- whn we translate a half-learned foreign language we h so much trouble in mastering e separate words tht we do not clearly understand or feel e force v e ideas contained, n tht is e second principle
- whn we start from e known words, as fish n lore, and say fishlore, we understand e new unknown term at once, while if we say ichthyology, we sin against e third fundamental principle.
- whn we start from e simple words arm n bone and say armbone, we do start from e simple t e complex, while if we say humerus, we violate e fourth principle, yea! we violate all e four principles v good language-construction by saying ichthyology n humerus, instead v saying "fishlore" n "armbone"; as e continental teutons say, fischlehre n armbein, or fiskelaere n armben.
if e four fundamental principles v a good languageconstruction b true, thn it follows tht only homogeneous tongues cn b good in e highest sense v e word. if it b true tht "e ease v e suggestive action s strong in proportion t e number of times e word n idea h bn associated in consciousness," thn it wl b required t choose such words or combination v words, whc memory hs already registered in consciousness; tht s, take arm n bone n from that develop armbone, n not say "humerus"; in other words, build from within n from below, as e greeks, scandinavians, old anglo-saxons, n germans, n not build from outside. thr cn b no solid n pervading harmony in any language unless it agrees wth e four fundamental principles, if we study those four principles further, we shl find tht they all naturally point toward a concentrated homogeneous basis. let us see if they do.
if frequency v association between words n ideas s necessary t a strong or vivid suggestive action,t hn it follows tht, if we want our ideas t b easily understood n remembered, we must choose such words as h bn frequently associated in mental experience, n such words wl always b e frequent native words heard in childhood, n tht implies a small homogeneous basis, because only such a basis cn naturally h hd a required frequency v association between words n ideas. all teutonic children h heard a homogeneous words arm n bone; hence armbone wd b more suggestive than e latin heterogeneous humerus.
secondly, if it b true that "e more mental energy required t master e words, e less mental energy is left for e ideas contained," thn tht again points t a small well-known homogeneous basis, for only such basis requires e least mental energy for mastering e words n leaves e greatest surplus mental energy for e ideas contained — as armbone for "humerus" n fishlore for "ichthyology."
