REMARKS
on the
FOREGOING VERSIONS:
and first
Of the Gothic Specimens.
THE great and uniform similitude, discoverable at first sight between all the Specimens of the Gothic or Teutonic Languages, must be very striking, even to foreigners unacquainted with these Tongues: But to those that know them intimately the affinity must appear much nearer and stronger, because many words that were originally the same, are disguised by the variations of Pronunciation and Orthography, as well as by the difference of Idiom: Thus, the German Geheiliget, and the English Hallowed, are both equally derived from the Teutonic Helig, Holy.
It may further be observed, that Time has introduced a change, not only in the Form, but in the Meaning of many Words, so that though they are equally preserved in the different Dialects, they no longer retain the same uniform appearance, nor can be used with propriety to express the same exact meaning. Thus, the Latin Word Panis is translated in the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Hlaf, or Hlaif, which word is still current among us in its derivative Loaf, but with a variation of sense that made it less proper to be used in the Pater-noster than the other Teutonic word Bread, which is preserved in all the other Dialects, but in a great variety of Forms. Thus from the old Francic Brot, or Cimbric Brodh, come the Swiss, Brot; The Swedish, Brod; The High
