The Grammar of English Grammars eBook

Goold Brown
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 4,149 pages of information about The Grammar of English Grammars.

The Grammar of English Grammars eBook

Goold Brown
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 4,149 pages of information about The Grammar of English Grammars.

28.  EXCEPT, bating, is from the imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson) the ancient perfect participle of the verb to except; and EXCEPTING, when a preposition, is from the first participle of the same verb.

29.  FOR, because of, is the Anglo-Saxon preposition For, a word of like import, and supposed by Tooke to have come from a Gothic noun signifying cause, or sake.

30.  FROM, in Saxon, Fram, is probably derived from the old adjective Frum, original.

31.  IN, or the Saxon In, is the same as the Latin in:  the Greek is [Greek:  en]; and the French, en.

32.  INTO, like the Saxon Into, noting entrance, is a compound of in and to.

33.  MID and MIDST, as English prepositions, are poetical forms used for Amid and Amidst.

34.  NOTWITHSTANDING, not hindering, is from the adverb not, and the participle withstanding, which, by itself, means hindering, or preventing. 35.  OF is from the Saxon Of, or Af; which is supposed by Tooke to come from a noun signifying offspring.

36.  OFF, opposed to on, Dr. Johnson derives from the “Dutch af.”

37.  ON, a word very often used in Anglo-Saxon, is traced by some etymologists to the Gothic ana, the German an, the Dutch aan; but no such derivation fixes its meaning.

38.  OUT, [Sax.  Ut, Ute, or Utan,] when made a preposition, is probably from the adverb or adjective Out, or the earlier Ut; and OUT-OF, [Sax.  Ut-of,] opposed to Into, is but the adverb Out and the preposition Of—­usually written separately, but better joined, in some instances.

39.  OVER, above, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ofer, over; and this, probably, from Ufa, above, high, or from the comparative, Ufera, higher.

40.  OVERTHWART, meaning across, is a compound of over and thwart, cross.

41.  PAST, beyond, gone by, is a contraction from the perfect participle passed.

42.  PENDING, during or hanging, has a participial form, but is either an adjective or a preposition:  we do not use pend alone as a verb, though we have it in depend.

43.  RESPECTING, concerning, is from the first participle of the verb respect.

44.  ROUND, a preposition for about or around, is from the noun or adjective round.

45.  SINCE is most probably a contraction of the old word Sithence; but is conjectured by Tooke to have been formed from the phrase, “Seen as.”

46.  THROUGH [, Sax.  Thurh, or Thurch,] seems related to Thorough, Sax.  Thuruh; and this again to Thuru, or Duru, a Door.

47.  THROUGHOUT, quite through, is an obvious compond of through and out.

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