The Latin A'T t and the Greek AE. 127 



THE word AE was, indeed, but feldom joined with an accu- 

 fative cafe by the Attic writers, and only in fome expreflions 

 which the grammarians confider as adverbial. May we not, 

 however, conclude from the facts juft now ftated, that, with 

 the more early Greeks, and even with HOMER, it was conuder- 

 ed as a prepofition governing the accufative, and equivalent to 

 the Latin AD, or the Englifh TO ? It is, indeed, always put af- 

 ter the noun which it governs ; but that makes no difference as 

 to its real grammatical nature : For though a pre-poCition put af- 

 ter^ is, in truth, a contradiction, yet it is no uncommon occur- 

 rence in moft languages. The Latins ufe nobif-cum, tantif-/ter, 

 &c. and we there-/*?, where-/e, and others fimilar. Thefe laft 

 alfo our grammarians confider as adverbs ', but they are com- 

 pound words, in which the prepofition TO is palpably one of 

 the component parts. And the facts before ftated render it, in 

 fome degree, probable, that the Greek AE is fometimes, in like 

 manner, a prepofition put after the word which it governs, and 

 equivalent to TO. 



ON this hypothefis, then, that AE is a prepofition fignifying 

 TO, it is reafonable to imagine i.That, though it is, in itfelf, 

 extremely general^ yet, like the correfponding word in other 

 languages, it may be ufed in the fpecial meanings of added 

 to -joined to, 8cc. And 2. That the object, governed by it, may 

 be not formally ftated, but left to be collected from a preceding 

 noun or prepofition. In fhort, that it mould follow the fame ana- 

 logy of application as the Latin AD and the Englifh TO, when 

 they are called conjunctions. Accordingly we find, that it does 

 ib in fact. When ULYSSES, in the pth book of the Iliad, enu- 

 merates to ACHILLES the prefents intended for him by AGA- 

 MEMNON, he does it in this manner : 



" ryw TCI 



** \TT' aTrufSf TfiTroJa;, Sixa. AE p 

 . ** AlSMM AE Atj3ri]aj taxoai, StaStKo, A! i 



* v - 26 



