The primary object of writing and spelling is to express the sounds of the language. But beyond this primary.object there is, with the orthographical systems of many languages, a secondary one, namely, to combine with the representation of the sound of a given word the representation of its history and origin. The sound of c in city is the sound that we naturally spell with the letter s; and if the expression of this sound were the only object of orthographists, the word would be spelled, accordingly, sity. The following facts traverse this simple view of the matter. The word is a derived word; it is transplanted into our language from the Latin, where it is spelled with a c (civitas), and to change this c into s conceals the origin and history of the word. In cases like this, the orthography is bent to a secondary end by the etymology. On the same ground, lode-stone and lode-star are preferable to load-stone and load-star. Lode was the ancient form, and distinguished literati in England and America seem disposed to employ this form. SECTION CCXXXIII.-THE ANALOGIES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. The question may arise whether, upon the addition of the formative er to the word travel, the 7 should be doubled; in other words, whether traveler or traveller is the correct spelling. It is a remark in the Cambridge Philological Museum, "that there is something extremely unpleasant in such a mass of letters as one finds accumulated in travelled, in an unaccented syllable." What, however, seems to settle the correct orthography of the word is the analogy of the language. It is a rule in the English language, "that verbs ending in a single consonant, but having the accent on the syllable preceding the last, ought not to double the final consonant." According, then, to the analogy of the language, er should be added, and nothing more. Between the two forms highth and height use is perhaps divided, the first having the authority of Milton and some eminent modern writers, like Walter Savage Landor. This form can be defended not so much on the ground of throwing out the useless letter e, as on that of its being in analogy with high, from which it is derived. So to clothe (not cloath) is in analogy with cloth; loathe is in analogy with loth; cloke (rather than cloak) is in analogy with a large class of words, and is the ancient form. SECTION CCXXXIV.-CHANGE OF PRONUNCIATION. Moreover, modes of spelling which at one time were correct, may, by a change of pronunciation, become incorrect, so that the orthography becomes obsolete whenever there takes place a change of speech without a corresponding change of spelling. If the letter y, in the first syllable of the word chymistry, represented the vowel sound generally given in pronunciation to that word at the time Johnson wrote his dictionary, then he accomplished the true end of ortho graphy by spelling it as it was pronounced; but if afterward there was a general change in the pronunciation of the word, so that the letter y no longer represented the sound heard in that syllable, then, on that ground, the change ought to be made from y to e, if the letter e represents that sound; but if the letter e does not represent the sound heard in speaking so well as y, or its equivalent, i, then y ori should be employed to represent that sound. If, in addition, the etymology of the word, derived from the Arabic kimia, points to i, if the analogy of some other languages points the same way, the French spelling it chimie, the Spanish chimia, the Italians chimica, there is strong reason for spelling it either with i ory in the first syllable. This statement is brought forward, not for the purpose of showing the true spelling of the word, about which nothing is asserted except conditionally, but for the sake of showing what kind of reasoning can be adopted by an orthographist in settling the spelling of a word. The word commandment was formerly pronounced in four syllables, and was then spelled commandement. That pronunciation has ceased, and, in harmony with this, the penult syllable e has been dropped. SECTION CCXXXV.-TENDENCY OF THE LANGUAGE. It is the tendency of the language to lay aside as useless silent letters in certain classes of words. There are those, indeed, who strongly object to this mutilation of words to which they have long been accustomed, as marring their beauty, just as they would object to the mutilation of ancestral trees under whose shade they had often reposed. Still, there are certain tendencies of the language which cannot be withstood by this conservative spirit, however praiseworthy. Between the two forms public and publick, use has been divided. The argument in favour of the first form is, that it is free from a useless letter; that it better agrees with its etymology, derived as it is from the Latin word publicus, which has no k; that it is in analogy with its derivatives, publicly, publication, which have no k. The argument in favour of the k is, that c has no determinate sound, being equivalent at one time to s and at another to k, and should therefore never end a word, since the next word may begin either with a broad vowel, a, o, or u, when it would have the sound of k, or with a small vowel, e or i, when it would have the sound of s. Now, the tendency of the language, the weighty authority of Johnson to the contrary notwithstanding, is to lay aside the k in words like this. These instances are brought forward, not for the purpose of deciding any doubtful questions in orthography, but only to exhibit the considerations which the orthographist must take into view in order to come to a correct decision. SECTION CCXXXVI.-GRAMMAR. Grammar-French grammaire, Greek ypápua, a letter, as a science, is a system of principles common to all languages. These principles relate to articulate sounds, to letters, to syllables, to words, to. sentences. Grammar, as an art, is a system of rules for the practical application of these principles to language. These principles are deduced from the analysis of language, and are applied in its synthesis. A principle in science is a rule in art; and the two should not be confounded, "The two ideas of science and art differ from one another as the understanding differs from the will, and as the indicative mode in grammar differs from the imperative. The one deals in facts, and the other in precepts. Science is a collection of truths; art is a body of rules or directions for the conduct. The language of science is, This is, or This is not; This does or does not happen. The language of art is, Do this; Avoid that."-MILL'S Essays on some Unsettled Questions in Political Economy. SECTION CCXXXVII.-ENGLISH GRAMMAR. English grammar, as a science, is a system of principles and a collection of facts peculiar to the English language, together with those which are common, also, to other languages. - English grammar, as an art, is a system of rules for the practical application of these principles to the English language. In the study of English grammar, the end aimed at is,-I. An acquaintance with those facts and principles which pertain to the science; II. A familiarity with the application of those principles to practice. He who, in his practice in writing and speaking, applies these principles, thus making science the minister of art, speaks and writes the English language correctly. QUESTIONS UNDER CHAPTER VI. 1. In what does orthography, or right spelling, consist? 2. To what facts can the diversities in English orthography be referred as their causes? 3. Can you mention any facts which exhibit the inconsistencies of English orthography? 4. Mention certain plans for reforming English orthography. 5. Mention opposite views on the subject of reforming the orthography. 6. Mention the number of words in the language differently spelled in different dictionaries. 7. What is the value of usage for settling any cases of doubtful orthography? 8. What is said of the normal use of letters in orthography? 9. What is said of the value of silent letters in relation to orthography? 10. What is said of etymological facts and reasons? 11. What is said of the analogies of the English language in relation to orthography? 12. What is said of a change of pronunciation in relation to a change of orthography? 13. What is said of the tendencies of the language? 14. What is grammar as a science and as an art? 15. What is the difference between science and art? 16. What is English grammar as a science and as an art? 17. What is the end aimed at in the study of English grammar! EXERCISES UNDER PART III. SECTION CCXXXVIII.-ORTHOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS. By ORTHOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS is meant that process by which each element of the written language,-namely, each letter, is separated from the orthographic form in which it is used, and referred to the classification in Section CLXXXII., and its local representative power described according to Section CLXXXIII. In phonetic analysis the attention is fixed on the sounds; in orthographic analysis, on the letters. In the former, the things represented are under consideration; in the latter, the representatives themselves. EXAMPLES. 1. The Hebrew is a sublime monochord, uttering vague vowel sounds, as indistinct and shy as the breathings of an Eolian harp when exposed to a fitful breeze. Tis a dental surd consonant letter, cognate with d; h is an aspirate consonant letter; here they are taken together as a compound sign, or representative, of a single sonant phonetic element; e is a vowel letter representing a phonetic element; h is a letter representing a phonetic element; e, as above; b is a cognate consonant letter, and is called a labial, and here represents a phonetic element; r is a liquid consonant letter, sometimes called a palatal, sometimes a lingual, and here represents a phonetic element; ew, a digraph, is equivalent to u, and represents a diphthongal sound. The learner is expected to go through the sentence in like manner. 2. High on a throne of royal state, which far Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, H is an aspirated consonant letter representing a phonetic element; i is a small vowel letter, representing a phonetic element; g and h, neither separately nor taken together, represent here any phonetic element; o is a broad vowel letter, representing a phonetic element; n is a liquid nasal consonant letter, sometimes called a cerebral, and here represents a phonetic element; a is a broad vowel letter, representing a phonetic element; t is a dental cognate consonant letter; h is an aspirate letter; th together are a compound sign of a phonetic element; r, as before; o is a broad vowel letter, and represents a phonetic element; n, as before; e represents no phonetic element, but is used as an orthographical expedient. The learner is expected to go through the passage in like manner. 3. Analyse the following passage, and state, (1) Which letters represent the broad vowel elements, and which letters represent small vowel elements. (2) Which letters represent surd elements, and which represent sonant elements; which, liquid elements; which, nasal elements; which, labial elements; which, dental elements; which, palatal elements; which, sibilant elements; which, cerebral elements. (3) Which letters are normally used in representing phonetic elements; and which letters are used abnormally in representing phonetic elements; and which letters are employed as orthographical expedients. (4) What letter (or letters) is derived from the Phoenician; what letter is derived from the Greek; what letter is derived from the Roman; what letter is derived from the Anglo-Saxon. Of the poetical principle, the philosophy of life in England makes little account. An extravagant spirit of utility invades every scene of life, however sequestered. We attempt not to brighten the grim features of care, or relieve the burdens of responsibility. The daughter of a distinguished law professor on the Continent was in the habit of lecturing in her father's absence. To guard against the fascination of her charms, which, it was feared, would divert the attention of the students, a curtain was drawn before the fair teacher, from behind which she imparted her instructions. Thus do we carefully keep out of sight the poetical, and veil the spirit of beauty, that we may worship undisturbed at the shrine of the practical. SYNTHESIS. 1. Compose a sentence in which there shall be some letters representing the cognate phonetic elements. 2. Compose a sentence in which there shall be the representatives of the liquid phonetic elements; and one in which there shall be labial letters; and one in which there shall be dental letters; and one in which there shall be guttural or palatal letters; and one in which there shall be nasal letters; and one in which there shall be cerebral letters; and one in which there shall be sibilant letters. 3. Compose a sentence in which there shall be equivalent letters, namely, letters which abnormally or irregularly represent the same sounds which are normally or regularly represented by other letters. 4. Compose a sentence in which there shall be elementary sounds expressed by orthographical expedients. 5. Compose a sentence in which there shall be letters that come from the Hebrew alphabet, and letters that come from the Greek alphabet; and letters that come from the Roman alphabet; and at least one letter that comes from the Anglo-Saxon alphabet. Having, in this Third Part, exhibited the external, or the orthographic, form of the Matter or Sounds of the language, we are prepared to examine the Etymological Relations. PART IV. ETYMOLOGICAL FORMS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. CHAPTER I. THE PARTS OF SPEECH. SECTION CCXXXIX.--DEFINITIONS. ETYMOLOGY, from the Greek rupov, an etymon, and Xóyos, an account, is an account of the etymon, the true, literal, and exact force of a word. Hence, by extension, it is an account of the different kinds of words and of their formation. It treats of the classification, inflection, and derivation of words. The term is used in two senses. When used in the limited sense of the word, it is grammatical etymology, and includes classification and inflection. When used in the wide sense, it is historical etymology, and embraces the derivation of words from different languages, or from different stages of the same language. In both senses it treats of single words, and takes cognisance of the changes of form which they undergo.-See Section CCCLXXXII. ETYMOLOGICAL FORMS, in the English language, are the words of the language viewed only in their etymological relation, whether in the same language or in other languages. GRAMMATICAL ETYMOLOGY treats of the classification and inflection of words. |