Of the syntax of prepositions.

Of the syntax of conjunctions.

Of conjunctions connecting the same moods, tenses,

and cases.

Of conjunctions requiring the subjunctive mood, &c.

Of the syntax of interjections.

Page

169

172

173

176

178

138

187

188

Of comparisons by the conjunction than or as.

Directions respecting the ellipsis.

General rule of syntax.

Directions for parsing.

RULES AND OBSERVATIONS FOR PROMOTING PERSPICUITY

AND ACCURACY IN WRITING.

PART I.

Of perspicuity and accuracy of expression, with respect to

single words and phrases.

CHAP. 1.

Of purity.

250

Of perspicuity and accuracy of expression, with respect to

the construction of sentences.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR is the art of speaking and writing the English language with propriety.

It is divided into four parts, viz. ORTHOGRAPHY, ETYMOLOGY, SYNTAX, and PROSODY.

This division may be rendered more intelligible to the student, by observing, in other words, that Grammar treats, first, of the form and sound of the letters, the combination of letters into syllables, and syllables into words; secondly, of the different sorts of words, their various modifications, and their derivation; thirdly, of the union and right order of words in the formation of a sentence; and lastly, of the just pronunciation, and poetical construction of sentences.

PART I.

ORTHOGRAPHY.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE LETTERS.

SECTION 1. Of the nature of the letters, and of a perfect alphabet.

Orthography teaches the nature and powers of letters, and the just method of spelling words.

A letter is the first principle, or least part, of a word.

The letters of the English language, called the English Alphabet, are twenty-six in number.

These letters are the representatives of certain articulate sounds, the elements of the language. An articulate sound, is the sound of the human voice, formei by the organs of speech.

B

The following is a list of the Anglo-Saxon, Roman, Italic, and Old English Characters.

A perfect alphabet of the English language, and, indeed, of every other language, would contain a number of letters, precisely equal to the number of simple articulate sounds belonging to the language. Every simple sound would have its distinct character; and that character be the representative of no other sound. But this is far from being the state of the English alphabet. It has more original sounds than distinct significant letters; and, consequently, some of these letters are made to represent, not one sound alone, but several sounds. This will appear by reflecting, that the sounds signified by the united letters th, sh, ng, are elementary, and have no single appropriate characters, in our alphabet: and that the letters à and a represent the different sounds heard in hat, hate, hall; and in but, bull, mule.

To explain this subject more fully to the learners, we shall set down the characters made use of to represent all the elementary articulate sounds of our language, as nearly in the manner and order of the present English alphabet, as the design of the subject will admit; and shall annex to each character the syllable or word, which contains its proper and distinct sound. And here it will be proper to begin with the vowels.

Letters denoting the
simple sounds.

fate

By this list it appears, that there are in the Englisn language fourteen simple vowel sounds: but as i and ʊ, when pronounced long, may be considered as diphthongs.