1. Semantic Sources of The Words For Emotion in Sanskrit Latin & Germanic Languages Hans Kurath

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800.31

K96s

The University of Chicago

THE SEMANTIC SOURCES OF THE

WORDS FOR THE EMOTIONS IN

SANSKRIT, GREEK, LATIN, AND

THE GERMANIC LANGUAGES

A DISSERTATION

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY

OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE

IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY, GENERAL

LINGUISTICS, AND INDO-IRANIAN PHILOLOGY

BY

HANS KURATH

The Collegiate

ORGE BANTA PUBLI

MENASHA, WI

ANY

LIBRARY

OF

THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

MICHIGAN

RECEIVED

IN

EXCHANGE

FROM

Univ.

of

Chicago

The University of Chicago

801.31

K96s

THE SEMANTIC SOURCES OF THE WORDS FOR THE EMOTIONS IN SANSKRIT, GREEK, LATIN, AND THE GERMANIC LANGUAGES

A DISSERTATION

171

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY

OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE

IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY, GENERAL LINGUISTICS, AND INDO-IRANIAN PHILOLOGY

BY

HANS KURATH

The Collegiate Press

GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY

MENASHA, WISCONSIN

Univ. of Chic.

Ph.D.

2. • 20 - 1923

Copyright, 1921

By Hans Kurath

PREFACE

It is the purpose of this investigation to trace and to interpret

the semantic history of the words for the emotions in some of the Indo-

European languages, and to establish a comprehensive classification

of their sources and their shifts in meaning.

I believe that, except for certain difficulties mentioned on page 9,

the intention has been realized. At any rate, the wider heads marked

by capital letters (A-G) and by Roman numerals will accommodate

any more specific developments that may have failed to appear in

the material to which I have limited myself. So words with an earlier

meaning 'smile' for which I have, contrary to expectation, not

succeeded in establishing a development to 'be pleased, or so' will

readily fall into group B. V, and so forth.

Such an attempt at collective interpretation, if carried out on a

large scale, is bound to clarify the history of the meaning of the

individual words, because shifts that occur independently in separate

words and in separate languages must be due to constant psychological

factors, in this case, to the nature of the emotions and their

relation to the rest of consciousness. To point out these psychological

factors, as I attempt to do, is to explain the development of the

meaning.

It goes without saying then that it was necessary to give a brief

sketch of the subject matter which the words under consideration

come to denote, i.e. the emotions. This was all the more imperative

because strongly divergent opinions are held in regard to the psy-

chology of the emotions, which are decisive in the interpretation of

many shifts. On the whole, I accept Wundt's position as represented

in his Vorlesungen über die Menschen- und die Tierseele (not his

altered attitude in the last edition of his Physiologische Psychologie),

with the modification suggested by Titchener, Feeling and Attention,

p. 160ff. This offers the most satisfactory basis for the explanation

of the semantic changes recorded in the words for the emotions.

Incidentally, the numerous cases where names of sense perceptions

have come to be applied to emotions certainly constitute a powerful

argument for Wundt's view regarding the kinship of the sense

feelings to the emotions.

The linguistic material has been obtained from the standard

lexicons. Only the Sanskrit, the Greek, the Latin, and the Germanic

iii

418250

iv

Preface

languages have been searched thoroughly; illustrations have been

taken from other languages only in connection with words from

the four languages mentioned, or wherever they offer exceptionally

clear examples for shifts not clearly attested otherwise. No words

have been included whose etymology is not tolerably certain, and of

these the more certain cases have been put first within their respective

groups.

My hearty thanks are due to Professors C. D. Buck and F. A.

Wood of the University of Chicago for much of what knowledge

I may have in my chosen field and for their generous help in the

preparation of this thesis. I take this opportunity also to express

my gratitude to my friend and teacher, Professor E. Prokosch of

Bryn Mawr, who has taught and encouraged me in my work for many

years, and to Professor E. Fay, formerly of the University of Texas.

Professor G. O. Curme and Professor J. T. Hatfield of North-

western University have favored me with a careful reading of the

final proofs and suggested a number of changes, for which I am very

grateful.

Northwestern University,

November, 1921.

Hans Kurath.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE....................................................................................... III

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE EMOTIONS

Fundamental Assumptions:

The Psycho-Physical Nature of the Emotions

The Identity, in Substance, of the Emotions and the Feelings .... 1

The Emotions and their Sub-classes.................................................. 2

The Physiological and the Psychic Aspect of the Emotions............. 3

The Emotions and the Will............................................................... 5

The Emotions and the Mind as a Whole........................................... 6

The Feelings and Thought................................................................ 7

THE SEMANTIC SOURCES OF THE WORDS FOR THE EMOTIONS

Outline of Classification................................................................... 9

A. NAMES OF THE PARTS OF THE BODY INVOLVED IN EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES ....................................................................................... 10

I. The Heart....................................................................................... 10

II. The Breast...................................................................................... 14

III. The Viscera.................................................................................... 15

IV. Liver, Spleen, Gall, 'Black Gall'..................................................... 16

B. WORDS DENOTING PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPRESSIONS (GESTURES) OF THE EMOTIONS......................................................................................... 19

I. Display of Vigor............................................................................... 19

1. Words with the general meaning 'vigor, strength' furnish expressions for 'passion; daring, courage; will, determination; consolation, fortitude; joy, mirth'............................................................... 20

2. Words denoting 'grow, rise, swell' acquire such meanings as 'pleasure, joy, happiness; hope; haughtiness; resentment, anger'.. 21

3. Words for 'move lively, hop, skip' come to mean 'cheerful, gay, merry'............................................................................................... 22

II. Appearance of Weakness................................................................ 23

1. Words for 'weak, weary' turn into expressions for 'sad, grieving'.. 23

2. Words for 'droop' come to mean 'sad'............................................. 23

3. Words for 'slow' furnish expressions for 'grief, sorrow' and for 'longing'............................................................................................ 24

III. Turning towards the Object of the Emotion............................... 24

1. Words for 'hasten, speed, strive' furnish expressions for 'zeal, desire, longing, envy; joy'................................................................ 25

2. Words for 'stretch out' come to denote 'desire, will, hope'.......... 27

3. Words meaning 'look towards, wait for' furnish expressions for 'expectation, hope' and for 'desire, greed'......................................... 28

4. Words for 'grasp' come to mean 'desire, greed'............................. 28

5. Words for 'stick to, cling to' turn into expressions for 'desire, love' 28

IV. Excitement and Inhibition of Movements...................................... 29

vi

Table of Contents

1. Words for 'move back and forth, waver, shrink' turn into expressions for 'excitement, irritation, resentment, anger, envy, passion, greed, grief'.

29

2. Words for 'tremble' come to denote 'fear'.

33

3. Words for 'stand still, be stiff' furnish expressions for 'amazement, embarrassment, horror, hate, fear'.

34

V. More Specific Gestures.

34

1. Words for 'gape, yawn' furnish expressions for 'desire, crave'.

34

2. Words for 'writhe' come to mean 'irritation, anger'.

35

3. Words for 'blush' develop into expressions for 'passion, love, delight'.

35

4. Words for 'bristling (of the hair)' come to denote 'fear' and 'rejoicing'.

35

5. Words for 'cover, hide, turn away from' come to denote 'shame'.

36

VI. Vocal Expression of Emotions.

36

1. Words meaning 'make noise' furnish expressions for 'rejoice'.

36

2. Words for 'lament' come to mean 'mourn, grieve, be sad'.

37

3. Words for 'praise' come to denote the emotions of 'gratitude, esteem, friendship, love'.

37

4. Words for 'grumble, grind the teeth' come to mean 'anger, wrath' and 'sorrow, grief'.

37

5. Derivatives of interjections furnish expressions for various emotions.

38

C. WORDS DENOTING SENSE PERCEPTIONS.

38

I. Visual Perceptions.

39

1. Words for 'bright' and 'shine' come to denote the emotions of 'delight, pleasure,' whence also 'desire, longing'.

40

2. Words for 'dark' furnish expressions for 'gloom'.

41

II. Auditory Perceptions.

41

1. The meaning 'clear' may change to 'cheerful'.

42

III. Perceptions of Taste.

42

1. Words for 'sweet' come to mean 'pleasant, joyful, glad'.

42

2. Words for 'taste' furnish expressions for 'inclination, delight, love'.

42

IV. Perceptions of Touch.

43

1. Words for 'cut, bite, be sharp' come to denote a 'sharp pain,' whence the emotions of 'distress, grief' and 'irritation, anger'.

43

2. Words for 'rub, scratch' furnish expressions for 'pain,' whence 'grief, sorrow'.

44

3. Words for 'touch' come to mean 'feel'.

45

V. Kinesthetic and Visceral Perceptions.

45

1. Words for 'press, pinch, squeeze' furnish expressions for 'suffering, distress, sorrow'.

46

2. Words for 'gnaw, bite' turn into words for 'pain, grief'.

47

3. Words for 'strangle, throttle' furnish expressions for 'distress, grief; anxiety, fear; irritation, anger'.

47

Table of Contents

vii

4. Words for 'heavy' become expressions for 'distress, grief'.......

47

5. Words for 'bear' come to mean 'endure,' whence both 'suffer' and

'dare'...................................................

48

6. Words for 'crush, break' yield expressions for 'pain; grief, regret'

48

7. Words for 'shock' and 'grip' come to mean 'irritation, anger' and

'sympathy,' respectively....................................

50

8. Words for 'hot' and 'warm' turn into expressions for 'suffering,

grief' and 'sympathy, kindness, delight,' respectively.............

50

9. Words for 'thirst' become expressions for 'desire, craving' ......

52

D. WORDS DENOTING SITUATIONS AND ACTIVITIES CHARAC-

TERIZED BY A PRONOUNCED EMOTIONAL VALUE..................

52

I. Possession of Objects Affording Enjoyment......................

53

1. Words meaning 'share,' both in the sense of 'deal out' and of 'par-

take of' furnish expressions for 'enjoyment, delight' ............

53

2. Words for 'profit' develop into expressions for 'enjoyment, delight'

54

II. Safety, Comfort, and Danger...................................

55

1. Words denoting 'cover, shelter; home, dwelling' and '(safe)

return' furnish expressions for 'happiness, bliss,' whence also

'pleasure, love, joy'...........................................

55

2. Words for 'danger' come to mean 'fear' .........................

57

III. Help and Care...................................................

57

1. Words for 'help' shift through 'favor' to 'inclination, desire; joy' ..

57

2. Words for 'care' develop the sense of 'anxiety, pain, grief, sorrow'

as well as that of 'love'...........................................

57

IV. Labor and Toil....................................................

58

Words for 'labor, toil' develop such meanings as 'suffering, misery,

distress'.........................................................

58

V. Strife and Commotion..............................................

59

1. Words for 'strife' develop into words for 'grudge, wrath'..........

59

2. Words for 'commotion' furnish expressions for 'trouble, distress'..

59

VI. Play..............................................................

60

Words for 'play' tend to acquire such meanings as 'amusement,mirth'

60

E. WORDS DENOTING 'MIND' ............................................

60

Words for 'mind' furnish expressions for all sorts of emotions, but

especially for the strong emotions of 'desire, courage, anger, love'

63

F. WORDS DENOTING THOUGHT PROCESSES...............................

65

1. Words for 'experience' furnish expressions for 'suffer, grieve'.....

65

2. Words for 'perceive, think, attend to' develop such meanings

as 'desire, care for' and 'honor, revere,' as well as 'feel gratitude'..

66

3. Words for 'remember' may develop the meanings 'love, long' and

'care, solicitude'...................................................

68

ABBREVIATIONS

AJP. = The American Journal of Philology, Baltimore.

BB. = Beiträge zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen, ed. by A. Bezzenberger

and W. Prellwitz, Göttingen.

Berneker = Slavisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Heidelberg, 1908ff.

Boisacq = E. Boisacq, Dictionaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Paris, 1916.

Falk-Torp = H. S. Falk and Alf Torp, Norwegisch-Dänisches etymologisches Wörter-

buch. Heidelberg, 1910.

Feist = S. Feist, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache. Halle, 1909.

Geldner Gloss. = K. F. Geldner, Der Rigveda in Auswahl, Glossar. Stuttgart, 1907.

Grassmann Wb. = H. Grassmann, Wörterbuch zum Rigveda. Leipzig, 1873.

IF. = Indogermanische Forschungen, ed. by K. Brugmann and W. Streitberg. Strass-

burg.

JAOS. = The Journal of the American Oriental Society, ed. by Lanman and Moore.

New York.

KZ. = Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indoger-

manischen Sprachen, ed. by A. Kuhn, E. Kuhn, J. Schmidt, W. Schulze. Berlin

and Gütersloh.

Persson Beitr. = P. Persson, Beiträge zur indogermanischen Wortforschung. Upsala,

Uhl.Ai.Wb. = C. C. Uhlenbeck, Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der altin-

dischen Sprache. Amsterdam, 1899.

Walde = A. Walde, Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2 edition. Heidelberg,

ZDMG. = Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft. Leipzig.

viii

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE EMOTIONS

1. Fundamental Assumptions

The Psycho-Physical Nature of the Emotions. The nature of the emotions unfortunately is still one of the most disputed chapters of psychology, although undoubtedly more common ground has been gained since the days of James1 and Lange2 on the one hand, and Stumpf3 and Irons4 on the other. Psychologists, with few exceptions, no longer agree with James that an emotion is merely the consciousness of a physiological state, or with Lange that it simply consists in the physiological state; nor do they discard the physiological side of the emotions as lightly as Stumpf and others of the opposing group. They are practically all agreed that the emotions are more complex in their make-up, that they partake both of the physiological and of the psychic, although it does not seem to be possible to describe the latter in other than vague, suggestive terms.5

The Feelings and the Emotions Essentially Identical. There is less agreement in another very important matter on which the explanation of the words in groups C, D, E, and F hinges. I mean the relation of the emotions to the so-called sense-feelings, and the feelings that unquestionably accompany all other mental processes; and the relation of all of these to perception, thought, the instincts, and willing. Quite a large group, especially of older psychologists, most prominent among them James and Stumpf (antipodes in many other respects), draw a sharp line between the affective tone of mental processes and the emotions proper, claiming that they are fundamentally different. On the basis of this doctrine, it would be hard indeed to give anything like a satisfactory explanation of the hundreds of cases where names of perceptions (Ger. heiter 'clear' and 'cheerful'), names of thought processes (Skr. smāra- 'memory' and 'longing'), and names for the mind as a whole (Goth. hugs 'mind': OS hugi 'anger, courage') come to denote emotions

1 Mind, New Series III, and Principles of Psychology 2, 480.

2 Gemütsbewegungen (1887).

3 Über den Begriff der Gemütsbewegungen, Zeitschr. f. Psych. 21, 63.

4 Professor James's Theory of Emotions, Mind, NS. III; The Nature of Emotions, Phil. Rev. VII.

5 Wundt, Titchener, Ribot, McDougall; for references see below. See also C. F. Stout, The Groundwork of Psychology 192ff.

2

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

of one kind or another. One would have to resort to the much

overworked doctrine of association by contiguity which will solve

all and every problem of semantic change as if by magic, while

clearly it is the fundamental kinship of the affective tone of the per-

cepts, the images, the trains of thought on the one hand, and the

emotions on the other that brings about the transition. This fact of

semantic development is one more reason added to others for assum-

ing with Wundt, Titchener, Ribot, and McDougall the fundamental

likeness of the affective tone and the emotional processes.6

These considerations have led me to believe in the complex,

psycho-physical nature of the emotions, and to assume their identity,

in substance, with the affective tone of all mental processes. Having

reached a definite stand on these important questions, I may proceed

to sketch in outline the psychology of the emotions.

2. The Emotions or Affective Processes, and Their

Sub-Classes

All mental processes partake in some degree of the affective,

some more, and others less.7 The processes in which this aspect

predominates over the perceptual are called affective processes,

in popular language, emotions in the wider sense of the term.8 These

may be subdivided into emotions in the narrower sense of the term,

into passions, and into moods or sentiments.

Emotions are usually aroused by a definite perception or idea,

they set in with a shock, they have a swift and comparatively short

descending course, involve, if violent, the entire being, and are only

rarely accompanied by extensive thought elements. These character-

istics are admirably clear in the case of fear and anger.

Passions have a constitutional stimulus, although they may also

be aroused by definite sense perceptions or ideas; they are lasting,

they may, like violent emotions, involve the whole being, and they are

commonly centered about the persistent idea of the object involved.

6 The close resemblance of the facial expressions accompanying bitter, sweet, and

sour tastes to those going with certain emotions is other evidence in favor of this view;

see James, Princ. of Psych. II, 48.

7 Wundt, Vorlesungen 227ff; McDougall, Introduction 26ff.

8 In the philological part of this thesis I shall use the popular term emotion rather

than the technical affective process, even though the latter would be less subject to

misunderstanding.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

3

While the emotions contain only scattered thought elements and are on the whole inimical to thinking, passions often are real incentives to thinking though in a one-sidedly determined manner.9

Moods or sentiments are bound up with extensive trains of thought the trend of which they determine to a very large extent; they are in turn very easily influenced by thought. They are less intense than emotions and passions and more even and stable. The moods readily pass over into organized thinking; thinking readily comes under the influence of a mood. In many cases it would be hard to decide whether a certain process is a pensive mood or a moody thought. This close relationship of thought and mood serves to explain the fact that names of certain situations, i.e. in psychological terms, certain trains of thought, furnish names for moods.10

For our purposes, the subdivision of the affective processes into emotions and passions is of little significance, since practically any word for an emotion is also applied to the related passion, and since it is only rarely possible to tell whether the name was first applied to the emotion or to the passion. Such a rare case is presented by words with the original meaning ‘shock,’ which is characteristic only of the emotions. The third subdivision is of more importance to our study as already indicated.

3. The Physiological and the Psychic Aspect of the Emotions

All affective processes, emotions, passions, and moods as well, have a physiological and a psychic aspect.11 The more striking and evident aspect is the physiological. The smile, the frown, the shrinking from and the reaching out for an object, the drooping and the straightening up of the body, the cry of anger, of joy, and of sorrow: these bodily expressions of the emotions, gestures in the

9 A mere distinction of intensity like that assumed by Wundt has very little significance, if any. It would be hard to decide whether a violent fit of anger is less intense than, let us say, Romeo’s passionate love.

10 These definitions are chiefly based on Ribot, Essai sur les passions (1907). For an attempt to find names for the related instincts, emotions, passions, and sentiments see H. W. Warren, Psych. Rev. 26, 188.

11 Wundt, Vorlesungen 230ff. Titchener, Feeling and Attention 160ff., presents a modification of Wundt’s theory of feeling and the emotions, which I accept. McDougall, Introduction to Social Psychology 26.

4 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

widest sense of the term, are clearly the most palpable constituents

of the emotional processes. It is this fact that has led physiologists

and psychologists, Lange and James for instance, to assume that

they are the essence of the emotions; that the psychic aspect either

does not exist at all, or that it is a mere reflection of the former in

consciousness.12 I do not share this view, although I am very much

impressed by the fact that hundreds of names of emotions are in

their origin words describing the characteristic gestures that go

with the stronger emotions and are so evident to the eye. The fact

that we have so few names, if any, which at an earlier period were

used of the psychic phase of the emotions,13 need not, however, lead

us to deny the actual existence of this factor, since it is one of the few

firmly established doctrines of semantics that all the more complex

and subtle mental processes are named according to their simpler and

more tangible components.14 Authorities who believe in a psychic

aspect of the emotions, as Wundt, Titchener, McDougall, and Ribot

find a powerful argument in the experimentally proven influence

of thought proper upon the organs that respond most readily also

to emotional excitement, i.e. the heart, the lungs, and the facial

muscles, in a slighter degree also upon all other voluntary muscles.15

If bodily changes, however small, go also with other than emo-

tional processes, how can they constitute the substance of the

emotions? Must they not rather be thought of as standing in

the same relationship to both emotions and thought, even though

they are so much more prominent in the former? The question

is of considerable importance for the explanation of the cases

gathered in group B. On the basis of Lange's view, the semantic

change illustrated by Skr. trasati (a) 'shake,' (b) 'be afraid' (cf. also

Gr. τρέω 'flee,' Lat. terreo 'frighten') would have to be taken merely

as a narrowing of the meaning from (a) 'shake, as describing any

object' to (b) 'shake, as confined to describing the body of man or

animal.' James would have to assume a further shift from (b) to (c)

'consciousness of the shaking= the emotion of fear.' On the basis

13 See Irons' criticism on the ground that not all bodily changes are emotions, and

the challenge to James to produce a criterion, Mind. N. S. III.

12 Ziegler, Das Gefühl 245.

14 Wundt, Völkerpsychologie3 II, 2, 555.

15 Zoneff und Meumann, Über Begleiterscheinungen psychischer Vorgänge in

Atem und Puls, Wundt Phil. Stud. XVIII (1903).

Lehmann, Körperliche Ausserungen psych. Vorgänge (1899-1905).

of the view I have adopted, on the other hand, the following development must be assumed: (a) ‘shake, as describing any object, including

the body of man and animal under the influence of emotion,’ (b) ‘be afraid = the emotion of fear.’ The name of the gesture of the

body (= the physiological phase of the emotion) is accordingly extended also to the subtler components of the emotion, and becomes

a name for the entire mental process. This explanation corresponds more closely to the facts, I believe.16

4. The Emotions and the Will

That there exists a certain kinship between the emotions on the one hand and the instincts and volition on the other can not

be doubted. Linguistic evidence also is in favor of assuming, at any rate, a close relationship of the two types of mental experience,

if not their ultimate identity. For any word denoting instinctive tendencies and willing may come to denote, often in the same lan-

guage, the emotions of desire, pleasure, hope, love, and so forth. Convenient examples are furnished by the etymological group to

which our word will belongs: Skr. vrnāti ‘desire, wish, long for,’ Gr. ἔλπις ‘hope, anxiety,’ Lat. volo ‘to will,’ voluptās ‘pleasure,’ OSl.

volja ‘will,’ Lith. vilus ‘I hope,’ pavelt ‘he wills.’ The fundamental kinship of the instincts and of willing is conceded by most psycholo-

gists. Willing differs from the more elementary process of instinctive striving only in being much more complex, often embracing divergent

tendencies and involved trains of thought. Their fundamental character is conceived of as a striving towards an object outside of

self. Whether this constitutes a third distinct psychic element, as McDougall thinks, or whether it is to be regarded with James and

Wundt17 as a peculiar type of affective experience has no important

16 For the best description of the psychic aspect of the emotions see Wundt, Vorlesungen 237ff., together with Titchener’s wholesome criticism in his book on

Feeling and Attention, esp. 160ff.

17 James, Psychology Course 415; apparently contradictory, Princ. of Psych. II, 562. But the author has here in mind the higher will processes in which

reasoning forms a large and important part. Even so, his stand seems somewhat ambiguous.

Wundt, Phys. Psych.6 III, 249ff. The gist of his conviction is summed up in the following manner: “Sucht man für das ‘Streben’ in dem Willensvorgang selbst ein

diesem Ausdruck einigermassen entsprechendes Substrat zu finden, so bleibt man stets by gewissen Gefühlen stehen, die in diesem Falle wohl hauptsächlich den Rich-

tungen der Spannungs- und Erregungsgefühle angehören, und die wir in dieser Verbindung wohl am zutreffendsten als Tätigkeitsgefühle bezeichnen können.”

See also Wundt’s admirable description of willing in his Vorlesungen 246-250.

6

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

bearing on our subject. I rather incline to the second view, since

many emotions exhibit a decided striving towards an outer object

and often lead to action in themselves, anger, fear, and desire among

others. The only important difference between emotions and

volitional processes is this that in the latter the reference to an outer

object is more pronounced, and that in the higher types of volitional

activity the object is clearly present in the mind in the form of an

image or a concept. The rather attractive theory of James, Ribot,

and McDougall that the emotions have sprung from the vital and

social instincts, a view that has found many supporters in recent

years (although present-day behaviorists have discarded it), is

based on the belief that instincts and emotions are of quite different

make-up. I regard instincts as emotions with a strong reference to an

outer object.18

5. The Emotions and the Mind as a Whole

A brief statement in regard to the relation of the emotions

to the mind as a whole is required for the explanation of a group

of words which prior to becoming names for 'heart = gemüt' and then

names of various emotions had such meanings as 'soul, mind,' as for

instance the etymological group of our word mind: Skr. manas-, 'mind,

reason, heart,' māna- 'zeal, anger,' Gr. μένος 'passion, anger, courage,'

Lat. mens 'mind, heart, desire, gratitude,' etc. (see group E).

I have urged that all mental processes are compounds of thought

elements and of affective elements, and that a process in which the

former predominate is a thought process (perception, associative

and inferential thinking, remembering), while processes which are

predominantly affective are affective processes or emotions in the

wider sense of the term. The same distinction applies to the mind

as a whole, which not unlike the individual processes always is more

or less unified. This unification arises from attention, if the content

of consciousness at the given moment is chiefly thought; if the

content is predominantly emotional, through the influence of the

18 Wundt, Phys. Psych. III, 262: Instincts are “ein Komplex von Gefühlen und

Affekten, aus denen sich dann allmählich, unter Einwirkung äußerer Eindrücke,

bestimmte Motive herausbilden.”

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

7

dominating emotion.19 For not only do all the emotional elements

that are in consciousness at a given time merge into each other, and

form a strongly unified complex of a specific emotional character

(which language may or may not be able to name), but this resulting

emotion also determines the trend of thought. It brings on associa-

tions and memories akin to it in feeling, it directs constructive think-

ing into emotionally cognate channels, it predisposes the sense organs

to receive only certain stimuli. In short, the mind as a whole, and

if the emotion is very powerful also every element of the content of

consciousness, is saturated with the dominating emotion. Mind

in that case is heart, gemüt. One must not be surprised then that the

semantic changes mentioned above take place in so many cases.20

6. The Feelings (Affective Tone) and Thought

In a previous section I have taken my stand with Wundt, Titche-

ner, and Ribot in assuming that the emotions and the feeling aspect

of thought are the same in substance; that they differ only in their

relationship to the rest of consciousness. That is to say, in emotions

or affective processes proper the affective element predominates and

determines the lines along which consciousness is organized into a

whole, while in the thought processes it is subsidiary to the con-

trolling and unifying thought element. A feeling may however

readily change into an emotion if it swells to such proportions that it

submerges the thought element and comes to dominate over it. So

the feeling attending the taste of a sweet substance may pass over

into an emotion; so also does the contemplation of an object of art

readily evolve from the state of esthetic enjoyment into a real, often

very strong emotion; so do memories lead to genuine emotions.

If then we find that a word which originally denotes a thought

process is also applied to emotions proper, we shall understand

without any difficulty how the later meaning has developed. The

19 Wundt, Phys. Psych. II, 357: “Diese zentrale Funktion der Apperzeption ist

in jedem Augenblicke auch für den ganzen übrigen Bewusstseinsinhalt bestimmend,

indem dessen sämtlichen Elemente nach ihrem Verhältnis zu den apperzepierten

Elementen geordnet werden.”

20 Discussions of this doctrine are to be found in the following places:

Wundt, Phys. Psych. III, 341 ff; Vorlesungen 234ff. and 246.

Ribot, Essai sur les passions 27ff.

Stout, The Groundwork of Psychology 188ff.

8

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

emotions, in such cases, are simply named after the thought elements

that give rise to them and that remain even after the emotional stage

has been reached an essential part of them. That the reverse semantic development is rather rare is no matter of surprise; for the emotions are the most elusive mental processes, and do not submit themselves to analysis and clear definition which is a prerequisite to their direct expression in language.

21 This subject is dealt with most extensively and intensively by Wundt, Phys. Psych. III, 108ff.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions 9

THE SEMANTIC SOURCES OF THE WORDS FOR THE EMOTIONS

Outline of Classification

A survey of the names of feelings and emotions in the Indo-European languages in regard to their semantic sources leads to the following classification:

A. Names of the parts of the body most strongly affected by the emotions, as the heart, the breast, the gall, and the liver.

B. Words for the manifold expressive movements of the body that accompany the complex processes of the emotions, as vigor, weakness, a turning towards the object of the emotion, shaking, blushing, etc.

C. Words denoting sense perceptions commonly attended by a more or less defined feeling, as bright (visual), clear (auditory), sweet (gustatory), sharp (tactual); bear (muscular), burn (visceral).

D. Words denoting activities and external situations in which the collective experience of the individual commonly takes on a well defined emotional quality, as in playing, toiling, fighting, sharing in possessions, resting, and so forth.

E. Words denoting the mind as a whole, from which expressions (a) for 'heart,' (= mind controlled by emotion), and (b) for the various emotions are derived.

F. Words denoting thought processes, as perception, thought, and memory.

G. Names of emotions of Indo-European age whose origin can no longer be determined (not treated).1

The lines drawn in this classification are by no means rigid. It is, for instance, not always easy or even possible to decide whether a given mental experience the name of which has furnished an expression for one emotion or another, as 'burn' or 'boil,' belongs

1 Notable examples are: the etymological group to which E. will belongs, with meanings like 'desire, wish; will; hope; love, lust;' Lat. cārus 'dear,' OIr. caraím 'I love,' cāra 'friend,' OE hōr 'whore' (from IE. qd-); Skr. níd- 'mockery, contempt,' Goth. ganaítjan 'revile,' Lett. naîds 'hatred,' and with a different determinative, Goth. neip, ON. nīð 'mockery, contempt,' OHG. nīd 'animosity,' NHG. neid 'envy' (IE. nei-).

10 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

to the realm of perception or to that of expressive movements. Such difficulties are due partly to the constitution of the human organism and partly to the state of the sciences dealing with it. Nor is it always possible to tell whether a given word or group of words originally described the physiological condition of the individual or the outward situation, as in the case of 'rest.' In cases of this kind all one can do is to trace the meanings of the words as closely as possible, and if no criterion can be discovered to confess the ambiguity.

Nevertheless, I believe that the grouping adopted here on the basis of a psychological analysis will serve the purpose of bringing out the nature of the semantic development of the great mass of words whose etymology is tolerably clear.

A. Names of the Parts of the Body Involved in Emotional Experiences

Of all parts of the body the organs not subject to the control of consciousness are probably more strongly affected in emotional experiences than any other. Every event of emotion, no matter how gentle, is registered by the heart, by the organs of respiration, and by the viscera. The heart-beat is accelerated or retarded, it becomes stronger or weaker, it remains regular or becomes erratic. Breathing grows faster or slower, deeper or shallower; it remains regular or becomes spasmodic (gasping, panting). The viscera 'burn,' are 'heavy,' and so forth, varying with the blood supply and the amount of secretion of the glands. These symptoms must of course strike any observer in any age, and in attempting to describe the emotion he will naturally give a description of the observed outward behavior, letting the other person supply the particular quality of the emotion from his own experience. In time, either with or without the loss of the original meaning, these descriptive terms may become real words for emotions of which the bodily expression only is a part.

I. The Heart

Words with the meaning 'heart' invariably become words for 'gemüt,' but the individual languages differ both in the extent to which they develop the later meaning, and as regards the fate of the earlier meaning which may be preserved or lost. Even for the parent tongue this shift has to be assumed as there is no evidence to the contrary. The second step in the semantic development by which 'gemüt' becomes the name of a single emotion is less universal.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

11

and belongs to the period when the dialects already had been formed.

The emotions so named are sympathy, faith, courage, and anger.

At this stage of development the original meaning 'heart' is frequently

lost, which may be observed in the case of Skr. çrad 'faith.'

The typical development of the meaning of this group of words

may be traced in Gr. καρδia. It exhibits the following stages:

a) A mere description of the behavior of the heart in certain

emotional experiences is employed to convey the idea. Kapδia stands

in these instances for the organ of the body; the psychic aspect

of the emotion described is expressed by another word:

ὀρχεῖται δὲ καρδία φρένω Aesch. Cho. 167,

χόλφ olδάνεται καρδín Il. 9, 646.

b) Kpaδla has come to be conceived of as the seat of the emotions,

or as the entire complex of emotions and feelings in consciousness

at a given time, as 'gemüt.' The organ may or may not be thought

of; the psychic aspect of the emotion predominates:

ἄχος καρδínν καì θυμὸν ἔκαμεν Il. 2, 171,

ἐκ τῆς καρδlas φιλεîν Ar. Nub. 86.

c) The meaning has been limited from 'gemüt' to that of par-

ticular emotions. The limitations are in the beginning expressed by

special modifiers, or else they are induced by the context. If the

word in question is frequently used with certain modifiers or in

set contexts, it absorbs their meaning, and in time the modifiers are

omitted. This final stage does not seem to have been reached in the

case of καρδia, where a certain context is still necessary to turn it

into a name for a specific emotion:

καρδínν καì θυμὸν ἔχοντες (courage) Il. 16, 266.

These three stages a) 'heart,' b) 'gemüt,' c) specific emotions,

form a series along which the semantic development always proceeds.

Gr. κῆρ, καρδia, Lat. cor, Goth. hairtō etc.; also Skr. hr̥d-, Av.

zarad-. The oldest stem in this group clearly is the consonant stem

*k̂erd- with the normal, the reduced, and the lengthened grade of

the vowel, as well as *k̂red- from a disyllabic base. No difference

in meaning to go with the different grades can be made out for the

parent language.

Gr. κῆρ 'gemüt, desire, will' is confined in usage to epic and

tragic poetry and, as far as I can see, stands for 'gemüt' and not

for 'heart,' the organ. Typical Homeric phrases are πρὶ κῆρl φιλεîν,

12

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

ἀχύμενος κῆρ; occasionally it takes on the meaning ‘will,’ as in

μετὰ οὐν καὶ ἐμὸν κῆρ Il. 15, 52,

but neither this nor any other name of a particular emotion is fully

developed.

Kapδία, Hom. κραδίη, either a collective or an adjective in -ia,

properly meant ‘of the heart’ (like the Lat. prae-cordia), as a subst.

‘region of the heart,’ and was further applied to all the inside organs;

this is attested both by Gr. καρδία, which among other things means

‘stomach’ and by Lat. praecordia ‘midriff; entrails, stomach; breast,

heart (poet.).’ Kapδία is the common Classical Greek word for ‘heart’

and the meanings springing from it. It must have supplanted κῆρ at

a time when the latter had fully become a word for ‘gemüt.’ A

similar relation exists between Skr. hrd- ‘gemüt’ and hrdaya- ‘heart.’

The semantic development of καρδία has been treated above.

Lat. cor, cordis resembles Gr. καρδία so very closely that it needs

no separate treatment. The common phrase sapere corde ‘to know in

one’s heart = feel’ presents nothing new. Lat. praecordia only rarely

stands for ‘gemüt’ as in mūtāre praecordia ‘change one’s heart or

mind.’ .

The Germanic Languages have lost all traces of the consonant

stem, replacing it in prehistoric times by *hertan-, an n-stem, as in

so many cases: Goth. hairtō, ON. hjarta, OE. heorte, OHG. herza

‘heart; gemüt.’ With the meaning ‘gemüt’ it enters into many

compounds: ON. hjart-blaudr ‘cowardly,’ hjarta-sāra ‘heart-sore,

broken-hearted,’ OE. heort-ece ‘heart-ache,’ MHG. herze-leit, -liebe,

-riuwe, and many others. In these compounds, esp. in MHG., it

is hardly more than an intensifier; it serves to bring out the inward-

ness and the profoundness of the emotion. No names for specific

emotions are developed, although phrases like E. have a heart ‘have

courage or compassion’ are found in all the dialects.

In Baltic a few remnants of the consonant stems have been pre-

served in OPruss. seyr (=κῆρ), and perhaps in the Lith. gen. pl.

szirdū (Brug. II, 1, 132). OPruss. seyr, N., sīras M., and Lith.

szirdis F. have the usual meanings ‘heart, inside organs’ and ‘gemüt’;

the adj. Lith. szirdingas ‘sympathetic, kindly, merciful’ shows the

common specialized meaning ‘sympathy.’

Slavic has replaced the consonant stem by the diminutive *srdĭkĭ,

OSl. srŭdĭcĭ ‘heart,’ Russ. serdce ‘heart’ and ‘anger.’ It has the

usual range of meanings. Besides, most of the derivatives both

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions 13

in Slavic and in Baltic develop the exclusive meaning 'anger, wrath, chagrin.' The most widely used are the following:

OSl. srŭditi sę 'be angry, annoyed' and the corresponding forms in the other dialects, Lith. szirdýti-s 'be angry'; OSl. srŭditŭ 'angry,' srŭdĭba 'anger' and the corresponding forms in the dialects. These words are strictly words for 'anger,' the prior meaning 'gemüt' being lost altogether. That there was a tendency towards this shift also in the OSl. word for 'heart, gemüt' is shown by the fact that in Russian serde stands both for 'heart' and for 'anger.'

In Indo-Iranian, *kred- was replaced by *ĝhrd-, cf. Skr. hrd-, Av. zərəd- (for the history of the palatals in Indo-Iranian see L. Bloomfield, JAP. 32, 36); it was preserved only in the stereotyped phrases Skr. çrad kr-, and çrad dhā-, and in the compound çraddhā- = Av. zrazdā (for *srazdā through the influence of zərəd-, Barth. Wb. 1692). There is no trace of the original meaning and even the developed meaning 'gemüt' can only be inferred from the existing specialized 'trust, faith, belief, pledge' on the one hand, and 'desire, longing, curiosity' on the other. Skr. çrad dhā- meant literally 'set the heart (on something),' which, according to the context, was taken either as 'put faith (into something)' or as 'desire, long for.' Only the resulting stages survive in Sanskrit. The compound çraddhā-, Av. zrazdā adj. 'trusting, faithful, welcoming,' subst. 'trust, faith, faithfulness; desire, longing, curiosity' has the same history. The phrase Skr. çrad kr- also had the literal meaning 'produce heart = faith,' whence 'assure, warrant'; or else it is of later origin, containing çrad 'faith' which had arisen in the phrase çrad dhā-.

Skr. hrd-, replaced in the nom. acc. sg. pl. by hrdaya-, and Av. zərəd- primarily mean 'gemüt.' As a name of the organ this stem has been retained only in the compound Av. zərədō. karəta- 'cutting out the heart.' Both in Skr. and in Av. the adjective in -aya, Skr. hrdaya-, Av. zərədaya-, 'of the heart,' subst. 'region of the heart, inside of the body, heart, breast, stomach' took the place of the consonant stem to denote the organ. This derivative then undergoes a similar change to 'gemüt' but retains the older meanings also. The strong grade of the root appears in the secondary Vedic hārdi- 'bowels (of Indra); gemüt,' and in the compounds Vedic su-hārd- 'large-bowelled; good-hearted,' dur-hārd- 'evil-hearted,' dūur-hārda- 'animosity.' Their semantic development is parallel to that of hrdaya-.

14 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

These words probably are a blend of IE. ĝrd- and the root ĝher- (Skr. harati ‘delight in’) which must have arisen in the Indo-Iranian period. Connection with Skr. hirdā- ‘vein,’ Lat. haru-spex etc. (Bezzenberger, BB. 2, 191) is less probable.

II. The Breast

The breast holds the organs that respond most readily and most obviously in emotional experiences. It is not surprising then that like the individual organs it should come to be considered the seat of life and of the soul. Once this conception arises, the words that denote ‘breast’ are applied also to it, and the ground is prepared for a further development to ‘gemüt’ and to the various emotions of the heart.

Gr. φρήν. Of all the connections suggested for Gr. φρήν (see Boisacq) that with Goth. brunjo ‘cuirass,’ OHG. brunnca, etc., is the most probable (Wiedemann, BB. 27, 236). φρήν, φρένɛs appears to be the oldest of the group both in form and in meaning; φρόvis, φρονέω and all other forms from the root with the o-grade have drifted far away from the original significance of the root, denoting as they do intellectual activity. εὔφραινɛω goes more closely with φρήν, while φράδης and φράζω, with a d-extension, approach φρονέω. Our chief concern is with φρήν.

If we accept the connection with Goth. brunjo ‘cuirass’ we are led to assume an earlier meaning ‘breast’; but even if we were to reject it, Homeric usage would bring us to a similar conclusion. For wherever φρήν appears in Homer with the physical sense it refers to the parts about the heart, and not to the diaphragm as in later Greek, and the frequent use of the plural, as in ɛνί φρɛσi μαινɛται ἦτορ Il. 8, 413, would seem to point in the same direction. Besides, it would be difficult indeed to explain how the diaphragm should come to be considered as the seat of life and of the soul, since its functions are so thoroughly concealed from the senses.

The stages in the semantic development of φρήν can be seen from the following examples:

a) ɛνί φρɛσi μαινɛται ἦτορ Il. 8, 413; φρɛσi clearly refers to the part of the body harbouring the organ that responds in the emotion.

b) τρομέοντο δέ οἱ φρένɛs αὐτῷ Il. 10, 10; φρένɛs denotes here the part of the body affected in the emotion, i.e. the breast. The emotion is

described by its physiological phase; the psychological phase must be supplied by the reader.

c) φρένα τέρπεσθαι φόβμυγγι Il. 9, 186,

φρένας ἵκετο πένθος Il. 1, 362;

φρήν has become the seat of the emotions, whence the total complex of emotional experience, that is ‘gemüt.’

φρήν does not turn into a name of any particular emotion. It may however in certain contexts absorb elements that make it into a word for ‘desire, will.’

Its further development into a word for ‘mind,’ an equivalent of νοῦς, is of great interest but lies beyond our scope.

φρονέω ‘be minded’ and φρόνημα ‘mind, spirit’ refer to the mind as a whole; in all their other meanings they have come to be words for ‘thinking.’ All other derivatives from the root with the o-grade are exclusively words for ‘thinking.’

εὐ-φραίνω on the other hand is a word of emotion; -φραίνω is on a level with φρήν ‘gemüt,’ while the prior member εὐ- expresses its specific trend towards pleasurable feeling or emotion. The abstract εὐ-φροσύνη is of the same structure.

III. The Viscera

That all the strong emotions are accompanied by physiological changes in the viscera was of course felt from the earliest times. The feeling of these changes naturally led to the assumption that they had their seat there. It is to be observed however that only certain emotions were thought of as residing in the viscera, that is, anger, resentment, and the like in Greek; sympathy, compassion, mercy among the Hebrews; while the heart and the breast harbor all kinds of emotions.

The stages in the semantic development correspond to those of the words for ‘heart.’

Gr. σπλάγχνα; E. bowels. In Classical Greek, σπλάγχνον, more commonly σπλάγχνα, denotes a) the viscera, b) the viscera as involved in emotional experiences, i.e. in the emotions of anger, resentment, and irritation. σπλάγχνα θερμαίνειν κότω Ar. Ran. 844 is a typical phrase of Classical Greek, where σπλάγχν does not become a word for ‘anger’ in the full sense.

In Hellenistic Greek, σπλάγχν translates the Hebrew word for ‘bowels,’ which in that language had undergone a change to ‘bowels

16

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

as the seat of the tender emotions,' and further to 'sympathy, pity,'

a development utterly different from that in Classical Greek (see

Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, under

σπλάγχνov).

σπλάγχνa was in turn rendered with its newly acquired meaning

by bowels in the English version of the Bible: How I couit you alle

in the bowelis of Jhesu Crist Wycl. Phil. 1, 8; If any bowels and mercies

. . . Bible, Phil. 2, 1. From the Bible, it seems, the word found

its way into secular literature with the meaning 'pity, mercy.'

Carlyle, for instance, writes: Had idle readers only bowels for him

Fred. Great V, XIII, 1. 2.

Whether E. guts in phrases like: It grieved him to the guts Butler

Hud., develops this meaning independently or through the influence

of the Biblical bowels I am not prepared to say definitely, although I

believe that the latter was the case. For guts as an emotional term

usually means 'vigor, daring,' as one may see from the forceful

contrast in the following line: Bloody Bonner . . . full (as one said)

of guts, and empty of bowels Fuller Waltham Abb 274 (1840).

IV. Liver, Spleen, Gall, 'Black Gall'

Liver, spleen, gall, and 'black gall' or adrenum do not respond

in emotional experiences in such a way as to be directly felt or per-

ceived. Whatever changes they may undergo are not expressive

movements that are as evident as the action of the heart, the breast,

and the viscera. For this reason one must search for another

explanation of the development of words for emotions from the names

of these organs.

The Greeks were familiar with the physical and the psychic

symptoms of jaundice: the accumulation of bile in the gall-bladder

and the liver, the passing of bile into the blood, which gives to the

skin a yellowish appearance, and the nervousness of the patient.

From this state of affairs they inferred that the emotions of irrita-

bility, resentment, and anger were closely bound up with the 'over-

flowing' of the bile, perhaps even the causes of the effusion. They

also believed that accumulation of adrenin or 'black gall' (μελάγ-

χολos χολή, as opposed to χολη εαυθη 'bile') was a symptom of

depression and sadness, of μελαγχολia. No matter how unfounded

these beliefs may be, they were nevertheless their absolute con-

victions, which found their expression in the semantic development

of the words under consideration. Beliefs perform here what the

perceived connection brings about in the case of the words for ‘heart.’

These beliefs were accepted by the Romans and latter by the other

peoples of Europe and had their sway up to the beginnings of modern

science. This fact is reflected in the language.

a. Gr. ἧπαρ, Lat. iecur. The IE. word for ‘liver,’ Skr. yakrt, Gr. ἧπαρ Lat. iecur, becomes a word of emotion in Greek and in Latin, in the latter probably through the influence of the Greek. Its use for ‘heart’ seems however to be confined to poetry. The reasons for this development are to be found in the prevailing notion that the liver was involved in certain emotional experiences, chiefly in anger, resentment, and chagrin, but also in others like anguish and love.

The following examples serve to bring out the usage in Greek:

χαλεπὰ γὰρ ἔσσω θἐὸς ἧπαρ ἀμύνσεν Theocr. 13, 71;

χρϵî πρòς ἧπαρ . . . δἰη Soph. Aj. 937.

Among Latin authors Horace is especially fond of it as a strong, concrete expression for ‘anger, resentment’:

Nōn ancilla tuum iecur ulciret ulla puerve Epistle 1, 18, 72.

English liver and German leber are occasionally associated with anger and fear, perhaps through the influence of the classical tradition:

To quench the coale that in his liver glowes Shak. Lucr. 47;

white livered ‘cowardly’ Shak. Bac. Dryd. and others;

Es ist ihm etwas über die leber gelaufen ‘he is peeved.’

b. Gr. σπλήν (*σπλŋχ) ‘spleen, milt,’ σπλήνιkóς ‘of the spleen,’ also ‘splenetic, hypochondriac’ have a semantic history which resembles very closely that of σπλάγχνα in Classical Greek. E. spleen is borrowed from the Greek.

c. Gr. χóλος, χολή, Lat. fel, OHG. galla, etc. Three stages may be noted in the development of these words. They denote a) the organ or its secretion, or both, b) the organ or its secretion as thought to be affected in the emotions of anger, resentment, bitterness, and the like, c) these emotions themselves. In some languages the shift progresses further than in others, and in a given language different stem-forms may be confined to different stages.

Gr. χóλος only rarely has the physical sense. Even in a verse like χóλφ ᾤα σ’ ἔτρεφϵ μήτηρ Il. 16, 203 the emotion or passion is thought of primarily. As a rule χóλος denotes the emotion as in χóλος λάβϵν τινά Il. 1, 387, and in χóλος ἔμπεσϵ θυμῷ Il. 9, 436. The

18

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

organ is designated by χoλń, which in turn only rarely appears as

a word for 'anger.'

The derivatives are even further removed in meaning from their

source than χóλος : χoλόω 'to anger, mid. grow angry,' and especially

χαλεπός 'angry, cruel, harsh, stern' and as applied to objects 'difficult,

dangerous, rugged,' the feeling element becoming subordinate to the

perception.

Lat. fel, fellis 'gall-bladder, bile' is used practically only to

denote the organ, although the poets use it occasionally in the sense

of 'bitterness, animosity' (cf. bilis below).

ON. gall, OE. zealla, OHG. galla show a development parallel to

that in Greek in most respects, although the records of the earlier

period are too scant to warrant too much certainty. The meanings

'anger, resentment, bitterness' are up to the present time quite

common besides the original 'gall-bladder, bile.' A further develop-

ment is found in the meaning 'assurance, impudence' of American

slang, which is easily understood if one realizes that the emotions

of anger, resentment, etc., are always characterized by a display of

vigor and strength.

The Slavic words tend in the same direction: Russ. želč̌ 'bile;

irritation, malice, quick temper.'

d. Gr. μελαγ-χολíα, Lat. bilis atra, OE. sweart zealla. 'Black

gall,' μελαγ-χολíα (also μελάγ-χλωρος χoλń), was thought to accumu-

late in the adrenum in prolonged depression, sadness, grief. To have

μελαγ-χολíα was therefore a way of saying that these emotions were

present. Through such phrases the term in the end became a name

for these emotions in the full sense among the Greeks. The Romans

and the Teutonic peoples transliterated the term or borrowed it with

the developed meaning. In OE. zealla and the adj. zealli3 by them-

selves occasionally are used in the sense of 'sadness' and 'sad.'

e. Lat. bilis, bile, Welsh bustl. Besides fel, Latin employes bilis

to denote the bile. But the usage of the two terms differs in that

fel is applied almost exclusively to the organ while bilis becomes

a word for the emotions of 'anger, wrath, choler, indignation.' The

intermediary step may be illustrated by a quotation from Horace:

bilis inaestuat praecordiis Epode 11, 16;

the fully developed emotional meaning by a passage from Plautus:

nōn placet mihi cēna, quae bilem movet Bacch. 3, 6, 8.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions 19

B. Words Denoting Physiological Expressions (Gestures) of the Emotions

The relation of the physiological aspect to the psychic aspect of the emotions has been discussed in the chapter on the psychology of the emotions, pp. 3–5. There I have emphasized the importance of the gestures of the body for the naming of the emotions. For it is these expressive movements, so evident to the eye and to the other senses, that are first given names which later on are extended to denote the emotion as a whole of which they are only the outward manifestation. How these movements themselves are named lies not within the range of this discussion. For our interest is centered upon the problem how words once applied to gestures become names of emotional experiences.

The bodily expressions of emotional experiences whose names have come to designate emotions may be grouped under the following heads:

I. Display of Vigor

II. Appearance of Weakness or Weariness

III. Turning towards the Object of the Emotion

IV. Excitement and Calmness

V. More Specific Gestures

VI. Vocal Expression of Emotions

These groups will be discussed in regard to their relation to certain emotions which derive their names from them in connection with the linguistic material.

I–II. Display of Vigor, and Appearance of Weakness or Weariness

Vigor and weakness, both as regards the general appearance of the body and specific symptoms thereof, are striking characteristics of certain emotions; so much so that they have been made the basis of a pragmatic classification of the emotions by numerous writers.1

We should expect therefore to find expressions for ‘vigor’ and ‘weakness,’ and for certain symptoms of vigor and weakness, as ‘swell, grow, rise, move lively,’ and ‘droop, pass away, move slowly’ turning into words for certain emotions of which the particular gesture is a part. And we are not disappointed. Words for ‘(violent)

1 Ziegler, Das Gefühl 238.

20 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

passion,' for 'anger, spite,' for 'courage,' for 'arrogance, haughtiness'

for 'determination, willing,' as well as for 'gaiety, mirth = exciting

joy,' and for 'hope,' in short, words for all the 'sthenic' emotions

go back to words for 'vigor' and its particular symptoms; while

words for 'sadness,' for 'suffering,' and for a kind of 'quiet joy,

happiness' have their origin in the expressions for 'weakness, weari-

ness' which are the general outward signs of the 'asthenic'

emotions.

I. Display of Vigor

1. Words with the general meaning 'vigor, strength' furnish ex-

pressions for 'passion,' for 'daring, courage,' for 'will, determination,'

for 'consolation, fortitude,' and for 'joy, gaiety, mirth.'

a. Gr. óργή 'heart; wrath,' OIr. ferg 'anger, wrath.' The meaning

'strength, vigor' from which the meanings of Gr. óργή 'temper, dis-

position, heart' and the later 'passion, anger, wrath,' and of OIr.

ferg 'anger, wrath' are derived, is seen in Skr. ūrj-, ūrjā-, as applied

primarily to foods, but also to the physical and mental strength

of man. Gr. óργάω also retains the original physical meaning

'be fertile' (also óργάs γῆς 'fertile land') besides the developed 'swell

with lust, be eager, excited'; while the other derivatives, óργίζω

'to anger, mid. grow angry,' óργίλος 'passionate, inclined to anger,'

present only the final stage of the semantic development.

For a different interpretation of Skr. ūrj- see Bloomfield, JAOS.

35, 287.

b. Skr. dharṣati 'be bold, dare,' dhrṣṭa- 'bold'; Gr. θάρσοs 'courage,

boldness,' θρασυs 'bold, spirited,' and numerous derivatives with

similar meanings; Goth. ga-dars pret. pres. 'he dares,' and the

related words in the other Germanic dialects; Lith. drąsùs 'bold,'

dręsù 'I dare'; OSl. drŭzŭ 'bold,' drŭzati 'be bold.'

IE. dhers- 'bold' can hardly be separated from IE. dher- con-

tained in Skr. dhārayati 'hold, carry, support,' dharman- 'support;

law'; Lat. firmus 'firm, strong.'

c. NHG. tapfer 'sturdy, brave' is the direct descendant of MHG.

tapfer 'firm, stout, heavy; important,' OHG. tapfar 'heavy; weighty.'

For the earlier meaning compare OSl. doblĭ 'strong, sturdy'

(Wood, JAP. 19, 42).

d. Skr. mayas- 'invigoration, refreshment,' whence 'cheer, glad-

ness, joy,' emotions in which both the feeling and the bodily expres-

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions 21

sion of vigor are prominent; cf. Skr. minōti ‘fix, establish’ (Whitney,

Roots 120).

e. Skr. mahatē ‘be glad, rejoice at,’ mahayati ‘gladden; exalt,

esteem, honor’ (cf. Goth. mikiljan ‘praise’: mikils ‘great’), mahas-

‘feast, festival’ (cf. Ger. hoch-zeit, E. hey-day), mahyu- ‘joyful, merry’;

Lith. mëgti ‘please,’ mëgùs ‘pleasure loving’; Lat. mactus ‘celebrated,

praised, consecrated, honored by gifts,’ macte ‘hail’ (Walde 452).

Walde and Uhlenbeck separate this group from Skr. mah-, Av.

maz- ‘great, mighty’ on semantic grounds. It is true that in Sanskrit

where the two meanings occur side by side the one is confined to

the adjective, the other to the verb and some nominal derivatives

of it, but this situation is not so unusual, and does not warrant a

separation of the words; cf. E. high: haughty.

f. OE. zal ‘proud, arrogant,’ n. ‘pride, arrogance,’ OHG. geil

‘savage, petulant, wanton, arrogant; merry,’ az-geil ‘pleasure in

eating’; with a decided change to ‘glad, merry, happy’ besides the

earlier ‘wanton, exuberant,’ MHG. geil and geilen; Goth. gailjan

‘make glad.’

The semantic development resembles that of Gr. ὀργή, and of

Skr. mayas-. The prevalent ‘arrogant, voluptuous’ from which such

meanings as OE. ‘proud’ and MHG. ‘merry, happy’ take their origin

is derived from ‘strong, vigorous, luxuriant,’ meanings which have

been preserved in German dialects up to the present day: Upper

German geil ‘rich (soil)’ and ‘luxuriant (plants)’; while MHG. geil,

denotes ‘fetter boden, ackerland.’

Falk-Torp 306 connects the Germanic words with IE. ghei- ‘yawn,

hiāre,’ whence ‘lustful, passionate.’ But the connection is very

remote and necessitates the derivation of the physical meanings

from the subjective.

The development assumed here makes it necessary to separate

Lith. gailùs ‘sharp, bitter,’ gailu ‘suffering, pain,’ OSl. žl̥lja ‘mourning, grief.’ These words form a group by themselves.

2. Words denoting ‘grow, rise, swell’ as descriptive of the be-

havior of the body in the joyful emotions of ‘pleasure, enjoyment,

joy, happiness, hope,’ and in the emotions of ‘haughtiness’ and

‘resentment, anger.’

a. Skr. vardhati ‘make grow, strengthen,’ whence ‘arouse, cheer,

gladden, inspire,’ vṛddha- ‘grown up, strong,’ whence ‘glad, cheerful,

joyful, exalted,’ vṛddhi- ‘growth, thriving,’ whence ‘happiness,

delight, enthusiasm, inspiration.’

22

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

b. Gr. σπαργάω, originally 'swell (to bursting)' like Lith. sprógti 'burst (of buds), break'; the Greek develops the emotional sense 'swell with passion or desire = be passionate, covetous, insolent,' in which the image of the gesture no doubt retains a place.

c. Lat. turgeo 'swell,' also 'grow angry'; tumeo 'swell' and 'swell with passion, anger, pride.' tumor 'swelling' and 'passion, anger, pride,' contūmax 'spite'; IE. teu- with various extensions. Cf. Skr. tavīti 'be strong.'

d. OHG. belgan 'swell,' refl. 'grow angry,' OE. bel3an, OS. belgan 'swell,' whence 'grow angry'; MHG. belgen 'make angry,' besides the earlier 'make swell'; OHG. gi-buluht 'anger,' MHG. ā-bulge 'grudge.'. The earlier meaning is seen also in the related OIr. bolgaim.

e. Goth. ga-baurjaba 'gladly, willingly,' ga-baurjōpus 'vergnügen'; MHG. en-bæren 'be excited with joy, grief, despair, hatred, resentment,' NHG. sich empören 'resent'; cf. Goth. beran, E. bear. For the semantic development compare E. uplifting, G. getragen.

3. Words denoting 'move lively, hop, skip' furnish expressions for 'be cheerful, gay, merry.'

a. ME. gai, E. gay from the OFr. gai, which in turn is borrowed from the OHG. gāhi 'quick, sudden'; cf. MHG. gēhe 'quick, sudden,' NHG. jäh-zorn 'quick temper.'

b. Lat. ex-sulto, exulto 'spring, leap, or jump up,' whence 'exult, be petulant; rave, vaunt,' ex-sultim 'with a bound' and 'friskily, frolicsomely.' The emotional meaning is confined to this compound. The simple verb salto 'hop, dance' and the simple noun saltus 'leap, bound' do not develop that meaning.

c. Skr. lasati 'strive after, enjoy, play,' lasati (*la-ls-ati) 'desire,' lālasa- 'desirous, ardent, craving,' ul-lāsa- 'joy, happiness, etc.', abhi-lāsa- 'desire, wish'; Gr. λίλαμαι (λι-λαο-μαι) 'desire earnestly, long for,' λήνυς 'Bacchante' (Boisacq 581); Goth. lustus, OE. lust, OHG. lust, 'pleasure, delight; inclination, desire,' ON. lysta, OE. lystan, E. list, OHG. lusten, gi-lusten, NHG. gelüsten 'be delighted, pleased; desire, wish'; Russ. lasa 'nascher.'

From an extended root, Lat. lascīvus 'petulant, playful; luxuriant' (Walde 415); OSl. laskajq, laskati 'flatter,' Russ. laskájo, laskómí 'liebkosen,' laska 'liebkosung, wohlwollen,' Czech laska 'love' (Berneker 691 separates these words from the group above for semantic reasons).

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions 23

Evidence of the pre-emotional meaning is found in Skr. lasati 'play,' lāsa- 'bounding, hopping, moving back and forth, dance.' The formally identical lasati 'shine, appear,' Gr. λāω 'look' may have had some influence on the development of the meaning, at least in Sanskrit.

II. Appearance of Weakness

1. Words with the general meaning 'weak, weary' turn into expressions for 'sad, dejected; sorrow, grief.'

a. Ved. çrāmyati, çramati 'take pains, labor,' çrama- 'exertion, labor,' çaçramāna- 'taking pains (esp. in preparing a sacrifice)'; in Classical Sanskrit these words lose their earlier significance and take on meanings like 'grow weary; weariness': klāmati 'grow weary, exhausted,' klama- 'fatigue, weariness,' klānta- 'tired,' whence 'languid, dejected, sad' (on variation çr-: kl- see Wack. Ai. Gr. I, §201; Meillet, MSL. 8, 298).

Only the late Skr. klānta- becomes a word for an emotional state, and there can be no doubt but that the meaning 'sad' develops directly out of 'weary,' since the two states are very much alike both in their physiological expression and in their feeling value. The related Gr. κλαμapós,πλaδαpós,ἀσθενής Hes., Welsh claf 'sick,' OIr. clam 'leprous' have the earlier meanings.

b. Skr. tāma- 'longing, desire'; OSl. tomiti 'vexare.' For the earlier meaning compare Skr. tāmyati 'be winded, suffocated, be stunned, swoon, be exhausted,' and Lat. tēmulentus 'intoxicated.'

c. Skr. mlāyati 'wither, grow weak, exhausted,' whence 'droop (as an expression of weariness, suffering, sorrow)' and 'feel sorrow, grief.' The semantic development indicated is confined to later Sanskrit. Ved. mlāta- (only once in RV.), like the Av. mrāta- means 'tanned = softened by tanning.' There are numerous related words from this secondary base IE. mlā- 'soft, weak' (from IE. mol- in Lat. molo, Goth. malan): Gr. βλāξ 'slack; stupid,' OIr. mlāith 'soft,' Lith. blōgas 'weak, soft,' and so forth.

d. Av. hšǐ-, gen. hšyo 'distress, misery' goes with the verb hšayo inf. 'in order to destroy,' Skr. kšayati, kšināti 'destroy, mid. grow exhausted,' Gr. φθίνω 'decay, waste away, perish' (Barth. ZDMG. 50, 721).

2. Words for 'droop' come to mean 'sad.'

a. OE. drēori3 'sad,' E. dreary, OHG. trūreg, NHG. traurig 'sad, mournful,' OHG. trūrēn, NHG. trauern 'mourn, be sad'; cf. OE.

24

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

drēosan, Goth. driusan 'fall down,' OE. drēoriʒ 'gory, bloody = dripping.'

The terms were descriptive of the 'drooping' body in mourning, sadness, rather than of 'casting down' the eyes, as Falk-Torp 162 suggest.

3. Words for 'slow' furnish expressions for 'grief, sorrow' and for 'longing.'

a. Goth. trigo 'reluctance, grudge; grief, sorrow,' ON. tregi 'difficulty, reluctance; grief, sorrow,' hug-tregi 'grief, affliction,' OE. trega 'pain', OS. trega, trāgi 'reluctance, discouragement'; ON. trega 'grieve,' OS.tregan 'be sorry.' The adjectives ON. tregr 'slovenly, unwilling,' and esp. OHG. trāgi 'slow, lazy' retain the older meaning. The verbs and the nouns have come to denote the behavior of the body in 'reluctance' and the emotions of 'suffering, grief, sorrow,' and then these emotions themselves. Further connections are given in Falk-Torp 1292.

b. MHG. sene 'longing, yearning,' sene-siech, and numerous other compounds; senen, NHG. sich sehnen 'to long for, yearn.' From OHG. sine 'marceo, langeo,' probably connected with MHG. seine, OE. sēne 'lazy.'

III. Turning Towards the Object of the Emotion

Many emotions are obviously directed towards a more or less specific object (cf. pp. 5-7). This trait finds expression in the movements of the body. An angry person will 'oppose, attack, pursue' the object that arouses his emotion; a person desiring a thing or longing for it will 'stretch out' his arms towards it, or his entire body will 'incline' towards it; 'striving, hastening' after the object are characteristic of desire, zeal, greed; 'grasping, clinging to' the object go with desire, greed, faithfulness; the thing desired, expected, hoped for will be 'looked for, waited for.'

Since these movements are the most evident and striking constituents of the emotions, and since they can be described in physical terms like the movements of any other object they are the first to be named; and the words denoting these expressive movements then naturally become terms for the emotion as a whole. Expressions like 'stretch out towards' come to mean 'long for, hope,' 'attack, pursue' turn into 'grow angry, hate,' and so forth.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

25

1. Words for 'hasten, speed, strive' furnish expressions for 'zeal,

desire, longing, envy, joy.'

a. Gr. σπoυδή 'haste, speed,' whence 'zeal, exertion; seriousness;

pl. party feelings, attachments, rivalries'; σπoυδάζω, σπoυδαîος,

derivatives of σπoυδή with corresponding meanings; σπείδω 'urge on,

quicken; intr. hasten,' whence 'be eager.' The noun presents a

variety of emotional meanings besides the earlier physical sense

which is more common in the verb. Related to Lith. spudinti

'hasten, flee = press on,' and spáusti 'press' (Wood, AJP. 21, 181).

b. Ved. sprhayati 'desire; be in need of,' spárha- 'desirable, enviable,

precious' (Geldner, Gloss. 206), Skr. sprhā- 'desire, longing, delight,'

also 'envy'; Av. ā-sparəza- 'be striving, desirous.' Gr. σπέρχoμαι

'be hasty,' also with the connotation 'be angry,' σπέρχvς 'hasty,

eager,' OHG. springan 'spring, bound, jump' (with n-infix), preserve

the earlier meaning of this root, which is an extension of IE. sper-

in Lat. sperno 'reject,' Gr. σπέρπω 'scatter, sow' (cf. Persson, Beiträge

644, 871).

c. Skr. grdh-yati 'hasten, speed, strive for,' whence 'be eager,

greedy; long for, wish for,' grddha- 'eager, desirous of, longing for,'

grdh-nu- 'quick,' whence 'eager, greedy, desirous,' gardha- 'eagerness,

desire'; Goth. grēdus 'hunger,' ON. grādr, OE. grǽd 'greed,' E. greed,

OHG. grātig 'greedy'; MIr. grad 'love.' The original meaning 'hasten,

speed, strive for' is well attested for the Sanskrit; 'desire, long for,

love' as well as 'hunger, greed' arise from this earlier meaning.

d. Gr. ζῆλoς 'rivalry, emulation; envy, jealousy,' ζητέω 'seek,

search after,' whence 'desire.' The development of the emotional

meanings appears from ζητέω itself; the earlier meaning is retained

in διζημαι 'seek out, look for.' Compare also the related διέμαι

speed,' and διώκω 'pursue, drive away' (Sommer, Griech. Laut-

studien 157), OHG. zīlōn 'hasten, strive, aim,' NHG. zielen 'aim,

ziel 'aim.'

Solmsen, IF. 14, 433ff., also assumes a similar semantic develop-

ment, but compares Skr. yāvan- 'assailant, persecutor'; Sommer's

connection has the advantage of being less remote.

e. Skr. arthin- 'striving, desirous; wooing for, libidinous,' artha-

'aim, business' probably are from an extension of the root found

in Skr. r-nō-ti 'set into motion, etc.' (Grass. Wb. 99).

f. Skr. īhate 'strive for, desire,' iha- 'attempt, endeavor,' ihā-

'wish,' īhāvan- 'zealous, brave'; Av. izyeiti 'desire,' īžā- 'zeal,'

26

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

āzi- ‘greed.’ No earlier meaning than that of ‘striving’ can be adduced.

g. Skr. vanati, vanōti ‘be zealous, jealous; beg for, obtain,’ also ‘win, triumph, conquer’ (for the latter meaning compare OE. winnan ‘toil, strive; suffer’), vanas- ‘desire, wish,’ vanu- ‘zealous, desirous’ vanin- ‘desirous; gracious, liberal’; vāñchati ‘desire, wish; like, love’; Av. vanⁱti ‘wish, love’ and ‘conquer, win,’ vantā-, vantū- ‘beloved, wife.’

Lat. venus, veneris ‘love, charm, grace,’ Venus ‘goddess of love,’ venustus ‘pleasing, graceful, beautiful, comely,’ veneror ‘adore with religious awe; implore.’

OIr. fonn ‘pleasure,’ adj. ‘desirous,’ E. fun, borrowed in the 18th century; toisc (*to-venski-) ‘wish, desire’ (Strachan, IA. 4, 103).

ON. una ‘enjoy, be happy,’ besides ‘dwell, abide,’ Goth. un-wunands ‘joyless’ (once only); OE. wyn(n), OHG. wunnea ‘delight, pleasure, joy’; ON. vinr, OE. wine, OHG. wini ‘friend’; ON. vin-gōlf ‘mansion of bliss, Valhǫll’; Goth. wēns ‘hope,’ ON. vān (ōn), OE. wēn, OHG. wān, NHG. wahn ‘opinion, supposition; hope’; Goth. wēnjan ‘wait for, hope,’ ON. vēna, OE. wēnan, E. ween, OHG. wānēn, NHG. wähnen ‘ween, think, hope’; ON. ōsk, OE. wȳsc, E. wish, OHG. wunsk ‘wish’; ON. ȳskja, OE. wȳscean, OHG. wunsken ‘wish’ (cf. Skr. vāñchati).

All from IE. uen- ‘strive,’ cf. p. 58. The development proceeds from ‘strive’ to ‘desire, wish,’ whence to ‘pleasure, joy; friend,’ and to ‘expectation, hope.’

h. OHG. frawī, fro(w)ī, OS. frō, frō-mōd, E. fro-lic-some (from the Dutch) ‘glad, merry,’ OHG. frawida ‘joy, gladness,’ frawen, frewen, NHG. erfreuen ‘make glad,’ frawōn ‘be glad’; cf. ON. frār ‘lively, quick, fast.’ Derived from the IE. prep. pro- with uo-suffix; the semantic development probably proceeded from ‘forward’ to ‘quick, fast,’ and then to ‘glad.’ Hirt, Neuhochdeutsche Etym. 202, compares the HG. words directly with Skr. pravatē ‘jump up, hop, hurry’; but both the HG. and the Skr. words have the appearance of late formations.

OHG. un-fruot ‘not glad,’ fruotī ‘gladness; verständigkeit’; the other Germanic dialects develop in the direction of the intellectual: Goth. frōþs, ON. frōðr, OE. frōd ‘wise’; cf. also Lith. prõtas ‘intelligence.’ All from IE. prŏ-to-.

i. Skr. prināti 'please, gladden, rejoice,' priya- 'pleasing to, dear;

loving, fond of,' m. 'friend, lover, husband,' n. 'love, kindness, favor';

Av. frināiti 'love, praise,' OSl. prijati 'favor,' prijatelĭ m. 'friend,

lover' cf. OHG. fridila 'beloved, wife'; OIr. ríar (*priarā) 'will,

desire'; Goth. frijōn, OE. frīgan, ON. fría 'love'; MHG. vriën 'woo.'

With a t-suffix: Skr. prīti- 'pleasure, delight; friendship, love'; ON.

friðr 'love, peace,' OE. friþu, OHG. fridu 'peace'; Goth. fripōn 'reconcile,' freidjan 'protect,' OHG. friten 'favor.' No pre-emotional

meaning is extant; but it is probable that these words are derivatives

of the prep. IE. prī-, and that their semantic history runs parallel

to that of the group above.

j. Gr. κῆδος 'care, trouble; anxiety, sorrow,' κήδω 'take care of,'

rarely (CIG. 2523 = Paton and Hicks, Inscr. of Cos 163), usually

from Homer on with the meaning 'trouble, distress, vex' (separated

from κῆδος by Walde 111 for semantic reasons); Av. sādrəm 'sorrow,

suffering, anguish'; Osc. brateis auti cadeis amnud 'grātiae aut inimīci-

tiae causā' (Buck, Osc. Umb. Gram. 235); Goth. hatis 'anger, hatred,'

hatizōn 'be angry,' OHG. ha3 'hatred,' etc.; Ir. caiss, Welsh câs

'hatred,' Corn. cueth, Bret. cuez 'chagrin, regret.'

Further, Gr. aor. κέκαδον 'force to retire from, deprive of,' κεκaδóμην

'give way, shrink back'; OHG. hetzen 'pursue, hunt,' which

give the clue to the semantic history of the words above. The sense

of 'hatred, anger' clearly goes back to the notion of 'attack, pursue,'

while the meanings 'care, sorrow' of Avestan and Greek are derived

from a different kind of 'turning to,' i.e. 'turn one's attention to =

care for, take care of', which is still evident in inscriptional κήδω 'take

care or charge of' as well as in κῆδος 'care, anxiety.'

2. Words for 'stretch out' come to denote 'desire, will, hope.'

a. OHG. spannan, pret. spuon 'locken, reizen,' spennan 'verlocken,

anreizen'; OHG. spansst, gi-spanst 'verlockung, trug,' NHG. wunder-

and ab-spenstig; Lat. gen. spontis, abl. sponte in phrases like meā

sponte 'of my free will,' suā sponte esse 'to be one's own master.' The

meanings 'make desire' and 'will' are derived from 'stretch, stretch

out towards,' as shown by OHG. spannan 'stretch,' spinnan 'spin,'

from a base IE. spen-, related to spē- in the words below. The

n-extension arises in the nō-present, OHG. spannan representing an

ultimate *spə-nō- (Persson, Beitr. 394, 411).

b. Lat. spēs, spērēs (later gen. spēī in analogy to reī) 'hope,

anxiety, apprehension,' spērāre 'hope, expect'; OSl. spěchŭ 'studium';

28 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

from an s-extension of IE. spē- 'stretch.' The prior meaning may be

observed in OSl. spěti 'jacere, proficere,' pri-spěti 'venire,' from an

unextended base IE. spē-.

3. Words meaning 'look towards, wait for' furnish expressions

for 'expectation, hope,' and for 'desire, greed.'

a. Skr. adhi-īkṣatē 'be expectant, anxious, concerned,' ava-īkṣatē

'be expectant, hopeful.' The simplex īkṣatē has only the earlier

literal meaning 'look, look at' and the general sense 'perceive,

consider'; cf. Skr. akṣi- 'eye,' Lat. oc-ulus.

b. Lith. geidžiù, geĩsti 'desire, long for,' geidìmas 'desire,' gaidùs

'friend,' geidùju 'I long for'; OHG. gīt, 'greed, miserliness,' Goth.

gaidw, OE. 3ēd, 3ād 'want.' OPruss. geīde 'they are waiting for'

(Berneker, Preuss. Spr. 290), OSl. žĭdǫ 'wait, expect' exhibit the

earlier meaning of this group of words. The Lithuanian words have

become names for the emotions of 'desire, longing' which go with

'waiting,' whence also 'love.' The meaning of the Germanic words

shifts through 'desire' to 'strong desire, greed.'

Lith. gė̃žiŭ-s 'have'an intense desire,' Goth. faihu-geigan 'covet

money,' faihu-geigō 'greed, covetousness' are perhaps remotely

related to this group, representing a ĝh-extension of the IE. base

gheĭ-.

c. OE. hopian 'hope,' tō-hopa 'hope'; MHG. hoffen 'hope' (not

preserved in OHG. documents, appearing first at about 1150, Kluge

Wb. 170). The sense of 'hope, expectancy' may have come through

'waiting for, expecting' from 'lying in ambush,' if OE. hopian is a

denominative of OE. tō-hop 'ambush.' OE. tō-hop is rightly connected

with Lat. cubāre 'lie, recline' (Holthausen, IF. 20, 322, Walde 205).

Jespersen, Nord. Tidsscr. f. Fil. 8, 151, connects E. hope, Ger.

hoffen with E. hop, comparing the semantic development to that of

Lat. exsulto (:salto), and taking OE. tō-hop as 'zu-flucht, refuge';

improbable.

4. Words for 'grasp' come to mean 'desire, greed.'

a. OSl. žędati, žęždǫ 'be thirsty, expect, desire,' žęděti 'desire,'

žęžda 'thirst,' žędĭnŭ 'thirsty'; Lith. pa-si-gendù 'long for, desire,'

goděti-s 'be greedy,' gōdas 'greed.' These words go in form very

closely with Gr. χανδά́νω 'grasp,' Lat. pre-hendo 'grasp, take hold of,'

Goth. bi-gitan 'obtain, find, chance upon,' OE. 3itan 'obtain, get.'

5. Words for 'stick to, cling to' turn into expressions for 'desire,

love.'

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

29

a. Gr. γλíχoμαι 'cling to, strive after,' whence 'long for, desire eagerly'; cf. OE. clē3 'clay'; from a gh-extension of IE. glei- 'stick' seen in OIr. gle-ni-m 'adhaereo,' Gr. γλia 'glue,' γλίτη 'gluten, gum.'

b. Skr. snihati 'be greasy, moist; stick to,' whence 'have affection for, be fond of,' snēha- 'stickiness, oil, grease,' whence 'attachment, love, friendship'; with the fully developed emotional sense, snēha- occurs in the compounds snēha-guru- 'heavy with love, love-sick,' snēha-bhūmi- 'object of love,' and in the secundary adj. snēhala- 'affectionate, tender.' These words are practically confined to Class. Sanskrit. The rare Vedic snih- means 'grow moist, melt away,' lacking altogether the sense of 'stick,' and the later 'be attached to, love.'

The related Av. snaēžaiti 'to snow,' Gr. νείφει, Lat. ninguit, etc., show a different development. The original meaning of the root was perhaps 'moist,' whence both 'sticky' and 'shining.'

IV. Excitement and Inhibition of Movements

Excitement is one of the most striking concomitants of certain emotions. One may be excited by anger, envy, greed, passion, longing, or by apprehension, fear, or by distress, anguish, grief. It is only natural then that words for 'move back and forth, waver, shrink,' and for 'shake, tremble,' describing the physiological expression of these emotions, should come to denote one or several of the emotions that are characterized by excitement.

Similarly a sudden inhibition of all movements, a rigid appearance characterize other emotions, as for instance amazement, embarrassment, horror, and a certain kind of hatred and of fear; for that reason words for 'stand still, be stiff' come to denote these emotions.

1. Words for 'move back and forth, waver, shrink' turn into expressions for 'excitement, irritation, resentment, anger, envy, passion, greed, grief.'

a. Skr. krudhyati 'be angry with,' kruddha- 'angered,' krödha- 'anger, wrath,' krudhimā- 'wrathful, irritable.' Probably connected with Lith. krutëti 'shake, vibrate,' krūtìti 'touch, set vibrating,' on the basis of an IE. qru- with different determinatives; cf. Falk-Torp 905.

b. Skr. kupyati 'be moved or agitated, shake,' whence 'be angry, wroth,' kōpa- 'irritation, anger, wrath; compassion'; Lat. cupio

30

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

'desire, long for; wish well,' con-cupisco 'covet, lust for.' Skr. kupyati

preserves the earlier meaning 'shake, move back and forth,' as does

also the adj. kupaya- 'moving, restless, flickering.' Closely related

meanings are found in OSl. kypěti 'undulate, boil, flow over.'

c. Gr. θῡμός 'desire, passion, temper; courage, anger,' θῡμοῦμαι 'be

wroth, angry,' θῡμικός 'passionate, courageous'; with a preposition

denoting direction, ἐπι-θῡμέω 'long for, lust for, covet,' ἐπι-θῡμία

'desire, yearning, lust'; OIr. dūil (*dhū-li-, Fick II, 153) 'desire,

longing.' From IE. dhě-, Gr. θιῠω 'rush on,' Skr. dhūnōti 'move

hither and thither, shake' (Boisacq 356). Gr.θῡμός denotes expecially

violent passion, and the strong emotions of anger and courage, in

which quick movements and restlessness are very prominent. The

extension of θῡμός to the less violent emotions of joy, grief, etc, as

well as to the comprehensive 'heart,' and finally to 'soul' is of later

development.

d. Skr. irasyati 'be jealous, envious,' īrsyati 'be angry, envious,

irasyā-, īrsyā- 'ill-will, anger'; Av. arašyant- 'envious,' araši- 'envy';

Arm. her 'anger, envy,' eram 'be excited, jealous, angry,' besides

'boil, move restlessly, wimmeln;' ērandn 'excitement,' besides 'boiling'

(Liden, Arm. Stud. 83); OE. eorre, yrre, OS. irri 'angry, resentful';

Lett. erĭgs 'irritable, morose, sulky' (Osten-Sacken, IF. 23, 380).

Lat. erro 'go astray,' Goth. airzeis, OHG. irri 'astray, confused,'

together with Arm. eram 'move restlessly' point to the earlier mean-

ing of the words, from which arise such meanings as 'excite, arouse'

and the later names for the emotions of 'irritation, anger, envy.'

Falk-Torp 468 assume the reverse development from 'verwirrung des

gemüts' to 'irren,' which however is quite improbable.

From the IE. root erə-, with different determinatives, are derived

ON. erþa 'tease,' with which compare Skr. ardayati 'arouse, excite';

Gr. ἐρέθω, ὀρϝίνω 'irritate' (Boisacq 273). The simple root is

contained in Skr. r̥-nō-ti 'rise, move,' Gr. ὄρνῡμι 'arouse, move'

(Walde 547).

e. Lat. īra 'anger, wrath, rage, bitterness,' Av. aēšma- 'anger,' Gr.

οἶστρος 'mad passion of rage, anguish, desire,' Lith. aistra 'violent

passion.' From IE. eis- 'move,' cf. Skr. ēšati 'set into motion,' ON.

eisa 'move ahead fast,' Gr. οἶμα (*oǐσ-ma) 'violent attack' (Boisacq

693, Walde 392).

f. Lith aiksztis 'passion,' ON. eikinn 'raging, furious,' are com-

pared by Osten-Sacken, IF. 23, 376, with Skr. ējati 'move, impel,'

Gr. κατα-αιγίζω 'attack with fury.'

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

31

g. Lat. furo 'rage, rave, be furious; be inspired (of sooth-sayers),'

revel,' furor 'rage, violent passion, vehement desire; inspiration

(of sooth-sayers),' furio 'enrage; inspire;' Serb. Croat. búriti se

'rage.' Compare Little Russ. búryty 'confuse, incite, boil (of

blood),' OSl. burja 'storm'; Gr. φύρω 'mix, jumble, confuse,' πoρφύρω

'move restlessly, swell (of the sea),' cf. Walde 329.

Berneker 103 admits the possibility of connecting the Balto-

Slavic words with the Latin, but prefers connection with Lett.

baurût, Norw. bure 'low, roar (of angry bull).'

h. Skr. lubhyati 'go astray,' and 'desire eagerly, long for; alure,'

lōbhayati 'confuse, disturb, trouble, derange; alure,' lōbha- 'strong

desire, greed, avarice,' lubdha- 'confused, gone astray'; Lat. lubet,

libet 'it pleases,' lubens, libens 'gladly,' lubido, libido 'pleasure, longing,

passion, appetite, lust'; OSl. ljubiti 'love,' ljubŭ 'dear,' ljuby 'love';

ON. ljuf, OE. lēof, E. lief, OHG. liub, NHG. lieb, Goth. liuba-leiks

'dear, lovely'; OHG. liuba, liubī, NHG. liebe 'love,' OHG. liubēn

NHG. lieben 'love'; OE. lufu, E. love, OE. lufian, E. love, OHG. mōt-

luba 'affectus,' Goth. brōbra-lubō 'brotherly love,' lubains 'hope.'

With later semantic changes, ON. lof, OE. lof, NHG. lob 'praise';

ON. lof, OE. lēaf, E. leave, OHG. gilouba, NHG. urlaub, erlaubnis

'leave, permission'; OE. lēafa, E. belief, OHG. giloubo, NHG. glaube

'belief.'

Only the Sanskrit furnishes evidence for a pre-emotional meaning

'be confused, go astray,' from which the sense of 'excite,' and then

'excite with one emotion or another' are derived.

i. Skr. rōṣati, ruṣyati, ruṣati 'be vexed, cross, angry,' ruṣ- 'anger,

wrath, rage,' rōṣa- 'anger, wrath, rage'; Gr. ἀλύω, ἀλύω 'be frantic, ill

at ease, be beside one's self (from grief, perplexity, exultation),' and

in late prose 'wander, roam about,' ἀλυστις 'distress, anguish,' ἄλυς, -υος

'listlessness.' From IE. (ə)ley-s (Schulze, Quaest. Ep. 310; Boisacq 47).

Hom. λύσσα, Att. λύττα 'rage' (*λuk-ia), λυσσάω, λυττάω 'be enraged';

further, the glosses λέυκαι φρένες μαινόμεναι Hes. With a prothetic

vowel, ἀλυνή 'trouble, anguish,' ἀλύσσω 'be uneasy, be in distress,'

and the gloss ἀλύσσειν τρέμειν Hes. (Lagerkrantz, Gr. Lautg. 88;

Boisacq 592); IE. ley-k, or ley-q.

The semantic development is uncertain. But the range of

meanings and especially the Greek glosses make it probable that the

earlier significance was a movement of some sort, and that the words

came to denote 'excitement,' whence 'anger' and 'distress, grief.'

Connection with the above group from IE. ley-bh is probable.

32

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

j. Skr. lōla- 'moving hither and thither, restless,' also applied to

the gestures of the body in certain emotions, whence 'greedy, eager,

longing for,' lāulya- 'restlessness,' whence 'greediness, eagerness,

passion for.' The earlier meaning is well attested. The verb lōlati

has only the sense of 'move back and forth.' Russ. ljulǐka 'cradle,'

Serb. ljuljati 'rock, sing to sleep' very probably belong here, although

the onomatapoetic nature of these words makes independent creation

quite probable; cf. the previous groups.

k. Skr. vyathate 'waver, shrink,' and 'be excited, give way to grief,'

vyatha- 'failure, loss,' also 'feeling of unrest, pain, sorrow, grief,

anguish.' Two divergent developments are evident: 'waver, shrink'

becomes 'be confused, err,' whence both 'fail, lose' and 'be excited

(with grief)'

l. Goth. un-agands, ppl. of a primary verb, 'fearless,' Goth. agis,

ON. agi 'fear' and 'unrest,' OE. ege (E. awe is from the Norse), MHG.

ege 'fear,' OE. egesa, OHG. egisa 'horror, fear'; Goth. af-, in-, us-agjan

'scare, frighten'); Goth. ögjan 'scare,' ON. $gja-sk 'be scared'; Goth.

ōgan 'be afraid'; OHG. egōn 'be afraid'; ON. ōtti 'fear.' Gr. ἄχvυμαι

'be afraid; vex,' Gr. ἄxos poet. 'woe, anguish, grief, sorrow, mourning,'

ἄχθos 'burden, difficulty; pain, suffering, grief, sorrow,' ἀχθoμαι

'burden, vex; mid. be vexed, unwilling' (Walde 42); OIr. āgur 'be

afraid,' agathar 'timēt' (Falk-Torp 37). With an l-suffix: Goth.

aglō 'anguish,' us-agljan 'trouble,' OE. ezlan 'to trouble, pain,'

ezlian 'be troubled, feel pain,' E. ail, MLG. egelen 'cause tribulation,

grief'; Goth. aglus, OE. ezele 'difficult, troublesome'; also MHG.

ageleiz 'quick, busy, zealous,' ageleize 'speed, zeal; trouble, distress.'

There is little indication of an earlier meaning. Perhaps ON.

agi 'unrest,' besides 'fear,' esp. if taken in connection with MHG.

ageleiz 'quick, busy, zealous' may be considered to have retained

an earlier significance. In that case 'fear' as well as 'trouble, pain,

grief' come from 'unrest,' as expressed in the movements of the

body under the influence of these emotions. The opinion of Falk-

Torp 183 that these words are connected with Gr. ὄχλος 'pile, burden-

ing, vexation,' and that the fundamental meaning was 'masse, last'

is even less satisfactory (see Boisacq 735).

m. Skr. hēdati 'anger,' hēda- hēdas- 'anger, resentment, grudge;

Av. zōiždišta- 'most hated'; without the d- extension, Av. zōiṣ̌nu-

'shuddering'; Goth. us-gaisjan 'scare, frighten,' us-geisnan 'be

frightened, horrified,' ON. geisa 'rage,' geiska-fullr 'full of fear,

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

33

frightened,' OE. 3āstan 'frighten,' E. a-ghast 'horror-struck,' OE.

3āst, OHG. geist 'spirit' (Uhl. Ai. Wb. 361; Feist, Got. Wb. 295).

There is no direct evidence of a pre-emotional meaning. One may

assume an earlier sense 'excitement' (Feist assumes 'innere erregung')

from which 'anger, hatred' and 'fear, terror' as well as 'spirit' may

come; cf. Gr. θυμός.

2. Words for 'tremble' come to denote 'fear.'

a. Skr. trasati 'tremble' and 'be afraid,' Av. tarəsaiti, OPers.

tarsatiy 'be afraid,' Av. prənhayeiti 'frighten'; Lat. terreo 'frighten,'

terror 'fright'; Gr. ἄτρεστος 'unfrightened.' The physical sense is

also seen in Gr. τρέω 'tremble, flee', OSl. tręso 'shake,' tręso sę

'tremble,' Lith. triszù 'tremble.'

b. Skr. bhayatē, bibhēti 'be afraid,' bhaya- 'fear, dread, terror;

danger, distress,' bhī- 'fear, horror,' bhīru- 'timid, shy,' bhīma- 'fearful,

terrible,' bhīṣa- 'intimidation, frightening,' bhīti- 'fear, danger';

Av. bayente, byente 'they make fear'; OSl. bojati sę 'be afraid,' bojasnǐ

'fear'; Lith. bajùs 'fearful,' báime 'fear,' bijóti-s 'be afraid.' OHG.

bibēn, bibinōn, ON. bífa 'shake, tremble' as against all the foregoing

words of the various languages have preserved the earlier meaning.

As an expression denoting the gesture of the emotion of fear they

have become names for the emotion itself outside the Germanic.

Wackernagel, KZ. 41, 305 (followed by Brugmann, Gdr. III, 1,

107, and by Berneker, Wb. 68) rejects the connection with the

Germanic words; but neither his semantic nor his morphological

objections are conclusive. It is true that Skr. bhayetē, bibhēti shows

no trace of the meaning of OHG. bibēn; but from the IE. period to

the Vedic period there is ample time for the development generally

assumed, while it is equally natural that the Germanic words should

have retained the physical sense of 'shake.' The morphological

objections are more serious; still, the reduplicated type bibhēti occurs

in the RV. and can be equated with OHG. bibēn; this is good evidence

for an IE. reduplicated present, if one is willing to grant the semantic

development, as I do. But even if the type Skr. bibhēti, OHG. bibēn

should have arisen independently in Sanscrit and in Germanic (Falk-

Torp 125 point out that Germanic shows a preference for reduplicated

forms with the meaning 'shake, quake, tremble,' quoting Goth.

reiran, ON. titra = NHG. zittern), the root connection can not be

denied.

34 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

3. Words for ‘stand still, be stiff’ furnish expressions for ‘amazement, embarrassment, horror, hate, fear.’

a. Gr. στυγέω ‘abhor, abominate, hate; fear,’ στίγος n. ‘hatred, sullenness, gloom,’ στυγερóς ‘hated, loathed; hateful, loathsome,’ στυγνóς ‘hated, abhorred; gloomy, sullen’; Russ. i-stýga ‘sorrow, grief.’

IE. stǝg-, as also in Russ. i-styga adv. ‘rigidly, tight,’ i-stygnuti ‘freeze’; Gr. στίξ ‘a piercing chill.’

OSl. studŭ ‘frigidus,’ whence ‘pudor,’ studŭnŭ ‘frigidus,’ whence ‘αloχρóς’, stydükŭ ‘αloχíνnς’, styděti sę ‘αloχíνεσθαι’; from a d-extension of IE. steu-, stǝ-.

Lat. stupeo ‘stand still; be embarrassed, stupified; stutzen,’ stupendus ‘astonishing’; from a p- extension of IE. stǝ-, cf. Gr. στίπos ‘stick, shaft, stem,’ E. stub.

NHG. staunen ‘be surprised, astonished, amazed’ (does not appear in the written language until 1777), E. stun are descendents of Germanic na-presents from the simple root IE. stǝ-.

The original meaning of IE. stǝ-, attested also for the various extended roots, is ‘be stiff, rigid,’ cf. Gr. στίβω ‘make stiff, erect.’ A rigid position being the striking expression of horror, surprise, and a certain kind of hatred, fear, and sorrow, these words were used in describing the characteristic gestures of these emotions, and became in the end adequate terms for them.

V. More Specific Gestures

Among these gestures I include ‘gaping’ as an expression of ‘desire, craving’; ‘writhing’ as an expression of ‘anger’; ‘blushing’ as an expression of ‘passion, love’; ‘covering, hiding’ as an expression of ‘shame’; ‘bristling of the hair’ in excessive ‘fear’ or ‘joy.’ The development of the words denoting these gestures is parallel to those discussed in the previous sections; it differs only in that the possible developments are more limited in number, which is in accord with the more specific nature of these gestures.

1. Words for ‘gape, yawn’ furnish expressions for ‘desire, crave.’

a. OE. gīwian ‘desire,’ ON. gjā, gjō ‘voluptuous life’; cf. OHG. giwēn ‘open the mouth wide,’ OSl. zěvati ‘yawn’; IE. ĝhei-yo-.

Norw. gīr ‘strong desire,’ OHG. gīr ‘strong desire, greed,’ gīrig ‘desirous’; compare OHG. gīr = NHG. geier ‘buzzard’; IE. ĝhei-ro-.

OE. gīfre ‘desirous, craving for’; compare E. gibe, ON. geifla ‘murmur’; IE. ĝhei-bh-.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

35

The older meaning of these words is 'gape, yawn' (cf. also OHG.

gien, Lat. hiāre 'yawn'); they must have denoted the gesture of

opening the mouth as an expression of intense interest, desire,

before becoming words of emotions in the full sense. See Falk-Torp

316 for numerous other related words in Germanic.

2. Words for 'writhe' come to mean 'irritation, anger.'

a. ON. reiðr, OE. wrāð 'angry, wroth, hostile,' OS. wrēð 'sorrowful

angry, hostile'; ON. reiði, OE. wrǣþþo 'anger, hostility'; also Lat.

ir-ritāre (*in-writ-āre); see Wood, Mod. Phil. 4, 495. With these

compare OHG. reid, reidi 'kraus,' ON. riða, OE. wriþan 'wring, twist,'

Lith. rẽsti 'wind, roll.' The various emotions, esp. 'anger, wrath,

irritation' are thus named after the 'writhing' of the body (cf. the

German sich vor zorn, ärger winden), rather than after the wrinkling

of the forehead, as suggested by Falk-Torp 1396.

b. Goth. pwairhs 'angry,' OE. pweorh 'angry, cross,' besides the

concrete 'contrary'; cf. ON. pverr, OHG. dwerh 'contrary, opposed.'

The emotional meaning may arise from 'opposed = turned against,'

or else from 'writhing'; IE. tverk- 'turn,' besides terk- in Lat. torqueō

'turn, twist.'

3. Words for 'blush' develop into expressions for 'passion, love,

delight.'

a. Skr. rajyati 'be colored or red,' whence 'be excited, delighted;

love,' rakta- 'colored red,' whence 'excited, agitated, impassioned,

in love, delighted,' rāga- 'coloring, redness,' whence 'affection,

passion, love, delight.' The obvious development is from 'red' to

'flushed (with excitement, passion),' and then to 'excitement, passion,

love, delight.' The physical sense is seen also in Gr. ῥέζω 'color,'

Hom. ῥίγος 'red cloth,' from IE. (s)reg- (Meillet, MSL. 13, 38).

b. Skr. vrīḍa-, vrīḍā- 'shame,' vrīḍate 'become embarrassed,'

probably have a dialectic lingual ḍ, and so may be connected with

Welsh gwrid 'blush' (Uhlenbeck, Ai. Wb. 300).

4. Words for 'bristling (of the hair)' come to denote 'fear' and

'rejoicing.'

a. Skr. hrṣyati 'be excited (with pleasure or fear), be delighted,

amazed,' besides 'bristle, stand on ends (of hair and feathers),'

harṣa- 'ardent desire, lust; joy,' and 'bristling,' hrṣṭa- 'glad, merry,'

besides 'erect, stiff,' hrṣṭi- 'joy, rapture'; Av. zaršayamna- 'die

federn austrāubend'; Lat. horreo 'shudder, quake with horror, fear,

amazement, awe,' and 'bristle, be rough,' horror 'shuddering' and

36 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

'bristling,' horridus 'fearful, horrible,' and 'bristly, rough, shaggy; harsh, rude (in manners),' horridulus 'bristly, shaggy, rough.' (For further related words with the earlier meaning 'bristle' see Walde 366). The semantic development, which very probably took place independently in Sanskrit and in Latin, is quite clear.

5. Words for 'cover, hide' and for 'turn away from' furnish expressions for 'shame.'

a. ON. skomm, OE. scamu, OHG. scama 'feeling of shame'; Goth. skaman sik, OE. scamian sic, OHG. sich scamēn 'be ashamed'; OHG. scanta (*skam-idō) 'shame, disgrace.' Originally 'cover (so as to hide from view),' if from IE. (s)kem-, and related to ON. hamr 'outer cover,' OE. hama 'cover, clothes,' OHG. hemidi 'clothes.'

Falk-Torp 376 prefer connection with ON. skammr, OHG. scam 'short,' OPers. kamna 'little, slight,' supporting their view by quoting phrases like Dan. slaa en til skamme = NHG. zu Schaden hauen. The earlier meaning would then be 'feel small.'

b. Gr. ἐντρέπω 'turn about,' in the N. T. sometimes 'feel ashamed'; so regularly in Mod. Gr. ἐντρέπομαι 'be ashamed (Prof. Buck).

VI. Vocal Expression of Emotions

Emotions are often accompanied by activities of the vocal organs. The sounds produced may be inarticulate, as the interjections, and often also wailing, grumbling, and the cries of joy; or else they may consist of articulate speech, as praising, lamenting, mumbling. Words denoting such vocal gestures may then come to stand for the emotions of which they are merely the physiological expression.

1. Words meaning 'make noise' furnish expressions for 'rejoice.'

a. OE. drēam, OS. drōm 'rejoicing, joy, mirth, singing,' OE. drȳ-man, OS. drōmian 'rejoice,' are frequently used for 'exuberant rejoicing' as that of warriors at a drinking bout, especially in celebration of a victory over the enemy, cf. Beo. 88, 99, 497, Hēliand 2009, 2954. For that reason connection with Gr. θρῑν 'be noisy,' θρῡλος 'noise,' θρὀος 'noisy talk' is practically certain (Falk-Torp 161).

The identical ON. draumr, OHG. troum, E. dream with the strongly divergent meaning 'dream' is explained by Falk-Torp as coming from an earlier 'verwirrter lärm, sinnesverwirrung, gaukelei.'

b. Goth. swēgnjan, swignjan 'triumph, rejoice,' swēgnipa, swignipa 'joy,' clearly are connected with Goth. swiglān 'play the pipe or

the flute,' ga-swōgjan 'sigh,' OE. swē3 'sound,' swō3ian, swē3ian

'roar, sound.'

c. Skr. nandati 'rejoice, be satisfied,' nandayati 'gladden,' nanda-

'joy, happiness,' nandana- 'gladdening,' n. 'gladdening, joy, bliss' are

very probably related to Skr. nadati 'resound, roar, hum,' Av. nadant-

'insulting.' Whitney, Roots 87-88, recognizes the connection; Uhl.

Ai. Wb. 142 is more reticent.

d. MHG. gelf 'mirth, wantonness; mockery,' besides 'noise,

roaring, barking'; cf. OE. 3elpan 'boast,' E. yelp, ON. gjalpa, OHG.

gelpfan 'talk boisterously.'

2. Words for 'lament, wail' come to mean 'mourn, grieve, be sad.'

a. OHG. OS. kara 'mourning, lamentation,' OHG. karag, OE.

ceari3 'anxious, sad,' OHG. karagī 'penitence,' karōt 'lamentation';

Goth. karōn, OHG. charōn 'mourn, lament,' OE. cearian 'care, be

anxious, sorry.' The meanings 'sad, mourn' are evidently derived

from 'lament,' i.e. the vocal expression of these emotions; compare

OHG. kerran 'creak; cry out,' ON. kurra 'speak aloud, express dis-

approval,' Lat. garrio 'prattle' (Walde 344; Zupitza, Gutt. 78).

b. ON. kvīda, kvīdi, 'sorrow, fear,' kvīda 'be sorry'; Gr. ὠ-δīs

'torture, geburtsschmerzen,' ὠ-δίνω 'have pangs, geburtsschmerzen'

(Wood, KZ. 45, 65; Falk-Torp 606). Originally 'lament,' as may

be seen from OE. cwipan 'lament, bemourn,' OE. cwānian 'lament';

IE. gʷei-, compare Skr. gāyatē 'sing' (Falk-Torp 606).

c. Skr. rud- 'a cry, wail,' whence 'pain, affliction; grief' and 'dis-

ease' (Apte, Skr.-Eng. Dict. 914), rōdayati 'make sad' (Grassmann

1194). These words are but rarely used of emotions; their usual

meaning is 'wail, lament'; cf. Skr. rudati 'wail, lament, roar, howl.'

d. Skr. krpā- 'compassion, pity,' krpana- 'pitiable, miserable,

poor,' krpāṇa- 'misery, pity,' krpayati 'pity, grieve,' besides 'lament';

cf. Lat. crepo 'crackle, rattle, creak, clatter' (Uhl. Ai. Wb. 64).

3. Words for 'praise' come to denote the emotions of 'gratitude,

esteem, friendship, love.'

a. Lat. grātēs pl. 'thanks,' grātia 'favor, esteem; love, friendship';

grātus 'beloved, dear, pleasing'; cf. Skr. gūrti 'praise,' grnāti 'sing,

praise,' Av. gar- 'praise,' Lith. girti 'praise.' The emotion of gratitude

is thus named from its expression in words, i.e. 'praise' (Walde 352).

Connection with horior is however not impossible (Wood, Class.

Phil. 3, 80).

4. Words for 'grumble, grind the teeth' come to mean 'anger,

wrath' and 'sorrow, grief.'

38 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

a. ON. gramr 'wroth,' esp. of the Gods in the heathen oath sē mēr

god holl ef ek satt segi, grøm ef ek lÿg; OE. 3røm, OHG. gram 'wroth,

angry, furious; grieved,' NHG. gram 'sorrow, grief.' ON. grimmr,

OE. 3rim, OHG. grimmi, grim 'grim, unfriendly, angry, cruel; sore';

Goth. gramjan, OE. 3remmen, ON. gremja, OHG. gremmen 'provoke,

make angry,' NHG. sich grämen 'grieve'; ON. grimma-sk, OE.

3rimman, MHG. grimmen 'to rage in fury or in anguish'; OE. 3remet-

tan, OHG. gramizzōn 'rage, roar, grunt.' Cf. OHG. ga-grim 'a

gnashing or grinding one's teeth,' LGer. grummelen = E. grumble;

Gr. χρεμєθω 'grind the teeth,' OSl. gromŭ 'thunder,' Lith. gruménti

'thunder from afar.'

5. Derivatives of interjections furnish expressions for various

emotions.

a. ON. vē, OE. wā(wa), wēa, E. woe, OS. wē, wēwes, OHG. wēwo,

wēwa 'wretchedness, grief, woe'; Goth. wainags, OHG. wēnag

(*wēwa-na-g, or directly from the unreduplicated interjection wē)

'wretched, unhappy'; OHG. wē(we)-tac 'suffering.' Derivatives of

the interjection Goth. wai, ON. vei, OE. wā, OHG. wē, identical with

Lat. vae, OIr. fē, Lett. wai. Other derivatives are ON. vāla (*waiwa-

lōn), E. wail; ON. veina, OHG. weinōn, OE. wānian, 'wail, cry.'

b. Gr. οlζŭs 'suffering, woe, wretchedness,' οlζŭρos 'wretched,

lamentable, sad,' οlζŭω 'suffer,' besides 'wail, lament,' are derivatives

from the interjection ol, ol-μol (Bezzenberger, BB. 26, 168).

c. OHG. (j)āmar, OS. iāmar 'sorry,' OE. 3ēomor 'sad, sorry,'

OHG. (j)āmar 'sorrow, grief, herzeleid,' OHG. (j)āmarōn 'grieve;

long for'; MHG. jamer-smerze, -sorge and many other compounds in

• which jamer- expresses the inwardness and the intensity of the

emotions.

Compare ON. amra, NHG. jammern 'lament.' These words are

probably built upon an interjection of suffering, sorrow.

C. Words Denoting Sense Perceptions

The relation of the feelings and the emotions to thought has

been discussed in the general introduction (pp. 2-8). Feelings are

part and parcel of all thought processes from simple perceptions

to the most complicated processes of the imagination and of inferen-

tial thinking.

Perceptions differ very much in their feeling value. In general,

the kinesthetic, the visceral, and the tactual perceptions have a

;

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

39

relatively stronger affective tone than those of hearing and especially those of sight, the taste-smell perceptions taking a middle ground.

This situation is reflected in the greater number of names of emotions coming from words for kinesthetic, visceral, and tactual perceptions.

The exceptional situation in the case of words for hearing is accounted for on page 41.

The sense feelings play an all-important part in the transfer of words denoting sense perceptions to emotions.

For what other way is there of explaining the shift of the meaning of a word from 'bright' to 'cheerful,' or from 'sweet' to 'pleasant,' or from 'press, squeeze' to 'cause pain, suffering, grief,' than by the similarity of the feeling which constitutes part of the perceptions 'bright, sweet, press,' on the one hand, and the emotions of 'delight, pleasure, pain, grief' on the other?

This view is borne out by the linguistic fact that only names of perceptions with a pronounced feeling tone come to be applied to emotions.1

A second factor may be of some importance in certain cases: the not unusual occurrence of a perception passing over into an emotional state, as when pressure upon any part of the body is gradually increased to a degree where the touch and muscle sensations become submerged by the feeling of pain, or when the esthetic enjoyment of an object of art passes over into an emotion.

But even in such cases a word denoting the perceptual experience would not be extended to the emotion growing out of it if they did not have a common affective quality (Wundt, Völkerpsychologie3 II, 2, 572ff.).

I. Visual Perceptions

The feeling value (affective tone) of colors is well known.

In general, bright colors are 'cheerful,' dark colors are 'gloomy.'

This common experience leads to very striking expressions.

One may look at the 'bright' or the 'dark' side of things, or take a 'rosy' view of a situation, and so forth.

The same fact accounts for the conventional symbolic value of black, red, yellow, green, blue, and white.

1 The shift of the meaning of a word from the realm of one sense to that of another can also be explained only on this ground.

The semantic change of MHG. hell 'clear (sound)' to NHG. hell 'clear (light)', and the transfer of E. sharp from tactual to auditory and gustatory impressions is certainly due to a similar feeling going with these experiences, since the sensational elements are so utterly disparate.

40 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

Recent experiments on the affective tone of colors have done little more than confirm and elaborate these well-known facts.

With this background of psychological facts semantic changes from ‘bright’ to ‘cheerful,’ and from ‘dark’ to ‘gloomy,’ perceptions and emotions respectively, are readily intelligible.

The similar emotional component of the otherwise entirely disparate experiences motivate the change.

I have not succeeded in finding the full emotional sense developed in any specific color name.

1. Words for ‘bright’ or ‘shine’ come to denote the emotions of ‘delight, pleasure,’ whence also ‘desire, longing.’

a. Skr. rōcatē ‘please, delight in, long for,’ besides the earlier ‘shine, be fair,’ ruc- ‘delight, longing,’ besides ‘light, brightness, splendor, beauty,’ ruci- ‘pleasure, taste for, desire, wish,’ besides ‘light, etc.’ The earlier meaning ‘light’ is confined to Vedic literature (Grassmann 1170).

Compare Skr. rōka-, Av. raōca- ‘light,’ Lat. lūceo ‘shine,’ Gr. λευκός ‘bright, shining.’

b. NHG. heiter ‘serene, cheerful,’ besides ‘clear.’ heiterkeit ‘serenity, good cheer.’ The corresponding OHG. heitar, OE. hādor, ON. heiðr (without the ro-suffix), only have the meaning ‘clear, bright (especially of the sky)’; cf. also ON. heið ‘clear sky’ (Falk-Torp 446).

These Germanic words are further connected with Skr. kētu- ‘light, brightness.’

c. Skr. bhadra- ‘pleasing, happy, blissful,’ besides the earlier ‘bright,’ subst. ‘happiness, welfare, bliss’; Av. hu-badro ‘happy, blessed.’ These words are derived from the reduced IE. bhnd-, the full grade of which is found in Skr. bhandatē ‘shine, glisten.’ Ultimate connection with Gr. φαίνoμαι ‘appear,’ φαvερός ‘bright, clear’ is quite probable (Uhl. 195).

d. ON. glā ‘joy, OE. ʒlǣo, ʒlǣw ‘joy, glee’ from IE. ĝhleǝ-uo-; cf. ON. gliā ‘shine,’ OE. ʒlēm ‘gleam.’ IE. ĝhleǝ- is probably an extension of ĝhel- ‘bright’ which appears in OHG. gelo, etc. ‘yellow, golden, green.’

Lat. laetus ‘joyful, cheerful, glad, happy,’ also ‘fertile, rich, abundant,’ laetor ‘rejoice, feel joy,’ laetitia ‘gladness, joy, mirth,’ besides ‘fertility’; perhaps from IE. ĝhleǝ-to-, cf. Lith. glitùs ‘smooth,’ and, with a d-suffix, OHG. glīzzan ‘shine.’ Connection with this base doubted by Sommer, Hb. Krit. Erläut. 52.

e. ON. glaðr, 'shining, bright,' OE. 3læd OS glad 'glad,' OS.

glað-mōd, OE. 3læd-mōd, OHG. clata-muati 'glad, merry, friendly.'

ON. glaðr preserves the original meaning 'bright,' while OHG. glat

(except in the compound quoted), OFris. gled, and also the related

OSl. gladъkъ, Lat. glaber, Lith. glõdùs have shifted to 'smooth'; all

from a secondary base IE. ghlā- with a dh-extension; cf. base ĝhlei-

above with similar meaning.

Falk-Torp's suggestion, p. 324, that the emotional sense comes

from 'bright' as applied to the 'bright, sparkling' eye is not likely

in the face of so many parallel cases where the general term 'bright'

takes on the emotional meaning.

f. ON. teitr 'glad,' OHG. zeiz, OE. tāt 'tender, pleasant'; compare

Skr. dīdi- 'shining,' dīdēti 'shine,' Isl. tēr 'clear,' OHG. ziari 'splendor,

beauty' (Falk-Torp 970).

g. Goth. bleiþs, ON. blíðr 'merciful, kind,' OE. blīðe, OS. blíði, OHG.

blīde 'merciful, kind; glad, happy'; Goth. bleiþjan 'be merciful,'

OHG. blīden 'be glad'; OS. blíðon, OHG. blīden 'be glad'; Goth.

bleiþei, OS. blíðsea, OE. blíþs, bliss 'mercy, kindness; joy, happiness';

from a t-extension of IE. bhlei- 'shine,' secondary base from bhel-

(Lith. báltas 'white'). The original meaning is preserved in OS.

blīði 'clear, bright'; cf. forms with an IE. d-suffix, OE. blāt 'pale,

lead colored,' OHG. bleizza 'pallor,' OSl. blědъ 'pale, bleak.'

2. Words for 'dark' furnish expressions for 'gloom.'

a. OE. 3lōm, E. gloom 'twilight, darkness' and 'dejection'; cf.

OE. 3lōwan, E. glow, OHG. gluoen 'glow, burn with a weak flame,'

and Lith. žlėjà 'twilight' (Falk-Torp 324).

II. Auditory Perceptions

Although sounds have a decided emotional value (contrast the

mellow tone of an organ pipe with the sound of a shrill steam whistle),

I fail to discover a single unquestionable case of an emotional term

which previously denoted an auditory impression, for the Goth.

hlas may have denoted the visual 'bright' like the related Lat. clārus

before attaining to the emotional sense 'cheerful.'

The reason for this situation is probably to be found in the

fact that the names of auditory perceptions are so few in number

(clear, loud, high, low), and that even these are transferred to hearing

from the other senses (see Wundt, Völkerpsych.3 II, 2, 559).

42

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

I give the only possible case that has come to my attention:

a. Goth. hlas 'ἱλαρός' (twice), hasei 'cheerfulness, joy' (once);

from an s-extension of IE. qla-, in ablaut with Lat. clārus 'loud,

clear; bright; renowned.' IE. qlā- is a secondary base from qal-,

cf. Lat. calo, OHG. hellan (Walde 167).

Goth. hlas 'joyful' may come directly from 'clear (of sound);'

but it may also have passed through an intermediary stage 'bright.'

III. Perceptions of Taste

The tastes known as 'sweet, bitter, and sour' have an outspoken

emotional value as everyone can determine for himself. Especially

is this true of 'sweet,' the name of which has come to be applied

to all kinds of sense perceptions and to other mental processes

of similar emotional quality. We consider it perfectly proper to

speak of 'sweet' sounds, 'sweet' faces, 'sweet' memories, and of

'sweetness,' an emotion, mood, or general disposition of the heart.

1. Words for 'sweet' come to mean 'pleasant, joyful, glad.'

a. Skr. svādate 'taste good, relish,' whence 'please,' svādu- 'of

good taste, sweet,' whence 'pleasing,' svāda- 'taste, good taste,' pra-

svādas- 'pleasant'; Av. hvandra.kara- 'pleasing.' (A different de-

velopment is to be observed in Skr. svātta- = Av. hvāsta- 'seasoned,

cooked,' Skr. svādana- 'preparing a dish,' m. 'a cook.') Gr. ἡδύs

'sweet (to the taste),' whence after Homer 'pleasant, well disposed,

glad,' Att. ἡδομαι 'enjoy one's self, take delight in,' Ion. poet. ἀνδάνω

'please, delight, satisfy,' ἡδos, ἡδονή 'enjoyment, pleasure, delight.'

Lat. suāvis 'sweet, agreeable, pleasant,' both of taste and of feeling.

OS. swōti, OE. swēte, OHG. suozi with the same range of meanings.

Most words in this group which have developed the emotional

sense also denote the taste impression, except in Greek where all

but the adjective have lost the earlier meaning completely.

b. Skr. mādhurā- 'sweetness, wine,' besides the later 'loveliness,

charm'; cf. madhu- 'sweet, of good taste,' n. 'sweetness, honey,

Soma,' Gr. μέθυ 'wine,' Lith. medùs 'honey,' OE. meodo, OHG. metu

'mead.'

2. Words for 'taste' furnish expressions for 'inclination, delight,

love.'

a. Skr. juṣatē 'delight in, enjoy; prefer, choose,' jōṣayatē 'like,

love; approve of, choose,' juṣṭa- 'pleasant, acceptable; endowed with,'

juṣṭi- 'favor, love, satisfaction,' jōṣa- 'satisfaction, delight in;

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

43

Av. zaoš- ‘delight in, inclination; will, intention,’ Av. zaoš-, OPers.

dauš- ‘delight in, like, love,’ Av. zušta- ‘liked, loved,’ OIr. asa-gussim

(*gustio-) ‘wish’; Alb. deša ‘loved.’ Gr. γεúoμαι ‘taste, take a bite,’

whence ‘test, feel,’ γεũμα ‘a taste, smack,’ γεũσις ‘sense of taste; food;'

Lat. gustus ‘a tasting, eating or drinking a little, a foretaste,’ gustāre

‘taste, take a slight meal,’ whence ‘partake of, enjoy; hear, learn;'

Goth. kiusan, and the corresponding words in the other dialects,

meaning ‘choose,’ kustus (=Lat. gustus) ‘test.’

Greek and Latin preserve the prior sense ‘taste, partake of food,’

besides the developed ‘partake, learn, hear’ (impressions of various

senses), and ‘partake with a purpose of passing judgement on, i.e.

probe, test, choose’ (intellectual activities); furthermore, with

emphasis on the feeling or emotion accompanying certain impressions

of taste, ‘enjoy.’ The fully developed emotional meanings of Indo-

Iranian must have passed through stages corresponding to those

actually preserved in Greek and Latin.

b. Skr. rasa- ‘sap, essence,’ then ‘taste,’ whence ‘relish for,

inclination, desire; feeling, sentiment, affection’; cf. Skr. rasati

‘taste,’ OSl. rosa-, Lith. rasà, Lat. rōs ‘dew.’

IV. Perceptions of Touch

The sense of touch usually functions in conjunction with the

muscle sense, so that one is often at a loss whether to attribute

a perception primarily to the one or to the other of the two senses.

A certain degree of arbitrary classification is therefore unavoidable.

I count then ‘rub, scratch, bite’ among the touch impressions, not

forgetting that they may also involve muscular sensations.

Perceptions of touch are of course accompanied by feeling. The

most characteristic feeling of touch is pain, which is aroused by

stimuli too intense for the normal functioning of the nerve ends.

Pain may be produced by violent rubbing, scratching, by biting and

cutting. The names of these impressions, as in the realm of the other

senses, are then applied to emotions of similar affective quality,

that is, to ‘distress, grief, sorrow,’ and to ‘irritation, anger.’

1. Words for ‘cut, bite, be sharp’ come to denote a ‘sharp pain,’

whence the emotions of ‘distress, grief’ and ‘irritation, anger.’

a. Lat. doleo ‘feel pain; hurt,’ whence ‘feel sorrow, grief,’ dolor

‘pain,’ whence ‘affliction, grief, sorrow; indignant grief, suppressed

anger, grudge’; Lett. dēlit ‘vex, torture.’ The sense of ‘hurt, feel;

44

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

pain’ is derived from ‘cut’; cf. Lat. dolo ‘hew, chip (with an ax),’

Lett. dalit ‘separate,’ Skr. dalati ‘split, burst,’ ON. talga ‘a cutting,’

etc.

b. Gr. δάïος ‘terrible, fearful, hateful; wretched, unhappy,’ related

to δαíζω ‘cleave, cut asunder.’

c. OE. smeart ‘smarting, painful,’ usually applied to painful sense

impressions like E. smart; OHG. smerzo, smerza, NHG. schmerz ‘pain,’

but also ‘anguish, grief, sorrow.’ Compare Lat. mordeo ‘bite,’ also

as applied to feeling; valde mē momordērunt epistulae tuae Cic.; Skr.

mṛdnāti, mardati ‘rub, crush,’ LG. murten ‘crush’; from a d-extension

of IE. mer-, cf. Skr. mṛṇāti ‘crush,’ Gr. μαραíνω ‘wear out, destroy,

weaken, exhaust’ (Persson, Beitr. 213ff.).

The semantic development can easily be traced. A narrowing of

‘crush’ to ‘bite = crush by biting’ (cf. mordeo) precedes the shift to

‘smarting pain, pain’ in West Germanic.

d. Lat. saevus ‘fierce, raging, raving,’ saevitia ‘fierceness, raving,

raging,’ saevio ‘be fierce, raging, furious’; Gr. aíμωδίa ‘tooth ache’

(Solmsen, Beitr. 28); OIr. sāeth ‘suffering, sickness,’ sāethar ‘suffering,

labor’; Goth. sair, OHG. sēr ‘pain,’ ON. sār ‘wound,’ OE. sār ‘wound,

sore,’ then ‘pain, suffering’; OHG. sēr ‘sore, suffering, harmful,’ ON. sār

‘sore, aching,’ OE. sāri3 ‘sorry, sorrowful, sad; expressing grief,

mournful.’ With various suffixes, from IE. sai̯-, which also forms

the basis of Lett. sēws, sīws ‘sharp, biting, cruel’ (Walde 669).

Lett. sēws ‘sharp, biting’ preserves the earlier meaning of this

group, from which the semantic development proceeds independently

in the different languages. Latin ‘fierce, raging,’ and the meanings

‘sore, ache, pain’ of the other languages are divergent developments

from this earlier meaning. In the Germanic dialects ‘sore, soreness

= wound, physical pain’ remain the usual significance, although a

further shift to ‘grief, sadness,’ especially in the OE. sāri3, E. sorry,

takes place. Besides, the adjective comes to be used simply to

emphasize the intensity of any disagreeable emotion or sense impres-

sion, cf. ON. sār-reiðr ‘bitterly angry,’ sār-kaldr ‘bitterly cold,’ or to

express merely a high degree of any attribute, cf. NHG. sehr traurig,

sehr froh, sehr kalt, sehr schön.

2. Words for ‘rub, scratch’ furnish expressions for ‘pain,’ whence

‘grief, sorrow.’

a. Skr. kaṣṭa- ‘bad, evil, ill; painful, grievious, sorrowful, miser-

able,’ subst. ‘evil, hardship; suffering, pain,’ kaṣi- ‘injurious, harmful,

hurtful,' kaști- 'test, trial,' and 'injury, trouble, pain.' There is no

reason for doubting the connection with Skr. kașati 'rub, scratch;

test, try, rub on a touch-stone; injure, destroy, hurt; itch,' especially

since the verb also occurs with the meaning 'hurt' from which 'grief,

sorrow' are easily developed. Compare further Lith. karšiù 'comb,

curry,' MLG. harst 'rake'; IE. qers- (Falk-Torp 881).

3. Words for 'touch' come to mean 'feel.'

a. OS. gi-fōlian, OHG. fuolen, OE. fēlan 'feel,' both of the sense of

touch, which is the earlier application of the term, and of the feelings

and emotions; cf. ON. falma 'touch, grope,' OE. folm, OHG. folma,

Lat. palma, Gr. παλάμη 'palm of the hand,' OSl. palьcь 'thumb,' Lat.

palpo (reduplicated) 'stroke.'

Walde 556, Falk-Torp 290, deny connection with Lat. palma,

OE. folm without justification. The fact that the meaning in these

languages is 'flache hand' is not sufficient argument against the

connection; for the 'flache hand' can surely derive its name from its

function in experiences of touch. This development is not any less

natural than that of Russ. pálec 'finger,' OSl. palьcь 'thumb' from

'toucher,' a shift which they assume.

V. Kinesthetic and Visceral Perceptions

Kinesthetic and visceral perceptions are of a very complex

nature. They form at any given moment a unit into which the

muscle feelings, the joint feelings, the vague awareness of organic

processes (digestion, respiration, circulation, and so forth) enter.

In addition, they often involve tactual elements. They are described

in language by such indefinite terms as 'feel light, heavy, oppressed,

hot, cold,' and if the stimulation in one locality or another becomes

so intense as to produce pain, by such terms as 'gnaw' (bones and

viscera), 'cut' (muscles and viscera), 'be crushed, broken' (muscles

and viscera), or by 'shock' if the normal flow of kinesthetic and

visceral feelings is suddenly interrupted or disturbed. These expres-

sions may then turn into names of emotions.

Some of the terms which I have classified under this head may

in part denote expressive movements of emotional states, as for

instance 'be hot' or 'feel crushed.' As they are experiences com-

pounded of feelings and expressive movements, they might with equal

propriety have.been put into the previous chapter.

46

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

1. Words for 'press, pinch, squeeze,' perceptions composed of muscle and touch sensations, come to denote 'pain,' whence 'suffering, distress, sorrow.'

a. Skr. kliśnati 'vex, harass, harm, torment,' kliṣṭa- 'difficult; injured, painful; distressed, sad,' pari-kliśyati 'vex, torture; mid. suffer, be distressed,' kleśa- 'affliction, pain, distress' (not found in Vedic Sanskrit). Compare Skr. sam-kliśya- gdv., sam-kliṣṭa- ppl. 'squeeze, crush,' besides the infinitive with the meaning 'vex, trouble'; further, Czech sklesnŭti 'press together, put together,' Russ. dial. klesmunti 'press, pinch,' Lit. Russ. klẽšta 'pliers,' OSl. st̃-kleštati sę 'cruciārī' (Berneker EW. 516).

b. Skr. khidatē 'be depressed, languish, suffer,' khinna- 'tired, weary; depressed, sad,' khēda- 'weariness; depression, distress, sorrow; irritation, anger.' The physical sense 'press' and various specialized uses of it are found in the compound verbs Skr. ni-khidati 'press down,' vi-khidati 'tear asunder'; also in Lat. caedo 'fell, cut off; beat, strike.'

c. Skr. bādhatē 'oppress, beset,' whence 'torment, hurt, injure, bibhatsatē desid. 'feel aversion, loathing,' bādha- 'oppression,' whence 'pain, distress,' a-bādha- 'attack,' whence 'trouble, pain, sorrow.' The earlier 'press' is evident in all cases and is plainly recorded in ni-bādhatē 'press down.' Lat. dē-fendo 'ward off, drive away,' of-fendo 'attack,' with which compare in meaning Skr. a-bādha- 'attack,' belong here; Walde's objection to this connection (p. 224) on semantic grounds is altogether unfounded.

Whether this group is related to OSl. bĕdo, bĕditi 'press,' and Goth. baidjan 'compel' (Solmsen, KZ. 37, 24) on the basis of an IE. bhe(i)dh- is quite uncertain.

d. Lith. vaĩgas 'distress,' vaĩgti 'vex, harm, torture,' vaĩgti 'suffer, be wretched'; OSl. vragŭ 'hostile'; cf. Lat. urgeo 'press, drive, push,' Goth. wrikan 'persecute,' OE. wrecan 'press, drive, revenge,' E. wreak, NHG. rächen. The sense of 'suffering' arises from the passive sense 'persecuted,' as also in OE. wraca 'revenge, punishment,' and 'be in distress,' wrecca 'exile, stranger' and 'wretch,' E. wretch, wretched.

e. Skr. piḍā- 'harm, wrong, pain, ache,' piḍana- 'oppressing, squeezing,' whence 'torment, pang,' piḍayati 'press, squeeze,' whence 'vex, harm, hurt, torture'; perhaps from IE. (e)pi-s(e)d- and related to Gr. πιέζω 'press' (lit. cited in Boisacq 782).

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions 47

f. Skr. iti- ‘vexation, distress’ is probably related to inōti ‘attack, press on, overcome, rule’ (Uhl. Ai. Wb. 26).

2. Expressions for ‘gnaw, bite, sting,’ perceptions made up of muscle, joint, and visceral sensations, turn into words for ‘pain,’ whence ‘grief.’

a. E. fret ‘gnaw, wear away,’ and ‘worry’; cf. Goth. fra-itan, NHG. fressen, and the simple verb Goth. itan, OE. etan, E. eat.

b. OHG. quelan ‘suffer,’ OE. cwelan ‘die’ (elliptic for ‘suffer death’?); ON. kvol, OHG. quāla ‘suffering, torment,’ OE. cvalu ‘torment,’ besides the usual ‘violent death, slaughter, killing, destruction’; ON. kvelja, OHG. quellen ‘torment,’ OE. cwellan, OHG. ar-quellan ‘kill,’ E. quell ‘suppress, suffocate’; OS. OHG. qualm ‘torment; death,’ OE. cwealm ‘torment; plague, pestilence; death, destruction,’ E. qualm ‘misgiving, depression.’ The same double meaning ‘suffering’ and ‘death’ occurs in the related words from the Balto-Slavic: Lith. gėld ‘violent pain,’ gėlti ‘sting, hurt’; OPruss. gallan, golis ‘death.’ The original meaning of these words seems to be that of Lith. gėlti ‘sting’ (Wood, AJP. 19, 46).

3. Words for ‘strangle, throttle,’ kinesthesias resulting from inhibition or retardation of breathing, turn into names of the emotions of ‘distress, grief,’ ‘anxiety, fear,’ and ‘irritation, anger.’

a. Skr. qati-, qhas-, qhu- ‘distress,’ qhura- ‘distressed’; Av. qzo ‘distress’; Lat. angor ‘strangling, pain in the throat,’ besides ‘trouble, vexation, anguish,’ ango ‘press together, throttle,’ whence ‘trouble, vex,’ angustu ‘narrow, pinching, difficult, critical,’ Fr. angoisse, E. anguish; ON. angr ‘vexation, grief,’ ME. anger ‘anger; affliction, vexation’ (from the Norse), OHG. angust ‘anxiety, fear.’ The earlier meaning is seen in Gr. ἄγχω, Lat. ango, angustu, Goth. aggwus, ON. ongr, angr, OHG. engi ‘narrow,’ which are applied also to the feeling which results from retardation or momentary inhibition of breathing in such emotional experiences as ‘pain, distress, grief,’ and ‘irritation, anger.’

4. Expressions for ‘heavy,’ denoting a complex perception of muscle and visceral feelings, turn into words for ‘distress, grief.’

a. OHG. swār ‘heavy, burdensome,’ whence ‘painful,’ swāri ‘heaviness, difficulty,’ whence ‘pain, suffering, sorrow,’ swāren ‘make heavy, burden,’ whence ‘cause pain, sorrow’; sweran ‘ulcerate, pain’; with a divergent development, Goth. swērs ‘heavy; grave, honored, dear’; cf. also Lith. svarùs ‘heavy,’ svėrti ‘weigh.’

b. Lat. gravis 'heavy,' also 'sick, troubled, afflicted,' gravo 'weigh down, oppress,' also 'become angry, vexed, irritated'; OFr. grief, gref 'heavy, burdensome' and 'sad,' E. grief, grieve, borrowed from the French.

c. Gr. βapúvω 'weigh down, oppress, depress,' whence 'be oppressed, distressed'; βapús 'heavy' and 'stern, severe.' Note the same double development in Gc. swēri- above.

d. ON. dapr 'sad,' OHG. tapfar 'heavy, weighty,' MHG. tapfer 'firm, stout, heavy, important,' NHG. tapfer 'sturdy, brave'; cf. OSl. doblŭ 'strong, sturdy' (Wood, AJP. 19, 42).

e. Gr. ἄνιos (rare), ἀνiapós 'troublesome, annoying; distressed, grieved,' ἀνιáω, ἀνιáζω 'to grieve, distress; mid. feel grief,' ἀνíā 'trouble, distress, sorrow, grief'; cf. Lat. onus 'load, burden, charge, difficulty, trouble,' and Skr. anas- 'a cart' (Walde 540). In Greek the emotional sense, which is in its initial stages in Latin, is complete.

5. Expressions for 'bear, carry,' denoting a complex muscular perception similar to that called 'feel heavy,' but involving stronger innervation of the muscles, become words for 'endure,' whence both 'suffer' and 'dare.'

a. Skr. sahatē 'bear, endure, master, overpower, win,' also 'be patient, suffer'; cf. Skr. sahas- = Av. hazah- 'force, power, violence'; Gr. ἕχω 'have, hold, possess,' etc. The development is from 'hold, endure' to 'master' on the one hand, and to 'be patient, suffer' on the other.

b. ON. pol n., MHG. dol, dole f. 'suffering,' MHG. dolig 'patient'; Goth. pulan, ON. pola, OE. polian, OS. tholōn, OHG. dolēn, dolōn 'endure, suffer'; OE. ðe-yld, OHG. dult, NHG. ge-duldĕ 'patience, suffering,' with the denominative OE. ðe-yldian, OHG. dultēn, NHG. dulden 'be patient. suffer'; Goth. pulains 'patience, sufferance'; Gr. aor. τλῆναι 'bear,' whence 'be patient, suffer,' and 'take upon one's self, dare,' τλás 'suffering, wretched,' τλήμων 'patient, steadfast, daring,' τόλμα 'daring,' τολμηρός 'patient; bold,' τολμáω 'bear,' whence 'suffer' and 'dare'; OIr. tol 'will'; cf. also Lat. tulī 'have borne,' tollo 'raise,' Skr. tulayati 'raise.'

6. Words for 'crush, break,' denoting a complex perception, yield names for the emotions of 'pain, grief, regret.'

a. ON. hruggr 'afflicted, grieved,' OE. hrēo(w), OS. hriwi 'grieved; repentant'; OE. hrēow, OHG. hriuwa 'grief, mourning; regret'; ON. hryggja, OHG. hriuwan, OE. hrēowan 'to grieve, afflict'; OE.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

49

hrēowian, OHG. hriuwēn ‘rue, repent’; ON. hrygð ‘affliction, sorrow,’

ME. hreouđe, E. ruth ‘grief, sorrow; pity’; IE. qreu-ui-. Compare

ON. hrumr ‘infirm, staggering,’ hrūma ‘to enfeeble, make infirm,’

with mo-suffix. Further connections: OSl. krušiti ‘break,’ Lith.

kr(i)us̆ti ‘crush,’ Gr. κροúω ‘strike, knock, smite,’ from an s-extension

of the root underlying the Germanic words.

The meaning ‘grief’ is derived from ‘feel crushed, broken.’ The

sense of ‘regret, repent’ which eventually replaces the earlier ‘grieve’

altogether comes into West Germanic, but not into Norse, through

the influence of the church; OE. hrēow, OHG. hriuwa render the

Latin contritio. Falk-Torp 917 suggest possible connection with

OE. hrēoh, E. rough; the emotional sense would develop then from

‘rough’ skin, i.e. gooseflesh, an intermediary step in the shift being

presented by Norw. dial. ryggja ‘shudder’; but this shift is not

supported by any parallel.

b. Skr. riṣyati, rēṣati ‘harm, injure; mid. be hurt, suffer wrong;

perish,’ riṣ- ‘injury; injurer,’ riṣṭa- ‘torn, rent, broken,’ and ‘hurt’;

Av. raēšvāt subj. ‘hurt’; raēša- ‘injury,’ also ‘crevice, crack’; compare

OSl. rěšiti ‘λύνειν.’

Barth. Wb. 1487 compares Av. raēša- ‘crevice, crack’ with ON.

slīta ‘tear,’ assuming IE. (s)loiṭ-so- for the Avestan. Since ‘tear, rend,

break’ are so well attested for Skr. riṣṭa-, one can hardly doubt

that Av. raēša- ‘crevice’ is identical with raēša- ‘injury’ (Jackson,

AJP. 11, 88).

c. Skr. rujati ‘break, crush, destroy,’ whence ‘pain, afflict,’ ruj-

as final member of compounds, ‘breaking, crushing,’ as f. ‘pain,

illness; grief, sorrow,’ rōga- ‘frailty, sickness’; Gr. λυγρός ‘sore, baneful;

mournful,’ and ‘sorry, weak, cowardly,’ λευγ-αλέος ‘wretched, pitiful

(of persons),’ and ‘sore, baneful, mournful (of conditions)’; Lat.

lūgeo ‘grieve, be afflicted,’ also ‘mourn, lament,’ luctus ‘sorrow,

trouble,’ and ‘mourning.’ Compare Lith. lūžti intr. ‘break,’ szirdis

lūszta ‘to break the heart’; all from a ĝ-extension of IE. leu-; cf. the

following group (Walde 445; Boisacq 571).

The meanings ‘pain, grief’ may come directly from ‘be crushed’

as descriptive of the feeling of a physiological state, as in Baltic,

or through an intermediary ‘frail, feeble,’ which are represented

both in Sanskrit and in Greek (cf. also the frequent shift from ‘weak,

tired’ to ‘sad’). However, the fact that ‘grief’ seems to have developed

directly out of ‘broken’ in the group below gives weight to the first

possibility mentioned.

50 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

d. Gr. λúπη 'pain; grief,' λυπέω 'give pain to, distress, vex, grieve,' λúπηρóς 'painful, distressing; causing pain, sorrow,' λúπρóς 'painful, distressing,' and 'wretched, poor' with γαι̂α; cf. Skr. lumpati 'break, damage,' lupta- 'damaged,' OSl. lupiti 'peel'; from IE. ley-p- (Boisacq 593).

e. Gr. κóπος 'a beating, striking,' also 'toil, trouble, suffering' and 'weariness, fatigue'; cf. κóπτω 'beat, strike,' κóπις 'knife,' OSl. kopati 'dig.' For the semantic development compare NHG. niedergeschlagen.

f. Lith. rūpĕti 'be anxious, solicitous,' rūpĕsti-s 'anxiety, care'; Skr. rupyati 'suffer violent pain' (rare); cf. Skr. rōpayati 'cause to tear, break,' Lat. rumpo 'break, tear, rend (Boisacq 592).

g. Lat. tristis 'distructive, injurious,' also 'troubled, sad, sorrowful'; cf. trī-trus 'rubbed, bruised, trodden,' trī-bulum 'threshing sledge,' from an extension of IE. ter- in Lat. tero 'rub, grind, thresh' (Walde 793).

7. Words for 'shock' and 'ergreifen,' denoting different degrees of disturbance of the normal flow of muscle and visceral feelings, come to be words for the emotions of 'irritation, anger' and 'sympathy' respectively.

a. Skr. rabhas- 'violence, vehemence; instr. violently, passionately, with rage,' sa-rambha- 'rashness, eagerness, zeal; agitation, fury, wrath,' besides 'taking hold of,' sa-rabdha- 'excited, enraged, angry,' besides 'joined with,' and 'increased, swollen'; cf. Skr. rabhaṭē 'seize, grasp, hold fast,' Gr. ἀμϕι-λαϕής 'taking in on all sides = wide-spread (of trees), huge, etc.', λάϕυρov 'booty,' ἐλήλαϕα used as perfect to the active 'grasp,' denoting the gesture; 'agitation, rage' from the passive 'ergreifen,' the feeling.

b. NHG. ergreifen (von schmerz, mitleid, wut) 'overcome,' without a modifier 'feel sympathy'; ergreifend 'arousing sympathy'; cf. NHG. greifen, E. grip 'grasp,' NHG. ergreifen 'take hold of.'

c. Skr. āvēśa- 'entrance, access,' whence also 'shock' (of a violent emotion); anger, wrath'; cf. Skr. viśati 'enter.' For the semantic development compare NHG. anwandlung 'fit (of joy, grief, anger).'

8. Words for 'hot' and 'warm' turn into expressions for 'suffering, grief' and 'sympathy, kindness, delight,' respectively. Phrases like grow hot, a heated argument, and a warm heart, warm up to something illustrate this double development in English.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

51

a. Skr. tapati 'be warm, hot, burn,' whence 'suffer, do penance,

castigate one's self,' tapa- adj. 'heating, burning,' whence 'tormenting',

m. 'heat, fire,' whence 'penance, religious austerity,' tapas- 'warmth,

heat,' whence 'pain, grief, religious austerity,' tāpa- 'heat, ardor'

and 'pain, affliction, woe,' anu-tāpa- 'repentance, woe, sorrow,'

upa-tāpa- 'heat,' whence 'pain, distress, woe, sorrow,' and 'sickness.'

The related words in the other languages have the physical sense

only: Av. aor. tafsat 'grew hot,' tafnah- 'heat; fever'; OSl. teplŭ

'warm,' topiti 'to heat'; Lat. tepeo 'be warm.'

The sense 'heat' and 'suffering' occur side by side in every in-

stance, except in the compounds where the earlier meaning is not

found. The religious emotion accompanying castigation, which has

very much in common with fever on the physiological side, is perhaps

the predecessor of the wider 'suffering, pain; grief, sorrow.'

b. Skr. sa-jvarati 'be grieved, sorry,' jvara- 'fever,' whence 'pain,

grief, sorrow'; the simple verb jvarati does not develop the emotional

sense; cf. further Skr. jvalati 'burn, blaze, glow, shine,' jvala- 'flame.'

c. Skr. çocati 'flame, glow, burn,' whence 'suffer burning pains;

grieve, mourn,' abhi-, pari-çōcati 'burn,' whence 'torment; grieve,

mourn'; çuc-, çoc̣ka- 'flame, heat,' whence 'pain; grief, sorrow,' çuca-

'grief, sorrow'; Arm. sug 'mourning.' The physical and the emotional

meanings occur side by side; the earlier meaning is seen also in Skr.

çōci- 'flame, heat,' and in Av. saocant- 'burning' (Uhl. Wb. 317).

d. Skr. dahyatē 'be burned, destroyed by flames,' also 'feel

pain, grief,' dagdha- 'burned' and 'tortured, suffering, grieving';

cf. also Skr. dahati 'burn,' dāha- 'burning, fever,' Av. daži ti, Lith.

degù 'burn.'

e. Skr. dunōti 'burn,' whence 'afflict, grieve,' dūna- 'burned,'

and 'tortured'; Gr. δύνη 'pain, anguish, misery,' δαίω 'to plunge into

misery (Boisacq 204); cf. further Skr. dāva- 'conflagration,' Gr. δαίω

'set fire to,' δάος 'torch' (Boisacq 163).

f. Skr. ghṛṇā- 'compassion, pity; contempt,' ghṛṇi- 'heat,' also

'anger,' ghṛṇin- 'fierce, wild; compassionate'; cf. the related ghṛṇōti

'shine, glow,' and Gr. θέρπομαι 'grow warm,' OIr. gorim 'heat, burn.'

Both 'compassion' and 'anger' from 'warmth' and 'heat'; similar

development in E. have a warm heart on the one hand, and in hot-

headed on the other (cf. also Ger. hitzkopf).

g. Skr. haryati 'be gratified, delight in, desire, like'; Gr. χαίρω 'be

delighted, rejoice,' χαρά 'joy, delight,' χάρις 'kindness, grace, grati-

52 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

tude; gratification, delight’; Lat. hortor (frequentative of an earlier

*horior) ‘encourage’; Goth. gairns, ON. gjarn, ‘desirous, inclined,

willing,’ OE. zeorn, OHG. gern ‘desirous, zealous,’ OS. gerag, OHG.

girig, NHG. gierig ‘greedy,’ OHG. ger ‘greedy,’ gerōn, NHG. be-

gehren ‘desire, crave.’ Further, Skr. hr̥ṇīte ‘grow angry,’ haras-

‘grudge,’ besides ‘flame, heat’; Av. zara-nu- ‘to anger; mid. grow

angry’; Russ. zarji ‘fervent desire; anger, envy,’ besides ‘heat,’

zarit͟h ‘arouse a desire, grow angry.’

Skr. haryati, Gr. χαίρω, Lat. hortor certainly belong together, the

first two having the middle sense, Latin the active. Osc. herest,

Umb. heriest differ considerably from the Latin both in form and in

meaning, and go more closely with the Germanic words, Goth.

gairns, etc., ‘desirous.’ Skr. hr̥ṇīte, Av. zaranu-, Russ. zarit͟h form a

group by themselves; but they ultimately come from the same base

IE. ǵher-, the earlier meaning of which is preserved in Skr. haras-

‘heat, flame’ (besides ‘grudge’), and in Russ. zarji ‘heat’ (besides

‘desire, anger, envy’). The semantic development must have been

on this order: ‘heat, a physical state,’ whence ‘heat, ardor, as a

characteristic expression of certain emotions,’ then these emotions

themselves, i.e. ‘desire, delight’ and ‘anger, grudge.’

9. Words for ‘thirst’ develop into terms for ‘desire, craving.’

a. Skr. tr̥ṣyati ‘be thirsty,’ whence ‘crave,’ tr̥ṣā-, tr̥ṣṇā-, tarṣa-

‘thirst,’ whence ‘strong desire, craving.’

Without the full shift to the emotional, Av. taršna- ‘thirst,’

OE. purst, E. thirst, NHG. durst, etc.; the meaning ‘thirst’ comes

from ‘dry’ as is seen in Skr. tr̥ṣta- ‘dry, rough,’ Av. taršu = Goth

paursus ‘dry,’ etc. The emotional sense ‘craving’ develops from the

complex experience as a whole, which is designated by ‘thirst’ rather

than from the perception of taste, which is only a part of it.

D. Words Denoting Situations and Activities Characterized by a

Pronounced Emotional Value

Many activities and situations in the life of the individual and

of social groups are laden with emotional import. Pleasure, enjoy-

ment are part of the experience of possession and prosperity; happi-

ness is part of home-life, of peace, of safety. The giving and the

receiving of help or of a favor, the care for a person or an object, have

their proper emotional value; strife, toil as well as play harbor strong

emotions.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

53

Accordingly such words as prosperity, home, peace, toil, drudgery, trouble, and war convey a pronounced emotional meaning besides the objective. In fact, when war or peace or toil are mentioned, the experience of the listener may be more emotional than reflective. At such times these words become expressions for emotions. It is therefore not hard to see how words for such concepts may become fixed as terms for the particular emotions that characterize them.

Psychologically, such experiences are trains of thought composed of sense impressions, images, processes of the imagination and of logical thinking, all of which have their feeling tones which are merged into a more or less unified emotional state characterizing the experience as a whole. At times the emotional may dominate over the reflective; a mood may issue from thought to which the name of the latter is then also applied. Thus the name of the entire complex of which the emotion is only a more or less important part may become attached to the emotion itself (see also pp. 3 and 7-8).

The situations and activities whose names have furnished words for emotions may be grouped as follows:

I. Possession of objects capable of giving pleasure and enjoyment

II. Safety and comfort

III. Help and care

IV. Labor, toil, trouble

V. Strife, disturbance, commotion

VI. Play

VII. Rest

In these groups more than in any other the older meaning perseveres by the side of the later one.

I. Possession of Objects Affording Enjoyment

1. Words with the meaning ‘share,’ both in the sense of ‘deal out’ and of ‘partake of,’ furnish expressions for ‘enjoyment, delight.’

a. Skr. bhajati act. ‘deal out,’ mid. ‘partake of,’ whence both enjoy, love, court,’ and ‘prefer, choose, honor, worship’; bhaga- ‘distributor, dispenser’ (esp. of the Gods), and ‘portion, lot,’ whence also ‘happiness, loveliness, beauty; affection, love’; bhakti- ‘distribution, share,’ also ‘devotion, love, piety.’ The forms from an s-extension of the base have the specialized sense of ‘partake of, enjoy food’; bhakṣati ‘partake of, enjoy (food or drink),’ bhakṣa- ‘enjoyment of food’;

54

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

(of food or drink).' Compare Av. bazā'ti 'determine the share of,'

bayo 'share'; also 'dispenser, god'; OSl. bogŭ 'god,' bogatŭ 'rich.'

b. Goth. niutan 'get, enjoy,' ON. njōta, OE. nēotan, OHG. niozan

'use, enjoy the use of, enjoy food'; MHG. ge-niëzen, NHG. ge-niessen

'enjoy (both food and the like, and art),' NHG. genuss 'enjoyment

(of food, art), delight.' The oldest meaning recorded in this group

is that of Goth. ganiutan 'catch,' nuta 'fisherman (i.e. catcher).' A

later stage is preserved in Goth. un-nuts 'useless,' NHG. nutzen

'profit'; also in the related Lith. naudd 'profit, income,' and in a

more specialized sense in ON. naut, OE. nēat, OHG. nōz 'cattle

(illustrating a development which is the reverse of that of Lat.

pecūnia, E. fee).

c. Skr. trpyati 'satisfy,' trpti- 'satisfaction,' tatṛpi- 'satisfying,

delightful'; Gr. τέρπομαι 'enjoy fully; make merry' (κτελ τάρπηνμεν

ἕηητος ἡδέ ποτῆτος Il. 11, 780; ἥβης ταρπῆναι Od. 23, 212). τέρπνυς

'agreeable, delightful; glad'; Goth. prafstjan 'console.' The earlier

meaning of these words was 'use, make use of,' whence 'enjoy,'

as one may gather from the Balto-Slavic: OPruss. en-terpo 'it is

useful,' en-terpen 'useful'; Lith. tarpti 'prosper.'

d. OE. ēad n. 'possession, riches, prosperity,' and 'bliss,' adj.

'wealthy, blessed, happy,' ēadi3; 'rich, prosperous,' and 'happy,

blessed,' Goth. audags 'blessed,' OHG. ōtac 'rich, prosperous,' OS.

ōdag 'rich; happy'; OHG. ōt, OS. ōd 'possession, property, riches.'

There can be no doubt about the primary meaning.

2. Words for 'profit' develop into expressions for 'enjoyment,

delight.'

a. Gr. ὄvημι act. 'profit, aid,' also 'gratify, delight,' mid. 'derive

benefit, enjoy health,' also 'have enjoyment or delight,' ὄvησις, Dor.

ὄvāσις'profit, advantage,good luck,' whence 'enjoyment of, delight in (a

thing).' The shift from 'profit' to 'enjoyment, delight' can be seen

within the Greek, and its interpretation does not depend on any

outward connections. Comparison with Skr. nātha-, ON. nāđ-

'kindness,' NHG. gnade 'grace,' Goth. nipan 'aid' (Wackernagel,

Dehnungsgesetz. 50) is inadmissible since the Greek words come from

an IE. base nā-: nə-(Boisacq 705).

b. Skr. dayate 'divide, allot; possess, partake,' whence 'sympa-

thize with, love, repent,' ppl. dayita- 'loved, dear,' dayitā- 'wife,'

dayamāna- 'compassionate, enamored,' dayā- 'sympathy, pity'; Gr.

δaioµαι 'deal out, distribute,' also used in expressions for 'grief,' cf.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

55

ἀλλá μοι ἀμφ’ Ὀδυσῆï δαíφρομι δαíεται ἦτορ Od. 1, 48; δaîs, gen. δaïτòs

'portion, meal, banquet' (Boisacq 862). For the semantic development compare NHG. teil-nahme 'participation' and 'sympathy.'

II. Safety, Comfort, and Danger

Under this head I group the words with the earlier meaning 'cover, shelter,' 'home, dwelling,' and '(safe) return,' which furnish expressions for 'happiness, bliss,' from which in turn such meanings as 'pleasure, love, joy' may develop; and words with the original meaning 'danger' which came to denote 'fear.'

1. Words denoting 'cover, shelter; home, dwelling' and '(safe) return' furnish expressions for 'happiness, bliss,' whence also 'pleasure, love, joy.'

a. Skr. çárman- 'cover, protection, shelter,' whence 'welfare, joy, bliss,' çármin- 'joyful, happy.' The development of the meaning is clear from the Sanskrit itself. For the earlier meaning compare Goth. hilms, OE. OHG. helm, E. helm, helmet; with the suffix -ið, OE. heall, E. hall, originally 'cover, shelter.' All derived from IE. kêl- 'cover; hide,' cf. Lat. oc-culo 'cover, hide,' OHG. helan 'hide,' Goth. huljan, NHG. hüllen 'cover, envelop.'

b. Skr. kṣēma- adj. 'homelike, comfortable, peaceful,' m. 'quiet, peace, security, comfort, prosperity,' besides the earlier 'stay, rest' and 'foundation'; compare Skr. kṣḗti, Av. šaēti 'dwell, live,' Gr. κτíζω 'settle (a country), found (a colony),' κτíσις 'a settling, foundation,' Lat. situs 'founded.' The view of Kretschmer, KZ. 31, 429, that "die bedeutung von kṣēma- 'ruhe, sicherheit, friede, behagen' ist mit der anderen 'wohnsitz' nicht gut ungezwungen zu verbinden" is unfounded in the face of several parallel shifts.

c. Gr. ἧρα Hom., once with φέρω, 5 times with ἐπι-φέρω, 'bring acceptable gifts; do a service or kindness, gratify'; cf. Skr. -vāra-, Av. vāra- 'protection, preservation,' Skr. vrnōti 'cover, ward off.'

d. Skr. ramatē 'stand still, rest, dwell,' and 'delight in, be fond of; love, have sexual intercourse,' ráma- 'gladdening, delighting,' ramayā- 'lover, husband,' ā-rāma- 'pleasure; pleasure garden,' abhí-rāma- 'agreeable, pleasant'; ráta- 'content, happy, merry; fond of, dallying with, have sexual intercourse,' rati- 'rest, repose, comfort,' whence 'pleasure, love, sexual intercourse'; rátha- 'pleasure, joy'; rantyā- 'delightful, pleasant.' Perhaps also Skr. ranati, ranyati 'enjoy one's

56

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

self, rejoice,' ranya-, ranva- 'delightful, pleasant,' rana-ranaka-

'longing for, ardent desire, love' (*rm-n-, Uhl. 245).

The verb ramatē and the abstract rati- illustrate the development

of the emotional meanings within the Sanskrit. The related words

in the other languages preserve the physical as well as the mental

sense of 'calm': Av. rāmayeiti 'to calm'; Lith. rimti 'be calm at heart,'

ramùs 'calm at heart,' romùs 'quiet, gentle,' rēmti 'support'; Goth.

rimis 'calm, quietness,' OIr. fo-rimim 'I rest'; further Gr. ἡρέμα

'quietly, gently' (Boisacq 328).

e. Skr. çiva- 'kind, friendly, mild, lovely,' n. 'happiness, bliss,'

çēva- 'dear'; OIr. cōim, cōem (koi-mo-) 'familiar, lovely, dear,' Arm.

sēr 'inclination, love,' sirem 'I love' (kei-ro-). Compare Skr. çētē,

çayatē, Av. saetē, Gr. κεῖται 'lie, rest'; Gr. κοίη 'couch'; OE. hām,

E. home, OHG. heim (*kei-mo-); lit. cited Boisacq 426. The semantic

development is not quite clear. The Sanskrit and the Old Irish

words may have derived their meaning from 'restful, quiet' as

describing the outward appearance of the body in these particular

emotions; but more probably from 'rest, dwell,' an outward situation

germane to 'happiness, bliss, kindness.' The Armenian 'inclination,

love' is hard to pass judgment on; it may represent an outgrowth of

'kindness.'

f. Av. šyāiti-, šāti-, OPers. šiyāti- 'feeling of comfort, delight,

happiness,' Av. šātaya-, OPers. šiyātaya- 'be comfortable, glad,

rejoice,' Av. šā- 'be comfortable, delighted'; Lat. quiēs 'rest, repose;

calmness, peacefulness (of mind); sleep, death,' tranquillus 'quiet,

calm, peaceful'; OSl. po-koji 'quiet, calm (also of the soul),' po-čiti

'rest'; Goth. weilan 'stay, rest,' ON. hvīla 'resting place, bed'; and

the group discussed above. Latin and Slavic have retained the

physical sense 'rest,' also as descriptive of the body, besides the later

mental 'calm'; the Iranian has lost this earlier meaning, although the

behavior of the body in the emotions designated by it very probably

was still thought of, especially in the sense of 'feeling of comfort.'

g. Gr. ἄσμενος 'well-pleased, glad'; cf. νέομαι 'return,' Skr. nasatē

'approach, go towards,' and the Germanic words, Goth. ga-nisan,

OHG. gi-nesan, NHG. ge-nesen 'recover (from sickness).' The

emotional meaning of ἄσμενος is derived from '(safe) return,' traces

of which Wackernagel attributes to this word in phrases like φύγεu

ἄσμενος ἐκ θανάτοιο Il. 20, 350, and ἄσμενος μολεῖν Aesch. Pers. 736

(Wackernagel, Vermischte Beitr. 6 note; Brugmann, Griech. Gram.

318, 365, 545).

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

57

2. Words for ‘danger’ come to mean ‘fear.’

a. OE. fær, ME. fēre ‘sudden peril,’ whence ‘fear,’ E. fear;

compare OS. fār, OHG. fāra, NHG. ge-fahr ‘danger,’ ON. fār ‘mis-fortune, plague,’ and Lat. periculum ‘trial, attempt, risk, danger,’

Gr. πeîpa ‘trial, attempt.’

III. Help and Care

1. The words for ‘help’ shift through ‘favor’ to ‘inclination, desire,’ and in the passive sense from ‘be helped’ to ‘feel relief, joy.’

a. Skr. avati ‘favor, aid, protect, comfort,’ and ‘like, delight in,’

avas- ‘favor, aid, assistance, refreshment, food,’ also ‘feeling of relief, joy,’ and ‘inclination, desire’; upa-avayati ‘caress, encourage,’

ā-avayati ‘enjoy, eat, devour’; Av. avaŋhē inf. ‘care for, take pains’;

Gr. eὔ-νea, eὔ-νeος, early epic, ‘kind,’ eὔ-νeiŋ ‘kindness,’ ἄtras ‘beloved,’

Theocr. and Alc. (Boisacq 30); Lat. aveo ‘be disposed, desire, long for, crave for,’ avidus ‘disposed, inclined, desirous, longing for, covetous, greedy,’

audio ‘desire, incline,’ whence ‘dare,’ avārus ‘desirous, greedy, covetous, avaricious’ (Breal MSL. 5, 193); Welsh

ewyll, ewylllys ‘will,’ Corn. awell, awel ‘desire,’ Bret. eoull ‘will.’ Grass-mann’s view of the development of the meanings in Sanskrit (Wb.

121. is acceptable: a) set into motion (wagons, horses), b) further, aid, favor, refresh (with food), c) like, love; accept gladly, enjoy (food). Latin and Celtic fall into line; Greek ‘kindness’ readily develops from ‘favor.’

2. Words for ‘care’ develop the sense of ‘anxiety, pain, grief, sorrow’ as well as that of ‘love’; the same double development is in its incipient stages in the English word care, as may be gathered from phrases like have cares and care for ‘like.’

a. Goth. saurg a, OE. sor3, ME. sor3e, sorwe, E. sorrow, OHG. sorga, ON. sorg ‘care, sorrow, grief’; Goth. saurgan, ON. syrgja, OE. sorgian, OHG. sorgēn ‘care for, feel sorrow, grieve.’ NHG. be-sorgen, für etwas sorgen still retain the earlier meaning ‘take care of,’ which is further attested by the related Lith. sérgiu ‘watch,’ sargùs ‘watch-ful’ (Zupitza, Gut. 179).

b. Lat. cūra ‘solicitude, trouble, pains; charge, administration,’ whence ‘sorrow, affliction, anxiety, passionate love,’ cūriōsus ‘care-ful, curious, zealous,’ and ‘careworn, emaciated with grief,’ cūro ‘take care of, take pains with, foster, be anxious’; Osc. coisatens ‘cūravērunt,’ Umb. kuraia ‘cūrēt.’ The development within the

58

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

Latin itself is clear: 'take care,' whence 'administer,' and, in the

adjective and the noun,' anxiety, affliction; sorrow, grief.' The

connection with OE. scīr 'administration, business, care; shire,'

OHG. scira 'business,' suggested by Holthausen, IF. 14, 341, is

quite probable, if the variation IE. qei-: sqei- is admitted.

c. Gr. ἄλγος 'pain, grief, distress' ἀλγέω 'feel pain, suffer; grieve,

be distressed,' ἀλγίνω trag. 'pain; grieve, distress,' ἀλγεινός 'giving

pain, painful; grievous,' ἀλγηδών, ἀλγῆμα, ἀλγησις 'pain, suffering'

ἀλγηρός 'painful.' The source of these meanings appears from the

related ἀλέγω 'have care, trouble one's self,' Lat. neg-lego 'take no

care.'

IV. Labor and Toil

Words for 'labor, toil' develop such meanings as 'suffering,

misery, distress,' keeping as a rule a tinge of their earlier signi-

ficance.

a. OSl. stradati, Russ. stradatĭ, Czech stradati 'suffer, be in need';

OSl. stradĭba, Russ. stradĭba 'toil, suffering,' Czech strast 'trübsal';

OSl. stradanije 'suffering'; Russ. dial. strada 'agony,' besides the

more usual 'labor, toil, esp. at harvest,' po-strada 'end of harvest.'

With these compare also Lett. strādāt 'work,' strādniek 'laborer';

all from IE. sterē-, an extension of ster- 'stiff,' cf. Gr. στερεός 'strong,

firm, hard,' MHG. star, NHG. starr 'stiff'; OE. styrne, E. stern;

Norw. sterta 'toil' (Persson, Beitr. 429, 732).

b. Goth winnan 'suffer,' ON. vinna 'suffer, undergo,' besides the

more usual 'work, till; resist, conquer,' OE. winnan 'suffer,' besides

the usual 'toil, strive; fight, conquer; win,' E. win, OS. winnan

'suffer,' besides 'fight; win,' OHG. winnan 'toil,' also 'rage, howl

(through 'fight'?); Goth. winna, winnō 'suffering,' OE. winn, ON.

winna 'labor, strife,' OHG. winna 'strife, raging,' MHG. winne

'suffering'; OHG. ga-win 'work, toil; profit'; Goth. wunns 'πáθημα.'

The North and West Germanic words only occasionally have the

meaning of the rather rare Gothic words rendering Gr. πáσχειν,

πáθημα, πáθος.

Gc. winna- 'work, fight' comes from the IE. base uen- 'strive';

Skr. vanōti 'strive, desire, love,' Lat. venus 'love; charm,' OHG.

wunnea, etc. exhibit a different development from the same original

sense (see p. 26). The attempt of Meringer, IF. 16, 179, to derive

both lines of development from 'ackern' is extremely far-fetched.

c. Gr. πóvos 'work, toil; Hom. toil of battle,' also 'trouble, distress, suffering, pain,' πονέω mid. 'work hard, do with pains or care,' also 'suffer from sickness,' after Homer 'act, toil; suffer,' whence 'afflict, distress,' pass. 'be afflicted, suffer greatly'; cf. πένoμαι 'work for daily bread, toil,' also 'be needy, poor.' The meaning 'toil' is perhaps derived from 'strain one's self,' cf. OSl. pĭno, pěti, Lith. pìnti 'stretch'

(Boisacq 767).

d. Gr. μóγos 'toil, trouble,' whence 'distress,' μoγepós 'toiling,' whence 'distressed, wretched,' μoγέω 'toil, suffer,' trag. 'suffer pain, be distressed'; Gr. μóχθos (*μoγ-σ-το-s) 'toil, hardship, distress,' μoχθέω 'be weary, worn out with toil,' also 'distressed,' μóχθημα 'toils, hardship,' μoχθηpós 'suffering hardship, in sore distress, wretched' (Boisacq 647). Solmsen, KZ. 29, 85, justly compares Lett. smags, smagrs 'heavy,' Lith. smagùs 'hard to carry or to draw.'

e. ON. verkr, OE. wærc, wrec, E. dial. head-wark, belly-wark 'pain, ache,' ON. verkja, OE. wærcan 'feel pain' may be closely connected with ON. verk, OE. weorc, OHG. werk, Gr. ἔργov 'work,' since OE. weorc also means 'affliction, pain.' But it is also possible that ON. verkr and OE. weorc go with Skr. varjati 'turn,' Lat. vergo 'bow, bend,' urgeo 'press on, urge'; in that case the semantic development would be similar to that of the words originally denoting 'press.'

V. Strife and Commotion

1. Words for 'strife' develop into words for 'grudge, wrath,' i.e. for emotions that commonly go with strife.

a. Gr. κόtos 'grudge, rancor, ill-will, wrath, vengeance,' κοτέω 'bear a grudge, be angry,' κοτήεis 'wrathful, jealous,' all practically confined to Homer, Pindar, and Aeschylus, are related to the following words with the meanings 'strife, battle,' and 'enemy, rivalry' which are prior to those of the Greek words denoting emotions arising in and accompanying these activities: OIr. cath 'battle,' OHG. hadu, OE. heaþo 'strife, battle,' Skr. çatru- 'enemy, rival (in battle or in love).'

These may be further related to Skr. çātayati 'cut off, knock down' (Uhlenbeck, Ai. Wb. 302; Boisacq 502, with literature).

2. Words for 'commotion' come to mean 'agitation, distress.'

a. Fr. troubler 'muddle, make turbid, disturb, agitate' and 'perplex, annoy, abash, intimidate,' se troubler 'be troubled, disturbed' and 'be agitated, disconcerted,' E. trouble; both the earlier and the

60 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

later meaning subsist; cf. Lat. turba ‘throng, confusion,’ Gr. στύρβη, τύρβη ‘confusion, noise.’

VI. Play

Words for ‘play’ tend to acquire such meanings as ‘amusement, mirth.’

a. ON. gaman, OE. gamen, E.-gammon, game, OHG. OS. gaman ‘joy, merriment, mirth; lust,’ also ‘game, fun’; ON. gaman-samr ‘merry,’ E. gamesome, OHG. gamansamo adv. ‘merrily,’ OHG. gaman-lih, MHG. geme-lîch ‘merry, jolly, wanton.’ The following related words with an l-suffix, or a p-extension, or both are closer to the original meaning of the group: MHG. gamel ‘fun,’ E. gambol; MHG. gampen ‘skip, hop, stamp’; MHG. gampel ‘fun,’ gumpel ‘skipping, fun’; MHG. gumpe ‘whirlpool’ (Falk-Torp 299). The shift in the meaning seems to proceed from ‘skip’ to ‘play (games),’ whence to ‘amuse one’s self, be merry, jolly.’

Alb. zémere, zémbere ‘heart, will,’ zemerák ‘jähzornig,’ zemerón ‘erbittern, reizen’ seem to derive their meaning from the expressive movement, like Gr. οἶδος, if we accept their connection with the Germanic group (Wiedemann, BB. 27, 202).

b. Skr. krīḍati ‘play, sport, dance, amuse one’s self,’ krīḍa- ‘playing, sporting,’ krīḍā- ‘play, sport, dance, amusement’; from IE. qris-d- denoting some quick movement, cf. ON. hrista ‘shake,’ and without the d-extension, Goth. hrisjan ‘shake.’ One may further compare OE. hriba, hrip ‘fever,’ OHG. hrïdōn ‘shake, trouble,’ hritto ‘fever,’ Mlr. crith ‘shaking, fever.’

E. Words Denoting ‘Mind’

The words falling under this head are for the greater part obscure in their etymology, as they appear as names of mental activities even in the earliest records. Since there is no light from related words with meanings other than mental activities, and since we are not able to trace the semantic development chronologically within the mental except in rare cases, we must rely almost exclusively on psychological probability which is an unreliable support at best.

To be more specific, we find that Skr. manas- has such meanings as ‘soul, spirit; mind, heart; will, desire’ while the formally identical Gr. μένος usually denotes ‘temper, passion, rage’; the divergence between the Germanic dialects is no less striking, as may be seen

from Goth. muns 'mind, thought; council, device' as against ON.

munr 'longing, delight, love,' besides the rare 'mind.' What is the

genetic relationship of these divergent meanings? Is 'emotion,

passion' earlier, or 'mind, soul,' or do they spring independently from

the same source?

Only in very rare cases can this question be answered with any

degree of certainty; and those cases can hardly be set up as types,

although they are no doubt of importance for our general point of

view. Such a case is Gc. andö-, andön- 'breath' and 'spirit, soul.'

These meanings are seen in ON. qnd, while the corresponding West

Germanic words denote emotions, i.e. mind organized under the

influence of emotion, cf. OE. anda 'zeal, envy, malice, hatred,' OHG.

anta, anto 'offence, grudge; sorrow,' NHG. dial. ant 'longing, heimweh.'

Similarly Lat. spiritus 'breeze, air, breath' comes to denote 'life' and

the emotions of 'pride, arrogance, courage,' and, at a later period, also

'spirit, soul, mind.' The sequence seems to be from 'breath' to 'life,'

whence, probably independently, to 'spirit, soul' and to 'zeal, envy,

hatred; sorrow, longing; pride, arrogance, courage.'

The meanings which with varying scope are found in the words

under consideration may be summarized in the following manner:

a) 'mind' with its changing aspects, dominated either by thought

or by emotion, the more specific content of the word being defined

by the context or the general situation. This fluctuation with the

context may be observed in the English word mind, which generally

denotes 'mind organized under the predominance of the thought

element,' and in heart, which stands for 'mind organized under the

influence of emotion': a keen mind (reason), a great mind (wisdom),

to have in mind (memory), mindful (attention, care), to have a mind

(intention, will); the human heart (all feelings and emotions), to have a

heart (sympathy, courage), to take heart (courage), to give one's heart

to (devotion, like, love).

Skr. manas-, Lat. mens have even a wider range of meanings,

comprising as they do the scope both of mind and of heart, as may be

gathered from the list of Meillet, De Radice *Men 45, where he

enumerates the following senses for the Sanskrit: soul, mind; hope,

fortitude, fear, lubenter (instr.).

b) Experiences of thought like Goth. muns 'thought, council,

device,' and Lat. meminī, Gr. μμνήσκω 'remember.'

62 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

c) Emotional experiences of all kinds like ON. munr 'longing, delight,' OE. myne 'desire, purpose,' OHG. OS. minnea, MHG. minne 'cāritās, dilectio, love,' Gr. μένος 'passion, rage.'

Sometimes a specific meaning comes to be attached to a particular form of the root, as in the case of Gr. μιμνήσκω, μνήμη, μνῆμα 'remember, memory, memorial'; or to a certain stem-form, as in Lat. memint;

or else a shift is motivated by affixes. So words for 'memory' are apt to have the collective prefix ga- in the Germanic languages, cf. Goth. ga-hugida, OE. ze-mynd, NHG. ge-dächtnis.

More often however the semantic development is entirely independent of formal elements.

An important factor in the shift from the meaning 'heart' to the specific emotions of 'anger, courage, joy, etc.' are certain set expressions in which the word absorbs the meaning of its modifier, and so ultimately comes to stand for one or more specific emotions.

This process can be traced, for instance, in OS. hugi.

Set expressions like gibolgan hugi, hōti hugi 'anger, wrath,' and fastan hugi 'courage, fortitude' are in that language so frequent that the noun by itself gets a strong shade of these meanings.

Similarly OHG. hugu acquires the meaning 'joy' in compounds like hugu-lust 'herzenslust,' hugescrei 'herzensschrei = freudenschrei,' hugesangōn 'jubilāre.'

Its descendant MHG. hüge usually has this acquired meaning.

On the basis of the situation sketched in the previous pages, I suggest with a good deal of hesitation what appear to be the main lines in the semantic development of the words under consideration:

spirit, mind heart { wish, will like, love believe courage anger grief

thought { think, imagine, reason judge, choose know, understand, be wise remember, keep in mind care

Striking deviations from these lines of development will be discussed in connection with the material.

The psychological basis for this type of semantic development has been stated briefly pp. 6-7.

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

63

a. Skr. manyatē, Av. manyaⁱti ‘think, believe; intend, wish for;

perceive, know, understand; remember’; Skr. manas-, Av. manō

‘soul, spirit; intellect, thought; heart,’ whence ‘wish, will, desire, hope,

fortitude, fear’, Skr. pra-manas- ‘loving, tender; cheerful; merry,

gay,’ māna- ‘opinion; will; pride, arrogance; respect, honor; anger,

caprice, ‘sulkiness,’ mana- ‘zeal, ardor, jealousy, anger,’ su-mna-

‘good-will’; manyu-, Av. maⁱyu- ‘mood, ardor; passion, rage, wrath,

anger; distress, grief, sorrow’; Skr. mati- ‘devotion, prayer,’ and

‘thought, mind, belief, understanding.’

Gr. μένος ‘spirit, rage, passion, temper,’ also “force, strength

(of fire, wine, spear, river),’ μαινομαι ‘rage, be furious,’ μάντις ‘seer,

prophet,’ μανία ‘madness, frenzy; enthusiasm, inspired frenzy,’

μέμoνα Ion. poet. ‘wish eagerly, yearn,’ μιμνήσκω ‘remember, heed,

mention,’ μνήμων ‘memor,’ μνήμη ‘memory, mention,’ μνῆμα ‘memorial.’

Lat. mens, mentis (= Skr. mati-) ‘mind, disposition; heart, feeling;

courage; intention; consideration, reflection, understanding, judge-

ment; recollection’; meminī ‘remember, mention,’ Osc. memnim

‘monumentum, memoriam’; Lat. moneo ‘remind, warn.’

Goth. munan, man ‘seem,’ ON. muna, man ‘remember, delight in,’ OE. munan ‘intend, remember, foresee’; Goth. munan w. v. ‘intend’; ON. mana, OE. manian, OHG. manēn ‘remind, warn, challenge’; Goth. muns ‘mind, thought; council, devise; purpose,’ ON. munr ‘mind; longing, delight, love,’ mun-ligr ‘lovable,’ OE. myne ‘mind, purpose, desire,’ myne-līc, OS. muna-līc ‘lovable’; Goth. gamunds, gaminpi, ON. minni ‘memory,’ OE. zemynd ‘mind, thought, memory, mention,’ E. mind; OS. OHG. minnea, MHG. minne ‘dīlectio, caritās, love,’ OS. OHG. minneōn, MHG. minnen ‘love.’

OIr. do-moinīur ‘I think,’ menme (= Skr. manman-) ‘spirit.’

OSl. minjo, miněti ‘think,’ pa-męti ‘memory’; Lith. at-mintis ‘memory.’

With a dh-extension of the root: Gr. μανθάνω, ἔμαθον ‘learn, under-

stand,’ μευθήρη ‘hope’; Goth. mundōn sis ‘σκοπεῖν,’ OHG. menden, OS. mendian ‘rejoice’; Lith. mandras, mandrùs ‘arrogant, proud,’ OSl. mǫdrŭ ‘wise.’

The semantic development has been discussed above. For possible original meanings of IE. men- see Walde, under memor.

b. ON. ond ‘breath,’ besides ‘life,’ ande ‘breath, spirit, holy ghost,’ OHG. anta ‘offence, grudge; pain,’ anto ‘offence, grudge; pain,’ NHG.

64 Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

dial. ant ‘longing, heimweh,’ OE. anda ‘zeal, envy, malice, hatred’;

ON. anda ‘blow, breathe,’ OE. andian ‘envy,’ OHG. antōn ‘be angry;

scold, offend,’ MHG. anden ‘revenge,’ NHG. mich andet ‘I feel hurt’;

IE. an-dhē-, cf. skr. ṣrad-dhā. ON. ann, unnum ‘favor, love,’ OE.

an(n), unnon, OHG. (g-)an, (g-)unnum, NHG. gönnen ‘favor, show

good-will; allow, grant’; MHG. anen (OHG. *anōn), NHG. anhen

‘have a presentiment.’ Goth. ansts, OE. ēst, OHG. g-anst, g-unst

‘favor, grace, bounty,’ ON. āst ‘favor, love’; Gc. an-sti-, un-sti-

with secondary suffix sti, cf. OHG. brunst, kunst, swulst.

The meaning ‘breath, breathe’ of ON. and, anda, and its pre-

decessors ‘wind, breeze, air’ are recorded in Goth. uz-anan, uz-ōn

‘exhale’ and in OE. ǣst, OHG. unst ‘storm’; further in Skr. aniti

‘breathe,’ anila- ‘wind,’ MIr. anāl ‘breath,’ Lat. animus ‘draft, wind,

breath,’ and ‘spirit, soul,’ Gr. άνεμος ‘wind.’ The development follows

the lines from ‘spirit’ to ‘grudge, hatred, anger,’ on the one hand,

and to ‘favor, good-will, love’ on the other.

c. OS. mōd, OHG. MHG. muot ‘heart,’ whence ‘desire, inclina-

tion, intention; anticipation, hope; courage,’ NHG. mut ‘courage,

zu mute ‘at heart,’ OE. mōd ‘mind, heart,’ whence ‘courage, pride,

arrogance,’ E. mood, ON. mōðr ‘moodiness, wrath; grief,’ Goth.

mōþs ‘wrath, anger’; OE. mōdi, OS. mōdag, Goth. mōdags ‘wroth,’

ON. mōðugr ‘moody’; NHG. mutig ‘courageous,’ Swiss ‘cheerful’;

OE. zemēde, MHG. gemuot ‘pleasant,’ OE. ofer-mēde ‘übermütig’;

OE. zemēde, MHG. gemuote, NHG. gemüt ‘consensus’; OHG. muoten

‘desire, long for,’ NHG. anmuten ‘attract,’ vermuten ‘suspect.’

The shift in the meaning proceeds from ‘heart, gemüt’ to ‘desire,’

to ‘anger,’ and to ‘courage’ independently, each dialect exhibiting

a tendency in a definite direction. Connection with Gr. μῆνις ‘wrath,

OSl. sǔ-mějǫ ‘dare’ seems probable (Falk-Torp 726).

d. Goth. hugs (voûs) (once only), ON. hugr ‘mind; heart; desire,

courage; foreboding,’ OE. hyge, OS. hugi ‘heart, courage, anger,’

OHG. hugu ‘mind; affection, joy,’ MHG. hüge ‘mind, heart; joy’;

Goth. hugjan ‘think, feel,’ ufar-hugjan ‘be overbearing, exalted,’

ON. hyggja ‘think, mean; intend; apprehend,’ OE. hycgan ‘think,

meditate; intend, hope,’ OS. hugian ‘think,’ MHG. hügen ‘think of,

long for, delight in’; ON. huga ‘mind, excogitāre,’ OE. hogian ‘think,

consider, care, intend,’ OS. OHG. hogēn ‘think’; Goth. gahugds ‘mind,

disposition, conscience,’ gahugida ‘memory,’ OE. hy3d, OHG. huct

‘mens, cogitātio, consilium,’ OHG. gahuct ‘memory, joy,’ gahugita

‘solicitude.’

Semantic Sources of Words for the Emotions

65

The shift in meaning from ‘mind, heart’ to ‘desire, courage,

anger, joy’ takes place independently in the individual dialects.

The suggested comparison with Skr. çocati ‘shine, burn; feel pain,

sorrow’ is altogether uncertain (Falk-Torp 424).

e. Gr. voûs ‘mind,’ whence ‘thought, meaning,’ and ‘heart, inclina-

tion, purpose’; σύν-νοος ‘thoughtful, anxious, gloomy’; Mod. Gr.

ἐν-νοιάζομαι ‘take care’; εὔ-νοια ‘good-will, kindness.’

The emotional sense is only occasional, cf. ἐκ παντὸς νόου ‘with

all his heart and soul’ Hdt. 8, 97.

F. Words Denoting Thought Processes

There are many kinds of thought processes; but their division

into processes of perception, of reasoning, of memory, and so forth,

is due to reflection and escapes the popular mind which is after

all the most powerful factor in the semantic evolution of the vocabu-

lary. For this reason it is not always possible nor admissible to say

that the emotional terms we are dealing with here spring from

words for ‘perceive’ or ‘think’ or ‘remember’; such terms usually

denote both ‘perceive’ and ‘think,’ or ‘think’ and ‘remember,’ or

‘perceive,’ ‘think,’ and ‘remember.’ One may illustrate this point

by E. see, which means both ‘see with the eye’ and ‘understand,’

and by E. think of, which may stand for ‘imagine, reason, plan’ or for

‘remember, recall.’

While a clear-cut classification according to the semantic source

is thus not possible, still there are three groups of words that are

fairly distinct:

1. Words with the general meaning ‘experience,’ which develop

into expressions for ‘suffering’ and ‘grief.’

2. Words for ‘perceive, think, attend to,’ which develop such

meanings as ‘desire, care for; honor, revere; feel gratitude.’

3. Words for ‘think of, remember,’ which come to denote ‘love,

longing’ and ‘care, solicitude.’

The psychology of this type of change in meaning has been

discussed pp. 7–8.

1. Words for ‘experience’ become expressions for ‘suffer, grieve.’

a. Gr. πάσχειν, παθεῖν ‘receive an impression, experience; suffer

(as opposed to do),’ cf. κακῶς πάσχειν ‘be ill off,’ εὖ πάσχειν ‘be well off’;

then ‘experience a state of feeling or emotion,’ cf. ὁ πάσχων ‘man of

feeling,’ ὁ μὴ πάσχων ‘unimpassioned man’; πάθος, πάθημα, πάθη ‘passive