CHAP. II.

CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS.

1. A Word is an arbitrary sign of some notion. In written language it may consist of one letter only, or of several, ― of one syllable, or of more than one, and may therefore be the sign of a simple or of a combinate sound; but it represents a meaning as well as a sound; it is conventionally understood as the expression of some notion; and from the nature of that notion, or rather from the manner in which it expresses that notion, it derives a grammatical character, according to which it ranks in some one of a certain number of classes, called the Parts of Speech.*

2. The number of classes into which the words of our language are resolvable is a point on which grammarians pronounce differently. No more than two are allowed as necessary by the ingenious Horne Tooke. No fewer than twelve are asserted by an Oxonian critic, who attacked the system of the celebrated Lindley Murray. The truth is that, as Dr. Crombie remarks, "there is no universally received principle, by which to determine what discriminating circumstances are sufficient to entitle any species of words to the distinction of a separate order." The Noun and Verb are certainly the principal parts of speech; and Tooke considers all others as substitutes, abbreviations, or contractions, for the purpose of facility and despatch.

3. By a comparison of the best English Grammars, it will be found that a large amount of authority is in favour of

* "The parts of speech are the different sorts of words of which a sentence is composed. This difference does not, however, arise from any intrinsical difference in the ideas to which those words relate, or from the nature of the things spoken of, but from our manner of speaking of them." -Hazlitt, p. 14.

The critic specifies the Relative and the Auxiliary as distinct parts of speech. In this he is followed by Earnshaw and Maunder.

nine parts of speech, nearly an equal amount in favour of eight, and an inferior but very respectable proportion in favour of ten.

The eight orders to which we refer are named

Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Preposition, Adverb, Conjunction, and Interjection.

The system of nine orders includes the above, with another order called the Article; and the system of ten orders has the further addition of the Participle.

4. Perhaps no scheme is more consonant with the philosophy of our language, and with the practical business of school instruction, in so far as these objects can be combined, than the distribution into eight classes; although, certainly, the Article and Participle should be allowed considerable prominence as peculiar species of adjectives. Priestley, in his "Rudiments of English Grammar," says, "I shall adopt the usual distribution of words into eight classes; because, if any number, in a thing so arbitrary, must be fixed upon, this seems to be as comprehensive and distinct as any."

5. Definitions of the Farts of Speech.

***The parenthetical parts of the following definitions may generally be omitted, for practical convenience, in quotation. The omissions will also leave simple forms to be committed to memory by young pupils, although it will be generally expedient to read and explain each definition fully, before the incomplete form is prescribed.

(a) The NOUN is a name (constituting a distinct independent notion); as, tree, books, James, city.

(b) The ADJECTIVE (can, in general, stand immediately before the Noun, and) qualifies or describes the Noun (without asserting any thing); as, happy, human, several,

any.

The Articles (are Adjectives of a peculiar kind, serving to) mark some one, or particular ones, of a class of objects. The Articles are a, an, and the.

(c) The PRONOUN is a substitute for the Noun (but not of

itself expressing the full meaning of the Noun); as, we, thou, he, them.

(d) The VERB is the word by which we can assert; as, weep, ran, speaks, satisfied.

The Participle (is a peculiar kind of Adjective which) partakes of the form and meaning of the Verb; as, weeping, running, spoken, satisfied.

(e) The PREPOSITION expresses (without asserting) the relation of one notion to another; as, from, with, at, in.

(f) The ADVERB modifies the meaning of a Verb, an Adjective, or another Adverb; as, truly, often, otherwise, quickly.

(g) The CONJUNCTION joins one notion or thought to another (in order to express, but not to assert, choice, combination, and other ideas); as, and, or, but, because.

(h) The INTERJECTION is an abrupt expression (of thought or emotion); as, O, alas! hark! hush!

6. The pupil may be now required to name as parts of speech the words of the subjoined sentences, and to quote the definitions. Promiscuous examination on the contents of this and other chapters may be conducted according to the judgment of the master.

EXERCISES.

Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. I heard an amusing story about Alfred the king. Jane met her brother as she was going towards the park. Hark! some person sings beautifully in the garden. Your kind advice was soon communicated to Henry, and he readily adopted it. He is now with his worthy friends at Brighton; but, alas! they entertain little hope of his recovery.

CHAP. III.

OF THE NOUN.

1. THE Noun is a name constituting a distinct independent notion.

The things on which we bestow names may be objects of one or more of our external senses, or objects merely of intellect or of imagination; they may be such things as books, gold, boy, mothers, noise, smoothness, perfumes, sweetness, or they may be such things as honesty, wisdom, spirit, virtues, excellence; but, in whatever way they are known by us, the words forming their names are called Nouns.

This part of speech has the power of expressing things without the help of any other word, so that we can form a distinct and separate conception of the object which it signifies.

2. Nouns are of two principal kinds, Proper and Common. A name appropriated to an individual of a class is called a Proper Noun. A name shared in common by each one of a class of objects is called a Common Noun.

Thus John, Cæsar, Elizabeth, Venice, the Baltic, the Times (newspaper), are proper or particular nouns; boy, man, woman, city, sea, newspaper, are common nouns.

The Proper Noun, as may be seen by a comparison of these examples, is a sign by which an individual is distinguished from the rest of a class to which it belongs, and in itself properly considered is meaningless*, whether or not

* See Mill's Logic, vol. i. p. 40. Some grammarians have regarded Personal Pronouns as proper names, because of their being mere marks of reference to objects. See a work called Enclytica, p. 4.

some property which it is fitted to express may have occasioned its original appropriation. We bestow the name Philip, without designing to characterise the subject as "a lover of horses," although that is the original import of the

name.

Common Nouns, on the contrary, are significant of the properties of those things to which they refer, and are therefore not infrequently called Appellatives. They are names of genera or of species. Thus, man is a generic term, Englishman and workman are special terms; whereas George and Thomas are individual terms, proper names, not designed to indicate any properties, and not capable of definition.*

3. It is sometimes difficult, however, to decide, with respect to a noun, whether to call it proper or common; as there is a tendency in proper nouns to approximate to the character of common, and conversely.

Thus: "I saw a number of Germans in London."

"He

never can be a Newton." "To which of the eight Henrys do you refer?" "Thou sure and firm-set Earth, hear not my steps." "Reason condemns you." "Nature's voice is

powerful."

If the italicised words in the first three of these examples are to be regarded as common nouns, it seems to be because of their denoting species, and thereby assuming significance. If those in the three last examples should be considered proper nouns, it may be on account of their being appropriated to ideal personages; but these appear to differ from ordinary proper names in retaining a significancy of

* "Some metaphysicians have said, that the cause of our using general terms is the infinite multitude of individual objects, which, making it impossible to have a name for each, compels us to make one name serve for many. But even if there were a name for every individual object, we should require general names as much as we now do." - Mill's Logic, vol. ii. p. 241.