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One mode of forming nouns from verbs in the Shemitic languages is by prefixing m. I know of no instance of this manner of formation in the Japhetic languages, except in some names which are of oriental origin. Mars is said to be from αρης, but if so, the word was undoubtedly formed in the east. So we find Morpheus, the god of sleep, to be probably formed with the prefix m, from the Ethiopic አዐረፈ aorf, to rest, to fall asleep; whence we infer that Morpheus is sleep deified.9
But as many words in all the languages of Europe and Asia are formed with prepositions, perhaps it may be found on examination, that some of these prefixes may be common to the families of both stocks, the Japhetic and the Shemitic. We find in German gemüth in Dutch gemoed, from muth, moed, mind, mood. We find mad in Saxon is gemaad; polish, the Latin polio, is in Welsh caboli; mail in Italian is both maglia and camaglia; belief in Saxon is geleaf, and in German glaube. We find that in the Shemitic languages מלא signifies to fill or be full, and we find in the Arabic كَمَلَ kamala, has the same signification. In Syriac, ܔܠ gal signifies to remove; and ܒܔܠ kagal, signifies to wander in mind, to be delirious. In Chaldee and Syriac, דמר is to wonder, precisely the Latin demiror, which is a compound of de and miror.
We find also that nations differ in the orthography of some initial sounds, where the words are the same. Thus the Spanish has llamar, llorar, for the Latin clamo, ploro; and the Welsh has llawr, for the English floor, llabi, a tall, lank person, coinciding with flabby, llac for slack, and the like.
As the prepositions and prefixes, in all languages, constitute an important class of words, being used in composition to vary the sense of other parts of speech, to an almost unlimited extent, it may be useful to give them a particular consideration.
The simple prepositions are, for the most part, verbs or participles, or derived from them; when verbs, they are the radical or primary word, sometimes varied in orthography by the addition or alteration of a single vowel, or perhaps, in some cases, by the loss of the initial consonant, or aspirate. Such are the Greek παρα, περι, κατα; the Latin con and per; the English for, which retain their original consonants. The following, of, by, in, on, un; the Latin ab, ad, pro, præ, re; the Greek απο, επι, προ, may have lost the initial or final consonants; of for hof; in for hin; ab for hab; pro for prod. In some words this loss can only be conjectured; in others, it is known or obvious. Thus the English by and be was originally big, as it is in the Saxon; and the Latin re is written also red, evidently a derivative of an Arabic verb still existing; the Latin sub and super are formed probably from the Greek ύπο, ύπερ, by the change of an aspirate into ς, or the Greek words have lost that letter. The English but in the phrase “They are all here but one,” is a participle; the Saxon butan, or buton; Dutch buiten, from buiten, to rove. Among is the Saxon gemang the verb, or the participle of gemengan, to mingle.
In general, the primary sense of the preposition is moving, or moved. Thus to in English, and ad in Latin, primarily denote advancing toward a place or object; as in the sentence, “We are going to town.” From, of, Lat. ab, Gr.απο, denote motion from a place or object. The French près, is from the Italian presso, and this is the Latin participle pressus, pressed; hence it denotes near, close.
In some instances prepositions are compounds, as the English before; that is, be or by fore, by the front; and the Fr. auprès, at or near.
Prepositions, from their frequent use and from the ease with which their primary signification is modified to express differences of position, motion or relation, as occasions demand, have, in many instances, a great variety of applications; not indeed as many as lexicographers sometimes assign to them, but several different, and sometimes opposite significations; as for examples, the English for, with; the Latin con, and the Greek παρα. For, which is from the root of the Saxon faran, Gr. πορευoμαι, to pass, denotes toward, as in the phrase “A ship bound for Jamaica;” or it denotes in favor of, as “This measure is for the public benefit;” or “The present is for a friend.” But it denotes also opposition or negation, as in forbear, forgive, forbid.
With is a verb, but has rather the sense of a participle. It is found in the Gothic with a prefix, ga-withan, to join or unite. Its primary sense then is joined, close; hence, in company; as in the sentences – “Go with him,” “Come with me.” It has the sense also of from, against, contrariety, opposition, as in withdraw, withstand, without. In Saxon it had also the sense of toward, as “with corthan,” toward the earth; also of for, denoting substitution or equivalent in exchange, as “sylan with dæges weorce,” to give for a day’s work; also of opposite, over against, as “with tha sæ,” opposite the sea.
Con in Latin generally signifies with, toward or to, denoting closeness or union, approach, joint operation and the like, as in concurro, conjungo, congredior; but it has also the sense of against or opposition, as in contendo.
The Greek παρα is doubtless from the root of the English fare, Saxon faran, to go, to pass. It signifies from, that is, departure – also at, to, Lat. ad; near, with, beyond, and against.
To understand the cause of the different and apparently contrary significations, we are to attend to the primary sense. The effect of passing to a place is nearness, at, presso, près, and this may be expressed by the participle, or, in a contracted form, by the verb. The act of passing or moving toward a place, readily gives the sense of such prepositions as to, and the Latin ad, and this advance may be in favor or for the benefit of a person or thing, the primary sense of which may perhaps be best expressed by toward; “A present or a measure is toward him.” But when the advance of one thing toward another is in enmity or opposition, we express the sense by against, and this sense is especially expressed when the motion or approach is in front of a person, or intended to meet or counteract another motion. Hence the same word is often used to express both senses; the context determining which signification is intended. Thus for in English, in the sentence, “He that is not for us is against us,” denotes in favor of. But in the phrase, “for all that,” it denotes opposition. “It rains, but for all that, we will take a ride,” that is, in opposition to that, or notwithstanding the rain, we will ride.
The Greek παρα, among other senses, signifies beyond, that is, past, and over, Hebrew עבר.
The prepositions which are used as distinct words, are called separable prepositions, or more generally prepositions: – those which are used only in composition are called inseparable prepositions. For the sake of brevity, I give to all words or single letters, prefixed to other words in composition, the general name of prefixes.
One of the best modes of ascertaining the true sense of a preposition, is, to examine its various uses in composition, and discover what effect it has in modifying the signification of the word to which it is prefixed.
Prepositions, used in compounds, often suffer the loss or change of a letter, for the sake of euphony, or the ease of pronunciation. Thus ad in Latin becomes f in affero; con becomes col in colligo; the Greek παρα loses a letter in παρειμι, as does αντι in many words.
The following sketch of the principal prepositions and prefixes in several languages of Europe, will exhibit some of the affinities of these languages, and, in a degree, illustrate the uses of this class of words.
SAXON AND GOTHIC.
And, Saxon and Gothic, signifies against, opposite. This is the Greek αντι, and Latin ante, not borrowed from the Greek or Latin, but a native word. Examples, andstandan, to stand against, to resist; andswarian, answarian, to answer; that is, to speak again, against or in return.
Amb, emb, ymb, usually emb, Saxon, signifying about, around; coinciding with the Latin amb, and Greek αμφι. Example, emb-faran, to go around, to walk about; embutan, about; emb, about; and butan, without. See But. Ambeht, embeht, ymbeht, office, duty; whence we have embassador. This in Gothic is andbahtei; and a bailif, minister or servant, is andbahts. The Germans have the word contracted in amt, charge, office, Dutch ampt, Danish ambt. The Gothic orthography gives rise to the question whether amb, emb, and αντι, Saxon and Gothic and, are not radically the same word; and it is very certain that the Gothic and Saxon and, is radically the same word as the Latin in, Danish ind. So in Gothic, “and wigans,” in the ways, into the highways. Luke xiv. 23. “and haimos,” per vices, through the towns. Luke ix. 6.
This preposition, amb, is in Dutch om; in German um; in Swedish and Danish om.
At, is a Gothic preposition and prefix, coinciding with English at, Latin ad.
Be, in Saxon, as a preposition and prefix, is always written be, or big, answering to the English by, a preposition and be in beset. In Gothic, it is written bi, by and be, being contractions of big. The primary and principal signification is near, close; as “Stand or sit by me.” So in the word bystander. It is a prefix of extensive use in the Saxon, German, Dutch, Danish and Swedish. Its use in denoting instrumentality, may be from the sense of nearness, but more probably it is from passing like per, through, or it denotes proceeding from, like of, as “Salvation is of the Lord.”
For, in Saxon, as in English, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use. In Saxon for signifies a going, from faran, to go, to fare. It is radically the same word as fore, in the sense of in front, before. Its primary sense is advancing; hence moving toward; hence the sense of in favor of, and that of opposition, or negation. See the preceding remarks.
This word in German is für, but, with this orthography, the word is little used in composition. Yet the German has fürbitte, intercession or praying for; fürwort, intercession, recommendation, and a pronoun [forword;] and für-wahr, forsooth.
In the sense of fore, the German has vor, a word of extensive use as a prefix. Thus in Saxon foreseon to foresee, is in German vorsehen. The identity of these words will not be questioned. But in German as in Dutch the preposition ver, which is the English far, and Saxon fyr, is used in composition, in words in which the Saxon and English have for. Thus forgifan, to forgive; is in German vergeben, and in Dutch vergeeven – Saxon, forgitan, to forget; German vergessen; Dutch vergeeten. Hence we see that the Saxon for, fore, fyr, the English for, fore, far, and the German für, vor and ver, are from the same radix.
In Dutch, for and fore are represented by voor, and ver represents for and far.
The Danish also unites for and fore, as does the Swedish.
The French has this word in pour, and the Spanish and Portuguese in por. The latter signifies not only for, but through, as in Portuguese, “Eu passarei por França,” I will pass through France. Here we see the sense of moving. In Spanish and Portuguese this word is written also para, as if from the Greek. It is evidently the same word, probably received through a different channel from that of por. Now through is the exact sense of the Latin per; and per is the Italian preposition answering to for and por. But, what is more to the purpose, the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese word, equivalent to the English forgive, is in Spanish perdonar; in Italian perdonare, and in Portuguese perdoar; and the French is pardonner. Here then we have strong if not conclusive evidence, that for, pour, por, per, par, and para, in different languages, are all from one stock, the word being varied in dialect, or by the different families; just as we have far, as well as the Saxon fyr, and the English forth, further, from the same primitive word. We have the same word in pursue and purchase, from the French pour.
The Greek has περαν, and παρα, probably from the same root, as well as πορευομαι, πορος.
Ga, in Gothic, which is ge in Saxon, is a prefix of very extensive use. In Saxon, it is prefixed to a large portion of all the verbs in the language. According to Lye, it has sometimes the sense of the Latin cum; but in most words I can not discern any effect of this prefix on the signification of the simple verb. It is retained in the Danish and in some German and Dutch words, especially in the participles of verbs, and in nouns formed from them. But it is remarkable that although the Saxon is our mother tongue, we have not remaining in the language a single instance of this prefix, with the original orthography. The only remains of it are in the contraction a, as in awake, adrift, ashamed, &c;, from gewæcan, awæcan; gedrifan, adrifan; gesceamian, ascamian. The letter y prefixed to verbs and participles used by Chaucer, as yberied, yblent, ybore, ydight, and a few others, is the remnant of the ge. The words yclad, and ycleped, are the last English words used in which this letter appears.
It is possible that the first syllable of govern, from Latin guberno, Greek , may be the same prefix; or it may be the Welsh prefix go, which occurs in goberu, to work, which the Romans wrote operor. But I know not whether the first syllable of govern is a prefix or not.
There is another word which retains this prefix corrupted, or its equivalent; this is common, which we have received from the Latin communis. This word in the Teutonic dialects is, Saxon gemæne; German gemein; Dutch gemeen; Danish gemcen; Swedish gemen. Now if this is the Latin communis, and of the identity of the last component part of the word, there can, I think, be no doubt; then the first part of the word is the Teutonic ge altered to com, or, what is more probable, com is the equivalent of ge, or ge may be a contracted and corrupted form of cum, com. In either case, we arrive at the conclusion that the Teutonic ge, and the Latin cum, are equivalent in signification.
In, is used in the Saxon and Gothic, as in modern English. It is in German ein, Dutch and Swedish in, Danish ind, Greek εν, Latin in, French en. This is radically the same word as on and un, the German aan, Dutch aan, and Welsh an. In its original sense, it implies moving, advancing toward, and hence its use as a particle of negation or contrariety. “Eunt in urbem,” They are going to the city. “Hæc audio in te dici,” I hear these things said against you. In modern military usage, on is used in the same sense of advancing: “The army is marching on Liege.”
Mid, in Saxon, signifies with. It is the Gothic mith, German mit, Dutch mede or met, and the Greek μετα; but not retained in English. It seems to have the same origin as mid, middle, amidst. In the Gothic it is used as a prefix.
Miss, a prefix, is the verb miss, to deviate. It is used in Saxon, German, Dutch, Swedish and Danish, in nearly the same sense as in English. Its radical sense is to depart or wander.
Of, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use in the Saxon, as in English. It denotes primarily, issuing, or proceeding from; hence separation, departure, and distance: in the latter sense, it is written off. It is the Latin ab, written by the early Romans af; the Greek απο, the German ab, the Dutch af; Danish and Swedish af. The Saxons often prefixed this word in cases where we use it after the verb as a modifier; as of-drifan, to drive off; as it is still used by the Germans, Dutch, Swedes and Danes. We retain it as a prefix, in offset and offspring, Saxon of-spring. As it denotes proceeding from, it is the proper sign of the genitive case; the case expressing production.
Ofer, English over, Gothic ufar, German über, Dutch over, Danish over, Swedish ofver, is a preposition and prefix, in all the Teutonic and Gothic languages which I have examined; and in the same or similar senses. This seems to be the Greek ύπερ, from which the Latins formed super by converting the aspirate of the Greek vowel into s. This is probably the Heb. Ch. Syr. Ar. עבר, to pass, a passing, beyond.
On, is a Saxon preposition and prefix of very extensive use. It is obviously a different orthography of in, and it is used for in in the Saxon, as “on onginn,” in the beginning. It has also the sense we now give to on and upon, with other modifications of signification.
In composition, on signifies into, or toward, as on-blawan, to blow in; onclifian, to adhere, to cleave to; and it is also a particle of negation, like un, as onbindan, to unbind. This on is only a different spelling of un, in Dutch on; German un, used as a word of negation. The Gothic has un and und, in the like sense, as the Danish has un; the Dutch ont. In this sense, un answers precisely to the Greek αντι, and as this is sometimes written und in Gothic, as in is written ind in Danish, there can be little doubt that in, on, un, , are all from one stock. The original word may have been han, hin, or hon; such loss of the first letter is very common; and inn, from the Ch. and Heb. חנה presents us with an example. See In and Inn in the Dictionary.
The German has an, and the Dutch aan, in the sense of in and on.
Oth, is a Saxon preposition and prefix, sometimes written ath and ed, and answering nearly to the Latin ad an re; as in oth-witan, contracted, to twit, to throw in the teeth. It has also the sense of from, or away, or against as in othswerian, to abjure. This preposition is obsolete, but we have the remains of it in twit, and perhaps in few other words.
Sam, samod, a prefix. See the Danish and Swedish infra.
To, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use in our mother tongue. It occurs as a prefix in such words as, to-bræcan, to break; to-beran, to bring or bear [ad-ferre.] We retain it in together, Saxon togædere; and in toward, Saxon toward, towardes; and in tomorrow, today, tonight. The Dutch write it too, and the Germans zu, and both nations use it extensively as a prefix. In Gothic it is written du, as in du-ginnan, to gin, that is, to begin. It would be gratifying to learn whether the Ethiopic ተ which is prefixed to many verbs, is not the remains of the same preposition.
Un, is a Saxon prefix of extensive use, as a privative or particle of negation. See On and In.
Under, is a Saxon preposition and prefix of considerable use, in the present English sense. The Germans write it unter, and the Dutch onder, and use it in like manner. The Danes and Swedes write it under, and use it in the same sense.
Up, uppe, is a Saxon preposition and prefix of considerable use, in the present English sense. The Gothic has uf, in the sense of the Latin sub. The Germans write it auf and the Dutch op, the Danes op, and the Swedes up, and all use it as a prefix.
Us, in Gothic, is a preposition and prefix. This is the German aus, and equivalent to the Latin ex. It is the Saxon ut, the English out, Dutch uit, Swedish ut, and Danish ud, dialectically varied. To this answers the Welsh ys, used in composition, but ys seems rather to be a change of the Latin ex, for the Latin expello is written in Welsh yspeliaw, and extendo is estyn.
Wither, in Saxon, from the root of with, denotes against, or opposition. It is a prefix in Saxon, written in German wider, in Dutch weder; Danish and Swedish veder. It is obsolete, but retained in the old law term withernam, a counter-taking or distress.
In the German language, there are some prepositions and prefixes not found in the Saxon; as,
Ent, denoting from, out, away.
Er, without, out or to. Danish er.
Nach, properly nigh, as in nachbar, neighbor; but its most common signification in composition is after; as in nachgchen, to go after. This sense is easily deducible from its primary sense, which is close, near, from urging, pressing, or following. In Dutch, this word is contracted to na, as in nabuur, neighbor; nagaan, to follow. The Russ has na also, a prefix of extensive use, and probably the same word. This fact suggests the question, whether the ancestors of these great families of men bad not their residence in the same or an adjoining territory. It deserves also to be considered whether this na, is not the Shemitic נ, occurring as a prefix to verbs. |