LESSON XXXVIII. Independent Constructions. (i.e. Constructions that do not belong to either Concord or Government.) 361. Nominative of Address. A noun or pronoun denoting the person spoken to, is in the Nominative case, and is called the Nominative of Address; as, JOHN, attend to your lessons; Good morning, SIR; Get away, you mischievous BOY! O DEATH, where is thy sting; 0 GRAVE, where is thy victory! 362. [The Nominative of Address is sometimes preceded by the Interjection O, but oftener not. The Case of Address in Latin and Greek is a distinct case from the Nominative, and is called the Vocative case; and this name is applied by some Grammarians to the Nominative of Address in English. In such a construction as: Get away, you mischievous boy, the pronoun "you" may be parsed as the Nominative of Address, and the noun 66 boy" as the Nominative of Apposition; or the phrase may be regarded as another form of Get you away, mischievous boy, and then "you" must be parsed as Nominative to the verb "get," and "boy" as Nominative of Address.] 363. Nominative Absolute. A noun or pronoun preceding a participle, but not connected, as Subject or Object, with any Finite verb, is called the Nominative Absolute; as, Night coming on, the battle ended; This done, they rode away. [The word Absolute means Independent, just as we say an Absolute King, meaning a King whose Government is not controlled by laws enacted by any independent body, such as a Parliament. And so a word is said to be absolute in a sentence when it is not controlled by the rules or laws of Concord or Government. In the example, Night coming on, the battle ended, the noun Night is not the Subject of any verb, nor is it governed by any word in the sentence; it is, therefore, absolute or independent. But in the sentence, Night coming on put an end to the battle, the noun Night is not independent, because it is the Subject or Nominative case to the verb put.] 364. Infinitive Absolute. An Infinitive Mood that is neither used as the Subject of a verb, nor governed by any word in the sentence, is employed independently, and is called the Infinitive Absolute; as, To tell the truth, I know nothing about it. [In this example, the infinitive To tell is not the Subject of a verb, nor is it dependent upon any word in the sentence, and therefore it is independent or absolute. But it is different in the sentences: To tell the truth is the duty of every honest man; and Every honest man ought to tell the truth. Other examples of the Infinitive Absolute are found in such colloquial expressions as: "To be brief;" "To make a long story short;" "Not to mince matters;" &c.] 365. Participle Absolute. A Participle that does not relate to any noun or pronoun in the sentence, is used independently or absolutely; as, Strictly speaking, nothing is perfect in this world. [A participle partakes of the nature of both a verb and an adjective. It partakes of the nature of a verb in denoting action, and it partakes of the nature of an adjec tive in referring to some noun or pronoun in the sentence. Thus in the sentence: A mother came, when stars were paling, Wailing round a lonely spring; the participle "paling" refers to the noun "stars," and the participle "wailing" to the noun "mother;" but in the sentence, Strictly speaking, nothing is perfect in this world, the participle "speaking" does not refer to any noun or pronoun in the sentence, that is, the sentence does not represent any person as speaking, and therefore the participle "speaking" is used absolutely.] 366. Conjunctions. Conjunctions join the same cases of nouns and pronouns; as, John and James were there; You and I are to go to town; I saw him and the boy. [This is usually given as a Rule of Syntax, and expressed thus: 66 Conjunctions join the same cases of nouns and pronouns, and the same moods and tenses of verbs." 367. But in reality it is not a rule of Syntax, because although it is a fact that nouns and pronouns connected by a conjunction are in the same case, it is not because they are connected by a conjunction that they agree in case; thus in the example, John and James were there, the noun James is in the nominative case, not because it is joined to John by the conjunction and, but because both nouns are the Subject of the verb were. And So, in the example, I saw him and the boy, the noun boy is in the objective case because both boy and him are governed by the transitive verb saw. 368. The latter part of the rule, viz., Conjunctions join the same moods and tenses of verbs, is incorrect, as conjunctions often join different tenses, and also different moods. In any form the Rule is utterly useless, and ought to be discarded; but, as it has found a place in almost every Grammar that has been published for many centuries, it has been thought well to give it as above (at 366), that is, in the only form in which it is correct.] LESSON XXXIX. Parsing. 369. Parsing is usually distinguished into three kinds, viz., Simple Parsing, Etymological Parsing, and Syntactical Parsing. 370. Simple Parsing consists in merely stating what Part of Speech each word in a sentence is. Thus the sentence, The good boy obeys his parents, is parsed Simply as follows: -- An Article. A Noun. A Verb. A Pronoun. A Noun. 371. Etymological Parsing consists in stating what is taught in Etymology regarding each Part of Speech. Thus the above sentence is parsed Etymologically as follows: The Definite Article. An Adjective Common, in the A Common Noun, Masculine A Regular Transitive Verb, His Parents A Common Noun, Common 372. Syntactical Parsing includes all that is required in Etymological Parsing, and consists further in explaining how the words.in a sentence are related to one another in the way of Concord or Government. Thus the above sentence is parsed Syntactically as follows: The Def. Article, referring to the noun boy. An Adj. Common, Pos. Degree, A Reg. Trans. Verb, Indic. A Poss. Adj. Pronoun, qualify- A Com. Noun, Com. Gender, Third Pers., Plural, and Objective Case, being the Object governed by the trans. verb obeys. |