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Possible ideas and thoughts are vast in number. A distinct word forevery distinct idea and thought would require a vast vocabulary. Theproblem in language is to express many ideas and thoughts withcomparatively few words.
Again, in the evolution of any language, progress is from a conditionwhere few ideas are expressed by a few words to a higher, where manyideas are expressed by the use of many words; but the number of allpossible ideas or thoughts expressed is increased greatly out ofproportion with the increase of the number of words.
And still again, in all of those languages which have been mostthoroughly studied, and by inference in all languages, it appears thatthe few original words used in any language remain as the elements forthe greater number finally used. In the evolution of a language theintroduction of absolutely new material is a comparatively rarephenomenon. The old material is combined and modified in many ways toform the new.
How has the small stock of words found as the basis of a languagebeen thus combined and modified?
The way in which the old materials have been used gives rise to whatwill here be denominated THE GRAMMATICPROCESSES.
Two or more words may be united to form a new one, or to perform theoffice of a new one, and four methods or stages of combination may benoted.
a. By juxtaposition, where the two words are placedtogether and yet remain as distinct words. This method is illustrated inChinese, where the words in the combination when taken alone seldom givea clew to their meaning when placed together.
b. By compounding, where two words are made into one,in which case the original elements of the new word remain in anunmodified condition, as in house-top, rain-bow,tell-tale.
4 c. By agglutination, in which case one or more of theelements entering into combination to form the new word is somewhatchanged—the elements are fused together. Yet this modification isnot so great as to essentially obscure the primitive words, as intruthful, where we easily recognize the original wordstruth and full; and holiday, in which holyand day are recognized.
d. By inflection. Here one or more of the elementsentering into the compound has been so changed that it can scarcely berecognized. There is a constant tendency to economy in speech by whichwords are gradually shortened as they are spoken by generation aftergeneration. In those words which are combinations of others there arecertain elements that wear out more rapidly than others. Where someparticular word is combined with many other different words the tendencyto modify