DIFFERENCE OF MEANING BETWEEN WORDS OF SIMILAR SOUNDS

Tuere is little difficulty in distinguishing a New Englander from an inhabitant of the South or West by his language. This is partly by his accent, but more especially by the expressions peculiar to him. If the sailor, the soldier, the farmer use different terms in their daily occupations, it must necessarily affect the language of those with whom they associate constantly, and in the course of time establish a marked difference in the idiom of inhabitants of the Atlantic cities, and those of the valley of the Mississippi.

Geographical position, social and political condition, intercourse and mixture with other nations, great events, inventions, discoveries, and even temperament and fashion, all tend to alter the form of a language, however it may be protected by its authors and public instruction. Frequently a custom, a joke, or accident of which no trace remains, has given birth to new words, or altered the sense of the old ones: so much so, that in reading an ancient author, the style will often seem to us extravagant, and sometimes even ludicrous, only because we are unacquainted with the true acceptation of the words and expressions used at that time.

If two or three centuries have made such a striking difference in the same language, what must be the influence of six or eight centuries upon words which, although originally of the same meaning, have been used by two nations whose course has been marked by events and circumstances so vastly dissimilar as those which form the history of England and France!

Hence the different shades of signification which sometimes the same word may present in the two languages, and which in a few instances deviate so much from the original meaning, as to convey actually a different idea in French and English.

The following words especially, are those which, by the great deviation from their primitive meaning, might occasion misunderstanding, and amongst which two or three may be found accidentally alike, but of a totally different etymology.

English. French. French. English.

ABSENT ..,.....-Distrait …............ABsEenT.......... Absent. APOLOGY .....+. EXCUSE ................. APOLOGIE....... Defence. Bonnet ......... Chapeau de femme..Bonyer ....

Cuaracter ....Réputation ........... CARACTÈRE Corn. ….…......Monnaie ....... oe COIN ............. Corner. CoNVENIENT .... is ...CONVENANT .... Proper.

CounTENANCE CoNTENANCE ....Deportment.

CourTrER CouRTIER ....... Broker.

Disgrace... DIsGRACE ....... Misfortune Far....... on we FAT. cee eee Corcomb.

FEMALE .. .FEMELLE .......Female, (of animals.) GENTEEL Ge i GENTIL .......... Pretty.

GentTLeMaN ....Hommecommeil faut Gevnrraomme . Nobleman. GRAPES.......... Raisins .................GRAPPEs.........Bunches.

aie HABIT se .. Coat.

. -INHABITE Uninhabited.

. JOURNÉE. ...... Day.

Médecin ..

Assiette ..

Laughable. i

Agréable ............ >:

Plein de confiance. .SAnGuIN …......Sanguine. Courage, vivacité ….Esprir ..........Sense, wit. Lunettes …........... .SrecraACLEs .... Sights. TEAC. is cérenuste . TRAITEUR .......Hating-house-keeper. ...-Donner de la peine .. TROUBLER ...... to agitate. sis Voyage par mer ..... VOYAGE ......... Journey.

The preceding Chapters, although concise, contain all that is requisite for the present purpose. Those who, in the course of time, wish to give special attention to the comparative study of languages, and of French and English in particular, are referred to:

oe

History and Formation of the Languages.

Court pr Grsetiy.—Monde primitif 3™° vol. Origine du langage. Hervas.—Origine, formazione ed armonia deg!’ idomi.

Luter Lanzi.—Storia de’ popoli, delle lingue e delle belle arti. Murray.—History of the European Languages.

Dz Brossrs.—Traité de la formation mécanique des langues,

Universal Grammar.

Court DE GrBetin.—Monde primitif. 2 vol. Grammaire universelle,

J. C. ADELUNG.—Mithridates, oder allgemeine Sprachkunde.

Horne Tooxe.—Diversions of Purley.

Harris.—Hermes, or a Philosophical Inquiry concerning Universal Grammar.

Comparative Study of Languages.

W. Vox Humsotpr—Ueber die Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachbaues.

F. Avetune.—Uebersicht aller bekannten sprachen.

De Jeniss.—Philosophisch-Kritische Vergleichung von vierzehn ältern und neuern Sprachen Europas.

Becuer.—Clavis convenientiæ linguarum.

Roman Language.

Raynovarp.—Eléments de grammaire de la langue romane, avant l’an mil.

RoquzFort.—Glossaire de la langue romane.

Cornewatt Lewis.—An Essay on the Origin and Formation of the Roman Languages.

Sismonp1.—Littérature du midi de l’Europe.

SeuiecEeL.—Observations sur la langue et la littérature provençale.

History of the French Language.

Ampire—Histoire de la formation de la langue française.

Mary-Laron.—Tableau historique et littéraire de la langue parlée dans le midi de la France. :

Génrw.—Des variations de la langue française depuis le XIII? siècle.

Rrvarot.—De l’universalité de la langue française.

French Grammar.

Conprmrac—CEuvres de. 5™ vol. grammaire française. BrscHERELLE—Grammaire nationale.

Dictionaries.

Lacomse.—Dictionnaire du vieux langage.

Menace.—Dictionnaire étymologique.

BrscueRELLE.—Dictionnaire national.

Dictionnaire de l'Académie.

Ricuarpsoy’s New Dictionary.

Boora.—Analytical Dictionary of the English language.

The most important of the above works may be found in the

Astor Library, New York.

PROGRESSIVE READER

PROGRESSIVE READER