A Handbook of the English Language by Robert Gordon Latham (cat reading book txt) 📕

And as, in English, the, in German der, in Danish den, come from the demonstrative pronouns, so, in the classical languages, are the French le, the Italian il and lo, and the Spanish el, derived from the Latin demonstrative ille.

In his "Outlines of Logic," the present writer has given reasons for considering the word no (as in no man) an article.

That the, in expressions like all the more, all the better, &c., is no article, has already been shown.

DIMINUTIVES, AUGMENTATIVES, AND PATRONYMICS.

§ 268. Compared with the words lamb, man, and hill, the words lambkin, mannikin, and hillock convey the idea of comparative smallness or diminution. Now, as the word hillock = a little hill differs in form from hill, we have in English a series of diminutive forms, or diminutives.

The English diminutives may be arranged according to a variety of principles. Amongst others:

1. According to their form.—The word hillock is derived from hill, by the addition of a syllable. The word tip is derived from top, by the change of a vowel.

2. According to their meaning.—In the word hillock there is the simple expression of comparative smallness in size. In the word doggie for dog, lassie for lass, the addition of the -ie makes the word not so much a diminutive as a term of tenderness or endearment. The idea of smallness, accompanied, perhaps, with that of neatness, generally carries with it the idea of approbation; hence, the word clean in English, means, in German, little = kleine. The feeling of protection which is extended to small objects engenders the notion of endearment.

§ 269. The Greek word μείωσις (meiôsis) means diminution; the Greek word ὑποκόρισμα (hypokorisma) means an endearing expression. Hence we get names for the two kinds of diminutives; viz., the term meiotic for the true diminutives, and the term hypocoristic for the diminutives of endearment.

3. According to their historical origin.—The syllable -ock, as in hillock, is of Anglo-Saxon and Gothic origin. The -et, as in lancet, is of French and classical origin.

4. According as they affect proper names, or common names.—Hawkin, Perkin, Wilkin, &c. In these words we have the diminutives of Hal, Peter, Will, &c.

§ 270. The diminutive forms of Gothic origin are the first to be considered.

1. Those formed by a change of vowel.—Tip, from top. The relation of the feminine to the masculine is allied to the ideas conveyed by many diminutives. Hence in the word kit, from cat, it is doubtful whether there be meant a female cat or a little cat. Kid is a diminutive form of goat.

2. Those formed by the addition of a letter or letters.—Of the diminutive characteristics thus formed the commonest, beginning from the simpler forms, are

Ie.—Almost peculiar to the Lowland Scotch; as daddie, lassie, minnie, wifie, mousie, doggie, boatie, &c.

Ock.—Bullock, hillock.

Kin.—Lambkin, mannikin, ladikin, &c. As is seen above, common in proper names.

En.—Chicken, kitten, from cock, cat. The notion of diminution, if indeed that be the notion originally conveyed, lies not in the -en, but in the vowel. In the word chicken, from cock, observe the effect of the small vowel on the c.

The consideration of words like duckling, and gosling, is purposely deferred.

The chief diminutive of classical origin is—

Et, as in trumpet, lancet, pocket; the word pock, as in meal-pock = a meal-bag, being found in the Scottish. From the French -ette, as in caissette, poulette.

The forms -rel, as in cockerel, pickerel, and -let, as in streamlet, require a separate consideration. The first has nothing to do with the Italian forms acquerella and coserella—themselves, perhaps, of Gothic, rather than of classical origin.

In the Old High-German there are a multitude of diminutive forms in -el; as ouga = an eye, ougili = a little eye; lied = a song, liedel = a little song. This indicates the nature of words like cockerel.

Even in English the diminutive power of -el can be traced in the following words:—

Soare = a deer in its third year. Sor-rel—a deer in its second year.—See "Love's Labour Lost," with the note.

Tiercel = a small sort of hawk, one-third less (tierce) than the common kind.

Kantle = small corner, from cant = a corner.—"Henry IV."

Hurdle; in Dutch horde; German, hurde. Hording, without the -l, is used in an allied sense by builders in English.

In the words in point we must assume an earlier form, cocker and piker, to which the diminutive form -el is affixed. If this be true, we have, in English, representatives of the diminutive form -el so common in the High Germanic dialects. Wolfer = a wolf, hunker = a haunch, flitcher = a flitch, teamer = a team, fresher = a frog,—these are north country forms of the present English.

The termination -let, as in streamlet, seems to be double, and to consist of the Gothic diminutive -l, and the French diminutive -t.

§ 271. Augmentatives.—Compared with capello = a hat, the Italian word capellone = a great hat, is an augmentative. The augmentative forms, pre-eminently common in the Italian language, often carry with them a depreciating sense.

The termination -rd (in Old High German, -hart), as in drunkard, braggart, laggard, stinkard, carries with it this idea of depreciation. In buzzard, and reynard, the name of the fox, it is simply augmentative. In wizard, from witch, it has the power of a masculine form.

The termination -rd, taken from the Gothic, appears in the modern languages of classical origin: French, vieillard; Spanish, codardo. From these we get, at secondhand, the word coward.

The word sweetheart is a derived word of this sort, rather than a compound word; since in Old High German and Middle High German, we have the corresponding form liebhart. Now the form for heart is in German not hart, but herz.

Words like braggadocio, trombone, balloon, being words of foreign origin, prove nothing as to the further existence of augmentative forms in English.

§ 272.—Patronymics.—In the Greek language the notion of lineal descent, in other words, the relation of the son to the father, is expressed by a particular termination; as Πηλεύς (Peleus), Πηλείδης (Peleidæs), the son of Peleus. It is very evident that this mode of expression is very different from either the English form Johnson = the son of John, or the Gaelic MacDonald = the son of Donald. In these last-named words, the words son and Mac mean the same thing; so that Johnson and MacDonald are not derived but compound words. This Greek way of expressing descent is peculiar, and the words wherein it occurs are classed together by the peculiar name patronymic; from patær = a father, and onoma = a name.

Is there anything in English corresponding to the Greek patronymics?

Not in the present English? There was, however, in the Anglo-Saxon.

In the Anglo-Saxon, the termination -ing is as truly patronymic as -ίδης in Greek. In the Bible-translation the son of Elisha is called Elising. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle occur such genealogies as the following:—Ida wæs Eopping, Eoppa Esing, Esa Inging, Inga Angenviting, Angenvit Alocing, Aloc Beonocing, Beonoc Branding, Brand Bældæging, Bældæg Vódening, Vóden Friðowulfing, Friðowulf Finning, Finn Godwulfing, Godwulf Geating = Ida was the son of Eoppa, Eoppa of Esa, Esa of Inga, Inga of Angenvit, Angenvit of Aloc, Aloc of Beonoc, Beonoc of Brand, Brand of Bældæg, Bældæg of Woden, Woden of Friðowulf, Friðowulf of Finn, Finn of Godwulf, Godwulf of Geat.—In Greek, Ἴδα ἦν Ἐοππείδης, Ἔοππα Ἠσείδης, Ἤσα Ἰγγείδης, Ἴγγα Ἀγγενφιτείδης, &c. In the plural number these forms denote the race of; as Scyldingas = the Scyldings, or the race of Scyld, &c. Edgar Atheling means Edgar of the race of the nobles.

GENTILE FORMS.

§ 273. The only word in the present English that requires explanation is the name of the principality Wales.

1. The form is plural, however much the meaning may be singular; so that the -s in Wale-s is the -s in fathers, &c.

2. It has grown out of the Anglo-Saxon from wealhas = foreigners, from wealh = a foreigner, the name by which the Welsh are spoken of by the Germans of England, just as the Italians are called Welsh by the Germans of Germany; and just as wal-nuts = foreign nuts, or nuces Galliæ. Welsh = weall-isc = foreign, and is a derived adjective.

3. The transfer of the name of the people inhabiting a certain country to the country so inhabited, was one of the commonest processes in both Anglo-Saxon and Old English.

ON THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE NOUN AND VERB, AND ON THE INFLECTION OF THE INFINITIVE MOOD.

§ 274. In order to understand clearly the use of the so-called infinitive mood in English, it is necessary to bear in mind two facts, one a matter of logic, the other a matter of history.

In the way of logic, the difference between a noun and a verb is less marked than it is in the way of grammar.

Grammatically, the contrast is considerable. The inflection of nouns expresses the ideas of sex as denoted by gender, and of relation in place as denoted by cases. That of verbs rarely expresses sex, and never relations in place. On the other hand, however, it expresses what no noun ever does or can express; e.g., the relation of the agency to the individual speaking, by means of person; the time in which acts take place, by means of tense; and the conditions of their occurrence, by means of mood.

The idea of number is the only one that, on a superficial view, is common to these two important parts of speech.

§ 275. Logically, however, the contrast is inconsiderable. A noun denotes an object of which either the senses or the intellect can take cognizance, and a verb does no more. To move = motion, to rise = rising, to err = error, to forgive = forgiveness. The only difference between the two parts of speech is this, that, whereas a noun may express any object whatever, verbs can only express those objects which consist in an action. And it is this superadded idea of action that superadds to the verb the phenomena of tense, mood, person, and voice; in other words, the phenomena of conjugation.

§ 276. A noun is a word capable of declension only. A verb is a word capable of declension and conjugation also. The fact of verbs being declined as well as conjugated must be remembered. The participle has the declension of a noun adjective, the infinitive mood the declension of a noun substantive. Gerunds and supines, in languages where they occur, are only names for certain cases of the verb.

§ 277. Although in all languages the verb is equally capable of declension, it is not equally declined. The Greeks, for instance, used forms like

§ 278. Returning, however, to the illustration of the substantival character of the so-called infinitive mood, we may easily see—

α. That the name of any action may be used without any mention of the agent. Thus, we may speak of the simple fact of walking or moving, independently of any specification of the walker or mover.

β. That, when actions are spoken of thus indefinitely, the idea of either person or number has no place in the conception; from which it