124 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



But even more curious is the fact that the same law of 

 expression applies in the case of motions. These, too, are 

 either continuous or abrupt ; and these are also repre- 

 sented by words whose terminal letters either can or can- 

 not be dwelt upon. Of the former kind are — fly, run, 

 swim, Sluing, move, crcavl, turn, ivJdrl, and slide ; and these 

 words all indicate the continuity of the various kinds of 

 motion by their terminal sounds being indefinitely con- 

 tinuous. But motions whose chief characteristic is their 

 abrupt termination, such as ste'p, hop, jumjy, leaj?, halt, 

 stop, drop), hump, ivinh, or actions which imply such motion 

 ^^ strike, hit, knock, p)at, slap, stamp, stab, kick, all have a cor- 

 responding ending in non-continnous letter-sounds. 



This remarkable series of correspondences is highly 

 suggestive of a law of primitive word-formation. At a 

 very early stage in the growth of speech, it would be ob- 

 served that some vocal sounds were capable of being drawn 

 out, while others necessarily had an abrupt termination ; 

 and, as natural sounds and motions had also these con- 

 trasted features of abruptness or continuity, it was the 

 most natural thing in the world to make the names of 

 these sounds, motions, or actions, agree in this respect with 

 the things named. Most of these words are very similar 

 in other Teutonic languages, and however much they may 

 have changed in the course of ages, they have, as we see, 

 retained this particular form of expressiveness in a very 

 remarkable degree. In all this we have no mere convention 

 or ingenious contrivance, but a natural imitative expres- 

 siveness, arising out of the very nature and limitations of 

 articulate speech. 



Words imitating Soiinds. 



We will now proceed to a brief discussion of the various 

 classes of words which are more directly sound-imitations ; 

 and though many of these are among the most familiar 

 examples adduced by the exponents of the imitative origin 

 of language, yet their great range, the variety in their 

 modes of imitation, and their marvellous power of in- 

 dicating not only sounds, but even motions, actions, 



