The Century Vocabulary Builder Part 20

I do not doubt it; it is entirely credible.

The success of the antidote seemed scarcely creditable.

Though he is the official and credited amba.s.sador, his a.s.sertions are not accredited.

I cured the dog's wounds. The physician declared he could heal leprosy.

"A custom more honor'd in the breach than the observance." Is it your custom to watch the clock while you eat? The habit in that region was to rise at c.o.c.kcrow.

A decided battle. A decisive fault in manners.

We still await a definite edition of this author's works. His answer was so definitive that we no longer doubted what he meant.

Clive added India to the British demesne.

The king went riding through his personal domain.

The German mark has deprecated in value. He depreciated the praise they were lavishing upon him.

They tied themselves together with a rope in order to make their dissent safer. The dissent to a lower plane of conversation was what he most desired.

The discovery of the wireless telegraph is Marconi's chief claim to remembrance. The invention of a water pa.s.sage between Tierra del Fuego and the mainland was the work of Magellan.

He could not discriminate individuals at that distance. Any man can distinguish right from wrong.

His course was entirely generous and disinterested. Most visitors to art galleries have an uninterested manner.

This disposal of the matter is authoritative, final. His disposition of his forces was well-considered.

Though the colonists were dissatisfied for the moment, they could hardly be called discontented.

The distinct quality of his character was aggressiveness. There were four separate and distinctive calls.

An affected, dramatic manner. A truly theatrical situation.

A dry plain. An arid place to sleep in.

The man stood dumb with surprise. Always be kind to mute animals.

Our joy is durable. Oak is a lasting wood.

3. Consult the dictionary for the distinction between the members of each of the following pairs. Frame sentences to ill.u.s.trate the correct use of the words. (Some of the words in this list, as well as some in other parts of the chapter, are considered in larger groups in the chapters following.)

earth, world efficiency, efficacy egoism, egotism eldest, oldest elemental, elementary elude, evade emigrate, immigrate enough, sufficient envy, jealousy equable, equitable equal, equivalent essential, necessary esteem, respect euphemism, euphuism evidence, proof exact, precise exchange, interchange excuse, pardon exempt, immune expect, suppose expedite, facilitate

facsimile, copy familiar, intimate fancy, imagination farther, further feeling, sentiment feminine, effeminate fervent, fervid fewer, less fluid, liquid first (or last) two, two first (or last) food, feed foreign, alien force, strength forgive, pardon

gayety, cheerfulness genius, talent gentle, tame genuine, authentic glance, glimpse grateful, thankful grieve, mourn

hanged, hung happen, transpire happiness, pleasure healthy, healthful hear, listen heathen, pagan honorable, honorary horrible, horrid human, humane

illegible, unreadable image, effigy imaginary, imaginative impending, approaching imperious, imperial imply, infer in, into inability, disability ingenious, ingenuous intelligent, intellectual insinuation, innuendo instinct, intuition involve, implicate irony, sarcasm irretrievable, irreparable

judicious, judicial just, equitable justify, warrant

lack, want languor, la.s.situde later, latter lawful, legal lax, slack leave, let lend, loan liable, likely libel, slander lie, lay like, love linger, loiter look, see loose, lose luxurious, luxuriant

majority, plurality marine, maritime martial, military moderate, temperate mood, humor moral, ethical moral, religious mutual, reciprocal myth, legend

natal, native nautical, naval near, close necessaries, necessities needy, needful noted, notorious novice, tyro

observance, observation observe, perceive obsolete, archaic omnipresent, ubiquitous on, upon oppose, resist opposite, contrary oppress, depress

palliate, extenuate pa.s.sionate, impa.s.sioned pathos, pity patron, customer peculiar, unusual perspicuity, perspicacity permeate, pervade permit, allow perseverance, persistence pertain, appertain pictorial, picturesque pitiable, pitiful pity, sympathy pleasant, pleasing politician, statesman practicable, practical precipitous, precipitate precision, preciseness prejudice, bias prelude, overture pride, vanity princ.i.p.al, principle process, procedure procure, secure professor, teacher progress, progression propitious, auspicious proposal, proposition tradition, legend truth, veracity

quiet, quiescent

raise, rear raise, rise ransom, redeem rare, scarce reason, understanding reasonable, rational recollect, remember regal, royal reliable, trustworthy requirement, requisite restive, restless reverse, inverse ride, drive rime (or rhyme), rhythm

sacred, holy salutation, salute scanty, spa.r.s.e scholar, student science, art scrupulous, conscientious serf, slave shift, expedient sick, ill silent, taciturn sit, set skilled, skilful slender, slim smart, clever sociable, social solicitude, anxiety stay, stop stimulus, stimulation strut, swagger suppress, repress

termination, terminus theory, hypothesis tolerate, permit torment, torture tradition, legend truth, veracity

unbelief, disbelief unique, unusual

varied, various variety, diversity venal, venial vengeance, revenge verse, stanza vindictive, revengeful visit, visitation visitant, visitor

wander, stray warn, caution will, volition wit, humor witness, see womanish, womanlike worth, value

Pairs of the third type are made up of words parallel in meaning. This cla.s.s somewhat overlaps the second; many terms that are frequently confused are parallels, and parallelism is of course a cause of confusion.

Parallels are words that show likeness in meaning. Likeness, not sameness.

Yet at one time actual sameness may have existed, and in many instances did. Nowadays this sameness has been lost, and the words have become differentiated. As a rule they still are closely related in thought; sometimes, however, the divergence between them is wide.

Why did words having the same meaning find lodgment in the language in the first place? The law of linguistic economy forbids any such happening, and only through sheer good fortune did English come to possess duplications.

The original Anglo-Saxon did not contain them. But the Roman Catholic clergy brought to England the language of religion and of scholarship, Latin. Later the Normans, whose speech as a branch of French was an offshoot of Latin, came to the island as conquerors. For a time, therefore, three languages existed side by side in the country--Anglo- Saxon among the common folk, Latin among the clergy, and Norman-French at the court and among the n.o.bility. The coalescing of the three (or of the two if we count Latin in its direct and indirect contributions as one) was inevitable. But other (mostly cognate) languages also had a part in the speech that was ultimately evolved. The Anglo-Saxon element was augmented by words from Dutch, Scandinavian, and the

Germanic tongues in general; and Latin was reinforced by Greek. Thus to imply, as is sometimes done, that modern English is simply a blend of Anglo-Saxon and Latin elements is misleading. _Native_ and _cla.s.sic_ are the better terms to use, provided both are used broadly. _Native_ must include not only Anglo-Saxon but the other Germanic elements as well, and _cla.s.sic_ must include French and Greek as well as Latin.

The welding of these languages made available two--in some instances more than two--words for a single object or idea. What became of these duplicates? Sometimes one of the words was dropped as needless.

Oftentimes, however, both were retained--with such modifications in meaning that thereafter they designated, not the same object or idea, but different forms or aspects of it. Thus they became parallels, and the new language waxed rich with discriminations which neither of the component tongues had possessed.

Scott in _Ivanhoe_ gives the basis upon which the unification of the languages proceeded. The jester Wamba in conversation with the swineherd Gurth explains how the Anglo-Saxon term took on the homelier, rougher, more workaday uses and left the more refined and fastidious uses for the Norman-French. A domestic animal, says Wamba, was cared for by the conquered people, and in consequence bore while living a "good Saxon"

name--swine, ox, or calf; but it was served at the tables of the conquerors, and therefore when ready for consumption bore a "good Norman-French" name--pork, beef, or veal. "When the brute [a sow] lives, and is in charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes Norman and is called pork, when she is carried into the castle hall to feast among the n.o.bles.... He [a calf] is Saxon when he requires tendance, and takes a Norman name [Monsieur de Veau] when he becomes matter of enjoyment."

Let us see how Scott's contention fares if we extend his list of terms relative to animal life. As throughout the rest of this chapter, with the single and necessary exception of List B, the first word in each pair is native, the second cla.s.sic: