Produced by Colin Bell, Keith Edkins and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text. This file is best viewed in an environment supporting the Greek-extended range of characters. * * * * * A HAND-BOOK OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER CLASSES OF SCHOOLS. BY R. G. LATHAM, M.D., F.R.S., LATE PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. NEW-YORK: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. M.DCCC.LXIV. * * * * * CONTENTS. * * * * * PART I. GENERAL ETHNOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. CHAPTER I. GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.--DATE. SECTION PAGE 1. English language not British 1 2. Real origin German 1 3. Accredited immigrations and settlements 2 4, 5. Criticism 4, 5 CHAPTER II. GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.--THE GERMANIC AREA OF THE PARTICULAR GERMANS WHO INTRODUCED IT.--EXTRACT FROM BEDA. 6, 7. Jutes, Angles, and Saxons 6 8, 9. Extract from Beda 6, 7 10-13. Criticism 8-11 14, 15. Angles 11, 12 16. Saxons of Beda 12, 13 17. Anglo-Saxon area 13 18, 19. The Frisians 13, 14 20. Anglo-Saxon area 14 CHAPTER III. OF THE DIALECTS OF THE SAXON AREA, AND OF THE SO-CALLED OLD SAXON. 21-29. Old Saxon and Anglo-Saxon 16, 17 CHAPTER IV. AFFINITIES OF THE ENGLISH WITH THE LANGUAGES OF GERMANY AND SCANDINAVIA. 30, 31. Gothic languages 18 32-34. Divisions of the Gothic stock 18 35. MÅso-Gothic 19 36. Old High German 19 37. Low German 19 38. Frisian and Dutch 19 39. Platt-Deutsch 20 40, 41. Comparison 21-23 CHAPTER V. ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.--GERMANIC ELEMENTS.--THE ANGLES. 42. Analysis 24 43-54. Angles--their relations 24-28 55, 56. The Frisians 29, 30 CHAPTER VI. THE CELTIC STOCK OF LANGUAGES AND THEIR RELATIONS TO THE ENGLISH. 57. Branches of the Celtic stock 31 58-60. Structure of Celtic tongues 31-33 61-63. The Picts 33-35 CHAPTER VII. THE ANGLO-NORMAN, AND THE LANGUAGE OF THE CLASSICAL STOCK. 64. The classical languages 36 65-67. Latin branch 36-40 68, 69. Norman French 40, 41 PART II. HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL AND LOGICAL ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 70. Celtic elements 45 71. Latin of first period 46 72. Anglo-Saxon 47 73. Danish or Norse 47 74. Roman of second period 49 75. Anglo-Norman element 49 76. Indirect Scandinavian elements 50 77. Latin of third period 51 78. Latin of fourth period 51 79. Greek 52 80-82. Tables 53-55 83-90. Miscellaneous elements 55-60 91-94. Hybridism and new words 60-62 95. Historical and logical analysis 63 CHAPTER II. THE RELATION OF THE ENGLISH TO THE ANGLO-SAXON, AND THE STAGES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 96. Ancient and modern tongues 64 97. Details 65-68 98. Stages of the English language 68 99. Semi-Saxon 69 100-103. _Old_ English, &c. 70-72 104. Present tendencies 73 PART III. SOUNDS, LETTERS, PRONUNCIATION, SPELLING. CHAPTER I. GENERAL NATURE AND CERTAIN PROPERTIES OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS. 105. Spelling and speaking 77 106. Sounds and syllables 79 107. Vowels 79 108. Divisions 80 109. Sharp and flat sounds 80 110. Continuous and explosive 80 111. General statements 81 112. The sound of h 81 CHAPTER II. SYSTEM OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS. 113. Certain foreign sounds 82 114. System of mutes 82 115. Lenes and aspirates 83 116. Fourfold character of mutes 84 117. Y and w 84 118, 119. Diphthongs 84 120. Compound sounds 85 121. Ng 85 122, 123. Broad, slender; long, short; dependent, independent vowels 85, 86 124-126. System of sounds 86, 87 CHAPTER III. OF CERTAIN COMBINATIONS OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS. 127. Sharp and flat mutes 88 128. Unstable combinations 89 129. Effect of y 89 130, 131. Double consonants rare 89 132. True aspirates rare 90 CHAPTER IV. EUPHONY AND THE PERMUTATION OF LETTERS. 133. Euphony 92 134. Permutation 93 CHAPTER V. ON THE FORMATION OF SYLLABLES. 135. Syllabification 95-97 CHAPTER VI. ON QUANTITY. 136. Long and short sounds 98 137. Quantity of vowels--of syllables 98 138. Classical and English measurements 99 CHAPTER VII. ON ACCENT. 139. Place of accents 101 140. Distinctive accents 101 141. Emphasis 102 CHAPTER VIII. ORTHOGRAPHY. 142. Orthoepy 103 143-146. Principle of an alphabet 103-105 147. Violations of it 105 148. Rules 107 149-151. Details of English 107-109 152. Insufficiency 109 153. Inconsistency 109 154. Erroneousness 110 155. Redundancy 110 156. Unsteadiness 110 157. Other defects 111 158. Historical propriety 113 159. Conventional spelling 113 CHAPTER IX. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ENGLISH ALPHABET. 160-166. PhÅnician, Greek, Roman stages 116-124 166-172. Anglo-Saxon alphabet 124-126 173. Anglo-Norman alphabet 126 174. Extract from _Ormulum_ 127 175. Order of alphabet 128 PART IV. ETYMOLOGY. CHAPTER I. ON THE PROVINCE OF ETYMOLOGY. 176-179. Meaning of term 131-133 CHAPTER II. ON GENDER. 180. _Boy_ and _girl_ 134 181. _Man-servant_ and _maid-servant_ 134 182, 183. Forms like _genitrix_ 135 184. Forms like _domina_ 136 185-189. Genders in English 136, 137 190-192. _The sun in _his_ glory; the moon in _her_ wane_ 138 193. Miscellaneous forms 139-142 CHAPTER III. THE NUMBERS. 194-197. Numbers in English 143, 144 198. Rule 145 199. Remarks 145 200. Addition of -es 146 _Pence_, _alms_, &c. 147 _Mathematics_ 147 201. _Children_ 149 202. Form in -en 150 203. _Men_, _feet_, &c. 150 204. _Brethren_, &c. 150 205. _Houses_ 152 206. _Wives_, &c. 152 CHAPTER IV. ON THE CASES. 207-211. Nature of cases 154-156 212. Accusatives 156 213. Datives 157 214. Genitives 157 215. Instrumental 158 _All the better_ 158, 159 216. Determination of cases 159 217. Analysis of cases 160 218. Form in -s 160 CHAPTER V. THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 219, 220. _I_, _we_, _us_, &c. 162 221. _You_ 162 222. _Me_ 163 223-225. Cautions 163, 164 CHAPTER VI. ON THE TRUE REFLECTIVE PRONOUN IN THE GOTHIC LANGUAGES, AND ON ITS ABSENCE IN ENGLISH. 226. How far found in English 165 CHAPTER VII. THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, ETC. 227. _He_, _she_, _it_ 166 228. _She_ 166 229. _Her_, _him_, _his_, _its_, &c. 167 230. _Theirs_ 167 231. Table 168 232. _These_ 169 233. _Those_ 171 CHAPTER VIII. THE RELATIVE, INTERROGATIVE, AND CERTAIN OTHER PRONOUNS. 234. _Who_, _what_, &c. 173 235. _Same_, &c. 173 236. _Other_, _whether_ 177 CHAPTER IX. ON CERTAIN FORMS IN -ER. 237-239. Idea expressed by -er 179-181 CHAPTER X. THE COMPARATIVE DEGREE. 240. Form in -s 182 241. _Elder_, &c. 183 242. _Rather_ 183 243, 244. Excess of expression 183 245-247. _Better_ 183-185 248. _Worse_ 185 249. _More_ 185 250. _Less_ 185 251-253. _Near_, &c. 186 254. Origin of superlative 186 CHAPTER XI. THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE. 255, 256. _Former_ 188 257. _Nearest_ 188 258. _Next_ 188 259, 260. _Upmost_, &c. 189, 190 CHAPTER XII. THE CARDINAL NUMBERS. 261. How far undeclined 191 CHAPTER XIII. THE ORDINAL NUMBERS. 262-264. _Seven_, _nine_, _ten_ 192 265, 266. _Thirteen_, _thirty_ 193 CHAPTER XIV. THE ARTICLES. 267. _A_, _an_, _the_ 194 CHAPTER XV. DIMINUTIVES, AUGMENTATIVES, AND PATRONYMICS. 268-270. Diminutives 197-199 271. Augmentatives 200 272. Patronymics 200, 201 CHAPTER XVI. GENTILE FORMS. 273. _Wales_ 202 CHAPTER XVII. ON THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE NOUN AND VERB, AND ON THE INFLECTION OF THE INFINITIVE MOOD. 274-281. The verb, how far a noun 203-206 CHAPTER XVIII. ON DERIVED VERBS. 282. Divisions of verbs 207 282. Derivation 208, 209 CHAPTER XIX. ON THE PERSONS. 283. Persons in English 210 284, 285. Historical view 211 286. Form in -t 212 287. _Thou spakest_, &c. 212 288. _We loves_ 213 CHAPTER XX. ON THE NUMBERS OF VERBS. 289. Numbers in English 214 290. _Ran_, _run_, &c. 215 CHAPTER XXI. ON MOODS. 291-292. Moods in English 216 CHAPTER XXII. ON TENSES IN GENERAL. 293. _Strike_, _struck_ 217 294-296. á¼ÏÏ ÏÏÎ¿Î½, &c. 217, 218 297. Reduplication 219 298. _Weak_ or _strong_ 220 CHAPTER XXIII. THE STRONG TENSES. 299. _Sing_, _sang_, _sung_ 221 300-303. Tables 222-225 CHAPTER XXIV. THE WEAK TENSES. 304. _Stabbed_, &c. 226 305-307. Divisions 227, 228 309. _Bought_, _sought_ 228 309. Forms in -te and -ode 229 310-312. _Bred_, _beat_, &c. 230 313. _Leave_, _left_ 231 314. _Made_, _had_ 231 314. _Would_, _should_, _could_ 231 315. _Aught_ 231 316. _Durst_, _must_, &c. 232 317. _This will do_ 233 318. _Mind_ 234 319. _Yode_ 234 320. _Did_ 234 CHAPTER XXV. ON CONJUGATION. 321, 322. Weak and strong conjugations natural 235-237 CHAPTER XXVI. DEFECTIVENESS AND IRREGULARITY. 323-325. Irregularity 238 326. Vital and obsolete processes 240 327. Processes of necessity, &c. 241 328. Ordinary processes 241 329. Positive 242 330. Normal 242 331. _Could_ 243 332. _Quoth_ 244 333. Real irregular verbs few 244 CHAPTER XXVII. THE IMPERSONAL VERBS. 334, 335. _Me-seems_, _me-listeth_ 246 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE VERB SUBSTANTIVE. 336. Not irregular 247 337. _Was_ 247 338-341. _Be_ 248, 249 342. _An_ 249 343. _Worth_ 250 CHAPTER XXIX. THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE. 344. Forms in -ing 251 345. Forms in -ung 252 CHAPTER XXX. THE PAST PARTICIPLE. 346. Forms in -en 254 347, 348. _Drunken_ 254 349. _Forlorn_ 255 350. Forms in -ed 255 351. The prefix Y 256 CHAPTER XXXI. COMPOSITION. 352-357. Nature of compounds 258-261 358-361. Accent 261-266 362. Obscure compounds 266 363-365. Exceptions 266, 267, 268 366. _Peacock_, _peahen_ 269 367. _Nightingale_ 269 368. Improper compounds 270 369. Decomposites 270 370. Combinations 270, 271 CHAPTER XXXII. ON DERIVATION AND INFLECTION. 371-373. Their nature 272-275 CHAPTER XXXIII. ADVERBS. 374, 375. Their division 276 376-379. Adverbs of deflection 277 380. _Darkling_ 278 CHAPTER XXXIV. ON CERTAIN ADVERBS OF PLACE. 381-384. _Hither_, _thither_, &c 279 385. _Hence_, &c. 280 386. _Yonder_ 280 387. _Anon_ 281 CHAPTER XXXV. ON WHEN, THEN, AND THAN. 388, 389. Their origin 282 CHAPTER XXXVI. PREPOSITIONS AND CONJUNCTIONS. 390. Prepositions 283 391. Conjunctions 283 392. _Yes_, _No_ 283 393. Particles 283 CHAPTER XXXVII. ON THE GRAMMATICAL POSITION OF THE WORDS _mine_ AND _thine_. 394-407. Equivalent to _meus_ and _tuus_, rather than possessive cases 284-290 CHAPTER XXXVIII. ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WEAK PRÃTERITE. 408. Grimm's view 291 409, 410. Remarks of Dr. Trithen 291-293 PART V. SYNTAX. CHAPTER I. ON SYNTAX IN GENERAL. 411, 412. Syntax 294 413. Personification 294 414. Ellipsis 295 415. Pleonasm 295 416. Zeugma 295 417. _Pros to semainomenon_ 296 418. Apposition 296 419. Collectiveness 297 420. Reduction 297 421. Determination of part of speech 298 422-424. Convertibility 298, 299 425. _The Blacks of Africa_ 299 426. _None of your ifs_ 300 427. Convertible words numerous in English 300 CHAPTER II. SYNTAX OF SUBSTANTIVES. 428. _Rundell and Bridge's_ 301 429. _Right and left_ 301 CHAPTER III. SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES. 430. Pleonasm 302 431. Collocation 302 432. Government 302 433. _More wise_, _wiser_ 303 434. _The _better_ of the two_ 304 435. Syntax of adjectives simple 304 CHAPTER IV. SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS. 436. Pleonasm 305 437. _Father's_, not _father his_ 305 438. Pleonasm and ellipses allied 306 CHAPTER V. THE TRUE PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 439. _Pronomen reverentiÃ¦_ 307 440. _Dativus ethicus_ 307 441. Reflected pronoun 307 442. Reflected neuters 308 443. Equivocal reflective 308 CHAPTER VI. ON THE SYNTAX OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, AND THE PRONOUNS OF THE THIRD PERSON. 444, 445. _His_ and _its_ 310, 311 CHAPTER VII. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WORD _self_. 446, 447. _Myself_, _himself_, &c. 312, 313 CHAPTER VIII. ON THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS. 448-451. _My_ and _mine_ 314-316 CHAPTER IX. THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS. 452-456. Their concord 317, 318 457. Ellipsis 318 458. Equivocal antecedent 319 CHAPTER X. ON THE INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN. 459, 460. Direct and oblique questions 320 CHAPTER XI. THE RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS. 461, 462. Their construction 322, 323 CHAPTER XII. THE INDETERMINATE PRONOUNS. 463-466. Use of _it_ 324, 325 467, 468. Use of _them_ 325 CHAPTER XX. ON THE TENSES. 486. Present 342 486, 487. Preterite 342 CHAPTER XXI. SYNTAX OF THE PERSONS OF VERBS. 488, 489. Their concord 344 CHAPTER XXII. ON THE VOICES OF VERBS. 490. _Hight_ 345 CHAPTER XXIII. ON THE AUXILIARY VERBS. 491. Their classification 346-348 492. _I have ridden_ 348 493. _I am to speak_ 351 494. _I am to blame_ 351 495. _I am beaten_ 351 CHAPTER XXIV. OF ADVERBS. 496, 497. Their syntax simple 353 498. Termination -ly 354 499. _To walk and ride_ 354 500. _From whence_, &c. 354, 355 CHAPTER XXV. ON PREPOSITIONS. 501. _Climb up a tree_ 356 502. _Part of the body_ 356 CHAPTER XXVI. ON CONJUNCTIONS. 503, 504. Their nature 357-359 505. Their government 359 506-511. The subjunctive mood 359-364 512. Use of _that_ 364 513. Succession of tenses 364 514. Disjunctives 365 CHAPTER XXVII. THE SYNTAX OF THE NEGATIVE. 515. Its place 366 516. Its distribution 366 517. Two negatives 367 518. Questions of appeal 367 CHAPTER XXVIII. ON THE CASE ABSOLUTE. 519. Its participial character 369 PART VI. PROSODY. 520. Derivation of the word 371 521, 522. Importance of accent 371 523-526. Measures 372, 373 527. Metrical notation 374 528-535. Rhyme 374-377 536. Blank verse 377 537, 538. Last syllable indifferent 378 539, 540. Names of common English metres 379-384 PART VII. DIALECTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 541. Saxons and Angles 385 542-544. Dialects not coincident 385, 386 545, 546. Traces of the Danes 386, 387 547 Mercian origin of the written English 387 NOTES 393 * * * * * AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. * * * * * PART I. GENERAL ETHNOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. * * * * * CHAPTER I. GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.--DATE. Â§ 1. The first point to be remembered in the history of the English language, is that it was not the primitive and original tongue of any of the British Islands, nor yet of any portion of them. Indeed, of the _whole_ of Great Britain it is not the language at the present moment. Welsh is spoken in Wales, Manks in the Isle of Man, and Scotch Gaelic in the Highlands of Scotland; besides which there is the Irish Gaelic in Ireland. Â§ 2. The next point to be considered is the real origin and the real affinities of the English language. Its _real_ origin is on the continent of Europe, and its _real_ affinities are with certain languages there spoken. To speak more specifically, the native country of the English language is _Germany_; and the _Germanic_ languages are those that are the most closely connected with our own. In Germany, languages and dialects allied to each other and allied to the mother-tongue of the English have been spoken from times anterior to history; and these, for most purposes of philology, may be considered as the aboriginal languages and dialects of that country. Â§ 3. _Accredited details of the different immigrations from Germany into Britain._--Until lately the details of the different Germanic invasions of England, both in respect to the particular tribes by which they were made, and the order in which they succeeded each other, were received with but little doubt, and as little criticism. Respecting the tribes by which they were made, the current opinion was, that they were chiefly, if not exclusively, those of the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. The particular chieftains that headed each descent were also supposed to be known, as well as the different localities upon which they descended.[1] These were as follows:-- _First settlement of invaders from Germany._--The account of this gives us A.D. 449 for the first permanent Germanic tribes settled in Britain. Ebbsfleet, in the Isle of Thanet, was the spot where they landed; and the particular name that these tribes gave themselves was that of _Jutes_. Their leaders were Hengist and Horsa. Six years after their landing they had established the kingdom of Kent; so that the county of Kent was the first district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Germany. _Second settlement of invaders from Germany._--A.D. 477 invaders from Northern Germany made the second permanent settlement in Britain. The coast of Sussex was the spot whereon they landed. The particular name that these tribes gave themselves was that of _Saxons_. Their leader was Ella. They established the kingdom of the South Saxons (Sussex or SuÃ°-Seaxe); so that the county of Sussex was the second district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Germany. _Third settlement of invaders from Germany._--A.D. 495 invaders from Northern Germany made the third permanent settlement in Britain. The coast of Hampshire was the spot whereon they landed. Like the invaders last mentioned, these tribes were Saxons. Their leader was Cerdic. They established the kingdom of the West Saxons (Wessex or West-Seaxe); so that the county of Hants was the third district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Germany. _Fourth settlement of invaders from Germany._--A.D. 530, certain Saxons landed in Essex, so that the county of Essex [East-Seaxe] was the fourth district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Northern Germany. _Fifth settlement of invaders from Germany._--These were _Angles_ in Norfolk and Suffolk. The precise date of this settlement is not known. The fifth district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English was the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk; the particular dialect introduced being that of the _Angles_. _Sixth settlement of invaders from Germany._--A.D. 547 invaders from Northern Germany made the sixth permanent settlement in Britain. The southeastern counties of Scotland, between the rivers Tweed and Forth, were the districts where they landed. They were of the tribe of the Angles, and their leader was Ida. The south-eastern parts of Scotland constituted the sixth district where the original British was superseded by the mother-tongue of the present English, introduced from Northern Germany, Â§ 4. It would be satisfactory if these details rested upon contemporary evidence. This, however, is far from being the case. 1. _The evidence to the details just given, is not historical, but traditional._--a. Beda,[2] from whom it is chiefly taken, wrote nearly 300 years after the supposed event, i.e., the landing of Hengist and Horsa, in A.D. 449. b. The nearest approach to a contemporary author is Gildas,[3] and _he_ wrote full 100 years after it. 2. _The account of Hengist's and Horsa's landing, has elements which are fictional rather than historical_--a. Thus "when we find Hengist and Horsa approaching the coasts of Kent in three keels, and Ãlli effecting a landing in Sussex with the same number, we are reminded of the Gothic tradition which carries a migration of Ostrogoths,[4] Visigoths, and GepidÃ¦, also in three vessels, to the mouth of the Vistula."--Kemble, "Saxons in England." b. The murder of the British chieftains by Hengist is told _totidem verbis_, by Widukind[5] and others, of the Old Saxons in Thuringia. c. Geoffry of Monmouth[6] relates also, how "Hengist obtained from the Britons as much land as could be enclosed by an ox-hide; then, cutting the hide into thongs, enclosed a much larger space than the granters intended, on which he erected Thong Castle--a tale too familiar to need illustration, and which runs throughout the mythus of many nations. Among the Old Saxons, the tradition is in reality the same, though recorded with a slight variety of detail. In their story, a lapfull of earth is purchased at a dear rate from a Thuringian; the companions of the Saxon jeer him for his imprudent bargain; but he sows the purchased earth upon a large space of ground, which he claims, and, by the aid of his comrades, ultimately wrests it from the Thuringians."--Kemble, "Saxons in England." 3. _There is direct evidence in favour of their having been German tribes in England anterior to_ A.D. 447.--a. At the close of the Marcomannic war,[7] Marcus Antoninus transplanted a number of Germans into Britain. b. Alemannic auxiliaries served along with Roman legions under Valentinian.[8] c. _The Notitia utriusque Imperii_,[9] of which the latest date is half a century earlier than the epoch of Hengist, mentions, as an officer of state, the _Comes littoris Saxonici per Britannias_; his government extending along the coast from Portsmouth to the Wash. Â§ 5. _Inference._--As it is nearly certain, that 449 A.D. is _not_ the date of the first introduction of German tribes into Britain, we must consider that the displacement of the original British began at an _earlier_ period than the one usually admitted, and, consequently, that it was more _gradual_ than is usually supposed. Perhaps, if we substitute the middle of the _fourth_, instead of the middle of the _fifth_ century, as the epoch of the Germanic immigrations into Britain, we shall not be far from the truth. * * * * * CHAPTER II. GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.--THE GERMANIC AREA OF THE PARTICULAR GERMANS WHO INTRODUCED IT.--EXTRACT FROM BEDA. Â§ 6. Out of the numerous tribes and nations of Germany, _three_ have been more especially mentioned as the chief, if not the exclusive, sources of the present English population of Great Britain. These are the _Jutes_, the _Saxons_, and the _Angles_. Â§ 7. Now, it is by no means certain that this was the case. On the contrary, good reasons can be given for believing that the Angles and Saxons were the same people, and that no such nation as the _Jutes_ ever left Germany to settle in Great Britain. Â§ 8. The chief authority for the division of the German invaders into the three nations just mentioned is Beda; and the chief text is the following extract from his "Ecclesiastical History." It requires particular attention, and will form the basis of much criticism, and frequently be referred to. "Advenerunt autem de tribus GermaniÃ¦ populis fortioribus, id est Saxonibus, Anglis, Jutis. De Jutarum origine sunt Cantuarii, et Victuarii, hoc est ea gens quÃ¦ Vectam tenet insulam et ea quÃ¦ usque hodie in provincia Occidentalium Saxonum Jutarum natio nominatur, posita contra ipsam insulam Vectam. De Saxonibus, id est, ea regione quÃ¦ nunc Antiquorum Saxonum cognominatur, venere Orientales Saxones, Meridiani Saxones, Occidui Saxones. Porro de Anglis hoc est de illa patria quÃ¦ Angulus dicitur, et ab illo tempore usque hodie manere desertus inter provincias Jutarum et Saxonum perhibetur, Orientales Angli, Mediterranei Angli, Merci, tota Northanhymbrorum progenies, id est illarum gentium quÃ¦ ad Boream Humbri fluminis inhabitant, cÃ¦terique Anglorum populi sunt orti"--"Historia Ecclesiastica," i. 15. Â§ 9. This was written about A.D. 731, 131 years after the introduction of Christianity, and nearly 300 after the supposed landing of Hengist and Horsa in A.D. 449. It is the first passage which contains the names of either the _Angles_ or the _Jutes_. Gildas, who wrote more than 150 years earlier, mentions only the _Saxons_--"ferocissimi illi nefandi nominis _Saxones_." It is, also, the passage which all subsequent writers have either translated or adopted. Thus it re-appears in Alfred, and again in the Saxon Chronicle.[10] "Of Jotum comon Cantware and Wihtware, Ã¾Ã¦t is seo mÃ¦iaÃ° Ã¾e nÃº eardaÃ¾ on Wiht, and Ã¾Ã¦t cynn on West-Sexum Ã°e man gyt hÃ¦t IÃºtnacyun. Of Eald-Seaxum comon EÃ¡st-Seaxan, and SuÃ°-Seaxan and West-Seaxan. Of Angle comon (se Ã¡ siÃ°Ã°an stÃ³d westig betwix IÃºtum and Seaxum) EÃ¡st-Engle, Middel-Angle, Mearce, and ealle NorÃ°ymbra." From the Jutes came the inhabitants of Kent and of Wight, that is, the race that now dwells in Wight, and that tribe amongst the West-Saxons which is yet called the Jute tribe. From the Old-Saxons came the East-Saxons, and South-Saxons, and West-Saxons. From the Angles, land (which has since always stood waste betwixt the Jutes and Saxons) came the East-Angles, Middle-Angles, Mercians, and all the Northumbrians. Â§ 10. A portion of these extracts will now be submitted to criticism; that portion being the statement concerning the _Jutes_. The words _usque hodie--Jutarum natio nominatur_ constitute contemporary and unexceptionable evidence to the existence of a people with a name like that of the _Jutes_ in the time of Beda--or A.D. 731. The exact name is not so certain. The term _Jutnacyn_ from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is in favour of the notion that it began with the sounds of j and u, in other words that it was _Jut_. But the term _Geatum_, which we find in Alfred, favours the form in g followed by ea. Thirdly, the forms _Wihtware_, and _Wihttan_, suggest the likelihood of the name being _Wiht_. Lastly, there is a passage in Asserius[11] which gives us the form _Gwith_--"Mater" (of Alfred the Great) "quoque ejusdem Osburgh nominabatur, religiosa nimium fÅmina, nobilis ingenio, nobilis et genere; quÃ¦ erat filia Oslac famosi pincernÃ¦ Ãthelwulf regis; qui Oslac Gothus erat natione, ortus enim erat de Gothis et Jutis; de semine scilicet Stuf et Wihtgur, duorum fratrum et etiam comitum, qui acceptÃ¢ potestate Vectis insulÃ¦ ab avunculo suo Cerdic rege et Cynric filio suo, consobrino eorum, paucos Britones ejusdem insulÃ¦ accolas, quos in eÃ¢ invenire potuerant, in loco qui dicitur, _Gwithgaraburgh_ occiderunt, cÃ¦teri enim accolÃ¦ ejusdem insulÃ¦ ante sunt occisi aut exules aufugerant."--Asserius, "De Gestis Alfredi Regis." Now, _Gwith-gara-burgh_ means the _burg_ or _town of_ the _With-ware_;[12] these being, undoubtedly, no Germans at all, but the native Britons of the Isle of Wight (Vectis), whose designation in Latin would be _VecticolÃ¦_ or _Vectienses_. This being the case, how can they be descended from German or Danish _Jutes_? and how can we reconcile the statement of Beda with that of Asser? Â§ 11. The answer to this will be given after another fact has been considered. Precisely the same confusion between the sounds of w, j, g, io, eÃ¦, u, and i, which occurs with the so-called _Jutes_ of the Isle of Wight, occurs with the Jutlanders of the peninsula of Jutland. The common forms are _Jutland_, _Jute_, _Jutones_, and _Jutenses_, but they are not the only ones. In A.D. 952, we find "Dania cismarina quam _Vitland_ incolÃ¦ appellant."--"Annales Saxonici."[13] Â§ 12. Putting these facts together I adopt the evidence of Asser as to the _Gwithware_ being British, and consider them as simple _Vecti-colÃ¦_, or inhabitants of the Isle of _Wight_. They are also the _Vectuarii_ of Beda, the _Wihtware_ of the Saxon Chronicle, and the _WihtsÃ¦tan_ of Alfred. The Jutes of Hampshire--i.e., the "Jutarum natio--posita contra ipsam insulam Vectam," and the _Jutnacyn_, I consider to have been the same; except that they had left the Isle of Wight to settle on the opposite coast; probably flying before their German conquerors, in which case they would be the _exules_ of Asser. The statement of Beda, so opposed to that of Asser, I explain by supposing that it arose out of an inaccurate inference drawn from the similarity of the names of the Isle of Wight and the peninsula of Jutland, since we have seen that in both cases, there was a similar confusion between the syllables Jut- and Vit-. This is an error into which even a careful writer might fall. That Beda had no authentic historical accounts of the conquest of Britain, we know from his own statements in the Preface to his Ecclesiastical History,[14] and that he partially tried to make up for the want of them by inference is exceedingly likely. If so, what would be more natural than for him to conclude that Jutes as well as Angles helped to subdue the country. The fact itself was probable; besides which he saw at one and the same time, in England _VitÃ¦_ (called also _JutÃ¦_), in immediate contact with _Saxons_,[26] and on the continent _JutÃ¦_ (called also _VitÃ¦_) in the neighborhood of Angles[27] and Saxons. Is it surprising that he should connect them? Â§ 13. If the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight were really _Jutes_ from _Jutland_, it is strange that there should be no traces of the difference which existed, then as now, between them and the proper Anglo-Saxons--a difference which was neither inconsiderable nor of a fleeting nature. The present Jutlanders are not Germans but Danes, and the Jutes of the time of Beda were most probably the same. Those of the 11th century were _certainly_ so, "Primi ad ostium Baltici Sinus in australi ripa versus nos _Dani, quos Juthas appellant_, usque ad Sliam lacum habitant." Adamus Bremensis,[15] "De Situ DaniÃ¦" c. 221. Also, "Et prima pars DaniÃ¦, quÃ¦ Jutland dicitur, ad Egdoram[28] in Boream longitudine pretenditur ... in eum angulum qui Windila dicitur, ubi Jutland finem habet," c. 208. At the time of Beda they must, according to the received traditions, have been nearly 300 years in possession of the Isle of Wight, a locality as favourable for the preservation of their peculiar manners and customs as any in Great Britain, and a locality wherein we have no evidence of their ever having been disturbed. Nevertheless, neither trace nor shadow of a trace, either in early or modern times, has ever been discovered of their separate nationality and language; a fact which stands in remarkable contrast with the very numerous traces which the Danes of the 9th and 10th century left behind them as evidence of their occupancy. Â§ 14. The words _England_ and _English_ are derived from the _Angles_ of Beda. The words _Sussex_, _Essex_, _Middlesex_ and _Wessex_, from his _Saxons_. No objection lies against this; indeed to deny that populations called _Angle_ and _Saxon_ occupied _England_ and spoke the _Anglo-Saxon_ language would display an unnecessary and unhealthy scepticism. The real question concerning these two words consists in the relation which the populations to which they were applied bore to each other. And this question is a difficult one. Did the Angles speak one language, whilst the Saxons spoke another? or did they both speak dialects of the same tongue? Were these dialects slightly or widely different? Can we find traces of the difference in any of the present provincial dialects? Are the idioms of one country of Angle, whilst those of another are of Saxon origin? Was the Angle more like the Danish language, whilst the Saxon approached the Dutch? None of these questions can be answered at present. They have, however, been asked for the sake of exhibiting the nature of the subject. Â§ 15. The extract from Beda requires further remarks. _The Angles of Beda._--The statement of Beda respecting the Angles, like his statement concerning the Jutes, reappears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and in Alfred. Ethelweard[16] also adopts it:--"_Anglia vetus_ sita est inter Saxones et Giotos, habens oppidum capitale quod sermone Saxonico _Sleswic_ nuncupatur, secundum vero Danos _Hathaby_." Nevertheless, it is exceptionable and unsatisfactory; and like the previous one, in all probability, an incorrect inference founded upon the misinterpretation of a name. In the eighth century there _was_, and at the present moment there _is_, a portion of the duchy of Sleswick called _Anglen_ or _the corner_. It is really what its name denotes, a triangle of irregular shape, formed by the Slie, the firth of Flensborg, and a line drawn from Flensborg to Sleswick. It is just as Danish as the rest of the peninsula, and cannot be shown to have been occupied by a Germanic population at all. Its area is less than that of the county of Rutland, and by no means likely to have supplied such a population as that of the Angles of England. The fact of its being a desert at the time of Beda is credible; since it formed a sort of _March_ or _Debatable Ground_ between the Saxons and Slavonians of Holstein, and the Danes of Jutland. Now if we suppose that the real Angles of Germany were either so reduced in numbers as to have become an obscure tribe, or so incorporated with other populations as to have lost their independent existence, we can easily see how the similarity of name, combined with the geographical contiguity of Anglen to the Saxon frontier, might mislead even so good a writer as Beda, into the notion that he had found the country of the _Angles_ in the _Angulus_ (Anglen) of Sleswick. The true _Angles_ were the descendants of the _Angli_ of Tacitus. Who these were will be investigated in Â§Â§ 47-54. Â§ 16. _The Saxons of Beda._--The Saxons of Beda reached from the country of the Old Saxons[29] on the Lippe, in Westphalia, to that of the Nordalbingian[30] Saxons between the Elbe and Eyder; and nearly, but not quite, coincided with the present countries of Hanover, Oldenburg, Westphalia, and part of Holstein. This we may call the _Saxon_, or (as reasons will be given for considering that it nearly coincided with the country of the Angles) the _Anglo-Saxon_ area. Â§ 17. _River-system and sea-board of the Anglo-Saxon area._--As the invasion of England took place by sea, we must expect to find in the invaders a maritime population. This leads to the consideration of the physical character of that part of Germany which they occupied. And here comes a remarkable and unexpected fact. The line of coast between the Rhine and Elbe, the line which in reasoning _a priori_, we should fix upon as the most likely tract for the bold seamen who wrested so large an island as Great Britain from its original occupants (changing it from _Britain_ to _England_), to have proceeded from, is _not_ the country of the Anglo-Saxons. On the contrary, it is the country of a similar but different section of the Germanic population, a section which has not received the attention from the English historian which it deserves. The country in question is the area of-- Â§ 18. _The Frisians._--At the present moment the language of the Dutch province of Friesland is materially different from that of the other parts of the kingdom of Holland. In other words it is not Dutch. Neither is it German--although, of course, it resembles both languages. On the other hand, it is more like the English than any other language or dialect in Germany is. It is a language of considerable antiquity, and although at present it is spoken by the country-people only, it possesses a considerable literature. There is the _Middle_ Frisian of Gysbert Japicx,[17] and the _Old_ Frisian of the Frisian Laws.[18] The older the specimen of the Frisian language the more closely does it show its affinity to the English; hence the earliest Frisian and the Anglo-Saxon are exceedingly alike. Nevertheless they differ. Â§ 19. The Frisian was once spoken over a far greater area than at present. It was the original language of almost all Holland. It was the language of East Friesland to a late period. It was, probably, the language of the ancient Chauci. At the present time (besides Friesland) it survives in Heligoland, in the islands between the Ems and Weser, in part of Sleswick, and in a few localities in Oldenburg and Westphalia. Hence it is probable that the original Frisian, extending to an uncertain and irregular distance inland, lay between the Saxons and the sea, and stretched from the Zuyder Zee to the Elbe; a fact which would leave to the latter nation the lower Elbe and the Weser as their water-system: the extent to which they were in direct contact with the ocean being less than we are prepared to expect from their subsequent history. On the other hand the _a priori_ probabilities of there being Frisians as well as Anglo-Saxons amongst the conquerors of Great Britain are considerable.--See Â§Â§ 55, 56. Â§ 20. The Anglo-Saxon area coincided-- 1. _Politically._--With the kingdom of Hanover, the duchy of Oldenburg, and parts of Westphalia and Holstein. 2. _Physically._--With the basin of the Weser. It was _certainly_ from the Anglo-Saxon, and _probably_ from a part of the Frisian area that Great Britain was first invaded. This is as much as it is safe to say at present. The preceding chapter investigated the _date_ of the Germanic migration into Britain; the present has determined the _area_ from which it went forth. * * * * * CHAPTER III. OF THE DIALECTS OF THE SAXON AREA, AND OF THE SO-CALLED OLD SAXON. Â§ 21. The area occupied by the Saxons of Germany has been investigated; and it now remains to ask, how far the language of the occupants was absolutely identical throughout, or how far it fell into dialects or sub-dialects. There were at least _two_ divisions of the Saxon; (1st) the Saxon of which the extant specimens are of English origin, and (2nd), the Saxon of which the extant specimens are of Continental origin. We will call these at present the Saxon of England, and the Saxon of the Continent. Â§ 22. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, there is good reason for believing that the _first_ was spoken in the _northern_, the _second_ in the _southern_ portion of the Saxon area, i.e., the one in Hanover and the other in Westphalia, the probable boundaries between them being the line of highlands between Osnaburg and Paderborn. Â§ 23. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, there is good reason for believing that, whilst the _former_ was the mother-tongue of the Angles and the conquerors of England, the _latter_ was that of the Cherusci of Arminius, the conquerors and the annihilators of the legions of Varus.[19] Â§ 24. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, it is a fact that, whilst we have a full literature in the former, we have but fragmentary specimens of the latter--these being chiefly the following: (1) the Heliand,[20] (2) Hildubrand and Hathubrant,[21] (3) the Carolinian Psalms.[22] Â§ 25. The preceding points have been predicated respecting the difference between the two ascertained Saxon dialects, for the sake of preparing the reader for the names by which they are known. THE SAXON OF THE CONTINENT THE SAXON OF ENGLAND MAY BE CALLED MAY BE CALLED 1. Continental Saxon. Insular Saxon. 2. German Saxon. English Saxon. 3. Westphalian Saxon. Hanoverian Saxon. 4. South Saxon. North Saxon. 5. Cheruscan Saxon. Angle Saxon. 6. Saxon of the Heliand. Saxon of Beowulf.[23] Â§ 26. The Saxon of England _is_ called Anglo-Saxon; a term against which no exception can be raised. Â§ 27. The Saxon of the Continent _used_ to be called _Dano_-Saxon, and _is_ called _Old_ Saxon. Â§ 28. _Why called Dano-Saxon._--When the poem called _Heliand_ was first discovered in an English library, the difference in language between it and the common Anglo-Saxon composition was accounted for by the assumption of a _Danish_ intermixture. Â§ 29. _Why called _Old_ Saxon._ When the Continental origin of the _Heliand_ was recognised, the language was called _Old_ Saxon, because it represented the Saxon of the mother-country, the natives of which were called _Old_ Saxons by the _Anglo_-Saxons themselves. Still the term is exceptionable; as the Saxon of the Heliand is probably a _sister_-dialect of the _Anglo_-Saxon, rather than the _Anglo_-Saxon itself in a Continental locality. Exceptionable, however, as it is, it will be employed. * * * * * CHAPTER IV. AFFINITIES OF THE ENGLISH WITH THE LANGUAGES OF GERMANY AND SCANDINAVIA. Â§ 30. Over and above those languages of Germany and Holland which were akin to the dialects of the Anglo-Saxons, cognate languages were spoken in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and the Feroe isles, i.e., in Scandinavia. Â§ 31. The general collective designation for the Germanic tongues of Germany and Holland, and for the Scandinavian languages of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and the Feroe Isles, is taken from the name of those German tribes who, during the decline of the Roman Empire, were best known to the Romans as the _Goths_; the term _Gothic_ for the Scandinavian and Germanic languages, collectively, being both current and convenient. Â§ 32. Of this great _stock_ of languages the Scandinavian is one _branch_; the Germanic, called also Teutonic, another. Â§ 33. The Scandinavian branch of the Gothic stock comprehends, 1. The dialects of Scandinavia Proper, i.e., of Norway and Sweden; 2. of the Danish isles and Jutland; 3. of Iceland; 4. of the Feroe Isles. Â§ 34. The Teutonic branch falls into three divisions:-- 1. The MÅso-Gothic. 2. The High Germanic. 3. The Low Germanic. Â§ 35. It is in the MÅso-Gothic that the most ancient specimen of any Gothic tongue has been preserved. It is also the MÅso-Gothic that was spoken by the conquerors of ancient Rome; by the subjects of Hermanric, Alaric, Theodoric, Euric, Athanaric, and Totila. In the reign of Valens, when pressed by intestine wars, and by the movements of the Huns, the Goths were assisted by that emperor, and settled in the Roman province of MÅsia. Furthermore, they were converted to Christianity; and the Bible was translated into their language by their Bishop Ulphilas. Fragments of this translation, chiefly from the Gospels, have come down to the present time; and the Bible translation of the Arian Bishop Ulphilas, in the language of the Goths of MÅsia, during the reign of Valens, exhibits the earliest sample of any Gothic tongue. Â§ 36. The Old High German, called also Francic[24] and Alemannic,[25] was spoken in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, in Suabia, Bavaria, and Franconia. The Middle High German ranges from the thirteenth century to the Reformation. Â§ 37. The low Germanic division, to which the Anglo-Saxon belongs, is currently said to comprise six languages, or rather four languages in different stages. I. II.--The Anglo-Saxon and Modern English. III. The Old Saxon. IV. V.--The Old Frisian and Modern Dutch. VI.--The Platt-Deutsch, or Low German. Â§ 38. _The Frisian and Dutch._--It is a current statement that the Old Frisian bears the same relation to the Modern Dutch of Holland that the Anglo-Saxon does to the English. The truer view of the question is as follows:-- 1. That a single language, spoken in two dialects, was originally common to both Holland and Friesland. 2. That from the northern of these dialects we have the Modern Frisian of Friesland. 3. From the southern, the Modern Dutch of Holland. The reason of this refinement is as follows:-- The Modern Dutch has certain grammatical forms _older_ than those of the old Frisian; e.g., the Dutch infinitives and the Dutch weak substantives, in their oblique cases, end in -en; those of the Old Frisian in -a: the form in -en being the older. The true Frisian is spoken in few and isolated localities. There is-- 1. The Frisian of the Dutch state called Friesland. 2. The Frisian of the parish of Saterland, in Westphalia. 3. The Frisian of Heligoland. 4. The North Frisian, spoken in a few villages of Sleswick. One of the characters of the North Frisian is the possession of a dual number. In respect to its stages, we have the Old Frisian of the Asega-bog, the Middle Frisian of Gysbert Japicx,[31] and the Modern Frisian of the present Frieslanders, Westphalians, and Heligolanders. Â§ 39. _The Low German and Platt-Deutsch._--The words _Low-German_ are not only lax in their application, but they are _equivocal_; since the term has two meanings, a _general_ meaning when it signifies a division of the Germanic languages, comprising English, Dutch, Anglo-Saxon, Old Saxon, and Frisian, and a limited one when it means the particular dialects of the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe. To avoid this the dialects in question are conveniently called by their continental name of _Platt-Deutsch_, just as in England we say _Broad_ Scotch. Â§ 40. The most characteristic difference between the Saxon and Icelandic (indeed between the Teutonic and Scandinavian tongues) lies in the peculiar position of the definite article in the latter. In Saxon, the article corresponding with the modern word _the_, is _Ã¾Ã¦t_, _se_, _seÃ³_, for the neuter, masculine, and feminine genders respectively; and these words, regularly declined, are _prefixed_ to the words with which they agree, just as is the case with the English and with the majority of languages. In Icelandic, however, the article instead of preceding, _follows_ its noun, _with which it coalesces_, having previously suffered a change in form. The Icelandic article corresponding to _Ã¾Ã¦t_, _se_, _seÃ³_, is _hitt_, _hinn_, _hin_: from this the h is ejected, so that, instead of the regular inflection (a), we have the forms (b). a. _Neut._ _Masc._ _Fem._ _Sing. Nom._ Hitt Hinn Hin. _Acc._ Hitt Hinn Hina. _Dat._ Hinu Hinum Hinni. _Gen._ Hins Hins Hinnar. _Plur. Nom._ Hin Hinir Hinar. _Acc._ Hin Hina Hinar. _Dat._ Hinum Hinum Hinum. _Gen._ Hinna Hinna Hinna. b. _Sing. Nom._ -it -inn -in. _Acc._ -it -inn -ina (-na). _Dat._ -nu -num -inni (-nni). _Gen._ -ins -ins -innar (-nnar). _Plur. Nom._ -in -nir -nar. _Acc._ -in -na -nar. _Dat._ -num -num -num. _Gen._ -nna -nna -nna. Whence, as an affix, in composition, _Neut._ _Masc._ _Fem._ _Sing. Nom._ Augat Boginn TÃºngan. _Acc._ Augat Boginn TÃºnguna. _Dat._ Auganu Boganum TÃºngunni. _Gen._ Augans Bogans TÃºngunnar. _Plur. Nom._ Augun Bogarnir TÃºngurnar. _Acc._ Augun Bogana TÃºngurnar. _Dat._ Augunum Bogunum TÃºngunum. _Gen._ Augnanna Boganna TÃºngnanna. In the Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish this peculiarity in the position of the definite article is preserved. Its origin, however, is concealed; and an accidental identity with the indefinite article has led to false notions respecting its nature. In the languages in point the i is changed into e, so that what in Icelandic is it and in, is in Danish et and en. _En_, however, as a separate word, is the numeral _one_, and also the indefinite article _a_; whilst in the neuter gender it is _et_--en sol, _a sun_; et bord, _a table_: solon, _the sun_; bordet, _the table_. From modern forms like those just quoted, it has been imagined that the definite is merely the indefinite article transposed. This it is not. To apply an expression of Mr. Cobbet's, _en_ = _a_, and -en = _the_, are _the same combination of letters, but not the same word_. Â§ 41. Another characteristic of the Scandinavian language is the possession of a _passive_ form, or a _passive_ voice, ending in -st:--_ek_, _Ã¾u_, _hann brennist_ = _I am_, _thou art_, _he is burnt_; _ver brennumst_ = _we are burnt_; _Ã¾Ã©r brennizt_ = _ye are burnt_; _Ã¾eir brennast_ = _they are burnt_. Past tense, _ek_, _Ã¾u_, _hann brendist_; _ver brendumst_, _Ã¾Ã©r brenduzt_, _Ã¾eir brendust_. Imperat.: _brenstu_ = _be thou burnt_. Infinit.: _brennast_ = _to be burnt_. In the modern Danish and Swedish, the passive is still preserved, but without the final t. In the _older_ stages of Icelandic, on the other hand, the termination was not -st but -sc; which -sc grew out of the reflective pronoun _sik_. With these phenomena the Scandinavian languages give us the evolution and development of a passive voice; wherein we have the following series of changes:--1. the reflective pronoun coalesces with the verb, whilst the sense changes from that of a reflective to that of a middle verb; 2. the c changes to t, whilst the middle sense passes into a passive one; 3. t is dropped from the end of the word, and the expression that was once reflective then becomes strictly passive. Now the Saxons have no passive voice at all. That they should have one _originating_ like that of the Scandinavians was impossible, inasmuch as they had no reflective pronoun, and, consequently, nothing to evolve it from. * * * * * CHAPTER V. ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.--GERMANIC ELEMENTS.--THE ANGLES. Â§ 42. The language of England has been formed out of three elements. a. Elements referable to the original British population, and derived from times anterior to the Anglo-Saxon invasion. b. Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, or imported elements. c. Elements introduced since the Anglo-Saxon conquest. Â§ 43. Each of these requires a special analysis, but that of the second will be taken first, and form the contents of the present chapter. All that we have at present learned concerning the Germanic invaders of England, is the geographical area which they originally occupied. How far, however, it was simple Saxons who conquered England single-handed, or how far the particular Saxon Germans were portions of a complex population, requires further investigation. Were the Saxons one division of the German population, whilst the Angles were another? or were the Angles a section of the Saxons, so that the latter was a generic term including the former? Again, although the Saxon invasion may be the one which has had the greatest influence, and drawn the most attention, why may there not have been separate and independent migrations, the effects and record of which have, in the lapse of time, become fused with those of the more important divisions? Â§ 44. _The Angles; who were they? and what was their relation to the Saxons?_--The first answer to this question embodies a great fact in the way of internal evidence, viz., that they were the people from whom _England_ derives the name it bears = _Angle land_, i.e., _land of the Angles_. Our language too is _English_, i.e., _Angle_. Whatever, then, they may have been on the Continent, they were a leading section of the invaders here. Why then has their position in our inquiries been hitherto so subordinate to that of the Saxons? It is because their importance and preponderance are not so manifest in Germany as we infer them to have been in Britain. Nay more, their historical place amongst the nations of Germany, is both insignificant and uncertain; indeed, it will be seen from the sequel, that _in and of themselves_ we know next to nothing about them, knowing them only in their _relations_, i.e., to
{'title': 'A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. Latham', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}