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CELTIC LANGUAGE. 35
Rome. The GotJiic, over the whole extent of Germany,
and the greater part of Britain and Ireland ; the Phcenician,
or Moorish, in Spain, &c., &c., are all of them merely recent
superinductions, ingrafted on the Celtic — the aboriginal root .
The Roman language Gothicized, produced the Italian. The
Celtic in Gaul, with a mixture of rustic Roman, and Gothicized,
produced the French. The old British, (a dialect of the
Celtic) Saxonized, produced the English, &c. Whoever
would rear a philological system radically sound, must, there-
fore, commence with the Celtic ; otherwise he will derive the
cause from the effect — the root from the branches."
There are enow in the world of hke mmd with Mr
Huddleston. It were well would they make proper
use of his after experience. Professor Murray,
here referred to, certainly paid a compliment to the
Celtic: he not only proves it a dialect oii\\Q primary
language of Asia, but he also says that without it
one cannot possibly make progress in philology :
but, in our humble opinion, he paid the reverse
of a compliment to the judgment of his readers
when he asserts that " Ag, Bag, Dag, Gag, Hag,
Mag, Nag, Rag, Sag, are the foundations of lan-
guage !" See vol. ii. p. 32. Upon what principle
can these be made the foundation of languages ?
What were the other vowels given us for, if we are
ever to dwell upon the sound a ? Does Nature
utter no more than one monotonous note ? Has she
but one string to her magnificent harp ? The as-
sertion may dazzle, but never can approve itself to
the judgment. We shall not now wait to apply a
Rome. The GotJiic, over the whole extent of Germany,
and the greater part of Britain and Ireland ; the Phcenician,
or Moorish, in Spain, &c., &c., are all of them merely recent
superinductions, ingrafted on the Celtic — the aboriginal root .
The Roman language Gothicized, produced the Italian. The
Celtic in Gaul, with a mixture of rustic Roman, and Gothicized,
produced the French. The old British, (a dialect of the
Celtic) Saxonized, produced the English, &c. Whoever
would rear a philological system radically sound, must, there-
fore, commence with the Celtic ; otherwise he will derive the
cause from the effect — the root from the branches."
There are enow in the world of hke mmd with Mr
Huddleston. It were well would they make proper
use of his after experience. Professor Murray,
here referred to, certainly paid a compliment to the
Celtic: he not only proves it a dialect oii\\Q primary
language of Asia, but he also says that without it
one cannot possibly make progress in philology :
but, in our humble opinion, he paid the reverse
of a compliment to the judgment of his readers
when he asserts that " Ag, Bag, Dag, Gag, Hag,
Mag, Nag, Rag, Sag, are the foundations of lan-
guage !" See vol. ii. p. 32. Upon what principle
can these be made the foundation of languages ?
What were the other vowels given us for, if we are
ever to dwell upon the sound a ? Does Nature
utter no more than one monotonous note ? Has she
but one string to her magnificent harp ? The as-
sertion may dazzle, but never can approve itself to
the judgment. We shall not now wait to apply a
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Early Gaelic Book Collections > Blair Collection > History of the Celtic language > (41) |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/76179060 |
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Description | A selection of books from a collection of more than 500 titles, mostly on religious and literary topics. Also includes some material dealing with other Celtic languages and societies. Collection created towards the end of the 19th century by Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray. |
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Description | Selected items from five 'Special and Named Printed Collections'. Includes books in Gaelic and other Celtic languages, works about the Gaels, their languages, literature, culture and history. |
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