Читать книгу The Etymology and Syntax of the English Language Explained and Illustrated онлайн

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Any, an, a, one, seem all to be nearly equivalent words, and derived from one origin, I mean from ane, the name of unity. Hence a, or an, and any, are frequently synonymous. “A considerate man would have acted differently;” that is, “any considerate man.” Hence also, like one, it is opposed to none, as, “Have you a book (any book) which you can lend me?” “None; my books are in the country; nor, if they were here, have I any (or one) which would suit you.” From expressing one indefinitely, like a or an, it came, by an easy and natural transition, to denote “whatever it be,” “what you please.” “Give me one (ane), any, no matter which.” In this sense it corresponds to the Latin quivis or quilibet[27] in affirmative sentences; whereas, in interrogative or negative sentences, it corresponds to quisquam, quispiam, or ullus. The preceding observations it may be useful to recapitulate.

Nouns are names of genera, and not of individuals; our perceptions are, on the contrary, all individual, not general. Hence, to denote one or more individuals of a species, numerals, or words significant of number, were invented. Some express a precise number, as one, two, three; others number indefinitely, as some, few, many, several. Our perceptions being all individual, and one being the basis of all number, the term significant of unity must frequently recur in expressing our sentiments. To denote this idea our forefathers employed ae, ane. In the progress of language, where unity was not to be expressed, as opposed to two or more, the terms, thus becoming unemphatical, would naturally be abbreviated into a, an. These latter, therefore, are the offspring of the names of unity, and belong to the class of words named cardinal numerals. To what part of speech these are reducible (if they can be reduced to any) it is difficult to determine. In some languages they have the form of adjectives; but, if their meaning be considered, it is clear that they have no claim to this appellation, as they express no accident, quality, or property whatever. In fact, they appear to be a species of words totally different in character from any of the parts of speech generally received; all of them, except the first of the series, being abbreviations for the name of unity repeated.