66

bates, as "a rash and premature anticipation," "* and in that "induction by simple enumeration," which he describes as a puerile thing leading to precarious conclusions, and exposed to hazard from contradictory proofs:"† whilst, on the other hand, the zealous and persevering philologists above mentioned, and their fellow-labourers of perhaps equal ability, have pursued that which Bacon calls "the true way," and "from which we may augur well for science;" viz., "when by a just scale, and by continuous, uninterrupted, and unbroken degrees, we ascend from particulars to the minor axioms, thence to the intermediate, each successively superior to that which it precedes, and so at last to the most general."§ They have shown, that what is done in some languages by particles, is done in other languages by separate words: and as it is abundantly clear that all separate words may have been wholly or partially employed to signify either conceptions or emotions, it is reasonable to infer that the particles which stand in their place are significant also. Accordingly, these eminent men have explained the signification of almost all the particles employed in the abovementioned languages to modify nouns substantive or adjective, participles, pronouns, verbs, or prepositions; and the result may be illustrated by the analysis of a trivial sentence: ex. gr. "The shepherdess says that she plainly saw those soldiers mounted on able and handsome horses, driving the farmer's two largest oxen over the height." I will, therefore, briefly notice the effect of the particles here employed, in modifying the different parts of speech; reserving a fuller examination of them to a future period.

"Modifying

431. First, as to substantives-the particles er and ess, in "soldier,' "farmer," and "shepherdess," mark gender; en, es, and s in “ oxen, "horses," and "soldiers" mark number; and 's in "farmer's," marks case. In some languages, the gender of a noun substantive is shown by a separate word; in others, by a termination. The English masculine termination er manifestly corresponds with the German personal (or as Dr. Latham calls it demonstrative) pronoun, er, "he:" with the Latin masculine termination or, and substantive vir, man," and various words and particles in other languages, as will be shown hereafter. The Latins expressed children of the two sexes by the words puer and puella. Puer signifies what we mean by a man-child. We have therefore reason to believe, that as man is a word significant of a male of the human kind, so er when standing alone had a similar

66

* Anticipationes naturæ-res temeraria et præmatura. Org. Nov. aph. 26. Inductio quæ procedit per enumerationem simplicem, res puerilis est, et precariò concludit, et periculo exponitur ab instantiâ contradictoriâ. Ib. aph. 105. Altera (via) a sensu et particularibus excitat axiomata, ascendendo continenter, et gradatim, ut ultimo loco perveniatur ad maximè generalia, quæ Via vera est. Aph. 19.

§ De scientiis tum demùm benè sperandum est, quando per scalam veram, et per gradus continuos, et non intermissos, aut hiulcos, a particularibus ascendetur ad axiomata minora, et deinde ad media, alia aliis superiora, et postremò demùm ad generalissima. Aph. 104.

substantives.

Adjectives.

Participles.

signification. Puella signifies a girl; if we call pu-er a he-child, we
may call puella a she-child: and in fact, illa is the Latin feminine pro-
noun she.
In like manner our feminine particle ess, as in shepherdess,
agrees with the Latin termination ix, and the Greek ɩç, as πрoģītic, a
prophetess, and is found in the Italian pronoun essa, she. Our plural
termination en, which we retain in a few words only, is the ordinary
plural termination in German, as it was in old English. Its connection
with any existing noun, however, requires to be more fully inves-
tigated. On the other hand, our plural termination es, of which s,
(as in the above word soldiers) is a mere abbreviation, is found in the
Latin and French plural termination es, the old Scotch is, as in cryis
and clappis,* the Greek plural termination ɛs, as Traves, the Doric
plural pronoun äμμɛç, “we,” &c., and is perhaps connected with the
Latin pronoun singular, is. Our 's (as in the above word, farmer's)
is an abbreviation of the Anglo-Saxon genitive termination es, or is, as
Godes," of God," skipis, "of a ship;" which long prevailed in old
English and Scotch, and has been erroneously supposed to be a con-
traction of his.

432. As to adjectives, the particles ble and some, in “able” and "handsome," are connected with adjectival terminations in other languages; the former being derived from the Latin bilis, as in amabilis, (which is doubtless connected with the pronouns ille and is), and the latter with the German sam, as in langsam, the Frankish leidsame, "loathsome,” the Icelandic sam, as in samborgari," fellow-citizen," and with our own pronoun same.

433. Our participle of present time is formed by the particle ing, as in "driving," and that of past time by the particle ed, as in "mounted." Ing is the Scottish and, as in glowand (glowing), and the Frankish enti, as in scinenti (shining), both which seem to be connected with the Latin ens, entis, as in the genitive placentis, and with endi, as in the gerund placendi: and as ens is a participle of the verb esse,"to be," ing has probably a similar origin. Of this termination ing, however, it must be observed, that in English it does not exclusively signify time present, much less is it confined to a time momentarily present. We use the infinitive noun singing, as we do the infinitive to sing; for we may equally say "singing is a genteel accomplishment," or "to sing is a mark of a mind at ease." So, while the act of building a house is going on, we say "this house is building," more properly than "this house is being built." In like manner, we say of the builder, "he has been a long time building this house.” And again, a participle with this termination often passes into an adjective proper, as "this is a person of a pleasing address;" and the same occurs in the Latin idiom—

Nor is this usage of a participle confined to the participle present; for we speak of "an aged man," as we do of an old man, without reference to any particular time. And so does the poet

434. The particle which modifies the pronoun those in the sentence Pronouns. above given,* is simply a broad vowel exchanged for one of weaker pronunciation. The singular this, becomes the plural those. This sort of modification is common in all languages. It was carried much further in the Anglo-Saxon pronouns, than it is in the modern English; for the pronoun answering to our this, was in the singular masculine thes, thises, thisum, thisne, thise; feminine, theos, thisse, thas; neuter, this, thises, thisum, thise, and in the plural thas, thissa, thissam.

435. The modifications of the verb by particles are in most lan- Verbs. guages of the Indo-European branch, except our own, very numerous. A short specimen of them may here suffice:

It is impossible, in many of these words, not to recognise the pronouns
me, où, it, iμɛis, &c. In all the moods and tenses, the pronouns have
been most carefully, and in a great measure successfully traced, in
Bopp's Comparative Grammar. In many instances, the modification
is by a mere change of letter, as was observed above of the pronoun;
and this seems to be natural to mankind, because we find it in different
languages, and in very various ways, аs тÚяTш, TUпш, capio, cepi—sing,
sang-man, men, &c., and in the above sentence, "saw," the past tense
of see.
The word "says, the same sentence, differs only from say
by the addition of a consonant; but this is in reality a modern abbre-
viation of the word sayeth. M. de Brosses, after following the radical
sound cap through all its developments in the verb capio, concludes
with a just observation :-" Toute cette composition est l'ouvrage non
d'une combinaison reflechie, ni d'une philosophie raisonnée mais d'une
metaphysique d'instinct." Now, instinct could never have led men to
form a complicated and beautiful system out of sounds altogether un-
meaning; but it might easily lead to the gradual combination of known
elements, until they formed at length the complete structure of a
language.

436. Of the adverbial termination ly, as in the above word Adverbs, &c. "plainly," I have already observed that it is the adjective "like"

*Viz. "those soldiers," instead of "these." Supra, p. 283. 1. 21.

Anomalies.

Conclusion.

abbreviated, and agrees with the Gothic leik, and many other Teutonic words signifying a body. In the preposition over, the particle er again appears with a different power; but in all probability derived, as in the former instances, from a pronoun. The same may be said of the terminations est in "largest," and ht in height, the former serving to mark the superlative degree, and the other the idea of high applied by a natural transition of meaning to a high land.

437. There are numerous causes of anomaly in language, which render it more particularly difficult to systematise and explain the minor portions of speech, such as the prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and particles. One of these causes is a mistaken notion of analogies between particular words, where no such analogy exists. Thus our word further, which was the comparative of forth, has been supposed by many persons to be the comparative of far, and has therefore been erroneously written further. A still more striking instance is that of the word coud, which we always pronounce properly, but spell could, inserting the l, without any reason whatever, but that there is an in would and should. The two latter words are from the Anglo-Saxon wille and sceal, the former is from the Anglo-Saxon cwethan; and was always written in old English couthe, cowthe, or coude :

That though he had me bete on every bone,
He couthe winne agen my love anone.

He thowght to taste if he cowthe,
And on he put in his mowth.

Sir, quod this knyght myld of speche,
Wold God I cowthe your sonne teche !

Ac he no couthe neuer mo

Chese the better of hem to.

Chaucer.

Sir Cleges.

Lyfe of Ipomydon.

Amis and Amiloun.

Whiche was right displesant to the kyng, but he coude nat amende it.

Berners' Froissart, fol. 43.

Another and a more effective cause of anomaly is the love of euphony, or easy pronunciation, which leads the ignorant especially to corrupt words by abbreviations and changes, as Godild! for God yelde, i. e., reward him. Gossip for god-sib, &c.

438. Allowing for the obscurities which these and other causes spread over the minor portions of speech, it may fairly be said, that in regard to particles, as well as to words, the great principle of transition, by which significant sounds pass from one class and description of signs into another, has been here established. The noun or verb becoming a particle, and the particle coalescing with another verb or noun, serve to modify their signification, and determine their grammatical use. And finally, we may conclude, that language is throughout a combination of significant sounds, fitted to express thoughts and emotions, as they exist interchangeably in the human mind.

CHAPTER XVI.

OF THE MECHANISM OF SPEECH.

inquiry.

439. AN observation of the late M. FREDERICK CUVIER, on the actions Subject of of animals generally, is in an especial manner applicable to the exercise of the faculty of speech :-" The actions of animals," says he, "are composed of physical acts and intellectual acts, which imply the existence of corresponding faculties. Now since the physical faculties are essentially passive, and depend immediately on the intellectual, and since the former would not manifest themselves to us unless the latter communicated to them their activity, we may conclude that, in order to study animal nature, we should begin with the active faculties, and should endeavour, from a knowledge of these, to appreciate the physical actions."* Such is the course of proceeding which I have adopted. I have hitherto considered the science of language with reference to the faculties of intellect and will, which direct mankind in communicating to each other their thoughts and feelings: it remains to be inquired what are the bodily organs or instruments with which they are furnished by an all-wise Creator for the purpose of such communication, and how these may be used. I intend not here to discuss the effect of looks or gestures, for though they are often more expressive than words, yet as the present treatise has hitherto been confined to the consideration of spoken language, I shall now inquire only into the forms and uses of the organs of speech.

inquiry.

440. As the subject of inquiry in this part is different from that Mode of previously considered, so the mode of conducting that inquiry must be different. I have not now to proceed by deduction from ideas (that is, universal conceptions) to general conceptions, and so to particulars; but I must now proceed by induction from particulars to the less general, and so to the more general, in the manner commonly called Baconian, to which I before alluded. The reader, therefore, is not to expect that he will find in the following pages any conclusions so absolutely certain as those which constitute spiritual or intellectual truths, such, for instance, as the spiritual truth resulting from the beautiful and striking parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, or as the intellectual truth resulting from the 47th proposition of the first book of Euclid. These, when once embraced by an individual mind, can neither be obliterated nor altered: they admit of no confusion or doubt; they impress on the human mind the same conviction now that they did when the one fell from the lips of Christ, and the other was committed to writing by Euclid. It is otherwise with our conceptions of bodily existence; they are at best what Bacon calls * Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 1839, vol. 12, p. 145.