English, Past and Present: Five Lectures |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 100
Page
Five Lectures Richard Chenevix Trench. CONTENTS . LECTURE I. ENGLISH A COMPOSITE LANGUAGE LECTURE II . - GAINS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LECTURE III . DIMINUTIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LECTURE IV . CHANGES IN THE MEANING OF ENGLISH WORDS ...
Five Lectures Richard Chenevix Trench. CONTENTS . LECTURE I. ENGLISH A COMPOSITE LANGUAGE LECTURE II . - GAINS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LECTURE III . DIMINUTIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LECTURE IV . CHANGES IN THE MEANING OF ENGLISH WORDS ...
Page 1
... LANGUAGE . VERY slight acquaintance with the history of our own language will teach us that the speech of Chaucer's age is not the speech of Skelton's , that there is a great difference between the language under Elizabeth and that ...
... LANGUAGE . VERY slight acquaintance with the history of our own language will teach us that the speech of Chaucer's age is not the speech of Skelton's , that there is a great difference between the language under Elizabeth and that ...
Page 3
... language , its past and its present , as the subject of that brief course of lectures which I am to deliver in this place , I have chosen a subject which in many ways transcends my powers , and lies beyond the range of my knowledge , it ...
... language , its past and its present , as the subject of that brief course of lectures which I am to deliver in this place , I have chosen a subject which in many ways transcends my powers , and lies beyond the range of my knowledge , it ...
Page 4
... language ? For all this bears witness to corresponding merits in those that speak it , to clearness of mental vision , to strength , to harmony , to nobleness in them that have gra- dually formed and shaped it to be the utterance of ...
... language ? For all this bears witness to corresponding merits in those that speak it , to clearness of mental vision , to strength , to harmony , to nobleness in them that have gra- dually formed and shaped it to be the utterance of ...
Page 5
... language be- comes rude and barbarous , must be on the brink of barbarism in regard to everything else . A nation which allows her language to go to ruin , is parting with the last half of her intellectual independence , and testifies ...
... language be- comes rude and barbarous , must be on the brink of barbarism in regard to everything else . A nation which allows her language to go to ruin , is parting with the last half of her intellectual independence , and testifies ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
adjectives adopted Æneid affirm altogether Anglo-Saxon become Ben Jonson Bishop black guard called causes century changes Chaucer Cheaper Edition Chimæra COMPOSITE LANGUAGE derived Dictionary doubt Dryden earlier early employed England English language English words etymology example exist express fact familiar female foreign words French words Fuller Gabriel Harvey gain German grammatical Greek guage Holland idioms instance introduction Italian Jeremy Taylor Jonson Latin language lecture letters living loss manner matter meaning merely Milton modern nation native never observe obsolete once original orthography passage perfuga period phrase Plautus Plutarch poems poet present pronunciation prose Quintilian remains RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH Saxon seeking sense Shakespeare shape sound speak speech spelling spelt Spenser spoken strong præterites substantive suppose survives syllable things tion tongue translation vast number verb Version vocables whole Wiclif Wiclif's Bible write written
Popular passages
Page 31 - By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Page 167 - That it may please Thee to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in due time we may enjoy them ; We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Page 49 - Poets that lasting marble seek Must carve in Latin or in Greek; We write in sand, our language grows, And, like the tide, our work o'erflows.
Page 47 - Poetry requires ornament ; and that is not to be had from our old Teuton monosyllables : therefore, if I find any elegant word in a classic author, I propose it to be naturalized, by using it myself; and, if the public approves of it, the bill passes. But every man cannot distinguish between pedantry and poetry : every man, therefore, is not fit to innovate.
Page 74 - Yet it must be allowed to the present age, that the tongue in general is so much refined since Shakespeare's time, that many of his words, and more of his phrases, are scarce intelligible. And of those which we understand, some are ungrammatical, others coarse ; and his whole style is so pestered with figurative expressions, that it is as affected as it is obscure.
Page 109 - The persons plural keep the termination of the first person singular. In former times, till about the reign of king Henry the eighth, they were wont to be formed by adding en ; thus, loven, sayen, complainen. But now (whatsoever is the cause) it hath quite grown out of use, and that other so generally prevailed, that I dare not presume to set this afoot again : albeit (to tell you my opinion) I am persuaded that the lack hereof well considered will be found a great blemish to our tongue.
Page 117 - With dishes piled, and meats of noblest sort And savour, beasts of chase, or fowl of game, In pastry built, or from the spit, or boil'd, Gris-amber-steam'd ; all fish from sea or shore, Freshet or purling brook, of shell or fin, And exquisitest name, for which was drain'd Pontus, and Lucrine bay, and Afric coast.
Page 211 - Here thou, great ANNA ! whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take — and sometimes tea.