44 H. L. BROOMALL : 



most as if it were foi'e and most, while etymologically (that is 

 to say, imitatively ) the word is forvi-cst, the superlative of 

 form-er, from Old English forme, equivalent to Latin prim-tis. 

 So, aco?')i is pronounced and written in analogy with Old Eng- 

 lish ac, oak, and corn, although it originally had no connection 

 with either word, being formed from acre, O. Eng. crcer, field, 

 and meaning " of the field," as silvern is formed from silver. 

 Shamefast, a word formed like steadfast, has become shamefaced 

 in analogy with faced, shown on or by the face, as double- 

 faced, long faced . The lexicographer himself spells foreign 

 and sovereign as if they were related to reign, when in fact the 

 words come from French forain and sonve?'ain , L,a.Un foran?(s 

 and superanus. He respells Old English rime in the form rhyme 

 in analogy^ with the Greek rhythm and writes hiccough as if the 

 word were partly composed of cough, with which it has no 

 connection either in origin or pronunciation. In doing these 

 things the lexicographer was building better than he knew. 

 He was working along analogical lines ; and, while his etymo- 

 logies are mistaken, his analogies are good, and the words as 

 given by him are of more significance than they would other- 

 wise be. So the more lowly speaker of the tongue says def'cit 

 for de'ficit in analogy with def'cieut and defl ciency , and spar- 

 rotv-grass for asparagus with obvious reference. We hear airh- 

 itect with ch as in child, because it is associated with arch, 

 sacreligious for sacrilegious with reference to /rligious, Arkan' - 

 sas for Ar kansas , on account of Ka)i' sas, a totally different 

 word, and pare' sis for pa' re sis in consonance with medical 

 terms in itis, the first / sounded as e and accented. The word 

 derelict, recently adopted to designate a floating abandoned 

 hulk dangerous to navigation, has no associations among 

 common English words. What a depth of significance it 

 gains when the sailor twists it into dilly-wreck. 



None of these are legitimate, but they owe their existence 

 — be it temporary or lasting— to precisely the same motive of 

 increasing significance that has made the meanings and forms 

 of all words just what they happen to be to-day. 



