278 
REPORT— 1847 . 
langu^e like the modern Persian. But there is in the English a more or¬ 
ganic intermixture of the two elements than in the Persian, because the two 
constituent parts were not so different from each other in origin and forma- 
tiou as Arabic and Persian, or Semitic and Iranian. The Persian forms a 
new verb by placing hwdcn (to do), or a similar Persian verb, after an 
Arabic word. In English we have purely hybrid wonls by the blending 
of English roots .ind llumanic f«)rtnalivc Kyllubles, sncIi ns nnsjteaknWa, 
Btarvo/?oH, and the obsolete English word, sttill found in the eeventeenth cen¬ 
tury, and ppc.served hy the Afiierican*, to hqipify. But such formations 
constitute the very extreme limit of formative power, and they even appear 
on the whole a-* anuinnties. The invorae furmatiou of English words out of 
Latin roots and (jermanic attirmatives is much more extensive, such as 
conimon-er, commoa.est: and this is a consequence of the principle, that the 
tornmtivc graiuiimtieal element works itself into a new, although not quite 
congenial matter, not the intruding lexicographic element into the gramma* 
tieul. The old Saxon form is thus much more easily adapted to I’reneh and 
Latin verbs or nouns, than a fnrinutive syilablo of the French or Latin idiom 
combined with tin- Saxon root New prepositions and conjunctions have 
been formed ; none of wliieh are /.«//«, all are German (as, l/y toay nj) of 
hybrid (as, “o« it^uunt of"). As in tlie Honiiuiie, limy are compoundeiJ in 
onkr to replace forius which have either become obsolete, or are no longer 
sufficiently expressive or iiitrlligible, owing to tlu- piimary principle or spirit 
of the foniiatioii having become wcnkouml and obscured. But the power of 
composition inherent in all Teutonic languages is uln«ost entirely paralysed, 
r, f forms of inflexion reniKin only in isiilateil fragments. 
It follows from the same principle that also may prtKlucesuch 
a crisis, as is tmeemry for the foniiatloii of a new Inngiuure. But here a 
more accurate tiistinction must be drawn. A part of the nation, settling in 
a more or less organized state, witli more or less intellectual means and re* 
sourer, m a foreign country, isolated from Iht? mother-country, will neces* 
?ni from the native slock. U evi¬ 
dent that the ftirmatum of the coloutal language has a new fixed point in the 
emigration and mimigratinn, and may Uiereforc follow a very different 
course from that of the mother-eountry. Peaceable ami intelligent colo- 
1" ® «''>nb*5' u»der prosperous circumstances, will preserve 
t^be ancient idiom wdi great pertinacity. The separation acU as an artifi* 
^^ntrv br^ ® while tho inhabitant* of the mother* 
to violent changes, introdneeii by foreign 
Una^’ r development, a* the Frank 
language did m Gemany, from Otfried to Goethe. 
thp f\.rm* ^ » most instructive instance, witliin the domain of 
int the Icelandic, which is the old Nor^ tongue trans* 
Saab^ In, 11? omigratiou of many noble famih« 
That 1 n^, i King Harald Ilarfagr (Fairhmr). 
aid th^ *? .i inteUactuality of the Teutonic stock, 
SSd Sc 1 I 2 I:: have maintaioc? in the midst of snow 
lamiic liti'i^tiir • th^ Mtisc-s. The nio«t ancient document of 
ff Odi. an. H r ‘«thcniah,_| mean the poetical £,Wa, or the song* 
men. f l?athei 'tnd heroea of oor coim 
fl 1 ^ iMguage of these songs repr^ 
SSl book of 1123 exhibits already* 
richm ‘^71 whi-rcas in the Ed.ia we find that 
coinpletencM of forms, which places the old Icelandic on the 
