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the cases are learned, the pupil has made only small progress; every new word that he meets with is a stranger, with whom he has to form an acquaintance. To save the trouble of a separate introduction to all, it will often be found enough to know some relations of the family. The simplest relationship that we can suppose is where one noun is derived from another, or for convenience' sake may be said to be derived. When a pupil knows the nouns merx, via, nuga, pax, he should be taught to observe that merc-ator, vi-ator, nug-ator, pac-ator contain respectively the same elementary syllable as merx, via, nugæ, pax, &c. when stripped of their case-endings, and that a new meaning is given by the addition of the syllable -ator. Or, suppose that the pupil first meets with merc-ator vi-ator, &c. he should be taught to observe the common ending of these nouns, and that by adding a different termination, as in vi-a, he has a new word with a different meaning.

If the pupil is acquainted with any words that are called verbs, or verbal roots, his vocabulary will rapidly be extended by the addition of am-ator, ar-ator, imperator, &c.; and, as a further step, he will find a long list, in which the syllable -tor is not preceded by a vowel, but by a consonant of the root. Thus he will discover and arrange in his note-book, duc-tor, vic-tor, fac-tor, lector, &c. He will then begin to consider (for the advantage of this system is, that he will think while he is learning Latin)-he will consider, or he may ask his teacher, if lic-tor is related to lig-o. The regular form would be ligator, like ar-ator, &c. Another question will now arise, why have we a g in lig-o, and a c (which in fact is a k) in lic-tor? The teacher will then be led to explain the powers of the letters, which depend on the way in

which they are formed by the organs of speech; consonants similarly formed by the same organs, such as b, p, m, are interchangeable; and other consonants, according to the same principle, occur generally in certain pairs or groups. Thus we find mp, mb, nd, nt, kt, gd, and other similar combinations. It is no argument against this general principle to say, that inscriptions, both Greek and Roman, often present such combinations as np, and that our present orthography of the ancient writings is not always correct. If an n precede a p in any language, the sound of the n will be modified; if it is not changed into that of m, it will be as near it as possible. In an inscription, or even in a book, it is quite unimportant whether or not m is written instead of n before ab or p; the eye sees the modifying consonant, and the mouth regulates the pronunciation accordingly. In our printed books then, where the written letters are in such cases adapted to the sounds, what we have to do is, to explain to the pupil the reason and the reasonableness of the present orthography.

When the nature of the letters is understood, the pupil will recognise the relationship of words, even though they may be partly disguised by appearing in a shape somewhat different. This remark is more particularly applicable to the Greek language, where the final consonant of a root is so frequently modified by the initial consonant of the termination, as in λa(μ)ß-arw, Anaτος, συλ-ληβάδην, λημ-μα. A proper study of the powers of the letters is also closely connected with a rational examination of the elementary principles of prosody; I say rational, because the grammar rules of prosody are often both imperfect and incorrect, and do not sufficiently connect the study of prosody with that of the etymological formation,

In examining the verbs, we cannot fail to perceive that the various forms of the tenses are really new words, which have their precise signification determined by the suffixes. The tenses of such a verb as ago, viz. ag-ebam, eg-i, eg-eram, ag-am, are all arranged in the grammar, and even committed to memory very early, as well as the tenses of the subjunctive and infinitive. But these forms are of infinitely less use for a young student than a knowledge of many other derived words containing the same element ag. Thus we have ac-tus, ac-tor, ac-lio, ag-men, ag-ilis, and others, not only of frequent occurrence, but belonging to classes which contain as many examples as the tenses of the verb do. Of the class of ag-ilis, we have facilis, hab-ilis, hum-ilis, ut-ilis, &c.; and of the class ag-men, we have nu-men, flu-men, lu-men (luc-imen, from luceo), no-men (from no-sco), &c. The inference that is deducible from all this is, that boys should be early, very early, taught to compare words in this manner, and to classify them, for the purpose of aiding the memory, improving the understanding, and learning the language more expeditiously and completely. Perhaps some teachers may not have observed that a boy may read the whole first book of Cæsar without knowing any other part of a verb except the third person singular and plural; but he cannot read the same portion without meeting many instances of the kind of words which have been enumerated.

By this examination of the forms of words the student does not learn them singly, but in classes. In each word he sees a root which has a distinct meaning; he observed also a termination and its modifying power. Should he then find a word that he has not

before seen, but with a termination that he is acquainted with, he examines the root part; and if he should have met with that root before, even in a different kind of word, he will be able to conjecture the meaning of the new word with probability, and often to determine it with certainty.

When a teacher proceeds in this manner, pointing out to a student the various forms of words in which a common element occurs, he must necessarily remark, or if he does not the pupil will, that there is often some difference of meaning in these words, more than will be accounted for by the difference in the suffix. It is an important object then to endeavour to assign to the root or element a primary signification, from which may be deduced, both the various meanings of any one word in which the element occurs, and also the various meanings of all other words formed by different suffixes, and containing the same root,

An example will make this clearer. The primary notion of the word reg-o is to make straight, or to make a straight line; hence are derived the meanings of to direct, to control, and to govern, in a political sense. The word rec-tus means straight, opposed to curved, crooked; recta linea is a mathematical right line. From this notion comes that of right, in a moral sense, as opposed to wrong. Reg-ula is a carpenter's or workman's instrument, by which he ascertains the evenness of a plane surface, or the correctness of a straight line: hence we have the word used in the sense of any rules, or directions, the object of which is to keep things, as we say, straight. It is unnecessary to say more on this subject; but I must remark, that, in the present state of our school lexicons, instruction of this kind is essential

to prevent a youth from being embarrassed by the number of meanings given in lexicons, and by the want of order in their arrangement; and also to furnish him with that primary notion which our lexicographers, in the number of their words, have often forgotten.

The connexion between the Latin and Greek languages forms a useful subject for comparison, particularly for the more advanced student. He will often be led in this manner to assign to words more accurate significations by a comparison of their usage in both languages; and he will be taught to distinguish between Greek words really and historically incorporated into the Latin, and vice versa, and those which are the common property of both languages, and are found also in other kindred tongues. A student should be taught too to observe the characteristic differences between the Greek and Latin; and his attention should be directed to that class of Latin words and forms which indicate the intermixture of another language.

It is a common error of lexicographers and others to mark a number of English words as derived from Latin and Greek, which in fact are the common property of many tongues. The words geography, astronomy, empiric, direct, inspect, and many more, are really Greek and Latin words, which have been, within historical limits, introduced into our tongue. The words geology, gastronomic, physiorama, &c., are words that we have manufactured out of Greek materials, because wanted them. But this class of words must not be confounded with such as to lick, to know, to bear, to break, &c., and many others, which are common to the English, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit. These are elements which belong to one of these languages as much as to another: we observe the fact of their being found in all,

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