EXERCISES IN DERIVATIONS.

Look up the following words in the dictionary, and explain

their present meaning in the light of their derivation :

From the foregoing pages we have seen that a knowledge of English words can be gained

I. By constant reading of the best English authors. 2. By the use of the dictionary.

3. By the study of etymology and those languages from which English words have been derived.

We now proceed to a classification of the errors made in the use of words, with a view to avoiding these errors in our own writing.

CHAPTER II.

CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN THE USE OF WORDS.

Requirements of Good Diction. The subject which treats of the choice and use of words is called diction. The requirements of good diction have been summed up under three heads, known as purity, propriety, and precision. These terms are not used to cover the same ground by all writers on rhetoric. But, when confined to the subject of English diction, we may say:

Purity requires every word used to be good English. Propriety requires the selection of a word that will express the meaning intended. Precision requires the writer to select, from those words which in a measure express the intended meaning, the one which best expresses that meaning.

Errors in the use of words will be treated as violations of these three requisites.

PURITY.

Different Opinions. Some authorities maintain that, without reference to origin or former usage, it is permissible to use any word that an intelligent reader or listener will understand; and that, if a writer can coin a new word that will convey his meaning better than any word already in use, he is doing good service to the language by using one of his own coining. Those writers.

who are known as purists would exclude from English composition all words distinctly foreign, and all those not used by a majority of the best authors.

A Distinction to be made. The truth is, that purity is one of the most difficult subjects on which to lay down rules; for the same rule will not apply to all classes of writers. We must make a distinction between writers whose usage would add to the authority for a word, and writers whose usage would have no weight. The great masters of English literature have borrowed many words from other languages, and coined others to meet the needs of their thought. These innovations have been adopted by later writers, and become good English. In this way the language has grown, and developed its present rich vocabulary. To forbid and effectually prevent this coining and borrowing, would be to check the growth of the language; and this would be undesirable, even if it were possible.

Safest Rule. Genius is not to be bound by rules of rhetoric; but an attempt to coin or borrow words, on the part of one whose genius has not been acknowledged by others, must be considered unwise and presumptuous. Therefore the safest rule for the vast majority of writers, certainly for those still at school, is to use only those words that are in use by standard authors.

Information in Dictionaries. To determine, from literature, whether a word is or is not in use by standard authors, would involve a vast amount of reading. There'fore questions in regard to the standing of words can best be settled by reference to a large dictionary, such as the "Century Dictionary," Webster's "International Dictionary," and Worcester's "Unabridged Dictionary."

One of the most important elements in the work of compiling or revising these dictionaries is to give accurate and the latest information with reference to the standing of words. If a word is not in the dictionary, we may safely conclude that it is not good English. If it is there, but printed in Italics, or with two bars before it, as in the "International Dictionary," it is from a foreign language, and not yet domesticated. If not in Italics, or otherwise marked as foreign, and not followed by any note with reference to its use, it is in good usage. Words about whose standing there is some question are followed by a note indicating the objection to their use.

Look up the following words in the "International Dictionary," and notice after each word the remarks referring to its use:

Taste in the Choice of Words. — Literary critics and writers on rhetoric often give lists of words which they condemn; and later writers have followed or copied the original lists without ascertaining whether or not, in the time intervening, the language has adopted any of these words. Because Mr. Bryant thirty-five or forty years. ago would not allow certain words to be used in the Evening Post," it does not follow that none of these are in good standing to-day.

It may, however, be better to use one of two words, and yet not incorrect to use the other. In writing, as in all other work, the success attained and the pleasure given depend largely on the exercise of taste. Taste in the use of language cannot be acquired by learning

rules and lists of words, but only through acquaintance with the writings of those whose taste is worthy to be followed. In order, however, to guard against errors, the strictest rule is the safest rule for those whose youth and opportunities have prevented them from securing a wide acquaintance with English literature.

RULE. Purity requires the selection of such words as are used by the best English authors of the present age.

Application to School English. Though the use of foreign words is the most flagrant and annoying fault of many literary men, especially those who contribute to our magazines, it is a matter of fact that schoolboys very seldom introduce foreign words into their writing. Schoolgirls who have a slight knowledge of French, especially those who have spent a year or two abroad, often make a bad mixture of their French and English. This is not a fault due to ignorance, but is generally made with conscious effort. The direction, then, to use no foreign words is sufficient without any accompanying examples.

The rule for purity is also violated by the use of obsolete words or by the use of newly coined words; but there is scarcely any danger of its being violated in this way by those who study this book. The warning most necessary here is against the use of vulgarisms and slang, or words that in one way or another have come into the conversation of various classes of people, but are not found in the writing of standard authors.

Slang. Unfortunately, slang is much used in the American newspapers, and this fact accounts for the confusion between good and bad English in the vocabu