A Handbook of the English Language Part 25

But this is not the case. The sound added to the final f is the sound of z, not that of s.

And the plurals are sounded _loavz_, _wivz_ (_wivez_, _weivz_).

Furthermore, the sound of the final f is changed to that of v; in other words, the _first_ of the two letters is accommodated to the second, in violation to the rule of -- 199 b.

Can this be explained? Perhaps it can. In the Swedish language the letter f has the sound of v; so that _staf_ is sounded _stav_.

Again, in the allied languages the words in question end in the _flat_ (not the _sharp_) mute,--_weib_, _laub_, _calb_, _halb_, _stab_, &c. = _wife_, _leaf_, _calf_, _half_, _staff_.

This makes it probable that, originally, the f in _wife_, _loaf_, &c. was sounded as v; so that the singular forms were _wive_, _loav_.

If so, the _plural is_ perfectly normal; it being the _singular_ form on which the irregularity lies.

CHAPTER IV.

ON THE CASES.

-- 207. The extent to which there are, in the English language, cases, depends on the meaning which we attach to the word case. In the term _a house of a father_, the idea expressed by the words _of a father_, is an idea of relation between them and the word _house_. This idea is an idea of property or possession. The relation between the words _father_ and _house_ may be called the _possessive_ relation. This relation, or connexion, between the two words, is expressed by the preposition _of_.

In the term _a father's house_, the idea is, there or thereabouts, the same; the relation or connexion between the two words being the same. The expression, however, differs. In _a father's house_ the relation, or connexion, is expressed, not by a preposition, but by a change of form, _father_ becoming _father's_.

_He gave the house to a father_.--Here the words _father_ and _house_ stand in another sort of relations.h.i.+p, the relations.h.i.+p being expressed by the preposition _to_. The idea _to a father_ differs from the idea _of a father_, in being expressed in one way only; viz., by the preposition.

There is no second mode of expressing it by a change of form, as was done with _father's_.

_The father taught the child_.--Here there is neither preposition nor change of form. The connexion between the words _father_ and _child_ is expressed by the arrangement only.

-- 208. Now if the relation alone between two words const.i.tute a case, the words _a child_, _to a father_, _of a father_, and _father's_, are all equally cases; of which one may be called the accusative, another the dative, a third the genitive, and so on.

Perhaps, however, the relations.h.i.+p alone does not const.i.tute a case.

Perhaps there is a necessity of either the addition of a preposition (as in _of a father_), or of a change in form (as in _father's_). In this case (although _child_ be not so) _father's_, _of a father_, and _to a father_, are all equally cases.

Now it has long been remarked, that if the use of a preposition const.i.tute a case, there must be as many cases in a language as there are prepositions, and that "_above a man_, _beneath a man_, _beyond a man_, _round about a man_, _within a man_, _without a man_, shall be cases as well as _of a man_, _to a man_, and _with a man_."

-- 209. For etymological purposes, therefore, it is necessary to limit the meaning of the word case; and, as a sort of definition, it may be laid down that _where there is no change of form there is no case_. With this remark, the English language may be compared with the Latin.

_Latin._ _English._

_Sing. Nom._ _Pater_ _a father._ _Gen._ _Patris_ _a father's._ _Dat._ _Patri_ _to a father._ _Acc._ _Patrem_ _a father._ _Abl._ _Patre_ _from a father._

Here, since in the Latin language there are five changes of form, whilst in English there are but _two_, there are (as far, at least, as the word _pater_ and _father_ are concerned) three more cases in Latin than in English.

It does not, however, follow that because in the particular word _father_ we have but two cases, there may not be other words wherein there are more than two.

-- 210. Neither does it follow, that because two words may have the _same form_ they are necessarily in the _same case_; a remark which leads to the distinction between _a real and an accidental ident.i.ty of form_.

In the language of the Anglo-Saxons the genitive cases of the words _smi_, _ende_, and _daeg_, were respectively, _smies_, _endes_, and _daeges_; whilst the nominative plurals were, _smias_, _endas_, and _daegas_.

But when a change took place, by which the vowel of the last syllable in each word was ejected, the result was, that the forms of the genitive singular and the nominative plural, originally different, became one and the same; so that the ident.i.ty of the two cases is an accident.

This fact relieves the English grammarian from a difficulty. The nominative plural and the genitive singular are, in the present language of England, identical; the apostrophe in _father's_ being a mere matter of orthography.

However, there was _once_ a difference. This modifies the previous statement, which may now stand thus:--_for a change of case there must be a change of form existing or presumed_.

-- 211. _The number of our cases and the extent of language over which they spread._--In the English language there is undoubtedly a _nominative_ case.

This occurs in substantives, adjectives, and p.r.o.nouns (_father_, _good_, _he_) equally. It is found in both numbers.

-- 212. _Accusative._--Some call this the _objective_ case. The words _him_ and _them_ (whatever they may have been originally) are now (to a certain extent) true accusatives. The accusative case is found in p.r.o.nouns only.

_Thee, me, us_, and _you_ are, to a certain extent, true accusatives. These are accusative thus far: 1. They are not derived from any other case. 2.

They are distinguished from the forms _I_, _my_, &c. 3. Their meaning is accusative. Nevertheless, they are only imperfect accusatives. They have no sign of case, and are distinguished by negative characters only.

One word in the present English is probably a true accusative in the strict sense of the term, viz., the word _twain_ = _two_. The -n in _twai-n_ is the -n in _hine_ = _him_ and _hwone_ = _whom_. This we see from the following inflection:--

_Neut._ _Masc._ _Fem._

_N. and Acc._ Twa, Twegen, Twa.

____ _____/ / _Abl. and Dat._ Twam, Tw?m.

_Gen._ Twegra, Twega.

Although nominative as well as accusative, I have little doubt as to the original character of _twegen_ being accusative. The -n is by no means radical; besides which, it _is_ the sign of an accusative case, and is _not_ the sign of a nominative.

-- 213. _Dative._--In the antiquated word _whilom_ (_at times_), we have a remnant of the old dative in -m. The _sense_ of the word is abverbial; its form, however, is that of a dative case.

-- 214. _Genitive._--Some call this the possessive case. It is found in substantives and p.r.o.nouns (_father's, his_), but not in adjectives. It is formed like the nominative plural, by the addition of the lene sibilant (_father, fathers; buck, bucks_); or if the word end in -s, by that of -es (_boxes_, _judges_, &c.) It is found in both numbers: _the men's hearts_; _the children's bread_. In the plural number, however, it is rare; so rare, indeed, that wherever the plural ends in s (as it almost always does), there is no genitive. If it were not so, we should have such words as _fatherses_, _foxeses_, _princeses_, &c.

-- 215. _Instrumental._--The following extracts from Rask's "Anglo-Saxon Grammar," teach us that there exist in the present English two powers of the word spelt _t-h-e_, or of the so-called definite article--"The demonstrative p.r.o.nouns are _aet, se, seo_ (_id, is, ea_), which are also used for the article; and _is, es, eos_ (_hoc, hic, haec_). They are thus declined:--

_Neut._ _Masc._ _Fem._ _Neut._ _Masc._ _Fem._

_Sing N._ aet se seo is es eos.

_A._ aet one a is isne as.

____ _____/ _____ _____/ / / _Abl._ ?re ise isse.

_D._ am ?re isum isse.

_G._ aes ?re ises isse.

_____ _____/ _____ _____/ / / _Plur. N. and A._ a as.

_Abl. and D._ am isum.

_G._ ara. issa.

"The indeclinable _e_ is often used instead of _aet, se, seo_, in all cases, but especially with a relative signification, and, in later times, as an article. Hence the English article _the_.

"__ seems justly to be received as a proper _ablativus instrumenti_, as it occurs often in this character, even in the masculine gender; as, _mid ae_ = _with that oath_ ("Inae Leges," 53). And in the same place in the dative, _on ?m ae_ = _in that oath_."--Pp. 56, 57.

Hence the _the_ that has originated out of the Anglo-Saxon __ is one word; whilst the _the_ that has originated out of the Anglo-Saxon _e_, another. The latter is the common article: the former the _the_ in expressions like _all the more_, _all the better_ = _more by all that_, _better by all that_, and the Latin phrases _eo majus_, _eo melius_.

That _why_ is in the same case with the instrumental _the_ ( = __) may be seen from the following Anglo-Saxon inflexion of the interrogative p.r.o.noun:--

_Neut._ _Masc._ _N._ Hwaet Hwa _A._ Hwaet Hwone (hwaene).

_____ _____/ / _Abl._ _Hwi_ _D._ Hwam (hw?m) _G._ Hwaes.