English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Part 24

Of the words called "relatives," _who_, only, is a p.r.o.noun; and this is strictly _personal_; more so, indeed, if we except _I_ and _we_, than any other word in our language, for it is always restricted to persons.

It ought to be cla.s.sed with the personal p.r.o.nouns. _I, thou, he, she, it, we, ye, you_, and _they, relate_ to antecedents, as well as _who.

Which, that_, and _what_, are always adjectives. They never _stand for_, but always _belong_ to nouns, either expressed or implied. They _specify_, like many other adjectives, and _connect_ sentences.

_Who_ supplies the place of _which_ or _what_ and its _personal noun_.

_Who_ came? i.e. _what man, what woman, what person;--which man, woman_, or _person_, came? "They heard _what_ I said"--they heard _that_ (thing) _which_ (thing) I said. "Take _what_ (or _whichever_) course you please;"--take _that_ course _which_ (course) you please to take.

"_What_ have you done?" i.e. _what thing, act_, or _deed_ have you done? "_Which thing_ I also did at Jerusalem." "_Which_ will you take?"--_which book, hat_, or something else? "This is the tree _which_ (tree) produces no fruit." "He _that_ (man, or _which_ man) acts wisely, deserves praise."

They who prefer this method of treating the "relatives," are at liberty to adopt it, and pa.r.s.e accordingly.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

The man who instructs you, labors faithfully. The boy whom I instruct, learns well. The lady whose house we occupy, bestows many charities.

That modesty which highly adorns a woman, she possesses. He that acts wisely deserves praise. This is the tree which produces no fruit. I believe what He says. He speaks what he knows. Whatever purifies the heart, also fortifies it. What doest[5] thou? Nothing. What book have you? A poem. Whose hat have you? John's. Who does that work? Henry.

Whom seest thou? To whom gave you the present? Which pen did he take?

Whom ye ignorantly wors.h.i.+p, him declare I unto you. I heard what he said. George, you may pursue whatever science suits your taste. Eliza, take whichever pattern pleases you best. Whoever lives to see this republic forsake her moral and literary inst.i.tutions, will behold her liberties prostrated. Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of G.o.d.

[5] The second person singular of _do_, when used as a princ.i.p.al verb, is spelled with an _e_; thus, "What thou _doest_, do quickly;"

but when employed as an auxiliary, the _e_ should be omitted; as, "_Dost_ thou not _behold_ a rock with its head of heath?"

NOTE. The nominative case is frequently placed after the verb, and the objective case, before the verb that governs it. _Whom_, in every sentence except one, _house, modesty, book, hat, pen, him_, the third _what_ and _which_, the relative part of the first _two whats_, are all in the _objective_ case, and governed by the several verbs that follow them. See RULE 16, and NOTE 1. _Tree_ is nom.

after is, according to RULE 21. Thing, the antecedent part of _whatever_, is nom. to "fortifies;" _which_, the relative part, is nom. to "purifies." _Nothing_ is governed by _do_, and _poem_, by _have_, understood. _Henry_ is nominative to _does_, understood.

_Whose_ and _John's_ are governed according to RULE 12. _I, thou, you, him_, &c. represent nouns understood. _Him_, in the last sentence but five, is governed by _declare_, and _I_ is nominative to _declare. George_ and _Eliza_ are in the nominative case independent: Rule 5. "_Whatever_ science," &c. is equivalent to, _that_ science _which_ suits your taste;--"_whichever_ pattern;"

i.e. _that_ pattern _which_ pleases you best. _Whoever_ is a compound relative; _he_, the antecedent part, is nominative to "will behold." _Take_ agrees with _you_ understood. _Forsake_ is in the infinitive mood after "see:" Rule 25.

REMARKS ON RELATIVE p.r.o.nOUNS.

_Which_ sometimes relates to a member of a sentence, or to a whole sentence, for its antecedent: as, "We are required to fear G.o.d and keep his commandments, _which_ is the whole duty of man." What is the whole duty of man? "To fear G.o.d and keep his commandments:" therefore, this phrase is the antecedent to _which_.

The conjunction _as_, when it follows _such, many_, or _same_, is frequently denominated a relative p.r.o.noun; as, "I am pleased with _such as_ have a refined taste;" that is, with _those who_, or _them who have_, &c. "Let _such as_ presume to advise others, look well to their own conduct;" that is, Let _those_, or _them who_ presume, &c. "_As many as_ were ordained to eternal life, believed;" that is, _they, those_, or _all who_ were ordained, believed. "He exhibited the _same_ testimonials _as_ were adduced on a former occasion;" that is, _those_ testimonials _which_ were adduced, &c. But, in examples like these, if we supply the ellipsis which a critical a.n.a.lysis requires us to do, _as_ will be found to be a conjunction; thus, "I am pleased with _such persons, as those persons are who_ have a refined taste; Let _such persons, as those persons are who_ presume," &c.

QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN PARSING.

From what words is the term p.r.o.noun derived?--Do p.r.o.nouns always avoid the repet.i.tion of nouns?--Name the three kinds of p.r.o.nouns.--What distinguishes the personal from the relative p.r.o.nouns?--How many personal p.r.o.nouns are there?--Repeat them.--What belong to p.r.o.nouns?--Is gender applied to all the personal p.r.o.nouns?--To which of them is it applied?--Which of the personal p.r.o.nouns have no peculiar termination to denote their gender?--How many persons have p.r.o.nouns?--Speak them in their different persons.--How many numbers have p.r.o.nouns?--How many cases?--What are they?--Decline all the personal p.r.o.nouns.--When _self_ is added to the personal p.r.o.nouns, what are they called, and how are they used?--When is _you_ singular in sense?--Is it ever singular in form?--Why are the words, _my, thy, his, her, our, your, their_, called personal p.r.o.nouns?--Why are the words, _mine, thine, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs_, denominated compound pers. p.r.o.n.?--How do you pa.r.s.e these compounds?--What is said of _others_?--Repeat the order of parsing a personal p.r.o.noun.--What rule do you apply in parsing a p.r.o.noun of the first person, and in the nom. case?--What rule when the p.r.o.noun is in the possessive case?--What Rules apply in parsing personal p.r.o.nouns of the second and third person?--What Rules in parsing the compounds, _yours, ours, mine_, &c.?--What is said of the p.r.o.noun _it_?

What are adjective p.r.o.nouns?--Name the three kinds.--What does _each_ relate to?--To what does _every_ relate?--To what does _either_ relate?--What does _neither_ import?--To what do _this_ and _these_ refer?--Give examples.--To what do _that_ and _those_ refer?--Give examples.--Repeat all the adjective p.r.o.nouns.--When adj. p.r.o.nouns belong to nouns understood, how are they pa.r.s.ed?--When they stand for, or represent nouns, what are they called?--Give examples.--Repeat the order of parsing an adj. p.r.o.noun.--What Rule do you apply in parsing the indefinite adjective p.r.o.nouns?--What Notes, in parsing the distributives and demonstratives?

What are relative p.r.o.nouns?--Repeat them.--From what words is the term antecedent derived?--What does _antecedent_ mean?--Are relatives varied on account of gender, person, or number?--To what are _who_ and _which_ applied?--To what is _that_ applied?--Should _who_ ever be applied to irrational beings or children?--In what instances may _which_ be applied to persons?--Decline the rel. p.r.o.nouns.--Can _which_ and _that_ be declined?--Is _that_ ever used as three parts of speech?--Give examples.--What part of speech is the word _what_?--Is _what_ ever used as three kinds of a p.r.o.noun?--Give examples.--What is said of _whoever_?--What words are used as interrogative p.r.o.nouns?--Give examples.--When are the words, _what, which_, and _that_, called adj.

p.r.o.n.?--When are they called interrogative p.r.o.nominal adjectives?--What is said of _whatever_ and _whichever_?--Is _what_ ever used as an interjection?--Give examples.--Repeat the order of parsing a rel.

p.r.o.n.--What Rules do you apply in parsing a relative?--What Rules in parsing a compound relative?--What Rules in parsing an interrogative?--Does the relative _which_ ever relate to a sentence for its antecedent?--When does the conjunction _as_ become a relative?--Give examples.

EXERCISES IN FALSE SYNTAX.

NOTE 1, to RULE 13. When a noun or p.r.o.noun is the subject of a verb, it must be in the nominative case.

Who will go? Him and I. How does thee do? Is thee well?

"Him and I;" not proper, because the p.r.o.noun _him_ is the subject of the verb _will go_ understood, therefore him should be in the nominative case, _he_, according to the above NOTE. (Repeat the NOTE.) _Him_ and I are connected by the conjunction _and_, and _him_ is in the obj. case, and I in the nom., therefore RULE 33d, is violated. (Repeat the Rule.) In the second and third examples, _thee_ should be _thou_, according to the NOTE. The verbs, _does_ and _is_, are of the third person, and the nom. _thou_ is second, for which reason the verbs should be of the second person, _dost do_ and _art_, agreeably to RULE 4. You may correct the other examples, _four_ times over.

FALSE SYNTAX.

Him and me went to town yesterday. Thee must be attentive. Him who is careless, will not improve. They can write as well as me. This is the man whom was expected. Her and I deserve esteem. I have made greater proficiency than him. Whom, of all my acquaintances, do you think was there? Whom, for the sake of his important services, had an office of honor bestowed upon him.

NOTE 2, to RULE 13. Personal p.r.o.nouns being used to supply the place of nouns, should not be employed in the same member of the sentence with the noun which they represent.

FALSE SYNTAX.

The men they are there. I saw him the king. Our cause it is just. Many words they darken speech. That n.o.ble general who had gained so many victories, he died, at last, in prison. Who, instead of going about doing good, they are continually doing evil.

In each of the preceding examples, the personal p.r.o.noun should be omitted, according to Note 2.

NOTE 3, to RULE 13. A personal p.r.o.noun in the objective case, should not be used instead of _these_ and _those_.

FALSE SYNTAX.

Remove them papers from the desk. Give me them books. Give them men their discharge. Observe them three there. Which of them two persons deserves most credit?

In all these examples, _those_ should be used in place of _them_. The use of the personal, _them_, in such constructions, presents two objectives after one verb or preposition. This is a solecism which may be avoided by employing an adjective p.r.o.noun in its stead.

LECTURE IX.

OF CONJUNCTIONS.

A CONJUNCTION is a part of speech that is chiefly used to connect sentences, joining two or more simple sentences into one compound sentence: it sometimes connects only words; as, "Thou _and_ he are happy, _because_ you are good."

Conjunctions are those parts of language, which, by joining sentences in different ways, mark the connexions and various dependances of human thought. They belong to language only in its refined state.

The term CONJUNCTION comes from the two Latin words, _con_, which signifies _together_, and _jungo_, to _join_. A conjunction, then, is a word that conjoins, or joins together something. Before you can fully comprehend the nature and office of this sort of words, it is requisite that you should know what is meant by a sentence, a simple sentence, and a compound sentence, for conjunctions are chiefly used to connect sentences.

A SENTENCE is an a.s.semblage of words forming complete sense.

A SIMPLE SENTENCE contains but one subject, or nominative, and one verb which agrees with that nominative; as, "_Wheat grows_ in the field."

You perceive that this sentence contains several words besides the nominative and the verb, and you will often see a simple sentence containing many parts of speech; but, if it has only one nominative and one _finite_ verb, (that is, a verb _not_ in the infinitive mood,) it is a simple sentence, though it is longer than many compound sentences.

A COMPOUND SENTENCE is composed of two or more simple sentences connected together; as, "_Wheat grows_ in the field, and _men reap_ it."

This sentence is compound, because it is formed of two simple sentences joined together by the word _and_; which word, on account of its connecting power, is called a conjunction. If we write this sentence without the conjunction, it becomes two simple sentences: thus, "Wheat grows in the field. Men reap it."

The nature and importance of the conjunction, are easily ill.u.s.trated.

After expressing one thought or sentiment, you know we frequently wish to _add_ another, or several others, which are closely connected with it. We generally effect this addition by means of the conjunction: thus, "The Georgians cultivate rice _and_ cotton;" that is, "They cultivate rice _add_ cotton." This sentence is compound, and without the use of the conjunction, it would be written in two separate, simple sentences: thus, "The Georgians cultivate rice. They cultivate cotton." The conjunction, though chiefly used to connect sentences, sometimes connects only words; in which capacity it is nearly allied to the preposition; as, "The sun _and (add)_ the planets const.i.tute the solar system." In this, which is a simple sentence, _and_ connects two _words_.

A few more examples will ill.u.s.trate the nature, and exhibit the use of this part of speech so clearly, as to enable you fully to comprehend it.

The following simple sentences and members of sentences, have no relation to each other until they are connected by conjunctions. He labors harder--more successfully--I do. That man is healthy--he is temperate. By filling up the vacancies in these sentences with conjunctions, you will see the importance of this sort of words: thus, He labors harder _and_ more successfully _than_ I do. That man is healthy _because_ he is temperate.

Conjunctions are divided into two sorts, the Copulative and Disjunctive.

I. The Conjunction _Copulative_ serves to connect and continue a sentence by joining on a member which expresses an addition, a supposition, or a cause; as, "Two _and_ three are five; I will go _if_ he will accompany me; You are happy _because_ you are good."