8. Other Elements.—In addition to its primary constituents—namely, the Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and French-Latin—the English vocabulary contains a large number of Greek derivatives and a considerable number of Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese words, besides various terms derived from miscellaneous sources.

The following are examples of words taken from miscellaneous sources; that is, from sources other than Anglo-Saxon, Latin, French-Latin, and Greek:—

Hebrew: amen, cherub, jubilee, leviathan, manna, sabbath, seraph.

Arabic: admiral, alcohol, algebra, assassin, camphor, caravan, chemistry, cipher, coffee, elixir, gazelle, lemon, magazine, nabob, sultan.

Turkish: bey, chibouk, chouse, janissary, kiosk, tulip.

Persian: azure, bazaar, checkmate, chess, cimeter, demijohn, dervise, orange, paradise, pasha, turban.

Hindustani: calico, jungle, pariah, punch, rupee, shampoo, toddy.

Malay: a-muck, bamboo, bantam, gamboge, gong, gutta-percha, mango.

Chinese: nankeen, tea.

Polynesian: kangaroo, taboo, tattoo.

American Indian: maize, moccasin, pemmican, potato, tobacco, tomahawk, tomato, wigwam.

Celtic: bard, bran, brat, cradle, clan, druid, pony, whiskey.

Scandinavian: by-law, clown, dregs, fellow, glade, hustings, kidnap, plough.

Dutch, or Hollandish: block, boom, bowsprit, reef, skates, sloop, yacht.

Italian: canto, cupola, gondola, grotto, lava, opera, piano, regatta, soprano, stucco, vista.

Spanish: armada, cargo, cigar, desperado, flotilla, grandee, mosquito, mulatto, punctilio, sherry, sierra.

Portuguese: caste, commodore, fetish, mandarin, palaver.

9. Proportions.—On an examination of passages selected from modern English authors, it is found that of every hundred words sixty are of Anglo-Saxon origin, thirty of Latin, five of Greek, and all the other sources combined furnish the remaining five.

By actual count, there are more words of classical than of Anglo-Saxon origin in the English vocabulary,—probably two and a half times as many of the former as of the latter. But Anglo-Saxon words are so much more employed—owing to the constant repetition of conjunctions, prepositions, adverbs, auxiliaries, etc. (all of Anglo-Saxon origin)—that in any page of even the most Latinized writer they greatly preponderate. In the Bible, and in Shakespeare's vocabulary, they are in the proportion of ninety per cent. For specimens showing Anglo-Saxon words, see p. 136.

II.—ETYMOLOGICAL CLASSES OF WORDS.

10. Classes by Origin.—With respect to their origin, words are divided into two classes,—primitive words and derivative words.

11. A primitive word, or root, is one that cannot be reduced to a more simple form in the language to which it is native: as, man, good, run.

12. A derivative word is one made up of a root and one or more formative elements: as, manly, goodness, runner.

The formative elements are called prefixes and suffixes. (See §§ 16, 17.)

13. By Composition.—With respect to their composition, words are divided into two classes,—simple and compound words.

14. A simple word consists of a single significant term: as, school, master, rain, bow.

15. A compound word is one made up of two or more simple words united: as, school-master, rainbow.

In some compound words the constituent parts are joined by the hyphen as school-master; in others the parts coalesce and the compound forms a single (though not a simple) word, as rainbow.

III.—PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES.

16. A prefix is a significant syllable or word placed before and joined with a word to modify its meaning: as, unsafe = not safe; remove = move back; circumnavigate = sail around.

17. A suffix is a significant syllable or syllables placed after and joined with a word to modify its meaning: as, safely = in a safe manner; movable = that may be moved; navigation = act of sailing.

The word affix signifies either a prefix or a suffix; and the verb to affix means to join a prefix or a suffix to a root-word.

EXERCISE.

Tell whether the following words are primitive or derivative, and also whether simple or compound:—

IV.—RULES OF SPELLING USED IN FORMING DERIVATIVE WORDS.

Rule 1.—Final "e" followed by a Vowel.

Final e of a primitive word is dropped on taking a suffix beginning with a vowel: as, blame + able = blamable; guide + ance = guidance; come + ing = coming; force + ible = forcible; obscure + ity = obscurity.

Exception 1.—Words ending in ge or ce usually retain the e before a suffix beginning with a or o, for the reason that c and g would have the hard sound if the e were dropped: as, peace + able = peaceable; change + able = changeable; courage + ous = courageous.

Exception 2.—Words ending in oe retain the e to preserve the sound of the root: as, shoe + ing = shoeing; hoe + ing = hoeing. The e is retained in a few words to prevent their being confounded with similar words: as, singe + ing = singeing (to prevent its being confounded with singing).

Rule II.—Final "e" followed by a Consonant.

Final e of a primitive word is retained on taking a suffix beginning with a consonant: as, pale + ness = paleness; large + ly = largely.

Exception 1.—When the final e is preceded by a vowel, it is sometimes omitted; as, due + ly = duly; true + ly = truly;