ENGLISH GRAMMAR. Language, lingua, the tongue :-consists, when spoken, of elementary sounds, and when written, of elementary characters, called letters. Grammar, ypáμμa, gramma, a letter :-teaches the right use of language. It comprises four parts 1. ORTHOGRAPHY, oplós, orthos, correct; ypápw, grapho, to write :teaches the powers of letters and their proper combination in words. 2. ETYMOLOGY, Ervμos, etumos, the true literal signification of words; Xóyos, logos, science :-teaches the classification, inflection, and derivation of words. 3. SYNTAX, Oúv, sun, together; rážis, taxis, arrangement:-teaches the proper arrangement of words in sentences. 4. PROSODY, Tрooydía, prosodia, a song :-teaches the accent of words and rules of versification. ORTHOGRAPHY. ALPHABET, äλpa, alpha, ßñтa, heta, names of the first two letters in Greek :-the arrangement of the English letters. The alphabet is defective; it wants signs for sh, in ship; z in azure; th, in thin; th, in then; and ng, in song; and several vowel sounds It is redundant; c=s or k:-city, cut; j=dsh (dzh), a double sound :--jar; q=cw or k queen, conquer; x=yz; example, exalt. A LETTER, litera, a letter:-a character representing an elementary sound. A VOWEL, vocalis, sounding :--a letter forming a perfect sound when uttered by itself:-a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y. A CONSONANT, con, with; sonans, sounding: -a letter which only forms a perfect sound when joined to a vowel :-b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z, and generally w and y, when they begin or help to begin a word or syllable. A SYLLABLE, ovv, sun, with; λaßeiv, labein, to take :-a vowel, either alone or with one or more consonants, forming a distinct sound:-a, an, ant. MONOSYLLABLE, μóvos, monos, alone :--a word of one syllable :-hat. DISSYLLABLE, dís, dis, two :-a word of two syllables: -woman. TRISSYLLABLE, Tpís, tris, three-a word of three syllables :-ivory. POLYSYLLABLE, TOλús, polus, many a word of more than three syllables :-termination. A DIPHTHONG, dís, dis, two; plovyý, pthonge, sound :-two vowels forming one syllable; beat. When each vowel is sounded, the diphthong is called proper, and when only one is sounded, improper :-voice, boat. A TRIPHTHONG, Tpís, tris, three:-three vowels forming one syllable :---view, adieu, beauty. ETYMOLOGY. Words as they are differently used in speaking are divided into certain classes. A part of speech is a distinct class of words. The parts of speech are eight:-noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection. NOUN, nomen, a name :-the name of anything that exists, or is supposed to exist:--man, woman, house, John, London, the Henrys. I. PROPER, proprius, peculiar :-a name indicating by its form or sound an individual or class of individuals :-- William, London. II. COMMON, communis, pertaining to one as well as another :-a significant name shared by each one of a class of objects :--book, house. 1. Concrete, con, together; cretus, grown or united :-the name of anything that exists :-house, river, city, child. 2. Abstract, abs, from; tractus, drawn:-the name of a quality or property conceived of as independent of a subject:-virtue, whiteness. 3. Collective, con, together; lectus, gathered :--the name which by a singular form denotes a class:-army, fleet, herd. Of Gender: Nouns have three genders, genera, kinds. 1. MASCULINE, masculus, a male :-denotes males:-man, father, king. 2. FEMININE, femina, a woman :-denotes females :-woman, mother. 3. NEUTER, neuter, neither:--denotes things without sex:-pen, ink, paper. Indications of Gender :- 1. A different termination :-lion, lioness; hunter, huntress; executor, executrix; hero, heroine. 2. A prefix:-man-servant, maid-servant; he-goat, she-goat; cocksparrow, hen-sparrow. 3. A different word :--bachelor, spinster; boy, girl; brother, sister; buck, doe; earl, countess; husband, wife; man, woman; master, mistress ; sir, madam; son, daughter; stag, hind; wizard, witch; father, mother. The gender of nouns applicable to either sex is determined by the context; but if both sexes are spoken of, the noun is of common gender. The masculine form often includes males and females :-man is mortal. Neuter nouns personified are masculine or feminine. Of Number: Nouns have two numbers. -boys, hats. I. SINGULAR, singularis, single :--denotes a single object :-boy, hat. 1. By adding 8:-flower, flowers; ship, ships; path, paths. 2. By adding es to the endings ch, sh, 8, x, or o, after a consonant :— church, churches; dish, dishes; lens, lenses; fox, foxes; negro, negroes. Cameo, embryo, nuncio, bamboo, canto, cento, duodecimo, grotto, halo, junto, memento, motto, octavo, portico, quarto, solo, two, tyro, zero, take s. 3. By changing f or fe into ves :--sheaf, sheaves; wife, wives. Brief, chief, dwarf, grief, gulf, handkerchief, mischief, muff, proof, relief, take s. 4. By changing y, after a consonant, into ies :--duty, duties. 5. By a change of vowel -man, men; foot, feet; tooth, teeth. 6. By the Saxon plural form en :-ox, oxen; child, children. 7. Nouns adopted from other languages, for the most part retain their original plural forms. The principal changes are a. A into æ:-larva, larvæ; nebula, nebula. b. Us into i or era :-focus, foci; magus, magi; genus, genera. c. On and um into a :-phenomenon, phenomena; datum, data. d. Is into es or ides :--axis, axes; oasis, oases; aphis, aphides. e. Ix, or ex, into ices :--appendix, appendices; index, indices. f. Bandit, banditti: beau, beaux; cherub, cherubim; madame, mesdames; monsieur, messieurs; seraph, seraphim; dilettante, dilettanti ; virtuoso, virtuosi. Compound words, consisting of a noun followed by a descriptive expression, indicate the plural in the first term :-court-martial, courts-martial; but when the noun is preceded by the descriptive expression, the second term assumes s; mouse-trap, mouse-traps. Proper nouns, for the most part, form their plurals by adding s or es :--Carolina, the Carolinas; James, the Jameses. Some nouns have two plurals which differ in signification; brethren= members of a society; brothers relatives; dice=spotted cubes for gaming; dies stamps for coining money; geniuses-people of genius; genii-spirits; indexes, table of contents; indices, in algebra, pence= the amount of money in value; pennies the coins themselves; peas=the seeds as distinct objects; pease, the species. Alms, riches, are in form singular; in meaning, singular or plural. Amends, gallows, news, means, pains, are in form plural; in meaning, singular or plural. Ethics, mathematics, metaphysics, optics, physics, pneumatics, politics, &c., are in form plural; in meaning, singular. Ashes, bellows, clothes, compasses, goods, morals, scissors, tongs, victuals, have no singular. Barley, negligence, gold, iron, milk, eloquence, wheat, have no plural. Deer, salmon, sheep, trout, swine, &c., are the same in both numbers. Of Case: Nouns have three cases; cado, to fall. I. NOMINATIVE, nominatus, named :-denotes the subject of a verb; the boy runs. II. POSSESSIVE, possessum, possessed :—denotes the relation of ownership or property:-the boy's hat. The possessive singular is formed by adding to the nominative s, preceded by an apostrophe :-boy, boy's. The possessive plural, when the nominative ends in s, is formed by adding an apostrophe only:-boys, boys'. To avoid concurrent hissing sounds, the possessive singular is sometimes formed by the addition of an apostrophe; for elegance' sake. III. OBJECTIVE, ob, in the way; jactus, thrown :--denotes the object of a verb, participial adjective, or preposition :-I know the boy, having seen him at school, and he knows me. Person, persona, a person :-a distinction indicating the speaker, the person addressed, or the person or thing spoken of. These are respectively called the first, second, and third persons:-I, Paul, have written it; Robert, who did this? James loves his book. ADJECTIVE, ad, to; jactus, thrown to, or added:-the word which, joined to a noun, expresses some property or quality. I. ATTRIBUTIVE, ad to tributus, given:-express quality:-good, happy. II. DEFINITIVE, de, down; finis, a limit :-denote position, or extent. 1. Numeral, numerus, a number:-express the relations of number and quantity. a. Cardinal, cardo, a hinge :-denote a definite number :--one, two. The indefinite article a, or an, from the Saxon a'n=one; limits the noun to one class of objects, but refers to no particular one. A is used when the following word begins with the sound of a consonant, or with the consonantal sound of w ory; but when a word beginning with the sound of h has the accent on the second syllable, an is prefixed:-an hyena, an heroic deed. b. Ordinal, ordo, order :-imply that the object occupies a particular position in a succession of numbers:-first, second, third. 2. Distributive, dis, a part; tribuo, to apportion :--either, each, every, neither, both, only; other, another, all, several. 3. Demonstrative, demonstro, to point out:-this, that; yon, yonder. The definite article the = this, that :-limits the noun to some one or more of the class named. III. PARTICIPIAL, particeps, partaking:-adjectives involving the idea of time. a. Imperfect action incomplete; loving. b. Past-action complete; loved. e. Future, formed by an auxiliary=action future; going or about to love. Of Comparison: Adjectives express quality in three different degrees. 1. POSITIVE, positus, laid down, absolute-the adjective in its simple state, affirming something positively about the noun :-a large elephant. 2. COMPARATIVE, con, together; paratus, brought :-denotes that the quality expressed is possessed in a greater degree than by something compared with it :—a whale is larger than an elephant. 3. SUPERLATIVE, super, beyond; latus, borne: - denotes that the quality expressed is possessed in a very high degree, and when there is comparison in the greatest degree :-the whale is the largest animal. The comparative and superlative degrees are formed 1. By adding er and est, respectively, to the positive form :-weak, weaker, weakest. When the positive ends in e, only r and st are added:-large, larger, largest. 2. By the prefixes more and most to adjectives of more than two syllables:beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful. 3. By a different word; good, better, best; bad, evil, or ill, worse, worst; little, less, lesser, least; much, many, more, most: old, older, elder, older, eldest; near, nearer, nearest or next; far, farther, farthest ; late, later or latter, latest or last; up, upper, upmost or uppermost; in, inner, inmost or innermost; out, outer or utter, outmost or utmost; fore, former, foremost or first. Adjectives ending in y, preceded by a consonant, add r and st to ie, the old termination of the positive :-pretty, prettier, prettiest. Some adjectives do not admit of comparison :-one, second, all, every, immortal, circular, square, infinite, PRONOUN, pro, for; nomen, a name :-the word used instead of a noun. 1. PERSONAL, persona, a person :-I, thou, he, she, it. First Personal. Nom. I. We. Second Personal. Third Personal. He, she, it. 2. RELATIVE, re, back; latus, brought :-a pronoun that recalls the antecedent term. Nom. Who, which; Poss. Whose; Obj. Whom, which. What that which, combines an antecedent with a relative. What and which often occur as adjectives :-what tidings have come? That is used for who, whom, which. 3. INTERROGATIVE, interrogo, to ask :-the relative pronouns used in asking questions :-Who gave you the book?= Mention the person who gave you the book. SELF, plural selves, is annexed to personal pronouns :-myself, ourselves. EVER every or any one, is affixed to relative pronouns :-whoever. VERB, verbum, a word:-the word which expresses the notion of an energy, action, or state. I. Principal. Verbs according to their signification are 1. TRANSITIVE, transeo, to pass over :-the notion expressed is incomplete without an object:-John caught him. |