The Grammar of English Grammars Part 259

31. IN, or the Saxon In, is the same as the Latin _in_: the Greek is [Greek: en]; and the French, _en_.

32. INTO, like the Saxon Into, noting entrance, is a compound of _in_ and _to_.

33. MID and MIDST, as English prepositions, are poetical forms used for _Amid_ and _Amidst_.

34. NOTWITHSTANDING, _not hindering_, is from the adverb _not_, and the participle _withstanding_, which, by itself, means _hindering_, or _preventing_. 35. OF is from the Saxon Of, or Af; which is supposed by Tooke to come from a noun signifying _offspring_.

36. OFF, opposed to _on_, Dr. Johnson derives from the "Dutch _af_."

37. ON, a word very often used in Anglo-Saxon, is traced by some etymologists to the Gothic _ana_, the German _an_, the Dutch _aan_; but no such derivation fixes its meaning.

38. OUT, [Sax. Ut, Ute, or Utan,] when made a preposition, is probably from the adverb or adjective _Out_, or the earlier _Ut_; and OUT-OF, [Sax.

Ut-of,] opposed to _Into_, is but the adverb _Out_ and the preposition _Of_--usually written separately, but better joined, in some instances.

39. OVER, _above_, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ofer, _over_; and this, probably, from Ufa, _above, high_, or from the comparative, Ufera, _higher_.

40. OVERTHWART, meaning _across_, is a compound of _over_ and _thwart_, cross.

41. PAST, _beyond, gone by_, is a contraction from the perfect participle _pa.s.sed_.

42. PENDING, _during_ or _hanging_, has a participial form, but is either an adjective or a preposition: we do not use _pend_ alone as a verb, though we have it in _depend_.

43. RESPECTING, _concerning_, is from the first participle of the verb _respect_.

44. ROUND, a preposition for _about_ or _around_, is from the noun or adjective _round_.

45. SINCE is most probably a contraction of the old word _Sithence_; but is conjectured by Tooke to have been formed from the phrase, "_Seen as_."

46. THROUGH [, Sax. Thurh, or Thurch,] seems related to _Thorough_, Sax.

Thuruh; and this again to Thuru, or Duru, a _Door_.

47. THROUGHOUT, _quite through_, is an obvious compond of _through_ and _out_.

48. TILL, [Sax. Til or Tille,] _to, until_, is from the Saxon Til or Till, _an end, a station_.

49. TO, whether a preposition or an adverb, is from the Anglo-Saxon particle To.

50. TOUCHING, _with regard to_, is from the first participle of the verb _touch_.

51. TOWARD or TOWARDS, written by the Anglo-Saxons _Toweard_ or _Toweardes_, is a compound of _To_ and _Ward_ or _Weard_, a guard, a look-out; "Used in composition to express _situation_ or _direction_."--_Bosworth_.

52. UNDER, [Gothic, Undar; Dutch, Onder,] _beneath, below_, is a common Anglo-Saxon word, and very frequent prefix, affirmed by Tooke to be "nothing but _on-neder_," a Dutch compound = _on lower_.--See _Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 331.

53. UNDERNEATH is a compound of _under_ and _neath_, low; whence _nether_, lower.

54. UNTIL is a compound from _on_ or _un_, and till, or _til_, the end.

55. UNTO, now somewhat antiquated, is formed, not very a.n.a.logically, from _un_ and _to_.

56. UP is from the Anglo-Saxon adjective, "Up or Upp, _high, lofty_."

57. UPON, which appears literally to mean _high on_, is from two words _up_ and _on_.

58. WITH comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon With, a word of like sort and import; which Tooke says is an imperative verb, sometimes from "Withan, _to join_," and sometimes from "Wyrthan, _to be_."--See his _Diversions_, Vol.

i, p. 262.

59. WITHIN [, i.e., _by-in_,] is from _with_ and _in_: Sax. Withinnan, Binnan, or Binnon.

60. WITHOUT [, i.e., _by-out_,] is from _with_ and _out_: Sax. Withutan, -uten, -uton; Butan, Buton, Butun.

OBSERVATION.

In regard to some of our minor or simpler prepositions, as of sundry other particles, to go beyond the forms and constructions which present or former usage has at some period given them as particles, and to ascertain their actual origin in something ulterior, if such they had, is no very easy matter; nor can there be either satisfaction or profit in studying what one suspects to be mere guesswork. "How do you account for IN, OUT, ON, OFF, and AT?" says the friend of Tooke, in an etymological dialogue at Purley.

The substance of his answer is, "The explanation and etymology of these words require a degree of knowledge in all the _antient_ northern languages, and a skill in the application of that knowledge, which I am very far from a.s.suming; and though I am almost persuaded by some of my own conjectures concerning them, I am not willing, by an apparently forced and far-fetched derivation, to justify your imputation of etymological legerdemain."--_Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 370.

SECTION X.--DERIVATION OF INTERJECTIONS.

Those significant and constructive words which are occasionally used as Interjections, (such as _Good! Strange! Indeed_!,) do not require an explanation here; and those mere sounds which are in no wise expressive of thought, scarcely admit of definition or derivation. The Interjection HEY is probably a corruption of the adjective _High_;--ALAS is from the French _Helas_:--ALACK is probably a corruption of _Alas_;--WELAWAY or WELLAWAY, (which is now corrupted into WELLADAY,) is said by some to be from the Anglo-Saxon _Wa-la-wa_, i.e., _Wo-lo-wo_;--"FIE," says Tooke, "is the imperative of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb _Fian_, to hate;"--_Heyday_ is probably from _high day_;--AVAUNT, perhaps from the French _avant_, before;--LO, from _look_;--BEGONE, from _be_ and _gone_;--WELCOME, from _well_ and _come_;--FAREWELL, from _fare_ and _well_.

SECTION XI--EXPLANATION OF THE PREFIXES.

In the formation of English words, certain particles are often employed as prefixes; which, as they generally have some peculiar import, may be separately explained. A few of them are of Anglo-Saxon origin, or character; and the greater part of these are still employed as separate words in our language. The rest are Latin, Greek, or French prepositions.

The _roots_ to which they are prefixed, are not always proper English words. Those which are such, are called SEPARABLE RADICALS; those which are not such, INSEPARABLE RADICALS.

CLa.s.s I--THE ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON PREFIXES.

1. A, as an English prefix, signifies _on, in, at_, or _to_: as in _a-board, a-sh.o.r.e, a-foot, a-bed, a-soak, a-tilt, a-slant, a-far, a-field_; which are equal to the phrases, _on board, on sh.o.r.e, on foot, in bed, in soak, at tilt, at slant, to a distance, to the fields_. The French _a_, to, is probably the same particle. This prefix is sometimes redundant, adding little or nothing to the meaning; as in _awake, arise, amend_.

2. BE, as a prefix, signifies _upon, over, by, to, at_, or _for_: as in _be-spatter, be-cloud, be-times, be-tide, be-howl, be-speak_. It is sometimes redundant, or merely intensive; as in _be-gird, be-deck, be-loved, be-dazzle, be-moisten, be-praise, be-quote_.

3. COUNTER, an English prefix, allied to the French _Contre_, and the Latin _Contra_, means _against_, or _opposite_; as in _counter-poise, counter-evidence, counter-natural_.

4. FOR, as a prefix, unlike the common preposition _For_, seems generally to signify _from_: it is found in the irregular verbs _for-bear, for-bid, for-get, for-give, for-sake, for-swear_; and in _for-bathe, for-do, for-pa.s.s, for-pine, for-say, for-think, for-waste_, which last are now disused, the _for_ in several being merely intensive.

5. FORE, prefixed to a verb, signifies _before_; as in _fore-know, fore-tell_: prefixed to a noun, it is usually an adjective, and signifies anterior; as in _fore-side, fore-part_.

6. HALF, signifying _one of two equal parts_, is much used in composition; and, often, merely to denote imperfection: as, _half-sighted_, seeing imperfectly.

7. MIS signifies _wrong_ or _ill_; as in _mis-cite, mis-print, mis-spell, mis-chance, mis-hap_.

8. OVER denotes superiority or excess; as in _over-power, over-strain, over-large_.