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191

IV.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES.

It may be useful to have an easy and ready means of ascertaining the language of those quotations we frequently meet with in books and newspapers; the following short rules will suffice for the Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, English, Latin and German languages.

Count thirty-three words of the quotation; next, count If the letter E is accented, how many of these thirty-three words end in any of the vowel letters a, e, i, o, u, or y. count how many times; also, if any words end in M, count how many. Refer then to the following Table, and in the line containing the results of the thirty-three words, the language Should the words in the quotation be fewer than is given. thirty-three, the same ratios must be observed.

If the number of words ending in Vowels be greater, the language will certainly be either Italian, Portugese, or Spanish, -or perhaps French; but if the number of words ending in consonants be greater, the language will certainly be either English, Latin or German, or perhaps French.

The number of words in French which end with consonants, is rather larger than those which end with vowels, but in a short quotation the ratio may occasionally be reversed. The French language is easily distinguished, however, from all others by the large number of accented E's, about four in every thirty-three words.

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The ratio of vowel endings, &c., in the foregoing table, is formed from the number of 500 words taken from each language, and, consequently, the vowel endings in so small a number of words as thirty-three, will sometimes be only an approximation to the correct ratio.

It must not be assumed that because the ratio of vowel endings is much greater in one language than in another (as, for instance, in the Italian, in which it is five times more than in the German), that the ratio of vowels to consonants is the same in the entire words of a language. The most vocal language will contain about an equal number of vowel and consonant sounds, whilst the least vocal one will probably contain not more than two consonant to one vowel sound.

ITALIAN AND GERMAN. The large number of vowel endings in the first, and of consonant endings in the second of these languages, is a decisive indication. German books, moreover, are mostly printed in a peculiar type.

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LATIN. The ratio of vowel to consonant endings in this language, viz., 1 to 2, is sufficiently decisive, but the Latin is further characterised by the large number of words ending in M.

SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE.-The Portuguese language has more words ending in vowels than the Spanish, but in a short quotation this test must not be entirely depended upon. The Portuguese is distinguished from the Spanish by having 6 per cent. of words ending in M, and by 5 per cent. of words containing the letter a with a waved mark called a tilda; the Spanish language having no ã with a waved mark, and no word ending in M.

ENGLISH AND GERMAN.-The frequency of the letter W is a characteristic of both these languages; as that letter is not found in Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese or Latin.

The Lord's Prayer is given in each of the seven languages, to enable any one to verify for himself the foregoing Rules.

name.

ENGLISH.

OUR FATHER, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive (33) us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

us.

Amen.

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FRENCH.

NOTRE Père qui es aux cieux, ton nom soit sanctifié ; ton règne vienne; ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel; donne-nous aujourd'hui notre pain quotidien; pardonne-nous nos péchés, comme (33) aussi nous pardonnons à ceux qui nous ont offensés; et ne nous induis point dans la tentation; mais délivre-nous du malin; car à toi appartient la règne, la puissance, et la gloire à jamais. Amen.

33 words; 17 end in vowels, 6 accented E's.

ITALIAN.

PADRE nostro, che sei ne' cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome. Il tuo Regno venga: La tua volontà sia fatta in terra come in cielo. Dacci oggi il nostro pane cotidiano. E rimettici (33) i nostri debiti, come noi ancora gli rimettiamo a' nostri debitori. E non indurci in tentazione, ma liberaci dal Maligno: perciochè tuo è il regno, e la potenza, e la gloria, in sempiterno. Amen. 33 words; 28 end in vowels.

LATIN.

PATER noster, qui es in cœlis, sanctificetur nomen tuum: veniat regnum tuum: Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cœlo, ita etiam in terrâ: Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie: et remitte nobis debita nostra, (33) sicut et nos remittimus debitoribus nostris: et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos ab illo malo: Quia tuum est regnum, et potentia, et gloria in secula. Amen.

33 words; 10 end in vowels, and 7 in M.

SPANISH.

PADRE nuestro, que estás en los cielos; santificado sea el tu nombre. Venga el tu reyno: hágase tu voluntad, como en el cielo, así tambien en la tierra. Danos hoy nuestro pan sobresubstancial; (33) Y perdónanos nuestras deudas, así como nosotros perdonamos á nuestros deudores.

caer en la tentacion.

Mas líbranos de mal.

33 words: 19 end in Vowels.

Y no nos dexes

Amen.

N

PORTUGUESE.

PADRE nosso que estás nos Ceos: santificado seja o teu nome. Venha a nós o teu Reino: Seja feita a tua vontade, assim na terra, como no Ceo. O pão nosso, que he (33) sobra toda a substancia, nos dá hoje. E pardoa-nos as nossas dividas, assim como nós tambem pardoâmos aos nossos devedores: E não nos deixes cahir em tentação, Mas livra-nos do mal. Amen.

33 words; 28 end in Vowels, and 1 in M.

GERMAN.

Dein Name werde gehei

UNSER Vater in dem Himmel. liget. Dein Reich komme. Dein Wille geschehe auf Erden, wie im Himmel. Unser täglich Brod gib uns heute, und vergib uns unseren Schulden, wie wir (33) unsern Schuldigern vergeben. Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung, sondern erlöse uns von dem Uebel. Denn dein ist das Reich, und die Kraft, und die Herrlichkeit in Ewigkeit. Amen.

33 words; 8 end in Vowels. 5 W's.

V.

THE TERMINATIONS ER, OR, AR, AND OUR.

The final unaccented syllable pronounced -ur, is spelled in four different ways, namely, er, or, ar, and our, but never ur. About 2,000 words end in er, 370 in or, 120 in ar, and 90 in our. The doctrine of chances will here manifestly assist the pupil, and he must always use -er, unless he knows the word to be spelled otherwise.

There is much difference of opinion about the words ending in -our, the old dictionaries having them -our, and Webster and others recommending -or. The advocates of -our use as their principal argument, that this form shows that we derived these words from the French, and not directly from the Latin; but a reference to the columns below will show that we deviate even more from the French than the Latin. Besides, the advocates of -our have already abandoned it in emperor, error, exterior, governor, horror, inferior, interior, superior, tremor and warrior; and it is difficult to imagine any force in the argument for retaining it in the remaining words, after having discarded it in these.

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