A Handbook of the English Language by Robert Gordon Latham (books for men to read .txt) 📖

relate chiefly to ecclesiastical matters, just as the Latin of the Celtic period bore upon military affairs. Mynster, a minster, monasterium; portic, a porch, porticus; cluster, a cloister, claustrum; munuc, a monk, monachus; bisceop, a bishop, episcopus; arcebisceop, archbishop, archiepiscopus; sanct, a saint, sanctus; profost, a provost, propositus; pall, a pall, pallium; calic, a chalice, calix; candel, a candle, candela; psalter, a psalter, psalterium; mæsse, a mass, missa; pistel, an epistle, epistola; prædic-ian, to preach, prædicare; prof-ian, to prove, probare.

The following are the names of foreign plants and animals:—camell, a camel, camelus; ylp, elephant, elephas; ficbeam, fig-tree, ficus; feferfuge, feverfew, febrifuga; peterselige, parsley, petroselinum.

Others are the names of articles of foreign origin, as pipor, pepper, piper; purpur, purple, purpura; pumicstan, pumicestone, pumex.

This is the Latin of the second, or Saxon period.

§ 75. The Anglo-Norman element.—For practical purposes we may say that the French or Anglo-Norman element appeared in our language after the battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066.

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

1. The residence in England of Louis Outremer.

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

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

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

5. Harold passed some time in Normandy.

6. The French article la, in the term la Drove, occurs in a deed of A.D. 975.

The chief Anglo-Norman elements of our language are the terms connected with the feudal system, the terms relating to war and chivalry, and a great portion of the law terms—duke, count, baron, villain, service, chivalry, warrant, esquire, challenge, domain, &c.

§ 76. When we remember that the word Norman means man of the north, that it is a Scandinavian, and not a French word, that it originated in the invasions of the followers of Rollo and and other Norwegians, and that just as part of England was overrun by Pagan buccaneers called Danes, part of France was occupied by similar Northmen, we see the likelihood of certain Norse words finding their way into the French language, where they would be superadded to its original Celtic and Roman elements.

The extent to which this is actually the case has only been partially investigated. It is certain, however, that some French words are Norse or Scandinavian. Such, for instance, are several names of geographical localities either near the sea, or the river Seine, in other words, within that tract which was most especially occupied by the invaders. As is to be expected from the genius of the French language, these words are considerably altered in form. Thus,

NORSE. ENGLISH. FRENCH. Toft Toft Tot. Beck Beck Bec. Flöt Fleet[33] Fleur, &c.

and in these shapes they appear in the Norman names Yvetot, Caudebec, and Harfleur, &c.

Now any words thus introduced from the Norse of Scandinavia into the French of Normandy, might, by the Norman Conquest of England, be carried further, and so find their way into the English.

In such a case, they would constitute its indirect Scandinavian element.

A list of these words has not been made; indeed the question requires far more investigation than it has met with. The names, however, of the islands Guerns-ey, Jers-ey, and Aldern-ey, are certainly of the kind in question—since the -ey, meaning island, is the same as the -ey in Orkn-ey, and is the Norse rather than the Saxon form.

§ 77. Latin of the third period.—This means the Latin which was introduced between the battle of Hastings and the revival of literature. It chiefly originated in the cloister, in the universities, and, to a certain extent, in the courts of law. It must be distinguished from the indirect Latin introduced as part and parcel of the Anglo-Norman. It has yet to be accurately analyzed.

§ 78. Latin of the fourth period.—This means the Latin which has been introduced between the revival of literature and the present time. It has originated in the writings of learned men in general, and is distinguished from that of the previous periods by:

1. Being less altered in form:

2. Preserving, with substantives, in many cases its original inflections; axis, axes; basis, bases:

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

§ 79. Greek.—Words derived directly from the Greek are in the same predicament as the Latin of the third period—phænomenon, phænomena; criterion, criteria, &c.; words which are only indirectly of Greek origin, being considered to belong to the language from which they were immediately introduced into the English. Such are deacon, priest, &c., introduced through the Latin. Hence a word like church proves no more in regard to a Greek element in English, than the word abbot proves in respect to a Syrian one.

§ 80. The Latin of the fourth period and the Greek agree in retaining, in many cases, original inflexions rather than adopting the English ones; in other words, they agree in being but imperfectly incorporated. The phænomenon of imperfect incorporation is reducible to the following rules:—

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

2. That it has a relation to the number of meanings belonging to the words: thus, when a single word has two meanings, the original inflexion expresses one, the English inflexion another—genius, genii, often (spirits), geniuses (men of genius).

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

§ 81. The following is a list of the chief Latin substantives introduced during the latter part of the fourth period; and preserving the Latin plural forms—

FIRST CLASS.

Words wherein the Latin plural is the same as the Latin singular.

(a) Sing. Plur. (b) Sing. Plur.   Apparatus apparatus   Caries caries   Hiatus hiatus   Congeries congeries   Impetus impetus   Series series     Species species     Superficies superficies.

SECOND CLASS.

Words wherein the Latin plural is formed from the Latin singular by changing the last syllable.

(a).—Where the singular termination -a is changed in the plural into -æ:—

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Formula           formulæ Nebula nebulæ Lamina laminæ Scoria scoriæ. Larva larvæ

(b).—Where the singular termination -us is changed in the plural into -i:—

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Calculus calculi Polypus polypi Colossus colossi Radius radii Convolvulus     convolvuli Ranunculus ranunculi Focus foci Sarcophagus sarcophagi Genius genii Schirrus schirrhi Magus magi Stimulus stimuli Nautilus nautili Tumulus tumuli. Œsophagus œsophagi

(c).—Where the singular termination -um is changed in the plural into -a:—

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Animalculum animalcula Mausoleum mausolea Arcanum arcana Medium media Collyrium collyria Memorandum memoranda Datum data Menstruum menstrua Desideratum desiderata Momentum momenta Effluvium effluvia Premium premia Emporium emporia Scholium scholia Encomium encomia Spectrum spectra Erratum errata Speculum specula Gymnasium gymnasia Stratum strata Lixivium lixivia Succedaneum succedanea. Lustrum lustra

(d).—Where the singular termination -is is changed in the plural into -es:—

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Amanuensis      amanuenses Ellipsis ellipses Analysis analyses Emphasis emphases Antithesis antitheses Hypothesis hypotheses Axis axes Oasis oases Basis bases Parenthesis parentheses Crisis crises Synthesis syntheses Diæresis diæreses Thesis theses.

THIRD CLASS.

Words wherein the plural is formed by inserting -e between the last two sounds of the singular, so that the former number always contains a syllable more than the latter:—

Sing. Plur. Apex sounded apec-s apices Appendix — appendic-s appendices Calix — calic-s calices Cicatrix — cicatric-s cicatrices Helix — helic-s helices Index — indec-s indices Radix — radic-s radices Vertex — vertec-s vertices Vortex — vortec-s vortices.

In all these words the c of the singular number is sounded as k; of the plural, as s.

§ 82. The following is a list of the chief Greek substantives lately introduced, and preserving the Greek plural forms—

FIRST CLASS.

Words where the singular termination -on is changed in the plural into -a:—

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Aphelion aphelia Criterion criteria Perihelion perihelia Ephemeron ephemera Automaton automata Phænomenon phænomena.

SECOND CLASS.

Words where the plural is formed from the original root by adding either -es or -a, but where the singular rejects the last letter of the original root.

Plurals in -es:— Original root. Plur. Sing. Apsid- apsides apsis Cantharid- cantharides cantharis Chrysalid- chrysalides chrysalis Ephemerid- ephemerides ephemeris Tripod- tripodes tripos.  
Plurals in -a:— Original root. Plur. Sing. Dogmat- dogmata dogma Lemmat- lemmata lemma Miasmat- miasmata miasma.[34]

§ 83. Miscellaneous elements.—Of miscellaneous elements we have two sorts; those that are incorporated in our language, and are currently understood (e.g., the Spanish word sherry, the Arabic word alkali, and the Persian word turban), and those that, even amongst the educated, are considered strangers. Of this latter kind (amongst many others) are the oriental words hummum, kaftan, gul, &c.

Of the currently understood miscellaneous elements of the English language, the most important are from the French; some of which agree with those of the Latin of the fourth period, and the Greek, in preserving the French plural forms—as beau, beaux, billets-doux.

Italian.—Some words of Italian origin do the same; as virtuoso, virtuosi.

Hebrew.—The Hebrew words, cherub and seraph do the same; the form cherub-im, and seraph-im being not only plurals but Hebrew plurals.

Beyond the words derived from these five languages, none form their plural other than after the English method, i.e., in -s, as waltzes, from the German word waltz.

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

Arabic.—Admiral, alchemist, alchemy, alcohol, alcove, alembic, algebra, alkali, assassin.

Persian.—Turban, caravan, dervise, &c.

Turkish.—Coffee, bashaw, divan, scimitar, janisary, &c.

Hindoo languages.—Calico, chintz, cowrie, curry, lac, muslin, toddy, &c.

Chinese.—Tea, bohea, congou, hyson, soy, nankin &c.

Malay.—Bantam (fowl), gamboge, rattan, sago, shaddock, &c.

Polynesian.—Taboo, tattoo.

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

North American Indian.—Squaw, wigwam, pemmican.

Peruvian.—Charki = prepared meat; whence jerked beef.

Caribbean.—Hammock.

§ 85. A distinction is drawn between the direct and indirect, the latter leading to the ultimate origin of words.

Thus a word borrowed into the English from the French, might have been borrowed into the French from the Latin, into the Latin from the Greek, into the Greek from the Persian,