1000000030

L A N

86;

L A N

el'er part of

th~

fentenee Ihey oeeur, the r,¡id oting l,fe

liLeny to conncét eh< r,\'er.1p.ans \Vi,h one anotha

after the,holé renttnee iseoncluded. And as .heMrds

ma)' be here tran(po(,d at p!earu,e, thole languages m"y

be called TRA'S"OS'T'VE lang.,ages. To this cI,rswe

mun, in an efpecial manner, r<fer Ihe

Lalin

and

Crtt:l

hngu,.ges,- As caeh of tl!efe ID 'OM Shas feveral advan·

lages and d&éls peculiar

i,r,II', we

11••11

ende,vour

poi

n¡

om the OIolf eonfiderable of them, in order

af.

eertaio wlth gre.,ter prcciGon Ihe particular dmaéler and

exeell,,,ee of rome of thole I,tnguages nolV prineipally

fpcb ur fiudied in Europe,

The part i,J;ty whichuu r foref.llhers, at the revival of

letters in Europe, naturally entcrtaintd for the

reek

anu Roman hnguJges, maJe th('m look upon every di·

Ihngu;Oting peeuliarity bdonging 10 them, as

.ne

of the

1I1a")'

e,uf,s of tbe ,mozing fuperiority IVhich thefe lan·

guag!s n idendyenjcyed aboye <very other ae that eime

Ipoken in hrope.-This blind deference Ilill eontinues

to be p.• id tO them, as our minus..,e early prcpoOélfed

,·¡j.h thefe

id~as,

and as lI'e are taught in our tarliefl in·

r.ey

believe, t!m to enterta;n the leall idea of our

own language being equal

the

retk or Latin in any

particulu \Vhateve r, ",ould be acenain mark of ignoranee

or IVant of talle.- Their riglns, ¡herefore, like thore of

¡he chureh in former

age~ ,

remain nill to be examine";

and II'e, ",ithout exer.ting our rearon

difcover truth

fromf,!f,hood, tamely fit down fatis6ed \Vilh the idea

of their unJoubted pre·eminenee in every refpeét.-Dut

if IVe look

~ro¡¡nd

us for a moment, and obferve the ma·

ny exeel!ent prodnélions \Vhieh are to be met IVith in al·

mol! e""y language ofE,trope, we mu!! be rat isGed, that

even Ib'fe

are now ponclfed of

[O""

powers IVhich might

afford at leafl a prefumption, that, .if they IVere eulti·

vated \Vith a proper degree of mention, they might, in

. fowe

,,¡P'{/I,

be made tO rival, if not tO excel, thofe

beautiful and juflly admired rema;ns of antiquity.–

Wlthout endeavouring

derogate from their merit, let

us, l'Iith the cool eye of philo:op!lie rearoning, end"vour

to bring before the faered tribnn,1of T ruth fomeof tho:e

opinions whieh hal'e been mon generally rceeived upon

this fubjell, and refl the derermination of the eaufe on

her impanial deeifion.

Thelearned reauer lI'el! knolVs, that .he feveral ehanges

whieh take place in the

arrangem~nt

of the l'Iúrds in every

TR hSS POS IT IVE language eould not be aomitted with·

out oeeaGoning gr'?t eonfuGon, un!tfs cemin clalft·s of

words were endo\l'ed with panieul.r v ....iJtions, liy means

of whieh they might be m,de

,efer tO the oth r IVords

'i.lh

IVhieh they cught n¡turally tOI:e eonneéted.-From

th.s eaufe proeeeJs the necenity uf beral variations of

v"rbl, l/O/mI ,

ano

adjrflivCl ;

whicb are not in the lcan

efr,n,i.1 or neeelfary in the hSALOGOUS languages, as

IVe have pretty fully explained under the anicle

RAM·

MAR,

whieh

rofa fur fatisfatlion on this head.

We Ihall in th;s place eonfiJer, whether th& variations

are an advam't'c or • difJd"Jntage to languagc.

As it is

r.tnl~.lIy

ruppoftcl, :h,t every

lan~uage

whofe

verl,s a,'mit

of"',t'dli;/I,

il on that aeclunt ",ueh more

perfta Ih,n one " 'h' rc thev !le varied by

,,"xilia,ia ;

IVe 01:.11, in th fidl plJee, e;:Jmiuc !!,is with fume dl'gree

VOL,I I.

NUhlL.

GJ.

of amnlion; .nd Ihat \'Ihat is r,id on Ihis "rad mly

be the mure inlelligible, we Ihall give ex"")ples f, omIhc

Latin ,nd Englilll I.nguages.

m;,ke chuice

01'

d:cic

IJnguages, beeaufc the Latin is more pUl<,ly

'ran(p'ji'it'e

than the

reek, and the Englilh admils 01 I,fs

i;,¡I,dliw

dIJnany other bnguage that lVe are

aequaint~d

w:th.

If any preference be due tO a langu' ge f,om tite one or

the other mtthbd of

Cllljuga,;,'g

I'erbs, it muO in. gre."

mcafure be owing to one or more of thefe lime caul,s ;

- Eithec it muO admit of a grcater \'Hiety of founds,

and eonfequtntly more room for harmcnious diverlity of

tones in the Janguage ;- or a greater freedom of eX l'ref.

fion isallolVed in utcringany fimpleidea, by the one admie·

ting of a greater v" iety in the "rangement of the words

whieh are neeelfary tOexprefs .hat idea than thc other

does ;-or, ¡¡Jlly, a greater pre.ifion and accuraey in

fixing themcaning of dte pedon " ho ufes the l,ng'Jage,

arife from the ureof one 01' thele forms above the ot"er!

-for, 'as every othe, eireurunancc IVhich mal' ferve to

gi.'e a dirrrfity

language, lueh as the general and mol!

prevalent founds, the frequen l repelilion of any one

particular Im er, ,nd a rariety of oeher eireumOanees of

that nature, \Vhieh may ferve tOdcbafe a particular lan·

guage, are not inllueneed in the leall by the different

methods of varying the verbs, they cannot- be here con·

fidered. \Ve 0,,11 thcrefore proceed to make a compali·

fon of the advantages Or diradvantages which may aeerue

to a language by inlleéting theirverbs, ,with regard tO eaeh

of there partieulars,

The jirj/ panicular that lVe have to examine, is, Whe–

ther the one metbod of exprcOing the variations of averb

admits of a greater variety of founds -In this refpeét

the

Lalill

feems, at firllvielV, tohave a great advantage

over lhe

EngliJh :

for the 1V0rd

alllO, olllab.lII, alllave·

ra /ll, a/llavero,

am,m,

&e. fecm 10 be more dilrcrent

from one another than Ihe EngliOt Irann.tions of the(e,

110v<,

did lot'e,

hod lov,d,

[hall

hav, lovrd, [

may

1.0',

&e, for, although the ryll,tble Ht is '.peated

in every one of the firfl, yet as the lar! fyll:tble uf0211y

flrikes the ear with greater force, and Icaves a grw er

imprellion than Ihe firn, it is ver

probable that many

will think Ihefrequem repetition of the 1I'0rd LOVE " ill ,

in the hn inflanee, appear more flriking

the ear than

the other: IVe IVill therefore alioli' this its full weighl,

and grdnt that there is as great, or even a grcater difre·

rence between the founds of the dilJ'erent

lenfel

of a La·

tin verb, than there is betwecn the1V0rds that areequi·

valent to them in Englilh.-Hut as IVe hCle conGder the

variety of roundsof the langu ' ge in general, before any

jun eonclufion can be drall'n, IVe muU not only compare

the d.fftrem pms of the fame ve,b, Iut alfo cump,lIe the

d.ffetent I'erbs IVith one anuthc'r in "eh of thefe langua.

ges - And hrrc, at Grrl vieIV, \>le percÓI': a mofl firi·

king dillin/lion in favours of the

oll"I'.~~IIJ

I.n¡:u'p.e over

the

/I~{ilflrrl:

for

it IVould be impon.úle 10 fo.

III

a pJr·

ti,ulJe f' l of ",fl,fhuns diITcr,nt ¡,um one anorller fur

eaeh partlenl" ,"b, , 11

thof. I,,'gna~,s

"hi,II

II,, ~

2I!.

optld this

tllod ha!'e

bc~n obll~.J

10 ",luce thdr

I'abs into a fm,1I r.umb" of <I"lf, s; all the lIorJs

eaeh of

hi,h cllOes, cumOlenl)'

c~lI,d

(".j,g,'li":I,

hAl e

the

~'veral

I'Jriatico: 01' tht

II;~J",

I"':fo"

. rJ

11 1:1,

l.\ pr tf .,1