Reading Help How to speak and write correctly Ch.VII-XV
relegating a great many of our old Anglo-Saxon words into the shade, `
` faithful friends who served their ancestors well. These self-appointed `
` arbiters of diction regard some of the Anglo-Saxon words as too coarse, too `
` plebeian for their aesthetic tastes and refined ears, so they are `
` eliminating them from their vocabulary and replacing them with mongrels of `
` foreign birth and hybrids of unknown origin. For the ordinary people, `
` however, the man in the street or in the field, the woman in the kitchen or `
` in the factory, they are still tried and true and, like old friends, should `
` be cherished and preferred to all strangers, no matter from what source the `
` latter may spring. `
` `
` `
` `
` `
` CHAPTER XIV `
` `
` ENGLISH LANGUAGE `
` `
` Beginning--Different Sources--The Present `
` `
` `
` The English language is the tongue now current in England and her colonies `
` throughout the world and also throughout the greater part of the United `
` States of America. It sprang from the German tongue spoken by the Teutons, `
` who came over to Britain after the conquest of that country by the Romans. `
` These Teutons comprised Angles, Saxons, Jutes and several other tribes `
` from the northern part of Germany. They spoke different dialects, but `
` these became blended in the new country, and the composite tongue came to `
` be known as the Anglo-Saxon which has been the main basis for the language `
` as at present constituted and is still the prevailing element. Therefore `
` those who are trying to do away with some of the purely Anglo-Saxon `
` words, on the ground that they are not refined enough to express their `
` aesthetic ideas, are undermining main props which are necessary for the `
` support of some important parts in the edifice of the language. `
` `
` The Anglo-Saxon element supplies the essential parts of speech, the `
` article, pronoun of all kinds, the preposition, the auxiliary verbs, the `
` conjunctions, and the little particles which bind words into sentences and `
` form the joints, sinews and ligaments of the language. It furnishes the `
` most indispensable words of the vocabulary. (See Chap. XIII.) Nowhere is `
` the beauty of Anglo-Saxon better illustrated than in the Lord's Prayer. `
` Fifty-four words are pure Saxon and the remaining ones could easily be `
` replaced by Saxon words. The gospel of St. John is another illustration of `
` the almost exclusive use of Anglo-Saxon words. Shakespeare, at his best, is `
` Anglo-Saxon. Here is a quotation from the _Merchant of Venice_, and of the `
` fifty-five words fifty-two are Anglo-Saxon, the remaining three French: `
` `
` All that glitters is not gold-- `
` Often have you heard that told; `
` Many a man his life hath sold, `
` But my outside to behold. `
` Guilded _tombs_ do worms infold. `
` Had you been as wise as bold, `
` Young in limbs, in _judgment_ old, `
` Your answer had not been inscrolled-- `
` Fare you well, your _suit_ is cold. `
` `
` The lines put into the mouth of Hamlet's father in fierce intenseness, `
` second only to Dante's inscription on the gate of hell, have one hundred `
` and eight Anglo-Saxon and but fifteen Latin words. `
` `
` The second constituent element of present English is Latin which comprises `
` those words derived directly from the old Roman and those which came `
` indirectly through the French. The former were introduced by the Roman `
` Christians, who came to England at the close of the sixth century under `
` Augustine, and relate chiefly to ecclesiastical affairs, such as saint from `
` _sanctus_, religion from _religio_, chalice from _calix_, mass from `
` _missa_, etc. Some of them had origin in Greek, as priest from _presbyter_, `
` which in turn was a direct derivative from the Greek _presbuteros_, also `
` deacon from the Greek _diakonos_. `
` `
` The largest class of Latin words are those which came through the `
` Norman-French, or Romance. The Normans had adopted, with the Christian `
` religion, the language, laws and arts of the Romanized Gauls and Romanized `
` Franks, and after a residence of more than a century in France they `
` successfully invaded England in 1066 under William the Conqueror and a new `
` era began. The French Latinisms can be distinguished by the spelling. Thus `
` Saviour comes from the Latin _Salvator_ through the French _Sauveur_; `
` judgment from the Latin _judiclum_ through the French _jugement_; people, `
` from the Latin _populus_, through the French _peuple_, etc. `
` `
` For a long time the Saxon and Norman tongues refused to coalesce and were `
` like two distinct currents flowing in different directions. Norman was `
` spoken by the lords and barons in their feudal castles, in parliament and `
` in the courts of justice. Saxon by the people in their rural homes, fields `
` and workshops. For more than three hundred years the streams flowed apart, `
` but finally they blended, taking in the Celtic and Danish elements, and as `
` a result came the present English language with its simple system of `
` grammatical inflection and its rich vocabulary. `
` `
` The father of English prose is generally regarded as Wycliffe, who `
` translated the Bible in 1380, while the paternal laurels in the secular `
` poetical field are twined around the brows of Chaucer. `
` `
` Besides the Germanic and Romanic, which constitute the greater part of `
` the English language, many other tongues have furnished their quota. Of `
` these the Celtic is perhaps the oldest. The Britons at Caesar's invasion, `
` were a part of the Celtic family. The Celtic idiom is still spoken in two `
` dialects, the Welsh in Wales, and the Gaelic in Ireland and the Highlands `
` of Scotland. The Celtic words in English, are comparatively few; cart, `
` dock, wire, rail, rug, cradle, babe, grown, griddle, lad, lass, are some `
` in most common use. `
` `
` The Danish element dates from the piratical invasions of the ninth and `
` tenth centuries. It includes anger, awe, baffle, bang, bark, bawl, `
` blunder, boulder, box, club, crash, dairy, dazzle, fellow, gable, gain, `
` ill, jam, kidnap, kill, kidney, kneel, limber, litter, log, lull, lump, `
` mast, mistake, nag, nasty, niggard, horse, plough, rug, rump, sale, `
` scald, shriek, skin, skull, sledge, sleigh, tackle, tangle, tipple, `
` trust, viking, window, wing, etc. `
` `
` From the Hebrew we have a large number of proper names from Adam and Eve `
` down to John and Mary and such words as Messiah, rabbi, hallelujah, `
` cherub, seraph, hosanna, manna, satan, Sabbath, etc. `
` `
` Many technical terms and names of branches of learning come from the Greek. `
` In fact, nearly all the terms of learning and art, from the alphabet to the `
` highest peaks of metaphysics and theology, come directly from the Greek-- `
` philosophy, logic, anthropology, psychology, aesthetics, grammar, `
` rhetoric, history, philology, mathematics, arithmetic, astronomy, anatomy, `
` geography, stenography, physiology, architecture, and hundreds more in `
` similar domains; the subdivisions and ramifications of theology as `
` exegesis, hermeneutics, apologetics, polemics, dogmatics, ethics, `
` homiletics, etc., are all Greek. `
` `
` The Dutch have given us some modern sea terms, as sloop, schooner, yacht `
` and also a number of others as boom, bush, boor, brandy, duck, reef, `
` skate, wagon. The Dutch of Manhattan island gave us boss, the name for `
` employer or overseer, also cold slaa (cut cabbage and vinegar), and a `
` number of geographical terms. `
` `
` Many of our most pleasing euphonic words, especially in the realm of `
` music, have been given to us directly from the Italian. Of these are `
` piano, violin, orchestra, canto, allegro, piazza, gazette, umbrella, `
` gondola, bandit, etc. `
` `
` Spanish has furnished us with alligator, alpaca, bigot, cannibal, cargo, `
` filibuster, freebooter, guano, hurricane, mosquito, negro, stampede, `
` potato, tobacco, tomato, tariff, etc. `
` `
` From Arabic we have several mathematical, astronomical, medical and `
` chemical terms as alcohol, alcove, alembic, algebra, alkali, almanac, `
` assassin, azure, cipher, elixir, harem, hegira, sofa, talisman, zenith `
` and zero. `
` `
` Bazaar, dervish, lilac, pagoda, caravan, scarlet, shawl, tartar, tiara `
` and peach have come to us from the Persian. `
` `
` Turban, tulip, divan and firman are Turkish. `
` `
` Drosky, knout, rouble, steppe, ukase are Russian. `
` `
` The Indians have helped us considerably and the words they have given us `
` are extremely euphonic as exemplified in the names of many of our rivers `
` and States, as Mississippi, Missouri, Minnehaha, Susquehanna, Monongahela, `
` Niagara, Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, etc. In `
` addition to these proper names we have from the Indians wigwam, squaw, `
` hammock, tomahawk, canoe, mocassin, hominy, etc. `
` `
` There are many hybrid words in English, that is, words, springing from two `
` or more different languages. In fact, English has drawn from all sources, `
` and it is daily adding to its already large family, and not alone is it `
` adding to itself, but it is spreading all over the world and promises to `
` take in the entire human family beneath its folds ere long. It is the `
` opinion of many that English, in a short time, will become the universal `
` language. It is now being taught as a branch of the higher education in the `
` best colleges and universities of Europe and in all commercial cities in `
` every land throughout the world. In Asia it follows the British sway and `
` the highways of commerce through the vast empire of East India with its two `
` hundred and fifty millions of heathen and Mohammedan inhabitants. It is `
` largely used in the seaports of Japan and China, and the number of natives `
` of these countries who are learning it is increasing every day. It is `
` firmly established in South Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and in many of `
` the islands of the Indian and South Seas. It is the language of Australia, `
` New Zealand, Tasmania, and Christian missionaries are introducing it into `
` all the islands of Polynesia. It may be said to be the living commercial `
` language of the North American continent, from Baffin's Bay to the Gulf of `
` Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and it is spoken largely in `
` many of the republics of South America. It is not limited by parallels of `
` latitude, or meridians of longitude. The two great English-speaking `
` countries, England and the United States, are disseminating it north, `
` south, east and west over the entire world. `
` `
` `
` `
` `
` CHAPTER XI `
` `
` MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE `
` `
` Great Authors--Classification--The World's Best Books. `
` `
` `
` The Bible is the world's greatest book. Apart from its character as a work `
` of divine revelation, it is the most perfect literature extant. `
` `
` Leaving out the Bible the three greatest works are those of Homer, Dante `
` and Shakespeare. These are closely followed by the works of Virgil and `
` Milton. `
` `
` `
`
` faithful friends who served their ancestors well. These self-appointed `
` arbiters of diction regard some of the Anglo-Saxon words as too coarse, too `
` plebeian for their aesthetic tastes and refined ears, so they are `
` eliminating them from their vocabulary and replacing them with mongrels of `
` foreign birth and hybrids of unknown origin. For the ordinary people, `
` however, the man in the street or in the field, the woman in the kitchen or `
` in the factory, they are still tried and true and, like old friends, should `
` be cherished and preferred to all strangers, no matter from what source the `
` latter may spring. `
` `
` `
` `
` `
` CHAPTER XIV `
` `
` ENGLISH LANGUAGE `
` `
` Beginning--Different Sources--The Present `
` `
` `
` The English language is the tongue now current in England and her colonies `
` throughout the world and also throughout the greater part of the United `
` States of America. It sprang from the German tongue spoken by the Teutons, `
` who came over to Britain after the conquest of that country by the Romans. `
` These Teutons comprised Angles, Saxons, Jutes and several other tribes `
` from the northern part of Germany. They spoke different dialects, but `
` these became blended in the new country, and the composite tongue came to `
` be known as the Anglo-Saxon which has been the main basis for the language `
` as at present constituted and is still the prevailing element. Therefore `
` those who are trying to do away with some of the purely Anglo-Saxon `
` words, on the ground that they are not refined enough to express their `
` aesthetic ideas, are undermining main props which are necessary for the `
` support of some important parts in the edifice of the language. `
` `
` The Anglo-Saxon element supplies the essential parts of speech, the `
` article, pronoun of all kinds, the preposition, the auxiliary verbs, the `
` conjunctions, and the little particles which bind words into sentences and `
` form the joints, sinews and ligaments of the language. It furnishes the `
` most indispensable words of the vocabulary. (See Chap. XIII.) Nowhere is `
` the beauty of Anglo-Saxon better illustrated than in the Lord's Prayer. `
` Fifty-four words are pure Saxon and the remaining ones could easily be `
` replaced by Saxon words. The gospel of St. John is another illustration of `
` the almost exclusive use of Anglo-Saxon words. Shakespeare, at his best, is `
` Anglo-Saxon. Here is a quotation from the _Merchant of Venice_, and of the `
` fifty-five words fifty-two are Anglo-Saxon, the remaining three French: `
` `
` All that glitters is not gold-- `
` Often have you heard that told; `
` Many a man his life hath sold, `
` But my outside to behold. `
` Guilded _tombs_ do worms infold. `
` Had you been as wise as bold, `
` Young in limbs, in _judgment_ old, `
` Your answer had not been inscrolled-- `
` Fare you well, your _suit_ is cold. `
` `
` The lines put into the mouth of Hamlet's father in fierce intenseness, `
` second only to Dante's inscription on the gate of hell, have one hundred `
` and eight Anglo-Saxon and but fifteen Latin words. `
` `
` The second constituent element of present English is Latin which comprises `
` those words derived directly from the old Roman and those which came `
` indirectly through the French. The former were introduced by the Roman `
` Christians, who came to England at the close of the sixth century under `
` Augustine, and relate chiefly to ecclesiastical affairs, such as saint from `
` _sanctus_, religion from _religio_, chalice from _calix_, mass from `
` _missa_, etc. Some of them had origin in Greek, as priest from _presbyter_, `
` which in turn was a direct derivative from the Greek _presbuteros_, also `
` deacon from the Greek _diakonos_. `
` `
` The largest class of Latin words are those which came through the `
` Norman-French, or Romance. The Normans had adopted, with the Christian `
` religion, the language, laws and arts of the Romanized Gauls and Romanized `
` Franks, and after a residence of more than a century in France they `
` successfully invaded England in 1066 under William the Conqueror and a new `
` era began. The French Latinisms can be distinguished by the spelling. Thus `
` Saviour comes from the Latin _Salvator_ through the French _Sauveur_; `
` judgment from the Latin _judiclum_ through the French _jugement_; people, `
` from the Latin _populus_, through the French _peuple_, etc. `
` `
` For a long time the Saxon and Norman tongues refused to coalesce and were `
` like two distinct currents flowing in different directions. Norman was `
` spoken by the lords and barons in their feudal castles, in parliament and `
` in the courts of justice. Saxon by the people in their rural homes, fields `
` and workshops. For more than three hundred years the streams flowed apart, `
` but finally they blended, taking in the Celtic and Danish elements, and as `
` a result came the present English language with its simple system of `
` grammatical inflection and its rich vocabulary. `
` `
` The father of English prose is generally regarded as Wycliffe, who `
` translated the Bible in 1380, while the paternal laurels in the secular `
` poetical field are twined around the brows of Chaucer. `
` `
` Besides the Germanic and Romanic, which constitute the greater part of `
` the English language, many other tongues have furnished their quota. Of `
` these the Celtic is perhaps the oldest. The Britons at Caesar's invasion, `
` were a part of the Celtic family. The Celtic idiom is still spoken in two `
` dialects, the Welsh in Wales, and the Gaelic in Ireland and the Highlands `
` of Scotland. The Celtic words in English, are comparatively few; cart, `
` dock, wire, rail, rug, cradle, babe, grown, griddle, lad, lass, are some `
` in most common use. `
` `
` The Danish element dates from the piratical invasions of the ninth and `
` tenth centuries. It includes anger, awe, baffle, bang, bark, bawl, `
` blunder, boulder, box, club, crash, dairy, dazzle, fellow, gable, gain, `
` ill, jam, kidnap, kill, kidney, kneel, limber, litter, log, lull, lump, `
` mast, mistake, nag, nasty, niggard, horse, plough, rug, rump, sale, `
` scald, shriek, skin, skull, sledge, sleigh, tackle, tangle, tipple, `
` trust, viking, window, wing, etc. `
` `
` From the Hebrew we have a large number of proper names from Adam and Eve `
` down to John and Mary and such words as Messiah, rabbi, hallelujah, `
` cherub, seraph, hosanna, manna, satan, Sabbath, etc. `
` `
` Many technical terms and names of branches of learning come from the Greek. `
` In fact, nearly all the terms of learning and art, from the alphabet to the `
` highest peaks of metaphysics and theology, come directly from the Greek-- `
` philosophy, logic, anthropology, psychology, aesthetics, grammar, `
` rhetoric, history, philology, mathematics, arithmetic, astronomy, anatomy, `
` geography, stenography, physiology, architecture, and hundreds more in `
` similar domains; the subdivisions and ramifications of theology as `
` exegesis, hermeneutics, apologetics, polemics, dogmatics, ethics, `
` homiletics, etc., are all Greek. `
` `
` The Dutch have given us some modern sea terms, as sloop, schooner, yacht `
` and also a number of others as boom, bush, boor, brandy, duck, reef, `
` skate, wagon. The Dutch of Manhattan island gave us boss, the name for `
` employer or overseer, also cold slaa (cut cabbage and vinegar), and a `
` number of geographical terms. `
` `
` Many of our most pleasing euphonic words, especially in the realm of `
` music, have been given to us directly from the Italian. Of these are `
` piano, violin, orchestra, canto, allegro, piazza, gazette, umbrella, `
` gondola, bandit, etc. `
` `
` Spanish has furnished us with alligator, alpaca, bigot, cannibal, cargo, `
` filibuster, freebooter, guano, hurricane, mosquito, negro, stampede, `
` potato, tobacco, tomato, tariff, etc. `
` `
` From Arabic we have several mathematical, astronomical, medical and `
` chemical terms as alcohol, alcove, alembic, algebra, alkali, almanac, `
` assassin, azure, cipher, elixir, harem, hegira, sofa, talisman, zenith `
` and zero. `
` `
` Bazaar, dervish, lilac, pagoda, caravan, scarlet, shawl, tartar, tiara `
` and peach have come to us from the Persian. `
` `
` Turban, tulip, divan and firman are Turkish. `
` `
` Drosky, knout, rouble, steppe, ukase are Russian. `
` `
` The Indians have helped us considerably and the words they have given us `
` are extremely euphonic as exemplified in the names of many of our rivers `
` and States, as Mississippi, Missouri, Minnehaha, Susquehanna, Monongahela, `
` Niagara, Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, etc. In `
` addition to these proper names we have from the Indians wigwam, squaw, `
` hammock, tomahawk, canoe, mocassin, hominy, etc. `
` `
` There are many hybrid words in English, that is, words, springing from two `
` or more different languages. In fact, English has drawn from all sources, `
` and it is daily adding to its already large family, and not alone is it `
` adding to itself, but it is spreading all over the world and promises to `
` take in the entire human family beneath its folds ere long. It is the `
` opinion of many that English, in a short time, will become the universal `
` language. It is now being taught as a branch of the higher education in the `
` best colleges and universities of Europe and in all commercial cities in `
` every land throughout the world. In Asia it follows the British sway and `
` the highways of commerce through the vast empire of East India with its two `
` hundred and fifty millions of heathen and Mohammedan inhabitants. It is `
` largely used in the seaports of Japan and China, and the number of natives `
` of these countries who are learning it is increasing every day. It is `
` firmly established in South Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and in many of `
` the islands of the Indian and South Seas. It is the language of Australia, `
` New Zealand, Tasmania, and Christian missionaries are introducing it into `
` all the islands of Polynesia. It may be said to be the living commercial `
` language of the North American continent, from Baffin's Bay to the Gulf of `
` Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and it is spoken largely in `
` many of the republics of South America. It is not limited by parallels of `
` latitude, or meridians of longitude. The two great English-speaking `
` countries, England and the United States, are disseminating it north, `
` south, east and west over the entire world. `
` `
` `
` `
` `
` CHAPTER XI `
` `
` MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE `
` `
` Great Authors--Classification--The World's Best Books. `
` `
` `
` The Bible is the world's greatest book. Apart from its character as a work `
` of divine revelation, it is the most perfect literature extant. `
` `
` Leaving out the Bible the three greatest works are those of Homer, Dante `
` and Shakespeare. These are closely followed by the works of Virgil and `
` Milton. `
` `
` `
`