Abstract
Philology is to the science of language what logic is to the science of philosophy. Or to use a more homely figure: philology is to language what a pair of binoculars is to an opera goer. One can get along without philology but the field of vision is as limited and as lacking in perspective as is an opera goer’s who has left his binoculars at home. |If languages are fascinating, philology is a delightful pursuit. Its scope is as boundless as is the field of literature itself; its content beyond the explorations of a lifetime; its potentialities and possibilities are still, for the most part, untapped; its intellectual challenge is without peer. |This discussion proposes to do but one thing: to comment in an unpretentious and semi-formal manner on some of the important principles and discoveries of phonology as mirrored in the Lord’s Prayer. |This choice was not haphazard. First of all, the study was to be based upon something of literary merit; and secondly, in order to trace phonological changes and developments, a piece of literature with such a tenacious hold on vulgar usage that it would ipso facto show these changes and developments, was required. A literary gem, hidden away, ferreted out, enjoyed and appreciated by scholars only would exceed the scope of this thesis. But a piece of literature kept alive from generation to generation, ever apace with linguistic changes, brief, but at the same time complete, would better serve the purpose. For this reason, therefore, the Lord's Prayer seemed the best choice. |Metaphorically speaking, the voyage has been a rugged one. But rough as has been the going, it has yielded coveted and cherished compensations, not the least of which have been the delights which took us far adrift: |Over what unchartered seas To what undreamed of shores.