To denote
the feminine gender of some nouns, we affix _ess_; as, heir_ess_,
instructr_ess. Ess_ is a contraction of the Hebrew noun _essa_, a
female. Of our verbs, the termination _est_ is a contraction of
_doest, eth_, of _doeth_, _s_ of _does_. We say, thou _dost_ or
_doest_ love; or thou _lovest_; i.e. _love-dost_, or _love-doest_.
Some believe these terminations to be contractions of _havest,
haveth, has_. We affix _ed_, a contraction of _dede_, to the present
tense of verbs to denote that the action named is _dede, did, doed_,
or _done_.
_To_ and _do_ from the Gothic noun _taui_, signifying _act_ or
_effect_, are, according to Horne Tooke, nearly alike in meaning and
force; and when the custom of affixing some more ancient verbalizing
adjunct, began to be dropped, its place and meaning were generally
supplied by prefixing one of these. When I say, "I am going _to
walk,"_ the verbal or affirmative force is conveyed by the use of
_to_, meaning the same as _do_; and _walk_ is employed merely as a
verbal name; that is, I assert that I shall _do_ the act which I
name by the word _walk_, or the act of _walking_.
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