This explains the peculiar distribution of the Norse forms. Rare, or non-existent, in central and southern England, they appear on the opposite sides of the island, and on its northern extremity; showing that the stream of the Norse population went _round the island rather than across it_. § 547. Next to the search after traces of the original differences in the speech of the Continental invaders of Great Britain, the question as to the origin of the _written_ language of England is the most important. Mr. Guest has given good reasons for believing it to have arisen out of a Mercian, rather than a West-Saxon dialect--although of the _Anglo-Saxon_ the West-Saxon was the most cultivated form. This is confirmed by the present state of the Mercian dialects. The country about Huntingdon and Stamford is, in the mind of the present writer, that part of England where provincial peculiarities are at the _minimum_. This may be explained in various ways, of which none is preferable to the doctrine, that the dialect for those parts represents the dialect out of which the literary language of England became developed. Such are the chief problems connected with the study of the provincial dialects of England; the exhibition of the methods applicable to their investigation not being considered necessary in a work like the present. NOTE. That _Saxon_ was the _British_ name of the Germanic invaders of Great Britain is certain.--See § 45. The reasons which induce me to consider it as _exclusively_ British, i.e., as foreign to the Angles, are as follows,-- a. No clear distinction has ever been drawn between, e.g., an _Angle_ of Suffolk, and a _Saxon_ of Essex. b. The Romans who knew, for some parts at least, every inch of the land occupied by the Saxons of Germany, as long as there is reason for believing that they took their names from German sources, never use the word. It is strange to Cæsar, Strabo, Pliny, and Tacitus. Ptolemy is the first who uses it. c. Ecbert, who is said to have attached the name of _Engl_and, or Land of _Angles_, to South Britain, was, himself, no _Angle_, but a West-Saxon.[66] * * * * * QUESTIONS ON PARTS IV. V. VI. and VII. PART IV. 1. What is Johnson's explanation of the word _Etymology_? Into what varieties does the study fall? What is the difference between _Etymology_ and _Syntax_? 2. How far are the following words instances of gender--_boy_, _he-goat_, _actress_, _which_? Analyze the forms _what_, _her_, _its_, _vixen_, _spinster_, _gander_, _drake_. 3. How far is there a dual number in the Gothic tongues? What is the rule for forming such a plural as _stags_ from _stag_? What are the peculiarities in _monarchs_, _cargoes_, _keys_, _pence_, _geese_, _children_, _women_, _houses_, _paths_, _leaves_? Of what number are the words _alms_, _physics_, _news_, _riches_?