in the Composition of Nouns and Adjectives. 71 



perishable. Its forms may vary ; it may assume as many shapes 

 as the plastic element which the mystic theology of the Greeks 

 represented under the graphic mythos of o Yl^ivg (of him the 

 first, rov ngujov) ; but when once firmly grasped, when boldly in- 

 terrogated, and bound by the strict chains which judicious ety- 

 mology has fabricated for the purpose, it will resume its original 

 form, and enable us to recognize the still existing features — the 

 disjecta membra of some well known and yet living dialect. 



This can be truly said of the particle ve, or rather vce, which 

 still exists in the language of the Scottish peasant, under the 

 same form, and, as far as can be ascertained, almost with the 

 same sound, with which it was pronounced more than twenty- 

 five centuries ago in the vicinity and streets of ancient Rome. 

 But I would not wish it to be understood that Scotland alone 

 has retained the word, which, on the contrary, has been, or still 

 is, a useful portion of many other languages, as may be seen 

 from the following table, where the precedence is given to those 

 dialects which have retained the original guttural sound, more 

 or less softened : 



Cimbric, 



Bach, Vach, softened Va 





Gallic, 



Beag 





Persian, 

 Teutonic, 



Bega, Beja 

 Fabe 



> small, little 



Greek, 



Soil, -ej 





Scottish, 



Wee 





To prove that the Latin ve bore the same meaning, and was 

 in fact cognate with these general forms, it will be necessary to 

 examine every word to which it is prefixed, in its pure state as 

 a long syllable. 



Fecors, insane, deficient in sense, literally a man with a small 

 heart *. In Cicero's words, " to others, the heart seems to be 



* Ksat£, *ijg, cor, cordis, heart. 



