English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Part 20

A noun or p.r.o.noun in the objective case, is often governed by a preposition understood; as, "Give _him_ that book;" that is, "Give that book _to_ him;" "Ortugrul was one _day_ wandering," &c. that is, _on_ one day. "Mercy gives _affliction_ a grace;" that is, Mercy gives a grace _to_ affliction. See Note 1, under Rule 32.

To be able to make a proper use of prepositions, particular attention is requisite. There is a peculiar propriety to be observed in the use of _by_ and _with;_ as, "He walks _with_ a staff _by_ moonlight;" "He was taken _by_ stratagem, and killed _with_ a sword." Put the one preposition for the other, and say, "He walks _by_ a staff _with_ moonlight;" "He was taken _with_ stratagem, and killed _by_ a sword;"

and it will appear, that the latter expressions differ from the former in signification, more than one, at first view, would be apt to imagine.

Verbs are often compounded of a verb and a _preposition;_ as, to _up_hold, to _with_stand, to _over_look; and this composition gives a new meaning to the verb; as, to _under_stand, to _with_draw, to _for_give. But the preposition is more frequently placed after the verb, and separately from it, like an adverb; in which situation it does not less affect the sense of the verb, and give it a new meaning; and in all instances, whether the preposition is placed either before or after the verb, if it gives a new meaning to the verb, it may be considered as _a part of the verb_. Thus, _to cast_ means _to throw_; but _to cast up_ an account, signifies _to compute_ it; therefore _up_ is a part of the verb. The phrases, _to fall on, to bear out, to give over_, convey very different meanings from what they would if the prepositions _on, out_ and _over_, were not used. Verbs of this kind are called _compound_ verbs.

You may now answer the following

QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN PARSING.

From what words is the term _preposition_ derived?--Why is it thus named?--Repeat the list of prepositions.--Name the three parts of speech that govern nouns and p.r.o.nouns in the objective case.--When is a noun or p.r.o.noun in the objective case, the object of an action?--When is it the object of a relation?--Repeat the order of parsing a preposition.--What rule do you apply in parsing a noun or p.r.o.noun governed by a preposition?--Does every preposition require an objective case after it?--Is a noun or p.r.o.noun ever governed by a preposition understood?--Give examples.--What is said of verbs compounded of a verb and preposition?--Give the origin and meaning of the prepositions explained in the Philosophical Notes.

PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

_From_, according to H. Tooke, is the Anglo-Saxon and Gothic noun _frum_, beginning, source, author. "He came _from (beginning_) Rochester." _Of_, he supposes to be a fragment of the Gothic and Saxon noun _afora_, consequence, offspring, follower. "Solomon, the son _of (offspring_) David." _Of_ or _off_, in its modern acceptation, signifies _disjoined, sundered_: A piece _of (off_) the loaf, is, a piece _disjoined_, or _separated_ from the loaf. The fragrance _of_ or _off_ the rose.

_For_ signifies _cause_. "I write _for_ your satisfaction;" i.e.

your satisfaction being the _cause. By_ or _be_ is the imperative _byth_, of the Saxon _beon_, to be. _With_, the imperative of _withan_, to join; or, when equivalent to _by_, of _wyr-than_, to be. "I will go _with_ him." "I, _join_ him, will go." _In_ comes from the Gothic noun _inna_, the interior of the body; a cave or cell. _About_, from _boda_, the first outward boundary. _Among_ is the past part. of _gamaengan_, to mingle. _Through_ or _thorough_ is the Gothic substantive _dauro_, or the Teutonic _thuruh_. It means pa.s.sage, gate, door.

_Before_--_be-fore, be-hind, be-low, be-side, be-sides, be-neath_ are formed by combining the imperative, _be_, with the nouns _fore, hind, low, side, neath. Neath_--Saxon _neothan, neothe_, has the same signification as _nadir. Be-tween, be-twixt_--_be_ and _twain_.

A dual preposition. _Be-yond_--_be-pa.s.sed. Beyond_ a place, means, _be pa.s.sed_ that place.

_Notwithstanding--not-stand-ing-with, not-withstanding_. "Any order to the contrary not-withstanding," (this order;) i.e. _not_ effectually _withstanding_ or _opposing_ it.

LECTURE VIII.

OF p.r.o.nOUNS.

A p.r.o.nOUN is a word used instead of a noun, and generally to avoid the too frequent repet.i.tion of the same word. A p.r.o.noun is, likewise, sometimes a subst.i.tute for a sentence, or member of a sentence.

The word _p.r.o.noun_ comes from the two Latin words, _pro_, which means _for_, or _instead of_, and _nomen_, a _name_, or _noun._ Hence you perceive, that _p.r.o.noun_ means _for a noun_, or _instead of a noun_.

In the sentence, "The man is happy; _he_ is benevolent; _he_ is useful;"

you perceive, that the word _he_ is used instead of the noun _man;_ consequently _he_ must be a _p.r.o.noun_. You observe, too, that, by making use of the p.r.o.noun _he_ in this sentence, we avoid the _repet.i.tion_ of the _noun_ man, for without the p.r.o.noun, the sentence would be rendered thus, "The man is happy; _the man_ is benevolent; _the man_ is useful."

By looking again at the definition, you will notice, that p.r.o.nouns always _stand for_ nouns, but they do not always _avoid the repet.i.tion_ of nouns. _Repet.i.tion_ means _repeating_ or mentioning the same thing again. In the sentence, "I come to die for my country," the p.r.o.nouns, _I_ and _my, stand_ for the name of the person who speaks; but they do not _avoid the repet.i.tion_ of that name, because the name or noun for which the p.r.o.nouns are used, is not mentioned at all. p.r.o.nouns of the _third_ person, generally avoid the repet.i.tion of the nouns for which they stand; but p.r.o.nouns of the _first_ and _second_ person, sometimes avoid the repet.i.tion of nouns, and sometimes they do not.

A little farther ill.u.s.tration of the p.r.o.noun will show you its importance, and, also, that its nature is very easily comprehended. If we had no p.r.o.nouns in our language, we should be obliged to express ourselves in this manner: "A woman went to a man, and told the man that the man was in danger of being murdered by a gang of robbers; as a gang of robbers had made preparations for attacking the man. The man thanked the woman for the woman's kindness, and, as the man was unable to defend the man's self, the man left the man's house, and went to a neighbor's."

This would be a laborious style indeed; but, by the help of p.r.o.nouns, we can express the same ideas with far greater ease and conciseness: "A woman went to a man, and told _him_, that _he_ was in great danger of being murdered by a gang of robbers, _who_ had made preparations for attacking _him. He_ thanked _her_ for _her_ kindness, and, as _he_ was unable to defend _himself_, _he_ left _his_ house and went to a neighbor's."

If you look at these examples a few moments, you cannot be at a loss to tell which words are p.r.o.nouns; and you will observe too, that they all stand for nouns.

p.r.o.nouns are generally divided into three kinds, the _Personal_, the _Adjective_, and the _Relative_ p.r.o.nouns. They are all known by the _lists_.

1. OF PERSONAL p.r.o.nOUNS. Personal p.r.o.nouns are distinguished from the relative, by their denoting the _person_ of the nouns for which they stand. There are five of them; _I_, _thou, he, she, it_; with their plurals, _We, ye_ or _you, they_.

To p.r.o.nouns belong gender, person, number, and case.

GENDER. When we speak of a _man_, we say, _he, his, him_; when we speak of a _woman_, we say, _she, hers, her_; and when we speak of a _thing_, we say _it_. Hence you perceive, that gender belongs to p.r.o.nouns as well as to nouns. Example; "The general, in grat.i.tude to the lady, offered _her his_ hand; but _she_, not knowing _him_, declined accepting _it_."

The p.r.o.nouns _his_ and _him_, in this sentence, personate or represent the noun _general_; they are, therefore, of the masculine gender: _her_ and _she_ personate the _lady_; therefore, they are feminine: and _it_ represents _hand_; for which reason it is of the neuter gender. This ill.u.s.tration shows you, then, that p.r.o.nouns must be of the same gender as the nouns are for which they stand. But, as it relates to the variation of the p.r.o.nouns to express the s.e.x,

Gender has respect only to the third person singular of the p.r.o.nouns, _he, she, it. He_ is masculine; _she_ is feminine; _it_ is neuter.

You may naturally inquire, why p.r.o.nouns of the first and second persons are not varied to denote the gender of their nouns, as well as of the third. The reason is obvious. The first person, that is, the person speaking, and the second person, or the person spoken to, being at the same time the subjects of the discourse, are supposed to be present; from which, and other circ.u.mstances, their s.e.x is commonly known, and, therefore, the p.r.o.nouns that represent these persons, need not be marked by a distinction of gender; but the third person, that is, the person or thing spoken of, being absent, and in many respects unknown, necessarily requires the p.r.o.noun that stands for it, to be marked by a distinction of gender.

In parsing, we sometimes apply gender to p.r.o.nouns of the first and second person, and also to the plural number of the third person; but these have no peculiar form to denote their gender; therefore they have no agreement, in this respect, with the nouns which they represent.

PERSON. p.r.o.nouns have three persons in each number.

_I_, is the first person } _Thou_, is the second person } Singular.

_He, she_, or _it_, is the third person }

_We_, is the first person } _Ye_ or _you_, is the second person } Plural.

_They_, is the third person }

This account of persons will be very intelligible, when you reflect, that there are three persons who may be the subject of any discourse: first, the person who speaks, may speak of himself; secondly, he may speak of the person to whom he addresses himself; thirdly, he may speak of some other person; and as the speakers, the persons spoken to, and the persons spoken of, may be many, so each of these persons must have a plural number.

p.r.o.nouns of the second and third person, always agree, in person with the nouns they represent; but p.r.o.nouns of the first person, do not.

Whenever a p.r.o.noun of the first person is used, it represents a noun; but nouns are _never_ of the first person, therefore these p.r.o.nouns cannot agree in person with their nouns.

NUMBER. p.r.o.nouns, like nouns, have two numbers, the singular and the plural; as, _I, thou, he_; _we, ye_ or _you, they_.

CASE. p.r.o.nouns have three cases, the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

In the next place I will present to you the _declension_ of the personal p.r.o.nouns, which declension you must commit to memory before you proceed any farther.

The advantages resulting from the committing of the following declension, are so great and diversified, that you cannot be too particular in your attention to it. You recollect, that it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish the nominative case of a noun from the objective, because these cases of nouns are not marked by a difference in termination; but this difficulty is removed in regard to the personal p.r.o.nouns, for their cases are always known by their termination. By studying the declension you will learn, not only the cases of the p.r.o.nouns, but, also, their genders, persons, and numbers.

DECLENSION OF THE PERSONAL p.r.o.nOUNS.

FIRST PERSON.

_Sing. _Plur_.

_Nom_. I, we, _Poss_. my _or_ mine, our _or_ ours, _Obj_. me. us.

SECOND PERSON.

_Sing_. _Plur_.

_Nom_. thou, ye _or_ you, _Poss_. thy _or_ thine, your _or_ yours, _Obj_. thee. you.

THIRD PERSON.

_Mas. Sing._ _Plur_.