LECTURE I. is that which is built over or upon the foundation; and a supervisor is an overlooker.

is that which is built over or upon the foundation; and a " supervisor" is an overlooker.

Trans means across or beyond, from one side to another. A " transfer" of land, of money in the funds, or of any commodity, is the carrying of it from one person to another. To " transport" is to carry one across or beyond the seas; and when a person is said to be " transported " with joy, it means that he is carried away by his feel­ings beyond all bounds.

There are a few Latin adverbs used as prefixes in English words, which it may be well to notice in this place.

Bene is w ell, and male ill. Hence we have "beneficent" and "benevolent," well-doing and well-wishing; and "malevolent," of a bad dis­position, or wishing ill; likewise "benediction," a blessing, and " malediction," a curse; meaning speaking well and speaking ill.

Prope is near; whence we have "propinquity."

From satis, enough, we have "satisfy," "satis­faction;" and "insatiable," that cannot be satis­fied.

Semi is, in composition, half, as "semicircle;" and DEMI, of like signification, as " demigod." These two terms are united to describe a very short note in music—a demi-semi quaver.

Simul is at the same time, as in "simulta­neous;" and instanter is at the same moment, whence we have " instantaneously "

LECTURE I. 21

Before concluding this Lecture, or entering upon the general subject of Latin-derived words in the English language, I take the opportunity of first calling attention to the circumstance, that all terms relating to Grammar are derived from the Latin.

The names of the several parts of speech are so derived. The article means a small part or portion, and is of Latin origin. The noun and the substantive are the name and the substance of the thing indicated, both words being from the Latin. The adjective means that which is thrown or added to the noun, to point out its quality. The pronoun is used instead of the noun; and the different kinds of pronouns are described by Latin-derived terms; the personal, belonging to the person; relative, relating to; interrogative, asking a question; and demonstra­tive, pointing out. The verb means the word; by which is described the principal word in the sentence. The adverb is that which is added, not to the " verb" in the grammatical sense, but to the word which it is used to qualify. The preposition is placed before the noun or pronoun; derived from two Latin words, signifying placed before. The conjunction is used to connect words, or to conjoin them, as the name imports. Lastly, the interjection is thrown between the parts of a sentence, to express one's feelings; being compounded of two Latin words, meaning

LECTURE I.

thrown between. Of the interjection, Home Tooke speaks very disparagingly, considering it so far from being properly a " part of speech," that he designates it " the brutish and inarticulate interjection, which has nothing to do with speech, and is only the miserable refuge of the speechless." In proof of this, he insists that " the dominion of speech is founded on the downfall of interjections. Without the artful contrivances of language," he observes, " mankind could have nothing but interjections with which to communicate, orally, any oftheir feelings." And he proceeds to shew that " voluntary interjections are only employed when the suddenness or vehemence of some affec­tion or passion returns men to their natural state, and makes them, for the moment, forget the use of speech:" while in books they are only to be found in " rhetoric and poetry, in novels, plays, and romances;" and never occur " in books of civil institutions, in history, or in any treatise on useful arts or sciences."*

But not only are the several parts of speech derived from the Latin, but all the terms applied to them, in their declension or conjugation, may be traced to the same origin. Thus the numbers and genders of nouns and pronouns, as well as those terms themselves, will be found to be

* Diversions of Purley; as quoted in English Roots and the Derivation of Words from the Anglo-Saxon. Third Edition, p. 48.

LECTURE I. 23

derived from this source. The singular and plural, as well as the masculine, feminine, and neuter (or neither) are all from Latin. In like manner, with reference to the cases of nouns and pronouns. The nominative is that which simply implies the name of the person or thing; the possessive, as it is commonly called in English, is the case that designates possession. This case in the Latin Grammar is called the genitive, as, among other relations, signifying one begotten, as, the father of a son, or a son's father; or of one begetting, as, the son of the father, or the father's son. The dative is, in Latin, the case that sig­nifies the person to whom anything is given, from the verb do, I give. The accusative, or, in English Grammar, the objective, signifies the relation of the noun or pronoun on which the action or object implied in the word terminates. The vocative is the case of calling, from voco, I call, from which we have such words as " voca­tion," " avocation," &c. The ablative designates the case which signifies the person or thing from which something is taken away; compounded of a&, from, and latus, the past participle of the irregular verb, fero, I bring or carry. Of the six Latin cases, we have, however, only three in English, namely, the nominative, possessive, and objective.

All the moods and tenses of verbs, in English, are likewise of Latin origin. The indicative is

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