We now pass on to words for nose, and whatever appertains to it, which, in a considerable proportion of known languages, are formed by nasal sounds, such as are represented by our letters m, n, ng, with the sibilants s or z. Thus we have snout, nozzle, nostril, snore, snort, sneeze, sneer, sniff, snivel, all things or actions immediately connected with the nose, while smell, stink, stench, and nasty, are also expressive

nasal words.

A distinct set of words, appertaining to the teeth, tongue, or palate, are 'characterized by t, d, s, and n sounds, and are pronounced wholly within the mouth without any definite action of the lips. Thus, besides tooth and tongue, we have tusk, eat, gnaw, gnash, and taste; while perhaps knee, knot, knob, knoll, knuckle, and some other words of doubtful derivation, may get their characteristic type from the analogy of a tooth-like projection. It is to be noted that nasal and dental sounds characterize words of similar meaning, not only in European languages, but more or less all over the world.

Before passing on to consider the various modes in which sounds, actions, and even qualities, are expressively represented in speech, attention must be called to the way in which certain groups of consonants are utilized to indicate differences in the general character of sounds and motions. When either of the following letters-f, 1, m, n, ng, r, v, s, or z-occur at the end of a word, either with or without a final vowel, we can dwell upon them and thus give them a continuous sound; and the more important of these have been termed liquids, because they seem to flow together and form one continuous sound. But the letters b, d, g, k, p, and t, have a very different character, and when any of them comes at the end of a word, and are not silent, the sound ends abruptly, and we find our selves altogether unable to dwell upon and lengthen out the sounds of these letters as we can those of the first group; neither does the addition of a final e help us to dwell upon them. Compare, for instance, the words "ball" or bear" with "bat" or dog. In the former the sound of the final letters can be continued in

definitely, while in the case of the latter we come to a dead stop, and by no effort can continue the sound.

Now, the various sounds which occur in nature may be broadly divided into two classes, the continuous and the abrupt; and it is a most suggestive fact that these two classes of sounds are almost always represented in our language by words which, owing to their terminal letter, are of a corresponding character. Thus, among continuous sounds we have roar, snore, hiss, sing, hum, scream, wail, purr, and buzz, all of which end in letters of the first series, enabling us to dwell upon the word as long as we please. But when we name abrupt sounds, such as rap, clap, crack, tick, pop, thud, grunt, and many others, we find that the word ends as abruptly as does the sound it represents, and that the final letter does not in any case admit of being dwelt upon and drawn out as in the case of words of the first series.

But even more curious is the fact that the same law of expression applies in the case of motions. These, too, are either continuous or abrupt; and these are also represented by words whose terminal letters either can or cannot be dwelt upon. Of the former kind are-fly, run, swim, swing, move, crawl, turn, whirl, and slide; and these words all indicate the continuity of the various kinds of motion by their terminal sounds being indefinitely continuous. But motions whose chief characteristic is their abrupt termination, such as step, hop, jump, leap, halt, stop, drop, bump, wink, or actions which imply such motion as strike, hit, knock, pat, slap, stamp, stab, kick, all have a corresponding ending in noncontinuous letter-sounds.

This remarkable series of correspondences is highly suggestive of a law of primitive word-formation. At a very early stage in the growth of speech, it would be observed that some vocal sounds were capable of being drawn out, while others necessarily had an abrupt termination; and, as natural sounds and motions had also these contrasted features of abruptness or continuity, it was the most natural thing in the world to make the names of these sounds, motions, or actions, agree

ate presure. Split represents the sudden, sharp sound of splitting wood; tear, the violent pulling asunder of a woven fabric; and rip, the still harsher sound when a seam is cut or torn apart. In scratch, we have the sound first represented, followed by the interjectional ach of pain which is the result of the action. In the word saw we have an imperfect imitation of the sound produced by sawing, though in Sanscrit, and in many of the languages of semicivilized peoples, it is more exactly imitative.*

The sounds produced by liquids in motion are often indicated by sh, as in wash, splash, and dash; a quantity of liquid falling to the ground causes a slop which represents the sound it makes, as does drop when caused by a small globular portion; while quench well represents the noise produced by water used in sufficient quantities to extinguish a fire.

Many natural objects appear to have been named from their characteristic sound. Brass and glass, from their resonance; tin, from its more delicate, tinkling sound; iron, perhaps from its peculiar harsh vibration when struck; lead and wood, from the dull sound, or thud, which they produce. In ice we have probably the indications of the sh of "shiver" caused by touching it, and its transparency may have led to the use of the somewhat similar term for glass. In pronouncing the word fire we seem to imitate with the lips and breath the wavy flickering motion of flame, and the name for the fir tree, almost identical in many of the Scandinavian and Celtic languages, is doubtless in reference to the upward-growing, pointed form, like that characteristic of fire. Glow seems to represent the steady light of embers as contrasted with the incessant motion of fire, for while the latter word requires a double motion of the lips, the former is pronounced wholly inside the mouth by means of the tongue and palate, the lips remaining motionless. In the words step, stamp, and stop, we have a

*See Tylor's Primitive Culture, vol. i., p. 191, where a rather full account is given of imitative words in the languages of all parts of the world.

very close representation of the sound of the bare foot upon the ground in walking, and it seems quite probable that the root sta, from which they are said to be derived, had this origin.*

We now pass on from mere sounds to the various kinds of motions to be observed in nature; and we shall find that these also are represented by curiously expressive combinations of vocal utterances, often requiring imitative motions in the organs of speech. The modes of indicating the difference between continuous and abrupt motions have already been referred to, but each particular kind of motion has also its characteristic combination of letters. The word slow, to be spoken distinctly and impressively, must be pronounced slowly, while quick and swift, on the contrary, must be spoken rapidly. Move takes time to pronounce it distinctly, and implies slow and smooth motion, as fly implies swifter motion. In crawl, the harsh sounds at the beginning and end of the word imply slow and difficult motion, and the still harsher sound in drag recalls the noise of a heavy object forcibly drawn over an irregular surface. In flutter and flicker we have complex motions of the lips, tongue, and palate, corresponding to those they indicate; in hurry and flurry we seem to hear the rapid breathing of a tired or excited person; while in wobble and hobble, the clumsy movements are reproduced in the mouth of the speaker. How perfectly is smoothness of motion imitated while we say slide or glide; while the slow down and up motion of the lips in pronouncing wave is highly suggestive of wavemotion. The more rapid wave-movement we term vibration is indicated by the br in vibrate; while in tremble we have a more irregular shaking denoted by the tr at the beginning, and the bl at the end of the word. twist or screw, there is a tendency to twist the mouth; while shiver represents a trembling motion accompanied by the sh of cold. In stream aud flow the liquid consonants well represent the smoothness and continuity of liquid

When we say

* A considerable number of these directly imitative words are given in Archdeacon Farrar's Essay on the Origin of Language, chap. iv.

motion; and in glow we have, as already stated, a corresponding word to imply the smooth and steady light of incandescent matter, so different from the unsteady flicker which is characteristic of flame. A similar use of liquid sounds in blush and flush serves to indicate a gradual and steady increase of color.

We have now to take another stepand a most important one-in the development of language, and to show how the various qualities or properties of inanimate objects, and even the powers and faculties of men and animals, are clearly indicated by characteristic combinations of vocal sounds, affording us many striking examples of the expressiveness of speech.

Just as certain motions were seen to be distinguished by the use of harsh or liquid sounds, so are the qualities of objects on which these varied kinds of motion often depend equally well characterized. Compare, for example, the word smooth, even, polished, with rough, rugged, gritty, and we at once see that these are not merely conventional terms, but that they are as truly and naturally expressive as are the most direct imitations of human or animal cries. Corresponding to these, we have the names of many smooth substances as oil, soap, slime, varnish, characterized by smooth or liquid sounds; and, on the other hand, such objects as rock, gravel, grit, grouts, ground, all containing the harsh sounds implying roughness. When we pronounce the words sticky, or clammy, we seem to feel the tongue and palate stick together, and have to pull them apart; and the same peculiarity applies to the words cling and glue.

There are in all languages words allied to foul, putrid, pus, etc., which are usually traced to the interjectional expressions of disgust, puh! fie! Similar expressions are shown by Mr. Tylor to be used among the most widely separated races in all parts of the world, and the reason of this identity is to be found in the natural and almost involuntary action of blowing away, through both mouth and nostrils, the emanations from putrid matter-as when we draw back the head and say "puh!"

-an action more or less common to all mankind.

The words hard and soft are also expressive, though it is more difficult to define why. The former word, however, is pronounced with a strong aspirate, and the terminal rd requires more effort to pronounce than the gentle sibilant and terminal ft of soft. But when we consider the various terms designating contrasts of size, we have no such difficulty. The words great, grand, huge, vast, immense, monstrous, gigantic, are all pronounced with wellopened mouth and with some sense of effort, and the more stress we lay upon the word, the more distinctly we show our meaning by the wide opening of the mouth. In the correlative words small, little, wee, tiny, pigmy, on the contrary, we use no effort, and hardly need to open the mouth at all, the pronunciation being effected almost wholly by the tongue and teeth. Even when new words are invented they follow the same rule, as in Swift's" Brobdingnag" and "Lilliput"; while the languages of uncivilized peoples are usually, as regards these words, equally characteristic. Though usually limiting my illustrations to our own language, I will here give the words for great and small in several of the languages of the Malay Archipelago; thus

busar, bagut, baké, lamu, ilahé, maina, all with broad open-mouthed vowel-sounds, mean great or large; while kichil, chili, kidi, koi, roit, kemi, anan, fek, didiki, all meaning small in the same languages, are in every case pronounced inside the mouth, and with but slightly parted lips.

Even more expressive are the words by which we indicate power or effort, such as might, strive, strenuous, struggle, laborious, strong, strength-this last being one of the most remarkably expressive in the language, consisting, as it does, of no less than seven consonants and only one vowel, all the consonants being fully and distinctly sounded. To pronounce this word distinctly and emphatically requires a considerable effort, and we thus seem to be exerting the very quality it is used to express. How different are the words of opposite meaning, such

The line too labors and the words move slow,"

the very nature of the words which are of necessity employed, produces that effect of appropriateness which we are apt to think is due wholly to the skill of the poet. In another couplet from the same poem—

"A needless alexandrine ends the song,

And like a wounded snake drags its slow length along,"

the natural expressiveness of the words, drags, slow, and length, is what conveys such a sense of appropriateness to the simile. Tennyson also is full of such naturally descriptive passages.

The lines

The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees," A few examples of words that are especially expressive may now be given, in order to illustrate some of the varied ways in which the principle has acted, and how largely it has influenced the formation of language. The word growth is expressive of the gradual extension of a young plant owing to the circumstance that we begin its pronunciation far back in the mouth, and that it seems to move outward till the tongue touches the teeth or even the protruded lips. If we watch carefully we shall see how curiously, when we say "growth," we imitate with our Vocal organs the very process which the word implies. From this foundaNEW SERIES.-VOL. LXII., No. 5.

tion the name of the color green has been derived, as that of growing things, and probably also grass, graze, and even ground. This last word is usually supposed to be allied to grind, as implying that the ground is dust, earth, or rock ground up. But this is surely a very unlikely idea to have occurred to primitive man, since the natural ground is usually firm and covered with

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some kind of vegetation or growth," whence its name would be naturally derived.

When pronouncing the word suck, we are evidently imitating both the sound and the action of sucking, by drawing back the tongue during an inspiration; and in taste we are equally imitating the act of tasting, by moving the tongue twice within the mouth into contact with the palate, as we do when using it to move about and taste a savory morsel. So, in the word sweet, we seem to draw in and taste an agreeable substance; while in sour we open the mouth and the tongue remains free from either teeth or palate, ing flavor. Now sweet, with various as if we desired to get rid of a too bitmodifications of form and meaning, occurs in all the Teutonic and Latin

In

languages, but its whole significance as a naturally expressive word is lost when we are referred for its origin to the Aryan root swad, to please. Sanscrit, svad is to taste, and svádu sweet; and the more probable inference would be that the abstract root swad, to please, was derived from the more primitive and naturally formed terms for taste and sweetness.

The

Even moral qualities may be indicated by words which are naturally expressive, as in right and wrong. former is, in most languages, connected with straight and stretch, the latter word being imitative of the sound produced when stretching a cord, the only straight line accessible to primitive man; while wrong is undoubtedly the same word essentially as wrung, from wring, wry, wrench, wrest, and other words meaning twisted, in pronouncing which and giving its full sound to the initial w, we seem naturally to give a

* Skeat's Elymological Dictionary of the English Language, under "Sweet"