Lecture I. Or English words, derived from Latin Roots.

В.А. СААКЯН

EXOTICS,

OR ENGLISH WORDS, DERIVED FROM LATIN ROOTS.

BY EDWARD N. HOARE

ФАКСИМИЛЬНОЕ ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ

К КРАТКОМУ СЛОВАРЮ ЭТИМОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ГНЕЗД АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА

(С РУССКИМИИ ПАРАЛЛЕЛЯМИ)

Том I

Санкт-Петербург

MMIX

EXOTICS,

&c. &c. LECTURE I.

INTRODUCTORY.

In a former course of Lectures, in which I treated of the derivation of words in the present English language from the Ancient Anglo-Saxon, I ex­pressed my conviction that " the writers and speakers who please us most are those whose style is the most Saxon in its character;" and I stated the fact that this remark was more espe­cially applicable to poetry. At the same time, I intimated that " there can be no doubt that the English language has been embellished and im­proved by the addition of words adopted from the harmonious and comprehensive languages of ancient Greece and Rome;" and that it was " against the abuse, and not against the moderate

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and judicious use, of such adopted words," that speakers and writers ought to be upon their guard. I also suggested that, " amongst the advantages derived from such borrowed words, is the convenience of synonyms hereby supplied, by the use of which tautology is avoided."*

With a view to point out some of the advan­tages referred to, and to exemplify the influence on our present English that the adoption of words from the Latin language has attained, and the extent to which we are now indebted for the means of fully expressing our ideas, to the intro­duction of words so derived, I have undertaken the present course of Lectures. And in pursuance of these objects, it shall be my endeavour, not merely to enumerate such words as in a catalogue, but so to classify and arrange them—with occa­sional remarks and illustrations—as to render the study of a subject, naturally dry and heavy, not devoid of interest, by conveying etymological information to the student and general reader, in a more popular form than that which lexicograph­ers supply.

It will be necessary, and it is hoped may prove interesting and instructive, at the commencement of this inquiry, to give a brief sketch of the history of the English language; with a view to

* English Roots: and the Derivation of words from the Ancient Anglo-Saxon. Third Edition, 1863, p. 128.

LECTURE I. 3

recount in order the various changes which have taken place in the course of ages, and to trace the causes which have led, from time to time, to the introduction of words from other languages than the Anglo-Saxon; which, as shewn in the work already referred to, constitutes the principal element in the language to the present day, even as it has done for upwards of twelve centuries; although not to the absolute exclusion of all others.

What was the language spoken by the Britons or Welsh, who were the first possessors of Great Britain that we know anything of, it is impossi­ble to conjecture; there being very few words in the present English tongue that can with any probability be traced to pure British roots. " The whole fabric and scheme of the English language is (Dr. Johnson remarks) Gothic or Teutonic; it is a dialect of that tongue which prevails over all the northern countries of Europe, except where the Sclavonian is spoken;" and from this (the Teutonic) the Saxon, " which is the origin of the present English, was either derived, or both have descended to us from some common parent."*

What was the form of the Saxon language, when, about the middle of the 5th century, that

• See History of the English Language, prefixed to Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. Quarto Edition.

LECTURE I.

people first arrived in Britain, cannot now be known. As they appear to have been altogether destitute of learning, their language must have been very artless and unconnected, and probably only oral, and not written. In about a century after their first arrival, Christianity was intro­duced amongst the Saxons; and with it, doubt­less, a certain degree of civilization and learning. But it was not until three centuries afterwards that they had formed a language capable of ex­pressing the sentiments of a civilized people. Hence the first specimen of ancient English that Dr. Johnson considers worthy of selection, is taken from a work of King Alfred, who flour­ished in the 9th century. In this work there are scarcely any words to be found borrowed from the Roman dialects.

The same observation applies to an extract given by Dr. Johnson from a translation of the Gospels, between the time of Alfred and that of the Norman Conquest; on comparing which with Wickliffe's version, about four hundred years later, we find differences in rendering the same passages, indicating a further adoption of words from the Latin; such as maundimentis and justi-fyingis, in the version of 1380, for bebodum and rihtwisnessum, (that is, biddings and righteous­nesses) in that of the 1Oth century; as also juste for rihtwise, that is, righteous, or going in right ways. In the authorized version of the 17th

LECTURE I. 5

century, the words are " commandments and ordi­nances," and " righteous," (Luke i. 6), shewing very little alteration since the 14th century. Again, at the 10th verse of the same chapter, where it was, in the version of the 10th century, the werod (i. e. male population) of the folkes, we find the Latin-derived words, " multitude of the people," alike in the version of the fourteenth and in that of the seventeenth century.

It appears strange that, after the Romans had ruled over Britain for above four centuries, they should have left little or no trace of their lan­guage in the island; or if they did, it was soon lost, when the vast majority of the inhabitants were extirpated by the Saxons, whom the Britons invited over to help them against the Picts. However this may have been, it is certain that the only remains of Latin-derived words, which can be traced to the time of the Romans, are to be found in proper names of places; of which the clearest and most numerous are those which bear testi­mony to the warlike character of the people, and which betoken the military sway that they main­tained over the subdued inhabitants of the island. All names of places terminating in c hester, caster, or cester, (as in Manchester, Lancaster, and Leices­ter), and they are numerous, indicate the site of Roman encampments— castra signifying a camp. It will be found that there are upwards of a score

of such names amongst, those of counties and

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