Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/497

 ii s. iv. DEC. 16, mi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

491

" CYTEL " IN ANGLO-SAXON NAMES (11 S. iv. 187, 233, 434). I am sorry to see the hope expressed that it may be possible to derive Churchill from Thurcytel. It is like saying that the derivation of dog from an A.-S. docga is a poor, tame thing, and that we ought not to rest satisfied till we can derive dog from the A.-S. cat. Seeing that there are four places in England called Churchill, and two called Church Hill, a plain man may be pardoned for hoping that we may derive Churchill from church and hill. There is no point in upholding " corruption " as being the only true method.

I do not find that Canon Bardsley notes the " unlikely change " of Anketil into Arkell. On the contrary he derives Anketil from Arnketil with omission of r, a,nd Arkell from the same with the omission of n the two processes being separate, different, and incapable of transference. Because the English tooth is cognate with the G. Zahn, it does not at all follow that one of these forms can pass into the other by any form of borrowing.

I cannot continue a discussion of this question, but I can only record my entire dissent from many of the theories that have been advanced ; and I cannot see what good can result from throwing all phonetic laws to the four winds.

I further protest against accepting Bardsley as an infallible guide. His infor- mation is most valuable, but we must test his conclusions. WALTER W. SKEAT.

" I AM PAID REGULAR WAGES " : THE

PASSIVE WITH AN OBJECT (11 S. iv. 287, 356, 437). To DR. KRUEGER'S question as to whether the retained object with a passive verb has come into general use in English, I think the answer must in general be a nega- tive one. As for the grammarians, it is recognized, for example, by Knapp (' The Elements of English Grammar,' New York, 1908, p. 148), Webster ('The Elements of Eng. Grammar,' Boston, 1904, p. 139), Emerson and Bender ( ' English Spoken and Written,' Book III., New York, 1910, p. 165), MacEwan (' The Essentials of the English Sentence,' Boston, 1900, p. 147), Whitney (' Essentials of Eng. Grammar,' Boston, 1877, p. 130), West ('The Elements of Eng. Grammar,' Cambridge, Eng., 1893, pp. 138, 225), Onions ('An Advanced Eng. Syntax,' 2nd ed., London, 1905, p. 41, with com- ments), Powell and Connolly ('A Rational Grammar of the Eng. Lang.,' New York, 1899, p. 254), and H. A. Davidson ('A Guide to Eng. Syntax,' Albany, N.Y., 1903, pp. 19,

31). It is apparently ignored as an un- desirable or rare construction by Kittredge and Arnold (' The Mother Tongue,' Book II., Boston, 1903), Metcalf ('Eng. Grammar for Common Schools,' New York, 1894), Blount and Northup ('An Elementary Eng. Gram- mar,' New York, 1911), and Earle ('A Simple Grammar of English now in Use,' London, 1897). If it is discussed in 'The King's English' (Oxford, 1906), I have failed to find it. Personally I dislike the construc- tion ; and some of my colleagues in the Department of English tell me they share in this aversion. The construction is, of course, wholly illogical, and results from slovenly thinking in turning the active construction into a passive one. In " He gave me a watch," me is not the recipient of the action ; in " He gave me away," me is the recipient of the action. The folk-mind is too dull to observe this distinction ; thus arises such a monstrosity as "I was given a watch."

While I believe the majority of good writers still avoid this construction, I must admit that it occurs in the writing of many of some repute. I have lately noted the following instances, most of them from current periodicals :

" The authorities in Richmond must be taught a lesson." Joseph E. Johnston, quoted by Thomas Nelson Page, Scribner's Magazine, Nov., 1911, 1. 583, col. 1.

" Later he was offered the chair of chemistry at Purdue University." Arthur Wallace Dunn, The World's Work, Nov., 1911, xxiii. 31, col. 2.

" Students must be taught to use their own language with purity and propriety." Thomas R. Lounsbury, Harper's Mag., Nov., 1911, cxxiii. 867, col. 2.

" Sir Wilfrid was fully persuaded that his policy would strengthen both Canada and the Crown." Earl Grey, quoted in The Independent, 2 Nov., 1911, Ixxi. 944, col. 1.

" Mearns and Loring were notified by a couple of Masai that two lions had killed a zebra a few miles off." Theodore Roosevelt, The National Geographic Mag., Jan., 1911, xxii. 28, col. 1.

" Neither government nor associations of la- borers can be permitted to overlook or defeat the great ends of freedom." Editorial article in The Century, Sept., 1911, Ixxxii. 783, col. 1.

" Scarcely a year passed that he was not voted substantial gifts." A. C. McGiffert, in same, p. 724, col. 2.

" I am spared describing, and you are spared

reading about, the ancestry of Colonel and

Mrs. Teddington Fyles." C. B. Fernald, in same, p. 765, col. 2.

" Among some tribes of Dyaks the champion is paid his fee whether he wins or loses." Ed wm H. Gomes, The National Geographic Mag., Aug., If 11,

"If we may be permitted to judge the future by what has been achieved during the last decade