ceaster, originally that of ke, had become, first, that of ksh, and, secondly, that of tsh; still it was spelt ce, the e, in the eyes of the Anglo-Saxons, having the power of y. In the eyes also of the Anglo-Saxons the compound sound of ksh, or tsh, would differ from that of k by the addition of y; this, it may be said, was the Anglo-Saxon view of the matter. The Anglo-Norman view was different. Modified by the part that, in the combination th, was played by the aspirate h, it was conceived by the Anglo-Normans, that ksh, or tsh, differed from k, not by the addition of y (expressed by e), but by that of h. Hence, the combination ch as sounded in chest. The same was the case with sh.

It is safe to say that in his adaptation of the alphabet of one language to the sound-system of another, the Angle allowed himself greater latitude, and acted with a more laudable boldness, than the Norman.

The forms of the Anglo-Saxon letters are as follows:

A. The line across the top of this letter in its capital form, is Old German as well as A. S.

F.-The Angle form for this letter appears in a MS. from continental Germany, to which a date as early as A.D. 700 has been assigned. It is one containing a portion of the text of Livy. A notice on the last page states that it belonged to Suitbert, Bishop of Duurstede, in the Netherlands. Now, Suitbert was the Apostle of the Frisians, and was made Bishop A.D. 693. The MS. is now in the Imperial Library at Vienna.

The more modern form, however, seems to have been in use at the same time—at least for small letters. In the case of capitals the Angle form is pretty general.

H.-The capital H is simply the small one with the upper part of its left limb truncated or cut off. The form is Old German as well as A. S.

M.-The Angle form in this is early German also. I occurs in the same MS. as the Angle F, as well as in many others.

R.—This form is got at by bringing the left limb of the Latin letter below the line, by producing it (so to say) or making an underlength of it. In this form it appears in the Suitbert MS., both as a small letter and as a capital. The form of the right limb seems to be wholly Angle.

S. The old form f originates in the Angler. The underlength is Old German as well as English. In the Old German orthographies, however, there is an over-length as well, i. e. the letter both rises above, and sinks below the line.

T.-This is like a c with a line across its top. This is Old German as well as A. S. It is really the Greek 7, with its vertical line rounded.

Y.-The dot over the top is Old German as well as A. S.

§ 322. One of our orthographic expedients, viz. the reduplication of the consonant following, to express the shortness (dependence) of the preceding vowel, is as old as the classical languages: terra, Oáλaooa. This has been already stated. In respect, however, to its application in English, the following extract from the Ormulum written in the thirteenth

century) is the fullest recognition of the practice that I have

met with.

And whase wilenn shall pis boc,
Efft operr sipe writenn,

Himm bidde icc patt hett write rihht,

Swa sum piss boc himm tæchepp;
All þwerrt utt affterr þatt itt iss
Oppo piss firrste bisne,

Wipp all swilc rime als her iss sett,
Wipp alse fele wordess :
And tatt he loke well patt he

An boc-staff write twiggess,*
Eggwhær þær itt uppo piss boc
Iss writenn o patt wise:
Loke he well patt hett write swa,
Forr he ne magg noht elless,

On Englissh writenn rihht te word,

þatt wite he well to sope.

Parallel and equivalent orthographies.-Let there be in two given languages the sound of k, as in kin. Let each of these languages represent it by the same letter, k. In this case, the two orthographies are identical. Let, however, one nation represent it by k, and another by c. In this case the orthographies are not identical, but parallel. The same is the case with combinations. Let one nation (say the Anglo-Saxon) represent the sound of y (in ye) by e, whilst another nation (the Norse) represents it by j. What the Anglo-Saxon spells ceaster, the Northman spells kjaster; and what the Northman spells kjære, the Anglo-Saxon spells ceare. Let the sound of this ce and kj undergo a change, and become ksh; kjære, and ceære, being pronounced kshare. The view of the Northman and Anglo-Saxon will be the same; each will consider that the compound sound differs from the simple one by the addition of the sound of y; that sound being expressed in one nation by e, and in the other by j. In this case the two expressions of the compound sound are parallel, its elements being considered the same, although the signs by which those elements are expressed are different.

*Write one letter twice.

Let, however, a different view of the compound sound be taken. Let it be thought that the sound of ksh differs from that of k, not by the addition of the sound of y, but by that of h; and so let it be spelt kh or ch. In this case, the orthographies kh and kj (or ce) are not parallel, but equivalent. They express the same sound, but they do not denote the same elements. The same sound is, very possibly, expressed by the Anglo-Saxon ce, the Norwegian kj, and the English ch. In this case ce and kj are parallel, ce and ch equivalent, orthographies.

Note. The chief alphabets derived from the Greek were the Slavonic. Hence, in proportion as the Greek alphabet approached the time at which that derivation took place, it was Slavoniform-the word meaning, not so much actual likeness to the Slave as the form of the Greek itself out of which the Slave originated.

Note. The notices of p. 115, on the extent to which the Anglo-Saxon form of the letters was also German, are founded on the specimens of Die Buchschriften des Mittelalters, &c., Vienna, 1852.

PART IV.

ETYMOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

ON THE PROVINCE OF ETYMOLOGY.

§ 323. THE word etymology has a double meaning. At times it is used in a wide, and at times in a restricted, sense.

If we take such a word as fathers, we can divide it into two parts, or reduce it into two elements. By comparing it with father, we see that the s is neither part nor parcel of the original word. Fathers is capable of being analysed: father being the original primitive word, and s the secondary superadded termination. From the word father, the word fathers is derived, deduced, or descended. What has been said of this may also be said of fatherly, fatherlike, fatherless, &c. Now, from the word father, all these words (fathers, fatherly, fatherlike, and fatherless) differ in form, and in meaning. To become such a word as fathers, &c., the word father is changed.

Of changes of this sort, it is the province of etymology to take cognizance.

Compared with the form fathers, the word father is the older form of the two. The word father is a word current in this the nineteenth century. The same word was current in the first century, although under a different form, and in a different language. Thus, in the Latin language, the form was pater; and in the Greek warp. Now, just as the word father, compared with fathers, is original and primitive, so is pater, compared with father, original and primitive also. The