The Grammar of English Grammars Part 258

13. IF, _give, grant, allow_, is from "Gif, the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon Gifan, _to give_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 111.

14. LEST, _that not, dismissed_, is from "Lesed, the perfect participle of Lesan, _to dismiss_."

15. NEITHER, _not either_, is a union and contraction of _ne either_: our old writers frequently used _ne_ for _not_; the Anglo-Saxons likewise repeated it, using _ne--ne_, in lieu of our corresponsives _neither--nor_; and our modern lexicographers still note the word, in some of these senses.

16. NOR, _not other, not else_, is supposed to be a union and contraction of _ne or_.

17. NOTWITHSTANDING, _not hindering_, is an English compound of obvious formation.

18. OR, an alternative conjunction, seems to be a word of no great antiquity. It is supposed to be a contraction of _other_, which Johnson and his followers give, in Saxon characters, either as its source, or as its equivalent.

19. PROVIDED, the perfect participle of the verb _provide_, becomes occasionally a disjunctive conjunction, by being used alone or with the particle _that_, to introduce a condition, a saving clause, a proviso.

20. SAVE, anciently used with some frequency as a conjunction, in the sense of _but_, or except is from the imperative of the English verb _save_, and is still occasionally turned to such a use by the poets.

21. SEEING, sometimes made a copulative conjunction, is the imperfect participle of the verb _see_. Used at the head of a clause, and without reference to an agent, it a.s.sumes a conjunctive nature.

22. SINCE is conjectured by Tooke to be "the participle of Seon, _to see_,"

and to mean "_seeing, seeing that, seen that_, or _seen as_."--_Diversions of P._, Vol. i, pp. 111 and 220. But Johnson and others say, it has been formed "by contraction from _sithence_, or _sith thence_, from _sithe_, Sax."--_Joh. Dict._

23. THAN, which introduces the latter term of a comparison, is from the Gothic _than_, or the Anglo-Saxon _thanne_, which was used for the same purpose. 24. THAT, when called a conjunction, is said by Tooke to be etymologically the same as the adjective or p.r.o.noun THAT, the derivation of which is twice spoken of above; but, in Todd's Johnson's Dictionary, as abridged by Chalmers, THAT, the _conjunction_, is referred to "_thatei_, Gothic;" THAT, the _p.r.o.noun_, to "_that, thata_, Gothic; _thaet_, Saxon; _dat_, Dutch."

25. THEN, used as a conjunction, is doubtless the same word as the Anglo-Saxon _Thenne_, taken as an illative, or word of inference.

26. "THOUGH, _allow_, is [from] the imperative Thaf, or Thafig, of the verb Thafian or Thafigan, _to allow_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, pp. 111 and 150.

27. "UNLESS, _except, dismiss_, is [from] Onles, the imperative of Onlesan, _to dismiss_."--_Ib._

28. WHETHER, a corresponsive conjunction, which introduces the first term of an alternative, is from the Anglo-Saxon _hwaether_, which was used for the same purpose.

29. YET, _nevertheless_, is from "Get, the imperative of Getan, _to get_."--_Tooke_.

SECTION IX.--DERIVATION OF PREPOSITIONS.

The following are the princ.i.p.al _English_ Prepositions, explained in the order of the list:--

1. ABOARD, meaning _on board of_, is from the prefix or preposition _a_ and the noun _board_, which here means "_the deck_ of a s.h.i.+p" or vessel.

_Abord_, in French, is _approach, arrival_, or a _landing_.

2. ABOUT, [Sax. Abutan, or Abuton,] meaning _around, at circuit_, or _doing_, is from the prefix _a_, meaning _at_, and the noun _bout_, meaning a _turn_, a _circuit_, or a _trial_. In French, _bout_ means end; and _about, end_, or _but-end_.

3. ABOVE, [Sax. Abufan, Abufon, A-be-ufan.] meaning _over_, or, literally, _at-by-over_, or _at-by-top_, is from the Saxon or Old English _a, be_, and _ufa_, or _ufan_, said to mean "_high, upwards_, or _the top_."

4. ACROSS, _at cross, athwart, traverse_, is from the prefix _a_ and the word _cross_.

5. AFTER, [Sax. aefter, or aeftan,] meaning _behind, subsequent to_, is, in form, the comparative of _aft_, a word common to seamen, and it may have been thence derived.

6. AGAINST, _opposite to_, is probably from the Anglo-Saxon, Ongean, or Ongegen, each of which forms means _again_ or _against_. As prefixes, _on_ and _a_ are often equivalent.

7. ALONG, [i.e., _at-long_,] meaning _lengthwise of, near to_, is formed from _a_ and _long_.

8. AMID, [i. e., _at mid_ or _middle_,] is from _a_ and _mid_; and AMIDST [, i.e., _at midst_,] is from _a_ and _midst_, contracted from _middest_, the superlative of _mid_.

9. AMONG, _mixed with_, is probably an abbreviation of _amongst_; and AMONGST, according to Tooke, is from _a_ and _mongst_, or the older "Ge-meneged," Saxon for "_mixed, mingled_."

10. AROUND, _about, encircling_, is from _a_ and _round_, a circle, or circuit.

11. AT, _gone to_, is supposed by some to come from the Latin _ad_; but Dr.

Murray says, "We have in Teutonic AT for AGT, touching or touched, joined, _at_."--_Hist. of Lang._, i, 349.

12. ATHWART, _across_, is from _a_ and _thwart_, cross; and this from the Saxon Thweor.

13. BATING, a preposition for _except_, is the imperfect participle of _bate_, to abate.

14. BEFORE, [i.e., _by-fore_,] in front of, is from the prefix _be_ and the adjective _fore_.

15. BEHIND, [i.e., _by-hind_,] in rear of, is from the prefix _be_ and the adjective _hind_.

16. BELOW, [i.e., _by-low_,] meaning _under_, or _beneath_, is from _be_ and the adjective _low_.

17. BENEATH [, Sax. or Old Eng. Beneoth,] is from _be_ and _neath_, or Sax.

Neothe, _low_.

18. BESIDE [, i.e., _by-side_,] is probably from _be_ and the noun or adjective _side_.

19. BESIDES [, i.e., _by-sides_,] is probably from _be_ and the plural noun _sides_.

20. BETWEEN, [Sax. Betweonan, or Betwynan,] literally, _by-twain_, seems to have been formed from _be_, by, and _twain_, two--or the Saxon Twegen, which also means _two, twain_.

21. BETWIXT, meaning _between_, [Sax. Betweox, Betwux, Betwyx, Betwyxt, &c.,] is from _be_, by, and _twyx_, originally a "Gothic" word signifying "_two_, or _twain_."--See _Tooke_, Vol. i, p. 329.

22. BEYOND, _past_, [Sax. Begeond,] is from the prefix _be_, by, and _yond_, [Sax. Geond,] _past, far_.

23. BY [, Sax. Be, Bi, or Big,] is affirmed by Tooke to be "the imperative Byth, of the Anglo-Saxon verb Beon, _to be_."--_Diversions of P._, Vol. i, p. 326. This seems to be rather questionable.

24. CONCERNING, the preposition, is from the first participle of the verb _concern_.

25. DOWN, the preposition, is from the Anglo-Saxon Dune, down.

26. DURING, prep. of time, is from the first participle of an old verb _dure_, to last, formerly in use; as, "While the world may _dure_."--_Chaucer's Knight's Tale_.

27. ERE, _before_, prep. of time, is from the Anglo-Saxon aer, a word of like sort.

28. EXCEPT, _bating_, is from the imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson) the ancient perfect participle of the verb _to except_; and EXCEPTING, when a preposition, is from the first participle of the same verb.

29. FOR, _because of_, is the Anglo-Saxon preposition For, a word of like import, and supposed by Tooke to have come from a Gothic noun signifying _cause_, or _sake_.

30. FROM, in Saxon, _Fram_, is probably derived from the old adjective Frum, _original_.