Page images
PDF
EPUB

The position of the accent is liable to change in the lapse of time. Many words were accented differently two hundred years ago from what they are now

There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to,

That sweet aspe'ct of princes, and their ruin,
More pangs and fears, etc.-Shakespeare.

So thick bestrewn,

Abje'ct and lost lay these, covering the flood.

-Milton.

In the two words aspect and abject, we now throw the accent

on the first syllable-a'spect, a'bject.

PART II-ETYMOLOGY.

17. ETYMOLOGY treats of words considered individually, and of the various inflections which they undergo.

18. All the words in the English Language may be arranged into eight great classes.

These classes are called Parts of Speech.

The parts of speech are:-Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection.

THE NOUN.

19. Noun, derived from the Latin word nomen, signifying name, is the name of a thing. Every word which is the name of a thing is, in grammar, called a noun.

EXERCISE I.

Point out the nouns in the following Exercise :—

Fire burns.

The crow flies. The sun shines. Snow is white. Corn grows in the fields. The river is deep. The boy ran away. The girl laughed. John was on the ice. The frost is keen. The knife is sharp. The pen is bad. The cat ran after the rat. The kid follows its mother. The ox feeds in the meadow. king sat on his throne.

EXERCISE II.

Point out the nouns in the following Exercise :

The

The

The horse draws the cart. Many men went to the war. poor hare was wounded in the leg, and the dog caught it. A king sat on the rocky brow. A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid. My mind to me a kingdom is. The mind is its own place.

The bird that soars on highest wing,
Builds on the ground its lowly nest.
Three little kittens lost their mittens,
And they shall have no cream.

KINDS OF NOUNS.

20. Nouns may be subdivided into three classes, called Proper, Common, and Abstract.

21. A proper noun is one which denotes only one individual or thing of a kind; as, John, Mary, Wellington, Thames, Sydney, Adelaide.

22. A common noun is one which denotes the same kind of thing under whatever circumstances it may be found; as, man, town, river, field, ship, sea, gold, wine.

EXERCISE III.

In the following Exercise write the proper nouns in one column, and the common nouns in another :

John gave Mary an apple. The horse was ridden by James. Queen Victoria reigns over England. King James was banished from the country. In Australia there are many gold mines. Melbourne is a large city. The good ship Sea-King was lost at sea. The first settlement on the shores of Port Jackson was made in the year 1788. Edward John Eyre was a famous explorer. O Jephtha, judge of Israel, what a treasure hadst

thou!

A foot more light, a step more true,

Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew.

23. An abstract noun is one which is the name not of an object but of an idea in the mind; as, whiteness, truth, justice, love, hatred.

Note.-The word abstract is derived from the Latin abstractus, drawn off, and implies that a quality is thought of by itself, apart altogether from the object in which it exists; thus, wisdom cannot exist apart from a person who is wise, but we can think and talk of wisdom as if it had an existence independent of the object.

EXERCISE IV.

Point out the abstract nouns in the following Exercise:

Wisdom cannot be purchased with money. The brightness of the moon surprised him. Milton calls jealousy the injured

lover's hell. Revenge has been called sweet. The love of truth is a mark of a good man. Cowper is remarkable for his purity. The fear of man bringeth a snare. The love of money is the

root of all evil.

Charity covereth a multitude of sins. The sun

came forth in all his splendour. The depth of the sea is as great as the height of the mountains.

If solid happiness we prize,

Within our breast this jewel lies.

EXERCISE V.

Write in parallel columns the proper, common, and abstract nouns in the following Exercise :

James sent a present with much love to his cousin. Homer's poems are remarkable for their vigour, dash, and energy. Scott wrote Waverley, in which he paints Scottish manners and customs with equal truth and accuracy. William the Conqueror was noted for his cruelty to his subjects. No animal excels the dog in fidelity and attachment to his master. The eagle possesses great strength and remarkable keenness of vision.

Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.

INFLECTION OF NOUNS.

24. Nouns are inflected to express Gender, Number, and Case.

Note.-Inflection, from the Latin word inflecto, to bend or change, denotes some addition to, or change in, the form of the word to express some corresponding change of meaning; e.g., if I wish to speak of one book, I write book; but if of more than one, I write books. The change from book to books is an inflection to indicate a corresponding change of number.

I.-GENDER.

25. There are two Genders-Masculine and Feminine.

26. All nouns which are the names of males are said to be of the masculine Gender; as, man, boy, horse.

All nouns which are the names of females are said to be of the feminine Gender; as, woman, girl, mare.

All nouns which denote things without life are said to be of the Neuter Gender; as, knife, wood, nail, glass, oak.

Note.-Neuter is a Latin word meaning neither, and, in grammar, is used to denote that the word is neither masculine nor feminine.

27. In English there are three ways of indicating difference of Gender in nouns:

1. By Inflection.

2. By the use of distinct words to indicate the sex. 3. By composition, or by prefixing some word indicative of sex.

I. DISTINCTION OF GENDER BY INFLECTION.

(a). The most common way of distinguishing the feminine from the masculine by inflection is by the termination-ess; as—

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »