A Grammar of the English Tongue eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 63 pages of information about A Grammar of the English Tongue.

A Grammar of the English Tongue eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 63 pages of information about A Grammar of the English Tongue.

    Many of these etymologies are doubtful, and some evidently mistaken.

The following are somewhat harder, Alexander, Sander; Elisabetha, Betty; apis, bee; aper, bar; p passing into b, as in bishop; and by cutting off a from the beginning, which is restored in the middle; but for the old bar or bare, we now say boar; as for lang, long, for bain, bane; for stane, stone; aprugna, brawn, p, being changed into b and a transposed, as in aper, and g changed into w, as in pignus, pawn; lege, law; [Greek:  alopex], fox, cutting off the beginning, and changing p into f, as in pellis, a fell; pullus, a foal; pater, father; pavor, fear; polio, file; pleo, impleo, fill, full; piscis, fish; and transposing o into the middle, which was taken from the beginning; apex, a piece; peak, pike; zophorus, freese; mustum, stum; defensio, fence; dispensator, spencer; asculto, escouter, Fr. scout; exscalpo, scrape; restoring l instead of r, and hence scrap, scrabble, scrawl; exculpo, scoop; exterritus, start; extonitus, attonitus, stonn’d; stomachus, maw; offendo, fined; obstipo, stop; audere, dare; cavere, ware; whence, a-ware, beware, wary, warn, warning; for the Latin v consonant formerly sounded like our w, and the modern sound of the v consonant was formerly that of the letter f, that is, the AEolick digamma, which had the sound of [Greek:  ph], and the modern sound of the letter f was that of the Greek [Greek:  ph] or ph; ulcus, ulcere, ulcer, sore, and hence sorry, sorrow, sorrowful; ingenium, engine, gin, scalenus, leaning, unless you would rather derive it from [Greek:  klino], whence inclino; infundibulum, funnel; gagates, jett, projectum, to jett forth, a jetty; cucullus, a cowl.
There are syncopes somewhat harder; from tempore, time; from nomine, name, domina, dame; as the French homme, femme, nom, from homine, foemina, nomine.  Thus pagina, page; [Greek:  poterion], pot; [Greek:  kypella], cup; cantharus, can; tentorium, tent; precor, pray; preda, prey; specio, speculor, spy; plico, ply; implico, imply; replico, reply; complico, comply; sedes episcopalis, see.
A vowel is also cut off in the middle, that the number of the syllables may be lessened; as amita, aunt; spiritus, spright; debitum, debt; dubito, doubt; comes, comitis, count; clericus, clerk; quietus, quit, quite; acquieto, to acquit; separo, to spare; stabilis, stable; stabulum, stable; pallacium, palace, place; rabula, rail, rawl, wrawl, brawl, rable, brable; quaesito, quest.
As also a consonant, or at least one of a softer sound, or even a whole syllable, rotundus, round; fragilis, frail; securus, sure; regula, rule; tegula, tile; subtilis, subtle; nomen, noun; decanus, dean; computo, count; subitaneus, sudden, soon; superare, to soar; periculum, peril; mirabile, marvel; as magnus, main; dignor, deign; tingo, stain; tinctum, taint; pingo, paint; praedari, reach.
The contractions may seem harder, where
Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
A Grammar of the English Tongue from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.