Page:On the history and use of the suffixes -ery (-ry), -age, and -ment in English.djvu/19

HYBRIDISM. 7 mixed language, whose French and Germanic constituents are of equal importance, all speculations on the justifiableness of hybridism become useless.

We shall now see what a German grammarian says of the use of the French and native suffixes. has the following remark on this question (Engl. Gram. 1 p. 428): «Im allgemeinen ist zu bemerken, dass die germanischen Ableitungssuffixe, wenngleich öfter scharf ausgeprägt, weniger fruchtbar für das Englische geblieben sind als die Romanischen.» From this we find that Mätzner's opinion is diametrically opposed to those expressed in the above quotations.

In order to form an opinion on this question — the use and importance of the French and Native endings — it will be necessary for us to try and find out to what extent the use of the OE. suffixes has been affected by the appearance of the French suffixes in Middle English. For this purpose I shall give an account of the use of the most important Native and French suffixes, with special reference to the relation of the latter to the native element in the vocabulary.

Of the OE. suffixes for forming nouns designating persons the most commonly used were -ere (OE. fiscere) and -ing, -ling, (OE. flyming; œþeling); and none of these suffered by the French invasion. The first-mentioned has become the regular means of forming agent-nouns: as to the other, the form -ling has been freely employed in new- formations, but is now no longer productive in this use (cf. NED. -ling).

Amongst the suffixes used in OE. to form words denoting female persons there were -en (OE. gyden) and -(e)stre.