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Weg, is a prefix used in the German and Dutch. It is the Saxon, German, and Dutch weg, way; in the sense of away, or passing from, from the verb, in Saxon wægan, wegan, to carry, to weigh, English to wag, the sense of which is to move or pass; as German wegfallen, to fall off or away.
Zer, in German, denotes separation.
In the Gothic dialects, Danish and Swedish, fra is used as a prefix. This is the Scottish fra, English from, of which it may be a contraction.
Fram in Swedish, and frem in Danish, is also a prefix. The primary sense is to go, or proceed, and hence it denotes moving to or toward, forth, &c.; as in Danish frem-förer, to bring forth; fremkalder, to call for. But in Danish, fremmed is strange, foreign, and it is probable that the English from is from the same root, with a different application. It may be from the same stuck as the Gothic frum, origin, beginning, Latin primus, signifying to shoot forth, to extend, to pass along.
Gien, igien, in Danish, and igen, in Swedish, is the English gain in again, against. This is a prefix in both these Gothic languages. It has the sense of the Latin re, as in igienkommer, to come back, to return; of against, as in igienkalder, to countermand, or recall; of again, as gienbinder, to bind again. This may be the Latin con.
Mod, in Danish, and mot, emot, in Swedish, is a preposition, signifying to, toward, against, contrary, for, by, upon, out, &c.; as “mod staden,” toward the city; modstrider, to resist; modgift, an antidote; modbör, a contrary wind; modrind, the same. This is the English meet, in the Gothic orthography, motyan, to meet, whence to moot.
O, in Swedish, is a negative or privative prefix, as in otidig, immature, in English, not tidy. It is probably a contracted word.
Paa, in Danish, på in Swedish, is a preposition and prefix, signifying on, in, upon. Whether this is allied to be, by, and the Russ. po, I shall not undertake to determine with confidence; but it probably is the same, or from the same source.
Samman, signifying together, and from the root of assemble, is a prefix of considerable use in both languages. It answers to the Saxon sam, samod, equivalent to the Latin con or cum. It seems to be allied to same and the Latin similis.
Til, both in Danish and Swedish, is a prefix, and in Danish, of very extensive use. It is equivalent to the English to or toward, and signifies also at, in, on, by, and about, and in composition often has the sense of back or re, as in tilbage, backward, that is to back; but generally it retains the sense of to or onward; as in tilbyder, to offer, that is, to speak or order to; tildriver, to drive on; tilgiver, to allow, to pardon, that is, to give to, and hence to give back, to remit. This is the English till, which we use in the same sense as the Danes, but in English it always refers to time, whereas in Danish and Swedish, it refers to place. Thus we can not say, “We are going till town:” but we say, “Wait till I come, till my arrival;” literally, “Wait to I come, to my arrival;” that is, to the time of arrival. The difference is not in the sense of the preposition, but in its application.
The Scotch retain the Danish and Swedish use of this word; no slight evidence of their origin.
U, in Danish, the Swedish O, is a prefix, equivalent to in, and is used as a privative or negative; as in uaar, an unseasonable year; uartig, uncivil.
RUSSIAN.
Vo or ve, signifies in, at, by, and may possibly be from the same root as the English be, by. But see po.
Za, is a prefix signifying for, on account of, by reason of, after; as in zariduyu, to envy, from vid, visage; viju, to see, Latin video; zadirayu, from deru, to tear; zamirayu, to be astonished or stupefied, from the root of Latin miror, and Russian mir, peace; miryu, to pacify, to reconcile; mirnie, pacific; zamirenie, peace, pacification; zamiriayu, to make peace; Arm. miret, to hold, to stop; the radical sense of wonder, astonishment, and of peace.
Ko, a preposition, signifying to, toward, far.
Na, a preposition and prefix, signifying on, upon, at, for, to, seems to be the German nach, Dutch na; as in nagrada, recompense; na, and the root of Latin gratia; nasidayu, to sit down, &c.;
Nad, a preposition, signifying above or upon.
O, a preposition, signifying of or from, and for.
Ob, a preposition and prefix, signifying to, on, against, about; as obncmayu, to surround, to embrace; ob and Saxon neman, to take.
Ot, is a preposition, signifying from, and it may be the English out.
Po, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use, signifying in, by, after, from, &c.; as podayu, to give to; polagayu, to lay, to expend, employ, lay out; to tax or assess; to establish or fix; to believe or suppose; po and lay. This corresponds with English by, and the Latin has it in possideo, and a few other words. [Saxon besittan.] Pomen, remembrance, po and mens, mind.
Rad, a preposition, signifying for, or for the love of.
So, a preposition and prefix of extensive use, signifying with, of, from; and as a mark of comparison, it answers nearly to the English so or as.
Y, with the sound of u, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use. It signifies near, by, at, with, as uberayu, to put in order, to adjust, to cut, to reap, to mow, to dress, French parer, Latin paro; ugoda, satisfaction; ugodnei, good, useful, English good; udol, a dale, from dol.
WELSH.
The prefixes in the Welsh language are numerous. The following are the principal.
Am, about, encompassing, Saxon amb, Greek αμφι.
An. See Saxon In.
Cy, cyd, cyv, cym, implying union, and answering to cum, con and co to Latin. Indeed cym, written also cyv, seems to be the Latin cum, and cy may be a contraction of it, like co in Latin. Ca seems also to be a prefix, as in caboli, to polish, Latin polio.
Cyn, cynt, former, first, as if allied to begin.
Di, negative and privative.
Dis, negative and precise.
Dy, iterative.
E and ec, adversative.
Ed and eit, denoting repetition, like re, Saxon ed, oth.
Es, separating, like Latin ex. See ys.
Go, extenuating, inchoative, approaching, going, denotes diminution or a less degree, like the Latin sub; as in gobrid, somewhat dear. This seems to be from the root of English go.
Han, expressive of origination.
Lled, partly, half.
Oll, all.
Rhag, before.
Rhy, over, excessive.
Tra, over, beyond. Latin trans.
Try, through.
Ym, mutual, reflective.
Ys, denoting from, out of, separation, proceeding from, answering to the Latin ex; as yspeliano, to expel. So es, Welsh estyn, to extend.
Most of these prepositions, when used as prefixes, are so distinct as to be known to be prefixes.
But in some instances, the original preposition is so obscured by a loss or change of letters, as not to be obvious, nor indeed discoverable, without resorting to an ancient orthography. Thus without the aid of the Saxon orthography, we should probably not be able to detect the component parts of the English twit. But in Saxon it is written edwitan and othwitan; the preposition or prefix oth, with witan, to disallow, reproach, or cast in the teeth.
It has been above suggested to be possible, that in the Shemitic languages, the נ in triliteral roots, may be the same prefix as the Russian na, the Dutch na, and the German nach. Let the reader attend to the following words.
Hebrew נבט, to look, to behold, to regard. The primary sense of look, is, to reach, extend, or throw. Ch., to look; also to bud or sprout.
Ar. نَبَطَ nabata, to spring, or issue as water; to flow out; to devise or strike out; to draw out.
If the first letter is a prefix, the Hebrew word would accord with Latin video; the Chaldee, with video and with bud, Spanish botar, French bouton, bouter, to put, and English to pout, and French bout, end, from shooting, extending.
Ar. نَبَتَ nabatha, to bud; to germinate. See Ch. supra.
Heb. נבל naval, to fall; to sink down; to wither; to fall off, as leaves and flowers; to act foolishly; to disgrace. Derivative, foolish; a foot; נפל nafal, Heb. Ch. Syr. Sam. to fall.
Ch. נבל nabal, to make foul; to defile; that is, to throw or put on.
Ar. نَبَلَ nabala, to shoot, as an arrow; to drive as camels; to excel; also to die, that is, probably, to fall.
Can there be any question, that fall, foul, and fool are this very word, without the first consonant? The Arabic without the first consonant agrees with Gr. , and the sense of falling then, is to throw one’s self down.
Heb. נטר natar, to keep, guard, preserve, retain, observe.
Ch., to observe; to keep; to lay up.
Syr. and Sam. id.
Eth. ነወረ natar, to shine.
Ar. نَطَرَ natara, to keep; to see; to look; to attend.
Remove the first letter, and this coincides with the Greek τηρεω.
No person will doubt whether נמל namal, to circumcise, is formed on םול mul.
Ch. נסר nasar, to cut; to saw. Syr. id; Lat. serra, serro.
Ar. نَفِدَ nafida, to fade, to vanish, to perish, to be empty, to fail.
Heb. נפח nafach, to blow, to breathe. Ch. Syr. Eth. Ar. id. from פוח, fuch, to blow.
If the Shemitic נ in these and similar words is a prefix or the remains of a preposition, it coincides very closely with the Russ. and Dutch na, and the latter we know to be a contraction of the German nach. Now the German nach is the English nigh; for no person can doubt the identity of the German nachbar and the English neighbor.
In the course of my investigations, I very early began to suspect that b, f, p, c, g and k, before l and r, are either casual letters, introduced by peculiar modes of pronunciation, or the remains of prepositions; most probably the latter. I had advanced far in my Dictionary, with increasing evidence of the truth of this conjecture, before I had received Owen’s Dictionary of the Welsh language. An examination of this work has confirmed my suspicions, or rather changed them into certainty.
If we attend to the manner of articulating the letters, and the ease with which bl, br, fl, fr, pl, pr, cl, cr, gl, gr are pronounced, without an intervening vowel, even without a sheva, we shall not be surprised, that a preposition or prefix, like be, pe, pa, po, or ge, should, in a rapid pronunciation, lose its vowel, and the consonant coalesce closely with the first letter of the principal word. Thus blank, prank, might naturally be formed from belank, perank. That these words are thus formed, I do not know; but there is nothing in the composition of the words to render it improbable. Certain it is, that a vast number of words are formed with these prefixes, on other words, or the first consonant is a mere adventitious addition; for they are used with or without the first consonant. Take the following examples:
Hiberno-Celtic, or Irish, brac or brach, the arm, is written also raigh, Welsh braiç, whence βραχιων, brachium. Braigh, the neck, Sax. hraca, Eng. rack, Gr. ραχις. Fraoch, heath, ling, brake, L. erica.
Welsh llawr, Basque lurra, Eng. floor.
Lat. floccus, Eng. flock or lock.
Sax. hraccan, Eng. to reach, in vomiting.10
Sax. hracod, Eng. ragged.
Ger. rock, Eng. frock.
Dutch geluk, Ger. gluck, Eng. luck.
Greek, Eolic dialect, , for , a rose.
Latin clunis, Eng. loin, G. lende, W. clun, from llun.
Eng. cream, Ger. rahm, Dutch room.
Sax. hlaf, Polish chlieb, G. leib, Eng. loaf.
Sax. hladan, Eng. to lade or load; Russ. kladu, to lay.
Greek κλινω, Lat. clino, Sax. hlinian, hleonan, Russ klonyu, Eng. to lean.
Greek λαγηνος, Lat. lagena, Eng. flagon.
Sax. hrysan, Eng. to rush.
French frapper, Eng. to rap.
Sax. gerædian, to make ready; in Chaucer, greith, to make ready. Sax. hræd, quick; hradian, to hasten; hrædnes, Eng. readiness.
Spanish frisar, to curl or frizzle; rizar, the same.
Sax. gerefa, Eng. reeve, G. graf, D. graaf.
Lat. glycyrrhiza, from the Greek; Eng. liquorice.
But in no language have we such decisive evidence of the formation of words by prefixes, as in the Welsh.
Take the following instances, from a much greater number that might be produced, from Owen’s Welsh Dictionary.
Blanc, a colt, from llanc.
Blith, milk, from lith.
Bliant, fine linen, from lliant.
Plad, a flat piece or plate, from llad.
Pled, a principle of extension, from lled.
Pledren, a bladder, from pledyr, that distends, from lled.
Pleth, a braid, from lleth, Eng. plait.
Plicciaw, to pluck, from llig.
Ploc, a block, from lloc; plociaw, to block, to plug.
Plwng, a plunge, from llwng, our vulgar lunge.
Glwth, a glutton, from llwth.
Glas, a blue color, verdancy, a green plat, whence Eng. glass, from llas.
Glyd, gluten, glue, from llyd.
Claer, clear, from llaer.
Clav, sick, from llav.
Clwpa, a club, a knob, from llwb.
Clwt, a piece, a clout, from llwd, llwt.
Clamp, a mass, a lump.
Clawd, a thin board, from llawd.
Cledyr, a board or shingle, whence cledrwy, lattice, from lled.
Bran, Eng. bran, from rhan; rhanu, to rend.
Brid, a breaking out, from rhid.
Broç, noise, tumult, a brock, from rhoç.
Broç, froth, foam, anger, broçi, to chafe or fret, from brwc, a boiling or ferment, from rhwc, something rough, a grunt, Gr. βρυχω.
Bryd, what moves, impulse, mind, thought, from rhyd.
Brys, quickness, brisiaw, to hasten, to shoot along, from rhys, Eng. to rush, and crysiaw, to hasten, from rhys, to rush. [Here is the same word rhys, with different prefixes, forming brysiaw and crysiaw. Hence W. brysg, Eng. brisk.]
Graz, [pronounced grath,] a step, a degree, from rhaz, Lat. gradus, gradior.
Greg, a cackling, from rheg.
Grem, a crashing, gnash, a murmur, gremiaw, to crash or gnash, from rhem. Hence Lat. fremo, Gr. βρεμω.11
We have some instances of similar words in our own language; such are flag and lag; flap and lap; clump and lump.
There is another class of words which are probably formed with a prefix of a different kind. I refer to words in which s precedes another consonant, as scalp, skull, slip, slide, sluggish, smoke, smooth, speed, spire, spin, stage, steep, stem, swell, spout. We find that tego, to cover, in Latin, is in Greek ζεγο; the Latin fallo, is in Greek σφαλλω. We find μαραγδος is written also σμαραγδος; and it may be inquired whether the English spin, is not from the same root as πηνη, web or woof, πηνιον, a spindle, πηνιζω, to spin. Sprout in English is in Spanish brota.
We find the Welsh ysbrig, the English sprig, is a compound of ys, a prefix denoting issuing or proceeding from, like the Lat. ex, and brig, top, summit.
Ysgar, a separate part, a share; ysgar, ysgaru, to divide; ysgariaw, to separate, is composed of ys and car, according to Owen; but the real root appears distinctly in the Gr. κειρω. This is the English shear, shire.
Ysgegiaw, to shake by laying hold of the throat, to shake roughly, is a compound of ys and cegiaw, to choke, from ceg, the mouth, an entrance, a choking. This may be the English shake; Sax. sceacan.
Ysgin, a robe made of skin; ys and cin, a spread or covering.
Ysgodi, to shade; ysgawd, a shade; ys and cawd.
Ysgrab, what is drawn up or puckered, a scrip; ys and crab, what shrinks. See Eng. crab, crabbed.
Ysgravu, to scrape; ys and crav, claws, from rhav.
Ysgreç, a scream, a shriek, ysgreçiaw, to shriek, from creç, a shriek, creçian, to shriek, from creg, cryg, hoarse, rough, from rhyg, rye, that is rough; the grain so named from its roughness. This is the English rough, Lat. raucus. Here we have the whole process of formation, from the root of rough. We retain the Welsh creçian, to shriek, in our common word, to creak, and with a formative prefix, we have shriek, and our vulgar screak. The Latin ruga, a wrinkle, Eng. rug, shrug, are probably from the same source.
Ysgrivenu, to write, Lat. scribo, from ysgriv, a writing, from criv, a mark cut, a row of notches; criviaw, to cut, to grave; from rhiv, something that divides. Hence scrivener.
Ysgub, a sheaf or bosom, ysgubaw, to sweep, Lat. scopæ, from cub, a collection, a heap, a cube.
Ysgud, something that whirls; ysgudaw, to whisk or scud; from cud, celerity, flight; ysguth, ysguthaw, the same.
Ysgwth, a push; ysgwthiaw, to push or thrust; from gwth, gwthiaw, the same; probably allied to Eng. shoot. The Welsh has ysgythu, to jet or spout, from the same root.
Yslac, slack, loose; yslaciaw, to slacken; from llac, loose, slack, llaciaw, to slacken, from llag, slack, sluggish; allied to Eng. lag and slow.
Yslapiaw, to slap, to flap, from yslab, what is lengthened or distended, from llab, a flag, a strip, a stroke. Llabi, a tall, lank person, a stripling, a looby, a lubber, is from the same root; llabiaw, to slap.
Ysled, a sled, from lled, says Owen, which denotes breadth, but it is probably from the root of slide, a word probably from the same root as lled, that is, to extend, to stretch along.
Ysmot, a patch, a spot; ysmotiaw, to spot, to dapple, from mod, Eng. mote.
Ysmwciaw, ysmygu, to dim with smoke, from mwg, smoke. So smooth, from Welsh mwyth.
Yspail, spoil, from pail, farina, says Owen. I should any from the root of palea, straw, refuse, that is, from the root of peel, to strip. Yspeiliota, to be pilfering.
Yspeliaw, to expel, from pel, a ball, says Owen: but this is the Latin expello, from pello. Ball may be from the same root.
Yspig, a spike, a spine; yspigaw, to spike; from pig, a sharp point, a pike. Hence Eng. spigot.
Yspin, a spine, from pin, pen.
Ysgynu, to ascend, Lat. ascendo, from cyn, first, chief, foremost. The radical sense is to shoot up.
Yslwç, a slough, from llwc, a collection of water, a lake.
Yspar, a spear, from pâr, a cause or principle of producing, the germ or seed of a thing, a spear. This consists of the same elements as ber, a spit, and Eng. bar, and in Italian bar is sbarra. The primary sense is to shoot, thrust, drive.
Yspine, a finch, from pinc, gay, fine, brisk; a sprig, a finch. |