English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Part 17

In the following examples, the words _purling, crusted, slumbering_, and _twinkling_, are participial adjectives. _There_ and _its_ you may omit.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Orlando left the herd grazing. The hunters heard the young dog barking.

The old fox heard the sportsman's horn sounding. Deep rivers float long rafts. Purling streams moisten the earth's surface. The sun approaching, melts the crusted snow. The slumbering seas calmed the grave old hermit's mind. Pale Cynthia declining, clips the horizon. Man beholds the twinkling stars adorning night's blue arch. The stranger saw the desert thistle bending there its lowly head.

REMARKS ON PARTICIPLES.

Participles frequently become nouns; as, "A good _understanding_; Excellent _writing_; He made a good _beginning_, but a bad _ending_."

Constructions like the following, have long been sanctioned by the best authorities: "The goods are _selling_;" "The house is _building_;" "The work is now _publis.h.i.+ng_." A modern innovation, however, is likely to supersede this mode of expression: thus, "The goods are _being sold_;"

"The house is _being built_;" "The work is now _being published_."

You may now answer these QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN PARSING.

How many kinds of participles are there?--What is the ending of a present participle?--What does a perfect participle denote?--With what does the perfect participle of a regular verb correspond?--What is a compound participle?--From what word is the term participle derived?--Why is this part of speech thus named?--Wherein does this part of speech partake of the nature of a verb?--Do all participles partic.i.p.ate the properties of adjectives?--In what respect?--When are participles called _participial adjectives_?--Give examples.--How may a present participle be known?--Repeat the order of parsing a participle.--What rule applies in parsing a _present_ participle?--What Rule in parsing a participial adjective?--Do participles vary in their terminations in order to agree with their subject or actor?--What Rule applies in parsing a noun in the _objective case_, governed by a participle?--Do participles ever become nouns?--Give examples.

PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

Participles are formed by adding to the verb the termination _ing, ed_, or _en_. _Ing_ signifies the same as the noun _being_. When postfixed to the noun-state of the verb, the compound word thus formed, expresses a continued state of the verbal denotement. It implies that what is meant by the verb, is _being_ continued. _En_ is an alteration of _an_, the Saxon verbalizing adjunct; _ed_ is a contraction of _dede_; and the terminations _d_ and _t_, are a contraction of _ed_. Participles ending in _ed_ or _en_, usually denote the _dodo, dede, doed, did, done_, or _finished_ state of what is meant by the verb. The book is _printed_. It is a _print-ed_ or _print-done_ book, or such a one as the _done_ act of _printing_ has made it. The book is _written_; i.e. it has received the _done_ or _finish-ed_ act of _writ-ing_ it.

Participles bear the same relation to verbs, that adnouns do to nouns. They might, therefore, be styled _verbal adjectives_. But that theory which ranks them with adnouns, appears to rest on a sandy foundation. In cla.s.sifying words, we ought to be guided more by their _manner_ of meaning, and their _inferential_ meaning, than by their primitive, essential signification. "I have a _broken_ plate;" i.e. I have a plate--_broken_; "I have _broken_ a plate." If there is no difference in the _essential_ meaning of the word _broken_, in these two constructions, it cannot be denied, that there is a wide difference in the meaning--_inferred_ by custom; which difference depends on the _manner_ in which the term is applied. The former construction denotes, that I _possess_ a plate which was _broken_, (whether with or without my agency, is not intimated,) perhaps, one hundred or one thousand years ago; whereas, the meaning of the latter is, that I _performed the act_ of reducing the plate from a whole to a _broken_ state; and it is not intimated whether I possess it, or some one else. It appears reasonable, that, in a practical grammar, at least, any word which occurs in constructions differing so widely, may properly be cla.s.sed with different parts of speech. This ill.u.s.tration likewise establishes the propriety of retaining what we call the _perfect tense_ of the verb.

QUESTIONS ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

How are participles formed?--What does the imperfect part express?-- What do perfect participles denote?

LECTURE VI.

OF ADVERBS.

An ADVERB is a word used to modify the sense of a _verb_, a_participle_, an _adjective_, or another _adverb_.

Recollect, an adverb never qualifies a _noun_. It qualifies any of the four parts of speech abovenamed, and none others.

To _modify_ or _qualify_, you know, means to produce some _change_. The adverb modifies. If I say, Wirt's style _excels_ Irving's, the proposition is affirmative, and the verb _excels_ expresses the affirmation. But when I say, Wirt's style _excels not_ Irving's, the a.s.sertion is changed to a negative. What is it that thus modifies or changes the meaning of the verb _excels_? You perceive that it is the little word _not_. This word has power to reverse the meaning of the sentence. _Not_, then, is a modifier, qualifier, or negative adverb.

When an adverb is used to modify the sense of a verb or participle, it generally expresses the manner, time, or place, in which the action is performed, or some accidental circ.u.mstance respecting it. In the phrases, The man rides _gracefully, awkwardly_, _badly, swiftly, slowly_, &c.; or, I saw the man riding _swiftly, slowly, leisurely, very fast_, &c., you perceive that the words _gracefully, awkwardly, very fast_, &c., are adverbs, qualifying the verb _rides_, or the participle _riding_, because they express the _manner_ in which the action denoted by the verb and participle, is done.

In the phrases, The man rides _daily, weekly, seldom, frequently, often, sometimes, never_; or, The man rode _yesterday, heretofore, long since, long ago, recently, lately, just now_ or, The man will ride _soon, presently, directly, immediately, by and by, to-day, hereafter_, you perceive that all these words in _italics_, are adverbs, qualifying the meaning of the verb, rides, because they express the _time_ of the action denoted by the verb.

Again, if I say, The man lives _here, near by, yonder, remote, far off, somewhere, nowhere, everywhere_, &c., the words in _italics_ are adverbs of _place_, because they tell where he lives.

Adverbs likewise qualify adjectives, and sometimes other adverbs; as, _more_ wise, _most_ wise; or _more wisely, most wisely_. When an adverb is joined to an adjective or adverb, it generally expresses _the degree_ of comparison; for adverbs, like adjectives, have degrees of comparison.

Thus, in the phrase, A skilful artist, you know the adjective _skilful_ is in the positive degree; but, by placing the adverb _more_ before the adjective, we increase the degree of quality denoted by the adjective to the comparative; as, A _more_ skilful artist: and _most_ renders it superlative; as, A _most_ skilful artist. And if we place more and most before other adverbs, the effect is the same; as, skilfully, _more_ skilfully, _most_ skilfully.

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS.

_Positive_ _Comparative_ _Superlative_.

soon sooner soonest.

often oftener oftenest.

much more most.

well better best.

far farther farthest.

wisely more wisely most wisely.

justly more justly most justly.

justly less justly least justly.

You will generally know an adverb at sight; but sometimes you will find it more difficult to be distinguished, than any other part of speech in the English language. I will, therefore, give you some _signs_ which will a.s.sist you a little.

Most words ending in _ly_ are adverbs; such as, _politely, gracefully, judiciously_. Any word or short phrase that will answer to any one of the questions, _how? how much? when?_ or _where?_ is an adverb; as, The river flows _rapidly_; He walks _very fast_; He has gone _far away;_ but he will _soon_ return; She sings _sweetly_; They learn _none at all_.

How, or in what manner does the river flow? _Rapidly_. How does he walk?

_Very fast_. Where has he gone? _Far away_. When will he return? _Soon_.

How does she sing? _Sweetly_. How much do they learn? _None at all_.

From this ill.u.s.tration, you perceive, that, if you could not tell these adverbs by the sense, you would know them by their answering to the questions. However, your better way will be to distinguish adverbs by considering the office they perform in the sentence; or by noticing their grammatical relation, or their situation, with respect to other words. To gain a thorough knowledge of their real character, is highly important. _Rapidly, fast, far away, soon, sweetly_, &c. are known to be adverbs by their qualifying the sense of verbs. "A _very_ good pen writes _extremely well." Well_, in this sentence, is known to be an adverb by its qualifying the sense of the verb _writes; extremely_, by its ending in _ly_, or by its being joined to the adverb _well_ to qualify it; and _very_ is known as an adverb by its joining the adjective _good_.

Expressions like these, _none at all, a great deal, a few days ago, long since, at length, in vain_, when they are used to denote the _manner_ or _time_ of the action of verbs or participles, are generally termed _adverbial phrases_.

Adverbs, though very numerous, may, for the sake of practical convenience, be reduced to particular cla.s.ses.

1. _Of Number;_ as, Once, twice, thrice, &c.

2. _Of Order;_ as, First, secondly, lastly, finally, &c.

3. _Of Place;_ as, Here, there, where, elsewhere, anywhere, somewhere, nowhere, herein, whither, hither, thither, upward, downward, forward, backward, whence, thence, whithersoever, &c.

4. _Of Time_. _Present_; as, Now, to-day, &c. _Past_; as, Already, before, lately, yesterday, heretofore, hitherto, long since, long ago, &c. _Future_; as, To-morrow, not yet, hereafter, henceforth, henceforward, by and by, instantly, presently, immediately, ere long, straightways, &c. _Time indefinite_; as, Oft, often, oft-times, often-times, sometimes, soon, seldom, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, always, when, then, ever, never, again, &c.

5. _Of Quant.i.ty_; as, Much, little, sufficiently, how much, how great, enough, abundantly, &c.

6. _Of Manner_ or _quality_; as, Wisely, foolishly, justly, unjustly, quickly, slowly, &c. Adverbs of quality are the most numerous kind; and they are generally formed by adding the termination _ly_ to an adjective or a participle, or by changing _le_ into _ly;_ as, Bad, badly; cheerful, cheerfully; able, ably; admirable, admirably.

7. _Of Doubt_; as, Haply, perhaps, peradventure, possibly, perchance.

8. _Of Affirmation_; as, Verily, truly, undoubtedly, doubtless, certainly, yea, yes, surely, indeed, really, &c.

9. _Of Negation_; as, Nay, no, not, by no means, not at all, in no wise, &c.

10. _Of Interrogation_; as, How, why, wherefore, whither, &c., and sometimes when, whence, where.