Chapter II: Preface: 3

FROM THE IRISH 7

HISTORY—THE CELTS 9

LESSONS IN IRISH 13

NAMES—THEIR DERIVATION 18

FROM THE ANGLO-SAXON 51

HISTORY—JUTES, SAXONS, ANGLES 53

LESSONS IN ANGLO-SAXON 57

NAMES—THEIR DERIVATION 65

FROM THE ANGLO-NORMAN 171

HISTORY—NORMAN CONQUEST 173

ANGLO-NORMAN LANGUAGE 175

NAMES—THEIR DERIVATION 180

FROM THE SCOTCH 189

HISTORY—THE SCOT 191

SCOTCH—AS IT NOW EXISTS 195

NAMES—THEIR DERIVATION 197

ADDENDA ET CORRIGIENDA 208

FROM THE IRISH.

HISTORY—THE CELTS.

Careful study and research have enabled philologists to establish a system of linguistic classification. They have given us such families as the Chinese, the Polynesian, the Scythian, the Semitic, and others; and above them all the great Indo-European Family, which comprehends ten members—three Asiatic and seven European.

Seven of these ten families have long been recognized, namely: Iranian, or Ancient and Modern Persian; Indian, or Sanskrit, used in Hindostan; Hellenic—Ancient and Modern Greek; Italic, that is, the Latin and its descendants—Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Provençal, Rheto-Romanic, and Wallachian; Slavonic, preëminently the Russian; Celtic, or Keltic, made up of the Cymric and the Gaelic; Teutonic, subdivided into Gothic, Scandinavian, High German, and Low German. Into the Low German the English falls. Recent scholars have added to these seven the Lithuanian, Armenian, and Albanian, making ten in all.

So unlike are these languages now, that it was not suspected until this century that they were once the same speech spoken by a people dwelling together long enough to build up a respectable vocabulary and a common language. The home of this mother-tribe is involved in obscurity. Conjecture, at one time, placed it upon the high table-land of Eastern Persia. Recent surmise, principally German, locates it in Germany, in Scandinavia, in Russia just north of the Caucasus mountains. When, and in what order, the migrations took place is also conjectural. That great migrations did occur, and that each migrating horde carried along with it the parent speech, is no longer questioned. Strong authorities make it credible that the Celtic tribes were the first to abandon the old homestead and seek their fortunes in new and strange lands.

Of this people, the Celts, when first they appear upon the historical horizon, some prefatory remarks are needed. They occupied the Spanish Peninsula, Gaul when conquered by Cæsar, and Britain, when visited by him in 55 and 54 B. C. In Britain, they were divided into many tribes, and were seldom known to unite in a common cause. They lived in houses hollowed out of the hills, built with low stone walls, thatched with reeds and straw, and lighted only by the door. Their dress consisted of the tunic and short trousers. Fruits, milk, flesh, and grain bruised and baked, constituted their food. They manufactured earthenware, war chariots, arrows, the sword, the spear, the battle-axe, and the shield, burned or buried their dead, tattooed their bodies, and were largely controlled by their priests. The latter—the _druids_—monopolized the learning, took to themselves supreme authority, settled all disputes, civil and criminal, and were exempt from taxation and all public duties.

No determined resistance was offered by the Celts to Roman occupancy of Britain, for, under Agricola, the Romans had by 84 A. D., conquered as far north as the Firth of Forth, which they joined to the river Clyde by the wall of Antoninus. Subsequently, they built as additional protection against the Picts, the noted wall of Severus, sometimes called Hadrian’s wall, which united the Solway and the Tyne. No attempt of a thorough conquest of the island was made by the Romans, but with their headquarters at Eboracum, now York, they held it by a chain of fortified posts, whose site is now mainly indicated by towns with names terminating in _chester_, _cester_ or _caster_—modifications of the Latin _castra_, a camp. These posts the Romans connected by broad and straight military roads over which their legions could readily march.

Roman aggrandizement was of primary importance. Taxes were levied on arable land, on pasture land, and on fruits, and duties were exacted at the ports. Agriculture was fostered, and large quantities of grain exported to Rome. But the imperial city whose empire was so wide, and whose armies were mostly composed of conscripts from subjugated people, and led by generals of their own blood, was threatened by invading hordes, and was compelled to withdraw her legions for home defense. By 420 the soldiers had all been withdrawn, and the Celts were themselves once more. But their freedom and rejoicing were of short continuance. A more formidable invasion than that of the Roman followed, and by the middle of the fifth century they were the slaves of the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes.

Upon the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain, the unsubdued Picts and Scots of the north attacked the Celts of the south, who had been subjects of Roman oppression. Whether the assailed Britons detached the Gothic tribes from an alliance with the Picts and Scots, and turned them against their former allies; whether, without having been in league with them, the strangers came from their home beyond the North Sea to help beat back the Picts and Scots; or whether, tempted by the fertile soil, they came on their own account, we may never know; but one thing is certain, that they came, and that they came never to go away. Their coming is of weighty significance, for they became the basis of the English nation, and their speech the parent of the English language.

The unconquered Celts of the west and north spoke their own tongue—the Celtic—while that of the conquered portion was overwhelmingly the language of the conquerors, and was called the Anglo-Saxon. It was not, however, entirely pure, for some few Celtic words had unavoidably entered it. The names for the rivers, lakes, hills and mountains, given by the Celts, clung pertinaciously to these objects, and are found with the English of the present day. Throughout the whole of England there is hardly a river-name that is not Celtic. _Avon_, Celtic for _water_, occurs as the name of fourteen English rivers upon our maps. _Esk_, of like meaning, designates more than twenty, and has also entered into the names of towns, as in _Ax_minster, _Ex_eter, _Ox_ford, and _Ux_bridge. _Cam_, _Humber_, _Ouse_, _Thames_, and _Wye_, and many other river-names, are Celtic. _Pen_, or _Ben_, Celtic for _mountain_, is seen in the name for the range called _Pen_nine, in that of the hills called _Pen_tland, and in _Ben_-Nevis and _Ben_-Lomond. _Dun_, a hill-fortress, is found in _Dum_barton, _Dun_dee, _Dun_keld. Hundreds of other Celtic words can be observed on almost any map of England, and, indeed, on the maps of Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. The names of the rivers Rhine, Rhone, Garonne, and Seine are Celtic. Italy is Celtic for “beautiful region,” and German for “rough man.” Besides the numerous geographical names of Europe that are traceable to this language, such common names as _camel_, _clock_, _comma_, _fodder_, _gun_, _snake_, and _whiskey_, owe to it their origin, not to mention scores of well-known family names of every-day occurrence.

The remains of the Celtic language are still to be found in the Welsh, the Gaelic of the Scottish Highlands, the Erse or Irish, and the Manx of the Isle of Man.

LESSONS IN IRISH.

IRISH LETTERS—THEIR SOUNDS.

There are seventeen letters in the Irish Alphabet, of which five are vowels, the remaining twelve being consonants. Their correspondents in English are _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, _f_, _g_, _i_, _l_, _m_, _n_, _o_, _p_, _r_, _s_, _t_, and _u_.

The designation of the letters by their Irish names, _Ailm_, _Beith_, etc., which is only a convenient contrivance for distinguishing them from those of other languages, has been purposely omitted, partly because they are, at present, seldom or never called by their appellations, and partly because there is often danger in mistaking the names for the sounds of the letters.

Regarding the pronunciation of Irish letters, and of the Gaelic language generally, the fullest and most open enunciation is required. The vowels must be sounded as in Italian or French; the consonants, as in German or Spanish. This open, full sounding of the letters enables foreigners to learn to speak Irish more correctly and more readily than English-speaking people; for, of all spoken languages, the pronunciation of the English is the most opposite to that of Irish.

SOUNDS OF THE CONSONANTS.

The letters _b_, _f_, _m_, _n_, _p_, and _r_, except when aspirated, are sounded like their English analogues. _C_ is never at all pronounced like _s_ or _ch_ soft, but always hard like _k_; _d_, like _dh_; _g_ hard, as in _get_; and _l_, generally, like the first _l_ in William.

More variable, however, is _s_. Before or after the vowels _e_ or _i_, it is most generally sounded like _sh_, there being but a single exception to the rule, and this occurs in the word _is_—the third person singular present indicative of the assertive form of the verb _to be_, which is pronounced _is_, and not _ish_. Before or after _a_, _o_, _u_, it takes simply the sound of _s_ in _soon_, the demonstrative pronoun _so_, this, being in Connaught, where it is pronounced _sho_, the only exception.

SOUNDS OF THE VOWELS.

_A_ long, as in _wâll_, has the broad sound as in English; _a_ short, that of a in _băt_. There is a third sound, very common in the South and West of Ireland, corresponding to the sound of _a_ in _whät_.

_E_ long is sounded as in _whêre_, _e_ short, as in _whĕn_; _i_ long, as _ee_ in _pîque_, _i_ short, as in _pĭck_; _o_ long, as in _tōld_, _o_ short as in _gŏt_; _u_ long, as in _rūle_, _u_ short, as in _fûll_.

Vowels are divided into _broad_ and _slender_. The _broad_ are _a_, _o_, _u_; the _slender_ are _e_, _i_.

UNION OF VOWELS, AND THEIR SOUNDS.

Two vowels coming together constitute a _diphthong_; three, a _triphthong_. In Irish there are _thirteen_ diphthongs and _five_ triphthongs. Of the former, _six_ are always long, or naturally so, and the remainder naturally short, but becoming long when accented. The long diphthongs, as they are invariably long, require no accent. The _seven_ short need the presence of this character to show that their sound is, in the case so designated, to be pronounced long.

The long diphthongs are:—_ae_, _ao_, _eo_, _eu_, _ia_, and _ua_.

SOUNDS OF THE SIX LONG DIPHTHONGS.

_Ae_ is sounded like _ae_ in the Latin word _Musæ_; _ao_, usually like _ee_ in _queer_, except in Munster where it has the sound of the first _e_ in _there_; _eo_, like _eo_ in the proper noun _Keon_; _eu_, long, like _ai_ in _wail_; _ia_, like _ee_ in _teem_; _ua_, like _ooe_ in _wooer_.

SOUNDS OF THE SEVEN SHORT DIPHTHONGS.

_Ai_, accented, is equivalent to the sound of _awi_ in the English word _sawing_, being nothing more than the combined sounds _â_ and _ĭ_; _ai_, not accented, has the sound of _ai_ in the French _taille_, cut, and is hard to be learned by an English-speaking student; _ea_, accented, is sounded like _ea_ in _swear_, unaccented, like the same letters in _heart_; _ei_, accented, like _ei_ in _deign_, unaccented, like _e_ in _den_; _io_, accented, like _ee_ in _green_, unaccented, like _i_ in _grin_; _iu_, accented, like _iew_ in _review_, unaccented, like _oo_ in _blood_; _oi_, accented, like _oi_ in _boil_, unaccented, like _u_ in _shut_; _ui_, like _ui_ in _fruit_, unaccented, like _ui_ in _quiet_.

TRIPHTHONGS, AND THEIR SOUNDS.

All the triphthongs—_aoi_, _eoi_, _iai_, _iui_, _uai_—are pronounced long, and differ but little in their sounds from those of the long diphthongs from which they are formed. They differ mainly in two particulars—first, in a slight prolongation of the diphthongal sound; secondly, in imparting to the immediately succeeding consonant, on account of its nearness to the slender vowel _i_, a liquid, slender sound, which it would not otherwise receive. _Aoi_ is sounded like _uee_ in _Queen_; _iai_, like the diphthong _ia_ (_ee_), except that the final _i_ gives to the consonant that follows a slender or liquid sound; _iui_, like _eeyu_, sounds that cannot be represented in English, as heard in the Irish word _ciuin_, pronounced _keeyuin_, in one syllable.

ASPIRATED CONSONANTS.

We come now to consider the twelve Irish consonants. Of these consonants—_l_, _n_, _r_—never alter their primitive or radical sounds. The remaining nine do change their radical sounds to those of cognate nature.

This change, arising from a rough breathing after the vowel sound, is properly called _aspiration_, as it merely modifies, rather than destroys, as is sometimes erroneously supposed, the sound of the consonant. The notation for the aspirate is indicated by an accent (´) or _h_.

_Ṕ_ (asp.) is equivalent to _ph_ or _f_. _B́_, before or after _e_ or _i_, to _v_; but before or after _a_, _o_, _u_, to _w_.

_Ḿ_, before or after _e_ or _i_, to _v_; before or after _a_, _o_, _u_, to _w_, with a slightly nasal sound.

_F́_ is usually silent; in some words, however, it has the sound of _h_.

_Ć_, like _ch_ in _och_, or the Greek letter _chee_. Before _a_, _o_, or _u_ it has the former sound, which is that of the German _ch_; but before _e_ or _i_, it invariably takes the latter sound.

_Ǵ_, in the beginning of a word, if before the vowels _a_, _o_, _u_, has the guttural sound _gh_; but before _e_ or _i_, it is sounded like _y_. At the end, or in the middle of words, it has no other power than that of prolonging the sound of the preceding vowel.

_D́_ has a thick, guttural sound, very analogous to _g_. In the beginning of a word, before _e_ or _i_, it has exactly the sound of _y_; but in the middle, or at the end, it has the force of _g_, that is, it merely lengthens the sound of the preceding vowel or diphthong.

_T́_ loses its power as a consonant, and has the force of _h_.

_Ś_ has the sound of _k_; _s_, final, is never aspirated.

DERIVATIVE NOUNS.

Derivative Nouns in Irish are _personal_ or _abstract_.

Personal Nouns end in _ōir_, _aire_, _ai_, _aid́_, and are produced from primitive nouns, or past participles.

The terminations _ōir_, _aire_, are supposed to be broken forms of the word _fear_, pronounced _fär_, a man. If so, then _fear_ must be considered as the root of the Latin ending _or_, and of the English suffix _er_.

Abstract Nouns terminate in _as_ or _eas_, masculine; in _aćt_, feminine; or in the genitive case singular feminine of adjectives.

Diminutives are formed from nouns and adjectives, and end in _an_, masculine; in _în_, masculine or feminine; in _ōg_, feminine.

Many words that are not diminutives end in _an_.

Other words terminating in _an_, from _tan_, time, or from _tain_, possessions, are of this class. _Iat́_, a region, a territory, is, in its fragmentary form _ia_, the termination of almost all the Latin names of places that have that ending.

From the active signification of the ending _ać_, and from the meaning of the term _neać_, an individual, an agent, of which _ać_ is apparently a mere fragment, adjectives with this suffix become personal nouns, and as such are expressive of office, action, or individuality.

SOUNDS OF CERTAIN TERMINATIONS.

In Connaught, final _ead́_ is pronounced like _oo_ in English; in Munster, like _a_. As the final syllable of the imperfect tense of verbs, it is pronounced incorrectly in Munster, and in some districts in the southern parts of Connaught, like guttural _agh_.

Generally, _ad́_ final, in words of two or more syllables, is pronounced like _ead́_; in Munster, like unaccented _a_; and, in Connaught and Ulster, like English _oo_. But in words of one syllable and their compounds, however, the Munster pronunciation is not only adopted in the South, but also in the West and North of Ireland.

In Kilkenny, Waterford, and Tipperary, the diphthongs _ea_, _io_, and sometimes _iu_, are incorrectly pronounced like _ow_ on coming before _l_, _m_, and _n_.

In the words _bean_, a woman, _bard_, a poet, and _bord_, a table, the initial consonant _b_, when not preceded by the possessive pronouns singular, is not aspirated. Put, however, these pronouns, excepting the feminine, before the same words, and _b_ immediately assumes the aspirate sound; that is, it is pronounced like _v_, if _e_ or _i_ follow, and like _w_, if _a_, _o_, or _u_ follow.

NAMES—THEIR DERIVATION.

A.

_Adaire._ _A_ for _an_, the; _dair_, oak. The oak; hence, strong, powerful, robust. _Adare_, from the same.

_Aincy._ _Ain_, a circle; _neać_, corrupted into _ey_, an individual, an agent.

_Aitken._ _Ait_, pleasure, fancifulness; _ceann_, head. Mental delight.

_Alncy._ _Aluin_, beautiful; _neać_, an individual. A pleasing person.

_Arran._ _Ara_, kidney; _an_ for _tan_, land, riches, possessions in land or stock. Land of the kidney.

_Ardry._ _Ard_, chief; _riǵ_ (_ree_), king. Head king or ruler. _Awrdry_, of like derivation.

B.

_Baine._ _Baine_, milk, from the adjective _bân_, white. Milk. Bain, contracted from the original name.

_Baile._ _Bâile_, a town, a village.

_Bailey._ _Bâile_, a town; _lać_, a broken form of _lućt_, folk, people. Resident of a town.

_Baird._ _Bârd_, genitive _baird_, a poet. Offspring of a Celtic minstrel.

_Ball._ _Bâll_, a member; one of a community, society, or association. Baull has the same root.

_Ballantyne._ _Bâile_, a town; _an_, of the; _tan_ or _tain_, land, region. The town of the region.

_Bannigan._ _Baine_, milk; _gan_, offspring, descendant. One nourished from infancy upon milk.

_Bannon._ _Bân_, white; _on_ for _an_, a termination indicative of personality. A pale-faced person.

_Barmore._ _Bârr_, top, summit, swelling tide, head; _muir_, the sea, genitive _mâra_, of the sea. Swelling tide of the sea.

_Barney._ _Bârr_, head; _neać_, an individual. A leader. Perhaps, the equivalent of _bairneać_, a limpet, because found on tops (_bârr_) of rocks when the tide has ebbed.

_Barr._ _Bârr_, top, summit, head.

_Barret._ _Bârr_, head; _aid́_, a suffix expressive of a personal noun. Manager; superintendent; leader.

_Barry._ _Bârr_, top; _aid́_, indicative of personality; originally, _barraid́_. One at the summit; a man of eminence.

_Baugh._ Possibly a corruption of _beać_, pronounced _bäch_, a bee.

_Beahney._ _Beat́a_, life; _neać_, an agent. A living being.

_Benaugh._ _Biad́_, food; _neać_, an individual. One who provides food; a victualler.

_Benner._ _Benn_, a mountain; _er_, a contraction for _fear_, a man. A mountaineer.

_Binney._ _Binn_, harmonious; _neać_, an individual. An agreeable person.

_Bourke._ Irish for Burke.

_Bowan._ Possibly from _buan_, lasting, enduring.

_Bower._ _Bod́ar_, pronounced _bower_, deaf.

_Brattan._ _Brat_, a cloak; _an_, expressing personality. A cloak-wearer; a clergyman.

_Breen._ _Braon_, pronounced _breen_, a drop.

_Brennan._ _Breun_, fetid; _an_, expressive of personality. An offensive person.

_Britain._ _Brith_, painted, speckled; _tain_, country. The country of the painted inhabitants.

_Britt._ _Brith_, painted. A painted person.

_Brock._ _Broc_, a badger.

_Brodie._ _Brōd́_, pride, pleasure; _aid́_, implying personality. An arrogant person; a voluptuary.

_Brogan._ _Bro_, a hand-mill; _gan_, offspring. Offspring of a hand-mill.