Surnames from NATURAL OBJECTS. From HEAVENLY BODIES; as, Star. From QUADRUPEDS; as, Buck, Palfrey. From BIRDS; as, Bird, Bullfinch. From FISHES; as, Chubb, Dolphin. From VEGETABLES; as, Myrtle, Gage, Beet. From the MINERAL KINGDOM; as, Clay, Gold, Stone. From ARMOR; as, Shield, Gun. Surnames from the SOCIAL RELATIONS, etc. Of this we have Brothers, Cousins. Surnames from different parts of the BODY; as, Head, Cheek, Beard. From the WEATHER; as, Frost, Snow, Mist, Dew. From SPORTS; as, Bowles, Ball. From VESSELS; as, Ship, Cutter. From PACES; as, Trot, Gallop. From MEASURES; as, Gill, Gallon. From PREDILECTIONS; as, Loveday, Loveland. Names derived from the VIRTUES, etc. Peace, Joy, Hope, Love, Patience. Sometimes a whole sentence was adapted as a name; as, Faintnot Hewett, Make-peace Heaton, Kill-sin Pimple, Be-faithful Joiner, Hopefear Rending, Stand-fast-on-high Stringer, Fly-debate Roberts, Be-steadfast Ellyard, Be-courteous Cole, The peace-of-God Knight, Fight-thegood-fight-of-faith White, Sweet Finelove. Names derived from MISCELLANEOUS SOURCES. ly SOBRIQUETS; as, Steptoe, Doolittle, Gotobed. Surnames original From CONTEMPT; as, Leatherhead, Shufflebottom, Crookshanks, Badman, Pudding. Names that have provoked PUNS; as, Silver, Sellsome, Churchyard, Going, Gone, Ketchum, Cheetum. From the Latin; as, Benedict, blessed. From the Greek; as, Alexander, defending men. From the Hebrew; as, David, beloved; Isaac, laughter. VERSATILITY OF PROPER NAMES. § 346. By a common usage of nations, proper names are transferred, instead of being translated, from one language into another. In this transfer, however, the name often suffers some violence in order to adapt itself to the organs and taste of a new people, and thus becomes quite changed in its external form. This change is sometimes seen both in the orthography and in the pronunciation. This is exemplified in the Hebrew name John, which has descended through the Greek to the modern languages of Europe. This name is written, in Hebrew, Yohannan; in Syriac, Yuhanon; in Nestorian Syriac, Yohanna; in Armenian, Hohannes; in Greek, Joannes; in Latin, Johannes; in Italian, Giovanni; in Spanish, Juan; in French, Jean; in German, Johann; in English, John; in Russian, Ivan ; and in Welsh, Evan and Owen. Many of these forms would hardly be recognized except on reflection. It is unfortunate that many of the Scripture names in the Hebrew language have been corrupted by coming through the Greek, so that they have lost both the original form and sound; thus Musa, Yusef, Daoud, Miriam, or Mariam, have been changed to Moses, Joseph, David, Mary, or Maria. Among the blots on King James's translation, says a learned friend from whom the above suggestion comes, is its singular confusion in this matter: thus we have three forms of the same name, Judas, Judah, Jude. PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES TO PROPER NAMES OF PLACES. § 347. AB, at the beginning of the names of places, is frequently derived, by a contraction, from abbot, and denotes that a monastery was once there, or, at least, that the place belonged to some abbey; as, ABington the town belonging to the abbacy; AbingDON=Abbey HILL. Ac, Ак, came from the Saxon ac or oak; as, Acton, a town abounding in oaks. ALD comes from eald, ancient; as, ALDborough, or Old Town. ATTLE, ADLE, came from the Saxon ethel, signifying noble; as, ATTLEborough, or Noble Town. BOROUGH, BURGH, BURY, comes from burg, byrig, a town or city; as, PeterBOROUGH, the Town of St. Peter. BOTTOм, a valley or low ground, from the Anglo-Saxon botm. In Sussex, England, it is said that dale and valley are rarely used; bottom is substituted. Hence the names RamsвOTTOM, LongBOTTOM. BOURNE, BORN, or BURN, implies a stream or rivulet forming a boundary; as, TyBURN, HolBORN, SelBOURNE. BRAD, at the beginning of words, signifies broad, from the Saxon brad; as, BRADford=Broadford. BY, BYE, Danish, town, village, a habitation; as, GrimsBY, CASTER, CHESTER, CESTER, from the Latin castra, a camp; as, CASford Castle or Town upon the Ford. CHIP or CHEAP, from the Saxon cypan, to buy or sell, indicates a market-town; as, CHIPрenham, or CHEAPSide. CLIFT or CLIVE signifies a cliff, a steep place or rock; as, CLIFTON. COMP at the beginning of words, and COмв at the ending, denotes the lower situation of a place or a valley, from the Celtic kum; as, Compton. CROSS has reference to the practice of placing a cross at the meeting of different ways to indicate the proper road. Thus, at Charing CROSS, Waltham CROSS, there must have been a cross formerly. The term is also applied to the places where roads cross each other. DALE, a valley; as, KenDAL, a corruption of Kent-DALE. DEN indicates a valley; as, SenterDEN. DON, DUN, DOWN, Anglo-Saxon denu, signifies a hill gently sloping; as, Dunkirk, South Down. FLEET, Anglo-Saxon fleot, is an inlet for water; as, WainFLEET. HAM, at the termination to the names of places, signifies house, a hab- LEY, LEIGH, comes from the Saxon leag, a pasture field; as, OakLEY, ChudLEIGH. Low, from the Saxon hlow, a hill; as, HoundsLOW. MARSH, MAS, from the Saxon mersc, a marsh; as MARSHfield, MASbrough. What can you say of the names of places? NESS, from the Anglo-Saxon næse, nose, signifies a place at or near a promontory; as, HolderNESS. OVER denotes the situation over a hill or a river; as, Wendover. PEN, from the Celtic, the top a hill. RIC, RIDGE, seem to denote a range of hills on the top of a hill; as, WoldRIDGE. STEAD, Anglo-Saxon sted, a place, a station; as, HomeSTEAD. STOWE, from Anglo-Saxon stowe, a place; as, GodsTOWE, a place dedicated to God. THORPE, from Anglo-Saxon thorpe, a village; as, BishopsTHORPE. TUN, TON, DON, Anglo-Saxon dun, a hill, a town; as, HuntingTON. WEOLD, WOLD, is a wild or wood; as, CotesWOLD, famous for its sheep and pasture ground. WORTH, Anglo-Saxon weorth, a village or street; as, KillingswORTH. WICK, WICH, Danish vig, Dutch wyk, a bay or creek formed by a curve in a river, a retreat or station; as, GreenWICK or WICH, the green village; SandwICH, sand village. NAMES OF THE MONTHS. § 348. The names of the months are of Roman origin; thus: JANUARY, Januarius, is from Janus. He was the sun-god, or god of the year of the early inhabitants of Italy. In the ancient language (Anglo-Saxon) it was called Wulfe-monath, Wolf-month, because in that month the wolves were most mischievous. FEBRUARY, Februarius, is from Februa, which were purifications performed this month. In the ancient language it was called Sprout-kele, Spring-wort, because the worts then began to sprout. MARCH, Martius, is from Mars, the supposed father of Romulus. In the ancient language it was called Lenct-monath, the Lengthening month, because the days then begin to exceed the nights in length. APRIL, Aprilis, from the verb aperio, is the month in which trees and flowers open their buds. In the ancient language it was called Oorton-monath, because Easter fell in April. MAY, Maius, is from Maia, the mother of Mercury. In the ancient language it was called Tri-milei=three milkings, because the cows were then milked three times a day. JUNE, Junius, is from Juno. In the ancient language it was called Mede-monath, Meadow-month, because the cattle were then turned out to feed in the meadows. JULY, Julius, is from Julius Cæsar. In the ancient language it was called Hey-monath, Hay-month. AUGUST, Augustus, is from Augustus Cæsar. In the ancient language it was called Arn-monath, Barn-month, because the barns were then filled. SEPTEMBER, September, is the seventh month. In the ancient language it was called Gerst-monath, Grist-month, because the new corn was then carried to mill. OCTOBER, October, the eighth month. In the ancient language it was called Wyn-monath, Wine-month, because the grapes were then pressed to make wine. What can you say of the names of the months? NOVEMBER, November, the ninth month. In the ancient language it was called Wynde-monath, Windy-month, because high winds prevailed that month. DECEMBER, December, the tenth month. In the ancient language it was called Wynter-monath, Winter-month, because the cold was then growing intense. The Romans are said originally to have had but ten months, commencing with March. NAMES OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK. § 349. The names of the days of the week are derived from the gods worshiped by the northern nations of Europe. Out of the seven days of the week, three of them correspond, in the origin of their names, with the Roman Calendar. SUNDAY (dies Solis) was the day sacred to the Sun-Sun's day. FRIDAY was sacred to the goddess Friga or Freya Friga's day. EXERCISES UNDER PART IV. ETYMOLOGICAL ANALYSIS. § 350. ETYMOLOGICAL ANALYSIS is that process by which each word in a sentence is named and described according to its etymological relations, as unfolded in the preceding pages of this FOURth Part. EXAMPLES. In using the following examples, the pupils are expected, I. To point out all the Nouns, and give a definition of the noun; II. To point out all the Adjectives, and give a definition of the adjective; III. To point out the Articles, and give a definition of the article; IV. To point out all the Pronouns, and give a definition of the pronoun; V. To point out all the Verbs, and give a definition of the verb; VI. To point out all the Adverbs, and give a definition of the adverb; VII. To point out all the Prepositions, and give a definition of the preposition; VIII. To point out all the Conjunctions, and give a definition of the conjunction; IX. To point out all the Interjections, and give a definition of the interjection. MODEL. He who tells a lie is not sensible how great a task he undertakes ; for he must be forced to tell twenty more to maintain that one.-POPE. What can you say of the names of the days of the week? Lie and task are nouns. A Noun is a word, etc. See § 177. Sensible and great are adjectives. An Adjective is a word, etc. See § 196. See § 216. A is the indefinite article. The Article a, etc. A Pronoun, etc. Tells, is, undertakes, must be forced, to tell, to maintain, are verbs. Tells is a verb, from the ancient or strong verb tell, told, told, in the active voice, in the indicative mode, present tense, third person, singular number. See § 277. Undertakes is a verb, from the strong verb undertake, undertook, undertook, undertaken, compounded of under and take, in the active voice, in the indicative mode, present tense, third person, singular number. See § 277. Must be forced is a verb, from the weak verb force, forced, forced, in the passive voice, indicative mode, present tense, third person, singular number. To tell is a verb, as before, in the infinitive mode, present tense. To maintain is a verb, from the weak verb maintain, maintained, maintained, in the infinitive mode, present tense. Not is an adverb of negation; how is an adverb of manner. See § 297. To is a preposition. See § 299. For is a conjunction. See § 301. ANALYZE THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES. 1. Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.-GIBBON. 2. A spirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfish temper and confined views. People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.-BURKE. 3. High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, To that bad eminence.-MILTON. 4. The crying sin of all governments is that they meddle injuriously with human affairs, and obstruct the processes of nature by excessive legislation.-W. E. CHANNING. 5. We doubt whether a man ever brings his faculties to bear with their full force upon any subject until he writes upon it for the instruction or edification of others. To place it more clearly before others, he feels a necessity of viewing it more vividly himself.-W. E. CHAN NING. 6. Higher laws than those of taste determine the consciousness of nations. Higher laws than those of taste determine the general forms of the expression of that consciousness. Let the downward age of America find its orators, and poets, and artists to erect its spirit, or grace and soothe its dying. Be it ours to go up, with Webster, to the Rock, the Monument, the Capitol, and bid "the distant nations hail !”— RUFUS CHOATE. |