THE UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE. N° LXXXI.-VOL. XIV.] For AUGUST, 1810. [NEW SERIES. "We shall never envy the honours which wit and learning obtain in any other cause, if we can be numbered among the writers who have given ardour to virtue, and confidence to truth."-DR. JOHNSON." ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. On the FRENCH Language, as de- languages with which we are best acrived from LATIN. By the Rev. quainted, after which we may be per JOSEPH TOWNSEND, M.A. mitted to judge, by analogy, of those which are less known. For the Universal Magazine THE best mode of acquiring The science, I am so solicitous to knowledge is to proceed from vindicate from reproach, has been well established facts to general con- little studied, and, less understood. clusions. It is thus that, in experi- Hence, it has frequently been exposed mental philosophy, we get acquainted to ridicule by the rash conjectures of with the laws of nature, and, in every ingenious men, who, to support some science, the same steps lead to certainty. favourite and fanciful hypothesis, have caught, with eagerness, at every shadow of resemblance between words whose origin and import have been perfectly distinct. In the investigation of languages, it will greatly expedite our progress, if we are able to apply general principles; but the only method to obtain general principles is to examine individual languages, and to determine, with precision, both the structure of ach, and the mutations to which it has been subject. This I have en- This was the path traced out by the deavoured to accomplish; and, for immortal Bacon, at a time when the that purpose, I have brought in review most learned indulged themselves in before your readers, first, the German wild and visionary systems, and when language, then the Spanisht, Italiant, no progress in useful knowledge had and Portuguese §; and I now proceed been made for ages. The only way to rescue this pleasing, nay, this eminently useful science from contempt, is to ascertain its priaciples and laws, and, for this purpose, to establish facts. to the examination of the French; In the prosecution of my subject, after which I may, perhaps, conduct it is not my intention to expatiate on them to more obstruse researches, still the history of Gaul, to trace the origiavailing myself of the principles which nal inhabitants in their progress from I shall have previously established. the east, and the subsequent invasion By this procedure, I may appear of the Germans. Nor am I disposed needlessly to direct my steps again to follow the Romans in their conand again over the same ground. That quests, or the Teutonic nations in their I frequently recur to the same prin- inroads, when they overthrew that ciples is true; but I trust your ju- mighty empire. It is sufficient to dicious readers will be satisfied that know the country to have been, for such recurrence is not needless. I am centuries,under the dominion of Rome, to discover and determine general whose language, although corrupted, laws; and, in order to have them ac- universally prevailed; and to be aware knowledged for such, I must prove that, after the invasion of the Franks, that they are general. To accomplish it suffered no material change, bethis, it is necessary to examine those cause the peasantry continued to speak as their ancestors had spoken, and the victors made themselves acquainted with the language of the vanquished. In tracing the progressive changes M See Univer. Mag vol. viii. p. 219. ↑ Ibid. vol. xii. p. 265. Ibid. vol. xiii. p. 272. μ. § Ibid. p. 441. UNIVERSAL MAG. VOL. XIV. troce, atrox Boeuf, bos Lierre, lepus of the French, as derived from Latin, The words which are followed by o. we have the advantage of authentic are ancient, and appear in the M. S. documents at various periods, from of Mr. Douce, of the eleventh centhe commencement of the fifth century. tury, when the Franks, Burgundians, and Visigoths first broke in upon this portion of the Roman empire, to the present day. And, by these, it is evident, that where the dissonance between the modern language and the ancient is such as to present little or no resemblance between them, yet the change has been gradual, and the origin distinctly marked. Some of these documents are preserved by the Abbé de la Pluche, in the 7th volume of his Spectacle de la Nature, and to the antiquarian are of inestimable value. To me the most valuable document has been a very ancient translation of the Vulgate Psalms, in the possession of Mr. Douce, communicated through Mr. George Ellis. Such changes, as are here noted, have not always been wanton and governed by caprice, but have arisen, frequently, either from inattention to orthography, or from the impossibility of expressing, by the established alphabets, such sounds as are common in the language. In many instances, indeed, the orthography has continued. permanent, when the sounds have changed, as in an, a year; tant, so much; temps, time; etang, a pond. All these words, so variously written, have precisely the same sound, and such as no letters, no alphabetic characters can express. For, should the n be pronounced in the first of these, we should understand asne, an ass. Should we articulate the final t in tant, it would become tante, an aunt. Should all the letters strike the ear in temps, would be Latin and not French: or, should they be distinctly heard in the last of these expressions, we should merely have a barbarous sound, which would never convey the notion of a pond. I now proceed to establish canons, which may assist us in our investigation of the French, as derived from Latin. 1st. The French, like the English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and part of the German, derives its nouns mediately or immediately from the ablatives of Latin nouns, and these either pure and genuine, or conceived to be so. Cendre, cinis Origine, orine, o. ori- [vis Poudre,puldre,o. pul- Viai, verai, verus timare [ma Ais, axis Aussi, auxint, o. au- bencdicere Boir, beuver, bibere claudere Clorre, cioder, o. Conomre, Croire, creire, o. cre d re Cuire, coquere Deduire, deducere Dire, dicere Flasque, flaccidus Fouir, foir, o federe Conducere Fu, . . is buli devastare ་ Nappe, mappa Raisin, racemus Sente, o. semita Temps, tens, o. tempora 7thly, It changes R into L, and vice versa. Pelerin, peregrinus Sthly, It changes & into D, J, and Y; D. into J, G. and Y; and Tinto C. Astreindre, astringere Atteindre, attingere, eteindre, extinguere Foudre, füildre, o. fulgur Peindre, pingere Defraindre, o. confringere, frangere Teindre, tingere Roy, rege Chasteau, chastel, Doux,du ceur,o. dul cis, dulcedo Eux, iceux, o. illi Resoudre, resolvere Sauf, salf, o. salvus Sauter, saltare Veau, vel, vitula Yeux, oculi. 10th. F becomes H in Hater, haster, o. festinare In these instances French conforms to Spanish. The practice of substituting the aspirate for the labial is more particularly worthy of our notice, because the Romans did the reverse, and, in deriving from the Greek, substituted the labial for the aspirate. The Greeks were extremely fond of aspirates,and to express them, when uncombined with B, T, x, y, 7, d, as in x., they had various marks, which, in different periods, changed their form. Among the most ancient of these were H and F, the former of which seems to have given birth to the aspirate and the latter to the labial of the Latins, as in haurio, heros, frango, focus, video, vis, vesta, vinum, ovum, ævum, evidently allied to apuw, npws, pryw, oixos, eidw, 15, 8sia, ɑivos, wov, av, all which have the aspirate in Greek. It must be here remembered, that, agreeably to our third canon, V-is equivalent to F. sup from 11th. C, like as in Welch, posing it to have been derived Galic, may have become P. This appears to have happened in penser, if derived from censere; and I have no doubt that suivre is allied to sequor. By the commutability of these letters, rupes may have given birth to roche, as practised in the Eolic dialect of Greek. 12th, It converts O into U, and U into O. Buche, o bouche, bucca Cunuistre, o. conoitre, cognoscere Munter, o. monter, montem ascendere Num, o, nom, nomen 13th, It prefixes E and Es where Ecu, scutum Fpais, spissus Epars, sparsus Epine, spina Eponse, espus, 0. sponsus Estreindre, o strin gere Etain, stannum Etroit, strictus Esiaiser, exlaxare Eternuer, sternutare Eşracer, o. eradicare Etrange, estrange, 9. extraneus Muz, o. mutus Surz, o. surdus Suz, o. subtus Vaux, valles Vertiz, o. vertex tus Violans, o. volens Voix, & voiz, o, voces In the termination of its plurals it commonly assumes an S. But if the singular has U, preceded by a vowel instead of the S, it requires X. Thus lieu becomes lieux. If the singular terminates in L. the plural has X, as for instance: cheval, cheveaux; aïeul, aïeux; ciel, cieux; ocil, oilz, o. and yeux. Thus far grammarians: but, without confining our view to this specific observation, we may remark, that Z supplies the place of the terminating S, whether it occurs in the singular or in the plural, as appears in Chalemealz, o. calami find vesseault, and in the reign of In the reign of Edw. III, when the commons of England complained that the navigation of their rivers had been obstructed by the fishing weirs of the great land-owners, and prayed for redress from these encroachments; the king returned a favourable answer, and enacted that all weirs, en tielx rivers par queu les niefs & batelx sont destourbes, quils ne poent passer come ils solient, soient oustes & net, tement abatuz." That is, in modern French, en telles rivieres par les 14th, In its terminations S, Z, and quelles les navires & les bateaux sont X, are commutable. Brebis, bervis, o. vervex Commandements, cumandemenz, o. man- Faux, fausse, falsus lius, mieiz, o. melius émbarrassés, quils ne peuvent passer comme autrefois, soient ôtés & entierement abatus.' likewise find bateulx, grantz ryvers; In the statutes of this period, we toutz rivers; dez evesquez; diversez estatuitz ount este faitz & ordeignez sovent foitz; autres vesseaulx; diversez gortz & fishgarthez; lez ditz gorses & toutz kidelx, &c. |
