ix

EXPLANATIONS.

IN the word list the stem is indicated by dark italic type. It is intended that the word list will be consulted simply for the stem. The treatment of the word will be found under its stem in the alphabetical stem list.

Where the stem has been mutilated or corrupted, or has undergone any regular change, the regular stem form is given in a parenthesis beside the word.

The immediate purpose of this work is to unfold the stem value or central meaning. A full analysis may be obtained by reference to the lists of prefixes, stems, and suffixes for the modifying elements in a word.

* Iceland as a region contributed nothing to the formation of the English language. Scandinavia, from whence the Icelanders came, did, however, contribute largely by the inroads, conquests, and settlements of the Danes or Northmen, and also to a slight extent through the Normans, who were of Scandinavian origin. The migration of the Icelanders to such a distant region cut them off from the language development of the mother country, and their speech, therefore, remained almost stationary. As this migration occurred soon after the Danish conquests, we are enabled to cite Icelandic words as the antecedents of the Scandinavian element in English.

A similar arrest of language development occurred in the case of the French settlements in Canada. The French settlements, however, were not so completely isolated as were the Icelanders, nor did they occur at so early a period. Otherwise we should have to-day almost a living example of the French of the Norman conquest period.

The accent is indicated by marking the sound of the vowel of the accented syllable only. The other sounds are more or less obscure; and the pronunciation will be substantially correct if the accented vowel receives its proper sound and stress.

* The French language came to England with the Normans in A. D. 1066. It was not the French of to-day. The latter embodies the vast development and the modifications of eight hundred years. It is, therefore, mainly with an Old French that our English language connects.

+ The Low Latin is the Latin of the later times, after it had received large admixtures from the Teutonic languages of the north of Europe. It assimilated its Teutonic elements more or less and subjected them to Latin inflections. It was succeeded by the Romance languages of modern times.