Abuse (abúce), s. ill-use; Advice (ad-více), s. direction; Close (kloce), a. shut fast; Prophecy (prof'-e-se), s. a prediction. Abuse (a-búze), v. a. to injure by use. 6. Words which change one or more letters, to distinguish the different parts of speech; as, Bath (th sharp), s. a convenience for } Bathe (th flat), v. to immerse one's self. bathing; Breath, s. air respired by animals; Cloth, s. a texture for dress; Grief, s. sorrow; Grass, s. the herbage of fields; Breathe, v. to draw breath. Grieve, v. to mourn. Graze, v. to feed on grass, touch lightly. 7. Words liable to be mis-spelled, either from the silence, or unusual sound, of one or more letters; as, 9. Difficult or unusual words; as, Ache, acre, ague, arraign, assuage, alms, Brocade, bazaar, banquet, basalt, burlesque, bohea, Assignee. Myrrh. Caliph, chaos, crayon, chart, chalice, chagrin, critique, &c. 10. The Latin and Greek Prefixes; see Nos. 296, 297. 11. Words which vary in their termination according to their meaning or derivation; as, Sailor, a man devoted to a maritime ( Sailer, generally means a ship that sails life; Assigner, one who assigns or appoints; Dependent, s. one who lives in subjec well. Assignee, the person appointed to act for another. Dependant, a. in the power of another, PART II. ETYMOLOGY. LESSON 11. 56. ETYMOLOGY treats of the Classification, Inflection, and Derivation of words. Etymology is derived from rupos (etumos) true, and λóyos (logos) word. 57. Classification is the arrangement of words into different sorts or classes, according to their respective properties. These classes are called Parts or Divisions of Speech. 58. Inflection is the change or alteration which words undergo, particularly in the termination, to express their various relations. 59. Derivation is that part which treats of the origin and primary signification of words. I. CLASSIFICATION. 60. There are, in English, nine Sorts of words, or Parts of Speech; namely, 1. the Article; 2. the Substantive or Noun; 3. the Adjective; 4. the Pronoun; 5. the Verb; 6. the Adverb; 7. the Preposition; 8. the Conjunction; and 9. the Interjection. 1. An Article is a word put before a noun to show whether it is taken in an indefinite or in a particular sense; as, a man, the man. 2. A Substantive or Noun is the name of any person, animal, place, or thing; as, John, horse, London, book, hope. Illustrations are given under the respective Parts of Speech. 66 3. An Adjective denotes the quality, size, shape, colour, number, quantity, or some other property or accident of a noun; as, “A good man ;' a bad heart';" 66 a square table;" "the green grass;" hill;" a large 66 twenty 66 4. A Pronoun is used to supply the place of a noun; as, When Cæsar had conquered Gaul, he turned his arms against his country." (Here he and his are Pronouns.) 5. a. A Verb is a word which affirms or expresses the state, action, or suffering of some person or thing; as, "I am ;” “I teach;" "I am taught." b. A verb is also used to command, exhort, request, or ask a question; as, “ Be silent; Study diligently;" "Spare me ;' ""Lend me the book;" "Have you written the letter?" 6. An Adverb modifies the meaning of a Verb, an Adjective, or another Adverb; as, "He writes correctly ;” "A remarkably diligent boy;" " He speaks very fluently." 7. A Preposition is a word placed before Nouns and Pronouns, to show the relation (of position, motion, agency, instrumentality, &c.) which they bear to each other, or to some verb; as, He went from London to Leeds;" "She is above disguise ;' They are instructed by him." 8. A Conjunction joins words and sentences together; as, "One and one make two;" "He and I must go." 66 9. An Interjection expresses a sudden passion or emotion of the mind; as, O! ah! alas! 61. a. The arrangement of words into distinct parts of speech has formed the subject of much unprofitable discussion. Some writers contend for two classes only, some for four, others for eight or ten. Were the classes reduced to two or four, the subordinate divisions would be proportionably increased, and the specific differences would neither be so easily acquired nor so readily applied as by the present arrangement. The disadvantages attendant on such a mode would be severely felt when the pupil attempted the acquisition of a foreign language. Why then introduce an innovation which is calculated not to assist but to perplex? The intention of classification is, in general, to assist the memory in the acquisition and retention of facts; objects are, therefore, ranged in the order determined by their specific properties. Accordingly, the parts of speech in the English language have been classed under the denominations of nouns and verbs, to denote the names and actions of things; pronouns, to express the substitutes for the names of objects; adjectives to denote the qualities of objects; prepositions and conjunctions to denote the relation and connexion of objects; and articles and adverbs, to designate various appendages of the noun and verb. b. In the following passage all the parts of speech are exemplified; the numeral over each word denotes the part of speech in the order in which it is explained; thus, 1, stands for the article, 2, for the substantive, 3, for the adjective, &c. 1 2 7 2 51 2 3 7 2 8 5 7 4 7 The power of speech is a faculty peculiar to man; and was bestowed on him by 4 3 2 7 1 3 8 3 2 8 9 6 his beneficent Creator, for the greatest and most excellent uses; but alas! how often 5 4 5 47 1 3 7 2 do we pervert it to the worst of purposes. c. The best and most rational mode of making the pupil understand the parts of speech, is to require him to distinguish them by the definitions and illustrations subjoined to each. Numerous additional examples may be supplied by the teacher. II. INFLECTION. 1. OF THE ARTICLES. LESSON 12. 62. An Article is a word put before a noun, to show whether it is taken in an indefinite or in a particular sense; as, "A man," "The man." Article, in Grammar, from articulus, signifies a little member. The Articles are, in strictness, definitive cdjectives; but it will be more convenient that they should retain their usual situation among the parts of speech. 63. a. The articles are a or an, and the. b. A or an is called the indefinite article, because it does not point out any particular person or thing; as, a book," that is, any book. 64. a. A is used before nouns only in the singular number, beginning with a consonant; as, “a tree;" before u when sounded long, and before words beginning in sound with w and y; as, a unit," "such a one," ewe," "a European." 66 α b. A is, however, used before plural nouns when they are preceded by the words few and great many, as, "A few men,' " "A great many apples;" also before collective words, as, "A dozen," "A hundred men." c. In poetry a is sometimes placed between the adjective many and a singular noun; as, "Full many a gem." This construction, though allowable in poetry, is inadmissible in prose. 66 65. a. An is used instead of a before all vowels (except those just mentioned), and also before silent h; as, an eagle," an hour." In order to prevent a disagreeable hiātus, it is also used before words beginning with h sounded, when the accent is on the second syllable; as, 66 an historical account." b. The words beginning with h silent are heir, herb, honest, honour, hospital, hour, humour, humble, and their derivatives. c. A and an are merely abbreviations of the old words ae and ane, signifying one used unemphatically. The peculiar difference in the application of the article a or an, and the numeral one, will be seen from the following examples:- When I speak of one object in contradistinction to two or more, I make use of the term one; as, "Can one man carry this weight? No; but two can." But when 1 allude not so much to the number as to the species, I say, "Can a man carry this weight? No; but a horse may." 66. The is called the definite article, because it indicates that some particular person or thing is meant; as, "the book," meaning a particular book. The is used 67. a. A noun without an article before it, generally denotes all of that kind; as, " Man is mortal," that is, all mankind. b. Sometimes a noun without an article before it is used elliptically, having a qualifying word understood; as, “There are men destitute of shame," that is, there are some men. 2. OF SUBSTANTIVES. LESSON 13. 68. a. A Substantive or Noun is the name of any person, animal, place, or thing; as, John, horse, London, book, hope. b. Every thing that we can see, feel, hear, or conceive to exist, whether material or immaterial, is a noun; thus, boy, John, horse, school, book, are nouns, because we can see and touch them. Honour, hope, goodness, are also nouns; for though we can neither see, nor hear, nor touch them, yet we can conceive such qualities or principles to exist; as, "The honour in which he was held;""Hope cheered him when unfortunate;" "His goodness was conspicuous." c. A Substantive may, in general, be distinguished by its taking an article before it, or by its making sense of itself; as, an animal, a man; honour, hope, goodness. The term Substantive is derived from substare, to stand, to distinguish it from an adjective, which cannot, like the noun, stand alone. Noun comes from nomen, a name. 69. Substantives are of two kinds, Common and Proper. a. Common Nouns are the names given to a whole class or species, and are applicable to every individual of that class; as, man, city, tree. b. Proper Nouns are the names given only to individuals; as, the particular names of persons, places, seas, rivers, mountains, &c.; as, George, Britain, London, the Baltic, the Thames. c. The principle of classification explained.-Observing many individuals to agree in certain properties, we refer them all to one class, to which we give a name, comprehending, in its signification. all the properties by which the class is distinguished; thus, every thing which can, of itself, move from place to place is called an animal; and this term animal is applicable to every individual in that class. Again, every animal which has four legs is called a quadruped, and the term quadruped is common to all the individuals possessing these properties. So also, Boy is a name common to thousands of human beings, but the name William or Thomas may be appropriated only to few individuals of the class. The name boy is therefore a common noun, while William and Thomas are proper nouns. d. Common nouns are sometimes divided into the following classes: 1. Substantive nouns or the names of things substantial; as, horse, house, stone. 2. Collective nouns, or such as denote a multitude; as, people, parliament, army. 3. Abstract nouns, or such as denote the names of qualities, considered as unconnected with the substances to which they belong; thus, from beautiful animal, sweet rose, the qualities beautiful, sweet, when separated from their substances animal, rose, form the abstract nouns, beauty, sweetness; and these qualities may also be characterized by other qualities; thus, we can say, great beauty, exquisite sweetness. 4. Verbal or participial nouns are such as are derived from verbs and participles; as, Beginning from begin, Reading from read. |