TEE MODERN ENGLISH LANGUAGE 163 



tionary, concerning whose etymology little or nothing is known, may 

 have originated in somewhat similar fashion. The " back-formations " 

 of Dr. Murray, the English lexicographer, cited by Jespersen as one of 

 the means the language employs for the purpose of forming new words 

 " by subtracting something from old ones," belong under the head of 

 '' reduction." In this way darJcU is derived from darkling; pup from 

 puppy; cad from cadet or caddie; grovel from groveling; difficult from 

 difficulty, etc. It is evident that the "back-formation" variety of 

 " reduction " may be of great service in the future development of our 

 language, being another aid in the process of survival as a world-tongue. 

 A very recent addition to the vocabulary of to-day is "to typewrite/' 

 from typewriter — in England " to type " is much in vogue, a word 

 which illustrates admirably the process in question. 



