le doubt that the fusion of the elements _book_
and _-s_ into the unified word _books_ would be felt as a little less
complete than it actually is. One reasons, or feels, unconsciously about
the matter somewhat as follows:--If the form pattern represented by the
word _books_ is identical, as far as use is concerned, with that of the
word _oxen_, the pluralizing elements _-s_ and _-en_ cannot have quite
so definite, quite so autonomous, a value as we might at first be
inclined to suppose. They are plural elements only in so far as
plurality is predicated of certain selected concepts. The words _books_
and _oxen_ are therefore a little other than mechanical combinations of
the symbol of a thing (_book_, _ox_) and a clear symbol of plurality.
There is a slight psychological uncertainty or haze about the juncture
in _book-s_ and _ox-en_. A little of the force of _-s_ and _-en_ is
anticipated by, or appropriated by, the words _book_ and _ox_
themselves, just as the conceptual force of _-th_ in _dep-th_ is
appreciably weaker than that of _-ness_ in _good-ness_ in spite of the
functional parallelism between _depth_ and _goodness_. Where there is
uncertainty about the juncture, where the affixed element cannot rightly
claim to possess its full share of significance, the unity of the
complete word is more strongly emphasized. The mind must rest on
something. If it cannot linger on the constituent elements, it hastens
all the more eagerly to the acceptance of the word as a whole. A word
like _goodness_ illustrates "agglutination," _books_ "regular fusion,"
_depth_ "irregular fusion," _geese_ "symbolic fusion" or
"symbolism."[106]

[Footnote 106: The following formulae may prove useful to those that are
mathematically inclined. Agglutination: c = a + b; regular fusion:
c = a + (b - x) + x; irregular fusion: c = (a - x) + (b - y) + (x + y);
symbolism: c = (a - x) + x. I do not wish to imply that there is any
mystic value in the process of fusion. It is quite likely to have
developed as a purely mechanical product of phonetic forces that brought
about irregularities of various sorts.]

The psychological distinctness of the affixed elements in an
agglutinative term may be even more marked than in the _-ness_ of
_goodness_. To be strictly accurate, the significance of the _-ness_ is
not quite as inherently determined, as autonomous, as it might be. It
is at the mercy of the preceding radical element to this extent, that it
requires