New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-11-24

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flmta tL.s may be boz No question s1ass r. saeb
Lossled simplicity always necessity ~ H,gd ndtbg
WI, have ~ ~ many eood ugfds Ia the dictionary u
hoy eabnol all he nsed oar uoftipameu. u vii bT
remarked. d. mol UNDERSTAND them So mbfb ihs
vofse. then. fof Tho wofLiugmeD
We have be,n consulted III various tinrs W persons
IN respect 10 The acquisition u sJls On this head We
would advice oil hspunis 10 learn tho meaning of
wotds II circunstnnccs have denied y0u knowledge
Of the original Greek, Latin and Saxon-which make
up lhc mass Of tho languagc-keep constantly within
reach n good dictionary and turn to the definitions
Rlchardsons Dictionary may be particularly com
mended for the variety and rarity Of the quotations in
which the word defined appears in oil its capacities
The student Of style should take any given word and
work it into number of sentences, until he has ex-
lausted the various applications of its Specifications
Then he is master Off
particular study of any one author is the great
fault of writers generally when they enter on the ca
reer of letters Nothing is more fatal to genius than
such single devotion The best writers are those
who have the most Elasticity. We do not deem it
merit in writer that he can be characterized by
single word. even though that word be Doric. Com
pound words in the English language may be elassed
under two general heads-those whose particles are
of Latin or Greek origin and those which are Anglo
Saxon. which latter term for want of better
The compound words of Latin or Greek origin convey
10 sense in their PARTICLES to persons who have not
studied Latin. The compound words of AngO-Saxon
origin, however, do. For example: Constitution is
q word of Latin origin, from the word con- with and
so stand neither of which have any Specification to
the reader who is unacquantcd with Latin Iheoiosy
is word from the Greek, the elements OF when sig
nifty the science of God Now if words equivalent 10
constitution and theology could be picked out whose
makngup were alone plain English, both words would
have greater force to plain people If Constitution
were called SticEingtogeher, and Theology Godtalk
their force would be apparent to every one. The
writer therefore, who understands the tools of his
trade will in addressing persons of little education not
only consult simplicity ofarrangement, butslmpicity OF
words OF course we give glaring example OF radi-
cal reductions TO illustrate our meanings. What we
particularly admire in the German language is this ma
five force Of combination. The long words in German
are made up of short ones each of which has Ger
manic force and not Latin or Greek one.
A vast class of words with us lose, in fact much of
their beauty their Homeland heart intensity for the
want of this popular force in all their particles The
farmer if unettered knows perfectly the meaning OF
the word Agriculture whole but he does not know
that il is the Latin for earthworkng, which would be
much stronger English word If adopted Letting this
apply 70 ten thousand other words in ordinary, we
would suggest as one means Of enriching as well as
truly simplifying the language the adoption when it
can be done of compound words whose particles are
ENGLISH They would have a rudy glow and hearty
smack about them that would make them shine and
sound to the eye and ear of the people while to the
word.artist they would prove genial novelty
The music of language is also another very import
ant point The student Of style should mark the con-
nection of poetry with music elaborated by the best
composers in their melodies; and many useful
though irresouble hint might be derived therefrom
Tie breyity or length Of sentences the RISE culmina
ton and fall of whole periods the avoidance OF asper
ties or their adoption, all intimately connected
with this branch of the subject. The Greeks, whose
artistic sensibtes cannot be too much admired inva
riaby connected word and music studies hence their
models Our standards of language are very often not
high for want Of such antiquelike culture. Addison IS
praised to the empyrean by Thaekeray-but Adlisons
words have not the fire high genius and he could not
write poetry soMacaulay auded perfection of
style when his chief resource (apar from bis though
is to make short crisp sentences which as general
rule should only be used when vehement rapdity OF
description or passion is required.
There is ruinous prOcliyy to slang in our writer's as
though the living spirit Of language could not wreak IT.
self truly upon justly conceived words We have even
heard slang defended by literary man That orr
writers in ordinary are slangy that they twist and
wrgele in the bonds of pure English, while they often
hit the mark with their is not to be denied but
we prefer, nevertheless, pure English. We do not
mean by this classic models and FORTH but that the
word should apply to the thing expressed and not IN
clude the rafish aluson of mere slang.
We have commended above Richardson's Dictiona-
~: but there is another work so little mentioned
that it seems almost unknown. We mean Oswalds
chronological Dictionary This precious reservoir of
words gives all the words of classic origin in parallel
columns with the Latin or Greek words whence they
are derived To persons who have not been educated
at college, and to many who have, we name it as
valuable word-book
Fears are entertained in Arkansas lest the Indian