LEXICOLOGY.

I use the term Lexicology to denote the science which treats of the meaning of words; and methods of teaching the meaning of words is the subject intended for discussion in the present Article.

There can be no conscious thinking without the use of symbols. The most convenient of all thoughtsigns are words. Words, indeed, are the wheels by which the thinking process goes on.

Words are the vehicles of social intercourse. Without them, the fountains of the soul would be almost sealed up.

Words are the repositories of science and art. The dead past lies buried, but living words commemorate it and transmit its mighty deeds to the far future. Words are the caskets in which are preserved forever the jeweled thoughts of the good and great. How much feeling, thought, or power may be concentrated in a single word: as love, truth, will!

Words are the medals of the mind. All our mental energies impress themselves upon words. A nation's character can be best read in its language. 'Language is concrete Metaphysics."

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Words are the media of instruction.

A know

ledge of the simplest facts as well as the deepest philosophy is almost helpless without the motivepower of words. Words are the winged messengers. that convey information from one mind and heart to another. All knowledge must be labeled with words or it can find no place in the cabinet of the

memory.

Such is the worth of words. It is surely worth while to study their meaning.

There are many ways by which the young may learn the meaning of words. They may learn it by direct intuition; by concrete explanations; by the use of simplified expressions; by observing their signification as used in sentences; by the study of foreign languages; by an acquaintance with Etymology; and by scientific definitions.

The meaning of words may be learned by direct intuition.-Children learn the first elements of language by hearing persons speak, and noticing the association made between certain verbal utterances and sensible objects. When a little older, they seem to increase their vocabulary by catching the meaning of words from the connections in which they are used. In all nature there is nothing more wonderful than the process by which children learn to talk. They seem to possess a language-forming instinct. They have thoughts and feelings imprisoned within them, and instinctively seek to set them free. If they had no opportunity of hearing words they would invent them. As it is, they add to their stock of word-knowledge every day, their memories clinging tenaciously to all the words they listen to. They catch up words from parents, brothers and sisters, companions, servants, visitors; and often, indeed, coin new ones. In all this, there is no conscious reasoning, no formal instruction, and I call the process intuition.

In view of the power children possess of learning

the meaning of words by intuition, it becomes the teacher's duty to allow them an opportunity to exercise this power. He may talk to them of things in which they feel an interest, tell them stories, or read suitable selections to them. If he adapts his matter and style to their mental condition, he will not want attentive listeners, and he will enjoy the satisfaction of seeing them acquire the use of new words and new forms of expression every day. A teacher must not only talk to his pupils, but he must listen to their talk. Children are great talkers. There is within them an impulse strongly and constantly impelling them to hear, to see, to examine things, and then to tell about them. Prevent a

child from talking, force him to perpetual silence, and you will make him an idiot. Besides, a child loves to use the new words he has acquired, and the watchful teacher can readily detect the reproduction of his own expressions in the language of his pupils. As soon as children are able to read they will have opened up a new source from which to enlarge their knowledge of words.

The meaning of words may be learned by concrete explanations. By concrete explanations of words are meant such explanations as may be given by means of an exhibition of the objects, actions, or qualities for which the words stand. For example, the word pistil could be explained by pointing to that part of a flower, the word decrepitate by throwing a little salt into the fire, and the word transparent by holding up a piece of glass. In the absence cf an object,

the well-remembered experience of a child may be used instead of it.

No one can doubt that if proper skill was used, the pupils in our schools might be made acquainted with a large number of words in the way just named. Lessons on objects are well calculated to impart this kind of instruction, but a teacher who sees the importance of it can find opportunity to impart it in giving a lesson on any subject. Special lessons planned with reference to this end, might be made very profitable as well as very interesting.

The meaning of words may be learned by the use of simplified expressions.—If the meaning of a word is not understood, it may be explained by using less obscure synonymous words or forms of words-that is by the use of simplified expressions. A very large proportion of the words in a Dictionary are defined, if the process is properly called defining, in this

manner.

The "definition" of the word abandon is to give up, to forsake; of the word abbreviate, to shorten; of the word abrogate, to repeal; of the word absurdity, the quality of being inconsistent with obvious truth; and so on for thousands of words. It is evident in all these cases that if a pupil comprehends the "definition" he can comprehend the word defined.

How can a teacher make use of simplified expressions in teaching the meaning of words? In the first place, no words must be used in the explana tions which the pupils do not understand. The unknown can be understood only from its connec tions with the known. Many school dictionaries err gravely on this point and thus defeat their whol

object. Moreover, a School Dictionary ought to illustrate the meaning of every word by appropriate sentences in which the word is used. It would be much better, too, for the purposes of teaching, if the words were arranged in lessons according to the subjects or things to which they relate, and not Alphabetically.

The common school-exercise of "learning definitions" is open to serious objections. It requires pupils to commit the explanations of words to memory and recite them, but presents no test to ascertain whether they are understood or otherwise. A new word is valuable only when accompanied by a new thought, or when it furnishes a better expression for an old one. Words simply memorized are dead, mere skeleton-words, without life or soul in them. They lie in the memory a confused mass, of which no use can be made. If text-books on Lexicology were arranged as indicated in the preceding paragraph, they might be used in classes, to the great advantage of the pupils. If, in addition to the usual synonymes and synonymous expressions, sentences embodying each word were presented, its meaning would become apparent. Besides, pupils should be required to compose original sentences containing the words of the lesson, and this they could not do without understanding them. Words having some relation to one another form a much more interesting lesson than dry lists of disconnected words.

The meaning of words may be learned by observing their Signification as used in Sentences.-It has already been intimated that the meaning of words can be