The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1810-06-15
(FOR THE ENQUIRER J

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csS."
! This remark is true Of every variety of words
rs well as OF every tongue. Language is Liable
to An eternal revoiution-t is never ike, ut aa,
one point. The dialect Of the last century is diff
fefen icom the dialect ofthis, or oithat before it
New words are used old ones are d.sused M W
| modes~cf spelling are introduced and even "a,
, distant Intervals The shapes OF the letters them
setvessasy. The ne ~ forms ofspcl.ing. arc ia con
sequences ot new modes OF pronunciation. The
Wfnten language generally follows the fate OF the
spnken Tor Ue one rs hat The picture record OF
the other. AS therefore db6re plates not on
~ his phrases, but his s.ordS it frequently hap
pens, that some parts Of the words are drspt ;
letters are struck out; syit,bles ruu into each o.
ther; the word changes its sound, and therefore
Changes It's spelling. Thus the word d,0bt in the
las; sentence; WAS at first dropped, then arohp'd,
and now IT Is drept
But this priacipie Of the revolution of words is
to be taken with much allowance. Few things
are more liable to change; aud yet what III ~
seem psradoxical enough, there is nothing in the
customs and institutions of nations, EXCEPT their
written or printed records which is so sure clue
10 The rise or antiquity of that nation. as words.
Evolutionary history may deceive. The memory
toeS'ns fail, and the defect is supplied by the
Imagination. Fable becomes interviewer with
truth, that 1t IS impossible to distinguish the m
The dresses, diets and buildings Of nation shift
with the fashions of the times.-lhere are some
4
scarcely be lost, and Of such peculiar nature,
That they must remain, more or less, the same ;
such IS the use OF fire, the loom aud the plough
these may indeed sometimes light us in our re
searches; but they are so common, there are so
many countries which have them that they can
scarcely point out the particular region from
which Continent or an island was pcopled On
the other hand, the languages of the mother natl
ons are different language is too necessary 10
colony 10 be lost, and too in.ract,ble to be chan
geo so much III the mode, a. "a coat or a housc
'i'd though 1t will be liable to great changes, vet
na"ays preserves something OF Us Grand, and o.
! rI5ina' features Some words will be lost but
oSherS VIII last And though there is scarcely
| any wora, which does not undergo some changes,
yet there is most generally something of the ORR
gina' stamina, the root of the word, preserved -
These arc The clue 10 guide us, as TO what tie orr
| ginal word might have been Words are not ce
nera:y ike the famous blnc, silk stockings, spo.
zen CT by the metaphysicians-whch was So of
| ten mended with white silk, that not black
tiiread was left Was this, quoth the metaphysi-
can, tue same pair OF stockings not Words
we say, are not like these-there is generally
some thread in them, which serves as a clue to it's
original self. As to the use which has been made
81 inns clue, by antiqdarians and others, to trace
me rise OF the tribes os America, or ASIA or c.
ven old Rome Itself, it is not fcr me to say (See
Horne Iooke's "Epea Ptcroenta'
! But am wandering from the point had in
view --W lords, then, are apt to chanCe-but
what words are apoSt apt TO change What
classes OF words most liable to variation -
! Horne Took tells US, that the words most gene
rally IN use are the most liable to a6bre viation-
i'Ne a shilling or cent, which passing through
such a variety of hands, is most apt to be worn
| away. He has at least, sllo .n how true is this
rule IN his profound dissertation on the orirn
OF these small words in our language, which are
| so generally used-aTTd which are called by the
Srammarians, propositions, cOnjuBctions, &C.
mus = was the imperative gJ of the Saxon
verb SVan TO give. g II you Sat, you'll die. -
! WINS is thus resolved by H. r 50 You eat pig
Gthat, grant that circumstance, andy you'll die"
In the same way he shows that anu, zvilk &c
&c are but abbreviations of other verbs or nouns
IRON the elementary tongues--alrd by this SIN
gle flash of light he has nearly upset the systems
OF every man, who had written before him, on
Grammar.-ln these cases, the word that is chan
ged or corrupted from its root, is in use. in wri.
tug as well as i'll sp&eCh--whilst sic root itself
| Is out OF use.
/ But there are 4 few cases in which thesspoken
| word remains the same, but The written word,
| from some similarity between that spoken word
& another spoken word, (but more common
comes TO vary in its spelling, by adopting tie
| pelmg o. the other word. Thus the wor!
LoadstOHe--is the same in sound now, as ever il
wss-but tits not the same in spelling. 1t was
originally spelt, it ought to be now Lode.
sto"e-Fhe word LoGdstar was once in vogue
| nus Shakespeare
----r---'' o happy fair
Your eyes are lode-Slars aid your tongues
sweet air,
Mere tunable than lark to shepherds ear,
| When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds ap-
pear.
JEidsunsnrer Fights. Dream,
Lode-star is the Poie.star, the leading or gAidiry
star-trom ioeden, Saa TO lead. n like manner
| Tote s'one, is the stone, on which the magnet is
touched, to guide 10 the NORTH
IN ti.... FL ~
IS, where certain words are silk written and spo-
ken as usual, by those who know thera, but cor
| rupted by the vulgar inso something very differ
| ent from themselves. This happens, when the
words are rather hard of pronuncatione.the things
themselves are commonly spoken of-Two or
three words OF this description follow
| Old and rotten wood, when wet gives LIGHT
IN the night-thls is vulgary died Fox Ere
lt is obvious, that this is a corruption Of tne word
PAosPhOrRs, which mesns any " chemical sub
stance, that exposed to the air, takes FIRE"
| We have very common plant among us,
| which yields the SHngac ty-this is changed BY
a sort OF hocus.pocus, into Shoe matters b,rry.-
A great deal of American SuDlac,'' say :5ili-
mans Travels Just published, :" is used m Man
chester eng } i'll dying learned in one of tl,e
lighthouses that the Americans give themselves
unnecessary trouble in grinding this article, and
| that Il is quite useful in the state of leRyes
merely dried and packed in that condition. Pro
baby there may be so much saving in freight, in
consequence of grinding, as to pay for thai ope-
ration"
| We have word in our kitchens and Mt our
tables, [oYdrds-this is undoubtedIv CoIez,,orts