not constant.

A long vowel is often changed into a short one; thus, kept, slept, wept, crept, swept; from the verbs, to keep, to sleep, to weep, to creep. to sweep.

Where d or t go before, the additional letter dort, in this contracted form, coalesce into one letter with the radical dort: if t were the radical, they coalesce into /; but if d were the radical, then into dort, as the one or the other letter may be more easily pronounced: as read, led, spread, shed, shred, bid, bid, chid, fed, bled, bred, sped, strid, slid, rid; from the verbs to read, to lead, to spread, to shed, to sbread, to bid, to bide, to chide, to feed, to bleed, to breed, to speed, to stride, to slide, to ride. And thus cast, burt, cost, burst, eat, beat, swet, sit, quit, smit, writ, bit, bit, met, shot; from the verbs to cast, to hurt, to cost, to burst, to eat, to beat, to sweat, to sit, to quit, to smite, to write, to bite, to bit, to meet, to sboot. And in like manner, lent, sent, rent, girt; from the verbs to lend, to send, to rend, to gird.

The participle preterit or passive is often formed in en, instead of ed; as been, token, given, slain, known; from the verbs to be, to lake, to give, to slay, to know.

Many words have two or more participles, as not only written, bitten, eaten, beaten, bid den, chidden, shotten, chosen, broken; but like wise writ, bit, cat, beat, bid, chid, short, chose, broke, are promiscuously used in the participle, from the verbs to zurite, to bite, to eat, to beat, to bide, to cbide, to shoot, to choose, to break, and many such like.

In the same manner sown, sheron, bern, mown, loaden, laden, as well as sow'd, shew'd, bew'd, mow'd, loaded, laded, from the verbs to sow, to shew, to bew, to mow, to load or lade.

Concerning these double participles it is difficult to give any rule; but he shall seldom err who remembers, that when a verb has a participle distinct from its preterit, as write, wrote, written, that distinct participle is more proper and elegant, as The book is written, is better than The book is wrote. Wrote, however, may be used in poetry; at least if we allow any authority to poets, who, in the exultation of genius, think themselves perhaps entitled to trample on grammarians.

There are other anomalies in the preterit. 1. Win, spin, begin, swim, strike, stick, sing, sting, fling, ring, wring, spring, swing, drink, sink, sbrink, stink. come, run, find, bind, grind, wind, both in the preterit imperfect and participle passive, give won, spun, begun, swum, struck, stuck, sung, stung, flung, rung. wrung, sprung, swung, drunk, sunk, shrunk, stunk, come, run, found, bound, ground, wound. And most of them are also formed in the preterit by a, as began, rang, sang, sprang, drank, came, ran, and some others; but most of these are now obsolete. Some in the participle passive likewise take en, as stricken, strucken, drunken, bounden.

2. Fight, teach, reach, seek, beseech, catch. bug, bring, think, work, make fought, taught, raught, sought, besought, caught, bought, brought, thought, wrought.

But a great many of these retain likewise the regular form, as teached, reached, beseeched, catched, worked.

3. Take, shake, forsake, wake, awake, stand, break, speak, bear, sheur, swear, tear, wear, weave, cleave, strive, thrive, drive, shine. rise, arise, smite, write, bide, abide, ride, chouse, chuse, tread, get, beget, forget, seethe, make in both preterit and participle took, sbook, forsook, quoke, awoke, stood, broke, spoke, bore, shore, swore, tore, wore, wove, clove, strove, tbrove, drove, shone, rose, arose, smole, surote, bode, abode, rode, chose, trode, gol, begot, forgot, sod. But we say likewise, thrive, rise, smut, writ, abid, rid. In the preterit some are likewise formed by a, as brake, spake, bare, share, sware, tare, ware, clave, gat, begat, forgat, and perhaps some others, but more rarely. In the participle passive many of them are formed by en, as taken, shaken, forsaken, broken, spoken, born, sborn, sworn, torn, worn, woven, cloven, thriven, driven, risen, smitten, ridden, chosen, trodden, gotten, begotten, forgotten, sodden. And many do likewise retain the analogy in both, as waked, awaked, sheared, weaved, cleaved, abided,

seetbed.

4. Give, bid, sit, make in the preterit gave, bade, sate; in the participle passive, given, bidden, sitten; but in both bid.

On the contrary, the termination less add

Of DERIVATION.

That the English language may be more easily understood, it is necessary to inquire how its derivative words are deduced from their pri mitives, and how the primitives are borrowed from other languages. In this inquiry I shall sometimes copy Dr. Wallis, and sometimes endeavour to supply his defects, and rectify his

errours.

Nouns are derived from verbs.

The thing implied in the verb, as done or produced, is commonly either the present of the verb; as to love, love; to fright, a fright; to fight, a fight; or the preterit of the verb, as, to strike, I strick or strook, a struke.

The action is the same with the particile present, as loving, frighting, fizbung, striking.

The agent, or person acting, is denoted by the syllable er added to the verb, as lover, frigbier, striker.

Substantives, adjectives, and sometimes other parts of speech, are changed into verbs: in which case the vowel is often lengthened or the consonant softened; as a house, to house; brass, to braze; glass, to glaze; grass, to graze; price, to prize; breath, to breathe; a fish, to fish; oil, to oil; further, to further; forward, to forward; hinder, to binder.

Sometimes the termination en is added, especially to adjectives; as haste, to basten; length, to lengthen; strength, to strengthen; short, to shorten; fast, to fasten; white, to whiten; black, 10 blacken; hard, to harden; soft, to soften.

From substantives are formed adjectives of plenty, by adding the termination ; as a louse, lousy, wealth, wealthy; health, bealthy; might, mighty; worth, worthy; wit, witty; lust, lusty, water, watery; earth, earthy; wood, a wood, woody; air, airy; a heart, bearty; a hand, bandy.

From substantives are formed adjectives of plenty, by adding the termination ful, denoting abundance; as joy, joyful; fruit, fruit ful; youth, youthful; care, careful; use, useful; delight, delightful; plenty, plentiful; help, belpful.

Sometimes, in almost the same sense, but with some kind of diminution thereof, the termination some is added, denoting some thing, or in some degree; as delight, delightsome; game, gamesome; irk, irksome; bur. den, burdensome; trouble, troublesome; light, lgbtsome; hand, handsome; alone, lonesome; toil, toilsome.

Privation or contrariety is very often denoted by the particle un prefixed to many adjectives, or in before words derived from the Latin; as pleasant, unpleasant; wise, unwise; profitable, unprofitable; patient, impa tient. Thus unworiby, unhealthy, unfruitful, unuseful, and many more.

The original English privative is un; but as we often borrow from the Latin, or its descendants, words already signifying privation, as inefficacious, impious, indiscreet, the inseparable particles un and in have fallen into confusion, from which it is not easy to disentangle them.

Un is prefixed to all words originally English; as untrue, untruth, untaught, unhandsome.

Un is prefixed to all participles made privative adjectives, as unfeeling, unassisting, unaided, undelighted, unendeared.

Un ought never to be prefixed to a participle present, to mark a forbearance of action, as unsighing but a privation of habit, as unptying.

Un is prefixed to most substantives which perfectness, which, if they have borrowed terminhave an English termination, as unferti eness, unations, take in or im, as infertility, imperfection; une vil, incivility; unactive, iractivity.

In borrowing adjectives, if we receive them already compounded, it is usual to retain the particle prefixed, as indecent, in legunt, improper; but if we borrow the adjective, and add the privative particle, we commonly prefix un, as unpolite, ungallant.

The prepositive particles, dis and mis derived from the des and mes of the French, signify almost the same as un; yet dis rather imports contrariety than privation, since it answers to the Latin preposition de. Mis insinuates some errour, and for the most part may be rendered by the Latin words male or perperam. To like, to dislike; honour, dishonour; to honour, to grace, to dishonour, to disgrace; to deign, to disdeign; chance, hap,, mischance, mishap; to take, to mistake; deed, misdeed; to use, to misuse; to employ, to misempicy; to apply, to misapply.

Words derived from Latin written with de or dis retain the same signification; as distinguish, distinguo; detract, detrahos defume, defamo; detain, detineo.

The termination ly added to substantives, and sometimes to adjectives, forms adjectives that import some kind of similitude or agreement, being formed by contraction of lick or like.

A giant, giantly, giantlike; earth, earthly, heaven, beavenly; world worldly; God, godly; good, goodly.

The same termination ly added to adjectives, forms adverbs of like signification; as beautiful, beautifully; sweet, sweetly; that is, in a beautiful manner; with some degree of sweetness.

The termination is added to adjectives, imports diminution; and added to substan

is, to stop; way, that is an obstacle; stick, stut, stuller, stammer, stagger, stickle, stick, stake, a sharp pale, and any thing deposited at play; stock, stem, sting, to sting, stink, stitch, stud, stanchion, stub, stubble, to stub up, stump, whence stumble, stalk, to stalk, step, to stamp with the feet, whence to stamp, that is, to make an impression and a stamp; stow, to stow, 10 bestow, steward or stoware, stead, tady, steadfast, stable, a stabie, a stait, to stall, stool, stall, still, stall, stallage, stall, stage, still adj. and still adv. stale, stout, sturdy, steed, stoat, station, stiff, stark-dead, to starve with hunger or cold; stone, steel, stern, stanch, to stanch blood, to stare, steep, steeple, stair, standard, a stated measure, stately. In all these, and perhaps some others, u denote something firm and fixed.

The imply a more violent degree of motion, as throw, thrust, throng, throb, through, threat, threaten, thrall, threes.

Wimply some sort of obliquity or distortion, as wry, to wreathe, wrest, wrestle, wring, wrong, wrinch, wrench, wrangle, wrinkle, wrath, umeak, wrack, wretch, wrist, wrap.

Simply a silent agitation, or a softer kind of lateral motion; as sway, swag, to sway, swagger, swerve, swear, sweep, swill, swim, swing, swift, sweet, switch, swinge.

Nor is there much difference of sm in smooth, mug, smile, smirk, smite, which signifies the same as to strike, but is a softer word; smali, smell, smack, smother, smart, a smart blow properly sig nifies such a kind of stroke as with an originally silent motion, implied in sm, proceeds to a quick violence, denoted by ar suddenly ended, as is shewn by t.

C denote a kind of adhesion or tenacity, as in cleave, clay,cling, climb,clamber, clammy,clasp, to clasp, to clip, to clinch, cloak, clog, close, to close, a clod, a clet, as a clot of blood, clouted cream, a clutter, a cluster, Simply a kind of dissipation or expansion, pecially a quick one, particularly if there be an, as if it were from spargo, or separo: for example, spread, sping, sprig, sprout, sprinkle, split, sprinter, spul, spit, sputter, spatter.

S denote a kind of silent fall, or a less observable motion; as in slime, shide, slip, slipper, sly, sleight, slit, slow, slack, slight, sling, sl.p.

And so likewise ash, in crash, rash, gash, flush, clash, Lash, slash, plash, trash, indicate something acting more nimbly and sharply. But uh, in crush, rush, gush, flush, blush, brush, kush, push, imply something as acting more obtusely and dully. Yet in both there is indicated a swift and sudden motion, not instantaneous, but gras dual, by the continued sound sh.

Thus in fling, sling, ding, swing, cling, sing, toring, sing, the tingling of the termination #g, and the sharpness of the voweli, imply the continuation of a very slender motion or tremor, at length indeed vanishing, but not suddenly interrupted. But in tinh, wink, sink, clink, chink, think, that end in a mute consonant, there is also indicated a sudden ending.

If there be an 1, as in jingle, tingle, tinkle, mingle, sprinkle, twinkle, there is implied a frequency, or iteration of small acts. And the same frequency of acts, but less subtile by reason of the clearer vowel 4, is indicated in jangle, tangle, spangle, mangle, wrange, brangle, dangle; as also in mumble, grum ble, jumble, sumble, stumble, rumble, crumble, fumble. But at the same time the close u implies something obscure or obtunded; and a congeries of consonants mbi, denotes a confused kind of rolling or tumbling, as in ramble, scamble, scramble,

wamble, amble; but in these there is something acute.

In nimble, the acuteness of the vowel denotes celerity. In sparkle, sp denotes dissipation, or an acute crackling, ✯ a sudden interruption, / a frequent iteration; and in like manner in sprinkle, unless in may imply the subtility of the dissipated guttules Thick and thin differ, in that the former ends with an obtuse consonant, and the latter with an acute.

In like manner, in squeek, squeak, squeal, squall, braul, wraul, y wl, spaul, screek, shriek, shrill, sharp, shrivel, wrinkle, crack, crash, clash, gnash, plash, crush, hush, hisse, fisse, whist, soft, jarr, hurl, curl, whirl, buz, bustle, spindle, dwindle, tavine, twist, and in many more, we may observe the agreement of such sort of sounds with the thing sig nified: and this so frequently happens, that scarce any language which I know can be compared with ours. So that one monosyllable word, of which kind are almost all ours, emphatically expresses what in other languages can scarce be explained but by compounds, or decompounds, or sometimes a tedious circumlocution.

We have many words borrowed from the Latin; but the greatest part of them were communicated by the intervention of the French; as grace, face, elegant, elegance, resemble.

Some verbs which seem borrowed from the Latin, are formed from the present tense, and some from the supines.

From the present are formed spend, expend, expendo; conduce, conduco; despise, despicio; approve, approbo; conceive, concipio.

From the supines, supplicate, supplico ; demonstrate, demonstro; dispose, dispono; expatiate, expatior; suppress, supprimo; exempt, eximo.

Nothing is more apparent than that Wallis goes too far in quest of originals. Many of these which seem selected as immediate descendants from the Latin, are apparently French, as conceive, opprot e, expose, exempt.

Some words purely French, not derived from the Latin, we have transferred into our language; as garden, garter, buckler, to ad vance, to cry, to plead, from the French, jardin, jartier, bouclier, avancer, crier, plaider; though indeed, even of these, part is of Latin original.

As to many words which we have in common with the Germans, it is doubtful whether the old Teutons borrowed them from the La-" tins, or the Latins from the Teutons, or both had them from some common original; as quine, vinum; wind, ventus; quent, veni; way, via; wall, vallum; wallow, volvo; wool, vellus; quil., volo; wom, vermis; worth, virtus; wash, vespa; day, dies; draw, traho; tame, domo, daμán; joke,, jugum, Čevyes; over, upper, super, nie; am, sum, t; break, frango; fiy, volo; blow, flo. I make no doubt but the Teutonick is more ancient than the Latin; and it is no less certain, that the Latin, which borrowed a great number of words, not only from the Greek, especially the

olick, but from other neighbouring languages as the Oscan and others, which have long be come obsolete, received not a few from the

Teutonick. It is certain, that the English, German, and other Teutonick languages, retained some derived from the Greek, which the Latin has not; as ax, achs, mit, ford, pfurd, daughter, tachter, mickle, mingle, moon, sear, grane, graff, to grawe, to scrape, whole, from ážím, parta wapoμg) Ivyarią, msydkass puryvów, pñm, Engós, vrou, hoc. Since they received these immediately from the Greeks, without the intervention of the Latin language, why may not other words be derived immediately from the same fountain, though they be likewise found among the Latins?

Our ancestors were studious to form borrowed words, however long, into monosyllables; and not only cut off the formative terminations, but cropped the first syllable, espe cially in words beginning with a vowel; and rejected not only vowels in the middle, but likewise consonants of a weaker sound, retaining the stronger, which seem the bones of words, or changing them for others of the same organ, in order that the sound might become the softer; but especially transposing their order, that they might the more readily be pronounced without the intermediate vowels. For example: in expendo, spend; exemplum, sample; excipio, scape; extraneus, strange; extractum, stretch'd; excrucio, to screw; exscario, to scour; excorio, to scourge; excortico, to scratch; and others beginning with ex: as also emendo, to mend; episcopus, bishop, in Danish bisp; epistola, epistle; hospitale, spittle; Hispania, Spain; historia,

story.

Many of these etymologies are doubtful, and some evidently mistaken.

The following are somewhat harder: Alexander, Sander; Elisabetha, Betty; apis, bee; aper, Bar; passing into b, as in bishop; and by cutting off a from the beginning, which is restored in the middle: but for the old bar or bare, we now say bore; as for lang, long ; for bain, bane; for stane, stone; aprugna, brown, being changed into b,and transposed, as in aper, and g changed into w, as in pignus, pawn; lege, law: now, fox; cutting off the beginning, and changing into f, as in pellis, a fell; pullus, a foal; pater, father; pavor, star; polio, file; pleo, impleo, fill, full; piscis, fak; and transposing into the middle, which was taken from the beginning: apex, a piece; peak, pike; zophorus, frieze; mustum, stum; defensio, fence; dispensator, spenser ; asculto, escouter, Fr, scout; exscalpo, scrape, restoring instead of, and hence scrap, scrabble, scrawl; exculpo, s; exterritus, start; extonitus, attonitus, stean'd; stomachus, maw; offendo, fined; obstipo, step; audere, dare; cavere, ware; whence a-ware, besware, wary, warn, warning, for the Latin v consonant formerly sounded like our w, and the modern sound of the v consonant was formerly that of the letter f, that is, the Æolick digamma, which had the sound of, and the modern sound of the letter f was that of the or ph; ulcus, ulcere, ulcer, sore, and hence sorry, sorrow, sorrowfiel; ingenium, engine, gi; alenus, leaning, unless you would rather deive it from xi, whence inclino; infundibulum, funnel; gagates, jett; projectum, to jett forth, a jerry; cucullus, a cow!.

Greek

VOL. L.

There are syncopes somewhat harder: from tempore, time; from nomine, name; domina, dame; as the French homme, femme, nom, from homine, femina, nomine. Thus pagina, page; WoTŃgicy, pol; Xumɛñña, cup; cantharus, can; tentorium, tent; precor, pray; præda, prey; specio, speculor, shy; plico, ply; implico, imply; replico, reply; complico, comply; sedes episcopalis, see.

A vowel is also cut off in the middle, that the number of the syllables may be lessened; as, amita, aunt; spiritus, spright; debitum, debt; dubito, doubt; comes, comitis, count; clericus, clerk; quietus, quit, quite; acquieto, to acquit; separo, to spare; stabilis, stable; stabulum, stable; palatium, palace, place; rabula, rail; rawl, wraul, brawl, rable, brable; quæsitio, quest.

As also a consonant, or at least one of a softer sound, or even a whole syllable; rotundus, round; fragilis, frail; securus, sure; regula, rule; tegula, tile; subtilis, subtle; nomen, noun; decanus, dean; computo, count; subitaneus, suddain, soon; superare, to soar; periculum, peril; mirabile, marvel; as magnus, main; dignor, deign; tingo, stain; tinctum, taint ; pingo, paint ; prædari, reach.

The contractions may seem harder, where many of them meet: as xupiaxiç, kyrk, church; presbyter, priest; sacristanus, sexton; frango, fregi, break, breach; fagus, pnya, beech, f changed into and g into ch, which are letters near a-kin; frigesco, freeze; frigesco, fresh, se into sh, and refrigesco, refresh; but viresco, fresh; phleas above in bishop, fish, so in scapha, skiff, ski, botomus, fleam; bovina, beef; vitulina, vial; scutifer, squire; pœnitentia, penance; sanctua rium, sanctuary, sentry; quæsitio, chase; perquisitio, purchase; anguilla, eel; insula, isle, ile, island, iland; insuletta, islet, ilet, eyght, and more contractedly ey, whence Owsney, Ruley, Ely; examinare, to scan, namely, by rejecting from the beginning and end e and o, according to the usual manner, the remainder xamin, which the Saxons, who did not use x, write csamen, or scamen, is contracted into scan; as from dominus, don; nomine, noun; abomino, ban; and indeed aptum examen they turned into sciame; for which we say swarme, by inserting to denote the murmuring; thesaurus, store; sedile, stool; wilde wer; sudo, swear; gaudium, gay; jocus, joy; succus, juice; catena, cbain: caliga, calga; chause, chausse, Fr. hose: extinguo, stanch, squench, quench, stint ; foras, forth; species, spice; recito, read; adjuvo, aid; alwv, ævum, ay, age, ever; floccus, lock; excerpo, scroße, scrabble, scrawi; extravagus, stray, straggle; collectum, cler, clutch; colligo, coil; recolligo, recoil; severo, squear; stridulus, skrill; procurator, proxy; pulso, to push; calamus, a quill; impetere, to impeach; augeo, auxi, uax; and vanesco, vanui, wane; syllabare, to spell puteus, fit; granum, corn; comprimo, cramp. crump, crumple, crinkle.

Some may seem harsher, yet may not be rejected, for it at least appears that some of them are derived from proper names: and there are others whose etymology is acknowledged by every body; as, Alexander, Elick, Scander, San der, Sandy, Sanny; Elizabetha, Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Betty, Bess; Margaretta, Margaret, Marget, Meg Peg; Maria, Mary, Mal, Pal, Malkin, Markin, Marukes; Matthæus, Mattha, Matthew; Martha, Matt, Pat; Gulielmus, Wilhelmus, Game, Guil laume, William, Will, Bill, Wilkin, rida, Hika

Weeks.