A Handbook of the English Language Part 21

-- 174. One of our orthographical expedients, viz., the reduplication of the consonant following, to express the shortness (dependence) of the preceding vowel, is as old as the cla.s.sical languages: _terra_, ???a.s.sa.

Nevertheless, the following extract from the "Ormulum" (written in the thirteenth century) is the fullest recognition of the practice that I have met with.

And whase wilenn shall is boc, Efft oerr sie writenn, Himm bidde icc att hett write rihht, Swa sum iss boc himm taeche; All werrt utt affterr att itt iss Oppo iss firrste bisne, Wi all swilc rime als her iss sett, Wi alse fele wordess: And tatt he loke well att he _An boc-staff write twiggess_,[47]

Eggwhaer aer itt uppo iss boc Iss writenn o att wise: Loke he well att hett write swa, Forr he ne magg noht elless, On Englissh writenn rihht te word, att wite he well to soe.

-- 175. _The order of the alphabet._--In the history of our alphabet, we have had the history of certain changes in the arrangement, as well as of the changes in the number and power of its letters. The following question now presents itself: viz., Is there in the order of the letters any _natural_ arrangement, or is the original as well as the present succession of letters arbitrary and accidental? The following facts suggest an answer in the affirmative.

The order of the Hebrew alphabet is as follows:--

_Name._ _Sound._

1. _Aleph_ Either a vowel or a breathing.

2. _Beth_ B.

3. _Gimel_ G, as in _gun_.

4. _Daleth_ D.

5. _He_ Either a vowel or an aspirate.

6. _Vaw_ V.

7. _Zayn_ Z.

8. _Kheth_ a variety of K.

9. _Teth_ a variety of T.

10. _Yod_ I.

11. _Caph_ K.

12. _Lamed_ L.

13. _Mem_ M.

14. _Nun_ N.

15. _Samech_ a variety of S.

16. _Ayn_ Either a vowel or ----?

17. _Pe_ P.

18. _Tsadi_ TS.

19. _Kof_ a variety of K.

20. _Resh_ R.

21. _Sin_ S.

22. _Tau_ T.

Let _beth_, _vaw_, and _pe_ (b, v, p) const.i.tute a series called series P.

Let _gimel_, _kheth_, and _kof_ (g, kh, k') const.i.tute a series called series K. Let _daleth_, _teth_, and _tau_, (d, t', t) const.i.tute a series called series T. Let _aleph_, _he_, and _ayn_ const.i.tute a series called the vowel series. Let the first four letters be taken in their order.

1. _Aleph_ of the vowel series.

2. _Beth_ of series P.

3. _Gimel_ of series K.

4. _Daleth_ of series T.

Herein the consonant of series B comes next to the letter of the vowel series; that of series K follows; and in the last place, comes the letter of series T. After this the order changes; _daleth_ being followed by _he_ of the vowel series.

5. _He_ of the vowel series.

6. _Vaw_ of series P.

7. _Zayn_ ---- 8. _Kheth_ of series K.

9. _Teth_ of series T.

In this second sequence the _relative_ positions of v, kh, and t', are the same in respect to each other, and the same in respect to the vowel series.

The sequence itself is broken by the letter _zayn_ but it is remarkable that the principle of the sequence is the same. Series P follows the vowel and series T is farthest from it. After this the system becomes but fragmentary. Still, even now, _pe_, of series P, follows _ayn_; _tau_, of series T, is farthest from it, and _kof_, of series K, is intermediate.

If this be the case, and, if the letters, so to say, _circulate_, the alterations made in their order during the transfer of their alphabet from Greece to Rome, have had the unsatisfactory effect of concealing an interesting arrangement, and of converting a real, though somewhat complex regularity, into apparent hazard and disorder.

QUESTIONS.

1. Explain the terms _sharp_, _explosive_, _true aspirate_, _apparent aspirate_, _broad_, _dependent_.

2. Exhibit the difference between the quant.i.ty of _syllables_ and the quant.i.ty of _vowels_.

3. Accentuate the following words,--_attribute_ (_adjective_), _survey_ (_verb_), _August_ (_the month_).

4. Under what conditions is the _sound_ of consonants doubled?

5. Exhibit, in a tabular form, the relations of the a) mutes, b) the vowels, underlining those which do not occur in English.

6. What is the power of ph in _Philip_? what in _haphazard_? Ill.u.s.trate the difference fully.

7. Investigate the changes by which the words _picture_, _nature_, derived from the Latin _pictura_ and _natura_, are _sounded pictshur_ and _natshur_.

8. How do you sound the combination apd? Why?

9. In what points is the English alphabet _insufficient_, _redundant_, and _inconsistent_?

10. Why is z (_zaeta_), which is the sixth letter in the Greek, the last in the English alphabet?

PART IV.

ETYMOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

ON THE PROVINCE OF ETYMOLOGY.

-- 176. The word etymology, derived from the Greek, in the current language of scholars and grammarians, has a double meaning. At times it is used in a wide, and at times in a restricted sense.

If in the English language we take such a word as _fathers_, we are enabled to divide it into two parts; in other words, to reduce it into two elements. By comparing it with the word _father_, we see that the s is neither part nor parcel of the original word. Hence the word is capable of being a.n.a.lysed; _father_ being the original primitive word, and s the secondary superadded termination. From the word _father_, the word _fathers_ is _derived_, or (changing the expression) deduced, or descended.

What has been said of the word _fathers_ may also be said of _fatherly_, _fatherlike_, _fatherless_, &c. Now, from the word _father_, all these words (_fathers_, _fatherly_, _fatherlike_, and _fatherless_) differ in form and in meaning. To become such a word as _fathers_, &c., the word _father_ is _changed_. Of changes of this sort, it is the province of etymology to take cognizance.

-- 177. Compared with the form _fathers_, the word _father_ is the older form of the two. The word _father_ is a word current in this the nineteenth century. The same word is found much earlier, under different forms, and in different languages. Thus, in the Latin language, the form was _pater_; in Greek, pat??. Now, with _father_ and _fathers_, the change takes place within the same language, whilst the change that takes place between _pater_ and _father_ takes place within different languages. Of changes of this latter kind it is, also, the province of etymology to take cognizance.