358 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOK, 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. XXV. 



GKEEK STEMS (continued). 



BY derivation, grammar is the science of letters. This is not 

 an incorrect definition, for the science of letters, considered in 

 all its relations, is the science of language, of which letters 

 are the elementary portions. " Letters " is often used, how- 

 ever, for systematic knowledge, or the results of a high and 

 varied education. So we speak of " a man of letters." In this 

 sense the term is used in the question, " How knoweth this man 

 letters, having never learned?" (John vii. 15.) The hostile 

 questioner took Jesus to be ignorant (Acts iv. 13) that is, as 

 in the original, tSuaTrjs (id-i-o'-tees), idiot, untaught such as 

 Peter and John were accounted. 



" I made it both in forme and matter to emulate the kind of poeme 

 which was called epithalamiuni, and by the ancients used to be sung 

 when the bride was led into her chamber." Ben Jonson, " Masques." 

 GREEK STEMS. 



Stems. English Words. 



hagio holography, 



hecoto hecatomb. 



b hecatomb. 



Jielion aphelion, 



peri perihelion, 



op apology. 



Tiemer ephemeral. 



liept heptagon. 



hiero hieroglyphics, 



glyph glyphography. 



hippo hippopotamus, 



potam Mesopotamia. 



od exodus. 



ex exorcism. 



liomo homologous, 



hi/gro hi/grometer. 



ichthy ichthyology. 



iso isothermal, 



caco cacophony, 



phono pfionography. 



cali caligraphy. 



calyp apocalypse, 



fcosm microcosm, 



cycl cycle. 



Greek Words. Pronunciation. Meanings. 



'Afios hag'-i-os holy 



'EKCITOI/ hek'-a-ton hundred 



Bow bous an jx 



'H\to9 he'-h-os the sun 



riepi per'-i near 



AJTO ap'-o from 



'Hyuepa he'-nier-a a day 



'ETTTCI hep'-ta seuen, 



'lepot hi'-e-ros holy 



rAu06ic glu'-phine to engrave 



'iTTTror hip'-pos a horse 



iiora/iof pot'-a-mos a riuer 



'Odor hod' -os a way 



EK, cf ek, ex out of 



'O/JLOS hom'-os the same 



YTPO? hu'-gros vet 



lx#w ik'-thuse a fish 



Iffor is'-os equal 



KaKot kak'-os bod 



<P<oi-j| pho'-ne a sound 



KuAoc kal'-os beautiful 



KaAuTn ka-lup'-to Icouer 



Koo-juot kos'-mos the world 



Kit\os ku'-klos a circle 



Aaor la'-os the peopU lai laity.- 



Honor mon'-os alone mono monosyllable. 



fsyu f synthesis. 



Xw sune with ) , 



<. si/l < syllogism. 

 Aafjiftai/eiv lam'-ba-niue to taie lab syllable. 



OnT<r the'-sis a placing $ thesis f^sis. 



<* thet (. synthetic. 

 Mop^ifj mor'-phe shape morph metamorphosis. 



/change meta metath5sis. 



X after met method. 



met'-a 



\6Kp09 



mu'-thos (a .fable' 1 ) myth m Vwlogy. 



nek'-ros 

 man-tei'-a 



dead 

 diuinatioii 



necro necromancy. 

 mancy geomancy. 



A hecatomb is the slaughter of a hundred oxen in sacrifice. 

 It is sometimes used metaphorically, as, for example : 



" And here, sir, she offers by me ta the altar of your glory, whole 

 hecatombs of most happy desires, praying all things may prove pros- 

 perous unto you." .Drummond. 



Isothermal lines are lines of equal heat in different parts of 

 the globe. Iso is also found in isosceles (o-:eAos, skel'-os, a ley), 

 applied to a triangle which has its two sides of the same length! 



Aphelion is that point of the orbit of a planet in which it is 

 most distant from the sun ; perihelion is that point in which it 

 is nearest to the sun. As the planets move in elliptic orbits, 

 they are necessarily at a greater distance from the sun at one 

 part of their course than at another. 



Anything whose duration or existence is very short is termed 

 ephemeral, or lasting for a day. Thus, insects that spring into 

 life at sunrise and perish at sunset are styled ephemera. 



" There are certain flies that are called ephemera, that live but a 

 day. Bacon. 



An ephemeris is properly a journal (French, jour, day), an 

 account of daily transactions. Ephemerides (the plural of ephe- 



meris) denote a set of astronomical tables, showing the state cf 

 the heavens for every day. 



The expression homologous is used by Euclid in his " Elements 

 of Geometry," in reference to lines and angles that correspond 

 in relative position, proportion, or structure : hence any two 

 forms or expressions that exactly correspond in position, pro- 

 portion, formation, or value, may be said to be homologous. 



" Comparing the homologotts or correspondent members out both sides, 

 we find that the first member of the expression," etc. Bishop Berkeley, 

 " Analyst." 



Apocalypse, by its very derivation, signifies uncovering ; in 

 Latin it is unveiling that is, revelation. 



In apocrypha we have another theological term, which is 

 interpreted to mean a hidden writing, from OTTO (ap-o), from, and 

 Kpvirreiv, krup-tine (cryph), to hide. But why should not the 

 apo here have the same meaning as in apocalyse, and so reverse 

 the import of kryptein (English crypt), to hide, and thus signify 

 the disclosed, discovered, or detected writing ? Any way., 

 apocryphal is equivalent to spurious, and opposed to canonical 

 or authentic. 



"Now, beside the Scriptures, the bookes which they called eccZe- 

 giasticall were thought not unworthy sometimes to bee brought into 

 publicke audieuce ; aud with that name they intituled the bookes which 

 we term apocryphal." Hooker, " Ecclesiastical Polity." 



Laity denotes the people as contradistinguished from the 

 clergy. In ancient times the laity were ignorant, the clergy 

 learned. Hence arose a broad contrast, exhibiting the people as 

 wicked as well as untaught, and the clergy (clerics) no less holy 

 than instructed. These usages are found in the substance of 

 our language, and still linger amongst us in both thought and 

 feeling. 



" He entended (intended) to set forth Luther's heresy, teaching 

 that presthed (priesthood) is no sacrament, but the office of a lay-man 

 or a lay-woman appointed by the people to preache." Sir T. More. 

 " No wonder though the people grew profane, 

 When churchmen's lives gave laymen leave to fall." Draytoi. 



Synthesis is properly the putting together, as analysis (ava, 

 an'-a, up ; and \vtiv, lu'-ein, to undo, to loosen) is the undoing. 

 A watchmaker performs an act of analysis when he takes a 

 watch to pieces, and an act of synthesis when he puts the parts 

 together again. 



" Synthesis consists in assuming the causes discovered and esta- 

 blished as, principles, and by them explaining the phenomena proceed- 

 ing from them, and proving the explanations." A r etcton, "Optics." 



" Analysis consists in making experiments and observations, and in 

 drawing general conclusions from them by induction. "Ibid. 



Analysis is the way o discovery, synthesis is the way of 

 teaching or communication. By synthesis men put together and 

 exhibit what they have ascertained by analysis. 



MetamorpJiosis denotes a change of form. 

 "Thus mea (my lord) be meiavuoiphosed 

 From seemly shape to byrds and ougly beasts." Goscoigne. 



Metempsychosis (juero, meta, change ; et>, en, in ; and ttux 7 ?? 

 psu'-ke, tJie soul) has for its Latin equivalent transmigration 

 (trans, over; migro, I change my place). 



" The sages of old live again in us, and in opinions there is a metem- 

 psychosis. We are our re-animated ancestors, and antedate their 

 resurrection." Glanmll. 



Metathesis is a change of position or a transposition. Thus 

 what we write bird was formerly bryd, the i and the r changing 

 places. 



Mythology is the science of fable, and is applied to the religion 

 of the Greeks, the Romans, the Hindoos, etc., in opposition to 

 the pure religion of the Gospel. German philosophy has intro- 

 duced amongst us the new term myth, as denoting a legend, or 

 a version of facts, shaped and coloured by opinion, fancy, preju- 

 dice, by the workings of the intellect, the workings of the 

 imagination, or the workings of the heart. In origin, myth, 

 fable, and legend are one, for the words severally denote a word, 

 something spoken, something narrated. But as old stm-ies soon 

 lose their primitive form, and acquire new shapes and hues, so 

 words pass into legends, and legends are corrupted into fables. 



. Necromancy is the fancied art of learning and disclosing facts 

 by communication with the dead. The witch of Endor dealt 

 necromantically with Samuel at the request of Saul. (1 Sam. 

 txviii. 7 ; compare Deut. xviii. 9.) 



