Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/1066



23. BY [, Sax. Be, Bi, or Big,] is affirmed by Tooke to be "the imperative Byth, of the Anglo-Saxon verb Beon, to be."--Diversions of P., Vol. i, p. 326. This seems to be rather questionable.

24. CONCERNING, the preposition, is from the first participle of the verb concern.

25. DOWN, the preposition, is from the Anglo-Saxon Dune, down.

26. DURING, prep. of time, is from the first participle of an old verb dure, to last, formerly in use; as, "While the world may dure."--Chaucer's Knight's Tale.

27. ERE, before, prep. of time, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ær, a word of like sort.

28. EXCEPT, bating, is from the imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson) the ancient perfect participle of the verb to except; and EXCEPTING, when a preposition, is from the first participle of the same verb.

29. FOR, because of, is the Anglo-Saxon preposition For, a word of like import, and supposed by Tooke to have come from a Gothic noun signifying cause, or sake.

30. FROM, in Saxon, Fram, is probably derived from the old adjective Frum, original.

31. IN, or the Saxon In, is the same as the Latin in: the Greek is [Greek: en]; and the French, en.

32. INTO, like the Saxon Into, noting entrance, is a compound of in and to.

33. MID and MIDST, as English prepositions, are poetical forms used for Amid and Amidst.

34. NOTWITHSTANDING, not hindering, is from the adverb not, and the participle withstanding, which, by itself, means hindering, or preventing. 35. OF is from the Saxon Of, or Af; which is supposed by Tooke to come from a noun signifying offspring.

36. OFF, opposed to on, Dr. Johnson derives from the "Dutch af."

37. ON, a word very often used in Anglo-Saxon, is traced by some etymologists to the Gothic ana, the German an, the Dutch aan; but no such derivation fixes its meaning.

38. OUT, [Sax. Ut, Ute, or Utan,] when made a preposition, is probably from the adverb or adjective Out, or the earlier Ut; and OUT-OF, [Sax. Ut-of,] opposed to Into, is but the adverb Out and the preposition Of--usually written separately, but better joined, in some instances.

39. OVER, above, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ofer, over; and this, probably, from Ufa, above, high, or from the comparative, Ufera, higher.

40. OVERTHWART, meaning across, is a compound of over and thwart, cross.

41. PAST, beyond, gone by, is a contraction from the perfect participle passed.

42. PENDING, during or hanging, has a participial form, but is either an adjective or a preposition: we do not use pend alone as a verb, though we have it in depend.

43. RESPECTING, concerning, is from the first participle of the verb respect.

44. ROUND, a preposition for about or around, is from the noun or adjective round.

45. SINCE is most probably a contraction of the old word Sithence; but is conjectured by Tooke to have been formed from the phrase, "Seen as."

46. THROUGH [, Sax. Thurh, or Thurch,] seems related to Thorough, Sax. Thuruh; and this again to Thuru, or Duru, a Door.

47. THROUGHOUT, quite through, is an obvious compond of through and out.

48. TILL, [Sax. Til or Tille,] to, until, is from the Saxon Til or Till, an end, a station.

49. TO, whether a preposition or an adverb, is from the Anglo-Saxon particle To.

50. TOUCHING, with regard to, is from the first participle of the verb touch.

51. TOWARD or TOWARDS, written by the Anglo-Saxons Toweard or Toweardes, is a compound of To and Ward or Weard, a guard, a look-out; "Used in composition to express situation or direction."--Bosworth.

52. UNDER, [Gothic, Undar; Dutch, Onder,] beneath, below, is a common Anglo-Saxon word, and very frequent prefix, affirmed by Tooke to be "nothing but on-neder," a Dutch compound = on lower.--See Diversions of Purley, Vol. i, p. 331.

53. UNDERNEATH is a compound of under and neath, low; whence nether, lower.

54. UNTIL is a compound from on or un, and till, or til, the end.

55. UNTO, now somewhat antiquated, is formed, not very analogically, from un and to.

56. UP is from the Anglo-Saxon adjective, "Up or Upp, high, lofty."

57. UPON, which appears literally to mean high on, is from two words up and on.

58. WITH comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon With, a word of like sort and import; which Tooke says is an imperative verb, sometimes from "Withan, to join," and sometimes from "Wyrthan, to be."--See his Diversions, Vol. i, p. 262.

59. WITHIN [, i.e., by-in,] is from with and in: Sax. Withinnan, Binnan, or Binnon.

60. WITHOUT [, i.e., by-out,] is from with and out: Sax. Withútan, -úten, -úton; Bútan, Búton, Bútun.

OBSERVATION.

In regard to some of our minor or simpler prepositions, as of sundry other particles, to go beyond the forms and constructions which present or former usage has at some period given them as particles, and to ascertain their actual origin in something ulterior, if such they had, is no very easy matter; nor can there be either satisfaction or profit in studying what one suspects to be mere guesswork. "How do you account for IN, OUT, ON, OFF, and AT?" says the friend of Tooke, in an etymological dialogue at Purley. The substance of his answer is, "The explanation and etymology of these words require a degree of knowledge in all the antient northern languages, and a skill in the application of that knowledge, which I am very far from assuming; and though I am almost persuaded by some of my own conjectures concerning them, I am not willing, by an apparently forced and far-fetched derivation, to justify your imputation of etymological legerdemain."--Diversions, Vol. i, p. 370.