A very common form of aphæresis is the dropping of the initial vowel of unemphatic monosyllables like is, it. Thus we find of it contracted into of 't in i. 3. 124, took it into took`t (i. 3. 39), that is into that's, &c. (ii) Loss of vowel before a consonant medially (syncope). This frequently takes place in the case of inflections: com'st for comest, short'st for shortest; also in the case of the middle syllables of three-syllabled words, e.g.: a'ff(a)ble (iii. 1. 167), a^bs(0)lute (iv. 3. 50). An interesting feature of Elizabethan English is the use made of what are called vowel-likes', i.e. consonants which partake of the nature of vowels, and acquire at times a syllabic value. The letters 1, m, n, and r could be either syllabic or non-syllabic according to the requirements of the verse. The following are instances of the syllabic use of such 'vowel-likes':— Good uncle, tell your tale; I' have done (i. 3. 256). Here tale, bring, and fear are rendered dissyllabic by means of the vowel-likes, I and r, while marshal must be pronounced as though it were marishal. Where the vowel-likes are non-syllabic, they show a tendency to cause elision of unaccented medial vowels. Thus we find inn(0)cency (iv. 3. 63), ignom(i)ny (v. 4. 100), deliver (i. 3. 260), p(e)rempt(o)ry (i. 3. 17), Hol\_y)-rood (i. 1. 52), hostil(i)ty (iv. 3. 44). Elision after a vowel-like could take place between the unaccented syllables of different words. This is especially the case with the termination -able, -ible, e.g.: Let it be tenable in your silence still (Hamlet, i. 2. 248) Another frequent form of contraction occurs in the case of two adjacent vowels, which may, or may not, occur in the same word. Here belongs the Shakespearean use of the suffix -ion. Where a word with this suffix occurs at the end of a line, the suffix is usually dissyllabic; in other cases, monosyllabic, e.g.: but To keep his an ger still in mo. tion (i. 3. 226). Imagination of some great exploit (i. 3. 199). The same principle is often observed in the case of words ending in -ience: Drives him beyond | the bounds | of pa | tience (i. 3. 200). Note also (i. 3. 64): He would himself | have been a soldier. Words such as marriage, cordial, are usually dissyllabic in Shakespeare, while in i. 2. 183 being is to be scanned as a monosyllable. Where the adjacent vowels belong to different words, one of the vowels was often suppressed, e.g.: th' earth (iii. 1. 25), th' irregular (i. 1. 40), th' one (pronounced thōn). Occasionally we find that an intervocalic consonant in a dissyllabic word undergoes a process of slurring when followed by an unaccented syllable. Instances of this are spirit (ii. 3. 52), having (iii. 1. 34), either (i. 3. 27), devil (i. 3. 116), father (iii. 1. 195). Accent Variation.-In dealing with accent variation it is necessary to distinguish between the native words and those of foreign (Romance) origin. Pronominal and prepositional compounds of native origin have frequently a variable accent, e.g.: there'by and thereby', without and without', some what and somewhat'. Instances of accentvariation in the case of other native compounds is less common: man'kind and mankind', straight' way and straightway. In the case of Romance words we find the accent in Shakespeare sometimes placed nearer the end of a word and sometimes nearer the beginning than is the case in modern English. Thus in 1 Henry IV we find portent (v. 1. 20), aspects' (i. 1. 97), but also ex'treme (i. 3. 31) and misconstrue (v. 2. 69). In many of these words the accent, as is quite frequently the case with Chaucer, is variable in character, and follows the requirements of the metre. Thus Shakespeare uses extreme and extreme', se'cure and secure', complete and complete'. Cf. also: with And be no more an ex'haled meteor (1 Henry IV, v. 1. 19) Let their exhaled' unwholesome breaths make sick (Lucrece, 779). Such variations are chiefly found in the case of adjectives, but in Richard II we find the noun record accented as re'cord in i. 1. 30, and as record' in iv. 1. 230. GLOSSARY admiral (iii. 3. 22). An admiral's ship, a flag-ship. The word is from the Arabic, amir, commander, which appears in English under the forms ameer and emir; the final -al is the Arabic definite article, which is prefixed to the root in alchemy, alkali, &c. Like most other early borrowings from Arabic the word has come to us indirectly through some Romance language. The change from amiral to admiral is due to confusion with the Latin prefix ad. In the M. E. oriental romances the connection of an admiral with the sea is not yet established. Its use in the sense of an admiral's ship dates from Elizabethan times, and is perhaps due to Italian influence Florio renders the Italian ammiraglia as an admirall or chief ship". an (passim), if. This is simply another form of and and is spelt and in the Folios. Its connection with the Scand. enda (=if, is doubtful; it is most probably a development of the meaning of the simple copulative conjunction. A similar change of meaning occurs in the case of the German and in its older form unde. The conditional force of and, an is often strengthened by if (iv. 2. 7). ancient (iv. 2. 22), standardbearer, ensign. The word ancient meant originally the standard itself, the person who bore it being the "ancient-bearer"; etymologically the word is a doublet of ensign; in M. E. its form is enseigne, O.F. enseigne, Low Lat. insigna. Confusion has apparently arisen between the M.E. enseigne and ancien (old), O.F. ancien, L.L. antianum; the resultant form being ancient with excrescent -f. antic (i. 2. 56), grotesque figure. Apparently from Ital antico, old, but used as equivalent to Ital grottesco, grotesque, an adjective formed from grotta (a cavern), and originally applied to the fantastic representations of human and other forms found in exhuming the Baths of Titus and other Roman remains. In England the word was at first closely associated with the grotesque forms of the gargoyles found on churches; cf. Hall's Chronicle: "Above the arches were made mani sondri antikes and divises". Antic is thus not developed from antique. From apprehends (i. 3. 209), lays hold of with the intellect. Fr.appréhender, Lat, apprehendere, 'to seize'. The idea of seizing 15 still retained in Shakespeare's use of the word bere, and he distinguishes between apprehend and comprehend. Deighton adduces the following passage from Midsummer-Night's Dream (v. L.), in illustration of the difference: "Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Such shaping fantasies that apprehend More than cool reason ever com prehends", and adds that "the mere apprehending, the seizing upon an idea, is contrasted with the comprehending, the completing by logical connotation, of that idea". arrant (ii. 2. 94), notorious. This word, which Skeat derived from arghand, a Northern English present participle of the M. E. argien, O. E. eargian, to fear, is really merely a variant of errant. Its original sense was 'wandering' (cf. knight errant '), whence the depreciatory meaning of 'vagrant' arose. It was frequently associated with the word thief-"An outlawe or a thef erraunt" (Chaucer), -and thus acquired finally the meaning of notorious, thoroughpaced. basilisk (ii. 3. 50), a large cannon made of brass, and discharging a shot of about 200 pounds weight. Literally a fabulous reptile. The word is derived, through the Latin basiliscus, from the Greek Βασιλίσκος, a diminutive of Bασιλεύς, a king. The reptile was so called, according to Pliny, because of a spot resembling a crown on its head. beaver (iv. I. 104), the lower part of the face-guard of a helmet. The word is from the old French bavière, orig. a child's bib, from bave, spittle. bombast (ii. 4. 313), cotton-wool used for padding. The form bombast is a variant of the obsolete bombace, from Fr. bombace, L. bombax, bombacem, cotton, a corruption of L. bombyx, Gk. Boμßuž, silk-worm, silk. The use of the word bombast in the sense of 'inflated language' is a figurative use of this word and has not, as is generally supposed, sprung from the name of Bombast von Hohenheim, usually known as Paracelsus. buckram (ii. 4. 184), coarse linen stiffened with gum or paste. The origin of the word is uncertain, but it is found under varying forms in most of the languages of Europe between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, e.g. O.F. bouquerant, Ital. bucherame, M. H. G. buggeram. Some refer the word to the Ital. bucherare, 'to pierce with holes', and maintain that the word was Another first applied to muslin. suggested derivation is Bokhara. capering (iii. 2. 63), skipping. The verb to caper' is from the noun caper, which is an abbreviated form of capriole, O. F. capriole (cf. Ital. capriola), diminutive of Lat. capra, 'a she-goat'. carbonado (v. 3. 56), a piece of meat scored across and broiled upon the coals (Murray). From Sp. carbonado, Lat. carbo, carbōnem, coal. carded (iii. 2. 62), mixed, debased by mixing, adulterated. According to Murray, this is a figurative use of card, 'to stir or mix with cards', and the following quotation from Topsell's Fourfooted Beasts (1607) supports this view: "As for his diet, let it be warm mashes, sodden wheat and hay, thoroughly carded with a pair of wool-cards". Carded is therefore not to be regarded as a contracted form of discarded. cates (iii. 1. 162), dainty fare. The singular cate which has undergone apheresis from acate is rarely found. The original meaning of the word is 'purchase', being de rived from the O. Fr. acat (cf. Mod. Fr. achat and Low Lat accep tum, acceptare, to purchase. It is thus connected etymologically with catch and chase as well as with cater. cess. 1. 7\ The word is probably connected with aners; its meaning being assessment, estimate. As a verb, meaning to as sess, estimate, it occurs in Stow's Survey: "To the fifteene it is cessed at foure pound ten shillings""; assess is from the Lat asIESTUS, assidere, to sit beside, to be assessor to a judge. cheap (3- 41, "bought me Eghts as good cheap at the dearest chandler's in Europe "L Here cheap is used in its original sense as a noun. The word occurs under the form cap barter, a bargain) in O.E., and has cognate forms in most Teutonic languages. The contraction of good cheap vef Fr. bon marché into cheap, whereby the word acquired an adjectival force, took place in the sixteenth century. cozening (i. 2. 115), cheating: a word of uncertain origin, the earliest trace of which occurs in 1561 under the term cousoner, ‘a vagabond'. Cotgrave connects it with cousin and Fr. cousiner, which he renders to clayme kindred for advantage or particular ends, and hence to cheat". culverin (3- gol This was originally a hand-gun, bct in Shakespeare's time the word had come to be used in the sense of a long cannon. Like basilick (see above) it means literally a reptile, being derived from Lat. colubrinus, through the Fr. culebrine, Ital colubrina. daffed (iv. 1. 96) put aside. Daff is a secondary form of doff =do off. In Elizabethan English there were several such verbs formed by the union of do with a preposition; dout, = do out, occurs in Henry V, and dag, = do up, in Hamlet. Cf. the Mod. E. din = do on. distemperature (m. 1. 34) disorder. From Med. Lat. sistemperature, Lat dis + temperare to mix in wrong proportions. The word is used first of all in a physical sense, and refers to unbealthy conditions of the atmosphere: thence it was applied to the disordered condition of the *humours of the body (Murray) dowlas (iii. 3., 65), coarse linen. From Daoulas or Doulas, a town near Brest in Brittany. embossed ( 3 150), swollen. For the use of the word applied to persons cf. King Lear, i 4 227: "thou art a boil, A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle". To emboss means Eterally to cut in wood (0. Fr. bos, bois and the sense of swollen is derived from that of protuberant, from the protuberances or bosses of woodcarving. engross up ( 2. 148), amass. From the Fr. en gros in the mass". Lat. in + gross, stout, thick. There is also a French verb ezgrosser, Lat ingressare. estridges (iv. 1. 98), ostriches. A variant of ostrich. M. E. CTStriche, O.Fr. ostrache, Lat. avis struthio, struthio being from the Gk. ds, a bird. expedience (i. L. 33. haste, a hasty undertaking. The word first came into use at the time of the Revival of Letters, coming through the French from the Lat. expedire, which means iterally to disengage the feet, and bence to remove obstacles', 'enable to act freely and promptly. The modera adjectives expeditious and expedient bring out the two ideas of haste. promptitude, and freedom from obstacles. foil (L. 2. 202) setting. The |