Remains of transition are visible in pœna, punire; monia, munire. A long i stands for the old oi, in vinum, vicus olvos, oikoç. There is a constant oscillation between au and ô: Aula and Olla. = Plaustrum and Plostrum. Lautus and Lotus. Instances of such contractions are particularly frequent in the flexions IS (dat. abl. pl. of 1st and 2nd decl. = ais, ois, o dat. sing. of 3. The dropping of final Consonants. Here also the different Italic dialects illustrate each other. a. The terminal M was in old Latin arbitrarily retained and dropped. The beginning of the sepulchral inscription of Lucius Scipio in the Vatican furnishes an instance. OINO. PLOIRUME. COSENTIONT. ROMANEI unum plurimi HONC. hunc DUONORO. bonorum consentiunt Romani OPTIMO. virum (for virorum). It had probably a nasal sound, like the French n. b. The same liberty was taken with the terminal S, as will appear by reference to the classic writers. Cicero in the Orator says: "Ita enim loquebamur: Qui est omnibu' princeps, non omnibus princeps: et, Vita illa dignu' locoque, non dignus." Again Lucretius: 1, 186. "Nam fierent juvenes subito ex infantibu parvis." The same occurs very frequently in older poets. c. The abl. sing. originally terminated invariably in D. Thus we read in the senatusconsultum de Bacchanalibus (of the year of Rome 568): H The new critical school has banished the dream of " D paragogicum." We find this ablative D in Oscan throughout; the Old Umbrian, which indeed goes much further than the Latin in dropping the terminal consonants, has lost it altogether. 4. The Changes of S between two Vowels. S between two vowels is apt in Latin and Umbrian to pass into R, whereas the Oscan preserves it or changes it into Z. Thus the Oscan is placed in the same antagonism to Latin and Umbrian as the Gothic is to all other German dialects. The Greek in such a position drops the S; or to speak more accurately, first changes it into the spiritus asper, and hence it is lost sight of. So the younger Dorian has Μωἁ = μοῦσα, ποιῆἁι = ποιῆσαι. A knowledge of this process forms the basis of many well founded comparisons; for instance, in the formation of the gen. pl.: Osc. Lat. Umbr. Goth. Angl.-S. (Subst.) Viazum, Viarum, Viarum, (Pron.) Pazum, Quarum, Parum, Thizô, Thara, Greek. μουσάων. τάων. There are instances of this change in Latin: Arbor. Honor. instead of the Old, Arbos. Honos. In the New Umbrian, we find it even in declension: Gen. sing. Totar Ijovinar (Civitatis Iguvinae). Abl. pl. vescler adrer (vasculis atris). In this it resembles on the one hand the Old Norse, (fiskr, Goth. fisks), on the other the Laconic, which uses, ouóp for Jeós, vékup for νέκυς. IV. General Results as to the Origin of the Latin Language, and its Relation to the cognate Italic Tongues. Niebuhr supposed the Latin to have been a mixed language, possessing a Greek element imported by the Pelasgi, and another originally Italic tribe. He supported this assertion by a very acute and essentially true observation. He remarked that, whereas the words belonging to the sphere of peaceable rural life agree in Greek and Latin, the Latin expressions for everything belonging to warfare, arms, and hunting have no words corresponding to them in Greek. The observation is correct, however it may have been impugned by some linguistic etymologists. But if we consider this fact in the light of comparative philology, we find it to be of general occurrence in the Indo-Germanic languages. Our comparative tables in the last Chapter show this. It must, therefore, be explained in a manner applicable to all, that is to say, as we have done in the Report about the Germanic researches, by the circumstance that all those nations once lived as peaceable herdsmen, and, in part at least, as agriculturists, in their primitive Asiatic abodes. It is natural, that the names of the most important domestic animals, and only a few of the wild beasts, as wolf and bear, and the words for primitive wants (breadstuffs, metals, names of consanguinity and affinity in their farthest extensions) should be identical, not only in Greek and Latin, but also in the Germanic, Lithuanian and Slavonic languages. We subjoin some additional illustrations, as to the words for family relations. Mother: Osc. amma; Old High Germ. amma; compare Ger. amme (nurse); Icelandic amma (grandmother); Sanskrit amâ. The Italic expression for man, in opposition to woman, is: Lat. vir; Umbr. veir; Teut. ver; in Skr. vîras. Another name for man in general is ȧvýp, Umbr. Osc. ner, Skr. nar. (The Ionic declension of ἀνήρ is ἀνέρος, ἀνέρι. The a is only prosthetic, as it often happens that a vowel is put before words beginning with a nasal or liquid or double consonant, e. g. oroμa nomen, öppús=eycbrow, &c.). - These words, therefore, are the Asiatic heirloom of the civilized nations of Europe. This adherence to old forms, indeed, need not surprise us. It is much more astonishing, and equally certain, although but very lately remarked, that the only two Indo-Germanic languages which have a free accent- that is to say, an accent independent of quantity-have, in all identical words, preserved that accentuation in the midst of so many changes; which, being a general rule, cannot be accidental. If, therefore, we find in the different branches of that stock different words for the implements of hunting and warfare, we must conclude that they were fixed after the separation took place. But on inquiring more closely, we shall find, moreover, that the diverging words, which were quoted by Niebuhr in proof of a mixture, are generally reducible to roots common to all the branches. We exhibit the etymology of the very words chosen by him as instances: Scutum is the Greek σkūros, from the root sku, "to cover;" from which also come the German schuh (shoe), scheune, &c. Parma, πάρμη. Jaculum, from jacere, Gr. iárтw. Arma, for arcma from arcere, "that which defends, wards off, the defence,” Gr. ἀρκεῖν, ἀλαλκεῖν. Pilum, the pestle, whence spear, from pinsere (conf. pistillum) Gr. πτίσσω (πτ for π just as in the Homeric πτόλις, πτόλεμος, for πόλις, πόλεμος). Lancea, λόγχη. Têlum, têla (what is woven) comes from texere, and stands for texilla; thus pâlus (pfahl) stands for paxillus, mala (cheek) for maxilla, ala for axilla. In the same manner telum is texillum from the root taksh, which was not originally, like texere, limited to weaving, but applied to all sorts of artificial work. Tvashtar, in the Vedas the name of the Indian Vulcan, comes from the same root. Hence taxan, the Gr. TÉKTOV, "carpenter;" the same roots appear in Tókos = wood shaped with a knife or similar instrument. Clypeus, "shield," is intimately connected with the Gr. KaλúжTw: then with celare, old High Germ. haljan, Ger. hehlen, compare káλvž, and old H. Ger. helawa, which both signify "the pod." The general sense, therefore, of the root is "that which conceals," from which also comes the German helm, helmet; ensis, Skr. asis, perhaps dop, dop. As to duellum, its original meaning seems to be hatred, enmity; from the Skr. dvish (odisse), Gr. odvoσopai. = These examples are sufficient to show, that the metal out of which these words were coined was taken from the same treasury, but coined independently. None of the known languages of this stock is the primitive one, neither the Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit. We must reconstruct the primordial tongue by a critical analysis and comparison of all the branches. We may, however, bear in mind generally, as already observed, that the Greek and Latin have a closer affinity to each other, than to any other cognate family; as have the German and the Slavonic. The natural explanation seems to be that the Greeks and Romans lived longer together, and took in common, about the same period, a more southern direction; whereas the Germans and Slavonics took or kept in common a more northerly one. ར. The Etymology of Annus, Cena, Magister, Minister, and some other old Italic words. The Umbrian word for Annus is aknos. It seems impossible to combine these two forms. But we know that the older form for annus was amnus, as it is still preserved in sollemnis. This leads us |