 |
Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text.
ā signifies "a with macron"; ĕ "e with breve"; é "e acute" (or stressed); è "e grave"; ê "e circumflex"; and so forth. "eth" and "thorn" are rendered "dh" and "th" respectively.
* * * * *
A HAND-BOOK
OF
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,
FOR THE USE OF
STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER CLASSES OF SCHOOLS.
BY
R. G. LATHAM, M.D., F.R.S.,
LATE PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON.
NEW-YORK: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. M.DCCC.LXIV.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
PART I.
GENERAL ETHNOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
CHAPTER I.
GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.—DATE.
SECTION PAGE
1. English language not British 1 2. Real origin German 1 3. Accredited immigrations and settlements 2 4, 5. Criticism 4, 5
CHAPTER II.
GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.—THE GERMANIC AREA OF THE PARTICULAR GERMANS WHO INTRODUCED IT.—EXTRACT FROM BEDA.
6, 7. Jutes, Angles, and Saxons 6 8, 9. Extract from Beda 6, 7 10-13. Criticism 8-11 14, 15. Angles 11, 12 16. Saxons of Beda 12, 13 17. Anglo-Saxon area 13 18, 19. The Frisians 13, 14 20. Anglo-Saxon area 14
CHAPTER III.
OF THE DIALECTS OF THE SAXON AREA, AND OF THE SO-CALLED OLD SAXON.
21-29. Old Saxon and Anglo-Saxon 16, 17
CHAPTER IV.
AFFINITIES OF THE ENGLISH WITH THE LANGUAGES OF GERMANY AND SCANDINAVIA.
30, 31. Gothic languages 18 32-34. Divisions of the Gothic stock 18 35. Moeso-Gothic 19 36. Old High German 19 37. Low German 19 38. Frisian and Dutch 19 39. Platt-Deutsch 20 40, 41. Comparison 21-23
CHAPTER V.
ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.—GERMANIC ELEMENTS.—THE ANGLES.
42. Analysis 24 43-54. Angles—their relations 24-28 55, 56. The Frisians 29, 30
CHAPTER VI.
THE CELTIC STOCK OF LANGUAGES AND THEIR RELATIONS TO THE ENGLISH.
57. Branches of the Celtic stock 31 58-60. Structure of Celtic tongues 31-33 61-63. The Picts 33-35
CHAPTER VII.
THE ANGLO-NORMAN, AND THE LANGUAGE OF THE CLASSICAL STOCK.
64. The classical languages 36 65-67. Latin branch 36-40 68, 69. Norman French 40, 41
PART II.
HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL AND LOGICAL ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
70. Celtic elements 45 71. Latin of first period 46 72. Anglo-Saxon 47 73. Danish or Norse 47 74. Roman of second period 49 75. Anglo-Norman element 49 76. Indirect Scandinavian elements 50 77. Latin of third period 51 78. Latin of fourth period 51 79. Greek 52 80-82. Tables 53-55 83-90. Miscellaneous elements 55-60 91-94. Hybridism and new words 60-62 95. Historical and logical analysis 63
CHAPTER II.
THE RELATION OF THE ENGLISH TO THE ANGLO-SAXON, AND THE STAGES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
96. Ancient and modern tongues 64 97. Details 65-68 98. Stages of the English language 68 99. Semi-Saxon 69 100-103. Old English, &c. 70-72 104. Present tendencies 73
PART III.
SOUNDS, LETTERS, PRONUNCIATION, SPELLING.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL NATURE AND CERTAIN PROPERTIES OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.
105. Spelling and speaking 77 106. Sounds and syllables 79 107. Vowels 79 108. Divisions 80 109. Sharp and flat sounds 80 110. Continuous and explosive 80 111. General statements 81 112. The sound of h 81
CHAPTER II.
SYSTEM OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.
113. Certain foreign sounds 82 114. System of mutes 82 115. Lenes and aspirates 83 116. Fourfold character of mutes 84 117. Y and w 84 118, 119. Diphthongs 84 120. Compound sounds 85 121. Ng 85 122, 123. Broad, slender; long, short; dependent, independent vowels 85, 86 124-126. System of sounds 86, 87
CHAPTER III.
OF CERTAIN COMBINATIONS OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.
127. Sharp and flat mutes 88 128. Unstable combinations 89 129. Effect of y 89 130, 131. Double consonants rare 89 132. True aspirates rare 90
CHAPTER IV.
EUPHONY AND THE PERMUTATION OF LETTERS.
133. Euphony 92 134. Permutation 93
CHAPTER V.
ON THE FORMATION OF SYLLABLES.
135. Syllabification 95-97
CHAPTER VI.
ON QUANTITY.
136. Long and short sounds 98 137. Quantity of vowels—of syllables 98 138. Classical and English measurements 99
CHAPTER VII.
ON ACCENT.
139. Place of accents 101 140. Distinctive accents 101 141. Emphasis 102
CHAPTER VIII.
ORTHOGRAPHY.
142. Orthoepy 103 143-146. Principle of an alphabet 103-105 147. Violations of it 105 148. Rules 107 149-151. Details of English 107-109 152. Insufficiency 109 153. Inconsistency 109 154. Erroneousness 110 155. Redundancy 110 156. Unsteadiness 110 157. Other defects 111 158. Historical propriety 113 159. Conventional spelling 113
CHAPTER IX.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ENGLISH ALPHABET.
160-166. Phoenician, Greek, Roman stages 116-124 166-172. Anglo-Saxon alphabet 124-126 173. Anglo-Norman alphabet 126 174. Extract from Ormulum 127 175. Order of alphabet 128
PART IV.
ETYMOLOGY.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE PROVINCE OF ETYMOLOGY.
176-179. Meaning of term 131-133
CHAPTER II.
ON GENDER.
180. Boy and girl 134 181. Man-servant and maid-servant 134 182, 183. Forms like genitrix 135 184. Forms like domina 136 185-189. Genders in English 136, 137 190-192. The sun in his glory; the moon in her wane 138 193. Miscellaneous forms 139-142
CHAPTER III.
THE NUMBERS.
194-197. Numbers in English 143, 144 198. Rule 145 199. Remarks 145 200. Addition of -es 146 Pence, alms, &c. 147 Mathematics 147 201. Children 149 202. Form in -en 150 203. Men, feet, &c. 150 204. Brethren, &c. 150 205. Houses 152 206. Wives, &c. 152
CHAPTER IV.
ON THE CASES.
207-211. Nature of cases 154-156 212. Accusatives 156 213. Datives 157 214. Genitives 157 215. Instrumental 158 All the better 158, 159 216. Determination of cases 159 217. Analysis of cases 160 218. Form in -s 160
CHAPTER V.
THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
219, 220. I, we, us, &c. 162 221. You 162 222. Me 163 223-225. Cautions 163, 164
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE TRUE REFLECTIVE PRONOUN IN THE GOTHIC LANGUAGES, AND ON ITS ABSENCE IN ENGLISH.
226. How far found in English 165
CHAPTER VII.
THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, ETC.
227. He, she, it 166 228. She 166 229. Her, him, his, its, &c. 167 230. Theirs 167 231. Table 168 232. These 169 233. Those 171
CHAPTER VIII.
THE RELATIVE, INTERROGATIVE, AND CERTAIN OTHER PRONOUNS.
234. Who, what, &c. 173 235. Same, &c. 173 236. Other, whether 177
CHAPTER IX.
ON CERTAIN FORMS IN -ER.
237-239. Idea expressed by -er 179-181
CHAPTER X.
THE COMPARATIVE DEGREE.
240. Form in -s 182 241. Elder, &c. 183 242. Rather 183 243, 244. Excess of expression 183 245-247. Better 183-185 248. Worse 185 249. More 185 250. Less 185 251-253. Near, &c. 186 254. Origin of superlative 186
CHAPTER XI.
THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE.
255, 256. Former 188 257. Nearest 188 258. Next 188 259, 260. Upmost, &c. 189, 190
CHAPTER XII.
THE CARDINAL NUMBERS.
261. How far undeclined 191
CHAPTER XIII.
THE ORDINAL NUMBERS.
262-264. Seven, nine, ten 192 265, 266. Thirteen, thirty 193
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ARTICLES.
267. A, an, the 194
CHAPTER XV.
DIMINUTIVES, AUGMENTATIVES, AND PATRONYMICS.
268-270. Diminutives 197-199 271. Augmentatives 200 272. Patronymics 200, 201
CHAPTER XVI.
GENTILE FORMS.
273. Wales 202
CHAPTER XVII.
ON THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE NOUN AND VERB, AND ON THE INFLECTION OF THE INFINITIVE MOOD.
274-281. The verb, how far a noun 203-206
CHAPTER XVIII.
ON DERIVED VERBS.
282. Divisions of verbs 207 282. Derivation 208, 209
CHAPTER XIX.
ON THE PERSONS.
283. Persons in English 210 284, 285. Historical view 211 286. Form in -t 212 287. Thou spakest, &c. 212 288. We loves 213
CHAPTER XX.
ON THE NUMBERS OF VERBS.
289. Numbers in English 214 290. Ran, run, &c. 215
CHAPTER XXI.
ON MOODS.
291-292. Moods in English 216
CHAPTER XXII.
ON TENSES IN GENERAL.
293. Strike, struck 217 294-296. [Greek: Etupton], &c. 217, 218 297. Reduplication 219 298. Weak or strong 220
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE STRONG TENSES.
299. Sing, sang, sung 221 300-303. Tables 222-225
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE WEAK TENSES.
304. Stabbed, &c. 226 305-307. Divisions 227, 228 309. Bought, sought 228 309. Forms in -te and -ode 229 310-312. Bred, beat, &c. 230 313. Leave, left 231 314. Made, had 231 314. Would, should, could 231 315. Aught 231 316. Durst, must, &c. 232 317. This will do 233 318. Mind 234 319. Yode 234 320. Did 234
CHAPTER XXV.
ON CONJUGATION.
321, 322. Weak and strong conjugations natural 235-237
CHAPTER XXVI.
DEFECTIVENESS AND IRREGULARITY.
323-325. Irregularity 238 326. Vital and obsolete processes 240 327. Processes of necessity, &c. 241 328. Ordinary processes 241 329. Positive 242 330. Normal 242 331. Could 243 332. Quoth 244 333. Real irregular verbs few 244
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE IMPERSONAL VERBS.
334, 335. Me-seems, me-listeth 246
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE VERB SUBSTANTIVE.
336. Not irregular 247 337. Was 247 338-341. Be 248, 249 342. An 249 343. Worth 250
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE.
344. Forms in -ing 251 345. Forms in -ung 252
CHAPTER XXX.
THE PAST PARTICIPLE.
346. Forms in -en 254 347, 348. Drunken 254 349. Forlorn 255 350. Forms in -ed 255 351. The prefix Y 256
CHAPTER XXXI.
COMPOSITION.
352-357. Nature of compounds 258-261 358-361. Accent 261-266 362. Obscure compounds 266 363-365. Exceptions 266, 267, 268 366. Peacock, peahen 269 367. Nightingale 269 368. Improper compounds 270 369. Decomposites 270 370. Combinations 270, 271
CHAPTER XXXII.
ON DERIVATION AND INFLECTION.
371-373. Their nature 272-275
CHAPTER XXXIII.
ADVERBS.
374, 375. Their division 276 376-379. Adverbs of deflection 277 380. Darkling 278
CHAPTER XXXIV.
ON CERTAIN ADVERBS OF PLACE.
381-384. Hither, thither, &c 279 385. Hence, &c. 280 386. Yonder 280 387. Anon 281
CHAPTER XXXV.
ON WHEN, THEN, AND THAN.
388, 389. Their origin 282
CHAPTER XXXVI.
PREPOSITIONS AND CONJUNCTIONS.
390. Prepositions 283 391. Conjunctions 283 392. Yes, No 283 393. Particles 283
CHAPTER XXXVII.
ON THE GRAMMATICAL POSITION OF THE WORDS mine AND thine.
394-407. Equivalent to meus and tuus, rather than possessive cases 284-290
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WEAK PRAETERITE.
408. Grimm's view 291 409, 410. Remarks of Dr. Trithen 291-293
PART V.
SYNTAX.
CHAPTER I.
ON SYNTAX IN GENERAL.
411, 412. Syntax 294 413. Personification 294 414. Ellipsis 295 415. Pleonasm 295 416. Zeugma 295 417. Pros to semainomenon 296 418. Apposition 296 419. Collectiveness 297 420. Reduction 297 421. Determination of part of speech 298 422-424. Convertibility 298, 299 425. The Blacks of Africa 299 426. None of your ifs 300 427. Convertible words numerous in English 300
CHAPTER II.
SYNTAX OF SUBSTANTIVES.
428. Rundell and Bridge's 301 429. Right and left 301
CHAPTER III.
SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES.
430. Pleonasm 302 431. Collocation 302 432. Government 302 433. More wise, wiser 303 434. The better of the two 304 435. Syntax of adjectives simple 304
CHAPTER IV.
SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS.
436. Pleonasm 305 437. Father's, not father his 305 438. Pleonasm and ellipses allied 306
CHAPTER V.
THE TRUE PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
439. Pronomen reverentiae 307 440. Dativus ethicus 307 441. Reflected pronoun 307 442. Reflected neuters 308 443. Equivocal reflective 308
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE SYNTAX OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, AND THE PRONOUNS OF THE THIRD PERSON.
444, 445. His and its 310, 311
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WORD self.
446, 447. Myself, himself, &c. 312, 313
CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.
448-451. My and mine 314-316
CHAPTER IX.
THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
452-456. Their concord 317, 318 457. Ellipsis 318 458. Equivocal antecedent 319
CHAPTER X.
ON THE INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN.
459, 460. Direct and oblique questions 320
CHAPTER XI.
THE RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS.
461, 462. Their construction 322, 323
CHAPTER XII.
THE INDETERMINATE PRONOUNS.
463-466. Use of it 324, 325 467, 468. Use of them 325
CHAPTER XX.
ON THE TENSES.
486. Present 342 486, 487. Preterite 342
CHAPTER XXI.
SYNTAX OF THE PERSONS OF VERBS.
488, 489. Their concord 344
CHAPTER XXII.
ON THE VOICES OF VERBS.
490. Hight 345
CHAPTER XXIII.
ON THE AUXILIARY VERBS.
491. Their classification 346-348 492. I have ridden 348 493. I am to speak 351 494. I am to blame 351 495. I am beaten 351
CHAPTER XXIV.
OF ADVERBS.
496, 497. Their syntax simple 353 498. Termination -ly 354 499. To walk and ride 354 500. From whence, &c. 354, 355
CHAPTER XXV.
ON PREPOSITIONS.
501. Climb up a tree 356 502. Part of the body 356
CHAPTER XXVI.
ON CONJUNCTIONS.
503, 504. Their nature 357-359 505. Their government 359 506-511. The subjunctive mood 359-364 512. Use of that 364 513. Succession of tenses 364 514. Disjunctives 365
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE SYNTAX OF THE NEGATIVE.
515. Its place 366 516. Its distribution 366 517. Two negatives 367 518. Questions of appeal 367
CHAPTER XXVIII.
ON THE CASE ABSOLUTE.
519. Its participial character 369
PART VI.
PROSODY.
520. Derivation of the word 371 521, 522. Importance of accent 371 523-526. Measures 372, 373 527. Metrical notation 374 528-535. Rhyme 374-377 536. Blank verse 377 537, 538. Last syllable indifferent 378 539, 540. Names of common English metres 379-384
PART VII.
DIALECTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
541. Saxons and Angles 385 542-544. Dialects not coincident 385, 386 545, 546. Traces of the Danes 386, 387 547 Mercian origin of the written English 387
NOTES 393
* * * * *
AN INTRODUCTION
TO THE STUDY OF
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
* * * * *
PART I.
GENERAL ETHNOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.—DATE.
s. 1. The first point to be remembered in the history of the English language, is that it was not the primitive and original tongue of any of the British Islands, nor yet of any portion of them. Indeed, of the whole of Great Britain it is not the language at the present moment. Welsh is spoken in Wales, Manks in the Isle of Man, and Scotch Gaelic in the Highlands of Scotland; besides which there is the Irish Gaelic in Ireland.
s. 2. The next point to be considered is the real origin and the real affinities of the English language.
Its real origin is on the continent of Europe, and its real affinities are with certain languages there spoken. To speak more specifically, the native country of the English language is Germany; and the Germanic languages are those that are the most closely connected with our own. In Germany, languages and dialects allied to each other and allied to the mother-tongue of the English have been spoken from times anterior to history; and these, for most purposes of philology, may be considered as the aboriginal languages and dialects of that country.
s. 3. Accredited details of the different immigrations from Germany into Britain.—Until lately the details of the different Germanic invasions of England, both in respect to the particular tribes by which they were made, and the order in which they succeeded each other, were received with but little doubt, and as little criticism.
Respecting the tribes by which they were made, the current opinion was, that they were chiefly, if not exclusively, those of the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles.
The particular chieftains that headed each descent were also supposed to be known, as well as the different localities upon which they descended.[1] These were as follows:—
First settlement of invaders from Germany.—The account of this gives us A.D. 449 for the first permanent Germanic tribes settled in Britain. Ebbsfleet, in the Isle of Thanet, was the spot where they landed; and the particular name that these tribes gave themselves was that of Jutes. Their leaders were Hengist and Horsa. Six years after their landing they had established the kingdom of Kent; so that the county of Kent was the first district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Germany.
Second settlement of invaders from Germany.—A.D. 477 invaders from Northern Germany made the second permanent settlement in Britain. The coast of Sussex was the spot whereon they landed. The particular name that these tribes gave themselves was that of Saxons. Their leader was Ella. They established the kingdom of the South Saxons (Sussex or Sudh-Seaxe); so that the county of Sussex was the second district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Germany.
Third settlement of invaders from Germany.—A.D. 495 invaders from Northern Germany made the third permanent settlement in Britain. The coast of Hampshire was the spot whereon they landed. Like the invaders last mentioned, these tribes were Saxons. Their leader was Cerdic. They established the kingdom of the West Saxons (Wessex or West-Seaxe); so that the county of Hants was the third district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Germany.
Fourth settlement of invaders from Germany.—A.D. 530, certain Saxons landed in Essex, so that the county of Essex [East-Seaxe] was the fourth district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Northern Germany.
Fifth settlement of invaders from Germany.—These were Angles in Norfolk and Suffolk. The precise date of this settlement is not known. The fifth district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English was the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk; the particular dialect introduced being that of the Angles.
Sixth settlement of invaders from Germany.—A.D. 547 invaders from Northern Germany made the sixth permanent settlement in Britain. The southeastern counties of Scotland, between the rivers Tweed and Forth, were the districts where they landed. They were of the tribe of the Angles, and their leader was Ida. The south-eastern parts of Scotland constituted the sixth district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Northern Germany,
s. 4. It would be satisfactory if these details rested upon contemporary evidence. This, however, is far from being the case.
1. The evidence to the details just given, is not historical, but traditional.—a. Beda,[2] from whom it is chiefly taken, wrote nearly 300 years after the supposed event, i.e., the landing of Hengist and Horsa, in A.D. 449.
b. The nearest approach to a contemporary author is Gildas,[3] and he wrote full 100 years after it.
2. The account of Hengist's and Horsa's landing, has elements which are fictional rather than historical—a. Thus "when we find Hengist and Horsa approaching the coasts of Kent in three keels, and Aelli effecting a landing in Sussex with the same number, we are reminded of the Gothic tradition which carries a migration of Ostrogoths,[4] Visigoths, and Gepidae, also in three vessels, to the mouth of the Vistula."—Kemble, "Saxons in England."
b. The murder of the British chieftains by Hengist is told totidem verbis, by Widukind[5] and others, of the Old Saxons in Thuringia.
c. Geoffry of Monmouth[6] relates also, how "Hengist obtained from the Britons as much land as could be enclosed by an ox-hide; then, cutting the hide into thongs, enclosed a much larger space than the granters intended, on which he erected Thong Castle—a tale too familiar to need illustration, and which runs throughout the mythus of many nations. Among the Old Saxons, the tradition is in reality the same, though recorded with a slight variety of detail. In their story, a lapfull of earth is purchased at a dear rate from a Thuringian; the companions of the Saxon jeer him for his imprudent bargain; but he sows the purchased earth upon a large space of ground, which he claims, and, by the aid of his comrades, ultimately wrests it from the Thuringians."—Kemble, "Saxons in England."
3. There is direct evidence in favour of their having been German tribes in England anterior to A.D. 447.—a. At the close of the Marcomannic war,[7] Marcus Antoninus transplanted a number of Germans into Britain.
b. Alemannic auxiliaries served along with Roman legions under Valentinian.[8]
c. The Notitia utriusque Imperii,[9] of which the latest date is half a century earlier than the epoch of Hengist, mentions, as an officer of state, the Comes littoris Saxonici per Britannias; his government extending along the coast from Portsmouth to the Wash.
s. 5. Inference.—As it is nearly certain, that 449 A.D. is not the date of the first introduction of German tribes into Britain, we must consider that the displacement of the original British began at an earlier period than the one usually admitted, and, consequently, that it was more gradual than is usually supposed.
Perhaps, if we substitute the middle of the fourth, instead of the middle of the fifth century, as the epoch of the Germanic immigrations into Britain, we shall not be far from the truth.
* * * * *
CHAPTER II.
GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.—THE GERMANIC AREA OF THE PARTICULAR GERMANS WHO INTRODUCED IT.—EXTRACT FROM BEDA.
s. 6. Out of the numerous tribes and nations of Germany, three have been more especially mentioned as the chief, if not the exclusive, sources of the present English population of Great Britain. These are the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles.
s. 7. Now, it is by no means certain that this was the case. On the contrary, good reasons can be given for believing that the Angles and Saxons were the same people, and that no such nation as the Jutes ever left Germany to settle in Great Britain.
s. 8. The chief authority for the division of the German invaders into the three nations just mentioned is Beda; and the chief text is the following extract from his "Ecclesiastical History." It requires particular attention, and will form the basis of much criticism, and frequently be referred to.
"Advenerunt autem de tribus Germaniae populis fortioribus, id est Saxonibus, Anglis, Jutis. De Jutarum origine sunt Cantuarii, et Victuarii, hoc est ea gens quae Vectam tenet insulam et ea quae usque hodie in provincia Occidentalium Saxonum Jutarum natio nominatur, posita contra ipsam insulam Vectam. De Saxonibus, id est, ea regione quae nunc Antiquorum Saxonum cognominatur, venere Orientales Saxones, Meridiani Saxones, Occidui Saxones. Porro de Anglis hoc est de illa patria quae Angulus dicitur, et ab illo tempore usque hodie manere desertus inter provincias Jutarum et Saxonum perhibetur, Orientales Angli, Mediterranei Angli, Merci, tota Northanhymbrorum progenies, id est illarum gentium quae ad Boream Humbri fluminis inhabitant, caeterique Anglorum populi sunt orti"—"Historia Ecclesiastica," i. 15.
s. 9. This was written about A.D. 731, 131 years after the introduction of Christianity, and nearly 300 after the supposed landing of Hengist and Horsa in A.D. 449.
It is the first passage which contains the names of either the Angles or the Jutes. Gildas, who wrote more than 150 years earlier, mentions only the Saxons—"ferocissimi illi nefandi nominis Saxones."
It is, also, the passage which all subsequent writers have either translated or adopted. Thus it re-appears in Alfred, and again in the Saxon Chronicle.[10]
"Of Jotum comon Cantware and Wihtware, thaet is seo maeiadh the nú eardath on Wiht, and thaet cynn on West-Sexum dhe man gyt haet Iútnacyun. Of Eald-Seaxum comon Eást-Seaxan, and Sudh-Seaxan and West-Seaxan. Of Angle comon (se á sidhdhan stód westig betwix Iútum and Seaxum) Eást-Engle, Middel-Angle, Mearce, and ealle Nordhymbra."
From the Jutes came the inhabitants of Kent and of Wight, that is, the race that now dwells in Wight, and that tribe amongst the West-Saxons which is yet called the Jute tribe. From the Old-Saxons came the East-Saxons, and South-Saxons, and West-Saxons. From the Angles, land (which has since always stood waste betwixt the Jutes and Saxons) came the East-Angles, Middle-Angles, Mercians, and all the Northumbrians.
s. 10. A portion of these extracts will now be submitted to criticism; that portion being the statement concerning the Jutes.
The words usque hodie—Jutarum natio nominatur constitute contemporary and unexceptionable evidence to the existence of a people with a name like that of the Jutes in the time of Beda—or A.D. 731.
The exact name is not so certain. The term Jutnacyn from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is in favour of the notion that it began with the sounds of j and u, in other words that it was Jut.
But the term Geatum, which we find in Alfred, favours the form in g followed by ea.
Thirdly, the forms Wihtware, and Wihttan, suggest the likelihood of the name being Wiht.
Lastly, there is a passage in Asserius[11] which gives us the form Gwith—"Mater" (of Alfred the Great) "quoque ejusdem Osburgh nominabatur, religiosa nimium foemina, nobilis ingenio, nobilis et genere; quae erat filia Oslac famosi pincernae Aethelwulf regis; qui Oslac Gothus erat natione, ortus enim erat de Gothis et Jutis; de semine scilicet Stuf et Wihtgur, duorum fratrum et etiam comitum, qui acceptâ potestate Vectis insulae ab avunculo suo Cerdic rege et Cynric filio suo, consobrino eorum, paucos Britones ejusdem insulae accolas, quos in eâ invenire potuerant, in loco qui dicitur, Gwithgaraburgh occiderunt, caeteri enim accolae ejusdem insulae ante sunt occisi aut exules aufugerant."—Asserius, "De Gestis Alfredi Regis."
Now, Gwith-gara-burgh means the burg or town of the With-ware;[12] these being, undoubtedly, no Germans at all, but the native Britons of the Isle of Wight (Vectis), whose designation in Latin would be Vecticolae or Vectienses.
This being the case, how can they be descended from German or Danish Jutes? and how can we reconcile the statement of Beda with that of Asser?
s. 11. The answer to this will be given after another fact has been considered.
Precisely the same confusion between the sounds of w, j, g, io, eae, u, and i, which occurs with the so-called Jutes of the Isle of Wight, occurs with the Jutlanders of the peninsula of Jutland. The common forms are Jutland, Jute, Jutones, and Jutenses, but they are not the only ones. In A.D. 952, we find "Dania cismarina quam Vitland incolae appellant."—"Annales Saxonici."[13]
s. 12. Putting these facts together I adopt the evidence of Asser as to the Gwithware being British, and consider them as simple Vecti-colae, or inhabitants of the Isle of Wight. They are also the Vectuarii of Beda, the Wihtware of the Saxon Chronicle, and the Wihtsaetan of Alfred.
The Jutes of Hampshire—i.e., the "Jutarum natio—posita contra ipsam insulam Vectam," and the Jutnacyn, I consider to have been the same; except that they had left the Isle of Wight to settle on the opposite coast; probably flying before their German conquerors, in which case they would be the exules of Asser.
The statement of Beda, so opposed to that of Asser, I explain by supposing that it arose out of an inaccurate inference drawn from the similarity of the names of the Isle of Wight and the peninsula of Jutland, since we have seen that in both cases, there was a similar confusion between the syllables Jut- and Vit-. This is an error into which even a careful writer might fall. That Beda had no authentic historical accounts of the conquest of Britain, we know from his own statements in the Preface to his Ecclesiastical History,[14] and that he partially tried to make up for the want of them by inference is exceedingly likely. If so, what would be more natural than for him to conclude that Jutes as well as Angles helped to subdue the country. The fact itself was probable; besides which he saw at one and the same time, in England Vitae (called also Jutae), in immediate contact with Saxons,[26] and on the continent Jutae (called also Vitae) in the neighborhood of Angles[27] and Saxons. Is it surprising that he should connect them?
s. 13. If the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight were really Jutes from Jutland, it is strange that there should be no traces of the difference which existed, then as now, between them and the proper Anglo-Saxons—a difference which was neither inconsiderable nor of a fleeting nature.
The present Jutlanders are not Germans but Danes, and the Jutes of the time of Beda were most probably the same. Those of the 11th century were certainly so, "Primi ad ostium Baltici Sinus in australi ripa versus nos Dani, quos Juthas appellant, usque ad Sliam lacum habitant." Adamus Bremensis,[15] "De Situ Daniae" c. 221. Also, "Et prima pars Daniae, quae Jutland dicitur, ad Egdoram[28] in Boream longitudine pretenditur ... in eum angulum qui Windila dicitur, ubi Jutland finem habet," c. 208.
At the time of Beda they must, according to the received traditions, have been nearly 300 years in possession of the Isle of Wight, a locality as favourable for the preservation of their peculiar manners and customs as any in Great Britain, and a locality wherein we have no evidence of their ever having been disturbed. Nevertheless, neither trace nor shadow of a trace, either in early or modern times, has ever been discovered of their separate nationality and language; a fact which stands in remarkable contrast with the very numerous traces which the Danes of the 9th and 10th century left behind them as evidence of their occupancy.
s. 14. The words England and English are derived from the Angles of Beda. The words Sussex, Essex, Middlesex and Wessex, from his Saxons. No objection lies against this; indeed to deny that populations called Angle and Saxon occupied England and spoke the Anglo-Saxon language would display an unnecessary and unhealthy scepticism. The real question concerning these two words consists in the relation which the populations to which they were applied bore to each other. And this question is a difficult one. Did the Angles speak one language, whilst the Saxons spoke another? or did they both speak dialects of the same tongue? Were these dialects slightly or widely different? Can we find traces of the difference in any of the present provincial dialects? Are the idioms of one country of Angle, whilst those of another are of Saxon origin? Was the Angle more like the Danish language, whilst the Saxon approached the Dutch? None of these questions can be answered at present. They have, however, been asked for the sake of exhibiting the nature of the subject.
s. 15. The extract from Beda requires further remarks.
The Angles of Beda.—The statement of Beda respecting the Angles, like his statement concerning the Jutes, reappears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and in Alfred.
Ethelweard[16] also adopts it:—"Anglia vetus sita est inter Saxones et Giotos, habens oppidum capitale quod sermone Saxonico Sleswic nuncupatur, secundum vero Danos Hathaby."
Nevertheless, it is exceptionable and unsatisfactory; and like the previous one, in all probability, an incorrect inference founded upon the misinterpretation of a name.
In the eighth century there was, and at the present moment there is, a portion of the duchy of Sleswick called Anglen or the corner. It is really what its name denotes, a triangle of irregular shape, formed by the Slie, the firth of Flensborg, and a line drawn from Flensborg to Sleswick. It is just as Danish as the rest of the peninsula, and cannot be shown to have been occupied by a Germanic population at all. Its area is less than that of the county of Rutland, and by no means likely to have supplied such a population as that of the Angles of England. The fact of its being a desert at the time of Beda is credible; since it formed a sort of March or Debatable Ground between the Saxons and Slavonians of Holstein, and the Danes of Jutland.
Now if we suppose that the real Angles of Germany were either so reduced in numbers as to have become an obscure tribe, or so incorporated with other populations as to have lost their independent existence, we can easily see how the similarity of name, combined with the geographical contiguity of Anglen to the Saxon frontier, might mislead even so good a writer as Beda, into the notion that he had found the country of the Angles in the Angulus (Anglen) of Sleswick.
The true Angles were the descendants of the Angli of Tacitus. Who these were will be investigated in ss. 47-54.
s. 16. The Saxons of Beda.—The Saxons of Beda reached from the country of the Old Saxons[29] on the Lippe, in Westphalia, to that of the Nordalbingian[30] Saxons between the Elbe and Eyder; and nearly, but not quite, coincided with the present countries of Hanover, Oldenburg, Westphalia, and part of Holstein. This we may call the Saxon, or (as reasons will be given for considering that it nearly coincided with the country of the Angles) the Anglo-Saxon area.
s. 17. River-system and sea-board of the Anglo-Saxon area.—As the invasion of England took place by sea, we must expect to find in the invaders a maritime population. This leads to the consideration of the physical character of that part of Germany which they occupied. And here comes a remarkable and unexpected fact. The line of coast between the Rhine and Elbe, the line which in reasoning a priori, we should fix upon as the most likely tract for the bold seamen who wrested so large an island as Great Britain from its original occupants (changing it from Britain to England), to have proceeded from, is not the country of the Anglo-Saxons. On the contrary, it is the country of a similar but different section of the Germanic population, a section which has not received the attention from the English historian which it deserves. The country in question is the area of—
s. 18. The Frisians.—At the present moment the language of the Dutch province of Friesland is materially different from that of the other parts of the kingdom of Holland. In other words it is not Dutch. Neither is it German—although, of course, it resembles both languages. On the other hand, it is more like the English than any other language or dialect in Germany is.
It is a language of considerable antiquity, and although at present it is spoken by the country-people only, it possesses a considerable literature. There is the Middle Frisian of Gysbert Japicx,[17] and the Old Frisian of the Frisian Laws.[18] The older the specimen of the Frisian language the more closely does it show its affinity to the English; hence the earliest Frisian and the Anglo-Saxon are exceedingly alike. Nevertheless they differ.
s. 19. The Frisian was once spoken over a far greater area than at present. It was the original language of almost all Holland. It was the language of East Friesland to a late period. It was, probably, the language of the ancient Chauci. At the present time (besides Friesland) it survives in Heligoland, in the islands between the Ems and Weser, in part of Sleswick, and in a few localities in Oldenburg and Westphalia.
Hence it is probable that the original Frisian, extending to an uncertain and irregular distance inland, lay between the Saxons and the sea, and stretched from the Zuyder Zee to the Elbe; a fact which would leave to the latter nation the lower Elbe and the Weser as their water-system: the extent to which they were in direct contact with the ocean being less than we are prepared to expect from their subsequent history.
On the other hand the a priori probabilities of there being Frisians as well as Anglo-Saxons amongst the conquerors of Great Britain are considerable.—See ss. 55, 56.
s. 20. The Anglo-Saxon area coincided—
1. Politically.—With the kingdom of Hanover, the duchy of Oldenburg, and parts of Westphalia and Holstein.
2. Physically.—With the basin of the Weser.
It was certainly from the Anglo-Saxon, and probably from a part of the Frisian area that Great Britain was first invaded.
This is as much as it is safe to say at present. The preceding chapter investigated the date of the Germanic migration into Britain; the present has determined the area from which it went forth.
* * * * *
CHAPTER III.
OF THE DIALECTS OF THE SAXON AREA, AND OF THE SO-CALLED OLD SAXON.
s. 21. The area occupied by the Saxons of Germany has been investigated; and it now remains to ask, how far the language of the occupants was absolutely identical throughout, or how far it fell into dialects or sub-dialects.
There were at least two divisions of the Saxon; (1st) the Saxon of which the extant specimens are of English origin, and (2nd), the Saxon of which the extant specimens are of Continental origin. We will call these at present the Saxon of England, and the Saxon of the Continent.
s. 22. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, there is good reason for believing that the first was spoken in the northern, the second in the southern portion of the Saxon area, i.e., the one in Hanover and the other in Westphalia, the probable boundaries between them being the line of highlands between Osnaburg and Paderborn.
s. 23. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, there is good reason for believing that, whilst the former was the mother-tongue of the Angles and the conquerors of England, the latter was that of the Cherusci of Arminius, the conquerors and the annihilators of the legions of Varus.[19]
s. 24. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, it is a fact that, whilst we have a full literature in the former, we have but fragmentary specimens of the latter—these being chiefly the following: (1) the Heliand,[20] (2) Hildubrand and Hathubrant,[21] (3) the Carolinian Psalms.[22]
s. 25. The preceding points have been predicated respecting the difference between the two ascertained Saxon dialects, for the sake of preparing the reader for the names by which they are known.
THE SAXON OF THE CONTINENT THE SAXON OF ENGLAND MAY BE CALLED MAY BE CALLED
1. Continental Saxon. Insular Saxon. 2. German Saxon. English Saxon. 3. Westphalian Saxon. Hanoverian Saxon. 4. South Saxon. North Saxon. 5. Cheruscan Saxon. Angle Saxon. 6. Saxon of the Heliand. Saxon of Beowulf.[23]
s. 26. The Saxon of England is called Anglo-Saxon; a term against which no exception can be raised.
s. 27. The Saxon of the Continent used to be called Dano-Saxon, and is called Old Saxon.
s. 28. Why called Dano-Saxon.—When the poem called Heliand was first discovered in an English library, the difference in language between it and the common Anglo-Saxon composition was accounted for by the assumption of a Danish intermixture.
s. 29. Why called Old Saxon. When the Continental origin of the Heliand was recognised, the language was called Old Saxon, because it represented the Saxon of the mother-country, the natives of which were called Old Saxons by the Anglo-Saxons themselves. Still the term is exceptionable; as the Saxon of the Heliand is probably a sister-dialect of the Anglo-Saxon, rather than the Anglo-Saxon itself in a Continental locality. Exceptionable, however, as it is, it will be employed.
* * * * *
CHAPTER IV.
AFFINITIES OF THE ENGLISH WITH THE LANGUAGES OF GERMANY AND SCANDINAVIA.
s. 30. Over and above those languages of Germany and Holland which were akin to the dialects of the Anglo-Saxons, cognate languages were spoken in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and the Feroe isles, i.e., in Scandinavia.
s. 31. The general collective designation for the Germanic tongues of Germany and Holland, and for the Scandinavian languages of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and the Feroe Isles, is taken from the name of those German tribes who, during the decline of the Roman Empire, were best known to the Romans as the Goths; the term Gothic for the Scandinavian and Germanic languages, collectively, being both current and convenient.
s. 32. Of this great stock of languages the Scandinavian is one branch; the Germanic, called also Teutonic, another.
s. 33. The Scandinavian branch of the Gothic stock comprehends, 1. The dialects of Scandinavia Proper, i.e., of Norway and Sweden; 2. of the Danish isles and Jutland; 3. of Iceland; 4. of the Feroe Isles.
s. 34. The Teutonic branch falls into three divisions:—
1. The Moeso-Gothic. 2. The High Germanic. 3. The Low Germanic.
s. 35. It is in the Moeso-Gothic that the most ancient specimen of any Gothic tongue has been preserved. It is also the Moeso-Gothic that was spoken by the conquerors of ancient Rome; by the subjects of Hermanric, Alaric, Theodoric, Euric, Athanaric, and Totila.
In the reign of Valens, when pressed by intestine wars, and by the movements of the Huns, the Goths were assisted by that emperor, and settled in the Roman province of Moesia.
Furthermore, they were converted to Christianity; and the Bible was translated into their language by their Bishop Ulphilas.
Fragments of this translation, chiefly from the Gospels, have come down to the present time; and the Bible translation of the Arian Bishop Ulphilas, in the language of the Goths of Moesia, during the reign of Valens, exhibits the earliest sample of any Gothic tongue.
s. 36. The Old High German, called also Francic[24] and Alemannic,[25] was spoken in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, in Suabia, Bavaria, and Franconia.
The Middle High German ranges from the thirteenth century to the Reformation.
s. 37. The low Germanic division, to which the Anglo-Saxon belongs, is currently said to comprise six languages, or rather four languages in different stages.
I. II.—The Anglo-Saxon and Modern English. III. The Old Saxon. IV. V.—The Old Frisian and Modern Dutch. VI.—The Platt-Deutsch, or Low German.
s. 38. The Frisian and Dutch.—It is a current statement that the Old Frisian bears the same relation to the Modern Dutch of Holland that the Anglo-Saxon does to the English.
The truer view of the question is as follows:—
1. That a single language, spoken in two dialects, was originally common to both Holland and Friesland.
2. That from the northern of these dialects we have the Modern Frisian of Friesland.
3. From the southern, the Modern Dutch of Holland.
The reason of this refinement is as follows:—
The Modern Dutch has certain grammatical forms older than those of the old Frisian; e.g., the Dutch infinitives and the Dutch weak substantives, in their oblique cases, end in -en; those of the Old Frisian in -a: the form in -en being the older.
The true Frisian is spoken in few and isolated localities. There is—
1. The Frisian of the Dutch state called Friesland.
2. The Frisian of the parish of Saterland, in Westphalia.
3. The Frisian of Heligoland.
4. The North Frisian, spoken in a few villages of Sleswick. One of the characters of the North Frisian is the possession of a dual number.
In respect to its stages, we have the Old Frisian of the Asega-bog, the Middle Frisian of Gysbert Japicx,[31] and the Modern Frisian of the present Frieslanders, Westphalians, and Heligolanders.
s. 39. The Low German and Platt-Deutsch.—The words Low-German are not only lax in their application, but they are equivocal; since the term has two meanings, a general meaning when it signifies a division of the Germanic languages, comprising English, Dutch, Anglo-Saxon, Old Saxon, and Frisian, and a limited one when it means the particular dialects of the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe. To avoid this the dialects in question are conveniently called by their continental name of Platt-Deutsch, just as in England we say Broad Scotch.
s. 40. The most characteristic difference between the Saxon and Icelandic (indeed between the Teutonic and Scandinavian tongues) lies in the peculiar position of the definite article in the latter. In Saxon, the article corresponding with the modern word the, is thaet, se, seó, for the neuter, masculine, and feminine genders respectively; and these words, regularly declined, are prefixed to the words with which they agree, just as is the case with the English and with the majority of languages. In Icelandic, however, the article instead of preceding, follows its noun, with which it coalesces, having previously suffered a change in form. The Icelandic article corresponding to thaet, se, seó, is hitt, hinn, hin: from this the h is ejected, so that, instead of the regular inflection (a), we have the forms (b).
a.
Neut. Masc. Fem.
Sing. Nom. Hitt Hinn Hin. Acc. Hitt Hinn Hina. Dat. Hinu Hinum Hinni. Gen. Hins Hins Hinnar. Plur. Nom. Hin Hinir Hinar. Acc. Hin Hina Hinar. Dat. Hinum Hinum Hinum. Gen. Hinna Hinna Hinna.
b.
Sing. Nom. -it -inn -in. Acc. -it -inn -ina (-na). Dat. -nu -num -inni (-nni). Gen. -ins -ins -innar (-nnar). Plur. Nom. -in -nir -nar. Acc. -in -na -nar. Dat. -num -num -num. Gen. -nna -nna -nna.
Whence, as an affix, in composition,
Neut. Masc. Fem.
Sing. Nom. Augat Boginn Túngan. Acc. Augat Boginn Túnguna. Dat. Auganu Boganum Túngunni. Gen. Augans Bogans Túngunnar. Plur. Nom. Augun Bogarnir Túngurnar. Acc. Augun Bogana Túngurnar. Dat. Augunum Bogunum Túngunum. Gen. Augnanna Boganna Túngnanna.
In the Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish this peculiarity in the position of the definite article is preserved. Its origin, however, is concealed; and an accidental identity with the indefinite article has led to false notions respecting its nature. In the languages in point the i is changed into e, so that what in Icelandic is it and in, is in Danish et and en. En, however, as a separate word, is the numeral one, and also the indefinite article a; whilst in the neuter gender it is et—en sol, a sun; et bord, a table: solon, the sun; bordet, the table. From modern forms like those just quoted, it has been imagined that the definite is merely the indefinite article transposed. This it is not.
To apply an expression of Mr. Cobbet's, en = a, and -en = the, are the same combination of letters, but not the same word.
s. 41. Another characteristic of the Scandinavian language is the possession of a passive form, or a passive voice, ending in -st:—ek, thu, hann brennist = I am, thou art, he is burnt; ver brennumst = we are burnt; thér brennizt = ye are burnt; their brennast = they are burnt. Past tense, ek, thu, hann brendist; ver brendumst, thér brenduzt, their brendust. Imperat.: brenstu = be thou burnt. Infinit.: brennast = to be burnt.
In the modern Danish and Swedish, the passive is still preserved, but without the final t. In the older stages of Icelandic, on the other hand, the termination was not -st but -sc; which -sc grew out of the reflective pronoun sik. With these phenomena the Scandinavian languages give us the evolution and development of a passive voice; wherein we have the following series of changes:—1. the reflective pronoun coalesces with the verb, whilst the sense changes from that of a reflective to that of a middle verb; 2. the c changes to t, whilst the middle sense passes into a passive one; 3. t is dropped from the end of the word, and the expression that was once reflective then becomes strictly passive.
Now the Saxons have no passive voice at all. That they should have one originating like that of the Scandinavians was impossible, inasmuch as they had no reflective pronoun, and, consequently, nothing to evolve it from.
* * * * *
CHAPTER V.
ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.—GERMANIC ELEMENTS.—THE ANGLES.
s. 42. The language of England has been formed out of three elements.
a. Elements referable to the original British population, and derived from times anterior to the Anglo-Saxon invasion.
b. Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, or imported elements.
c. Elements introduced since the Anglo-Saxon conquest.
s. 43. Each of these requires a special analysis, but that of the second will be taken first, and form the contents of the present chapter.
All that we have at present learned concerning the Germanic invaders of England, is the geographical area which they originally occupied. How far, however, it was simple Saxons who conquered England single-handed, or how far the particular Saxon Germans were portions of a complex population, requires further investigation. Were the Saxons one division of the German population, whilst the Angles were another? or were the Angles a section of the Saxons, so that the latter was a generic term including the former? Again, although the Saxon invasion may be the one which has had the greatest influence, and drawn the most attention, why may there not have been separate and independent migrations, the effects and record of which have, in the lapse of time, become fused with those of the more important divisions?
s. 44. The Angles; who were they? and what was their relation to the Saxons?—The first answer to this question embodies a great fact in the way of internal evidence, viz., that they were the people from whom England derives the name it bears = Angle land, i.e., land of the Angles. Our language too is English, i.e., Angle. Whatever, then, they may have been on the Continent, they were a leading section of the invaders here. Why then has their position in our inquiries been hitherto so subordinate to that of the Saxons? It is because their importance and preponderance are not so manifest in Germany as we infer them to have been in Britain. Nay more, their historical place amongst the nations of Germany, is both insignificant and uncertain; indeed, it will be seen from the sequel, that in and of themselves we know next to nothing about them, knowing them only in their relations, i.e., to ourselves and to the Saxons.
s. 45. Although they are the section of the immigration which gave the name to England, and, as such, the preponderating element in the eyes of the present English, they were not so in the eyes of the original British; who neither knew at the time of the Conquest, nor know now, of any other name for their German enemies but Saxon. And Saxon is the name by which the present English are known to the Welsh, Armorican, and Gaelic Celts.
Welsh Saxon. Armorican Soson. Gaelic Sassenach.
s. 46. Although they are the section of the immigration which gave the name to England, &c., they were quite as little Angles as Saxons in the eyes of foreign cotemporary writers; since the expression Saxoniae transmarinae, occurs as applied to England.
s. 47. Who were the Angles?—Although they are the section of the immigration which gave the name to England, &c., the notices of them as Germans in Germany, are extremely limited.
Extract from Tacitus.—This merely connects them with certain other tribes, and affirms the existence of certain religious ordinances common to them:—
"Contra Langobardos paucitas nobilitat: plurimis ac valentissimis nationibus cincti, non per obsequium sed proeliis et periclitando tuti sunt. Reudigni deinde, et Aviones, et Angli, et Varini, et Eudoses, et Suardones, et Nuithones, fluminibus aut silvis muniuntur: nec quidquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune Herthum, id est, Terram matrem colunt, eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi populis, arbitrantur. Est in insula Oceani Castum nemus, dicatumque in eo vehiculum, veste contectum, attingere uni sacerdoti concessum. Is adesse penetrali deam intelligit, vectamque bobus feminis multâ cum veneratione prosequitur. Laeti tunc dies, festa loca, quaecumque adventu hospitioque dignatur. Non bella ineunt, non arma sumunt, clausum omne ferrum; pax et quies tunc tantùm nota, tunc tantùm amata, donec idem sacerdos satiatam conversatione mortalium deam templo reddat; mox vehiculum et vestes, et, si credere velis, numen ipsum secreto lacu abluitur. Servi ministrant, quos statim idem lacus haurit. Arcanus hinc terror, sanctaque ignorantia, quid sit id, quod tantùm perituri vident."[32]
Extract from Ptolemy.—This connects the Angles with the Suevi, and Langobardi, and places them on the Middle Elbe.—[Greek: Entos kai mesogeion ethnon megista men esti to te ton Souebon ton Angeilon, hoi eisin anatolikoteroi ton Langobardon, anateinontes pros tas arktous mechri ton meson tou Albios potamou].
Extract from Procopius.—For this see s. 55.
Heading of a law referred to the age of Charlemagne.—This connects them with the Werini (Varni) and the Thuringians—"Incipit lex Angliorum et Werinorum hoc est Thuringorum."
s. 48. These notices agree in giving the Angles a German locality, and in connecting them ethnologically, and philologically with the Germans of Germany. And such was, undoubtedly, the case. Nevertheless, it may be seen from s. 15 that a Danish origin has been assigned to them.
The exact Germanic affinities of the Angles are, how ever, difficult to ascertain, since the tribes with which they are classed are differently classed. This we shall see by asking the following questions:—
s. 49. What were the Langobardi, with whom the Angles were connected by Tacitus? The most important fact to be known concerning them is, that the general opinion is in favour of their having belonged to either the High-German, or Moeso-Gothic division, rather than to the Low.
s. 50. What were the Suevi, with whom the Angles were connected by Tacitus? The most important fact to be known concerning them is, that the general opinion is in favour of their having belonged to either the High-German or Moeso-Gothic division rather than to the Low.
s. 51. What were the Werini, with whom the Angles were connected in the Leges Anglorum et Werinorum? Without having any particular data for connecting the Werini (Varni, [Greek: Ouarnoi]) with either the High-German, or the Moeso-Gothic divisions, there are certain facts in favour of their being Slavonic.
s. 52. What were the Thuringians, with whom the Angles are connected in the Leges Anglorum? Germanic in locality, and most probably allied to the Goths of Moesia in language. If not, High-Germans.
s. 53. Of the Reudigni, Eudoses, Nuithones, Suardones, and Aviones, too little is known in detail to make the details an inquiry of importance.
s. 54. The reader has now got a general view of the extent to which the position of the Angles, as a German tribe, is complicated by conflicting statements; statements which connect them with (probably) High-German Thuringians, Suevi, and Langobardi, and with (probably) Slavonic Werini, or Varni; whereas in England, they are scarcely distinguishable from the Low-German Saxons. In the present state of our knowledge, the only safe fact seems to be, that of the common relation of both Angles and Saxons to the present English of England.
This brings the two sections within a very close degree of affinity, and makes it probable, that, just as at present, descendants of the Saxons are English (Angle) in Britain, so, in the third and fourth centuries, ancestors of the Angles were Saxons in Germany. Why, however, the one name preponderated on the Continent, and the other in England is difficult to ascertain.
s. 55. The Frisians have been mentioned as a Germanic population likely to have joined in the invasion of Britain; the presumption in favor of their having done so arising from their geographical position.
There is, however, something more than mere presumption upon this point.
Archbishop Usher, amongst the earlier historians, and Mr. Kemble amongst those of the present day, as well as other intermediate investigators, have drawn attention to certain important notices of them.
The main facts bearing upon this question are the following:—
1. Hengist, according to some traditions, was a Frisian hero.
2. Procopius wrote as follows:—[Greek: Brittian de ten neson ethne tria poluanthropotata echousi, basileus te eis auton hekastoi ephesteken, onomata de keitai tois ethnesi toutois Angiloi te kai Phrissones kai hoi tei nesoi homonumoi Brittones. Tosaute de he tonde ton ethnon poluanthropia phainetai ousa hoste ana pan etos kata pollous enthende metanistamenoi xun gunaixi kai paisin es Phrangous chorousin].—Procop. B. G. iv. 20.
3. In the Saxon Chronicle we find the following passage:—"That same year, the armies from among the East-Anglians, and from among the North-Humbrians, harassed the land of the West-Saxons chiefly, most of all by their 'aescs,' which they had built many years before. Then king Alfred commanded long ships to be built to oppose the aescs; they were full-nigh twice as long as the others; some had sixty oars, and some had more; they were both swifter and steadier, and also higher than the others. They were shapen neither like the Frisian nor the Danish, but so as it seemed to him that they would be most efficient. Then some time in the same year, there came six ships to Wight, and there did much harm, as well as in Devon, and elsewhere along the sea coast. Then the king commanded nine of the new ships to go thither, and they obstructed their passage from the port towards the outer sea. Then went they with three of their ships out against them; and three lay in the upper part of the port in the dry; the men were gone from them ashore. Then took they two of the three ships at the outer part of the port, and killed the men, and the other ship escaped; in that also the men were killed except five; they got away because the other ships were aground. They also were aground very disadvantageously, three lay aground on that side of the deep on which the Danish ships were aground, and all the rest upon the other side, so that no one of them could get to the others. But when, the water had ebbed many furlongs from the ships, then the Danish men went from their three ships to the other three which were left by the tide on their side, and then they there fought against them. There was slain Lucumon the king's reeve, and Wulfheard the Frisian, and Aebbe the Frisian, and Aethelhere the Frisian, and Aethelferth the king's 'geneat,' and of all the men, Frisians and English, seventy-two; and of the Danish men one hundred and twenty."
s. 56. I believe then, that, so far from the current accounts being absolutely correct, in respect to the Germanic elements of the English population, the Jutes, as mentioned by Beda, formed no part of it, whilst the Frisians, not so mentioned, were a real constituent therein; besides which, there may, very easily, have been other Germanic tribes, though in smaller proportions.
* * * * *
CHAPTER VI.
THE CELTIC STOCK OF LANGUAGES, AND THEIR RELATIONS TO THE ENGLISH.
s. 57. The languages of Great Britain at the invasion of Julius Caesar were of the Celtic stock.
Of the Celtic stock there are two branches.
1. The British or Cambrian branch, represented by the present Welsh, and containing, besides, the Cornish of Cornwall (lately extinct), and the Armorican of the French province of Brittany. It is almost certain that the old British, the ancient language of Gaul, and the Pictish were of this branch.
2. The Gaelic or Erse branch, represented by the present Irish Gaelic, and containing, besides, the Gaelic of the Highlands of Scotland and the Manks of the Isle of Man.
s. 58. Taken altogether the Celtic tongues form a very remarkable class. As compared with those of the Gothic stock they are marked by the following characteristics:—
The scantiness of the declension of Celtic nouns.—In Irish there is a peculiar form for the dative plural, as cos = foot, cos-aibh = to feet (ped-ibus); and beyond this there is nothing else whatever in the way of case, as found in the German, Latin, Greek, and other tongues. Even the isolated form in question is not found in the Welsh and Breton. Hence the Celtic tongues are pre-eminently uninflected in the way of declension.
s. 59. The agglutinate character of their verbal inflections.—In Welsh the pronouns for we, ye, and they, are ni, chwyi, and hwynt respectively. In Welsh also the root = love is car. As conjugated in the plural number this is—
car-wn = am-amus. car-ych = am-atis. car-ant = am-ant.
Now the -wn, -ych, and -ant, of the persons of the verbs are the personal pronouns, so that the inflection is really a verb and a pronoun in a state of agglutination; i.e., in a state where the original separate existence of the two sorts of words is still manifest. This is probably the case with languages in general. The Celtic, however, has the peculiarity of exhibiting it in an unmistakable manner; showing, as it were, an inflection in the process of formation, and (as such) exhibiting an early stage of language.
s. 60. The system of initial mutations.—The Celtic, as has been seen, is deficient in the ordinary means of expressing case. How does it make up for this? Even thus. The noun changes its initial letter according to its relation to the other words of the sentence. Of course this is subject to rule. As, however, I am only writing for the sake of illustrating in a general way the peculiarities of the Celtic tongues, the following table, from Prichard's "Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations," is sufficient.
Câr, a kinsman.
1. form, Câr agos, a near kinsman. 2. Ei gâr, his kinsman. 3. Ei châr, her kinsman. 4. Vy nghâr, my kinsman.
Tâd, a father.
1. form, Tâd y plentyn, the child's father. 2. Ei dâd, his father. 3. Ei thâd, her father. 4. Vy nhâd, my father.
Pen, a head.
1. form, Pen gwr, the head of a man. 2. Ei ben, his head. 3. Ei phen, her head. 4. Vy mhen, my head.
Gwas, a servant.
1. form, Gwâs fydhlon, a faithful servant. 2. Ei wâs, his servant. 3. Vy ngwas, my servant.
Duw, a god.
1. form, Duw trugarog, a merciful god. 2. Ei dhuw, his god. 3. Vy nuw, my god.
Bara, bread.
1. form, Bara cann, white bread. 2. Ei vara, his bread. 3. Vy mara, my bread.
Lhaw, a hand.
1. form, Lhaw wenn, a white hand. 2. Ei law, his hand.
Mam, a mother.
1. form, Mam dirion, a tender mother. 2. Ei vam, his mother.
Rhwyd, a net.
1. form, Rhwyd lawn, a full net. 2. Ei rwyd, his net.
From the Erse.
Súil, an eye.
1. form, Súil. 2. A húil, his eye.
Sláinte, health.
2. form, Do hláinte, your health.
s. 61. The Celtic tongues have lately received especial illustration from the researches of Mr. Garnett. Amongst others, the two following points are particularly investigated by him:—
1. The affinities of the ancient language of Gaul.
2. The affinities of the Pictish language or dialect.
s. 62. The ancient language of Gaul Cambrian.—The evidence in favour of the ancient language of Gaul being Cambrian rather than Gaelic, lies in the following facts:—
The old Gallic glosses are more Welsh than Gaelic.
a. Petorritum = a four-wheeled carriage, from the Welsh, peder = four, and rhod = a wheel. The Gaelic for four is ceathair, and the Gaelic compound would have been different.
b. Pempedula, the cinque-foil, from the Welsh pump = five, and dalen = a leaf. The Gaelic for five is cuig, and the Gaelic compound would have been different.
c. Candetum = a measure of 100 feet, from the Welsh cant = 100. The Gaelic for a hundred is cead, and the Gaelic compound would have been different.
d. Epona = the goddess of horses. In the old Armorican the root ep = horse. The Gaelic for a horse is each.
e. The evidence from the names of geographical localities in Gaul, both ancient and modern, goes the same way: Nantuates, Nantouin, Nanteuil, are derived from the Welsh nant = a valley, a word unknown in Gaelic.
f. The evidence of certain French provincial words, which are Welsh and Armorican rather than Erse or Gaelic.
s. 63. The Pictish most probably Cambrian.—The evidence in favour of the Pictish being Cambrian rather than Gaelic lies in the following facts:
a. When St. Columbanus preached, whose mother-tongue was Irish Gaelic, he used an interpreter. This shows the difference between the Pict and Gaelic. What follows shows the affinity between the Pict and Welsh.
b. A manuscript in the Colbertine library contains a list of Pictish kings from the fifth century downwards. These names are more Welsh than Gaelic. Taran = thunder in Welsh. Uven is the Welsh Owen. The first syllable in Talorg ( = forehead) is the tal in Talhaiarn = iron forehead, Taliessin = splendid forehead, Welsh names. Wrgust is nearer to the Welsh Gwrgust than to the Irish Fergus. Finally, Drust, Drostan, Wrad, Necton, closely resemble the Welsh Trwst, Trwstan, Gwriad, Nwython. Cineod and Domhnall (Kenneth and Donnell) are the only true Erse forms in the list.
c. The only Pictish common name extant is the well-known compound pen val, which is, in the oldest MS. of Beda, peann fahel. This means caput valli, and is the name for the eastern termination of the Vallum of Antoninus. Herein pen is unequivocally Welsh, meaning head. It is an impossible form in Gaelic. Fal, on the other hand, is apparently Gaelic, the Welsh for a rampart being gwall. Fal, however, occurs in Welsh also, and means inclosure.
The evidence just indicated is rendered nearly conclusive by an interpolation, apparently of the twelfth century, of the Durham MS. of Nennius, whereby it is stated that the spot in question was called in Gaelic Cenail. Now Cenail is the modern name Kinneil, and it is also a Gaelic translation of the Pict pen val, since cean is the Gaelic for head, and fhail for rampart or wall. If the older form were Gaelic, the substitution, or translation, would have been superfluous.
d. The name of the Ochil Hills in Perthshire is better explained from the Pict uchel = high, than from the Gaelic uasal.
e. Bryneich, the British form of the province Bernicia, is better explained by the Welsh bryn = ridge (hilly country), than by any word in Gaelic.—Garnett, in "Transactions of Philological Society."
* * * * *
CHAPTER VII.
THE ANGLO-NORMAN, AND THE LANGUAGES OF THE CLASSICAL STOCK.
s. 64. The languages of Greece and Rome belong to one and the same stock.
The Greek and its dialects, both ancient and modern, constitute the Greek of the Classical stock.
The Latin in all its dialects, the old Italian languages allied to it, and the modern tongues derived from the Roman, constitute the Latin branch of the Classical stock.
Now, although the Greek dialects are of only secondary importance in the illustration of the history of the English language, the Latin elements require a special consideration.
This is because the Norman French, introduced into England by the battle of Hastings, is a language derived from the Roman, and consequently a language of the Latin branch of the Classical stock.
s. 65. The Latin language overspread the greater part of the Roman empire. It supplanted a multiplicity of aboriginal languages; just as the English of North America has supplanted the aboriginal tongues of the native Indians, and just as the Russian is supplanting those of Siberia and Kamskatka.
Sometimes the war that the Romans carried on against the old inhabitants was a war of extermination. In this case the original language was superseded at once. In other cases their influence was introduced gradually. In this case the influence of the original language was greater and more permanent.
Just as in the United States the English came in contact with an American, whilst in New Holland it comes in contact with an Australian language, so was the Latin language of Rome engrafted, sometimes on a Celtic, sometimes on a Gothic, and sometimes on some other stock. The nature of the original language must always be borne in mind.
From Italy, its original seat, the Latin was extended in the following chronological order:—
1. To the Spanish Peninsula; where it overlaid or was engrafted on languages allied to the present Biscayan.
2. To Gaul, or France, where it overlaid or was engrafted on languages of the Celtic stock.
3. To Dacia and Pannonia where it overlaid or was engrafted on a language the stock whereof is undetermined, but which was, probably, Sarmatian. The introduction of the Latin into Dacia and Pannonia took place in the time of Trajan.
s. 66. From these different introductions of the Latin into different countries we have the following modern languages—1st Italian, 2nd Spanish and Portuguese, 3rd French, 4th Wallachian; to which must be added a 5th, the Romanese of part of Switzerland.
Specimen of the Romanese.
Luke xv. 11.
11. Uen Hum veva dus Filgs:
12. Ad ilg juveu da quels schet alg Bab, "Bab mi dai la Part de la Rauba c' aud' à mi:" ad el parchè or ad els la Rauba.
13. A bucca bears Gis suenter, cur ilg Filg juven vet tut mess ansemel, scha tilà 'l navent en uenna Terra dalunsch: a lou sfiget el tut sia Rauba cun viver senza spargn.
14. A cur el vet tut sfaig, scha vangit ei en quella Terra uen grond Fumaz: ad el antschavet a ver basengs.
15. Ad el mà, à: sa plidè enn uen Burgeis da quella Terra; a quel ilg tarmatet or sin sês Beins a parchirar ils Porcs.
16. Ad el grigiava dad amplanir sieu Venter cun las Criscas ch' ils Porcs malgiavan; mo nagin lgi deva.
17. Mo el mà en sasez a schet: "Quonts Fumelgs da mieu Bab han budonza da Pann, a jou miei d' fom!"
18. "Jou vi lavar si, ad ir tier mieu Bab, e vi gir a lgi: 'Bab, jou hai faig puccau ancunter ilg Tschiel ad avont tei;
19. "'A sunt bucca pli vangonts da vangir numnaus tieu Filg; fai mei esser sco uen da tes Fumelgs.'"
Specimen of the Wallachian.
Luke xv. 11.
11. Un om evea doĭ fec orĭ.
12. Shi a zis c'el maĭ tinr din eĭ tatluĭ su: tat, dmĭ partea c'e mi se kade de avucie: shi de a imprcit lor avuciea.
13. Shi nu dup multe zile, adunint toate fec orul c el maĭ tinr, s'a dus intr 'o car departe, shi akolo a rsipit toat avuciea ca, viecuind intr dezmĭerdrĭ.
14. Shi keltuind el toate, c'a fkut foamete mare intr' ac'ea car: shi el a inc'eput a se lipsi.
15. Shi mergina c'a lipit de unul din lkuitoriĭ criĭ ac'eia: si 'l a trimis pre el la earinide sale c pask porc'iĭ.
16. Shi doria c 'shĭ sature pinctec'ele sŭ de roshkobele c'e minka porc'iĭ! shi niminĭ nu ĭ da luĭ.
17. Iar viind intru sine, a zis; kicĭ argacĭ aĭ tatluĭ mieŭ sint indestulacĭ de piĭne, iar eŭ pĭeiŭ de foame.
18. Skula-m-vioŭ, shi m' voiŭ duc'e la tata mieŭ, shi vioŭ zic'e lui:
19. Tat, greshit-am la c'er shi inaintea ta, shi nu mai sint vrednik a m kema fiul tŭ; fm ka pre unul din argaciĭ ti.
s. 67. Such is the general view of the languages derived from the Latin, i.e., of the languages of the Latin branch of the Classical stock.
The French requires to be more minutely exhibited.
Between the provincial French of the north and the provincial French of the south, there is a difference, at the present day, at least of dialect, and perhaps of language. This is shown by the following specimens: the first from the canton of Arras, on the confines of Flanders; the second from the department of Var, in Provence. The date of each is A.D. 1807.
I.
Luke xv. 11.
11. Ain homme avoueait deeux garchéons.
12. L'pus jone dit a sain père, "Main père, baillé m'cheu quî doueo me 'r v'nir ed vous bien," et lue père leu partit sain bien.
13. Ain n'sais yur, tro, quate, chéon jours après l'pus tiò d'cnés déeux éféans ôyant r'cuéllé tout s'n' héritt'main, s'ot' ainvoye dains nâin pahis gramain loueon, dú qu'il échilla tout s'n' argint ain fageant l'braingand dains chés cabarets.
14. Abord qu'il o eu tout bu, tout mié et tout drélé, il o v'nu adonc dains ch' pahis lo ainn' famaine cruueelle, et i c'mainchonait d'avoir fon-ye d' pon-ye (i.e. faim de pain).
II.
THE SAME.
11. Un homé avié dous enfans.
12. Lou plus pichoun diguét a son paeiré, "Moun paeiré, dounas mi ce què mi reven de vouastré ben;" lou pairé faguet lou partagé de tout ce que poussédavo.
13. Paou do jours après, lou pichoun vendét tout se què soun paeiré li avié desamparat, et s'en anét díns un paeis fourco luench, ounté dissipét tout soun ben en debaucho.
14. Quand aguét tou arcaba, uno grosso famino arribet dins aqueou paeis et, leou, si veguét reduech à la derniero misèro.
Practically speaking, although in the central parts of France the northern and southern dialects melt into each other, the Loire may be considered as a line of demarcation between two languages; the term language being employed because, in the Middle Ages, whatever may be their real difference, their northern tongue and the southern tongue were dealt with not as separate dialects, but as distinct languages—the southern being called Provencal, the northern Norman-French.
Of these two languages (for so they will in the following pages be called, for the sake of convenience) the southern, or Provencal, approaches the dialects of Spain; the Valencian of Spain and the Catalonian of Spain being Provencal rather than standard Spanish or Castilian.
The southern French is sometimes called the Langue d'Oc, and sometimes the Limousin.
s. 68. The Norman-French, spoken from the Loire to the confines of Flanders, and called also the Langue d'Oyl, differed from the Provencal in (amongst others) the following circumstances.
1. It was of later origin; the southern parts of Gaul having been colonized at an early period by the Romans.
2. It was in geographical contact, not with the allied languages of Spain, but with the Gothic tongues of Germany and Holland.
s. 69. It is the Norman-French that most especially bears upon the history of the English language.
Specimen from the Anglo-Norman poem of Charlemagne.
Un jur fu Karléun al Seint-Denis muster, Reout prise sa corune, en croiz seignat sun chef; E ad ceinte sa espée: li pons fud d'or mer. Dux i out e dermeines e baruns e chevalers. Li emperères reguardet la reine sa muillers. Ele fut ben corunée al plus bel e as meuz. Il la prist par le poin desuz un oliver, De sa pleine parole la prist à reisuner: "Dame, véistes unkes hume nul de desuz ceil Tant ben séist espée no la corone el chef! Uncore cunquerrei-jo citez ot mun espeez." Cele ne fud pas sage, folement respondeit: "Emperere," dist-ele, trop vus poez preiser. "Uncore en sa-jo un ki plus se fait léger, Quant il porte corune entre ses chevalers; Kaunt il met sur sa teste, plus belement lui set"
In the northern French we must recognise not only a Celtic and a Classical, but also a Gothic element: since Clovis and Charlemagne were no Frenchmen, but Germans. The Germanic element in French has still to be determined.
In the northern French of Normandy there is a second Gothic element, viz., a Scandinavian element. See s. 76.
* * * * *
QUESTIONS.
1. What are the present languages of Wales, the Isle of Man, the Scotch Highlands, and Ireland?
2. What are the present languages of Germany and Holland? How are they related to the present language of England? How to the original language of England?
3. Enumerate the chief supposed migrations from Germany to England, giving (when possible) the date of each, the particular German tribe by which each was undertaken, and the parts of Great Britain where the different landings were made. Why do I say supposed migrations? Criticise, in detail, the evidence by which they are supported, and state the extent to which it is exceptionable. Who was Beda? What were the sources of his information?
4. Give reasons for believing the existence of Germans in England anterior to A.D. 447.
5. Who are the present Jutlanders of Jutland? Who the inhabitants of the district called Anglen in Sleswick? What are the reasons for connecting these with the Jutes and Angles of Beda? What those for denying such a connection?
6. What is the meaning of the termination -uarii in Cant-uarii and Vect-uarii? What was the Anglo-Saxon translation of Antiqui Saxones, Occidentales Saxones, Orientates Saxones, Meridionales Saxones? What are the known variations in the form of the word Vectis, meaning the Isle of Wight? What those of the root Jut- as the name of the inhabitants of the peninsula of Jutland?
7. Translate Cantware, Wihtware, into Latin. How does Alfred translate Jutae? How does the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle? What is the derivation of the name Carisbrook, a town in the Isle of Wight?
8. Take exception to the opinions that Jutes, from Jutland, formed part of the Germanic invasion of England; or, rather, take exceptions to the evidence upon which that opinion is based.
9. From what part of Germany were the Angles derived? What is Beda's? what Ethelweard's statement concerning them? Who were the Angli of Tacitus?
10. What is the derivation of the word Mercia?
11. Give the localities of the Old Saxons, and the Northalbingians. Investigate the area occupied by the Anglo-Saxons.
12. What is the present population of the Dutch province of Friesland? What its language? What the dialects and stages of that language?
13. What was the language of the Asega-bog, the Heliand, Beowulf, Hildubrand and Hathubrant, the Carolinian Psalms, the Gospels of Ulphilas, and the poems of Gysbert Japicx?
14. Make a map of Ancient Germany and Scandinavia according to languages and dialects of those two areas. Exhibit, in a tabular form, the languages of the Gothic stock. Explain the meaning of the words Gothic, and Moeso-Gothic, and Platt-Deutsch.
15. Analyze the Scandinavian forms Solen, Bordet, and brennast.
16. Exhibit the difference between the logical and the historical analysis of a language.
17. What are the Celtic names for the English language?
18. Enumerate the chief Germanic populations connected by ancient writers with the Angles, stating the Ethnological relations of each, and noticing the extent to which they coincide with those of the Angles.
19. What are the reasons for believing that there is a Frisian element in the population of England?
20. Exhibit, in a tabular form, the languages and dialects of the Celtic stock. To which division did the Gallic of ancient Gaul, and the Pict belong? Support the answer by reasons. What were the relations of the Picts to the Gaelic inhabitants of Scotland? What to the Lowland Scotch? What to the Belgae?
21. Explain the following words—petorritum, pempedula, candetum, Epona, Nantuates, peann fahel and Bernicia. What inferences do you draw from the derivation of them?
22. Exhibit, in a tabular form, the languages and dialects of the Classical stock.
23. What is the bearing of the statements of Tacitus and other ancient writers respecting the following Germanic populations upon the ethnological relations of the Angles,—Aviones, Reudigni, Suevi, Langobardi, Frisii, Varini?
24. What is meant by the following terms, Provencal, Langue d'Oc, Langue d'Oyl, Limousin, and Norman-French?
25. What languages, besides the Celtic and Latin, enter into the composition of the French?
* * * * *
PART II.
HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL AND LOGICAL ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
s. 70. The Celtic elements of the present English fall into five classes.
1. Those that are of late introduction, and cannot be called original and constituent parts of the language. Some of such are the words flannel, crowd (a fiddle), from the Cambrian; and kerne (an Irish foot-soldier), galore (enough), tartan, plaid, &c., from the Gaelic branch.
2. Those that are originally common to both the Celtic and Gothic stocks. Some of such are brother, mother, in Celtic brathair, mathair; the numerals, &c.
3. Those that have come to us from the Celtic, but have come to us through the medium of another language. Some of such are druid and bard, whose immediate source is, not the Celtic but the Latin.
4. Celtic elements of the Anglo-Norman, introduced into England after the Conquest, and occurring in that language as remains of the original Celtic of Gaul.
5. Those that have been retained from the original Celtic of the island, and which form genuine constituents of our language. These fall into three subdivisions.
a. Proper names—generally of geographical localities; as the Thames, Kent, &c.
b. Common names retained in the provincial dialects of England, but not retained in the current language; as gwethall = household stuff, and gwlanen = flannel in Herefordshire.
c. Common names retained in the current language.—The following list is Mr. Garnett's:—
Welsh. English.
Basgawd Basket. Berfa Barrow. Botwm Button. Bràn Bran. Clwt Clout, Rag. Crochan Crockery. Crog Crook, Hook. Cwch Cock, in Cock-boat. Cwysed Gusset. Cyl, Cyln Kiln (Kill, provinc.). Dantaeth Dainty. Darn Darn. Deentur Tenter, in Tenterhook. Fflaim Fleam, Cattle-lancet. Fflaw Flaw. Ffynnell (air-hole) Funnel. Gefyn (fetter) Gyve. Greidell Grid in Gridiron. Grual Gruel. Gwald (hem, border) Welt. Gwiced (little door) Wicket. Gwn Gown. Gwyfr Wire. Masg (stitch in netting) Mesh. Mattog Mattock. Mop Mop. Rhail (fence) Rail. Rhashg (slice) Rasher. Rhuwch Rug. Sawduriaw Solder. Syth (glue) Size. Tacl Tackle.
s. 71. Latin of the first period.—Of the Latin introduced by Caesar and his successors, the few words remaining are those that relate to military affairs; viz. street (strata); -coln (as in Lincoln = Lindi colonia); -cest- (as in Gloucester = glevae castra) from castra. The Latin words introduced between the time of Caesar and Hengist may be called the Latin of the first period, or the Latin of the Celtic period. |
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