The Grammar of English Grammars Part 104

126. "Cromwell a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of a Protector."--_Ib._ "Her father is honoured with the t.i.tle of an Earl."--_Ib._ "The chief magistrate is styled a President."--_Ib._ "The highest t.i.tle in the state is that of the Governor."--_Ib._ "That boy is known by the name of the Idler."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 205. "The one styled the Mufti, is the head of the ministers of law and religion."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 360. "Banging all that possessed them under one cla.s.s, he called that whole cla.s.s _a tree_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 73. "For the oak, the pine, and the ash, were names of whole cla.s.ses of objects."--_Ib._, p. 73. "It is of little importance whether we give to some particular mode of expression the name of a trope, or of a figure."--_Ib._, p. 133. "The collision of a vowel with itself is the most ungracious of all combinations, and has been doomed to peculiar reprobation under the name of an hiatus."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, Vol. ii, p. 217. "We hesitate to determine, whether the _Tyrant_ alone, is the nominative, or whether the nominative includes the spy."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, -- 246.

"Hence originated the customary abbreviation of _twelve months_ into a _twelve-month_; _seven nights_ into _se'night_; _fourteen nights_ into a _fortnight_."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 105.

UNDER NOTE XIII.--COMPARISONS AND ALTERNATIVES.

"He is a better writer than a reader."--_W. Allen's False Syntax, Gram._, p. 332. "He was an abler mathematician than a linguist."--_Ib._ "I should rather have an orange than apple."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 126. "He was no less able a negotiator, than a courageous warrior."--_Smollett's Voltaire_, Vol. i, p. 181. "In an epic poem we pardon many negligences that would not be permitted in a sonnet or epigram."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p.

186. "That figure is a sphere, or a globe, or a ball."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 258.

UNDER NOTE XIV.--ANTECEDENTS TO WHO OR WHICH.

"Carriages which were formerly in use, were very clumsy."--_Inst._, p. 126.

"The place is not mentioned by geographers who wrote at that time."--_Ib._ "Questions which a person asks himself in contemplation, ought to be terminated by points of interrogation."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 279; _Comly's_, 162; _Ingersoll's_, 291. "The work is designed for the use of persons, who may think it merits a place in their Libraries."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo., p. iii. "That persons who think confusedly, should express themselves obscurely, is not to be wondered at."--_Ib._, p. 298.

"Grammarians who limit the number to two, or at most to three, do not reflect."--_Ib._, p. 75. "Substantives which end in _ian_, are those that signify profession."--_Ib._, p. 132. "To these may be added verbs, which chiefly among the poets govern the dative."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 170; _Gould's_, 171. "Consonants are letters, which cannot be sounded without the aid of a vowel."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 9. "To employ the curiosity of persons who are skilled in grammar."--_Murray's Gram., Pref._, p. iii.

"This rule refers only to nouns and p.r.o.nouns, which have the same bearing or relation."--_Ib._, i, p. 204. "So that things which are seen, were not made of things which do appear."--_Heb._, xi, 3. "Man is an imitative creature; he may utter sounds, which he has heard."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 21. "But men, whose business is wholly domestic, have little or no use for any language but their own."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 5.

UNDER NOTE XV.--PARTICIPIAL NOUNS.

"Great benefit may be reaped from reading of histories."--_Sewel's Hist._, p. iii. "And some attempts were made towards writing of history."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 110. "It is Invading of the Priest's Office for any other to Offer it."--_Right of Tythes_, p. 200. "And thus far of forming of verbs."--_Walker's Art of Teaching_, p. 35. "And without shedding of blood is no remission."--_Heb._, ix, 22. "For making of measures we have the best method here in England."--_Printer's Gram._ "This is really both admitting and denying, at once."--_Butler's a.n.a.logy_, p. 72.

"And hence the origin of making of parliaments."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol.

i, p. 71. "Next thou objectest, that having of saving light and grace presupposes conversion. But that I deny: for, on the contrary, conversion presupposeth having light and grace."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 143.

"They cried down wearing of rings and other superfluities as we do."--_Ib._, i, 236. "Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel."--_1 Peter_, iii, 3. "In spelling of derivative Words, the Primitive must be kept whole."--_British Gram._, p. 50; _Buchanan's Syntax_, 9. "And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar."--_Numbers_, vii, 10. "Boasting is not only telling of lies, but also many unseemly truths."--_Sheffield's Works_, ii, 244. "We freely confess that forbearing of prayer in the wicked is sinful."--_Barclay_, i, 316. "For revealing of a secret, there is no remedy."--_Inst. E. Gram._, p.

126. "He turned all his thoughts to composing of laws for the good of the state."--_Rollin's Ancient Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 38.

UNDER NOTE XVI.--PARTICIPLES, NOT NOUNS. "It is salvation to be kept from falling into a pit, as truly as to be taken out of it after the falling in."--_Barclay_, i, 210. "For in the receiving and embracing the testimony of truth, they felt eased."--_Ib._, i, 469. "True regularity does not consist in the having but a single rule, and forcing every thing to conform to it."--_Philol. Museum_, i, 664. "To the man of the world, this sound of glad tidings appears only an idle tale, and not worth the attending to."--_Life of Tho. Say_, p. 144. "To be the deliverer of the captive Jews, by the ordering their temple to be re-built," &c.--_Rollin_, ii, 124. "And for the preserving them from being defiled."--_N. E. Discipline_, p. 133.

"A wise man will avoid the showing any excellence in trifles."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 80. "Hirsutus had no other reason for the valuing a book."--_Rambler_, No. 177; _Wright's Gram._, p. 190. "To the being heard with satisfaction, it is necessary that the speaker should deliver himself with ease."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 114. "And to the being well heard, and clearly understood, a good and distinct articulation contributes more, than power of voice."--_Ib._, p. 117.

"_Potential_ means the having power or will; As, If you _would_ improve, you _should_ be still."

--_Tobitt's Gram._, p. 31.

UNDER NOTE XVII.--VARIOUS ERRORS.

"For the same reason, a neuter verb cannot become a pa.s.sive."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 74. "The period is the whole sentence complete in itself."--_Ib._, p. 115. "The colon or member is a chief constructive part, or greater division of a sentence."--_Ib._ "The semicolon or half member, is a less constructive part or subdivision, of a sentence or member."--_Ib._ "A sentence or member is again subdivided into commas or segments."--_Ib._, p. 116. "The first error that I would mention, is, a too general attention to the dead languages, with a neglect of our own."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 3. "One third of the importations would supply the demands of people."--_Ib._, p. 119. "And especially in grave stile."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 72. "By too eager pursuit, he ran a great risk of being disappointed."--_Murray's Key, Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p.

201. "Letters are divided into vowels and consonants."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 7; _and others_. "Consonants are divided into mutes and semi-vowels."--_Ib._, i, 8; _and others_. "The first of these forms is most agreeable to the English idiom."--_Ib._, i, 176. "If they gain, it is a too dear rate."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 504. "A p.r.o.noun is a word used instead of a noun, to prevent a too frequent repet.i.tion of it."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 1. "This vulgar error might perhaps arise from a too partial fondness for the Latin."--_Dr. Ash's Gram., Pref._, p. iv. "The groans which a too heavy load extorts from her."--_Hitchc.o.c.k, on Dyspepsy_, p. 50. "The numbers [of a verb] are, of course, singular and plural."--_Bucke's Gram._ p. 58. "To brook no meanness, and to stoop to no dissimulation, are the indications of a great mind."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 236. "This mode of expression rather suits familiar than grave style."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 198. "This use of the word rather suits familiar and low style."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 134. "According to the nature of the composition the one or other may be predominant."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 102.

"Yet the commonness of such sentences prevents in a great measure a too early expectation of the end."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 411. "An eulogy or a philippie may be p.r.o.nounced by an individual of one nation upon the subject of another."--_Adams's Rhet._, i, 298. "A French sermon, is for most part, a warm animated exhortation."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 288. "I do not envy those who think slavery no very pitiable a lot."--_Channing, on Emanc.i.p.ation_, p. 52. "The auxiliary and princ.i.p.al united, const.i.tute a tense."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 75. "There are some verbs which are defective with respect to persons."--_Ib._, i, 109. "In youth, the habits of industry are most easily acquired."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 235. "Apostrophe (') is used in place of a letter left out."--_Bullions's Eng. Gram._, p. 156.

CHAPTER III.--CASES, OR NOUNS.

The rules for the construction of Nouns, or Cases, are seven; hence this chapter, according to the order adopted above, reviews the series of rules from the second rule to the eighth, inclusively. Though _Nouns_ are here the topic, all these seven rules apply alike to _Nouns and to p.r.o.nouns_; that is, to all the words of our language which are susceptible of _Cases_.

RULE II.--NOMINATIVES.

A Noun or a p.r.o.noun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the nominative case: as, "The _Pharisees_ also, _who_ were covetous, heard all these things; and _they_ derided him."--_Luke_, xvi, 14. "But where the _meekness_ of self-knowledge veileth the front of self-respect, there look _thou_ for the man whom _none_ can know but _they_ will honour."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 66.

"Dost _thou_ mourn Philander's fate?

_I_ know _thou_ sayst it: says thy _life_ the same?"

--_Young_, N. ii, l. 22.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE II.

OBS. 1.--To this rule, there are _no exceptions_; and nearly all nominatives, or far the greater part, are to be pa.r.s.ed by it. There are however _four_ different ways of disposing of the nominative case. _First_, it is generally _the subject of a verb_, according to Rule 2d. _Secondly_, it may be put _in apposition_ with an other nominative, according to Rule 3d. _Thirdly_, it may be put after a verb or a participle _not transitive_, according to Rule 6th. _Fourthly_, it may be put _absolute_, or may help to form a _phrase that_ is _independent_ of the rest of the sentence, according to Rule 8th.

OBS. 2.--The subject, or nominative, is generally placed _before_ the verb; as, "_Peace dawned_ upon his mind."--_Johnson_. "_What is written_ in the law?"--_Bible_. But, in the following nine cases, the subject of the verb is usually placed _after_ it, or after the first auxiliary: 1. When a question is asked without an interrogative p.r.o.noun in the nominative case; as, "_Shall mortals be_ implacable?"--_Hooke_. "What _art thou doing_?"--_Id._ "How many loaves _have ye_?"--_Bible_. "_Are they_ Israelites? so _am I_."--_Ib._

2. When the verb is in the imperative mood; as, "_Go thou_"--"_Come ye_"

But, with this mood, the p.r.o.noun is very often omitted and understood; as, "Philip saith unto him, _Come_ and _see_"--_John_, i, 46. "And he saith unto them, _Be_ not _affrighted_."--_Mark_, xvi, 5.

3. When an earnest wish, or other strong feeling, is expressed; as, "_May she be_ happy!"--"How _were we struck_!"--_Young_. "Not as the world giveth, _give I_ unto you."--_Bible_.

4. When a supposition is made without the conjunction _if_; as, "_Had they known_ it;" for, "_If_ they had known it."--"_Were it_ true;" for, "_If_ it were true."--"_Could we draw_ by the covering of the grave;" for, "_If_ we could draw," &c.

5. When _neither_ or _nor_, signifying _and not_, precedes the verb; as, "This was his fear; _nor was his apprehension_ groundless."--"Ye shall not eat of it, _neither shall ye touch_ it."--_Gen._, iii, 3.

6. When, for the sake of emphasis, some word or words are placed before the verb, which more naturally come after it; as, "Here _am I_."--"Narrow _is_ the _way_."--"Silver and gold _have I_ none; but such as I have, _give I_ thee."--_Bible_.

7. When the verb has no regimen, and is itself emphatical; as, "_Echo_ the _mountains_ round."--_Thomson_. "After the Light Infantry _marched_ the _Grenadiers_, then _followed_ the _Horse_."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 71.

8. When the verbs, _say, answer, reply_, and the like, introduce the parts of a dialogue; as, "'Son of affliction,' _said Omar_, 'who art thou?' 'My name,' _replied_ the _stranger_, 'is Ha.s.san.'"--_Dr. Johnson_.

9. When the adverb _there_ precedes the verb; as, "There _lived_ a _man_."--_Montgomery_. "In all worldly joys, there _is_ a secret _wound_."--_Owen_. This use of _there_, the general introductory adverb of place, is idiomatic, and somewhat different from the use of the same word in reference to a particular locality; as, "Because _there_ was not much water _there_."--_John_, iii, 23.

OBS. 3.--In exclamations, and some other forms of expression, a few verbs are liable to be suppressed, the ellipsis being obvious; as, "How different [is] this from the philosophy of Greece and Rome!"--DR. BEATTIE: _Murray's Sequel_, p. 127. "What a lively picture [is here] of the most disinterested and active benevolence!"--HERVEY: _ib._, p. 94. "When Adam [spake] thus to Eve."--MILTON: _Paradise Lost_, B. iv, l. 610.

OBS. 4.--Though we often use nouns in the nominative case to show whom we address, yet the imperative verb takes no other nominative of the second person, than the simple personal p.r.o.noun, _thou, ye_, or _you_, expressed or understood. It would seem that some, who ought to know better, are liable to mistake for the subject of such a verb, the noun which we put absolute in the nominative by direct address. Of this gross error, the following is an example: "_Study boys_. In this sentence," (says its author,) "_study_ is a verb of the second person, plural number, and agrees with its nominative case, _boys_--according to the rule: A verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person. _Boys_ is a noun _of_ the second person, plural number, masculine gender, in the nominative case to the verb study."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 17.[339] Now the fact is, that this laconic address, of three syllables, is written wrong; being made bad English for want of a comma between the two words. Without this mark, _boys_ must be an objective, governed by _study_; and with it, a nominative, put absolute by direct address. But, in either case, _study_ agrees with _ye_ or _you_ understood, and has not the noun for its subject, or nominative.

OBS. 5.--Some authors say, and if the first person be no exception, say truly: "The nominative case to a verb, unless it be a p.r.o.noun, is always of the _third_ person."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 141. But W. B. Fowle will have all p.r.o.nouns to be _adjectives_. Consequently all his verbs, of every sort, agree with nouns "expressed or understood." This, and every other absurd theory of language, can easily be made out, by means of a few perversions, which may be called corrections, and a sufficient number of interpolations, made under pretence of filling up ellipses. Thus, according to this author, "They fear," means, "They _things spoken of_ fear."--_True Eng. Gram._, p, 33. And, "_John, open_ the door," or, "_Boys, stop_ your noise," admits no comma. And, "Be grateful, ye children," and, "Be ye grateful children," are, in his view, every way equivalent: the comma in the former being, in his opinion, needless. See _ib._, p. 39.

OBS. 6.--Though the nominative and objective cases of nouns do not differ in form, it is nevertheless, in the opinion of many of our grammarians, improper to place any noun in both relations at once, because this produces a confusion in the syntax of the word. Examples: "He then goes on to declare that there _are_, and distinguish _of_, four _manners_ of saying _Per se_."--_Walker's Treatise of Particles_, p. xii. Better: "He then proceeds to show, that _per se_ is susceptible of four different senses."

"In just allegory _and_ similitude there is always a propriety, or, if you choose to call it, _congruity_, in the literal sense, as well as a distinct meaning or sentiment suggested, which is called the figurative sense."--_Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 291. Better: "In just allegory _or_ similitude, there is always a propriety--or, if you choose to call it _so, a congruity_--in the literal sense," &c. "It must then be meant of his sins who _makes_, not of his who _becomes_, the convert."--_Atterbury's Sermons_, i, 2. Better: "It must then be meant of his sins who _makes the convert_, not of his who _becomes converted_." "Eye _hath_ not _seen_, nor ear _heard_, neither _have entered_ into the heart of man, _the things_ which G.o.d hath prepared for them that love him."--_1 Cor._, ii, 9. A more regular construction would be: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither _hath it_ entered into the heart of man to _conceive_, the things which G.o.d hath prepared for them that love him." The following example, from Pope, may perhaps be conceded to the poet, as an allowable ellipsis of the words "_a friend_," after _is_:

"In who obtain defence, or who defend; In him who _is_, or him who _finds, a friend_."

--_Essay on Man_, Ep. iv, l. 60.

Dr. Lowth cites the last three examples, without suggesting any forms of correction; and says of them, "There seems to be an impropriety in these sentences, in which the same noun stands in a double capacity, performing at the same time the offices _both of the_ nominative and objective case."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 73. He should have said--"_of both the_ nominative and _the_ objective case." Dr. Webster, citing the line, "In him who is, and him who finds, a friend," adds, "Lowth condemns this use of the noun in the nominative and objective at the same time; but _without reason_, as the cases are not distinguished in English."--_Improved Gram._, p. 175.

OBS. 7.--In Latin and Greek, the accusative before the infinitive, is often reckoned _the subject_ of the latter verb; and is accordingly pa.r.s.ed by a sort of exception to the foregoing rule--or rather, to that general rule of concord which the grammarians apply to the verb and its nominative. This construction is translated into English, and other modern tongues, sometimes literally, or nearly so, but much oftener, by a nominative and a finite verb. Example: "_[Greek: Eipen auton phonaethaenai]_."--_Mark_, x, 49.

"Ait illum vocari."--_Leusden_. "Jussit eum vocari."--_Beza_. "Praecepit illum vocari."--_Vulgate_. "He commanded him to be called."--_English Bible_. "He commanded that he should be called."--_Milnes's Gr. Gram._, p.

143. "Il dit qu'on l'appelat."--_French Bible_. "He bid that somebody should call him." "Il commanda qu'on le fit venir."--_Nouveau Test._, Paris, 1812. "He commanded that they should _make him come_;" that is, "_lead him_, or _bring him_." "Il commanda qu'on l'appelat."--_De Sacy's N.

Test_.

OBS. 8.--In English, the objective case before the infinitive mood, although it may truly denote the agent of the infinitive action, or the subject of the infinitive pa.s.sion, is nevertheless taken as the object of the preceding verb, participle, or preposition. Accordingly our language does not admit a literal translation of the above-mentioned construction, except the preceding verb be such as can be interpreted transitively.

"_Gaudeo te val=ere_," "I am glad that thou art well," cannot be translated more literally; because, "I am glad thee to be well," would not be good English. "_Aiunt regem advent=are_," "They say the king is coming," may be otherwise rendered "They _declare_ the king to be coming;" but neither version is entirely literal; the objective being retained only by a change of _aiunt, say_, into such a verb as will govern the noun.