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· AN

ILLUSTRATED

DICTIONARY

OF THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE,

FOR THE

USE OF SCHOOLS AND GENERAL STUDENTS.

BY

DR. JOHNSON.

LONDON:

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS,

THE BROADWAY, LUNGATE,

302.9.116.

"

ABBREVIATIONS OF THE "PARTS OF SPEECH' OCCURRING IN THE DICTIONARY, AND THEIR GRAMMATICAL SIGNIFICATION.

The words that constitute our language are classified under eight distinct heads, which received their names from the Romans, called "Parts of Speech:" they consist of the NOUN SUBSTANTIVE, the ADJECTIVE, the PRONOUN, the VERB, the ADVERB, the PREPOSITION, the CONJUNCTION, and INTERJECTION. They are found appended to each word in the dictionary, and are thus abbreviated :

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The four first parts of speech being declinable, or variable in grammatical formation, have different collateral words emanating from them, which are thus abbreviated:

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The first eight, however, comprehend all the leading parts of speech; and each of the 60,000 words, of which our language is composed, belongs to one or other of them. Thus the NOUN SUBSTANTIVE (derived from the Latin nomen substantivum) is "the name" of any thing that possesses "sub. stantiality" or abstract being.-The NOUN ADJECTIVE (from the Latin adjectum) is a word "added to" the substantive, to signify the addition of some quality, circumstance, or manner of being.-The PRONOUN (from the Latin pro nomine) is used in "place of the Noun," to avoid tautological repetition.The VERB (from the Latin verbum) is "the word" of a sentence, which asserts, commands, or inquires, and completes its grammatical construction.The ADVERB (from the Latin ad verbum) is a word appended "to a verb," to 3xpress some circumstance relating to it; that is, to qualify it, or define the manner how.-The PREPOSITION (from the Latin præpositum) is a word placed before" a noun or pronoun to show its relation to something previously mentioned.-The CONJUNCTION (from the Latin conjunctio) is used the "joining together" of words or sentences.-The INTERJECTION (from

the Latin interjectum) is an abrupt exclamation "thrown between " the words of a sentence.

Such is a brief explanation of what are significantly called the "Parts of Speech," which are found to exist in all languages. But on referring to the dictionary the student will find words innumerable which are both substantives and verbs, or substantives and adjectives, or verbs active and neuter, according to the respective senses in which they are used. Thus the common word "Act" is explained as a verb active, a verb neuter, and a substantive; while "Except" appears not only as a verb active and neuter, but also as a preposition and a conjunction. Hence arises the necessity of clearly understanding the true import and value of these terms, which, in truth, constitute the nomenclature of grammar and the fulcrum of philology.

INTRODUCTION.

ON THE ORIGIN, CONSTRUCTION, DERIVATION, AND ORTHOGRAPHY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE is chiefly derivative. It was originally formed from the languages spoken by the various tribes from the north of Germany, who settled in this country in the fifth and sixth centuries. The principal of these tribes were the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. On invading this country they drove the greater number of the aboriginal inhabitants into the western and mountainous parts of Wales, where the descendants of these inhabitants are now located, and where the language of the ancient Britons, now called "The Welsh," is still spoken. Soon after these settlers arrived, the southern part of Britain was called Angleland (land of the Angles), or England; and the language which they spoke, formed from the amalgamation of their various dialects, was called the Anglo-Saxon language. At the present time we find four great families of languages spoken in Europe, viz., the Celtic, the Latin, the Sclavonic, and the Gothic. The Celtic languages are spoken by the Welsh, the Highlanders (or Gaels), the Irish, and the inhabitants of the Isle of Man; their respective dialects being called Welsh, Gaelic, Erse, and Manx. The Latin language, with various modifications, is spoken by the Italians, the Spanish, the French, and the Portuguese. The Sclavonic is spoken by the inhabitants of Russia, Poland, Croatia, and some parts of the Austrian Empire. The other inhabitants of Europe speak the Gothic languages, which are also called Teutonic. The English is one of the Gothic family of languages, and as such resembles the German, the Dutch, the Flemish, the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian.

The majority of words in the English language are from the AngloSaxon, including the more common, homely, and familiar words; as, come, go, can, will, good, see, hear, above, home, bad. The others are mostly from the Latin, or the language of the ancient Romans. Some are from the French, Celtic, Greek, German, and Danish languages. Latin words were introduced by the clergy of the Romish church after Christianity was established, and by learned men, after the revival of the study of the ancient languages in the 15th and 16th centuries. French words were added by the Normans after the Conquest. About the beginning of the 17th century, in the reign of James I., our language had become almost the same as it is now, and was then generally called the English language.

When the Bible had been translated into English, and, by being printed, had been spread among the people; when the Book of Common Prayer had been compiled, and, with the Bible, was read to the people in the churches; and when great writers, such as Spenser, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Bacon, and Milton, had published works which were universally read and admired -the language became fixed; and since those times it has not undergone

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