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tionaries; for these contain a large number of technical terms, which, being chiefly derived from Latin and Greek, show a preponderance of words of foreign origin. The true way of judging is by an examination of the literature.

From an examination of the dictionary, Dean Trench comes to the following conclusion: Suppose the English language to be divided into one hundred parts; of these, to make a rough distribution, sixty are Anglo-Saxon; thirty are Latin; five Greek; the other five parts are to be divided among all the other languages from which isolated words have been derived.

But when the works of standard authors are examined a different result is obtained. Such an examination was made by Sharon Turner, and the estimate reached by him has been widely adopted. But his examination was very slight, since the passages from each author did not consist of more than a hundred or a hundred and fifty words.

A more thorough and extensive search was made by Mr. George P. Marsh, the result of which is to be found in his "Lectures on the English Language."

The following table is the result of another examination, made in the same manner and upon the same scale as that of Mr. Marsh.

§ 13. TABLE SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE OF WORDS OF ANGLO

SAXON ORIGIN IN DIFFERENT BOOKS.

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The above table leads to the following conclusions:

I. In the literature of the present day there is a larger proportion of words of Anglo-Saxon origin than would appear from an examination of the dictionaries.

2. In poetry the proportion of such words is larger than in prose.

3. From the above a new table may be deduced, showing the relative proportion of Anglo-Saxon words in different departments of literature:

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Surprise may be felt at the large proportion of Anglo-Saxon words in prose fiction; but this may be accounted for, first, because it deals largely with domestic affairs and matters of a trivial and commonplace character; and, secondly, because it abounds in dialogue, and all the colloquialisms of common conversation.

§ 14. ANGLO-SAXON FORMS THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT IN THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Anglo-Saxon constitutes the essential element in the English language. This may be seen from the following summary: 1. English grammar is almost exclusively Anglo-Saxon. 2. To Anglo-Saxon belongs the vocabulary of common life, with all our colloquialisms, idiomatic phrases, and the language of conversation. Among the uneducated this is very marked;

but it is almost equally so in those circles where the best and purest English is spoken; for there the proportion of AngloSaxon words is higher than in contemporary literature, and the undue use of words of Latin origin is regarded as pedantic, or in bad taste. The chief difference between colloquial and literary English is the predominance in the former of our primitive speech.

3. To this may be added the language of business; of the street, market, and farm; of sailor and fisherman; and of most of the ordinary pursuits of life.

4. It comprises the language of the emotions-love, hate, hope, fear, sorrow, shame, and the like. It has given names to most of those objects which are associated with our strongest feelings as home, hearth, fireside, life, death, sickness, health; and claims the words of childhood and youth, which for all after-life have the deepest meaning and are surrounded by the most moving associations. The Anglo-Saxon speech which the child learns at his mother's knee is the speech which he best loves in the hour of death.

5. While general and abstract terms are derived from the Latin, those which are special and definite are Anglo-Saxon. This is illustrated in the following way in an essay by Henry Rogers: "Move' and 'motion' are general terms of Latin origin; but all the special terms for expressing varieties of motion are Anglo-Saxon, as, 'run,' 'walk,' 'leap,' 'stagger,' 'slip,' 'step,'' slide.' 'Color' is Latin, but 'white,' 'black,' 'green,' 'yellow,' 'blue,' 'red,' 'brown' are Anglo-Saxon. 'Crime' is Latin, but 'murder,' 'theft,' 'robbery,' 'to lie,' 'to steal' are Anglo-Saxon. 'Member' and 'organ,' as applied to the body, are Latin or Greek, but 'ear,' 'eye,' 'hand,' 'foot,' ' lip,' 'mouth,' 'teeth,' 'hair,' 'finger,' 'nostril' are Anglo-Saxon. 'Animal' is Latin, but 'man,' 'horse,' 'cow,' 'sheep,' 'dog,' 'cat,' 'calf,' 'goat' are Anglo-Saxon. 'Number' is Latin, but all our cardinal and ordinal numbers as far as a million are Anglo-Saxon."

15. THE MOST POPULAR BOOKS IN THE LANGUAGE EXHIBIT A PREDOMINANCE OF THE ANGLO-SAXON ELEMENT.

From the foregoing statements it will be seen that words derived from Anglo-Saxon sources are always the simplest and

the most intelligible. These form the vocabulary of children, of the uneducated; and in the language of social intercourse even of the most cultivated classes such words outnumber those of Latin origin far more than in general literature.

If we seek for the most intelligible books in the language, we shall find them in those which are most widely circulated; and if we seek for those which are most widely circulated, we shall find that by universal consent they are the following: the English Bible, the Pilgrim's Progress, Robinson Crusoe, and Gulliver's Travels. The English Bible, for various reasons, surpasses all other books in circulation. The authorized version is rightly considered as the noblest body of English prose which the language possesses. Its excellence may best be seen from a comparison with other versions. If it be compared with the "Douay" Bible, the inferiority of the latter will at once be apparent; and this inferiority is owing to the fact that the translators of the "Douay" version were not sufficiently alive to the superior force and clearness of Anglo-Saxon words, and adopted many of Latin origin. In the authorized version, on the contrary, the proportion of Anglo-Saxon words is greater than in any other English book.

Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress stands next to the English Bible in point of circulation, and has the same characteristics, namely, great simplicity of style, and a great preponderance of Anglo-Saxon words. This may be illustrated by the opening.

sentences:

"As I walked through the wilderness of this world I lighted upon a certain place, where was a den, and laid me down to sleep; and as I slept I dreamed a dream, and behold I saw a man clothed with rags standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back. I looked and saw him open the book, and as he read he wept and trembled; and, not being able to contain, he brake out into a lamentable cry, saying, What shall I do?"

In this passage ninety-three per cent. of the words are of Anglo-Saxon origin.

About thirty years ago a new version of the Pilgrim's Progress was published in England" for the use of the children of the aristocracy." It was written by a clergyman, who was of fended at what he considered the "vulgarity" of Bunyan. His version was chiefly characterized by a superabundance of long

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