For
weeks he had struggled with words that apparently were made up of
fortuitous collocations of letters. Then in some beatific moment these
huddles of letters took meaning; in instance after instance they
represented, not a word, but words--a linguistic household. Let them be
what they might--a harem, the domestic establishment of a Mormon, the
dwelling-place of verbal polygamists,--he could at last see order in their
relationships. To their morals he was indifferent, absorbed as he was in
his joy of understanding.
In English likewise are thousands of these verbal marriages. We may not be
aware of them; from our very familiarity with words we may overlook the
fact that in instances uncounted their oneness has been welded by a
linguistic minister or justice of the peace. But to read a single page or
harken for thirty seconds to oral discourse with our minds intent on such
states of wedlock is to convince ourselves that they abound. Consider this
list of everyday words: somebody, already, disease, vineyard, unskilled,
outlet, nevertheless, holiday, insane, resell, schoolboy, helpmate,
uphold, withstand, rainfall, deadlock, typewrite, football, motorman,
thoroughfare, snowflake, buttercup, landlord, overturn.
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