W and y are consonants when they begin a word or syllable; but in every other situation they are vowels. Consonants are divided into mutes and semi vowels. The mutes cannot be sounded at all without the aid of a vowel. They are b, p, t, d, k, and c and hard. g The semi-vowels have an imperfect sound of themselves. They are f, l, m, n, r, v, s, z, x, and c and g soft. Four of the semi-vowels, namely, l, m, n, r, are also distinguished by the name of liquids, from their readily uniting with other consonants, and flowing as it were into their sounds. A diphthong is the union of two vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice; as, ea in beat, ou in sound. A triphthong is the union of three vowels, proounced in like manner; as, eau in beau, iew in view. A proper diphthong is that in which both the vowels are sounded; as, oi in voice, ou in ounce. An improper diphthong has but one of the vowels sounded; as, ea in eagle, oa in boat. SYLLABLES. A syllable is a sound either simple or compounded, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice, and constituting a word, or part of a word; as, a, an, ant. Spelling is the art of rightly dividing words into their syllables; or of expressing a word by its proper letters.* WORDS. Words are articulate sounds, used by common consent, as signs of our ideas. *Dr. Johnson's Dictionary is considered the best standard of English Orthography. ا. A word of one syllable is termed a monosyllable, a word of two syllables, a dissyllable; a word of three syllables, a trisyllable; and a word of four or more syllables, a polysyllable. All words are either primitive or derivative. A primitive word is that which cannot be reduced to any simpler word in the language; as, man, good, content. A derivative word is that which may be reduced to another word in English of greater simplicity; as, manful, goodness, contentment, Yorkshire. ETYMOLOGY. THE second part of Grammar is Etymology; which treats of the different sorts of words, their various modifications, and their derivation. There are in English nine sorts of words, or, as they are commonly called, PARTS OF SPEECH; namely, the ARTICLE, the SUBSTANTIVE or NOUN, the adJECTIVE, the PRONOUN, the VERB, the ADVERB, the PREPOSITION, the CONJUNCTION, and the INTERJEC TION. 1. An Article is a word prefixed to substantives, to point them out, and to show how far their signification extends; as, a garden, an eagle, the woman. 2. A substantive or noun is the name of any thing that exists, or of which we have any notion; as, London, man, virtue. A substantive may, in general, be distinguished by its taking an article before it, or by its making sense of itself; as, a book, the sun, an apple; temperance, industry, chastity. 3. An Adjective is a word added to a substantive, to express its quality; as an industrious man, a virtuous woman. An adjective may be known by its making sense with the addition of the word thing; as, a good thing, a bad thing; or of any particular substanti re; as, a sweet apple, a pleasant prospect. 4. A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, to avoid the too frequent repetition of the same word; as, "The man is happy; he is benevolent; he is useful." 5. A Verb is a word which signifies to BE, or to SUFFER; as, I am, I rule, I am ruled." 66 to Do, A Verb may generally be distinguished by its making sense with any of the personal pronouns, or the word to, before it; as, I walk, he plays, they write; or, to walk, to play, to write. 6. An Adverb is a part of speech joined to a verb, an adjective, and sometimes to another adverb, to express some quality or circumstance respecting it; as, he reads well; a truly good man; he writes very correctly. An adverb may be generally known, by its answering to the question, How? How much? When? or Where? as, in the phrase He reads correctly," the answer to the question, How does he read? is, correctly. 7. Prepositions serve to connect words with one another, and to show the relation between them; as, "He went from London to York;" "she is above disguise;" "they are supported by industry." A preposition may be known by its admitting after it a personal pronoun in the objective case; as, with, for, to, &c. will allow the objective case after them; with him, for her, to them, &c. 8. A Conjunction is a part of speech that is chiefly used to connect sentences; so as, out of two or more sentences, to make but one; it sometimes connects only words; as, “Thou and he are happy, because you are good." "Two and three are five." 9. Interjections are words thrown in between the parts of a sentence, to express the passions or emotions of the speaker; as, "O virtue! how amiable thou art!" ARTICLE. An Article is a word prefixed to substantives, to point them out, and to show how far their signifi cation extends; as, a garden, an eagle, the woman In English there are but two articles, a and the. a becomes an before a vowel, and before a silent h; as, an acorn, an hour. But if the h be sounded, the a only is to be used; as, a hand, a heart, a highway. A or an is styled the indefinite article: it is used in a vague sense to point out one single thing of the kind, in other respects, determinate or indeterminate; as, * "Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem." ""The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden." "Give me a book;" "Bring me an apple." The is called the definite article; because it ascertains what particular thing or things are meant; "Give me the book;" .99 66 Bring me the apples;" meaning some book, or apples, referred to. as, A substantive, without any article to limit it, is generally taken in its widest sense; as, "A candid temper is proper for man;" that is, for all mankind. SUBSTANTIVE. A Substantive or noun is the name of any thing that exists, or of which we have any notion; as, London, man, virtue. Substantives are either proper or common. Proper names or substantives, are the names appropriated to individuals; as, George, London, Thames. *The definitive an or a, being merely one, in its English or thography, and precisely synonymous with it, limits a common name to an individual of the species. Its sole use is to express unity, and with respect to number, it is the most definite word imaginable; as, an ounce, a church, a ship, that is, one ounce, one ship, one church. It is used before a name which is indefinite, or applicable to any one of a species; as, "He bore him in the thickest troop, As doth a lion in a herd of neat." Here a limits the sense of the word lion, and that of herd to one; but does not specify the particular one;-" As any lion does, or would do in any herd." Borrowed. |