A conjunction has been defined to be “that part of speech which connects words and sentences together.”

Mr. Ruddiman, and several other grammarians, have asserted, that conjunctions never connect words, but sentences. This is evidently a mistake; for if I say, “a man of wisdom and virtue is a perfect character,” it implies not “that a man of wisdom is a perfect character, and a man of virtue a perfect character,” but “a man who combines wisdom and virtue.” The farther discussion of this question, however, I shall at present postpone, as it will form a subject of future inquiry.

Conjunctions have been distributed, according to their significations, into different classes:

This distribution of the conjunctions I have given, in conformity to general usage, that the reader may be acquainted with the common terms by which conjunctions have been denominated, if these terms should occur to him in the course of reading. In respect to the real import, and genuine character of these words, I decidedly adopt the theory of Mr. Tooke, which considers conjunctions as no distinct species of words, but as belonging to the class of attributives, or as abbreviations for two or more significant words.

Agreeably to his theory, and is an abbreviation for anad, the imperative of ananad, “to add,” or “to accumulate;” as, “two and two make four;” that is, “two, add two, make four.” Either is evidently an adjective expressive of “one of two;” thus, “it is either day or night,” that is, “one of the two, day or night.” It is derived from the Saxon ægther, equivalent to uterque, “each.”[114]

Or is a contraction for other, a Saxon and English adjective equivalent to alius or alter, and denotes diversity, either of name or of subject. Hence or is sometimes a perfect disjunctive, as when it expresses contrariety or opposition of things; and sometimes a subdisjunctive, when it denotes simply a diversity in name. Thus, when we say, “It is either even or odd,” or is a perfect disjunctive, the two attributives being directly contrary, and admitting no medium. If I say, “Paris or Alexander” (these being names of the same individual); or if I say, “Gravity or weight,” “Logic, or the art of reasoning;” or in these examples is a subdisjunctive or an explicative, as it serves to define the meaning of the preceding term, or as it expresses the equivalence of two terms. The Latins express the former by aut, vel, and the latter by seu or sive. In the following sentence both conjunctions are exemplified: “Give me either the black or the white;” i.e. “Give me one of the two—the black—other, the white.”

To these are opposed neither, nor, as, “Give me neither poverty nor riches;” i.e. “Give me not one of the two, poverty—nor, i.e. not the other, riches.”

According to Mr. Tooke, the conjunction if is the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon and Gothic verb gifan, “to give.” Among others, he quotes the following example. “How will the weather dispose of you to-morrow? If fair, it will send me abroad; if foul, it will keep me at home”—i.e. “Give,” or “grant it to be fair;” “give,” or “grant it to be foul.”

Though is the same as thaf, an imperative from thafan, to allow, and is in some parts of the country pronounced thof; as, “Though he should speak truth, I would not believe him;” i.e. “allow or grant, what? he should speak truth,” or “allow his speaking truth, I would not believe him.”

But, from beutan, the imperative of beon utan, to be out, is the same as without or unless, there being no difference between these in respect to meaning. Grammarians, however, in conformity to the distinction between nisi and sine, have called but a conjunction, and without a preposition. But, therefore, being a word signifying exception or exclusion, I have not termed it an “adversative,” as most grammarians have, but an “exceptive.” In this sense it is synonymous with præter, præterquam, or nisi; thus, “I saw nobody but John,” i.e. “unless,” or “except John.”

But, from bot, the imperative of botan, to boot or superadd, has a very different meaning. This word was originally written bot, and was thus distinguished from but[115]. They are now written alike, which tends to create confusion. The meaning of this word is, “add,” or, “moreover.” This interpretation is confirmed by the probable derivation and meaning of synonymous words in other languages. Thus, the French mais (but) is from majus, or magis, “more,” or “in addition;” the Italian ma, the Spanish mas, and the Dutch maar, are from the same etymon, signifying “more.” And it is not improbable, that adsit (be it present, or be it added) by contraction became ast and at: thus, adsit, adst, ast, at. In this sense but is synonymous with at, autem, cæterum, “moreover,” or “in addition.”

It is justly observed by Mr. Tooke, that bot or but allays or mitigates a good or bad precedent, by the addition of something; for botan means “to superadd,” “to supply,” “to atone for,” “to compensate,” “to add something more,” “to make amends,” or “make up deficiency.” Thus,

“Add (this) ere I last received.”

When but means be out, or without, it should, says Mr. Tooke, be preceded by a negative; thus, instead of saying, “I saw but John,” which means, “I saw John be out,” we should say, “I saw none but John,” i.e. “none, John be out,” or “had John been out,” or, “John being excluded.” This, observes the ingenious author, is one of the most faulty ellipses in our language, and could never have obtained, but through the utter ignorance of the meaning of the word but (bot).

Yet, from the imperative of getan, “to get.”

Still, from stell or steall, the imperative of stellan, ponere, “to suppose.”

Horne Tooke observing that these words, like if and an[116], are synonymous, accounts for their equivalence by supposing them to be derived from verbs of the same import. His mode of derivation, however, appears at first hearing to be incorrect: the meaning of the conjunctions have little or no affinity to that of the verbs. Mr. Tooke himself does not seem perfectly satisfied with its truth. Both these conjunctions are synonymous with “notwithstanding,” “nevertheless;” terms, the obvious meaning of which does not accord with verbs denoting “to get,” or “to suppose.” I am inclined, however, to think that Tooke’s conjecture is founded in truth. If I say, “he was learned, yet modest,” it may be expressed, “he was learned, notwithstanding this, or this being granted, even thus, or be it so (licet ita esset) he was modest;” where the general incompatibility between learning and modesty is conceived, not expressed, the expression denoting merely the combination of the qualities in the individual mentioned. Notwithstanding indirectly marks the repugnance, by signifying that the one quality did not prevent the co-existence of the other; yet or still supposes the incompatibility to be sufficiently known. This derivation is rendered the more probable, as the word though (thof, grant) may be substituted to express the same idea, as “though (grant) he was learned, he was modest;” which is equivalent to “he was learned, yet (this granted) he was modest.” Hence many repeat the concessive term, and say, “though he was learned, yet he was modest.”

Unless. Mr. Horne Tooke is of opinion that this exceptive conjunction is properly onles, the imperative of the verb onlesan, to dismiss; thus, “you cannot be saved unless you believe;” i.e. “dismiss your believing, and you cannot be saved,” or, “you cannot be saved, your believing being dismissed.”

Lest is contracted for lesed, the participle of the same verb, onlesan or lesan, signifying “dismissed;” as, “Young men should take care to avoid bad company, lest their morals be corrupted, and their reputation ruined;” that is, “Young men should take care to avoid bad company, lest (this being dismissed, or omitted) their morals be corrupted,” &c.

That is evidently in all cases an adjective, or, as some consider it, a demonstrative pronoun; as, “They say that the king is arrived;” “They say that (thing) the king is arrived.”

Whether is an adjective, denoting “which of two;” thus, “Whether he live or die;” that is, “Which of the two things, he live or die.”

As is the same with es, a German article, meaning it, that, or which.

So is sa or so, a Gothic article of the same import.

Than, which Mr. Tooke does not seem to have noticed, is supposed to be a compound of the definitive tha, and the additive termination, en, thus, tha en, thænne, then, and now spelled than[117].

These few examples will serve to explain Mr. Tooke’s theory on this subject; and I am persuaded, that the further we investigate the etymology and real import of conjunctions, the more probable will it appear that they are all nouns or attributives, some belonging to kindred languages, and others compounds or abbreviations in our own. I am persuaded, also, that from a general review of this subject, it must be evident that adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, form no distinct species of words, and that they are all reducible to the class either of nouns or attributives, if their original character and real import be considered. But, as many of them are derived from obsolete words in our own language, or from words in kindred languages, the radical meanings of which are, therefore, either obscure, or generally unknown—and as the syntactical use of several of them has undergone a change—it can be no impropriety, nay, it is even convenient, to regard them not in their original character, but their present use. When the radical word still remains, the case is different. Thus except is by some considered as a preposition; but as the verb to except is still in use, except may, and indeed should, be considered as the imperative of the verb[118]. But in parsing, to say that the word unless is the imperative of the verb onlesan, “to dismiss,” that verb belonging to a different language, would serve only to perplex and to confound, were it even true that the etymology is correct. For this reason, though I perfectly concur with Mr. Tooke as to the proper and original character of these words, I have distributed them under the customary head of prepositions, adverbs, and conjunctions.