nanê.

Mannans; acc., Mannans; dat., Mannam; gen., Man

Declension of a Strong Substantive; namely, one ending in a consonant, in Maso-Gothic. Masculine nom., Fisks (a fish); acc., Fisk; dat., Fiska; gen., Fiskis; pl. nom., Fiskôs; acc., Fiskans; dat., Fiskam; gen., Fiskê.

Declension of Weak (or Definite) Adjectives in Mæso

The Conjugation of the Substantive Verb in Maso-Gothic.

§ 32. The FRISIANS occupied a territory immediately south and west of the country of the Anglo-Saxons, and probably spoke nearly the same dialect. Encompassed on one side by the sea, and on the other by the Saxons, their ancient dialect they have retained to a remarkable degree; so that in the opinion of that distinguished scholar, Francis Junius, who spent two years in those parts of Frisia noted for their te

nacity of old manners and language, none of the German tongues approach so closely to the Anglo-Saxon as the Frisian. A careful comparison of the two languages, whether in the grammar or the lexicon, will lead us to the same conclusion. a, in Frisian, corresponds to ea in AngloSaxon; as, Dad, rad, las, stram, bam, cap, are, hap, Frisian; Dead, read, leas, stream, beam, ceap, eare, heap, AngloSaxon; Dead, red, loose, stream, tree (boom), bargain (cheap, chapman), ear, heap, English. These are specimens of an extensive correspondence in the three languages.

THE RELATION OF THE ENGLISH
SAXON, AND THE STAGES OF THE
GUAGE.

то

THE ANGLOENGLISH LAN

$33. The relation of the present English to the AngloSaxon is that of a Modern language to an Ancient one, the words Modern and Ancient being used in a defined and technical sense.

Smiðum, the Da

Let the word Smiðum illustrate this. tive Plural of Smix, is equivalent in meaning to the English to Smiths, or to the Latin Fabris. Smiðum, however, is a single Anglo-Saxon word (a Substantive, and nothing more), while its English equivalent is two words (i. e., a Substantive with the addition of a Preposition). The letter s in Smiths shows that the word is plural. The -um in Smiðum does this and something more. It is the sign of the Dative Case Plural. The -um in Smiðum is the part of a word. The proposition to is a separate word with an independent existence. Smiðum is the radical syllable Smix, plus the subor dinate inflectional syllable -um, the sign of the Dative Case. To Smiths is the substantive Smiths, plus the Preposition to, equivalent in power to the sign of a Dative Case, but different from it in form. As far, then, as the word just quoted is concerned, the Anglo-Saxon differs from the English thus: It expresses a certain idea by a modification of the form of the root, whereas the Modern English denotes the same idea by the addition of a Preposition. The Saxon form is an inflection. In English it is superseded by a combination of words.

The same part that is played by the Preposition with nouns, is played by the Auxiliaries (have, be, &c.) with Verbs.

The sentences in italics are mere variations of the same general statement. (1.) The earlier the stage of a given language, the greater the amount of its inflectional forms ; and the later the stage of a given language, the smaller the amount of them. (2.) As languages become Modern, they substitute Prepositions and Auxiliary Verbs for Cases and Tenses. (3.) The amount of inflection is in the inverse proportion to the amount of Prepositions and Auxiliary Verbs.

(4.) In the course of time languages drop their inflection, and substitute in their stead circumlocutions by means of Prepositions, &c. The reverse never takes place. (5.) Giving two modes of expression, the one inflectional (Smiðum), the other circumlocutional (to Smiths), we can state that the first belongs to an early, the second to a late stage of language.

The present chapter, then, showing the relation of the English to the Anglo-Saxon, shows something more. It exhibits the general relation of a modern to an ancient language. As the English is to the Anglo-Saxon, so are the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian to the Old Norse; so the modern Dutch of Holland to a dialect closely akin to the Old Frisian; so also the modern High German to the Moso-Gothic; so, moreover, among the languages of a different stock, are the French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanese, and Wallachian to the Latin, and the Romaic to the ancient Greek.

As contrasted with the English, but contrasted with it. only in those points where the ancient tongue is compared with the modern one, the Anglo-Saxon has the following differences:

NOUNS.

Of Gender.-In Anglo-Saxon there are three Genders: the Masculine, the Feminine, and the Neuter. With Adjectives, each gender has its peculiar declension; with Substantives there are also appropriate terminations, but only to a certain degree; e. g., of words ending in a (Nama, a Name; Cuma, a Guest), it may be stated that they are always masculine; of words in u (Sunu, a Son; Gifu, a Gift), that they are never neuter; in other words, that they are always either Masculine or Feminine. The Definite article varies with the gender of its substantive: paet Eage, the Eye; se Steorra, the Star; seo Tunge, the Tongue.

Of Number. The plural form in -en (as in oxen), rare in English, was common in Anglo-Saxon. It was the regular termination of a whole declension; e. g., Eagan, Eyes; Steorran, Stars; Tungen, Tongues. Besides this, the Anglo

Saxons had forms in -u and -a; as, Ricu, Kingdoms; Gifa, Gifts. The termination -s, current in the present English, was confined to a single gender, and to a single declension; as, Endas, Ends; Dagas, Days; Smitas, Smiths.

Of Case. Of these the Saxons had for their substantives at least three; viz., the Nominative, Dative, and Genitive. With the Pronouns and Adjectives there was a true accusative form, and with a few especial words an ablative or instrumental one. Smið, a Smith; Smide, to a Smith; Smiðes, of a Smith. Plural, Smiðas, Smiths; Smiðum, to Smiths; Smiða, of Smiths.-He, He; Hine, Him; Him, to Him; His, His. Se, the; pa, the; by, with the; pam, to the; paes, of the.

Of Declension.-In Anglo-Saxon it is necessary to determine the termination of a substantive. There is the Weak or Simple Declension for words ending in a vowel (as Eage, Steorra, Tunga), and the Strong or Complex declension for words ending in a consonant (Smið, Spraéc, Leaf). The letters i and u are dealt with as semi-vowels, semi-vowels being dealt with as consonants; so that words like Sunu and Gifu belong to the same declension as Smix and Spraéc.

The Anglo-Saxon inflection of the Participles Present is remarkable. With the exception of the form of the Genitive Plural Definite (which, instead of -ena, is -ra), they follow the declension of the adjectives. From the masculine substantives formed from them, and denoting the agent, they may be distinguished by a difference of Inflection.

Pronouns Personal.-Of the Pronominal Inflection in Saxon the character may be gathered from the chapter upon Pronouns. At present it may be stated that, like the MosoGothic and Icelandic, the Anglo-Saxon language possessed,