The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1906-04-26

modern and unabridged dictionary a
fairly accurate and acceptable history
of the English language. Let us see if
this be truel
Opening dictionary at random the
first word to greet the eye is our mod
ern English word, THREE. Following
the phonetic spelling of the word, and
Immediately preceding the definitions,
our attention is arrested by q brack-
eted mixture of letters, authorizations,
hieroglyphics, ct cetera. Referring to
the table of authorizations, aud to the
chart showing the classification of lam
guages, and, whenever necessary, |
using these as key to aid US in solv-
ing the apparent puzzle, we learn that
the word may be used either as an
adjective or as noun; that as an Anglo
Saxon term it possessed two forms to
serve the three genders; that it is not
only akin to the German drei but also
to the Danish and Swedish tire; that it
came to us thru the Latin tres, and the
Greek treis, from the Sanskrit, an
ancient, but row obsolete, HindOO
tongue that was closely allied to the
Persian.
And thus we have, in nutshell, not
only the genealogy of the word, but, by
tracing 1t thru to its remotest roots, we
have. in a measure, established our
right to claim the prehistoric Aryans
as our ancestors, for, in common with
the one cited, many modern words are
essentially the same in the various
cognate tongues, and all such are in
dicatory of one original speech, and
serve to suggest the-life of the parent
race
CoIeridge, in The Aids to Reflection,
says: There arc cases IN wf1fcn mere
knowledge of more value may be con-
veyed by the history of word than by
the history of campaign" The
,, availability of textbooks, covering
every feature of the matter, renders it
both unnecessary and inadvisable to
, pursue the circuitous and tedious
method 1 have indicated-and used
merely as an ilustration-but, should
we continue the process, beginning
with the letter A and ending with Z,
we should amass vast amount OF
matter which, when properly classified
: would furnish us with veritable
mine of information, some of it re.
markable, much of it useful, and all OF
it instructive as we'll as interesting.
To delve into this fascinating story
> of what Edmund Rowland Sill has
happily termed "the clang-tint Of
words" means to be speedily impressed
; with the fact that no abstruse PROPOSE
tion is involved, and that it is, com
= paratively, an easy matter to learI
- much concerning the life of the Ian
= guage; to learn how it has gained in som'
= respects and, perhaps, lost in others
to learn the sources from which word
y - have come to us, and the manner o
y their coming; to learn how they hav
Il influenced the habits of the languag
o and not only served to transform it
appearance and alter its functions, but
y in measurable number of instances
]; even working complete revolution.
y In fact, liberal education await
" any one that has the inclination t
IS study the evolution of the Language
y and, by following its source from
Fl harsh gutteral speech consisting Q
IN not more than two thousand word
a. trace its development into one of th
r. richest languages in the world; lal
If guage serving approximately one hui
in dred and twenty-five millions of pc
Us sons, and embracing not less than tw
80 hundred and forty thousand word
al This comprehends, Of course, the who
vocabulary of the language wheth'
On obsolete, currert, provincial, technics
ry or slang, including the preterits an
ng participles of verbs-in fact, all words
N whatsoever nature, whether domest
in or foreign, radical Or derivative.
on In paper such as this it is mar
lc- festly impossibleeven to indicate, mu,
to less to mention, the many intensely i
'es teresting features that must newt
m bly, confront the conscientious seek
"a after knowledge. Besides, be it l
lly membered, our text introduces on
it the grammar Of words, with speci
Of reference to matters of pronunciati'
aland meaning, and 1t is with the