GRAMMAR. 773 
dm, garter, buckler, to advance, to cry, to plead, from the 
French jardin, jartier, bouclier, avancer, crier, plaider • 
tlioizgii indeed even of tJiefe part is of ,L'‘‘tin original. 
As to many words which we have in common witlt 
the Germans, it is doubtful whether the old Teutons 
boyowcd them from the Latins, or the Latins from the 
Teutons, or both had them from fome common origi¬ 
nal : as, tuine, viniim ; wind, ventus ; went, veni ; zuay, 
via ; wall, vallum ; wallow, Volvo ; wool, vellus ; loill, 
volo ; worm, vermis ; worth, virtus ; wafp, vefpa ; day, 
dies j draw, traho ; tame, domo, ; yoke, jugum, 
^evyog-, over, upper, iuper, ; am, lum, j break, 
frango ; Jly, volo ; blozo, flo. 
Our anceftors weie Itudious to form borrowed words, 
liowever long, into monol’y llablcs j and not only cut otf 
the formative terminations, but cropped the hrll fylla- 
ble, efpecially in words beginning with a vowel ; and 
rejefted not only vowels in the middle, but likewife 
conlonants of a vveakec found, retaining the dronger, 
which feem the bones of words, or changing them for 
others of the fame organ, in order that the I'ound might 
become tiie Ibfter ; but el'pecially tninl'pofing their or. 
der, that they might the more readily be pronounced 
without the intermediate vovels. For example, in 
expendo, fpend\ exemplum, /ample-, excipio, /cape-, 
extraneus, ; extrattum, /retched-, excrucio, to 
/crew-, exicorio, to J'cour-, excorio, to /courge-, excortico, 
to /cratch ; and oth.ers beginning with ex -. as alio, einen- 
do, to mend-, epifeopus, in Danilh ; epiltola, 
epijlle-, hplpitale,^d^/f ; Fsil’pania, S/iatw; hiltoria,_/?o;7. 
The fame word, according to its different (ignifica- 
tions, often has a dili'erent origin ; as, to bear a burden, 
from /ero-, hnt to bear, whence birth, born, bairn, comes 
from pario j and a bear, at lead if it be of Latin original, 
ixo-coi /era. Thus perch, a fidi, from perca ; but perch, a 
meafure, from pertica, and likewife to perch. To /pell, is 
from /yllaba ; but Jptll, an inchantment, by which it is 
believed that the boundaries are lb fixed in lands that 
, none can pal's them againd the mader’s will, from ex- 
pello-, and a med'enger, from ; whence 
good/pell, or god/pell. 'Lhus /ree/e or /reeze, Irom /ri~ 
ge/co-, but /ritze, an architeblonic word, from zo/i/torw; 
and /rec/e, for cloth, from Fri/ia, or perhaps from /rige/co, 
as being more dt than atiy other for keeping out the cold. 
There are many words among us, even monofyllables, 
compounded of two or more words, at lead ferving in¬ 
dead of compounds, and compridng the dgnification of 
more wmrds than one ; as from /cript and roll, comes 
/croll ; from proud and dance, prance ; Irom / of the verb 
/ay or /and, and out, is made /out ; from /out and hardy, 
/urdy ; from Jp of /pit or /pew, and out, comes /pout ; 
from the fame Jp, with the termination in, is /pin-, and 
adding out, /pin out ; and from the fame Jp, v/ith it, is 
/pit, which 'Only differs from Jpout in that it is fmaller, 
and with lefs noife and force ; but /putter is, becaufe of 
the obfeure u, fomething between /pit and /pout -, and 
by reafon of adding r, it intimates a frequent iteration 
and noife, but obfeurely confufed ; whereas /patter, on 
account of the lharper and clearer vowel a, intimates a 
more didinbd noife, in which it chiefly differs from /put¬ 
ter. From the fame /p, and the termination ark, comes 
/park., fignifying a Angle emiflion of fire with a noife; 
natnely, /p the emiflion, ar the more acute noife, and k 
the mute confonant, intimates its being fuddenly termi- 
inated ; but adding /, is made the frequentative /parkle. 
The fame /p, by adding r, that is Jpr, implies a more 
lively impetus of diffufing or expanding itfelf; to which 
adding the termination ing, it hzcoxaQ&Jpring ; its vigour 
/pr imports, its lharpnefs the termination ing ; and lallly 
in acute and tremulous, ending in the mute confonant g, 
denotes the fudden ending of any motion, that it is 
meant in its primary lignification of a Angle, not a com¬ 
plicated, gxilition. Hence we caJl /pring whatever has 
an elaftic force j as alfo a fountain of water, and tlience 
the origin of any thing; and to/pring, to germinate; 
Vbu.VllI. No. .545. 
and /pring, one of the four feafons. From the f.nne 
/pr and out, is formed /proul, and with the termination 
of which the lollowing, forthe moft | art, is 
tlie difi'crence: Jprout, of a grofl't-r found, imports a fat- 
tei 01 groiler bud ; /prig, ol a llendcrer found, denotes 
a fmaller Ihoct. In like manner, ixoxn /r of the verb 
/live, and out, corx\e.s /rout and /rut. From the fame /r 
and tlie termination uggle, is made /niggle ; and this gl 
imports, but without any gretit noife, by reafon of tlie 
oblcure found ol the vowel ii. lit like manner from 
threw and roll is made troll-, and almolt in the fame fenfe 
IS trundle, h orn throw or thru/, and rundle. Thus graff 
or grough is compounded ol grave and rough ; and trudge 
from tread or trot, and drudge. 
It is tor the lake ol preferving the etymology of 
words, tliat people write difl'erently from what titey 
fpeak: a plienumenon, which indeed has been hitherto 
reprefented, by grammarians and pliilolojthic linguifts, 
as the moll palpable ablurdity that can be conceived ; 
although the agreement ol all the weftern nations of 
Europe, in what tliey have thus termed abfurdity, Ihould 
have convinced them, that there mull be fome rcalou 
for it, and which ought not to be overlooked. 'Fhis 
realon then is no otiier, tJian to preferve, as long as is 
necelfary, to the eye at leafl, the proximate derivation 
by means of writing, although the pronunciation has 
loft, if; to prouiote thereby that univerfal intelligibilicv, 
which is the Arft and principal objett of language; for, 
as tlie pronunciation in all mixed languages, is Irom 
time to time conlidcrably changed, many words would 
foot! become altogetlier obfeure and unintelligible, did 
not tl’.e etymological way oi writing them, ftill maintain 
their true form, as long as is practicable and neceffary. 
Belides, the adherence to tlie neareft derivation, and 
the prefervation ol the original form of words, by accu¬ 
rate writing', are likewile the means ot jiieventin'g the 
extremely fludtiiating pionunciation from ftill greater 
deviations, 'i iiis is the true rcalbn, why all the weftera 
Europeans, and conlequently tiie Englilh too, write dif¬ 
ferently from what they fpeak: and as this phenomenon 
has been produced entirely by “the latent perception, 
of purpole and means,” which is involved in fo much 
oblcurity, that grammarians have not yet been able to 
account lor it; hence we receive a lelfon, not to cenlure 
the like regulations, it they are univerfally adopted by 
one or more nations, until tiie real foundation of them 
has been difeovered. The dift'erence of this mode of 
writing from that of fpeuking, is indeed in itfelf an im- 
periettion; but in all tliofe languages, that are lb tho¬ 
roughly mixed, it is a real perfection ; becaufe it pre- 
ferves, at leaft to the eye, the immediate derivation, 
and conftantly furnillies us with the ealieft poflible me¬ 
thod ol underftanding words, while it ferves to prevent 
any further deviations in the pronunciation. 
Some difference of opinion pirevails as to doubling of 
confonants in various words. As to the final k after c, 
it is now generally omitted ; and it is fingular enough 
that C, having the very form of an ancient Greek ligma, 
ever came to be appropriated to the exprellion of the 
fame found as K ; but as this is the cafe at prefent, it 
feems to be frequently (and perhaps, from the luperior 
elegance and lightnels of its lhape, juftly) preferred for 
that purpofe. Now when the laft fyllable is unaccented, 
only one Anal confonant is required ; and the c is taken: 
both c and k being adopted in monofyllables. In final 
variations or additions however, beginning with a vowel 
before which c would regularly have the found of s, k 
is properly interpofed ; as in “phyfici^cd:” except when 
i is the found wanted, as in “phylidan;” and any fuch 
refource being of courfe unnecelhiry with tliofe vowels 
upon which c has alone the force of k, as in “ phyiical.” 
Yet, tliough c may be eligibly preferred to k when the 
matter is indifferent, the ufe of it in “foptic” feems 
contrary to all analogy of pronunciation. 
in polyfyiiables, doubling a conlonant is Uic eff'eiSIual 
9 L • • ' tv ay 
