Thelatteretymologyisconfirmedbythewordsboulesthai，boule，aboulia，whichallhavetodowithshooting（bole）：andsimilarlyoiesisisnothingbutthemovement（oisis）ofthesoultowardsessence。Ekousionistoeikon——theyielding——anagkeiseanagkeiousa，thepassagethroughravineswhichimpedemotion：aletheiaistheiaale，divinemotion。Pseudosistheoppositeofthis，implyingtheprincipleofconstraintandforcedrepose，whichisexpressedunderthefigureofsleep，toeudon；thepsiisanaddition。Onoma，aname，affirmstherealexistenceofthatwhichissoughtafter——onoumasmaestin。Onandousiaareonlyionwithaniotabrokenoff；andoukonisoukion。’Andwhatareion，reon，doun？’Onewayofexplainingthemhasbeenalreadysuggested——theymaybeofforeignorigin；andpossiblythisisthetrueanswer。Butmereantiquitymayoftenpreventourrecognizingwords，afterallthecomplicationswhichtheyhaveundergone；andwemustrememberthathoweverfarwecarrybackouranalysissomeultimateelementsorrootswillremainwhichcanbenofurtheranalyzed。Forexample；thewordagathoswassupposedbyustobeacompoundofagastosandthoos，andprobablythoosmaybefurtherresolvable。Butifwetakeawordofwhichnofurtherresolutionseemsattainable，wemayfairlyconcludethatwehavereachedoneoftheseoriginalelements，andthetruthofsuchawordmustbetestedbysomenewmethod。Willyouhelpmeinthesearch？
Allnames，whetherprimaryorsecondary，areintendedtoshowthenatureofthings；andthesecondary，asIconceive，derivetheirsignificancefromtheprimary。Butthen，howdotheprimarynamesindicateanything？Andletmeaskanotherquestion，——Ifwehadnofacultyofspeech，howshouldwecommunicatewithoneanother？Shouldwenotusesigns，likethedeafanddumb？Theelevationofourhandswouldmeanlightness——heavinesswouldbeexpressedbylettingthemdrop。Therunningofanyanimalwouldbedescribedbyasimilarmovementofourownframes。Thebodycanonlyexpressanythingbyimitation；andthetongueormouthcanimitateaswellastherestofthebody。Butthisimitationofthetongueorvoiceisnotyetaname，becausepeoplemayimitatesheeporgoatswithoutnamingthem。
What，then，isaname？Inthefirstplace，anameisnotamusical，or，secondly，apictorialimitation，butanimitationofthatkindwhichexpressesthenatureofathing；andistheinventionnotofamusician，orofapainter，butofanamer。
Andnow，Ithinkthatwemayconsiderthenamesaboutwhichyouwereasking。Thewaytoanalyzethemwillbebygoingbacktotheletters，orprimaryelementsofwhichtheyarecomposed。First，weseparatethealphabetintoclassesofletters，distinguishingtheconsonants，mutes，vowels，andsemivowels；andwhenwehavelearntthemsingly，weshalllearntoknowthemintheirvariouscombinationsoftwoormoreletters；justasthepainterknowshowtouseeitherasinglecolour，oracombinationofcolours。Andlikethepainter，wemayapplyletterstotheexpressionofobjects，andformthemintosyllables；andtheseagainintowords，untilthepictureorfigure——thatis，language——iscompleted。NotthatIamliterallyspeakingofourselves，butImeantosaythatthiswasthewayinwhichtheancientsframedlanguage。Andthisleadsmetoconsiderwhethertheprimaryaswellasthesecondaryelementsarerightlygiven。Imayremark，asIwassayingabouttheGods，thatwecanonlyattaintoconjectureofthem。Butstillweinsistthatoursisthetrueandonlymethodofdiscovery；otherwisewemusthaverecourse，likethetragicpoets，toaDeusexmachina，andsaythatGodgavethefirstnames，andthereforetheyareright；orthatthebarbariansareolderthanweare，andthatwelearntofthem；orthatantiquityhascastaveiloverthetruth。
Yetallthesearenotreasons；theyareonlyingeniousexcusesforhavingnoreasons。