66 angry master," that the dog has driven a "mad bull," or that the heat has acted upon "sour beer." It is only in conjunction with the adjective that the verb expresses the action predicated; and, as the action is the producing of a certain effect in another object, the compound verb necessarily requires a complement to render the proposition intelligible. In the second class of sentences, where a verb is modified by an adjective, this adjective must be regarded as an adverb, and indeed, in a majority of instances, it would be better were an adverb employed. It might seem pedantic to say, the labourer works hardly;" but we certainly could say, without being liable to a charge of affectation, 'the troops stood firmly," "do not speak so loudly." Where universal practice has given currency to forms that sin against rules, the grammarian must accept the irregularly formed expressions; but he will take care to avoid needless imitations of vicious locutions. This employment of the adjective, though formerly common even with writers of the highest reputation, is now of infrequent occurrence, and might be excepted to even in some of the instances where it still prevails. I shall not require an exercise under this rule: these observations will enable the pupil to account for this construction when he meets with it; and will also warn him against employing it where it may be avoided. Let him bear in mind, that there is nothing that more frequently betrays the ignorance of an unlettered man than the employment of adjectives adverbially. IV. Another method of defining the manner of an action is by a participle, whether active or passive: the active participle of a transitive verb being frequently followed by a complement; and the participles of both voices admitting the same modifications as the verbs from which they are derived. Ex.: Yon boy comes running. A horse sleeps standing. A mendicant goes begging. The Christian dies praying. The widow left the room weeping bitterly. The farmer approached shaking his stick. Jesus entered Jerusalem seated upon an ass. The participial phrase expressing a circumstance of manner, frequently precedes the verb, and even the subject itself. This transposition of the parts of a sentence gives variety to style, and should be practised by those who aim at excelling in composition. Er. The widow, weeping bitterly, left the room. Seated upon an ass, Jesus entered Jerusalem; or Jesus, seated upon an ass, entered Jerusalem. V. We have seen, in treating of circumstances of place, under Section XIII. of the present chapter, many prepositions used as, and really becoming, adverbs. Prepositions are also extensively employed to express the manner of the action; and some of the adverbs already cited as adverbs of place are also used to describe manner. Indeed there are expressions in which the circumstance may be regarded as one of place or of manner at the option of the reader. The following sentences contain prepositions and adverbs of place, used to determine the meaning of the verb by a circumstance of manner. Ex.: The president stood up. The speaker sat down. The In such expressions as these, although the modifying particle, taken singly, must be regarded as an adverb, it in effect often forms with the verb itself a compound verb, in the same way that a preposition prefixed to a simple verb does. In some few instances, indeed, it is indifferent whether the preposition be prefixed to or follow the root verb; as to overturn, or to turn over. In other cases the particle so changes the meaning of the conjoined verb, as to express an action having no relation to the one expressed by the simple verb. So intimate, indeed, is the connexion, that we find the compound term treated as a distinct verb in our dictionaries. When such a compound verb is transitive, we find the modifying particle either preceding or following the complement almost indifferently; as to bring the ship to, or to bring to the ship; to break off the head, or to break the head off; to pull down the house, or to pull the house down. We have some such verbs compounded with an adverb or a preposition used adverbially, that govern their complement indirectly through a preposition. Ex.: The upstart looks down upon his neighbours. The vicar sometimes looks in upon us. The spendthrift has made away with his estate. You must look out for a situation. A slanderer speaks ill of every one. The fox ran away with the goose. As before mentioned, our language is very copious, and we can commonly find a simple verb that is the perfect equivalent of these periphrastic terms. Thus to look down upon, is to despise; to look in upon to visit; to make away with to squander, and sometimes even to murder; to look out for to seek; to call out to = to hail, &c. &c. Compound verbs, like those of which we are treating, have commonly the passive voice, the modifying particle accompanying the participle wherever it occurs, to which it is considered as in a measure suffixed.. LESSON 79. EXERCISE. Write twenty sentences, predicating of various subjects by the following verbs. To run down, pull out, turn round, break down, break loose, turn down, turn over, seek out, turn off, set out, set up for, shake off, set down, set off, put off, look out, look after, clear up, close up, close in upon. Ex.: The steamer has run down a fishing boat. LESSON 80.-Try and recollect twenty such verbs yourself, and form sentences with them. LESSON 81-Write twenty sentences, using the passive voice of twenty such compound verbs as are employed transitively in the active voice. Ex.: A fishing boat has been run down by the steamer. SECTION XV. ORIGIN OF THE ACTION. We are in the frequent habit of expressing why the subject does the action predicated of it, or of showing the ground on which is based the judgment that we assert. The mention of what gives rise to the action, or of the incident on which the judgment is grounded, may be called the CIRCUMSTANCE OF ORIGIN. Such circumstances are always expressed by a substantive with a preposition. The origin of an action may be attributed to various sources. 1. A direct cause may be named. Ex.: The poor boy shivers with cold. The woman fainted from hunger. A dunce yawns from idleness. The child screams with pain. Our servant is frantic with the toothache. The patient is weak from loss of blood. The coach was upset by negligence. 2. A motive may be alleged. Ex.: The lady rides for exercise. Many persons travel for pleasure. The merchant toils for wealth. He subscribed to the institution from vanity. The child peeps into the box from curiosity. The soldier fights for glory. 3. A price may be stated. Ex.: Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Judas betrayed his master for thirty pieces of silver. 4. An inference may be drawn. Ex.: The cask is empty by the sound. The stranger seems a gentleman by his manners. The prisoner is a soldier by his dress. The fellow is a sot by his red nose. The bird is a thrush by its note. 5. We must rank among circumstances of origin the mention of the material from which a thing is made. Ex.: Beer is brewed from malt. The cottager prepares mead from honey. Starch is prepared from corn. Opium is made from poppies. The spinner makes linen yarn from flax. The ignorant make mountains of molehills. EXERCISE. LESSON 82.-Write twenty sentences, and assign to each predicate a circumstance of origin of the first class mentioned above (the cause). Ex.: Iron rusts from damp. LESSON 83.-Write twenty sentences, each containing a circumstance of origin alleging the motive or end proposed. Ex.: The Christian relieves the poor from the love of God. LESSON 84.-Write twenty sentences, each containing a circumstantial phrase of the third or fourth class, showing either the price of the action or the inference on which the judgment is based. Ex.: The old woman foretels rain from the shooting of her corns. An illustration of the circumstantial clauses that express the material of which an object is composed is scarcely required, as the pupil could furnish fifty such on the instant. A very common method of determining a substantive is to prefix, as a definitive, a substantive naming the constituent material of the object; as, a gold watch; a silk dress; an apple pudding; a plum cake. In some instances we have adjectives regularly formed from such substantives, of which, in the translation of the Scriptures, many examples may be found that are no longer commonly used, the substantive being now preferred. Some of the following are adjectives of this class: a golden calf; the brazen serpent; silken banners; wheaten bread; an oaten cake; woollen garments; wooden pavement; waxen image; flaxen hair; a leaden cistern; an oaken table; the ashen pole; a hempen cord; a leathern jerkin. SECTION XVI. COMPLEMENT OF ADVERBS. The adverb, in conjunction with the verb or adjective to which it is joined, commonly offers a complete There are, however, a few words of this class, which, describing the circumstance of the action by sense. |