portant change for the better? Ask the hundreds of thousands who ha re studied "Mr. Murray's exercises in FALSE SYNTAX." If, then, this view of the subject is correct, it follows, that the greater portion of our philosophical grammars, are far more worthy the attention of literary connoisscurs, than of the great mass of learners. Knowing that a strong predilection for philosophical grammars, exists in the minds of some teachers of this science, I have thought proper, for the gratification of such, to intersperse through the pages of this work, under the head of "PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES," an entire system of grammatical principles as deduced from what appears to me to be the most rational and consistent philosophical investigations. They who prefer this theory to that exhibited in the body of the work, are, of course, at liberty to adopt it. In general, a philosophical theory of grammar will be found to accord with the practical theory embraced in the body of this work. Wherever such agreement exists, the system contained in these NOTES will be deficient, and this deficiency may be supplied by adopting the principles contained in the other parts of the work. OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL CLASSIFICATION OF words. A cording to the method in which philosophical investigations of lang tags have generally been conducted, all our words should be reduced to two PERSON IS a property of the noun and which varies the verb. The first person denotes the speaker. pronoun The second person denotes the person or thing spoken to; as, "Listen, O earth!” The third person denotes the person or thing spoken of; as, "The earth thirsts." Nouns have but two persons, the second and third. When man speaks, the pronoun I or we is always used; therefore nouns can never be in the first person. In examples like the a classes; for it can be easily shown, that from the noun and verb, all the other parts of speech have sprung. Nay, more. They may even be reduced to one. Verbs do not, in reality, express actions; but they are intrinsically the mere names of actions. The idea of action or being communicated by them, as well as the meaning of words in general, is merely inferential. The principle of reasoning assumed by the celebrated Horne Tooke, if carried to its full extent, would result, it is believed, in proving that we have but one part of speech. Adnouns or adjectives were originally nouns. Sweet, red, white, are the names of qualities, as well as sweetness, redness, whiteness. The former differ from the latter only in their manner of signification. To denote that the name of some quality or substance is to be used in connexion with some other name, or, that this quality is to be attributed to some other name, we sometimes affix to it the termination en, ed, or y; which signifies give, add, or join. When we employ the words wooden, woollen, wealthy, grassy, the terminations en and y, by their own intrinsick meaning, give notice that we intend to give, add, or join, the names of some other substances in which are found the properties or qualities of wood, wool, wealth, or grass. Pronouns are a class of nouns, used instead of others to prevent their disagreeable repetition. Participles are certain forms of the verb. Articles, following, some philologists suppose the noun to be in the first person::-"This may certify, that I, Jonas Taylor, do hereby give and grant," &c. But it is evident, that the speaker of writer, in introducing his own name, speaks of himself; consequently the noun is of the third person. If you wish to understand the persons of nouns, a little sober thought is requisite; and, by exercising it, all difficulties will be removed. If I say, my son, have you seen the young man? you perceive that the noun son is of the second person, because I address myself to him; that is, he is spoken to; but the noun man is of the third person, because he is spoken of. Again, if I say, young man, have you seen my son? man is of the second person, and son is of the third "Hast thou left thy blue course in the heavens, goldennaired sun of the sky?" "Father, may the Great Spirit so brighten the chain of friendship between us, that a child may find it, when the sun is asleep in his wig-wam behind the western waters." "Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies! Earth's loneliest bounds, and ocean's wildest shore." In these examples, the nouns, sun, father, mountains, val leys, and hope, are of the second person, and, as you will hereafter learn, in the nominative case independent. Course, hea vens, sky, Spirit, chain, friendship, child, sun, wig-wam, waters, earth, skies, wings, earth, bounds, ocean, and shore, are all of the third person. interjections, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, are contractions of abbreviations of nouns and verbs. An (a, ane, or one) comes from ananad to add, to heap. The and that, from the Anglo-Saxon verb thean, to get, assuine. Lo is the imperative of look; fy, of fian, to hate; and welcome incans, it is well that you are come. In comes from the Gothick nour inna, the in teriour of the body; and about, from boda, the first outward boundary. Through or thorough is the Teutonick noun thuruth, meaning passage, gate, door. From is the Anglo-Saxon noun frum, beginning, source, author. He came from (beginning) Batavia. If (formerly written gif, give, gin) is the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon verb gifan, to give. I will remain if (give or grant that fact) he will (remain.) But comes from the Saxon verb beon-utan to be-out. informed no one but (be-out, leave-qui) my brother. This brief view of the subject, is sufficient to elucidate the manner in which, according to Horne Tooke's principles, the ten parts of speech are reduced to one. But I am, by no means, disposed to concede, that this is the true principle of classification; nor that it is any more philosophical or ra tional than one which allows a more practical division and arrangement of words. What has been generally received as "philosophical grammar," appears to possess no stronger claims to that imposing appellation than our common, practical grammars. (query. Is not Mr. Murray's octavo grain NUMBER. NUMBER is the distinction of objects, as one or more. Nouns are of two numbers, the singular and the plural. The singular number implies but one; as, a book. The plural number implies more than one; as, books. NOTES. 1. Some nouns are used only in the singular form; as, hemp, flax, barley, wheat, pitch, gold, sloth, pride, honesty, meekness, compassion, &c.; others only in the plural form as, bellows, scissors, ashes, riches, snuffers, tongs, thanks, wages, embers, ides, pains, vespers, &c. 2. Some words are the same in both numbers; as, deer, sheep, swine, and, also, hiatus, apparatus, series, species. 3. The plural number of nouns is generally formed by adding s to the sin gular; as, dove, doves; face, faces; but sometimes we add es in the plural; as, box, boxes; church, churches; lash, lashes; cargo, cargoes. 4. Nouns ending in for fe, are rendered plural by a change of that termi nation into ves; as, half, halves; wife, wives; except grief, relief, reproof, and several others, which form their plurals by the addition of s. Those ending in ff, have the regular plural; as, ruff, ruffs; except staff, staves. 5. Nouns ending in y in the singular, with no other vowel in the same syllable, change it into ies in the plural; as, beauty, beauties; fly, flies. But the y is not changed, where there is another vowel in the syllable; as, key, keys; delay, delays; attorney, attorneys; valley, valleys; chimney, chimneys. 6. Mathematicks, metaphysicks, politicks, opticks, ethicks, pneumaticks, hydraulicks, &c. are construed either as singular or plural nouns. 7. The word news is always singular. The nouns means, alms, and amends, though plural in form, may be either singular or plural in significa nar more worthy the dignified title of a "Philosophical Grammar," than Horne Tooke's "Diversions of Purley," or William S. Cardell's treatises on language? What constitutes a philosophical treatise, on this, or on any other subject? Wherein is there a display of philosophy in a speculative, etymological performance, which attempts to develop and explain the elements and primitive meaning of words by tracing them to their origin, superiour to the philosophy employed in the development and illustration of the principles by which we are governed in applying those words to their legitimate purpose, namely, that of forming a correct and convenient medium by means of which we can communicate our thoughts? Does philosophy consist in ransacking the mouldy records of antiquity, in order to guess at the ancient construction and signification of single words? or have such investigations, in reality, any thing to do with grammar? Admitting that all the words of our language include, in their original signification, the import of nouns or names, and yet, it does not follow, that they now possess no other powers, and, in their combinations and connexions in sentences, are employed for no other purpose, than barely to name objects. The fact of the case is, that words are variously combined and applied, to answer the distinct and diversified purposes of naming objects as tion. Antipodes, credenda, literati, and minutiæ, are always plural. Bandit is now used as the singular of Banditti. 8. The following nouns form their plurals not according to any general rule; thus, man, men; woman, women; child, children; ox, oxen; tooth, teeth, goose, geese; foot, feet; mouse, mice; louse, lice; brother, bro thers or brethren; cow, cows or kine; penny, pence, of pennies when the coin is meant; die, dice for play, dies for coining; pea and fish, pease and fish when the species is meant, but peas and fishes when we refer to the number; as, six peas, ten fishes. 9. The following compounds form their plurals thus: handful, handfuls; cupful, cupfuls; spoontul, spoonfuls :-brother-in-law, brothers-in-law, court-martial, courts-martial. The following words form their plurals according to the rules of the languages from which they are adopted. * Genii, imaginary spirits: geniuses, persons of great mental abilities. tIndexes, when pointers or tables of contents are meant: indices, when referring to algebraick quantities." serting truths, pointing out and limiting objects, attributing qualities to objects connecting objects, and so on; and on this fact is founded the true philosophi cal principle of the classification of words. Hence, an arrangement of words into classes according to this principle, followed by a development and illustration of the principles and rules that regulate us in the proper use and application of words in oral and written discourse, appears to approximate as near to a true definition of philosophical grammar, as any I am capable of giving. Nouns, or the names of the objects of our perceptions, doubtless constituted the original class of words; (if I may be allowed to assume such a nypothesis as an original class of words;) but the ever-active principle of association, soon transformed nouns into verbs, by making thein, when |