If the termination is accented, or if it is a monosyllable, it is pronounced ize, the accent falling on i; thus, denies, complies, dies, are pronounced denize, complize, dize. Half Accent When the full accent is on the first syllable, there is generally a half accent on the third. When the full accent is on the second, the half accent is on the fourth. It is a general rule that every third syllable has some degree of accent, and in few or no words are there more than two succeeding syllables unaccented. ____________________________ S Y L L A B L E S. A syllable is one letter, or so many letters as can be pronounced at one impulse of the voice; as, a, hand. Spelling is the art of dividing words into their proper syllables, in order to find their true pronunciation. GENERAL RULES. The best way of dividing words for children, is to divide them so as naturally to lead the learner into a right pronunciation.* Monosyllables are words of one syllable. Dissyllables are words of two syllables. Trissyllables are words of three syllables. Polysyllables are words of many syllables. Accent is the force or stress of voice that is laid upon any letter * This is Dr. Lowth's idea of spelling, and the sentiments of several literary gentlemen in America, upon whose authority I have ventured to reject all particular rules, and to divide the syllables as nearly as possible as the words are pronounced. 140 A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO GRAMMAR: BEING AN ABRIDGEMENT OF THE SECOND PART OF THE INSTITUTE. OF GRAMMAR. Q. WHAT is Grammar? A. Grammar is the art of expressing thoughts by words with propriety and dispatch. Q. What are the elements of language? A. Letters, which compose words. Q. What does English Grammar teach? A. The true principles and idioms of the English Language. (Idioms are modes of speaking or writing, which are peculiar to a language.) OF WORDS. Q. How may words be divided? A. Into six classes or parts of speech: nouns, articles, pronounces, adjectives, verbs, abbreviations. OF NOUNS. Q. What is a noun? A. The name of any person, place, or thing; as, John, Hartford, paper. Q. How are nouns divided? A. Into proper names, which are limited to particular persons, places, &c. as, Boston, Thomas, Potomak; and common names, which belong to sorts of things; as birds, books. Q. How is the signification of common nouns restrained or limited? A. By the two little words a and the called articles. Q. Explain the use of each. A. A confines the name to a single thing, but leaves it uncertain which is meant; as, a tree. The is used when the particular thing or things mentioned are supposed to be known; as, the twelve tribes. Q. How many numbers are there? A. Two, the singular and the plural. The singular speaks of one: as, book: the plural of more; as, books. Q. How is the plural formed? A. By adding s or es to the singular; as paper, papers, fox, foxes. Q. What exceptions are there to this rule? A. Some nouns, in which f is changed into v in the plural; as, life, wife; lives, wives. Some in which y is changed into ies; as, vanity, vanities; and some more irregular words; as; man men; foot, feet. Q. What cases are there in English? A. The nominative, which usually stands before a verb; as, the boy writes: the possessive, which takes an s with a comma, and denotes property; as, 141 John's hat: the objective, which follows a verb or preposition; as, he honours virtue, or, it is an honour to him. Q. How many genders are there? A. There are two genders, the masculine which comprehends all males; and the feminine which comprehends all females. Things without life have no gender. Q. How are the different genders expressed? A. Generally by the ending ess; as, actress, heiress: sometimes by he and she; as, a he goat, a she-goat: sometimes by man and maid; as, a manservant, a maid-servant. Sometimes the feminine ends in ix; as executrix. OF PRONOUNS. Q. What is a pronoun? A. A small word that stands for a noun; as, "This is a man of worth; treat him with respect." The pronoun him supplies the place of man. Q. Which are called the personal pronouns? A. I, thou, he, she; we, ye or you, they. 1st. The person speaking calls himself I. 2d. The person spoken to is called thou. 3d. The person spoken of is called if a male, he--if a female she; when a thing is spoken of, it is called it. The plural of I is we; the plural of thou is ye or you--the plural of he, she or it, is they. Q. What difference is there in the use of ye and you? A. Ye is used in the solemn style--you in common discourse; you is also used, in familiar language, for thou, which is used principally in the addresses to the Deity. Q. How do these pronouns vary in the cases? A. Thus: Singular. Nominative. Possessive. Objective. I mine me thou thine thee he his him she hers her it its it Plural. we ours us ye or you yours you they theirs them Q. What other words are called pronouns? A. My, thy, her, our, your, their, are all called pronominal pronouns; because they are joined with nouns. This, that, other, any, some, one, none, are called definitive pronouns, because they limit the significance of the noun to which they refer. Q. Are any of these varied? A. This, that, and other, make, in the plural, these, those, and others. Q. What other pronouns are there in English? 142 A. Who, which, and what. These are called relatives, because they relate to some foregoing nouns: except when they ask questions; then they are called interrogative. What, has the sense of that, which; except in asking questions. Q. Have the relatives any variations? A. Who is thus varied in the cases--Nom. who--Poss. whose; Object. whom. Q. What name is given to each, every, other? A. That of distributives; because they denote a number of particulars, taken separately; as "There are five boys, each of whom is able to read." Q. What is the use of own and self? A. They ar added to pronouns, to express an idea with force. Self makes selves in the plural. OF ADJECTIVES. Q. What is an adjective? A. A word which expresses some quality or circumstances of a noun; as a wise man, a young woman, two men. Q. Have adjectives any variations? A. Adjectives, which express qualities, capable of being increased or diminished, are varied to express comparison, thus;--wise, wiser, wisest-- cold, colder, coldest. Q. What are the degrees of comparison called? A. The positive, comparative, and superlative. The positive expresses the simple quality; as, wise, cold--the comparative expresses a quality in a greater or less degree; as, wiser, colder, less wise--the superlative expresses a quality in the greatest, or least possible degree; as, wisest, coldest, least wise. Most adjectives may be compared by more and most, less and least; as, more generous, or less generous, &c. OF VERBS. Q. What is a verb? A. A part of speech, signifying action or being. Q. How many kinds of verbs are there? A. Four; person, number, time, and mode. Q. How many persons are used with verbs? A. Three; as, in the singular number, I write, thou writest, he writes. In the plural, we write, ye or you write, they write. Q. How many times or tenses are there? A. Three--present past, and future. An action may be now doing; as, I write or am writing. The verb is then said to be in the present tense. An action may have been done some time ago; as I wrote, or have written. The verb is then in the past time. When the action is yet to come, the verb is in the future time; as I shall or will write. 143 Q. What is mode in grammar? A. The manner of representing action or being. Q. How do the English express time and mode? A. Principally by the means of several words called auxiliaries or helpers; viz. do, be, have, shall, will, may, can, should, would, could, and must. Q. What are the modes? A. The Infinitive, the Indicative, the Imperative, and the Subjunctive. Q. Explain them. A. The Infinitive expresses action or being, without limitation of person or number; as, to write. The Indicative shows or declares an action or being; as, I write, I am; or some circumstance of action or being; as, I can write; I must sleep; or asks a question; as do I write? The Imperative commands exhorts, or prays; as, write; go; do thou grant. The Subjunctive expresses action or being under some condition or uncertainty; and is commonly preceded by a conjunction, adverb, or some other word; as, if I write; though he slay me; I wish I were in the Elysian fields. Q. What are participles? A. They are words which are formed from verbs, and have the nature of verbs, nouns or adjectives. Q. How do they end? A. in d, t, n, or ing. Thus from the verbs, move, teach, write, go--are formed the participles, moved, taught, written, going. Q. What is the use of do as a helping word? A. It has four uses, 1st. to express emphasis or opposition; as, "Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee." 2d. To save the repetition of another verb; as, He writes better than you do; That is better than you write. 3d. To ask a question; as, "Do they write?" 4th. It is elegantly used in negative sentences; as, "He does not walk." In all other cases, it is obsolete or inelegant. Q. What is the use of be and have? A. As helpers, they are signs of time. Q. What is the use of shall? A. In the first person it foretells; as, "I shall go; we shall speak." Q. What is the use of would? A. In the first person it denotes a past or conditional promise, or mere inclination. It is often used in the present time, in declaratory phrases; as, "I would not choose any." In the second and third persons it expresses inclination, "he would not go; you would not answer." 144 Q. What is the use of should? A. In the first person it commonly expresses event merely; as, I should write if I had an opportunity." In the second and third persons it expresses duty or obligation; as, you should help the poor; he should go to school. When an emphasis is laid on should or would, it varies their meaning. The Helping Verbs are thus varied. Present Time. To do To have Can I do I have I can Thou doest or dost Thou hast Thou canst He does or doth He has or hath He can We do We have We can Ye or you do Ye or you have Ye or you can They do They have They can Past time I did I had I could Thou didst Thou hadst Thou couldst He did He had He could We did We had We could Ye or you did Ye or you had Ye or you could They did They had They could Present time May Shall Will I may I shall I will Thou mayest Thou shalt Thou wilt He may He shall He will We may We shall We will Ye or you may Ye or you shall Ye or you will They may They shall They will Past time. I might I should I would Thou mightest Thou shouldst Thou wouldst He might He should He would We might We should We would Ye or you might Ye or you should Ye or you would They might They should They would Must has no variation. INFINITIVE MOOD. Present. To be Past. To have been INDICATIVE MOOD. Present Time. I am We are Thou art Ye or you are He is They are I may be, &c. I would be, &c. } I can be, &c. I should be, &c.} are sometimes used I must be, &c. } in this tense 145 Past time. I was We were Thou wast Ye or you were He was They were Past time. I have been, &c. I must be, &c. I had been, &c. I could be, &c. I might be, &c. I would be, &c. I should be, &c. I might have been, &c. I would have been, &c. I could have been, &c. I should have been, &c. I must have been, &c. I may have been, &c. Future Time. I shall be, &c. I shall have been, &c. I will be, &c. I will have been, &c. IMPERATIVE MODE. Be thou, or Be ye or you Do thou be Do ye or you be SUBJUNCTIVE MODE. Present Time. If I am, &c. If we are, &c. I were We were Thou wert Ye or you were He were They were If I may be, &c. If I could be, &c. I can be, &c. I would be, &c. I must be, &c. I might be, &c. The auxiliary is some times omitted, If I be, &c. Past Time. If I was, &c. If I could have been, &c. I have been, &c. I would have been, &c. I had been, &c. I should have been, &c. I could be, &c. I must have been, &c. I might be, &c. I would be, &c. The old form of the time past, If I were, is obsolete. Future Time. If I shall be, &c. If I should be, &c. I will be, &c[.] The auxiliary is often omitted, If I be, &c. Add a passive particle to the foregoing, and you have a combination of words, answering to the passive verb of the Greeks and Romans; "I am loved, I was loved." PRINCIPAL VERBS. INFINITIVE. To write. To love. INDICATIVE. Present Time. 146 I write--love We write--love Thou writest--lovest Ye or you write--love He writes--loves They write--love writeth--loveth Past time. I wrote--loved We } Thou wrotest--lovedst Ye or you} wrote, loved He wrote--loved They } Future Time. I shall or will } write We shall or will } write Thou shalt or wilt} or Ye or you shall or will} or He shall or will } love They shall or will } love IMPERATIVE MODE. Write thou, or Write ye or you Write Write Love thou Love ye or you Love Love The foregoing inflections are all which it is necessary the learner should commit to memory, at least when he begins grammar. PARTICLES and ABBREVIATIONS. Q. What do grammarians call particles? A. All those small words which connect nouns, verbs and sentences: as, and, for[,] from, with, &c. Q. What are these words? A. They are mostly abbreviations or corruptions of old nouns and verbs. Q. What is their use? A. Their great advantage is to enable us to express our thoughts with dispatch, by saving repetitions; or by conveying several ideas with one word. Q. How may the abbreviations be distributed? A. Into conjunctions, prepositions and adverbs. Q. What is the particular use of conjunctions. A. To connect words and sentences; as, four and three make seven. Thomas studies, but John does not. Q. Which are the conjunctions? A. Those most generally used are the following: And, if, not, either, since, unless, also, but, neither, therefore, though, else, or, yet, because, wherefore, whether. Q. What is the use of prepositions? A. They are commonly placed before nouns or other words, to express some relation. Q. Which are the particles called prepositions? A. These, which may stand alone and are called separable prepositions, viz. A, for, till, above, before, from, until, about, behind, in, into, to, 147 after, beneath, on, upon, towards, against, below, out, of, under, among, or amongst, between, over, with, at, betwixt, through, within, amidst, beyond, by, during, without. The following are used with other words, and are therefore called inseparable prepositions: A, be, con, dis, mis, per, pre, re, sub, un. Q. What is the use of adverbs? A. To express circumstances of time, place and degree, &c. Q. Which are some of the most common adverbs? A. Already, always, by and by, else, ever, enough, far, here, how, hither, thither, whither, indeed, much, do, not, never, now, often, perhaps, rather, seldom, then, thence, there, very, when, where, whilst, or while, yesterday. Besides these, there are great numbers of others, and particularly those formed by ly, added to the adjectives--honest, honestly. Q. What do we call such words as alas, oh, fie, pish, &c. A. Interjections. These sounds do not constitute any part of language. They are merely expressions of passions which are sudden and irregular. SENTENCES. Q. What is a sentence? A. A sentence is a number of words, ranged in proper order, and making complete sense. Q. What does the formation of sentences depend on? A. On agreement and government. Q. What is agreement? A. When one word stands connected with another word, in the same number, case, gender, and person. Q. What is government? A. It is when one word causes another to be in some case or mode. R U L E. I. A verb must agree with its nominative case, in number and person. E X A M P L E S. In the solemn style: Thou readest; he readeth; ye read. In the familiar style: I go; he goes; we go; you go. R U L E II. Two or more nouns singular, connected by a copulative conjunction, must have verbs, pronouns and nouns, agreeing with them in the plural number. E X A M P L E S. 1. Envy and vanity are detestable vices. 2. Brutush and Cassius were brothers: They were friends to Roman liberty. RULE III. Nouns of multitude, though they are in the singular number 148 may have a verb and pronoun, agreeing with them either in the singular or plural. Examples. The assembly is or are very numerous; they are very much divided. "My people is or are foolish; they have not known me." The company was or were noisy. Rule IV. An adjective must agree with its noun in number. Participles in the nature of adjectives, refer to some noun, but have no variation. Examples. This man, that boy, these men, those boys, this kind. Rule V. Relatives, and pronouns must agree with their antecedent in number, gender, and person. Examples. 1. This is the boy who studies with diligence; he will make a scholar. 2. The girl who sits beside you is very modest; she will be a very amiable woman. 3. The pen which you gave me, is good; it writes very well. Rule VI. If no nominative comes between the relative and the verb, the relative is the nominative. Examples. This is the man who taught rhetoric. The estates of those who have taken arms against their country, ought to be confiscated. We have a constitution which secures our rights. Rule VII. But if a nominative comes between the relative and the verb, the relative is governed by the following verb of some other word. Examples. This is the man whom I esteem, whose virtues merit distinction, and whom I am happy to oblige. Rule VIII. Two nouns signifying the same thing, must be put in the same case, and are said to be in apposition; as "Paul the apostle." "Alexander the conqueror." But if they signify different things and imply property, the first is put in the possessive case, by adding s, separated from the word by an apostrophe. Examples. This is John's paper. We admire a man's courage, and a lady's virtue. Rule IX. Transitive verbs govern the objective case. Examples. 1. I admire her. She saw him. The scripture directs us. 2. Religion honors its votaries. Shame follows vice. R U L E X. The answer must be in the same case as the question, it being always governed by the verb that asks the question, though the verb is not expressed. 149 E X A M P L E S. Questions. Answers. Who wrote this book? George. Who is this? he Whom do you see? them Whom do you admire? her Rule XI. Prepositions govern the objective case. Examples. I write for him. Give the book to her. Ye will ride with them or with us. Rule XII. Conjunctions connect like cases and modes. Examples. You and I are both present. He and she sit together. It was told to him and me. It is disagreeable to them and us. Rule XIII The infinitive mode follows a verb, a noun or an adjective. Examples. 1. It follows a verb, as, let us learn to practice virtue. 2. A noun; as you have a fine opportunity to learn. 3. An adjective; as, my friend is worthy to be trusted. Rule XIV. A participle, with a preposition preceding it, answers to the Latin general, and may govern an objective case. EXAMPLES By avoiding evil, | By shewing him by doing good. | in observing them, by seeking peace; and | for esteeming us, by pursuing it. | by punishing them. Rule XV. A nominative case, joined with a participle, often stands independent of the sentence. This is called the case absolute. Examples. The sun being risen, it will be warm. They all consenting, the vote was passed. "Jesus conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place." Rule XVI. An adverb must always stand near the word which it is designed to affect or modify.