The Romance of Words Part 3

[12] The credit of first using the word in the political sense is claimed both for George Jacob Holyoake and Professor Minto.

[13] From Anglo-Sax. _man_, deceit, cognate with the first syllable of Ger. _Meineid_, perjury.

[14] This word, which looks like an unsuccessful palindrome, belongs to the language of medieval magic. It seems to be artificially elaborated from ??a???, a word of Persian origin used by a sect of Greek gnostics.

Its letters make up the magic number 365, supposed to represent the number of spirits subject to the supreme being.

[15] In coining _vril_ Lytton probably had in mind Lat. _vis_, _vires_, power, or the adjective _virilis_.

CHAPTER II

WANDERINGS OF WORDS

In a.s.signing to a word a foreign origin, it is necessary to show how contact between the two languages has taken place, or the particular reasons which have brought about the borrowing. A Chinese word cannot suddenly make its appearance in Anglo-Saxon, though it may quite well do so in modern English. No nautical terms have reached us from the coast of Bohemia (_Winter's Tale_, iii. 3), nor is the vocabulary of the wine trade enriched by Icelandic words. Although we have words from all the languages of Europe, our direct borrowings from some of them have been small. The majority of High German words in English have pa.s.sed through Old French, and we have taken little from modern German. On the other hand, commerce has introduced a great many words from the old Low German dialects of the North Sea and the Baltic.

The Dutch[16] element in English supplies a useful object lesson on the way in which the borrowing of words naturally takes place. As a great naval power, the Dutch have contributed to our nautical vocabulary a number of words, many of which are easily recognised as near relations; such are _boom_ (beam), _skipper_ (shipper), _orlop_ (over leap), the name given to a deck which "over-runs" the ship's hold. _Yacht_, properly a "hunting" ship, is cognate with Ger. _Jagd_, hunting, but has no English kin. Hexham has _jaght_, "zee-roovers schip, pinace, or pirats ship." The modern Dutch spelling is _jacht_. We should expect to find art terms from the country of Hobbema, Rubens, Vand.y.k.e, etc. See _easel_ (p. 39), _etch_ (p. 133), _lay-figure_ (p. 166), _sketch_ (p.

22). _Landscape_, earlier _landskip_, has the suffix which in English would be _-ship_. In the 16th century Camden speaks of "a _landskip_, as they call it." The Low Countries were for two centuries the c.o.c.k-pit of Europe, and many military terms were brought back to England by Dugald Dalgetty and the armies which "swore terribly in Flanders." Such are _cashier_ (p. 157), _forlorn hope_ (p. 129), _tattoo_ (p. 162). Other interesting military words are _leaguer_ (lair), recently re-introduced from South Africa as _laager_, and _furlough_. The latter word, formerly p.r.o.nounced to rime with _cough_, is from Du. _verlof_ (for leave); _cf._ archaic Ger. _Verlaub_, now replaced by _Urlaub_. _Knapsack_,[17] a food sack, comes from colloquial Du. _knap_, food, or what the Notts colliers call _snap_. We also find it called a _snapsack_. Both _knap_ and _snap_ contain the idea of "crunching"--

"I would she (Report) were as lying a gossip in that as ever _knapped_ ginger."

(_Merchant of Venice_, iii. 1.)

_Roster_ (roaster) is the Dutch for gridiron, the allusion being to the parallel lines of the list or plan; for a somewhat similar metaphor cf.

_cancel_ (p. 88). The pleasant fiction that--

"The children of Holland take pleasure in making What the children of England take pleasure in breaking,"

confirms the derivation of _toy_ from Du. _tuig_, implement, thing, stuff, etc., a word, like its German cognate _Zeug_, with an infinity of meanings. We now limit _toy_ to the special sense represented by Du.

_speel-tuig_, play-thing.

[Page Heading: DISAPPEARANCE OF CELTIC]

Our vocabulary dealing with war and fortification is chiefly French, but most of the French terms come from Italian. Addison wrote an article in No. 165 of the _Spectator_ ridiculing the Frenchified character of the military language of his time, and, in the 16th century, Henri Estienne, patriot, printer, and philologist, lamented that future historians would believe, from the vocabulary employed, that France had learnt the art of war from Italy. As a matter of fact she did. The earliest writers on the new tactics necessitated by villainous saltpetre were Italians trained in condottiere warfare. They were followed by the great French theorists and engineers of the 16th and 17th centuries, who naturally adopted a large number of Italian terms which thus pa.s.sed later into English.

A considerable number of Spanish and Portuguese words have reached us in a very roundabout way (see pp. 23-7). This is not surprising when we consider how in the 15th and 16th centuries the world was dotted with settlements due to the Portuguese and Spanish adventurers who had a hundred years' start of our own.

There are very few Celtic words either in English or French. In each country the result of conquest was, from the point of view of language, complete. A few words from the Celtic languages have percolated into English in comparatively recent times, but many terms which we a.s.sociate with the picturesque Highlanders are not Gaelic at all.[18] _Tartan_ comes through French from the _Tartars_ (see p. 47); _kilt_ is a Scandinavian verb, "to tuck up," and _dirk_,[19] of unknown origin, first appears about 1600. For _trews_ see p. 117.

A very interesting part of our vocabulary, the _canting_, or rogues', language, dates mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries, and includes contributions from most of the European languages, together with a large Romany element. The early dictionary makers paid great attention to this aspect of the language. Elisha Coles, who published a fairly complete English dictionary in 1676, says in his preface, "'Tis no disparagement to understand the canting terms: it may chance to save your throat from being cut, or (at least), your pocket from being pick'd."

Words often go long journeys. _Boss_ is in English a comparatively modern Americanism. But, like many American words, it belongs to the language of the Dutch settlers who founded New Amsterdam (New York). It is Du. _baas_, master, which has thus crossed the Atlantic twice on its way from Holland to England. A number of Dutch words became familiar to us about the year 1900 in consequence of the South African war. One of them, _slim_, 'cute, seems to have been definitely adopted. It is cognate with Ger. _schlimm_, bad, and Eng. _slim_, slender, and the latter word has for centuries been used in the Eastern counties in the very sense in which it has now been re-introduced.

_Apricot_ is a much travelled word. It comes to us from Fr. _abricot_, while the Shakespearean _apric.o.c.k_--

"Feed him with _apric.o.c.ks_ and dewberries."

(_Midsummer Night's Dream_, iii. 1.)

represents the Spanish or Portuguese form. Ger. _Aprikose_ comes, _via_ Dutch, from the French plural. The word was adopted into the Romance languages from Arab. _al-barquq_, where _al_ is the definite article (_cf._ examples on p. 115), while _barquq_ comes, through medieval Greek, from Vulgar Lat. _praecoquum_, for _praec.o.x_, early-ripe. Thus the word first crossed the Adriatic, pa.s.sed on to Asia Minor or the North coast of Africa, and then travelling along the Mediterranean re-entered Southern Europe.

[Page Heading: ARABIC TRADE WORDS]

Many other Arabic trade words have a similar history. _Carat_ comes to us, through French, from Italian _carato_, "a waight or degree called a _caract_" (Florio). The Italian word is from Arabic, but the Arabic form is a corruption of Gk. ?e??t???, fruit of the locust tree, lit. little horn, also used of a small weight. The verb to _garble_, now used only of confusing or falsifying,[20] meant originally to sort or sift, especially spices--

"_Garbler_ of spices is an officer of great antiquity in the city of London, who may enter into any shop, warehouse, etc., to view and search drugs, spices, etc., and to _garble_ the same and make them clean."

(Cowel's _Interpreter_.)

It represents Span. _garbellar_, from _garbello_, a sieve. This comes from Arab. _ghirbal_, a sieve, borrowed from Lat. _cribellum_, diminutive of _cribrum_. _Quintal_, an old word for hundred-weight, looks as if it had something to do with five. Fr. and Span. _quintal_ are from Arab. _qintar_, hundred-weight, which is Lat. _centenarium_ (whence directly Ger. _Zentner_, hundred-weight). The French word pa.s.sed into Dutch, and gave, with a diminutive ending, _kindekijn_, now replaced by _kinnetje_, a firkin.[21] We have adopted it as _kilderkin_, but have doubled its capacity. With these examples of words that have pa.s.sed through Arabic may be mentioned _talisman_, not a very old word in Europe, from Arab. _tilsam_, magic picture, ultimately from Gk.

te?e??, to initiate into mysteries, lit. to accomplish, and _effendi_, a Turkish corruption of Gk. a????t??, a master, whence Lat. _authentic_.

_Hussar_ seems to be a late Latin word which pa.s.sed into Greece and then entered Central Europe _via_ the Balkans. It comes into 16th-century German from Hungar. _huszar_, freebooter. This is from a Serbian word which means also pirate. It represents medieval Gk. ????s?????, a transliteration of Vulgar Lat. _cursarius_, from _currere_, to run, which occurs also with the sense of pirate in medieval Latin. _Hussar_ is thus a doublet of _corsair_. The immediate source of _sketch_ is Du.

_schets_, "draught of any picture" (Hexham), from Ital. _schizzo_, "an ingros.e.m.e.nt or first rough draught of anything" (Florio), whence also Fr. _esquisse_ and Ger. _Skizze_. The Italian word represents Greco-Lat.

_schedium_, an extempore effort.

_a.s.sa.s.sin_ and _slave_ are of historic interest. _a.s.sa.s.sin_, though not very old in English, dates from the Crusades. Its oldest European form is Ital. _a.s.sa.s.sino_, and it was adopted into French in the 16th century. Henri Estienne, whose fiery patriotism entered even into philological questions, reproaches his countrymen for using foreign terms. They should only adopt, he says, Italian words which express Italian qualities. .h.i.therto unknown to the French, such as _a.s.sa.s.sin_, _charlatan_, _poltron_! _a.s.sa.s.sin_ is really a plural, from the _hachaschin_, eaters of the drug _haschish_, who executed the decrees of the Old Man of the Mountains. It was one of these who stabbed Edward Longshanks at Acre. The first _slaves_ were captive _Slavonians_. We find the word in most of the European languages. The fact that none of the Western tribes of the race called themselves _Slavs_ or _Slavonians_ shows that the word could not have entered Europe _via_ Germany, where the Slavs were called Wends. It must have come from the Byzantine empire _via_ Italy.

Some Spanish words have also come to us by the indirect route. The _cocoa_ which is grateful and comforting was formerly spelt _cacao_, as in French and German. It is a Mexican word. The _cocoa_ of _cocoa-nut_ is for _coco_, a Spanish baby-word for an ugly face or bogie-man. The black marks at one end of the nut give it, especially before the removal of the fibrous husk, some resemblance to a ferocious face. Stevens (1706) explains _coco_ as "the word us'd to fright children; as we say the Bulbeggar."

[Page Heading: COW-BOY WORDS]

_Mustang_ seems to represent two words, _mestengo y mostrenco_, "a straier" (Percyvall). The first appears to be connected with _mesta_, "a monthly fair among herdsmen; also, the laws to be observed by all that keep or deal in cattle" (Stevens), and the second with _mostrar_, to show, the finder being expected to advertise a stray. The original _mustangs_ were of course descended from the strayed horses of the Spanish _conquistadors_. _Ranch_, Span. _rancho_, a row (of huts), is a doublet of _rank_, from Fr. _rang_, Old Fr. _reng_, Old High Ger.

_hring_, a ring. Thus what is now usually straight was once circular, the ground idea of ar_range_ment surviving. Another doublet is Fr.

_harangue_, due to the French inability to p.r.o.nounce _hr-_ (see p. 55), a speech delivered in the ring. _Cf._ also Ital. _aringo_, "a riding or carreering place, a liste for horses, or feates of armes: a declamation, an oration, a noise, a common loud speech" (Florio), in which the "ring"

idea is also prominent.

Other "cow-boy" words of Spanish origin are the less familiar _cinch_, girth of a horse, Span. _cincha_, from Lat. _cingula_, also used metaphorically--

"The state of the elements enabled Mother Nature 'to get a _cinch_'

on an honourable aestheticism."

(Snaith, _Mrs Fitz_, Ch. 1.)

and the formidable riding-whip called a _quirt_, Span. _cuerda_, cord--

"Whooping and swearing as they plied the _quirt_."

(Masefield, _Rosas_.)

Stories of Californian life often mention Span. _reata_, a tethering rope, from the verb _reatar_, to bind together, Lat. _re-aptare_.

Combined with the definite article (_la reata_) it has given _lariat_, a familiar word in literature of the Buffalo Bill character. _La.s.so_, Span. _lazo_, Lat. _laqueus_, snare, is a doublet of Eng. _lace_.

When, in the _Song of Hiawatha_--

"Gitche Manito, the mighty, Smoked the _calumet_, the Peace-pipe, As a signal to the nations,"

he was using an implement with a French name. _Calumet_ is an Old Norman word for _chalumeau_, reed, pipe, a diminutive from Lat. _calamus_. It was naturally applied by early French voyagers to the "long reed for a pipe-stem." Eng. _shawm_ is the same word without the diminutive ending.

Another Old French word, once common in English, but now found only in dialect, is _felon_, a whitlow. It is used more than once by Mr Hardy--

"I've been visiting to Bath because I had a _felon_ on my thumb."

(_Far from the Madding Crowd_, Ch. 33.)