7. In the word _heroine_ we have a Greek termination, just as _-ix_ is a Latin, and _-inn_ a German one. It must not, however, be considered as derived from _hero_, by any process of the English language, but be dealt with as a separate importation from the Greek language. 8. The form _deaconess_ is not wholly unexceptionable; since the termination _-ess_ is of Latin, the root _deacon_ of Greek origin: this Greek origin being rendered all the more conspicuous by the spelling, _deacon_ (from _diaconos_), as compared with the Latin _decanus_. 9. The circumstance of _prince_ ending in the sound of _s_, works a change in the accent of the word. As _s_ is the final letter, it is necessary, in forming the plural number, and the genitive case, to add, not the simple letter _s_, as in _peers_, _priests_, &c., but the syllable _-es_. This makes the plural number and genitive case the same as the feminine form. Hence the feminine form is accented _princ['e]ss_, while _pe['e]ress_, _pr['i]estess_, &c., carry the accent on the first syllable. _Princ['e]ss_ is remarkable as being the only word in English where the accent lies on the subordinate syllable. 10. It is uncertain whether _kit_, as compared with _cat_, be a feminine form or a diminutive form; in other words, whether it mean a _female cat_ or a _young cat_.--See the Chapter on the Diminutives. 11. _Goose_, _gander_.--One peculiarity in this pair of words has already been indicated. In the older forms of the word _goose_, such as [Greek: chen], Greek; _anser_, Latin; _gans_, German, as well as in the derived form _gander_, we have the proofs that, originally, there belonged to the word the sound of the letter _n_. In the forms [Greek: odous], [Greek: odontos], Greek; _dens_, _dentis_, Latin; _zahn_, {224} German; _tooth_, English, we find the analogy that accounts for the ejection of the _n_, and the lengthening of the vowel preceding. With respect, however, to the _d_ in _gander_, it is not easy to say whether it is inserted in one word or omitted in the other. Neither can we give the precise power of the _-er_. The following forms (taken from Grimm, iii. p. 341) occur in the different Gothic dialects. _Gans_, fem.; _ganazzo_, masc., Old High German--_g[^o]s_, f.; _gandra_, m., Anglo-Saxon--_g[^a]s_, Icelandic, f.; _gaas_, Danish, f.; _gassi_, Icelandic, m.; _gasse_, Danish, m.--_ganser_, _ganserer_, _gansart_, _gaenserich_, _gander_, masculine forms in different New German dialects.