In the State of Louisiana, which was colonized by the French, and in Florida, which was colonized by the Spaniards, there are many words of foreign origin, scarcely known in the Northern States. The geographical divisions, the names of rivers, mountains, bays; the peculiarities of soil and climate; all that relates to the cultivation of the earth, the names of fishes, birds, fruits, vegetables, coins, etc., etc., retain to a great extent the names given them by the first possessors of the country. The same classes of words are preserved in Lower Canada, where they were originally given by the French. We have adopted them into our own tongue, where they will forever remain in use. Among the words of French origin are bagasse, banquette, cache, bodette, bayou, sault, levee, crevasse, habitan, portage, voyageur. The Spanish colonists in Florida, and our intercourse with Mexico and the Spanish main, were the means of introducing a few Spanish words. Since the annexation of Texas, New Mexico, and California, our vocabulary has received numerous additions from this source. These consist of geographical terms; as, arroyo, acequia, barranca, canyon, cienega, cieneguita, faralones, loma, mesa, mesilla, playa, ojo, sierra, jornada; of names of articles of food, as tortilla, frijoles, atole, pinole, chile; and of various other terms, as, arriero, adobe, chaparal, pistareen, rancho, ranchero, lariat, lasso, fandango, stampede, serape, vamos.

The Indian terms in our language, as might be supposed, are numerous. First, as to geographical names. These abound in every State in the Union, though more in some States than in others. In New England, particularly on the coast, Indian names are very common. Nearly all the rivers, bays, and prominent landmarks bear them, as Housatonic, Connecticut, Quinnebaug, Pawcatuck, Merrimack, Kennebec, Penobscot, Narraganset, Passamaquoddy, etc. In other parts of the country, too, the rivers retain their aboriginal names, as the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Susquehanna, Roanoke, Altamaha, Chattahoochie, Alabama, etc., etc. And the same may be said of the great lakes; as, Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, as well as the lesser ones of Seneca, Cayuga, Canandaigua, Oneida, Winnipeg, Winnebago; and also of nearly all the bays, mountains, and numerous geographical divisions and localities. Many of the aboriginal names, however, have been discarded for others less appropriate. In New England the towns and villages were chiefly named after the towns in England from which the early colonists emigrated. In the State of New York there is a strange discrepancy in the names of places. Before the Revolution the people seemed to prefer the aboriginal names; not only the rivers, lakes, hills, etc., but many of the towns, received them. After the war, the names of distinguished statesmen and soldiers were applied to the new counties and towns. Besides geographical names, the Indian languages have supplied us with 1st, Many names of beasts and fishes, as caribou, cayman, chipmuk,

moose, ocelot, opossum, raccoon, skunk, manitee, squeteague, menhaden, pauhaugen, scuppaug, quahaug. 2d, Of plants; as, persimmon, chincapin, pecan, tuckahoe, maize, kinnikinnik, tobacco; particularly preparations of them for food, as samp, hominy, succotash, supawn from Indian corn; and from the cassava plant, mandioca and tapioca. 3d, Names of articles known to and used by the Indians, and which the Europeans did not possess ; as, canoe, hammock, moccasin, wampum, wigwam, tomahawk, pemmican; and 4th, names applied by Indians to themselves in their various relations; as, inca, cazique, cockarouse, mingo, sachem, sagamore, squaw, pappoos. The greatest perversions of the English language arise from two opposite One of them is the introduction of vulgarisms by uneducated people, who not having the command of proper words to express their ideas, invent others for the purpose. These words continue among this class, are transmitted by them to their children, and thus become permanent and provincial. They are next seized upon by stump-speakers at political meetings, because they are popular with the masses. Next we hear

causes.

them on the floor of Congress and in our halls of legislation. Quoted by the newspapers, they become familiar to all, and take their place in the colloquial language of the whole people. Lexicographers now secure them and give them a place in their dictionaries; and thus they are firmly engrafted on our language. The study of lexicography will show that this process has long been going on in England, and doubtless other languages are subject to similar influences.

But the greatest injury to our language arises from the perversion of legitimate words and the invention of hybrid and other inadmissible expressions by educated men, and particularly by the clergy. This class is the one, above all others, which ought to be the conservators rather than the perverters of language. It is nevertheless a fact which cannot be denied, that many strange and barbarous words to which our ears are gradually becoming familiar, owe to them their origin and introduction; among them may be mentioned such verbs as to fellowship, to difficult, to eventuate, to doxologize, to happify, to donate, to funeralize, etc., etc.

Political writers have made, and are constantly making large additions to our stock of words and phrases. Alex. Hamilton's writings abound in newly coined expressions; many of which have been adopted by Dr. Webster, and have a place in his dictionary. But few, however, have come into general use, as his writings have not been widely diffused, and there is nothing to recommend them for adoption by scholars. Mr. N. P. Willis, also, has the reputation of inventing many new words, some of which, though not yet embodied in our 'dictionaries, are much used in familiar language. Judge Story has contributed his share of new words; but as they

are confined to legal treatises and works on the Constitution, they can never seriously affect the language.

Writers of political articles in the newspapers, stump-orators, and the members of legislative bodies, have added much to the English vocabulary. This class of words, though not remarkable for their elegance, are often highly expressive, and become more widely known than other classes. In many instances, however, their existence is but short. They often spring up with a party; and as the parties become extinct, or give place to new ones, the terms which express their peculiar ideas or doctrines likewise fall out of use. In this class may be included such terms as Old Hunker, Bucktail, Federalist, Barnburner, Loco-foco, Young Democracy, Democratic Republican, Know-nothing, Native American, Nullifier, Nullification, Coon, Coonery, Fire-eater, Black Republican, Silver-gray, Wire-puller, etc.

There are words, however, in this class, which, having grown out of our peculiar institutions, are of a permanent nature. The origin of some of these is involved in obscurity, while that of others is well known. Sometimes a little incident trivial in itself has brought into existence words which are extremely expressive, and which will remain as long as our institutions exist. In this class we find caucus, mass-meeting, buncombe or bunkum, to lobby, mileage, gubernatorial, senatorial, squatter sovereignty, stamping ground, stump, etc.

The peculiar physical features of the country-its animals, productions, aborigines, forest-life, etc.—have been a most fruitful source, from which have sprung perhaps the largest number of new words, as necessary and useful to ourselves as any derived from our Saxon ancestors. These terms are not

66

used in England, for the simple reason that there they are not wanted. Although I cannot agree with Dr. Webster, that "we rarely find a new word introduced into a language which is entirely useless," for there are unquestionably thousands of words encumbering our dictionaries which might well be dispensed with; yet there is no doubt that, in most instances, the use of new terms is dictated by necessity or utility; sometimes to express shades of difference in signification, for which the language did not supply a suitable term; sometimes to express a combination of ideas by a single word, which otherwise would require a circumlocution. These benefits, which are often perceived, as it were, instinctively by a nation, recommend such words to common use, till the cavils of critics are silenced by the weight of authority."— Letter to J. Pickering, p. 7.

Were we to classify the periods when names were applied to places in the State of New York, for example, we would call that in which the Indian names were applied, the aboriginal period. This is as far back as it

would be safe for ordinary mortals to go, leaving the "antediluvian" period to the second sight of such seers as Mr. Rafinesque.*

The Indian names seem to have prevailed till the Revolution. Then came a burst of patriotism among the settlers, many of whom doubtless had served in the war, and every new place was christened with the names of the warriors and statesmen of the day. Thus arose Washington county, Washington village, and Washington hollow; Jefferson county, village, lake, etc. The State of New York has thus perpetuated, in her towns and villages, the names of Adams, Jay, Lafayette, Hamilton, Madison, Pinckney, Putnam, Pulaski, Schuyler, De Kalb, Steuben, Sullivan, Gates, Wayne, etc. This may well be styled the patriotic period. The names of statesmen and generals, however, did not suffice for the patriotism of our early pioneers, for we find interspersed among them the names of Freedom, Freetown, Freeport, Independence, Liberty, Victory, Hopewell, Harmony, Concord, Union, etc.

Next comes the classical period; for by what other term could we designate a period when towns were christened by the names of such men as Homer, Virgil, Solon, Ovid, Cato, Euclid, Brutus, Pompey, Tully, Cicero, Aurelius, Scipio, Ulysses, Seneca, Hannibal, Hector, Romulus, Lysander, Manlius, Camillus, and Marcellus; or of such places as Athens, Sparta, Marathon, Troy, Corinth, Pharsalia, Palmyra, Utica, Smyrna, Rome, and Carthage. Testimony to the piety (to say nothing of the good taste) of our forefathers is also afforded by the occurrence of such names as Eden, Babylon, Sodom, Jerusalem, Jericho, Hebron, Goshen, Bethany, Bethpage, Bethlehem, Sharon, etc. There are towns named after nearly every country in Europe, as Norway, Sweden, Denmark (with a Copenhagen adjoining), Russia, Greece, Italy, Sardinia, Holland, Wales, as well as after their principal cities. There is a town of Mexico, Chili, Peru, Delhi, Canton, Cairo, Egypt, China, Cuba. Distinguished men in English history, as Milton, Addison, Clarendon, Dryden, Scott, Byron, Chesterfield, Hume, Marlborough, Junius, have towns christened with their names. But little fondness is exhibited for dramatic authors, as the name of the greatest of them all has been forgotten not even a pond, a hollow, or a swamp has been honored with the name of Shakspeare. If we were to classify all the names of places in the State of New York, we should be puzzled to find a place for the names of Painted Post, Oxbow, Halfmoon, Owl Pond, Oyster Bay, Mud Creek, Cow Neck, Mosquito Cove, Oblong, Pitcher, Red Jacket, Rough and Ready, Success, and the like. The name of Penn Yan is said to have been manufactured by the first settlers, part of whom were from Pennsylvania and the rest from New England, by taking the first syllable from "Pennsylvania," and the last from "Yankee."

* See Introduction to History of Kentucky.

Strangely formed factitious words are much affected at the West, abskize, absquatulate, catawampously, exflunctify, obscute, slantendicular, etc. etc.; and in the South such onomatopees as keslosh, kesouse, keswollop, kewhollux, etc.

The battle fields of the Mexican war are commemorated in eighteen Buena Vistas, sixteen Montereys, nine Palo Altos, and two Resacas. And the names of its heroes have given birth to a host of Taylors and Taylorvilles, Worths and Worthvilles, Pierces and Piercevilles, besides Piercetown, Pierceland, and Pierce Point; also several Polks and Polkvilles, together with Polktown, Polk City, Polk Patch, Polk Precinct, and Polk Run; and two additional Quitmans. In California many places have been absurdly named from some trifling incident connected with the first settlement; such as Hangtown, Fiddletown, Shirt-Tail Canyon, Whiskey Gulch, Port Wine Diggings, Humbug Flat, Murderer's Bar, Flapjack Canyon, Yankee Jim's, Jackass Gulch, Red Dog, Traveller's Rest, Fair Play, with many others equally ridiculous.

In consequence of the variety of origin of the names of States and towns, the formation of nouns from them to denote the native or citizen of such State or town is sometimes difficult and even impossible. Thus New Yorker, Vermonter, Rhode Islander, will do well enough; and so will Virginian, Georgian, Philadelphian, Bostonian, Mobilian; but Buffalonian, Illinoian, Ohioan, are hardly admissible; while Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Arkansas.refuse to yield to the process at all.

The class of new words and new meanings of old words which owe their origin to circumstances or productions peculiar to the United States, such as ark, backwoods, backwoodsmen, breadstuffs, barrens, blaze, bottoms, broadhorn, buffalo-robe, cane-brake, cypress-brake, clearing, corn broom, cornshucking, deadening, diggings, dug-out, flat-boat, hog-wallow, husking, interval, location, pine-barrens, prairie, preëmption, reservation, salt lick, savannah, snag, sawyer, squatter, etc., are necessary additions to the language.

The metaphorical and other odd expressions used first at the West, and afterwards in other parts of the country, often originate in some curious anecdote or event, which is transmitted from mouth to mouth, and soon made the property of all. Political writers and stump speakers perform a prominent part in the invention and diffusion of these phrases. Among these may be mentioned, to cave in, to acknowledge the corn, to flash in the pan, to bark up the wrong tree, to wake up the wrong passenger, to pull up stakes, to be a caution, to fizzle out, to flat out, to fix his flint, to be among the missing, to give him Jessy, to see the elephant, to fly around, to spread oneself, to tucker out, to use up, to walk into, to cotton, to hifer, to chisel, to slope, to lobby, to gerrymander, to splurge, etc. etc.

Our people, particularly those who belong to the West and South, are