We now trace the derivation of such parts as are bequeathed to us: then compare the French and Latin substantive verbs, Aм, cognate with Gr. eiμì dei poi, life to me.

ARE (Icelandic or Danish) er; were (Ger. war); cognate with Gr. Eap spring; (Lat. ver, vireo).

WAS (Goth.) wuasgan, to grow.

BE

BEEN

WE

cognate with Gr. Bios, life.

ᎬᎡᎢ, said to be a remnant of A.-S. we or than or wyrthan, to be, to become.

Fus, (Lat. fui); (Gr. púw), to grow.

SERAI, (Span. ser, to be); hence serai j'ai ser, I have to be, or shall be.

I

LATIN.

SUM, similar to eiμl=Swń poi, life to me.
FUI, fuo, to spring, to grow. (Gr. púw.)

ESTO, (from e-stare), to stand out.

φύω.)

Hence we find the notions involved in the substantive verb to be, life, growth, standing, springing, existence, flourishing.

9. Auxiliary Verbs.

SHALL, (A.-S.) scealan, to owe.

WILL, (A.-S.) wyllan, to will or wish.
MAY, (A.-S.) magan, to be able.
CAN, (A.-S.) cunnan, to know.

WOULD, as if wol-did, wolde, would.
SHOULD, shol-did, schold, should.

COULD, properly couthe, couth, coud. false analogy.

7 inserted by

OwE, (A.-S.) ágan, to have, or hold.

WIST, (A.-S.) witan, to know.

WORTH, (A.-S.) weorthan, to be or become; (Ger. werden). QUOTE, (quothe, quoth, quod), whence quote and bequeath. METHINKS, (A.-S.) thin can, to seem; then can means to think. MELISTS, (A.-S.) lystan, to please, whence lust.

Do (act.), (A.-S.) don, to make (facere).

Do (intr.), (A.-S.) dugan, to thrive, to avail (valere).

YCLAD, YCLEPT. The A.-S. participial prefix was ge, corrupted into y; so, geclad, geclept (clepan, to call, A.-S.), became yclad, yclept.

DID,

HIGHT, }

These verbs are said to be the only verbs we possess which show traces of reduplication.

Pronunciation of Saxon.

1. The student may find it difficult to trace the connection between the Saxon word and its English derivative, on account of a difference in their forms. This difficulty will disappear if the Saxon pronunciation be rightly understood.

2. To assist him the following rules and explanation are subjoined.

VOWELS.

Each vowel in the Saxon has a double sound, viz. the ordinary sound and a long or broader one. The latter is distinguished by the marks 'or superscribed.

A has the sound of a in ah, as in father.

A or A pronounced longer and broader, something like o; as, lâr=lore, sâr=sore, á c=oak.

A pronounced like a in glad.

E (before a consonant followed by a vowel) pronounced like ea in bear.

E (before a or o) pronounced like y; as, eorl, yeorl.

E at the end of a syllable is lightly sounded, like the French

unaccented 'e.'

É pronounced like æ'.

IY pronounced like i in dim.

I (before another vowel) pronounced like y.

íý pronounced like ee in deem, some say like i in wine.

o pronounced like o in not.

I before e and u has the sound of y; as, Iudeas, Jews; iugoð, youth. EO seems to have had a sound of u, as sweord=swurd.

CONSONANTS.

The consonants are pronounced as in English, with the following exceptions:

C was pronounced like k until a comparatively late period, when it appears to have degenerated into ch, as in church; ceorl, churl; cild, child.

F had probably a sound approaching to v between two vowels, or at the end of a syllable, as appears from its being sometimes represented by u; as, heauod for heafod, head, &c.

G is never soft: when placed betwen two of the vowels æ, e, i, or y, or at the beginning of a syllable before e or i, followed by another vowel, it has the sound of y as lufige, lufiye; geár, year; fægen, fayne; fæger, fayre, fair.

G before e or i, and (like h) at the end of a syllable, was probably guttural, as often in German, and almost silent; as, bys-ig, busy.

I was a hard aspirate, and is used at the beginning of syllables before 1, n, r, w; as, hláf, loaf; hnutu, nut; hring, ring. Before w it has become our wh; as, hwettan, to whet; hwal, whale.

At the end of a word, either by itself, or followed by a hard consonant, it has the sound of Gr. x, or Ger. ch guttural, and is represented in modern English by gh; as, þurh, through; leoht, light.

CG is usually written for gg; as, secgan, for seggan, to say.
Þ (tha) is our hard th, as in thing.

(eth) is our soft th, as in other.

Þ usually begins, ð ends a syllable. A corrupted form of þ, written in later MSS. not unlike y, has given rise to the use of ye in old books for 'the,' i. e. pe. The use of this letter was continued as late as the 16th century.

If the student will attend to these simple rules, he will be able to reconcile many apparent incongruities in etymology; for he will perceive that many words have been written after the pronunciation rather than the form of their originals. Thus 'own' from ágen; here, if á be pronounced as o, and g like y (as is often the case in German), we have oyen, which is not far from 'own.'

CHAPTER II.

CONJUNCTIONS.

AN, (A.-S.) annan, unnan, to grant.

AND, from a n-ad. AN, I grant, from (A.-S.) annan: ád means pile or heap.-Horne Tooke.

BUT, (A.-S.) botan, to boot.-Horne Tooke; possibly bót, a cor

rection.

EXCEPT, (Lat.) excipere.

EVEN, (A.-S.) æfen; (Dan.) evenen, to smooth, to level.

EITHER, (A.-S.) ægther.

FOR, (Goth.) fairina, a cause; (A.-S.) for, on account of.
EKE, (A.-S.) e a can, to add.

ELSE, (A.-S.) alysan, to dismiss, or alias (Lat.) otherwise.

IF, (A.—S.) gifan, to give. This derivation of Tooke's is questioned. LEST, (A.-S.) leosan, to dismiss.

NEITHER not either; vide supra, not one of two.

NOR, vide or, not other.

OR, (A.-S.) oðer, oder, other.

SINCE seeing that, (A.-S.) se on, to see.

So, (A.-S.) swa, from sa gan, to say.-Tooke.

STILL, (A.-S.) stellan, to put.—Tooke. Stillan, to quiet.

THOUGH, ALTHOUGH, (A.-S.) tha figan, to allow.

THAT, (A.-S.) thicgan, to take.—Tooke.

UNLESS, (A.-S.) onlys an, to dismiss.

WHETHER, (A.-S.) hwaether, which of two.

YET, (A.-S.) getan, to get.

Horne Tooke's theory is that conjunctions, prepositions, and adverbs are originally parts of verbs, chiefly imperative moods. e. g. if means give.

CHAPTER III.

PREPOSITIONS.

ABOVE, a=on. (A.-S.) bu fan-be-u fan; from ufa, lofty. ABOUT, (A.-S.) abutan on boda circum; boda extremity. AFTER, (A.-S.) after, comparative of æft; (Dan.) efter, behind. AGAINST, (A.-S.) ongean, to meet.

AMONG, (A.-S.) a on, mongan, or mengian, to mingle. ATHWART, (A.-S.) thweorian (according to Horne Tooke), to twist, to oppose.

AT, (A.-S.) at, at.

BEHIND, (A.-S.) hindan.

BELOW, (A.-S.) licjan, to lay or lie.
BENEATH, (A.-S.) neothan, beneath.

BETWEEN, (A.-S.) be-twegen, by twos.

BEYOND, (A.-S.) bigeond be passed; geond from gangen,

to go; whence, yond, yonder.

BUT be out, (A.-S.) bútan, to be out.

Down, (A.-S.) dufan, to sink.

ERE, ERST, (A.-S.) or, er, before.

FOR, (Goth.) fairina, cause. (A.-S.) for, on account of.
FORE, (A.-S.) foran, before.

FROM, (A.-S.) frum, the beginning.

IN, (A.-S.) in. Tooke says from in na viscera?

MIDST, (A.-S.) mid. In composition with (Lat.) medius.
OF, (A.-S.) of; (Goth.) a f-ara, posterity.

OFF, probably the same word as of, with a different application.
ON, (Goth. ana; A.-S. on), is of unsettled etymology.
OUT, (A.-S.) ut, utan. Tooke derives it from a word out a skin?
ROUND, (A.-S.) rond=border; also (Lat.) rotundus.

OVER, (A.-S.) ófer; Gr. vπép. Tooke supposes ufa means top or head.

THROUGH, (Goth.) da uro, a door or passage. (A.-S.) thurh.