Latin and Greek words, which were taken direct from the original languages. Many of these importations have since been discarded. It often happens that the same classical word has given rise to two words in English, one coming to us through Norman-French, the other taken direct from Latin. In such cases, the former is the shorter and more corrupted form. Compare, for example, hotel and hospital, reason and rational, poison and potion. 4. Words of Miscellaneous origin.-The extensive intercourse maintained during the last three hundred years with all parts of the world naturally led to the introduction of words from most languages of importance, relating to natural productions, works of art, or social institutions, with which this intercourse first made us acquainted. Thus it has come about that the two chief constituents of modern English are Anglo-Saxon and Latin, mixed with a small proportion of words of miscellaneous origin. Most of the Teutonic elements of English were introduced by the Saxons and Angles. A good many also came in with the Danes and Norsemen (for the Scandinavian races are of the Teutonic stock), and a few more passed from the Norsemen into Norman-French, and so found their way into English. As a general rule (admitting, of course, of numerous exceptions) it will be found that words relating to common natural objects, to home life, to agriculture, and to common trades and processes, are usually of Teutonic origin. Words relating to the higher functions of social life-religion, law, government, and war, to the less obvious processes of the mind, and to matters connected with art, science, and philosophy, are commonly of classical and mostly of Latin origin. Most words of three or more syllables, and a large number of those of two, are of classical origin. The Teutonic element prevails (though very far from exclusively) in words of one or two syllables, and is by far the most forcible and expressive. Hence it predominates in all our finest poetry. It is impossible to write a single sentence without Teutonic elements, but sentence after sentence may be found in Shakspeare and the English Bible, which is pure English, in the strictest sense of that term. One great advantage which English has derived from the mingling of the Teutonic and Romance elements is the great richness of its vocabulary, and its power of expressing delicate shades of difference in the signification of words by the use of pairs of words, of which one is Teutonic and the other French.* The changes by which Anglo-Saxon (or the oldest English) became modern English were gradual, and no exact date can be given for the introduction of this or that particular alteration. Still the process was influenced or accelerated at certain points by political events. The Norman Conquest, and the political relations between the conquering and the conquered race, naturally made Norman-French the language of the court and the nobles, of the courts of justice, of the episcopal sees, and of garrisoned places. But the loss of Normandy in 1206, the enactments of Henry III. and Louis IX., that the subjects of the one crown should not hold lands in the territory of the other, and the political movements under John and Henry III., stopped the further *Compare, for example, feeling and sentiment, work and labour, bloom and flower. The number of pairs of exactly synonymous words is small. influx of the Norman element. At the same time the absolutist tendencies of the kings drove the nobles into closer union with the Anglo-Saxon elements of the nation; and the French wars of Edward III. roused an anti-French feeling among all classes, which extended itself even to the language, insomuch that we learn from Chaucer that in his time French was spoken in England but rarely, and in a corrupted form. In 1362 appeared the edict of Edward III. that legal proceedings in the royal courts should be conducted in English. Koch divides the historical development of English into five periods, in the following manner :— First Period, that of old Anglo-Saxon. This period extends from the time of the oldest literary monuments to about A. D. 1100. The language was divided into two groups of dialects, the Northern or Anglian, and the Southern or Saxon. In the latter the speech of the West Saxons, in consequence of the political supremacy acquired by that division of the nation, took precedence of the rest, and became the literary dialect of England, though it did not, of course, oust the other dialects from use in oral speech; and in course of time the Mercian or Midland variety of the Anglian branch became a dialect distinct both from the Northumbrian and from the West Saxon. It was widely spread, and that variety of it known as the East Midland became at last the parent of modern standard English. Second Period, that of late Anglo-Saxon. This period extends over about 150 years, to the middle of the thirteenth century, and shows marks of the influence of the Danish and Norman settlements in disturbing the older system of inflexions, obliterating many of its distinctions, and so preparing the way for the still greater simplification which followed. Third Period, termed by Koch Old English. This period, which extends over some 100 years, from about 1250 till about 1350, exhibits a continued weakening of the old forms, spoken sounds and their written representatives being both in an unsettled state, and the influence of Norman-French being distinctly traceable. Fourth Period, called by Koch Middle English. This period, to which belong Wiclif, Chaucer, and Maundeville, reaches nearly to the end of the fifteenth century. In it the East Midland section of the Northern dialect becomes predominant. Fifth Period, that of Modern English. Leaving the vocabulary of the language out of consideration, it may be stated summarily that English has preserved from its Anglo-Saxon stage the suffixes that it still possesses in nouns and pronouns; the conjugation of its verbs; the articles, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and numerals; the comparative and superlative suffixes of adjectives, and the formation of adverbs; the flexibility and variety which it has in the formation of compounds; the most important part of the suffixes and prefixes by which derivatives are formed; the predominant principles of accentuation; and the compactness and straightforwardness of the syntactical arrangement of its periods. To French we owe a considerable modification of the sounds of the language, the suppression of the sound of before other consonants, such as f, v, k, m, &c. ; the softening or disuse of the hard, guttural sounds of hand gh, the change of hard c into ch, and the use of e mute at the end of words; the introduction of the sibilant sounds of j, g, ch and e; the use of the letter z, and the consonantal sound of ʊ, and a great deal of change and confusion in the vowel sounds. French influence assisted in the recognition of s as the general sign of the plural in nouns. To French we also owe a considerable number of the suffixes and prefixes by which derivatives are formed, and are probably indebted for our deliverance from that stiff and involved arrangement of sentences under which modern German still labours. (Mätzner.) ENGLISH GRAMMAR. INTRODUCTION. 1. Speech or language is the expression of thought by means of words. 2. Grammar (from the Greek gramma, 'letter') is the science that treats of speech or language. English Grammar is that portion of the general science of language which treats of the speech of the English people. 3. Words are significant combinations of elementary sounds. These sounds are represented to the eye by marks or symbols called letters, the whole collection of which is called the Alphabet (from alpha, beta, the names of the first two letters of the Greek Alphabet). The right mode of uttering the sounds that make up a word is called Orthoëpy (from the Greek orthos, 'right,' and epos, 'spoken word'). The right mode of representing the sounds that make up a word by means of letters is called Orthography (from the Greek orthos, 'right,' and grapho, ‘I write"). 4. A sentence (Latin sententia, thought') is a collection of words of such kinds and arranged in such a manner as to express some complete thought. The words of which sentences are made up are of different sorts, according to the kind of purpose which they serve in a sentence. Thus, in the sentence "The little bird flies swiftly through the air," bird is the name of something that we speak about; the points out which bird is meant; little describes the bird; flies tells us something about the bird, by stating what it does; swiftly denotes the manner in which the bird does this; through shows how the action of the bird has to do with the air. The different sorts or classes in which words may be arranged are called Parts of Speech. 5. Etymology (from Greek etymos, 'true,' and logos, 'word' or 'statement') is that division of grammar which treats of the different sorts of words separately. Syntax (from Greek syn, 'together,' and taxis, arrangement') is that division of grammar which treats of the way in which words are combined so as to form sentences. THE ALPHABET. 6. The alphabet of the English language consists of twenty-six letters, each of which is written in two forms, differing in shape and size; the large letters being called Capitals, or Capital Letters.* These letters are the following - A, a: B, b: C, c: D, d: E, e: F, f: G, g: H, h: I, i: J, j: K, k: L,l: M, m: N, n: O, o: P, p: Q, q: R, r: S, s: T, t : U, u: V, v: W, w: X, x: Y, y : Z, z. 7. The English alphabet is the ordinary Roman alphabet, with the addition of the letter w. When English was in the Anglo-Saxon stage, the alphabet had no j, q, v, or z, and contained two symbols which have since been discarded, namely * (Eth) and þ (Thorn), which both stood for th. The sound of W was represented by the symbol p (Wen). 8. The letters a, e, i, o, u, are called Vowels (from Latin vocalis, " that can be sounded'). They can be fully sounded by themselves, and with a continuous passage of the breath. The remaining letters are called Consonants (Latin con, 'together,' sonans, sounding'). They cannot be sounded with a continuous breath, but either stop or * Capital letters are used at the beginning of proper names, for the nominative case singular of the personal pronoun of the first person, and for any noun, adjective, or pronoun, used in speaking of the Divine Being. They may also be used at the beginning of a common noun, when it is used in a special or technical sense, as Mood, Voice, Person, and at the beginning of a noun, or an adjective and a noun, denoting something specially important. Adjectives derived from proper nouns are also written with capitals. We also write His Majesty, Her Majesty, &c. The first word of a sentence must begin with a capital, and the first word of a line of poetry, |