Page:Philological Museum v2.djvu/336

326 326 On certain Affirmative and Negative became the principal negative in conjunction with the verb. In German nei7i is only the answer to a question. In our own language and in German, not and nicht''^ have usurped the place of the simple negative ne^ which we find in Chaucer, and which gave much greater flexibility to the language from its position before the verb. Our own negative no^ which enters into the composition of not^ is satisfactorily shown by Grimm to consist of ne^ and the Anglo-Saxon d^ ever or always. The Gothic form of this Avas ai ^^ (compare Greek aei ; Latin ceviwi) and m- aiv meant 7iever. The Old High German used eo and io, whence nied^ neo^ nio^ and in composition neoman^ neowiht^ no-man^ nothing. When therefore we say ^' no one,'' it is originally the same phrase as the vulgarism " never a one." Never^ itself is compounded with the Dative, as Grimm supposes, of a lost substantive cefer^ cever^ derived from av Gothic aiv. I am not aware ,of any traces in English of the Anglo-Saxon ^^ ne se answering to their affirmative ge se ; so that since the extinction of nay in common conversation, 710 is our only negative answer to subjective questions. There may be a question raised with regard to the origin of our nay or 7Z«i, and of the following suppositions I hardly know which is most probable ; first that ay is the Saxon a, ever^ which seems likely from the reason stated above, and that 7iay is that word with the negative prefixed, and therefore originally the same as 7io. The former perhaps being formed by the written language, the latter by the usual change of the broad a into o, as ac, oak., han^ hone^ Or, secondly, that nayis the Gothic negative ne^ and unconnected with the affirmative particle which it resembles. It may be worth while perhaps to return fox a moment to the distinction of Sir Thomas More, now that we have in some deo^ree considered the orimn of the particles which he speaks of. The difference asserted by him to exist, is^ that yea and nay are the answer to the 33 These two words are the same, and both mean nothing. The variations are, Old High German, neowiht^ 7iiowicht, nieht. Middle High German, nicht^ niht. Modern High German, nicht. Anglo-Saxon, naviht, miuht, nauJiL English, nought^ not. Grimm iii. 64, 721. ^' Grimm iii. 140. 67. 2^ Kask. p. 133. Grimm iii. 760.