on a Bicycle, A Ride on an Omnibus, A Trip in a Steamboat, Scenery, A Day in the Country, A Visit to a Large Town, A Day at the Seaside, A Severe Frost, A. Fog, A Storm, A Fire.

In dealing with such subjects as are found in this group, a clear description of the more general features of the particular subject is first necessary. Then a lively and vivid account of the several particulars should be given. Generalisations are here altogether out of place, and attention to incidents and details is essential.

3. A biographical Sketch: Alfred, Canute, Harold, William I., Thomas à Becket, Edward I., Joan of Arc, Mary Queen of Scots, Oliver Cromwell, Bunyan, Milton, Victoria, George Stephenson, The Duke of Wellington, Nelson, Grace Darling, Mr. Gladstone.

In a biographical sketch the date and place of birth should, if possible, be given, or at least the period and place at which the person spent the most important part of his life. Early life, education, home influences, interesting incidents, and traits of character, should be briefly mentioned before entering on the principal events and achievements of later life.

4. A Garden, A Farm, The Foliage of Trees, The Uses of Flowers, Fruits, The Uses of Plants, Wild Flowers, The Animal Kingdom, Domestic Animals, The Cat and its Relations, Insects, Bees, Ants, Spiders, Fishes, Birds.

The successful treatment of these subjects will depend chiefly on interest and observation. The writer must recall some actual experiences and observations; some special occasion when the objects were interesting, or some special point of interest from which to set out. When once this has

been found the thoughts and words will come freely enough.

5. Truthfulness, Honesty, Thrift, Perseverance, Imagination, Fashion, Mutual Forbearance and Sympathy, Courtesy and Tact, Character, Ideals, The Man of the Future, The Woman of the Future, War and Peace, Toleranceé and Intolerance, Liberty, Poetry, Art, Music, Literature, Fiction, Common Sayings, Capital and Labour, The Colonies, The Standard of Living, Money, Wages, Business, Pauperism and Crime, Rewards and Punishments, A Strike, A Newspaper, A Cricket Club, A Tennis Club, A Parliamentary Election, An Act of Parliament, The Duties of Citizens.

In this class of compositions the chief difficulty is to avoid vague generalities and abstractions, and to illustrate the subject by abundant concrete examples. The illustrations and examples chosen should be such as admit of some general conclusion which they suggest or enforce.

In this group will be found the fullest scope for imagination, feeling, and clear thinking, as well as for lucid arrangement and precise expression. Note.-For Exercises and Questions on Syntax see pp. 240-49.

CHAPTER VII.

DERIVATION AND WORD-BUILDING.

IN learning our mother tongue our first acquisitions are names of persons and things. After this early stage has been reached most of our subsequent acquaintance with the language is obtained in the mastery of short phrases and sentences. In this way the language is gradually learnt, the meaning and significance of words being discovered from their share in communicating and expressing the results of perception and thought.

It is not until some considerable progress has been made that the aptitude and mental power involved in assigning precisely to each word the part it plays in the phrase or sentence, is developed. But when once this process has begun, much that had previously escaped notice is for the first time clearly recognised, and the common phrases and sentences become endowed with greater richness, beauty, and vividness. The command of language is increased, and greater precision, gracefulness, and efficiency in the employment of words is attained.

It is soon discovered that many words have a common element of meaning, but that each word in such a natural group has some distinctive shade of meaning which constitutes it a separate word. It is often found that there is a common element in the sound and form of the words, and that this common element is the most important part of each word, but is accompanied in different words by different sounds, represented by different letters, sometimes placed in front of the common element, and sometimes after it.

The common and essential element in a group of words is called a root, and the sounds and letters which are placed before the root to form distinct words are called prefixes, while those that follow the root are called suffixes. It is often found that two roots are joined together to form a new word. This is called a compound word.

Sometimes, when words have been examined in this way in several languages, it is found that certain roots belong to two or more languages, and that they have been introduced from one language into another. For instance, some roots are common to modern English and Early English or Anglo-Saxon. These are called English roots. Others are known to have been introduced from the Latin language, and these are called Latin roots. Similarly we find many Greek roots in English. And what has been said of roots applies to the prefixes and suffixes; for it appears that even these are roots which are exceedingly old and very much worn down, and only differ from true roots in having lost, or nearly lost, the power to stand alone, and to represent an independent meaning.

The root is the most important part of a word; but it will be convenient to give, in this chapter, examples of Compound Words, of Prefixes, and Suffixes, reserving the principal root-words of the language, and their derivatives, for a separate chapter on the Vocabulary.

It will be noted that our analysis of words into roots, prefixes, and suffixes is a reversal of the order in which words came to assume their present form; but it enables us to understand the formation and structure of words, and to reconstruct them from their elements, by going through the mental processes by which language has acquired its adaptation to new requirements and fuller knowledge. And this is precisely the kind of mental exercise and grouping together of the elements of knowledge that is calculated to give that unity, grasp, and command of knowledge, and that facility, precision, and variety of expression, which are amongst the most valuable of possessions and accomplishments.

The way in which new words are formed from pre-existing words will be best seen by first giving examples of compound words, then of the use of prefixes, and lastly of the use of suffixes. English compound words, prefixes, and suffixes, naturally claim the first attention. Next in importance come Latin prefixes and suffixes; and we shall conclude the chapter with examples of Greek prefixes and suffixes.

COMPOUND WORDS, PREFIXES, AND SUFFIXES,

OF TEUTONIC ORIGIN.

COMPOUND NOUNS.

1. Noun and Noun. Oaktree, racehorse, noontide (A.S. tid= time), doomsday, kinsman, herdsman, Wednesday,1 alehouse, lifeboat, steamboat, fireside, railway, rainbow, footway, fireirons, doorhandle, doorstep, skylight, seaside, watercress, penholder, penknife, wickerwork, weatherglass, dustman, landlord, shipshape, manslayer,2 watchmaker,2 pathfinder.2

HYBRIDS. Fieldsports, footrule, copyright,5 lampglass, apronstring, inkstand, paperknife, peacemaker,10 catspaw,11 churchyard.12 † A hybrid word is one containing elements from different languages.

The s has the same origin as that of the possessive case. Wednesday Wodin's day.

=

2 The latter element is derived from a Transitive Verb, the former denotes

the Object.

3 Sport is from disport, to amuse (Fr.).

Rule is from O.F. rieule, reule (Fr. règle, L. regula).

5 Copy is from O.F. copie; L. copia, abundance.

6

Lamp is from O.F. lampe (Gk. lampas, a torch).

7

Apron is from the Fr. napron, naperon, a large cloth.

Ink from O.F. enque; L. encaustum (Fr. encre).

• Paper is from the L. papyrus (a rush or flag of which writing material

was made).

10 Peace is from O.F. pais (Fr. paix; L. pax, pacis).

"Paw is probably of Celtic origin.

12 Church is from the Gk. kuriakon, a church; neuter of kuriakos, belonging to the Lord.

In the following compound words the elements (all Teutonic) are no longer self-evident:

=

Nightingale night-gale night-singer (A.S. nihtegale).
Orchard

wort-yard (herb-garden). O.E. ort-geard. Shelter = sheld-trume= shield-troop a guard. Steward sty-ward.

Stirrup stig-rap mounting rope.

=

=

Wedlock wed-lác (wed, a pledge; lác, a gift) = pledge-gift.
World wer-yldo =man-age (a lifetime, experience of life).

=

2. Adjective and Noun. Alderman, freeman, blackbird, neighbour (neah-bur nigh-dweller), highway, dryrot, midnight, upperhand, fortnight (= fourteen nights), quicksilver, Southwark, twilight (twi two, but the sense is "half" or "doubtful ").

=

3. Verb and Noun.

(a) A verb followed by its Object.

Cutthroat, catchpenny, telltale, makeweight, wagtail, spitfire.

1

HYBRIDS. Spendthrift, stopgap,2 turncock.3

(b) A noun occupying the relation of Subject to the verb.

Godsend, windfall, earthquake, sunshine.

(c) A Gerund preceded by its Object.

Thought-reading,
writing.4

4. Adverb and Noun.

Off-shoot, insight, after-thought, by

play, by-path, outlook, on-looker, down-train.5

5. Preposition and Noun. Forenoon, hanger-on, inside, "athome," overdose, to-day, to-morrow, etc.

6

1 Spend expend

=

2 Stop is from Low L. stupare, to stop up with tow.

3 Turn is from Fr. tourner, to turn in a lathe.

A hybrid. Letter is from Fr. lettre; L. litera, a letter.

5 A hybrid. Train is from L. trahere, to draw. In other hybrids, below, the foreign element is in italics.

Dose is from O.F. dose, a quantity of medicine to be taken at one time. To had a meaning (now obsolete) of "for." Hence to-day: = for the day,

6. Adverb and Verb. Overthrow, outcast, income, output, ́onset, welfare, go-between, standstill, offal (= off-fall).

7. Verb and Verb. Hearsay, make-believe, tittle-tattle.

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES.

1. Noun and Adjective (noun used adverbially).

Sky-blue,

ink-black, blood-red, sea-green, brand-new, pitch-dark, knee-deep, headstrong, childlike, peaceful, pennywise, steadfast.

2. Noun and Participle.

(a) Noun used adverbially.

Sea-faring, bed-ridden, ocean-going, tempest-tossed, water-logged, sea-girt, land-locked.

(b) Noun forming the Object of a participle of a Transitive Verb.

Peace-loving, time-serving, mirth-provoking, heartrending, heart-broken.

3. Adjective and Noun.

(novel), sixpenny (book).

Bare-foot, two-fold, three-volume

4. Adjective and Participial Form. Bare-footed, one-handed, two-edged, light-fingered, sharp-featured, kind-hearted.

5. Adverb and Participle. Thorough-going, much-suffering, never-ending, ever-growing, oft-recurring, welcome.

6. Verb and Noun.

Lack-lustre, do-nothing, dare-devil.

COMPOUND VERBS.

1. Adverb and Verb. Don (= do on), doff, overdo, upset. HYBRIDS. Overflow, underpay, overturn.

2. Noun and Verb. Back-bite, hood-wink, brow-beat, waylay. 3. Adjective and Verb. Dry-nurse, white-wash, black-ball, rough-hew.

4. Verb and Preposition (with force of an adverb).

Run over (enumerate), give over (discontinue), come by (possess), get at (reach), enter on (commence).