6 On the Similarity between the German and English Languages. [Feb.1, 
an aspirate), g, gh (formerly pronounced 
as ‘an aspirate); the labials, or those 
formed by the compression of the dips, 
4, m, p, v, f. The vowels and dip- 
thongs, being all formed upon one part 
of the vocal organ, are necessarily 
merely modifications of one sound, and 
- of very little use to the etymologist ; 
though it must be observed, that each 
kindred dialect has its favourites,—the 
Italian converts the Latin z into e, and 
the w into o, while the German prefers 
au, in words where ours has ou: house 
and mouse are in German haus and maus. 
A few examples will illustrate the change 
between equivalents :— 
| Dentals.— God, in German, is Gott; 
dance, tanz; thank, dank ; brother, bru- 
der; water, wasser; netile, nesse/ ; this- 
tle, distel ; thick, dick ; earth, erde. 
| Palatics. — To make, zu machen; 
crutch, kricke; plough, pflug; rank, 
tang; right, recht; might, macht ; night, 
nacht; daughter, tochter. 
Labials.— Gave, gab; to have, zu 
haben; to love, zu leben; to shove, zu 
schieben; bolster, polster; never, nim- 
mer; ever, immer; apple, apfel; deep, 
tief; wench, mensh. 
To give the reader expertness in 
tracing less obvious resemblances, the 
following words have been selected. 
He, however, must be previously in- 
formed, that the v, in German, is pro- 
nounced as our f, the j as g, and the z 
as ts ; and reminded, that w, in English, 
when not initial, is merely double w, and 
therefore may be represented by any 
vowel or diphthong ;—and that, when it 
is initial, it formerly had more the sound 
of v than at present, and consequently 
isa labial. It is also worth observing, 
that we often employ i or y, and some- 
times w (double uw), where the Germans 
use g: as in regen-bogen, rainbow, and 
mag, may ;—that it is the character of 
our language to abbreviate, by omit- 
ting harsh sounds, or changing them for 
softer ;—and that the words of most 
frequent occurrence in conversation 
have been most altered and corrupted. 
Weg, way; tag, day; mag, may; elbo- 
gen, elbow ; schwister, sister ; zu schwim- 
men, to swim; 2 schworen, to swear; 
ein schwung, a swing; gebracht, brought; 
gewonnen, won; geholfen, holpen; gesch- 
lungen, slung ; gesotten, sodden (boiled); 
fiel, fell; mochte, might; kam, came; 
schlang, slang; schwang, swang; sprach, 
spake; sesprochen, spoken; trank, drank ; 
_getrunken, drunk ; zu reiben, to rub; zu 
rinnen, to run; zu schlafen, to sleep; zu 
stechen, to stitch; zw stecken, to stick»; 
zu reichen, to reach; xu pfispern, to 
whisper; breit, broad; diin, thin; Licht, 
light ; zu denken, to think; hundert, hun- 
dred; als, as; ob, if; zu, to, and too; 
hin, hence; gegangen, gone (ganged); 
durch, through; mit, with; hoch, high; 
hat, has; ist, is; soll, shall; sollte, should; 
pflaum, plums schmied, smith; schliss, slit ; 
schnee, snow; hagel, hail; acht, eight ; 
zehen, ten; vierzehen, fourteen; ein und 
vierzig, one-and-forty ; dass, that; was, 
what; aus, out; auf, upon; dann, than ; 
denn, then (for); wann, when; ober, 
upper; iber, over; vor, before; hinter, 
behind; mehr, more; gehabt, had; ge- 
than, done; gewesen, been; halb, half; 
kalb, calf; Ich, 1; mich, me; du, thou; 
dich, thee; sie, she; wir, we; uns, us; 
unser, our; ever, your; es, it; seld, self; 
solcher, such ; welcher, which (in Dutch, 
welke); mancher, many; konig, king; 
will, will; wollte, would. 
From a multitude of German and 
English words obviously similar, the 
above have been selected, as having 
the slightest evident proofs of identity 
of origin. Persons acquainted with 
provincial dialects or old authors, will 
often recognize, in existing German, 
words and expressions, that are in our 
own language, vulgar, or obsolete: du 
bist, thou art, scarcely differs from the 
corresponding expression in Hertford- 
shire, and some other counties. 
The German roots are formed into 
compounds by combination with each 
other, or the addition of prefixes and 
terminations scarcely differing from our 
own: ‘as, vor (fore), be, miss, vér (for), 
unter, un, Ober (upper), ber (over), niss, 
ung (ing), lich (ly, like), voll, schaft (ship), 
i (y), ér, thum (dom), chen (kin), lein 
lin). 
As a specimen of the combination of 
substantives, I may adduce, stillstand, 
handschuh, stecknadel (pin), handwérks- 
man, weinhindlér, goldspinner, wassér- 
ump, wirbelwind (whirlwind), nachtigal 
(eithitibgale), nachteul (nightowl), finger- 
hiit (fingerhood, i.e. thimble), fischotter 
(otter). 
In concluding this list of words, I 
must encourage the reader, by informing 
him, that in analyzing the German com- 
pounds, we are rarely, as in our own 
language, compelled to refer to the 
Greek and Latin, in order to discover 
their real signification, they being all 
formed from native roots. To an 
Englishman acquainted with this mode 
of comparing his own language with the 
German, the grammar of the latter, sim- 
ple and easy in itself, can occasion no 
trouble; for his own is rather a syste- 
matic deviation from the German, than 
one 
