Page:Philological Museum v2.djvu/353

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343
HEADERTEXT.
343

•' On Oc and Oyl. 343 huhit. ja bispiwafi ina : and in numberless other pas- sages. When we consider this, the oc of the Provencals will readily remind us of the Danish og and the Swedish oc/i, which means and^ but is evidently the German audi: and we are also reminded of the Goths who once inhabited the south of France. For though, as we have already observed, the language of that country sounds more Italian or Spanish, is geographically connected with the latter language, and betrays its affinity to the Latin, and its alienation from the German, by generally omitting to couple the personal pro- noun with the verb : still traces of the Teutonic are to be found in it. I shall only mention the word FrancMman for northern French ; for it designates not only the land of oyl^ but also a man who comes from it, from Paris for instance, who indeed differs so widely in language and manners from the man of Languedoc, that he deserved to be described by a peculiar term. To the same class belongs the nick- name Lansoman^ a lubber, either from Landsman or Land- man, Now since there are German words in the language, however small may be their number, och or oc might very easily have made one of them ; and the old manner of spelling was not so wrong in adding an h at the end of the Languedoc affirmative, though it is true that it was afterward entirely dropt in the pronunciation. But the word was retained, not in its original signification of auch^ also^ but in the secondary one, yes ; retained — from absolute need of it. Just in the same way the later Latins, finding that the old Roman repetition no longer answered their purpose, adopted a peculiar affirmative, and this no other than the same conjunction also : etiam. Yet it occurs earlier in the best authors, since there were occasions when it was abso- lutely necessary to say yes or 710 ; on which subject I shall only cite two passages from Cicero. Acad. 4. 32. " ut sequens probabilitatem aut etiam aut non respondere possit.'"* Pro Rose. Com. 3. Utrum nomina digesta habes, an non? si non, quomodo tabulas conficis ? si etiam^ quamobrem &c. Other passages are produced by Forcellini, and in Plautus etiam stands by itself as an answer (Amphit. 1. 3. 46. nun- quid vis? Al. etiam: ut actutum advenias) It is un- VoL. IL No. 5. X X