354 An Examination of Dr PARR'S Observations 



ever it is applied in the Greek language, either in a compound 

 or simple state, or its derivative sub in Latin, it expresses the re- 

 lations of a lower and a higher object. This I shall endeavour to 

 prove by examples. In HOMER'S description of the dove, struck 

 in mid-air by MERIONES, the preposition vvo occurs in two forms. 

 //. Y. 874. 



' viral vecptuv tide 

 cys divfuova-Kv VKO vrigwyog 



In the first place, the adverb 4/< has no reference to a higher 

 object, but only denotes the elevation of something above the po- 

 sition of another. It is evidently the dative by abbreviation of 

 v^of. In the second place, uvui, which I take to be the old da- 

 tive feminine of the adjective i>vo?, is synonymous with vvo, and 

 both point out the relative situation of an object to another 

 above it. The dove was seen circling in air. Its situation might 

 have been pointed out in relation to MERIONES, who was stand- 

 ing on the ground ; and, if the Poet had resolved so to describe 

 it, he would have employed the preposition vvkg, not VKO. He 

 could not, however, by such a limited relation, convey an ade- 

 quate idea of the height of the dove above the spot where ME- 

 RIONES was standing ; he, therefore, employed a preposition 

 which expressed a kind of double relation, that of a lower to a 

 higher object, and, by inference, the relation of space between 

 MERIONES and the dove, ascertained by its height under the 

 clouds. These remarks will also apply to the expression VKO 

 Krigwyog a'x* ptffffw. The wound was inflicted under the wing ; 

 i. e. the wing was higher than the wound ; or, vice versa, the 

 wound was in a part low in comparison to the situation of the 

 wing. As far as my experience goes, I know of no example in 

 the Greek language where wo, either in its simple or compound 

 state, has any other signification than under, relatively to a 

 higher object ; and even this idea may be traced in some words 



