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HISTORIC ENGLISH

Books by James C. Fernald, L.H.D.

English Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions

A valuable discussion of the differing shades of meaning in allied words illustrated by a wealth of explanatory sentences. New Revised Edition. 12mo, Cloth. A Working Grammar of the

English Language

Clear and lucid explanations of the principles of English grammar for the busy worker. 12mo, Cloth. Connectives of English Speech

Definitions and correct use of prepositions, conjunctions, relative pronouns and adverbs, in English sentences. 12mo, Cloth.

English Grammar Simplified

A practical handbook for all who want to be sure of their grammar without learning too many confusing rules. 12mo, Cloth.

Better Say

A book of useful suggestions for the correct use of
English words and phrases. Vest-pocket size. Cloth.

Helpful Hints in English

A companion volume to "Better Say." Handy advice as to niceties of speech. Vest-pocket size. Cloth.

Expressive English

A suggestive and absorbing work on the use of words, the cultivation of style, and clarity, and beauty of expression. 12mo, Cloth.

Write for Prices

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers

354-360 Fourth Avenue

New York, N. Y.

BY

JAMES C. FERNALD, L.H.D.

AUTHOR OF "EXPRESSIVE ENGLISH"; "ENGLISH SYNONYMS, an-
TONYMS AND PREPOSITIONS"; "A WORKING GRAMMAR OF
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,' ETC. EDITOR OF "FUNK
& WAGNALLS DESK STANDARD DICTIONARY";
"COMPREHENSIVE STANDARD DICTION-

ARY"; "CONCISE STANDARD DIC-
TIONARY," ETC.

WO

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY

NEW YORK AND LONDON

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

GIFT OF

PROF. JOHN TUCKER MURRAY
JUNE 13, 1938

COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY

[Printed in the United States of America]
Published in May, 1921

Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention
of the Pan-American Republics and the

United States, August 11, 1910.

FOREWORD

"THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE is a power because it is a life the life of a great people expressed in words that live. At each stage the language has enshrined, incarnated, the thought and deeds of its present to be the motive-power, the inspiration of the ages to come. . . . The higher possibilities of language come through admiration, honor, and love for the English language as a great, beneficent, and living power. . . . . To put ourselves back in time, to let ourselves go, and mentally reproduce the conditions and thoughts of the men of other days, develops the imagination, broadens the range of thought, and makes the very words of our language rich with the content of centuries."

These sentences, quoted from the author's last previous book, are the key to the present work.

"Some time before I die," he had told his associates, "I am going to write a book which will show that the English language is what it is because of the way it came into being. No one can fully grasp the meaning, and completely master the use, of the English language without knowing the history of English as a language."

His conception of it was always that it originated as a language of the common people, which grew and developed as their thought and life and power

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