Sect. I. The barbarism....Part III. By the use of good words new-modelled. where we have fifty. The advice of the poet with regard to both the forementioned sorts of barbarism, is extremely good. In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold; Be not the first by whom the new are try'd, PART III....By the use of good words new-modelled. THE third species of barbarism, is that produced by new formations and compositions, from primitives in present use. I acknowledge, that when the English analogy is observed in the derivation or composition, and when the new-coined word is wanted in the language, greater liberty ought to be given on this article than on the former. The reason of the difference will appear from what hath been said already. But still this is a liberty which needs an excuse from necessity, and is in no case pardonable, unless the words be at least not disagreeable to the ear, and be so analogically formed, that a reader, without the help of the context, may easily discover the meaning.. Now, if the plea of necessity be requisite, what quarter is due to such frivolous innovations as these, incumberment*, portic *, martyrised, eucharisty analyse *, connexity*; stoician *, platonician *, peripa Pope's Essay on Criticism. * Bolingbroke VOL. I. Of grammatical purity. tetician *, pythagorician*, fictious †, majestatic ‡, acception §, which were intended solely to express what had always been at least as well expressed by encumbrance, portico, martyr'd, eucharist, analysis, connexion, stoic, platonist, peripatetic, pythagorean, fictitious, majestic, acceptation. And if any regard is due to the ear, what shall we say ofI cannot call it the composition, but--the collision of words which are naturally the most unfit for coalescing, like saint authors, saintprotectrices, architectcapacity, commentatorcapacity, authorcharacter, and many others forged in the same taste, to be found in the pages of a late right honourable author? And lastly, if the analogy of the language must be preserved in composition, to what kind of reception are the following entitled, which have issued from the same source, selfend, selfpassion, selfaffections, selfpractice, komedialect, bellysense, and mirrourwriting? Ir may indeed, be urged, that the pronoun self is used in composition with such latitude, that one can scarcely err in forming new words with its assistance. But this is a mistake. New words may be formed by it; but they must be formed analogically. And the analogy of these formations may be understood. from observing, that when analysed thus, they ought regularly to exhibit the same meaning. Make one's self, * Bolingbroke, + Prior. Spectator, No. 58c. § Hammond. Shaftesbury, Sect. I. The barbarism....Part III. By the use of good words new-modelled. himself, herself, itself, or themselves, as the sense requires, follow the last word in the compound, with the preposition intervening, with which the word, whether noun or participle, is usually construed. If the word be a substantive, the preposition is commonly of, if the passive participle, by, and if the active participle,' no preposition is requisite. Thus selflove is the love of one's self. In the same way are resolved, self hate, selfmurder, selfpreservation! When we say of a man that he is selfcondemned, we mean, that he is con demned by himself. A selfconsuming fire, is a fire consuming itself. 1 Now to apply this observation, what is the meaning of the end of one's self, the passion of one's self, the affections of one's self, and the practice of one's self? And if some meaning may be affixed to any of these expressions, it is easy to perceive, thất is not the meaning of the author. Yet I can remember but two compounds that have obtained in English, which are not formed according to the analogy above explained. One is self-willed, signifying perverse, and now little used; the other is selfexistence, a favourite word of some metaphysicians, which, if it signify any thing more than what is prcperly and clearly expressed by independency and eternity, signifies I know not what. In new formations, however, the rule ought to be followed, and not the exceptions. But what shall be said of such mon sters, as selfpractice, bellysense, mirrourwriting? These, indeed, might have been regarded as flowers of rhe Of grammatical purity. toric in the days of Cromwell, when a jargon of this sort was much in vogue, but are extremely unsuitable to the chaster language of the present age. AGAIN, under this class may be ranked another modern refinement, I mean the alterations that have been made by some late writers on proper names and some other words of foreign extraction, and on their derivatives, on pretence of bringing them nearer, both in pronunciation and in spelling, to the original names, as they appear in the language from which those words were taken. In order to answer this important purpose, several terms which have maintained their place in our tongue for many centuries, and which are known to every body, must be expelled, that room may be made for a set of uncouth and barbarous sounds, with which our ears are unacquainted, and to some of which it is impossible for us so to adapt our organs, accustomed only to English, as rightly to articulate them. Ir hath been the invariable custom of all nations, as far as I know; it was particularly the custom of the Grecians and the Romans, when they introduced a foreign name into their language, to make such alterations on it, as would facilitate the pronunciation to their own people, and render it more analogous to the other words of their tongue. There is an evident convenience in this practice; but where the harm of it is, I am not able to discover. No more can I divine Sect. I. The barbarism....Part III. By the use of good words new-modelled. what good reason can be alleged for proscribing the name Zoroaster, till of late universally adopted by English authors who had occasion to mention that eastern sage, and the same, except in termination, that is used in Greek and Latin classics. Is Zerdusht, which those people would substitute in its place, a more musical word? Or is it of any consequence to us, that it is nearer the Persian original? Will this sound give us a deeper insight than the other into the character, the philosophy, and the history of the man? On the same principles we are commanded by these refiners to banish Confucius for the sake of Con-fut-cee, and never again, on pain of the charge of gross ignorance, to mention Mahomet, Mahometan, Mahometism, since Mohammed, Mohammedan, Mohammedism, are ready to supply their room. Musulman must give place to moslem, begira to hejra, and alcoran to koran. The dervis too is turned a dirvesh, and the bashaw is transformed into a pacha. BUT why do our modern reformers stop here? Ought not this reformation, if good for any thing, to be rendered more extensively useful? How much more edifying would holy writ prove to readers of every capacity, if, instead of those vulgar corruptions, Jacob and Judah, and Moses and Elijah, we had the satisfaction to find in our Bibles, as some assure us that the words ought to be pronounced, Yagnhakob, and Yehudah, and Moscheh, and Eliyahu? Nay, since it seems to be agreed amongst our oriental scholars, that |