A Handbook of the English LanguageLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
History
A Handbook of the English Language
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
English language -- Grammar; English language -- History
_One_.--As in the phrase _one does so and so_. From the French _on_.
Observe that this is from the Latin _homo_, in Old French _hom_, _om_. In
the Germanic tongues _man_ is used in the same sense: _man sagt_ = _one
says_ = _on dit_. _One_, like _self_ and _other_, is so far a substantive,
that it is inflected. Gen. sing, _one's own self_: plural, _my wife and
little ones are well_.
_Derived pronouns._--_Any_, in Anglo-Saxon, _ænig_. In Old High German we
have _einîc_ = _any_, and _einac_ = _single_. In Anglo-Saxon _ânega_ means
_single_. In Middle High German _einec_ is always single. In New High
German _einig_ means, 1. _a certain person_ (_quidam_), 2. _agreeing_;
_einzig_, meaning _single_. In Dutch _ênech_ has both meanings. This
indicates the word _án_, _one_, as the root of the word in question.
_Compound pronouns._--_Which_, as has been already stated more than once,
is most incorrectly called the neuter of _who_. Instead of being a neuter,
it is a compound word. The adjective _leiks_, _like_, is preserved in the
Mœso-Gothic words _galeiks_ and _missaleiks_. In Old High German the form
is _lih_, in Anglo-Saxon _lic_. Hence we have Mœso-Gothic _hvêleiks_; Old
High German, _huëlih_; Anglo-Saxon, _huilic_ and _hvilc_; Old Frisian,
_hwelik_; Danish, _hvilk-en_; German, _welch_; Scotch, _whilk_; English,
_which_. The same is the case with--
1. _Such_.--Mœso-Gothic, _svaleiks_; Old High German, _sôlîh_; Old Saxon,
_sulîc_; Anglo-Saxon, _svilc_; German, _solch_; English, _such_. Rask's
derivation of the Anglo-Saxon _swilc_ from _swa-ylc_, is exceptionable.
2. _Thilk_.--An old English word, found in the provincial dialects, as
_thick_, _thuck_, _theck_, and hastily derived by Tyrwhitt, Ritson, and
Weber, from _së ylca_, is found in the following forms: Mœso-Gothic,
_þéleiks_; Norse, _þvilikr_.
3. _Ilk_.--Found in the Scotch, and always preceded by the article; _the
ilk_, or _that ilk_, meaning _the same_. In Anglo-Saxon this word is
_ycla_, preceded also by the article _se ylca_, _seó ylce_, _þæt ylce_. In
English, as seen above, the word is replaced by _same_. In no other Gothic
dialect does it occur. According to Grimm, this is no simple word, but a
compound one, of which some such word as _ei_ is the first, and _lîc_ the
second element.
_Aught_.--In Mœso-Gothic is found the particle, _aiv_, _ever_, but only in
negative propositions; _ni_ (_not_) preceding it. Its Old High German form
is _êo_, _io_; in Middle High German, _ie_; in New High German, _je_; in
Old Saxon, _io_; in Anglo-Saxon, â; in Norse, æ. Combined with this
particle the word _whit_ (_thing_) gives the following forms: Old High
German, _êowiht_; Anglo-Saxon, _âviht_; Old Frisian, _âwet_; English
_aught_. The word _naught_ is _aught_ preceded by the negative particle.
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