Part 14

The word "ones," in the preceding example, does not belong to a noun understood. If it did, we could supply the noun. The meaning is not "the great one men, nor ones men," therefore _one_ is not an adjective pronoun; but the meaning is, "The great _men_ of the world," therefore _ones_ is a pronoun of the indefinite kind, representing the noun _men_ understood, and it ought to be parsed like a personal pronoun. The word _others_, in the next example, is a compound pronoun, equivalent to _other men_; and should be parsed like _mine, thine_, &c. See Note 4th, page 100.

I will now parse two pronouns, and then present some examples for you to analyze. If, in parsing the following exercises, you should be at a loss for definitions and rules, please to refer to the compendium. But before you proceed, you may commit the following

SYSTEMATIC ORDER OF PARSING.

The order of parsing an ADJECTIVE PRONOUN, is--an adjective pronoun, and why?--distributive, demonstrative, or indefinite, and why?--to what noun does it belong, or with what does it agree?--RULE.

"_One_ man instructs many _others." One_ is an adjective pronoun, or specifying adjective, it specifically points out a noun--indefinite, it expresses its subject in an indefinite or general manner, and belongs to the noun "man," according to RULE 19. _Adjective pronouns belong to nouns, expressed or understood_.

_Others_ is a compound pronoun, including both an adjective pronoun and a noun, and is equivalent to _other men_. _Other_ is an adjective pronoun, it is used specifically to describe its noun--indefinite, it expresses its subject in an indefinite manner, and belongs to _men_: Rule 19. (Repeat the rule.) _Men_ is a noun, a name denoting persons--common, &c. (parse it in full;) and in the objective case, it is the object of the action expressed by the transitive verb "instructs," and gov. by it: Rule 20. _Active-transitive verbs, &c_.

"_Those_ books are _mine_."

_Those_ is an adjective pronoun, it specifies what noun is referred to--demonstrative, it precisely points out the subject to which it relates--and agrees with the noun "books" in the plural number, according to NOTE 1, under Rule 19. _Adjective pronouns must agree in number with their nouns_.

_Mine_ is a compound personal pronoun, including both the possessor and the thing possessed, and is equivalent to _my books_. _My_ is a pron. a word used instead of a noun--personal, it stands for the name of the person speaking--first person, it denotes the speaker--sing. number, it implies but one--and in the poss. case, it denotes possession, and is gov. by "books," according to Rule 12. (Repeat the rule, and decline the pronoun.) _Books_ is a noun, the name of a thing--common, &c. (parse it in full;)--and in the nominative case after "are," according to RULE 21. _The verb_ to be _admits the same case after it as before it_.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Each individual fills a space in creation. Every man helps a little. These men rank among the great ones of the world. That book belongs to the tutor, this belongs to me. Some men labor, others labor not; the former increase in wealth, the latter decrease. The boy wounded the old bird, and stole the young ones. None performs his duty too well. None of those poor wretches complain of their miserable lot.

NOTE. In parsing the distributive pronominal adjectives, NOTE 2, undo Rule 19, should be applied.

* * * * *

III. OF RELATIVE PRONOUNS.

Relative Pronouns are such as relate, in general, to some word or phrase going before, which is called the antecedent. They are _who, which_, and _that_.

The word _antecedent_, comes from the two Latin words, _ante, before_, and _cedo, to go_. Hence you perceive, that antecedent means going before; thus, "The _man_ is happy _who_ lives virtuously; This is the _lady who_ relieved my wants; _Thou who_ lovest wisdom, &c. _We who_ speak from experience," &c. The relative who, in these sentences, relates to the several words, _man, lady, thou_, and _we_, which words, you observe, come before the relative: they are, therefore, properly called antecedents.

The relative is not varied on account of gender, person, or number, like a personal pronoun. When we use a personal pronoun, in speaking of a man, we say _he_, and of a woman, _she_; in speaking of one person or thing, we use a singular pronoun, of more than one, a plural, and so on; but there is no such variation of the relative. _Who_, in the first of the preceding examples, relates to an antecedent of the mas. gend. third pers. sing.; in the second, the antecedent is of the fem. gend.; in the third, it is of the second pers.; and in the fourth, it is of the first pers. plur. num.; and, yet, the relative is in the same form in each example. Hence you perceive, that the relative has no peculiar _form_ to denote its gend. pers. and num., but it always agrees with its antecedent _in sense_. Thus, when I say, The _man who_ writes, _who_ is mas. gend. and sing.; but when I say, The _ladies who_ write, _who_ is feminine, and plural. In order to ascertain the gend. pers. and num. of the relative, you must always look at its antecedent.

WHO, WHICH, and THAT.

_Who_ is applied to _persons, which_ to _things_ and _brutes_; as, "He is a _friend who_ is faithful in adversity; The _bird which_ sung so sweetly, is flown; This is the _tree which_ produces no fruit."

_That_ is often used as a relative, to prevent the too frequent repetition of _who_ and _which_. It is applied both to persons and things; as, "_He that_ acts wisely, deserves praise; Modesty is a _quality that_ highly adorns a woman."

NOTES.

1. _Who_ should never be applied to animals. The following application of it is erroneous:--"He is like a _least_ of prey, _who_ destroys without pity." It should be, _that_ destroys, &c.

2. _Who_ should not be applied to children. It is incorrect to say, "The _child whom_ we have just seen," &c. It should be, "The child _that_ we have just seen."

3. _Which_ may be applied to persons when we wish to distinguish one person of two, or a particular person among a number of others; as, "_Which_ of the two? _Which_ of them is he?"

4. _That_, in preference to _who_ or _which_, is applied to persons when they are qualified by an adjective in the superlative degree, or by the pronominal adjective _same_; as, "Charles XII., king of Sweden, was one of the _greatest_ madmen _that_ the world ever saw;--He is the _same_ man _that_ we saw before."

5. _That_ is employed after the interrogative _who_, in cases like the following; "Who _that_ has any sense of religion, would have argued thus?"

When the word _ever_ or _soever_ is annexed to a relative pronoun, the combination is called a _compound pronoun_; as, _whoever_ or _whosoever, whichever_ or _whichsoever, whatever_ or _whatsoever_.

DECLENSION OF THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS.

SINGULAR AND PLURAL.

_Nom._ who, _Poss._ whose, _Obj._ whom. " whoever, " whosever, " whomever. " whosoever, " whosesoever, " whomsoever.

_Which_ and _that_ are indeclinable, except that _whose_ is sometimes used as the possessive case of _which_; as, "Is there any other doctrine _whose_ followers are punished;" that is, the followers _of which_ are punished. The use of this license has obtained among our best writers; but the construction is not to be recommended, for it is a departure from a plain principle of grammar, namely, who, whose, whom, in their applications, should be confined to rational beings.

_That_ may be used as a pronoun, an adjective, and a conjunction, depending on the office which it performs in the sentence.

_That_ is a relative only when it can be changed to _who_ or _which_ without destroying the sense; as, "They _that_ (who) reprove us, may be our best friends; From every thing _that_ (which) you see, derive instruction." _That_ is a demonstrative adjective, when it belongs to, or points out, some particular noun, either expressed or implied; as, "Return _that_ book; _That_ belongs to me; Give me _that_." When _that_ is neither a relative nor an adjective pronoun, it is a conjunction; as, "Take care _that_ every day be well employed." The word _that_, in this last sentence, cannot be changed to _who_ or _which_ without destroying the sense, therefore you know it is not a relative pronoun; neither does it point out any particular noun, for which reason you know it is not an adjective pronoun; but it connects the sentence, therefore it is a conjunction.

If you pay particular attention to this elucidation of the word _that_, you will find no difficulty in parsing it. When it is a relative or an adjective pronoun, it may be known by the signs given; and whenever these signs will not apply to it, you know it is a conjunction.

Some writers are apt to make too free use of this word. I will give you one example of affronted _that_, which may serve as a caution. The tutor said, in speaking of the word that, that that that that that lady parsed, was not the that that that gentleman requested her to analyze. This sentence, though rendered inelegant by a bad choice of words, is strictly grammatical. The first _that_ is a noun; the second, a conjunction; the third, an adjective pronoun; the fourth, a noun; the fifth, a relative pronoun; the sixth, an adjective pronoun; the seventh, a noun; the eighth, a relative pronoun; the ninth, an adjective pronoun. The meaning of the sentence will be more obvious, if rendered thus; The tutor said, in speaking of the word that, that that that _which_ that lady parsed, was not the that _which_ that gentleman requested her to analyze.

WHAT.

_What_ is generally a compound relative, including both the antecedent and the relative, and is equivalent to _that which_; as, "This is _what_ I wanted;" that is, _that which_, or, _the thing which_ I wanted.

_What_ is compounded of _which that_. These words have been contracted and made to coalesce, a part of the orthography of both being still retained: _what--wh[ich--t]hat_; (_which-that_.) Anciently it appeared in the varying forms, _tha qua, qua tha, qu'tha, quthat, quhat, hwat_, and finally, _what_.

_What_ may be used as three kinds of a pronoun, and as an interjection. When it is equivalent to _that which, the thing which_, or _those things which_, it is a compound relative, because it includes both the antecedent and the relative; as, "I will try _what_ (that which) can be found in female delicacy; _What_ you recollect with most pleasure, are the virtuous actions of your past life;" that is, _those things which_ you recollect, &c.

When _what_ is a compound relative, you must always parse it as two words; that is, you must parse the antecedent part as a noun, and give it a case; the relative part you may analyze like any other relative, giving it a case likewise. In the first of the preceding examples, _that_, the antecedent part of _what_, is in the obj. case, governed by the verb "will try;" _which_, the relative part, is in the nom. case to "can be found." "I have heard _what_ (i.e. _that which_, or _the thing which_) has been alleged."

_Whoever_ and _whosoever_ are also compound relatives, and should be parsed like the compound _what_; as, "_Whoever_ takes that oath, is bound to enforce the laws." In this sentence, _whoever_ is equivalent to _he who_, or, _the man who_; thus, "_He who_ takes that oath, is bound," &c.

_Who, which_, and _what_, when used in asking questions, are called interrogative pronouns, or relatives of the interrogative kind; as, _"Who_ is he? _Which_ is the person? _What_ are you doing?"

Interrogative pronouns have no antecedent; but they relate to the word or phrase which is the answer to the question, for their subsequent; as, "_Whom_ did you see? The _preceptor. What_ have you done? _Nothing_." Antecedent and subsequent are opposed to each other in signification. Antecedent means preceding, or going before; and subsequent means following, or coming after. _What_, when used as an interrogative, is never compound.

_What, which_, and _that_, when joined to nouns, are specifying adjectives, or adjective pronouns, in which situation they have no case, but are parsed like adjective pronouns of the demonstrative or indefinite kind; as, "Unto _which_ promise our twelve tribes hope to come;" "_What_ misery the vicious endure! _What_ havock hast thou made, foul monster, sin!"

_What_ and _which_, when joined to nouns in asking questions, are denominated interrogative pronominal adjectives; as, "_What man_ is that? _Which road_ did he take?"

_What, whatever_, and _whatsoever, which, whichever_, and _whichsoever_, in constructions like the following, are compound pronouns, but not compound relatives; as, "In _what_ character Butler was admitted, is unknown; Give him _what_ name you choose; Nature's care largely endows _whatever_ happy man will deign to use her treasures; Let him take _which_ course, or, _whichever_ course he will." These sentences may be rendered thus; "_That_ character, or, _the_ character in _which_ Butler was admitted, is unknown; Give him _that_ name, or, _the_ name _which_ you choose; Nature's care endows _that_ happy man _who_ will deign, &c.; Let him take _that_ course, or _the_ course _which_ he will." A compound relative necessarily includes both an antecedent and a relative. These compounds, you will notice, do not include antecedents, the first part of each word being the article _the_, or the adjective pronoun, _that_; therefore they cannot properly be denominated compound relatives.--With regard to the word _ever_ annexed to these pronouns, it is a singular fact, that, as soon as we analyze the word to which it is subjoined, _ever_ is entirely excluded from the sentence.

_What_ is sometimes used as an interjection; as, "But _what!_ is thy servant a dog, that he should do this? _What!_ rob us of our right of suffrage, and then shut us up in dungeons!"

You have now come to the most formidable obstacle, or, if I may so speak, to the most rugged eminence in the path of grammatical science; but be not disheartened, for, if you can get safely over this, your future course will be interrupted with only here and there a gentle elevation. It will require close application, and a great deal of sober thinking, to gain a clear conception of the nature of the relative pronouns, particularly the compound relatives, which are not easily comprehended by the young learner. As this eighth lecture is a very important one, it becomes necessary for you to read it carefully four or five times over before you proceed to commit the following order. Whenever you parse, you may spread the Compendium before you, if you please.

SYSTEMATIC ORDER OF PARSING.

_The order of parsing a_ RELATIVE PRONOUN, is--a pronoun, and why?--relative, and why?--gender, person, and number, and why?--RULE:--case, and why?--RULE.--Decline it.

"This is the man _whom_ we saw."

_Whom_ is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun--relative, it relates to "man" for its antecedent--mas. gend. third pers. sing. num. because the antecedent "man" is with which it agrees, according to

RULE 14. _Relative pronouns agree with their antecedents in gender, person, and number. Whom_ is in the objective case, the object of the action expressed by the active-transitive verb "saw," and governed by it, agreeably to

RULE 16. _When a nominative comes between the relative and the verb, the relative is governed by the following verb, or some other word in its own member of the sentence_.

_Whom_, in the objective case, is placed before the verb that governs it, according to NOTE 1, under Rule 16. (Repeat the Note, and decline _who_.)

"From _what_ is recorded, he appears," &c.

_What_ is a comp. rel. pron. including both the antecedent and the relative, and is equivalent to _that which_, or the _thing which_--_Thing_, the antecedent part of _what_, is a noun, the name of a thing--com. the name of a species--neuter gender, it has no sex--third person, spoken of--sing. number, it implies but one--and in the obj. case, it is the object of the relation expressed by the prep. "from," and gov. by it: RULE 31. (Repeat the Rule, and every other Rule to which I refer.) _Which_, the relative part of _what_, is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun--relative, it relates to "thing" for its antecedent--neut. gender, third person, sing. number, because the antecedent "thing" is with which it agrees, according to RULE 14. _Rel pron_. &c. _Which_ is in the nom. case to the verb "is recorded," agreeably to

RULE 15. _The relative is the nominative case to the verb, when no nominative comes between it and the verb_.

"_What_ have you learned? Nothing."

_What_ is a pron. a word used, &c.--relative of the interrogative kind, because it is used in asking a question--it refers to the word "nothing" for its _subsequent_, according to

RULE 17. _When the rel. pron. is of the interrog. kind, it refers to the word or phrase containing the answer to the question, for its subsequent, which subsequent must agree in case with the interrogative. What_ is of the neut. gend. third pers. sing. because the subsequent "nothing" is with which it agrees; RULE 14. _Rel. pron. agree_, &c.--It is in the obj. case, the object of the action, of the active-transitive verb "have learned," and gov. by it, agreeably to RULE 16. _When a nom_. &c. See NOTE 1, under the Rule.

NOTE. 1. You need not apply gend. pers. and numb, to the interrogative when the answer to the question is _not_ expressed.

WHO, WHICH, WHAT.

Truth and simplicity are twin sisters, and generally go hand in hand. The foregoing exposition of the "relative pronouns," is in accordance with the usual method of treating them; but if they were unfolded according to their true character, they would be found to be very simple, and, _doubtless_, much labor and perplexity, on the part of the learner, would thereby be saved.

Of the words called "relatives," _who_, only, is a pronoun; and this is strictly _personal_; more so, indeed, if we except _I_ and _we_, than any other word in our language, for it is always restricted to persons. It ought to be classed with the personal pronouns. _I, thou, he, she, it, we, ye, you_, and _they, relate_ to antecedents, as well as _who. Which, that_, and _what_, are always adjectives. They never _stand for_, but always _belong_ to nouns, either expressed or implied. They _specify_, like many other adjectives, and _connect_ sentences.

_Who_ supplies the place of _which_ or _what_ and its _personal noun_. _Who_ came? i.e. _what man, what woman, what person;--which man, woman_, or _person_, came? "They heard _what_ I said"--they heard _that_ (thing) _which_ (thing) I said. "Take _what_ (or _whichever_) course you please;"--take _that_ course _which_ (course) you please to take. "_What_ have you done?" i.e. _what thing, act_, or _deed_ have you done? "_Which thing_ I also did at Jerusalem." "_Which_ will you take?"--_which book, hat_, or something else? "This is the tree _which_ (tree) produces no fruit." "He _that_ (man, or _which_ man) acts wisely, deserves praise."

They who prefer this method of treating the "relatives," are at liberty to adopt it, and parse accordingly.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

The man who instructs you, labors faithfully. The boy whom I instruct, learns well. The lady whose house we occupy, bestows many charities. That modesty which highly adorns a woman, she possesses. He that acts wisely deserves praise. This is the tree which produces no fruit. I believe what He says. He speaks what he knows. Whatever purifies the heart, also fortifies it. What doest[5] thou? Nothing. What book have you? A poem. Whose hat have you? John's. Who does that work? Henry. Whom seest thou? To whom gave you the present? Which pen did he take? Whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. I heard what he said. George, you may pursue whatever science suits your taste. Eliza, take whichever pattern pleases you best. Whoever lives to see this republic forsake her moral and literary institutions, will behold her liberties prostrated. Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God.

[5] The second person singular of _do_, when used as a principal verb, is spelled with an _e_; thus, "What thou _doest_, do quickly;" but when employed as an auxiliary, the _e_ should be omitted; as, "_Dost_ thou not _behold_ a rock with its head of heath?"

NOTE. The nominative case is frequently placed after the verb, and the objective case, before the verb that governs it. _Whom_, in every sentence except one, _house, modesty, book, hat, pen, him_, the third _what_ and _which_, the relative part of the first _two whats_, are all in the _objective_ case, and governed by the several verbs that follow them. See RULE 16, and NOTE 1. _Tree_ is nom. after is, according to RULE 21. Thing, the antecedent part of _whatever_, is nom. to "fortifies;" _which_, the relative part, is nom. to "purifies." _Nothing_ is governed by _do_, and _poem_, by _have_, understood. _Henry_ is nominative to _does_, understood. _Whose_ and _John's_ are governed according to RULE 12. _I, thou, you, him_, &c. represent nouns understood. _Him_, in the last sentence but five, is governed by _declare_, and _I_ is nominative to _declare. George_ and _Eliza_ are in the nominative case independent: Rule 5. "_Whatever_ science," &c. is equivalent to, _that_ science _which_ suits your taste;--"_whichever_ pattern;" i.e. _that_ pattern _which_ pleases you best. _Whoever_ is a compound relative; _he_, the antecedent part, is nominative to "will behold." _Take_ agrees with _you_ understood. _Forsake_ is in the infinitive mood after "see:" Rule 25.

REMARKS ON RELATIVE PRONOUNS.

_Which_ sometimes relates to a member of a sentence, or to a whole sentence, for its antecedent: as, "We are required to fear God and keep his commandments, _which_ is the whole duty of man." What is the whole duty of man? "To fear God and keep his commandments:" therefore, this phrase is the antecedent to _which_.

The conjunction _as_, when it follows _such, many_, or _same_, is frequently denominated a relative pronoun; as, "I am pleased with _such as_ have a refined taste;" that is, with _those who_, or _them who have_, &c. "Let _such as_ presume to advise others, look well to their own conduct;" that is, Let _those_, or _them who_ presume, &c. "_As many as_ were ordained to eternal life, believed;" that is, _they, those_, or _all who_ were ordained, believed. "He exhibited the _same_ testimonials _as_ were adduced on a former occasion;" that is, _those_ testimonials _which_ were adduced, &c. But, in examples like these, if we supply the ellipsis which a critical analysis requires us to do, _as_ will be found to be a conjunction; thus, "I am pleased with _such persons, as those persons are who_ have a refined taste; Let _such persons, as those persons are who_ presume," &c.

QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN PARSING.