A BRIEF HISTORY OF ITS GRAMMATICAL CHANGES AND ITS VOCABULARY. WITH EXERCISES ON SYNONYMS, PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES, WORD-ANALYSIS A TEXT-BOOK FOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. BY BRAINERD KELLOGG, LL.D., PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE BROOKLYN POLYTECHNIC AND ALONZO REED, A.M., IN "HIGHER AUTHOR OF "INTRODUCTORY LANGUAGE WORK," ""WORD LESSONS," AND ONE OF THE NEW EDITION. NEW YORK: MAYNARD, MERRILL, & Co., PUBLISHERS, 43, 45 & 47 EAST TENTH ST. 1893. REED'S INTRODUCTORY LANGUAGE WORK. REED'S WORD LESSONS-A COMPLETE SPELLER. KELLOGG & REED'S THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. KELLOGG'S RHETORIC. KELLOGG'S ENGLISH LITERATURE. KELLOGG'S EDITIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS. THE ENGLISH CLASSIC SERIES. COPYRIGHT, 1891, BY BRAINERD KELLOGG AND ALONZO REED. COPYRIGHT, 1892, By BRAINERD KELLOGG and ALONZO REED. Press of J. J. Little & Co. Astor Place, New York PREFACE. EDUCATED people are not agreed that it is well for the student to spend years in the study of Latin and Greek, but all agree that the English pupil should know his own tongue thoroughly. It is safe to say that there is a strong and growing inclination to give much less attention to the so-called classical languages, and to concentrate attention upon English and other modern languages, and upon the studies taught in English. If Latin is to be pursued at all, we are told that it should be because of its connection with our tongue, and the instruction in it should be made directly tributary to the pupil's advancement in that tongue. Our language has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon and in the Latin. The Anglo-Saxon gives us our grammar and a large fraction of our vocabulary; the Latin yields us a still greater number of words, and has modified our grammar. If, as we think, one must know something of the sources of a language in order to know that language critically, then no one can be said to be well educated in English who is unacquainted with the changes which the Anglo-Saxon grammar and words have undergone in becoming English, and who is unfamiliar with the meaning, and unskilled in the handling, of the prolific Latin roots from which, by the aid of prefixes and suffixes, such hosts of English derivatives have been formed. It is in such belief that this work has been planned and written. It gives a brief account of the early peoples that occupied Britain, and of their contributions to our vocabulary. This account is followed by a history of the two great conquests the Anglo-Saxon and the Norman-and of the blending into our own of the tongues of these two races. The grammatical changes of the Anglo-Saxon noun, adjective, pronoun, and verb, in passing into English, are detailed. The two great elements of our vocabulary-the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin-and their functions in actual use, are given and illustrated. Over two hundred groups of synonyms are carefully discriminated; and in word-analysis and wordbuilding we have dealt with at least two hundred and fifty of the most fruitful Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Greek roots in our language. The meanings of the roots, and of the prefixes and suffixes combining with them, are easily learned. The mastery, thus attained, of multitudes of English compounds will be of the utmost service to the pupil in his reading of authors and in his own composition, and justifies the giving of so much time and space to word-analysis and word-building. We give the decisions of usage upon a dozen or more vital grammatical and verbal questions yet in debate. For this office we have been qualifying ourselves by years of reading specially directed to this end. It need astonish no one that in almost every instance we found ourselves in open conflict with many critics who, during the past few years, have so oracularly taught us how not to say that which we have to say. In the more comprehensive work soon to appear a work into which this, in fuller form, will enter the verdict of usage on scores and scores of other mooted points will be reported. We have but opened the subject in this volume. The place in the curriculum of study for which this work is designed is near that held by rhetoric-immediately before or after it, we think; certainly before that of English literature. With one exception we need not here name the authors consulted in the preparation of the work. This exception is Professor Lounsbury. We have for years used his English Language as a text-book. Our debt to him of which we are conscious is not small; but smaller, doubtless, than that of which we are unconscious. Especially was his book helpful in assigning the dates of changes spoken of in chapters IV.-VII. The proof-sheets of this work have had the careful criticism of an eminent professor in one of our largest colleges. His valuable suggestions have greatly aided us. |