia) fire. A simple long vowel, such as (aa), is called a monophthong. We now have to consider sounds more in detail. Vowels. 668. As every alteration in the shape of the mouth pro- duces a different vowel, the number of vowels is infinite. Hence what we call the vowels, (a), (i) etc., are really groups of an indefinite number of vowels differing very slightly from one another. Rounding. 669. The shape of the mouth-passage by which vowels are formed depends partly on the position of the tongue, partly on that of the lips. If the lip-opening is narrowed while the tongue is in a certain position, the resulting vowel is said to be rounded. Thus (y) in French lune is the round vowel corresponding to the unrounded (ii), which is nearly the sound in English he, both vowels having the same tongue- position. Tongue-Retraction. 670. The tongue-positions depend partly on the degree of retraction of the tongue, partly on its height or distance from the palate. 671. If the root of the tongue 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 front vowel; such as (ii). If the tongue is left in its neutral position, intermediate between back and front, we have a mixed vowel, such as (aa). Tongue-Height. 672. If the tongue is raised as close to the palate as is possible without making the vowel into a consonant, a §673-] PHONETICS, 33 1 high vowel is formed. Thus (i) is a high-front vowel, (u), as in full, 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 close and open, according to the degree of openness of the mouth-passage. We denote open vowels, when necessary, by italics. French /in ///is the mid-front-close vowel, or, more briefly, the front- close vowel, for when a vowel is not expressly called high, we assume it to be un-high. English (e) in men is the corre- sponding mid-front-open vowel. The Scotch vowel in men is more open than the English, being a low-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 distinction of close and open applies also to the high vowels. Thus French (i) in fini is the close high front vowel, English (i) m finny is the open high front vowel. Acoustic Qualities of Vowels. 673. If we compare the acoustic qualities of the vowels — that is, the impression they make on the ear — we find that they differ in pitch and clearness, close (i) having the highest pitch and clearest sound, while (u) has the deepest sound. Tongue-retraction and lip-rounding both have 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, s), and the front round vowel (y) is duller than the corresponding unrounded vowel (i). Hence vowels formed in quite different ways often have the same pitch, which makes them very similar in sound. Thus the English mixed vowel (aa) and the French front round vowel (ce) in peur are very similar in sound. 232 PHONOLOGY. [§ 674. The Vowels in Detail. The following are the most important vowels. (A) Unrounded vowels. 674. (a) ' clear back.' This vowel occurs only long in English, in such words as ^■i.'^^) father, farther, (aamz) alms, arms. Short (a) occurs in French and German, and in many English dialects, as in the Yorkshire man. 675. (b) ' dull back.' The English vowel in son, sun, courage (k^rids). 676. (a) ' mixed ' or ' neutral ' vowel, (taan) turn, (basd) lird. The short (a) in (m99ma) murmur is a weak vowel (660). 677. (i) ' high front.' Close (i) in French fini, the short E. i being always open. Weak open (i) — which, when necessary, we write (1) — as in (peti) petty is opener than the strong (i) in pit, being really intermediate between (z') and («). Long close (ii) is the older E. 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 it is diphthong-, ized into (z) followed by very close (i), which is nearly the sound of the consonant (j) myou, so we write (sij), etc. 678. (e) ' front.' French / is close front. The E. vowel in men, bread, leopard (lepad) is open front (e). Before (a) — with which it forms a diphthong — it is still opener, as in (fea) fare, fair, (Sea) there, their. The long close front (ee) is still preserved in Scotch in such words as name, day, where Standard E. has the diphthong (^i). 679. (ae) ' broad front.' The E. vowel in man, thresh. (B) Round vowels. 680. (u) ' high back round.' Close in French sou, the E. short {u) mfull, 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- § 687.] PHONETICS. 233 land it becomes («w) with a distinct (w). Weak open (u), as in ; value, is the high mixed round vowel, which, when necessary, V we write (ii) — (vseljii). 681. (o) ' back round.' Close in French beau (bo). Close (00) in Scotch no, know, where Standard E. has the diphthong (ou). The (o) in the diphthong (p\), as in boy, is the same open sound. Weak (o), as in October, is the open mixed vowel, which, when necessary, we write (o) — (oktouba). Weak (6u), as in fellow, is hardly to be distinguished from (6). 682. (o) 'broad back round.' This is the sound of the E. short vowels in not, what. The long broad vowel is heard in such words as naught, fall. For convenience we write the short vowel (o), the long (o) in Standard E. — (not, not). 683. (y) 'high front round '= rounded (i). French une. German ilher. 684. (oe) ' front-round.' Close in French /^a, whose vowel is a rounded French e. Open in French peur. Nasal Vowels. 685. If a vowel is formed with the nose-passage open, it is said to be nasal, which we mark by (ra). Thus we have nasal (a, ae) in French sang, sans (saw), vin {vien). Diphthongs. 686. We call (ei, ou ; ij, uw) half diphthongs, because J they are not very distinct, their two elements differing only in ^ height. 687. Pull diphthongs, on the other hand, such as (ai, au, oi) are made up of vowels as distinct as possible from one L another. But in E., as in many other languages, the elements , of such diphthongs are not kept so distinct as they might be. j Thus, while the diphthong in Italian aura is really a clear (a) followed by a high close (u), the corresponding E. diphthong in house begins with a mixed vowel resembling (ae), and ends with an indistinct mixed (o), the E. diphthong (ou) ending 234 PHbNOLOGY. [§ 688. nearly in the same way. So also the E. diphthong in why, time begins with a mixed vowel and ends in a sound between r(}) and (e). The E. (ei, oi) end in the same way. So by \ writing (haus, whai, taim) we merely indicate a movement 1 from openness to closeness either of the mouth-passage or the lip-passage. 688. There is another class of miirmur diphthongs ending in (a), as in hear, here {his),/(zre,/atr (fes), poor (pwa), pure (pJKs), more (mog). There are also murmur .triphthongs, as in fire (faia), loyal (loial). 689. The following table will show the relations of the chief vowels more clearly. Those marked * do not occur in English : — high back high mixed *i high front i back a ; -E mixed 3 front e ; £e high back round u high mixed round ii high front round y back round u, mixed round o front round ce 690. The relations of the English vowels may be shown thus : Short :. . . -e 3 i e,seu o Long : . . . aa 33 o 1 Half diphthongs : . ij ei uw ou < Full diphthongs : . ai, au oi ( Murmur diphthongs : i3 e3 us 33 Consonants. 691. Consonants admit of a two-fold division {a) by form, (^) by place. § ?oi.] PHONETICS. 335 Form. 692. By form there are five classes : — 693. {a) Open, in which the passage is narrowed without stoppage, such as (s). 694. (3) Side, formed by stopping the middle of the pas- sage and leaving it open at the sides, as in (1). 695. (c) Stopped, formed by complete closure. The voiceless stops (k, t, p) are in English followed by a breath glide or slight puff of breath, thus cat aImost= (khaeth). 696. (d) Nasal 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) con- sonant is formed with the nose-passage open, it is said to be nasalized. 697. (e) Trills are the result of vibration of the flexible parts of the mouth. Thus in the trilled Scotch (r) the point of the tongue vibrates against the gums, the E. (r) in red being an open consonant without any trill. Place. 698. By place there are also five classes : — 699. (a) Back, formed by the root of the tongue, such as (k, I)) in king (kii)). The back open consonant (x) is the sound of ch in the Scotch and German loch. The corre- sponding voice consonant (5) is heard in German sage. 700. (i5) Front, formed by the middle of the tongue, such as the front open voice consonant (j) in you, which is really a consonantal (i). The corresponding breath con- sonant (5) is heard in German ich and Scotch hue, Hugh (guu), which in Southern E. is pronounced (hjuw). 701. (c) Point, formed by the tip of the tongue. In the point-gum consonants, such as E. (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 2^6 PHONOLOGY. [§ 702- ()>) in thin, it is brought against the teeth. The voice con- sonant corresponding to (J?) is (tS) in then. 702. {d) Blade, formed 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 (J) in she, the blade position is modi- fied by raising the point of the tongue. The corresponding voice consonant (5) is heard in measure (mesa). 703. The point and blade consonants are included under the name of forward consonants. 704. (e) Lip, formed by the lips, such as (p, m). The lip-open consonant (1^) is the sound produced in blowing out a candle; the corresponding voice consonant occurs in German in such words as quelle (k^da) ; (f, v) are lip-teeth consonants, (w^), as in why, and (w) are lip-baek con- sonants, formed by narrowing the lip-opening and raising the back of the tongue at the same time, (w) being a con- sonantal (u). In Southern E. (w^) is often pronounced (w). Compound Consonants : Rounding, Fronting. 705. (w^, w) are really compound consonants, formed in two places at once. If instead of back-modifying the lip- open consonant, as in (w^), we lip-modify or round the back-open consonant (x), we get the back-round consonant (x2») in German auch. Other consonants may be rounded in the same way, which we express by adding iw); thus (rwed) is red pronounced with a rounded (r). 706. When a consonant is modified by raising the front of the tongue, it is said to be ftont-modifled or fronted, which we express by adding (7). Thus the lip-open fi-ont- modified consonant is the sound in French huit (/3;'it) ; it is almost a consonantal (y). Intermediate Positions. 707. Besides the main positions known as back, front, etc., there are an indefinite number of intermediate positions. § ?".] PHONETICS. ^37 which we distinguish roughly as inner or nearer the throat, and outer or nearer the lips. Thus we have inner (k) before back vowels, as in caw, outer (k) before front vowels, as in key. E. (r), as in red, 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 {^kvk). So also the (h) in he re- sembles a weakened (g). (h) also occurs before the con- sonant (j), as in hue (hjuw). 709. The following is a table of the chief consonants. Those marked * do not occur in E. Open Breath. Throat. Back. Front. Point. Blade. Blade- Point. Lij,. Lip- Back. Lip- Teeth. h *X *9 *tA,], S J * yi/l i Side . — *U Stop . k *c t P Nasal — *^h *tJi *aA *m/4 Voice. Open — *3 J r,8 z 3 *^ W V Side . — 1 Stop . — g *q d b Nasal — 9 *S n m 710. We generally write (rh), etc., instead of (r^) for the sake of convenience. R IN English. 711. (r) in E. occurs only before a vowel following it without any pause, as in here he is (hisr ij iz) ; before a consonant or 338 PHONOLOGY. [§ 712- a pause it is dropped, leaving only the preceding (a), as in here she is, he is here (hia Jij iz, hij z his). This (s) is ab- sorbed by a preceding (33, aa), as in err, erring, far, far away (33, aariq, faa, faar 9wei). After (o) the (a) is kept finally, but dropped before the (r), as in pour, pouring (pD9, porir)), being also dropped before a consonant in the same word, as va. poured (pod). 712. Short strong vowel + (r) occurs only medially, as in spirit, merit, courage (k'Erids), sorry. 713. Weak (ar, or), as in after all, measuring (aaftar ol, messrir)), one or other (wbh or ■EcSa), drop the (r) when not followed by a vowel, as in afterwards (aaftawadz), two or three (tuw 6 fjrij). 714. In Scotch and Irish E. and in many of the dialects of England (r) is kept as a consonant — often trilled — every- where, va. far, far hack, as well as va. far away. LAWS OF SOUND-CHANGE. 715. Sound-changes fall under two main classes — internal and external. 716. Internal changes are either organic or acoustic. Organic changes are due to the natural tendencies of the organs of speech, as in the change of OE stdn into MnE stone through the natural tendency to pronounce a back vowel without opening the mouth fully, and so to round it. 717. Acoustic changes are the result of the impressions which sounds make on the ear, as when one sound is sub- stituted for another because of their likeness to the ear : thus children often make through (]3ruw) into (fruw), and point (r) is changed into back (5) in French and other languages. These are imitative changes. 718. External changes are those which are independent of organic and acoustic tendencies. Thus the change of § 722.] lAM^S OF SOUND-CHANGE. 339 spake into spoke in MnE is not the result of any tendency to change a into in MnE, but of the influence of the preterite participle spoken (639). 719. Internal changes are further distinguished as isolative and combinative. Isolative changes, such as that of OE a into MnE 0, affect a sound without regard to its surroundings, while in combinative changes one sound is modified by another one close to it, as in the change of ME (au) in saw into MnE (soo) through (sou) or (sou). Here we have two distinct combinative changes : first the rounding of the (a) by the influence of the following (u), and then the lowering of the high (u) till it is merged into the (o). We see that the influence of one sound on another is either backwards, as in the change of (au) into (ou), or forwards, as in the change of (ou) into (00). 720. All combinative changes are, besides, either conver- gent 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 convergence or assimilation in diphthongs makes them into monophthongs, as when (ou) becomes (00), and in this case is called smoothing. 721. Divergent changes are often partly acoustic, being due to the striving for distinctness, as when the half diphthong (ou) in no is made into full (au) in Cockney E. But cleaving, by which a long vowel is made into a diphthong, is an isolative organic change ; it consists generally in forming the first half of the vowel with greater openness — either of the mouth- or the lip-passage — than the second. We see the beginning of cleaving in the E. change of (ii, uu) into (ij, uw), which by divergence could easily become (ei, ou) or (ai, ou) and then (ai, au). 722. We see from all these changes that even the most violent changes — such as that of (ii) into (ai) — are the result 340 PHONOLOGY. [§ 723. of a number of very slight changes— that sound-changes, like all other changes in language, are gradual. Organic sound-changes are mainly the result of carelessness, by which the speaker fails to hit the exact position for forming a sound, or laziness, as in combinative changes. 723. The loss of sounds or sound-dropping is the result partly of laziness, partly of the sound's indistinctness, as in the frequent dropping of weak vowels, or even syllables, as in the familiar i^Qi)^because ; partly of economy, or the ten- dency to get rid of superfluous distinctions. Thus sing was pronounced (sirjg) in ME, but as (q) occurs only before (g) and (k), the (g) could be dropped without confusing (sir)) with (siqk) sink, and so the superfluous (g) has been dropped in MnE. OLD-ENGLISH SOUNPS. __^ Orthography. 724. The Anglo-Saxons brought with them to England their national Runic alphabet, which was founded on one of the Old Greek alphabets or possibly the Latin. On their conversipn to Christianity they adopted the Latin alphabet in its British form, to which they afterwards added the two Runic letters \=th and p=w. In the British-Latin alpha- bet — and consequently in the OE alphabet as well — several of the letters had peculiar forms, g for instance being written 5. 725. Each letter of the Latin alphabet was used to denote the OE sound nearest to that which the letter had in the pronunciation of British Latin, which was more archaic than that of the Continental Latin. 726. Spelling in OE was purely phonetic : the OE scribes wrote as they spoke, as far as the defects of their alphabet would allow them to do so. 727. In this book we supplement the defective distinctions § 729-] OLD ENGLISH. 241 of the OE orthography by adding diacritics, which gives the following new letters — /, g, c,g, a, etc., (") denoting vowel- length. Frouunciation. 728. The vowels had the same sounds as in our phonetic notation, the unmodified vowels being all close except a. a=(a), as mfaran ' go,' ' travel '; long in stdn ' stone.' e= close (e), as in eian ' eat ' ; long in me ' me.' There was also an open e, which we write /, as in m^ie ' food.' z= close (i), as in wt/an 'know'; long in win 'wine.' o=close (o), as in God ' God ' ; long in god ' good.' There was also an open broad 0, which we write p, as in Ipng 'long.' u= close (u), as in sunu ' son ' ; long in Ms ' house.' j/=close (y) as in synn ' sin ' ; long in yjir ' fire.' The letter jy thus preserved in OE its original Latin and Greek sound of French u ; thus the Greek word Mmttos ' hymn ' was im- ported into Latin in the form of hymnus — the y being simply a tailed Greek u — which, again, was imported into OE in the form of ymen, the first vowel having the same sound in all three languages. cE—{ie), as vsx feeder ' father ' ; long in halan ' heal.' ce. had the sound of close (ce), as in Moetsian ' bless ' ; long in f&t ' feet.' The diphthongs ea, eo had the stress on the first element, which was open — =(se) — in ea, ea ("aea, "assea), close in eo, eo ('eo, 'eeo) : heard ' hard,' dead ' dead ' ; eorJ>e ' earth,' deop ' deep.' In ze the two elements were originally pronounced separately, but in ordinary West- Saxon the diphthong was smoothed into open (z'), as in t'eldra ' older,' ' elder ' ; long in huran ' hear.' 729. The following consonants require notice. f=(k), as in cine 'bold.' c=(c), resembling in sound our f^=(tj), as in cirice ' church.' These two sounds are sometimes distinguished in the manuscripts by writing k for the back- consonant, as in kene, and keeping c to denote the front sound, g when not initial was pronounced (5), as in dagas VOL. I. R 242 PHONOLOGY. [§ 73a. ' days/ burg ' city,' Mlga ' saint,' except in the combina- tion ng, which was pronounced (r)g), as in lang ' long,' singan 'sing.' g in the combination z^ was a front stop, this combination having the sound (ftq), as in singan " singe,' where the OE g has a sound very similar to that of the MnE g in singe, eg had the sound (qq), as in irycg ' bridge,' where, again, the OE sound closely resembles the (ds) of bridge; the c in this digraph is intended to indi- cate the front sound, the less frequent (gg) being generally written gg, as in frogga 'frog.' Initial g also had the sound (q), but seems also to have been pronounced (j) : geard 'yard,' ' court,' genumen ' taken.' Non-initial g had the sound (j), except in the combinations ng, eg ; dceg (day), sigep ' says,' h§rgian 'ravage.' 730. x=(ks), but in many words it was originally pro- nounced (xs), as in weaxan ' grow.' 731. f, s, p had the voice sounds (v, z, S) between vowels and between r, / and vowels, as in drifan ' drive,' freosan ' freeze,' eor/>e ' earth.' 732. Initial h had the same sound as in E. /iw, as in Awti ' white,' = (w^). So also Al, hr, hi represented the voiceless sounds of (1, r, n) respectively, as in Mud ' loud,' hring 'ring,' hnutu ' nut.' In kw etc. the h and the w were originally pronounced separately. Non-initial h — ' strong h '—had the sound of (x) in Scotch loch, as in purh ' through ' ; in some words it had the sound of (g) in German tcA, especially after a front vowel, as in ge'sihp ' sight.' 733. r was always trilled, as in Scotch, c, g, w were pronounced clearly before consonants in such words as cndwan ' know,' gnagan ' gnaw,' writan ' write,' wlac ' luke- warm.' 734. Double consonants were pronounced double, or long, as in mann ' man' — distinct iiom ge-man 'I remember,' where the n was quite short — sumie ' sun ' (the nn as in pen- knife) distinct from sunu ' son.' § 740.] OLD ENGLISH. 343 Stress. 735. In OE the general principle of word-stress is to put ■the strong stress on the first syllable of a word, as in -fiscas ' fishes/ 'fiscere ' fisher,' •ryhiwts ' rightly wise,' ' righteous,' •viisdad ' misdeed.' 736. In sentences, form-words and words of subordinate meaning generally had weak stress, as in MnE; conjunctions, such as and ' and,' prepositions, such as of ' of,' ' off,' on ' on, and many other particles had weak stress, as also many of the pronouns, such as ic ' I,' including the definite article se ' the.' So also in separate words the inflectional and deriva- tive elements were subordinated in stress to the body of the word. 737. The stress of full-words themselves was often subor- dinated to that of other full- words. In OE an adjunct-word is generally put before the noun it modifies, and takes a stronger stress than its head-word, as in the combination adjective or genitive -|- noun : 'god :mann 'a good man,' 'gode :ddda ' good deeds,' -J>ces •cyninges :sunu ' the king's son.' 738. In compounds the same principle was followed : the modifying word came first, and took the chief stress, as in ryhiwts. So also the compound domdceg 'judgment-day' had the same stress as domes dag ' day of judgment,' ' doomsday.' But there are some exceptions to this rule of putting the stress on the first element of compounds : — 739. Group-compounds of preposition -|- noun, such as the adverbs ofdune ' down,' literally ' ofi"-the-hilI,' as in he code of dime 'he went down,' on-bcsc 'back,' literally 'on-the-back,' iffdcEg ' today,' were of course originally independent word- groups in which the prepositions were without stress in accord- ance with the general rule, so that the stress necessarily fell on the succeeding noun. 740. Adverbs of full and distinct meaning are treated like adjectives as regards stress, taking strong stress when followed R 2 244 PHONOLOGY. [§ 74i- by another word with which they form a group, as in -wide ge-.stene 'widely seen,' 'seen far and wide' [compare the compound widciip 'widely known]. So also when a verb follows, as in -inn :gdn ' go in,' -bt .siandan ' stand by,' ' help.' But if the verb precedes, it takes the principal stress : he -code :inn ' he went in,' he -stod him hi ' he helped him.' When these particles precede their verbs, they are felt to form com- pounds with them through the group having the same stress as compounds in general, so that we may write these groups as single words — inngdn, bistandan. But as these particles are, as we see, liable to be separated from their verbs in other con- structions, we call them separable particles. 741. But if these particles are compounded with nouns or adjectives instead of verbs, they cannot be shifted, as in •inngang ' going in,' ' entrance,' bispell ' by-tale,' ' parable,' whose elements can no more be separated than those of ryhiwis, etc. 742. In OE there is also a class of inseparable particles, such 3,5 /or- 'mforgiefan ' forgive,' which has no connection with the preposition _/i)r 'for,' never occurring as an inde- pendent word. These inseparable particles ought strictly speaking to be regarded as derivative elements, like the un- in •uncup ' unknown,' but as many of them lost their indepen- dence only at a comparatively recent period in OE, it is allowable to regard /brgtefan, etc., as compounds. The in- separable prefix be- in be'sgUan ' beset ' is, indeed, the same word as the preposition be ' by,' although they have diverged in meaning. 743. While abstract nouns compounded with inseparable particles throw the stress on to the particle in the usual way, as in -forwyrd ' destruction,' parallel to inngang, the corre- sponding verbs take the stress on the verb itself, as in for- •weprpan ' perish,' forgie/an. This shifting of stress is often accompanied by phonetic weakening of the particle; thus to the strong form of the prefix in -btgang 'going § 747-] OLD ENGLISH. 245 round/ ' cultivation,' ' worship ' corresponds the weak be- in began ' go round/ ' cultivate/ etc., bes^Uan. The explanation of this is that forwjyrd, bigang, inngang, etc., were inseparable compounds already in Parent Germanic, at a time when forweorjian, etc. were still separable compounds like inn-gatt. At that time the two elements of forweorpan etc. could stand in any order, and the principal stress could fall either on 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 in weak syllables were shortened in OE, as in began (743). 745. On the other hand short final strong vowels were lengthened, as in hwa ' who,' pu ' thou ' = Germanic hwa, pu. Hence the short vowel of the unstressed article se in -se mann ' the man ' is lengthened when the word is used in the sense of ' he,' as in -se -/>e ' he who/ 746. In Anglian, short vowels were lengthened before vowel-like consonants followed by another consonant — 'group-lengthening' — as in did 'old,' Ipng 'long,' bimd 'blind,' dumb 'dumb'=Early West-Saxon eald, lgng,lang, blind, dumb. These lengthenings appear also in Late West- Saxon. Vowels. 747. a (9), se, ea. These vowels all correspond to Germanic a, still preserved in Modern German; thus OE mann, fader, heard= German mann, vater, hart. Germanic a in the Oldest E. was kept only before nasals, as in mann, hand, lang. Everywhere else it was fronted to m, as in VOCES '• was,' acer ' field,' fader. Before ' group r and /,' that is, before r and / followed by a consonant, and before strong h the voice-glide (a) was developed, as in E. (hiarii]) § 711, which afterwards by phonetic divergence developed into full Z46 PHONOLOGY. [§ 748- (a), as in heard, earm ' arm ' ; call, eald ' old ' ; ge'seah ' saw,' eahia 'eight,' weaxan (730). Before a back vowel in the next syllable cb became the back vowel a, as in dagas ' days,' dagum ' to days ' dat., compared with dceg ' day,' gen. dceges. These are the West-Saxon forms. In Anglian a before nasals became p — as also often in Early West-Saxon — and ce before group / became a, so that the Anglian forms are mgnn, hgnd (746), Igng ; heard, etc. ; all, did (746). 748. i, e, eo. In Germanic, e before group-nasals became i, whence OE bindan ' bind,' singan ' sing ' compared with helpan ' help.' In OE itself e also became i before single nasals, as in niman ' take ' compared with s/elan ' steal.' The vowel in such words as witan ' know ' is Germanic and Arian t. In OE e before group r became eo much in the same way as CB became ea (747), as in steorra ' star,' eorjie. e, i became eo, 10 before a back — especially a back round — vowel in the next syllable, as in heofon ' heaven,' diopian ' call,' the forms he/on, clipian also occurring. For the change of weak eo into ea, a, as in {e)am=eojn ' am,' see § 1067. 749. u, o. In Germanic, became u before group-nasals, and in OE itself became u before single nasals, whence OE gebunden ' bound ' compared with geholpen ' helped,' genumen ' taken ' compared with gestolen ' stolen.' In such a word as sunu - son,' the u s are Germanic and Arian. 750. The Germanic vowel a is preserved in West-Saxon, as in far ' danger,' afen ' evening,' being narrowed to e in Anglian and Kentish^/?r, efen. r- Mutation. 751. Mutation is the influence exercised by a vowel on the vowel of a preceding syllable, by which the first vowel is modified in the direction of the second one. Thus in OE gecoren ' chosen ' = Old High German gikoran, compared with § 753-] OLD ENGLISH. 247 OE curun later curon ' they chose,' u has been lowered to o by the influence of the a. This is therefore an a-mutation of u. 752. But the most important mutations in OE are the front mutations, caused by Germanic i and j, which after they had caused the mutation were generally lost or modified in OE. In these mutations the influence of the i or j on the vowel was not direct ; the i or j first front-modified the preceding consonant, which in its turn influenced the pre- ceding vowel ; thus OE {tide ' end ' from Germanic an/iio passed through the following stages: (aiy'dyi, enjdp), pidi, gnde. In most cases these fronted consonants were unfronted after they had modified the preceding vowel, as we see in the case oi gnde. But the fronted c and g — which we write c,g — were kept, as in wr§cca ' exiled man,' which is our MnE word wretch, compared with wracu ' state of exile,' wrecan ' drive,' sgcgan ' say ' compared with sagu ' saying,' ' saw.' 753. The following are the mutations in their Early West- Saxon forms : — e . . . i. ieran 'carry,' 5i'reJ> (Oldest E. 6i'ri/>) 'carries'; cwepan ' say,' cwide (Oldest E. cwidi) ' saying,' ' speech.' a (ae) . • . §■ far an 'go,' ' travel,' y^rz'a« 'convey'; mann ' man ' m^nn (Germanic mann,i) ' men.' a . . . se. hal ' whole,' ' sound,' hS.lan ' heal' ; an ' one,' amg 'any.' This 'mutation «' remains in the non- West- Saxon dialects, which change Germanic ' is the most usual OE mutation of 0, as in gold^ ^o\d.,' gylden {older guldin) ' golden,' /ox ' iox,'Jyxen ' vixen.' 6 . . . oe. /oda ' iood,' /Sdan ' ked,' /oi ' foot,' _/S/ ' feet.' a afterwards became e, the change beginning in Early West- Saxon : fedan,fet. Consonant Influence. 754. In West-Saxon the front glide between c, g and a following vowel often developed into a full e forming a diph- thong with the vowel. 755. cse-, gsB- passed through (cjae, ce-se, qjse, qe-se) and then by phonetic divergence and stress-shifting (ce-a, cea, etc.) into cea-, gea-, as in sceal ' shall,' geaf' gave ' [compare cwcsj> ' said '] = non- West-Saxon sccbI, gaf. This ea was mutated into ie in West-Saxon in such words as the noun ciele ' chill ' compared with calan ' be cold,' gies/ ' stranger,' [com- pare German ^af/]= non- West-Saxon c§le,gist. 756. e^-, g^- became cea-, gea-, as in sceap ' sheep,' geqfon § 763.] OLD ENGLISH. 349 ' they gave ' [compare cwddon ' they said '] =non- West-Saxon seep, gefon. 757. ce-, ge- became cie-, gie-, as in scield ' shield,' giefan ' give ' [compare cwej>an] = non- West-Saxon sceM, sield, gefan. 758. Through similar changes^ followed by a diphthong in West-Saxon often corresponds to Germanic j, which in OE seems to have been made into the stop consonant (q), as in gear ' year ' Anglian ger, geoc ' yoke,' geong ' young,' com- pared with German /a^r {-^GeTmanic Jar), Joc/i, Jung. 759. In Anglian, the back consonants c, h, g smooth a pre- ceding diphthong, ea became a, as in gesae.h, wmxan^ non-Anglian (West-Saxon and Kentish) geseah, weaxan. eo became e, as m/ehtan 'fight,' were ' work' (noun) — where, as is often the case, the influence of the back consonant passes through an intervening vowel-like consonant — =West Saxon feohtan, weore. ea, eo became /, as in ee, ege ' eye,' heh ' high,' jiegan ' to fly '= West-Saxon eac, eage, heah, Jleogan. 760. w often changes a following eo into or u, especially in Late OE, as in sweosior 'sister,' later swusior, sweord, sword, swurd ' sword.' Consonants. 761. In OE h between vowels or between vowel-like con- sonants and vowels was dropped, often with lengthening of the preceding vowel, as mfurh 'furrow,' dat. ^^XMX.furum, Wealh ' foreigner,' ' Welshman,' plur. Wealas, Wealas, Wielisc ' Welsh.' When two vowels came together in this way, they were often made into a diphthong, as in geseon ' see ' from *geseohan [compare geseah ' saw ']. 762. Open g, g became h before a breath consonant, as in 5j/A/ ' bending ' [iftgan ' bend ']. 763. Final open g was also unvoiced in Late West-Saxon, as in iroA ' trough/ genoh ' enough,' i5«rA= earlier irog,genog, burg. 350 PHONOLOGY. [§ 764' 764. r is often transposed, as in iernan ' ran ' — the original form being preserved in gerinnan ' run together,' ' coagulate ' — especially in Late Northumbrian, as in pirda ' third ' = West-Saxon J>ridda [compare preo ' three ']. 765. s is often transposed in the same way, as in Late West-Saxon dxtan ' ask,' cirps ' curly '= earlier ascian, crisp. 766. r in some words does not correspond to Germanic r but to a Germanic modification of s, as in waron ' were ' compared with wcss ' was,' gecoren ' chosen,' eyre ' choice ' compared with ceosan ' choose.' So also g and d often represent Germanic modifications of h and p respectively, as in cwcedon, cwt'de compared with ewepan, slcegen ' strack,' slaga ' slayer ' compared with slean [from *skahan] ' strike,' ' kill.' These changes are the result of weak stress of the syllable containing s, J>, h in Early Germanic. Hence we call the resulting r 'weak r' to distinguish it from /■= Ger- manic r, and so with the other consonants. 767. / in the combinations tp, dp, sp becomes /, to which a preceding d is assimilated giving the combinations //, st, as in Early West-Saxon bitt=.hitep 'bites' and bidep 'waits,' clest ' chooses ' from ceosan. We occasionally find pcBt tcet written instead of pcet pcet, showing that consonants in sepa- rate words were assimilated, paette ' that ' (conjunction) is regularly written so, being equivalent to pest pe. 768. Double consonants in OE often represent a Germanic single consonant -l-y, as in s§llan ' give ' sc^ppan ' injure,' s£Uan ' set ' = Gothic saljan, skapjan, saijan, the single conso- nant appearing in such forms as sglep, sc^pep, s§iep ' he gives,' etc., which point to older *salip, etc. Germanic kj, gj, fj appear in OE respectively as cc, eg and bb, as in wrgcca ' one exiled,' l§cgan ' lay,' h§bban ' raise ' compared with wracu ' state of exile,' laeg ' he lay,' ha/en ' raised.' Germanic rj, on the other hand, appears as ri in OE, as in dgrmn ' injure ' [cp. daru ' injury']. 769. In OE itself c, t, p are often doubled before r and /, § 770.] OLD ENGLISH. 25 1 as in biter, bitter ' bitter ' [cp. bttan ' bite '], ceppel • apple ' [cp. apulder ' apple-tree '], nMre, n&ddre ' serpent/ fod[d)or ' food ' ; and in the later forms miccle plur. of micel ' great,' deoppra adj., deoppor adv. ' deeper.' Gradation. 770. By gradation we understand certain traditional con- nections between the vowels— most clearly shown in the conju- gation of the ' strong ' verbs — which enable us to classify them under the following gradation-series : — a ... 6. far an ' proceed,'yor ' proceeded ' ; for 'journey,' gefara, gefera ' companion.' e (i, eo) ... a (se, ea) . . . u (o). windan ' wind,' wand ' he wound,' wundon ' they wound ' ; w§ndan ' turn.' beran ' carry,' bar, boren ; byr-pen ' burden.' beorgan 'protect,' bearg, burgon, geborgen ; beorg ' mountain,' burg ' fortress,' ' city,' borg ' pledge,' ' security,' borgian ' borrow.' a (se, ea) . . . ee. bar ' he carried,' bdron ' they carried' ; bar ' bier.' sprcEc ' he spoke,' spr&con ' they spoke ' ; sprac ' speech.' i ... a ... i. writan ' write,' wrdt ' he wrote,' writon ' they wrote ' ; gewrit ' writing ' (noun), belifan ' remain ' ; Idf ' residue,' ' remains,' whence by mutation Idfan ' leave.' eo (u) . . . ea . . . u (o). ceosan ' choose,' ceas ' he chose,' curon ' they chose,' gecoren ' chosen ' ; eyre ' choice.' for- leosan ' lose ' ; leas ' devoid of,' d-liesan ' release ' ; losian ' be lost,' ' perish.' bUgan ' bend,' ' bow,' beag, bugon, gebogen ; beag, 'ring'; boga 'bow' (noun), byht 'bending.' These vowel-relations are the result of a variety of compli- cated changes 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 -writen, curon, -coren, -bogen — and also in gewrit, boga, etc. — 25i PHONOLOGY. [§ 771. are weakenings of the diphthongs and long vowels in wrttan, ceosan, bugan, where they had full stress. Hence also the weakened vowels are associated with weak ^; gi d (766), as in curon compared with ceosan. MIDDLE ENGLISH. Orthography. 771. In the ME period the OE was superseded by the Old French orthography — Norman at first, but afterwards Parisian. 772. Old French orthography was founded on the tra- ditional pronunciation of Latin ; but by the time French was first written down — probably in the 9th century — the tradition of the Old Latin pronunciation had been partially lost. 773. In the 9th century pronunciation of Latin, y had lost its old value, having been unrounded into (i), and so had come to be a mere orthographic variant of i. So when Latin u was fronted to (jy) in French, as in lune (lyyna) from Latin lima, the u was kept as the symbol of the new sound (y). And when the French orthography was intro- duced into England, the sound of OE j' was represented by ■u, which we write U to distinguish it from ME u = OE u. Hence in early Southern ME sunne ' sun' and siinne 'sin'= OE sj'nn were written alike. In Old French there was a diph- thong ui ={yi), which in Anglo-French was smoothed into (yy), and so was used — together with simple u — to express (yy) not only in French words, such 2& fruit, frUt ' fruit,' but also in E. words, such 2^% fuir, fUr 'fire,' builden ' build ' = 0E fyr, lyldan, byldan. 774. y, being thus superfluous, was almost completely disused for a time in Early ME, but in Late ME — as in Late Old French — it was written in many cases instead of /; because § 778-] MIDDLE ENGLISH. 253 i was written without any dot, and so was liable to be mis- taken for a part of another letter, especially n, m, u. Hence it became usual to write j/ in such words as bynden, wyues= OE btndan, wtfes. It also became usual to write _>/ at the end of words, as in many, ^oy^Early ME mani, dai. 775. In Early Norman French in many words had a sound between close (o) and (u), and as u represented the sound (y) as well as (u) in ME as in French, it was found convenient to use for the sound (u) — in which case we write it — especially in combination with such letters as «, m,uiy=zL V) where u would cause graphic confusion, as in comen 'come,' loue 'love'=OE cuman, lufu; also before single consonants followed by a vowel, as in bote ' but,' corage ' courage,' because the earlier ME spellings bu/e, curage seemed to suggest (yy). 776. In Late Parisian the older diphthong (ou) was smoothed into (uu), as in douz (duuts) ' sweet,' and so ou was introduced into Late ME as the symbol of (uu), as in hous = earlier hus = OE hits ' house,' the actual sound re- maining unchanged. 777. In Late Latin e was written instead of ae, oe, which fell into disuse, the classical caelum, poena, for instance, being written celum, pena ; and so in Old French e was used to express open as well as close (e), and this usage passed into ME. We write the long ME open sound / to distinguish d^d ' dead ' from did ' deed,' the latter having the close sound. So also we express the long open by g, as in sign ' stone ' distinguished from mone ' moon,' the two sounds not being generally distinguished — any more than the two e s — in ME orthography. The Old French diphthong te was smoothed into close (ee) in Anglo-French, and so came to express the latter sound in such words as wzwc^z^/"' mischief,' he/'dear.' IIS. In Parisian French, Latin c = (k) before front vowels, as in a'el, passed through (ts) into (s). In some cases it developed into (tj), which combination was expressed by 254 PHONOLOGY. [§ 779- ch, as in chien. Latin ^=(g) became ' soft ' (ds) before front vowels, as in gesie ' exploit ' from Latin gesta. Latin 7 = (j) also developed into (ds), as in >= Latin yawz. Latin qv,gv = (kw, gw) soon dropped their (w) in Old French, so that qu, gu came to be regarded as symbols of ' hard ' (k, g) respec- tively, especially before front vowels, as in qui, langue from Latin qvi, lingva, the former being also expressed by k — ki. 779. Hence in ME the old c was written k before front vowels, as in king, as also when doubled, as in pikke ' thick,' cw being expressed by the Early Old French qu, as in quene ' queen ' = OE cwen. c was kept before back vowels and generally before consonants, as in cumen, cbmen, d§ne ' clean.' The ME development of OE c having nearly the sound of French ch, this digraph was used to express it, as in chirche = OE cirice. c = (s) was used only in French words, such as/ace. 780. In ME the difference in form between the OE 5 (724) and the French g was utilized phonetically. The letter g was assigned to (g), as in god ' good,' and the soft French g, as in geste ' exploit,' and also to the ME develop- ment of OE stopped g, which had nearly the sound of (dg), as in sengen ' singe,' brigge ' bridge ' = OE s§ngan, hrycg. Hard g was also expressed by the French gu, as it still is in tongue ^ OE tunge. j = (dg) was written only in French words, such zsjuggen 'judge.' 5, on the other hand, was restricted to the open sounds, both back and front, as in da-^es, %ung = OE dagas, geong, the latter sound being after- wards expressed byj^, as in MnE : yong, young. 781. After much fluctuation OE strong h was written gh, as in right, doghter. 782. Latin z still kept its sound (dz) in Early Old French — where it was also used to express (ts), as in douz ' sweet' — and did not become simple (z) till a later period. Hence it is not till the end of the ME period that they began to write z § 786.] MIDDLE ENGUSH. ^55 instead of j = (z) in E. words, as in wezele ' weazel,' generally written wesele. 783. The Latin sound (w), which was expressed indiffer- ently by the angular v or the round u, became (v) in Old French, the old symbol being kept, so u, v became the symbol of voiced OEyin ME, as in luve = OE lufu. The sound (w) was introduced again into Old French from Old German in such words as warde, from Old Low German warda (=0E weard 'custody'), developing into (gw), later (g) in Parisian — guarde. In those Old French dialects which kept German (w) it was expressed by two angular us joined together, whence we still call the ligature ' double u.' In ME w soon superseded the OE p (724). As w in OE sndw 'snow' was practically an (u), in ME w came into general use in diphthongs, as in snow, how=^OF, hu, the ow = (uu) in the latter being only a written diphthong. 784. The other Runic letter J> was used throughout the ME period, but the digraph ih soon came into use to express •the voice as well as the breath sound of/, as in br§pen, brethen (br^eSan) ' breathe,' br^p, breth (br^'?]?) ' breath.' In Old French th was written only in learned words, proper names, etc., and had the sound (t), which it often kept in ME as well ; we still pronounce such words as Thomas with a (t), as in ME. Old French pA={i) was also used only in learned words and names, /"being often substituted for it ; it was used in ME in such learned words as phisik ' physic,' also -^TAXfix fisik. Stress. 785. In ME the noun- and adjective-prefixes al-, mis-, un- throw the stress forward, as in almihii, mis'ded, uwcup ' un- known ' = OE •almihtig, ■misdeed, •uncUp. 786. In Old French the stress generally fell on the same syllable as in Latin, as in «aVKr«=Latin na'iuram. Through 256 PHONOLOGY. [§ 7871 the dropping of final Latin syllables many French words thus came to have the stress on the last syllable, as in o-nour =ho-norem, pvte=pie-tatem. When first introduced into ME French words kept their original stress : nd-iUre, o-nur, pile; but such words afterwards threw the stress back on to the first syllable by the analogy of the native E. words, such as ■fader, -bodi, becoming •nature, 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 sbve-reynete, cowdidoun (kon'disiuun) and the other words in -ioun = Latin -ionem. 788. Many words of French origin compounded with particles, such as a-vow (a'vuu), defense, dts'§se (dis'^^za), keep their original stress by the analogy of native words such as a'risen, be'cumen. Quantity. 789. 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 inn ' dwelling ' were levelled under the latter form ; and as it was no longer neces- sary to mark the distinction, the OE double consonants were written single, as in al, man=.0¥, eall, mann. But double consonants before vowels were kept in ME in pronunciation as well as spelling, so that, for instance, sunne ' sun ' = OE sunne was kept distinct from sum ' son ' = OE sunu, these two words never rhyming on one another in verse. 790. The OE group-lengthenings were kept up in ME, as in gld, Igng, blind, dUrnb, doumb= Old Anglian did, Igng, bUnd, dUrnb. Otherwise OE long vowels were generally shortened before two consonants, as in askien, wisdom [compare ME WIS 'wise'], kepte 'kept' pret. ^ OE dscian, wudbm, cepte. But length was often preserved before st, as in l§st ' least,' prest ' priest ' = OE lasl, preost. § 794-] MIDDLE ENGLISH. 257 In the transition from ME to MnE the long vowels before ng and mb were shortened, whence MnE long, young (JErj),. dumb compared with old (ould), blind (blaind). Hence also OE -one, -gnc appears as -ank in MnE, while OE -ang, -gng appears as -ong, as in lank=OE. hlanc compared with long=0'E. lang. 791. In Late ME short vowels before a single consonant followed by another vowel were lengthened, as in name, mite ' meat,' brgken ' broken '= Early ME name, mete, ibroken—OE. noma, m§te,gebrocen. We call these lengthened vowels ' new- longs ' as opposed to the ' old-longs ' in such words as win '■wine'=:OE win. But the high vowels i, it, « were never lengthened, as in writen ' written,' diide ' did,' sune = OE gewriten, dyde, sunu. 792. Vowels were not lengthened in final strong syllables, as in smal, swan, y of' gave,' God:= OE smcel, swan,geaf, God, because the final consonants had already been lengthened (789). 793. Short vowels are often preserved in Late as well as Early ME before a single consonant followed by the full vowel i, as in mani, peni, bodi, or weak ^ + a vowel-like conso- nant (r, 1, n, m), as in hamer,/eter, coper; sadel, hovel; seven, troden, all of which still have short vowels in Present English. This is called back-shortening. Originally long vowels are sometimes back-shortened in ME, as in taper from OE leapor. But there are several exceptions to the general principle of back-shortening, as in Late ME dker, crddel, stglen=OE, ascer, cradol, gestolen. The explanation of back-shortening is that the lengthening is shifted from the strong vowel to the final i or the vowel-like consonant, just as in Present English pity is often lengthened into (pztzz) [944]. Vowels. 794. In ME the OE weak vowels are generally levelled under e, especially when final: ME name, henn, sune=0'E VOL. I. s 358 PHONOLOGY. [§ 795. nama, heran, sunu. There was a tendency to drop weak e altogether after another weak syllable, as in ladi, ' lady' from OE hldfdige. 795. Many words which in OE end in a consonant, take final e in ME, which they get from the OE inflected forms ; thus ME quene ' queen ' comes not from the OE nom. sing. cwen, but from the ace. sing, cwene, plur. nom. cwena, etc. Other examples are sinne 'sin,' dale 'valley,' bede 'prayer' = OE synn, dal, gehed, plurals synna, dalu, gebedu. Such forms as narwe ' nunow,' yelwe 'yellow' = OE nearu,geolu, plurals nearwe, geolwe arose in the same way. 796. a. In the strong vowels the most marked and earliest change is the smoothing of the OE diphthongs, shown in Late ME hard, sierre ' star,' br^d ' bread,' dip ' deep '=0E heard, steorra, bread, deop. 797. In Early ME ea became (ae), which was generally written e, as in herd, wes=. OE heard, wees. This broad (se) was then still further broadened to (a), giving Late ME hard, was. OE a was kept throughout in such words as man, faren^OE mann,faran. ME a in such words as all, half, comes from Anglian all, half, not from West-Saxon eall, healf 798. i, u. In North-Thames E. i corresponds not only to OE t, as in smip-=.QY. smij>, but also to OEj/, as in sinne, dide. But (y) was still preserved in the Southern dialect, as in siinne, dilde, being represented by e in Middle as well as Old Kentish, as in senne. The London dialect generally has /= OEj/, but some words have the Southern, and the few the Kentish forms : sinru, biisi, kernel^OE. synn, bysig 'occupied,' cyrnel,' kernel.' In some words (y) was broadened to (u), especially after lip-consonants, as in worien ' worry,' moche ' much ' = OE wyrgan, my eel, micel. 799. e. OE close (e) became open (i) in Early ME, so that OE e and / were levelled under the latter sound, which we write simply e in ME, as in helpen, eien, rest, mele=OE helpan, elan ; r§si, miie. OE eo also became open e in Late |8o4.] MIDDLE ENGLISH. 259 ME, as inerpe, hevene. All these ^s are liable to be lengthened in Late ME (791), as in Iten, mite. 800. u. OE u was kept unchanged in ME, as in sune. 801. o. OE close became open in Early ME, as in folk, nose, bodien 'proclaim '=0E /o/f, nosti, hodian, being liable to lengthening in Late ME, as in ngse, bgdien. 802. The OE long vowels f, e, a, u, were generally pre- served unchanged in ME, i, a being also the representatives of OE eo, ea respectively (796) : win, kene ' bold,' dip, j/' sea,' h^ved 'head,' Ms, hous,gbd 'good'=OE win, cene, deop, sd, Mafod, hus, god. So also ME.finden,/eld ' field,' kUnd ' dog,' word ' v,'ord'=Anglia.n/indan,/eld, hund, word (746). i is sometimes the result of raising Anglian e before open g and front h, as in ie 'eye,' hih ' high ' = Old Anglian ege, heh, West- Saxon eage, heah, the open^=(j) being absorbed. So also open g was absorbed in ME by a preceding u or a, as m/iiel 'bird,' baen later bowen ' hend' = 0'E. /ugol, bUgan. It is to be observed that ME e represents not only the common OE e in cene, but also the Anglian f= West-Saxon & and ie, as in even 'evening,' dede ' deed,' heren 'hear,' isene 'seen'^ West-Saxon a/en, d&d, hieran,gesiene. But /=<^ is frequent before and after r, as in dr§den ' dread,' //r ' there,' w^ren ' were '= West-Saxon on-dr&dan,J>&r, w&ron. 803. In South-Thames E. en ' make known ' = OE fyr, cypan, which also preserved Late West-Saxon j/=older le, as in huren ' hear,' brUsen. ' bruise ' = Early West-Saxon hieran, briesan. Kentish kept its e, as in mes ' mice.' ^ was brought into London E. in French words containing u, ui, as in diic, cUre, fruit, frilt ; when final or before a vowel it became eu, as is shown by such spellings as vertew, crewel^veriu, cruel. 806. Most of the ME diphthongs are the result of the weakening of OE w and open g and g after vowels, w and open g becoming u, as in dlu, dew, drauen^O'E deaw, dragan, open g becoming i, as in wei ' way ' = OE weg. The glide between a back vowel and a following h developed into diphthongic u, which was sometimes written, sometimes not, as in broghte, broughte ' brought ' = OE brohte. The follow- ing are the ME diphthongs : — ai=OE ag, as in dai, saide ' said'=:OE dcEg, scBgde. ei=OE eg, §g, as in wei, hide 'laid' = OE weg, l§gde. ei=OE eg, as in hei 'hay' = OE heg. ^ri°z'= Anglian greg, West-Saxon grag. But OE eg generally becomes i in ME (802). fi=OE ag, as in k^ie ' key '-^cSg. oi occurs only in French words, such 2,sjoie, mis. au=OE ag, as in drauen. In such words as laughter from Scandinavian hlahtr it is the result of glide-development. In words of French origin au corresponds sometimes to Old French au, as in cause, sometimes to Old French nasal a before a nasal consonant, as in chaumbre, servaunt=0\d French chambre (tjaawzmbra), etc., the spellings chambre, etc. § 8o8.] MIDDLE ENGLISH. a6l without u occurring also in ME, where the pronunciation varied between pure (aa«) and (au), which was an E. imita- tion of the former. eu=OE ew, eow, as in newe ' new '=01d Anglian neowe, West-Saxon mwe. French S had this sound in certain cases (805). fu=OE aw, law, as in d^u. oxi=OE ow, og, as in tow, bowe-=OE, tow, hoga. 6u=0E ow, as in stou 'place,' blowen ' bloom '=0E stow, blouian. In Early ME this diphthong also results from the development of a glide before h, as in tnouh — also written tnoh — ' enough,' from OE genoh, earlier genog (763) ; this ou becomes uu in late ME : ynough (i'nuux). 9u=0E dw, ag, as in blgwen 'blow' (wind), gwen ' own ' = OE bldwan, dgen. 807. In the above description of the ME vowel-system, vowels of foreign origin have been referred to only when they offer peculiarities of their own. The other vowels which were introduced in foreign words were identified with the native vowels, and went through the same changes in the later periods of the language. Thus (uu) in ME crtine ' crown,' where it is of French origin, and in diin ' feathers,' ' down,' where it is of Scandinavian origin, went through the same changes as the (uu) in hiis. So also the ME diphthong (ei) in obeien ' obey,' where it is of French origin, and in heikn ' greet,' where it is of Scandinavian origin, is entirely on a level with the native diphthong in wei. These remarks apply also to the consonants. Consonants. 808. In Old French k was silent in most words of Latin origin — being often dropped in writing as well as pronun- ciation — but was always pronounced in certain words — a62 PHONOLOGY. [5 809. 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 had silent French h in such words as onur, honour, hour, horrible. 809. OE hr-, hi-, hit- became voiced in ME, as in ring, lad, note ; hw- was kept, being written wh, as in what. The change of hr to r, etc. was not a phonetic weakening, 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 beginning with the voiced sounds, hw was preserved because of its occurrence in some very frequent words, such as what, when. 810. The hisses were voiced initially in all native words in South-Thames E., as shown by such spellings as mlk, zingen, but not in French words, such as /§ste ' feast,' sau/ ' safe,' because this change had been carried out before the introduction of French words. Southern w was introduced into the London dialect in a few words, such as vixen=GE fyxen, feminine olfox, vat^OE/at ' vessel.' 811. OE c and stopped g developed into the compound consonants (eg, qj) — that is, nearly into their MnE sounds (tj, dj) — as in child, sengen, OE cc, eg being written cch, gg={ccq, qqj), as in wrecche, seggen 'say'=OE wricca, s^cgan. 812. Open OE g was rounded into (jw), which passed into (w) and then (u) (806). w=QY. g was kept after a con- sonant, as m/olwen ' ioWovf ' =0'E. folgian. 813. Strong h was rounded into (xw) in the same way, as shown by its influence on preceding vowels (806). As finaj h in ME often corresponded to medial w in such pairs as indh sing., inowe plur.=Late OE gendh, genoge, OE final h was changed into w when an e was added — as was fre- quently the case (795) : thus ME fwrwe ' furrow,' holwe ' hollow ' = 0E fur hi holh. When final e was dropped at S 821.] MIDDLE ENGLISH. %6'i, the end of the ME period, a resulting final w was changed to u : fqlu, holu. 814. Open g was generally weakened to i after consonants as well as in diphthongs: bilrien 'bury,' belt ' belly '=0E iyrgan, hglg. 815. Final OE front h was voiced in ME when a vowel was added; thus hlh 'high' has pi. hi-^e, hie (802), from which a new uninflected form hi was formed. 816. In OE the Anglian dialects seem to have changed medial i, g to c, g before a back vowel, as in Anglian secaif= West- Saxon sedan. Hence in ME we often find North- Thames k, as in seke, corresponding to South-Thames ch, as in seche, MnE having the Northern form in seek, the Southern in beseech. So also MnE cold, gall point to Anglian cald, galle, chalk to Southern cealc. 817. Scandinavian words keep their (k) and (g), as in ketel ' kettle,' ^^r/ ' girth.' The Northern forms mikel 'great,' give, etc., = Southern milchel, 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 gate ' gate ' points to the OE pi. galu, the Northern j-'fl/i? to the sing. (Anglian) gat. So also beginnen-=OK beginnan owes its g to the pret. and past partic. begann, hegunnen. 819. ng kept its (g) not only in such words as finger, English, but also in sing, singer, etc. 820. sc passed through (sj) into (J), written sch, ssh, sh, as in short, shritd, fish=0'E. scort, scrM, fisc. Scandinavian sk was kept before aU vowels, as in skin, j'^?= Icelandic sky ' cloud.' 821. 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 facilitate the transition to the r, as in alder (the tree), punder from OE aler genitive aire, punor ,264 PHONOLOGY. [§822. genitive punres. So also ml became mil in pimhel ' thimble ' from OE pym(i)le ' thumbstall,' literally ' little thumb,' from puma ' thumb.' 822. Several of the consonants were liable to be dropped in weak syllables. Thus to the strong ich ' I ' = 0E tc there corresponded a weak z, which in Late ME almost supplanted the strong z'cL Weak final n was frequently dropped, as in game, blnde infin., ibunde past partic.=OE gamen, bindan, gebunden. So also the dropping of / in muche^OE micel, ^ch^UE die 'each,' of the w and / in such^OE swelc, seems to have begun in weak (unstressed) forms of these words. § 822.] MIDDLE ENGLISH. a<55 English Vowels. OE ME PE mann man msen SEEt sat Sffit heard hard haad nama name neim witan witen wit helpan helpen help heofon hevene hevn stelan stflen stijl sgttan setten set mgte m|te mijt sunn sune sen synn sinne sin oxa oxe oks open gpen onpn Stan stgn stoun dSl dfl dijl dream drgm drijm win win wain grene grene grijn deop dep dijp hus hus haus mod J mod muwd fyr fir ■faiar 266 PHONOLOGY. [§ 822. Modern English Vowels. ME fMn sMn thMn PE I man- se, a 9e se se ^ 1 path se, a seae seae aa i wit i i i i e end e e e e u son u A ■B B ox 3 a name sere, aa ee ee n 1 wine ai ai si ai e green ii ii " 1 y 1 deal ee ee ee, ii ) u house Ou 3U 3U au moon uu nu uu uw 9 stone 00 00 00 0X1 ai day ai, ee sei, ee j ee «i ei they ei, ee ee S oi boil oi, ui oi, Ai oi, si oi au saw au, 03 n 03 OD eu(u) new yy(u), iu yy, iu jnu JKW 1" few «u cu, iu ou grow ou ou, 00 00 ou 9u know §824.] MODERN ENGLISH. 367 MODERN ENGLISH SOUND-CHANGES. 823. The sound-changes in MnE are so great that their history requires a threefold division of the period into First MnE .... 1500-1600 Second MnE .... 1600-1700 Third MnE .... 1700- These divisions are necessarily somewhat arbitrary. In reality, First MnE extended some way into the following century. Orthography. 824. In First MnE weak e was generally dropped — always when final — as in (naam, fal, stoonz)=ME name, falle{n), stgnes. At the same time double consonants between vowels were shortened, as in (Jilir), fubr, sitir)) = ME shilling, fuller, sittinge. But as the doubling served to show that the pre- ceding vowel was short, the ME spellings were retained, and the doubling was extended to words which in ME had a single consonant, as in penny, herring, copper ■=WE peni, hering, 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 preceding vowel, as in all, small, glass^ME al, smal, glas. But this doubling was not carried out uniformly. So as the dropping of final e in such words as hale (haat), hope (h£)op)= ME hdtien, hgpien would have led to confusion with such words as hat, hop, final e was kept in them, and came at last to be regarded as 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, stone, foe=W^ win, sign, fg. e was always kept after v whether the preceding vowel was long or short, because v was generally written «, and a68 PHONOLOGY. [§ 825. such a word as /o««=ME love would have been mistaken for low if the e had been dropped. 825. The writing of j' for i was carried to great lengths in Early MnE. y or ie was always written finally as in many, manie, elite, but otherwise the two letters were written almost at random. This use oi -ie is the result of the weakening of ME -zVin such words as melodie ' melody,' chivalrie, which at the end of the ME period drew back the stress from the ending (787), so that the final e was dropped and the z shortened, and the ending was written indifferently -ie or -y. 826. The close and open ME vowel-pairs e, / and 0, g diverged more and more in sound in Early MnE, so that it became necessary to distinguish them in writing. In ME ee,. 00 were used to express the close and open sounds indis- criminately, but in Early MnE they were gradually restricted to the close sounds, as in see, moon^WE si, mdne, OE seo{n), mona, the open sounds being expressed by the addition of the open vowel a, as in sea, boat = ME sf, bgt, OE sm, bat. The latter sound was, however, more frequently expressed by single with length-^ after the following consonant, as in stone. Single ^+length-«, on the other hand, expressed the close sound, especially in less famihar words, such as com- plete, extreme, ee being rarely written in such words. 827. In Early MnE / and /, u and v were still written almost indifferently both as vowels and consonants, so that, for instance, us, vine, join, could be written vs, nine, ioyne ; but an arbitrary distinction began to be made, by which descending i and angular u were used only as consonants, as at present. This reform came from Italy through France. 828. In First MnE the orthography was still quite un- 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 orthography adopted by printers became § 831.] MODERN ENGLISH. 269 more and more general, till in the Third MnE period it settled down into its present shape, except in a few isolated words such as cloathes, iyger, which in the beginning of the present century were made into clothes, tiger. 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 main test of education and refinement, few even of the upper classes have a perfect mastery of it. 830. We express this divergence between spelling and pronunciation by calling the present English spelling un- phonetie. The orthography of Old English was, on the contrary, a phonetic one — in intention, at least, and as far as the defects of the Roman alphabet on which it was based would allow. Thus in OE the letter i was used to express the vowel (i) short 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, bite, machine. But as the Latin alphabet does not provide enough letters for the OE sounds, it was necessary to use the same letter to express a variety of sounds, as when j was used to express (z) as well as (s), g, especially, being used to express a considerable number of distinct sounds (729). Middle English orthography, 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 still in intention mainly phonetic : people tried to make their spelling represent their actual pro- nunciation, whereas now we learn the spelling of each word mechanically, by eye, vijithout paying much regard to its pronunciation. 831. The first beginnings of intentionally unphonetic spellings appear at the end of the Old French period, when etymological spellings were introduced, by which, for 270 PHONOLOGY. [§ 832. instance, French dete, dette was made into debte by the influ- ence of its Latin original debitum, and parfet, parfit (Modern French par/ait) was made into par/aid by the influence of 'LiXm per/ecium. So also Old French auiour (Modern French auteur) came to be written auctour by the influence of its Latin original auctorem. This Latinizing often led to etymo- logically incorrect spellings. Thus the Latin r^Z/Jr ' orator ' (from Greek rhetor) was written reihor, because th was a more familiar combination of letters than rh. By the influ- ence of rethor, autour was made into auihour, so as to give the word a more learned appearance. All these innovations made their way into English, where some of them were further developed. Thus the two spellings of auiour were blended into the form aucthour by the side of auctour, authour, and ME parfit vidiS latinized into perfit, perfect. None of these spellings had, at first, any influence on the pronuncia- tion either of French or English. Modern French has, indeed, discarded these ' silent ' letters in most of the above words. This writing of silent consonants in French was probably first suggested by s having been dropped in pro- nunciation before another consonant in Old French itself in such words as isle ' island ' from Latin insula, which in late Old French was pronounced (iite)=Early Old French (izb), the vowel being lengthened, so that by degrees s was often inserted without regard to etymology as a sign of length, as in pasle ' pale *= earlier pale from Latin pallidum. When the French isle was introduced into English, the silent j was introduced in the native word Hand, which was written island, the two words having really nothing in common ex- cept their meaning. Other native English words were mis- spelt in this way. Thus antem from OE antefn (from Greek antiphona through some Low Latin form) was written anthem, to give it a more learned appearance. 832. In course of time these false spellings began to influence the pronunciation. Thus although in Early MnE §835.] MODERN ENGLISH. 37 1 perfect was still pronounced (perfet), by degrees the pedantic pronunciation (perfekt) came into general use. So also with many other latinized words. 833. In Latin ih occurs only in words of Greek origin, and in the popular language it was made into (t), so that both in OE and MnE th in Latin, and consequently in foreign, words generally was 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 still find such pronunciations as apothecary (potikari), Catherine (kaet9rn). We still keep (t) in Thomas, and even write it in the shortened forms Tom, Kate ; but in most of the other words — including author, anthem, etc. — the influence of the spelling has intro- duced the (]5)-sound. 834. Ever since the beginning of the Third MnE period the influence of the 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,' Mine ' kiln' both passed through miln, 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 arti- ficial pronunciation (kiln) was afterwards introduced. For other examples of artificial ' spelling-pronunciations ' see §§ 855, 859, 872. In Present English we learn so many new words — names of newly-imported articles of trade, new in- ventions and scientific discoveries, etc. — by reading them in newspapers and books long before we ever hear them pro- nounced, that each of us guesses at the pronunciation from the spelling, and when the word comes into general use the wrong pronunciation often prevails. 835. But there is now so much intercourse with foreign 273 PHONOLOGY. [§ 836. countries, and foreign languages are 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)-sound instead of the English (ei) in such words as drama, vase, promenade, the older pronunciations (dreima) etc. being now almost extinct ; and i is pronounced (ij) in- stead of (ai) in imitation of the French pronunciation in such words as pique, fatigue, machine, and many other words in -ine. Even the French nasal vowels are imperfectly imitated in such words as ennui ('aawwij), often further Anglicised into (oijwij). Among the consonants, ch, whose regular sound is (tj), is pronounced (k) in Greek words, such as chaos, in imitation of the popular Latin and French pro- nunciation, and (J) in French words such as the partially anglicized champagne (Jgem'pein). Again, zz = (ts) in the Italian mezzotinto,j=(]) in the Hebrew hallelujah, etc. 836. We are now able to answer the question, Why is English spelling unphonetic? The main reason is that it has not followed the changes of pronunciation. The present English spelling represents not the sounds of Present English, but those of Early MnE or rather Late ME. Such a spelling as knight is not in itself unphonetic ; on the con- trary, it is a phonetic representation — though an imperfect one — of the sound-group (knigt), which in ME was the pro- nunciation of one of the words which we now pronounce (nait), the other one having been pronounced (nift) in ME, and written accordingly night. Such a spelling as island is, on the other hand, unphonetic from every point of view, because' it inserts a letter which is not pronounced now, and never was pronounced. Such a spelling as author was also origin- ally unphonetic, though it has now become phonetic — but only by corrupting the pronunciation and obscuring the etymology of the word. 837. Another reason why our spelling is imperfect is that it is founded on two orthographic bases : (a) the traditional §841.] MODERN ENGLISH. 273 English basis, which, as we see, is mainly ME ; and (3) a great variety of foreign bases, chiefly Modern French. We see the effect of this mixture of bases in the three pronuncia- tions of ch, 838. A third reason why our spelling is imperfect, is thai its bases are all imperfect. Such defects as writing the initial consonants in get and gem (dsem) with the same letter are defects not of MnE spelling itself, but of the Old French basis of ME spelling. 839. When we call English spelling unphonetic, we do not mean that it is wholly unphonetic. A wholly unphonetic orthography — one in which none of the separate letters expressed any definite sound whatever — could not be mastered by the most retentive memory. What makes it possible to master our' present spelling is that many of the words are still spelt phonetically ; thus such spellings as win, set, stop, put are as phonetic as any in Latin itself. 840. English spelling has never been intentionally un- phonetic — except in a few etymological spellings — but has been forced into being unphonetic by a variety of circum- stances. 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 thern scholars of high reputation; but the systems they proposed were too cumbrous and intricate for practical use. Never- theless they introduced many reforms, such as the separation of V and u, ee and ea, 00 and oa (826), which were purely phonetic reforms. 841. Most of the reformed spellings that have been proposed are on the basis of the English values of the letters : they take the most frequent symbol for each sound in the traditional spelling, and use it consistently to express that sound, using, for instance, ee to denote the sound (ij) not only in see, but also in seat, seize, pique, keeping, of course, i for the corresponding short vowel in sit. But it is evidently VOL. I. T 374 PHONOLOGY. [§ 842. unphonetic to make ee the long of i, and to assign e itself to another distinct sound, namely that in set. Such a system is phonetic, but it is phonetic on an unphonetic basis. 842. As the attempt to get a phonetic basis practically necessitates 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 Broad Romic notation used in this book is an example of such a system. In all Romic systems the long vowels have the same signs as the short ones, with such modifications as are required to show the quantity, as in sit, siit, sit-=sit, seat; diphthongs and consonant-groups are expressed by combining the signs of the elements of which they are made up, as in ks=.x, the superfluous Roman letters being used to denote sounds not properly symbolized before, as when x is used for the sound of Scotch ch in loch, and the defects of the Roman alphabet being supplemented by the use of new letters such as ' turned e ' — a. Vowels. 843. The most convenient way of dealing with the MnE vowels is to take each Late ME vowel separately, and trace its history down to the present time. 844. a was gradually advanced to the broad (se), so that such words as man, sat had exactly their present pro- nunciation in Second MnE. But in First MnE the old (a)-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 2l% fall, calm became (faul, kaulm), being sometimes written faull etc. (a) was also kept after (w, wh), as in was, what, where it was 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 (s, \) and in some other § 850.] MODERN ENGLISH. 375 cases, as in glass, path (glseses, pseae]?). At the end of the Third MnE period this (aeae) was broadened into (aa), which is the present sound — (glaas, paafi). 845. i, e have generally remained unchanged. But in First MnE er final or before a consonant became (ar) as in star, hart, heart=ME. sterre, hert, herte. Not in the weak her. 846. u was preserved in First MnE, as in full, come (kum). In Second MnE it was unrounded to (a), which was afterwards lowered to its present sound (■b) — (f^l, k^m). But before this lowering took place the (a) was generally rounded back again to (u) between a lip-consonant and (1), as va. full, wool=ME wolle, and in other words after lip- consonants, as in wood-=-'W£, wode, put. 847. ii generally appears as i in MnE, into which it had already been unrounded in the London dialect of ME. Thus MnE has^//, jm=OE gefyllan, synn. But (y) was preserved in First MnE in some words still written with the French u, such as busy, lury=.OY, hysig, hyrgan. 848. o kept its ME sound (0) in First MnE, as in top, ox, and was broadened to its present sound in Second MnE, being lengthened before the same consonants which lengthen (ae), as rn. froth, cross, off. In Early MnE a glide- (u) developed between (o) and / not followed by a vowel, as in iowl (boul) = OE bolla — where it was expressed in y/utvag—folk (foulk) where it was not written any more than in the parallel fall (844). 849. a underwent the same changes as a, being gradually narrowed till it passed from (aeae) into (ee\ as in name, take, this last change being completed before the Second MnE lengthening of (ae) in path, etc. In Third MnE {ee) was further narrowed into close (ee), which in the present century was cleft into (ei, ^i). 850. i was diphthongized in First MnE by lowering and retracting the tongue in the first half of the vowel (721) till it became (ai), as in wine, vice, with a very high close (a), which T 2 276 PHONOLOGY. [§ 851. was broadened in the next two periods, till the diphthong became almost (ai), as at present. 851. e, |. Late ME e probably had a very close sound between (ee) and (ii), and when in First MnE the old i had become (ai), the old e developed into full (ii), as in see, field= ME se(n), feld, ME / keeping its open sound {ee), as in sea, there, this (ee) being narrowed to (ee) in Second MnE, which by the middle of the Third MnE period was further narrowed to (ii), ME e and / being thus levelled, as in (sii)=j««, sea. But the change into (ii) was arrested by a preceding r in break, great (breik, greit), which were, however, also pro- nounced (briik, griit) in the last century. In First MnE / was often shortened to (e), especially before stops, as in bread, heavy. 852. VL was diphthongized in the same way as z, becoming (6u) with very close (6), as in house, crown, the first element being gradually unrounded and broadened into its present sound — between (a) and (se). In room = 0'E, rum, stoop, droop ME u has been preserved from the change into (au) by the influence of the following lip- consonants. 853. 6, 9. When u had become (ou), ME 5 — which was probably a very close sound between (00) and (uu) — was moved up into the place of the old u, as in too, moon (tuu, muun). g kept its open sound {06) at first, as in go, stone, and was narrowed to close (00) in Second MnE, which in the present century was cleft into (ou, ou). The older sound has been preserved in broad (brod) through the influence of the (r). (uu) = ME was shortened in some words in First MnE, as in flood (flud), mother, gum = OE flod, moder, goma, whence the present forms (fl^d) etc. There was another shortening of (uu) in Second MnE, especially before stops, as in good (gud), hook, bosom. These words did not change their (u) into (b), because this change was already completed. § 867.] MODERN ENGLISH. 377 854. ai, ei. In MnE the ME diphthongs ei, p shortened their first elements, and so were levelled under ei. As at became (asi) in First MnE by the regular change of (a) into (se) — which in this case was hastened by the fronting influ- ence 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/i2j'=ME wei, Mi, d§i=.0'E dag. The weak ihey, their kept ei, as also several other words, especially before gh, as in neighbour, eight. In Second MnE these diphthongs were smoothed into (ee\ so that tail and tale etc. had the same sound, and went through the same changes. 855. oi was sometimes kept in First MnE, but in some pronunciations 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 regular change into (a, •b) ; and the resulting (■ei) was so similar in sound to the (si) of wine, etc., that it was levelled under it, and boil etc. was pronounced (bail) and (boil), the former being the more usual pronunciation. In the next 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 boil. 856. au was kept in First MnE, but soon passed into open {33) — the long of our vowel in not — 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 (Isef) into (laesef), whence the present (laaf), half- — also written haulf^halve. aK=French a before nasals (806) generally went through the same changes, as in aunt, comma(u)nd, la(ii)mp. 857. eu, Q.; fu. At the end of the ME period the cleaving of final U into eu (805) had been extended to non- final U as well, so that this sound was completely levelled under eu, which in First MnE became (iiu, iu) by the regular change of e into (ii), as in duke, fruit, new, true — also written /r«w«=ME diic, frUt, newe, trewe. ME /« remained in 278 PHONOLOGY. [§ 858, First MnE, but with the usual shortening of the first element, as 'va.fiw (feu) = ME_;^z£;e, and became (iu) in Second MnE, all the three ME sounds U, eu, §u being thus levelled under (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, chuse — now written choose- juice, lute. In Cockney and New-Eng- land American it is dropped after all the other consonants as well, as in new, duty, being kept only initially, as in union. 858. 6u, 9U both became (povi) or (on) in First MnE, as in grow, know, w«/=ME growen, kngwen, sgule, which in the Second period was smoothed into (pd) and then narrowed into (00), as in go (853), so that know and no etc. had the same vowel. Weak Vowels. 859. In First MnE long weak vowels were generally shortened, as in honour (onur), image (imad5, imaeds), nation (naasjun, nsesesjun) = ME ontir, image, naciiin. Weak diph- thongs were kept, as in nature (naatiur)=ME nature, certain. Short vowels were generally kept, as in moral, person, sorrow (soru), but e before r was obscured to (9), as in letter, 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 in nation was only another way of spelling (u) as in w»= OE sunu. ou, (?ze'=ME (u, uu) was also often pronounced (o) or even (ou) in honour, emperour, sorrow, etc. 860. In Second MnE the natural pronunciation got the upper hand again. Weak (u) passed by regular change into (b), as in (nf«jBn) nation, and such pronunciations as {pk\.sr)-=picture, which are now vulgarisms, were in general use. As (b) was very similar in sound to (g), there was a tendency to make (a) the general weak vowel, although the § 863.] MODERN ENGLISH. 279 older clear weak vowels were still kept in many cases, as in (nseJ-Enael, naejonsel) national, now pronounced (naejansl). In Second MnE weak initial vowels were often dropped, especially in long words, as in apprentice (prentis) estate (stfrt), opinion (pinjan). We still keep the short form of the first word in the expression 'prentice hand, but the vowel has generally been restored by the influence of the spelling. Consonants. 861. During the transition from ME to MnE the hisses/, s,f, became voiced in weak syllables, especially in inflectional -es, as in the gen. sing, mannes and the plur. stgnes, whence MnE (maenz, stounz), the breath sounds being preserved in strong monosyllables such as ges, pens=MuE (gijs, pens) contrasting with /e«z'«=MnE (peniz). The same change was carried out in weak monosyllables, so that numerous doublets were formed. Thus the emphatic adverb ^=MnE off preserved its (f), while the preposition o/was weakened to (ov). There were similar doublets of wij>, is, his, etc. Initial p was voiced in the weak forms of some very frequent — mostly pronominal words — such as pe, pe, pin, pat, pouh^MxiE, (Si, Sij, tSain, Sset, 'Sou), the strong forms being now lost. These changes probably began in collocations where the hiss-consonant was flanked by voice sounds, as in mannes mod, of a man, to pe man, where of a, tope etc. would naturally, become (ova, 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 (ds) in knowledges. ME kngwl^che is quite parallel to the voicing of weak (s) in stones. We have the same weakening in the Present English pronunciation of such words as ostrich (ostrids) 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 a8o PHONOLOGY. [§ 864. became (z), whence the Present English distinction between exert (ig'zaat) and exercise (-eksasaiz), the (s) being pre- served unchanged in the latter word because it is followed by a weak vowel. Other examples are exhibit compared with exhibition, example, anxiety (ser)-zaiiti) compared with anxious (serjjss), 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 absent (ab'sent) owes its (s) to influence of the adjective absent (•asbsant), research to the influence of search. 864. Initial (h), which was preserved through First and Second MnE, began to be dropped at the end of the last century, but has now been restored in Standard E. by the combined influence of the spelling and of the speakers of Scotch and Irish E., where it has always been preserved. It is also preserved in American E., while it has been almost completely lost in the dialects of England — including Cock- ney E. — as also in vulgar Australian. 865. But (h) is always dropped 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 distinction between the emphatic (-him) and the unemphatic (-im). The dropping of h 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 (g) and (xw). In First MnE the former was weakened to a mere breath-glide, and then dropped, the preceding vowel being lengthened, so that ME night (nigt) passed through (niht) into (niit), whence by the regular change (nait). But the older (niht) was still kept up by some speakers, and the co-existence of (nait) and (niht) gave rise to the blending (nsiht) or (naigt), which, although artificial, seems to have been not uncommon in speech. The gh in high, nigh, weigh, etc. = ME high, hi was § 869.] MODERN ENGLISH. 28 1 generally silent. The back-^/4 was kept in such words as laugh, thought, enough (lauxzw, Jjouxwt, ]30xwt, inuxw), and in many words the lip element was exaggerated in Second MnE till it became (f) — (laef, Isesef, |3oft, \oo\., in^ef ) — which in draft by the side of draught — both from ME draght — has been adopted in the spelling. 867. r was kept unchanged in First MnE, being after- wards gradually weakened till it lost its trill everywhere. Towards the end of the Third period it began to be dropped everywhere except before a vowel, as in the present Standard E. 868. Already in First MnE (r) had developed a glide before it in such words as fire, flower (fsiar, flousr) = ME fir, flur, and had broadened a preceding e into (a), as in star (845). In Second MnE it began to modify preceding vowels in the direction of (a), so that er, ir, ur came to be levelled under (ar) or (•er), as in her (h^r) fir, bird, fur, turn. In Third MnE it modified preceding (ee)=fl, ai, ei to {ei), as in care (k^^r), fair, their contrasting with name (neem), fail, veil; and towards the end of this period it broadened a pre- ceding (ee) 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 {ee-n, or), 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 preceding glide-(9), as in (faia) = Early MnE (f3isr) = ME fir. This (3)=r has broadened preceding (ij, uw) into (i, u), as in here (his), poor, cure (kjua) contrasting with he (hij), pool (puwl). The glide-(a) before (r) was finally absorbed by a preceding mixed or broad vowel, (Br) in her etc. passing through (bs) into (93), (aa, oa) into (aa, d), as in star, floor. 869. 1. Already in First MnE (1) began to be dropped between (u) and a following consonant, as in half (haulf, hauf), folk (foulk, fouk) ; also in should (Juuld, Juld, Jud), 282 PHONOLOGY. [§ 870. would, could, where the (1) was at first dropped only when these words were weak. 870. s, z. In Second and Third MnE the combinations (sj, zj) became (J, 5), as in nation (nf«J^n)= Early MnE (nae3esjun)=ME ndcioun (naasi-uun), sure (siur, sjuur, Juur), usual (iuziuael, juususel), such words as nature, verdure passing through (naesetjur, n^«tJ3r, verdjur, verdjar) into the present (neitjs, vaadga). 871. w in First MnE was kept before (r), which it rounded, and was then dropped itself, as in wrile (rwsit), the (r) being afterwards unrounded. We can see the influence of this rounded r in the vulgar {xoi^) = wrap, where {xw) 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 (edsrd), backwards (b8ek9rdz). We still drop the w in towards (todz), but it has been restored in the other words through the influence of the spelling, except in vulgar speech. The weak ending -wich drops the w in all familiar place-names, such as Greemvich (grinidg). 873. k was kept initially before (n) in First MnE, as in know [compare acknowledge^, the (n) being unvoiced, and the (k) afterwards dropped, so that in Second MnE (knou, Ynhon) became (n^oo), this' (iJi) being afterwards levelled under the more frequent (n) in no, etc. 874. g was dropped before (n) in Second MnE as in gnaw. 875. In First MnE medial (i)g) was shortened to (r)) in such words as singer (sigsr), singing=ME (sirjger), etc. by the analogy of final (g) in sing ; but (r)g) was kept in the comparison of adjectives, as in longer, longest. 876. t, d. In Second MnE (t) preceded by the hisses (s, f) and followed by the vowel-like consonants (1, n, m) § 88i.] PRESENT ENGLISH: STRESS. 283 was regularly dropped, as in thistle (Jjisl), fasten (fseaesn), chestnut, Christmas, often. 877. In First MnE (d) preceded by a vowel and followed by (r) was opened into (tS) in many words, such as father, together, hither ^OF. feeder, Late ME fader, fader (793), OE tb-gadre, hider. Conversely (tS) often became (d) in First MnE in combination with (r) and (1), as in murther, murder, rudder, fiddle =-Q)£, morl>or, rdpor,fipele. 878. b. In First MnE final (b) was dropped after (m), as in lamb. Hence h was added in writing to words which in ME had only m, as in limb, numb=W^ Urn, inumen 'taken,' ' seized ':=0E genumen. PRESENT ENGLISH. Stress. Word- Stress. 879. The characteristic features of Present English stress are some of them of OE origin, while others developed them- selves in ME and in the different periods of MnE, some being apparently of very recent origin. 880. In Present English, as in OE, the most general principle of stress is that subordinate words — especially form- words — have weak stress. Thus in he is a man of the world, the subordinate words he, is, a, of, the all have weak stress. Hence the weakened stress in a .-piece of bread, and the distinction between -some 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. [§ S82. 882. 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 the first-syllable stress in such words as honour, pity, emperor, justify, which in Late ME was only occasional, has now become fixed. Even in the present century many 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 syl- lable in OE and ME, such as arise, become, forgive, to-day, still keep this stress in MnE, as also those French words which preserved a similar stress in ME through their resem- blance to the above native words, such as avow, 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 -esque, -tion, -sion etc., -bility, -graphy, as in picturesque, grot- esque, imagination, position, possibility, photography, in all of which the stress is taken away from the root-syllable, on which it falls in the shorter forms imagine, possible, photo- graph etc. Many words which were imported from French and other foreign languages in the MnE period keep their advanced stress even when the analogy of other words points to throwing it back on the first syllable, such as machine, caprice — which show their French origin by the pronuncia- tion of i as (ij) — champagne, canoe-, gazelle. Words which were imported straight from Latin generally keep the Latin stress, as in papyrus, even when the final syllable is dropped, as in cre-ate, se'vere. Words of Greek origin follow the Latin accentuation as well as the Latin spelling, so that the original Greek stress is preserved in English only when it § 887.] PRESENT ENGLISH: STRESS. 285 happens to be preserved in Latin also, as in genesis, museum ^Gieek. ge'nesi's, mousefon. 885. But foreign words even of recent introduction are always liable to have 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 ge- nerally shown by their shortening or dropping their endings, as in • auditor ^L,aXm au'ditor, •disctplme^'La,tin disci-plina, phvlosophy=-\jiXva. philo'sophia from Gxetk philosopMd. 886. 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 ad- jective aw gust and the name Au-gustus-=-\.2X\'cv awgusius, but throw it back in the month-name -August. So also the ad- jective mvnute keeps its Latin stress, which is thrown back in the more familiar noun -minute. 887. In many cases where the same foreign word is used both as a noun and a verb in English, it keeps its end-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 distinction between such words as the noun -accent and the verb to ac-cent is really ultimately due to the analogy of the OE pairs -forwyrd, forweorpan etc., which analogy was greatly aided by the fact that many verbs of French and Latin origin also threw forward their stress; thus the con- trast between the foreign verbs iwduce, iwvade etc. and the native nouns -income, -insight etc. led to the distinction between the noun -insult and the verb in-sult from Latin insul'tdre. The following are additional examples of such pairs : absent to absent •compound to com- pound abstract to abstract -extract to extract affix to a-ffix •frequent tofre-quent a86 PHONOLOGY. [§ 888. object to otject i -produce to pro'duce •present to pre- sent \ -rebel to re-bel In some cases, however, the noun- and adjective-forms keep the verb-stress, as in advice (to ad-vise), ce-ment. 888. The normal stress of a word is always liable to be changed by considerations of emphasis, even a weak word or syllable being capable of taking strong stress if emphasized, as in that is -the thing to do, especially in cases of contrast, as in to give and -forgive, not -subjective hut -objective, against the normal %\x&%?,for-give, sub-jective, 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 con- trasted with the corresponding passive ending -ee, as in lessor (le'soa) 'one who lets a house' contrasted with lessee (le'sij) 'one to whom the house is let,' as the normal pronunciation (lesa) would lead to confusion with the adjective lesser. Stress in Word-Groups and Compounds. 889. The most characteristic feature of Present English stress is its great development of even stress, many combina- tions which had the strong stress on one syllable only in OE now having it equally distributed over two syllables. 890. Thus in the free groups, adjective or genitive + noun, the regular stress is even, as in a -good -man, a -virtuous "woman, a -great im-provement, the -king's son. So also to the OE -wide :cup corresponds the Present English -widely •hnown, -widely diffused. 891. In OE the combination adjective -(- 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 ' § 894.] PRESENT ENGLISH: STRESS. 287 appear in the dative plural as godum d&dum and godd&dum. respectively. So also the compound cwicseolfor 'quicksilver,' literally ' living silver ' has genitive cwicseolfres, the first ele- ment remaining undeclined. 892. In MnE, 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 first element being a compound in Present English, as in ■quicksilver, while the even-stressed 'good -deed can only be regarded as a group, so that the OE compound godd&d must be regarded as having been either lost or sepa- rated 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 b§rigan. Englishman = OE flnglisc mann, in the latter example with obscuration of the second element, showing the intimateness of the composition. 893. But the tendency to give adjectives full stress is so strong that even stress is found in many combinations whose meaning is quite as much isolated as in the above instances of uneven stress, such as — •high 'road, public house, easy chair., shooting star. Prussic acid, Prussian blue, Indian ink. old age, common sense, safe conduct, high treason, leading article. Even stress is the rule when the adjective follows the noun, as in Prince Consort, Princess Royal, poet laureate. 894. In the OE combination genitive -|- noun there is nothing to tell us whether it is to be regarded as a group or a compound, for this combination always has the stress on the first element, which, being already inflected, is incapable of any further grammatical modification. But in Present English we can distinguish clearly between even-stress ge- nitive groups such as 'king's son, and uneven-stress genitive 388 PHONOLOGY. [§ 895. compounds such as the plant-name crow's-foot, whose stress is perfectly parallel to that of other compound names of natural objects (896). Many genitive compounds have been obscured by sound- change and contraction, such as England=0'E, ^ngla-land ' land of the Anglians ' (OE plural nominative ^ngle). 895. 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 first element is felt to be equivalent to an adjective, as in -gold -ring com- pared with the OE compound goldfat ' gold vessel.' When OE gylden :hring, where gylden is a declinable adjective, had been made into the even-stressed -golden 'ring, it was natural to transfer this stress to the compound gold-ring. 896. But uneven — first-syllable — stress is also preserved in Present English compounds. In some compounds the uneven stress seems to be the result of the second element being less logically prominent than the first, through being a word of general meaning and frequent occurrence in com- pounds. Thus in such a compound as appkiree we should expect even stress, as in apple pudding, silk thread, etc., an appletree being simply ' a tree that bears apples,' just as a silk thread is a ' thread made of silk ' ; and the uneven stress is simply the result of the frequency of the second element in applelree and the other compounds in -tree, there being so many different kinds of fruit-trees that when we hear the words apple-, pear- etc. as the first elements 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 be- come a mere derivative ending, especially when it undergoes phonetic weakening through this very want of prominence, as is often the case with the ending -man in such compounds as shopman (Jopmsn), clergyman. Englishman, which are logically on a level with such even-stress compounds as § 899.] PRESENT ENGLISH ; STRESS. 289 English hoy. The result of these tendencies is that many compound names of natural objects and of classes of human beings, together with some ending in time-words of general meaning, take first-element stress ; — •goldfish, canary bird, turtledove, dragonfly; appletree, fruit- tree, rosebush, beetroot; sandstone — greyhound, blackbird ; blue- bell, blackberry ; quicksilver — crow' s-foot, cat' s-mint ; birdseye (a kind of tobacco). Englishman, Englishwoman, freemason, blacksmith — ladies' -man, lady's-maid, bridesmaid. summertime, dinnertime ; birthday, dogdays — midnight, midsummer. 897. But in most compounds uneven stress does not imply any logical subordination, but is only a means of joining the two elements more closely together or isolating the meaning of the whole, as we see very clearly by comparing blackbird with black bird. 898. We may therefore define the logical distinction be-" tween 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 equality, and to some extent separates them, while uneven stress either subordinates one element to the other, as in appletree, or indicates a close logi- cal union, as in blackbird. 899. One result of this is that even stress is often preserved in newly-formed compounds or groups merely because the meaning of the two elements is still fresh in the minds of those who use the compound, so that they are balanced against one another, while a similar compound which was formed long ago, and has become traditional, so that the original meaning of its elements is no longer prominent, keeps its original uneven stress, or substitutes uneven for even stress. Thus we have even stress in modern place-names such as -New -York, New Zealand, the West End, Redhill, contrasted with uneven stress in older names such as New- VOL. I. u 290 PHONOLOGY. W 900. castle, Newport, Longwood, Redlynch — where /j/;zc/^=' slope of hill.' Uneven stress in place-names is often the result of the Vvant of prominence of the second element, which is often obscured, as in the Highlands, the Midlands, Kingston [-ton = town], Bradford \— broad ford]. We will now consider the stress of compounds more in detail, according to the part of speech to which the com- pound belongs. Compound Nouns. 900. Compounds of noun or adjective + noun regularly take uneven stress when a causal relation is implied. A very- numerous class of causal compounds are those in which the first element expresses the purpose or object of the second ; thus toyshop is a shop for selling and buying toys, a watchdog is a dog for watching. The following are further examples of these purpose-compounds : — •greenhouse, diningroom, fireplace, flowerpot, flowerpot- stand, pocketbook ; schoolroom, guidebook, footpath, dancing- master, stable-boy, post-oflice, weathercock ; coal-mine, gravel- pit ; summer-house. 901. In other causal compounds the second element ex- presses the result of the first, or dependence on it ; thus coal- tar is tar obtained from coal, a steam-engine is a machine whose working depends on steam. Other examples are — •wind/all, rainbow, chillblain ; lampblack, water-colours; oil-lamp, sundial; sunflower; thundercloud, thunderstorm, tobacco-smoke, rain-water. 902. Another well-defined class of uneven-stress noun- compounds are those which express phenomena or actions. In the following the first element may be said to stand in the direct object relation to the second : — ■painstaking, screwdriver, bookseller, stockbroker ; man- §905-] PRESENT ENGLISH; STMESS. 391 slaughter, bloodshed; goldsmith, shoeblack ; flower-show, cart- load. 903. In the following phenomenon-compounds the firsl element stands to the second in a variety of other rela- tions : — - 'earthquake, shipwreck ; grasshopper ; cricket-match, walk- ing-tour, dinner-party ; sunrise, moonlight ; eyesight; headache; garrison-life, priestcraft. 904. We now have to consider the use of even stress in noun-compounds. In even stress, as already remarked (895), the first element is generally felt to be equivalent to an adjec- tive. This is especially clear in those even-stress compounds in which the first element (a) expresses something that resem- bles the second element, as in sponge-cake = ' sponge-like cake,' ' spongy cake,' (3) defines the sex or age of the second element, as in man cook. = ' male cook,' and (c) denotes the material of which the second element is made, as in silk thread: — (a) -bowwindow, rocksalt, loaf sugar; copper beech, moss rose, silver sand. The last three go against the analogy of goldfish etc. (896) ; but beech is evidently too special a word to be subordinated in the same way as tree etc. {p) -man 'cook, lady doctor, boy messenger, infant pheno- menon ; tomcat, buck rabbit, poll parrot. So also in he-goat, she-goat. (c) 'brick 'house, stone wall, gravel walk, straw hat, silver spoon; olive oil ; meat pie, jam tart, ginger ale. 905. Even stress is also used when a general place-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 latter comes from. Examples are — • Oxford 'Road, Mincing Lane, Hanover Square, London u a Zga, PHONOLOGY. [§ 906. Bridge, Wimbledon Common — North Road, South Park — St. •James's 'Square. •Turkey 'carpet, Indiarubher, 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 frequency (896) : — •Oxford Street, Fenchurch Street — Highstreet — Prince's Street. 906. Compounds of verb + noun are necessarily phe- nomenon-compounds, and therefore take uneven stress (902). In them the noun stands sometimes in the object-, sometimes in the subject-relation to the verb, the relation being doubtful in some compounds. Examples are — •breakwater, scarecrow, telltale, breakfast (brekfsst) ; rattle- snake, leapfrog, drawbridge ; whirlwind, leapyear, washtub. Compound Adjectives. 907. Compound adjectives consisting of noun + adjec- tive-word generally have uneven stress, especially when the second element is a participle : — •godlike, jelly-like, foolhardy, colourblind, weatkerwise, bloodthirsty, waterproof; heartrending, spirit-stirring ; sun- burnt, careworn, bloodshot. Compounds ending in -ed tacked on to a noun where there is no corresponding verb, 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 adjective ■\- adjective have even stress ; many of them are used also as nouns : — •deaf --mute, north-west, whitey-brown, greenish yellow ; half-mad, dead-ripe, redhot, broiling hot. 909. The analogous combinations of numerals, which are used both as nouns and adjectives, have the same even stress : — § 9i6.] PRESENT ENGLISH ; STRESS. 293 •twenty-one, a •hundred and -ten, two hundred, three thousand. Compound Verbs. 910. The great majority of compound verbs are made up of adverbs and verbs (912), compounds of verbs with other parts of speech being rare, and of modern origin. These compounds of noun or adjective + verb generally have uneven stress : — •browbeat, originally ' to threaten or censure by contrac- tion of the eyebrows,' kiln-dry ; whitewash, blindfold. Adverbs and Pronouns in Composition. 911. Woim-compounds consisting of adverb + noun, and adjective-compounds consisting of adverb + pre- terite participle generally have uneven stress : — •forefinger, foreground, afterthought, bystander, underlip, up train, downfall, outcry, through journey, inborn, downcast, thoroughbred. 912. The numerous compound verbs formed of adverb -I- verb and of verb -f- adverb have even stress : — •fore^warn, overcome, undergo, outbid, ■pass •by, draw bach, break down, take in, look out, run away. 913. Nouns and adjectives formed from these verbs by derivation or inflection keep the same even stress : — •fore-runner, forewarning ; passer by, looking on. •fore^warned ; grown up, broken down, worn out. 914. So also if they are converted into nouns without change of meaning, as in an •overload, a look-out, a break- down. 915. But if they are made into nouns or adjectives with a distinct change of meaning, the stress becomes uneven : — a -drawback, a runaway, a go-between, tumble-down (adj.) 916. There are many compounds of pronoun + pronoun and of pronoun -|- adverb in which the principle of putting 2,g4 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 something somewhere somehow anyone anybody anything anywhere anyhow everyone everybody everything everywhere — no one nobody nothing nowhere — So also in •elsewhere. 917. 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- ever. Extension of Compound-Stress. 918. In Present English some words made up of insepar- able elements take even stress as if they were compound words. 919. Some prefixes which have a very definite meaning and are phonetically capable of being detached from the body of a word have in consequence come to be felt as independent words, the prefix and the body of the word being balanced against one another, as it were, by each receiving equal stress. Foreign, as well as native, inseparable prefixes are treated in this way : — Nouns : 'unbe'lief, 'mis'conduct, misutider standing, noncon- ductor, ex-manager, sub-committee, archbishop, juxtaposition, antiradical. Adjectives: unseen, uncouth, unkind; superhuman. Verbs: misjudge, unbend, uncover , gainsay , cross-examine ; re-cover = ' cover again,' re-examine. mis-take keeps its traditional ME stress because it is isolated from take. 920. Even simple words of more than one syllable sometimes have their syllables detached in this way. This is § 925-] PRESENT ENGLISH ; STRESS. 295 frequent with exclamations, which naturally tend to take even stress through the endeavour to make each syllable as loud as possible : — 'hul'lo !, bravo !, amen .', encore ! Exclamations are also uttered with advanced stress (929). 921. The same striving after distinctness leads to even stress in many foreign words, especially proper names : — •Ber-lin, Chinese, •Waterloo. 922. The /is^«-numerals take level stress on the analogy of the group-numerals twenty-one, etc. : — 'thir'teen, fourteen, seventeen, nineteen. Group-Compounds. 923. Group-compounds formed by joining together two nouns by the conjunction and or a preposition — generally oj — throw the stress on to the second element, as being the modifying one. The following are examples of a«fl'-groups : — cup and -saucer, knife and fork, hread and butter. When other parts of speech are joined together in this way, they keep even stress : 'now and 'then, to and fro, more and inore, five 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 an 'hour or so, a step or two. 924. The following are examples of group-compounds formed with prepositions : — man of 'property, man-of-war, woman of the world, people of rank, a cup of tea, a pair of gloves, matter of fact, mother- of-pearl ; commander-in-chief, a box on the ear, head over heels. 925. 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 va. father-in-law , etc. 396 PHONOLOGY. [§ 926. Stress Advanced in Compounds. 928. In man-kind the stress is thrown forward. This is more frequent in words of three or more syllables, es- pecially in proper names and words lengthened by derivative syllables : — pocket-handkerchief, Southampton, Newfoundland, arch- -bishopric \_-arch-bishop\, outrageous [^outrage^. So also in Fitzgerald, ■portfolio, portmanteau, which are felt as compounds, though obscured. 927. Stress is thrown forward when a title is followed by a proper name : — Mr. -Smith, Miss Carnaby, Lord fohn, King Henry, Prince Arthur. 928. In exclamations the stress is sometimes even (920), but is often advanced, as in a-ha !, good -morning ! Hence even-stress compounds such as -Black-heath, Oxford Road become Black-heath, etc. when used as exclamations, com- pounds in which the stress is thrown back, such as -Oxford Street, keeping their stress unchanged when used as exclama- tions. Assumptive (Attributive) Compounds and Groups. 929. 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 first ele- ment of the compound or group : — ■Berlin -wool [but -wool from -Berlin], Waterloo station, a Chinese mandarin ; non-commissioned officer ; underdone meat. secondhand bookseller. North Country surgeon, ten-pound note, twenty-five members ; All Saints' day ; goodlooking man, strongminded woman, hardboiled eggs, well-known voice; turned-up nose, grown-up daughter. •black-and-tan -terrier, five-and-twenty blackbirds. Compare also a -seven o'clock -dinner, and a -good for § 935-] PRESENT ENGLISH; QUANTITY. 397 nothing 'fellow with we dine at 'seven o''clock and he is -good for 'nothing. 930. When a group-compound in which the stress is already thrown forward is used assumptively, it keeps its stress unaltered, the stress of the head-word being sub- ordinated : — cat and 'dog dife, cock and hull story, rag hone and 'hottle '.merchant', hank of England note. 931. This is also done with some even-stress groups in which the connection between the elements is not close : — a drowned 'rat .-look, dead letter office, a Michael Angelo style, the Charles Dickens edition. 932. So also in longer groups : a good all 'round :man, the employers' liahility for 'injury :hill, the commons enclosure consolidation :act. Quantity. 933. In MnE there is a general tendency to shorten long vowels. As we have seen (851, 8.53), long vowels are often shortened before certain consonants in native words, as in blood (blBd) = OE and ME hlod. 934. There is also a tendency to shorten long vowels — or keep strong short vowels from being lengthened — when followed by a single consonant and a weak vowel, in words of French origin, whether popular or learned, as in cavern, cavity compared with cave ; gratify, gratitude compared with grateful', perish, method, henefit, relative, astonish, philosophy, astronomy, pleasure (pless) compared with please, courage (k^ridg), flourish. 935. But when the consonant is followed by two weak vowels the preceding strong vowel is often lengthened, as in atheist, radiant, patient, tedious, especially in the derivative endings -tion, -sion, etc., preceded by a strong vowel, as in nation, admiration, adhesion, notion, corrosion, although i is 298 PHONOLOGY. [§ 93G. not lengthened under these circumstances, as in hideous, petition. Short vowels are also preserved when the two short vowels are preceded by certain consonants, such as n and sh, as in companion, fashion. 936. There are also a variety of other exceptions, especially before certain endings, such as -al, -ive, -y, -n and -r preceded by weak vowels, as in fatal, decisive, navy compared with navigate, bacon, paper, labour, those in -n and -r being probably the result of the influence of native words, such as the preterite participles taken, shaken, etc., and the numerous derivatives in -er, such as maker. 937. But some of these words with long vowels shorten them when another syllable is added, as in national compared with nation, tyrannous compared with tyrant. 938. In words which have been imported direct from Latin and Greek, the vowels are generally long under the circumstances described above, as in basis, ether, regent, crisis, focus, strophe. But there are several exceptions, such as simile (simili), chemist, the quantity varying in some words, such as pathos (peifjos, psejjos). 939. In Present English we can distinguish three degrees of vowel quantity. Long vowels and diphthongs preserve their full quantity only when final, as in say, see, no, why, or when followed by a final voice consonant, as in hom£, 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 is followed by a single consonant, that consonant is lengthened, as in fill, win (winn), set, this lengthening having taken place already in ME (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 (b«d), dog compared with dock, his (hzVz), length being often distributed about equally over the vowel and the con- § 943-] PRESENT ENGLISH; QUANTITY. 399 sonant. It will be observed that when these naturally short vowels are lengthened in this way, their quality remains un- changed ; thus the lengthened vowel of dog remains distinct from the (o) of daub. In English, therefore, in the combination strong vowel + final consonant, either the vowel must be long or the consonant. The combination short strong vowel + short final consonant offers great difficulties to English speakers, as in the German mann (man). 941. The combination short strong vowel + short con- sonant occurs in English only before a weak vowel, as in filling (filir)) compared with /// (fill), lesser, many, cupboard (k-ebgd), a vowel-like consonant acting like a weak vowel, as in cattle (ksetl), written, trouble. A weak vowel beginning another word has the same effect, if the two words are run together without any pause, as in fill it (fil -it), let us get it (let -3s get -it) compared with get them (gett Sam). Long vowels and diphthongs under these conditions are partially shortened, as in tidy 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 diphthongs are partially shortened in the same way, as in tighter compared \\ith tight, the diphthong in tighter being therefore still shorter than in tidy. 942. In weak syllables simple vowels become quite short, and a following consonant remains short also, as in pity, pitied, better, setting. A vowellike consonant remains short under the same circumstances, as in settle (setl), bitten (bitn). 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, stopped. A consonant before a voice-con- sonant is lengthened, especially when a vowel-like consonant is followed by a voice-stop consonant, as in build (billd), bend compared with built (bilt), bent. 300 PHONOLOGY. [§ 944. Two consonants in a weak syllable are, of course, short, as in bottled (botld). 944. When long words are drawled, any naturally long sounds they may contain are, of course, lengthened still more. If the word consists 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 on to the weak vowel, which is lengthened without change of quality, and without taking any additional stress, as in what a pity ! {•pzbV), stop her I ACCIDENCE. NOUNS. Old English. Gender. 945. There are three genders of nouns in OE — mascu- line, feminine, and neuter. The genders of nouns are most clearly shown by the accompanying definite article ' the ' — masculine se, feminine seo, and neuter J>ce/. The gender is partly natural, partly grammatical. It is to be noted that by natural gender names of children and young animals are neuter : J>cef aid, pat beam ' child,' pat cealf ' calf.' In the same way diminutives are neuter : pat magd-en ' maiden,' ' girl.' Names of things and abstractions are often neuter, but as often masculine or feminine : pat Mafod ' head,' pest kus ' house ' ; se finger ' finger,' se hgre ' army ' ; seo hand ' hand,' seo wynn ' joy.' Names of living beings sometimes have a grammatical gender which contra- dicts the natural gender ; thus pat wif ' 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 mona ' moon,' seo sunne ' sun ' being feminine. 947. Compound nouns follow the gender of the last element. Hence se wifmann ' woman ' is masculine, because se mann ' human being ' is masculine. 3oa ACCIDENCE. [§ 948. Strong and Weak. 048. All nouns belong to one of two classes — strong and weak. Weak nouns are those which inflect mainly with -n, such as se steorra ' star/ plural nominative J>d steorran, sunne, genitive singular pare sunnan. All others are strong, such as se Stan ' stone/ genitive singular stones, plural nominative s tanas. Cases. 949. OE nouns have four cases, nominative, accusa- tive, dative, genitive, which are not always clearly dis- tinguished. The accusative is the same as the nominative in all plurals, in the singular of all neuter nouns, and in the singular of all masculine strong nouns. Masculine and neuter nouns differ very little in their inflections. The inflections of weak nouns are nearly the same in all three genders. The dative plural ending of nearly all nouns is -urn. Declensions. The following are the regul ar noun-declensions — Strong Masculine. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. 950. Nom.^ Stan stanas gnde ' end ' ^ndas Dat. statie stanum gnde gndum Gen. stanes stdna gndes pida Strong Neuter. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. 951. Nom. hus hus scip ' ship ' scipu Dat. huse husum sHpe scipum Gen. huses husa scipes scipa 952. Some neuters have a plural ending -ru, such as Hid, plural Hldru, cildrum, cildra. The plural ending -u is dropped after a long syllable, that is, one containing a ' Wherever the accnsative is not given separately, it is the same as the nominative. § 956.] NOUNS ; OLD ENGLISH. 303 long vowel, as in hus, or containing a vowel followed by more than one consonant, as m/olc ' nations.' Strong Feminine. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. 953. Nom. caru 'care ' cara synn ' sin ' synna Ace. care cara synne synna Dat. care carum synne synnuni Gen. care carena synne synna 954. The -u of the nom. sing, is, like the -u of the neuter plur. nom., kept only after a 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 OE most of these are declined like synn, with ace. sing. d&de. Weak Masculine. 955. Sing. Plur. Nom. nama ' name ' naman Ace. naman naman Dat. naman namum Gen. naman namena Weak Neuter. Weak Feminine. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Nom. cage ' eye ' eagan cirice ' church ' ciriian Ace. cage eagan cirican Cirican Dat. eagan eagum iirican ciricum Gen. eagan eagena cirican ciricena 956. There are besides a number of irregular strong nouns. The most important of these are the mutation- nouns, such as the masculine mann ' man,' fot ' foot,' top 'tooth,' plur. mgnn, fet {/at), tep, the feminine hoc ' book,' gos ' goose,' miis ' mouse,' burg ' city,' plur. bee, ges, mys, byrig. 304 ACCIDENCE. [§ 957. Masculine Mutation-nouns. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. 7. Nom. mann m^nn fot fet Dat. minn mannum fet fotum Gen. mannes manna fotes fota Feminine Mutation-nouns. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. . Nom. burg, burh byrig miis mys Dat. byrig burgum mys musum Gen. burge burga muse miisa 959. The masc. sunu 'son' has dat. and gen. sing, and nom. plur. suna, the fern, duru ' door ' being declined in the same way. So also the fem. hand has dat. and gen. sing, and nom. plur. handa, the original -u of the nom. sing, having been dropped because of the preceding long syllable. 960. Some masc. names of nations occur only in the plur., ending in -e, such as ^ngle 'the English/ dat. '^n- glum, gen. J^ngla. Some of these have a weak gen. plur., such as Seaxe ' Saxons,' Mierie ' Mercians,' gen. Seaxna, Miercna. 961. The relationship-words in -er, or, such as fader ' father,' modor ' mother,' bropor ' brother ' are partly regular, partly indeclinable, the dat. sing, generally having mutation : — Sing. Plur. Nom. fader fcederas Dat. fcEder fcederum Gen. fcBder,faderes feeder a 962. Some nouns are indeclinable, such as the abstract fem. nouns in -u, such as ieldu ' old age,' strgngu ' strength.' The fem. nieht ' night ' is indeclinable in the sing, and in the nom. plur., the masc. monap ' month ' being also inde- clinable in the nom. plur ; we still preserve these vuichanged plurals in the compounds /orlnight=0'E fevwertiene nieht ' fourteen nights ' and twelvemonth. Some nouns are inde- Sing. Plur. bropor bropor, bropru breper broprum bropor bropra §969.] NOUNS: EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH. 305 clinable in the dat. sing., such as ham ' home,' as in cBt Mm ' at home.' The inflection of nouns is attended by various modifications which fall under the general head of OE sound-changes. 963. Nouns ending in weak -el, -ol, -en, -er, etc. often drop their vowel before an inflection beginning with a vowel, thus se §ngel ' angel,' se fugol ' bird,' seo sawol ' soul,' />cBf w&pen ' weapon,' Jiai wundor " wonder,'- ' miracle,' have plurals (nglas, fuglas, sawla, w&pnu, wundru. This short- ening is most frequent after a preceding long syllable, the weak vowel being generally kept after a short syllable, as in cecer ' field ' plur cEceras. 964. For the change of m into a in such nouns as se dceg ' day,' se stcef ' staff,' gen. sing, dceges, stafes, plur. nom. dagas, stafas, pcetfat ' vessel,' ' dish,'/(Z/ dcel ' dale,' ' valley,' gen. sing. /cB/es, desks, plur. nom. ya^u, dalu, see § 747. 965. For the dropping of h in such nouns as se Wealh ' Welshman,' plur. Wealas, se seolh ' seal,' plur. seolas, see § 761. 966. In Late OE final h and medial g alternate in such words as se troh (earlier OE trog^, plur. trogas, seo burh, gen. smg.burge, se beorh ' mountain,' plur. beorgas (763). 967. Final -u in the nom. sing, of some nouns, such as se beam ' grove,' J>ce/ meolu ' meal,' seo sceadu ' shadow,' ' shade,' seo sinu ' sinew ' is a weakening of original w, which reappears before an inflection beginning with a vowel, as in the gen. sing, bearwes, meolwes, sceadwe, sinwe. This -u is dropped after a long syllable, as in seo m&d ' meadow,' plur. m&dwa. 968. The dropping of h before vowels (761) leads to contraction, as in pcBt feoh ' money,' gen. sing, fees, Oldest English y^Oy^^j-. Early Middle English. 969. In Early Southern the old gender-distinctions in nouns were still partially kept up. By degrees, however, the VOL. I. X 306 ACCIDENCE. [j 970. inflections of the adjectives and the definite article were dropped ; and when the Eariiest Southern t>e, peo, p§t were levelled — as they soon were — under the uninflected /«, so that peo siinne^OE seo sjinn a.ndj>^i Ms became /« sunne^pe hus, the old genders were gradually forgotten, simply because there was nothing to mark them. From the very begin- ning of the ME period the natural feminine gender of such words as wummon, mpden-=OE, wifmann, magden began to prevail over the grammatical masculine and neuter, these words being referred to by the feminine pronoun heo ' she.' 970. The first great change in the old system of inflec- tions was the levelling of weak vowels under -e (794). By this change the distinctions of gender in the OE weak forms mona, sunne, cage were levelled in the Early Southern forms mone, sunne, eie as far as the endings were concerned. The distinctions of case were almost entirely effaced by this change in such words as OE sunu, dat. and gen. sing, and nom. plur. suna, caru, ace, dat., and gen. sg. care, nom. plur. cara. So also the inflections in OE stdne (dat. sing.), stana (gen. plur.), scipu (nom. plur.) were levelled under the same final -e. 971. The only endings which could withstand this level- ling were the gen. sing, -es, the nom. plur. -as, which both became -es in ME, as in stQnes=-Q)Y. stones, sianas, the weak -an, which became -en, the gen. plur. -ena, which became -me. The dat. plur. -um became -em ; but as this was the only case ending in m, the consonant was levelled under the more frequent n, so that ME -en represented OE -um as well as -an, as in iveren^OY. geferan, geferum. 972. The general result of these changes was not only to obscure the distinctions of the cases, but also in some classes of nouns to obscure the distinction between singular and plural. The confusion was most marked in the feminine nouns, where the changes we have been considering gave the following as the endings corresponding to those of the OE nouns caru, synn, sunne respectively :— § 977-] IfOUNS: EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH. 307 Sing. Nom. -e _* -e Ace. -e -e -en* Dat. -e -e -en* Gen. -e -e •en* Plur. Nom. -e* -e" -en Dat. -en -en -en Gen. -ene -e -ene 973. It is evident that the forms marked * in the above table are in the minority, while at the same time most of them obscure the distinction between 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 siinne. The plural -en of sunnen=.OY. sunnan was extended to all feminine nouns — ME car en, sunnen=-OE. cara, synna. As -en was now the distinctive mark of the plural, it was given up in the singular of sunne, whose oblique cases took the same form as the nominative, as in the other two classes. The final result was that all feminine nouns were uniformly declined as follows : — Sing. Plur. Nom. -e -en Ace. -e -en Dat. -e -en Gen. -e -ene 974. As might be expected, the gen. plur. -ene was often levelled under the other plural cases, becoming -en. 975. Weak masculines and neuters were declined in the same way — sing, name, eie, plur. namen, eien. The only distinction between masculine and neuter weak nouns — namely in the ace. sing. (OE naman, cage) was thus lost. 976. The originally strong masculine sune—Q)^sunuvi2& naturally regarded as a weak noun, and formed its plural sunen. 977. -f=the OE neuter plur. ending -u was made into X 2 3o8 ACCIDENCE. [§978. -en in the same way for the sake of distinctness, as in deoflen, children^OE deoflu, cildru, sing, deovel, child. In many of these words -«=0E -u was extended to the singular, as in dale ' valley,' hede ' prayer,'=OE dal,gebed, plur. dalu,gebedu. These OE plurals became dalen, beden in ME. 978. The remaining masculine and neuter nouns kept their original strong forms. The dat. sing, in -e was kept at first, but often dropped, because such forms as weie, ■w5rde= OE wege, worde suggested a weak singular, and so the dat. sing, was levelled under the nom. in such words — wei, word — in accordance with the general ME tendency. The dat. plur. -e«=OE -um was disused for a similar reason — because it suggested a weak plural — being kept only in a few adverbial phrases, such as vour sipen ' four times ':=OK/eim)er slpum, the nom. plur. being used as a dative. The gen. plur. -«= OE -a was sometimes kept, but the more distinct weak ending -ene was often used instead — kingene, as in aire kingene king ' king of all kings,' wordene instead of kinge, worde — both of these forms being gradually supplanted by the nominative. In the neuter plur. the OE undeclined forms were still kept — hus, word — but the strong masc. ending was often extended to the neuters, so as to distinguish the two numbers — huses, wordes. The following are then the regular Early Southern ME noun-inflections, those which are liable to be dropped being in( ):- Strong Masculine and Neuter. 979. Sing. Nom. sign word Dat. stgn{e) wordie) Gen. stgnes wordes Plur. stgnes -word, wordes stgnes, {sipen) word, wordes stgne{ne), stgnes worde{ne), wordes 980. The neuters child, §i 'egg' have plur. children, pren, corresponding to OE cildru, agru. § 984. J NOUNS: EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH. 309 Strong and Weak Feminine. 981. Sing. Nom. silnne, chirche Dat. siinne, chirche Gen. siinne, chirche Plur. siinnen, chirchen sUnnen, chirchen sunnen{e), chirchenie) 882. Some originally strong feminines do not take -e in the nom. and ace. sing., such as hgnd ' hand,' miht ' might,' cH ' cow.' Weak Masculine and Neuter. 883. Sing. Nom. ivere eie Dat. iuere eie Gen. ivere eie Plur. iveren Hen iveren eien iveren{e) eienie) 884. Those of the old mutation plurals which are still preserved in MnE were of course kept in Early ME as well : man {mon), vol, top, gos, m&s, plur. men, vet, tep, ges, mils. The OE wifmann plur. wtfminn appears in Early Southern ME as wummon, wilmmen, in Early Midland as wimman, wimmen. In all these words the mutation was confined to the plur., such OE datives as mgnn being made into monne or mon. 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 e in the nom. and ace. sing. The OE feminine noun hurg appears in ME sometimes as burh, sometimes as burwe plur. hurwen, later hurwes, the old mutated dat. sing, being preserved as the second element of place-names in the form of -hUri — in the other dialects -heri, -biri — as in Canter bier I ' Canterbury '= the OE dat. Cantwarabyrig. This arose from the phrase ' at the city,' at governing the dative in OE, as in cet pare byrig, which became at ter biiri in ME (767), whence the MnE Atlerbury. In the ease of boc, plur. boken, bdkes, the mutation was completely lost. 3IO ACCIDENCE. [§985- 985. The relationship-words vader, moder, siister gener- ally remained unchanged in the sing., having the regular plurals vaderes, modren, sustren. broper of course lost the OE mutation in the dat. sing., which became broper. But this mutation was transferred to the plur. on the analogy of fU, men, etc., so that brdpre=OE bropru became brejire, and then, by the usual change of plural -e into -en, brepren. 986. niht, mdnep and some others remained uninflected in the plural. 987. The OE vowel-change in dceg, plur. dagas, was preserved in the ME dgi, dat plur. dawes, although a new plur. dates was soon formed direct from the sing. dai. 988. Final e was dropped after a weak vowel, as in l^fdi ' lady '=OE hldfdige. The plural ending -s without a vowel occurs only in long French words, as in parlurs ' parlours,' vesiimenz ' vestments,' where 0=(ts). In Old French such a word as vestiment is inflected thus— Sing. Nom. vestimenz Plur. Nom. vestiment Ace. vestiment Ace. vestimenz As the distinction between nom. and ace. had been lost in ME, the French -s was naturally identified with the English plur. inflection -es. 989. In Early Midland and Northern the distinctions of grammatical gender were entirely lost during the transition from OE, the distinction between strong and weak forms being also done away with, except in a few isolated forms. The natural consequence was that the -es of the genitive was extended to weak nouns and to all feminine nouns, the plur. -es being then extended in the same way, first to strong neuters, then to weak nouns and feminine nouns generally. The final result was that the only regular inflec- tions left were gen. sing, -es, plur. nom. and gen. -es, the distinction between nom. and gen. plur. being kept up only in irregular plurals such as men, gen. mennes. §994-] NOUNS: LATE MIDDLE ENGLISH. 311 Late Middle-English. 990. Standard ME foUows the Early Midland dialect in its noun-inflections : it has only one case, the genitive ; the original nominative, accusative, and dative being now merged in one ' common case ' : — Sing. Common word, sinne man Gen. wordes, sinnes mannes Plur. Common wordes, sinnes jnen Gen. wordes, sinnes mennes 991. The e of -es — the gen. as vcell as the plur. ending — is often dropped in English as well as French words after a weak syllable, as m/dders (dlso/ddres), Iddys (also Iddyes), and after a strong vowel, in order to avoid hiatus, as in J^s ' foes.' Also in pens = earlier penies, of which pens was originally the weak form, the word having lost its stress in such combinations as iwg penies [compare the Mn. E. two- pence (tBpans)]. 992. The whole ending -es is often dropped in French words and proper names ending in a hiss-consonant, as in the gen. sing. Troilus, V^nus, and the plurals cds 'cases,' vers (also verses). This is the result of French influence, for in Old French such a word as vers, whose j is part of the body of the word, was necessarily indeclinable : — Sing. Nom. vers Plur. Nom. vers Ace. vers Ace. vers 993. Originally feminine nouns sometimes keep their earlier j-less gen. sing., as in pe chirche dgre, his lady grace. We still preserve this form in Lady-day compared with Lords day. 994. Many originally neuter nouns with unchanged plurals still keep these, such as folk, der, hors, np ' cattle,' ship, swin, kin ' kind,' />ing, y^r. It must be observed that most of these plurals have a collective meaning; thus the 31 a ACCIDENCE. [§ 995. ^\Mx.folk is oftener used in the sense of ' people in general ' than in that of ' nations,' and in MnE swine is used exclusively in the collective plural sense, not being used in the singular at all. The invariable plurals night, monep, iiDiHter (OE plur. wintru, winter) are also kept. But several of these words begin to take the regular plural ending, especially when not preceded by numerals : pinges, y§res, monpes. fot when used as a measure was also made invariable in the plural on the analogy of the old 'o.&xX.tx pound, and the other invariable words which were frequently joined to numerals, such as winter. 995. In its general meaning yj/ keeps its mutation-plural fit. So also man, wom(rn)an, top, etc. have plurals men, wom{m)en, tep, etc.- 996. The weak plural-ending -en is preserved not only in oxe plur. oxen, but also in other words which have now lost it in the spoken language, such as asche, aschen, hgse, te ' eye,' ten, fg ' foe,' fgn, tg ' toe,' tgn, scho ' shoe,' schon. In other words this ending is a ME extension, as in brepren, children, dohtren, sustren. cow has plur. kyn-=0'E cu, plur. cy, the northern dialect keeping the older form ki. Modern English. 997. By the beginning of the MnE period the J of inflectional -es had been voiced (861), (s) being kept only in monosyllables such as geese, pence. In Early MnE the e was kept after a hiss-consonant for the sake of distinctness, as in horses (horsez), and was dropped every- where else, the (z) being necessarily unvoiced after a voiceless consonant, as in beasts (b^^sts) from Seastes (bf«stez), while it was of course preserved after vowels and voiced consonants, as in days, heads (h^edz). 998. The ME dropping of -es after hiss-consonants is still kept up in a few phrases such as /or old acquaintance sake, for Jesus' sake; but in the spoken language the -es is I 999-] NOUNS: MODERN ENGLISH. 313 generally kept, as in St. James's Square, where it is also written. Such genitives as JEneas', Socrates' wife occur only in the literary language ; in the spoken language the full -es is added, or else the construction of Jineas etc. is used. One result of the contraction of inflectional -es in MnE is that radical s has been sometimes mistaken for the plural inflection, so that an original singular has been made into a plural, as in the case of alms, eaves, riches, sum^nons : these ' apparent plurals' correspond to the OE singulars celmesse, gfese (plur. gfesan) and the Old French singulars richesse, semonse. Most of these apparent plurals are not used in the singular ; but summons is used in the sing, without any change — a sum7nons. There are some plurals which form a curtailed sin- gular by throwing off the radical final s. Thus the collective plural pease=thG OE weak plural ■piosan has developed a sin- gular pea, whence a new orthographic plural peas has been formed. In vulgar English such curtailed singulars are fre- quently formed from names of nations in -ese, such as Chinee, Portuguee from Chinese, Portuguese. Inflectional plurals often come to be used as singulars by change of meaning, such as news, sixpence. They may then form new plurals, such as sixpences. 999. The ME (and OE) alternation of breath and voice consonants in the inilection of such native words as vnf gen. sing, wives, plur. ivives has been kept up only partially in MnE. It has been entirely abandoned in the gen. sing., which is now formed afresh from the common case — wife's. We still keep the voice consonant in such plurals as wives, paths (paaSz), but such a plural as the earlier MnE turves has been made into turfs. We still keep the gen. sing, calves in the compounds calves- head, calves foot expressing articles of food ; otherwise calf has the regular gen. sing, calf's. The following are the main types of noun-inflection in Present English : — 314 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1000. 1000. Sing. Common hos dog kast waif guws masn Gen. hosiz dogz kasts waifs guwsiz maenz Plur. Common hosiz dogz kaets waivz gijs men Gen. hosiz dogz kasts waivz gijsiz menz Present English has developed a vocative case in a few words (1004. i). Like horse are inflected words ending in the hisses (s, z ; J, 5), such as piece, box, size, adze, fish, church (tjggtj), age (eids). Like dog are inflected nouns ending in a vowel or any voiced consonant except (z, 5), such as day, lady, neighbour (neiba), mile, dove, son, lord. Dice (for gaming) and pence, the plurals of die and penny have (s) because they were shortened to monosyllables already in ME, dies (for coining) and pennies being new-formations from the singulars on the analogy of the regular plurals days, ladies, etc. Like cat are inflected nouns ending in any breath con- sonant except (s, J), such as earth, cliff, clerk, bishop. 1001. All the nouns inflected like wife — 'voice-breath nouns ' — show a long syllable before the inflection in Late ME, as in j/i2jiM=Late ME staves (Early ME staves), wolves =ME wulves. Hence nouns with original short / never make this change— ^z'/y^f (pips), cliffs. The only voice- breath noun ending in (s) is house, plural houses (hauziz). The chief voice-breath nouns in ()?) are bath (baajs), baths (baa'Sz)=Late ME bap, bapes (ba]3, baatSes), path, oath, mouth, clothes was originally the plural of cloth, which now forms a regular plural of its own — cloths. The great majority of nouns in (J?) keep the breath-sound in the plural ; r such nouns are moth, death, hearth, health, birth. Some, !, such as lath, truth, youthhzve: both pronunciations, that with j voice consonants in the plural being, of course, the older one. Nouns in -f show the change more frequently : after long Late ME vowels, as in life, knife, wife, thief, leaf, § 1005.] NOUNS: MODERN ENGLISH. 315 loaf; after /, as in half, calf, elf, self, shelf, wolf. Nouns in -rf such as dwarf, scarf, turf, wharf, made this change in Early MnE — dwarves, etc. — but they now generally keep theyin the plural — dwarfs, etc. Nouns in -oo/" also keep the f, as in hoofs, roofs. So also belief. But the French noun beef siSi keeps its plural beeves, which, however, is now iso- lated from its singular, through the latter having lost its original meaning ' ox.' staves was originally the plural of staff iJ^sXt ME stcf, staves), but having diverged from it in meaning, it has now developed a new singular stave, while staff itself has developed a new plural staffs, as in army staffs. Irregular Plurals. 1002. The following mutation-plurals are still in common use : man, men ; woman, women (wumsn, wimin), this plur. being Southern in spelling, though Midland in pronuncation;ybi9/,_/^«/; goose, geese; tooth, teeth; louse, lice; mouse, mice. 1003. The only u-plurals in common use are ox, oxen ; child, children, brother now has the regular plural brothers, the old plural brethren being used only in a metaphorical sense, cow also has a regular plural cows, the older kine occurring only in the higher literary language. 1004. sheep and deer keep their unchanged plurals. Weak (-mgn), as in tradesman, gentleman, Englishman is also invariable. The full sound (-men) is, however, preserved in addressing a number of people, so we can distinguish the common plural (d^entlman) from the vocative plur. (d^entlmen). 1005. These are the only absolutely invariable words. In all other invariable words the unchanged plural implies either measure or coUectiveness. As in Late ME, so also in MnE many nouns of measure have an unchanged plural only when preceded by a numeral, as in two dozen knives compared with dozens of knives ; and many of them keep it only in groups or 3l6 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1006. O compounds such as ten-pound note compared with ten pounds, the earlier MnE ten 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 all circumstances, as in how many stone does he ■weigh ? 1006. While the use of the unchanged plural of measure has been gradually restricted in MnE, the unchanged collec- tive plural has been extended, swine has now lost its sin- gular, the sing, and separative plur. being expressed by/2^, pigs. But in most cases the collective and separative plurals are used side by side, as in to catch fish compared with the story of the three fishes. These details belong rather to Syntax than to Accidence, and will be considered more fully under the former head. Foreign Plurals. 1007. Many foreign words — especially Latin and Greek — keep their original plurals, but some of them have also regular English plurals ; 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 Latiu endings are : — -a . . . -se : formula, formula ; larva, nebula, minutia is used only in the plural. -us . . . -i : fungus, fungi; hippopotamus, nucleus, radius, terminus, tumulus, anthropophagi, Magi, literati occur only in the plural. The regular plurals funguses, hippopotamuses etc., also occur, especially in the spoken language, crocus always has plural crocuses, genius in its oi-dinary meaning has the regular plural geniuses ; in that of ' spirit ' it keeps the Latin plural genii. Latin nouns in -us which form their plurals by other endings than -i, either keep them, as in getius, plur. genera, or else make them regular, as in census, plur. censuses (Latin census, plur. census). § loio.] NOUNS: MODERN ENGLISH. 317 -tun . . . -a : desideratum, desiderata ; erratum, effluvium. Many of these are used only in the plural : addenda, agenda, arcana, data, ephemera, memorandum has plur. memoranda and memorandums. Others, such as encomium, millenium have only j-plurals. In the spoken language there is a tendency to make the (z-plural into a singular from which a new plural is formed. Thus stratum, strata is made into strata, stratus on the analogy of the ending -er, -or, etc., animalculum, animalcula is made into animalcula, animalcules on the analogy of formula, for- mula. The difficulties in connection with the last word are best avoided by using the shortened form animalcule, plur. animalcules. -is . . . -es : analysis, analyses ; axis, basis, crisis, hypothe- sis, metamorphosis, oasis, parenthesis, antipodes, aborigines are used only in the plur. In these latter the ending is pronounced distinctly (-ijz). So also in careful speaking we distinguish the plur. (parenjsisijz) from the sing. (p3ren})isis), but in ordinary speech the -es is shortened to (-is) so that no distinction is made between sing, and plur. in the more ,. familiar words. -es .... -es : series, species, superficies. These plurals are unchanged both in speUing and pronunciation — (sisriz, siariz). -ix, -yx, -ex . . . -ices : appendix, appendices ; helix, calyx, vortex. These plurals hardly occur in the spoken language, which substitutes the regular forms in famihar words : appendixes, calyxes. The former of these plurals is also used in writing, the plur. appendices being necessary only when the word has its special mathematical meaning. 1009. 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- 31 8 ACCIDENCE. [§ roil. mena ; anacoluihon, automaton, criterion. The three last also have regular plurals, as also phenomenon in the groups infant phenomenon etc. 1011. We have Italian plurals in bandit, banditti [also bandits] ; dilettante, dilettanti — where the English pronuncia- tion (dili'tsenti) makes no distinction between sing, and plur. — virtuoso, virtuosi [also virtuosos']. 1012. The Hebrew plurals cherubim, seraphim are collec- tive, and are occasionally used as singulars in Early MnE — a cherubim, cherub and seraph also have regular plurals, especially in their metaphorical meanings. 1013. The French plural ending x in beaux (also beaus), flambeaux is pronounced (z). 1014. The plural of Mr. (mistar) is expressed by the dif- ferent word Messrs. (mesaz), in full Messieurs. Mr. is a weak form of ME meister from old French meistre, the correspond- ing strong form being master. Messieurs is the French mes Sieurs 'my Lords,' the sing, of which is Monsieur. The plural of the feminine Madam=.Yi^n(h. ma Dame 'my Lady' is Mesdames =Fiench mes Dames ' my Ladies,' which, however, is not much used in Enghsh. 1015. The tendency of the language now is to get rid of foreign plurals as much as possible, except where the foreign plur. marks a difference of meaning. Inflection of Word-Groups. Genitive. 1016. When adjunct-words are joined to a noun so as to form a word-group, the genitive inflection is added to the last member of the group, whether that last member is the head- noun or not, as in the old king's son, king Alfred's son, the king of England's son, the man I saw yesterday' s son. So also in group-compounds : the knight-errant' s, the son-in-law's. §1030.] NOUNS: MODERN ENGLISH. 319 1017. In the first example given above the inflections of the words preceding king's have simply been dropped — OE pCBs ealdan cyninges sunu. In the second example the inflec- tion of king has been dropped — OE ^Ifredes cyninges sunu. The third example shows a further step, which was first made in MnE, the ME construction being pe kinges sune of Eng- land. A still further step is made in the fourth example, in which the genitive ending is added to an indeclinable adverb, inflecting really the whole group the-man-I-sawy ester day. Hence in the first example also we may regard the -f as inflecting not king, but the whole group tke-old-king. Plural. 1018. The principle of group-inflection is not carried so far with the plural ending. When a noun is modified by a following adverb or preposition-group, the noun itself is inflected, as in hangers-on, fathers-in-law, commanders-in- chief. If the first element is not a noun, the inflection is naturally put at the end, as in the three-per-cents, go-betweens, forgetmenots . 1019. In the rare combination of a noun with a following adjective the same rule was formerly followed, as in courts- martial, knights-errant, but now it is more usual to put the inflection at the end, in accordance with the general tendency of the language — court-martials, knight-err ants — except in such groups as states-general, in which the old plural has become fixed, through the sing, being disused. In groups'X consisting of two titles both elements are inflected, as in \ lords-lieutenants, lords-justices, knights-templars. So also in \ men-servants, women-servants. 1020. When a noun of title etc. is put before another noun, the older rule was that the adjunct-noun took the in- flection. We still follow this rule in the combination Messrs. Smith ; but such combinations as the Misses Smith, the brothers 320 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1021. Smith now sound pedantic, the former being also liable to cause confusion with Mrs. (misiz), and in colloquial language it is usual to say the Miss Smiths, the two Doctor Thomsons, etc., the construction in the case of brothers, etc., being often evaded by saying the Smith brothers. Spelling. 1021. The e of the plural -es is always kept in writing when pronounced, as in fishes, or when required to show the sound of a preceding letter, as in clothes compared with cloths. But superfluous e is still kept in many instances. Thus it is always written after v (824), as in shelves. Final _>> is written ie before plural-j, as in spies, cities. This is a tradition of Early MnE, in which ie was written in the singular as well (825), as it still is in some words, such as lie, die — both of which are verbs as well as nouns — the old equivalent _><« being still written in lye, dye for the sake of distinction, y preceded by another vowel is kept unchanged, as in days, bqys. Weak -ey was till lately changed into ie before the plural -s, and this spelling is still frequent in some words, such as ponies, but in most words there is no change — chimneys, valleys, alkali has plural alkalies, the few other words in -2'— none of which are in frequent use — generally adding the -s without e, as in rabbis. Most words in frequent use have plural -oes whether the singular ends in -oe or simple -0 : foe, foes ; woe, woes ; potato, potatoes ; negro, negroes. Nouns in -io take only -s, as in folios, ratios, as also most of the less familiar words; dominos, grottos, virtuosos, quartos. The endings -ies, -oes were kept to show that the j was voiced, =(z), simple -is, -os suggesting the breath sound (s), as in this, crisis, chaos. The plurals of proper names and of words belonging to other parts of speech used as nouns are sometimes written in the ordinary way, sometimes by adding j preceded by an apo- strophe, so as to distinguish the body of the word from the § 1022.] NOUNS: MODERN ENGLISH. 331 ending, the apostrophe being often omitted when there is no fear of confusion : ayes and noes, aye's and no's, pro's and con's, pros and cons, the two Mary's, the two Marys, the Percies, to mind one's P's and Q's. Proper names ending in a hiss- consonant simply add the apostrophe, as in the Chambers' and Cassells of the future, also written Chamber ses in accord- ance with the pronunciation. 1022. The written genitive ending is 's, which is added to the common singular form without any further change : maris, lady's, negro's. The regular gen. plur. of nouns is distin- guished in writing from the gen. sing, by the apostrophe being put after the genitive inflection, as in birds' nests com- pared with a birds nest, the negroes' quarter (gen. sing. negro's), beaux' (gen. sing, beau's). The gen. plur. of such irregular nouns as man is written in the same way as the gen. sing. : man's, men's ; goose's, geese's. The apostrophe by itself is often written in the gen. sing, of nouns ending in a hiss-consonant, especially proper names : Socrates' wisdom. Chambers' Cyclopedia, Cox cleverness. This spelling was originally phonetic (998) ; but the full (-iz) is now always kept in pronunciation, the corresponding spelling Chambers's, etc. being also used. In Early MnE the apostrophe was at first intended only to show contraction of -es, and was accordingly used freely in the plural as well as the genitive inflection, the spelling birds being, of course, used for the gen. plur. as well as the gen. sing. The gradual restrictionS of the apostrophe to the genitive apparently arose from the ) belief that such a genitive as prince's in the prince's book was ( a shortening of prince his, as shown by such spellings as the \ prince his booh. This belief and this spelling arose very ' naturally from the fact that prince's and prince his had the same sound, weak his having dropped its (h) in such colloca- tions even in the OE period (865). Besides being a mark of contraction the apostrophe was found useful in distinguishing between the body of an unfamiliar word and its inflections, VOL. I. Y 322 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1023. being still used for this purpose even in the plural inflection (1021). Hence it was liable to be omitted in familiar words — whether plurals or genitives. We still generally write the genitives its, hers, yours without it, though we write ones. ADJECTIVES. Inflections. Old English. 1023. In OE the adjectives have the three genders of nouns, and the same inflections, though with partially different forms, together with the distinction of 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 declension — as also in the noun-inflections — is represented by the dative. 1024. Adjectives agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case : Me comon mid langum scipum, na mani- gum ' they came with long ships, not many.' 1025. The weak form is used after the definite article and other defining words, as in se goda cyning ' the good king,' se hdlga ' the holy (man),' whence the weak masc. noun halga ' saint,' pas halgan cyningas ' these holy kings,' compared with sum god cyning ' a certain good king,' halge mpin ' holy men.' The weak form is also used as a vocative : pH leofa freond! 'thou dear friend!' 1026. The following are the strong inflections of god, the forms which differ from those of the nouns being marked * : — Masc. Neut. Fem. Sing. Nom. god god god Ace. godne* god gode Dat. godum* godum* godre* § 1029.] ADJECTIVES. ^2,^ Instr. £^dde gode godre* Gen. godes godes godre* Plur. Nom. gode* god gode* Dat. godum Gen. godra* 1027. The weak forms are identical with 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. Fem. Sing. Nom. goda gode gode Ace. godan gode godan Dat. godan godan godan Gen. godan godan godan ~~Y' Plur. Nom. godan Dat. godum Gen. godra* 1028. The -u of the strong fem. nom. sing, and the strong neut. nom. plur. is kept under the same circumstances as in the noun-inflections; thus sum ' some' has sumu in the above cases, as opposed to the long-syllable god. Adjectives in -el, -en, etc. drop the e as in noun-inflection ; thus halig, micel, dgen ' own,' have plurals hdlge, micle, dgne. Where final -u is a weakening of -w, the w is restored before an inflection begin- ning with a vowel, as in nearu ' narrow,' salu ' sallow,' geolu ' yellow,' plurals nearwe, salwe, geolwe. In late OE final -h alternates with medial g in such forms as genoh ' enough ' [earlier genog'\, plur. genoge. The dropping of weak h between vowels leads to contraction; thus heah 'high,' Mercian Mh, has plural hea (from heahi) in Mercian as well as Early West-Saxon, which in the later language is made into heage on the analogy oi genoh, genoge. 1029. Some adjectives are indeclinable, such as fela ' many.' Y 2 334 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1030. Middle English. 1030. The levelling of noun-inflections in 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 fall off" at the beginning of the ME period. The distinction between singular and plural and between strong and weak inflection was preserved in the adjectives as well as in the nouns, god represented the strong singular, gode the strong plural and the weak singular. As the weak form of the adjective was generally followed by a noun, it was superfluous to mark the distinction of number in the adjec- tive, and consequently the weak singular ending -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 inflec- tional -e : — Strong Sing, god Weak Sing, gode Plur. gode Plur. gode 1031. The weak form is used much as in OE : pe yonge Sonne ' the young sun,' J>is ilke monk ' this same monk,' my swgrne broper ' my sworn brother,' Uve broper ! ' dear brother ! ' 1032. Adjectives in -e, such as newe ' new,' are, of course, invariable. Other adjectives become invariable by dropping the inflectional -e after a weak syllable, especially -i, as in pe hgli man, but also in such adjectives as gpen, cursed, honest. 1033. In the Northern dialect all adjectives became in- declinable already in the Early period through loss of final weak -e. 1034. The old cases were partially preserved in the Earliest ME. The gen. plur. ending -r^=OE -ra, as in aire kingene king=OE eallra cyninga cyning, lingered longest, because of its distinctiveness. In Late ME alder, from earlier aire through aldre, became a sort of prefix to superlatives, as in § 1036.] ADJECTIVES. 335 alderbest ' best of all ' ; in Early MnE Shakespere still has alderlie/est ' dearest of all.' Modern English. 1035. In MnE the loss of final -e made the adjectives in- declinable as far as case and number are concerned. Adjec- tives thus became formally indistinguishable 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 inflections in the distinction between enough sing., enow plur. = ME inoh, inowe. Comparison. Old-English. 1036. In'OE the comparative is formed by adding -ra and is declined like a weak adjective, as in leof-ra ' dearer' masc, leofre fern, and neut., the corresponding adverbs ending in -or : leofor, heardor. The superlative is formed by adding -ost, and may be either strong or weak: leofost 'dearest,' se leofosta mann. The uninflected form of the superlative is used also as an ad- verb : leo/ost, heardost. Some adjectives form their comparison with mutation, the superlative ending in -est, as in lang ' long,' l^ngre, Igngest, neah ' near,' superlative mehst, nlext (Anglian neh, nest, next). In some comparisons the comparative and superlative are formed from a word distinct from that which constitutes the positive : god [adverb wel], bgtera [adverb b^t'], b§ist. The positive of some comparatives and superlatives is represented only by an adverb; thus to arra 'former' (in time) arest ' first ' corresponds the adverb ar ' 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 for-ma 'first,' the positive of which is represented by the ^Z6 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1037. a.d-veTb/ore ' before.' But in most cases the meaning of this old superlative ending was forgotten, and the ending -si was added — generally with mutation — giving the double superla- tive -mesi. Thus from forma the new superlative fyrmest ' most foremost/ ' first ' was formed. Other examples are innemest, norpmest from inne ' inside,' norJ> ' north.' Middle-English. 1037. In Early ME the endings are -re, -ere [adverbial -er\ -est: leaf, leofre \leover'\, leovest. The insertion of e in the comparative ending -ere is probably due to the influ- ence of the superlative. In Late ME the final -e of -ere was dropped, because preceded by a weak syllable, so that the distinction between adjective and adverb was levelled. Modern English. 1038. In MnE the endings are the same as in Late ME — -er, -est. We have also a periphrastic comparison, which consists in prefixing the adverbs more, most, as in beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful by the side of hard, harder, hardest. Periphrastic comparison appears already in Early ME. At first the two methods of comparison were used indiscriminately ; but by degrees the periphrastic comparison has come in MnE to be applied chiefly to longer and more unfamiliar adjectives, the inflectional comparison being restricted more and more to the shorter adjectives, namely — (a) monosyllables, such as big, high, young, sad. (b) dissyllabic adjectives with the stress on the last 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 con- sonant-group, as in abrupt, correct, distinct, ancient, fre- quent. (c) many dissyllabic adjectives with the stress on the § 104a.] ADJECTIVES. 337 first syllable, such as tender, bitter, narrow, happy, easy, early, lovely, and others in -ly, able, simple, wholesome, cruel. Those in -ish, -J, 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 as active, apparently because most of them are long words, the shorter ones being mostly words whose meaning does not lend itself to comparison. Such an adjective as pleasant, on the contrary, is compared by inflection in spite of its heavy ending, because its meaning makes it liable to frequent comparison. 1039. The periphrastic comparison is followed — (a) by all adjectives of more than two syllables, such as difficult, ignorant, important, cemfortable, respectable — all of which have besides heavy endings — curious, generous, necessary, general, satisfactory. (b) by those in -/ul, such as useful, awful, cheerful, respectful. (c) by those in -ed and -ing : learned, wretched, wicked; cunning, tempting, charming, improving. These adjectives are not inflected because they have the form of verbals, although some 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, beautifullest were frequent ; and they are still used in poetry and the higher prose. 1041. Double comparison was frequent in Early MnE, as in more braver, most unkindest. This now survives only as a vulgarism. Irregular Comparison. 1042. In ME and MnE the old mutation in such com- parisons as OE lang {Igng, Igng), l§ngre, longest viz.s gradually got rid of by the introduction of the vowel of the positive, 3^8 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1043. whence the MnE longer, longest. Mutation is preserved only in a few irregular and isolated forms. Other irregularities are the result of ME sound-changes — late, latter— oi various confusions and mixtures of originally distinct words and {orrxiS,— far, further — and of the retention of different- word comparatives and superlatives — good, better. 1043. The double superlative ending -mest was naturally associated with mast ' most/ and already in Late OE we find such forms asj);/»2£8.f/ by the side oi ylemest irom. ^/« 'outside'; in ME we find the endings -mest and -mgst 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 utemest instead of ytemest. So also OE fyrmest was made into firmest in ME by the influence oi forma and fore, whence the MnE foremost. In OE the positives of aftemest 'last' and nipemest ' lowest ' were represented by the adverbs after ' after ' and niper, neopor ' downwards,' ' down,' these being themselves old comparatives. In ME the full forms of the positives after, neper were introduced into the superlatives, whence the MnE aftermost, nethermost, a new superlative undermost being formed on the analogy of nethermost. A superlative ending -ermost having thus established itself, other superlatives of place were formed directly from comparatives by adding -most, as in lowermost, uppermost in imitation of nethermost and undermost, uttermosihy the side oi utmost, inner- most. So also ixom further was formed a supeila-tive further- most, from which again was formed a double comparative furthermore, perhaps partly by the influence of evermore. The OE midmest was made into middlemost, and on the analogy of this form superlatives such as highmost were formed direct from adjectives, highmost being perhaps regarded as a transposition of most high. To the OE superlatives norpmest, sUpmest correspond as positives the adverbs norp, sUp, which were also used as nouns. Hence § I047.] ADyECTIVES. 339 in MnE we have superlatives in -most formed directly from nouns, such as topmost, endmost. The following are the irregular comparisons of MnE : — -lOAA 7 J \ elder eldest ) 1044. old \^i^^^ ^^^^^^1 OE eald (did), ieldra (gldrd), ieldest {eldest). The com- parisons elder, eldest are used to express differences of age from a more abstract point of view than older, oldest, as in elder brother compared with he is older than he looks. 1045 I ie i latter last ) ( later latest \ OE IcBt ' slow ' [adv. late ' slowly,' ' late '], Icstra [adv. lator'\, latost. latter ■=ME later with back-shortening, last is a shortening of ME latest, not by phonetic change, but apparently by the analogy of best, least, etc. When latter and last developed special meanings, the new comparisons later, latest were formed directly from late. 104R nuf \ ^^^^'' utmost, uttermost \ \ outer outmost, outermost \ OE ute adv. ' outside,' yterra [adv. a/or], ytmest, ytemest. Even in OE the vowel of the positive is extended to the other degrees : uterra, utemest, whence by back-shortening the MnE utter, etc., outer, etc. being new-formations from out. in/iT f \ farther farthest) 1U4/. jar y^^ff^gy furthest] OR/eorr adv. and occasionally adj. ' iax ,' fierra [a.6.v.fierr~\, fierrest. feorr became by regular change WRfer, MnE_/ar. To the OE adverb ybrs 'before,' 'in front' corresponds the comparative_/z mgnn pcet sy mannes sunu P But as long as a language marks the distinctions of case with clearness, such confusions are confined to isolated constructions. In MnE, however, the distinction between nominative and objective was 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-association there was no uniformity : thus in the pairs /, me ; he, him ; we, us the 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 distinc- tion between indicative and subjunctive. 1084. In Early MnE the usage was more unsettled than it is now, the nominative being as freely substituted for the objective as vice-versa, as in such constructions as 'tween you and I. you and I were so frequently joined together as nominatives— j/oK and I will go together, etc.— that the three § io86.] PRONOUNS. 341 words formed a sort of group-compound, whose last element became invariable. 1085. The tendency of Later MnE is to merge the dis- tinction of nominative and objective in that of conjoint and absolute, that is, to keep the old nominative forms only when in immediate connection with a verb — / am ; said he — • so that, as the pronouns in the nominative generally precede the verb, /, he, etc. are felt almost to be inseparable verb- forming prefixes, as in / call, compared with to call. When a pronoun follows a verb, it generally stands in the objective relation ; hence, on the analogy of he saw me, tell me, etc., the literary it is I is made into it is me in the spoken lan- guage, so that me is felt to be the absolute form of the conjoint /, being also used as the answer to the question who is there?, etc. In the vulgar language this is carried out consistently, the slightest separation from the verb being enough to elicit the objective form, as in me and John came home yesterday ^ihe polite /ohn and 1 came home yesterday, them that is here^they that . . In Standard spoken English the absolute use of the objective forms is most marked in the case of me, which is put on a level with the old nominatives he, etc. : it is me, it is he, it is she. But the usage varies, and in more careless speech such constructions as it is him, it is us are frequent. In the written language the absolute use of the objective forms is not recognized ; and as such expressions as it is me are still denounced as incorrect by the grammars, many people try to avoid them in speech as well as writing. The result of this reaction is that the me in such constructions as between John and me, he saw John and me sounds vulgar and ungrammatical, and is consequently corrected into / occasionally in speech, but oftenest in writing, the Early MnE construction being thus revived. 1086. The tendency to use the nominative forms before the verb has had the contrary effect on the pronoun who. 342 ACCWENCE. [§1087. Already in Early MnE whom do you mean ? was made into who do you mean ? on the analogy of / mean . . , you mean . . , etc. In Present spoken English whom may be said to be extinct, except in the rare construction with a preposition immediately before it, as in 0/ whom are you speaking ?=\h& more purely colloquial who are you speak- ing of ? The use of you before the verb in you mean, you see, etc. seems to be in opposition to the general tendency which made who prevail over whom. But, as we have seen, the extension of the objective form you is not really a case of deliberate sub- stitution of the objective for the nominative, but is the result of the phonetic similarity of the nominative thou. 1087. The pronouns thou, thee and ye are now confined to the liturgical and the higher literary language. In the singular the distinction between nom. thou and obj. thee 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 ye in the obj. as well as the nom., in order to avoid the prosaic jj/oa : ye see, I see ye. 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 thee for the nom. as well as obj.— evidently by the influence of he, etc., which is confirmed 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=tht 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 them by the side of (Sam), but only in very familiar speech. 1089. The MnE it, her are also equivalent to ME weak forms. § I093-] POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS. 343 1090. The ME weak ha occurs occasionally in Early MnE in the form of 'a, a, but only in very familiar, careless speech. Such forms as quotha are still used in the literary language when quaintness is aimed at. 1091. The following are the present forms of the personal pronouns in literary and spoken English respectively, weak forms being in ( ) : — Sing. Nom. T thou, you who what Obj. me thee, you whom what Plur. Nom. we ye, you Obj. us ye, you Sing. Nom. he it she Obj. him it her Plur. Nom. they Obj. them {'em) Sing. Nom. ai juw (ju, j3) huw (uw) whot, wot Obj. mij (mi) juw (ju, p) huw (uw) whot, wot Plur. Nom. wij (wi) juw (ju, j3) Obj. Bs (as, s) juw (ju, ja) Sing. Nom. hij (ij) it ry (ro Obj. him (im) it has (33, a) Plur. Nom. 8ei Obj. 8em (83m, am) 1092. The shortening (-s) = kj occurs only in lets. Early MnE it was more general. In Possessive Pronouns. Old English. 1093. The OE possessive pronouns are the genitives of the corresponding personal pronouns : mm ' my,' ure ' our,' pin ' thy,' eower ' your,' Ms ' his, its,' Aire ' her,' hi'ra, heora ' their.' The possessives of the third person — h's, hire, Jiira — together with kwas ' whose,' are indeclinable, those 344 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1094. of the first and second person — min, fitn, ure, eower — being declined like strong adjectives : mid his freondum ' with his friends,' mid minum freondum. Middle English. 1094. In ME his was made declinable on the analogy of min, etc., that is, it took a plural ending -e, as in alk hise men compared with OE ealle his m^nn. This being the only inflection of the possessives in ME, those ending in -e necessarily remained or became indeclinable. The Early ME dwer, 5«r=0E eower took final -e in Late ME by the analogy of Ure, \>tQ.ovs\\n%youre. 1095. min and pin dropped their final n before a con- sonant in Early ME — ml fader — keeping it before a vowel or ^ + vowel : min arm, fin herte. In Late ME the n was often dropped before a vowel as well. The n was, of course, always kept when the possessives were used absolutely, or when they followed their noun : hit is min, brofier min ! 1096. In Late ME the possessives ending in -e generally take the genitive ending -s when used absolutely: id min hous or to your es; al pis gold is oures-=OK to mlnum huse oppe to eowrum ; eall pis gold is Ure. This -j is an ex- tension of the -f of his : his gold, pat gold is his. 1097. In the weak forms long vowels were sometimes shortened — min, mi — and final e was dropped : hir, our, etc. 1098. In North-Thames English pei brought with it the possessive /«W= Icelandic peira, which gradually made its way into the London dialect, where it also appears in the weak iouapere parallel to pem^peim. 1099. The following are the possessive pronouns in Standard ME, weak forms being in ( ) : — Conjoint : mm, ml {min, mi) ; pin, pi {pin, pi) ; his {pes) ; hire, hir (her) ; oure, our ; youre, your ; here, her, peire, peir {pere, per). § iiog.] POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS. 345 Absolute : mm ; pm ; Ms ; hires, Mrs, Mres, hers ; cures, ours ; youres, yours ; heres, Mrs. All those beginning with h were, of course, liable to lose it in their weak forms. 1100. The Early ME possessive whas became whos in Late ME through the influence of who. Modern English. 1101. In Early MnE his was still the possessive of it as well as he : it (the serpent) shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel (Bible). But already in the Midland dialect of ME the want of a special possessive for it was supplied by using the uninflected it as a possessive instead of Ms; and this usage appears also in Early MnE : the hedge- sparrow fed the cuckoo so long that it' s had its head bitten off by it young (Shakespere).' Towards the end of the Early" MnE period the present genitive its came into general use — a form which does not occur at all in the Bible, and very rarely in Shakespere. 1102. The ME distinction between conjoint mine, thine and my, thy was still kept up in Early MnE, but the shorter forms were frequently used before vowels : mine eyes, my eyes. In the higher literary language the distinction is still kept up : mine eyes, mine host. But many modern poets drop the n before sounded (h), as in my heart:=^Y.y (instr.) sylfan dcege ' on the same day.' 1105. In OE the personal pronouns are used also as reflexive pronouns, as they still are in such phrases as he looked about him compared with he must take care of himself . OE self does not make a pronoun reflexive, but simply emphasizes one that is already so, as in wyscton him selfum, the shorter wyscton him being enough to express the meaning ' wished for themselves.' Hence such a phrase as he ofsticode hine might mean either ' he stabbed him ' (some- one else), or ' he stabbed himself.' By degrees he ofsticode hine selfne, which at first meant both ' he stabbed that very man' and 'he stabbed himself,' was restricted to the latter meaning, the simple hine, him, etc., being restricted more and more to the non-reflexive meaning, so that already in Early ME we find self, sillfnsed very much as in MnE. 1106. In OE a personal pronoun in the dative is often added reflexively to a pronoun in the nominative, but without § nog.] PRONOUNS: SELF. 347 materially affecting its meaning, as in he ondrid him pone viann ' he was afraid of the man,' literally ' feared for himself,' hie gewiton him ' they departed.' This pleonastic dative is often added to self, self a in this way : he hip him self gehwceper, sunu and feeder ' he (the phoenix) is himself to-himself both (pronoun), son and father,' ic me self gewat 'I myself de- parted,' he him selfa sceaf reaf of lice ' he to-himself himself pushed the robe from the body'='he took off his robe.' 1107. J^^in OE was occasionally used as a noun without any accompanying head-word : sleap synnigne ofer selfes map ! ' strike ye the sinful one on his mouth ! ' Middle English. 1108. In ME the meaning and function of the datives me and pe in the combinations ieh me self, pH pe sef etc., were soon forgotten, so that these constructions became unmean- ing, which led to the change of me and pe into the posses- sives mi, pi, self being regarded as a noun, as shown in such constructions as mi self havep ' myself has ' compared with bi selfhavest ' thyself hast.' On the analogy of muelf, piself the plurals Ureself yireself were formed. The dative was preserved in himself ' himself, itself,' plur. himself (Late ME z\so pemself). hireselfheiseW could of course be regarded either as dative or possessive. The forms -selve, -selven also occur : miselve, miselven, himselve, himselven. selven is pro- bably the OE dat. sing, or plur. selfum, selve being either a shortening of selven or else = OE weak selfa. Modern English. 1109. In Early MnE self came to be regarded more and more as a noun, which led to such constructions as the Shakesperian thy fair self Tarquiris self A new plural selves was now formed on the analogy of shelf, shelves, etc. : myself, ourselves, to your gross selves (Shakespere). i 348 ACCIDENCE. [§ mo. 1110. But the older dative was still preserved in himself, themselves, itself must also be regarded as containing the objective (= dative) case of it rather than as a contraction of it's self. In Present English we have the forms his self, their selves in vulgar speech ; and even in the Standard dialect these forms are necessary when own is added : his own self. 1111. The following are the forms of the spoken lan- guage :— Sing, myself; yourself; himself, itself, herself ,Plur. ourselves ; yourselves ; themselves. To these may be added the indefinite oneself. 1112. It will be observed that your self , your selves make a distinction between sing, and plur. which is lost in the simple you, the sing, thyself being, of course, preserved only in the higher literary language. So also a form ourself occurs occasionally in older writers in the sense of 'myself; but in the present literary language an author speaks of himself as ourselves, if he uses the plural. 1113. In the literary language self is used as an inde-- pendent noun : till Glory's self is twilight (Byron) ; then, all forgetful of self , she wandered into the village. 1114. In the spoken language the emphatic and reflexive meanings of myself, etc., are distinguished by the stress, these forms having strong stress when emphatic, weak when re- flexive, as in I did it wyj-if^ compared with he roused himself. The OE self as an adjective is represented by the compound self-same in MnE : the selfsame thing. Demonstrative. Old English. 1115. The OE demonstrative se ' that, this, the, he,' etc., and/M ' this, this one' are inflected as follows : — § I up.] DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS. 349 Masc. Sing. Nom. se (se) Ace. pone pisse[re) pisse(re) pisse{re) Plur. Nom. pa pas Dat. p&m, pavt pissum Gen. para, para pissa, pissera The forms se, pes are used only as noun-pronouns in the sense of ' this one,' ' he.' Middle English. 1116. In ME the f of the OE se, se, seo was made into /> by the influence of the more numerous forms beginning with /, and oi pes, pis, peos. 1117. The resulting pe, pat, peo was at first used, as in OE, both as a demonstrative and as a definite article. But by degrees the neuter sing, pat and the plur. pa were restricted to the demonstrative meaning. In Early Southern l>it hits =0E pcet hits is still used in the sense of ' the house ' as well as of ' that house ' ; but in Late ME pat is restricted to the more emphatic meaning, as in MnE. This restriction was StUl more marked in the plur.; already in the Earliest ME/^ men, pg hus were used only in the demonstrative meanings ' those men,' ' those houses.' 1118. pg was now regarded as the plur. of pat, and was completely disassociated from the definite article. Hence it became necessary to eliminate the old /a-forms — ace. sing, fem. and nom. plur. — from the inflection of the definite article. This was done by extending the nom. sing. fem. first to the ace. sing. fem. — peo silnne = OE pa synne as well as seo synn — and then to the plur. nom.: peo sunnen=.OE. pa synna. 1119. The old pas — the ace. sing. fem. and nom. plur. of 35° ACCIDENCE. [§ 1 120. Pes — was now associated with the old pa, till at last ME pg and }>gs were completely confused, pgs being regarded as pg with the plural -s added, so that pg men, pgs men both came to mean ' those men.' 1120. The form pgs was now eliminated from the inflection di pes in the same way as pg was eUminated from the inflec- tion oipe, the fem. sing. nom. peos being extended first to the ace. fem. sing, and then to the nom. plur. : peos sunne=OE peos synn and/aj synne,peos sunnen^^^OE. pas synna. 1121. The following are the full inflections of the Early Southern demonstratives corresponding to OE se and pes : Masc. Neut. Fem. Masc. Neut. Fem. Sing. Nom. pe Pit peo pes Pis peos Ace. pene Pit peo pesne Pis peos Dat. pen pen Per pisse pisse pisse Gen. pes pes Per pisses pisses pisse Plur. Nom. peo peos Dat. pen pissen Gen. Per pisse 1122. But already in Early Southern there was a tendency to make the definite article indecHnable — pe. The main causes of this were {a) the want of stress of the article, which made its endings indistinct, (p) the general loss of the sense of gender- and case-distinctions, and (c) the confusion which arose from using/// both as an article and a demonstrative. 1123. The new demonstrative pat was in like manner extended to the masc. and fem. sing, and then to the oblique cases of the sing., so that pat hUs, pat man were sharply dis- tinguished from pe man, pe hUs. 1124. The neuter /z> was extended in the same way: pis man, pis hus, pis cH = OE pes mann, pis Ms, peos cH. 1125. At first the indeclinable pat was not always restricted to its demonstrative meaning, but was used also as an article in all three genders. This usage survived in Late ME in a few combinations : pat gn ' the one,' pat oper ' the other,' pat § 1130.] DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS. 351 like ' the same '=OE se ilea, pat ilce, etc. The final t of the fiat was often regarded as the beginning of the next word, and the a was weakened to e so as to make the curtailed /a/ into the definite, article /«, the first two of the above combina- tions being written pe tgn, pe toper. The tother has been preserved to the present day in vulgar English. In Early MnE the tother and the other were blended into t'other, which was still used in the literary language of the last century. That ilk is still used in Scotland in the phrase A. of that ilk, meaning that Mr. A.'s surname is the same word as the title of his estate. In newspaper English the combination is ignorantly made into the pleonastic the same ilk, as in consumption, and endless other ills of the same ilk (Pall Mall Gazette). 1126. In the plural, where there was no distinction of gender, pg, pgs and peos became indeclinable even sooner than the singulars /a/, /?>. 1127. The plural peos ' these ' was discarded in Late ME, and a new plural was formed direct from pis by adding the regular adjective plural ending e, giving pise, which also appears in the weak form pese, like hese^hise. pese may, however, be the result of the influence of the older peos, peos, which in Late ME would become pes, pes. Modern English. 1128. Standard MnE finally settled down to the demon- strative forms — Sing. that this Plur. those these 1120. In Early MnE the article the is often shortened to iK before vowels and h -(- vowels, as in iK enemy, tKhilt, and even before other consonants, as in tKworld, where the w was probably dropped. 1130. In the present spoken English the has two forms, ((5i) before a vowel, as in (tSi enimi), CSa) before a consonant, as in (tSa msen, Sa hos). 352 ACCIDENCE. LI i' Si- one, a; none, no. 1131. In OE the numeral an ' one,' which was inflected like a strong adjective (but with ace. sing. masc. dnne), was occasionally used also in an indefinite sense, which some- times approached very near to that of the indefinite article ; an mann='s. certain man,' ' a man' ; although in most cases the indefinite article was not expressed at all : on slcre byrig bip cyning ' in each city there is a king.' Weak ana is used in the special sense of alone ' : id ana stod 'I stood alone.' MnE alone=0'E. eall ana 'entirely ajone.' 1132. From an was formed the negative nan ' none' = *w an ' not one/ which was used both as a noun — nasnne ne gehdlp 'he heals no one' — and, more frequently, as an adjective : nan mann ' no man,' nan ping ' no thing,' ' no- thing.' 1133. In ME an developed into a regular indefinite article. When used in this way it lost its stress and shortened its vowel, becoming an. As this shortening took place before the change of a into g, the article an was isolated from the numeral gn ' one.' 1134. In ME gn, ngn, an dropped their final n in the same way as min and pin before a consonant, keeping it before a vowel or ^-f- vowel : g man 'one man,' gn arm, she dop ngn harm to ng man, a man, an gld man. gn and ngn kept their n of course when used absolutely. 1135. In MnE the strong words gn and ngn levelled these distinctions, but in different ways. In the case of one the shortened form was given up, one being used before vowels as well as consonants : one man, one arm. It is to be noted that in Early MnE one kept the sound (oon). But already in the Western dialects of ME it had been diphthongized into (wun), whence the present (w^n), the other pronunciation being still preserved in alone, only. 1136. none went the opposite way, the fuller form being § 1138.] INTERR. AND REL, PRONOUNS. 353 preserved only absolutely — •/ have none — the shorter no being used as the conjoint form before vowels and consonants alike : no man, no other. 1137. The article an has kept the ME variation : a man, an enemy. In Early MnE the full foriri was also kept before h : an house. We now say a house, a history, etc. But we gener- ally use an before h in weak syllables, where it is then dropped in pronunciation, as in an historical event. As one itself is now pronounced (wen), it takes a before it : such a one. So also a=(juw, jus) now takes a before it, as in a unit, like a youth. But an unit, an useless waste of life are still found in the literary language, being traditions of the earlier pronunciation of u as (uu). In ME the distinction in meaning between gn and an was not always strictly carried out at first, the strong gn being some- times used as 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 two, they are both of an age. Interrogative and Selative. 1138. The interrogative pronouns in OE are hwd, hwcet, whose inflections have been already given (1058), hw^lc, hwilc. Late West-Saxon hwylc ' which ' (implying ' more than one '), and hvucBper ' which of two.' hw^lc is a shortening of *hwalic, hwilc of *hwilic (with the a assimilated to the following i), where hwa- is the original short form of hwa (745), and -lie is a shortening of lie, the original meaning of the com- pound being ' who-like ' or ' what-hke.' hwaper was origin- ally formed from *hwa with the same comparative derivative ending as mfurpor (1048). hw§lc is used both as a noun and an adjective, generally in a more definite sense than hwd, hwat, though it must sometimes be translated by who or what, especially when an adjective, hwglc being the only adjective form of hwd and hwcet, as in hwglce mede hcehbe ge ? ' what reward have ye ? ' VOL. I. A a 354 ACCIDENCE. [§ II39- 1139. In ME kw§lc dropped the /, probably at first only when unstressed: Early Southern hwiich from Late West- Saxon hwylc. Late ME which being a Midland form. 1140. In OE hwa and hwcet were used only as nouns, but in ME what was used as an indeclinable adjective of all three genders : what ping, what man. This early use of what as an adjective was helped by its resemblance to pat. The OE use of hwcBt with a noun in the gen. plur., as in hwcEt manna ? ' what kind of men,' ' what men ' also paved the way for the later use of the word as an adjective, just as ma + gen. plur. developed into an adjective (1052). When the language was able to distinguish between what thing and which thing, the latter pronoun was gradually restricted to its more definite meaning. 1141. hwcBper, Anglian hw^per from *hwapir, was used both as a pronoun =' which of two,' and as an adverb and a conjunction =' whether.' It now survives only as an adverb, which having taken the place of the pronoun. The pronoun whether still survived in Early MnE, as in whether of them twain did the will of his father ? corresponding to the OE hwcBper para twegra dyde pees feeder willan ? 1142. There were no simple relative pronouns in OE, there being only an indeclinable relative particle pe, which was generally joined to the noun-pronoun se : se mann se- pe . . ' the man who . . ,' pa m§nn pam-pe . . ' the men to whom , ,' se by itself was also used as a relative : se mann se . . , he pat beacen geseah pat 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 . . 1143. Although the OE interrogative pronouns were not used relatively, they were freely used conjunctively, a usage which naturally grew out of their interrogative meaning, hwcEt wilt pa? ' what do you wish?' for instance, suggesting such constructions as he dscode pone cyning hwaper he wolde §1146.] DEFINITE PRONOUNS. 355 ' he asked the king which of the two he wished,' M hordafi and nat hwam ' he hoards and knows not for whom.' In ME wAp soon came to be used as a relative, as also in MnE : /Ae man who . . , the woman who . . , what being still restricted to the conjunctive use. Definite. 1144. Besides se and pes there was in OE a third demon- strative pronoun ^w», which however became obsolete already in Early West-Saxon. It was preserved in North-Thames English, being still in common use in the north of England _ and Scotland in the form of yon. In MnE yon has been confused with the adverb yond, yonder — yond cloud, yonder hill — of which it was supposed to be a shortened form, and was consequently written yon . yond is now completely obsolete, WiA yonder is more frequent than yon in the literary language, both being obsolete in the spoken language. 1146. The OE demonstrative of quality sw^lc, swilc, Late West-Saxon swylcz=^swalic, *swilic 'so-like,' "swa being the older form of swa ' so,' dropped its / in ME in the same way as hw^lc did, Southern switch becoming switch by the influence of the w, which was then absorbed by the u, giving such. The tradition of the Midland form suuich is still preserved in the vulgar sich. Indefinite. 1146. The particle a ' always ' was in OE prefixed to pro- nouns and adverbs — especially interrogative ones — to give them an indefinite sense, as in ahwdr ' anywhere,' dhwaper ' either of two.' Interrogative pronouns and adverbs were also used in an indefinite sense without any prefix, as in giy hwdpds boc dwritan 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 A a 2 356 ACCIDENCE. [§ii47- ask the question. The indefinite meaning was made more prominent by putting the interrogative word between swa . . swd 'as . . as ' : swd-hwa-swd ' whoever,' swd-hwat-swa ' whatever,' swd-hwilc-swd ' whichever." In ME the first swd was dropped in these groups : whg-sg, what-sg. In Late OE a/re ' ever,' ' always ' is sometimes added like the older a — though more loosely— to express indefiniteness, as in eall pcEt afre h§ist was (Chronicle 1048) 'whatever was best'; and in ME this usage was much extended, whence the MnE whosoever, whatsoever, and, with dropping of the now super- fluous so, whoever, whatever, whichever, etc. 1147. In OE the noun wiht ' creature,' ' thing,' came to be regarded almost as a pronoun, and when the indefinite a- was prefixed to it, the origin of the resulting noun-pronoun dwiht was forgotten, and it was contracted to duht, dht, aht. The prefix a- also appears in the form of 0-, whence the parallel forms owiht, oht. Hence ME has both auht, aht, and ouht, oht. In OE negative forms were obtained by prefixing n- : ndwiht, nduht, naht, nowiht, noht, whence ME nauht, naht, and nouhi, noht. The fluctuation between au and ou in these words still continued in MnE, even when the two spellings had come to represent the same sound (o). We now write only aught, making an arbitrary distinction between naught and nought. In OE nauht, etc. were used as adverbs=' not at all,' ' by no means,' and in ME they became less and less emphatic, especially in the weak forms, which dropped the h, becoming tiat, not, which at last became equivalent to the older ne ' not.' In the Present spoken English the strong forms aught and naught, nought have been superseded by anything and nothing from OE anig ping, ndn ping. But we still keep the derivative naughty, which in Early MnE had the older meaning ' good for nothing,' ' worthless ' ; and we use nought to express the zero in arithmetic, writing naught in the sense of ' nothing ' — a sense which is now obsolete in the spoken language. But (ot) is in common colloquial use § II5I.] INDEFINITE PRONOUNS. 357 as a shortened form oi nought, as in (desimsl ot wBn)=-oi. This form probably arose from the frequent use of nought after numbers ending in n — one, seven, nine, ten — (wBn not) being naturally shortened to (wBn ot), the shortened form being then used after all the other numerals as well. 1148. some=OE sum has two forms, strong (s-^m) and weak (S9m) [61]. It is still used as a plural noun-pronoun, the singular being represented by the compounds someone, somebody, something. In ME the two indefinite pronouns sum and what were combined in sumwhat to express the same meaning as something ; somewhat is now used only as an adverb. 1149. any=the OE noun and adjective anig, formed from an ' one ' by the derivative ending -ig, which causes mutation of the preceding vowel. In Late ME §ni was back-shortened (793) to eni, which was often made into ant by the influence of an. Early MnE has both eny and any; and MnE keeps the former in speech, the latter in writing. The OE negative nanig was supplanted by ngn in ME. any is now used only as an adjective, the corresponding noun being represented by the compound anyone, anybody, anything. In Early MnE any was still used as a noun : who is here so vile? . . . if any, speak ! (Shakespere). 1150. other=the OE strong noun and adjective oper : pas opres nama ' the other man's name,' pa. opre m§nn ' the other men.' For the later inflections of other see §§ 1056, 1057, 1151. The reciprocal noun-pronouns one another, each other are now inseparable compounds, but their elements were originally separate words with independent inflections ; they love each other meant originally 'they love, each-one (nom.) the-other (ace.).' In OE we find such constructions as aghwaper operne oftrcEdlice utdrdfde ' each the-other repeat- edly drove out ' (said of the five sons of a king) ; and even in Early MnE we still find reminiscences of the original 358 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1152. construction : with greedy force each other doth assail (Spenser). Quantitative. For much, more, most ; a little, less, least, see §§ 1051, 1052. For enough see § 1035. 1152. both=ME bgpe from OE *la-}>d 'both those,' 'both the,' ba being the fern, and neut. form corresponding to the masc. legen ' both,' just as the fem. and neut. two, ' two ' cor- respond to the masc. iwegen. 1153. each:=OE die from *dgiVic, literally 'ever each,' where the ge- has the same collective meaning as in gefera ' companion,' etc. ale in ME became ^Ich, and — with the same dropping of the / as in which — ^ch, the Northern form being ilk, which was thus confounded with ilk 'same'=OE ilea, each is still a noun as well as an adjective, though there is also a compound noun-form each one. 1154. every is a ME compound of afre (1146) and die, the earliest ME form being prflch, then gvrich, which in Late ME was shortened to ^veri. every is now used only as an adjective, the noun being represented by the compounds everyone, everybody, everything. 1155. either =0E agper, aghwceper from * dgihwcBper. OE agper has the meaning of Latin uterque 'each of two,' ' both of two,' the meaning ' one of two,' Latin alteruier, being expressed by dhwcBper without the collective ge-, which often shortened to duper, dper. The difference of meaning is is seen in such sentences as on agpere healfe eas ' on both sides of the river ' and gif he duper pissa forldtt ' if he gives up either of these two things.' In ME the pronoun guper=OE duper was gradually disused, and liper=0'E Sgper was used to express both meanings. In MnE either is now restricted to the alternative meaning alteruter. In ME both iiper and guper continued to be used as con- junctions, weak guper being contracted to gper,gr, or. gper . . or § U59.] NUMERALS: CARDINAL. 359 'either . . or' — in which the first member kept its fuller form because it kept the strong stress — was in Late ME made into ^ifer . . or, as in MnE. 1156. In OE there was a negative form corresponding to Super: nahwcEper, nduper, naper, nohwcBper, 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-formation n^iper on the analogy of pper, being used both as a pronoun and as the first member of the correlative conjunction-group upper . . . nor, as in MnE. 1157. In MnE either and neither are used both as adjec- tives and as nouns. 1158. There are a few quantitative pronouns remaining, whose etymology and history deserves notice : — several has the same form in ME and old French; it comes from the Late Latin separdlis, corresponding to Old Latin separdbilis ' separable.' fe-w^O^/ea,/eawe plur. many=OE manig, Late West-Saxon manig by the ana- logy of anig. ME mani, meni with back-shortening. Early MnE (mani, meni). NUMERALS. Cardinal. 1159. The cardinal numerals 1-12 are expressed by the following isolated words : — one. OE an. two. OE masc. twegen, neut. and fem. twd. Already in the Earliest ME twd was extended to the masc. : twd men— OE twegen m^nn. But tweien, tweie=OE, twegen was pre- served, and, indeed, survives in the present literary English in the form of twain, but was used indiscriminately in all 360 ACCIDENCE. [§ ii5o. three genders. In Late ME iwg=0^ iwd became two by the same influence of the w as in who (1073). In Early MnE the (w) of (twuu) was soon absorbed, giving (tuu). three. OE prie, neut. and fem. preo. In ME the latter form was extended to the masc, becoming _^r? in Late ME. foTir. OE feower, which in ME became fower, four, the e being absorbed by the two lip-consonants between which it stood. five. OE/if, absolute /"z/s. /if, like the other isolated numerals above three, though uninflected when joined to a noun, is generally inflected when used absolutely : /if m^nn, heora war on fife ' there were five of them.' In ME both forms were kept, the conjoint fif and the absolute five, the latter being by degrees extended to the conjoint use, whence the MnE/w^. six. OE siex, six, Anglian sex. seven. OE seofon. eight. OE eahta, Anglian ahta, whence ME eighte. nine. OE nigon. ME nigen, nin, absolute nine. ten. OE tien, Anglian ten. ME ten with shortening. eleven. OE indleofan. ME enleven, elleven, absolute e'hvene. twelve. OE tuu^lf absolute tioilfe. ME iwelf twelve. 1160. The teen-numerals 13-19 are compounds of the units with -fiene, Anglian -tene : — thirteen. OE pritiene, pritfiene, preotiene. ME prtttene. The MnE form shows the same consonant-transposition as in third (1170). fourteen. OE feower tiene. fifteen. OE fif tune. In ME fiftene the i was shortened before the consonant-group. sixteen. OE sixtiene. seventeen. OE seofonttene. eighteen. OE eahtafiene, AngUan ahtatene. ME eighietme, contracted eightene. \ § Ii6s.] NUMERALS: CARDINAL. 361 nineteen. OE nigontime. ME nigentene, nintene. 1161. The ty-numerals 20-90 are formed in OE by com- bining the units with -tig, which was originally a noun meaning ' a lot of ten,' ' half a score,' so that twenty originally meant ' two tens.' The numerals '70-90 also prefix hund- : — twenty. OE twentig from * twegen-tig , twentig. thirty. OE prttig, J>rittig. ME. /rz'/tf, Late East-Midland J>irti, with the same trahsposition as in third. forty. O'E/eowertig. fifty. GE/t/tig. WEfifti. sixty. OE sixtig. seventy. OE hundseofontig. ME seoventig, seventi, eighty. OE hundeahiatig , Anglian hundcehtatig. ninety. OE hundnigontig. 1162. In OE the ty-numerals are sometimes declined as adjectives, as in cefter pritigra daga face ' after the space of thirty days.' When undeclined they are used in their original function of nouns governing the genitive : sixtig mila brad ' sixty miles broad.' 1163. The high numerals hundred and thousand are in OE neuter nouns, hund, hundred and J>usend, governing the genitive : twd hund wintra ' 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 viillio, ace. mlllionem formed from Latin rriille 'thousand.' billion, trillion, etc. are niuch later formations, in which the Latin prefixes bi- and tri- (as in biennial, triennial) were substituted for the initial syllable of million, so that billion was regarded as a sort of contraction of *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.' 1165. Numeral-groups are either eumtilative, as in 36a ACCIDENCE. [§ 1166. twenty-five— 20 + 5, or miiltiple, as in two hundred-= 2 x 100. In such cumulative groups as twenty-five the units always came first in GE.—fif and twentig manna — and we still say five-and-twenty as well as twenty-five, but only with the lower ty-numerals ; thus we hardly ever say he is five and fifty. 1166. In speaking we generally count by hundreds up to 1900, especially in dates. Thus 1066, 1891 are called ten hundred and sixty-six, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, or, more briefly ten sixty-six, eighteen ninety-one. 1167. The high numerals are not used alone, but require a or one before them, the latter when emphatic, as in one hundred, not two hundred, a in a hundred, a thousand, etc. may be the indefinite article, but is more probably the weak one, as in a day or two (1137. i). 1168. In MnE all the numerals are treated as adjectives followed by nouns in the plural, a-hundred, etc. being a kind of group-adjective: ten men, twenty men, a hundred men, two thousand men. 1169. But all the numerals can also be used as nouns with plurals in -s. They necessarily become nouns when their head-word is suppressed, as in units, tens, and hundreds, to go on all fours, there were ten of us ; but even when the head- word is expressed, the numeral may be made into a noun whenever it has any independence of meaning, as in thousands of people. Ordinal. 1170. Most of the ordinal numerals are derivatives of the cardinal ones, but the first two ordinals are expressed by distinct words : — first is the OE fyrest, which originally meant ' foremost ' (1047) ; but this meaning was sometimes so much weakened that fyrest became practically equivalent to forma, which is the regular OE ordinal corresponding to an. § 1 1 73.] numerals: ordinal. 363 second was introduced in ME, being the French form of Latin secundus. The OE word was oper, which was discarded because of the ambiguity resulting from it having also the meaning ' other.' third=0E/rz'(f(/i2, Late Northumbrian /z>-(/i2, M.'E.fiirde. The other OE ordinals below 20 are formed from the cardinals by adding -f>a, the f> becoming t after s or /] and final n of the cardinals being dropped : — toiixct'h.= 0^ /iower/>a, _/'eorJ>a, ME yourJ>e [C^^. fourteen, foriyl] flfth=OE /Ifta, ME Ji/ie, Early MnE fi/t. In later MnE the ih was restored by the influence of the other ordinals, as also in Early MnE sixi. sixth =0E stxta. seventli=OE seofopa is a Late ME new-formation direct from the cardinal. So also ninth, tenth, eleventh. eighth. =0E eahtopa, Anglian ahtopa, where the is the older form of the a in the cardinal eahta, ahta. ninth =0E nigopa. tenth =0E teopa with the unmutated vowel of the cardinal tien. eleventh =0E §ndleofta. twelfth=OE twelfta. 1171. The OE teen-ordinals end in -teopa, which in ME was made in -tenpe, a new-formation from the cardinal ending -tene, as \v\. jiftenpe-=QiEf If teopa. 1172. The OE ty-ordinals end in -tigopa, -tiogopa, which in ME became -teope, and then -tipe by the influence of the cardinals : OE twenttgopa, Late ME twentipe. In Early MnE e was introduced by the analogy of the verb-inflection -eth, but these ordinals were still pronounced (twenti}?, Jjirti]?), etc., although the spelling has now altered the pronunciation into (twenti-ijj), etc. 1173. In Early MnE the ordinal ending -th was extended to the high numerals, which before had no ordinal forms : 3154 ACCIDENCE. [§ ii?4. hundredth, which was pronounced (hundre})), thousandth, millionth. 1174. The OE ordinals were inflected as weak adjectives. 1175. In ordinal groups only the last member of the group takes the ordinal form, the others being left in the shorter cardinal form : twenty-fifth or five-and-twentieth, hundred and second. This usage prevailed already in OE, as in on fidm tooa-and-twentigopan dcege, where two. is kept in the neuter, although dcEg is masculine, because it forms a sort of group compound with the ordinal. 1176. The ordinals are used as nouns in MnE in the combination of two ordinals to express fractional numbers, as in two thirds of an inch. VERBS. Old-English. Inflections. 1177. There are two main conjugations of verbs in OE, strong and weak, distinguished mainly by 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 — 6and 'he bound' — and add -en in the preterite participle with or without vowel-change, ge- being often prefixed, in weak as well as strong verbs— geiunden 'bound'; while weak verbs, such as hteran ' hear,' form their preterite and preterite participle with the help o( d or t: hierde, gehiered. 1178. The following are the chief verb endings of the active voice, including the preterite participle passive. Where two endings are 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. § "83.] VERBS: OLD ENGLISH. Z^S Indicative. Present Singular i 2 3 Plural Preterite Singular i 2 3 Plural Imperative Singular Plural -e -St -> -ap -, -de -e, -dest -, -de -on, -don -, -, {e-, -a) -ap Participle Present Preterite Subjunctive. -e •e -e -en -e, -de -e, -de -e, -de -en, -den Infinitive -an Gerund -enne -ende -en, -ed. H79. Verbs whose root ends in a vowel generally contract ; thus seen ' to see/ gan ' to go,' conjugate ic seo, ic gd, we seop, we gap compared with ic binde, we bindap. 1180. For the plural ending -ap, both indie, and imper., -e is substituted when the pronoun comes immediately after the verb : ge bindap, but binde ge. So also ga ge 1 compared with ge gap. These forms were originally subjunctives, binde ge being a shortening of binden ge. So also in gd we ' let us go.' This change was often extended by analogy to the ending -on, as in mo/e we ' may we,' sohte ge ' ye sought ' compared with we moton, ge sohton. 1181. The passive voice, and many forms of the active voice as well, are expressed by the combination of auxiliary verbs with the pret. partic. and, more rarely, the pres. partic. The chief auxiliary verbs are wesan ' be,' weorpan ' become,' and habban ' have,' as in he was gefunden, he wearp gefunden ' he was found,' he is gecumen ' he has come,' he hcefp gefunden ' he has found.' 1182. But besides the pret. partic, there is a trace of the old Germanic passive in the form hdtte from hdtan, which is both pres. ' is named, called,' and pret. ' was called.' 1183. The infinitive was originally an indeclinable abstract noun formed from the corresponding verb, so that hindan originally meant ' binding,' ' act of binding.' The gerund is a 366 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1184. similarly formed noun in the dative case governed by the preposition to, which always precedes it, as in he is to cumenne 'he is to come '= Latin venturus est. It often takes the a of the infin. — to cumanne. 1184. The pret. partic, as already stated, generally takes ge- before it ; but not if the verb already has ge- or a similar inseparable prefix, as in forgiefen ' forgiven,' aimed ' re- deemed.' In West- Saxon kuran generally takes ge- through- out : gehleran, gehiered. 1185. Both participles are declined like adjectives : we sindon gecumene, he hcefp hine gefundenne ' he has found him,' literally ' he possesses him found.' But in the later language the pret. partic. in combination with auxiliary habban became indeclinable through the original meaning having been forgotten : he hcefp hine gefunden. 1186. In the older language the second person sing, ends in -s : pu lufas ' thou lovest,' pit lufades. But already in Early West-Saxon the regular forms are lufast, lufadest. 1187. In Late Northumbrian inflectional p became f : he bindes, we bindas. 1188. In Late OE the subj. plur. ending -en was made into -on by the influence of the indie, as in gyf hy wdron ' if they were,' compared with Early West-Saxon gif Me waren. 1189. In Late OE the -st of the 2nd pers. sing. pret. indie, of weak verbs is extended to the subj. : gyf pu lufodest ' if you loved '= Early West-Saxon ^zj^/a lifode. Strong Verbs. 1190. In the strong verbs the plur. of the pret. indie, often has a vowel different from that of the sing. : ic band, we bundon. The 2nd sing. pret. indie, and the whole pret. subj. always have the vowel of the pret. plur. indie. : pu bunde, gif ic bunde, gif we bunden. The following are the Early West-Saxon inflections of the strong verb iindan : — § 1I92-] VERBS: OLD ENGLISH. 367 Indie. Subj. Pres. Sing, i binde binde 2 bindest, bintst binde 3 binde]}, bint binde Plur. bindap binden Pret. Sing, i band bunde 2 bunde bunde 3 band bunde Plur. bundon bunden Imper. Sing. bind In fin. bindan Plur. bindap Gerund to bindenne Partic. Pres. bindende Pret. gebunden. 1191. Some strong verbs are inflected like weak verbs every- \vhere except in the preterite forms. Thus sw§rian ' swear,' pret. jwor, is inflected like y^rw« (1208) : pres. indie, sw^rige, swgrest, sw§rep, swgriap ; subj. pres. sw§rige, swgrigen ; imper. swgre, swgriap ; pres. partic. swgrigende. Many- strong verbs with double consonants, such as biddan ' pray,' ' ask' pret. bced, are inflected like saltan (1207) : pres. indie. bidde, biist (bidest), bitt (bidep), hiddap ; subj. pres. bidde, bidden ; imper. bide, biddap ; pres. partic. hiddende. All of these verbs, both strong and weak, had a / before their endings in Germanic (768) — *swarjan, *farjan, *bidjan, *satjan ; and hence all of them mutate their root-vowels. The strong verb wepan 'weep' is also a 'j-verb,' as shown by its mutation, the Anglian form being wcepan, and is declined like the weak verb hieran, which however has the same endings as a strong verb in the infinitive and present tenses, and so there is nothing to distinguish the inflections of wepan from those of the ordinary j-less strong verbs : pres. wepe, wepst (wepest), ivepp {ivepep), wepap ; imper. wep, etc. 1192. The Germanic forms of the endings -st, -p were -is, -ip, which are still preserved ia the oldest English : bindis, bindip. In West-Saxon these endings mutated a preceding vowel and then dropped their own vowels, as in pu lycst, hit grewp from lUcan ' close,' ' lock,' growan ' grow.' The re- 368 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1193- suiting consonant-combinations were modified in variouS: ways (767) : tp, dp, ddp were made into tt, t, as in latt ' lets,' but ' waits,' bitt ' asks,' stgnt ' stands ' from Idtan ' let,' bidan, biddan, standan ; and sp became st, as in aesi ' chooses ' from ceosan. Similar changes took place in the 2nd pars. sing. : pu bitst ' you ask,'/w ciest. In Anglian the full endings -es (-est), -ep were restored, the unmutated vowels being at the same time restored : /etep, bidep, bidep, biddep, stgndep ; biddes, ceoses. 1193. The vowel-changes in the strong verbs are gener- ally due to gradation (770), which is often accompanied by consonant-change, as in weorpan, geworden {IQQ). But in some verbs the vowel of the pret. is the result of contraction of Germanic and Arian reduplication; thus Mold 'held' (infin. healdan) is a contraction of *hehold, *hehald. Traces of this reduplication are preserved in a few OE preterites, such as he-ht, later hit (infin. hdtan 'call,' ' command ')= Germanic *hehait (Gothic haihait). 1194. The following are the classes under which the strong verbs fall according to their vowel-changes, each class being named after a characteristic verb. A few exam- ples only are given of each class. The special Anglian forms are given in ( ). The forms are given in the order infin., pret. sing., pret. plur., pret. partic. I. Reduplicative or fall-class. 1195. The pret. sing, and plur. has eo or e, the pret. partic. keeping the vowel of the infin. : — feallan {fallan) ' fall ' feoll healdan (hdldan) 'hold' heold cnawan 'know' cneow growan ' grow ' greow beatan ' beat ' beat hatan ' command ' he{h)t l&tan ' let ' let feollon heoldon feallen {fallen) healden \halden) cneowon cnanuen greowon beoton growen beaten he{h)ton leton haten men §1199-] VERBS; OLD ENGLISH. 369 II. Shake-class. 1196. These verbs have in the infin. a, ea, or, in j-verbs the mutations /, ie, in the pret. sing, and plur. 0, in the pret. partic. a, cb : — faran ' go ' for firon far en scacan ' shake ' scoc scocon scacen h§bban (768) ' raise ' hof ho/on hafen, hcefen III. Bind-class. 1197. In the infin. i, ie, e, eo followed by two consonants one at least of which is nearly always a vowellike con- sonant — r, l,n,m; in the pret. sing, a, ce, ea ; in the pret. plur. u ; in the pret. partic. u, 0. bindan 'bind' band, bgnd gieldan (geldan) ' pay ' geald (gdld) helpan ' help ' Aealp {half) berstan (764) ' burst ' bcerst weorpan ' become ' wearp feohtan (fehtan) ' fight ' feaht {fcekf) IV. Bear-class. bundon guidon hulpon burston wurdon fuhton bunden golden holpen borsten •warden fohten 1198. In the infin. e, ie, i followed by a single consonant which is generally vowellike ; in brecan the vowellike conso- nant precedes the vowel ; in the pret. sing, a, a, ea ; in the pret. plur. a, ea, 0, a ; in the pret. partic. 0, u : — beran ' carry ' bizr b&ron boren brecan ' break ' brcec br&con brocen scieran {sceran) ' cut ' scear (scar) scearon {scerori) scoren niman ' take ' nam, npm nomon, ndmon numen V. Give-class. 1199. In the infin. e, ie, and, in the j-verbs i, followed by a single, non-vowellike consonant, this class differing from the last only in the pret. partic, which keeps the vowel of the infin., the mutated i of the j-verbs returning to e : — VOL. I. B b 370 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1200. sprecan ' speak ' sprac spr&con sprecen giefan{gefan)'%\ve^' geaf{g(Bf) geafon {ge/on) giefen {gefen) sittan ' sit ' sat s&ton seten licgan'We' lag lagon,l&gon legen VI. Shine-class. 1200. In the infin. l ; pret. sing, a ; pret. plur. and pret. partic. i: — ■ drlfan ' drive ' iira/ drifon drifen sclnan ' shine ' scan scinon scinen writan ' write ' wrat writon writen VII. Choose-class. 1201. In the infin. eo, u ; pret. sing, ea ; pret. plur. u ; pret. partic. o : — beodan ' command ' bead budon boden ceosan ' choose ' ceas curon coren freosan 'freeze' freas fruron froren bugan ' bend ' beag, beak bugon bogen Weak Verbs. 1202. The weak verbs fall under two main groups, ac- cording as the vowel of the infin. is mutated or not. The mutation-group comprises two classes, the hear-class (hieran) and the wean-class {winian), the unmutated verbs consti- tuting the third or love-class (lufiaii). I. Hear-class. 1203. The following are the Early West-Saxon forms : — Indie. Subj. Pres. Sing. I Mere hiere 3 hierst Mere 3 Merp Mere Plur. Merap Meren Pret. Sing, i Merde Merde 2 Merdest Merde 3 Merde Merde Plur. Merdon Merden § 1206.] VERBS; OLD ENGLISH. 37 1 Imper. Sing. hier Infin. hieran Plur. hieraf) Gerund to hierenne Paitic. Pres. hierende Pret. hiered. 1204. This class adds -de in the pret. and -ed in the pret. partic, where the e is liable to be dropped when an inflec- tional vowel is added, as in the nom. plur. gehierde. Verbs ending in /, d, c drop the e in the uninflected form also, as in as^nd ' sent ' (infin. dsgndan), where if is a shortening of dd. After the breath-consonants /, c the inflectional d is unvoiced, and c becomes h : metan ' find,' ' meet ' gemeit, tacan ' show ' getaht. But the full forms ds^nded, gemeted also occur, especially in Anglian. Similar changes take place in the pret. -tde, -p(p)de become -Ite, -pie, as in gemelte ' found,' dypie ' dipped ' (infin. dyppaii). The inflectional d is also unvoiced after w and the other breath-consonants, as in missan ' miss ' miste, compared with rasde ' rushed ' from rasan, where the j=(z). In dypte the / is, of course, a shortening of //. There are similar shortenings in s§ndan, stride, fyllan,fylde, etc. 1205. 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 : — saltan ' give ' sealde {salde) geseald {gesald) seCan (s&can) ' seek ' soMe, sohte gesoht, gesoht 1206. Those with n followed by c or g—J>§ncan ' think,' bringan ' bring ' — drop the nasal and lengthen the preceding vowel and modify it in other ways : p^ncan, pohle, gepohi = Germanic *pankjan, *panhia, an before h having been regularly changed to nasal d, which in OE as regularly became 5. Long vowels were shortened in OE before ht, so that pohte, etc. became pohte. Seek-verbs in -^cc carry the B b 2 372 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1207. mutated vowel / into the pret. and pret. partic. in Late West- Saxon : str^ccan, ' stretch,' streahte, streaht {slrcehie, s(rcBhi) later strghte, striht. 1207. It will be observed that all verbs of the hear-class have long syllables in the infin. — either a long vowel, as in Meran, or a vowel followed by two consonants, as in sgndan, fyllan. In the latter verb the // is Germanic [cp. the adjec- tive full\ and is therefore kept through all the inflections of the verb, except where / is written for // before a consonant in contracted forms : pres. indie, fylle, fyllest {/yisi), fyllep {/yip), fyllap ; imper. sing, fyll, etc. But most of the verbs of this class with double consonants in the infin., such as s^ttan ' set,' are inflected like strong j-verbs such as biddan (1191), the double consonant being also shortened in the pret. and pret. partic. : pres. indie, sitte, sglst {s§tes), s^tt (sitep), s§iiap; subj. j///e(«); imper. j//^, j///fl/ ; pres. part. j/Z/^w^; pret. s§ite=^*s§tede, pret. partic. ges§ted, ges§tt. Some of these verbs belong to the seek-division, such as s§cgan ' say ' : pres. indie, siege, s^gst {sfges), sfgj> {s^gep), sgcgap ; imper. ^iS^, ^icgap ; pres. partic. sicgende ; pret. scEgde, pret. partic. gescEgd. So also s^Uan has pres. indie. s^He, sglp (s§lep\ s^llap, imper. s^le, s^llap, etc. II. Wean-class. 1208. All of these verbs have infin. -ian and a short root- syllable with a mutated vowel. They form their pret. in -ede, and their pret. partic. in -ed, which is never contracted. The following are the Early West-Saxon forms of winian ' accus- tom ' : — Indie. Subj. Pres. Sing, i ■winige w^nige 2 ivgnest •wgnige 3 w§nep •wgnige Plur. wgniap winigen § I2I0.J VERBS; OLD ENGLISH. 373 Indie. Subj. Pret. Sing, i ■w^nede wgnede 2 wgnedest ■wgnede 3 wgnede •wgnede Plur. winedon ■wgneden Imper. Sing. wgne Infin. "wgnian Plur. ■wgniaj) Gerund to wgnigenne Partic. Pres. w^nigende Pret. gew§ned. So nho/^rian ' can ry ' \Jaran ' ' go '] styrian ' stir.' III. Love-class. 1209. In Germanic these verbs had infinitives -an, -on, of which -ian is a later development and therefore does not cause mutation like the -ian of the wean-class, which is of Germanic origin. The following are the Early West-Saxon forms : — Indie. Subj. Pres. Sing, i 2 3 Plur. lufige lufast lufap lufiap lufige lufige lufige lufigen Pret. Sing. I 2 3 Plur. lufode lufodest lufode lufodon lufode lufode lufode lufoden [mper. Sing. Plur. lufa lufiap Infin. Gerund lufian to lufigenne Partic. Pres. lufigende Pret. gelufod. So also dscian ' ask,' macian ' make,' and many others. Irregular Weak Verbs. 1210. Some weak verbs, such as libban ' live,' show a mixture of the inflections of the hear- and the love-class : pres. indie, libbe, leofast, leofaj?, libbap ; subj. libbe{ri) ; imper. 374 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1 21 1. leofa, libbap ; pies, partic. libhende ; pret. lifde, pret. partic. gelifd. Preterite-present Verbs. 1211. These verbs have for their presents old strong pre- terites ; thus the preterite-^present verb wdt ' I know ' was originally a strong preterite of the shine-class. The present of these verbs differs however from the strong preterites in the 2nd sing, indie, which ends in / or st, a /before the inflectional / also becoming .r : icsceal'l shall/ /^ scealt; id cann ' I know,' fm canst ; ic wdt ' I know,' />u wast. 1212. From these presents new weak preterites are formed with various irregular changes : sceolde, cupe, wiste. 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 inflec- tions of witan ' know ' : — Indie. Subj. Pres. Sing, i •mat wite 2 wast wite 3 •wat wite Plur. •witon witen Pret. Sing, i ■wiste wiste 2 wistest wiste 3 wiste wiste Plur. wiston wisten Imper. Sing. wite Infin. witan Plur. witap Gerund to witenne Partic. Pres. witende Pret. witen. Middle-English. Early Middle English 1214. The ME levelling of weak vowels under e had a comparatively slight eff'ect on the verb inflections, especially § 1320.] VERBS; EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH. 375 in Early Southern, where the OE verb-inflections were pre- served very faithfully. But the inevitable change of -a, -ast, -ap, -ode into -e, -est, -ep, -ede, as in luve, Invest, luvep, luvcde = 0E lufa, lufast, lufap, lufode, necessarily led to a complete levelling of the old wean- and love-classes of weak verbs, the ME love-class including all the OE ian-verbs whether accom- panied by mutation or not. 1215. The Southern tendency to drop final n first aff'ected the infin. and pret. partic. : Early Southern binden, binde , ibunden, ibunde. 1216. The tendency to shorten double consonants in weak syllables made the OE gerund to bindenne into ME id bindene. 1217. The tendency to drop final weak e after another weak syllable (794) led to the shortening of to bindene into to binden, which made it liable to be confused with the infin. So also luvie^OK lufige, lufian was often shortened to luvi. In the South-Thames dialects this -z 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. -an. 1218. In Early Southern the pres. partic. ending is -inde, as in bmdinde, herinde, which probably owes its i to the influ- ence of the verbal nouns in -inge, -ing=OE -ing, -ung, such as lermnge=.OE. leornung. 1219. Early Southern keeps the prefix i- = 0'Ege- : ibunden, ihered-= OE gebunden, gehered. 1220. The most important change in the strong verbs is that many of them became weak. Already in OE such verbs as sldpan ' sleep,' ondrddan ' fear,' had the weak preterites sldpte, ondrdtdde by the side of the strong slip, ondred ; in Late West-Saxon h^bban ' raise ' has the weak pret. h§fde by the side of strong hof, and so on. In ME this is carried much further. Thus even in the earliest ME we find the OE strong preterites let ' let,' weop ' wept ' represented not 376 'accidence. [§1221, only by let, weop, but also by the weak lette, wepte, although such forms as wep still survive in Standard Late ME. Many other weak and strong forms existed side by side for a long time ; and although in MnE the weak forms have nearly always prevailed, this was not always the case in ME, where, for instance, such a weak pret. as he/de ' raised ' was in the Late ME period discarded in favour of the new-formed strong pret. haf, the old ^^ being also preserved. 1221. The inflections of the strong verbs that remained were modified by various levelling influences. The muta- tion in the contracted forms of the OE presents was got rid of by bringing in the unmutated vowel of the infin., etc., as in berp ' carries,' tret ' treads,' stont ' stands,' infin. beren, treden, stgnden=-Y,z.x\y West-Saxon bierp {birep), tritt, st^nt. 1222. The gradation of consonants in the OE ceosan, gecoren, etc. was got rid of by carrying the s through : cheosen, chesen, chp, uhosen. 1223. In this last verb we can also observe the extension of ch^O'E c to the original c of the pret. partic, so as to make initial ch uniform through the whole verb. We can observe the opposite levelling of ch under c in such verb-forms as kerven, kar/=.OE. ceor/an, cearf, which have taken their back-consonant from the OE pret. plur. curfon and pret. partic. cor/en. 1224. But in some verbs the old consonant-gradations were preserved, as mforlesen '\o%q,' /orlp,/orloren. 1225. Some of the ME changes had the contrary effect of creating new distinctions. Thus OE a, a was regularly shortened before consonant-groups, and the resulting cb was afterwards broadened to a (797), as in the OE pret. tahie ' showed,' which in ME passed through tmhte into tahte, whence MnE taught. In many preterites and pret. participles these changes gave rise only to divergence of quantity, as in meten, mette, imet= OE gemetan, etc., and in Northern ledde— Southern ladde from l^den ' lead' = OE ladan, ladde. § izag.] VERBS; EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH. 377 1226. The following are the inflections of the strong verb binden, and of the weak verbs heren ' hear ' and luvt'en, as representatives of the two classes of weak verbs in Early Southern : — Pres. Indie. Sing, i iinde hire luvie 2 bindest, bintst her{e)st luvest 3 bindep, bint her(e)P luvep Plur. bindep herep luvie]} Pres. Subj. Sing. binde here luvie Plur. binden heren luvten Pret. Indie. Sing, i bgnd herde luvede 2 bunde herdest luvedest 3 bgnd herde luvede Plur. bunden herden luveden Pret. Subj. Sing, i bunde herde luvede 2 bunde herdest luvedest 3 bunde herde luvede Plur. bunden herden luveden Imper. Sing. bind here luvie Plur. bindep here}) luviep Infin. binden heren luvien Gerund bindene herene luviene Partic. Pres. bindinde herinde luviinde Pret. ibunden iher{e)d iluved. 1227. In the forms binde ?e, bicnde ge, -e is substituted for -ep (1180). 1228. It will be observed that the distinction between the two classes of weak verbs is very slight, the z' of the love-class being often dropped — i luve, we luvep, etc. — while the imper. sing, here has taken the e of luvie, luve. Midland. 1229. In Early Midland many levellings which are only just beginning in Early Southern are fully carried out. The love-class lost their i entirely, and as the hear-class generally had the full Anglian endings -est, -ep, there is only 378 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1 2 so- one set of inflections for the two classes : her en, lu/en= Southern heren, luvien. On the other hand, the contracted forms of the hear-class are extended to the love-class, as in birp ' befits,' ' becomes ' pret. di'rde = OE gehyrep, gehyrede, infin. gebyrian (wean-class). 1230. The characteristic feature of the Midland verb is its extension of the plur. ending -en of the subj. pres. and of the pret. indie, and subj. — gif pei lufen, pei comen ' came,' gifpei comen, pei brohten — to the present indie, plur. : we lufen, pei f«»z««= Southern we luviep, heo cumep. But the older -(e)p is kept in the imper. plur. : cumep I, bep ! 'be ye ' = Southern cumep, beop. 1231. In Early Midland the gerund was completely levelled under the infin. : to binden, to heren. 1232. In Midland the pres. partic. keeps the old ending : bindende, herende, lufende. The n of the infin. and strong pret. partic. is never dropped as in Southern. The pret. partic. loses its prefix ge-. 1233. The distinction between single and double conso- nant forms in the old j-verbs, such as hgbban, h^/ep, ho/, ha/en and libban, leofap, li/de, which was still kept up in Early Southern — hebben, hevep; libben, levep, livep — began to break down in Early Midland through the extension of the single consonant forms ; thus in Early Midland we find pres. plur. indie. /z/^«= Early Southern libbep, although the older infin. libben is still kept in Early Midland ; but hefen is used not only as a pres. plur., but also as an infin. Northern. 1234. In the Northern dialect inflectional p had been changed to s, and final n had begun to drop off already in the OE period : Old Northumbrian bindes, bindas, <5z«, -aj>. Hence in Early Northern -es became the common ending of the 2nd and 3rd persons indie, pres. sing. In the pres. indie, plur. -es ■= older -as, -ias was dropped when the verb was immediately pre- ceded or followed by its pronoun : we pat bindes, men bindes ; we bind, pat bind. The ' absolute ' form was afterwards ex- tended to the ist pers. sing, as well; t pat bindes. 1236. The n of the strong pret. partic. was not lost in Old Northumbrian because of the inflected forms gebundene, etc., by whose influence the n was restored in the uninflected form ; hence it was always kept in the ME Northern dialect as well. 1237. The Northern form of the pres. partic. is -and: bindand, ^^rarafi?= Midland and QiEbindende, herende, Southern bindinde, herinde. This a is the result of Scandinavian influ- ence : Icel. bindandi, heyrandi. 1238. The following are then the most distinctive verb- inflections of the three dialects in their Early Middle periods : — Southern. Midland. Northern. Indie. Pres. Sing. l binde binde bind 2 bindest, bintst bindest bindes 3 bindep, bint bindep bindes Plur. bindep binden bind(es) 380 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1239. Southern. Midland. Northern. Imper. Sing, bind bind bind Plur. bindep bindep bind(es) Pres. Partic. bindinde bindende bindand Late Middle-English. 1239. The most important change in Standard ME and in Late South-Thames English generally is the further assimi- lation of the pres. partic. to the verbal nouns in -inge by which the earlier bindinde became lindinge, a change of which we see traces already in Early Southern, as in heo riden sing- inge ' they rode singing '=0E Me ridon singende. But as the verbal nouns also occur without final -e, the distinction be- tween lerninge partic. and lerning noun was not entirely lost. 1240. Early ME d was changed to / in the weak pret. and pret. partic. of verbs in rd. Id, nd : girte, girt, infin. girden ; bilte, hilt infin. bilden ; wente, went infin. wenden ■=■ Early Southern gUrde, giird; billde, biild; wende, wend. This change served to distinguish such forms as he sende pres.subj. and he senie pret., which in Early ME were both expressed by the first form. But it is also carried out in some words with /, //, n, nn: felen 'ietV/elte; dwellen, dwelte ; mpien, menie; brennen 'burn,' brente; and after J=(z) and v, where it un- voices these consonants : losien=0'E losian, lode; lpen=0'E la/an, lefte, lafte. 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 hgnd is still kept up, but the short form bgnd is often extended throughout the pret. : pU bgnd, we bgnd as well as pu bounde, we bounde{n). 1242. In some verbs of the bear- and give-class the e of the plural is sometimes extended to the sing, as in ber, set by the side of bar, sat— OIL beer, sat plur. baron, sdton, Anglian beron, seion. § 1248.] VERBS; LATE MIDDLE ENGLISH. 381 1243. Influence of the strong plur. pret. on the sing, is also seen in such sing, preterites as slow, ji2W=Early Southern sloh plur. slowen, Late OE sloh, slogan, 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>et bounden, pei dronken, pet wbnnen. (class 3), riden, writen (class 6) ; otherwise the plur. pret. took the vowel of the pret. partic. : pei holpen,foghten, chgsen. 1245. The sing, of the imper. began to be extended to the plur : hind ' bind ye ' by the side of bindep. 1246. In the love-class of weak verbs the i was dropped entirely, and the pret. ending -ede was often shortened to -ed in accordance with the general principle of dropping weak e after a weak syllable : he lovep, he loved. 1247. Some of the above changes may be the result of Midland influence, of which we have an undoubted example in the substitution of -en (-e) for -ep in the plur. indie, pres. -ep was, of course, kept in the plur. imper., although here also the Midland ending seems to occur in its shortened form -e : binde. 1248. The following are the Standard ME inflections of the three verbs whose Early ME inflections have been given already : — Pres. Indie. Sing, i binde here ISve 2 bindest her{e)st Wvest 3 binde]), bint h-er{e)} love} Plur. bmdein) herein) ISvein) Pres. Subj. Sing. binde here me Plur. bmde{n) hereifi) lSve{n) Pret. Indie. Sing, i bgnd herde ISvedifi) 2 bounde, bpnd herdest Itkiedest 3 bgnd herde lik)ed{e) Plur. boundein), bgnd herde{n) ISvedein), Idved Pret. Subj. Sing, i bounde herde ltkied{e) 2 bounde herde{sf) l&vede[st), IDzied 3 bounde herde ISvedie) Plur. bounde{n) herde(n) ISvedein), ISved 38a I ACCIDENCE. [§ 124 Imper. Sing. Plur. bind binde{J), bind h-er{,e) here{]>), her ISve ISveQ) Infin. Gerund Partic. Pres. Pret. blndein) binden{e), blnde bmdinge {t)bounde{n) herein) herenie), here heringe {i)herd llhe{n) ldtien{e), ISve liSvinge {tyikj{e)d. The following examples will show the regular development of the different classes of strong verbs : — I. Pall-class. 1249. fallen hglden fell fellen held helden fallen hglden growen kng-wen grew grewen knew knewen II. Shake-class. growen kngwen 1250. shaken shok shaken shaken waken wok woken waken laughen drawen laugh, low lowen drough, drow droiven laughen drawen Observe that the preterites of this class have split up into two groups, one with 0, the other with (uu) [806]. III. Bind-class. 1251. binden bgnd bounden bounden singen drinken sgng drank songen dronken songen dronken wtnnen kerven helpen fighten wan karf haip faught wonnen korven holpen foghten wonnen korven holpen foghten IV, Bear-class. 1252. . stglen bgren stal bar, ber stelen, stal beren, bar stglen bgren V. Give-class. 1253. ggten sitten gat sat, set geten, gat seten, sat g'lten slten § 1 257;] VERBS; MODERN ENGLISH. 383 VI. Shine-class. 1254. riden writen rgd riden wrgt writen VII. Choose-class. riden writen 1255. crepen chesen crgp crgpen ch§s chgsen crgpen chgsen Modem English. 1256. The main innovation in the MnE verb-inflections was the introduction of the Northern -s in the 3rd pers. sing, pres. indie. — he calls — which was introduced into Standard English through the medium of the Midland dialect. It did not entirely supplant the older -th — he calleth — which still survives in the higher literary language. 1257. The MnE verb is further characterized by the development of a gerund. When the pres. partic. ending -inge lost its final vowel, the last vestige of a formal distinc- tion between such a pres. partic. as lerning and the verb-noun lerning disappeared. In OE the number of verb-nouns in -ung, -ing was limited, especially in the earlier stages of the language. In ME their number increased, and when the pres. partic. in -inge was fully established, and became indis- tinguishable 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 article the before them and the prepo- sition of after them, etc. — as in he thanked him for the saving of his life, where saving is used exactly like the abstract noun preservation ; but by degrees they were treated like infinitives, the article being dropped and the following noun joined on to them as to the corresponding finite verb ; so that the above sentence was shortened to he thanked him for saving his life. 384 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1358. In such constructions, which began in Early MnE, saving etc. are true noun-verbals or gerunds. 1258. In MnE the dropping of weak final e, together with the ME tendency to drop final weak n, had a great effect in simplifying the verb-inflections. The monosyllabic bind be- came the representative of the following ME forms : pres. indie, ist pers. sing, z hinde, plur. we binde{ti), etc., pres. subj. bJnde, bmde{n). The levelling of the distinction between the pret. and pret. partic. which had begun in ME was completed in the MnE forms herd {heard), loved representing ME herde, lovedie) and (i)herd, (i)loved. Such weak verbs as set and cast became invariable in the pret. and pret. partic. : infin. set, pret. set, pret. partic. j^/=ME sette(n), sette, (i)set. Moreover in such verbs the distinction between strong and weak conjuga- tion is effaced: compare set pret. set with let pret. let=OE s§ttan, s^tte; l&tan, let. 1259. The weak vowel of the endings -est, -eth, -es, -ed was dropped in Early MnE in the spoken language, ex- cept that full -est, -es was always kept after the hiss-con- sonants (s, z ; J, 5), being subject to exactly the same rules as the noun-inflectional -es (997), as in missest, misses, risest, rises, wishes, singes. Full -ed was preserved after the point- stops /, d, as in hated, wanted, wedded, wounded=ME hatede, etc. Otherwise all these endings were shortened in speech without regard to the ME forms — in loves (luvz), lovest, lovcth (luv}3), as well as heares, hears, hearest, heareth. In this way the distinction between the two classes of weak verbs was finally done away with as far as the endings were concerned, the distinction being only partially recognizable in the sound-changes in such verbs as hear, heard (hiir, hard) ; feel, felt; teach, taught. 1260. But in the higher language the full endings -est, -eth, -ed were freely used after all consonants indifferently, especially in poetry, for the sake of the metre, -es was not used in this way because the less familiar -eth could always be § 1263.] VERBS; MODERN ENGLISH. 385 substituted for it. Some very common verbs were, however, used only in the short forms, such as dost, doth, mayst, wouldst, especially the contracted hast, hath, had^ ME havest, hast etc. -est was generally shortened in weak preterites, as in lovedst, criedst. -est and -eth are obsolete in Present English except in the higher language, in which they naturally keep their full forms, except in dost, hath etc. The higher lan- guage also keeps full -ed in many forms where the spoken language contracts, as in beloved (bi'tevid) compared with loved (iBvd), blessed are the peacemakers. 1261. The vowel of the full endings is now weak (i), as in (raizist, raiziz, raizijj, heitid), and in Early MnE as well as Late ME it was often written i,y instead of e, as in Early MnE thou spekyst, he dwellith, putty th, passid, armyd. 1262. In writing, the silent e of -es was generally omitted in Early MnE, as in sits, binds; but not after v, as in loves, nor, of course, where required to show the pronunciation of a preceding letter, as in shines. The other endings were some- times written in full, sometimes without the e, whose absence was often marked by an apostrophe : seemed, seem'd, seemd. The first two spellings continued in common use up to the second half of the last century, the full spelling being now preferred. But -aid is written without the e in monosyllables such as said, paid (Early MnE also paied, payed, payd). The omission of the e in heard compared vi\'Ca. feared is necessary to show the pronunciation. 1263. The consonant of shortened -es was assimilated as regards breath and voice to the preceding consonant in the same way as in the noun-inflections : lets, leads (l«^dz), loves (luvz). The same assimilations took place with shortened -ed: loved (luvd), breathed (br^«Sd), thanked ()jar)kt), blessed, -ed being thus used to express (t), this spelling was often extended to such preterites as burnt, smelt, which were written burned, smelted, although they come from ME brente, smelte. But the phonetic spellings thank' t, thankt {thank'd), dropt, VOL. I. C c 386 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1264. f crosi (cross' d), accurst also came into partial use, and some ) of them have become fixed, such as past in half past one compared with the time has passed quickly. The above are organic changes. We have now to consider the internal changes in the verb-inflections, beginning with those of a levelling character. 1264. The change of strong to weak verbs which we observe in ME went on in the transition from ME to MnE, and, in some cases, in MnE itself. Thus the Early MnE preterite clomb and the pret. partic. molten have now become climbed, malted. But some of the weak forms that arose in Early MnE have now been discarded, such as the Shakesperian pret. participles comed, becomed. 1265. On the other hand, several weak verbs have been made strong by the analogy of strong verbs, such as stick, stuck (OE stician, sticode) by the analogy of sting, stung; wear, wore, worn (OE w^rian, w^rede) by the analogy oi swear, swore, sworn. So also several weak verbs in -ow have taken pret. participles in -own by the analogy of kTiow, known, etc., keeping the original weak pret. : show, pret. showed, pret. partic. shown (OE sceawian, sceawode). 1266. The levelling of the short quantity of the vowels in the sing, of strong preterites under the long quantity of the pret. partic. and infin. seen in Late ME bar = Early ME bgr, bar is carried much further in MnE, as in brake, spake = Late ME brak, spak, pret. partic. brgken, infin. broken etc. When 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, bade=M.'E cam, bad, infin. comen, bidden, although the latter had a long vowel in the pret. partic. b§den. 1267. There is also a regular process of voice-levelling in the MnE strong verb, by which final (s, f) in the pret. sing, becomes voiced as in the infin. and pret. partic, as in rose, § 1270.] VERBS; MODERN ENGLISH. 387 chose, gave, drove=ME rgs, chp, gaf, drgf, infin. risen, driven etc., pret. partic. driven etc. 1268. The distinction between pret. sing, and plur. was levelled, as we have seen, in the MnE weak verbs by phonetic changes. In the strong verbs it was levelled by external, analogical changes. Already in ME strong verbs the vowel of the sing, was often carried into the plur., especially when the plur. had a vowel different from that of the pret. partic, as in pei stal instead o{ pei stelen (pret. partic. stgleri). Hence such Early MnE preterites as hare, brake, gave, sat correspond to ME singulars. 1269. In many cases, however, MnE strong preterites have the vowel of the ME pret. plur. We have seen that in Late ME there was an intimate connection between the vowel of the pret. plur. 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 supported by 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. : hound, found=WS. hgnd, fgnd, plur. hounden etc. The same change took 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 ; sang, sung; siang, stung; f aught, fought =WE. bigan, sgng, stgng, /aught — bit; rode, rid; wrote, writ-=ME hgt, rgdf wrgt. The present forms of these preterites are began, sang, stung, /ought, bit, rode, wrote, the tendency evidently being to favour the original sing, forms. 1270. But there has been in MnE a further assimilation of the pret. to the pret. partic, which has affected nearly all verbs of the bear-class with ME g in the pret. partic. : already in Early MnE we find the preterites bore, broke, spoke by the side c c 2 388 ACCIDENCE. [§ I27"- of hare, brake, spake = ME bar, brak, spak, ME stal being represented by stole only in Early MnE. In Present English bare etc. survive only in the higher language. 1271. 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 / have seen etc. having nearly the same meaning as the pret. / saw etc. — so that the pret. began to be substituted for the pret. partic. in some verbs, especially when the older form of the pret. partic. was liable to be for- gotten through not being in very frequent use — as in the case of ME shinen from shinen — or ambiguous — as in the case of ME stgnden, which was both pret. partic. and infin. — or anomalous and irregular in any way, as in spen compared with the infin. sitten. Hence in MnE the original preterites shone, stood, sat have supplanted the older pret. participles. In Early MnE this was carried still further than in Standard Present English, as in took, shook, arose = taken, shaken, arisen. 1272. In the above examples the pret. participles shone etc. lost their final n through the substitution of a form with a different vowel. Such pret. participles as bound, begun= ME bounden, higonnen may be considered either as the result of extension of the MnE pret. forms bound etc., or of dropping the e of the curtailed ME forms {i)hounde, etc. 1 It sometimes happens that the pret. partic. ending -en is ) dropped in a verb, but preserved in an adjective formed from ~ J the pret. partic. before it had lost the -en, as in the adjectives I drunken, bounden (in bounden duty) compared with the pret. ( participles drunk, hound. 1273. In Early MnE the ending -est was extended to the pret. indie, of strong verbs : thou boundest, thou spakest= ME bounde, bgnd, 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 the result of Northern influence. But in § 1275-] VERBS; MODERN ENGLISH. 389 Present English, poets often instinctively drop this harsh and heavy inflection, especially when the verb is separated from its pronoun : where thou once formed thy paradise (Byron). Verbs whose pret. is the same as the pres. — especially those in -St — frequently drop the inflectional st, or else add it with an intervening -ed for the sake of distinctness : thou castedst or thou cast. 1274. The following is the Early MnE conjugation of the strong verb see and the weak verb call: — Indie. Pres. Sing, i 2 3 Plur. see seest seeth, sees see call call(e)st call{e)th, calls call Subj. Pres. see call Pret. Indie. Sing, i 2 3 Plur. saw saw{e)st saw saw call{e)d calledst call{e)d call(e)d Pret. Subj. saw call{e)d Imper. see call Infin. Pres. Partic. and Gerund Pret. Partic. see seeing seen call calling call{e)d Besides the above inflections there are others which occur only as isolated archaisms. The contracted -t=-eth has left a trace in the form list ' wishes,' ' likes,' as in let him do it when he list= OE lyst {lystep) from the weak verb lystan. All three ME indie, plurals are found in the Early MnE literary language, the most frequent of which — the Midland -en — survives in the Shakesperian they waxen in their mirth. The Southern -eth and the Northern -es are much less frequent. The infin. or gerund in -en survives in Shakespere : to killen. 1275. The following examples will show the regular development of the different classes of strong verbs in literary MnE. It will be observed that the best-preserved classes are the 3rd and the 6th, the others being so reduced in the 39° ACCIDENCE. [§ 1276. number of their verbs, and there being so much divergence of form, that they retain hardly a trace of their OE characteristics : — I. Fall-class. 1276. fall hold fell held fallen held, beholden grow know grew knew grown known II. Shake-class. 1277. shake shook shaken take took taken The Late ME preterites in (-uu)=OE -oh, such as draw, slow, were in Early MnE levelled under the more numerous ifw-verbs of the fall-class : draw, drew ; slay, slew. III. Bind-class. 1278. sing drink sang drank sung drunk sting stung stung swing bind find fight swung bound found fought swung bound{en) found fought IV. Bear-class. 1279. bear steal bare, bore stole born{e) stolen V. Grive-class. 1280. give gave given ■weave wove woven sit sat sat VI. Shine-class. 1281. drive drove driven rise rose risen § 1285.] verbs; present English. 391 write •wrote written bite bit bitten shine shone shone The occasional Early MnE preterites drave, strove, etc., are probably Northern forms. VII. Choose-class. 1282. freeze froze frozen choose chose chosen Present English. 1283. In the present Spoken English the earlier substitution oiyou see, you saw for thou seest, thou sawest, and of he sees for he seeth has been completely carried out, so that the older -st and -th survive only in proverbs and in phrases taken from the higher literary language, where the older forms still survive. Having traced the English verb down to its most reduced MnE form, it will now be more instructive to regard it from a purely descriptive, 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 tra- ditional distinction between strong and weak verbs can no longer be maintained : without going back to ME we cannot tell whether such preterites as sat, lit, led, held, infinitives sit, light, lead, hold, are strong or weak. 1285. We are therefore compelled to make a new division into consonantal and vocalic. Consonantal verbs are those which form their preterites and pret. participles by adding d or /, such as called, looked, heard, burnt, infinitives call, look, hear, burn. Vocalic verbs are those which form their preterites or pret. participles by vowel-change without the addition of any consonant, except that the pret. partic. of some of these verbs adds -en : sing, sang, sung ; bind, hound,, bound; run, ran, run — drive, drove, driven; speak, spoke, spoken ; see, saw, seen. Under the vocalic verbs we must also 392 ACCIDENCE. [§ T286. include the invariable verbs : let, let, let ; cast, cast, cast. Mixed verbs show a mixture of consonantal and vocalic inflection : crow, crew, crowed ; show, showed, shown. 1286. The great majority of verbs belong to the regular con- sonantal conjugation, their pret. and pret. partic. ending being — a. (-id) after (t) and (d) : delighted, nodded. b. (-d) after the other voice sounds : played, raised, saved, turned, dragged. c. (-t) after the other breath consonants : hissed, pushed, looked. 1287. Compared with these verbs those of the vocalic class must be regarded as irregular, although many of them fall imder more or less uniform classes. There are also irregular consonantal verbs, such as burn, burnt, compared with the regular turn, turned. There is also a small class of 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 conjugated consonantally, the consonantal inflections being the only living or productive ones. 1288. As regards the relation of consonantal and vocalic to weak and strong, the following general rules may be laid down : — a. Vocalic verbs with pret. partic. in -en are strong. b. Vocalic verbs not ending va. t o\ d in the pret. are strong. c. Vocalic verbs ending va. t ox d in the pret. may be either strong or weak. d. Invariable verbs — which always end in / or d — are almost always weak. 1289. The following are the inflections of the consonantal verb call and the vocalic verb see in Spoken English : — § 1292.] VERBS ; IRREGULAR. 393 Pres. Indie. Sing, i kDl sij 2 kDl sij 3 k3lz sijz Plur. kol sij Pres. Subj. kol sij Pret. (Indie, and Subj.) kold S3 Imper. kal sij Infin. kol sij Pres. Partic. and Gerund kolir) sijir) Pret. Partic. kold sijn 1290. Observe that in the regular conjugation the only distinctive ' positive ' inflections are -s, -d, -ing, the common form call being only a negative inflection; also that the common form represents the whole of the pres. indie, and subj. 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 only unambiguous inflection being 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, you says, we says, they says. This cannot be the result of Northern influence, for in Northern the J was not added when the pronoun was prefixed, the Northern forms being / say etc. It is more probable that the s, being the mark of the pres., was extended for distinctness. 1291. The subj. is very little used even in the educated form of Spoken English, and in vulgar speech it disappears entirely. Irregular Verbs in Modern English. 1292. In the following sections the vowel-changes are arranged in the alphabetic order of the vowels of the pre- terites in their phonetic spelling, 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 flee, fled. 394 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1293- precede (ia . . aa), and this is followed by (uw . . o), etc. Forms that occur only in the higher literary language are marked *. Obsolete forms are marked t. Consonantal Verbs. With Vowel-change. Verbs which take the regular consonantal inflection (d, t), but with vowel-change : — Vowel-change (ei . . e). 1293. say, said (sei, sed). In this verb the vowel-change in the pret. is exceptionally carried out in the 3rd sing. pres. indie, as well — (sez) says. OE weak I b sicgan, scegde, scegd. In ME the f^-forms of this verb were preserved in South- Thames English ; but in the North-Thames dialects the g- forms s^gest, s§gep, imper. sgge were extended to the original ig'-forms : 2 seie, infin. sein, seien, pres. partic. seiende. These became the Standard ME forms also. The OE pret. scegde — Late West-Saxon saede — developed regularly in saide in ME, which was also made into seide by the influence of the 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 (fe)=- ME (ai) — a shortening which also took place in says. All the other OE f^-verbs show a similar extension of the ^-forms in ME, so that the OE infinitives licgan, l§cgan, bycgan appear in MnE as lie (ME lun), lay (ME leien), buy (ME blen), which correspond phonetically to the OE imperatives Itge, Igge, hyge. Vowel-change (ij . . e). 1294. flee, fled (flij, fled). OE strong VII fleon (Oldest English fieohan), fleah, plur. flugon, pret. •^■i.x'a.z.flogen. There was another OE verb of the same class, some of whose forms were identical with forms of fleon, namely fleogan ' fly,' fleag {fleah), pret. plur. flugon, pret. partic. flogen. As the two § I300.] VERBS; IRREGULAR. 395 verbs were similar in meaning also, they were frequently con- founded in Late West-Saxon, the distinctive forms olfleogan being used in the sense of ' fiee ' as well as in that of ' fly,' and fleon being used in the sense of ' fly.' This confusion has lasted to the present day, in as far as many modern writers ViSt-fly consistently in the sense of ' run away.' Flee is now obsolete in the spoken language. In ME the confu- sion between the two verbs was often avoided by using the weak vtrh fleden=OE fledan {fl&dan) ' flow,' 'be at high tide ' (said of the sea) from O'Eflod ' flood ' in the sense of ' flee,' its pret _fiedde coming gradually to be regarded as the pret. of the old strong fleon, ^en. This development was probably helped by the Scandinavian weak verhflj/ja ' flee,' pret.^/z'. 1295. creep, crept (krijp, krept). OE strong VII creopan, creap, cropen. In ME crepen developed a weak pret. crepte by the side of the strong crep. 1296. leap, lept (lijp, lept). OE strong I hleapan, hleop, hleapen. ME l^pen, Up and lepte. 1297. sleep, slept (slijp, slept). OE strong I sldpan, slep, sldpen, there being also a weak pret. slmpte. ME sl§pen, slep and slepte. 1298. sweep, swept (swijp, swept). OE strong I swapan, sweep, swapen, which in ME became by regular change swgpen, swep, swgpen. There was a weak OE verb swipian, sweopian, 'beat,' which in ME became swepien, sw§p{i)en, and was then confused in meaning with swgpen. The MnE sweep seems to point to a blending of ME swfpen and the pret. swep. 1299. weep, wept (wijp, wept). OE strong I j-verb wepan {wcepan), weop, wopen. ME has pret. wep and wepie. Vowel-change (ia . . es). 1300. hear, heard (hiar, hsad). OE weak I hteran, hierde, Anglian Mran, herde, whence ME heren, herde with the usual shortening. In Early MnE the (e) of the pret. was 396 ACCIDENCE. [§ i30i- regularly broadened to (a) before the (r), giving (hilar, hard). The spelling heard shows the not unfrequent lengthening of ME e before (r)-combinations, which, of course, preserved it from the change into (a); (h^«rd) was then shortened to (herd), whence the Present English (haad). Vowel-change (uw . . o). 1301. shoe, shod (Juw, Jod). OE scoian, scode, gescod. ME shoin, pret. panic, ishod. The MnE shortening is parallel to that in rod compared with rood, both=OE rod. shod is now used chiefly as an adjective, shoe being conjugated regularly shoed. Vowel-change (e . . ou). 1302. sell, sold (sel, sould). OE weak I b s^llan, sealde, Anglian sSlde ' give.' ME sellen, sglde, isgld. In OE the meaning ' sell ' was only occasionally implied in the more general one of ' give,' as in s^llan wtj> iveorpe ' give for a value (price) ' =' sell.' 1303. teU, told (tel, tould). OE weak lb t^llan, tealde Anglian talde. ME tellen, tglde. "With t instead of d. 1304. burn, burnt. In OE the intransitive ' burn ' was expressed by the strong verb III biernan. Late West-Saxon byrnan, Anglian beornan, pret. bgrn, barn, pret. plur. burnon, pret. partic. geburnen ; the transitive by the weak bcernan, bcBrnde. In these two verbs the r had been transposed, the Germanic forms being *brtnnan, *brannjan, with which com- pare the Scandinavian strong brinna, pret. brann, pret. partic. brunnmn, and the weak brinna, br§ndi. In ME the origin- ally transitive and intransitive forms came to be used indis- criminately in both senses, the weak forms gradually getting the upper hand. In Standard ME the Northern — originally § I3II.] VERBS; IRREGULAR. ^gy Scandinavian — form brennen, brente 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 dialects show a great variety of forms : Early Southern beornen, b^rnefi, ber- nen, Early Midland bfrnen, bernen, brennen. Early Northern brin (transitive as well as intrans.), bren. The infin. burnen seems to occur first in Late Midland ; the u is either taken from the old pret. partic. or is more probably the result of the influence of the lip-consonant b on the following eo of Anglian beornan. The pret. brenl survived for some time in Early MnE. 1305. dwell, dwelt. ME dwellen, dwelie from Scandina- vian dv^lja ' remain,' not from OE dw^lian, which had the meaning ' lead astray.' 1306. learn, learnt. OF, leornian, leornode ; WE. lern(jt)en, lernde, later lernte. The adjective learned preserves the fuller form of the pret. partic. 1307. pen, pent. OE pinnan, p^nde ' impound ' ; ME pennen, pende, pente. 1308. smell, smelt. OE sm§llan ' strike.' 1309. spell, spelt. OE spellian, spellode ' relate ' \spell neut. ' tidings ']. ME spellien ' spell.' 1310. spill, spilt. OE spildan, spillan, pret. spilde ' destroy.' 1311. spoil, spoilt. ME spoikn, despoilen from Old French spolier, despoiller [from Latin spolidre 'strip,' 'plunder'] was associated with spillen from OE spillan, so that when spillen took the special sense ' waste liquids,' ' spill,' spoilen took the old meaning of spillen, namely ' destroy,' and formed a pret. spoilte on the analogy of spilte. spoil in the sense of ' plunder ' is regular. 398 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1312. With t instead of d and Vowel-change. Vowel-change (ij . . e). 1312. (be)reave, *lbereft, bereaved. OE {be)reafian, reafode. ME lirpen, birpde, lirefte, hirafte, the last being the Standard ME form. 1313. cleave, cleft 'divide/ 'adhere.' OE strong VII cUofan, deaf, clofen ' divide ' ; ME eleven, clgf, clgven. OE weak III deofian, difian ' adhere ' ; ME dgvien, dfvede. There was also a strong verb VI in OE difan ' adhere,' ME diven pret. partic. diven ' adhere,' ' climb.' In ME dgf, Northern ddf, originally pret. of diven, was used also as pret. of deven, whose pret. partic. dgven had in Late ME the same vowel as dgf. A new weak pret. defte was then formed from deven. In the Earliest MnE deeve 'divide' kept (ii)=ME close e, but was soon confused with deave (kl««v) ' adhere '= Early ME devien, Late ME dfuien, 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. dif (from OE deaf) levelled under the pret. partic. dgven. The other MnE pret. dave is of course the Northern form of OE daf. The following are the forms of the two verbs in MnE:— deave ' divide ' ; dove, ^dave, deft ; doven, deft, deleaved. cleave ' adhere ' ; fdave, cleaved ; cleaved. The latter is now obsolete in the spoken language ; and the other cleave is not much used except in some special technical expressions, doven survives only as an adjective, as in cloven foot. 1314. deal, dealt (dijl, delt). OE dalan, dalde. 1315. dream, dreamt, dreamed (drijm, dremt, drijmd). OE drieman, Anglian dreman ' modulate ' \dream ' melody,' ' joy ']• The ME dremen, dremde, drem{p)te got the meaning ' dream' from the Scandinavian droyma 'dream' [Scandina- § 1322.] verbs; irregular. 399 vian noun drgumr ' dream ']. In Early MnE the verb was levelled under the noun dream, the ME pret. being however kept in spelling — drem/ — as well as pronunciation by the side of the new pret. dreamed. The spelling dreamt is, of course, a blending of dremt and dreamed. 1316. feel, felt. OEfelan {f&lan)/elde. 1317. lean, leant, leaned (lijn, lent, lijnd). OE hleonian (hlinian), hleonode ; ME Ifnien {linien), l^nede. The pret. leant comes from another OE verb meaning ' to lean,' namely hlanan, hlinde \ ME Ipien, lende, lente. 1318. kneel, knelt. ME knelen, knelde, hnelte of Scandi- navian origin. 1319. leave, left. OE la/an, Idfde. ME l^ven, lefte, lafte. 1320. mean, meant (mijn, ment). OE mtsnan, mdnde ' mean,' ' complain.' ME mfnen, mende, mente. Vowel-change (ai . . o). 1321. buy, bought (bai, bot). OE bycgan, bohte. ME biiggen, biggen, bUen, bun (1293), pret. bohte, bouhte. Vowel-change (uw . . o). 1322. lose, lost. OE strong VII forleosan, forleas, forloren ' destroy,' ' lose,' weak III losian ' go to waste,' ' get lost.' ME lesen, forlesen ' lose,' Ijs, forlp, loren, forloren. The dropping of the/or- is due to the influence of losien= OE losian, whose transitive use, as in he losede al his folc ' he lost all his people (army) ' is due to the influence ol forlesen. Hence the pret. partic. Hosed, later lost, came to be used as the pret. partic. of lesen, when the old pret. participles loren, forloren had come to be isolated from their verbs in meaning — MnE *lorn in love-lorn, ttc, forlorn, which are now used only as adjectives. In Early MnE lese took (uu) from the adjective /oo« and verb /w«« \WE.l5s,ldsnenhoTa. Scandinavian 400 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1323- Iguss'irte,' 'loose,' Igusna'geX. loose'], being at first written loose, then lose, to distinguish it from the adjective loose. With t instead of -ded. 1323. gird, girt, girded. OE gyrdan, gyrde. 1324. build, buUt, tbuilded. OE bylden, bylde. 1325. gild, gilt, gilded. OE gyldan, gylde. 1326. bend, bent, tbended. OE b^ndan 'bind,' 'bend' [bindan, pret. band ' bind ']. The pret. bended is now used only as an adjective in bended knee. 1327. blend, tblent, blended. OE strong I hlandan ' mix.' Weak ME bl^ndan has only the meaning ' blind.' 1328. lend, lent. OE lanan, lande. ME ^nden, lenden is a new-formation from the OE preterite-forms, possibly with influence of senden 'send'; from lenden a new pret. lende, lente was formed on the analogy of senden, senfe, etc. 1329. rend, rent. OE r§ndan {hr^ndati), r§nde. 1330. send, sent. OE s^ndan, s^nde. 1331. tshend, tshent. OE sc^ndan, sc§nde 'put to shame ' \scand disgrace]. 1332. spend, spent. OE sp§ndan, sp^nde from Latin expendere. 1333. *wend, went. OE w/«(fe«' turn' trans, \windan strong III ' turn ' intrans.] The pret. went is now used only as the pret. 0I go (1458). With Consonant-loss. 1334. make, made. OE macian, macode. ME makten, makede, imaked. Late ME mdh'en, contracted made, {i)mad. With Consonant-loss and Vowel-change. Vowel-change (ou . . se). 1335. clothe, clad, clothed. OE clapian, clapode [clap ' cloth ']. Scandinavian kldpa, klapdi, whence ME cl§}>en, cladde northern cledde as well as clgf){i)en, clgpede. § 1339-] VERBS ; IRREGULAR. 4OI Vowel-change (ee . . o). 1336. catch ; caught. ME cacchen, caughte from Old French cachier [Low Latin captidre = Latin capidre, a frequentative of caper e ' seize ']. cachier is probably a North- East French (Picard) form ; the Parisian form being chacier (Modern French ckasser), whence the MnE chace, chase. ME cacchen having the same meaning and the same termination as lacchen, laughle from OE Idccan, geldhte ' seize,' ' catch ' [compare MnE latc}i\, naturally formed its preterite in the same way. 1337. distract ; tdistraught, distracted. OE str^ccan ' stretch,' pret. streahte, strghte, appears in ME in the form of strecchen, straughte, streighte, the pret. partic. streight being still kept in MnE as an adjective — straight literally ' stretched out.' In Late ME the Latin distr actus was imported as an adj. distract (French distrait), which was made into distraught by the influence of straught. When distract was made into a verb in Early MnE, distraught was naturally regarded as its participle. Through further confusion .straught itself was used in the sense of ' distracted,' and a new partic. -[hestraught was formed on the analogy of beset. Vowel-change (39 . . 0). 1338. work; *wrought, worked (w39k, rot). OE wyrcan, Anglian wircan, the corresponding noun being weorc, Late West-Saxon wore, Anglian were, which in ME influenced the verb. The ME forms are : Southern wUrchen, worchen with the usual change of wii- to wu-. Midland werken, Northern wirk. The OE pret. worhte underwent the usual r-transposition in ME, becoming wrohte, MnE wrought, which in ordinary speech survives only as an adjective, as in wrought iron. Vowel-change (i . . o). 1339. bring ; brought (brir), brot). OE bringan, brohte. VOL. I. D d 403 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1340. 1340. think ; -thought. In OE there were two weak la verbs of allied form and meaning : p^nian, pohte ' think ' ; pyncan, f/uhte ' seem/ which was impersonal, me pync]> ' it seems to me ' having much the same meaning as I'c p§nie. In ME pincan became regularly penchen in South-Thames English, penken in North-Thames English ; ■a.nApyncan became punchen, pinchen in South-Thames English, pinken in North- Thames EngKsh. The pret. puhte was soon disused, f'o{u)hte taking its place : he pohte ' he thought,' him pohte ' 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, i penke ; pinken, me pinkep, etc. ; but in the compound hipinken ' consider '=0E bep§ncan, the latter had already begun to encroach. In Northern pink completely supplanted penk, as in MnE. Hence MnE think is histor- ically =OE^_V«caw, and its pret. thought=OE pohte, the pret. of the lost p^ncan. Vowel-change (ij . . o). 1341. seek ; sought ; beseech ; besought. OE secan {scecan), sohie. ME South-Thames sechen, hisechen, North- Thames seken, biseken. The MnE seek and beseech are there- fore from diiferent dialects of ME. Shakespere has the Midland form not only in seek, but also in beseek. 1342. reach; draught, reached. OE rdcan, rdhte. ME rjchen, ra{u)ghte. Northern reghte. 1343. teach; taught. OE tacan, tdhte 'show.' ME t^chen, ta[u)ghte, which gradually supplanted l§ren ' teach '= OE Iceran. Invariable Verbs. (aa). 1344. cast. ME casten from Scandinavian weak kasta, kastapi. In Early MnE there is also a regular pret. casted. §1353-] VERBS ; IRREGULAR. 403 (ai). 1345. *dight ' adorn ' as in storied window richly dight (Milton). OE dihtan 'arrange,' 'appoint' from the Latin dictdre. (B). 1346. cut. W^kutten. 1347. shut. OE scyttan 'lock,' 'bolt' Sjescot 'shot,' ' dart'; sceotan strong VII ' shoot ']. ME schUtten, schuiten. 1348. thrust. ME priisten, prusten from Scandinavian prysta. (e). 1349. let. OE strong I Idtan, let, laten. ME leten, pret. strong let, and weak lette from *lette. In MnE the short vowel of this weak pret. was extended to the infin., etc. The obsolete verb let ' hinder,' still preserved in the phrase let or hindrance, is the OE weak l§ttan, l^tte, connected with IcBt ' slow,' late adv. ' late.' 1350. set. OE saltan, sette, connected with the strong verb V sittan, pret. scBt. 1351. shed. OE strong I scddan, sceadan, seed ' separate,' a meaning still preserved in the noun watershed. ME schjden formed 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 let. 1352. shred. OE screadian, screadode. ME schr§den, schredde, the short vowel being afterwards extended to the pres., etc. 1353. spread. OE spradan, sprddde. ME spr^den, spradde, spredde, the short vowel of the pret. being afterwards extended to the other parts of the verb. D d 2 404 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1354- (ee). 1354. biirst. OE strong III berstan, barst, burston, geborsten. In this verb the r is transposed, having its original position in the Scandinavian forms bresta, brast, brustum, brostinn. The Scandinavian verb influenced the ME forms : bears ten, burs ten, bresten, brusten ; pret. bar si, brast; pret. partic. borsten, bursten, brosten, brusten. The Standard ME forms are bresten, brast, brosten. The « of the infin. bursten is the result of the influence of the lip- consonant b on the earlier eo, as in burn (1304), the u being afterwards extended to the pret. partic. The strong pret. partic. bursten survived in Early MnE. 1355. hurt. ME hilrten, hurten. (i)- 1356. hit. ME kitten from Scandinavian hitta ' find.' 1357. knit. OE cnyttan 'tie' [cnolta 'knot']. The invariable pret.-form is now preserved only as an adjective in well-knit, etc. Otherwise the pret. -form is regular — knitted. 1358. quit. ME quiten pret. quitte from Old French quiter from Latin qvietus. In MnE the shortened vowel of the pret. was extended to the rest of the verb. The deriva- tive requite keeps its original length, having a pret. partic. requit in Early MnE. acquit is invariable in Early MnE. All these verbs are now regular. 1359. rid. ME redden, riidden, ridden ' rescue,' ' separate fighters ' is apparently a blending of OE hr^ddan ' rescue ' and Scandinavian ryjija pret. rudda ' clear away.' 1360. slit. OE strong VI slitan, slat, sliten. ME has both strong sliten, pret. partic, sliten, and a weak verb slitten, which may have existed in OE. 1361. split. ME splatten, of which Early MnE splette is probably a Northern form, splet seems to have been made into split by the influence of slit. § 1368.] VERBS; IRREGULAR {VOCALIC). 4o5 (O). 1362. cost. ME cosien from Old French coster (Modern French coUler) from Latin consiare. (u). 1363. put. MEputten. Vocalic Verbs. Vowel-change (ai . . au). 1364. bind ; boTind. OE strong III bindan, band, bunden. The older pret. partic. is still preserved in bounden duty. 1365. find; found. OE strong 111 findan, /and — more generally viQakfunde^funden. ME ^Te\../gnd,/ounde. 1366. grind ; ground. OE strong III grindan, grand, grunden. 1367. wind; wound. OE strong III windan, wand, wunden. The verb wind in to wind a horn was formed direct from 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 — (waind); so that when the noun came to be pronounced (wind), as it is in Present English, the verb wind ' blow,' which kept the older pronunciation, was isolated from the noun wind and asso- ciated with the old strong verb wind, and took a strong pre- terite-form wound — he wound the horn. Vowel-change (ai . . 'b). 1368. strike ; struck. OE strong VI strican, strdc, stricen ' move about,' ' touch lightly.' ME striken, strgk (Northern strak), striken. Early MnE strike, pret. stroke, strake, struck, pret. partic. stricken, strucken, struck. 406 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1369. Vowel-change (se . . «). 1369. hang; hung, hanged. OE strong I hon (from earlier *hdhan), heng, hangen, the g being a weakening of the h of the infin., where ^= Germanic an (1206), so that A(3«= Germanic *hanhan. There was also a weak intransitive hangian, hangode, hon itself being used transitively. In Early ME the consonantal variation in the strong verb was soon levelled : sometimes the infinitive form was extended to the pret. partic. which was made into {a)hon ; but afterwards the ng-forms got the upper hand, being supported by the weak verb hangien, and a new strong infin. hangen was formed, pret. heng, pret. partic. hangen. In some dialects the pret. was shortened to heng with short close (e), which being an unfamiliar sound in ME was made into i. This 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 dialect in the form of hgng parallel to sgng ' sang.' A pret. partic. hung was further developed on 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 being preserved in the Standard dialect. In MnE the strong form hung is both transitive and intransitive, hanged being used only transitively, contrary to the OE usage. Vowel-change (i . . b). 1370. dig ; dug, tdigged. ME diggen, diggede, equiva- lent to OE dician [die ' ditch '], of which it seems to be a modification by some analogical influence. The vocalic pret. dug developed itself towards the end of the Early MnE period ; it is not found in the Bible. 1371. cHng; clung. OE strong III clingan, clang, clungen 'wither.' ME clingen, clgng, clungen 'shrivel,' ' adhere,' ' hang.' § 1382.] VERBS; IRREGULAR [VOCALIc). 407 1372. fling; fliing. ME strong III flingen from weak Scandinavian fl^ngja [compare ME wing from Scandinavian vif^r\. flingen was, of course, made strong on the analogy of sting and the other strong verbs in -ing. 1373. sling; slung. ME strong III slingen from Scandinavian slongva, which passed through slengen into slingen, and then became strong in the same way as fling. The pret. slang occurs in the Bible. 1374. slink ; slunk. OE strong III slincan. 1375. spin ; spun. OE strong III spinnan. The pret. span is now obsolete. 1376. stick ; stuck, tstieked ' pierce,' ' adhere.' OE stician (siiocian), sticode ' pierce,' ' adhere.' ME strong V steken, siak, steken and stoken [like spoken = OE specen'\ ' pierce,' ' imprison,' which may represent an OE strong verb, s/uck may owe its u to the influence of stung. 1377. sting ; stung. OE strong III stingan. 1378. string ; strung, stringed. This verb is a MnE formation from the ME noun string from Scandinavian str§ngr, with the usual change of Scandinavian -^ng into -ing. We keep the older consonantal inflexion in stringed instruments. 1379. swing ; swung. OE strong III swingan. 1380. win ; won. OE strong III winnan ' make war,' gewinnan ' conquer,' ' gain.' 1381. wring ; wrung. OE strong III wringan. Vowel-change (■b . . se . . b). 1382. run ; ran ; run. OE strong III irnan, iernan (eornan). Late West-Saxon _;/r«a«, pret. grn, am, pret. partic. urnen, with the same transposition of the r as in burn, 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, runninn and the weak r^nna, r^ndi, the Standard ME forms 408 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1383- being indeed entirely Scandinavian : rennen, ran, irunnen. The Early Southern forms of the infin. are irnen, eornen, urnen probably =wr«e« from Late West-Saxon yrnan. The infin. run appears in Northern by the side of the Scandi- navian rin. As there is no reason why the regular rin, ran, run should have been disturbed by the extension of the pret. partic. form to the infin., etc. against the analogy of win, etc., it seems most probable that the u of the infin. was originally a Southern development out of iirnen, perhaps by the influ- ence of lurn. Vowel-change (i . . se). 1383. sit; sset. OE strong V j-verb sUtan, scet, seten. ME sitten, sat, seten and also siten with the vowel of the infin. From the ME partic. siten is derived the obsolete MnE pret. and pret. partic. sit, which made the verb invari- able. The obsolete MnE pret. sate 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. sit. 1384. spit ; spat. There were in OE two weak verbs of the same meaning spittan, spitte and spdtan, spatte, both of which were kept in ME, where the pret. spatte became regu- larly spatte. The MnE spit, spat is, therefore, a mixture of two distinct verbs. Vowel-change (i . . se . . b). 1385. begin; began; begun. OE strong III 3^^/M«a«, onginnan, later dginnan. The MnE shortened 'gin appears early in ME ; the coexistence of risen and arisen no doubt led to the shortening of aginnen into ginnen. 1386. drink; drank; drunk. OE strong III rfrzwaw. The OE pret. partic. drunken, ME dronken survives in the ad- jective drunken, the shortened form drunk being also used as an adjective. In MnE the use of drank as a partic. — as also of hegan, etc. — was formerly more frequent ; but the partic. I 1394.] VERBS; IRREGULAR {VOCALIC). 409 drank is still frequently used, apparently in order to avoid the form drunk, which suggests drunken. 1387. ring; rang; rung. OE {h)ringan is apparently weak. 1388. shrink ; shrank ; shriink. OE strong III serin- can. 1380. sing; sang; sung. OE strong III «i^a«. 1390. sink ; sank ; sunk. OE strong III sincan. The full pret. partic. is still preserved as an adjective, as in sunken rock. 1391. spring ; sprang ; sprung. OE strong III springan. 1392. stink; stank; stunk. OE strong III stincan 'rise' (said of dust, vapour, etc.), ' have a good or bad odour,' as in wel-stincende ' fragrant.' 1393. swim ; swam ; swum. OE strong III swimman. Vowel-change (i . . se . . i-n). 1394. (for)bid ; -bad ; -bidden. OE strong V j-verb biddan, bced, beden ' pray,' ' ask ' ; strong VII beodan., bead, boden ' offer,' ' command.' The corresponding ME forms are bidden, bad, bjden and — by the analogy of the infin. — bidden ; beden, bjd, bgden. But already in Early ME the two verbs began to be confused, bidden in the special sense of ' ask to one's house,' ' invite ' soon got confused with beden, which developed the meaning ' offer an invitation,' the con- fusion being aided by the weak verb bgd{i')en^O'K bodian ' announce ' — itself connected with beodan. Hence even in Early ME we find iboden used in the sense of 'invited.' It was still more natural to soften down the command expressed by beden by the substitution of the milder bidden. The pret. bad soon supplanted bgd by taking to itself the meaning 'commanded,' except in the emphatic forbeden, which in Standard ME only rarely has the pret. forbad instead of forbad. The following are the Standard ME forms — 410 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1395. bidden, heden; bad ; bjden, bgden. forbeden ; forbid (^forbad) ; forbgden. In the transition to MnE the bid-io^Tm, were gradually extended till they entirely supplanted the others. The relation between the two forms bad and bade is the same as that between sat and sate (1266). In Early MnE the pret. partic. was often shortened to bid, which was used also as a pret,, so that the verb became invariable. The simple bid is now obsolete in the spoken language, its place being taken by tell. Vowel-change (ij . . e). 1395. bleed; bled. OE weak bledan (blcedan), bledde. \llod ' blood ']. 1396. breed ; bred. OE weak bredan {brcedan), bredde. \br5d ' brood ']. 1397. feed ; fed. OE weak/edan {fdedan),fedde. [foda 'food']. 1398. lead; led. OE weak ladan, ladde. 1399. meet; met. OE weak metan (m&tari) mette. [gemot ' meeting ']. 1400. read ; read (rijd ; red). OE weak rddan, rddde. 1401. speed ; sped. OE weak spedan {spcedan), spedde. Many verbs analogous to the above now follow the regular conjugation, such a.s greet, seem = OK gretan, grette, etc. Vowel-cJiange (ij . . e . . ij-n). 1402. eat ; ate ; eaten. OE strong V, with exceptional (Germanic) lengthening in the pret. sing., etan, at, pret. plur. aton, pret. partic. eten. ME pen, et, at, pen, the pret. at being of course due to the influence of the other verbs of the same class. Vowel-change (ou . . e). 1403. hold; held. O'E. stmng I healdan, haldan; heold; §1408.] VERBS; IRREGULAR {vocalic). 411 gehealden, gehdlden ME hglden; held, held, hild; ihglden. We Still preserve the fuller form of the pret. partic. in beholden. Vowel-change (o . . e . . o-n). 1404. fall ; feu ; fallen. OE strong I feallan, fallan ; feoll; feallen, fallen. ME/allen; fel,fel,fil; fallen. Vowel-change (ai . . ei . . ei-n). 1405. lie ; lay ; lain. OE strong V j-verb licgan, lag, gelegen, imper. sing, lige, etc. The ME development of this verb is analogous to that of the other cg-verbs (1293). In Early Southern the infin. liggen was preserved by the side of the imper. Ue; but in the North-Thames dialects it was levelled under the g-forms, becoming tin, lien. The Standard ME forms are Uen, lai, pret. partic. leien, lein. In vulgar MnE the preterite-forms have led to the complete levelling of this verb under the transitive lay ; and this change is making its way into educated speech. Vowel-change (b . . ei . . b). 1406. come ; came ; come. OE strong IV, with anom- alous weak vowel in the pres. and infin. and exceptional extension of the vowel of the pret. plur. to the pret. sing. : cuman ; cwdm, com ; c(w)omon ; cumen. The pret. com was preserved in Standard ME, but was partially supplanted by the new formation cam on the analogy of the strong verb IV nimen ' take,' nam, nomen. cam underwent the usual length- ening into came in MnE. Vowel-change (i . . ei . . i-n). 1407. give ; gave ; given. OE giefan, gyfan, gefan, geofan ; geaf gcef; giefen, gyfen, gefen. Vowel-change (ai . . i). 1408. light ; lit, lighted. OE weak lihtan, lihte ' illu- minate ' and ' make light,' ' alleviate ' [leohl adj. ' light of 41 a ACCIDENCE. [§ 1409. colour' and ' light of weight ']. There was a third OE weak verb lihtan, dlihtan ' alight from a horse.' The MnE verb light in light on must be referred to this last. The conson- antal preterite-form lit does not, of course, appear till light had become (bit), that is, in the MnE period, when it arose from imitation of bite, lit, etc. The verb alight still keeps the older consonantal iniiexion, which is also used in the other verbs. Vowel-change (ai . . i . . i-n). 1409. bite; bit; bitten. OE strong VI lltan. The shortened pret. partic. is still kept in the phrase the biter bit. 1410. cMde; chid; chidden. OE weak cidan, c'ldde. ME chiden, chidde. In Early MnE the verb was made strong — chide, chode, 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. hide, hid, hidden is a strong verb of similar recent formation, except that it does not seem to have developed any pret. analogous to Early MnE chode : OE hydan, hydde, ME hiden, hidde. Vowel-change (ij . . ij . . ij-n). 1412. beat; beat; beaten. OE strong I beatan, beat, beaten. Vowel-change (ai . . o). 1413. shine ; shone. OE strong VI scinan, scan, scinen. Vowel-change (e . . o . . o-n). 1414. forget; forgot; forgotten, got. In OE the strong V verb gietan, gytan, getan ; geat, gcet; gielen, gyten, geten occurs only in the compounds begietan 'get,' ongietan ' understand,' forgietan ' forget ' and a few others. In ME § 1420.1 VERBS; IRREGULAR [VOCALIC.) 413 begifen, hegeien was shortened to giten, geten through the in- fluence of the Scandinavian geta, gat, getinn ' get,' or rather the Scandinavian word was substituted for it. 1415. tread; trod; trodden. OE strong V. tredan, trad, treden. ME tr^den, trad, tr^den and — by the analogy of broken, etc. — trgden, troden. Vowel-change (ij . . o . . o-n). 1416. seethe ; +aod, seethed ; sodden, tsod, seethed. OE strong VII seopan, seap, soden. sodden is now used as an adjective, which has been made into a verb with a pret. partic. soddened, which is extensively used instead of sodden. Vowel-change (uw . . o). 1417. shoot ; shot. OE strong VII sceotan, sceat, scoten. Standard ME scheten, schp, schoten. There is also an infin. schuten in ME, whose u probably =^ from OE eo, as in choose (1437), which afterwards became (uu) and was written 00 in Early MnE. Vowel-change (ai . . ou). 1418. climb; tclomb, cKmbed. OE strong III clim- man, clamm, clummen and also climban, clamb, clumben, although the latter is found only in late texts. ME climmen, clam, clommen and climben, clgmb (clamb), clomben. Vowel-change (ai . . ou . . i-n). 1419. (a)bide ; fbode, tbid, bided; fbiden, tbid, bided. OE strong VI bidan ' wait,' dbidan ' endure.' ME (a)btden, bgd, biden, there being also a weak pret. abidde. 1420. drive; drove, tdrave; driven. OE strong VI drifan. Like the other verbs of this series drive had in MnE a curtailed pret. partic. (driv), which was extended to the pret. It was not much used in writing because, being necessarily written drive, it was liable to be confounded with the pres. 414 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1 42 1. 1421. ride; rode, + rid; ridden, t rid. OE strong VI ridan. 1422. (a)rise ; rose ; risen. OE strong VI (a)risan. The MnE preterite-form (riz) was not much used in writing because there was no convenient way of expressing its sound. 1423. shrive ; t shrove, shrived ; shriven. OE strong VI sen/an ' decree.' 1424. smite; smote; smitten. OE strong VI smltan ' smear.' 1425. stride; strode; t stridden, strode. OR strtdan. 1426. strive ; strove ; striven. ME strong VI striven, strgf, striven, which is the Old French estriver [from Old Low- German strifi ' strife '] made into a strong verb on the analogy of driven. 1427. thrive ; throve ; thriven. ME priven from the Scandinavian strong reflexive verb prifask. 1428. write ; wrote, twrit ; written, fwrit. OE strong VI writan. Vowel-change (ei . . ou). 1429. wake ; woke, waked. OE strong II wacan, woe, wacen, generally compounded with on onwacan, awacan. (pn)wacan and the weak d{wcEcnian), wacian ' keep awake ' are intransitive. The corresponding transitive verb is w^ccan, weahte, w^hte. ME has (a)waken, wok, waken and wakien, wakede; wakenen, wak(e)nede. The (ou) instead of (uw) in the MnE woke is probably due to the influence of the numerous preterites of the shine-class — rose, etc. 1430. stave ; stove, staved. This verb was first formed in MnE from the noun stave ' piece of a cask,' itself a late formation from staves, plur. of stajf. Its vocalic inflexion is of course the result of analogy. Vowel-change (ei . . ou . . ou-n). 1431. break; broke, tbrate ; broken, t broke. OE strong IV brecan, brae, brocen. § I439-] VERBS; IRREGULAR {VOCALIC). 415 Vowel-change (ij . . ou . . ou-n). 1432. freeze; froze; frozen, ffrore OE strong VII freosan,/reas , froren. 1433. heave; hove, heaved; thoven, hove, heaved. OE strong j-verb II h§bban, hqf, ha/en. ME hebben, hfven ; hof, haf; hgven, hfven, the last form being due to the in- fluence of the infin., while haf, hgven are due to the influence of wfven, waf, wgven (1436). There was also a weak ME pret. hefde, hevede. The MnE hove probably points to a ME pret. hgf with the vowel of the pret. partic. 1434. speak; spoke, t spake; spoken, t spoke. OE strong V sprecan, sprmc, sprecen. In Late OE this verb began to drop its r — especially in the Kentish dialect. In ME the r disappeared entirely, and the pret. partic. took on the analogy of broken, etc. : spoken, spak, spoken, spgken. 1435. steal ; stole ; stolen. OE strong IV sielan, steel, stolen. 1436. weave; wove, weaved; woven, weaved. OE strong V we/an, wee/, we/en. ME Wfjen, waf, vofven, wgven. Vowel-change (uw . . ou . . ou-n). 1437. choose ; chose ; chosen. OE strong VII ceosan, teas, coren. ME chesen, chjs, chosen. There was also a West- Midland infin, chUsen with the regular West-Midland change of OE eo into U. In Early MnE (tjiuz) became (tjuuz), which was written phonetically choose, although the older spelling chuse survived till the end of the last century, chese also occurs in Early MnE. Vowel-change (ai . . o). 1438. fight ; fought. OE strong III feohtan {/ehtan) ; feaht {/aht) ; fohten. ME fighten, /aught, foughlen. In the pret. Early MnE fluctuates between au and ou. Vowel-change (ea . . o . . o-n). 1439. bear; bore, tbare; born(e). OE strong IV 41 6 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1440. beran, bar, boren. MnE makes a distinction between born in the sense of French rte and i5o/-««=' carried' which did not exist in OE or ME. 1440. swear; swore, tsware ; sworn. OE strong j- verb II sw^rian, swor, swaren, sworen, the of the last form being due to the influence of the preceding w. ME swerien, swp'en ; swor, swdr ; swgren. swdr is, of course, due to the analogy of b^ren, bar. 1441. tear; tore, ttare; torn. OE strong IV /feraw. 1442. wear; wore, tware; worn. OE weak wirian, wirede 'wear clothes.' The vocalic forms were first developed in Early MnE by the analogy of bear. Vowel-change (ei . . o). 1443. freight; * fraught, freighted. The Late ME weak verb fraiighten [imported from Dutch.?] was made into freight in Early MnE by the influence of the synonymous fret, and fraught itself came to be regarded as the pret. of this new verb freight by a vague association with work, wrought, etc. But fraught was still used as a pres. in Early MnE : the good ship . . . and the fraughting souls within her (Shakespere). Vowel-change (ia . . o . . o-n). 1444. shear ; t shore, t share, sheared ; shorn, t sheared. OE strong IV scieran {sceran); scear {smr); scoren. Vowel-change (ij . . o . . ij-n). 1445. see; saw; seen. OF. strong Y seon ; seah{scBh); sawon {segon); sewen (segen). In Late Northumbrian the adjective ^«i?«^= West-Saxon gesiene 'visible' was used as the pret. partic. Early ME seon, sen; seih (Southern), sah, sauh pret. plur. sgwen, seien ; pret. partic. seien, sein. In Late ME the pret. sing forms dropped the h by the influence of the pret. plur. and pret. partic, giving set, sai and saw, the last being the usual North-Thames form, especially in § I45I.] VERBS; IRREGULAR {VOCALIC). 417 Northumbrian, which also kept the Old- Northumbrian pret. partic. in the form of sen. The Standard ME inflections are se{n) ; seigh, sat; {fjsez'n. In MnE the Northern pret. saw and pret. partic. seen were introduced into the Standard dialect. Vowel-change (se . . . 11). 1446. stand; stood. OE strong II with n inserted in the pres. etc. : standan, stod, sianden. Vowel-change (ei . . . u . . . ei-n). 1447. forsake; forsook; forsaken. OE strong II forsacan ' renounce,' ' deny.' 1448. shake ; shook ; shaken. OE strong II scacan. 1449. take ; took ; taken, *ta'en. ME strong II taken, tok, taken from Scandinavian taka, tok, tikinn. In Northern this verb was contracted like make, and the pret. partic. ta'en passed into Standard MnE. Vowel-change (ai . . . uw . . . ou-n). 1450. fly; flew; flown. OE strong Yllfleogan {flegan, fligan) ; fleag, fleah {fleh) ; flugon ; flogen. ME flen, pen ; fleigh,fley — with the same dropping of final h as in k2'=0E gescBh—fly; pret. ^\ViX.flowen,flgwen (influence of pret. partic); pret. ^3.xi\c. flgwen. The Early MnE pret./ra; (fliu) probably arose in the same way as drew, etc. (1277). Vowel-change (ei . . . uw . . . ei-n). 1451. slay; slew; slain. OE strong II slean (from sleahan); slog, sloh; slagen, slcegen, sl^gen. ME Southern slfn. Midland sign. Northern sla ; sloh. Late ME slough, slow =(sluu) ; pret. partic. slawen, sleien, slain. In MnE, the at of the pret. partic. was extended to the infin., and the ow of the pret. underwent the usual analogical change into ew. The VOL. I. EC 41 8 ACCIDENCE. [5 1452- archaic forms she — ska, pret. slue still lingered in Early MnE. Vowel-change (ou . . . uw . . . ou-n). 1452. blow ; blew ; blown, blowed. OE strong I llawan ' blow ' (of wind), 5leow, bldwen and ilowan ' bloom,' bleow, blowen. ME Ugwen, blew, blgwen and blowen, blew, bldwen. 1453. crow; crew, crowed; + crown, crowed. OE strong I crdwan, creow, crdwen. 1454. grow; grew; grown. OE strong I growan, greow, growen. 1455. know; knew; known. OE strong I cndwan, cneow, cndwen. Vowel-change (p . . . uw . . . o-n). 1456. draw; drew; drawn. OE strong II dragdn; drag, droh; drag en. Mixed Verbs. 1457. There are several verbs which have a strong pret. partic. in -en with a regular consonantal pret. Some of these are old strong verbs which have become partially consonantal ; but others are weak verbs which have taken the partic. ending -en by the influence of old strong verbs which they happen to resemble. In the following list the latter class are marked J. 1458. go; went; gone. OE strong I gdn, gangan; geong, eode (weak) ; gegdn, gegangen. ME gp{n), gange{n) ; ybde, wenie ; gg{ri), gangen. In ME the longer form gang was gradually restricted to the Northern dialect. The cur- tailed Southern pret. partic. gg is still preserved in the adverb ago=0'E, dgdn ' passed ' (of time). 1459. grave, graved; graven, graved. OE strong II gra/an, grof, grafen. 1460. hew; hewed; hewn, hewed. OE strong I ^fazexzw. Mow, heawen. § I47I'] VERBS; MIXED. 419 1461. tlade, load; fladed, loaded; laden, tladed, tloaden, loaded. OE strong II hladan. Mod, hlcsden, hladen. The MnE change of lade into load—\h& older form being still preserved in hill of lading as well as in the pret. partic. laden — is through the influence of the noun load, ME lgde= OE lad (fem.) ' leading,' ' way' — a meaning still preserved in loadstar — connected with ladan ' lead,' which had also the meaning 'carry,' as it still has in the dialectal expression lead hay, etc. Thus in ME Igde came to mean ' load,' and was at last confused with the verb laden. 1462. melt ; melted ; molten, melted. OE strong III meltan. molten is now used only as an adjective. 1463. mow ; mowed ; mown, mowed. OE strong I mawan, meow, mdwen. 1464. rive ; rived ; riven, rived. ME strong VI riven, rgf, riven from the Scandinavian rifa. 1465. tsaw ; sawed ; sawn, sawed. ME weak saw(i)en. MnE sawn by the analogy of drawn. 1466. shape ; shaped ; shapen, shaped. OE strong II j-verb scieppan, scyppan (sc§ppan) ; scop ; scapen, sccepen. In ME this verb was influenced — or rather supplanted — by the Scandinavian verb skapa, skop. 1467. shave ; shaved ; shaven, shaved. OE strong II scafan, scof, scafen. 1468. Jshow; showed; shown, showed. OE weak sceawian, sceawode ' survey,' 'look at.' ME schfJo(i)en, schgwien, Northern schaw. Early MnE shew and show, shown by the analogy of known, etc. 1469. sow; sowed; sown, sowed. OE strong I jawara, seow, sawen. 1470. {strew ; strewed ; strewn, strewed. OE weak strpjoian, streowian. ME strewen, strgwen, strawen. strewn by the analogy of hewn. 1471. swell; swelled; swollen, swelled. OE strong III swellan. £62 420 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1472. Isolated Forms. 1472. Some obsolete verbs occur only in isolated forms, namely quoth, hight, iclept, wont. 1473. quoth. OE strong V cwepan, cwap, cwddon, gecweden ' say.' In ME the strong consonant of the infin. was kept throughout : cwepen, cwap, icwepen ; so also hicwepen 'bequeath/ which in MnE is consonantal — be- queathed. In Late ME the simple cwepen was gradually dis- used except in the pret. sing. As cwap was often unstressed in such combinations as cwap 'he, it developed a weak form cwod, quod through the regular rounding of unstressed a into after a lip-consonant, as in OE Ojz«o/^= earlier Oswald. The explanation of the d is that cwap he etc. were made into (kwaj)'ee) which became (kwaS'ee, kwotS-ee) ; and when (kwo?5) was detached and received strong stress — as it natu- rally would — the final (S), being an unfamiliar sound in strong syllables, was changed into (d). The form quoth is a blend- ing of strong quath and weak quod, quoth being obsolete is now generally pronounced artificially (kwou]j) on the analogy of both ; but the older colloquial pronunciation was (kwEj)) or 1474. hight ' is named, called,' ' was called,' ME highte is a blending of the OE passive form hdtte (1182) and heht, the active pret. of the same verb hdtan. 1475. ielept=ME icl^ped, OEgecleopod ' called' the pret. partic. of the weak verb cleopian, clipian. 1476. wont 'accustomed '=0E ^«wa«oe ; infin. cunnan ' know.' There is a weak OE verb cunnian, cunnode 'try,' which must not be confounded with cunnan ' know ' ; from this cunnian comes the MnE con 'peruse,' ' study,' which, being unfamiliar, is now pronounced artificially (kon) instead of the correct (k^n). ME can, canst, plur. connen, can ; coupe, coude ; infin. connen. coude is a weakening of coube ,which probably began like that of qua/? into quod l^'^12), in such combinations as (kuujj-ee, kuutS-ee)=coK>« he, the detached (kuuS) being made into (kuud), which became coude by blending with coupe. The Late ME participle-adjective conninge seems to have been introduced from the Northern dialect, where it appears in the form of cunnand, which is no doubt the Scandinavian adjec- tive and pres. partic. kunnandi ' knowing,' ' sagacious,' from kann ' knows,' infin. kunna. The Scandinavian noun formed from this adj. — kunnandi (fem.) ' knowledge ' — was also in- 423 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1480, troduced into MnE, being made into conninge in the Standard dialect. In the transition to MnE the weak coude entirely supplanted the strong couthe, and in Early MnE it was made into could on the analogy of should and would^^OK scolde, wolde. The (uu) of coud, could, was shortened when un- stressed, which prevented it from being diphthongized like the (uu) in home; and the (1) of all three verbs was dropped in their weak forms, so that could had two forms, the strong (kuld) and the weak (kud). At the same time the meaning 'knowing' gradually developed into 'being able.' The Spoken English forms of this verb, including the weak and negative forms, are : — ksen (kgn), kaant ; kud (kad), kudnt. The defective forms of this verb are supplied by be able : can you do it ? J- I shall not be able to do it. 1480. dare, darest, (he) dare, tdares ; durst ; infin. dare. OE dearr, dear si, durron ; dorsie ; ME dar, dar (as in the pret. bar), darst; dorste, durste with the u of OE durron ; infin. durren, ddren, of which the former represents the probable OE infin. durran, the latter being a new-forma- tion from dar. In MnE dare in the transitive sense of ' challenge ' has become quite regular : he dared him to do it. The intransitive pres. partic. daring is used only as an adjec- tive. The pret. durst is little used in the spoken language, where the literary / durst not interrupt him is represented by / did not dare to interrupt him. The pres. dare is most fre- quent in the phrase / dare say^' I think,' ' it is probable.' 1481. may, mayst; might, mightst. OE mcBg, pit meaht {niceht), miht, plur. magon ; pret. meahte {mcBhte) mihte ' be able.' [Compare mcBgen, meaht, miht ' power,' ' force.'] The ME forms seem to have been influenced by another OE preterite-present verb of similar meaning, namely diag, deah ' avail ' plur. dugon ; pret. dohte ; infin. dugan. The ME forms are : mat, miht, and, very late, mayst, plur. mawen, § 1484.] VERBS; ANOMALOUS. 433 muwen, moun ; pret. maA/e, mihte, mohle. This last survived as a vulgarism (moot) to the end of the 17 th century. The meaning of the verb developed in MnE into that of ' have permission.' The Spoken English forms are : — mei, meint ; mait, maitnt. 1482. tmote (muut); must. OE mot, most, moton; moste ' may.' ME mot, most, moten ; moste. The pres. sur- vived only as an archaism in Early MnE : as fair as fair mote 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. indie. — to express mild command, so that pou mbster= ' you would be able,' 'you might ' was understood to mean ' you will have to,' ' you must.' The vowel of moste passed through (uu) into (u) in Early MnE, the shortening having probably begun in the weak form. The Spoken English forms of this verb are : — m'Est (mast, mas), m^esnt. 1483. (owe) ; ought. OE dg, dh,pu dht, aht, plur. agon ; pret. dhte, ahte ; infin. dgan ' possess.' The adjective dgen ' own ' is an old pret. partic. of this verb. From dgen is formed the weak verb dgnian, ' appropriate,' ' possess.' In Early ME ahte developed regularly , into a{u)hte, but after- wards g was introduced from the infin. etc., giving g{u)hte. In ME gwen in the sense of ' possess ' soon took regular weak inflection — 1 gwe, we gwep, etc. — still keeping the older guhte as its pret. The meaning 'possess' gradually de- veloped into that of ' have a debt,' ' owe,' which, again, de- veloped 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 Spoken English forms are : — ot, otnt. 1484. shall, shalt , should, shouldst. OE sceal {seal), scealt {sccBlt), sculon; sdolde, Northumbrian scalde by the 424 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1485. analogy of walde {l'i8B)=woIde. MS. schal, schalt, schulm, schuUen (by the analogy of wtUen) ; sckolde, schulde (by the influence of schulen). In Northern, weak sh became s, as in IngUs-= English [compare Scotch Scots from ScotttsIi\, whence the Northern (originally only weak) forms sal, said. Of the two Early MnE forms of the pret., strong (Juld) and weak (Jud), only the latter has survived. The spoken forms are: — Jael (Jl), Jaant ; Jud (fsd), Judnt. 1485. will, wilt ; would, wouldst ; imper. will. This verb was in OE originally a strong subjunctive preterite, with which pres. indie, forms were afterwards mixed : wile, wille, wilt, willafi ; wolde, walde (originally weak ?) ; infin. willan. In OE this verb has, together with several other verbs in very frequent use, special negative forms, the result of contraction with a preceding ne ' not ' : ic nyle, pu nylt, he nyle, wenyllap ; nolde, etc. One of these negative forms is still preserved in the phrase willy nilly. Early MnE will he, nill ^e=OE wile he, nyle he. The ME forms are : wile, wole, wilt, wolt, wille]}, willen, wollen ; wolde, walde, ^wolde, whose (u) is the result of the influence of the pres. forms wole, etc., which were prob- ably at first weak forms, in which the w rounded the follow- ing vowel and gradually assimilated it to itself. In Early MnE (wud) was the weak form of (wuld). The spoken forms are : — wil (1), wount; wud (wad, ad), wudnt. 1486. twot ; twist. OE wat, wctst, witon ; wiste ; witan ; witende. The adjective gewiss ' certain ' is an old pret. partic. of this verb. ME wpt, wgst, wiien ; infin. witen ; pres. partic. witinge. In Early MnE wot was sometimes made the base of a regular verb : he wotteth, wots, pret. wotted, pres. partic. wotting. The old pres. partic. still survives in the adverb un- wittingly, and the infin. in the adverb phrase to wit =\iz. § 1488.] VERBS; ANOMALOUS. 425 The ME adjective iwis—O'^ gewiss has in MnE been often wrongly divided z wis, 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 Modern German equivalent of wot, namely weiss, plur. wissen. 1487. need. This verb agrees with the preterite-present verbs in having no j-inflection and in taking not without any auxiliary — he need not (nijdnt). The loss of the J — which seems to have begun in the transition from ME to MnE— is appar- ently partly the result of similarity of meaning to that of the preterite-present verbs ; but the absence 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 what need all this waste ? There were two weak verbs formed from the noun in OE — nledan, nydan {nedan) and neadian. Both had the meaning ' compel,' which they kept in Early ME. The later meaning ' require ' was probably the result of making the noun need in such sentences as that quoted above into a verb. We now come to the anomalous auxiliary verbs 6e, have, do. 1488. The verb be in OE is made up' of three distinct roots ; that seen in (a) is, are, (&) was, and (c) be : — Indie. Subj. Pres. Sing. l eom {earn); beo sie, sy J beo 2 eart {earj>)j bist sle, sy J beo 3 is J bip sie, syj beo Plur. sind, sindon {ear on); beop sien, synj beon Pret. Sing. I was w&re 2 w&re w&re 3 wees w&re Plur. wdiron w&ren Imper. Sing, wes j beo Infin. wesanj beon Plur. wesapj beop Gerund to wesenne ; to beonne Partic. Pi-es. wesende 4a6 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1489- 1489. The ea in eart and the Anglian earn, earon is a weakening of eo (1068), preserved in the West-Saxon eom and the occasional eori, eorun. In Late Northumbrian this ea undergoes the usual further weakening into a : am, arp, aron. 1490. The Standard ME forms are : am, art, is, be{n) ; subj. be, be{n); pret. was, w^r{e), was, w^re{n); pret. subj., w^rie), w]re{n); imper. be, bep; iniin. be{n); participles beinge, be{n). The ME pret. partic. is, of course, an analogical new-formation. The North-Thames plur. ar(n) is still rare in Standard ME, but is firmly established in Early MnE, which inflects: am, art, is, are; subj. be; pret. was, wast, wert, plur. were; subj. pret. were, wert, were; infin. be; partic. being, been. The use of be in the pres. indie, is still kept up in Early MnE : / be, thou beest, they be, etc. ; the form he bes is, however, very rare. There is in MnE a tendency to get rid of the distinctively subjunctive inflections of this verb not only by using thou beest as if it were a subjunctive — if thou beest = if thou be — but also by substi- tuting if I was for if I were, etc. was ^ were was frequent in the last century not only as a subjunctive, but also in the indic.j/oa was. In the present Spoken English the distinc- tion between was and were is strictly maintained, the substitution of was for were being a vulgarism. The subj. pres. is, on the other hand, extinct in the spoken language, except in a few phrases. The following are the inflections of be in spoken English : Pres. Indie, and Subj. Sing, i aem (m) 2 aar (sr) 3 iz (z, s) ; iznt Plur. aar (ar) Pret. Indie. Sing, i woz (waz) ; woznt 2 wsar (war) ; waant 3 woz (waz) ; woznt Plur. waar (war) ; waant Pret. Subj. waar (war) ; waant § 1493-] VERBS; ANOMALOUS. 427 Iraper. and Infin. bij Pres. Partic. and Gerund bijig Pret. Partic. bijn, bin 1491. The negative forms left blank in the pres. are generally supplied by (eint) in familiar speech, which is, however, felt to be a vulgarism, and is avoided by many educated speakers, who say (aim not) instead of (ai eint), (aa ju not) instead of (eint ju). 1492. have. The OE inflections resemble those of libban (1210) : hcebbe, hafast, hcefst, hafap, hcEfp, plur. habbap ; subj. habbe, hcebben; pret. hcsfde; imper. hafa, habbap; infin. habban ; partic. hcebbende, gehce/d. In ME the old bb was gradually supplanted by the w=OE/"of the other forms, the V itself being often dropped by contraction. The Standard ME forms are : have, weak hav, hast, hap, plur. hdve{n), hdn, han; 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^WE behdven. The MnE literary forms are : have, hast, hath, has plur. have ; subj. pres. have; pret. indie, had, hadst; pret. subj. had; imper. and infin. have; partic. having, had. Early MnE still kept the shortened infin. ha, a=ME han: she might a been (Shakespere). In Present English the infinitive (9) occurs only in vulgar or very indistinct speech. The distinctive spoken forms of have in Present English are : — haev (av, v), hsevnt; hsez (az, z, s), hseznt; hsed (sd, d), hsednt; haevii). The distinction between subj. and indie, is entirely lost. 1493. do. OE do, desl idcest), dip {deep), plur. dop; pret. weak dyde; imper. do, dop; infin. don; partic. donde, gedon. The mutation in dest, dep is common to all the dialects. In Standard ME the of the other parts of the verb supplanted the older /: d5, dost, dop, plur. ddn; dide; imper. do, dop; partic. doinge dd{n). In MnE (uu)=ME 428 ACCIDENCE. [§ i494- was shortened in the weak forms of dost, doth, does, done, whence the present forms (d^st, d'e]?, d-EZ, d^n), which have supplanted the Early MnE strong forms (duust), etc. The spoken forms in Present EngUsh are : duw (dg, d), dount ; d'Ez (daz), d'Eznt ; did, didnt ; d'En. PARTICLES. 1494. All the OE particles are either primary or secondary (337). The secondary particles are formed from other (declinable) parts of speech; thus ham in he code ham 'he went home' is formed from the masc. noun ham 'home,' 'homestead.' Primary particles, such as be ' by,' swd ' so ' are not formed from other parts of speech. There is no strict division between the three classes of particles, most of the prepositions being used also as adverbs, some adverbs being used also as conjunctions. Thus ar is a preposition in dr dcsge ' before day(break),' an adverb in he eft was papa swd he tsr wcbs ' he was pope again as he was before,' and a conjunction in dr pmt flod com ' before the flood came.' 1495. Some of the particles are simple, some derivative, such as uf-an ' above,' some compound (group-compounds), such as be-neofian ' beneath,' which is compounded with the preposition be. The above are primary adverbs. Secondary particles also admit of the same divisions, such as ham, sqptice ' truly,' ealne-weg ' always,' literally ' all (the) way.' Adverb- endings. 1496. In OE, adverbs are regularly formed from adjectives by adding -e, a preceding a being generally changed to a : deope 'deeply,' ^^ar fife ' strongly,' 'severely,' nearwe 'narrowly,' late ' slowly,' ' with delay ' from deop, heard ' hard,' ' strong,' 'severe,' nearu, lat 'slow,' swipe 'very' from the obsolete adjective swi}) ' strong,' preserved in proper names such as § 1498.] PARTICLES; ADVERB-ENDINGS. 439 Swiphun ' Swithin,' literally ■ strong cub.' Adjectives with a mutated vowel often have an unmutated vowel in the adverb, as in sqfie ' gently,' 'luxuriously,' swoie ' sweetly' cor- responding to the adjectives se/ie {sce/te), swele {swcete). The numerous adjectives in -lie form their adverbs in -lice, the original length of the vowel being kept, as in §gesUce 'terribly,' gesaligUce 'blessedly,' 'happily' from igeslic, gesdliglic \jgesa 'terror,' sal 'favourable time,' 'luck']. But gesdliglic occurs also in the shorter form gesdlig ; and hence in this and similar cases the adverb could be regarded as formed directly from the shorter adjective — gesdlig-lUe from gesdlig. In this way -lice came to be regarded as an independent adverb-ending equivalent to -e, which, through being more distinct, it gradually supplanted in many words. Hence -lice was sometimes added directly, without there being any adjective in -lie. 1497. In ME the two endings -e and -liche were both kept, the latter appearing as -like in Early Midland, as in deplike compared with Early Southern deopliche. 1498. When final -e was dropped in North-Thames EngUsh the distinction between the adj. hard and the adverb hard{e), etc. was lost. By degrees also the adverb-ending -like was levelled under the adjective-ending -/z'= Southern -lich, and -It then became a regular adverb-ending. In Late ME it was introduced into the Standard dialect, where it supplanted the Early Southern -liche, as in deply, hardly, openly. But -ly was also retained as an adjective-ending, as it still is in such a word as goodly =0^. godlic, ME godlich, godli. Some of the MnE adverbs which have the same form as adverbs, as in pull hard, speak loud, talk like a foreigner compared with a hard pull, etc. are, of course, the descend- ants of the OE adverbs in -e, such as hearde, hlUde, gelice ; but others are new-formations on the analogy of these traditional ones, especially those in -y=0'E -ig, as in pretty well, mighty fine, for the OE adjectives in -ig formed their 430 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1499- adverbs in -igltie {mihtigUce) to avoid the ambiguity of -ige, which might be mistaken for the plur., etc. inflection. 1499. In Old French the uninflected forms of adjectives —originally the neut. sing. — were used as adverbs, which were introduced into ME, whence such MnE adverbs as in just ready, shut close [Old French clos from Latin clausurn\, quiet [Latin qvieium], very=ME verrat 'true,' 'truly,' Old French verai [Modern French vrai\ from Latin verax, veracem. 1500. In Present English, adverbs in -ly are formed freely from all kinds of adjectives, as in deeply, foolishly, willingly, affectedly. Through the shortening of double consonants the (1) is dropped after adjectives ending in (1), as in fully (fuli), nohly. The addition of -ly is attended by various changes of spelling, as in merrily, gaily [old-fashioned English and American gayly], fully, nobly horn merry, gay, full, noble. 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 -ly are formed direct from nouns, such as namely ; but such adverbs as daily, yearly, quarterly in he is paid quarterly are old adjectives used as adverbs. A less frequent adverb-ending in OE was -unga, -inga, by which adverbs were formed from adjectives : eallunga ' entirely,' ierringa 'angrily,' from eall, ierre. There was also in OE a class of adverbs formed from nouns — mostly names of parts of the body — by adding -ling and prefixing the preposition on, such as on bacling 'backwards.' By blending these two endings a new ending -lunga, -linga was formed, as in grund- lunga 'from the foundations,' 'completely.' In ME the ending -linge is frequent, the adverbial -es (1504) being often, added, as in h§dlinge{s) ' headlong,' ngsehnge{s) ' on the nose,' ' 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\&^wz.ys,' flatting a.nAflatlong, as in the blow fell flatlong, that is, 'was given with the flat of § 1503.] PARTICLES; ADVERBS. 43I the sword instead of the point.' In Present Enghsh headlong is still an adverb, j/ii^/o^^ being an adjective — a sidelong glance. The older sidelinge was regarded as a pres. partic, and from it was formed a verb to sidle {up to). So also the ME adverb grovelinge ' grovellingly ' was made into the verb grovel. 1501. In ME and MnE some new adverb-endings arose out of OE adverbial phrases. Thus the OE on opre wisan ' in another way ' [wise weak fem. ' manner,' ' way '] was shortened and hardened into the group oprewlse, operwise; and in MnE -wise was used to form new adverbs, such as likewise, nowise. The noun way was used in like manner to form adverb-groups such as midway, noway, whence noways with the usual addition of -J. -wise, and -ways were often confused, as in lengthwise=lengthways, endwise, coastwise. The nouns time and while^^OE weak masc. tima and strong fem. hwtl ' time,' have also come to be used as adverb-endings in such words as meantime, sometime{s), ofttimes, oftentimes, meanwhile, somewhile, otherwhile{s), the last two being now obsolete. Adverbs formed direct from Nouns and Adjectives. 1502. Many OE adverbs are formed direct from nouns or adjectives, either inflected or uninflected. The following are uninflected, being formed from nouns in the ace. sing, and adjectives in the neut. sing.: ham, norp, sup, east, west; call ' entirely,' neah ' nearly,' genog ' sufficiently.' The most important inflectional endings are -um and -es: — 1503. -um: hwtlum 'sometimes,' stundum 'at intervals' \stund strong fem. ' period']. -mMum from the neut. noun mdl ' mark,' ' point of time ' is a frequent adverb-ending, as in styccemalum ' piecemeal,' floccmalum ' in troops.' From adjectives are formed miclum 'greatly,' lytlum and lytlum 'by little and httle,' ' by degrees.' The isolated ME whilom is still preserved in the higher language, -m&lum in ME passed 432 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1504- through -melen into -mele, as in dropmele, pecemele, where stycce was replaced by its French equivalent. 1504. -es in OE was extended to fem. nouns as an adverb- ending : dcEges and nihtes ' by day and by night,' sumeres and wintra \wintra masc. gen. Hke suna\, riiedes 'of necessity' \nted fem.J; ealles 'entirely,' ^Iks 'otherwise' from a lost adjective. The adverb-ending -weardes interchanges with the uninflected -weard, as in hdmweard{es) ' homewards.' In ME and MnE this ending was dropped in some words, as in Late ME day and night; but it was more often extended, especially to adverbs which in OE ended in a vowel or n, in order to make them more distinct, as in alwqys=E,s.T\y MnE alwai, OE ealneweg, gnes 'once' = OE ane, the mutated a being supplanted by ^=the OE a in an, twies 'twice,' pries ' thrice '=0E iwiwa, priwa. OE heonone 'hence' (1509) became he(o)nne in Early MnE, and by the addition of -J, hennes, OE panon ' thence,' hwanon ' whence ' becoming Late ME pennes, whennes by the influence of hennes. So also OE sippan (1511) 'since' passed through sippen, sin into sipens, sins. This extension of -j went on in MnE also, as in sometimes ^^QdJiMtr MnE sometime, which is still preserved in the higher language. 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 tomiddes — betwix{t), whiles, atngng. 1505. The following are examples of OE group-adverbs : ealneweg, ealneg ' always,' georstandcBg ' yesterday,' on weg ' away,' on hac ' backwards,' ' back,' ofditne ' down,' literally ' off the hill,' todag ' 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 life 'alive' literally 'in life,' on sldpe 'in sleep, asleep,' on eornost 'in earnest ' show no isolation either of meaning or form. But in ME there was a tendency to shorten weak of and on to a § i5o8.] PARTICLES ; ADVERBS. 433 whenever they were closely associated with the following word. Hence the ME forms adime, adun ' down ' adv., awai, abak, alive, aslepe, the a having been dropped in the MnE adverbs down, back. The same weakening took place in ME and Early MnE combinations, as in aclock, now written o'dock=o/{ihe) dock, and also in freer combinations, as in go a fishing = OE gan on fiscnoj?, twice a day = OE twiwa on dcBge. In MnE this a was taken for the indef. article, so that in jcukanapes=jack-of-apes it was made into an 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 similar native combinations : apart, apas= MnE apace. 1506. In ME the OE preposition be became b'l (1535), but the old be was kept in compounds such as beforen = OE be- foran, and also in some traditional collocations such as OE be sidan ' by the side,' ME beside, which was now completely isolated from bi J>e{re) side, just as alive was isolated from in al his Uf etc. But the new preposition bi was sometimes introduced into these groups, being however shortened to bi: bi/ore, biside. On the analogy of the older compounds the new-formation bi cause ' by the cause ' was made into bicause, because. 1507. In ME and MnE the place of a lost or obscured ending was sometimes supplied by a preposition, giving rise to new group-adverbs, such &% of a truth = OE sopes, of right =0E ryhtes, bi pecemele=0'E styccemcelum, by little and little= OE lytlum and lytlum. Sometimes a preposition was.^dded even when the ending was clear, as in at unawares. Pronominal Adverbs. 1508. Among the OE primary adverbs there is a sym- metrical group of adverbs of place, connected with the VOL. I. F f 434 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1509- pronouns he, pcBt, hwat, their endings expressing respectively rest, motion to, and motion from : — Rest Motion to Motion from her ' here ' hider ' hither ' heonon ' hence ' />&r ' there ' J>ider ' thither ' J>anon ' thence ' AwiSr ' where ' hwider ' whither ' hwanon ' whence ' The ME th in hither etc. is due to the influence of the r (877). 1509. The ending -er, -an, -on of the other primary adverbs has no very definite meaning : of-er ' over,' ex- pressing both motion and rest, und-er, a/t-er ; inn-an ' within,' iif-an ' above ' [connected with q/er'], hindan ' behind,' foran ' in front.' The ending -an was, however, extended to the noun-derived adverbs norp etc., where it kept its definite meaning : norpan ' from the north,' supan ' from the south.' -on, -an often takes final -e : heonone, utan{e) ' outside.' The adverbs pontic ' then,' ' than,' hwonne ' when ' are also pro- nominal. 1510. Many OE adverbs are formed directly from pro- nouns. The neuter pat is used as a conjunction exactly as in MnE: he scegde pat; he sagde pat he ware gearu, literally ' he said that : (namely) he was ready.' So also the pronoun hwaper is used in the same way as whether. The indeclin- able pe is used as a relative pronoun, both alone and in combination with si (1142), 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 mpeah-pe ' although' conjunc- \.\on,peah ' though' being an ad-veih, patte ' that ' coviy=patpe (767). Inflected pronouns are also used as particles, py, the instrumental of pat, is used in the sense of ' therefore,' ' because,' and to express measure and proportion, as in py ma ' the more,' correlative /i^ . . . py ='M.nE the ... the in the more the merrier. The change of py into the is the result of loss of stress and confusion with the indeclinable /«. hwy, the 5 15I3-3 PARTICLES; ADVERBS. 435 instrumental of hwat, is used in the sense of its MnE descen- dant why. 1511. There are many group-particles in OE consisting of a preposition governing a pronoun in the dat. or instr. The combination with the preposition alone generally forms an adverb— yor ]iam, for J>on, for }>y ' therefore ' — the corre- sponding conjunctions being formed by the addition of/« — for pam J>e, for pon J>e, for py pe ' because,' ar pam pe ' before,' afier pam pe ' after ' — or pai : id pam pat, to port pat ' in order that.' dppan, seoppan ' since ' contains an obsolete preposition *stp ' since ' — sippan= sip-pan with shortening of the i. 1512. There are similar group-particles formed by combi- nations of pronouns with nouns and adverbs formed from adjectives, such as pa. hvnle pe ' while,' literally ' the time when ' \pa, hwtle ace. fem. sing.J, na py las ' nevertheless,' 'notwithstanding,' literally 'not by-that less,'jAj' las pe 'lest,' literally ' by-that less that.' 1513. The gTonp-zdveThsfor-pi,for-pan,for-hwi continued in use throughout the ME period, but became obsolete in MnE. The groups in -pe were modified in various ways. In the Early MnE the ambiguous pe was generally made into />at, as in for-bi-pat, pe-whtle-pat, or dropped entirely, as in peik,pouh conj.= OE peahpe. pat often took the place of the inflected pronoun, as in for-pat, ^r-pat, after-pat, and the new-formations til-pat, before-pat. But even in the Earliest ME the pronouns were dropped, so that the bare preposi- tions for, /r, before etc. were used as conjunctions, as in MnE, this shortening being helped by the fact that even in OE the prepositions ar 'before' and butan 'without' were used also as conjunctions, the latter in the sense of ' except,' ' unless.' pe-hwile-pe was shortened to pe-hwile and then to hwile, whence the later whiles, whilst, the older the while, while still surviving in the higher language. OE py las pe F f 2 436 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1514. dropped the py in Early MnE, and sj> was made into st (767), giving laste, shortened leste, lest. Correlative Particles. 1514. OE correlative particles are : _/Jy . . .^(1510); swa . . . swd, as in swa hwit swa snow ' as white as snow'; J>a . . . pa, ponne . . . ponne ' then . . . when ' as in pa he com, pa eode ic ' when he came, I went,' the second (demonstrative) pa, ponne being omitted in MnE. Indefinite adverbs are formed like indefinite pronouns (1146) with correlative swa-^swa hwdr swd ' wherever.' 1515. In ME the first two groups were preserved in the form oi pe . . . pe and alswg . . . ase, as . . . as, alswg being a strong, as(e) a weak form of theOE 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 pa . . . pa, ponne . . . ponne, where the relative when Vas substituted for penne = OE ponne, the second member being omitted. So also swd hwar swd appears as wh^r sg in ME. Frouomiual Conjtinotions. 1516. In OE the neuter pronouns duper, nduper, agper (1146, 1155) are often used adverbially in connection with the correlative conjunction-pairs ge . . . ge ' both , . . and,' oppe . . . oppe ' either . . . or,' ne . . . ne ' neither . . . nor,' standing in a kind of opposition to them : hie cupon agper, ge god ge yfel ' they knew each-of-the-two, both good and evil ' ; se gesw^nced bip duper, oppe on mode oppe on Uchaman 'he who is afflicted either-way, either in mind or in body'; hie ne cupon ndn-ping yfeles, ndper ne on sprdce ne on weorce ' they knew nothing of evil, no-way, neither in speech nor in action.' 1517. In Early ME the first correlative conjunction was dropped in such combinations, so that the adverbial pronoun §i5i8.] PARTICLES; NEGATION. 437 was brought into direct correlation with the second conjunc- tion, OE naper ne . . . tie being made into ngper . . . ne, neijier . . .ne (use) etc. : ngper on speche ne on werhe. The original pronoun afterwards supplanted the second conjunction as well, where, being unstressed, it was liable to shortening, whence the pairs gper (eiper) . . . or, ngper (neiper) . . . nor : peri man schal have gper god gper ilvel — eiper god or iivel. The weak or, nor were only rarely introduced into the first clause as well ; but in the higher language we still use or . . . or instead of either . . . or. The new conjunctions soon came to be used without any correlative, as in the Early MnE he mihte rlden gper ggn. The correlative both . . . and arose in the same way as either . . . or etc., the beginning of it being seen in such an OE construction as hte bH geseqp, pest he hie gen^rede, and him eac forgeaf ece llf, ' they see both (neut. sing.) that he has saved them, and has also given them eternal life.' Negation and Afarmation. 1518. The negative particle in OE is ne, which drops its vowel in some combinations before a vowel, or hor w followed by a vowel, these consonants being also dropped, nwi- being made into ny- ; thus eom ' am,' ha/p ' has,' hcefde ' had,' wdt 'knows,' wiste 'knew,' wile 'will,' wolde 'would' have the negative forms mom ' am not,' n/zfp, ncefde, not, nyste, nyle, nolde. Some pronouns and adverbs have similar negative forms, such as nan ' none,' nahwaper, nauper ' neither,' nawiht, naht, nawihi, noht ' nothing,' na ' not ' from an, ahwceper, awiht {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 : nan ne dorste nan ping dscian ' no-one durst ask anything.' If the sentence does not contain any such contracted negatives in addition to the negatived verb, the stronger na or naht is added 438 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1519- to support the ne before the verb : peel hus na ne feoll ' the house did not fall.' 1519. In ME the usage is often the same as in OE : he nper nadde ngping. But the weak form of ndwiht, namely nat, not (1147) from being a mere strengthening of the ne, began to supplant it, as in id me scke wol nat do pat grace, although ne is often kept, as in D^p ne wol nat han nii Uf. 1520. In MnE ne disappeared entirely. At the same time the influence of Latin grammar led to the adoption of the logical principle that ' two negatives contradict each other and make an affirmative,' which is now strictly carried out in the Standard language, spoken as well as written, though the old pleonastic negatives are still kept up in vulgar speech, as in / dorit know nothing about ?'/=the educated I do not know any- thing about it or / know nothing about it. 1521. Although OE naht was preferred to na as the auxi- liary negative in ME, the latter held its ground in certain collocations, especially before comparative adjectives and adverbs, and is still kept in such phrases as he is no better ; no more of this ! And no is always used as the absolute nega- tion — in answer to questions etc. — together with nay, which is the Scandinavian nei ' no,' literally ' not-ever.' nay is now obsolete in speech. 1522. The OE particles of affirmation are gea, Anglian ga, ge, MEyi, Early MnE (j««) Second MnE (jii, jee), which is now obsolete; and yes=OiE gise, Anglian gese, ME and Early MnE j/w,j/m. gise is an old group-compound of gea and the subjunctive sie ' be it ' ; it was therefore originally an emphatic aflBrmative. Comparison of Adverbs. 1523. The comparison of adverbs has already been treated of under Adjectives (1036). In OE the regular forms of adverb-comparison were -e, -or, -ost and -lice, -Hear, -liocor. J 1526.] PARTICLES; COMPARISON. 439 -licosi, -liocost: deope, deoplice; deopor, Late OE deoppor (769), deoplicor ; deopost, deoplicost. There was also a smaller class with mutation in the higher degrees, the endings being -e, -, -est, as in lange ' for a long time,' l§ng, longest. Most of the adverbs which admit of comparison are formed from adjec- tives ; but primary adverbs also admit of direct comparison, with and without mutation : o/t ' often,' of/or, of tost ; ar ' before,' aror, Srest. 1624. In MnE the comparison -er, -est is, as a general rule, applied only to those adverbs which have no special adverbial ending in the positive, especially those which have the same form as the corresponding adjectives, such as hard — as in pmll harder, pull hardest — loud, quick, fast, long. The comparison of primary adverbs, as in often-zz-OE oft, oftener, oftenest, has in some cases been carried further than in OE, as in soon, sooner, soonest, seldomer, the OE sona, seldon not admitting of comparison. Adverbs in -ly are compared peri- phrastically : fully, more fully, most fully. But in the spoken language these adverbs often form their comparisons by inflection from the corresponding adjective : easy, easier — as in easier said than done — easiest ; cheaply, cheaper, cheapest — as in where it can be done cheapest. 1525. The following adverbs are compared irregularly in MnE:— well; better; best. OEwel; b§t; b§tst, which dropped its / in ME best on the analogy of mast, etc. badly {evilly, ill); worse, worst. OEyfle; wiers (wyrs) ; wierrest, wierst {wyrrest, wyrsi). much, more, most. OE micle ; md(re) ; mast. little, less, least. OE lytle, lyt; las ; last. far ; farther, further ; farthest, furthest. OEfeorr ; fierr ; fierrest. 1526. There are besides various isolated forms which have been treated of under the comparison of adjectives. From the comparative adverb rather=0'EhraJ>or 'quicker,' 'sooner' 440 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1527- a positive adjective rathe was formed in MnE — the rathe prim- rose (Milton) — which is now obsolete. 1527. From some of the isolated comparatives and super- latives, whose meaning has been forgotten and which have come to be regarded as positives, adverbs have been formed by adding -ly : formerly, latterly, lastly. PREPOSITIONS. Old-English. 1528. Of the OE prepositions some are simple, some compQuud. Most of the latter are made up of prepositions — especially be — and place-adverbs ending in -an, -on, be- becom- ing b- before a vowel, such contracted forms as bufan 'above' ■=*be-u/an, being made into new compounds, such as onbu/an ' above.' The following are the most important of thesft compound prepositions : — set : atforan ' before.' be ' by ' : bee/tan ' behind,' beforan ' before,' begeondan ''btyond^ behindan 'behind,' binnan '-mthm,' beneoJ:ian 'beneath,' bufan ' above,' butan ' outside.' on : onforan ' before,' oninnan ' within,' onbufan ' above,' onuppan ' upon,' onbutan ' around.' to : toforan ' before.' under : underneopan ' beneath.' wij> ' towards ' : wipinnan ' within,' wipitian ' without.' ymb ' around ' : ymbutan ' around.' 1529. Other compound prepositions are formed of prepo- sitions + nouns or adjectives in the four cases governed by OE prepositions — the ace, dat., instr., gen. : ongemang ' among,' literally ' into the crowd ' ; ongean, Anglian ong^gn, ongen, ' against,' and togeanes, Anglian togignes, togenes ' towards,' ' against ' contain an obsolete noun of uncertain meaning; tomiddes 'amidst' is formed from the adj. midd § I534-] PROPOSITIONS. 441 ' middle ' ; beiweonum, beiwix are formed from an obsolete adjective connected with twiwa ' twice.' 1530. Those OE prepositions which govern both ace. and dat, generally take the ace. to express motion, the dat. (or instr.) to express rest : M eode on pat hits ' he went into the house ' ; he wunode on pam huse ' 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. 1532. The OE prepositions are closely allied to the adverbs. Most of them can be used as adverbs without any change of form. Thus on is an adverb in he dyde on his byrnan ' he put on his corslet,' the MnE don and doff being contractions of OE do(n) on, do of. So also in he him tonoap ' he said to him ' compared with he cwcep to him. Some pre- positions however, such as/or, are not used as adverbs, while others undergo change of form. Thus the adverbs corres- ponding to be and in [on) are di and inn : he stod bt, he stod him bi, he eode inn compared with he stod be him ' he stood by him,' he eode in (on) pat hiis. The preposition be\%, of course, the weak form due to want of stress, bl being the original strong form. 1533. In such combinations as par on, peer to, which in OE are regularly used to express on it, to it, etc. (379), on and to must, of course, be regarded as adverbs, therein, herein are, indeed, often expressed by pdrinne, herinne with the pure adverb innez=innan. 1534. It is to be observed that the prepositions were 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 indi- cated by the inflection. Thus ' motion to ' was originally expressed by 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 exactly. So also in on pam hiise 442 ACCIDENCE. [5 1535. the idea of ' rest in a place ' was primarily expressed by the dative, which here represents the Arian locative. Middle and Modern English. 1535. In ME the adverb bl was extended to the function of a preposition — a change which had already begun in OE — so that be was preserved only in compounds and traditional groups such as be/oren, beside. By the change of -an, -on into -e the OE adverb yoraw and the preposition /b« ' before ' were levelled under the latter, and by the analogy of the adverbs inne, ute=-innan, utan, the preposition mid 'with' when used as an adverb was made into mide, as in fijrmide=. OE pdrmid. So also for, which had no corresponding adverb-form in OE, developed a ME adverb ybr«, as 'va.J)p-/ore, whjrfore. The confusion that thus arose between OE /or and/ore was avoided by an extended use of the compound before{n). 1536. In ME t'nnan ' inside ' came into general use as a preposition so as to avoid the ambiguity of OE on=' on,' ' in.' Being generally unstressed, it was shortened first to ine and then to m, the original distinction being thus restored. 1537. In MEyr^ from ScandinavianyVa and Jrom= OE /ram were used both as adverbs and prepositions. We now use/ro only as an adverb in the phrase /o and/ro. 1538. In ME the preposition mid ' with ' got confused with wi/> ' against ' — a confusion which would easily arise in such phrases as /ighi with (OE /eohtan wip), deal with, where the relation between 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 wip was expressed by against, and ME wip took the meanings of mid, which then became extinct. For the differentiation of OE of, wip into MnE of, off, (wi^, wi))) see § 861. § 1543.] iNTERJECTIONS. 443 1539. In ME the rare construction of prepositions with the genitive was soon given up — except of course in iso- lated groups such as tomiddes — and when the distinction between the other oblique cases and the nom. was lost in the nouns, and nothing was left but the distinction of nom. and objective in some of the personal pronouns, the only trace left of case-government by prepositions was that they were sometimes followed by a personal pronoun in the objective case. 1540. In OE the adverbial ending -weard is sometimes used detached in connection with the preposition to in such constructions as wi}) hire (dat.) weard ' towards her.' In ME this is often carried further, as in to wode ward, to Troie wardes^^toward pe wode, towardes Troie, frg B or deux ward compared vf\\h- framward Teukeshilri, where framward is a new formation on the analogy of toward. In Early MnE the Bible still has to God ward. 1541. In ME the a of amiddes was restored to its full form on, for which in was afterwards substituted. The body of the word was then regarded as an independent noun, so that at last inmidst developed into in the midst {of). INTERJECTIONS. 1542. Interjections are primary and secondary. Pri- mary interjections are mostly imitations of sounds that ac- company emotions : ah, 0, oh, pah, pooh, hush. From them other parts of speech may be formed ; thus hush is used as a verb — to hush. Such interjections as whatl dear me! are secondary. There are also mixed interjections, made up of primary interjections combined with other parts of speech, such as alas from Old French halas, alas [Modern French Mlas\, made up of the interjection a and /(2j= Latin lassum ' weary.' 1543. The OE la ! eald ! ' oh ! ' seem to be primary. 444 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1544- wd] 'woe!' is the same word as the noun wawa, wd 'misfortune.' wald! wdldwal 'alas!' are therefore mixed interjections. 1544. Interjections may stand in various grammatical relations to other words. Hence in OE, wd sometiines governs a dat., as in wd pam minnl 'woe to the man!' wdld governs a gen. in such phrases as wdld pmre iermpe ! ' alas for the misery,' on the analogy of the gen. after verbs of repenting, etc. As we see from the above examples, interjections are frequently connected with prepositions in MnE. COMPOSITION. Old-English. 1545. The normal way of forming compounds in OE is by joining together two words — which may be themselves compound or derivative words — the former word being unin- flected, the latter, if declinable, keeping its power of inflec- tion, and, if a noun, determining the gender of the whple compound. Thus the neuter noun gold and the masculine noun smtj> can be combined to form the compound mascu- line noun goldsmip ' goldsmith.' So also dfen-tid ' evening time ' is feminine because its last element is a feminine noun. These compounds of noTin -l- nomi are the most frequent. There are also compounds of adjective -|- noun, such as hdlig-dcEg ' church festival ' literally ' holy-day,' cwic-seolfor 'quick-silver,' 'mercury,' literally 'living silver'; of noxin -|- ad- jective, such as wtn-sced ' satiated with wine,' and of adjective 4- adjective, such as wid-cup ' widely known.' 1546. In the above examples the part of speech of the whole compound is determined by that of the last element. But there is a class of adjective + noun compounds having the function of adjectives, such as glad-mod ' having a glad mood,' Uip-heort ' blithe of heart,' ' cheerful,' formed from the § I649-] COMPOSITION. 445 adjectives glced, bUpe and the nouns mod, heorte. As we see from the last example, the noun is sometimes shortened in such compounds. We call these compounds conversion- compounds, because they involve the conversion of a noun into an adjective. They are very old formations, such con- version-compounds as the Greek dus-menes 'having an evil mind,' having apparently been formed in Parent Arian. Parent Arian had also double eonversion-conipoiinds, con- sisting of two nouns. An example of such compounds is afforded by the Greek rhodo-ddktulos 'having rose-fingers,' 'rosy-fingered' (an epithet 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 OE consists in the indeclinability of the first element. It is only by this criterion that we can distinguish such compounds as goddckd ' benefit ' from the word-group god dad ' good action,' as in the dative plural goddddum compared with godum dddum. 1548. It is only occasionally that the first element of a compound in OE shows any variation from the form it has when detached. But final vowels are often dropped, as in gum-cynn ' mankind,' from guma ' man,' sunn-beam ' sun- beam,' from sunne ' sun,' compared with sige-lean ' reward of victory.' 1549. Normal OE compounds take the stress on the first element ; but as word-groups beginning with the genitive of a noun or an inflected adjective do the same, stress is in OE no criterion of composition as opposed to mere grouping. Hence there is in OE no formal distinction between such a word-group as •cyninges sunu ' king's son,' in which the mean- ing of the whole follows from that of its elements, and one in which there is isolation of meaning, such as the plant- name -geaces-sure ' sorrel,' hterally ' cuckoo's-sour.' But as most of the latter class developed into true compounds in MnE through keeping their uneven stress (894), it is con- 446 ACCIDENCE. [| i550- 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 : — Ttwes-dceg ' Tuesday,' literally ' day of the war-god {Tlw), the name being a translation of the Latin dies Martis (French Mardt), Sunnan-dag 'Sunday' [sunne 'sun'], Monan-dag ' Monday' [mona ' moon '], J^ngla-land ' England,' literally ' land of the Anglians' \J^ngle plur. 'Anglians,' 'English'], wiiena-gembt ' parliament,' literally ' meeting of the wise men or councillors,' often erroneously written witangemot, dceges- eage ' daisy,' literally ' eye of day.' These combinations are especially frequent as place-names, such as Seoles-ug ' Selsey,' literally ' seal's island,' Oxena-ford ' Oxford,' literally ' ford of oxen,' Buccinga-hdm, ' Buckingham,' literally ' home of (the tribe or family of) the Buccings,' De/ene-sar ' Devon- shire,' literally ' province of Devonia ' (OE Defen). 1550. Verbs are very rarely compounded directly with nouns or adjectives in OE, although there is nothing to prevent verbs being formed from compound nouns or adjectives. Thus from the compound noun wuldor-beag 'glory-crown,' 'aureole' is formed the verb wuldorheagian 'to crown,' there being no separate verb *heagian. 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 as/ull m/itll- fyllan 'fully fill,' ' in\&\,' /ull-wyrcan 'fully work,' 'complete,' and e/en ' even,' ' equal,' which in composition expresses the idea of community or association, as in efen-prowian ' sym- pathize,' literally 'suffer in common with.' The want of stress in the first elements of these compounds shows that they are felt as mere prefixes. Modern English. 1551. In MnE some compounds are formed by adding § I5S4-] COMPOSITION. 447 to the first element the Latin and Greek connecting-vowel 0, but only when the first element is in a Latin or Latinized form, as in Anglosaxon, Anglo- Indian, Franco-German, a concavo-convex lens. The connecting vowel o is very frequent in Greek compounds, such as hippo-ddmos ' horse-taming,' philo-sopMa ' philosophy,' literally ' loving wisdom.' In such forms as hippo-, philo- are preserved one of the most frequent forms of uninflected nouns and adjectives in a primitive stage of Parent Arian. When in- flections were fully developed, these old uninflected forms sur- vived only as the first elements of compounds. It is possible that such OE compounds as dcege-weorc ' day's work,' nihte-gale •nightingale,' literally 'night-singer,' from dceg and niht, still preserve remains of the old connecting vowel. The ng in the MnE nightingale may be due to the influence of evening. In MnE handiwork the i is the OE prefix ge-, pre- served in enough=OE. genog, the OE form of the compound being hand-geweorc. The i- was preserved in MnE probably through association with the adjective handy- handicraft =0'E, handcrceft probably owes its i to the influence of handiwork and handy. 1652. One of the formal 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 rigid word-order, these tests are not so decisive in it as in OE, especially when an adjective is the first element. The great extension of even stress in MnE, on the other hand, makes stress the main criterion for distinguishing between compounds and word-groups (889). 1553. One result of this further development of stress- distinctions in MnE is that we are able to recognize a special class of MnE genitive-compounds, distinguished from mere genitive-groups in the same way as compounds beginning with an adjective are distinguished from the corresponding word-groups, namely by having uneven instead of even stress (894). 1554. Hence also the OE compounds goldfcet, godddd 448 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1555 have in MnE been separated into the groups -gold -vessel, good deed, such OE compounds as goldsmip, cwicseolfor being preserved as compounds in the form of goldsmith, quicksilver by their uneven stress ; while the OE groups domes dag, blcec b§rige have been made into the compounds doomsday, black- berry. 1655. Some compounds of MnE formation ha,ve a noun in the plural as their first element, but only when this noun in the plural has developed a meaning of its own different from that of the singular, so that it is isolated from its singular, the connection between them being sometimes forgotten. Such compounds are clothesbrush, clothes-basket, etc., newsboy, newspaper (njuwspeipa), where the compound is obscured by the change of the (z) of news (njuwz) into (s). 1556. As regards the use of the different parts of speech in composition, the most noticeable diiference between OE and MnE is the greater freedom with which in MnE verbs enter into composition with nouns and adjectives, the result of the combination being sometimes a noun, as in breakwater, clasp-knife, sometimes a verb, as in browbeat, whitewash, according as the last element is a noun or a verb. But such compounds are still comparatively rare, the main combina- tions of verbs being with particles, as in OE. Meaning of Compounds. 1557. The general rule of English — as also of Parent Arian — composition is to put the adjunct-word before the head-word, on the same principle of putting the modifier before the modified word as we follow in the group adjective -f noun. Hence the order in the compound blackbird is the same as in the group black bird. In such groups as man-of-war, bread-and-butter, on the contrary, the modifying element follows, instead of preceding, and accordingly the stress is thrown on to the second element. The end-stress in mawkind seems to show that even in a § is6o-] COMPOSITION. 449 normal compound the second element may sometimes be re- garded as the modifying one. 1558. In many cases the logical relation between the elements of a compound may be defined with certainty and accuracy, as may be seen from the lists given under the head of stress in compounds (896 foil.). Thus it is perfectly clear that in goldfish the first element defines the second one by stating something that the second element resembles, the compound being equivalent to 'gold-resembling fish,' or more definitely 'gold-coloured fish.' So also it is evident that sight in sightseer stands in the same relation to seer as it does to the verb see in 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. 1559. But in many cases these logical relations are less definite. Thus a water-plant might mean a plant growing in the water, or a plant growing near the water, or, on the analogy of water-melon, we might suppose it to mean a plant containing a great deal of moisture, and perhaps growing in a comparatively dry place. The logical relations between the elements of causal and phenomenon-compounds are often difficult to define accurately, even when the meaning of the compound itself is definite, as in sundial, which might be explained either as a ' dial for showing the position of the sun,' or as a ' dial worked — as it were — by 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 : it is only by leaving open the logical relations between the elements of compounds that we are able to form them as we want them without stopping to analyze exactly the logical or grammatical relations between the words we join together, as we might have to do if we connected them together by more definite means, such as prepositions or inflections. VOL. I. G g 45° ACCIDENCE. [§ 1561. 1561. An important general distinction between compounds as regards their meaning is the closeness of the logical connection between them. We may from this point of view distinguish between co-compounds and sub-compotrnds in the same way as We distinguish between co-complexes and sub-complexes (456). Thus in a causal compound the relation between the two elements is an intimate one, like that between the clauses of a causal complex sentence. There are hardly any pure co-compounds in English, such a combination as deaf-mute =■'■ 2i person who is deaf and dumb ' being an 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-serpent-demons meaning simply ' gods, angels, men, serpents, and demons,' that is, '' ' all living creatures.' As we have seen, the less close the logical relation between the elements of a compound, that is, the more co-ordinative the compound is, the greater the tendency in Present English to resolve it into an even-stress word-group. DERIVATION. Native Elements. Prefixes. ^ 1562. Some of the OE prefixes are strong (strong-stressed), some weak (wealc-stressed). Noun- and adjective-prefixes — that is, prefixes added to nouns and adjectives respectively — are generally strong, as in •mis-dad 'misdeed,' -un-cup 'unknown'; while verb-prefixes are generally weak, as in forgiefan 'forgive.' When the same prefix is used both with nouns (and adjectives) and with verbs, it generally takes a shortened and weakened form in the latter combination, which is the natural result of its weak stress. The following are examples of such pairs of originally identical prefixes : — § 1 6 66. J NATIVE PREFIXES. 45 1 ■and-giet ' intelligence ' owgietan ' understand ' •af-punca ' grudge ' ofpyncan ' to grudge ' •or-panc ' device ' ap^ncan ' devise ' •bi-gang ' circuit ' be'gan ' practise ' 1563. When a verb is formed direct from a noun or adjective, the strong form of the prefix is preserved un- changed, as in •andswarian ' to answer ' from the noun •and-swaru ' answer.' Originally there was a verb *otfswerian corresponding to andswaru in the same way as ongietan corresponds to andgiet ; and the frequent OE form andswarian is a blending of the original verb and andswarian or andswaru. 1564. Conversely, in a noun formed from a verb the verb- prefix is preserved unchanged, as in d'Uesednes ' redemption,' literally ' loosenedness,' from arlman ' 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 bigang is often made into he'gang by the influence of began. 1565. In some cases older distinctions between the strong and weak forms of prefixes have been levelled. Thus the weak for- in for-don ' destroy,' forweorpan ' perish ' appears in the earliest OE z.% fer- {/erdon),for- being then used only as the corresponding strong form in such nouns as -forwyrd ' destruction,' from which it was gradually extended to verb- forms. So also the weak /o- in iahrecan ' break to pieces ' is represented by te- in earher OE [te-hrecan). Its strong form was originally */(?r-,. parallel to the strong for- \ ior- was made into to- by contraction, and then extended to the weak forms. 1566. In the case of these two prefixes the weak 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 transferred to a verb, but also its Gg 2 452 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1567- Strong stress : thus the prefix mis- has strong stress in ■misdon as well as in misddd. 1567. The prefix ge-, on the other hand, always has weak stress, not only before verbs, as in ge-seon ' to see,' but also in nouns, such as gersihp ' sight,' where it originally had a strong form *gcE-, *gea- with strong stress. 1568. Prefixes to pronouns and particles are sometimes weak, sometimes strong. The following are the most important of the OE prefixes, the strong being marked (•). 1569. a-. This prefix, whose strong form is or- (1562), is cognate with the German er-, as in erlauben ' allow,' strong ur-, as in -urlaub, the noun corresponding to erlauben.' Its original meaning was ' out,' ' from,' ' forth,' which may still be traced in such verbs as drisan ' arise,' dwacan ' awake ' (German erwachen), while in many cases it is practically unmeaning — or, at most, emphatic — as in dberan 'carry,' ' endure,' dbysgian ' occupy ' \bysig ' busy ']. 1570. 'a- is a shorter form of dwa ' always.' It is a strong prefix which is used only with pronouns and particles to give them an indefinite meaning, as in -dhwcefier ' either of two,' dhwar 'anywhere,' from kwceper 'which of the two?' and hwdr ' where ? ' 1571. ■»§- was originally a ' always ' followed by the prefix ge- in its older form gt- (1574), whose i mutated the pre- ceding d into «, and was then dropped, giving dg-. The d in this prefix served merely to emphasize and generalize the collective meaning of the ge-, so that dg- is equivalent to ' all ' or ' every,' as in -ighwcBper ' each of two,' dghwdr ' everywhere.' 1572. be- has bt- for.its strong form. It is the same word as the preposition be ' by,' whose strong form is the adverb bi ' by.' As be and bt are therefore still independent words, began, blgang, etc., may be regarded as compounds rather than deri- § 1576.] NATIVE PREFIXES. 453 vatives. But the prefixes be-, bi- have diverged so much in meaning from' the independent words be, bi, that from an unhistorical point of view the two pairs have no connection with one another. Thus as prefixes be- and bi- preserve the meaning ' around,' kept also in Greek amphi-, which repre- sents the fuller Arian form of which bt is a shortening. This primitive meaning is seen in bigang, began, in which ' going round' developed into the meanings 'worship,' 'cultivate.' The most general function of be- is to speciahze the meaning of transitive verbs, as in behon ' hang with,' bes^Uan ' besetj' and to make an intransitive verb transitive, as in bemepan ' bewail,' bep^ncan ' consider ' from wepan ' weep,' p^ncan ' think.' In some cases it is privative, as in beniman 'depriv-e' \niman ' take '], behiafdian ' behead.' 1573. for, earliery^r-, strong /or- (1565) is quite distinct from the preposition /or ; it expresses destruction, loss, etc., as in /ordon ' destroy,' /orweorpan ' perish ' from dm ' do,' weorpan ' become,' originally ' turn ' [compare Latin verfere], being sometimes only intensitive, as in /orbarnan ' burn up.' 1574. ge-, which is prefixed equally to verbs, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and particles, has primarily a collective meaning, as in ge/era ' companion,' originally ' fellow travel- ler,' from /or 'journey' [/aran, 'go,' ' triLvel''], gebropru ' brothers ' [bropor, ' brother '], gehwa ' each one ' from hwa ' who?', being cognate with the Latin cum 'with.' It is often only intensitive, and often practically unmeaning, as in gemunan ' remember,' gemynd ' memory,' ' mind.' As a pre- fix to the preterite participle of verbs, as in gebunden ' bound,' it is really a grammatical inflection (74). 1575. -mis- is a prefix both to verbs and nouns, as in misUcian ' displease,' misddd ' misdeed.' 1576. of- is cognate with the preposition and adverb of ' off, of.' The strong form cb/- (1562) is of rare occurrence ; in such words as -o/spring ' progeny,' it has been supplanted by the weak form. In this word the original meaning of the 454 ACCIDENCE. [§ I57J- prefix has been preserved, but in most cases it is only inten- sitive, as in ofslean ' kill ' [slean ' strike '], or unmeaning, as in the preterite participle ofpyrsted ' thirsty.' 1577. on-, strong and- (1562), is represented in German by ent-, em{p)-, strong ani-, as in emp-fangen ' receive '=0E on-fon, -ant-wort ' answer,' with which compare OE and-wyrde ' answer,' literally ' against-wording,' where it still preserves its original meaning of ' against,' being cognate with the Greek anti ' against.' In some words it expresses ' separa- tion,' ' change,' as in onbindan ' unbind,' onlucan ' unlock,' ' open,' onw^ndan ' overturn,' ' change to the worse.' In many words it is unmeaning, as in ondrmdan ' dread,' onginr nan 'begin.' ,1578. o«-derivatives such. as the above must be carefully distinguished from compounds with the preposition or adverb on ' on,' such as ■on-winnan ' make war on,' ' assail,' ongean ' against ' [Modern German entgegen=^o\d&r German engegen, ingegin owes its ent- to confusion with the prefix e«/-]. 1579. to-, earlier te-, strong to- (1565), is represented in German by zer-, as in zerbrechen^O'E. tobrecan 'break to pieces,' zeriheilen=0¥, toddlan 'distribute' \ddl 'portion,' ' share ']. This prefix always keeps its original meaning of ' separation,' ' destruction,' and is thus easily distinguished from compounds with the preposition to ' to,' such as •tocyme 'arrival' \cyme 'coming'], togadre 'together.' 1580. -im- 'un-' is a prefix to nouns, adjectives, and secondary adverbs, and is generally purely negative, though sometimes intensitive in the sense of ' bad ' : unddd ' wicked deed,' ' crime,' unciij) 'unknown,' unsofte 'ungently,' 'severely.' 1581. -wan- 'un-' \wana adjective 'wanting,' wanian ' curtail,' ' wane '] is prefixed to adjectives, as in wanhdl ' un- healthy ' \hal ' whole,' ' sound ']. 1582. In ME ge- was weakened to i-, as in ivere, ibunde{n). It soon began to be dropped in the North-Thames dialects, as in Be ' like ' = South-Thames ilich, OE gelic. In Standard § r584.] NATIVE PREFIXES. 455 ME the grammatical i- is sometimes kept, sometimes not — being generally dropped, as in fere, kmde=OE gefera ' companion,' gecynd fern. ' kind,' ' nature,' gecynde ' natural.' The prefix seems to have been preserved in poetry for the sake of the metre after it had become extinct in the spoken language. But it has been kept to the present day in enotigh-=WE. inoh, OE genog, handiwork (1551. 2), and in the obsolete _)/»«= OE gewiss ' certain' — sometimes made into a verb (1486. i), and in the preterite participles yclept =0E gecleopod ' called,' j/c/a;/. Also through confusion with every in everywhere from OE *afre gehwAr. alike must be referred to the OE onlic, which had the same meaning as gelic. 1583. In ME the prepositions o/"and on were liable to be weakened into a (1505). The same change took place with the prefixes of- and on-, and as OE a- was shortened to a-, all three prefixes were often levelled under one form. This levelling was helped by the fact that already in OE there was a certain confusion between these endings through the vague- ness of their meanings in many words. Thus we find in OE abidan, onbidan ' await,' onwacan and awacan ' awake,' ondrd- dan ' fear,' ofdrddd pret. panic. ' afraid,' the difference of meaning being often very slight in other cases, as in asgndan ' send,' ons^ndan ' send forth,' dgiefan ' render,' ofgiefan ' re- linquish.' of- was preserved in ofspring through its strong stress. So also and- in andsware, answare. Towards the end of the ME period the prefix a- was dropped in many words, partly through its vagueness of meaning, partly through its indistinctness of sound. It is now preserved only in a few words, such as arise, awake, awaken = 0'E arisan, awacan, awcecnian, acknowledge=ME akngul§chen, to which corresponds OE oncndwan, ashamed=0'E ofsceamod, abide=0'E onbidan 'wait,' and the obsolete athirst=OE ofpyrsted. 1584. But those verbs in on- which expressed a definite 456 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1585- reversal of the meaning of the verbs they were formed from, such as onbindan, saved their prefixes from being weakened into the ambiguous a- by identifying it with the almost synonymous noun- and adjective-prefix un-, whence the MnE unbind, unlock, and many new-formations — from French as well as English verbs — such as unsettle, unhook, unarm, unchain. 1585. ti- was preserved in ME, as in tobreken, torenden, but has become obsolete in MnE, though the Bible still has all tobrake his scull, where all is adverbial. 1586. for- is still preserved in MnE, as in forbid, forswear, /orlorn=0'E forloren, preterite participle oiforleosan 'lose'; but many of the ME derivatives have become obsolete, and for- is no longer a living prefix. In for ego=OE /organ ' go without,' ' forego ' the prefix has been confused with the separable prefix or adverbyi)«=OE_/or« 'before.' 1587. The mainly noun- and adjective prefixes mis- and un- are still living prefixes, being freely used to form new derivatives, such as misadventure, misrepresent, unrest, un- limited, unchain. 1588. The only old verb-prefix that can be regarded as 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 byword still keeps the strong form, being formed on the analogy of ME bispel-= OE dispell ' parable ' ; but such nouns as bystreet, bystander, may be regarded rather as compounds with the adverb bi. Some nouns have taken be- from the corresponding verbs, such as belief ^=0^, geleafa, the cor- responding verb 'being believe^OK gelief an, Late OE belief an. Suffixes. 1589. Of the OE endings some, which contained i or j in Germanic, cause mutation of the preceding vowel, as in gylden ' golden.' When the same ending sometimes mutates, § I592-] NATIVE SUFFIXES. 457 sometimes not, the mutated forms are generally the original ones, the unmutated forms being the result of later influence of the unmutated word from which the derivative was formed. Thus her en 'belonging to a bear '= earlier biren owes its e to the influence of the noun bera ' bear.' IToun-forniing. (fl) Concrete. 1590. -cen is a diminutive neuter ending, which, although preserved only in a very few words, such as (yncen from tunne 'tun,' 'cask,' was no doubt in common use in the spoken language. It is an extension of the originally dimi- nutive ending -en in magdtn. In ME and MnE it appears in the form of -kin, -ikin, whose full vowel and k instead' of ch is probably the result of the influence of the French -quin, itself of 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 to form nicknames from proper names, many of which afterwards became surnames : Wilekin, Wilkin from William, whence the MnE Wilkinson, which was again shortened to Wilkins, Perkin, shortened from Peterkin, Halkin, whence by phonetic spelling Hawkin(s); from Hal, a child's mispronunciation of Harry r= Henry. 1591. -end ' -er ' is the noun-form of the present par- ticiple ending -ende, and forms nouns denoting agents from verbs, such as halend ' healer,' ' Saviour,' sceotend ' shooter,' ' warrior.' It became extinct in ME, its place being supplied by the ending -^re. But it still survives disguised m/riend=z OE friend literally ' lover,' and fiend= OE feond ' enemy,' literally ' hater.' 1592. -ere, -sfere, masc. '-er' forms agent-denoting nouns from verbs : bindere ' binder,' fiscere ' fisher,' leornere ' learner,' 458 ACCIDENCE. [§1593- godspellere ' evangelist ' from the verbs hindan, fiscian, kornian, godspellian. It will be observed that of these verbs two are formed directly from ■Rawxi,— fiscian from fisc, godspellian from godspell—cmgxwSiy godspell ' good tidings ' — while lear- ners is associated in meaning with the noun leornung. bocere 'scribe' seems, indeed, to be formed directly from hoc on the model of the Latin librdrius. In ME the a in the form -are was shortened, and underwent the regular change into a, so that in Early ME we find such forms as fischare by the side of fischere. In Late ME there was a good deal of confusion between these endings and the French and Latin endings -er, -ier, -eer, -our, -or, which often had the same meanings as the native ending (1685). This confusion was increased in Early MnE by the levelling of -er, -ar, -or, etc. under (sr) [859]. Hence such forms as liar^OY. leogere, sailor compared with a fast sailer [OE seglan ' sail ']. 1593. -estre fem. '-ess': bcBcestre 'female baker' \b.cEcere ' baker '], tcBppestre ' female tapster,' witegestre ' prophetess ' \wttega 'prophet']. In ME this ending, being unstrest, soon lost its final e, and the resulting -ster came to be re- garded as an emphatic form of -er, and consequently was applied to men as well as women, so that the Early ME feminines bakstere, iappistere developed into the Late ME masculines iaxter, tapster. Many of these trade-names in -ster survive only as proper names, such as Baxter, Brewster, Webster. In MnE this ending is also used to express ' one who does a thing habitually,' generally with an implication of contempt, as in punster, trickster. The only noun in -ster which is still distinctly feminine is spinster, which has, how- ever, lost its meaning of ' female spinner,' being now used only in that of ' unmarried woman.' 1594. -ing masc. : earming 'poor wretch' \earm 'poor'] lytling 'little one' \lytel 'little']. The late OE niping ' coward,' ' object of contempt,' is probably of Scandinavian origin (Icelandic nipungr). This ending is specially used to § I597-J NATIVE SUFFIXES. 459 form patronymics, such as cBpeling ' son of a noble,' 'prince' from ajjele ' noble,' ' aristocratic,' cyning ' king,' literally ' son of a king,' the underived cyne being preserved only in compounds such as cynehelm 'crown,' literally 'king-helm.' These patronymics are formed freely from personal names : Scielding, JEpelwulfing, Elising ' son of Elisha.' Many of them are preserved as proper names, such as Manning, Harding, especially in place-names, such as Billingsgaie, Islington, Reading, so called from the clans of the Billingas ' sons of Bill ' etc. This ending is also found in names of animals, as in hcering ' herring,' and in names of things, especially coins, such as sailing, pining, florping {feorpung,feorpling) ' farthing,' literally ' fourth part (of z.p§ning) ' ixorafeorpa ' fourth.' 1595. -ling masc. in OE generally expresses aflfection, familiarity, or contempt : deorling ' favourite,' from deore ' dear,' ' precious,' ME derling, MnE darling, fosterling ' 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, generally expressing youth or smallness, as in youngling ' young animal,' also used in the sense of ' young human being,' yearling, nestling, duckling, gosling. Some of these may be of OE origin. 1596. -en fem. with mutation : gyden ' goddess,' fyxen ' vixen ' from god, fox. This ending has, besides, a variety of meanings. It is diminu- tive in mcegden, and in the compound ending -cen (1590) ; and occurs, interchanging with -on, -n, in a number of words without showing any definite meaning, as in heofen 'heaven,' mcegen ' "power,' pegen,pegn 'retainer,' 'nobleman.' {b) Abstract. 1597. -nis(s), -nes(s) fem. is the regular ending for form- ing abstract nouns from adjectives : godnis ' goodness,' 46o ACCIDENCE. [§ 1598- 6 gellcnis ' likeness,' beorhtnis ' brightness.' Tliis ending is still in living use in MnE, being added to foreign as well as native adjectives, as in closeness, graciousness, although many of these do not take it because they are already provided with corresponding abstract nouns of foreign formation ; thus to possible corresponds possibility, to charitable, charity, to medi- ocre, mediocrity, although such derivatives as inevitableness are freely formed whenever it is found convenient. Words in -ness only rarely take concrete meanings, as in witness, wilderness. 1598. -u fem. with mutation forms abstract nouns from adjectives : Igngu ' length,' str^ngu ' strength,' bradu ' breadth,' halu ' salvation,' hatu ' heat,' ieldu ' old age,' archaic MnE eld, wra/>[p)u ' anger," ME wrappe, MnE wrath, from the adjectives lang, Strang, brad. Ml ' sound,' hat, eald, wrap. 1599. -ujj, -J) fem. with and without mutation: treowp ' Melhy, ' ple/p ' theft,' ME pefpe, pe/te, from treowe ' faithful,' peo/ ' thief,' slawp ' sloth,' which in ME became slgupe by the influence of the adjective from which it was formed, namely OE slaw, ME slow ' indolent.' To geogup '• youth ' corresponds the adjective ^^o«^ 'young.' In ME the ending -/«=0E -p was substituted for the equivalent -^=0E -u, as being more distinct, whence the MxiElength, strength, breadth, health = ME lengpe, OE Igngu, etc.- Similarly OE diepe from deop ' deep ' has become depth. So also ME wele, MnE weal— OE wela ' prosperity,' ' wealth,' has developed a secondary form wealth on the analogy of health. In ME and MnE some new derivatives in -th have been formed, not only from adjectives, as in warmth, dearth, but also directly from verbs, as in growth, stealth, the latter on the analogy of ME pefpe ' theft.' 1600. -ung, -ing, fem. forms abstract nouns from verbs : bletsung ' blessing,' ge§ndung ' ending,' ' end,' leornung, learn- ing 'learning,' rdding 'reading,' from the verbs bletsian, § i6o2.] NATIVE SUFFIXES. 46X gepidian, leornian, rddan (weak verb). In OE this ending is restricted in its use, and is very rarely used to form deriva- tives from strong verbs because these are generally provided with other derivatives, such as cyme ' coming,' gang ' going ' corresponding to the strong verbs cuman, gan. In ME the use of -inge, -ing was so much extended that at last abstract nouns could be formed with it from any verb, till it finally developed into a purely grammatical form — ^the gerund (1257). In MnE many words in -ing have assumed con- crete meanings, such as being=- ' creature.' In most cases these concrete words in -ing express either the result of the action expressed by the verb, as in building ' what is built,' ' edifice,' dripping, leavings, or the instrument of the action of the verb, as in clothing, covering, wrapping, footing ' ground to put the foot on.' 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 pro- bably arose from the ambiguity of such words as flooring, which might be referred either to the nowsx floor or the verb to floor. The following endings were originally independent words in OE itself: — 1601. -dom masc. is from the noun dom ' judgment,' ' authority,' and expresses first ' rank,' and then — especially in combination with adjectives — condition generally : cynedom ' royal authority,' ' kingdom,' h'ng having been substituted for the less familiar cyne (1594) in ME, biscopdom ' bishopric ' [-rz(:=OE rice 'government,' 'kingdom'], martyrdom, cris- tendom, freodom ' freedom,' wisdom. In MnE there are a few new-formations, such as dukedom. Christendom and heathendom have now become concrete. In OE itself /en 'heathen' [h^/> 'heath'], In ieren from 5era ' bear,' as in kren fell ' a bear's skin,' earlier iiren, the e has been brought in from the noun ; so also in leaden ' leaden ' [lead ' lead ']. In MnE these adjec- tives restore the unmutated vowel everywhere, as in golden, woollen, on the analogy of which new derivatives had been formed, such as wooden, hempen. In MnE the simple nouns are generally used instead of the material adjectives in -en, as in gold watch, stone wall, the full forms being used only in special meanings, as in golden hair, although we still use wooden, woollen etc. as material adjectives. The similarity of meaning between material nouns and adjectives (155) has in some cases led to the conversion of adjectives in -en into nouns, as in linen:=0'K linen ' flaxen' from lin ' flax,' and the tree names aspen=^0'E CBSpe, linden^GE, lind fem. \linde(n)lre passed through lindetre into Untre in ME, whence the Early MnE linetree, now lime-tree\. Some adjectives in -en with mutation were originally pre- terite participles of strong verbs : druncen ' intoxicated,' agen ' own,' fcegen ' glad,' whence MnE fain, from drincan, agan ' possess,' gefeon ' rejoice,' the strong verb corresponding to open ' open ' being lost. 1608. -ig ' y- ' corresponds sometimes to Germanic -ig, -ig, sometimes to Germanic -ag, etc., causing mutation in the former case, but not in the latter : hdlig ' holy ' [^2/ ' entire,' 'sound'], modig 'proud,' misiig 'misty,' isig 'icy'; h^fig ' heavy ' [connected with h^hban, preterite participle hafen, ' lift '], bysig ' busy,' dysig ' foolish,' whence MnE dizzy. In MnE this ending has been widely extended, and in many words it has taken the place of the material -en, as 'v\ fiery =■ OE fyren [/yr ' fire '], clayey, gluey, where the Early MnE spelling -ey is preserved, as it regularly is after vowels. -i£ is also a noun-ending, as in dodig ' body,' ifig ' ivy,' hunig § i6io.] DERIVATION ; NATIVE SUFFIXES. 465 ' honey.' The final -y with which nouns are made into diminu- tives or words of contempt in MnE seems to be this ending : puppy, baby from p>up, babe, dummy, formed from dumb after the b had become silent, Billy from Bill= William, Betty, Betsy, Lizzie, all three from Elizabeth, and many other familiar names, the earlier spelling -ie being kept in some of the female names. 1609. -ise ' -ish ' with mutation — which is sometimes got rid of by the influence of the underived word — is most fre- quently used to form names of nations, but also in derivatives from common nouns : ^nglisc, Fr incise ' French ' \Francland ' land of the Franks,' ' France '], Scyttisi ' Scotch ' \ScoUland, 'Ireland,' afterwards 'Scotland'], W^lisc 'Welsh'; cierlisce m^nn ' serfs ' [ceorl ' serf '], m§nnisc ' huma,n,'/bldsc ' popular,' ' vulgar.' In ME some of the names of nations were con- tracted 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 influ- ence of Scot, Scotland. So also Welsh, the unmutated vowel of ME Walsch — due to the influence of Wdles^QY. Wealas 'Welshmen' — being preserved only in the proper name Walsh. In the other words formed from nouns -ish generally expresses contempt, as in mannish, womanish compared with manly, womanly, childish compared with childlike, brutish, swinish, uppish. Such adjectives as bookish, roguish, in which there is no depreciation implied, tend to become obsolete, -ish added to an adjective ex- presses simple diminution, as in oldish, youngish, sweetish, Imgish, especially with names of colours, such as reddish^ yellowish. 1610. -sum '-some' forms adjectives from nouhs, ad- jectives, and verbs : sibbsum ' peaceful,' wynsum ' pleasant ' [wynn ' joy '] ; langsum ' tedious ' ; hiersum ' obedient ' \hieran ' hear,' ' obey 'J. There are many ME and MnE new-forma- tions : burdensome, handsome, troublesome ; wholesome, weari- some ; buxom, ME buhsum, formed from the OE verb biigan VOL. I. H h 466 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1611. 'bow/ 'bend,' the original meaning of the adjective being ' pliable,' ' goodnatured.' The following endings were independent words in Ger- manic : — 1611. -feald ' -fold ' [Compare the verb fealdan ' fold '] forms adjectives from adjective-words, especially numerals: manigfeald ' manifold,' ' various,' seofonfeald, hund/eald, ' hundredfold.' 1612. -full ' -ful,' sometimes weakened to ^ol, from the adjective Jull ' full,' forms adjectives from abstract nouns : carfull ' careful,' sorgfull ' sorrowful,' jy««/«// ' sinful.' There are numerous 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 (haendful), spoonfull etc. 1613. -leas '-less ' from the adjective leas ' deprived of,' ' without ' [Compare forleosan ' lose '] forms adjectives from nouns and verbs : drleas ' without honour,' ' wicked,' geleafleas ' unbelieving,' ' sldpleas ' sleepless ' ; giemeleas ' careless,' r§cceleas ' careless,' from gieman ' take care of,' t^cian ' reck.' From -leas abstract nouns in -least are formed, where the t=/> (767), such as sldpleast ' sleeplessness.' In ME this ending appears both as -l^s and as -les with the vowel shortened, which may be due to the influence of lesse ' less.' It is frequently used in new-formations, such a.s fearless, useless. 1614. -lie '-ly': eorplic 'earthly,' wiflic 'feminine,' cynelic ' royal,' freondlic ' friendly,' gearlic ' annual.' These derivatives were originally conversion-compounds with Uc ' body,' the weak vowel being afterwards shortened, so that wiflic, for instance, meant originally ' having the body 01 form of a woman ' (1546). Derivatives in -lie from adjectives and adverbs are less frequent: godlic 'pleasant,' deadlic §i6i8.] DERIVATION; NATIVE SUFFIXES. 467 ' mortal,' laplic ' hateful,' anlid ' unique ' [from an ' one,' with exceptional mutation], uplic, upplU 'sublime.' This ending is freely used in new-formations in ME and MnE, as in princely, quarterly, sickly. 1615, -weard, ' -ward,' from an obsolete adjective con- nected with weorpan=L,2.\!\n. vertere, forms adjectives from nouns, adjectives, and adverbs : hamweard, middeweard, inne- weard from ham ' home,' midde ' middle ' adj., inne ' within.' Verb-fonning. 1616. -na is a Scandinavian suffix forming weak intransi- tive verbs, mostly inchoative, from verb roots and adjectives, as in Icelandic hrotna, 'get broken,' connected with Irjota 'break' (prat, partic. hroiinn)^(yS. breotan (pret. partic. hroten), hviina ' become white,' harpna ' become hard.' Many of these verbs were imported in ME, such as harfina, which became hardnen 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 as frighten [OE fyrhtu ' fear '], lengthen. In English these verbs are used transitively as well as intransi- tively. The native verbs awaken, fasten are not formed direct from wake and fast, but the OE weak verbs awcEcnian, fastnian are formed from the nouns wcBcen ' watchmg,' fasten 'fastness,' ' fort,' which are, of course, derivatives of ivacan ' wake ' and fcest ' fast,' ' firm.' 1617. -sian with mutation : clansian ' cleanse,' bloedsian, lletsian ' bless,' from hlod ' blood,' with shortening of the ck, the original meaning being 'to sprinkle (the altar) with blood.' In Scandinavian this ending appears as -sa, as in hreinsa ' purify ' [hreinn ' pure '], whence our rinse. 1618. -Iseean from lac (1603): genealacan 'approach' from neah ' near,' geryhtlacan ' correct.' In ME a new H h 2 468 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1619, verb cngul§chen was formed with this ending from OE cndwan ' know,' whence in Late ME a noun cngul^che was formed, which, by the change of weak ch into (ds) gave MnE knowledge. Foreign Elements. 1619. The foreign derivative elements in English are mainly of French, Latin, and Greek origin. Many which were at first introduced into English in their popular French forms were afterwards Latinized, at first in spelling only, but afterwards, in many cases, in pronunciation also. In some cases they were wholly or partially Latinized in French itself, though sometimes — in Late Old French — in spelling only. In some cases false etymological spellings of derivative ele- ments of Latin origin were introduced either in French or English, some of which have corrupted the pronunciation. 1620. Although foreign derivatives are often so disguised as no longer to be recognizable as derivatives, yet many foreign derivative elements have remained as distinct as the native ones. Many of them are freely used to form new derivatives from words of native as well as foreign origin. 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 changes according to the nature of the initial consonants of the word they modify, the full form of a prefix ending in consonants being generally preserved before a vowel, while before consonants the final consonants of the prefix are liable to assimilation and loss; and these variations have generally been preserved when the words containing them were imported into French and English. 1622. The foreign prefixes will now be treated of in their alphabetical order. Specially French prefixes are marked *, § r624.] DERIVATION; FOREIGN PREFIXES. 469 Greek prefixes are marked t, Latin prefixes being left unmarked. 1623. ab-, abs-, a-, ' from, away ' : ah-erraiion, ab-hor, ab-rupi ; abs-cond, abs-tinent ; a-vert. The above are formed from verb-roots, abnormis, which in English was made into abnormal on the analogy of the Latin adj. normalis, is an example of an a3-derivative from a noun — Latin norma ' pat- tern.' All the above words were taken directly from Latin or from learned French. In popular French ab- became av-, but the Latin form was generally restored, as in abus from ahusum, whence MnE abuse. But Latin ab-b- was shortened, as in abregier from Latin abbrevidre, whence MnE abridge, of which MnE abbreviate is a learned doublet, taken direct from Latin. 1624. ad-, a-, also in the assimilated forms ag-, of- etc., according to the consonant that follows, ' to.' In Old French this prefix was shortened to a-, not only before consonants, as in aveniure ' adventure ' from Latin res adventura ' a thing about to happen,' but also before vowels, as in aourner ' adorn ' from Latin adorndre. The double consonants in such Latin words as aggravdre, assenidre^adgravdre, ad- sentdre were shortened both in pronunciation and writing in Old French — agrever, asenter — double j being, however, often kept {assenier) to show that the s was pronounced (s) and not (z). But in Late Old French the d was often intro- duced again by the influence of the Latin orthography, whence the spellings adventure, adorner etc., the latter word being at the same time Latinized in its vowel. Hence many of these words appear in ME in a variety of forms, one, of early introduction, pure Old French, the other or others more or less Latinized, while in some cases the Latinized form does not appear till after the ME period. Thus in ME we have aveniure and a contracted form aunter, in Early MnE adventer, which in the Present English has been further Latinized into adventure ; while the Latinized adornen ap- pears already in ME by the side of the pure French 470 ACCIDENCE. [§ t625' form aurnen, there being also a blending adiirnen. The double consonants were restored in the same way, some- times in ME, but generally not till later; thus we have ME agreven, asenten (also assenteii)=MxiS. aggrieve, assent. Sometimes the prefix a- was made into ad- from a mistaken etymology, as in advance, advantage=:-WF, avancen, avantage. Old French avancer being a verb formed from the particle cwa«/= Latin *ab-anie. 1625. amta-, am-, an-, ' around ' : amb-ition ; am-putate, per-am-bulate ; an-cipHal ' two-headed,' ' doubtful.' 1626. tamphi- 'around': amphi-bious, amphi-theatre. 1627. tan- before vowels and ^ -I- vowel, a- before other consonants, ' un- ' : an-archy [compare mon-archy\, an- hydrous ' without water ' ; a-theist, a-tom literally ' uncut,' ' undivisible.' 1628. tana- ' up,' ' again,' ' apart,' ' according to,' ' re- versal ' etc. : ana-thema, originally ' thing put up or dedi- cated,' ana-baptist, ' re-baptist,' ana-tomy literally ' cutting up,' ana-logy ' according to proportion,' ana-gram ' transposition of letters,' ana-chronism. 1629. ante-, anti- ' before ' : ante-cedent, ante-diluvian ; anti-cipate. Freely used in new-formations, such as ante- chamber, anteroom, antedate. 1630. tanti- 'against': Anti-christ, antidote literally 'given against,' anti-pathy, qnti-podes, anti-thesis. Freely used in new-formations, such as anti-radical, anti-consti- tutional, anti- Glads tone, anti-spasmodic. 1631. tapo-, before vowels ap-, before h aph-, the h itself being dropped : ' from,' ' away,' ' forth ' etc. : apo-cope literally ' cutting away,' apo-logy, apostrophe literally ' turning away,' apostasy; aph- or ism. 1632. bi- 'half,' 'twice': li-ennial [compare annual\ bisect, bi-valve. bi-cycle is a newly formed hybrid from Greek Mklos ' circle.' 1633. teata-, cat-, cath-, ' down,' ' through ' etc. : cata- §1637.] DERIVATION; FOREIGN PREFIXES. 471 rad, catastrophe, catalogue; cat-echize; cath-edral, cath- olic. 1634. circum-, cireu- ' round ' : circum-navigate, circum- scribe, circumstance, circumlocution, circumspect, circumvent; circu-itous. 1635. cis- 'on this side of: Cisalpine. 1636. com-, con-, co- ' with,' ' together,' being another form of the preposition cum ' with ' ; often merely intensitive, like the cognate OE ge-. In Old French the vowel of this prefix was made into through the influence of cum, which was often lengthened in ME words taken from French, whence the MnE (b, au) in comfort, council, counsel etc., the (o) in such words as conduit, earlier MnE (k^endit) being due to the spelling. In Old French — as also occasionally in Latin itself — the final consonant of this prefix was often dropped before consonants, whence the MnE covent=.convent in Covent Garden [Latin conventio], covenant. The following are further examples of this prefix : combine, commit, compre- hend, comfort [Old French comforter, conforter'\ ; confess, con- vince, conclude, concern, conduct, contain ; co-agulate, coincide, cohere ; col-league, connect, corrupt. This prefix is used in new- formations, such as com-mingle, compatriot, especially in the form of CO- : co-exist, co-operation, co-tenant. The predomi- nance of the latter ending has led to the change of contempo- rary into cotemporary ; but the former is now preferred, as being nearer the Latin form. 1637. contra-, contro-, *counter- 'against,' originally used only to form verbs. The Old-French form is cuntre-, contre- with the made into on the analogy of Old French com- con- out of which English counter- has developed in the same way as in counsel etc. But in Old French contre- was often made into contre- by the influence of the Latin spelling. The Latin forms are less frequent than the French : contradict, contravene, contrast [French contraster from *con- tra-stare\, contraband [literally 'contrary to the proclama- 472 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1638. tion '] ; controversy, controvert. The form counter- is used not only in French words, such as counterfeit, countermand, counterpart, counterpoise, but also in new-formations, such as counter-attraction, counterbalance, counter-revolution, counter- weigh, counter is also used as an independent adverb, as in to run counter to, being partly the Old French adverb and preposition centre, partly the detached prefix. 1638. de- is partly the Latin (and French) de ' from,' ' away/ also expressing ' difference,' ' negation,' ' completion,' being often only intensitive, which is both a preposition and a prefix ; partly French des-, de'- from Latin dis- ' asunder,' ' apart,' which often develops the same negative meaning as (/«-= Latin de-: degrade, derive, devious, literally 'out of the path,' dethrone, devote, deny. (/«= Latin dis- (also di-, and assimilated dip) : defeat [Latin ^'disfacere, disfactuni], defy literally 'renounce faith,' delay [Latin dildtum\, depart, detach. 1639. *demi- ' half from Latin dimidium : demigod, demi- semibreve. demy (di'mai) is used as an independent word. 1640. fdi- ' twice ' : digraph, di-phthong, dilemma, diploma. The double jj in dissyllable was introduced in French through confusion with the Latin prefix dis-. 1641. fdia-, di- ' through ' : diadem, diagnosis, diameter ; diocese, diorama. 1642. dis, di-, assimilated dif- ' asunder,' ' apart,' ' pri- vation,' 'negation.' The Old French form des- [Modern French de's-, d/-'] is still preserved in descant ' tune with modulations.' In the other derivatives taken from Old French the Latin (fz>- has been restored, as in disarm=-Q)\A French desarmer, disappoint [compare Modern French de'sap- pointer\ disdain [compare Modern French dddaigner\ dis- honest, disease, distress [Latin *dtstrictidre~\. The following are of direct Latin origin : discreet, dispute, dissolve, distant; dif- ferent, difficult. The form di- is rare in words of French introduction, such as diminish, and not very frequent in I 1649.] DERIVATION ; FOREIGN PREFIXES. 473 words of Latin form : divide, dilate, digress, direct, divert. dis- is freely used in new-formations, such as disconnect, dis- inherit, disingenuous, being frequently added to English words, as in disburden, disheartened, disown. In dislikes- ME misliken it has been substituted for a similar-sounding native prefix ; so also perhaps in disbelieve, distrust. *en-, *ein- ' in ' : see in-, im-. 1643. ten.-, em-, assimilated el-, ' in ' : encyclopedia, energy, enthusiasm ; emblem, embryo, emphasis, emporium ; ellipse. 1644. tendo- ' within ' : endogamous ' marrying within the tribe,' endogenous ' growing from within.' *enter- ' between ' ; see inter-. 1645. tepi-, ep-, eph- 'upon': epigram, epitaph, epi- demic ; ephemeral. 1646. ex-, e-, assimilated ef- ' out of.' The Old French form is es-. Modern French e'-. 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 clear it has been restored to its Latin form in English : exchange from Old French eschangier, extend, extinguish. The other Latin forms are seen in elegant, erect, evade ; efface, effect. As j?=(ks), an initial j is often dropped after ex-, as in ex -pec t [compare re-speci\, exude, extirpate [from Latin suddre 'sweat,' stirps 'stem'], ex- is frequently used in new- formations to express ' one out of office ' etc., as in ex-king, ex-president, ex-secretary ; so also in the adjective ex- official. 1647. tex-, ec- 'out of : exodus; ecstasy. 1648. texo- ' outside ' : exogamous ' marrying outside the tribe,' exoteric ' suitable for outer world, for people in general.' 1649. extra- 'beyond' is used in Latin chiefly with ad- jectives : extramundane, extraordinary, extravagant; so also in the new-formations extra-official, extra-parochial, extra 474 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1650- by itself is used in English as an adjective and adverb, being either the Latin adverb and preposition extra, ' beyond,' or else the detached prefix. Hence such combinations as exira work, exira pay, extra careful, extra-superfine are not deri- vatives, but word-groups or compounds. 1650. thyper- ' over,' ' beyond ' : hyperbole, hyperborean, hypercritical. 1651. thypo-, hyp-, hypli- ' under ' : hypodermic ' be- longing to the parts under the skin,' hypocrite, hypothesis; hyphen. 1652. in-, im-, in-, i-, assimilated il- etc. 'un-' — with which it is 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 [Latin insanus~\, insipid, inestimable, injury, injustice; impious, imbecile; ignoble [L,ztm tgndbilis\ ignorant; illiberal, immortal. In English this prefix is applied only to foreign words of some length, as in inequality, injustice compared with unequal, unjust. If new words are formed from foreign words by means of English endings un- is prefixed, as in ungrateful, undecided, compared with ingratitude, indecisive. But un- is also prefixed to some words with exceptionally familiar Latin endings such as -able, as in uneatable, uncon- querable compared with intolerable, invincible. 1653. in-, im-, il-, etc. 'in,' 'into' is mainly a verb- former. The, French form of this prefix is en-, em-, pre- served in English in such words as endure, engage, envoy ; embellish, employ. But in many words of French introduc- tion the Latin form has been restored, as in indite, ME enditen, inquire, imprint. As the spelling makes no differ- ence in the present pronunciation — en-, em--={-'m, -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 incage etc., although impeach now follows the Latin spelling. § I659-] DERIVATION ; FOREIGN PREFIXES. 475 The following are examples of purely Latin words with this prefix: inaugurate, induce, invade; impel; illuminate, im- merse, irruption ' breaking in.' There are many new-forma- tions with the French form of the prefix : enlarge ; embody, enkindle, enliven. In impoverish and improve the Latin form of the prefix has taken the place of the less distinct a- from Latin ad-, the former word being the Old French apovrir [Latin *appaupertre], while the latter is a variation of approve =aprove. In a few words, such as inborn, income the prefix is of English origin. 1654. inter-, '^enter- 'between.' The French form is preserved only in enterprise, entertain, the Latin form having been substituted in all other words of French introduction : intercede, interfere, interpose, interpret, interval. In intellect, intelligent and their derivatives the Latin assimilation before / is kept, which is disregarded in other words, such as inter- lace, interlude. This prefix is frequently used in new-forma- tions, such as interchange, international, intertwist. 1655. intro- 'within,' 'into': introduce, introspection. 1656. fmeta-, met-, meth- ' with,' ' after,' ' change ' : metaphysics 'the study that comes after physics,' metamor- phosis; method. 1657. ne- ' not ' : nefarious, ne-uter, neutral. 1658. non- ' not.' The adverb nbn ' not' is not used as a derivative in Latin, occurring only as the first element of a few group-compounds such as non-nulli ' some,' literally ' not-none,' nonnunqvam ' sometimes.' In Modern 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-entitds. It is freely used in new-formations, such as non-conductor, non-appearance, non-intervention. 1659. ob-, o(b)s-, 0-, assimilated occ- etc., 'towards,' ' against ' : obedient, oblong, obstacle, obviate ; os-tensible ; omit; occasion, occur, offend, opposite. In some cases the 476 ACCIDENCE. [§1660. full oh- has taken the place of an assimilated form, as in obfuscate. *par- see per-. 1660. tpara-, par-, parh- ' beside,' ' against ' : paradox, paragraph ; parenthesis, parody ; parhelion. 1661. per- ' through,' occurring also as a preposition. The assimilated pel- is preserved in English only in pellucid. The French form both of the prefix and of the preposition is par, preserved in English only in pardon [Late Latin per- donare\ and parboil (1540). par- in paramount, paramour is the preposition, these words being really adverbial groups, meaning originally ' through (by) above,' ' through love.' In all other vfords the Latin form has been restored, as in per- fidy, perfume, permit, pervade. MY-parfit {lom L.'a.iin per/ectus through French parfait was Latinized in ME first into perfit, then mio perfect. *por-, see pro-. 1662. post- 'after' : posthumous, postpone, postscript. 1663. pre- Latin prae- ' before,' French pre- : precept, pre- cede, prefer, prescribe, present, pretend. It is freely used in new-formations in the sense of ' before in time,' as in precon- ceive, preingage, prepossess — now used only metaphorically — presuppose. 1664. preter- Latin praeter- ' beyond ' : preter-ite, preter- mit, preternatural. 1665. pro-, prod- ' before,' ' forth,' ' away from,' ' depri- vation,' as in profane literally ' away from the temple ' pro- hibit, ' acting as substitute,' as in proconsul, ' relation,' as in proportion, pro 'before,' 'for' etc. is also an independent preposition. There was in Latin an allied prefix por-, as in por tender e 'portend.' The popular Old French form oi pro- and the preposition pro was pur, por [modern French /o«/-], which was probably a blending of pro and per. This form is preserved in such words as purchase [Latin *procaptiare\, purloin, purpose, pursue; portray, portrait; pour suivant, pur- § 1673-] DERIVATION ; FOREIGN PREFIXES. 477 suivant ' state messenger or attendant.' The following are examples of the Latin form : precede, pro-duce, progress, proclaim, protract, provide; prod-igy, prodigal. 1666. tpi^o- ' before ' : problem, programme, prologue. 1667. tpros- ' towards ' : pros-elyte literally ' coming towards,' prosody. *pur-, see pro-. 1668. re-, red-, ' back,' ' repetition,' as in repeat, ' oppo- sition,' as in resist, having often only an intensitive force, as in rejoice. In French re- often became r- before a vowel, but the full form was restored in English, as in reenter from French rentrer. The fuller form red- is preserved in redeem, redound literally ' flow back ' [Latin redunddre\, redolent, redintegrate. In Spoken English re- has two forms : weak (-ri) in traditional derivatives such as receive, repeat, reveal; strong (-rij) meaning ' repetition,' which is freely used in new-formations, such as reenter, reconsider, reintroduce, re- cover an umbrella distinct from the traditional recover. 1669. retro- 'backwards': retrograde, retrospection. 1670. se-, sed- ' apart,' ' away ' : secede, seduce, seclusion, select, separate ; sedition. 1671. semi- 'half: semicircle, semivowel [Latin semi- vocdlis], semicolon, semibreve. Also in new-formations, such as semi-detached. 1672. sine- ' without ' : sinecure. 1673. sub-, assimilated sue- etc. ' under,' whence a great variety of secondary meanings — ' near,' ' behind,' ' following,' ' inferiority,' ' diminution,' ' approaching,' 'help,' 'completion,' the primary meaning also developing into that of ' stealth,' ' secrecy ' : subterranean, subscribe, suburb, subsequent, subordi- nate, subdivide, subvention, suborn ; succumb, suggest, support, suffix, suffice, supply, succour, surreptitious, sub- is freely used in new-formations, such as subcutaneous, subsoil, sub- way, especially to express subordination etc., as in sub-corn- 478 ACCIDENCE. ;§ 1674. mitiee, sub-editor, sub-lieutenant, sublet, and diminution, as in the adjectives subacid, sub-transparent, sub-tropical. 1674. subter- ' under ' : subterfuge. 1675. super- ' above,' ' beyond ' became sur- in Old French, which is frequently preserved in English, as in surmount, survey, surpass, surface by the side of its Latin original superficies. It expresses ' beyond in time ' in survive, superannuated. Its most frequent metaphorical meanings are • addition,' ' excess,' ' superiority,' as in surname [which is an Anglicised form of French surnoii{\ ; surfeit, supernatural, superfluous; surpass, supereminent. The Latin form of the prefix is freely used in new-formations, generally to express ' excess ' : super-sensual ' beyond the reach of the senses,' super-phosphate, super-heat 'to heat steam till it resembles a perfect gas.' super is used in stage-language as an independent noun in the sense of supernumerary, of which it is a contraction. 1676. supra- ' above,' ' beyond ' : supramundane. *sur-, see super-. 1677. sus- has the same meaning as sub-, being a con- traction of subtus : susceptible, suspend, sustain [Latin sus- tinere through French], susst- etc. are shortened to sust- etc: suspect, suspicion. 1678. tsyn-, sy-, assimilated syl- etc. ' with,' ' together ' : synagogue, synod, synopsis, syntax; system; syl-lable, sym- metry. 1879. trans-, tra- ' across,' ' through,' ' beyond.' The old French form is tres-, preserved in English only in trespass, compared with the Latin form of the prefix in transgress, transs- is shortened to trans- as in transcend. Various shades of the primary meaning are seen in such words as transient, transitory, transpire, tra-duce. trans- often ex- presses ' change,' both of place as in transplant, transpose, and of quality as in transform, transmutation, translate, travesty. It is used in new-formations, as in Transatlantic, tranship. § I682.J DERIVATION; FOREIGN SUFFIXES. 479 *tres-, see trans-. 1680. ultra- ' beyond,' both of place and of quantity and superiority: ultramontane 'beyond the mountains,' that is, 'belonging to the Italian party in the Church of Rome,' ultramarine ' a colour brought from beyond the sea,' ultra- mundane. Freely used in new-formations to express excess : ultra-radkal, ultra-clerical, whence the detached ultra has come to be used as an independent adjective in the sense of 'extreme,' as in ultra measures, whence the derivatives ultraist, ultraism. Suffixes. 1681. The foreign suffixes will now be treated of under the general heads of ' noun-forming ' etc., and the sub- divisions ' personal,' ' abstract,' the suffixes under each section being arranged so that those which consist entirely of vowels come first, and are followed by those that contain consonants in the alphabetic order of those consonants. IfoTin-forinmg. Personal. 1682. *-ee is the strong form of French -e' from Latin -dtus, and denotes the person who takes a passive share in an action or agreement, the corresponding active agent being denoted by -or, -er. Thus lessee is the person to whom a house is let on lease, as opposed to the lessor; so also grantee, legatee, mortgagee. Some of these derivatives have no special active word corresponding to them, such as patentee, r^ree, trustee. In these words 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 -ee is a purely active suffix as in absentee, devotee, refugee. The weak form of this suffix is -y, -ey, as in attorney =Q\^ French atornd (1685). 480 ACCIDENCE. [§1683. -iff, see -ive under ' Adjective-forming.' -an, -ean, -ian,- -ine, -nt, see under 'Adjective-forming.' 1683. -ar, -er, -eer, -ier from Latin -drius, -arts, Low Latin -erius, whence the Old French -ier, which in ME became -er. In ME -er was shortened to -er when weak, whence such MnE derivatives as barber, officer, prisoner, sorcerer, stranger. In ME it was often levelled under the English suffix -ere, as in scolere, templere. Many words took the ending -ar through the influence of the original Latin forms, some already in ME, such as vicar, others later, such as scholar, Templar. The MnE -eer, -ier comes from the strong form of the French suffix, both forms being freely used in new-formations, especially -eer: cavalier — of which chevalier is the Modern French form introduced into MnE — cuirassier, gondolier ; muleteer, pioneer [Early MnE •pioner\ pamphleteer, privateer, volunteer, gazetteer, originally ' newspaper-editor,' now means ' geographical dictionary.' 1684. -or from Latin -or, *-our from Latin -orem, through Old French -or. In Latin this ending is preceded by derivative /, which under certain conditions becomes j: imperator, professor. In Old French the / was weakened and then dropped, leaving a hiatus, as in empereor, sauveor (Latin salvdtorem). The / was of course kept in learned words of later importation into French, and was reintro- duced into popular words when they were Latinized, whence the MnE forms autour, author (831) [Latin auct5rem\ creditor, orator. In Early MnE the spelling -our was still preserved, but we now write the Latin -or even in words that have not been otherwise Latinized, such as emperor, governor, tailor, conqueror = earliei emperour, taylour etc., though we still write saviour. 1685. -or has in many words taken the place of French -er (as also in some English words, § 1592) : bachelor [Early MnE bacheler], chancellor, proprietor, warrior=0'E bachekr. Modern French bachelier etc. This is partly the result of § i687.] DERIVATION ; FOREIGN SUFFIXES. 481 -or and -er having the same sound (ar) even in Early MnE (859). In some words the opposite change has taken place, as in miner, robber = ME mmour, robbour. 1686. -or is_ generally vi'eak, but in legal words such as grantor, lessor, where it is contrasted with the passive -ee (1682), it takes strong stress for the sake of emphasis and distinctness — (le -sor). -ary, see under ' Adjective-forming.' 1687. -ard, -art. Although introduced into 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 Reginhart — which was given to the fox in the story of ' Renard the fox,' which was introduced into France in the twelfth century from Flanders. In Flemish the name of the fox is Reinaert, which in French became Renari; and the story became so popular in France that renard is now the only French word for fox, the Old French goupil ' fox ' surviving 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 forms of Latin cauda ' tail ' was formed Italian codardo. Old French coart 'coward,' literally '(dog) with his tail between his legs.' Other examples are bastard, wizard, which were imported from French, and English formations, such as braggart, drunkard, dullard, niggard, sluggard. This suffix is used to express nationality in Spaniard, Savoyard, probably at first with an idea of ridicule. It was also used to form names of animals, as in bustard, mallard'' wild drake ' [formed in French from the adjective male\ ; rarely to form names of things, as in petard, poniard [Old French poing ' fist '.] VOL. I. I i 48a ACCIDENCE. [§ 1688. -ese, see under ' Adjective-forming.' 1688. *-ess, French -esse from Latin -issa denotes female persons and — more rarely — female animals: goddess, pro- phetess, priestess, prior ess, baroness, countess, shepherdess, hostess, patroness, manageress; lioness, tigress. Exceptional forma- tions in point of meaning are : Jewess, pegress ; mayoress^. ' wife of mayor.' Final weak and silent vowels are omitted before this suffix, as m princess, negress, votaress irom prince, negro, votary. Nouns in -er, -or often throw out the vowel when -ess is added, as in tigress, actress from tiger, actor. Nouns in -erer, -eror, and some in -urer drop the second of these two weak syllables before -ess, as in murderess, sorceress, conqueress, treasuress from murderer, sorcerer, con- queror, treasurer. Similarly in governess from governor. Some words show further changes : abbess, anchoress from abbott, anchorite; duchess {duke), marchioness {marquis), mistress {master), the last being a weak form corresponding to the masc. Mr. (mistar). 1689. t-ist, Latin -ista from Greek -istes, generally ex- presses ' trade,' ' pursuit,' or adherence to a party, dogma etc. : artist, florist, pugilist, chemist, scientist, which is a con- venient neologism for ' man of science ' ; communist, nihilist, royalist, deist. It is used in a more general sense in such derivatives as bigamist, copyist, provincialist. 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-ast in phantast, enthusiast. 1690. t-ite, Latin -ita from Greek -ites, is used to form names of nations, sects etc: Canaanite, Israelite, the Stagirite ' he who was born at Stagira,' that is, the philosopher Aristotle, Carmelite; Jacobite. 1691. -trix is the Latin fem. of -tor: executrix, testatrix from executor, testator. § l695.] DERIVATION; FOREIGN SUFFIXES. 483 Diminutive. 1692. -iile, -eule: capsule, globule, pasiuk ; animalcule — also in the fuller Latin form animalculum — corpuscule. The latter ending was shortened to -de in French in most words where the diminutive meaning was not prominent, whence the English article, oracle, miracle, spectacle etc. But several of them retain the diminutive meaning, especially where i precedes : cuticle ' outer thin skin,' particle, versicle. 1693. -et, -let. -et forms diminutive nouns and ad- jectives : cabinet, coronet, circlet, islet, cygnet, leveret ; dulcet, russet. On the analogy of circlet from circle etc., where the / came to be regarded as part of the suffix, a new diminutive -let has developed itself, which is freely used in new-forma- tions, such as leaflet, ringlet, streamlet, troutlet. In many words these suffixes have lost their diminutive meaning. Abstract. 1694. *-y, -ey. -y represents Early MnE, ME and Old French -ie from Latin -ia, and is chiefly used to form abstract nouns, as in fury, modesty, perfidy, and in more popular French words, such as barony, 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 full Latin ending has been restored, as in Arabia {Araby in poetry), Asia, India, Austria. -y also corresponds to the Latin neuter ending -ium, as in augury, monastery, remedy, study, forming concrete as well as abstract words. 1695. -y is also the MnE representative of weak ME -e, which when strong becomes -ee in MnE (1682). ^=ME -e from French -/= Latin -atus (1716), is sometimes ab- stract, but generally concrete in a collective sense or in names of districts: treaty — the learned doublet of which is tractate — [Latin tractdtus] ; clergy ; county, duchy ^ 484 ACCIDENCE. [§ 1696. 1696. It often answers to Old French -ie from Latin (generally Late Latin) -dta with the same meaning as -atus : destiny, entry; army, jury; country. 1697. The spelling -ey is a mere variety of -y, as in Turkey (ME Turkie), attorney (French -d), journey (French -e'e). -y and -ey represent a variety of other Fench vowels in isolated words. 1698. -ice, *-ess, *-ise from Latin -itia, -Hies, 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 largesse 'largess' \large 'liberal'], richesse 'riches' (998. i). 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. 1699. -cy, -sy. These suffixes were first developed from the Latin combinations -t-ia, -c-ia in such words as constancy, fallacy from Latin constantia (Late Latin constancid), fallcUia, themselves formed from the derivative adjectives constans (constantem), falldx {/alldcem). In MnE they are still asso- ciated with derivative / and c, often taking the place of other endings of Latin origin, especially -Atwz, as in conspiracy [com- pare conspirator^ degeneracy [degenerate'^, obstinacy ^=L,a.tm conspirdtio etc. They have the same abstract meaning in many other new-formations, such as intricacy, intimacy, lunacy from intricate, intimate, lunatic, where the second suffix -ic is disregarded. In these words the c is still felt to be a modifi- cation of the derivative /, but in the still more recent forma- tions idiotcy [also idiocy\, bankruptcy the / is kept before it, so that the -cy has developed into an independent, primary suffix. A special use of these suffixes is to denote rank and office: curacy, episcopacy, magistracy, papacy, cornetcy,ensigncy; §iro4.] DERIVATION; FOREIGN SUFFIXES. 485 minstrelsy. Some of the above have also a collective sense. legacy has a concrete meaning. 1700. t-ad, -id were used to form titles of epic poems, as in Iliad ' the tale of Ilium or Troy,' Aeneid ' the adventures of Aeneas/ whence many new-formations in modern times, such as Lusiad, Columbiad, the suffix -ad being often used to form titles of satirical poems, such as The Dunciad ' epic of dunces.' 1701. The Greek -ad occurs also in 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 -ie is the regular French form, as in arm/e, whence the English army [compare the Spanish armada], -ade generally forms collective nouns from other nouns : balustrade, barricade, colonnade ; sometimes from verbs, as in cavalcade [Italian cavalcare ' ride 'J. It also forms abstract nouns from nouns and verbs : blockade, parade, promenade, serenade. 1703. *-age from Latin -aticum forms nouns from various parts of speech with a great variety of meanings, the most marked of which are {a) collectiveness, as in baggage, lug- gage, bandage, cordage, plumage, cellarage ; (5) profit or charge in relation to the root- word, as in mileage ' payment or allowance for travelling per mile,' also collectively ' aggre,- gate of miles,' postage, poundage, leakage ; (c) action or state (rank, quality): carnage, coinage, language, tillage, voyage; bondage, courage, peerage. -al, see under 'Adjective-forming.' 1704. -ment, Latin -mentum, forms nouns from verbs. It forms abstract nouns expressing action, state, or result, as in argument, emolument, which in Latin means both ' labour ' and ' gain.' So also in many new-formations : agreement, enjoyment, government, employment, punishment, treatment, which 486 ACCIDENCE. [§1705- are formed from French verbs, and endearment, bereavement, fulfilment, which are formed from English verbs. In concrete words -ment expresses sometimes the means of an action, as in instrument, ligament, pavement, ornament, sometimes its result, as in apartment, fragment, segment. 1705. From -ment is formed the adjective-suffix -mental (1730), as in experimental, fundamental, instrumental, whence again is formed the abstract noun-suffix -mentality (1718), as in instrumentality. -in, -ine, see ' Adjective-forming.' 1708. -ion (-sion, -tion) from Latin -id {-ioneni), which forms abstract nouns from verbs : opinion, rebellion, religion ; compulsion, passion, session ; education, action, fiction, descrip- tion. Some have developed concrete meanings, such as nation, legion, region. The popular Old French form of this suffix was -on, the i being absorbed into the preceding sound in various ways, whence MnE reason [compare the more learned ration, rational^, arson, treason. In less familiar words the Latin zwas restored, whence the ME forms opiniun, condicioun, etc. In Early MnE (-iuun) was shortened to (-iun), being often made into (-ion) by the influence of the spelling. The spelling -ion was sometimes introduced into purely popular words, as \vi.fashion=:.Y\tVi(^fafon from Latin faciio, whence the \eiimtA faction. 1707. -ana is used in new-formations from names of per- sons to signify literary gossip about them, as va. Johnsoniana ' sayings of, or anecdotes about Dr. Johnson,' Walpoliana, also publications bearing on them and their literary works, as in Shakesperiana. This suffix is the Latin neut. plur. of adjec- tives in -anus (1735), as used in such phrases as dicta Vergi- liana - sayings of Virgil ' {Vergilius). The detached ana has come to be used as a noun either in the plur. or sing.— in which latter case it takes a plur. anas, ana's — to signify ' collection of anecdotes of celebrities ' etc., the plur. ana being now the most usual. § 1712.] DERIVATION ; FOREIGN SUFFIXES. 487 1708. -anee, -enoe from Latin -antia {-ana'a}, -entia l^-encid), which form abstract nouns from the present participle endings -dns, -ens, ace. anient, -entem (1742), as in arrogance, Ignorance ; experience, innocence, penitence, licence, which is also written more phonetically license, with an arbitrary distinction of meaning. The above words preserve their Latin roots, but most of the derivatives in -ance are of French formation : entrance, grievance, repentance. 1709. These endings often take on the suffix -y (1894), giving -ancy, -ency, as in brilliancy, consistency by the side of brilliance, consistence. In the case of excellence, excellency there is a difference of meaning. Some occur only in the longer form, such as constancy [Constance only as a proper name], infancy, agency, clemency. 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 that which prevails with the personal ending -or (1684); but in America the shorter -or is consistently extended to the abstract or-deri- vatives as well, as in ^<>«or= British English honour, parallel with author. The following are examples of this suffix : colour, clamour, honour, vapour; liquor, splendor, tumor. There are some new-formations : demeanour, behaviour. 1711. The lengthened ending -ory= Latin -orius, -oria, forms adjectives and abstract nouns — -in which t, (s) precede the ending — such as obligatory, compulsory, cursory ; history, oratory, victory. 1712. *-ry, Old French -rie, arose from the addition of the abstract suffix -ie (1694) to the French ending -(i)er (1683), as in chevalerie, chivalerie ' body of knights,' ' chivalry' from chevalier 'rider,' 'knight' [Late Latin caballarius\ In English also it was associated with the personal suffix -er through such derivatives as fisher-y. In MnE this suffix is mainly used in derivatives from nouns, and occasionally from 488 ACCIDENCE. [§1713. adjectives, expressing (a) actions or qualities, as in bigotry, devilry, drudgery, pedantry, revelry, pleasantry ; (V) condition, as in outlawry, slavery ; [c) occupation, trade, art etc., as in casuistry, palmistry, chemistry, heraldry; (d) the place of actions, occupations etc., as in nunnery, nursery, vestry ' place where vestments are kept ' ; (e) the result or product of action etc., as in poetry, tapestry; (/") collectivity, as in infantry literally ' band of youths,' peasantry , yeomanry . 1713. -ure from Latin -ura, which is generally preceded by derivative /, (j). In popular Old French forms the / dis- appeared, in the same way as in -& (1682) ; thus Latin armatura becomes in Old French armeure, which in MnE has become armour by the influence of the suffix -our. The / is of course preserved in learned words, such as nature. The chief function of this suffix is to form abstract nouns, generally from verb-roots : figure ; capture, departure ; censure, composure. It also forms concrete nouns, such as furniture, picture. In some words it has taken the place of -ir, -or, as in leisure, pleasure, treasure =:0\A French leisir, pleisir, tresor. -ese, see under ' Adjective-forming.' 1714. t-ism, Latin -ismus, from Greek -ismSs is freely used to form abstract nouns expressing action, habit — especi- ally habits of language or pronunciation— or attachment to some creed, party etc. : Anglicism, archaism, provincialism ; despotism, patriotism, mannerism, pugilism ; Calvinism, posi- tivism, conservatism, egotism by the side of egoism owes its / to egotist (1689). 1715. In Greek this suffix is added to adjectives in -ik6s forming the compound suffix -ikismSs, Latin -icismus, whence English -ieism, as in Atticism, empiricism, fanaticism, Scotti- cism, witticism. In the last two -icism must be regarded as a simple derivative, there being no corresponding adjective in -ic. 1716. -ate from Latin -atus, gen. -atics expresses office, function, as in consulate, episcopate and the new-formations §i?i9.] DERIVATION; FOREIGN SUFFIXES. 489 cardinalate, professorate, being sometimes used to express the holder of the office, as in magistrate, and also in a collective sense, as in syndicate, electorate 'body of electors' (also ' dignity of Elector '). 1717. -itude from Latin -itudo forms abstract nouns from adjectives : beatitude, fortitude, lassitude, sollicitude. In multi- tude it has developed a concrete meaning. 1718. *-ty Latin -tds, -tatem, Old French -te, ME -te forms abstract nouns from adjectives : liberty ; variety ; antiquity, dig- nity, insipidity, vanity, -ity is often added in this way to adjec- tive-suffixes, so that, for instance, -city corresponds to -cious^ as in capacity {capacious), ferocity, -idity to -id, as in insipi- dity, timidity, -ality to -al, as in reality, vitality, -ility to -il and -He, as in civility, fertility, -arity to -ar, as in regularity, vulgarity, the most regular and frequent correspondence being that between -ble (1719) and -bility, as in nobility, durability, solubility. The above are all of direct Latin origin. Others have passed through French changes, such as certainty, plenty, poverty, pity, property, the two last having the learned doublets piety, propriety. In some words this suffix has a concrete meaning, as in city, deity, gratuity, university. Adjective-forming. 1719. *-ble from Latin -bills, as in nobilis ' noble,' flebilis ' weeping,' ' doleful,' ' to be wept over,' ' lamentable,' whence Old French fleble, feble, whence, again, our feeble, of which foible is a later French doublet, tolerabilis ' tolerable,' terri- bilis ' terrible.' In English -ble is generally preceded by a or i — these being the vowels that most frequently precede it in Latin — only exceptionally by other vowels, as in soluble. In Latin it has no very definite meaning, and is used both in an active and passive sense (as in flebilis) ; but in English the passive meaning prevails, -ble being associated with the adjec- tive able from Latin habilis, navigable, for instance, being 49° ACCIDENCE. [§ 1720. regarded as equivalent to ' able to be navigated.' So also in admirable, malleable, tolerable, flexible, legible, soluble. In some however the suffix has an active meaning, as in durable, favorable, peaceable; forcible, sensible. There are many new formations in -able, such as unbearable, eatable; reliable, dependable, formed from rely on, depend on. In the colloquial getatable the preposition is kept for the sake of distinctness. 1720. There is another suflSx -ble of French origin, from Latin -plex {-plicem) ' -fold,' which we have in the English word double, treble, the p of the Latin form being restored in triple and in formations from the higher numbers, such as quadruple, and in multiple. 1721. -bund, *-bond: moribund, rubicund; vagabond, which is also a noun. 1722. -ie, French -ic, -ique from Latin -icus and 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, generic, public, rustic, the Greek catholic, cynic, mythic, tonic. This suflBx also forms part of the Latin compound suffix -atic, as in aquatic, fanatic, lunatic. There is also a Greek ending -tic preceded by different vowels, in which the / is part of the body of the word : emphat-ic, systematic [compare systemat-ize'\ ; athletic, phonetic; despotic. 1723. -ic is also used to form names of races and lan- guages, as in Celtic {Keltic), Germanic, Italic, and new- formations such as Finnic, Indie, Tungmic, Hanseatic, formed from Hansa, Hanse-towns on the analogy of Asiatic from Asia. 1724. Of the nouns in -ic some denote persons, such as catholic, domestic, rustic and the collective public, all of which are also nouns, and lunatic, which is now used chiefly as a noun; while others denote things, such as tonic, others language, such as Celtic, Gaelic, which however is generally §1726.] DERIVATION; FOREIGN SUFFIXES. 491 expressed by -ish (1757). There are also many which denote arts and sciences, such as arithmetic^ logic, music, especially intheplur. : phonetics, physics [the i\-s\^. physic has now a con- crete meaning], mathematics, optics. In Greek logic was called helogike t^khne 'the reason science,' where the adjective logikds is in the fern., agreeing with t^khne; afterwards logike by itself was used as a fem. noun, which was adopted into Latin, either unchanged — logice — or with the Latin fem. ending — logica; and from Latin this and the other words of the same kind passed through French into English. In Greek these adjec- tives were also used as nouns in the neut. plur., as in /