G. F. Graham

“ What is meant by a Language? It is a collection of all the words, phrases, grammatical forms, idioms, &c., which are used by one people. It is the outward expression of the tendencies, turn of mind, and habits of thought of some one nation, and the best criterion of their intellect and feelings. If this explanation be admitted, it will naturally follow that the connection between a people and their language is so close, that the one may be judged of by the other; and that the language is a lasting monument of the nature and character of the people. ”

“ In Latin, ‘animosus’ meant courageous, full of soul, vigour, and ardour. Now, it is wholly confined to the sense of a violent feeling of anger, hatred, and resentment. In fine, it has lost all its beauty. There is no longer the least trace of anything noble in the word ‘animosity.’
The words ‘simple’ and ‘simplicity’ still retain something of their original charm, but it is much to be feared that they are more frequently used in a contemptuous sense. We speak of a ‘simple’ fellow, as of one who is easily cheated or duped; one wanting in shrewdness ”

“ When we consider the numerous and continual attacks which the Saxon element of English has thus sustained, we may be inclined to wonder that there should be any of it left—that it should not have been utterly crushed and annihilated by these raids. But this wonder will be increased when we find that it not only exists, but constitutes to this day by far the larger portion of our language. ”

“ Indeed, there are many English words which, though not taken in a positively unfavourable sense, have yet a tendency that way—which require qualifying, if we wish them to be understood favourably. For instance, if we speak of any one’s ‘curiosity,’ meaning that he has an inquiring spirit, it will be necessary to explain that we mean a well-directed, and not a prying, impertinent [68] curiosity; for, without that explanation, it will be certainly understood in the latter sense. In fine, when there are two meanings to a word, a right and a wrong, the evil is sure to prevail. ”

“ DEGENERACY OF WORDS. One point to be observed in the nature and history of words is their tendency to contract in form and degenerate in meaning. A word which, in the beginning of its career, has generally a favourable, or at any rate a not disparaging, meaning, becomes, as it grows older, weaker in effect and more contracted in form and signification, and, in most cases, falls into an unfavourable sense. It does not improve or extend, but contracts and deteriorates in meaning. Archbishop Trench uses this fact as an argument to prove the perversity and evil tendencies of mankind ”

“ The commonest and most familiar objects are thus raised to a dignity quite out of keeping with their real nature; and here, if anywhere, is verified the saying that ‘from the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step.’ Everything is sacrificed to a false glare and glitter of language, and sense is always made [102] subservient to sound. Those beautiful English words ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ are almost banished from our modern vocabulary. ”

“ We occasionally meet with much confusion of sense in the application of some English words. We commonly say that a man marries a woman, and also that a woman marries a man; in addition to which, the clergyman marries them both. Perhaps, as the word ‘marry’ is derived from the French ‘mari,’ and the Latin ‘maritus,’ a husband—which is from ‘mas, maris,’ a male, and marks a difference of sex—it would be better to say, a man ‘marries’ a woman, and a woman ‘is married to’ a man; and the priest joins them in marriage. The use of the good old Saxon word ‘wed’ would obviate all these difficulties ”

“ Among the many signs of the corruption of the English language, one, which is not the least remarkable, is the prevalent use of slang words and phrases. That certain terms should be peculiar to certain callings, trades, or professions, may be naturally expected, but that these should be extended into general conversation, is a corroborative proof of the strong liking people now have for any thing unusual or out-of-the-way. ”

“ We can easily understand that the system of inflection, however useful in itself, prevents the possibility of one part of speech being used for another. In English, ‘love’ may be a noun or a verb; but in Latin or French, we must use ‘amare’ or ‘aimer’ for the verb, and ‘amor’ or ‘amour’ for the noun. This power of using one part of speech for another, exists to such an extent in English, that it may be almost said, that every word in the language may be applied in a variety of senses and grammatical constructions. ”

“ When a word is warped or distorted from its original form, either by a vicious pronunciation, or by a mistaken notion of its derivation, it is said to be a corruption. Though we must accept [139] and adopt the usual spelling of such words, it may be useful and interesting to know what brought them into their present forms.
When a word is first pronounced in the hearing of those who do not know its meaning, its spelling naturally becomes with them, a mere imitation of the sound. It is remarkable how often these corruptions appear in the names of taverns and ships. ”

“ COMPOUND WORDS. One of the greatest advantages a language can possess, is the power of forming compound words. This materially contributes to its conciseness;—makes it comparatively easy to express much in few words—and thus assists, by concentrating its force, in rendering it vigorous and impressive. This power of compounding is found chiefly in the Teutonic languages of Europe; and is comparatively unknown in the Romance. In our own case, it was considerably modified by the Norman Conquest, which introduced a French (or Latin) element into English. ”

“ The three principal elements of English—viz. Saxon, French, and Latin—have, each, and all, had some influence on the formation of our words; and this will account for the various forms of our spelling. A word, [121] when introduced into a language, is at first spelled in accordance with the genius of the nation from which it comes. By degrees, and generally by slow degrees, it is moulded into a new form by the genius and instinct of the language in which it is at length naturalised; still, however, retaining sufficient of its original form to indicate its source and etymology. ”

“ Again, the word ‘liquor’ is a perfectly good English noun; but what a strange innovation is ‘to liquor!’ A genuine Yankee says, ‘Stranger, will you “liquor?”’ ‘Handsome,’ ‘clever,’ and ‘fix’ are all three genuine English, but ‘to play handsome on the flute’ is undoubtedly bad English. We sometimes qualify persons, but never things, as ‘clever.’ A ‘clever’ boy, or a ‘clever’ man, &c., but never, as in America, a ‘clever’ house or a ‘clever’ cargo. Again, in America a very common use of ‘to fix’ is ‘to prepare,’ or ‘put in order.’ This is not sanctioned by English usage. ”

“ They reject all simple words, and are continually soaring above their subject into the regions of the sublime and magnificent. As long as a word is out-of-the-way, unusual, or far-fetched, it is apparently of little or no consequence to them whether it be applicable to the case or not. ”

“ SLANG WORDS AND AMERICANISMS. No language is, or ever has been, in the strict sense of the word, pure. All languages are continually borrowing and lending—adopting words from foreign sources, and contributing from their own store to that of others. It is now well known that the ancient Greeks borrowed largely from the Oriental tongues, and lent words and forms to Latin. Latin, again, borrowed from Greek, and contributed to form the modern Italian, Spanish, and French. The modern German language is just now strongly affected by a French influence ”

“ But nowadays, when one touch of the telegraph ‘should make the whole world akin,’ and when steamboats and railroads seem to be literally annihilating both time and space, it is to be regretted that some one standard form for the spelling of names of places should not be agreed on, which all should adopt, and which would be intelligible to the whole civilised world. ”

“ It has often been objected to our language that its study, as regards pronunciation and spelling, is more difficult than that of any of the continental languages. Foreigners endeavouring to master these difficulties are often quite overwhelmed by them, and not unfrequently give up the study in despair. But no language is without difficulties of this sort. Indeed, the difference between written and spoken French offers quite as formidable obstacles to the speller in French as could happen in English. ”

“ The word ‘reliable,’ a comparatively late introduction, is another of those against which the purists have raised a loud outcry. They argue that as we do not rely a man, but rely on a man, therefore the word, if used at all, should be ‘relionable,’ and not ‘reliable.’ But here is one of the many cases in which philosophy must give way to custom; and, in spite of the above objection, this word is too firmly fixed in the language to be easily driven out. ”

“ The Latin word ‘spiritus’ had not only its abstract meaning of ‘cheerfulness,’ or ‘courage,’ but also its concrete sense of ‘breath;’ whereas, in modern languages the word has only an abstract sense, and it is only by a knowledge of its etymology that we can get at its material origin. The result of this loss is most complete when a modern, formed upon an ancient language, is no longer in direct communication with the roots of the words used. ”

“ This perversity of human nature in turning words into an opposite and unfavourable meaning may also be seen in many familiar and every-day forms of speech. It is not uncommon to hear an abandoned fellow spoken of as a ‘precious’ scoundrel, or some absurdity referred to as ‘blessed’ nonsense. This perversion is not confined to English. The French often use the word ‘sacré’ in a sense diametrically opposed, to ‘holy,’ a meaning which existed in Latin, from which French is derived. ”

“ We may regard it, as concerns our language, in the light of a pest to society. It takes a long time to clear the atmosphere from the baneful influences of certain epidemics. Now, the language of every-day conversation is suffering from this infectious disease, and it becomes the duty of every Englishman who has a proper feeling for his language, to refrain from this evil himself, and to throw in its way every possible discouragement.
Americanisms.
The recklessness with which the Americans use the English language bids fair to flood it with many new and strange terms. ”

“ The Latin for a mask is ‘persona,’ so called because the voice sounded through it. Per is in Latin, ‘through;’ and son is the root of the verb ‘sonare’ to sound. By a common figure of speech, the word meaning ‘mask’ (persona) was afterwards applied to its wearer; and thus ‘persona’ came to signify ‘actor.’ This was its original, theatrical meaning. But, as all human beings are, in one sense, actors—as they all have a part to play on the stage of life, [233] the word ‘person’ was afterwards used in a general sense to signify any one man or woman. ”

“ We very much want a word which would signify a just return for ill deeds; for, though we use the noun ‘retribution’ for this purpose, the verb ‘to retribute’ is not in common use. The verb ‘to reward’ is always used in a favourable sense. We can hardly say that ‘a felon was rewarded for his crimes.’ We speak of the ‘rewards’ of goodness or virtue, but not of the ‘rewards’ of wickedness or immorality.
Of those words which have been elevated in meaning, we may mention ‘angel,’ ‘martyr,’ and ‘Paradise;’ all three referring to religious matters. These are all of Greek origin. ”

“ Words have not only degenerated in sense; their outward form has also suffered. One principle—contraction—has affected both the pronunciation and spelling of many words. It may be taken as a general rule that words, as they grow older, become softer and shorter. They seldom expand, but almost always contract. This probably originated in a loose careless way of speaking, which afterwards affected the written language. ”

“ Another habit of these periodical writers is to sacrifice the idiom of the language to their love for some particular word. Two verbs, of which they seem especially fond, are, ‘to commence’ and ‘to essay.’ These are French words, and are always preferred before their corresponding Saxon synonyms, ‘to begin’ and ‘to try.’ But in their liking for them, these writers are often betrayed into an incorrect phraseology. To ‘begin’ may be followed by an infinitive or a gerund. ”

“ We have to chair a member; we hear that people are boarded, and that the earth is carpeted with green. ‘Curtained’ sleep, and ‘imbedded’ in the earth, belong to the same class. One man is said to floor another in argument. To ‘picture to yourself;’ to table the contents of a book; to be closeted with a friend, to book a debt; to pen a letter; to ink a dress; to paper a room, and to shelve a subject are all common and daily expressions. They are, in every sense of the term, household words. ”