G R A M M A R. 



aViflrai?^ terms, or terms derived from adjectives and verbs. 

 Thus, Jlahh denotes an artiiicial production, and is at the 

 fame time an abftracl noun ixavaJlahV.is ; zniL plough is taken 

 from the Hebrcv.- ]7£}, plmlng, and means an inllrument 

 of reparation. And even natural objects are often expreifed 

 by abllract nouny, 'a'i crcat'wn from tiie verb create. And if 

 abilract nouns are extended by alfociation to delignate na- 

 tural and artificinl objefts, they cannot with propriety be 

 fjid to form a clafs of nouns diftinft from nature and art. 

 AbSlraft nouns, expreffing ideas properly fo called, 

 are very nurjierous in oin- language, and worthy of attention. 

 They are chiefly taken from the Latin ; as thofe in tion or 

 f:on, mcnt, enrt, ty, or tiide ; s.sfiflion, collufion-, commandment, 

 eonf^rptence, piety, alt'ititd:. And all the nouns of this termi- 

 irdt!o;i, with others in iijl- and t, fuch as expanfe, merit, are 

 alio from this fource. Many others are derived from the 

 Anglo-Saxon or Gothic, fuch as all thofe in nefs,fome, and 

 hood ; as goodnefs, noifome, neighbourhood. The far greater 

 part of Mr. Tooke's fecond volume is occupied in tracing 

 nouns of this delcription. Plis etymological refearches are, 

 in many refpefts, ufefiil and important ; but we cannot help 

 bearing our tellimony againft his work, as tending to direct 

 the labours of philological enquirers to wrong objects, and 

 to witlidraw their attention from thcfe fources, whence 

 Engliih and all otlier European languages, ancient and mo- 

 dern, have iprung. But let us hear his own words : " The 

 bulk and foundation of the Latin language is Greek ; but great 

 part of the Latin is the language of our northern anceitors 

 grafted upon the Greek. And to our northern language 

 tiie etvmologift muft go, for that part of tlie Latin which 

 the Greek will not furniili; and there, without any twilling or 

 turning, or ridiculous forcing and torturing of words, he will 

 cafily and clearly find it. We want, therefore, the telli- 

 mony of no hillorians to conclude that the founders of the 

 Roman Hate and of the Latin tongue, came not from -/IJui, 

 int from the north of Europe. For the language cannot lie. 

 And from the language of every nation we may with cer- 

 tainty coUcit its origin. In the fame manner, even thougli 

 v.o hillory of the fact had remained ; and though anotl'.er 

 Virgil, and another Dionylius, had again, in vcrfe and profe 

 brought another jEneas from another Troy to fettle modern 

 Italy, after the deitruclion of the Roman government, yet, 

 in fpite of fuch falfe liiilory, we lliould be able, from the 

 modern language of the country, (which cannot poiTibly 

 lie,) to conclude with certainty, that our northern anceftors 

 had again made another fuccefsful irruption into Italy, and 

 Rgaiu grafted their own language upon the Latin, as before 

 upon the Greek. For all the Italian which cannot be 

 eafily lliewn to be Latin, can be eafdy fliewn to be our 

 northern language. Mr. Wakefield had, fhortly before his 

 death, agreed with me to undertake, in conjunttiou, a divi- 

 fion and feparation of the Latin tongue into two parts ; 

 placing together in one divilion all th.it could be clearly 

 Ihewn to be of northern extraiition.'' (Vol. ii. p. 140 ) In 

 p. 299, he gives the following inftances, with many otliers, 

 cf Latin words derived from the northern language : 

 Habian, habere Dilgian, delere 



Hnaecan, necare MaUni, molere 



Higan, ire Erian, arare 



Flentan, hendere Tillian, toUere 



Wealopian, -vo'vere Gnittan, ^ „ 



Fleuan, Jltiere Nigtan, j 



Spiran, fpirare Kerfan, crefcere 



Speowian, Jpucre Tekan, tang, re 



Spitwi, J'i>ulare Denian, danmare 



Milefcian, mukert Pro'lan, proba're 



Meolgian, mut^rs Reafian, rapire 



Pinan, punlrc Suegian, fuadtre 



Pyngan, pungere Bidddn, petere. 



IVgan, Ji^tie 



According to Mr. Tookc, the words in Roman letters 

 are plainly of northern origin, while thofe correfponding t<» 

 them in italics are Latin verbs derived from them. Tiie 

 reverfe of this pofition we can prove to be true. The 

 Anglo-Saxon, or Gothic words, wh'ich this author digni- 

 fies as northern primitives grafted on the Latin, are ni> 

 otiier than Latin words borrowed and corrupted by the 

 northern barbarians when they over-ran the Roman empire. 

 This pofition, if proved, will render the far greater part 

 of Mr. Tooke's labours perfeftly nugatory ; and nothing 

 more is neceffary to prove it than to fhew that the originals 

 of the Latin words exill in Greek, or in one of tiie Ori- 

 ental tongues, and exiil too in fuch a form, as to evince that 

 the/e are the primitives, and confequently that the northern 

 words are only corruptions derived from thence. Thus the 

 Hebrew r]T, taph, is a hand ; Jience capio,lo take in hand, 

 and by foftening c into an afpiratc, as is often the cafofc_ 

 haleo, to hold in the hand, ;. e. to have. The Greek ,nr., 

 overthrow, is the parent of the Latin neco, corrupted into 

 hnxcan ; in; I go, eo, higan ; xx-.l^;, hendo, Lntait, to feize ; 

 ■i>.!i, -colnio, luealopian, to roll; Z>\,x, fuo, Jicuan,X.o fi<j\s ; 

 tiZ'^ fp'h and nDP'/P"'' fignify Zips; hencey/ao, or fputo, 

 the action of the lips in throuing out of the mouth, /. e. 

 fpue,fpit; //.y.AKKifi-, to fotten, mulceo, milefcian; xuCy^-, mulgco, 

 mcolgian, to milk ; v-cira, recompence, punifhmcnt, punic, 

 pinnan, to punilli ; ^rvyr, a X.dM, pungo, pyngan, to act as a tail 

 does, /. e. to prick; ~r.yy, fgo, fjtgan, to fix; >.ryju:, [eo, 

 deleo, to wadi down, to obliterate by walhing, di'gian; ,ui>.>.i, 

 molo, Goth, ma'an, to mill; Chalccan y*lX» '"'"J 'i''^! aro, 

 erian, to plow ; 7!A?.i', to rife, toUo, liFian ; ni.-y to fpin, 

 twill, n'eclo, gniHim, or nigtan ; &r,-,i, lego, or tango, letan, 

 to touch ; ix^uKi, damno, demon i Jojpn, food, prolo, to tafte- 

 food, prc^an, to prove ; ctjrra^i-, tranfpofing r, as is often 

 the cale, rapio, reafian ; ^oS.i, to defire, pclo, to feck in con- 

 fequence of defiring, biddan. 



Though this lift clearly fiiewsthat the Northern language 

 is, in a great degree, a corruption of the Latin borrowed 

 from the Greek, the Hebrew, and other Oriental tongues, 

 yet Mr. Tooke gives it as exhibiting inftanccs of the Nonhcrn 

 dialeft grafted on the Latin. The primitive languao-e cf 

 tile Nortli could have been no otlier than a branch of the 

 primeval language of n\en, conve) ed there by t!ie firft cmi- 

 grants, diverfilied and enriched by communications with the 

 Eall on the north of Afia, by early irruptions into Greece, 

 as is mentioned by Herodotus, and, in far later days, by 

 amalgating with the Latin, when in the dark ages the tribes, 

 of the North invaded and difmembered the Roman empire. 

 In this ilate, the Northern language became the parent oF 

 the Euglifli ; arid though a multitude of its words, efpecially 

 monolyllabic words, are, no doubt, immediately from the 

 Anglo-Saxon and Gothic ; yet few inftances, we believe, 

 can be produced, which may not be traced, by a compclcriL, 

 etymologiil, through the medium of thofe corrupt changes, 

 to their primordial purity in Italy, in Greece, and in the 

 Eall, the fole origin of language and literature. But 

 Mr. Tooke reveries this natural and neccdary order ; and, 

 without the teftimony of hillorians, without anv documents 

 of t'le la guage fubli.lling in the North, antecedent to that 

 Avhich was fp(>ken in the middle ages, he fixes on corruptions 

 borrowed from the Latin, and holds them up as the origin 

 wheuce Latin, Greek, and Euglifti have been derived. Hi* 

 theory, thus far, is ridiculous and mifchievous ; rldic.ulous, 

 tecaufe it is a palpable error, profefiing important difco- 

 *cries ; and mlfcliievOus, becaufe, while it pretends to trace 



