Specimens of English literature from the 'Ploughmans crede' to the ...

INTRODUCTION.XXlXdesirable to obtain some new light upon it for the sake ofbringing out itspeculiar shade of meaning more clearly, theprocess is as follows. First, we must obsen^e whether itseems to be of French origin or not, which is frequentiyapparent from the look of it. If of French origin, we canfind it either in modem French or in old French, or in both,and thence trace it backwards either to classical Latin orLow Latin, L e. Latin of a later date and more corrupt type.From Low Latin it can be traced back either to some kindredform in classical Latin, or to an Old Teutonic (OldHigh German or ^Iceso-Gothic) form.Some French words,however, are not of Latin origin at all, but solely of Teutonicor Celtic origin : in the former case, we are assisted by theOld High German or Mceso-Gothic, or by the Icelandic ;in the latter case by the Welsh or Breton. If a word benot French, we naturally turn first of all to the Anglo-Saxon ; if this fails, to the Old Friesic or the Dutch, ascoming nearest to English ; and, after that, to the German.Many Northern-English words are best represented by Scandina\ian,thus leading us to the Icelandic or Swedish, particularlythe Old Swedish, which has been calledSuio-Gothic.Danish is of less assistance, as Swedish or Icelandic generallypreserves the same words in a better form.Some wordsare directly borrowed from the Welsh. In every case, theoldest forms of the word are almost invariably the best andclearest, and this is why it is often worth while to trace themback as far as possible. Assistance is thus attainable frommany quarters, and it is seldom indeed that some furtherlight cannot be obtained. The endeavour to trace wordsis good practice, and more can be learnt by sometimes