Page:The Religion of Ancient Egypt.djvu/121

 The mythological legend grew out of the myth, but must not be confounded with it. The myth was in Egypt, what it was everywhere else, a mere phrase, often consisting of not more than a single word, descriptive of some natural phenomenon, such as the rising or setting of the sun, the struggle between light and darkness, and the alternate victory of the one or the other. The science of Language has established the fact that all names were general terms; and one of the most eminent masters of the science begins a work on "Proper Names" by laying it down as a first principle that for the etymologist there are no such things as "proper names," but only "appellatives." These appellatives, when applied to natural phenomena, are either such predicates as the most prosaic observer might use at the present day, or they are metaphorical. An early stage of language is always highly metaphorical, its terms being derived from sensuous perception, and being ill adapted to express abstract ideas. Many roots were required to express the different stages or determinations of a single notion. Even in reference to so simple a notion as that expressed by the verb to see, the Greeks had recourse to no less than three roots (in, , ), according as the action was considered as continued, completed or momentary. We ourselves say I go, but I went; je vais, nous allons,