Sora 
! 
‘Rrymology. 
. neral 
rivation,'they are‘to be deduced or formed from one 
another. In the ‘latter, the etymologist extends his 
views | | mere grammatical formations, to the re- 
‘mote and recondite analysis of words, whether primi- 
‘tive’or derived, with a view to trace out the’actual ori- 
gin,. s, and filiation of langu: ‘and, if possi- 
‘Ble, to er the radical nuclei or ‘ -of human 
“Speech, as ive of human’ t. The elucida- 
‘tion of the first’ branch belongs to ‘ians and lex- 
‘ic hers ; the second forms an interesting subject of 
‘philosophical enquiry. 
Considered under either point of view, the import- 
ance of the study of etymology cannot justly be called 
in question. “As a part of particular grammar, it cor- 
stitutes a fundamental and essential branch of it, abso- 
‘for the knowledge 
man knowledge, certainly cannot, as some have 
cabsurdly roe yr Medan gogo of thin 
7 
“but they may at least furnish assistance towards unfold. 
‘ing the of the mind in observing and discovering 
the objects it. Prejudices have indeed been 
researches of this description, as if 
t resting 
juent- 
usurp the place 
discussions may no doubt 
pee er 3 but when conducted 
and appr lead to concl 
sratifping to the Riciihaine adel, nd venient oe 
For the condu 
ae hy 
here 
expres- 
all lan- 
‘of our internal 
‘rations of the human mind are uniform 
bee ee ; language, wherever formed and introduced, 
per 
Foy non + age in some than in 
some, | : more i 
ects, or ‘modificttions of action, pooner eaeahe 
are exal of the former ; most of the of 
rid a, eho Drtigres Rogar peda 
culiar structure of the language'in these points, soon. 
vreaponilitg Gifferenice takes places in the  churcorec ot 
ETYMOLOGY. 
dition, or more em 
215 
its etymology, ‘more refined: and : 
more simple in others,. Where.many ions and cir- 
cumstances are expressed by means of inflection, that 
branch of ‘etymology*which treats’of it, must become 
an important and fundamental object of attention. Such 
a language possesses this advantage, that when the 
laws of its inflection are understood, and the radical 
‘meaning of the verb or noun comprehended, each word, 
‘whatever place it may occupy in the sentence, has its 
precise relation to the others ascertained. ‘In eR 
-Of less artificial structure, where recourse must be had 
to supplementary terms, much of the sense must de~ 
pend upon collocation alone. Languages of the for- 
mer‘description are more tible of variety of ar- 
rangement, as well as harmony of modulation ; in lan- 
of the latter kind, the arrangement is necessarily 
more confined and uniform, but it has been thought 
that accuracy and perspicuity are thereby better at~ 
In what manner 'these varieties ‘in the etymological 
structure of we have arisen, has been a subject of 
dispute. Some have supposed that inflections their 
origin from the gradual junction and amalgamation of 
separate terms with the ‘radical word : thus, ‘m/nouns, 
the terms denoting mor recipient, or subject vA ac~ 
tion ; and in verbs, ‘the terms expressing time, volition, 
command, or dependence, being frequently in common 
eenien along with the word to which they re- 
lated, came at length to coalesce entirely with the radi- 
cal word, and to fi the genitive, dative, and accusa- 
tive cases of nouns, the tenses, moods, or voices of verbs, 
that might easily arise when a language was 
constaritly employed by an active, ingenious, and ani- 
mated le. To others it has appeared more proba- 
ble, that the of language was'in a different di- 
rection ; that speech being intended to: communicate the 
complex feelings and impressions of the ‘mind, at ‘first 
consisted of what may be denominated mere masses of 
sound, significant only of these complex impressions, in 
which su ce, qualities, and actions were united and 
blended without distinction ; that, by the operation of 
external objects, a modification of these impressions ta- 
king place, and the agent, the action, ‘the effect, and 
the quality, becoming alternately objects of direct and 
aed a corres ng variation to indicate 
ese ‘modifications, took place in the significant sounds ; 
that separate classes of ‘sounds significant or words, be- 
ing thus formed. farther but minuter variations 
these words themselves were found necessary, to denote 
the relations in which they were supposed to stand, or — 
‘the particular mode of operation they were believed to 
exert: These it was easy to supply by abbreviation, ad- 
cenuneiation, at the commence- 
ment or termination ; and in this manner might ‘be 
formed the cases of nouns—the tenses, ‘nioods, and per- 
sons of verbs; from which afterwards might arise, ‘by 
separation of a part, or contraction of the whole, new 
‘classes of words, denoting ‘relation, ‘position, or modifi- 
cation in general, and constituting ‘the ‘classes of ad- 
verbs, Sh ope a ‘and conjunctions. 
In which of ‘these two'tracks we are to look for the 
actual niente is a question in- . 
ip ‘complete ‘solution, ‘nor, as re merely 
to the study of logy, is it very material to deter- 
mine it. ' It will be sufficient for the etymological stus 
‘dent, in the first place, ‘to ascertain how far the lan~ 
guage to which his attention is'turned, partakes of the 
more simple or more “ated ’strueture, and then 
to direct his labours #0 as to ‘obtdin an accurate and 
jlex in some, [tymology- 
