LL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} (chance)
seem to substantiate it. But the old divine character of _Fors_, _Fortuna_
(as related to Harit), points to other sources, which had already entirely
vanished from the consciousness of the ancients. Yet the expression, _es
traegt sich zu_ (it happens), the old _gaburjan_, Anglo-Saxon _gebyrian_,
and _kipuri_ (_zufaellig_, casual), must be taken into account, and forms
such as _forte_, _forsan_, _fortassis_ (_forte an si vis_), _fortuitus_,
are very remote from their supposed mythological meaning. If _ferre_ were
the root, we should have further proof of the immeasurable fertility to
which we owe such words as _fortune_ and _misfortune_.

It would lead us too far if we tried to collect all the meanings which our
roots had in the various ancient Aryan tongues in combination with
prepositions. It must suffice to select a small number from a modern
language such as French, which give us an idea of the endless
modifications to which every root is more or less adapted. Thus from
_circumferre_ we have _circonference_, also _peripherie_, from _conferre_,
_conference_ and also _confortable_, from _deferre_ _deference_, from
_differre_ _difference_, from _praeferre_ _preference_, from _proferre_
_proferer_, from _referre_ _reference_, each word again with numerous
offshoots. We are not at the end yet, and still less when we keep in view
also the parallel formations _tuli_ and _latum_, or _portare_. We then see
what a root in this language has to signify, whether considered as a
concrete word or as a mere abstraction. This is prolific of contention and
has been much disputed; the main thing is to know the facts. From these we
may infer how in all this multiplicity the unity of the root element can
be best explained.

I do not say that all ideas can be so clearly traced to their origin as in
this root. In some the intermediate forms have been lost, and the
etymologies become uncertain, often impossible. But the result on the
whole remains the same. Wherever we can see clearly, we see that what we
call mind and thought consists in this, that man has the power not only to
receive presentations like an animal, but to discover something general in
them. This element he can eliminate and fix by means of vocal signs; and
he can further classify single presentations und