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OF DERIVATION.

Having treated of the different sorts of words and their various modifications, it is now proper to explain the methods by which one word is derived from another.

Words are derived from one another in various ways, viz:

1. Substantives are derived from verbs.

2. Verbs are derived from substantives, adjectives, and sometimes from adverbs.

3. Adjectives are derived from substantives. 4. Substantives are derived from adjectives. 5. Adverbs are derived from adjectives.

1. Substantives are derived from verbs; as, from to love, comes lover; from to visit, visitor; from to survive, surviver, &c.

In the following instances, and in many others it is difficult to determine whether the verb was deduced from the noun, or the noun from the verb, viz: love, to love; hate, to hate: fear, to fear; sleep, to sleep; walk, to walk; ride, to ride; act, to act, &c.

2. Verbs are derived from substantives, adjectives, and sometimes from adverbs: as from the substantive salt, comes to salt; from the adjective warm, to warm; and from the adverb forward, to forward; sometimes they are formed by lengthening the vowel, or softening the consonant; as, from grass, to graze; sometimes by adding en, especially to adjectives, as, from length, to lengthen; short, to shorten.

3. Adjectives are derived from substantives in the following manner: Adjectives denoting plenty are derived from substantives, by adding y; as from health, healthy; wealth, wealthy; might, mighty, &c..

Adjectives denoting the matter out of which any thing is made, are derived from substantives, by adding en, as from oak, oaken; wood, wooden; wool, woollen, &c.

Adjectives denoting abundance are derived from substantives, by adding ful: as from joy, joyful: sin, sinful; fruit, fruitful, &c.

Adjectives denoting plenty, but with some kind of diminution, are derived from substantives, by adding some; as, from light, lightsome; trouble, troublesome; toil, toilsome, &c.

Adjectives denoting want are derived from substantives, by adding less; as from worth, worthless; from care, careless; joy, joyless, &c.

Adjectives denoting likeness, are derived from substantives, by adding ly; as from man, manly; earth, earthly; court, courtly, &c.

Some adjectives are derived from other adjectives, or from substantives by adding ish to them: which termination, when added to adjectives, imports diminution, or lessening the quality; as, white, whitish; i. e. somewhat white. When added to substantives, it signifies similitude or tendency to a character; as, child, childish; thief, thievish.

Some adjectives are formed from substantives, or verbs, by adding the termination able; and those adjectives signify capacity: as, answer, answerable, to change, changeable.

4. Substantives are derived from adjectives, sometimes by adding the termination ness; as, white, whiteness; swift, swiftness; sometimes by adding th or t and making a small change in some of the letters; as, long, length; high, height.

5. Adverbs of quality are derived from adjectives, by adding ly, or changing le into ly: and denote

the same quality as the adjectives from which they are derived; as from base, comes basely; from slow, slowly; from able, ably.

There are so many other ways of deriving words from one another, that it would be extremely difficult, and nearly impossible, to enumerate them. The primitive words of any language are very few; the derivatives form much the greater number. A few more instances only can be given here.

Some substantives are derived from other substantives by adding the terminations, hood, or head, ship, ery, rick, wick, dom, ian, ment and age.

Substantives ending in hood, or head, are such as signify character or quality; as, Manhood, knighthood, falsehood, &c.

Substantives ending in ship, are those that signify office, employment, state or condition; as lordship, stewardship, partnership, &c. Some substantives in ship are derived from adjectives: as, hard, hardship, &c.

Substantives ending in ery, signify action or hab it; as, slavery, foolery, prudery, &c.

Some substantives of this sort come from adjectives as, brave, bravery, &c.

Substantives ending in wick,rick, and dom, denote dominion, jurisdiction, or condition: as, bailiwick, bishoprick, kingdom, dukedom, freedom, &c,

Substantives which end in ian, are those that signify profession; as physician; musician, &c. Those that end in ment and age, come generally from the French, and commonly signify the act or habit: as, commandment, usage.

Some substantives ending in ard are derived from verbs or adjectives, and denote character or habit; as, drunk, drunkard; dote, dotard.

Some substantives have the form of diminutives; but these are not many. They are formed by adding the terminations, kin, ling, ing, ock, el, and the like; as, lamb, lambskin; goose, goslin; duck, duckling; hill, hillock; cock, cockerel, &c.

English words are also derived from the Saxon, Greek, Latin, French, and some other languages. The following account of the derivation of some of the adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, is from the learned Horn Tooke's "Diversions of Purley.' About-is derived from a on, and bout, signifying boundary; On the boundary or confines.

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Among or Amongst comes from the passive participle gemoenced, which is from gemengan, to mix.

And-is from the imperative an-ad, which is from the verb, anan ad, signifying to accumulate, to add to; as, Two and two are four; that is, Two add Two are four.

Sunder-comes from the participle asundred of the verb asundrian, to separate: and this verb is from sond, sand.

Athwart is derived from the passsive participle, athweoried of the verb athweorian, to wrest.

Beyond-comes from be-geond: geond,or goned, is the passive participle of the verb gangan, to go, to pass: Be passed, be gone.

But-from the imperative bot, of the verb botan, to boot, to superadd, to supply; as, The number of three is not an even number; but an odd; that is, not an even number, superadd, (it is) an odd number.

But-from the imperative, be-utan, of the verb beonutan, to be out. It is used by way of ехсерtion; as, She regards nobody but him; that is, nobody be out him.

I-comes from gif, the imperative of the verb gifan, to give; as, If you live honestly you will live happily; that is, give you live honestly.

Less from the participle lesed, of the verb lesan, to dismiss.

Though-from thafig, the imperative of the verb thafigan, to allow; as, Though she is handsome, she is not vain: that is allow, grant, she is hand

some.

Unless comes from onles, the imperative of the verb onlesun, to dismiss or remove: as, Troy will be taken unless the palladium be preserved; that is, Remove the palladium be preserved, Troy will

be taken.

With the imperative of withan, to join; as, A house with a party-wall: that is, A house join a party-wall.

Without-comes from wyrth-utan, the imperative of the verb wyrthan-utan, to be out; as, A house without a roof; that is, A house be out a roof.

Yet-is derived from get, the imperative of the verb gelan, to get; as, Yet a little while; that is, get a little time.

Through-comes from Gothic and Teutonic words, which signify door, gate, passage; as, They marched through a wilderness; that is, They marched the passage a wilderness.

For-is from Saxon and Gothic words, signifying cause, motive; as, He died for his religion; that is, He died, the cause his religion.

From-is derived from frum, which signifies beginning, origin, source, &c.; as, The lamp hangs from the ceiling; that is, Ceiling the place of beginning to hang.

To-comes from Saxon and Gothic words,

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