Chapter 17

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GENERAL REVIEW.

Schemes for the Conjunction, Preposition, and Interjection.

(_The numbers refer to Lessons_.)

| Co-Ordinate. | THE CONJUNCTION. +Classes+. + Subordinate + 106-107. | |

THE PREPOSITION. No Classes (95, 98, 99).

THE INTERJECTION. No Classes (20, 21).

MODIFICATIONS OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

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LESSON 112.

+Introductory Hints+.--You have learned that two words may express a thought, and that the thought may be varied by adding modifying words. You are now to learn that the meaning or use of a word may be changed by simply changing its form. The English language has lost most of its inflections, or forms, so that many of the changes in the meaning and the use of words are not now marked by changes in form. These changes in the form, the meaning, and the use of the parts of speech we call their +Modifications+. [Footnote: Those grammarians that attempt to restrict number, case, mode, etc.--what we here call _Modifications_--to form, find themselves within bounds which they continually overleap. They define number, for instance, as a form, or inflection, and yet speak of nouns "plural in form but singular in sense," or "singular in form but plural in sense;" that is, if you construe them rigorously, plural or singular in form but singular or plural form in sense. They tell you that case is a form, and yet insist that nouns have three cases, though only two forms; and speak of the nominative and the objective case of the noun, "although in fact the two cases are always the same in form"--the two forms always the same in form!

On the other hand, those that make what we call _Modifications_ denote only relations or conditions of words cannot cling to these abstract terms. For instance, they ask the pupil to "pronounce and write the possessive of nouns," hardly expecting, we suppose, that the "condition" of a noun will be sounded or written; and they speak of "a noun in the singular with a plural application," in which expression _singular_ must be taken to mean _singular form_ to save it from sheer nonsense.

We know no way to steer clear of Scylla and keep out of Charybdis but to do what by the common use of the word we are allowed; viz., to take _Modifications_ with such breadth of signification that it will apply to meaning and to use, as well as to form. Primarily, of course, it meant inflections, used to mark changes in the meaning and use of words. But we shall use _Modifications_ to indicate changes in meaning and use when the form in the particular instance is wanting, nowhere, however, recognizing that as a modification which is not somewhere marked by form.]

Modifications of Nouns and Pronouns.

NUMBER.

_The boy shouts_. _The boys shout_. The form of the subject _boy_ is changed by adding an _s_ to it. The meaning has changed. _Boy_ denotes one lad; boys, two or more lads. This change in the form and the meaning of nouns is called +Number+; the word _boy_, denoting one thing, is in the +Singular Number+; and _boys_, denoting more than one thing, is in the +Plural Number+. Number expresses only the distinction of one from more than one; to express more precisely how many, we use adjectives, and say _two boys_, _four boys_, _many_ or _several boys_.

+DEFINITIONS+.

+_Modifications of the Parts of Speech_ are changes in their form, meaning, and use+.

+_Number_ is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes one thing or more than one.+

+The _Singular Number_ denotes one thing+.

+The _Plural Number_ denotes more than one thing+.

NUMBER FORMS.

+RULE.--The _plural_ of nouns is regularly formed by adding _s_ to the singular+.

To this rule there are some exceptions.

When the singular ends in a sound that cannot unite with that of _s_, _es_ is added and forms another syllable.[Footnote: In Anglo-Saxon, _as_ was the plural termination for a certain class of nouns. In later English, _as_ was changed to _es_, which became the regular plural ending; as, _bird-es_, _cloud-es_. In modern English, _e_ is dropped, and _s_ is joined to the singular without increase of syllables. But, when the singular ends in an _s_-sound, the original syllable _es_ is retained, as two hissing sounds will not unite.]

+Remark+.--Such words as _horse_, _niche_, and _cage_ drop the final _e_ when _es_ is added. See Rule 1, Lesson 137.

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of each of the following nouns, and note what letters represent sounds that cannot unite with the sound of +s+_:--

Ax _or_ axe, arch, adz _or_ adze, box, brush, cage, chaise, cross, ditch, face, gas, glass, hedge, horse, lash, lens, niche, prize, race, topaz.

The following nouns ending in _o_ preceded by a consonant add _es_ without increase of syllables.

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of each of the following nouns_:--

Buffalo, calico, cargo, echo, embargo, grotto, hero, innuendo, motto, mosquito, mulatto, negro, portico (_oes_ or _os_), potato, tornado, torpedo, veto, volcano.

The following nouns in _o_ preceded by a consonant add _s_ only.

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of each of the following nouns_:--

Canto, domino (_os_ or _oes_), duodecimo, halo, junto, lasso, memento, octavo, piano, proviso, quarto, salvo, solo, two, tyro, zero (_os_ or _oes_).

Nouns in _o_ preceded by a vowel add _s_.

Bamboo, cameo, cuckoo, embryo, folio, portfolio, seraglio, trio.

Common nouns [Footnote: See Rule 2, Lesson 127. In old English, such words as _lady_ and _fancy_ were spelled _ladie_, _fancie_. The modern plural simply retains the old spelling and adds _s_,] in _y_ after a consonant change _y_ into _i_ and add _es_ without increase of syllables. Nouns in _y_ after a vowel add _s_.

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of each of the following nouns_:--

Alley, ally, attorney, chimney, city, colloquy, [Footnote: _U_ after _q_ is a consonant] daisy, essay, fairy, fancy, kidney, lady, lily, money, monkey, mystery, soliloquy, turkey, valley, vanity.

The following nouns change _f_ or _fe_ into _ves_.

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of each of the following nouns_:--

Beef, calf, elf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, staff, [Footnote: _Staff_ (a stick or support), _staves_ or _staffs_; _staff_ (a body of officers), _staffs_. The compounds of _staff_ are regular; as, _flagstaffs_.] thief, wharf, [Footnote: In England, generally _wharfs_.] wife, wolf.

The following nouns in _f_ and _fe_ are regular.

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of each of the following nouns_:--

Belief, brief, chief, dwarf, fife, grief, gulf, hoof, kerchief, proof, reef, roof, safe, scarf, strife, waif.

(Nouns in _ff_, except _staff_, are regular; as, _cuff_, _cuffs_.)

The following plurals are still more irregular.

+Direction+.--_Learn to form the following plurals_:--

Child, children; foot, feet; goose, geese; louse, lice; man, men; mouse, mice; Mr., Messrs.; ox, oxen; tooth, teeth; woman, women.

(For the plurals of pronouns, see Lesson 124.)

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LESSON 113.

NUMBER FORMS--CONTINUED.

Some nouns adopted from foreign languages still retain their original plural forms. Some of these take the English plural also.

+Direction+.--_Learn to form the following plurals_:--

Analysis, analyses; antithesis, antitheses; appendix, appendices _or_ appendixes; automaton, automata _or_ automatons; axis, axes; bandit, banditti _or_ bandits; basis, bases; beau, beaux _or_ beaus; cherub, cherubim _or_ cherubs; crisis, crises; datum, data; ellipsis, ellipses; erratum, errata; focus, foci: fungus, fungi _or_ funguses; genus, genera; hypothesis, hypotheses; ignis fatuus, ignes fatui; madame, mesdames; magus, magi; memorandum, memoranda _or_ memorandums; monsieur, messieurs; nebula, nebulae; oasis, oases; parenthesis, parentheses; phenomenon, phenomena; radius, radii _or_ radiuses; seraph, seraphim _or_ seraphs; stratum, strata; synopsis, synopses; terminus, termini; vertebra, vertebrae; vortex, vortices _or_ vortexes.

The following compound nouns, in which the principal word stands first, vary the first word; as, _sons_-in-law.

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of the following words_:--

Aid-de-camp, attorney-at-law, billet-doux, [Footnote: Plural, billets-doux, pronounced _bil'-la:-doo:z_ ] commander-in-chief, court-martial, cousin-german, father-in-law, hanger-on, man-of-war.

The following, and most compounds, vary the last word; as, pailfuls, gentle_men_. [Footnote: _Pails full_ is not a compound. This expression denotes a number of pails, each full.]

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of each of the following nouns_:--

Courtyard, dormouse, Englishman, fellow-servant, fisherman, Frenchman, forget-me-not, goose-quill, handful, maid-servant, man-trap, mouthful, pianoforte, portemonnaie, spoonful, stepson, tete-a-tete, tooth-brush.

The following nouns (except _Norman_) are not compounds of _man_--add _s_ to all.

Brahman, German, Mussulman, Norman, Ottoman, talisman.

The following compounds vary both parts; as, _man-singer_, _men-singers_.

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of each of the following nouns_:--

Man-child, man-servant, woman-servant, woman-singer.

Compounds consisting of a proper name preceded by a title form the plural by varying either the title or the name; as, the Miss _Clarks_ or the _Misses_ Clark; but, when the title _Mrs._ is used, the name is usually varied; as, the Mrs. _Clarks_. [Footnote: Of the two forms, the _Miss Clarks_ and the _Misses Clark_, we believe that the former is most used by the best authors. The latter, except in formal notes or when the title is to be emphasized, is rather stiff if not pedantic. Some authorities say that, when a numeral precedes the title, the name should always be varied; as, the _two Miss Clarks_.

The forms, the _Misses Clarks_ and the _two Mrs. Clark_, have little authority.]

+Direction+.--_Form the plural of the following compounds_:--

Miss Jones, Mr. Jones, General Lee, Dr. Brown, Master Green.

A title used with two or more different names is made plural; as, _Drs_. Grimes and Steele, _Messrs_. Clark and Maynard.

+Direction+.--_Put each of the following expressions in its proper form_:--

General Lee and Jackson; Miss Mary, Julia, and Anna Scott; Mr, Green, Stacy, & Co.

Letters, figures, and other characters add the apostrophe and _s_ to form the plural; [Footnote: Some good writers form the plural of words named merely as words, in the same way; as, the _if's_ and _and's_; but the (') is here unnecessary.] as, _a's, 2's, ----'s_.

+Direction.+--_Form the plural of each of the following characters_:--S, i, t, +, x, [Dagger], 9, 1, 1/4, [Yough], [Cyrillic: E].

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LESSON 114.

NUMBER FORMS--CONTINUED.

Some nouns have two plurals differing in meaning.

+Direction.+--_Learn these plurals and their meanings:_--

Brother, brothers (by blood), brethren (of the same society). Cannon, cannons (individuals), cannon (in a collective sense). Die, dies (stamps for coining), dice (cubes for gaming). Fish, fishes (individuals), fish (collection). [Footnote: The names of several sorts of fish, as, _herring, shad, trout_, etc. are used in the same way. The compounds of _fish_, as _codfish_, have the same form in both numbers.] Foot, feet (parts of the body), foot (foot-soldiers). Genius, geniuses (men of genius), genii (spirits). Head, heads (parts of the body), head (of cattle). Horse, horses (animals), horse (horse-soldiers). Index, indexes (tables of reference), indices (signs in algebra). Penny, pennies (distinct coins), pence (quantity in value). Sail, sails (pieces of canvas), sail (vessels). Shot, shots (number of times fired), shot (number of balls).

The following nouns and pronouns have the same form in both numbers.

+Direction.+--_Study the following list:_--

Bellows, corps, [Footnote: The singular is pronounced _ko:r_, the plural _ko:rz_.] deer, gross, grouse, hose, means, odds, pains (care), series, sheep, species, swine, vermin, who, which, that (relative), what, any, none.

(The following have two forms in the plural).

Apparatus, apparatus _or_ apparatuses; heathen, heathen _or_ heathens.

(The following nouns have the same form in both numbers when used with numerals; they add _s_ in other cases; as, _four score, by scores_.)

Dozen, score, yoke, hundred, thousand.

The following nouns have no plural.

(These are generally names of materials, qualities, or sciences.)

Names of materials when taken in their full or strict sense can have no plural, but they may be plural when kinds of the material or things made of it are referred to; as, _cottons, coffees, tins, coppers_.

+Direction.+--_Study the following list of words:_--

Bread, coffee, copper, flour, gold, goodness, grammar (science, not a book), grass, hay, honesty, iron, lead, marble, meekness, milk, molasses, music, peace, physiology, pride, tin, water.

The following plural forms are commonly used in the singular.

Acoustics, ethics, mathematics, politics (and other names of sciences in _ics_), amends, measles, news.

The following words are always plural.

(Such words are generally names of things double or multiform in their character.)

+Direction+.--_Study the following list_:--

Aborigines, annals, ashes, assets, clothes, fireworks, hysterics, literati, mumps, nippers, oats, pincers, rickets, scissors, shears, snuffers, suds, thanks, tongs, tidings, trousers, victuals, vitals.

The following were originally singular forms, but they are now treated as plural.

Alms (Anglo-Saxon _aelmaesse_), eaves (A. S. _efese_), riches (Norman French _richesse_).

The following have no singular corresponding in meaning.

Colors (flag), compasses (dividers), goods (property), grounds (dregs), letters (literature), manners (behavior), matins (morning service); morals (character), remains (dead body), spectacles (glasses), stays (corsets), vespers (evening service).

(The singular form is sometimes an adjective.)

Bitters, greens, narrows, sweets, valuables, etc.

Collective nouns are treated as plural when the individuals in the collection are thought of, and as singular when the collection as a whole is thought of.

+Examples+.--The _committee were_ unable to agree, and _they_ asked to be discharged. A _committee was_ appointed, and _its_ report will soon be made.

(Collective nouns have plural forms; as, _committees, armies_.)

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LESSON 115.

REVIEW IN NUMBER.

+Direction+.--_Write the plural of the singular nouns and pronouns in the following list, and the singular of those that are plural; give the Rule or the Remark that applies to each; and note those that have no plural, and those that have no singular:_--

Hope, age, bench, bush, house, loss, tax, waltz, potato, shoe, colony, piano, kangaroo, pulley, wharf, staff, fife, loaf, flagstaff, handkerchief, Mr., child, ox, beaux, cherubim, mesdames, termini, genus, genius, bagnio, theory, galley, muff, mystery, colloquy, son-in-law, man-of-war, spoonful, maid-servant, Frenchman, German, man-servant, Dr. Smith, Messrs. Brown and Smith, x, 1/2, deer, series, bellows, molasses, pride, politics, news, sunfish, clothes, alms, goods, grounds, greens, who, that.

+Direction.+--_Give five words that have no plural, five that have no singular, and five that have the same form in both numbers._

+Direction.+--_Correct the following plurals, and give the Remark that applies to each:_--

Stagees, foxs, mosquitos, calicos, heros, soloes, babys, trioes, chimnies, storys, elfs, beefs, scarves, oxes, phenomenons, axises, terminuses, genuses, mother-in-laws, aldermans, Mussulmen, teeth-brushes, mouthsful, attorney-at-laws, man-childs, geese-quills, 2s, ms. swines.

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LESSON 116.

NUMBER FORMS IN CONSTRUCTION.

The number of a noun may be determined not only by its form but also by the verb, the adjective, and the pronoun used in connection with it.

+Remark.+--_These scissors are_ so dull that I cannot use _them_. The plurality of _scissors_ is here made known in four ways. In the following sentence _this, is_, and _it_ are incorrectly used: _This_ scissors _is_ so dull that I cannot use _it_.

+Direction+.--_Construct sentences in which the number of each of the following nouns shall be indicated by the form of the verb, by the adjective, and by the pronoun used in connection with it_:--

(With the singular nouns use the verbs _is, was_, and _has been_; the adjectives _an, one, this_, and _that_; the pronouns _he, his, him, she, her, it_, and _its_.)

(With the plural nouns use the verbs _are, were_, and _have been_; the adjectives _these, those_, and _two_; the pronouns _they, their_, and _them_.)

Bellows, deer, fish, gross, means, series, species, heathen, trout, iron, irons, news, eaves, riches, oats, vermin, molasses, Misses, brethren, dice, head (of cattle), pennies, child, parent, family, crowd, meeting.

+Direction+.--_Compose sentences in which the first three of the following adjective pronouns shall be used as singular subjects, the fourth as a plural subject, and the remainder both as singular and as plural subjects_:--

Each, either, neither, both, former, none, all, any.

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LESSON 117.

NOUNS AND PRONOUNS--GENDER.

+Introductory Hints+.--_The lion was caged. The lioness was caged_. In the first sentence something is said about a male lion, and in the second something is said about a female lion. The modification of the noun to denote the sex of the thing which it names is called +Gender+. _Lion_, denoting a male animal, is in the +Masculine Gender; and _lioness_, denoting a female animal, is in the +Feminine Gender+. Names of things that are without sex are said to be in the +Neuter Gender+. Such nouns as _cousin, child, friend, neighbor_ are either masculine or feminine. Such words are sometimes said to be in the _Common Gender_.

Sex belongs to the thing; and gender, to the noun that names the thing. Knowing the sex of the thing or its lack of sex, you know the gender of the noun in English that names it; for in our language gender follows the sex. But in such modern languages as the French and the German, and in Latin and Greek, the gender of nouns naming things without reference to sex is determined by the likeness of their endings in sound to the endings of words denoting things with sex. The German for table is a masculine noun, the French is feminine, and the English, of course, is neuter. [Footnote: In Anglo-Saxon, the mother-tongue of our language, gender was grammatical, as in the French and the German; but, since the union of the Norman-French with the Anglo-Saxon to form the English, gender has followed sex.]

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+DEFINITIONS+.

+_Gender_ is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes sex+.

+The _Masculine Gender_ denotes the male sex+.

+The _Feminine Gender_ denotes the female sex+.

+The _Neuter Gender_ denotes want of sex+.

Gender Forms.

No English nouns have distinctive neuter forms, but a lew have different forms to distinguish the masculine from the feminine.

The masculine is distinguished from the feminine in three ways:--

1st. By a difference in the ending of the words.

2d. By different words in the compound names.

3d. By using words wholly or radically different.

_Ess_ is the most common ending for feminine nouns. [Footnote: The suffix _ess_ came into the English language from the Norman-French. It displaced the feminine termination of the mother-tongue (A. S. _estre_, old English _ster_). The original meaning of _ster_ is preserved in _spinster_. _Er_ (A. S. _ere_) was originally a masculine suffix; but it now generally denotes an agent without reference to sex; as, _read-er, speak-er._]

+Direction+.--_Form the feminine of each of the following masculine nouns by adding e s s :--_

Author, baron, count, deacon, giant, god (see Rule 3, Lesson 127), heir, host, Jew, lion, patron, poet, prince (see Rule 1, Lesson 127), prior, prophet, shepherd, tailor, tutor.

(Drop the vowel _e_ or _o_ in the ending of the masculine, and add _ess_.)

Actor, ambassador, arbiter, benefactor, conductor, director, editor, enchanter, hunter, idolater, instructor, preceptor, tiger, waiter.

(Drop the masculine _er_ or _or_, and add the feminine _ess_.)

Adventurer, caterer, governor, murderer, sorcerer.

(The following are somewhat irregular.)

+Direction+.--_Learn these forms:_--

Abbot, abbess; duke, duchess; emperor, empress; lad, lass; marquis, marchioness; master, mistress; negro, negress.

_Ess_ was formerly more common than now. Such words as _editor_ and _author_ are now frequently used to denote persons of either sex.

+Direction+.--_Give five nouns ending in e r or o r that may be applied to either sex._

Some words, mostly foreign, have various endings in the feminine.

+Direction+.--Learn the following forms:--

Administrator, administratrix; Augustus, Augusta; beau, belle; Charles, Charlotte; Cornelius, Cornelia; czar, czarina; don, donna; equestrian, equestrienne; executor, executrix; Francis, Frances; George, Georgiana; Henry, Henrietta; hero, heroine; infante, infanta; Jesse, Jessie; Joseph, Josephine; Julius, Julia _or_ Juliet; landgrave, landgravine; Louis, Louisa _or_ Louise; Paul, Pauline; signore _or_ signor, siguora; sultan, sultana; testator, testatrix; widower, widow.

In some compounds distinguishing words are prefixed or affixed.

+Direction+.--_Learn the following forms_:--

Billy-goat, nanny-goat; buck-rabbit, doe-rabbit; cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow; Englishman, Englishwoman; gentleman, gentlewoman; grandfather, grandmother; he-bear, she-bear; landlord, landlady; man-servant, maid-servant; merman, mermaid; Mr. Jones, Mrs. or Miss Jones; peacock, peahen.

Words wholly or radically different are used to distinguish the masculine from the feminine.

(This is a matter pertaining to the dictionary rather than to grammar.)

+Direction+.--_Learn the following forms_:--

Bachelor, maid; buck, doe; drake, duck; earl, countess; friar _or_ monk, nun; gander, goose; hart, roe; lord, lady; nephew, niece; sir, madam; stag, hind; steer, heifer; wizard, witch; youth, damsel _or_ maiden.

The pronoun has three gender forms:--Masculine _he_, feminine _she_, and neuter _it_. [Footnote: _It_, although a neuter form, is used idiomatically to refer to a male or a female as, _It_ was _John_; _It_ was _Mary_.]

+Direction+.--_Give five examples of each of the three ways of distinguishing the masculine from the feminine._

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LESSON 118.

GENDER FORMS IN CONSTRUCTION.

Gender as a matter of orthography is of some importance, but in grammar it is chiefly important as involving the correct use of the pronouns _he_, _she_, and _it_.

When a singular noun is used so as to imply persons of both sexes, it is commonly represented by a masculine pronoun. [Footnote: When it is necessary to distinguish the sexes, both the masculine and the feminine pronoun should be used; as, _Each person was required to name his or her favorite flower._]

+Example+.--Every _person_ has _his_ faults.

The names of animals are often considered as masculine or feminine without regard to the real sex.

+Examples+.--The _grizzly bear_ is the most savage of _his_ race. The _cat_ steals upon _her_ prey.

+Remark+.--The writer employs _he_ or _she_ according as he fancies the animal to possess masculine or feminine characteristics. _He_ is more frequently employed than _she_.

The neuter pronoun _it_ is often used with reference to animals and very young children, the sex being disregarded.

+Examples+.--When the _deer_ is alarmed, _it_ gives two or three graceful springs. The little _child_ reached out _its_ hand to catch the sunbeam.