English Past and Present | Page 6

to us

through the French); five would be Greek. We should thus have
assigned ninety-five parts, leaving the other five, perhaps too large a
residue, to be divided among all the other languages from which we
have adopted isolated words{3}. And yet these are not few; from our
wide extended colonial empire we come in contact with half the world;
we have picked up words in every quarter, and, the English language
possessing a singular power of incorporating foreign elements into
itself, have not scrupled to make many of these our own{4}.
{Sidenote: Oriental Words}
Thus we have a certain number of Hebrew words, mostly, if not
entirely, belonging to religious matters, as 'amen', 'cabala', 'cherub',
'ephod', 'gehenna', 'hallelujah', 'hosanna', 'jubilee', 'leviathan', 'manna',
'Messiah', 'sabbath', 'Satan', 'seraph', 'shibboleth', 'talmud'. The Arabic
words in our language are more numerous; we have several
arithmetical and astronomical terms, as 'algebra', 'almanack', 'azimuth',
'cypher'{5}, 'nadir', 'talisman', 'zenith', 'zero'; and chemical, for the
Arabs were the chemists, no less than the astronomers and
arithmeticians of the middle ages; as 'alcohol', 'alembic', 'alkali', 'elixir'.
Add to these the names of animals, plants, fruits, or articles of
merchandize first introduced by them to the notice of Western Europe;
as 'amber', 'artichoke', 'barragan', 'camphor', 'coffee', 'cotton', 'crimson',
'gazelle', 'giraffe', 'jar', 'jasmin', 'lake' (lacca), 'lemon', 'lime', 'lute',
'mattress', 'mummy', 'saffron', 'sherbet', 'shrub', 'sofa', 'sugar', 'syrup',
'tamarind'; and some further terms, 'admiral', 'amulet', 'arsenal',
'assassin', 'barbican', 'caliph', 'caffre', 'carat', 'divan', 'dragoman'{6},
'emir', 'fakir', 'firman', 'harem', 'hazard', 'houri', 'magazine', 'mamaluke',
'minaret', 'monsoon', 'mosque', 'nabob', 'razzia', 'sahara', 'simoom',
'sirocco', 'sultan', 'tarif', 'vizier'; and I believe we shall have nearly
completed the list. We have moreover a few Persian words, as 'azure',
'bazaar', 'bezoar', 'caravan', 'caravanserai', 'chess', 'dervish', 'lilac',
'orange', 'saraband', 'taffeta', 'tambour', 'turban'; this last appearing in
strange forms at its first introduction into the language, thus 'tolibant'
(Puttenham), 'tulipant' (Herbert's Travels), 'turribant' (Spenser), 'turbat',
'turbant', and at length 'turban'. We have also a few Turkish, such as
'chouse', 'janisary', 'odalisque', 'sash', 'tulip'{7}. Of 'civet'{8} and

'scimitar'{9} I believe it can only be asserted that they are Eastern. The
following are Hindostanee, 'avatar', 'bungalow', 'calico', 'chintz',
'cowrie', 'lac', 'muslin', 'punch', 'rupee', 'toddy'. 'Tea', or 'tcha', as it was
spelt at first, of course is Chinese, so too are 'junk' and 'satin'{10}.
The New World has given us a certain number of words, Indian and
other--'cacique' ('cassique', in Ralegh's Guiana), 'canoo', 'chocolate',
'cocoa'{11}, 'condor', 'hamoc' ('hamaca' in Ralegh), 'jalap', 'lama',
'maize' (Haytian), 'pampas', 'pemmican', 'potato' ('batata' in our earlier
voyagers), 'raccoon', 'sachem', 'squaw', 'tobacco', 'tomahawk', 'tomata'
(Mexican), 'wigwam'. If 'hurricane' is a word which Europe originally
obtained from the Caribbean islanders{12}, it should of course be
included in this list{13}. A certain number of words also we have
received, one by one, from various languages, which sometimes have
not bestowed on us more than this single one. Thus 'hussar' is
Hungarian; 'caloyer', Romaic; 'mammoth', of some Siberian
language;{14} 'tattoo', Polynesian; 'steppe', Tartarian; 'sago', 'bamboo',
'rattan', 'ourang outang', are all, I believe, Malay words; 'assegai'{15}
'zebra', 'chimpanzee', 'fetisch', belong to different African dialects; the
last, however, having reached Europe through the channel of the
Portuguese{16}.
{Sidenote: Italian Words}
{Sidenote: Spanish, Dutch and Celtic Words}
To come nearer home--we have a certain number of Italian words, as
'balcony', 'baldachin', 'balustrade', 'bandit', 'bravo', 'bust' (it was 'busto'
as first used in English, and therefore from the Italian, not from the
French), 'cameo', 'canto', 'caricature', 'carnival', 'cartoon', 'charlatan',
'concert', 'conversazione', 'cupola', 'ditto', 'doge', 'domino'{17}, 'felucca',
'fresco', 'gazette', 'generalissimo', 'gondola', 'gonfalon', 'grotto', ('grotta'
is the earliest form in which we have it in English), 'gusto',
'harlequin'{18}, 'imbroglio', 'inamorato', 'influenza', 'lava', 'malaria',
'manifesto', 'masquerade' ('mascarata' in Hacket), 'motto', 'nuncio',
'opera', 'oratorio', 'pantaloon', 'parapet', 'pedantry', 'pianoforte', 'piazza',
'portico', 'proviso', 'regatta', 'ruffian', 'scaramouch', 'sequin', 'seraglio',
'sirocco', 'sonnet', 'stanza', 'stiletto', 'stucco', 'studio', 'terra-cotta',

'umbrella', 'virtuoso', 'vista', 'volcano', 'zany'. 'Becco', and 'cornuto',
'fantastico', 'magnifico', 'impress' (the armorial device upon shields, and
appearing constantly in its Italian form 'impresa'), 'saltimbanco'
(=mountebank), all once common enough, are now obsolete. Sylvester
uses often 'farfalla' for butterfly, but, as far as I know, this use is
peculiar to him. If these are at all the whole number of our Italian
words, and I cannot call to mind any other, the Spanish in the language
are nearly as numerous; nor indeed would it be wonderful if they were
more so; our points of contact with Spain, friendly and hostile, have
been much more real than with Italy. Thus we have from the Spanish
'albino', 'alligator' (el lagarto), 'alcove'{19}, 'armada', 'armadillo',
'barricade', 'bastinado', 'bravado', 'caiman', 'cambist', 'camisado',
'carbonado', 'cargo', 'cigar', 'cochineal', 'Creole', 'desperado', 'don',
'duenna', 'eldorado', 'embargo', 'flotilla', 'gala', 'grandee', 'grenade',
'guerilla', 'hooker'{20}, 'infanta', 'jennet', 'junto', 'merino', 'mosquito',
'mulatto', 'negro', 'olio', 'ombre', 'palaver', 'parade', 'parasol', 'parroquet',
'peccadillo', 'picaroon', 'platina', 'poncho', 'punctilio', (for a long time
spelt 'puntillo', in English books), 'quinine', 'reformado',