also to plurals. But there appears to be a remarkable exc rule, in the use of the adjectives few and man chiefly with the word great before it,) which, with plural substantives, yet admit of the sing as, a few men; a great many men. The reason of it is manifest, from the effe article has in these phrases; it means a small ber collectively taken, and therefore gives whole, that is, of unity. Thus likewise, a do: hundred, or a thousand, is one whole n gregate of many collectively taken; and the tains the article a, though joined as an adject substantive; as, a hundred years, &c. The indefinite article is sometimes place adjective many, and a singular noun: as, "Full many a gem, of purest ray serene, "The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear "Full many a flow'r is born to blush unsee "And waste its sweetness on the desert ail In these lines, the phrases, many a gem and refer to many gems and many flowers, sepa lectively considered. The definite article the is frequently app in the comparative and superlative degree; to mark the degree the more strongly, and more precisely: as, "The more I examine like it. I like this the least of any." the Octavo Grammar. See CHAPTER III. OF SUBSTANTIVES. SECTION I. Of Substantives in g A SUBSTANTIVE or Noun is the thing that exists, or of which we hay as, London, man, virtue. Substantives are either proper or Proper names or substantives, a appropriated to individuals: as, Ge Thames. individuals under them : as, animal, man, e, &c. When proper names have an article annexed to m, they are used as common names; as, "He he Cicero of his age; he is reading the lives Che Twelve Cæsars." Common names may also be used to signify iniduals, by the addition of articles or pronouns : "The boy is studious; that girl is discreet."* To substantives belong gender, number, and se; and they are all of the third person, when oken of, and of the second when spoken to ; as, Blessings attend us on every side; be grateful, ildren of men !” that is, ye children of men. SECTION II. Of Gender. GENDER is the distinction of nouns, with regard sex. There are three genders: the MASCULINE, e FEMININE, and the NEUTER. The Masculine Gender denotes animals of the ale kind; as, a man, a horse, a bull. The Feminine Gender signifies animals of the male kind; as, a woman, a duck, a hen. The Neuter Gender denotes objects which are either males nor females; as, a field, a house, garden. Some substantives, naturally neuter, are, by a gure of speech, converted into the masculine or minine gender: as, when we say of the sun, he setting; and of a ship, she sails well. * Nouns may also be divided into the following classes: Collective Duns, or nouns of multitude; as, the people, the parliament, the -my: Abstract nouns, or the names of qualities abstracted from heir substances; as, knowledge, goodness, whiteness: Verbal or articipiul nouns; as, beginning, reading, writing. the attributes of imparting or communicatin are by nature strong and efficacious. Thos made feminine, which are conspicuous for th containing or bringing forth, or which are pe tiful or amiable. Upon these principles, the be masculine; and the moon, being the rec sun's light, to be feminine. The earth is nine. A ship, a country, a city, &c. are likew inine, being receivers or containers. Time culine, on account of its mighty efficacy. V nine from its beauty, and its being the object tune and the church are generally put in the der. The English language has three methods ing the sex, viz. 1. By different words: as, Bitch. Duck. Singer Mare. 2. By a difference of terminati Female. Male. By a noun, pronoun, or adjective, being prefixed to substantive: as, A cock-sparrow. A man-servant. A he-goat. A he-bear. A male-child. Male descendants. A hen-sparrow. A she-goat. A she-bear. A female-child. Female descendants. t sometimes happens that the same noun is either masine or feminine. The words parent, child, cousin, friend, ghbor, servant, and several others, are used indifferently males or females. Nouns with variable terminations contribute to concisess and perspicuity of expression. We have only a suffient number of them to make us feel our want; for when e say of a woman, she is a philosopher, an astronomer, a ilder, a weaver, we perceive an impropriety in the termition, which we cannot avoid; but we can say, that she is, botanist, a student, a witness, a scholar, an orphan, a com-anion, because these terminations have not annexed to em the notion of sex. SECT. 3. Of Number. NUMBER is the consideration of an object, as one or more. Substantives ars of two numbers, the singular and the plural. The plural number signifies more o one; as, chairs, tables. Some nouus, from the nature of the t they express, are used only in the sin as, wheat, pitch, gold, sloth, pride, & only in the plural form; as, bellow lungs, riches, &c. Some words are the same in both n deer, sheep, swine, &c. B The plural number of nouns is gen ed by adding 8 to the singular: as, face, faces; thought, thoughts. substantive singular ends in x, ch so s, we add es in the plural: as, church, churches; lash, lashes; kiss bus, rebusses. If the singular end the plural is formed by adding 8, monarchs; distich, distichs. Nouns which end in o, have sometimes plural; as, cargo, echo, hero, negro, manife cano, wo and sometimes only; as, foli tilio, seraglio. Nouns ending in f, or fe, are rendere change of those terminations into ves; as, l halves; wife, wives; except grief, relief, r eral others, which form the plural by th Those which end in ff, have the regular ruffs; except staff, staves. Nouns which have y in the singular, wit in the same syllable, change it into ies i beauty, beauties; fly, flies. But the y when there is another vowel in the syllable delay, delays; attorney, attorneys, Some nouns become plural by changing gular into e; as, man, men; woman, wo aldermen The words ox and child, for: |