Chapter 18

+Remark+.--_It_ is quite generally used instead of _he_ or _she_, in referring to an animal, unless some masculine or feminine quality seems to predominate.

Inanimate things are often represented as living beings, that is, they are personified, and are referred to by the pronoun _he_ or _she_.

+Example+.--The _oak_ shall send _his_ roots abroad and pierce thy mold.

+Remark+.--The names of objects distinguished for size, power, or sublimity are regarded as masculine; and the names of those distinguished for grace, beauty, gentleness, or productiveness are considered as feminine. Personification adds beauty and animation to style.

+Direction+.--_Study what is said above, and then fill each of the blanks in the following sentences with a masculine, a feminine, or a neuter pronoun, and in each case give the reason for your selection_:--

1. No one else is so much alone in the universe as ---- who denies God. 2. A person's manners not unfrequently indicate ---- morals, 3. Everybody should think for ----. 4. The forest's leaping panther shall yield ---- spotted hide. 5. The catamount lies in the boughs to watch ---- prey. 6. The mocking-bird poured from ---- little throat floods of delirious music. 7. The wild beast from ---- cavern sprang, the wild bird from ---- grove. 8. The night-sparrow trills ---- song. 9. The elephant is distinguished for ---- strength and sagacity. 10. The bat is nocturnal in ---- habits. 11. The dog is faithful to ---- master. 12. The child was unconscious of ---- danger. 13. The fox is noted for ---- cunning. 14. Belgium's capital had gathered then ---- beauty and ---- chivalry. 15. Despair extends ---- raven wing. 16. Life mocks the idle hate of ---- arch-enemy, Death. 17. Spring comes forth ---- work of gladness to contrive. 18. Truth is fearless, yet ---- is meek and modest.

+Direction+.--_Write sentences in which the things named below shall be personified by means of masculine pronouns_:--

Death, time, winter, war, sun, river, wind.

+Direction+.--Write sentences in which the things named below shall be personified by means of feminine pronouns:--

Ship, moon, earth, spring, virtue, nature, night, England.

+Caution+.--Avoid changing the gender of the pronoun when referring to the same antecedent.

+Direction+.--_Correct these errors_:--

1. The polar bear is comparatively rare in menageries, as it suffers so much from the heat that he is not easily preserved in confinement. 2. The cat, when it comes to the light, contracts and elongates the pupil of her eye. 3. Summer clothes herself in green, and decks itself with flowers. 4. War leaves his victim on the field, and homes desolated by it mourn over her cruelty.

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LESSON 119.

NOUNS AND PRONOUNS--PERSON AND CASE.

+Introductory Hints+.--Number and gender, as you have learned, are modifications affecting the meaning of nouns and pronouns--number being almost always indicated by form, or inflection; gender, sometimes. There are two modifications which do not refer to changes in the meaning of nouns and pronouns but to their different uses and relations. These uses and relations are not generally indicated by form, or inflection.

_I, Paul_, have written. _Paul, thou_ art beside thyself. _He_ brought _Paul_ before Agrippa. In these three sentences the word _Paul_ has three different uses, though, as you see, its form is not changed. In the first it is used to name the speaker; in the second, to name the one spoken to; in the third, to name the one spoken of. These different uses of nouns and pronouns and the forms used to mark these uses constitute the modification called +Person+. _I, thou, and he_ are personal pronouns, and, as you see, distinguish person by their form. _I_, denoting the speaker, is in the +First Person+; _thou_, denoting the one spoken to, is in the +Second Person+; and _he_, denoting the one spoken of, is in the +Third Person+.

Instead of _I_ a writer or speaker may use the plural _we_; and through courtesy it came to be customary, except among the Friends, or in the language of prayer and poetry, to use the plural _you_ instead of _thou_.

_The bear killed the man_. _The man killed the bear_. _The bear's grease was made into hair oil_. In the first sentence the bear is represented as performing an act; in the second, as receiving an act; in the third, as possessing something. These different uses of nouns and pronouns and the forms used to mark these uses constitute the modification called +Case+. A noun used as subject is in the +Nominative Case+; used as object complement it is in the +Objective Case+; and used to denote possession it is in the +Possessive Case+.

Some of the pronouns have a special form for each case; but of nouns the possessive case is the only one that is now marked by a peculiar form. We inflect below a noun from the Anglo-Saxon, [Footnote: The Anglo-Saxon cases are nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative; the Latin are nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, and ablative; the English are nominative, possessive (genitive), and objective.

ANGLO-SAXON. Hlaford, _lord_. Singular. Plural. Nom. hlaford, hlaford-_as_. Gen. hlaford-_es_, hlaford-_a_. Dat. hlaford-_e_, hlaford-_um_. Acc. hlaford, hlaford-_as_. Voc. hlaford, hlaford-_as_.

LATIN. Dominus, _lord_. Singular. Plural. Nom. domin-_us_, domin-_i_. Gen. domin-_i_, domin-_orum_. Dat. domin-_o_, domin-_is_. Acc. domin-_um_, domin-_os_. Voc. domin-_e_, domin-_i_. Ab. domin-_o_, domin-_is_.

ENGLISH. Lord. Singular. Nom. lord, Pos. lord-_'s_, Obj. lord; Plural. Nom. lord-_s_, Pos. lord-_s'_, Obj. lord-_s_.]

and one from the Latin, the parent of the Norman-French, in order that you may see how cases and the inflections to mark them have been dropped in English. In English, prepositions have largely taken the place of case forms, and it is thought that by them our language can express the many relations of nouns to other words in the sentence better than other languages can by their cumbrous machinery of inflection.

+DEFINITIONS+.

+_Person_ is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes the speaker, the one spoken to, or the one spoken of+.

+The _First Person_ denotes the one speaking+.

+The _Second Person_ denotes the one spoken to+.

+The _Third Person_ denotes the one spoken of+.

A noun is said to be of the first person when joined as an explanatory modifier to a pronoun of the first person; as, _I, John_, saw these things; _We Americans_ are always in a hurry. [Footnote: It is doubtful whether a noun is ever of the first person. It may be said that, in the sentence _I, John, saw these things_, John speaks of his own name, the expression meaning, _I_, _and my name is John_, etc.]

A noun is of the second person when used as explanatory of a pronoun of the second person, or when used independently as a term of address; as, _Ye crags_ and _peaks_; Idle time, _John_, is ruinous.

+Direction+.--_Compose sentences in which there shall be two examples of nouns and two of pronouns used in each of the three persons_.

+Person Forms+.

Personal pronouns and verbs are the only classes of words that have distinctive person forms.

+Direction+.--_From the forms of the pronouns given in Lesson 124, select and write in one list all the first person forms; in another list, all the second person forms; and in another, all the third person forms._

Person is regarded in grammar because the verb sometimes varies its form to agree with the person of its subject; as, _I see_; _Thou seest_; _He sees_.

+DEFINITIONS+.

+_Case_ is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes its office in the sentence+.

+The _Nominative Case of a noun or pronoun_ denotes its office as subject or as attribute complement+.

+The _Possessive Case of a noun or pronoun_ denotes its office as possessive modifier+.

+The _Objective Case of a noun or pronoun_ denotes its office as object complement, or as principal word in a prepositional phrase+.

A noun or pronoun used independently is said to be in the nominative case.

+Examples+.--I am, _dear madam_, your friend. Alas, _poor Yorick_! _He being dead_, we shall live. _Liberty_, it has fled! (See Lesson 44.)

A noun or pronoun used as explanatory modifier is in the same case as the word explained--"is put by apposition in the same case."

+Examples+.--The first colonial _Congress_, _that_ of 1774, addressed the _King_, _George III_. He buys is goods at _Stewart's_, the dry-goods _merchant_.

A noun or pronoun used as objective complement is in the objective case.

+Examples+.--They made him _speaker_. He made it _all_ it is.

A noun or pronoun used as attribute complement of a participle or an infinitive is in the same case (_Nom._ or _Obj._) as the word to which it relates as attribute.

+Examples+.--Being an _artist_, _he_ appreciated it. I proved _it_ to be _him_.

+Remark+.--When the assumed subject of the participle or the infinitive is a possessive, the attribute complement is said to be in the nominative case; as, Its _being he_ [Footnote: The case of _he_ in these examples is rather doubtful. The nominative and the objective forms of the pronoun occur so rarely in such constructions that it seems impossible to determine the usage. It is therefore a matter of no great practical importance.

Some, reasoning from the analogy of the Latin, would put the attribute complement of the abstract infinitive in the objective, supposing _for_ and some other word to be understood; as, _For one to be him_, etc. Others, reasoning from the German, to which our language is closely allied, would put this complement in the nominative.

The assumed subject of the infinitive being omitted when it is the same in sense as the principal subject, _him_, in the sentence _I wish_ (_me_ or _myself_) _to be him_, is the proper form, being in the same case as _me_.] should make no difference. When the participle or the infinitive is used abstractly, without an assumed subject, its attribute complement is also said to be in the nominative case; as, To _be he_ [Footnote: See footnote above.] is to be a scholar; _Being_ a _scholar_ is not _being_ an _idler_.

+Direction+.--_Study carefully the Definitions and the Remark above, and then compose sentences in which a noun or a pronoun shall be put in the nominative case in four ways; in the objective in five ways; in the possessive in two ways_.

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LESSON 120.

ANALYSIS AND PARSING.

+Direction.+--_Analyze the following sentences, and give the case of each noun and pronoun:_--

1. Not to know what happened before we were born is to be always a child. 2. His being a Roman saved him from being made a prisoner. 3. I am this day weak, though anointed king.

+Explanation.+--Nouns used adverbially are in the objective case because equivalent to the principal word of a prepositional phrase. (See Lesson 35.)

4. What made Cromwell a great man was his unshaken reliance on God. 5. Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa, was not a prophet's son. 6. Arnold's success as teacher was remarkable.

+Explanation.+--_Teacher_, introduced by _as_ and used without a possessive sign, is explanatory of _Arnold's_.

7. Worship thy Creator, God; and obey his Son, the Master, King, and Saviour of men. 8. Bear ye one another's [Footnote: For the use of _one another_, see Lesson 124.] burdens.

+Explanation.+--The singular _one_ is explanatory of the plural _ye_, or _one another's_ may be treated as a compound.

9. What art thou, execrable shape, that darest advance? 10. O you hard hearts! you cruel men of Rome! 11. Everybody acknowledges Shakespeare to be the greatest of dramatists. 12. Think'st thou this heart could feel a moment's joy, thou being absent? 13. Our great forefathers had left him naught to conquer but his country.

(For the case of _him_ see explanation of (3) above.)

14. I will attend to it myself.

+Explanation+.--_Myself_ may be treated as explanatory of _I_.

15. This news of papa's puts me all in a flutter. [Footnote: See second foot-note, page 247.] 16. What means that hand upon that breast of thine? [Footnote: See second foot-note, page 247.]

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LESSON 121.

PARSING.

+TO THE TEACHER+.--We do not believe that the chief end of the study of grammar Is to be able to parse well, or even to analyze well, though without question analysis reveals more clearly than parsing the structure of the sentence, and is immeasurably superior to it as intellectual gymnastics. We would not do away with parsing altogether, but would give it a subordinate place.

But we must be allowed an emphatic protest against the needless and mechanical quoting, in parsing, of "Rules of Syntax." When a pupil has said that such a noun is in the nominative case, subject of such a verb, what is gained by a repetition of the definition in the Rule: "A noun or a pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb is in the nominative case"? Let the reasons for the disposition of words, when given at all, be specific.

+Parsing+--a word is giving its classification, its modifications, and its syntax, _i.e._, its relation to other words.

+Direction+.--_Select and parse in full all the nouns and pronouns found in the first ten sentences of Lesson_ 120. _For the agreement of pronouns, see Lesson_ 142.

+Model for Written Parsing+.--_Elizabeth's favorite, Raleigh, was beheaded by James I_.

CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS. | SYNTAX. -----------------|-----------------------|------------------------------ |_Per- Num- Gen-_ | _Nouns. Kind_.|_son. ber. der. Case_.| -----------------|-----------------------|------------------------------ Elizabeth's Prop.| 3d Sing. Fem. Pos. | Mod. of _favorite_. favorite Com. | 3d Sing. Mas. Nom. | Sub. of _was beheaded_. Raleigh Prop.| 3d Sing. Mas. Nom. | Expl. Mod. of _favorite_. James I. Prop.| 3d Sing. Mas. Obj. | Prin. word of Prep. phrase.

TO THE TEACHER.--For exercises in parsing nouns and pronouns, see Lessons 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 44, 46, 59, 60, 71, 73, 78, 80, and 81. Other exercises may be selected from examples previously given for analysis, and parsing continued as long as you think it profitable.

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LESSON 122.

CASE FORMS--NOUNS.

Nouns have two case forms, the simple form, common to the nominative and the objective case, and the possessive form.

+RULE.--The _Possessive Case_ of nouns is formed in the singular by adding to the nominative the apostrophe and the letter _s_ (_'s_); in the plural by adding (_'_) only. If the plural does not end in _s_, (_'s_) are both added. [Footnote: In Anglo-Saxon, _es_ was a genitive (possessive) ending of the singular; as, _sta:n_, genitive _sta:n-es_. In old English, _es_ and _is_ were both used. In modern English, the vowel is generally dropped, and (') stands in its place. The use of the apostrophe has been extended to distinguish the possessive from other forms of the plural.

Some have said that our possessive ending is a remnant of the pronoun _his_. Phrases like, "Mars _his_ sword," "The Prince _his_ Players," "King Lewis _his_ satisfaction" are abundant in Early, and in Middle, English. But it has been proved that the _his_ in such expressions is an error that gained its wide currency largely through the confusion of early English orthography.

Professor Hadley has clearly shown that the Saxon termination has never dropped out of the language, but exists in the English possessive ending to-day.]

+Examples+.--_Boy's, boys', men's_.

+Remark+.--To avoid an unpleasant succession of hissing sounds, the _s_ in the possessive singular is sometimes omitted; as, _conscience' sake_, _goodness' sake_, _Achilles' sword_, _Archimedes' screw_ (the _s_ in the words following the possessive here having its influence). In prose this omission of the _s_ should seldom occur. The weight of usage inclines to the use of _s_ in such names as _Miss Rounds's_, _Mrs. Hemans's_, _King James's_, _witness's_, _prince's_. Without the _s_ there would be no distinction, in spoken language, between _Miss Round's_ and _Miss Rounds'_, _Mrs. Heman's_ and _Mrs. Hemans'_.

+Remark+.--Pronounce the ('_s_) as a separate syllable (= _es_) when the sound of _s_ will not unite with the last sound of the nominative.

+Remark+.--When the singular and the plural are alike in the nominative, some place the apostrophe after the _s_ in the plural to distinguish it from the possessive singular; as, singular, _sheep's_; plural, _sheeps'_.

+Direction+.--_Study the Rule and the Remarks given above, and then write the possessive singular and the possessive plural of each of the following nouns_:--

Actor, elephant, farmer, king, lion, genius, horse, princess, buffalo, hero, mosquito, negro, volcano, junto, tyro, cuckoo, ally, attorney, fairy, lady, monkey, calf, elf, thief, wife, wolf, chief, dwarf, waif, child, goose, mouse, ox, woman, beau, seraph, fish, deer, sheep, swine.

Compound names and groups of words that may be treated as compound names add the possessive sign to the last word; as, a _man-of-war's_ rigging, the _queen of England's_ palace,[Footnote: In parsing the words _queen_ and _England_ separately, the ('_s_) must be regarded as belonging to _queen_; but the whole phrase _queen of England's_ may be treated as one noun in the possessive case.] _Frederick the Great's_ verses.

+Remark+.--The possessive plural of such terms is not used.

The preposition _of_ with the objective is often used instead of the possessive case form--_David's_ Psalms = Psalms _of David_.

+Remarks+.--To denote the source from which a thing proceeds, or the idea of belonging to, _of_ is used more frequently than ('_s_).

The possessive sign (_'s_) is confined chiefly to the names of persons, and of animals and things personified. We do not say the _tree's_ leaves, but the leaves _of the tree_.

The possessive sign however is often added to names of things which we frequently hear personified, or which we wish to dignify, and to names of periods of time, and to words denoting value; as, the _earth's_ surface, _fortune's_ smile, _eternity's_ stillness, a _year's_ interest, a _day's_ work, a _dollar's_ worth, _two cents'_ worth.

By the use of _of_, such expressions as _witness's statement_, _mothers-in-law's faults_ may be avoided.

+Direction+.--_Study carefully the principles and Remarks given above, and then make each of the following terms indicate possession, using either the possessive sign or the preposition of, as may seem most appropriate, and join an appropriate name denoting the thing possessed_:--

Father-in-law, William the Conqueror, king of Great Britain, aid-de-camp, Henry the Eighth, attorney-at-law, somebody else,[Footnote: In such expressions as _everybody else's business_, the possessive sign is removed from the noun and attached to the adjective. (See Lesson lai.) The possessive sign should generally be placed immediately before the name of the thing possessed.] Jefferson, enemy, eagle, gunpowder, book, house, chair, torrent, sun, ocean, mountain, summer, year, day, hour, princess, Socrates.

* * * * *

LESSON 123.

CONSTRUCTION OF POSSESSIVE FORMS.

As the possessive is the only case of nouns that has a distinctive inflection, it is only with this case that mistakes can occur in construction.

+Caution+.--When several possessive nouns modify the same word and imply common possession, the possessive sign is added to the last only. If they modify different words, expressed or understood, the sign is added to each.

+Explanation+.--_William_ and _Henry's_ boat; _William's_ and _Henry's_ boat. In the first example, William and Henry are represented as jointly owning a boat; in the second, each is represented as owning a separate boat--_boat_ is understood after _William's_.

+Remark+.--When the different possessors are thought of as separate or opposed, the sign may be repeated although joint possession is implied; as, He was his _father's_, _mother's_, and _sister's_ favorite; He was the _King's_, as well as the _people's_, favorite.

+Direction+.--_Correct these errors, and give your reasons_:--

1. The Bank of England was established in William's and Mary's reign. 2. Messrs. Leggett's, Stacy's, Green's, & Co.'s business prospers. 3. This was James's, Charles's, and Robert's estate. 4. America was discovered during Ferdinand's and Isabella's reign. 5. We were comparing Caesar and Napoleon's victories. 6. This was the sage and the poet's theme.

+Explanation+.--If an article precedes the possessive, the sign is repeated.

7. It was the king, not the people's, choice. 8. They are Thomas, as well as James's, books.

+Caution+.--When a possessive noun is followed by an explanatory word, the possessive sign is added to the explanatory word only. But, if the explanatory word has several modifiers, or if there are more explanatory words than one, only the principal word takes the sign.

+Remarks+.--When a common noun is explanatory of a proper noun, and the name of the thing possessed is omitted, the possessive sign may be added either to the modifying or to the principal word; as, We stopped at Tiffany, the _jeweler's_, or We stopped at _Tiffany's_, the jeweler.

If the name of the thing possessed is given, the noun immediately before it takes the sign.

+Direction+.--_Correct these errors_:--

1. This is Tennyson's, the poet's, home. 2. I took tea at Brown's, my old friend and schoolmate's. 3. This belongs to Victoria's, queen of England's, dominion. 4. This province is Victoria's, queen of England's. 5. That language is Homer's, the greatest poet of antiquity's. 6. This was Franklin's motto, the distinguished philosopher's statesman's. 7. Wolsey's, the cardinal's, career ended in disgrace.

+Direction+.---Tell which of the sentences above may be improved by using other forms to denote possession. (See the following Caution.)

+Caution+.--The relation of possession may be expressed not only by (_'s_) and by _of_ but by the use of such phrases as _belonging to_, _property of_, etc. In constructing sentences be careful to secure smoothness and clearness and variety by taking advantage of these different forms.

+Direction+.--_Improve the following sentences_:--

1. This is my wife's father's opinion.

+Correction+.--This is the opinion _of my wife's father_, or _held by my wife's father_.

2. This is my wife's father's farm. 3. France's and England's interest differs widely. 4. Frederick the Great was the son of the daughter of George I. of England. 5. My brother's wife's sister's drawings have been much admired. 6. The drawings of the sister of the wife of my brother have been much admired.

_Of_ is not always equivalent to the (_'s_),

+Explanation+.--_The president's reception_ means the reception given by the president, but _the reception of the president_ means the reception given to the president.

+Direction+.--_Construct sentences illustrating the meaning of the following expressions_:--

A mother's love, the love of a mother; a father's care, the care of a father; my friend's picture, a picture of my friend.

+Caution+.--Often ambiguity may be prevented by changing the assumed subject of a participle from a nominative or an objective to a possessive.

+Direction+.--_Correct these errors_:--

1. The writer being a scholar is not doubted.