First, in the history of words there is much that indicates the history of men, and in comparing the speech of to-day with that of years ago, we have a useful illustration of the effect of external influences on the very words of a race.
ATTRIBUTION:
James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish author. From a holograph manuscript written during Joyce’s matriculation at University College, Dublin, 1898 or 1899. “The Study of Languages,” The Critical Writings, eds. Richard Ellmann and Ellsworth Mason, Viking (1959).
