The English Language

10. Ten=δέκα, decem. The Mœso-Gothic form is tihun; wherein the h=the c of decem and the κ of δέκα. The Icelandic form is tiu, and, like δέκα, is without the -n (or -m). The hypothesis as to the -m or -n will be given in the next chapter.

11. Eleven. By no means the equivalent to undecim=1 + 10.

α. The e is ein=one. Einlif, ein-lef, eilef, eilf, elf, Old High German; andlova, Old Frisian; end-leofan, endlufan, Anglo-Saxon. This is universally admitted.

β. The -lev- is a modification of the root laib-an=manere=to stay=to be over. Hence eleven=one over (ten). This is not universally admitted.

γ. The -n has not been well accounted for. It is peculiar to the Low Germanic dialects.—Deutsche Grammatik, ii. 946.

12. Twelve=the root two + the root laib=two over (ten). Tvalif, Mœso-Gothic; zuelif, Old High German; toll, Swedish. The same doubts that apply to the doctrine of the -lv- in eleven representing the root -laib, apply to the -lv- in twelve.—Deutsche Grammatik, ii. 946.

13. Thirteen=3 + 10. So on till twenty.

30. Thirty=3 × 10, or three decads. This difference in the decimal power of the syllables -teen and -ty is illustrated by—

α. The Mœso-Gothic.—Here we find the root tig- used as a true substantive, equivalent in form as well as power to the Greek δέκ-ας. Tváim tigum þusandjom=duobus decadibus myriadum. (Luke xiv. 31.) Jêrê þrijê tigivé=annorum duarum decadum. (Luke iii. 23.) þrins tiguns silubrinaize=tres decadas argenteorum. (Matthew xxvii. 3, 9.)—Deutsche Grammatik, ii. 948.

β. The Icelandic.—"The numbers from 20 to 100 are formed by means of the numeral substantive, tigr, declined like viðr, and naturally taking the word which it numerically determines in the genitive case.

"This is the form of the inflection in the best and oldest MSS. A little later was adopted the indeclinable form tigi, which was used adjectivally."—Det Oldnorske Sprogs Grammatik, af P. A. Munch, og C. B. Unger, Christiania, 1847.

§ 330. Generally speaking, the greater part of the numerals are undeclined, even in inflected languages. As far as number goes, this is necessary.

One is naturally and exclusively singular.

Two is naturally dual.

The rest are naturally and exclusively plural.

As to the inflection of gender and cases, there is no reason why all the numerals should not be as fully inflected as the Latin unus, una, unum, unius.

CHAPTER XIII.

ON THE ORDINAL NUMBERS.

§ 331. The remarks at the close of the last chapter but one indicated the fact that superlative forms were found beyond the superlative degree. The present chapter shows that they are certainly found in some, and possibly in all of the ordinal numbers.

First.—In Mœso-Gothic, fruma, frumist; in Anglo-Saxon, forma, fyrmest; in Old High German, vurist; in Old Norse, fyrst; in New High German, erst. In all these words, whether in m, in mst, or in st, there is a superlative form. The same is the case with pratamas, Sanskrit; fratemas, Zend; πρῶτος, Greek; primus, Latin; primas, Lithuanic. Considering that, compared with the other ordinals, the ordinal of one is a sort of superlative, this is not at all surprising.

Between the words one and first there is no etymological relation. This is the case in most languages. Unus, primus, ἑῖς, πρῶτος, &c.

§ 332. Second.—Between this word and its cardinal, two, there is no etymological connexion. This is the case in many, if not in most, languages. In Latin the cardinal is duo, and the ordinal secundus, a gerund of sequor, and meaning the following. In Anglo-Saxon the form was se oðer=the other. In the present German, the ordinal is zweite, a word etymologically connected with the cardinal zwei=two.

Old High German, andar; Old Saxon, othar; Old Frisian, other; Middle Dutch, ander. In all these words we have the comparative form -ter; and considering that, compared with the word first, the word second is a sort of comparative, there is nothing in the circumstance to surprise us. The Greek forms δεύτερος and ἕτερος, the Latin alter, and the Lithuanic antras, are the same.

§ 333. With the third ordinal number begin difficulties: 1. in respect to their form; 2. in respect to the idea conveyed by them.

1. Comparing third, fourth, fifth, &c., with three, four, and five, the formation of the ordinal from the cardinal form may seem simply to consist in the addition of d or th. Such, however, is far from being the case.

2. Arguing from the nature of the first two ordinals, namely, the words first and second, of which one has been called a superlative and the other a comparative, it may seem a simple matter to associate, in regard to the rest, the idea of ordinalism with the idea of comparison. A plain distinction, however, will show that the case of the first two ordinals is peculiar. First is a superlative, not as compared with its cardinal, one, but as compared with the other numerals. Second, or other, is a comparative, not as compared with its cardinal, two, but as compared with the numeral one. Now it is very evident, that, if the other ordinals be either comparatives or superlatives, they must be so, not as compared with one another, but as compared with their respective cardinals. Sixth, to be anything like a superlative, must be so when compared with six.

§ 334. Now there are, in etymology, two ways of determining the affinity of ideas. The first is the metaphysical, the second the empirical, method.

This is better than that, is a sentence which the pure metaphysician may deal with. He may first determine that there is in it the idea of comparison; and next that the comparison is the comparison between two objects, and no more than two. This idea he may compare with others. He may determine, that, with a sentence like this is one and that is the other, it has something in common; since both assert something concerning one out of two objects. Upon this connexion in sense he is at liberty to reason. He is at liberty to conceive that in certain languages words expressive of allied ideas may also be allied in form. Whether such be really the case, he leaves to etymologists to decide.

The pure etymologist proceeds differently. He assumes the connexion in meaning from the connexion in form. All that he at first observes is, that words like other and better have one and the same termination. For this identity he attempts to give a reason, and finds that he can best account for it by presuming some affinity in sense. Whether there be such an affinity, he leaves to the metaphysician to decide. This is the empirical method.

At times the two methods coincide, and ideas evidently allied are expressed by forms evidently allied.

At times the connexion between the ideas is evident; but the connexion between the forms obscure: and vice versâ. Oftener, however, the case is as it is with the subjects of the present chapter. Are the ideas of ordinalism in number, and of superlativeness in degree, allied? The metaphysical view, taken by itself, gives us but unsatisfactory evidence; whilst the empirical view, taken by itself, does the same. The two views, however, taken together, give us evidence of the kind called cumulative, which is weak or strong according to its degree.

Compared with three, four, &c., all the ordinals are formed by the addition of th, or t; and th, ð, t, or d, is the ordinal sign, not only in English, but in the other Gothic languages. But, as stated before, this is not the whole of the question.

The letter t is found, with a similar power, 1. In Latin, as in tertius, quartus, quintus, sextus; 2. Greek, as in τρίτος (tritos), τέταρτος (tetartos), πέμπτος (pemptos), ἕκτος (hectos), ἔννατος (ennatos), δέκατος (dekatos); 3. Sanskrit, as in tritiyas, ćatuŕtas, shasht´as=third, fourth, sixth; 4. In Zend, as in thrityas=the third, haptathas=the seventh; 5. In Lithuanic, as ketwirtas=fourth, penktas=fifth, szesztas=sixth; 6. In Old Slavonic, as in cétvertyi=fourth, pjatyi=fifth, shestyi=sixth, devjatyi=ninth, desjatyi=tenth. Speaking more generally, it is found, with a similar force, throughout the Indo-European stock.

The following forms indicate a fresh train of reasoning. The Greek ἑπτὰ (hepta), and Icelandic sjau, have been compared with the Latin septem and the Anglo-Saxon seofon. In the Greek and Icelandic there is the absence, in the Latin and Anglo-Saxon the presence, of a final liquid (m or n).

Again, the Greek forms ἐννέα (ennea), and the Icelandic níu=nine, have been compared with the Latin novem and the Gothic nigun.

Thirdly, the Greek δέκα (deka), and the Icelandic tíu, have been compared with the Latin decem and the Gothic tihun=ten.

These three examples indicate the same circumstance; viz. that the m or n, in seven, nine, and ten, is no part of the original word.

§ 335. The following hypotheses account for these phenomena; viz. that the termination of the ordinals is the superlative termination -tam: that in some words, like the Latin septimus, the whole form is preserved; that in some, as in τέταρτος=fourth, the t only remains; and that in others, as in decimus, the m alone remains. Finally, that in seven, nine, and ten, the final liquid, although now belonging to the cardinal, was once the characteristic of the ordinal number. For a fuller exhibition of these views, see Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik, iii. 640.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE ARTICLES.

§ 336. In the generality of grammars the definite article the, and the indefinite article an, are the very first parts of speech that are considered. This is exceptionable. So far are they from being essential to language, that, in many dialects, they are wholly wanting. In Greek there is no indefinite, in Latin there is neither an indefinite nor a definite article. In the former language they say ἀνήρ τις=a certain man: in the Latin the words filius patris mean equally the son of the father, a son of a father, a son of the father, or the son of a father. In Mœso-Gothic and in Old Norse, there is an equal absence of the indefinite article; or, at any rate, if there be one at all, it is a different word from what occurs in English. In these the Greek τις is expressed by the Gothic root sum.

Now, as it is very evident that, as far as the sense is concerned, the words some man, a certain man, and a man, are, there or thereabouts, the same, an exception may be taken to the statement that in Greek and Mœso-Gothic there is no indefinite article. It may, in the present state of the argument, be fairly said that the words sum and τις are pronouns with a certain sense, and that a and an are no more; consequently, that in Greek the indefinite article is τις, in Mœso-Gothic sum, and in English a or an,

A distinction, however, may be made. In the expression ἀνήρ τις (anær tis)=a certain man, or a man, and in the expression sum mann, the words sum and τις preserve their natural and original meaning; whilst in a man and an ox the words a and an are used in a secondary sense. These words, as is currently known, are one and the same, the n, in the form a, being ejected through a euphonic process. They are, moreover, the same words with the numeral one; Anglo-Saxon, án; Scotch, ane. Now, between the words a man and one man, there is a difference in meaning; the first expression being the most indefinite. Hence comes the difference between the English and the Mœso-Gothic expressions. In the one the word sum has a natural, in the other the word an has a secondary power.

The same reasoning applies to the word the. Compared with a man, the words the man are very definite. Compared, however, with the words that man, they are the contrary. Now, just as an and a have arisen out of the numeral one, so has the arisen out of the demonstrative pronoun þæt, or at least from some common root. It will be remembered that in Anglo-Saxon there was a form þe, undeclined, and common to all the cases of all the numbers.

In no language in its oldest stage is there ever a word giving, in its primary sense, the ideas of a and the. As tongues become modern, some noun with a similar sense is used to express them. In the course of time a change of form takes place, corresponding to the change of meaning; e. g., one becomes an, and afterwards a. Then it is that articles become looked upon as separate parts of speech, and are dealt with accordingly. No invalidation of this statement is drawn from the Greek language. Although the first page of the etymology gives us ὁ, ἡ, τὸ (ho, hæ, to), as the definite articles, the corresponding page in the syntax informs us, that, in the oldest stage of the language, ὁ (ho)=the, had the power of οὗτος (howtos)=this.

The origin of the articles seems uniform. In German ein, in Danish en, stand to one in the same relation that an does. The French un, Italian and Spanish uno, are similarly related to unus=one.

And as, in English the, in German der, in Danish den, come from the demonstrative pronouns, so in the classical languages are the French le, the Italian il and lo, and the Spanish el, derived from the Latin demonstrative, ille.

In his Outlines of Logic, the present writer has given reasons for considering the word no (as in no man) an article.

That the, in expressions like all the more, all the better, &c., is no article, has already been shown.

CHAPTER XV.

DIMINUTIVES, AUGMENTATIVES, AND PATRONYMICS.

§ 337. Compared with the words lamb, man, and hill, the words lambkin, mannikin, and hillock convey the idea of comparative smallness or diminution. Now, as the word hillock=a little hill differs in form from hill we have in English a series of diminutive forms, or diminutives.

The English diminutives may be arranged according to a variety of principles. Amongst others:

1. According to their form.—The word hillock is derived from hill, by the addition of a syllable. The word tip is derived from top, by the change of a vowel.

2. According to their meaning.—In the word hillock there is the simple expression of comparative smallness in size. In the word doggie for dog, lassie for lass, the addition of the -ie makes the word not so much a diminutive as a term of tenderness or endearment. The idea of smallness, accompanied, perhaps, with that of neatness, generally carries with it the idea of approbation. The word clean in English, means, in German, little=kleine. The feeling of protection which is extended to small objects engenders the notion of endearment. In Middle High German we have vaterlìn=little father, mütterlìn=little mother. In Middle High German there is the diminutive sunnelìn; and the French soleil is from the Latin form solillus. In Slavonic the word slunze=sun is a diminutive form.

The Greek word μείωσις (meiôsis) means diminution; the Greek word ὑποκόρισμα means an endearing expression. Hence we get names for the two kinds of diminutives; viz., the term meiotic for the true diminutives, and the term hypocoristic for the diminutives of endearment.—Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik, iii. 664.

3. According to their historical origin.—The syllable -ock, as in hillock, is of Anglo-Saxon and Gothic origin. The -et, as in lancet, is of French and classical origin.

4. According as they affect proper names or common names.—Hawkin, Perkin, Wilkin, &c. In these words we have the diminutives of Hal, Peter, Will, &c.

§ 338. The diminutive forms of Gothic origin are the first to be considered.

1. Those formed by a change of vowel.—Tip, from top. The relation of the feminine to the masculine is allied to the ideas conveyed by many diminutives. Hence in the word kit, from cat, it is doubtful whether there be meant a female cat or a little cat. Kid is a diminutive form of goat.

2. Those formed by the addition of a letter or letters.—Of the diminutive characteristics thus formed the commonest, beginning from the simpler forms, are

Ie.—Almost peculiar to the Lowland Scotch; as daddie, lassie, minnie, wifie, mousie, doggie, boatie, &c.—Deutsche Grammatik, iii. 686.

Ock.—Bullock, hillock.

Kin.—Lambkin, mannikin, ladikin, &c. As is seen above, common in proper names.

En.—Chicken, kitten, from cock, cat. The notion of diminution, if indeed that be the notion originally conveyed, lies not in the -en, but in the vowel. In the word chicken, from cock, observe the effect of the small vowel on the c.

The consideration of words like duckling and gosling is purposely deferred.

The chief diminutive of classical origin is—

Et, as in trumpet, lancet, pocket; the word pock, as in meal-pock=a meal-bag, being found in the Scottish. From the French -ette, as in caissette, poulette.

The forms -rel, as in cockerel, pickerel, and -let, as in streamlet, require a separate consideration. The first has nothing to do with the Italian forms acquerella and coserella—themselves, perhaps, of Gothic, rather than of classical origin.

In the Old High-German there are a multitude of diminutive forms in -l; as ouga=an eye, ougili=a little eye, lied=a song, liedel=a little song. "In Austria and Bavaria are the forms mannel, weibel, hundel, &c., or mannl, weibl, hundl, &c. In some districts there is an r before the l, as madarl=a little maid, muadarl=a little mother, briadarl=a little brother, &c. This is occasioned by the false analogy of the diminutives of the derived form in r."—Deutsche Grammatik, iii. p. 674. This indicates the nature of words like cockerel.

Even in English the diminutive power of -el can be traced in the following words:—

Soare=a deer in its third year. Sor-rel=a deer in its second year.—See Love's Labour Lost, with the note.

Tiercel=a small sort of hawk, one-third less (tierce) than the common kind.

Kantle=small corner, from cant=a corner.—Henry IV.

Hurdle; in Dutch horde; German, hurde. Hording, without the -l, is used in an allied sense by builders in English.

In the words in point we must assume an earlier form, cocker and piker, to which the diminutive form -el is affixed. If this be true, we have, in English, representatives of the diminutive form -l, so common in the High Germanic dialects. Wolfer=a wolf, hunker=a haunch, flitcher=a flitch, teamer=a team, fresher=a frog,—these are north country forms of the present English.^[43]

The termination -let, as in streamlet, seems to be double, and to consist of the Gothic diminutive -l, and the French diminutive -t.

§ 339. Augmentatives.—Compared with capello=a hat, the Italian word capellone=a great hat is an augmentative. The augmentative forms, pre-eminently common in the Italian language, often carry with them a depreciating sense.

The termination -rd (in Old High German, -hart), as in drunkard, braggart, laggard, stinkard, carries with it this idea of depreciation. In buzzard, and reynard, the name of the fox, it is simply augmentative. In wizard, from witch, it has the power of a masculine form.

The termination -rd, taken from the Gothic, appears in the modern languages of classical origin: French, vieillard; Spanish, codardo. From these we get at, second-hand, the word coward.—Deutsche Grammatik, iii. 707.

The word sweetheart is a derived word of this sort, rather than a compound word; since in Old High German and Middle High German, we have the corresponding form liebhart. Now the form for heart is in German not hart, but herz.

Words like braggadocio, trombone, balloon, being words of foreign origin, prove nothing as to the further existence of augmentative forms in English.

§ 340. Patronymics.—In the Greek language the notion of lineal descent, in other words, the relation of the son to the father, is expressed by a particular termination; as, Πηλεὺς (Peleus), Πηλείδης (Peleidæs), the son of Peleus. It is very evident that this mode of expression is very different from either the English form Johnson, or Gaelic MacDonald. In these last-named words, the words son and Mac mean the same thing; so that Johnson and MacDonald are not derived, but compound words. This Greek way of expressing descent is peculiar, and the words wherein it occurs are classed together by the peculiar name patronymic, from patær=a father, and onoma=a name. Is there anything in English corresponding to the Greek patronymics? It was for the sake of this question that the consideration of the termination -ling, as in duckling, &c., was deferred.

The termination -ling, like the terminations -rel and -let, is compound. Its simpler form is -ing. This, from being affixed to the derived forms in -l, has become -ling.

In Anglo-Saxon the termination -ing is as truly patronymic as -ιδης is in Greek. In the Bible-translation the son of Elisha is called Elising. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle occur such genealogies as the following:—Ida wæs Eopping, Eoppa Êsing, Êsa Inging, Inga Angenviting, Angenvit Alocing, Aloc Beonocing, Beonoc Branding, Brand Bældæging, Bældæg Vódening, Vóden Friðowulfing, Friðowulf Finning, Finn Godwulfing, Godwulf Geating=Ida was the son of Eoppa, Eoppa of Esing, Esing of Inga, Inga of Angenvit, Angenvit of Aloc, Aloc of Beonoc, Beonoc of Brand, Brand of Bældag, Bældag of Woden, Woden of Friðowulf, Friðowulf of Finn, Finn of Godwulf, Godwulf of Geat.—In Greek, Ἴδα ἦν Ἐοππείδης, Ἔοππα Ἠσείδης, Ἤσα Ἰγγείδης, Ἴγγα Ἀγγενφιτείδης, &c. In the plural number these forms denote the race of; as Scyldingas=the Scyldings, or the race of Scyld, &c. Edgar Atheling means Edgar of the race of the nobles. The primary of -ing and -l-ing is descent or relationship; from these comes the idea of youth and endearment, and thence the true diminutive idea. In darling, stripling, duckling, gosling (pr. gesling), kitling (pr. for kitten), nestling, yearling, chickling, fatling, fledgling, firstling, the idea of descent still remains. In hireling the idea of diminution is accompanied with the idea of contempt. In changeling we have a Gothic termination and a classical root. See, for the full exposition of this view, Deutsche Grammatik, ii. 349-364, iii. 682.

In the opening speech of Marlow's Jew of Malta we have the following lines:—

The word silverlings has troubled the commentators. Burst their silverbins has been proposed as the true reading. The word, however, is a true diminutive, as siluparlinc, silarbarling=a small silver coin, Old High German.

A good chapter on the English diminutives may be seen in the Cambridge Philological Museum, vol. i. p. 679.

CHAPTER XVI.

GENTILE FORMS.

§ 341. These have been illustrated by Mr. Guest in the Transactions of the Philological Society.

The only word in the present English that requires explanation is the name of the principality Wales.

1. The form is plural, however much the meaning may be singular; so that the -s in Wale-s is the -s in fathers, &c.

2. It has grown out of the Anglo-Saxon from wealhas=foreigners, the name by which the Welsh are spoken of by the Germans of England, just as the Italians are called Welsh by the Germans of Germany: wal-nuts=foreign nuts.

3. The transfer of the name of the people inhabiting a certain country to the country so inhabited, was one of the commonest processes in both Anglo-Saxon and Old English.—Guest, Phil. Trans.

CHAPTER XVII.

ON THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE NOUN AND VERB, AND ON THE INFLECTION OF THE INFINITIVE MOOD.

§ 342. In order to understand clearly the use of the so-called infinitive mood in English, it is necessary to bear in mind two facts, one a matter of logic, the other a matter of history.

In the way of logic, the difference between a noun and a verb is less marked than it is in the way of grammar.

Grammatically, the contrast is considerable. The inflection of nouns expresses the ideas of sex as denoted by gender, and of relation in place as denoted by cases. That of verbs rarely expresses sex, and never position. On the other hand, however, it expresses what no noun ever does or can express; e.g., the relation of the agent to the individual speaking, by means of person; the time in which acts take place, by means of tense; and the conditions of their occurrence, by means of mood.

The idea of number is the only one that, on a superficial view, is common to these two important parts of speech.

Logically, the contrast is inconsiderable. A noun denotes an object of which either the senses or the intellect can take cognizance, and a verb does no more. To move=motion, to rise=rising, to err=error, to forgive=forgiveness. The only difference between the two parts of speech is this, that, whereas a noun may express any object whatever, verbs can only express those objects which consist in an action. And it is this superadded idea of action that superadds to the verb the phenomena of tense, mood, person, and voice; in other words, the phenomena of conjugation.

§ 343. A noun is a word capable of declension only. A verb is a word capable of declension and conjugation also. The fact of verbs being declined as well as conjugated must be remembered. The participle has the declension of a noun adjective, the infinite mood the declension of a noun substantive. Gerunds and supines, in languages where they occur, are only names for certain cases of the verb.

Although in all languages the verb is equally capable of declension, it is not equally declined. The Greeks, for instance, used forms like

oftener than the Romans. The fact of there being an article in Greek may account for this.

§ 344. Returning, however, to the illustration of the substantival character of the so-called infinitive mood, we may easily see—

α. The name of any action may be used without any mention of the agent. Thus, we may speak of the simple fact of walking or moving, independently of any specification of the walker or mover.

β. That, when actions are spoken of thus indefinitely, the idea of either person or number has no place in the conception; from which it follows that the so-called infinitive mood must be at once impersonal, and without the distinction of singular, dual, and plural.

γ. That, nevertheless, the ideas of time and relation in space have place in the conception. We can think of a person being in the act of striking a blow, of his having been in the act of striking a blow, or of his being about to be in the act of striking a blow. We can also think of a person being in the act of doing a good action, or of his being from the act of doing a good action.

This has been written to show that verbs of languages in general are as naturally declinable as nouns. What follows will show that the verbs of the Gothic languages in particular were actually declined, and that fragments of this declension remain in the present English.

§ 345. The inflection of the verb in its impersonal (or infinitive form) consisted, in full, of three cases, a nominative (or accusative), a dative, and a genitive. The genitive is put last, because its occurrence in the Gothic language is the least constant.

In Anglo-Saxon the nominative (or accusative) ended in -an:

Be it observed, that the -en in words like strengthen, &c., is a derivational termination, and by no means a representation of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive inflection. The Anglo-Saxon infinitive inflection is lost in the present English, except in certain provincial dialects.

In Anglo-Saxon the dative of the infinitive verb ended in -nne, and was (as a matter of syntax) generally, perhaps always, preceded by the preposition to.

The genitive, ending in -es, occurs only in Old High German and Modern High German, plâsannes, weinnenes.

§ 346. With these preliminaries we can take a clear view of the English infinitives. They exist under two forms, and are referable to a double origin.

1. The independent form.—This is used after the words can, may, shall, will, and some others, as, I can speak, I may go, I shall come, I will move. Here there is no preposition, and the origin of the infinitive is from the form in -an.

2. The prepositional form.—This is used after the majority of English verbs, as I wish to speak, I mean to go, I intend to come, I determine to move. Here we have the preposition to and the origin of the infinitive is from the form in -nne.

Expressions like to err=error, to forgive=forgiveness, in lines like

are very remarkable. They exhibit the phenomena of a nominative case having grown not only out of a dative but out of a dative plus its governing preposition.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ON DERIVED VERBS.

§ 347. Of number, person, mood, tense, and conjugation, special notice is taken in their respective chapters. Of the divisions of verbs into active and passive, transitive and intransitive, unless there be an accompanying change of form, etymology takes no cognisance. The forces of the auxiliary verbs, and the tenses to which they are equivalent, are also points of syntax rather than of etymology.

Four classes, however, of derived verbs, as opposed to simple, especially deserve notice.

I. Those ending in -en; as soften, whiten, strengthen, &c. Here it has been already remarked that the -en is a derivational affix; and not a representative of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive form -an (as lufian, bærnan=to love, to burn), and the Old English -en (as tellen, loven).

II. Transitive verbs derived from intransitives by a change of the vowel of the root.

In Anglo-Saxon these words were more numerous than they are at present. The following list is taken from the Cambridge Philological Museum, ii. 386.

All these intransitives form their præterite by a change of vowel, as sink, sank; all the transitives by the addition of d or t, as fell, fell'd.

III. Verbs derived from nouns by a change of accent; as to survéy, from a súrvey. For a fuller list see the Chapter on Derivation. Walker attributes the change of accent to the influence of the participial termination -ing. All words thus affected are of foreign origin.

IV. Verbs formed from nouns by changing a final sharp consonant into its corresponding flat one; as,

CHAPTER XIX.

ON THE PERSONS.

§ 348. Compared with the Latin, the Greek, the Mœso-Gothic, and almost all the ancient languages, there is, in English, in respect to the persons of the verbs, but a very slight amount of inflection. This may be seen by comparing the English word call with the Latin voco.

Here the Latins have different forms for each different person, whilst the English have forms for two only; and even of these one (callest) is becoming obsolete. With the forms of voco marked in italics there is, in the current English, nothing correspondent.

In the word am, as compared with are and art, we find a sign of the first person singular.

In the old forms tellen, weren, &c., we have a sign of the plural number.

In the Modern English, the Old English, and the Anglo-Saxon, the peculiarities of our personal inflections are very great. This may be seen from the following tables of comparison:—

Herein remark; 1. the Anglo-Saxon addition of t in the second person singular; 2. the identity in form of the three persons of the plural number; 3. the change of -að into -en in the Old English plural; 4. the total absence of plural forms in the Modern English; 5. the change of the th into s, in loveth and loves. These are points bearing especially upon the history of the English persons. The following points indicate a more general question.

1. The full form prennames in the newer Old High German, as compared with sókjam in the old Mœso-Gothic.

2. The appearance of the r in Icelandic.

3. The difference between the Old Saxon and the Anglo-Saxon in the second person singular; the final t being absent in Old Saxon.

4. The respective powers of M in the first, of S in the second, and of T (or its allied sounds) in the third persons singular; of MES in the first, of T (or its allied sounds) in the second, and of ND in the third persons plural. In this we have a regular expression of the persons by means of regular signs; and this the history of the personal terminations verifies.

§ 349. First person singular.—That the original sign of this person was M we learn from the following forms: dadâmi, Sanskrit; dadhâmi, Zend; δίδωμι, Greek; dumi, Lithuanic; damy, Slavonic=I give. The Latin language preserves it in sum and inquam, and in the first persons of tenses, like legam, legebam, legerem, legissem. The form im=I am occurs in Mœso-Gothic; and the words stom=I stand, lirnem=I shall learn, in Old High German. The word am is a fragmentary specimen of it in our own language.

Plural.—The original sign MES. Dadmas, Sanskrit; δίδομες, afterwards δίδομεν, Greek; damus, Latin=we give. The current form in Old High German.

These forms in M may or may not be derived from the pronoun of the first person; mâ, Sanskrit; me, Latin, English, &c.

Second person singular.—The original sign S. Dadasi, Sanskrit; δίδως, Greek; das, Latin; dasi, Slavonic. Preserved in the Gothic languages.

Plural.—The original sign T, or an allied sound. Dadyata, Sanskrit; daidhyâta, Zend; δίδοτε, Greek; datis, Latin; d[ou]kite, Lithuanic; dashdite, Slavonic=ye give. Current in the Gothic languages.

These forms in T and S may or may not be derived from the pronoun of the second person; tva, Sanskrit; σὺ, Greek; thou, English.

Third person singular.—-The original sign T. Dadati, Sanskrit; dadhâiti, Zend; δίδωτι, Old Greek; dat, Latin; d[ou]sti, Lithuanic; dasty, Slavonic=he gives. Preserved in the Gothic languages.

Plural.—The original sign NT. Dadenti, Zend; δίδοντι, afterwards διδοῦσι, Greek; dant, Latin=they give. In Mœso-Gothic and Old High German.

The preceding examples are from Grimm and Bopp. To them add the Welsh form carant=they love, and the Persian budend=they are.

The forms in T and NT may or may not be derived from the demonstrative pronoun ta, Saxon; τὸ, Greek; that, English, &c.

§ 350. The present state of the personal inflection in English, so different from that of the older languages, has been brought about by two processes.

I. Change of form.—^a) The ejection of -es in -mes, as in sôkjam and köllum, compared with prennames; ^b) the ejection of -m, as in the first person singular, almost throughout; ^c) the change of -s into -r, as in the Norse kallar, compared with the Germanic sôkeis; ^d) the ejection of -d from -nd, as in loven (if this be the true explanation of that form) compared with prennant; ^e) the ejection of -nd, as in kalla; ^f) the addition of -t, as in lufast and lovest. In all these cases we have a change of form.

II. Confusion or extension.—In vulgarisms like I goes, I is, one person is used instead of another. In vulgarisms like I are, we goes, one number is used instead of another. In vulgarisms like I be tired, or if I am tired, one mood is used instead of another. In vulgarisms like I give for I gave, one tense is used for another. In all this there is confusion. There is also extension: since, in the phrase I is, the third person is used instead of the first; in other words, it is used with an extension of its natural meaning. It has the power of the third person + that of the first. In the course of time one person may entirely supplant, supersede, or replace another. The application of this is as follows:—

The only person of the plural number originally ending in ð is the second; as sókeiþ, prennat, kalliþ, lufiað; the original ending of the first person being -mes, or -m, as prennames, sôkjam, köllum. Now, in Anglo-Saxon, the first person ends in ð, as lufiað. Has -m, or -mes, changed to ð, or has the second person superseded the first? The latter alternative seems the likelier.

§ 351. The detail of the persons seems to be as follows:—

I call, first person singular.—The word call is not one person more than another. It is the simple verb, wholly uninflected. It is very probable that the first person was the one where the characteristic termination was first lost. In the Modern Norse language it is replaced by the second: Jeg taler=I speak, Danish.

Thou callest, second person singular.—The final -t appears throughout the Anglo-Saxon, although wanting in Old Saxon. In Old High German it begins to appear in Otfrid, and is general in Notker. In Middle High German and New High German it is universal.—Deutsche Grammatik, i. 1041. 857.

He calleth, or he calls, third person singular.—The -s in calls is the -th in calleth, changed. The Norse form kallar either derives its -r from the -th by way of change, or else the form is that of the second person replacing the first.

Lufiað, Anglo-Saxon, first person plural.—The second person in the place of the first. The same in Old Saxon.

Lufiað, Anglo-Saxon, third person plural.—Possibly changed from -ND, as in sôkjand. More probably the second person.

Loven, Old English.—For all the persons of the plural. This form may be accounted for in three ways: 1. The -m of the Mœso-Gothic and High Old German became -n; as it is in the Middle and Modern German, where all traces of the original -m are lost. In this case the first person has replaced the other two. 2. The -nd may have become -n; in which case it is the third person that replaces the others. 3. The indicative form loven may have arisen out of a subjunctive one; since there was in Anglo-Saxon the form lufion, or lufian, subjunctive. In the Modern Norse languages the third person replaces the other two: Vi tale, I tale, de tale=we talk, ye talk, they talk.

§ 352. The person in -T.—Art, wast, wert, shalt, wilt. Here the second person singular ends, not in -st, but in -t. A reason for this (though not wholly satisfactory) we find in the Mœso-Gothic and the Icelandic.

In those languages the form of the person changes with the tense, and the second singular of the præterite tense of one conjugation is, not -s, but -t; as Mœso-Gothic, svôr=I swore, svôrt=thou swarest, gráip=I griped, gráipt=thou gripedst; Icelandic, brannt=thou burnest, gaft=thou gavest. In the same languages ten verbs are conjugated like præterites. Of these, in each language, skal is one.

§ 353. Thou spakest, thou brakest, thou sungest.^[45]—In these forms there is a slight though natural anomaly. They belong to the class of verbs which form their præterite by changing the vowel of the present; as sing, sang, &c. Now, all words of this sort in Anglo-Saxon formed their second singular præterite, not in -st, but in -e; as þú funde=thou foundest, þú sunge=thou sungest. The English termination is derived from the present. Observe that this applies only to the præterites formed by changing the vowel. Thou loved'st is Anglo-Saxon as well as English, viz., þú lufodest.

§ 354. In the northern dialects of the Anglo-Saxon the -ð of plurals like lufiað=we love becomes -s. In the Scottish this change was still more prevalent: