146 GREEK LANGUAGE 



each epithet is drawn, and a separation of the imitations from the 

 fresh and living picture. Research work of this sort would prove 

 a valuable contribution to the study of the psychology of the Greek 

 people. 



Word-Meaning 



Words are the shorthand of thoughts. We pack into them the 

 total impression of the thing or the quality they denote. The etymo- 

 logical signification is merely the seed from which is developed the 

 full-grown plant. The Greeks, like other Indo-European peoples, 

 put their national subjective impressions into words derived from 

 roots equally the possession of other members of the same linguistic 

 family; and with results that display their individual attitude to- 

 wards the world of things and of ideas. 



For the elucidation of the mind of a people semasiology is far 

 more significant than the study of external form. For the psycholo- 

 gist the investigation of Greek word-meaning offers, with all the limit- 

 ations incidental to an ancient language, the advantage of materials 

 of a literature enormous in extent * and admitting of a more definite 

 limitation than any modern literature. 



Yet it is surprising how little has been done in this field of research. 

 Buttmann we have, and his unequal successor, Goebel. Here and 

 there we find work of a special character, like Bechtel's Ueber die 

 Bezeichnungen der sinnlichen Wahrnehmungen in den indogermani- 

 schen Sprachen, Schrader's Die Psychologic des dlteren griechischen 

 Epos ; or discussions of the subject from the general point of view, 

 such as Hecht's Die griechische Bedeutungslehre. Pezzi's Espressione 

 metaforica di concetti psicologici stands alone in its kind, and it does 

 not profess to be more than a register. Synonyms deal with only 

 a single aspect of semasiology, and of modern books there is but one. 

 There has been no gleaner in Greek fields like the incomparable 

 Grimm. 



Comparative semasiology is the surest guide to national distinc- 

 tions of thought. <i'A.os is rendered by friend, ami, Freund; apery 

 by virtus, vertu, virtue, Tugend: and yet on closer inspection 

 that which seems nearest akin is separated by wide gulfs of differ- 

 ence. 4>i\(lv and aymrav differ from " diligere," a word that well indi- 

 cates the cautious and prudent Roman (cf. Catullus, 72, 1), to whom 

 "loving" was a process of wise selection. Each tongue has its own 

 voice, and here Danish outdoes all other languages with its distinction 

 between "kjaerlighed," man's love for woman, and "elskov," the 

 ideal inspiration for all that is lovely which is awakened in man by 

 his love for woman. (See Abel, " Ueber den Begriff der Liebe in 



1 If we take the period ending with the birth of Christ, there are extant about 

 125,000 verses and over 22, 000 (Teubner) pages of prose. 



