ic, (c.) The principal Greek derivatives are formed by— as, hieroglyphic, ical, as, arithmetical, 3. Structure of the Pronoun. 66 Pronouns are either-1. Original Roots; 2. Derivatives; or, 3, Compound words. They are all of Saxon origin, except (235). one, 1. The pronouns which may be regarded as original roots, are I, me, we, us, thou, ye, you, he, she, it, they, who (self), this, that. 2. The following are derivatives (chiefly by inflection) :— Thee is the objective form from thou. Him, originally a dative from the masculine hɛ, and the neuter hit, of the Saxon he, heo, hit (he, she, it). Her, originally a dative and possessive from Saxon heo. One (235), derived from the French on, an abbreviation of komme. Which, a compound form, from who and like (contracted in the Scottish dialect, whilk). My is possessive form from me; thy, thou; our, we; your, you; their; they. The possessive cases (239), mine, thine, etc., are derived from the corresponding possessive pronouns (291). 3. The compound pronouns are those formed by the union of the words, self (selves), and ever, with the simple pronouns. See list, page 59. 4. Structure of the Verb. English verbs are either-1. Original Roots; 2. Primary Derivatives; or, 3. Secondary Derivatives. 1. All the verbs of the "old conjugation” (irregular verbs) are of Saxon origin, and all are original roots of the English language. A considerable number of these have, in recent times, assumed the regular form; as, climb, laugh, quake, etc. 2. The primary derivatives are also mostly of Saxon origin. They are formed from original nouns and verbs, as follows: (1.) By modifying the vowel; as, lie, lay; fly, flee; fall, fell (transitive), etc. (2.) By modifying the last consonant, either as to form or pronunciation; as, advice, advise; bath, bathe; grease, grease (greez); use, use, etc. NOTE. This class is formed from nouns, and some of them are of Latin origin. (3.) By modifying both vowel and consonant; as, drink, drench; glass, glāze; hound, hunt, etc. (4.) By prefixing s or t; as, dun, stun; melt, smelt; whirl, twirl, etc. 3. Secondary derivatives are formed by a considerable variety of suffixes. (a.) Saxon derivatives are formed by the following :— REMARK.-Many nouns and adjectives have been turned into verbs without any change; as, dry, to dry; cool, to cool, rain, to rain; salt, to salt, etc. The growing tendency to use the same word for different parts of speech should be resisted; as, to crop a farm; to ship goods, etc. Avoid also such vulgarisms as, to grow corn, and the like. (b.) Latin derivatives are formed— (1.) From the root of the verb, by rejecting the termination of the infinitive; as (c.) Greek derivatives are formed by the terminations ise or ize ; as, baptize, (from Barrisw.) This termination has been adopted to form many modern English verbs; as, to Italicize, to Germanize, to scrutinize, etc. 5. Structure of the Adverb. English adverbs are either-1. Original Roots; 2. Primary Derivatives; 3. Secondary Derivatives; or, 4. Compound words. 1. The original adverbs consist of a few monosyllables derived from the Saxon; as, now, then, there, here, oft, well, ill, not, so, thus. Some of these were, doubtless, formerly oblique cases of Saxon pronouns. 2. Primary derivatives are formed— (1.) From numerals; as, one, once; two, twice, etc.,―originally genitive forms of the numerals. (2.) From nouns, by adding s, as need, (must) needs, so, also, mornings, Mondays, etc. (3.) From other adverbs; as, there, thither; here, hither, etc. REMARKS. (1.) A few adverbs are formed from adjectives and prepositions, by adding s; as, unaware, unawares; beside, besides. (2.) Many words, ordinarily prepositions, are joined to verbs without change of form, and used adverbially; as, to go down, come up, etc. All the primary derivatives among English adverbs are of Saxon origin, and nearly all have been inflections of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives. 3. Secondary derivatives are formed as follows :— (1.) By suffixes ly, as wise, wisely; just, justly. This is the usual form of the adverb, when derived regularly from the corresponding adjective. ward or wards; as, backward, from back, sideward, from side, signifying direction. ways or wise; as, always, from all; likewise, from like. (2.) By Prefixes a; as, ashore, adrift, aboard, etc. be; as, behind, betimes, etc. 4. Compound adverbs are formed by combining various parts of speech, in many instances being abridged forms of adverbial phrases or clauses; as, sometimes, somewhere, forthwith, thereabout, straightway, henceforward, headlong, etc. [Some are derived in the usual way from compound adjectives; as, ill-naturedly, ill-manneredly, etc.] 6. Structure of the Preposition. Prepositions may be divided, in reference to their structure, into three classes:-1. Original prepositions; 2. Derivatives; 3. Verbal prepositions. 1. The simple prepositions are the following:-at, by, for, from, in, on, of, till, to, through, up, with. 2. The derived prepositions are for the most part formed from verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech, by means of prefixes; as— a; amid, about, above, along, among, around, against, etc. [Some are formed by combining two simple prepositions together, or adding a syllable; as, into, unto, upon, within, without, throughout, etc.] 3. Verbal prepositions are the imperative and parti cipial forms of verbs, used prepositionally, generally in abridged form; as, concerning, during, except, excepting, respecting, touching, regarding, save, etc. Prepositions of the first and second class are of Saxon origin; those of the third class, of Latin. 7. Structure of the Conjunction. Conjunctions are-1. Simple; 2. Derivative; or, 3. Compound. 1. The simple conjunctions are—and, or, but, if, as. 2. The derivatives are such as-nor, neither, either, than, though, whether, even, for, that, since, etc. 3. Compound conjunctions are made up of two or more other words; as, howbeit, in as far as, nevertheless, moreover, wherefore, whereas, etc. 66 II. GENDER OF NOUNS. In all languages, the distinction of nouns with regard to sex has been noted. Every substantive denotes either a male or female, or that which is neither the one nor the other. This accident, or characteristic of nouns, is called their Gender. In English, all words denoting male animals are considered as masculine; all those denoting female animals, feminine; and those denoting things neither male nor female, are termed neuter. "In this distribution," says Crombie, we follow the order of nature; and our language is, in this respect, both simple and animated." Both in Latin and Greek, many words denoting things without sex are ranked as masculine or feminine, without any regard to their meaning, but simply on account of their terminations. In French, all nouns are regarded as either masculine or feminine, which is a still greater departure from the order and simplicity of nature, for which the English language on this point is distinguished. Some have objected to the designation of three genders; they think, that, as there are but two sexes, it would be more philosophical and accurate to say there are only two genders; and to regard all words not belonging to these, as without gender. A little reflection, I think, will show that this objection has no just foundation, either in philosophy or in fact, and that the change it proposes would be no improvement. It has probably arisen from confounding the word gender, |