ger
(Chapter XV), Massinger (Chapter XX), Pottinger (Chapter XVIII), etc.

EPITHESIS AND ASSIMILATION

Epithesis, or the addition of a final consonant, is common in
uneducated speech, e.g. scholard, gownd, garding, etc. I say
"uneducated," but many such forms have been adapted by the language,
e.g. sound, Fr. son, and we have the name Kitching for kitchen. The
usual additions are -d, -t, or -g after n, e.g. Simmonds, Simon,
Hammond, Hammant, Fr. Hamon, Hind, a farm labourer, of which the older
form is Hine (Chapter XVII), Collings for Collins, Jennings, Fr.
Jeannin, dim. of Jean, Aveling from the female name Avelina or Evelyn.
Neill is for Neil, Nigel. We have epithetic -b in Plumb, the man who
lived by the plum-tree and epithetic -p in Crump (Chapter II).

Assimilation is the tendency of a sound to imitate its neighbour.
Thus the d of Hud (Chapter I) sometimes becomes t in contact with the
sharp s, hence Hutson; Tomkins tends to become Tonkin, whence Tonks,
if the m and k are not separated by the epenthetic p, Tompkins. In
Hopps and Hopkins we have the b of Hob assimilated to the sharp s and
k, while in Hobbs we pronounce a final -z. It is perhaps under the
influence of the initial labial that Milson, son of Miles or Michael,
sometimes becomes Milsom, and Branson, son of Brand, appears as
Bransom.

The same group of names is affected by dissimilation, i.e. the
instinct to avoid the recurrence of the same sound. Thus Ranson, son
of Ranolf or Randolf, becomes Ransom [Footnote: So also Fr, rancon
gives Eng. ransom. The French surname Rancon is probably aphetic for
Laurancon.] by dissimilation of one n, and Hanson, son of Han
(Chapter I), becomes Hansom. In Sansom we have Samson assimilated to
Samson and then dissimilated. Dissimilation especially affects the
sounds l, n, r. Bullivant is found earlier as bon enfaunt
(Goodchild), just as a braggart Burgundian was called by Tudor
dramatists a burgullian. Bellinger is for Barringer, an Old French
name of Teutonic origin. [Footnote: "When was Bobadil here, your
captain? that rogue, that foist, that fencing burgullian" (Jonson,
Every Man in his Humour, iv. 2).] Those people called Salisbury who
do not hail from Salesbury in Lancashire must have had an ancestor de
Sares-bury, for such was the earlier name of Salisbury (Sarum). A
number of occupative names have lost the last syllable by
dissimilation, e.g. Pepper for pepperer, Armour for armourer. For
f