English, Past and Present: Five Lectures |
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... Englishmen , all with a fair amount of classical knowledge ( in my explanations I have sometimes had others with less than theirs in my eye ) , not wholly unacquainted with modern languages ; but not yet with any special.
... Englishmen , all with a fair amount of classical knowledge ( in my explanations I have sometimes had others with less than theirs in my eye ) , not wholly unacquainted with modern languages ; but not yet with any special.
Page 4
... less , what exploits of theirs can well be nobler , what can more clearly point out their native land and ours as having fulfilled a glorious past , as being destined for a glorious future , than that they should have acquired for ...
... less , what exploits of theirs can well be nobler , what can more clearly point out their native land and ours as having fulfilled a glorious past , as being destined for a glorious future , than that they should have acquired for ...
Page 10
... less than five of these sixties to bring us to the period of Spenser , and not more than eight to set us in the time of Chaucer and Wiclif . How great a change , how vast a difference in our language , within eight memories . No one ...
... less than five of these sixties to bring us to the period of Spenser , and not more than eight to set us in the time of Chaucer and Wiclif . How great a change , how vast a difference in our language , within eight memories . No one ...
Page 12
... less than the astronomers and arithmeticians of the middle ages ; as ' alkali , ' ' alembic , ' ' elixir , ' ' alcohol ; ' add to these the names of animals , plants , fruits , or articles of merchandize first introduced by them to the ...
... less than the astronomers and arithmeticians of the middle ages ; as ' alkali , ' ' alembic , ' ' elixir , ' ' alcohol ; ' add to these the names of animals , plants , fruits , or articles of merchandize first introduced by them to the ...
Page 20
... less , that is , than four per cent . Shall we therefore conclude that these are the proportions in which the Anglo - Saxon and Latin elements of the language stand to one another ? If they are so , then my former proposal to express ...
... less , that is , than four per cent . Shall we therefore conclude that these are the proportions in which the Anglo - Saxon and Latin elements of the language stand to one another ? If they are so , then my former proposal to express ...
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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.