3. He has a fondness for the sound of j (=dzh); as, furbidge for furbish; radidges for radishes; rubbidge for rubbish; to scrowdge for to crowd; skrimidge for skirmish; squeedge for

squeeze.

4. He sometimes transposes letters, especially where r is concerned; as, ax for ask; palaretic for paralytic; perdigious for prodigious; perwent for prevent; progidy for prodigy; vemon for venom; vemonous for venomous.

5. He sometimes inclines to repeat the same vowel; as, colloguing for colleaguing; nisi prisi for nisi prius; obstropolous for obstreperous.

6. He sometimes employs a lingual d or t after a lingual n or 1, by epenthesis or paragoge; as, drownded for drowned; gownd for gown; partender for partner; bacheldor for bachelor; margent for margin; regiment for regimen; sermont for sermon; surgeont for surgeon; verment for vermin.

7. He employs a t after a sibilant; as, clost and closter for close and closer; nyst and nyster for nice and nicer; sinst for since; wonst for once.

8. He sometimes makes an unnecessary syllable; as, beast-es for beasts; fist-es for fists; ghost-es for ghosts; mist-es for mist; post-es for post.

9. He sometimes lays a false accent; as, blasphemous for blásphemous; charácter for character; contráry for cóntrary.

II. Derivation of Words.

1. The Londoner sometimes confounds two different forms; as, contagious for contiguous; eminent for imminent; humorous for humorsome; ingeniously for ingenuously; luxurious for luxuriant; scrupulosity for scruple; successfully for successively.

2. He sometimes forms words on the wrong model; as, admiraltry for admiralty; commonality for commonalty; curous for curious; curosity for curiosity; debiliated for debilitated; despisable for despicable; loveyer for lover; mayoraltry for mayoralty; necessuated for necessitated; stupendious for stupendous.

3. He sometimes forms words on a false model; as, attacted like transacted; duberous and industerous like boisterous;

musicianer like practitioner; jocotious like ferocious; summonsed as if from summons; vulgularity like singularity.

4. He sometimes mistakes the word altogether; as, aggravate for irritate; an otomy for anatomy; argufy for signify; conquest for concourse; mislest for molest; moral for model; pee-ashes for piazzas; refuge for refuse; stagnated for staggered; vocation for vacation.

III. Composition of Words.

The Londoner sometimes retains the prefixes be and a, which have been discarded; as, begrudge, unbeknown; a-cold, a-dry, a-hungry.

IV. Inflection.

} 1. The Londoner sometimes repeats the definite article; as, the t'other for the other.

2. He uses double comparatives and superlatives; as, worser for worse.

3. He forms hisn, ourn, hern, yourn, like mine, thine.

4. He forms hisself and theirselves regularly.

5. He has adopted the modern inflection in some verbs, where it has not been generally followed; as, see'd for saw; know'd for knew; com'd for came.

6. He forms fit for fought; comp. light, pret. lit.

7. He uses the past tense for the perfect participle; as, fell for fallen; rose for risen; took for taken; went for gone; wrote for written.

8. He uses no-hows for no-how, and no-wheres for nowhere.

V. Syntax or Construction.

1. He uses the accusative for the nominative; as, can us for can we; have us for have we; may us for may we; shall us for shall we.

2. He employs double negatives, like the ancient Anglo-Saxons; as, I don't know nothing about it.

3. The use of the ancient full expression, which has been abridged in modern times; as, and so for simple so; how that and as how, denoting the simple fact; if so be as how, denot

ing a contingency; for to, denoting a purpose; for why or because why, denoting the reason.

4. Idiomatic expressions; as, a few while for a little while; to fetch a walk for to take a walk; what is gone with such an one? for what is become of such an one? to learn for to teach; what may his name be? for what is his name? what should he be? for what is he? to remember for to remind; gone dead like gone crazy; this here for this; that there for that.

The following little dialogue is said to have passed between a London citizen and his servant.

Citizen. Villiam, I vants my vig.

Servant. Vitch vig, sir?

Citizen. Vy, the vite vig in the vooden vig-box, vitch I vore last Vensday at the westry.

The peculiarities of the Cockney dialect have been fully illustrated in the writings of DICKENS.

It will probably be long before the dialectical varieties of the English, though they are constantly diminishing, will give place to the high models offered by their best scholars and statesmen.

AMERICAN DIALECTS.

CAUSES OF EXISTING DIALECTICAL DIVERSITIES.

§ 93. 1. One cause is found in the diversities of origin of the immigrant population of the United States. The first settlers, from different parts of England, brought with them the varieties of dialect then existing in the mother country. What those varieties were we have seen in the present chapter. To these were added the Dutch, or the Low Germanic language of the State of New-York, kindred, indeed, to the English, but differing widely from it; the German, or the High Germanic language, spoken by hundreds of thousands in Pennsylvania and elsewhere; the French and Spanish languages, spoken in Louisiana, Florida, and Mexico; the Irish, the Italian, the Swedish, the Danish, the Norwegian, spoken in small settlements, or by individuals scattered through the mass of the American population. Moreover, Asiatics and Polynesians are pouring themselves into California, and introducing some of their vernacular words into the body of the language; at least as it is spoken there. Hundreds of

thousands of immigrants, from different portions of Europe are every year finding homes in our country, bringing their language with them, to communicate some portion of it to others, and to transmit it to their immediate descendants.

2. The second cause of existing dialectical varieties in the United States is found in objects of thought peculiar to this country, requiring different terms from those used in England.

CLASSIFICATION

OF

AMERICANISMS.

§ 94. The peculiarities of the English language, as spoken in America, may be arranged under the following heads:

I. Words borrowed from other languages, with which the English language has come in contact in this country.

1. Indian words, borrowed from the original native tribes. Here belong many geographical proper names; as, Kennebec, Ohio, Tombigbee; also a few appellatives; as sagamore, quahaug, succotash.

2. Dutch words, derived from the first settlers in New York; as, boss, a master; kruller; stoop, the steps of a door.

3. German words, derived from the Germans in Pennsylvania; as, spuke, sauerkraut.

4. French words, derived from the first settlers in Canada and Louisiana; as, bayou, cache, chute, crevasse, levee.

5. Spanish words, from the first settlers of Louisiana, Florida, and Mexico; as, calaboose, chaparral, hacienda, rancho, ranchero.

6. Negro words, derived from the Africans; as, buckra. All these are foreign words.

II. Words introduced from the necessity of our situation, in order to express new ideas.

1. Words connected with and flowing from our political institutions; as, selectman, presidential, congressional, caucus, mass-meeting, lynch-law, help for servants.

2. Words connected with our ecclesiastical institutions; as, associational, consociational, to fellowship, to missionate. 3. Words connected with a new country; as lot, a portion of land; diggings, betterments, squatter.

Some of these words are rejected by good writers. They are not of such a nature as make a new dialect.

III. The remaining peculiarities, the only ones which are truly distinctive, fall for the most part under the following heads:

1. Old words and phrases which have become obsolete in England; as, talented; offset for set-off; back and forth for back

ward and forward.

2. Old words and phrases which are now merely provincial in England; as, hub, now used in the midland counties of England; whap, a provincialism in Somersetshire; to wilt, now used in the south and west of England.

3. Nouns formed from verbs by adding the French suffix ment; as, publishment for publication; releasement for release; requirement for requisition. As the verbs here are all French, the forms of the nouns are undoubtedly ancient.

4. Forms of words which fill the gap or vacancy between two words which are approved; as, obligate, comp. oblige and obligation; variate, comp. vary and variation. The existence of the two extremes confirms the propriety of the mean.

5. Certain compound terms for which the English have a different compound; as, bank-bill for bank-note; book-store for bookseller's shop; bottom-land for interval land; clapboard for a pale; sea-board for sea-shore; side-hill for hill-side. The correctness of one compound, in such cases, does not prove the incorrectness of the other.

6. Certain colloquial phrases, apparently idiomatic, and very expressive; as, to cave in, to give up; to flare up, to get excited suddenly; to flunk out, to retire through fear; to fork over, to pay over; to hold on, to wait; to let on, to mention; to stave off, to delay; to take on, to grieve.

7. Certain words used to express intensity, whether as adjectives or adverbs, which is often a matter of mere temporary fashion; as, dreadful, mighty, plaguy, powerful.

8. Certain verbs expressing one's state of mind, but partially or timidly; as, to allot upon, to count upon; to calculate, to expect or believe; to expect, to think or believe; to guess, to think or believe; to reckon, to think or imagine. The use of these words depends much on the temperament of the individual.