GREEK PREPOSITIONS. 361 



" him." tvv a-ci p&yoiyunv, " I would fight with your aid," — 

 " I would fight, — perfon joined to me in fighting, — you." "Ctg 

 01 &-/j avv Qiu agqpevovy (Herodot.), " that it was fpoken to 

 " him by divine authority," — " that it was fpoken, — circum- 

 " fiance joined thereto, — divine authority." 



Irg^. 



The only two remaining prepofitions in Greek are Wt% and 

 vno. Thefe are evidently derived from the fame root, and 

 in their radical fenfe denote the fame idea, though, by a dif- 

 ferent mode of applying it, their common acceptation has the 

 appearance of being nearly oppofite to each other. The origin 

 nal of both was the adjective lirog, fignifying high. Of this ad- 

 jective, though fallen into difufe, there are many immediate de- 

 rivates and cognates to be found : "Tvog, high or fublime, height or 

 elevation ; v-^r,Xog, lofty; and directly arifing from the primitive 

 word, the comparative yVs^oj, contracted from vroregog, higher ', 

 and the fuperlative Svurog, contracted from vrorarog, highejl or fu- 

 preme. From the comparative yVsg>os, comes the prepofition ysrg'^, 

 radically denoting a higher objecl, hence commonly ufed to ex- 

 prefs placed over another. The analogy of the Engliih prepofi- 

 tion was fimilar 5 over being the comparative of the adjective op 

 or ob, afpirated into ov, whence by a regular formation came the 

 comparative over. 



'Trig, then, appears to have originally denoted, that one object 

 was higher in refpect of, or in comparifon with another with 

 which it was connected ; and, in this cafe, the noun to which 

 the radical force of the prepofition refers, is the one that precedes 

 it in the fentence, differing in this from mofl of the other pre- 

 pofitions, and in particular, as we fhall immediately fee, from its 

 cognate vko, which generally refers to the one that comes after. 



3 A 2 Taking 



