Part 11

Orlando left the herd grazing. The hunters heard the young dog barking. The old fox heard the sportsman's horn sounding. Deep rivers float long rafts. Purling streams moisten the earth's surface. The sun approaching, melts the crusted snow. The slumbering seas calmed the grave old hermit's mind. Pale Cynthia declining, clips the horizon. Man beholds the twinkling stars adorning night's blue arch. The stranger saw the desert thistle bending there its lowly head.

REMARKS ON PARTICIPLES.

Participles frequently become nouns; as, "A good _understanding_; Excellent _writing_; He made a good _beginning_, but a bad _ending_."

Constructions like the following, have long been sanctioned by the best authorities: "The goods are _selling_;" "The house is _building_;" "The work is now _publishing_." A modern innovation, however, is likely to supersede this mode of expression: thus, "The goods are _being sold_;" "The house is _being built_;" "The work is now _being published_."

You may now answer these QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN PARSING.

How many kinds of participles are there?--What is the ending of a present participle?--What does a perfect participle denote?--With what does the perfect participle of a regular verb correspond?--What is a compound participle?--From what word is the term participle derived?--Why is this part of speech thus named?--Wherein does this part of speech partake of the nature of a verb?--Do all participles participate the properties of adjectives?--In what respect?--When are participles called _participial adjectives_?--Give examples.--How may a present participle be known?--Repeat the order of parsing a participle.--What rule applies in parsing a _present_ participle?--What Rule in parsing a participial adjective?--Do participles vary in their terminations in order to agree with their subject or actor?--What Rule applies in parsing a noun in the _objective case_, governed by a participle?--Do participles ever become nouns?--Give examples.

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PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

Participles are formed by adding to the verb the termination _ing, ed_, or _en_. _Ing_ signifies the same as the noun _being_. When postfixed to the noun-state of the verb, the compound word thus formed, expresses a continued state of the verbal denotement. It implies that what is meant by the verb, is _being_ continued. _En_ is an alteration of _an_, the Saxon verbalizing adjunct; _ed_ is a contraction of _dede_; and the terminations _d_ and _t_, are a contraction of _ed_. Participles ending in _ed_ or _en_, usually denote the _dodo, dede, doed, did, done_, or _finished_ state of what is meant by the verb. The book is _printed_. It is a _print-ed_ or _print-done_ book, or such a one as the _done_ act of _printing_ has made it. The book is _written_; i.e. it has received the _done_ or _finish-ed_ act of _writ-ing_ it.

Participles bear the same relation to verbs, that adnouns do to nouns. They might, therefore, be styled _verbal adjectives_. But that theory which ranks them with adnouns, appears to rest on a sandy foundation. In classifying words, we ought to be guided more by their _manner_ of meaning, and their _inferential_ meaning, than by their primitive, essential signification. "I have a _broken_ plate;" i.e. I have a plate--_broken_; "I have _broken_ a plate." If there is no difference in the _essential_ meaning of the word _broken_, in these two constructions, it cannot be denied, that there is a wide difference in the meaning--_inferred_ by custom; which difference depends on the _manner_ in which the term is applied. The former construction denotes, that I _possess_ a plate which was _broken_, (whether with or without my agency, is not intimated,) perhaps, one hundred or one thousand years ago; whereas, the meaning of the latter is, that I _performed the act_ of reducing the plate from a whole to a _broken_ state; and it is not intimated whether I possess it, or some one else. It appears reasonable, that, in a practical grammar, at least, any word which occurs in constructions differing so widely, may properly be classed with different parts of speech. This illustration likewise establishes the propriety of retaining what we call the _perfect tense_ of the verb.

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QUESTIONS ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

How are participles formed?--What does the imperfect part express?-- What do perfect participles denote?

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LECTURE VI.

OF ADVERBS.

An ADVERB is a word used to modify the sense of a _verb_, a_participle_, an _adjective_, or another _adverb_.

Recollect, an adverb never qualifies a _noun_. It qualifies any of the four parts of speech abovenamed, and none others.

To _modify_ or _qualify_, you know, means to produce some _change_. The adverb modifies. If I say, Wirt's style _excels_ Irving's, the proposition is affirmative, and the verb _excels_ expresses the affirmation. But when I say, Wirt's style _excels not_ Irving's, the assertion is changed to a negative. What is it that thus modifies or changes the meaning of the verb _excels_? You perceive that it is the little word _not_. This word has power to reverse the meaning of the sentence. _Not_, then, is a modifier, qualifier, or negative adverb.

When an adverb is used to modify the sense of a verb or participle, it generally expresses the manner, time, or place, in which the action is performed, or some accidental circumstance respecting it. In the phrases, The man rides _gracefully, awkwardly_, _badly, swiftly, slowly_, &c.; or, I saw the man riding _swiftly, slowly, leisurely, very fast_, &c., you perceive that the words _gracefully, awkwardly, very fast_, &c., are adverbs, qualifying the verb _rides_, or the participle _riding_, because they express the _manner_ in which the action denoted by the verb and participle, is done.

In the phrases, The man rides _daily, weekly, seldom, frequently, often, sometimes, never_; or, The man rode _yesterday, heretofore, long since, long ago, recently, lately, just now_ or, The man will ride _soon, presently, directly, immediately, by and by, to-day, hereafter_, you perceive that all these words in _italics_, are adverbs, qualifying the meaning of the verb, rides, because they express the _time_ of the action denoted by the verb.

Again, if I say, The man lives _here, near by, yonder, remote, far off, somewhere, nowhere, everywhere_, &c., the words in _italics_ are adverbs of _place_, because they tell where he lives.

Adverbs likewise qualify adjectives, and sometimes other adverbs; as, _more_ wise, _most_ wise; or _more wisely, most wisely_. When an adverb is joined to an adjective or adverb, it generally expresses _the degree_ of comparison; for adverbs, like adjectives, have degrees of comparison. Thus, in the phrase, A skilful artist, you know the adjective _skilful_ is in the positive degree; but, by placing the adverb _more_ before the adjective, we increase the degree of quality denoted by the adjective to the comparative; as, A _more_ skilful artist: and _most_ renders it superlative; as, A _most_ skilful artist. And if we place more and most before other adverbs, the effect is the same; as, skilfully, _more_ skilfully, _most_ skilfully.

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS.

_Positive_ _Comparative_ _Superlative_. soon sooner soonest. often oftener oftenest. much more most. well better best. far farther farthest. wisely more wisely most wisely. justly more justly most justly. justly less justly least justly.

You will generally know an adverb at sight; but sometimes you will find it more difficult to be distinguished, than any other part of speech in the English language. I will, therefore, give you some _signs_ which will assist you a little.

Most words ending in _ly_ are adverbs; such as, _politely, gracefully, judiciously_. Any word or short phrase that will answer to any one of the questions, _how? how much? when?_ or _where?_ is an adverb; as, The river flows _rapidly_; He walks _very fast_; He has gone _far away;_ but he will _soon_ return; She sings _sweetly_; They learn _none at all_. How, or in what manner does the river flow? _Rapidly_. How does he walk? _Very fast_. Where has he gone? _Far away_. When will he return? _Soon_. How does she sing? _Sweetly_. How much do they learn? _None at all_. From this illustration, you perceive, that, if you could not tell these adverbs by the sense, you would know them by their answering to the questions. However, your better way will be to distinguish adverbs by considering the office they perform in the sentence; or by noticing their grammatical relation, or their situation, with respect to other words. To gain a thorough knowledge of their real character, is highly important. _Rapidly, fast, far away, soon, sweetly_, &c. are known to be adverbs by their qualifying the sense of verbs. "A _very_ good pen writes _extremely well." Well_, in this sentence, is known to be an adverb by its qualifying the sense of the verb _writes; extremely_, by its ending in _ly_, or by its being joined to the adverb _well_ to qualify it; and _very_ is known as an adverb by its joining the adjective _good_.

Expressions like these, _none at all, a great deal, a few days ago, long since, at length, in vain_, when they are used to denote the _manner_ or _time_ of the action of verbs or participles, are generally termed _adverbial phrases_.

Adverbs, though very numerous, may, for the sake of practical convenience, be reduced to particular classes.

1. _Of Number;_ as, Once, twice, thrice, &c.

2. _Of Order;_ as, First, secondly, lastly, finally, &c.

3. _Of Place;_ as, Here, there, where, elsewhere, anywhere, somewhere, nowhere, herein, whither, hither, thither, upward, downward, forward, backward, whence, thence, whithersoever, &c.

4. _Of Time_. _Present_; as, Now, to-day, &c. _Past_; as, Already, before, lately, yesterday, heretofore, hitherto, long since, long ago, &c. _Future_; as, To-morrow, not yet, hereafter, henceforth, henceforward, by and by, instantly, presently, immediately, ere long, straightways, &c. _Time indefinite_; as, Oft, often, oft-times, often-times, sometimes, soon, seldom, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, always, when, then, ever, never, again, &c.

5. _Of Quantity_; as, Much, little, sufficiently, how much, how great, enough, abundantly, &c.

6. _Of Manner_ or _quality_; as, Wisely, foolishly, justly, unjustly, quickly, slowly, &c. Adverbs of quality are the most numerous kind; and they are generally formed by adding the termination _ly_ to an adjective or a participle, or by changing _le_ into _ly;_ as, Bad, badly; cheerful, cheerfully; able, ably; admirable, admirably.

7. _Of Doubt_; as, Haply, perhaps, peradventure, possibly, perchance.

8. _Of Affirmation_; as, Verily, truly, undoubtedly, doubtless, certainly, yea, yes, surely, indeed, really, &c.

9. _Of Negation_; as, Nay, no, not, by no means, not at all, in no wise, &c.

10. _Of Interrogation_; as, How, why, wherefore, whither, &c., and sometimes when, whence, where.

11. _Of Comparison_; as, More, most, better, best, worse, worst, less, least, very, almost, little, alike, &c.

NOTES.

1. This catalogue contains but a small portion of the adverbs in our language. Many adverbs are formed by a combination of prepositions with the adverbs of place, _here, there, where_; as, Hereof, thereof, whereof; hereto, thereto, whereto; hereby, thereby, whereby; herewith, therewith, wherewith; herein, therein, wherein; therefore, (i.e. there-for,) wherefore, (i.e. where-for,) hereupon, hereon, thereupon, thereon, whereupon, whereon, &c.

2. Some adverbs are composed of nouns or verbs and the letter _a_, used instead of _at, an_, &c.; as, Aside, athirst, afoot, asleep, aboard, ashore, abed, aground, afloat, adrift, aghast, ago, askance, away, asunder, astray, &c.

You will now please to read this lecture _four_ times over, and read slowly and carefully, for unless you understand well the nature and character of this part of speech, you will be frequently at a loss to distinguish it from others in composition. Now do you notice, that, in this sentence which you have just read, the words _slowly, carefully, well_, and _frequently_, are adverbs? And do you again observe, that, in the question I have just put to you, the words _now_ and _just_ are adverbs? Exercise a little sober thought. Fifteen minutes spent in reflection, are worth whole days occupied in careless reading.

In the following exercises six parts of speech are presented, namely, Nouns, Verbs, Articles, Adjectives, Participles, and Adverbs; and I believe you are now prepared to parse them all agreeably to the systematic order, _four_ times over. Those words in _italics_ are adverbs.

SYSTEMATIC ORDER OF PARSING.

_The order of parsing an_ ADVERB, is--an adverb, and why?--what sort?--what does it qualify?--RULE.

"My friend has returned _again_; but his health is _not very_ good." _Again_, is an adverb, a word used to modify the sense of a verb--of time indefinite, it expresses a period of time not precisely defined--it qualifies the verb "has returned," according to

Rule 29. _Adverbs qualify verbs, participles, adjectives, and other adverbs_.

_Not_ is an adverb, a word used to modify the sense of an adverb--of negation, it makes the assertion negative; that is, it changes the proposition from an affirmative to a negative--and it qualifies the adverb "very," agreeably to Rule 29. _Adverbs qualify verbs, &c_.

_Very_ is an adverb, a word used to qualify the sense of an adjective--of comparison, it compares the adjective "good," and qualifies it according to Rule 29. _Adverbs qualify adjectives, &c_.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

The traveller described a lofty castle decaying _gradually. Very_ few literary men _ever_ became distinguished poets. The great Milton excels _not_ Homer. The Roman women, _once voluntarily_ contributed their _most_ precious jewels to save the city.

Many small streams uniting, form _very_ large rivers. The river Funza falling _perpendicularly_ forms a vast cataract. Attentive servants _always_ drive horses _very carefully_; negligent servants _often_ drive horses _very carelessly_. Assiduous scholars improve _very fast_; idle scholars learn _none at all_. Friendship _often_ ends in love; but love in friendship, _never_.

NOTE. Several adverbs frequently qualify one verb. Have you walked? _Not yet quite far enough, perhaps. Not, yet, far_, and _enough_, qualify "have walked" understood; _perhaps_ qualifies _not_; and _quite_ qualifies _far_. The adverbs _always_ and _carefully_ both qualify the verb "drive:" the former expresses _time_, and the latter, _manner. Once_ and _voluntarily_ qualify the verb "contributed;" the former expresses _number_, and the latter, _manner_. The word _their_ you need not parse. The active verb _to save_ has no nominative. The nouns _love_ and _friendship_, following _in_, are in the objective case, and governed by that preposition.

REMARKS ON ADVERBS.

When the words _therefore, consequently, accordingly_, and the like, are used in connexion with other conjunctions, they are _adverbs_; but when they appear single, they are commonly considered _conjunctions_.

The words _when_ and _where_, and all others of the same nature, such as _whence, whither, whenever, wherever, till, until, before, otherwise, while, wherefore_, &c. may be properly called _adverbial conjunctions_, because they participate the nature both of adverbs and conjunctions; of adverbs, as they denote the attributes either of _time_ or _place_; of conjunctions, as they _conjoin sentences_.

There are many words that are sometimes used as adjectives, and, sometimes as adverbs; as, "_More_ men than women were there; I am _more_ diligent than he." In the former sentence _more_ is evidently an adjective, for it is joined to a noun to qualify it; in the latter it is an adverb, because it qualifies an adjective. There are others that are sometimes used as nouns, and sometimes as adverbs; as, "_to-day's_ lesson is longer than _yesterday's_." In this example, _to-day_ and _yesterday_ are nouns in the possessive case; but in phrases like the following, they are generally considered adverbs of time; "He came [_to his] home yesterday_, and will set out again _to-day_." Here they are nouns, if we supply _on_ before them.

"Where _much [wealth, talent_, or something else] is given, _much [increase, improvement_] will be required; _Much_ money has been expended; It is _much_ better to write than starve." In the first two of these examples, _much_ is an adjective, because it qualifies a noun; in the last, an adverb, because it qualifies the adjective _better_. In short, you must determine to what part of speech a word belongs, by its _sense_, or by considering the _manner_ in which it is associated with other words.

An adjective may, in general, be distinguished from an _adverb_ by this rule: when a word qualifies a _noun_ or _pronoun_, it is an adjective, but when it qualifies a _verb, participle, adjective_, or _adverb_, it is an adverb.

Prepositions are sometimes erroneously called adverbs, when their nouns are understood. "He rides _about_;" that is, about the _town, country_, or some-_thing_ else. "She was _near_ [the _act_ or _misfortune of_] falling;" "But do not _after_ [that _time_ or _event_] lay the blame on me." "He came _down_ [the _ascent_] from the hill;" "They lifted him _up_ [the _ascent_] out of the pit." "The angels _above_;"--above _us_--"Above these lower _heavens_, to us invisible, or dimly seen."

Before you proceed to correct the following exercises in false Syntax, you may answer these

QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN PARSING.

Does an adverb ever qualify a noun?--What parts of speech does it qualify?--When an adverb qualifies a verb or participle, what does it express?--When an adverb qualifies an adjective or adverb, what does it generally express?--Compare some adverbs.--By what signs may an adverb be known?--Give examples.--Repeat some _adverbial phrases_.--Name the different classes of adverbs.--Repeat some of each class.--Repeat the order of parsing an adverb.--What rule do you apply in parsing an adverb?

QUESTIONS ON THE NOTES.

Repeat some adverbs that are formed by combining prepositions with adverbs of place.--Repeat some that are composed of the article _a_ and nouns.--What part of speech are the words, _therefore, consequently_, &c.?--What words are styled _adverbial conjunctions_?--Why are they so called?--Is the same word sometimes used as an adjective, and sometimes as an adverb?--Give examples.--What is said of _much_?--By what rule can you distinguish an adjective from an adverb?--Do prepositions ever become adverbs?

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PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

As the happiness and increasing prosperity of a people essentially depend on their advancement in science and the arts, and as language, in all its sublime purposes and legitimate bearings, is strictly identified with these, it may naturally be supposed, that that nation which continues, through successive generations, steadily to progress in the former, will not be neglectful of the cultivation and refinement of the latter. The truth of this remark is illustrated by those who have, for many ages, employed the English language as their medium for the transmission of thought. Among its refinements may be ranked those procedures by which verbs and nouns have been so modified and contracted as to form what we call adverbs, distributives, conjunctions, and prepositions; for I presume it will be readily conceded, that conciseness, as well as copiousness and perspicuity in language, is the offspring of refinement. That an immense amount of time and breath is saved by the use of adverbs, the following development will clearly demonstrate. He who is successful in contracting one mode of expression that is daily used by thirty millions, doubtless does much for their benefit.

Most adverbs express in one word what would otherwise require two or more words; as, "He did it _here_," for, He did it _in this place; there_, for, _in that place; where_, for, _in what place; now_, for, _at this time. Why_ means _for what reason; how--in what mind, mood, mode_, or _manner; exceedingly--to a great degree; very--in an eminent degree; often_ and _seldom_ signify _many times, few times_.

The procedures by which words have been contracted, modified and combined, to form this class of words, have been various. The most prolific family of this illegitimate race, are those in _ly_, a contraction of _like. Gentleman-ly_, means _gentleman-like, like_ a gentleman. We do not yet say, _ladily_, but _lady-like_. The north Britons still say, _wiselike, manlike_, instead of, _wisely, manly_.

_Quick_ comes from _gwick_, the past part. of the Anglo-Saxon verb _gwiccian_, to vivify, give life. _Quick-ly_ or _live-ly_, means, in a _quick-like_ or _life-like_ manner; in the manner of a creature that has _life. Rapid-ly--rapid-like, like a rapid_; a _quick-ly_ or _swift-ly_ running place in a stream.

_Al-ways_, contraction of _in all ways_. By a slight transition, it means _in_ or _at all times. Al-one_, contraction of _all-one. On-ly--one-like. Al-so--all the same_ (thing.) _Ever_--an _age_. For _ever_ and _ever_--for _ages_ and _ages_. Ever is not synonymous with always. _Never_--_ne ever_. It signifies _no age, no period of time. No_, contraction of _not. Not_, a modification of _no-thing, noth-ing, naught_. "He is _not_ greater"--is greater _in naught_--_in no thing_.

_Adrift_ is the past part. _adrifed, adrif'd, adrift_; from the Saxon _drifan_, or _adrifan_, to drive. _Ago_, formerly written _ygo, gon, agon, gone, agone_, is the past part. of the verb _to go_. It refers to time _gone by. Asunder_, the Saxon past part. _asundren_, from the verb _sondrian_ or _asondrian_, to separate. _Aloft--on the loft, on luft, on lyft; lyft_ being the Anglo-Saxon word for _air_ or _clouds. Astray_, the part. of _straegan_, to stray. _Awry_, part. of _wry than_, to writhe.

_Needs_--_need-is_; anciently, _nedes_, nede is. To-_wit_, the infinitive of _witan_, to know. It means, _to be known_. _Ay_ or _yea_ signifies _have it, enjoy it. Yes_ is _ay-es_, have, possess, enjoy _that_. Our corrupt _o-yes_ of the crier, is the French imperative, _oyez_, hear, listen. _Straight way_--by a straight way. _While--wheel_; period in which some thing _whiles_ or _wheels_ itself round. _Till_--to while. _Per_, Latin,--the English _by_. Perhaps--per haps, per chance. These examples of derivation are given with the view to invite the attention of the intelligent pupil to the "Diversions of Purley, by John Horne Tooke."

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QUESTIONS ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

How does the use of adverbs contribute to the conciseness of language?--Illustrate the fact.--What is said of _ly, like_, and _quick_?--How are the following words composed, _always, alone, only, also_?--What is the meaning of _ever, never, not, adrift, ago, asunder, aloft, astray, awry_?--Give the signification of _needs, to-wit, ye, yes, o-yes, straightway, while, till_, and _per_.

NOTE. Learners need not answer the questions on the Philosophical Notes, in this or any other Lecture, unless the teacher deem it expedient.

EXERCISES IN FALSE SYNTAX.