CHAPTER IX. THE work so long and so anxiously expected by the Saxon students of England, a Saxon and English Dictionary, was at length published in the year 1838, in a thick octavo volume. It has the following title :-" A Dictionary of the AngloSaxon Language, containing the Accentuation-the Grammatical Inflections—the Irregular Words referred to their Themes-the parallel terms from the other Gothic Languages -the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon in English and Latinand copious English and Latin Indexes, serving as a Dictionary of English and Anglo-Saxon, as well as of Latin and AngloSaxon. With a Preface on the Origin and Connexion of the Germanic Tongues-a Map of Languages-and the Essentials of Anglo-Saxon Grammar. By the Rev. J. Bosworth, LL.D., &c. London, Longman, &c. M.DCCC.XXXVIII."* Some copies of the Introduction to this work were printed in 1836 with the following title :-" The Origin of the Germanic and Scandinavian Languages and Nations: with a Sketch of their Literature, and short Chronological Specimens of the AngloSaxon, Friesic, Flemish, Dutch, the German from the MosoGoths to the present time, the Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish; tracing the Progress of these Languages and their Connexion with the Anglo-Saxon and the present English. With a Map of European Languages," &c. 66 The matter in the Introduction is of the most interesting * The date is really M.DCCC. VIII., although the former has been placed very ingeniously over it. The title should have been reprinted. kind. Besides the Anglo-Saxon bibliography already mentioned, it has some remarks on the Anglo-Saxon and SemiSaxon Dialects, with Illustrations, followed by an account of the principal English Provincial Glossaries, with specimens from them, which satisfactorily exhibit the retention of many pure Saxon words and forms, which have become extinct in the more refined language of the metropolis. An elaborate and highly interesting account of the Friesic language by the author's friend, the Rev. Mr. Halbertsma, proving its affinity to the Anglo-Saxon: this is followed by dissertations on the Old Saxon, now called Low German, or Platt-Deutsch, the Dutch, the Gothic, High German, and Scandinavian tongues. After these we have other dissertations on the affinity of the Germanic languages, and on the importance of etymology; the essentials of Anglo-Saxon Grammar; an abstract of Professor Rask's Grammar; and an abstract of Professor Grimm's Declensions and Conjugations. From the account of his Dictionary which Mr. Bosworth has prefixed, we are freely, and without ostentation, made acquainted with the materials which he employed; and, whilst the zeal with which he availed himself of every source of information is highly creditable to him as a scholar, the candour with which he has acknowledged the assistance of others, in particulars however minute, is still more deserving our hearty commendation. "As there has been a careful citation of authorities, and at the same time particular obligations expressed, very little more can be now required. A free use, without continued reference, has been made of preceding Dictionaries and Vocabularies, and of the A.-S. Grammar of an erudite friend, the late Professor Rask. Mr. Thorpe's Glossaries, appended to his Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, and Apollonius, and his index to Cadmon, have been useful auxiliaries. Citations from Cædmon have always been made from Mr. Thorpe's improved text, through whom, and Sir Nicholas Carlisle, the learned Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, the perusal of some sheets was allowed before the work was published. Amongst those to whom the greatest debt of gratitude is due, is an old and faithful friend, C. S. Cardale, Esq., known to A.-S. students by the benefit he has rendered them in publishing his elegant and correct edition of Boethius. This gentleman allowed the full and free use of his extensive and very valuable Anglo-Saxon and English Dictionary in MS. It would be ingratitude not to mention the friendly communications of the Rev. S. Fox, or to leave unnoticed the advantages derived from his published works. A well known collector of choice books, Mr. Bohn, was so obliging, as spontaneously to lend an interleaved copy of Lye's Dictionary, with MS. notes by the late Rev. S. Henshall. The Rev. M. White, B.D., Professor of A.-S. in the University of Oxford, had given notice of his intention to prepare an A.-S. Dictionary, but being informed that this work was far advanced, Mr. White, in the most gentlemanly manner, gave up his intended publication. He has, however, taken the most lively interest in the progress of this Dictionary."* The author, after much consideration, and with all the prejudices of an antiquarian taste, long familiarity with the Anglo-Saxon characters, and the difficulty of recognising the same words in a different dress, has, notwithstanding, been guided by sound discretion in the adoption of the Roman character, (with the exception of p and d,) by which the work has been rendered far less expensive, and therefore available to a more numerous class of readers than it would otherwise have been. 66 Nothing," Mr. Bosworth assures us, “but a thorough conviction that the Roman character would be the most legible, and would best show the identity of the present English with the Anglo-Saxon, as well as the close analogy existing in the words of all the other Germanic languages, would have led to the adoption of this type."† It was originally intended to exclude all impure AngloSaxon words, and to introduce none of a later date than A.D. 1100. Subsequently it was found desirable to take a wider range, and to include some terms of a more recent formation. Introd. to Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, p. clxxvi. † Ibid. p. clxxvii. These are mostly from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with their date affixed. As the authors are always quoted, the age and purity of a word can at once be seen. The radical and some other chief words are generally printed in capitals. Accents have been adopted to distinguish the long from the short vowels, but only used in the Dictionary on the word and its variations, standing at the head of each article, which is sufficient for all practical purposes. On the orthography adopted, no fancy or presumption, we are assured, has been permitted, but that for the most part is strictly followed, which is found most frequently in the best authors; still the principal variations in the literal expression of a word are added in the order in which they vary from what is deemed the correct spelling; but all authors have been allowed to answer for themselves, and to appear in their own dress, without a wish to dictate the mode in which it is now presumed they ought to have written. A reference is constantly made to the place where the word is found, and the reader left to form his own judgment.* With the view of illustrating the Anglo-Saxon, nearly all the radical words, and a few important compounds, are followed by the parallel terms from the cognate dialects. For this portion of his work the author was indebted to a zealous and learned friend, a native of Holstein, who used his utmost efforts to verify every word introduced amongst the parallels, and to give the orthography and gender correctly. To show more clearly the analogy of the cognate languages, they have been arranged in the order of their affinity, which was considered the most natural. Verbs with prefixes such as be-, ge-, on-, &c., are for the most part placed under the radical word; but if found in the infinitive mood, or in any form derived immediately from it, such verbs are given, with a brief explanation, in the alphabetical order of the prefixes, and a reference to the radical word for complete information. The explanation of the Anglo-Saxon is in English, one word of which is often identical with the Saxon, by which the * Introd. to Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, p. clxxvi. 4 necessity of a long paraphrastic Latin rendering is superseded, and the definition shortened. To ensure the authority of Somner and Lye, and the sanction of Saxon scholars, the Latin significations are added. The Latin explanation is generally the original, from which the Anglo-Saxon translation was first made, and thus confirms the exact meaning on the authority of the translators. In the quotations, except from the Bible, which is too well known to require it, an English translation, as literal as possible, is given; but in those from Bede, and often from the Bible, the Latin is retained, as it is the original, from which the version into Saxon has been made, and therefore its best interpreter. To the English translation the Latin is appended, when it indicates the grammatical order or the inflections of the Saxon. general plan is this:-The radical meaning is first given, then its various significations, numbered and arranged in that order which appeared to accord with the association of ideas, and each meaning, as far as it was practicable, confirmed by quotations, with a reference to the authority. After these follow the idiomatical expressions specially marked. By a proper attention to the economy of space in printing, without interfering with typographical neatness, more practical information is comprised in this octavo volume than in the two ponderous folios of Lye and Manning. A table of the principal contractions employed in the Dictionary furnishes every particular on the subject of authorities which can be desired. The Immediately following the Dictionary is an Index of the English Words, which, by a very ingenious process, enables the student at once to refer to the equivalent Saxon word in the Dictionary. This apparatus consists in appending to the Arabic numerals in the Index the letters of the alphabet. These are given in the head lines of the pages in the Dictionary, with the letter only opposite, or as nearly opposite as it can be, in the column where the Saxon word that is wanted will be found. And, as sometimes two, at others three, letters appear in a column, a very little seeking is requisite to find any given word that may be wanted.* In addition * This very ingenious process, I observe, has been employed by the Ame |