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Untitled Article
themselves . Xhe sound caused by the combustion of gase 3 ifl the atmosphere , is called tonitru , donner , truenoy tonnerre , thunder , by different nations , and each word has a resemblance to the actual sound . Tone * and tongue * are probably cognates of the same root . The sound emitted by a snake , we call a hiss . This is merely an imitative name . In Spanish , the word is silbo , but
the hissing sound is therein kept up . The Latin mugire , and the moo-cow of children and nursery-maids , both resemble in sound the lowing of black cattle . The sheep bleats , the pigeon coos , the dog barks , the wplf howls , the cat mews , the bird whistles , the lion roars . Are not the words bleating , cooing , barking , howling , mewing , whistling , and roaring , all key-notes to the different sounds the various animals give forth ? These examples niig ^ t be multiplied if needful ., as the whir of a
partridge , the crow of a cock , &c . The wprd bucanier is now synonymous with pirate or searobber . We know the origin of the term historically ; but if we had not known it , the word itself affords the means of getting at the fact . The original bucaniers were hunters of swine , the flesh of which they dried by heat , and being cruelly oppressed by the Spaniards , they sallied forth from the island of Tortuga , and took to sea-robbing for a livelihood . But if we had lost the
history of the origin of these men , we might have traced it by the analysis of the name , which in the root , bucan , is synonymous with the Anglo-Saxon bacan , signifying , to dry by heat , that is , to smote , which is the process of preparing bacon , so that bucaniers are , in reality , baconeers , or bacon makers .
In the Spanish language , a hat , or covering for the head , is palled a sombrero , literally a shader . In German , a hat is called a hut , which is equivalent to our hood or hut , signifying a cover . Does not this distinctly mark the difference of climate , when in one case only a shade is required , and in the other a roof ?
The word road signifies a portion of ground ridden over . A path signifies a portion of ground passed over by foot-passengers . Therefore , in whatever language a word equivalent to road may be found , it is a proof that those who used it possessed beasts of burden , ^ nd most probably beasts and vehicles of draught . The Spaniards say Camino de rodaje , meaning wheel-road . In the German language , rad signifies a wheel , and is evidently equivalent to the Latin radius . Rayed signifies starting from a centre ,
as the rays of the sun , or the spokes of a wheel . In countries \ vhere there are no wheel-carriages , there are no roads properly so called , but merely bridle paths or foot-paths . The word wedding is derived from the Anglo-Saxon wad or wed , signifying a pledge , namely , the ring . A Scotch mortgage , i . e . death p ledge , is called a wadset , i . e . a pledge given . Therefore , parl ^ pieat ^ ry candidates are wrong in supposing pledges to be new things . They are somewhat older than the practice of applicants
Untitled Article
38 ( 5 Proposal for a flfational ( hUige of Language
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1833, page 386, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2616/page/26/
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