GRAMMA R. 



•direftion, and from points to the origin of the motion or 

 direftion in each, without any riifcrence whatever to their 

 peculiar meaning. 



To the prepoiitions o/"and from, Hand oppofcd to, till, and 

 for. Mr. Tooke might, with equal propriety, derive to 

 from his own name, as derive it from tiie Gothic taugan, to 

 aft, which is but the Greek t!'j;^v, to fahricale. liqually 

 abfurd is it to fay, that the Latin ad is from actum. The 

 parent word, as we have fcen, is the Arabic XnK> "'''i to 

 move to a thing. In Celtic, the u ord has pi-eferved its ori- 

 glnal form (atto,) in the exaft fcnle of to. B-.it in Per- 

 sian, lofmg the initial vowel, it became taa ; whereas, 

 in Latin, retaining the firft and dropping tiie lall, it exifts 

 under the form of ad, aiid in Englilli under that of at. To 

 and at have a fignification correfponding to their kindred 

 origin, the former denoting the objcdt of motion, the latter 

 coalefcence with that object after its reaching it. " That //// 

 ftiould beoppofed to from, fays he, only uhen we are talking 

 of time, and upon no other occafiun, is evident for this reafon, 

 iftz. that //■// is a word compounded of to and tuhile, I. e. tiir.t'. 

 And you will obferve, that the coalefcence of thefe two 

 words to, while, took place in the language long before the 

 prefent wanton and fuperfluous ufe of the article /Ac, which, 

 by the prevailing cullom of modern fpeech, is now interpofed. 

 So that when we fay, " From morn /;'// night,'' it is no more 

 than if we faid, " From morn to time night.' ' When we fay, 

 " From morn to night," the word time is omitted as unnecef- 

 fary. So we might fay, " From Turkey to the place called 

 England, or ioplac; England," p. 363. But while, or, asit is in 

 the Anglo-Saxon, hwile, does not mean time but 2, period, or 

 revolution of time, fuch as a day, week, &c. and is derived 

 from the Hebrew ^'\}, gul or geel, to revolve, andjvij-, 

 or, as our anceftors fpelled it, ^ear, is derived from "ITJ, 

 gure, or in Greek y^joi'. The Hebrew j^c-f/ is alfo the parent 

 of our wheel. To points to a final objeft either in place or time, 

 while ////, in ftrict propriety, is applied to time only, and is 

 derived from r.'AXi-, to rif, and was at firil exprelfive of the 

 rifingfun. Thus, " I will wait/;// morning," «.f. I will wait the 

 rifing morning. As //// denotes time, riling, or alternation of 

 time, the word is always underllood to be followed by feme 

 Aange implied in the context, but never exprelfed : thus, 

 " We are always infenfible of a bleffing, //// (or until) we 

 lofe it," then, "we are fenfible of it," is a claufe implied. 

 « They will iiav /;// morning ;" and they will then depart, 

 is to be underltood. Till exifts in the Cimbric language, 

 and tiiis is an additional proof, tliat the uncouth compofite 

 to while is a mere fiftion of Mr. Tooke. 



Mr. Tooke Cakes for to fignify caufe, as oppofed to of, 

 fignifying confequence, from tiie Gothic fubllaiitive ferina, 

 a caufe, p. 367. He thus illuftrates them, 1 am fiek of my 

 hultand, and _/or my gallant. Love makes her fick »/' and 

 iicky«r. Here of and for feem almoll placed in oppofition. 

 At leall their effects in the fentence are moll evidently 

 different: forby the help of thefe two prepoiitions alone, 

 and without the alTilbuiceof any other words, (lie expred'es 

 the two contrary affections of loathing and delire. Her 

 difguit was the offspring of her hufband, proceeded from 

 lier liulband. Her gallant was the cauf of her love. But 

 if her difgull proceeded from her hufband, he was tlie caufe 

 ot her dllguil : and of and for, inllead of being oppoled 

 to each other, as they certainly are, mean jult the lame 

 thing, namely, caufe, and not caufe and confequence. But in 

 truth, the matter isjullthe reverie of wliat our grammarian 

 reprefeiits. (y means caufe or origin, and for means conf- 

 quence (jr end. She is fick of her luifliand — llicis lick, her 

 nufljand is the fource of it — (he is lick for her gallant, and the 

 objeft to which (lie looks with delire is her gallant. Accord- 



VoL. XVL 



'"gb'> /<"■ always fuppofcs tlie attention hot directed bad- 

 wards, as to the caufe, hut forwards, 3C t'; fome end ; and its 

 etymology is this, Tsp.i-, to paft over, -rte, or per, the medium 

 of pafling to an objeft : the French pour, for, the objeft or 

 end to which paffage is made. Jolinfon gives for forty-fix . 

 different meanings. But tlierc is not one inllance in which 

 it does not bear a fenfe deducible from its primary lignifica- 

 tion of end OT oljeei . Tlius, Chrilt died /or us ; Clirill died, 

 us, (/. e. our redemption,) being the end or obiect of his death. 

 To fight fr the pubhc good ; to light, tiie public good 

 being the end or objeft of lighting. He does all things . 

 for the love of virtue. He does all thingr,, tlie love of 

 virtue being the end or motive of all liis actions, and fo in 

 all other inttances. 



By (in the Anglo-Saxon hi, be, big) is the imperative of 

 byth of the Anglo-Saxon vcrbfoow, to be. And our ancef- 

 tors wrote it indifferently be or by. So then, accordmg to 

 this, our auxiliary be and th.e prepofition by are of the lame . 

 origin : and what analogy in the name of common fenfeis 

 tiiere between them, excepting the accidental refemblance 

 of lound. l.,et us apply this etymology to the folution of 

 lonie exam.ple, " He was (lain by the Iword," i. e. he was 

 (lain be a fword, or, " let a fword be." \Ve might a(k let 

 a fword be what ? Mr. Tooke has anticipated the quellion 

 by faying this prepofition is frequently, but not always, ufcd 

 with an abbreviation of con llruftion : fubauditur, in/lrument, 

 cauf, agent. Sec. Really it appears to i-.s furprifing, that a 

 man ot tulle and underltanding (hould write tlius. In He- 

 brew ^2' ^""t '■* f'> p'lf-f} and is the parent of pai- in Greek. 

 In Arabic and Ferlian it became a prepofition, fignifying the 

 medium of motion. In tiiis fenle it gave birtti alio to the 

 Latin via and to the Englilb way, bye, and alfo to the An- 

 glo-Saxon prepofition bi or be, and the Englidi by, which lad 

 was ufed by our old writers to fignify the interval of time 

 during which motion is continued ; as, " By fo long a time,'* 

 /. e. for lo long a time — By his life. /'. e. during his life. 



Tlien it came to ligaify the medium or inllruinent by 

 which any action in general was performed. He was (lain 

 ^_v the fword — He was (lain, tlie fword being the medium 

 or inftrument of his fiaughter. The derivation of with from 

 •wyrthan is no lefs abfurd. What has with to do with wir, or, 

 as we have it, were] The parent of this verb, which lignifies to 

 exi/l, is the Hebrew TlfC' "«'•"■, light, air, the medium of exill- 

 ence. The Greek u-n-rx, denoting connexion, concomitance, in/lni- 

 menlalily, has palfed into the Anglo-Saxon in the form of /«/'</, 

 where it is corrupted into with, and exills in the fame fenlc 

 in liotli (onus. The letters m, v, w, are of the fame organs, 

 and often change one for anothei". Many Greek words are 

 borrowed from the Hebrew, by changing ;2 into ; ; as '^j;?*^* 

 mafal, is ,iy.y,Xnij^,torule ; and all the \\ ellb words borrowed 

 from Latin ha^e m corrupted into v, arma arve ; mare voer; 

 me ve. Inllances of this fpecies of corruption occur in An- 

 glo-Saxon and Gothic. Thus, the Gothic weis is the Greek 

 ,!^(i,-: and hence the Anglo-Saxon, and the Englifli ■&•<•. 

 Even withan, from which Mr. Tooke alio derives with, is only 

 the Latin milto, to feat, tu put. And not withan, z^Ue fays, 

 but ga withan lignifies /o/'o/n or put together, 



" The Engliih prepolitio 1 through, fays our author, is no 

 other than the Gothic 1 bllantive daura, or the Teutonic 

 fubllantive thuruh, and like tiiem means door, gat:, pajfage,- 

 p. 3H " And he ad Is in the next paifage, " After having , 

 ieen in what manner the liibiiantive Zio.'/- became a prepofi- 

 tion in tlie French, you will not wonder to iee (/ocr Iwciing, 

 a prepoiition in the Enghlh ; and though in the lirll intlance 

 it was mure e ify for voii to lee the luture t>t the Freaicitf/Vjii 

 becaufe liavin ;" no prepofition correlpondiiig to it in Engliflj ; 

 yet I am pcrf laded you will not charge tliis to me as a fan- 

 4G . tallica! 



