The English Language Part 22

2. Those that are common to both the Celtic and Gothic stocks, and are Indo-European rather than either Welsh, or Gaelic, or Saxon. Such (amongst others) are _brother_, _mother_, in Celtic _brathair_, _mathair_; the numerals, &c.

3. Those that have come to us from the Celtic, but have come to us through the medium of another language. Such are _druid_ and _bard_, whose _immediate_ source is, not the Celtic but, the Latin.

4. Celtic elements of the Anglo-Norman, introduced into England after the Conquest, and occurring in that language as remains of the original Celtic of Gaul.

5. Those that have been retained from the original Celtic of the island, and which form genuine const.i.tuents of our language. These fall into three subdivisions.

_a._ Proper names--generally of geographical localities; as _the Thames_, _Kent_, &c. {98}

_b._ Common names retained in the provincial dialects of England, but not retained in the current language; as _gwethall_=_household stuff_, and _gwlanen_=_flannel_ in Herefordshire.

_c._ Common names retained in the current language.--The following list is Mr. Garnett's:--

_Welsh_. _English_.

Basgawd _Basket_.

Berfa _Barrow_.

Botwm _b.u.t.ton_.

Bran _Bran_.

Clwt _Clout_, _Rag_.

Crochan _Crock_, _Crockery_.

Crog _Crook_, _Hook_.

Cwch _c.o.c.k_, in _c.o.c.k-boat_.

Cwysed _Gusset_.

Cyl, Cyln _Kiln_ (_Kill_, provinc.).

Dantaeth _Dainty_.

Darn _Darn_.

Deentur _Tenter_, in _Tenterhook_.

Fflaim _Fleam_, _Cattle-lancet_.

Fflaw _Flaw_.

Ffynnell (air-hole) _Funnel_.

Gefyn (fetter) _Gyve_.

Greidell _Grid_, in _Gridiron_.

Grual _Gruel_.

Gwald (hem, border) _Welt_.

Gwiced (little door) _Wicket_.

Gwn _Gown_.

Gwyfr _Wire_.

Masg (st.i.tch in netting) _Mesh_.

Mattog _Mattock_.

Mop _Mop_.

Rhail (fence) _Rail_.

Rhasg (slice) _Rasher_.

Rhuwch _Rug_.

Sawduriaw _Solder_.

Syth (glue) _Size_.

Tacl _Tackle_.

-- 150. _Latin of the first period._--Of the Latin introduced by Caesar and his successors, the few words remaining are those that relate to military affairs; _viz._ _street_ (_strata_); _coln_ (as in _Lincoln_=_Lindi colonia_); _cest_ (as in _Gloucester_=_glevae castra_) from _castra_. The Latin words introduced between the time of Caesar and Hengist may be called the _Latin of the first period_, or the _Latin of the Celtic period_.

-- 151. _The Anglo-Saxon._--This is not noticed here, because from being the staple of the present language it is more or less the subject of the book throughout.

-- 152. _The Danish, or Norse._--The pirates that pillaged Britain, under the name of Danes, were not exclusively the inhabitants of Denmark. Of the three Scandinavian nations, the Swedes took the least share, the Norwegians the greatest {99} in these invasions. Not that the Swedes were less piratical, but that they robbed elsewhere,--in Russia, for instance, and in Finland.

The language of the three nations was the same; the differences being differences of dialect. It was that which is now spoken in Iceland, having been once common to Scandinavia and Denmark. Whether this was aboriginal in _Denmark_, is uncertain. In _Scandinavia_ it was imported; the tongue that it supplanted having been, in all probability, the mother-tongue of the present Laplandic.

The Danish that became incorporated with our language, under the reign of Canute and his sons, may be called the direct Danish (Norse or Scandinavian) element, in contradistinction to the indirect Danish of ---- 144, 155.

The determination of the amount of Danish in English is difficult. It is not difficult to prove a word _Scandinavian_. We must also show that it is not German. A few years back the current opinion was against the doctrine that there was much Danish in England. At present, the tendency is rather the other way. The following facts are from Mr. Garnett.--Phil. Trans. Vol.

i.

1. The Saxon name of the present town of _Whitby_ in Yorkshire was _Streoneshalch_. The present name _Whitby_, _Hvitby_, or _White-town_, is Danish.

2. The Saxon name of the capital of Derbyshire was _Northweortheg_. The present name is Danish.

3. The termination _-by_=_town_ is Norse.

4. On a monument in Aldburgh church, Holdernesse, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, referred to the age of Edward the Confessor, is found the following inscription:--

_Ulf_ het araeran cyrice _for hanum_ and for Gunthara saula.

"Ulf bid rear the church for him and for the soul of Gunthar."

Now, in this inscription, _Ulf_, in opposition to the Anglo-Saxon _wulf_, is a Norse form; whilst _hanum_ is a Norse dative, and by no means an Anglo-Saxon one.--Old Norse _hanum_, Swedish _honom_.

5. The use of _at_ for _to_ as the sign of the infinitive mood {100} is Norse, not Saxon. It is the regular prefix in Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, and Feroic. It is also found in the northern dialects of the Old English, and in the particular dialect of Westmoreland at the present day.

6. The use of _sum_ for _as_; _e.g._--_swa sum_ we forgive oure detturs.

7. Isolated words in the northern dialects are Norse rather than Saxon.

_Provincial._ _Common Dialect._ _Norse._

Braid _Resemble_ Bras, _Swed_.

Eldin _Firing_ Eld, _Dan_.

Force _Waterfall_ Fors, _D. Swed_.

Gar _Make_ Gora, _Swed_.

Gill _Ravine_ Gil, _Iceland_.

Greet _Weep_ Grata, _Iceland_.

Ket _Carrion_ Kiod=Flesh, _Dan_.

Lait _Seek_ Lede, _Dan_.

Lathe _Barn_ Lade, _Dan_.

Lile _Little_ Lille, _Dan_.

-- 153. _Roman of the Second Period._--Of the Latin introduced under the Christianised Saxon sovereigns, many words are extant. They relate chiefly to ecclesiastical matters, just as the Latin of the Celtic period bore upon military affairs.--_Mynster_, a minster, _monasterium_; _portic_, a porch, _porticus_; _cl.u.s.ter_, a cloister, _claustrum_; _munuc_, a monk, _monachus_; _bisceop_, a bishop, _episcopus_; _arcebisceop_, archbishop, _archiepiscopus_; _sanct_, a saint, _sanctus_; _profost_, a provost, _propositus_; _pall_, a pall, _pallium_; _calic_, a chalice, _calix_; _candel_, a candle, _candela_; _psalter_, a psalter, _psalterium_; _maesse_, a ma.s.s, _missa_; _pistel_, an epistle, _epistola_; _praedic-ian_, to preach, _praedicare_; _prof-ian_, to prove, _probare_.

The following are the names of foreign plants and animals:--_camell_, a camel, _camelus_; _ylp_, elephant, _elephas_; _ficbeam_, fig-tree, _ficus_; _feferfuge_, feverfew, _febrifuga_; _peterselige_, parsley, _petroselinum_.

Others are the names of articles of foreign origin, as _pipor_, pepper, _piper_; _purpur_, purple, _purpura_; _pumicstan_, pumice-stone, _pumex_.

{101}