The regular forms of inflexion are er (comparative) and est (superlative). Some Adverbs have irregular, and others have defective, degrees of comparison. The word 'near' is a comparative form; but its first meaning is forgotten, and it is therefore treated as an adverb of the positive degree. The comparative form ere (= 'before') serves-mostly in verse—as a preposition and as a conjunction. The superlative form erst also belongs mostly to verse. The forms further and furthest strictly belong to the adverb forth. The first meaning of the adjective hræð the adverb rathe' means 'quickly' or 'early.' MILTON, in his phrase 'the rathe primrose,' employs the word as an adjective. = swift, and in Old English DERIVATION. 27. INTRODUCTION. Words, when classified with respect to their original forms and to their derivation and structure, have the following names :-Roots, Stems, Primary Derivatives, Secondary Derivatives, and Compound Words. A ROOT, in English, is a word that cannot be derived from any other word in English. A Primary Derivative is a word of which the use, or the relation to other words, or the class to which it belongs, is changed without the aid of a suffix. Ex.: the noun 'bond' is derived from the verb bind,' by changing the vowel. No attempt is here made to trace back any Modern English word to its oldest root or crude form. In the word action,' act is the stem and ion is the suffix. The crude form, or root, ag, is found in Greek and Latin, but does not distinctly exist as a word in English, though we have it in its unaltered form in the word 'agent,' with a vowel-change in 'exigent,' and with loss of the vowel in 'cogent.' The distinction made between roots and stems has, with respect to the analysis of Secondary Derivations, no practical importance. Stems may be called modified roots. In the Secondary Derivative 'rid-er' the root is rīd, and in 'road-ster' the first syllable, road, is a stem or a modified root. But the root and the stem are alike in this:—each is the main part or base of the word, of which the other part is a suffix. When we have to analyse a word only so far as to draw a line between the main part and the suffix, it is convenient to set aside, for the time, the different uses of the words 'root' and 'stem,' and to call the main part the stem, though it may perhaps be a root. By some writers the convenient word base' is employed, so that it may serve to denote either a root or a stem. The following verbs are examples of Roots in English:'bear' (to carry), 'bind,' 'bless,' ' feed,' 'live,' 'lōse,' 'rīde,' 'sing,' 'strike.' The following nouns are called Primary Derivatives 'bier,' 'bliss,' 'bond,' 'food,' 'life,' 'loss,' 'road,' 'song,' 'strōke.' Many words, without any change of form, are transferred, as parts of speech, from one class to another. For example, the following may be used as nouns or as verbs:-'āir,' 'bēard,' ' fish,' 'fōam,' 'hănd,' ‘lănd,' ‘mīnd,' 'sāil,' 'seal,' 'show,' 'snow.' The following may be used as adjectives or as verbs:- 'black,' 'lěvěl,' 'light,' open,'' warm.' In one class of Primary Derivatives a vowel-change takes place. Ex.: bait' and 'bit' (from 'bite'), a 'drōve' (from drive'), a 'road' (from 'ride'), a 'seat' (from 'sit'), a 'shot' (from 'shoot'), a 'song' (from 'sing'), 'stake' and 'stock' (from the verb 'stick '), and 'stroke' (from strike'). In a second class the final consonant of the stem is changed. Ex.: ' ditch' (from 'dig'), 'prōof' (from 'prove'), and strife' (from ‘strīve '). In a third class both the vowel and the final consonant are changed. Ex.: ‘bătch' (from 'bāke '), 'frost' (from ‘freeze '), 'life' (from 'live'), 'lõss' (from 'lōse'), 'wěft' and 'wōof’ (from weave'). Secondary Derivatives are mostly formed with the aid of English and Roman Suffixes. Ex.: 'lórd-ship,' 'mán-hood,' áct-ion,' 'órna-ment.' The suffixes ship and hood are English, but ion and ment are Roman. A Suffix is a word, or a part of a word, that has lost, partly or mostly, its own first meaning, and in many instances has suffered alterations of form. Thus it has been gradually reduced from the position of an independent word to a position that may be called menial, and it now serves to modify more or less the meanings of other words. Ex.: the modern adjective and adverbial suffix ly is an altered form of the First English word and adjective suffix lîc (= 'like'), of which the adverbial form is lîce. The form 'like' still holds its place as an independent word, but ly is a suffix. The Stem is that part of a derivative word to which the meaning chiefly belongs. To the Stem a suffix is appended, in order to change the meaning and the use of the word, or to remove it out of one class among the Parts of Speech into another Ex.: the Stem 'good' is an adjective; the Secondary Derivative, 'good-ness,' is an abstract noun. The Stems child' and 'man' are nouns, but the words 'child-like' and 'man-ly' are adjectives. Several suffixes have comparatively definite uses in the formation of Secondary Derivatives. Of other suffixes the use has become indefinite. For example, dom still retains a reference to dominion in the word 'kingdom;' but the uses of on and ion are various, or indefinite, in the words 'drágon,' 'chámpion,' 'million,' and 'mínion.' SECONDARY DERIVATIVES are, with respect to their etymology, divided into two classes. The first includes words formed with the aid of English suffixes. The second includes words with Roman suffixes and a few endings of Greek words. Each class contains nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Adverbial suffixes are English. 28. NOUN SUFFIXES.-ENGLISH. First may be noticed some brief forms, or vestiges, of derivative endings, that are now hardly noticed as suffixes. Of these several belong to names of the seasons of the year and other natural transitions, to names of implements and operations in agriculture, and to names of plants and animals. The order of suffixes-both English and Roman-in the lists that follow, is not alphabetical, but has reference to final sounds thus classified :— vowels (i, y, e, a, o, u, w); liquids (m, n, 1, r); labials (p, b, f, v); dentals (t, th, d); sibilant dentals (s, c, sh, ch, g); gutturals (k, c, ique, ch, g). Sharp sounds-labial, dental, and guttural-are placed before flat sounds, and therefore iff (in 'bailiff') is placed before ive (in ‘native'), though both represent one Latin suffix. No notice is taken of the silent final e in such suffixes as ate and ive. [See * 2.] Suffix. m n 1, le, el er t 6 6 6 Examples of Uses. méadow,' 'shadow,' ' spárrow,' 'swallow.' 'ráven,' 'apple,' 'fowl,' 'néttle,' 'óuzel,' 'sáddle,' 'belt,'' craft,'' dint,' draft,'émmet,' 'flint,' 'frost,' hárvest,' hórnet,' malt,' market,' 'mist,' 'night,' 'shaft,' 'thicket,' 'thirst,' 'wort' (= any plant). 'Spring, Summer,' and 'Winter' are English names; Autumn' is a Latin name, but 'harvest' (harf-est) is English. Suffix. th d, de se Examples of Uses. 'breadth,'' depth,' earth,' growth,'' health,' 'heath,'' mirth,' month," tilth,' 'warmth,' 'wealth,' 'width.' 'deed,' 'field,' 'fold,' 'ground,' 'herd,' Suffixes having the sound of final s, and els, a noun suffix in E.I. and E.II., does not belong to M.E. Suffix. k Examples of Uses. | 'hawk,' 'lark,' 'milk,' ' stork,'' work.' Of the following First English Suffixes some, when found in names of persons, have reference to character, position, and occupation. Others have a diminutive or contemptuous meaning. The order is that of the preceding list. Suffix. k-in Examples of Uses. (Not found in E.I., | ‘kílderkin,' lámbkin.' 'Pér is in E.II. dimi nutive) kin' and 'Pérkins' are diminutive forms of Piers.' In Middle High German ek-in, and in Mecklenburg Low German ek-en (= Modern High German ch-en), is a diminutive suffix. er Suffix. E.I. ere ster Examples of Uses. 6 'báker,' fisher,' fúller," 'leáder,' 'ríder,' 'spíder (= spinner), 'waggoner.' In E.I. the suffix est-re is the feminine of ere. In M.E. only one word—' spínster '—remains of several feminine nouns that, in Old English of the earlier time, had the suffix stere, which, at a later time, was freely employed in forming masculine names, such as correspond with the M.E. nouns Báxter' (= baker), 'Brewster' (= brewer), and 'Wébster' (= weaver). 'brággart,' Richard,'' slúg heard (strong) {| ard, art ald, old weald (power) ock ос, ис gard. ock has not always a diminutive meaning. The word 'paddock' may = a small field, or a toad. In 'mattock' the ock takes the place of og in the Cymraeg word 'matog.' Several English Suffixes are used in the formation of ab stract nouns, or names of general notions. |