Page images
PDF
EPUB

languages. And the scholar who has accustomed himself to trace the minute resemblances between different languages, is thereby better prepared to see and exhibit the different significa. tions of the same word. Such were the qualifications which Mr. Pickering brought to the preparation of his Greek Lexicon; and the work has not disappointed the expectations which had been formed respecting it. The work is sufficiently extensive for all ordinary purposes, containing 1456 closely printed octavo pages, and upwards of twenty-two thousand articles more than the first edition. We have compared it in several places with the special lexicons for Homer, Herodotus, Sophocles, Plato and Xenophon, and have found it more complete than we had anticipated. It is particularly valuable for the reading of the Attic orators, the author having studied these with special care.

One of the most serious defects in all the Greek lexicons hitherto used in our schools, has been a want of proper arrangement of the definitions. If the student were called upon to give the primary meaning of a word, he had no means of ascertaining this with certainty, for in many instances the secondary meaning was placed first, and the primary one among the last. Consequently the student had no means of tracing correctly the relation between the primative and derivative senses of a word, an exercise to which he should be accustomed from the first. This evil is, to a great extent, remedied in the new lexicon of Mr. Pickering. He has generally arranged his definitions in the logical or der, giving the primary meaning first, then the metaphorical or more remote ones, each new signification being distinguished from the preceding by a semicolon. The improvement of the new edition over the first, both in the fulness and happy arrangement of its definitions, may be seen by comparing a few of the more difficult articles of each edition with each other. In the first edition, 2éyw is defined: "to say, tell, speak; to mention, recite or recount; to number, reckon; to command; to collect, gather; to choose; to call; to name; to read; to cause to lie down;"-in the third edition: "originally, to lay (German, legen), and in pass. to lie (German, liegen), whence all its significations may be de. rived; (1) to lay asleep, to lull to sleep, to put to bed; pass, or mid., to lie down, which signification only occurs in the earliest poets, nor is the pres. ever so used; (2) to lay in order, arrange, and hence, to gather, pick up; mid. to choose, pick out; pass. pres. to be chosen; in this signification the Attics use the perf. si Loya, pass. εileyμai, aor. pass. élén, but only in compounds; (3)

1847.]

Arrangement of the Definitions.

199

to lay among, and so, to count or reckon up; (4) to recount, relate, tell; hence, to speak, say, utter; to describe, state; to mention; to recite; to read; to call, to name; to import (signify). So in the first edition orέlaw is defined: "to send; to prepare, procure, equip; to restrain, repress ;"-in the second: "The primary idea seems to be, to set or arrange in a certain order, to arrange, II. IV. 294; to get in readiness, to prepare, equip; to get ready to send out, Od. II. 287; to prepare an expedition; to send; to send for, to bring; to put in order; hence, to dress, array, clothe; to unfurl or take in a sail; mid. to prepare one's self for a journey or expedition." These words are sufficient to show how great an advance the author has made since the publication of the first edition. We have noticed some few instances, however, in which the primary signification is placed after the secondary, e. g. τίθημι and ἀφθονία; the first meaning given to the former is, "to cause or make," which we suppose to be the secondary sense; the latter word is defined "abundance," "plenty," "also exemption from envy," the last definition being the primary one. But such instances are comparatively rare. It would have been better if each new definition had been indicated by a numeral, as in the case of 2éyw above, which the author has not usually done, except in the prepositions and some of the particles. Had this rule been observed throughout the work, the eye of the student would more readily have detected each new signification. The author has given some attention to what may be called the biography or history of words. He often mentions. the period in which a word was used; whether it belonged to the earlier or later period of the language; also the kind of composition in which it was employed, as prose or poetry, or the particular writers to whom it was confined. Thus, "x7was is only found as an Homeric epithet of Lacedaemon;" “xéxτηuai, a perf. more used by the Attics, ἔκτημαι by the Ionics;” “ ἄγκυρα (anchor) occurs first in Pindar; in Homer avva is used for anchors;" "oqqa is not used by any prose writer except Plato, and by him from Homer;" "oxon, used in the plural only by the Attic writers; Homer has it in the singular;" "nalaírazos used by Thucydides and the poets." While we are glad that this subject is not wholly overlooked, the work would have been much more valuable, if this department of lexicography had received still more attention. The student ought to have the means of knowing whether a word belongs exclusively to a particular author or a particular age, that, in his Greek exercises, he may not be lia

ble to use words of very rare occurrence, or such as belonged only to the earlier or later age, or to some one species of compo sition. In the Latin lexicon of Freund this work has been done with a degree of research which no previous lexicographer has brought to the subject.

The value of this lexicon would have been increased, if the construction of words had been more fully given, particularly the cases which they govern. The constructions are given in the case of very many words, while in others they are omitted. It is true, that the grammar is expected to give the general rules of construction; but then they can be only general rules. It would be impossible for a grammar, suitable for use in our schools and colleges, to examine the construction of every word. It can only group together words of a common signification, and say that words of this or that signification have a particular construction. The student learns from his grammar, that "verbs of hearing govern the genitive. The first meaning of axpoάoua is to hear; he will of course place a genitive after it. But the third meaning is to obey, and the rule of the grammar is that verbs of this signification govern the dative; accordingly he would be most likely to use the dative with the verb in this sense, which would be incorrect. The same difficulty could be illustrated by many other words, all of which would go to show how desirable it is that the lexicon indicate the construction of all words in regard to which there can be any doubt. A good illustration of what we would desire to find more frequently, may be seen in the articles néoμαι, θαυμάζω, πυνθάνομαι and κοιρανέω. The construction of κοι paréo is thus stated: "Homer does not join it immediately with a case, but either uses it absolutely, or more frequently with zará and the accusative; Hesiod joins it with the genitive case, Pindar with the accusative, Ap. Rhod. with the dative." This is well, and we wish the same valuable service had been done to such words as ἄγαμαι, ἀγαπάω, μανθάνω, μελετάω, πειράομαι, etc. Mr. Pickering had evidently studied with much care the antiquities of the Greeks. Of this he gives valuable proofs in almost every part of his lexicon. In connection with the definition of a word, he often explains some usage or custom with which the word is associated, or gives the fashion of some implement, article of dress and the like, all of which enable the student to become more of a Greek, and consequently to understand his author better. See the articles βῆμα, γάστρη, δελφίν, ἱππαπαῖ, ἵστος, κάνους, κλητήρ, κόθορνος, κόραξ, and the articles on weights and measures, which are full and accurate.

1847.]

Select Notices and Intelligence.

201

The prepositions and particles have received special attention, and the articles on these will be found to meet all the ordinary wants of the student; see άnó and xará, to the last of which thirtyone different significations or relations are given; also εi and un. The force of prepositions in composition also, are generally well indicated in the definitions, so far as it is possible to express their force by any corresponding English term. We have noticed a few instances, however, where the force of the preposition is not given as it should be. The diminutive force of vzó in vzáуo is not observed; besides the meanings given, it signifies, "to lead slowly." Anovio is defined, "to sacrifice," "to offer to the gods a part of the spoil." This word never signifies merely to sacrifice, but has always connected with it the collateral idea of performing a sacrifice which had been previously vowed or promised, hence always to pay a sacrifice.

The oblique cases and principal dialectical or unusual forms of anomalous nouns, adjectives and pronouns, and the principal tenses of anomalous verbs, are given in alphabetical order. This is a very valuable assistance to the younger class of students, who, however thoroughly they may have been trained in the laws of grammatical changes, are often unable to find from what word some of the more irregular forms are derived. The quantity of the doubtful vowels, too, is generally marked, which is a great convenience.

It had been better, if in the Greek passages quoted, reference had not been so often made to the Graeca Majora, as that work is not used to any extent in our colleges, and will soon be entirely inaccessible. The lexicon is designed for the use of schools and colleges, and we know of no one better adapted to meet the wants of such institutions. It will be viewed at home and abroad as an honored legacy of one of the first of American scholars.

ARTICLE XI.

SELECT NOTICES AND INTELLIGENCE.

CLASSICAL Recent German editions of Horace. Since the earlier labors of Mitscherlich, Doering and others, many valuable works on Horace have appeared in Germany. The first edition of Orelli, as our classical readers are aware, was published in 1838, and the new edition of Doer

ing by Regel in 1839. The last volume of the work of Düntzner, entitled "The Criticism and Interpretation of Horace," appeared in December, 1845. The work is therefore now complete in five volumes, Vol. I. (1840) containing the Odes, Vol. II. the Satires (1841), Vol. III. the Epistles of the First Book (1843), Vol. IV. the Epistles of the Second Book, and the Ars Poetica (1844), Vol. V. containing Supplements and Corrections, and a complete Register. This work is aesthetic in its character, aiming, as the title-page itself declares, at a deeper understanding of the works of Horace. In the execution of a task so delicate and so difficult, requiring such important and various qualifications, the author has, in the judgment of such men as Jahn and Obbarius, been but par tially successful. The first volume, on the odes, has suffered more from criticism than the succeeding ones. The author's arrangement of these celebrated lyric productions, according to general ideas, such as Temperance, Piety, Love, Friendship, etc., has been justly censured as entirely arbitrary, as well as hostile to the style and spirit of Horace and the whole character of the ancient classic poetry. At the same time are acknowledged the learning of the author, his zeal and his genial admiration of his poet, his lively and vigorous style, and his original views on particular points. The Introduction to Volume second, on the origin and spirit of the Roman Satire, furnishes a learned and instructive view of this subject.

Lübker's Horace, published in 1841, embraces only the first three books of the Odes. This author's purpose was not to give a complete commentary, but only to lend his aid in the solution of certain difficult points, with particular reference to Orelli and Regel, whose labors he aims partly to correct and partly to complete. For the grammatical interpretation, this work is of great value. A complete and most valuable Commentary on Horace is furnished in the second edition of Orelli, corrected and enlarged, in two volumes, the first published in 1843 and the second in 1844.

A smaller work, embracing all the works of Horace, and admirably adapted to the use of schools, by G. Dillenburger, now Director of the Gymnasium in Emmerich, was published in 1844. The notes are not numerous, but yet sufficient and of the right kind; brief and to the point, explaining obscure allusions, and containing references to the Grammar for all difficult points. We observe that this book is honorably mentioned by Orelli; who has also added to his second volume, the Life of Horace, written by Dillenburger, and published in his edition.

In the lists of German works recently published, we notice an edition of the Epistola ad Pisones, by Peerlkamp, and Fasc. 6. of Obbarius' learned work on the Epistles of Horace.

We have received Dr. Moritz Seyffert's edition of Cicero's Laelius, sive de Amicitia Dialogus, in two parts, the first published in 1844 and the second in 1845, forming, with the Text, Commentary and Index, a volume of 598 pp. 8vo. It will be perceived at once that so full a commentary is not designed for the use of schools. It is meant for the pri vate study of the higher scholars in the Gymnasia, and of young philolo

« EelmineJätka »