Occasionally, we find a word so abruptly introduced in a sentence, that we cannot assign to it any syntactical position; but usually every word in a sentence has such a position; it is related to some word or words, by number, person, gender, case, or some other distinction; and that relation is recognised by what is called a Rule of Syntax.

3. Etymological Parsing, which has been exemplified in the preceding part of this Treatise, consists in assigning to each word in a sentence its grammatical name, and its individual accidents. This kind of parsing, however, cannot be thoroughly performed without some reference to Syntax; and, accordingly, we have anticipated, in Part First, some of the principles that formally pertain to the department on which we are now entering.

Construing, or Syntactical Parsing, consists in pointing out the syntactical character of each word in succession in a sentence, by first naming it in connection with its related word or words, and then quoting the appropriate Rule of Syntax. Bare construing, however, should be only an occasional mode of exercise; the syntactical should usually be connected with the etymological parsing.

CHAP. II.

THE VERB AND ITS SUBJECT.

Rule 1. The subject of a personal verb is expressed in the nominative case; as,

66

They speak to him;" "

to him;" "The man speaks."

I speak

They speak to him;" "The man

Rule 2. A personal verb agrees with its subject in number and person; as, speaks."

1. These two Rules appear naturally entitled to first consideration; for every sentence must contain at least two parts of speech, a personal verb, whereby we directly or indirectly assert something, and a subject, which is a name of the person or thing whereof we assert.* Thus; when we say "Torricelli invented the barometer," the personal verb invented is the word whereby we assert something of Torricelli, or Torricelli is the subject whereof we assert that he invented. Again; when we say, "The barometer was invented by Torricelli," the personal verb was is the word whereby we assert something of the barometer, or barometer is the subject whereof we assert that it was invented.

2. The subject is generally a noun or a pronoun, and must, according to the first Rule, be expressed in the nominative or leading case. Thus, it would be improper to say, "Them speak to him," or "Me speak to him."

The second Rule would be violated by saying, "They speaks to him;" for speaks is a verb singular, whereas they is a pronoun plural. Again; "I speaks to him" is also a violation of the second Rule; for although I and speaks are both singular, the former is of the 1st person, and the latter of the 3rd. The verb must conform to its subject both in person and in number. The verb, indeed, is governed by its nominative, although the relation of the verb to its nominative is usually regarded as one of the concords of Syntax.

*In entering upon the Rules of Syntax, it may be expedient to recall attention to the general structure of a simple sentence, as explained at page 24. The principal grammatical parts of every such sentence are the Subject and the Predicate, or, in many instances, the Subject, Predicate, and Object. The subordinate parts are the Adjuncts or Complements. The principal grammatical parts express the chief or fundamental notions in a sentence, which are developed, extended, restricted, or modified, by the subordinate or accessory parts. See De Sacy's excellent little work, Principes de Grammaire Générale, part 3. chap. 4.

3. When no nominative is intermediate to a relative pronoun and a personal verb, in one simple sentence or clause, the relative may be known thereby to be the subject of the verb; as in the sentence "He that speaks little is a pru

dent man." Here the relative that is the nominative to the verb speaks; while he is the nominative to the verb is, and does not form a grammatical part of the relative clause.

4. The most natural position of the nominative is before the verb; but the verb sometimes has the precedence, as in imperative and some interrogative sentences. For example; "Seek ye the paths of wisdom;" "Said he these very words?"

In the instance of imperative verbs, however, the nominative is very commonly unexpressed; as, "Seek the paths of wisdom."

5. The pupil may now proceed to parse the subjoined exercises, combining the etymological and syntactical methods; as in the annexed Examples. Horses ran. Sayest thou?

Horses, comm. noun, masc. or perhaps indefin, gender, plural, nomin. to the verb ran: - Horses ran, the subj. of a personal verb is expressed

in the nomin. case.

Ran, irreg. verb, indic. mode, past tense, third pers. plur., agreeing with its subj. horses: Horses ran, A personal verb agrees with its subj.

in numb. and pers.

Sayest, irreg. verb, indic. mode used interrogatively, pres. tense, second pers. sing., agreeing with its subj. thou : Sayest thou, A personal verb

agrees, &c.

Thou, pers. pron., second pers. sing., indefin. gender, nomin. to the verb sayest: Sayest thou, The subj. of a personal verb is, &c.

*** The pupil might be required occasionally to decline the nouns and pronouns in such examples, and to conjugate the verbs.

EXERCISES.

Alexander wept. We remain. Earth shook. Birds fly. Jacob

Go thou.

Shall I ? He arrived.

It appears.

E

retreat?

Should Romans?

converge.

plex.

We ought. Thou willest. Radii

They who retreat rebel. Thou wilt.

Minutiæ per.

We must. Did you? Spring enlivens. Thou canst.

Anne foresaw.

Witnesses appeared.

Grace which pities inter

posed.

CHAP. III.

ADJECTIVES AND POSSESSIVES.

Rule 3. AN adjective relates to the noun or pronoun which it qualifies; as, "Good children possess true happiness;" "That tree produced more apples last year."

Rule 4. The possessive case of a noun or pronoun is governed by the name of the thing owned or possessed; as, "Man's conduct is to be tested by his motives."

1. It has been already stated, that if we except the pronominal adjectives this and that, which have the respective plurals these and those, no other inflexion pertains to adjectives than that which in some instances marks comparison. All, therefore, that can be said generally respecting the syntactical connection of the adjective and its substantive is, that the former relates to the latter.

2. The Rule, however, at the head of this chapter must be understood as being infringed, when between the substantive and adjective there is an incongruity of numerical sense. It would be twice violated, for example, by saying, "I have had few opportunity this three years."

3. One substantive may be qualified by several adjectives, and one adjective may qualify several substantives; as, “That eminent scholar, critic, and antiquarian, wrote an interesting biographical sketch.”

4. Adjectives sometimes follow, but usually precede the nouns they qualify. Thus, we meet with "Infinite goodness," or "Goodness infinite." The inversion of the usual order is for the purpose either of rendering the adjective more emphatic, or of adapting its position to some secondary relation which it bears to another part of the sentence; as, “He has an aptitude most remarkable;” “We met with a person remarkable for loquacity.”

5. Rule 4th has reference to that particular case of nouns or pronouns, which some grammarians regard as an adjective form. It seems preferable, however, to retain the usual distinction of a possessive case, and to employ that explanation of its use which is given in the Rule. In the phrase "The church steeple," we may account church an adjective defining steeple, although, in reality, both words are nouns, and signify together "The steeple of the church;" but in the phrase "The church's steeple," we should account church's a noun in the possessive case, governed by steeple.

6. We now subjoin an example and exercises in parsing :

Examp. My ancestors' heroic valour burned.

My, a possessive adj. defining ancestors', or a pers. pron., 1st pers., sing., possess. case, governed by ancestors' :.

My ancestors', An adj. relates to the noun, &c., or, The possess. case of a noun or pron. is governed, &c. Ancestors', a comm. noun, masc., plur., possess. case: Ancestors' valour, The possess. case of a noun or pron. is governed, &c.

Heroic, an adj., describing valour, compared by more and most : — Heroic valour, An adj. relates, &c.

Valour, a comm. noun, neut., sing., nomin. case, wants the plural :Valour burned, The subj. of a pers. verb is expressed, &c.

Burned, an intransitive verb, regular or irregular, indicative mode, past tense, 3rd pers. sing. : Valour burned, A pers. verb agrees with

its subj. &c.

EXERCISES.

The

Good sense predominates. The servants knew. Ingenious plans prospered. Better days began. Numerous errata occur. worst calamities befell. Several species grew. The help requisite