AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR
FOR THE USE OF
HIGH SCHOOL, ACADEMY, AND COLLEGE CLASSES
BY
W.M. BASKERVILL
PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN VANDERBILT
UNIVERSITY NASHVILLE, TENN.
AND
J.W. SEWELL
OF THE FOGG HIGH SCHOOL, NASHVILLE, TENN.
1895
PREFACE.
Of making many English grammars there is no end; nor should there be
till theoretical scholarship and actual practice are more happily
wedded. In this field much valuable work has already been
accomplished; but it has been done largely by workers accustomed to
take the scholar's point of view, and their writings are addressed
rather to trained minds than to immature learners. To find an advanced
grammar unencumbered with hard words, abstruse thoughts, and difficult
principles, is not altogether an easy matter. These things enhance the
difficulty which an ordinary youth experiences in grasping and
assimilating the facts of grammar, and create a distaste for the
study. It is therefore the leading object of this book to be both as
scholarly and as practical as possible. In it there is an attempt to
present grammatical facts as simply, and to lead the student to
assimilate them as thoroughly, as possible, and at the same time to do
away with confusing difficulties as far as may be.
To attain these ends it is necessary to keep ever in the foreground
the _real basis of grammar_; that is, good literature. Abundant
quotations from standard authors have been given to show the student
that he is dealing with the facts of the language, and not with the
theories of grammarians. It is also suggested that in preparing
written exercises the student use English classics instead of "making
up" sentences. But it is not intended that the use of literary
masterpieces for grammatical purposes should supplant or even
interfere with their proper use and real value as works of art. It
will, however, doubtless be found helpful to alternate the regular
reading and æsthetic study of literature with a grammatical study, so
that, while the mind is being enriched and the artistic sense
quickened, there may also be the useful acquisition of arousing a keen
observation of all grammatical forms and usages. Now and then it has
been deemed best to omit explanations, and to withhold personal
preferences, in order that the student may, by actual contact with the
sources of grammatical laws, discover for himself the better way in
regarding given data. It is not the grammarian's business to
"correct:" it is simply to record and to arrange the usages of
language, and to point the way to the arbiters of usage in all
disputed cases. Free expression within the lines of good usage should
have widest range.
It has been our aim to make a grammar of as wide a scope as is
consistent with the proper definition of the word. Therefore, in
addition to recording and classifying the facts of language, we have
endeavored to attain two other objects,--to cultivate mental skill and
power, and to induce the student to prosecute further studies in this
field. It is not supposable that in so delicate and difficult an
undertaking there should be an entire freedom from errors and
oversights. We shall gratefully accept any assistance in helping to
correct mistakes.
Though endeavoring to get our material as much as possible at first
hand, and to make an independent use of it, we desire to express our
obligation to the following books and articles:--
Meiklejohn's "English Language," Longmans' "School Grammar," West's
"English Grammar," Bain's "Higher English Grammar" and "Composition
Grammar," Sweet's "Primer of Spoken English" and "New English
Grammar," etc., Hodgson's "Errors in the Use of English," Morris's
"Elementary Lessons in Historical English Grammar," Lounsbury's
"English Language," Champney's "History of English," Emerson's
"History of the English Language," Kellner's "Historical Outlines of
English Syntax," Earle's "English Prose," and Matzner's "Englische
Grammatik." Allen's "Subjunctive Mood in English," Battler's articles
on "Prepositions" in the "Anglia," and many other valuable papers,
have also been helpful and suggestive.
We desire to express special thanks to Professor W.D. Mooney of Wall &
Mooney's Battle-Ground Academy, Franklin, Tenn., for a critical
examination of the first draft of the manuscript, and to Professor
Jno. M. Webb of Webb Bros. School, Bell Buckle, Tenn., and Professor
W.R. Garrett of the University of Nashville, for many valuable
suggestions and helpful criticism.
W.M. BASKERVILL.
J.W. SEWELL.
NASHVILLE, TENN., January, 1896.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION
PART I.
_THE PARTS OF SPEECH_.
NOUNS
PRONOUNS
ADJECTIVES
ARTICLES
VERBS AND VERBALS
Verbs
Verbals
How to Parse Verbs and Verbals
ADVERBS
CONJUNCTIONS
PREPOSITIONS
WORDS THAT NEED WATCHING
INTERJECTIONS
PART II.
_ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES_.
CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO FORM
CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO NUMBER OF STATEMENTS
Simple Sentences
Contracted Sentences
Complex Sentences
Compound Sentences
PART III.
_SYNTAX_.
INTRODUCTORY
NOUNS
PRONOUNS
ADJECTIVES
ARTICLES
VERBS
INDIRECT DISCOURSE
VERBALS
ADVERBS
CONJUNCTIONS
PREPOSITIONS
INDEX
INTRODUCTION.
So many slighting remarks have been made of late on the use of
teaching grammar as compared with teaching science, that it is plain
the fact has been lost sight of that grammar is itself a science. The
object we have, or should have, in teaching science, is not to fill a
child's mind with a vast number of facts that may or may not prove
useful to him hereafter, but to draw out and exercise his powers of
observation, and to show him how to make use of what he observes....
And here the teacher of grammar has a great advantage over the teacher
of other sciences, in that the facts he has to call attention to lie
ready at hand for every pupil to observe without the use of apparatus
of any kind while the use of them also lies within the personal
experience of every one.--DR RICHARD MORRIS.
The proper study of a language is an intellectual discipline of the
highest order. If I except discussions on the comparative merits of
Popery and Protestantism, English grammar was the most important
discipline of my boyhood.--JOHN TYNDALL.
INTRODUCTION.
What various opinions writers on English grammar have given in answer
to the question, _What is grammar?_ may be shown by the following--
[Sidenote: _Definitions of grammar._]
English grammar is a description of the usages of the English
language by good speakers and writers of the present
day.--WHITNEY
A description of account of the nature, build, constitution, or
make of a language is called its grammar--MEIKLEJOHN
Grammar teaches the laws of language, and the right method of
using it in speaking and writing.--PATTERSON
Grammar is the science of _letter_; hence the science of using
words correctly.--ABBOTT
The English word _grammar_ relates only to the laws which govern
the significant forms of words, and the construction of the
sentence.--RICHARD GRANT WHITE
These are sufficient to suggest several distinct notions about English
grammar--
[Sidenote: _Synopsis of the above._]
(1) It makes rules to tell us how to use words.
(2) It is a record of usage which we ought to follow.
(3) It is concerned with the _forms_ of the language.
(4) English _has_ no grammar in the sense of forms, or inflections,
but takes account merely of the nature and the uses of words in
sentences.
[Sidenote: _The older idea and its origin._]
Fierce discussions have raged over these opinions, and numerous works
have been written to uphold the theories. The first of them remained
popular for a very long time. It originated from the etymology of the
word _grammar_ (Greek _gramma_, writing, a letter), and from an effort
to build up a treatise on English grammar by using classical grammar
as a model.
Perhaps a combination of (1) and (3) has been still more popular,
though there has been vastly more classification than there are forms.
[Sidenote: _The opposite view_.]
During recent years, (2) and (4) have been gaining ground, but they
have had hard work to displace the older and more popular theories. It
is insisted by many that the student's time should be used in studying
general literature, and thus learning the fluent and correct use of
his mother tongue. It is also insisted that the study and discussion
of forms and inflections is an inexcusable imitation of classical
treatises.
[Sidenote: _The difficulty_.]
Which view shall the student of English accept? Before this is
answered, we should decide whether some one of the above theories must
be taken as the right one, and the rest disregarded.
The real reason for the diversity of views is a confusion of two
distinct things,--what the _definition_ of grammar should be, and what
the _purpose_ of grammar should be.
[Sidenote: _The material of grammar_.]
The province of English grammar is, rightly considered, wider than is
indicated by any one of the above definitions; and the student ought
to have a clear idea of the ground to be covered.
[Sidenote: _Few inflections_.]
It must be admitted that the language has very few inflections at
present, as compared with Latin or Greek; so that a small grammar will
hold them all.
[Sidenote: _Making rules is risky_.]
It is also evident, to those who have studied the language
historically, that it is very hazardous to make rules in grammar: what
is at present regarded as correct may not be so twenty years from now,
even if our rules are founded on the keenest scrutiny of the
"standard" writers of our time. Usage is varied as our way of thinking
changes. In Chaucer's time two or three negatives were used to
strengthen a negation; as, "Ther _nas no_ man _nowher_ so vertuous"
(There never was no man nowhere so virtuous). And Shakespeare used
good English when he said _more elder_ ("Merchant of Venice") and
_most unkindest_ ("Julius Cæsar"); but this is bad English now.
If, however, we have tabulated the inflections of the language, and
stated what syntax is the most used in certain troublesome places,
there is still much for the grammarian to do.
[Sidenote: _A broader view_.]
Surely our noble language, with its enormous vocabulary, its peculiar
and abundant idioms, its numerous periphrastic forms to express every
possible shade of meaning, is worthy of serious study, apart from the
mere memorizing of inflections and formulation of rules.
[Sidenote: _Mental training. An æsthetic benefit._]
Grammar is eminently a means of mental training; and while it will
train the student in subtle and acute reasoning, it will at the same
time, if rightly presented, lay the foundation of a keen observation
and a correct literary taste. The continued contact with the highest
thoughts of the best minds will create a thirst for the "well of
English undefiled."
[Sidenote: _What grammar is_.]
Coming back, then, from the question, _What ground should grammar
cover?_ we come to answer the question, _What should grammar teach?_
and we give as an answer the definition,--
_English grammar is the science which treats of the nature of words,
their forms, and their uses and relations in the sentence_.
[Sidenote: _The work it will cover._]
This will take in the usual divisions, "The Parts of Speech" (with
their inflections), "Analysis," and "Syntax." It will also require a
discussion of any points that will clear up difficulties, assist the
classification of kindred expressions, or draw the attention of the
student to everyday idioms and phrases, and thus incite his
observation.
[Sidenote: _Authority as a basis_.]
A few words here as to the _authority_ upon which grammar rests.
[Sidenote: _Literary English_.]
The statements given will be substantiated by quotations from the
leading or "standard" literature of modern times; that is, from the
eighteenth century on. This _literary English_ is considered the
foundation on which grammar must rest.
[Sidenote: _Spoken English_.]
Here and there also will be quoted words and phrases from _spoken_ or
_colloquial English_, by which is meant the free, unstudied
expressions of ordinary conversation and communication among
intelligent people.
These quotations will often throw light on obscure constructions,
since they preserve turns of expressions that have long since perished
from the literary or standard English.
[Sidenote: _Vulgar English_.]
Occasionally, too, reference will be made to _vulgar English,_--the
speech of the uneducated and ignorant,--which will serve to illustrate
points of syntax once correct, or standard, but now undoubtedly bad
grammar.
The following pages will cover, then, three divisions:--
Part I. The Parts of Speech, and Inflections.
Part II. Analysis of Sentences.
Part III. The Uses of Words, or Syntax.
PART I.
_THE PARTS OF SPEECH_.
NOUNS.
1. In the more simple _state_ of the _Arabs_, the _nation_ is free,
because each of her _sons_ disdains a base _submission_ to the _will_
of a _master_.--GIBBON.
[Sidenote: _Name words_]
By examining this sentence we notice several words used as names. The
plainest name is _Arabs_, which belongs to a people; but, besides this
one, the words _sons_ and _master_ name objects, and may belong to any
of those objects. The words _state, submission,_ and _will_ are
evidently names of a different kind, as they stand for ideas, not
objects; and the word _nation_ stands for a whole group.
When the meaning of each of these words has once been understood, the
word naming it will always call up the thing or idea itself. Such
words are called nouns.
[Sidenote: _Definition_.]
2. A noun is a name word, representing directly to the mind an
object, substance, or idea.
[Sidenote: _Classes of nouns_.]
3. Nouns are classified as follows:--
(1) Proper.
(2) Common. (a) CLASS NAMES: i. Individual.
ii. Collective.
(b) MATERIAL.
(3) Abstract. (a) ATTRIBUTE.
(b) VERBAL
[Sidenote: _Names for special objects._]
4. A proper noun is a name applied to a particular object, whether
person, place, or thing.
It specializes or limits the thing to which it is applied, reducing it
to a narrow application. Thus, _city_ is a word applied to any one of
its kind; but _Chicago_ names one city, and fixes the attention upon
that particular city. _King_ may be applied to any ruler of a kingdom,
but _Alfred the Great_ is the name of one king only.
The word _proper_ is from a Latin word meaning _limited, belonging to
one_. This does not imply, however, that a proper name can be applied
to only one object, but that each time such a name is applied it is
fixed or proper to that object. Even if there are several Bostons or
Manchesters, the name of each is an individual or proper name.
[Sidenote: _Name for any individual of a class._]
5. A common noun is a name possessed by _any_ one of a class of
persons, animals, or things.
_Common_, as here used, is from a Latin word which means _general,
possessed by all_.
For instance, _road_ is a word that names _any_ highway outside of
cities; _wagon_ is a term that names _any_ vehicle of a certain kind
used for hauling: the words are of the widest application. We may say,
_the man here_, or _the man in front of you_, but the word _man_ is
here hedged in by other words or word groups: the name itself is of
general application.
[Sidenote: _Name for a group or collection of objects._]
Besides considering persons, animals, and things separately, we may
think of them in groups, and appropriate names to the groups.
Thus, men in groups may be called a _crowd_, or a _mob_, a
_committee_, or a _council_, or a _congress_, etc.
These are called COLLECTIVE NOUNS. They properly belong under common
nouns, because each group is considered as a unit, and the name
applied to it belongs to any group of its class.
[Sidenote: _Names for things thought of in mass._]
6. The definition given for common nouns applies more strictly to
class nouns. It may, however, be correctly used for another group of
nouns detailed below; for they are common nouns in the sense that the
names apply to _every particle of similar substance_, instead of to
each individual or separate object.
They are called MATERIAL NOUNS. Such are _glass_, _iron_, _clay_,
_frost_, _rain_, _snow_, _wheat_, _wine_, _tea_, _sugar_, etc.
They may be placed in groups as follows:--
(1) The metals: _iron_, _gold_, _platinum_, etc.
(2) Products spoken of in bulk: _tea_, _sugar_, _rice_, _wheat_, etc.
(3) Geological bodies: _mud_, _sand_, _granite_, _rock_, _stone_, etc.
(4) Natural phenomena: _rain_, _dew_, _cloud_, _frost_, _mist_, etc.
(5) Various manufactures: _cloth_ (and the different kinds of cloth),
_potash_, _soap_, _rubber_, _paint_, _celluloid_, etc.
7. NOTE.--There are some nouns, such as _sun_, _moon_, _earth_,
which seem to be the names of particular individual objects, but which
are not called proper names.
[Sidenote: _Words naturally of limited application not proper._]
The reason is, that in proper names the intention is _to exclude_ all
other individuals of the same class, and fasten a special name to the
object considered, as in calling a city _Cincinnati_; but in the words
_sun_, _earth_, etc., there is no such intention. If several bodies
like the center of our solar system are known, they also are called
_suns_ by a natural extension of the term: so with the words _earth_,
_world_, etc. They remain common class names.
[Sidenote: _Names of ideas, not things._]
8. Abstract nouns are names of qualities, conditions, or actions,
considered abstractly, or apart from their natural connection.
When we speak of a _wise man_, we recognize in him an attribute or
quality. If we wish to think simply of that quality without describing
the person, we speak of the _wisdom_ of the man. The quality is still
there as much as before, but it is taken merely as a name. So
_poverty_ would express the condition of a poor person; _proof_ means
the act of proving, or that which shows a thing has been proved; and
so on.
Again, we may say, "_Painting_ is a fine art," "_Learning_ is hard to
acquire," "a man of _understanding_."
9. There are two chief divisions of abstract nouns:--
(1) ATTRIBUTE NOUNS, expressing attributes or qualities.
(2) VERBAL NOUNS, expressing state, condition, or action.
[Sidenote: _Attribute abstract nouns._]
10. The ATTRIBUTE ABSTRACT NOUNS are derived from adjectives and
from common nouns. Thus, (1) _prudence_ from _prudent_, _height_ from
_high_, _redness_ from _red_, _stupidity_ from _stupid_, etc.; (2)
_peerage_ from _peer_, _childhood_ from _child_, _mastery_ from
_master_, _kingship_ from _king_, etc.
[Sidenote: _Verbal abstract nouns._]
II. The VERBAL ABSTRACT NOUNS Originate in verbs, as their name
implies. They may be--
(1) Of the same form as the simple verb. The verb, by altering its
function, is used as a noun; as in the expressions, "a long _run_" "a
bold _move_," "a brisk _walk_."
(2) Derived from verbs by changing the ending or adding a suffix:
_motion_ from _move_, _speech_ from _speak_, _theft_ from _thieve_,
_action_ from _act_, _service_ from _serve_.
[Sidenote: _Caution._]
(3) Derived from verbs by adding _-ing_ to the simple verb. It must be
remembered that these words are _free from any verbal function_. They
cannot govern a word, and they cannot _express_ action, but are merely
_names_ of actions. They are only the husks of verbs, and are to be
rigidly distinguished from _gerunds_ (Secs. 272, 273).
To avoid difficulty, study carefully these examples:
The best thoughts and _sayings_ of the Greeks; the moon caused fearful
_forebodings_; in the _beginning_ of his life; he spread his
_blessings_ over the land; the great Puritan _awakening_; our birth is
but a sleep and a _forgetting_; a _wedding_ or a festival; the rude
_drawings_ of the book; masterpieces of the Socratic _reasoning_; the
_teachings_ of the High Spirit; those opinions and _feelings_; there
is time for such _reasonings_; the _well-being_ of her subjects; her
_longing_ for their favor; _feelings_ which their original _meaning_
will by no means justify; the main _bearings_ of this matter.
[Sidenote: _Underived abstract nouns._]
12. Some abstract nouns were not derived from any other part of
speech, but were framed directly for the expression of certain ideas
or phenomena. Such are _beauty_, _joy_, _hope_, _ease_, _energy_;
_day_, _night_, _summer_, _winter_; _shadow_, _lightning_, _thunder_,
etc.
The adjectives or verbs corresponding to these are either themselves
derived from the nouns or are totally different words; as
_glad_--_joy_, _hopeful_--_hope_, etc.
Exercises.
1. From your reading bring up sentences containing ten common nouns,
five proper, five abstract.
--NOTE.--Remember that all sentences are to be _selected_ from
standard literature.
2. Under what class of nouns would you place (_a_) the names of
diseases, as _pneumonia_, _pleurisy_, _catarrh_, _typhus_,
_diphtheria_; (_b_) branches of knowledge, as _physics_, _algebra_,
_geology_, _mathematics_?
3. Mention collective nouns that will embrace groups of each of the
following individual nouns:--
man
horse
bird
fish
partridge
pupil
bee
soldier
book
sailor
child
sheep
ship
ruffian
4. Using a dictionary, tell from what word each of these abstract
nouns is derived:--
sight
speech
motion
pleasure
patience
friendship
deceit
bravery
height
width
wisdom
regularity
advice
seizure
nobility
relief
death
raid
honesty
judgment
belief
occupation
justice
service
trail
feeling
choice
simplicity
SPECIAL USES OF NOUNS.
[Sidenote: _Nouns change by use._]
13. By being used so as to vary their usual meaning, nouns of one
class may be made to approach another class, or to go over to it
entirely. Since words alter their meaning so rapidly by a widening or
narrowing of their application, we shall find numerous examples of
this shifting from class to class; but most of them are in the
following groups. For further discussion see the remarks on articles
(p. 119).
[Sidenote: _Proper names transferred to common use._]
14. Proper nouns are used as common in either of two ways:--
(1) _The origin of a thing is used for the thing itself_: that is, the
name of the inventor may be applied to the thing invented, as a
_davy_, meaning the miner's lamp invented by Sir Humphry Davy; the
_guillotine_, from the name of Dr. Guillotin, who was its inventor. Or
the name of the country or city from which an article is derived is
used for the article: as _china_, from China; _arras_, from a town in
France; _port_ (wine), from Oporto, in Portugal; _levant_ and
_morocco_ (leather).
Some of this class have become worn by use so that at present we can
scarcely discover the derivation from the form of the word; for
example, the word _port_, above. Others of similar character are
_calico_, from Calicut; _damask_, from Damascus; _currants_, from
Corinth; etc.
(2) _The name of a person or place noted for certain qualities is
transferred to any person or place possessing those qualities_;
thus,--
Hercules and Samson were noted for their strength, and we call a
very strong man _a Hercules_ or _a Samson_. Sodom was famous for
wickedness, and a similar place is called _a Sodom_ of sin.
_A Daniel_ come to judgment!--SHAKESPEARE.
If it prove a mind of uncommon activity and power, _a Locke_, _a
Lavoisier_, _a Hutton_, _a Bentham_, _a Fourier_, it imposes its
classification on other men, and lo! a new system.--EMERSON.
[Sidenote: _Names for things in bulk altered for separate portions._]
15. Material nouns may be used as class names. Instead of
considering the whole body of material of which certain uses are made,
one can speak of particular uses or phases of the substance; as--
(1) _Of individual objects_ made from metals or other substances
capable of being wrought into various shapes. We know a number of
objects made of iron. The material _iron_ embraces the metal contained
in them all; but we may say, "The cook made the _irons_ hot,"
referring to flat-irons; or, "The sailor was put in _irons_" meaning
chains of iron. So also we may speak of _a glass_ to drink from or to
look into; _a steel_ to whet a knife on; _a rubber_ for erasing marks;
and so on.
(2) _Of classes_ or _kinds_ of the same substance. These are the same
in material, but differ in strength, purity, etc. Hence it shortens
speech to make the nouns plural, and say _teas_, _tobaccos_, _paints_,
_oils_, _candies_, _clays_, _coals_.
(3) _By poetical use_, of certain words necessarily singular in idea,
which are made plural, or used as class nouns, as in the following:--
The lone and level _sands_ stretch far away.--SHELLEY.
From all around--
Earth and her _waters_, and the depths of air--
Comes a still voice.--BRYANT.
Their airy ears
_The winds_ have stationed on the mountain peaks.
--PERCIVAL.
(4) _Of detached portions_ of matter used as class names; as _stones_,
_slates_, _papers_, _tins_, _clouds_, _mists_, etc.
[Sidenote: _Personification of abstract ideas._]
16. Abstract nouns are frequently used as proper names by being
personified; that is, the ideas are spoken of as residing in living
beings. This is a poetic usage, though not confined to verse.
Next _Anger_ rushed; his eyes, on fire,
In lightnings owned his secret stings.--COLLINS.
_Freedom's_ fame finds wings on every wind.--BYRON.
_Death_, his mask melting like a nightmare dream, smiled.--HAYNE.
_Traffic_ has lain down to rest; and only _Vice_ and _Misery_, to
prowl or to moan like night birds, are abroad.--CARLYLE.
[Sidenote: _A halfway class of words. Class nouns in use, abstract in
meaning._]
17. Abstract nouns are made half abstract by being spoken of in
the plural.
They are not then pure abstract nouns, nor are they common class
nouns. For example, examine this:--
The _arts_ differ from the _sciences_ in this, that their power
is founded not merely on _facts_ which can be communicated, but
on _dispositions_ which require to be created.--RUSKIN.
When it is said that _art_ differs from _science_, that the power of
art is founded on _fact_, that _disposition_ is the thing to be
created, the words italicized are pure abstract nouns; but in case _an
art_ or _a science_, or _the arts_ and _sciences_, be spoken of, the
abstract idea is partly lost. The words preceded by the article _a_,
or made plural, are still names of abstract ideas, not material
things; but they widen the application to separate kinds of _art_ or
different branches of _science_. They are neither class nouns nor pure
abstract nouns: they are more properly called _half abstract_.
Test this in the following sentences:--
Let us, if we must have great _actions_, make our own
so.--EMERSON.
And still, as each repeated _pleasure_ tired, Succeeding _sports_
the mirthful band inspired.--GOLDSMITH.
But ah! those _pleasures_, _loves_, and _joys_
Which I too keenly taste,
The Solitary can despise.--BURNS.
All these, however, were mere _terrors_ of the night.--IRVING.
[Sidenote: _By ellipses, nouns used to modify._]
18. Nouns used as descriptive terms. Sometimes a noun is attached
to another noun to add to its meaning, or describe it; for example, "a
_family_ quarrel," "a _New York_ bank," "the _State Bank Tax_ bill,"
"a _morning_ walk."
It is evident that these approach very near to the function of
adjectives. But it is better to consider them as nouns, for these
reasons: they do not give up their identity as nouns; they do not
express quality; they cannot be compared, as descriptive adjectives
are.
They are more like the possessive noun, which belongs to another word,
but is still a noun. They may be regarded as elliptical expressions,
meaning a walk _in the morning_, a bank _in New York_, a bill _as to
tax on the banks_, etc.
NOTE.--If the descriptive word be a _material_ noun, it may be
regarded as changed to an adjective. The term "_gold_ pen" conveys the
same idea as "_golden_ pen," which contains a pure adjective.
WORDS AND WORD GROUPS USED AS NOUNS.
[Sidenote: _The noun may borrow from any part of speech, or from any
expression._]
19. Owing to the scarcity of distinctive forms, and to the
consequent flexibility of English speech, words which are usually
other parts of speech are often used as nouns; and various word groups
may take the place of nouns by being used as nouns.
[Sidenote: _Adjectives, Conjunctions, Adverbs._]
(1) _Other parts of speech_ used as nouns:--
_The great_, _the wealthy_, fear thy blow.--BURNS.
Every _why_ hath a _wherefore_.--SHAKESPEARE.
When I was young? Ah, woeful _When_!
Ah! for the change 'twixt _Now_ and _Then_!
--COLERIDGE.
(2) _Certain word groups_ used like single nouns:--
_Too swift_ arrives as tardy as _too slow_.--SHAKESPEARE.
Then comes the "_Why, sir_!" and the "_What then, sir_?" and the
"_No, sir_!" and the "_You don't see your way through the
question, sir_!"--MACAULAY
(3) Any part of speech may be considered merely as a word, without
reference to its function in the sentence; also titles of books are
treated as simple nouns.
The _it_, at the beginning, is ambiguous, whether it mean the sun
or the cold.--Dr BLAIR
In this definition, is the word "_just_," or "_legal_," finally
to stand?--RUSKIN.
There was also a book of Defoe's called an "_Essay on Projects_,"
and another of Dr. Mather's called "_Essays to do Good_."--B.
FRANKLIN.
[Sidenote: _Caution._]
20. It is to be remembered, however, that the above cases are
shiftings of the _use_, of words rather than of their _meaning_. We
seldom find instances of complete conversion of one part of speech
into another.
When, in a sentence above, the terms _the great_, _the wealthy_, are
used, they are not names only: we have in mind the idea of persons and
the quality of being _great_ or _wealthy_. The words are used in the
sentence where nouns are used, but have an adjectival meaning.
In the other sentences, _why_ and _wherefore_, _When_, _Now_, and
_Then_, are spoken of as if pure nouns; but still the reader considers
this not a natural application of them as name words, but as a figure
of speech.
NOTE.--These remarks do not apply, of course, to such words as become
pure nouns by use. There are many of these. The adjective _good_ has
no claim on the noun _goods_; so, too, in speaking of the _principal_
of a school, or a state _secret_, or a faithful _domestic_, or a
_criminal_, etc., the words are entirely independent of any adjective
force.
Exercise.
Pick out the nouns in the following sentences, and tell to which class
each belongs. Notice if any have shifted from one class to another.
1. Hope springs eternal in the human breast.
2. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate.
3. Stone walls do not a prison make.
Nor iron bars a cage.
4. Truth-teller was our England's Alfred named.
5. A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little
courage.
6. Power laid his rod aside,
And Ceremony doff'd her pride.
7. She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies.
8. Learning, that cobweb of the brain.
9. A little weeping would ease my heart;
But in their briny bed
My tears must stop, for every drop
Hinders needle and thread.
10. A fool speaks all his mind, but a wise man reserves something for
hereafter.
11. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble
that he knows no more.
12. Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.
13. And see, he cried, the welcome,
Fair guests, that waits you here.
14. The fleet, shattered and disabled, returned to Spain.
15. One To-day is worth two To-morrows.
16. Vessels carrying coal are constantly moving.
17. Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.
18. And oft we trod a waste of pearly sands.
19. A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays
And confident to-morrows.
20. The hours glide by; the silver moon is gone.
21. Her robes of silk and velvet came from over the sea.
22. My soldier cousin was once only a drummer boy.
23. But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.
24. All that thou canst call thine own Lies in thy To-day.
INFLECTIONS OF NOUNS.
GENDER.
[Sidenote: _What gender means in English. It is founded on sex._]
21. In Latin, Greek, German, and many other languages, some general
rules are given that names of male beings are usually masculine, and
names of females are usually feminine. There are exceptions even to
this general statement, but not so in English. Male beings are, in
English grammar, always masculine; female, always feminine.
When, however, _inanimate_ things are spoken of, these languages are
totally unlike our own in determining the gender of words. For
instance: in Latin, _hortus_ (garden) is masculine, _mensa_ (table) is
feminine, _corpus_ (body) is neuter; in German, _das Messer_ (knife)
is neuter, _der Tisch_ (table) is masculine, _die Gabel_ (fork) is
feminine.
The great difference is, that in English the gender follows the
_meaning_ of the word, in other languages gender follows the _form_;
that is, in English, gender depends on _sex_: if a thing spoken of is
of the male sex, the _name_ of it is masculine; if of the female sex,
the _name_ of it is feminine. Hence:
[Sidenote: _Definition._]
22. Gender is the mode of distinguishing sex by words, or
additions to words.
23. It is evident from this that English can have but two
genders,--masculine and feminine.
[Sidenote: _Gender nouns. Neuter nouns._]
All nouns, then, must be divided into two principal classes,--gender
nouns, those distinguishing the sex of the object; and neuter
nouns, those which do not distinguish sex, or names of things without
life, and consequently without sex.
Gender nouns include names of persons and some names of animals;
neuter nouns include some animals and all inanimate objects.
[Sidenote: _Some words either gender or neuter nouns, according to
use._]
24. Some words may be either gender nouns or neuter nouns, according
to their use. Thus, the word _child_ is neuter in the sentence, "A
little _child_ shall lead them," but is masculine in the sentence
from Wordsworth,--
I have seen
A curious _child_ ... applying to _his_ ear
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell.
Of animals, those with which man comes in contact often, or which
arouse his interest most, are named by gender nouns, as in these
sentences:--
Before the barn door strutted the gallant _cock_, that pattern of
a husband, ... clapping _his_ burnished wings.--IRVING.
_Gunpowder_ ... came to a stand just by the bridge, with a
suddenness that had nearly sent _his_ rider sprawling over _his_
head--_id._
Other animals are not distinguished as to sex, but are spoken of as
neuter, the sex being of no consequence.
Not a _turkey_ but he [Ichabod] beheld daintily trussed up, with
_its_ gizzard under _its_ wing.--IRVING.
He next stooped down to feel the _pig_, if there were any signs
of life in _it_.--LAMB.
[Sidenote: _No "common gender._"]
25. According to the definition, there can be no such thing as
"common gender:" words either distinguish sex (or the sex is
distinguished by the context) or else they do not distinguish sex.
If such words as _parent_, _servant_, _teacher_, _ruler_, _relative_,
_cousin_, _domestic_, etc., do not show the sex to which the persons
belong, they are neuter words.
26. Put in convenient form, the division of words according to sex,
or the lack of it, is,--
(MASCULINE: Male beings.
Gender nouns {
(FEMININE: Female beings.
Neuter nouns: Names of inanimate things, or of living beings whose
sex cannot be determined.
27. The inflections for gender belong, of course, only to masculine
and feminine nouns. _Forms_ would be a more accurate word than
_inflections_, since inflection applies only to the _case_ of nouns.
There are three ways to distinguish the genders:--
(1) By prefixing a gender word to another word.
(2) By adding a suffix, generally to a masculine word.
(3) By using a different word for each gender.
I. Gender shown by Prefixes.
[Sidenote: _Very few of class I._]
28. Usually the gender words _he_ and _she_ are prefixed to neuter
words; as _he-goat_--_she-goat_, _cock sparrow_--_hen sparrow_,
_he-bear_--_she-bear_.
One feminine, _woman_, puts a prefix before the masculine _man_.
_Woman_ is a short way of writing _wifeman_.
II. Gender shown by Suffixes.
29. By far the largest number of gender words are those marked by
suffixes. In this particular the native endings have been largely
supplanted by foreign suffixes.
[Sidenote: _Native suffixes._]
The native suffixes to indicate the feminine were _-en_ and _-ster_.
These remain in _vixen_ and _spinster_, though both words have lost
their original meanings.
The word _vixen_ was once used as the feminine of _fox_ by the
Southern-English. For _fox_ they said _vox_; for _from_ they said
_vram_; and for the older word _fat_ they said _vat_, as in _wine
vat_. Hence _vixen_ is for _fyxen_, from the masculine _fox_.
_Spinster_ is a relic of a large class of words that existed in Old
and Middle English,[1] but have now lost their original force as
feminines. The old masculine answering to _spinster_ was _spinner_;
but _spinster_ has now no connection with it.
The foreign suffixes are of two kinds:--
[Sidenote: _Foreign suffixes. Unaltered and little used._]
(1) Those belonging to borrowed words, as _czarina_, _señorita_,
_executrix_, _donna_. These are attached to foreign words, and are
never used for words recognized as English.
[Sidenote: _Slightly changed and widely used._]
(2) That regarded as the standard or regular termination of the
feminine, _-ess_ (French _esse_, Low Latin _issa_), the one most used.
The corresponding masculine may have the ending _-er_ (_-or_), but in
most cases it has not. Whenever we adopt a new masculine word, the
feminine is formed by adding this termination _-ess_.
Sometimes the _-ess_ has been added to a word already feminine by the
ending _-ster_; as _seam-str-ess_, _song-str-ess_. The ending _-ster_
had then lost its force as a feminine suffix; it has none now in the
words _huckster_, _gamester_, _trickster_, _punster_.
[Sidenote: _Ending of masculine not changed._]
30. The ending _-ess_ is added to many words without changing the
ending of the masculine; as,--
baron--baroness
count--countess
lion--lioness
Jew--Jewess
heir--heiress
host--hostess
priest--priestess
giant--giantess
[Sidenote: _Masculine ending dropped._]
The masculine ending may be dropped before the feminine _-ess_ is
added; as,--
abbot--abbess
negro--negress
murderer--murderess
sorcerer--sorceress
[Sidenote: _Vowel dropped before adding_ -ess.]
The feminine may discard a vowel which appears in the masculine; as
in--
actor--actress
master--mistress
benefactor--benefactress
emperor--empress
tiger--tigress
enchanter--enchantress
_Empress_ has been cut down from _emperice_ (twelfth century) and
_emperesse_ (thirteenth century), from Latin _imperatricem_.
_Master_ and _mistress_ were in Middle English
_maister_--_maistresse_, from the Old French _maistre_--_maistresse_.
31. When the older _-en_ and _-ster_ went out of use as the
distinctive mark of the feminine, the ending _-ess_, from the French
_-esse_, sprang into a popularity much greater than at present.
[Sidenote: _Ending_ -ess _less used now than formerly._]
Instead of saying _doctress_, _fosteress_, _wagoness_, as was said in
the sixteenth century, or _servauntesse_, _teacheresse_,
_neighboresse_, _frendesse_, as in the fourteenth century, we have
dispensed with the ending in many cases, and either use a prefix word
or leave the masculine to do work for the feminine also.
Thus, we say _doctor_ (masculine and feminine) or _woman doctor_,
_teacher_ or _lady teacher_, _neighbor_ (masculine and feminine), etc.
We frequently use such words as _author_, _editor_, _chairman_, to
represent persons of either sex.
NOTE.--There is perhaps this distinction observed: when we speak of a
female _as an active agent_ merely, we use the masculine termination,
as, "George Eliot is the _author_ of 'Adam Bede;'" but when we speak
purposely _to denote a distinction from a male_, we use the feminine,
as, "George Eliot is an eminent _authoress_."
III. Gender shown by Different Words.
32. In some of these pairs, the feminine and the masculine are
entirely different words; others have in their origin the same root.
Some of them have an interesting history, and will be noted below:--
bachelor--maid
boy--girl
brother--sister
drake--duck
earl--countess
father--mother
gander--goose
hart--roe
horse--mare
husband--wife
king--queen
lord--lady
wizard--witch
nephew--niece
ram--ewe
sir--madam
son--daughter
uncle--aunt
bull--cow
boar--sow
Girl originally meant a child of either sex, and was used for male
or female until about the fifteenth century.
Drake is peculiar in that it is formed from a corresponding feminine
which is no longer used. It is not connected historically with our
word _duck_, but is derived from _ened_ (duck) and an obsolete suffix
_rake_ (king). Three letters of _ened_ have fallen away, leaving our
word _drake_.
Gander and goose were originally from the same root word. _Goose_
has various cognate forms in the languages akin to English (German
_Gans_, Icelandic _gás_, Danish _gaas_, etc.). The masculine was
formed by adding _-a_, the old sign of the masculine. This _gansa_ was
modified into _gan-ra_, _gand-ra_, finally _gander_; the _d_ being
inserted to make pronunciation easy, as in many other words.
Mare, in Old English _mere_, had the masculine _mearh_ (horse), but
this has long been obsolete.
Husband and wife are not connected in origin. _Husband_ is a
Scandinavian word (Anglo-Saxon _hūsbonda_ from Icelandic _hús-bóndi_,
probably meaning house dweller); _wife_ was used in Old and Middle
English to mean woman in general.
King and queen are said by some (Skeat, among others) to be from
the same root word, but the German etymologist Kluge says they are
not.
Lord is said to be a worn-down form of the Old English _hlāf-weard_
(loaf keeper), written _loverd_, _lhauerd_, or _lauerd_ in Middle
English. Lady is from _hlœ̄̄fdige_ (_hlœ̄̄f_ meaning loaf, and
_dige_ being of uncertain origin and meaning).
Witch is the Old English _wicce_, but wizard is from the Old
French _guiscart_ (prudent), not immediately connected with _witch_,
though both are ultimately from the same root.
Sir is worn down from the Old French _sire_ (Latin _senior_).
Madam is the French _ma dame_, from Latin _mea domina_.
[Sidenote: _Two masculines from feminines._]
33. Besides _gander_ and _drake_, there are two other masculine
words that were formed from the feminine:--
Bridegroom, from Old English _brȳd-guma_ (bride's man). The _r_ in
_groom_ has crept in from confusion with the word _groom_.
Widower, from the weakening of the ending _-a_ in Old English to
_-e_ in Middle English. The older forms, _widuwa_--_widuwe_, became
identical, and a new masculine ending was therefore added to
distinguish the masculine from the feminine (compare Middle English
_widuer_--_widewe_).
Personification.
34. Just as abstract ideas are personified (Sec. 16), material
objects may be spoken of like gender nouns; for example,--
"Now, where the swift _Rhone_ cleaves _his_ way."--BYRON.
The _Sun_ now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came _he_.
--COLERIDGE.
And haply the _Queen Moon_ is on _her_ throne,
Clustered around by all her starry Fays.
--KEATS,
_Britannia_ needs no bulwarks,
No towers along the steep;
_Her_ march is o'er the mountain waves,
_Her_ home is on the deep.
--CAMPBELL
This is not exclusively a poetic use. In ordinary speech
personification is very frequent: the pilot speaks of his boat as
feminine; the engineer speaks so of his engine; etc.
[Sidenote: _Effect of personification._]
In such cases the gender is marked by the pronoun, and not by the form
of the noun. But the fact that in English the distinction of gender is
confined to difference of sex makes these departures more effective.
NUMBER.
[Sidenote: _Definition._]
35. In nouns, number means the mode of indicating whether we are
speaking of one thing or of more than one.
36. Our language has two numbers,--_singular_ and _plural_. The
singular number denotes that one thing is spoken of; the plural, more
than one.
37. There are three ways of changing the singular form to the
plural:--
(1) By adding _-en_.
(2) By changing the root vowel.
(3) By adding _-s_ (or _-es_).
The first two methods prevailed, together with the third, in Old
English, but in modern English _-s_ or _-es_ has come to be the
"standard" ending; that is, whenever we adopt a new word, we make its
plural by adding _-s_ or _-es._
I. Plurals formed by the Suffix _-en_.
[Sidenote: _The_ -en _inflection._]
38. This inflection remains only in the word oxen, though it was
quite common in Old and Middle English; for instance, _eyen_ (eyes),
_treen_ (trees), _shoon_ (shoes), which last is still used in Lowland
Scotch. _Hosen_ is found in the King James version of the Bible, and
_housen_ is still common in the provincial speech in England.
39. But other words were inflected afterwards, in imitation of the
old words in _-en_ by making a double plural.
[Sidenote: -En _inflection imitated by other words._]
Brethren has passed through three stages. The old plural was
_brothru_, then _brothre_ or _brethre_, finally _brethren_. The
weakening of inflections led to this addition.
Children has passed through the same history, though the
intermediate form _childer_ lasted till the seventeenth century in
literary English, and is still found in dialects; as,--
"God bless me! so then, after all, you'll have a chance to see
your _childer_ get up like, and get settled."--QUOTED BY DE
QUINCEY.
Kine is another double plural, but has now no singular.
In spite of wandering _kine_ and other adverse
circumstance.--THOREAU.
II. Plurals formed by Vowel Change.
40. Examples of this inflection are,--
man--men
foot--feet
goose--geese
louse--lice
mouse--mice
tooth--teeth
Some other words--as _book_, _turf_, _wight_, _borough_--formerly had
the same inflection, but they now add the ending _-s_.
41. Akin to this class are some words, originally neuter, that have
the singular and plural alike; such as _deer_, _sheep_, _swine_, etc.
Other words following the same usage are, _pair_, _brace_, _dozen_,
after numerals (if not after numerals, or if preceded by the
prepositions _in_, _by_, etc, they add _-s_): also _trout_, _salmon_;
_head_, _sail_; _cannon_; _heathen_, _folk_, _people_.
The words _horse_ and _foot_, when they mean soldiery, retain the
same form for plural meaning; as,--
The _foot_ are fourscore thousand,
The _horse_ are thousands ten.
--MACAULAY.
Lee marched over the mountain wall,--
Over the mountains winding down,
_Horse_ and _foot_, into Frederick town.
--WHITTIER.
III. Plurals formed by Adding -s or -es.
42. Instead of _-s,_ the ending _-es_ is added--
(1) If a word ends in a letter which cannot add _-s_ and be
pronounced. Such are _box, cross, ditch, glass, lens, quartz_, etc.
[Sidenote: _-Es added in certain cases_.]
If the word ends in a _sound_ which cannot add _-s_, a new syllable is
made; as, _niche--niches, race--races, house--houses, prize--prizes,
chaise--chaises_, etc.
_-Es_ is also added to a few words ending in -o, though this sound
combines readily with _-s_, and does not make an extra syllable:
_cargo--cargoes, negro--negroes, hero--heroes, volcano--volcanoes_,
etc.
Usage differs somewhat in other words of this class, some adding _-s_,
and some _-es_.
(2) If a word ends in _-y_ preceded by a consonant (the _y_ being then
changed to _i_); e.g., _fancies, allies, daisies, fairies_.
[Sidenote: _Words in -ies._]
Formerly, however, these words ended in _-ie_, and the real ending is
therefore _-s_. Notice these from Chaucer (fourteenth century):--
[Sidenote: _Their old form._]
The _lilie_ on hir stalke grene.
Of _maladie_ the which he hadde endured.
And these from Spenser (sixteenth century):--
Be well aware, quoth then that _ladie_ milde.
At last fair Hesperus in highest _skie_
Had spent his lampe.
(3) In the case of some words ending in -_f_ or -_fe_, which have
the plural in _-ves_: _calf_--_calves_, _half_--_halves_,
_knife_--_knives_, _shelf_--_shelves_, etc.
Special Lists.
43. Material nouns and abstract nouns are always singular. When
such words take a plural ending, they lose their identity, and go over
to other classes (Secs. 15 and 17).
44. Proper nouns are regularly singular, but may be made plural
when we wish to speak of several persons or things bearing the same
name; e.g., _the Washingtons_, _the Americas_.
45. Some words are usually singular, though they are plural in
form. Examples of these are, _optics_, _economics_, _physics_,
_mathematics_, _politics_, and many branches of learning; also _news_,
_pains_ (care), _molasses_, _summons_, _means_: as,--
_Politics_, in its widest extent, is both the science and the art
of government.--_Century Dictionary_.
So live, that when thy _summons comes_, etc.--BRYANT.
It served simply as _a means_ of sight.--PROF. DANA.
[Sidenote: Means _plural_.]
Two words, means and politics, _may be plural_ in their
construction with verbs and adjectives:--
Words, by strongly conveying the passions, by _those means_ which
we have already mentioned, fully compensate for their weakness in
other respects.--BURKE.
With great dexterity _these means_ were now applied.--MOTLEY.
By _these means_, I say, riches will accumulate.--GOLDSMITH.
[Sidenote: Politics _plural_.]
Cultivating a feeling that _politics_ are tiresome.--G.W. CURTIS.
The _politics_ in which he took the keenest interest _were
politics_ scarcely deserving of the name.--MACAULAY.
Now I read all the _politics_ that _come_ out.--GOLDSMITH.
46. Some words have no corresponding singular.
aborigines
amends
annals
assets
antipodes
scissors
thanks
spectacles
vespers
victuals
matins
nuptials
oats
obsequies
premises
bellows
billiards
dregs
gallows
tongs
[Sidenote: _Occasionally singular words_.]
Sometimes, however, a few of these words have the construction of
singular nouns. Notice the following:--
They cannot get on without each other any more than one blade of
_a scissors_ can cut without the other.--J.L. LAUGHLIN.
A relic which, if I recollect right, he pronounced to have been
_a tongs_.--IRVING.
Besides this, it is furnished with _a forceps_.--GOLDSMITH.
The air,--was it subdued when...the wind was trained only to turn
a windmill, carry off chaff, or work in _a bellows_?--PROF. DANA.
In Early Modern English _thank_ is found.
What _thank_ have ye?--_Bible_
47. Three words were _originally singular_, the present ending _-s_
not being really a plural inflection, but they are regularly construed
as plural: _alms, eaves, riches_.
[Sidenote: _two plurals_.]
48. A few nouns have two plurals differing in meaning.
brother--brothers (by blood), brethren (of a society or church).
cloth--cloths (kinds of cloth), clothes (garments).
die--dies (stamps for coins, etc.), dice (for gaming).
fish--fish (collectively), fishes (individuals or kinds).
genius--geniuses (men of genius), genii (spirits).
index--indexes (to books), indices (signs in algebra).
pea--peas (separately), pease (collectively).
penny--pennies (separately), pence (collectively).
shot--shot (collective balls), shots (number of times fired).
In speaking of coins, _twopence_, _sixpence_, etc., may add _-s_,
making a double plural, as two _sixpences_.
[Sidenote: _One plural, two meanings._]
49. Other words have one plural form with two meanings,--one
corresponding to the singular, the other unlike it.
custom--customs: (1) habits, ways; (2) revenue duties.
letter--letters: (1) the alphabet, or epistles; (2) literature.
number--numbers: (1) figures; (2) poetry, as in the lines,--
I lisped in _numbers_, for the numbers came.--POPE.
Tell me not, in mournful _numbers_.--LONGFELLOW.
_Numbers_ also means issues, or copies, of a periodical.
pain--pains: (1) suffering; (2) care, trouble,
part--parts: (1) divisions; (2) abilities, faculties.
[Sidenote: _Two classes of compound words._]
50. Compound words may be divided into two classes:--
(1) _Those whose parts are so closely joined as to constitute one
word._ These make the last part plural.
courtyard
dormouse
Englishman
fellow-servant
fisherman
Frenchman
forget-me-not
goosequill
handful
mouthful
cupful
maidservant
pianoforte
stepson
spoonful
titmouse
(2) _Those groups in which the first part is the principal one,
followed by a word or phrase making a modifier._ The chief member adds
_-s_ in the plural.
aid-de-camp
attorney at law
billet-doux
commander in chief
court-martial
cousin-german
father-in-law
knight-errant
hanger-on
NOTE.--Some words ending in _-man_ are not compounds of the English
word _man_, but add _-s_; such as _talisman_, _firman_, _Brahman_,
_German_, _Norman_, _Mussulman_, _Ottoman_.
51. Some groups pluralize both parts of the group; as _man singer_,
_manservant_, _woman servant_, _woman singer_.
[Sidenote: _Two methods in use for names with titles._]
52. As to plurals of names with titles, there is some disagreement
among English writers. The title may be plural, as _the Messrs.
Allen_, _the Drs. Brown_, _the Misses Rich_; or the name may be
pluralized.
The former is perhaps more common in present-day use, though the
latter is often found; for example,--
Then came Mr. and Mrs. Briggs, and then _the three Miss
Spinneys_, then Silas Peckham.--DR. HOLMES.
Our immortal Fielding was of the younger branch of the _Earls of
Denbigh_, who drew their origin from the _Counts of
Hapsburgh_.--GIBBON.
The _Miss Flamboroughs_ were reckoned the best dancers in the
parish.--GOLDSMITH.
The _Misses Nettengall's_ young ladies come to the Cathedral
too.--DICKENS.
The _Messrs. Harper_ have done the more than generous thing by
Mr. Du Maurier.--_The Critic_.
53. A number of foreign words have been adopted into English
without change of form. These are said to be _domesticated_, and
retain their foreign plurals.
Others have been adopted, and by long use have altered their power so
as to conform to English words. They are then said to be
_naturalized_, or _Anglicized_, or _Englished_.
[Sidenote: _Domesticated words._]
The domesticated words may retain the original plural. Some of them
have a secondary English plural in _-s_ or _-es_.
Exercise.
Find in the dictionary the plurals of these words:--
I. FROM THE LATIN.
apparatus
appendix
axis
datum
erratum
focus
formula
genus
larva
medium
memorandum
nebula
radius
series
species
stratum
terminus
vertex
II. FROM THE GREEK.
analysis
antithesis
automaton
basis
crisis
ellipsis
hypothesis
parenthesis
phenomenon
thesis
[Sidenote: _Anglicized words._]
When the foreign words are fully naturalized, they form their plurals
in the regular way; as,--
bandits
cherubs
dogmas
encomiums
enigmas
focuses
formulas
geniuses
herbariums
indexes
seraphs
apexes
[Sidenote: _Usage varies in plurals of letters, figures, etc._]
54. Letters, figures, etc., form their plurals by adding _-s_ or
_'s_. Words quoted merely as words, without reference to their
meaning, also add _-s_ or _'s_; as, "His _9's_ (or _9s_) look like
_7's_ (or _7s_)," "Avoid using too many _and's_ (or _ands_)," "Change
the _+'s_ (or _+s_) to _-'s_ (or _-s_)."
CASE.
[Sidenote: _Definition._]
55. Case is an inflection or use of a noun (or pronoun) to show its
relation to other words in the sentence.
In the sentence, "He sleeps in a felon's cell," the word _felon's_
modifies _cell_, and expresses a relation akin to possession; _cell_
has another relation, helping to express the idea of place with the
word _in_.
56. In the general wearing-away of inflections, the number of case
forms has been greatly reduced.
[Sidenote: _Only two_ case forms.]
There are now only two case forms of English nouns,--one for the
_nominative_ and _objective_, one for the _possessive_: consequently
the matter of inflection is a very easy thing to handle in learning
about cases.
[Sidenote: _Reasons for speaking of_ three cases _of nouns_.]
But there are reasons why grammars treat of _three_ cases of nouns
when there are only two forms:--
(1) Because the relations of all words, whether inflected or not, must
be understood for purposes of analysis.
(2) Because pronouns still have three case forms as well as three case
relations.
57. Nouns, then, may be said to have three cases,--the
nominative, the objective, and the possessive.
I. Uses of the Nominative.
58. The nominative case is used as follows:--
(1) _As the subject of a verb_: "_Water_ seeks its level."
(2) _As a predicate noun_, completing a verb, and referring to or
explaining the subject: "A bent twig makes a crooked _tree_."
(3) _In apposition_ with some other nominative word, adding to the
meaning of that word: "The reaper _Death_ with his sickle keen."
(4) _In direct address_: "_Lord Angus_, thou hast lied!"
(5) _With a participle in an absolute or independent phrase_ (there is
some discussion whether this is a true nominative): "The _work_ done,
they returned to their homes."
(6) _With an infinitive in exclamations_: "_David_ to die!"
Exercise.
Pick out the nouns in the nominative case, and tell which use of the
nominative each one has.
1. Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead; excessive grief, the
enemy of the living.
2. Excuses are clothes which, when asked unawares,
Good Breeding to naked Necessity spares.
3. Human experience is the great test of truth.
4. Cheerfulness and content are great beautifiers.
5. Three properties belong to wisdom,--nature, learning, and
experience; three things characterize man,--person, fate, and merit.
6. But of all plagues, good Heaven, thy wrath can send,
Save, save, oh save me from the candid friend!
7. Conscience, her first law broken, wounded lies.
8. They charged, sword in hand and visor down.
9. O sleep! O gentle sleep!
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee?
II. Uses of the Objective.
59. The objective case is used as follows:--
(1) _As the direct object of a verb_, naming the person or thing
directly receiving the action of the verb: "Woodman, spare that
_tree_!"
(2) _As the indirect object of a verb_, naming the person or thing
indirectly affected by the action of the verb: "Give the _devil_ his
due."
(3) _Adverbially_, defining the action of a verb by denoting _time_,
_measure_, _distance_, etc. (in the older stages of the language, this
took the regular accusative inflection): "Full _fathom_ five thy
father lies;" "Cowards die many _times_ before their deaths."
(4) _As the second object_, completing the verb, and thus becoming
part of the predicate in acting upon an object: "Time makes the worst
enemies _friends_;" "Thou makest the storm a _calm_." In these
sentences the real predicates are _makes friends_, taking the object
_enemies_, and being equivalent to one verb, _reconciles_; and _makest
a calm_, taking the object _storm_, and meaning calmest. This is also
called the _predicate objective_ or the _factitive object_.
(5) _As the object of a preposition_, the word toward which the
preposition points, and which it joins to another word: "He must have
a long spoon that would eat with the _devil_."
The preposition sometimes takes the _possessive_ case of a noun, as
will be seen in Sec. 68.
(6) _In apposition with another objective_: "The opinions of this
junto were completely controlled by Nicholas Vedder, a _patriarch_ of
the village, and _landlord_ of the inn."
Exercise.
Point out the nouns in the objective case in these sentences, and tell
which use each has:--
1. Tender men sometimes have strong wills.
2. Necessity is the certain connection between cause and effect.
3. Set a high price on your leisure moments; they are sands of
precious gold.
4. But the flood came howling one day.
5. I found the urchin Cupid sleeping.
6. Five times every year he was to be exposed in the pillory.
7. The noblest mind the best contentment has.
8. Multitudes came every summer to visit that famous natural
curiosity, the Great Stone Face.
9. And whirling plate, and forfeits paid,
His winter task a pastime made.
10. He broke the ice on the streamlet's brink,
And gave the leper to eat and drink.
III. Uses of the Possessive.
60. The possessive case always modifies another word, expressed or
understood. There are three forms of possessive showing how a word is
related in sense to the modified word:--
(1) _Appositional possessive_, as in these expressions,--
The blind old man of _Scio's_ rocky isle.--BYRON.
Beside a pumice isle in _Baiæ's_ bay.--SHELLEY.
In these sentences the phrases are equivalent to _of the rocky isle
[of] Scio_, and _in the bay [of] Baiæ_, the possessive being really
equivalent here to an appositional objective. It is a poetic
expression, the equivalent phrase being used in prose.
(2) _Objective possessive_, as shown in the sentences,--
Ann Turner had taught her the secret before this last good lady
had been hanged for _Sir Thomas Overbury's_ murder.--HAWTHORNE.
He passes to-day in building an air castle for to-morrow, or in
writing _yesterday's_ elegy.--THACKERAY
In these the possessives are equivalent to an objective after a verbal
expression: as, _for murdering Sir Thomas Overbury_; _an elegy to
commemorate yesterday_. For this reason the use of the possessive here
is called objective.
(3) _Subjective possessive_, the most common of all; as,--
The unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display.
--ADDISON.
If this were expanded into _the power which his Creator possesses_,
the word _Creator_ would be the subject of the verb: hence it is
called a subjective possessive.
61. This last-named possessive expresses a variety of relations.
_Possession_ in some sense is the most common. The kind of relation
may usually be found by expanding the possessive into an equivalent
phrase: for example, "_Winter's_ rude tempests are gathering now"
(i.e., tempests that winter is likely to have); "His beard was of
_several days'_ growth" (i.e., growth which several days had
developed); "The _forest's_ leaping panther shall yield his spotted
hide" (i.e., the panther which the forest hides); "Whoso sheddeth
_man's_ blood" (blood that man possesses).
[Sidenote: _How the possessive is formed._]
62. As said before (Sec. 56), there are only two case forms. One is
the simple form of a word, expressing the relations of nominative and
objective; the other is formed by adding _'s_ to the simple form,
making the possessive singular. To form the possessive plural, only
the apostrophe is added if the plural nominative ends in _-s_; the
_'s_ is added if the plural nominative does not end in _-s_.
Case Inflection.
[Sidenote: _Declension or inflection of nouns._]
63. The full declension of nouns is as follows:--
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
1. _Nom. and Obj._ lady ladies
_Poss._ lady's ladies'
2. _Nom. and Obj._ child children
_Poss._ child's children's
[Sidenote: _A suggestion._]
NOTE.--The difficulty that some students have in writing the
possessive plural would be lessened if they would remember there are
two steps to be taken:--
(1) Form the nominative plural according to Secs 39-53
(2) Follow the rule given in Sec. 62.
Special Remarks on the Possessive Case.
[Sidenote: _Origin of the possessive with its apostrophe._]
64. In Old English a large number of words had in the genitive case
singular the ending _-es_; in Middle English still more words took
this ending: for example, in Chaucer, "From every _schires_ ende,"
"Full worthi was he in his _lordes_ werre [war]," "at his _beddes_
syde," "_mannes_ herte [heart]," etc.
[Sidenote: _A false theory._]
By the end of the seventeenth century the present way of indicating
the possessive had become general. The use of the apostrophe, however,
was not then regarded as standing for the omitted vowel of the
genitive (as _lord's_ for _lordes_): by a false theory the ending was
thought to be a contraction of _his_, as schoolboys sometimes write,
"George Jones _his_ book."
[Sidenote: _Use of the apostrophe._]
Though this opinion was untrue, the apostrophe has proved a great
convenience, since otherwise words with a plural in _-s_ would have
three forms alike. To the eye all the forms are now distinct, but to
the ear all may be alike, and the connection must tell us what form is
intended.
The use of the apostrophe in the plural also began in the seventeenth
century, from thinking that _s_ was not a possessive sign, and from a
desire to have distinct forms.
[Sidenote: _Sometimes_ s _is left out in the possessive singular._]
65. Occasionally the _s_ is dropped in the possessive singular if
the word ends in a hissing sound and another hissing sound follows,
but the apostrophe remains to mark the possessive; as, _for goodness'
sake, Cervantes' satirical work_.
In other cases the _s_ is seldom omitted. Notice these three examples
from Thackeray's writings: "Harry ran upstairs to his _mistress's_
apartment;" "A postscript is added, as by the _countess's_ command;"
"I saw what the _governess's_ views were of the matter."
[Sidenote: _Possessive with compound expressions._]
66. In compound expressions, containing words in apposition, a word
with a phrase, etc., the possessive sign is usually last, though
instances are found with both appositional words marked.
Compare the following examples of literary usage:--
Do not the Miss Prys, my neighbors, know the amount of my income,
the items of my _son's_, _Captain Scrapegrace's_, tailor's
bill--THACKERAY.
The world's pomp and power sits there on this hand: on that,
stands up for God's truth one man, the _poor miner Hans Luther's_
son.--CARLYLE.
They invited me in the _emperor their master's_ name.--SWIFT.
I had naturally possessed myself of _Richardson the painter's_
thick octavo volumes of notes on the "Paradise Lost."--DE
QUINCEY.
They will go to Sunday schools to teach classes of little
children the age of Methuselah or the dimensions of _Og the king
of Bashan's_ bedstead.--HOLMES.
More common still is the practice of turning the possessive into an
equivalent phrase; as, _in the name of the emperor their master_,
instead of _the emperor their master's name_.
[Sidenote: _Possessive and no noun limited._]
67. The possessive is sometimes used without belonging to any noun
in the sentence; some such word as _house_, _store_, _church_,
_dwelling_, etc., being understood with it: for example,--
Here at the _fruiterer's_ the Madonna has a tabernacle of fresh
laurel leaves.--RUSKIN.
It is very common for people to say that they are disappointed in
the first sight of _St. Peter's_.--LOWELL.
I remember him in his cradle at _St. James's_.--THACKERAY.
Kate saw that; and she walked off from the _don's_.--DE QUINCEY.
[Sidenote: _The double possessive._]
68. A peculiar form, a double possessive, has grown up and become a
fixed idiom in modern English.
In most cases, a possessive relation was expressed in Old English by
the inflection _-es_, corresponding to _'s_. The same relation was
expressed in French by a phrase corresponding to _of_ and its object.
Both of these are now used side by side; sometimes they are used
together, as one modifier, making a double possessive. For this there
are several reasons:--
[Sidenote: _Its advantages: Euphony_.]
(1) When a word is modified by _a_, _the_, _this_, _that_, _every_,
_no_, _any_, _each_, etc., and at the same time by a possessive noun,
it is distasteful to place the possessive before the modified noun,
and it would also alter the meaning: we place it after the modified
noun with _of_.
[Sidenote: _Emphasis._]
(2) It is more emphatic than the simple possessive, especially when
used with _this_ or _that_, for it brings out the modified word in
strong relief.
[Sidenote: _Clearness._]
(3) It prevents ambiguity. For example, in such a sentence as, "This
introduction _of Atterbury's_ has all these advantages" (Dr. Blair),
the statement clearly means only one thing,--the introduction which
Atterbury made. If, however, we use the phrase _of Atterbury_, the
sentence _might_ be understood as just explained, or it might mean
this act of introducing Atterbury. (See also Sec. 87.)
The following are some instances of double possessives:--
This Hall _of Tinville's_ is dark, ill-lighted except where she
stands.--CARLYLE.
Those lectures _of Lowell's_ had a great influence with me, and
I used to like whatever they bade me like.--HOWELLS
Niebuhr remarks that no pointed sentences _of Cæsar's_ can have
come down to us.--FROUDE.
Besides these famous books _of Scott's and Johnson's_, there is a
copious "Life" by Thomas Sheridan.--THACKERAY
Always afterwards on occasions of ceremony, he wore that quaint
old French sword _of the Commodore's_.--E.E. HALE.
Exercises.
(_a_) Pick out the possessive nouns, and tell whether each is
appositional, objective, or subjective.
(_b_) Rewrite the sentence, turning the possessives into equivalent
phrases.
1. I don't choose a hornet's nest about my ears.
2. Shall Rome stand under one man's awe?
3. I must not see thee Osman's bride.
4. At lovers' perjuries,
They say, Jove laughs.
5. The world has all its eyes on Cato's son.
6. My quarrel and the English queen's are one.
7. Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger,
Comes dancing from the East.
8. A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds; therefore, let him
seasonably water the one, and destroy the other.
9. 'Tis all men's office to speak patience
To those that wring under the load of sorrow.
10. A jest's prosperity lies in the ear
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
Of him that makes it.
11. No more the juice of Egypt's grape shall moist his lip.
12. There Shakespeare's self, with every garland crowned,
Flew to those fairy climes his fancy sheen.
13. What supports me? dost thou ask?
The conscience, Friend, to have lost them [his eyes] overplied
In liberty's defence.
14. Or where Campania's plain forsaken lies,
A weary waste expanding to the skies.
15. Nature herself, it seemed, would raise
A minster to her Maker's praise!
HOW TO PARSE NOUNS.
69. Parsing a word is putting together all the facts about its
form and its relations to other words in the sentence.
In parsing, some idioms--the double possessive, for example--do not
come under regular grammatical rules, and are to be spoken of merely
as idioms.
70. Hence, in parsing a noun, we state,--
(1) The class to which it belongs,--common, proper, etc.
(2) Whether a neuter or a gender noun; if the latter, which gender.
(3) Whether singular or plural number.
(4) Its office in the sentence, determining its case.
[Sidenote: _The correct method._]
71. In parsing any word, the following method should always be
followed: tell the facts about what the word _does_, then make the
grammatical statements as to its class, inflections, and relations.
MODEL FOR PARSING.
"What is bolder than a miller's neckcloth, which takes a thief by the
throat every morning?"
_Miller's_ is a name applied to every individual of its class, hence
it is a common noun; it is the name of a male being, hence it is a
gender noun, masculine; it denotes only one person, therefore
singular number; it expresses possession or ownership, and limits
_neckcloth_, therefore possessive case.
_Neckcloth_, like _miller's_, is a common class noun; it has no sex,
therefore neuter; names one thing, therefore singular number; subject
of the verb _is_ understood, and therefore nominative case.
_Thief_ is a common class noun; the connection shows a male is meant,
therefore masculine gender; singular number; object of the verb
_takes_, hence objective case.
_Throat_ is neuter, of the same class and number as the word
_neckcloth_; it is the object of the preposition _by_, hence it is
objective case.
NOTE.--The preposition sometimes takes the possessive case (see Sec.
68).
_Morning_ is like _throat_ and _neckcloth_ as to class, gender, and
number; as to case, it expresses time, has no governing word, but is
the adverbial objective.
Exercise.
Follow the model above in parsing all the nouns in the following
sentences:--
1. To raise a monument to departed worth is to perpetuate virtue.
2. The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and
to have it found out by accident.
3. An old cloak makes a new jerkin; a withered serving man, a fresh
tapster.
4. That in the captain's but a choleric word,
Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy.
5. Now, blessings light on him that first invented ... sleep!
6. Necker, financial minister to Louis XVI., and his daughter, Madame
de Staël, were natives of Geneva.
7. He giveth his beloved sleep.
8. Time makes the worst enemies friends.
9. A few miles from this point, where the Rhone enters the lake,
stands the famous Castle of Chillon, connected with the shore by a
drawbridge,--palace, castle, and prison, all in one.
10. Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth,
And hated her for her pride.
11. Mrs. Jarley's back being towards him, the military gentleman shook
his forefinger.
PRONOUNS.
[Sidenote: _The need of pronouns._]
72. When we wish to speak of a name several times in succession, it
is clumsy and tiresome to repeat the noun. For instance, instead of
saying, "_The pupil_ will succeed in _the pupil's_ efforts if _the
pupil_ is ambitious," we improve the sentence by shortening it thus,
"The pupil will succeed in _his_ efforts if _he_ is ambitious."
Again, if we wish to know about the ownership of a house, we evidently
cannot state the owner's name, but by a question we say, "_Whose_
house is that?" thus placing a word instead of the name till we learn
the name.
This is not to be understood as implying that pronouns were _invented_
because nouns were tiresome, since history shows that pronouns are as
old as nouns and verbs. The use of pronouns must have sprung up
naturally, from a necessity for short, definite, and representative
words.
[Sidenote: _Definition._]
A pronoun is a reference word, standing for a name, or for a person
or thing, or for a group of persons or things.
[Sidenote: _Classes of pronouns._]
73. Pronouns may be grouped in five classes:--
(1) Personal pronouns, which distinguish person by their form (Sec.
76).
(2) Interrogative pronouns, which are used to ask questions about
persons or things.
(3) Relative pronouns, which relate or refer to a noun, pronoun, or
other word or expression, and at the same time connect two statements
They are also called conjunctive.
(4) Adjective pronouns, words, primarily adjectives, which are
classed as adjectives when they modify nouns, but as pronouns when
they stand for nouns.
(5) Indefinite pronouns, which cannot be used as adjectives, but
stand for an indefinite number of persons or things.
Numerous examples of all these will be given under the separate
classes hereafter treated.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
[Sidenote: _Person in grammar._]
74. Since pronouns stand for persons as well as names, they must
represent the person talking, the person or thing spoken to, and the
person or thing talked about.
This gives rise to a new term, "the distinction of _person_."
[Sidenote: Person _of nouns_.]
75. This distinction was not needed in discussing nouns, as nouns
have the _same form_, whether representing persons and things spoken
to or spoken of. It is evident that a noun could not represent the
person speaking, even if it had a special form.
From analogy to pronouns, which have _forms_ for person, nouns are
sometimes spoken of as first or second person by their _use_; that is,
if they are in apposition with a pronoun of the first or second
person, they are said to have person by agreement.
But usually nouns represent something spoken of.
[Sidenote: _Three persons of pronouns._]
76. Pronouns naturally are of three persons:--
(1) First person, representing the person speaking.
(2) Second person, representing a person or thing spoken to.
(3) Third person, standing for a person or thing spoken of.
FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
77. Personal pronouns are inflected thus:--
FIRST PERSON.
_Singular._
_Nom._ I
_Poss._ mine, my
_Obj._ me
_Plural._
_Nom._ we
_Poss._ our, ours
_Obj._ us
SECOND PERSON.
_Singular._
_Old Form_ _Common Form._
_Nom._ thou you
_Poss._ thine, thy your, yours
_Obj._ thee you
_Plural._
_Nom._ ye you
_Poss._ your, yours your, yours
_Obj._ you you
THIRD PERSON.
_Singular._
_Masc._ _Fem._ _Neut._.
_Nom._ he she it
_Poss._ his her, hers its
_Obj._ him her it
_Plur. of all Three_.
_Nom._ they
_Poss._ their, theirs
_Obj._ them
Remarks on These Forms.
[Sidenote: _First and second persons without gender._]
78. It will be noticed that the pronouns of the first and second
persons have no forms to distinguish gender. The speaker may be either
male or female, or, by personification, neuter; so also with the
person or thing spoken to.
[Sidenote: _Third person_ singular _has gender_.]
But the third person has, in the singular, a separate form for each
gender, and also for the neuter.
[Sidenote: _Old forms_.]
In Old English these three were formed from the same root; namely,
masculine _hē_, feminine _hēo_, neuter _hit_.
The form _hit_ (for _it_) is still heard in vulgar English, and _hoo_
(for _hēo_) in some dialects of England.
The plurals were _hī_, _heora_, _heom_, in Old English; the forms
_they_, _their_, _them_, perhaps being from the English demonstrative,
though influenced by the cognate Norse forms.
[Sidenote: _Second person always plural in ordinary English._]
79. _Thou_, _thee_, etc., are old forms which are now out of use in
ordinary speech. The consequence is, that we have no singular pronoun
of the second person in ordinary speech or prose, but make the plural
_you_ do duty for the singular. We use it with a plural verb always,
even when referring to a single object.
[Sidenote: _Two uses of the old singulars._]
80. There are, however, two modern uses of _thou, thy_, etc.:--
(1) _In elevated style_, especially in poetry; as,--
With _thy_ clear keen joyance
Languor cannot be;
Shadow of annoyance
Never came near _thee_;
_Thou_ lovest; but ne'er knew love's sad satiety.--SHELLEY.
(2) _In addressing the Deity_, as in prayers, etc.; for example,--
Oh, _thou_ Shepherd of Israel, that didst comfort _thy_ people of
old, to _thy_ care we commit the helpless.--BEECHER.
[Sidenote: _The form_ its.]
81. It is worth while to consider the possessive _its_. This is of
comparatively recent growth. The old form was _his_ (from the
nominative _hit_), and this continued in use till the sixteenth
century. The transition from the old _his_ to the modern _its_ is
shown in these sentences:--
1 He anointed the altar and all _his_ vessels.--_Bible_
Here _his_ refers to _altar_, which is a neuter noun. The quotation
represents the usage of the early sixteenth century.
2 It's had _it_ head bit off by _it_ young--SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare uses _his_, _it_, and sometimes _its_, as possessive of
_it_.
In Milton's poetry (seventeenth century) _its_ occurs only three
times.
3 See heaven _its_ sparkling portals wide display--POPE
[Sidenote: _A relic of the olden time._]
82. We have an interesting relic in such sentences as this from
Thackeray: "One of the ways to know '_em_ is to watch the scared looks
of the ogres' wives and children."
As shown above, the Old English objective was _hem_ (or _heom_), which
was often sounded with the _h_ silent, just as we now say, "I saw
'_im_ yesterday" when the word _him_ is not emphatic. In spoken
English, this form '_em_ has survived side by side with the literary
_them_.
[Sidenote: _Use of the pronouns in personification._]
83. The pronouns _he_ and _she_ are often used in poetry, and
sometimes in ordinary speech, to personify objects (Sec. 34).
CASES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
I The Nominative.
[Sidenote: _Nominative forms._]
84. The nominative forms of personal pronouns have the same uses as
the nominative of nouns (see Sec. 58). The case of most of these
pronouns can be determined more easily than the case of nouns, for,
besides a nominative _use_, they have a nominative form. The words
_I_, _thou_, _he_, _she_, _we_, _ye_, _they_, are very rarely anything
but nominative in literary English, though _ye_ is occasionally used
as objective.
[Sidenote: _Additional nominatives in spoken English._]
85. In spoken English, however, there are some others that are added
to the list of nominatives: they are, _me_, _him_, _her_, _us_,
_them_, when they occur in the _predicate position_. That is, in such
a sentence as, "I am sure it was _him_," the literary language would
require _he_ after _was_; but colloquial English regularly uses as
predicate nominatives the forms _me_, _him_, _her_, _us_, _them_,
though those named in Sec. 84 are always subjects. Yet careful
speakers avoid this, and follow the usage of literary English.
II. The Possessive.
[Sidenote: _Not a separate class._]
86. The forms _my_, _thy_, _his_, _her_, _its_, _our_, _your_,
_their_, are sometimes grouped separately as POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS, but
it is better to speak of them as the possessive case of personal
pronouns, just as we speak of the possessive case of nouns, and not
make more classes.
[Sidenote: Absolute _personal pronouns._]
The forms _mine_, _thine_, _yours_, _hers_, _theirs_, sometimes _his_
and _its_, have a peculiar use, standing apart from the words they
modify instead of immediately before them. From this use they are
called ABSOLUTE PERSONAL PRONOUNS, or, some say, ABSOLUTE POSSESSIVES.
As instances of the use of absolute pronouns, note the following:--
'Twas _mine_, 'tis _his_, and has been slave to thousands.
--SHAKESPEARE.
And since thou own'st that praise, I spare thee _mine_.--COWPER.
My arm better than _theirs_ can ward it off.--LANDOR.
_Thine_ are the city and the people of Granada.--BULWER.
[Sidenote: _Old use of_ mine _and_ thine.]
Formerly _mine_ and _thine_ stood before their nouns, if the nouns
began with a vowel or _h_ silent; thus,--
Shall I not take _mine_ ease in _mine_ inn?--SHAKESPEARE.
Give every man _thine_ ear, but few thy voice.--_Id._
If _thine_ eye offend thee, pluck it out.--_Bible._
My greatest apprehension was for _mine_ eyes.--SWIFT.
This usage is still preserved in poetry.
[Sidenote: _Double and triple possessives._]
87. The forms _hers_, _ours_, _yours_, _theirs_, are really double
possessives, since they add the possessive _s_ to what is already a
regular possessive inflection.
Besides this, we have, as in nouns, a possessive phrase made up of the
preposition _of_ with these double possessives, _hers_, _ours_,
_yours_, _theirs_, and with _mine_, _thine_, _his_, sometimes _its_.
[Sidenote: _Their uses._]
Like the noun possessives, they have several uses:--
(1) _To prevent ambiguity_, as in the following:--
I have often contrasted the habitual qualities of that gloomy
friend _of theirs_ with the astounding spirits of Thackeray and
Dickens.--J.T. FIELDS.
No words _of ours_ can describe the fury of the conflict.--J.F.
COOPER.
(2) _To bring emphasis_, as in these sentences:--
This thing _of yours_ that you call a Pardon of Sins, it is a bit
of rag-paper with ink.--CARLYLE.
This ancient silver bowl _of mine_, it tells of good old times.
--HOLMES.
(3) _To express contempt, anger, or satire_; for example,--
"Do you know the charges that unhappy sister _of mine_ and her
family have put me to already?" says the Master.--THACKERAY.
He [John Knox] had his pipe of Bordeaux too, we find, in that old
Edinburgh house _of his_.--CARLYLE.
"Hold thy peace, Long Allen," said Henry Woodstall, "I tell thee
that tongue _of thine_ is not the shortest limb about
_thee_."--SCOTT.
(4) _To make a noun less limited in application_; thus,--
A favorite liar and servant _of mine_ was a man I once had to
drive a brougham.--THACKERAY.
In New York I read a newspaper criticism one day, commenting upon
a letter _of mine_.--_Id._
What would the last two sentences mean if the word _my_ were written
instead of _of mine_, and preceded the nouns?
[Sidenote: _About the case of absolute pronouns._]
88. In their function, or use in a sentence, the absolute possessive
forms of the personal pronouns are very much like adjectives used as
nouns.
In such sentences as, "_The good_ alone are great," "None but _the
brave_ deserves _the fair_," the words italicized have an adjective
force and also a noun force, as shown in Sec. 20.
So in the sentences illustrating absolute pronouns in Sec. 86: _mine_
stands for _my property_, _his_ for _his property_, in the first
sentence; _mine_ stands for _my praise_ in the second. But the first
two have a nominative use, and _mine_ in the second has an objective
use.
They may be spoken of as possessive in form, but nominative or
objective in use, according as the modified word is in the nominative
or the objective.
III. The Objective.
[Sidenote: _The old_ dative _case._]
89. In Old English there was one case which survives in use, but not
in form. In such a sentence as this one from Thackeray, "Pick _me_ out
a whip-cord thong with some dainty knots in it," the word _me_ is
evidently not the direct object of the verb, but expresses _for whom_,
_for whose benefit_, the thing is done. In pronouns, this dative
use, as it is called, was marked by a separate case.
[Sidenote: _Now the objective._]
In Modern English the same _use_ is frequently seen, but the _form_ is
the same as the objective. For this reason a word thus used is called
a dative-objective.
The following are examples of the dative-objective:--
Give _me_ neither poverty nor riches.--_Bible._
Curse _me_ this people.--_Id._
Both joined in making _him_ a present.--MACAULAY
Is it not enough that you have _burnt me_ down three houses with
your dog's tricks, and be hanged to you!--LAMB
I give _thee_ this to wear at the collar.--SCOTT
[Sidenote: _Other uses of the objective._]
90. Besides this use of the objective, there are others:--
(1) _As the direct object of a verb._
They all handled _it_.--LAMB
(2) _As the object of a preposition._
Time is behind _them_ and before _them_.--CARLYLE.
(3) _In apposition._
She sate all last summer by the bedside of the blind beggar,
_him_ that so often and so gladly I talked with.--DE QUINCEY.
SPECIAL USES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
[Sidenote: _Indefinite use of_ you _and_ your.]
91. The word _you_, and its possessive case _yours_ are sometimes
used without reference to a particular person spoken to. They approach
the indefinite pronoun in use.
_Your_ mere puny stripling, that winced at the least flourish of
the rod, was passed by with indulgence.--IRVING
To empty here, _you_ must condense there.--EMERSON.
The peasants take off their hats as _you_ pass; _you_ sneeze, and
they cry, "God bless you!" The thrifty housewife shows _you_ into
her best chamber. _You_ have oaten cakes baked some months
before.--LONGFELLOW
[Sidenote: _Uses of_ it.]
92. The pronoun _it_ has a number of uses:--
(1) _To refer to some single word preceding_; as,--
Ferdinand ordered the _army_ to recommence _its_ march.--BULWER.
_Society_, in this century, has not made _its_ progress, like
Chinese skill, by a greater acuteness of ingenuity in
trifles.--D. WEBSTER.
(2) _To refer to a preceding word group_; thus,--
If any man should do wrong merely out of ill nature, why, yet
_it_ is but like the thorn or brier, which prick and scratch
because they can do no other.--BACON.
Here _it_ refers back to the whole sentence before it, or to the idea,
"any man's doing wrong merely out of ill nature."
(3) _As a grammatical subject, to stand for the real, logical
subject, which follows the verb_; as in the sentences,--
_It_ is easy in the world _to live after the world's opinion_.
--EMERSON.
_It_ is this _haziness_ of intellectual vision which is the
malady of all classes of men by nature.--NEWMAN.
_It_ is a pity _that he has so much learning, or that he has not
a great deal more_.--ADDISON.
(4) _As an impersonal subject in certain expressions which need no
other subject_; as,--
_It_ is finger-cold, and prudent farmers get in their barreled
apples.--THOREAU.
And when I awoke, _it_ rained.--COLERIDGE.
For when _it_ dawned, they dropped their arms.--_Id._
_It_ was late and after midnight.--DE QUINCEY.
(5) _As an impersonal or indefinite object of a verb or a
preposition_; as in the following sentences:--
(_a_) Michael Paw, who _lorded it_ over the fair regions of
ancient Pavonia.--IRVING.
I made up my mind _to foot it_.--HAWTHORNE.
A sturdy lad ... who in turn tries all the professions, who
_teams it, farms it, peddles it_, keeps a school.--EMERSON.
(_b_) "Thy mistress leads thee a dog's life _of it_."--IRVING.
There was nothing _for it_ but to return.--SCOTT.
An editor has only to say "respectfully declined," and there is
an end _of it_.--HOLMES.
Poor Christian was hard put _to it_.--BUNYAN.
[Sidenote: _Reflexive use of the personal pronouns._]
93. The personal pronouns in the objective case are often used
_reflexively_; that is, referring to the same person as the subject of
the accompanying verb. For example, we use such expressions as, "I
found _me_ a good book," "He bought _him_ a horse," etc. This
reflexive use of the _dative_-objective is very common in spoken and
in literary English.
The personal pronouns are not often used reflexively, however, when
they are _direct_ objects. This occurs in poetry, but seldom in prose;
as,--
Now I lay _me_ down to sleep.--ANON.
I set _me_ down and sigh.--BURNS.
And millions in those solitudes, since first
The flight of years began, have laid _them_ down
In their last sleep.--BRYANT.
REFLEXIVE OR COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
[Sidenote: _Composed of the personal pronouns with_ -self, -selves.]
94. The REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS, or COMPOUND PERSONAL, as they are also
called, are formed from the personal pronouns by adding the word
_self_, and its plural _selves_.
They are _myself_, (_ourself_), _ourselves_, _yourself_, (_thyself_),
_yourselves_, _himself_, _herself_, _itself_, _themselves_.
Of the two forms in parentheses, the second is the old form of the
second person, used in poetry.
_Ourself_ is used to follow the word _we_ when this represents a
single person, especially in the speech of rulers; as,--
Methinks he seems no better than a girl;
As girls were once, as we _ourself_ have been.--TENNYSON.
[Sidenote: _Origin of these reflexives._]
95. The question might arise, Why are _himself_ and _themselves_ not
_hisself_ and _theirselves_, as in vulgar English, after the analogy
of _myself_, _ourselves_, etc.?
The history of these words shows they are made up of the
dative-objective forms, not the possessive forms, with _self_. In
Middle English the forms _meself_, _theself_, were changed into the
possessive _myself_, _thyself_, and the others were formed by analogy
with these. _Himself_ and _themselves_ are the only ones retaining a
distinct objective form.
In the forms _yourself_ and _yourselves_ we have the possessive _your_
marked as singular as well as plural.
[Sidenote: _Use of the reflexives._]
96. There are three uses of reflexive pronouns:--
(1) _As object of a verb or preposition, and referring to the same
person or thing as the subject_; as in these sentences from Emerson:--
He who offers _himself_ a candidate for that covenant comes up
like an Olympian.
I should hate _myself_ if then I made my other friends my asylum.
We fill _ourselves_ with ancient learning.
What do we know of nature or of _ourselves_?
(2) _To emphasize a noun or pronoun_; for example,--
The great globe _itself_ ... shall dissolve.--SHAKESPEARE.
Threats to all;
To _you yourself_, to us, to every one.--_Id._
Who would not sing for Lycidas! he knew
_Himself_ to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.--MILTON.
NOTE.--In such sentences the pronoun is sometimes omitted, and the
reflexive modifies the pronoun understood; for example,--
Only _itself_ can inspire whom it will.--EMERSON.
My hands are full of blossoms plucked before, Held dead within
them till _myself_ shall die.--E.B. BROWNING.
As if it were _thyself_ that's here, I shrink with
pain.--WORDSWORTH.
(3) _As the precise equivalent of a personal pronoun_; as,--
Lord Altamont designed to take his son and _myself_.--DE QUINCEY.
Victories that neither _myself_ nor my cause always deserved.--B.
FRANKLIN.
For what else have our forefathers and _ourselves_ been
taxed?--LANDOR.
Years ago, Arcturus and _myself_ met a gentleman from China who
knew the language.--THACKERAY.
Exercises on Personal Pronouns.
(_a_) Bring up sentences containing ten personal pronouns, some each
of masculine, feminine, and neuter.
(_b_) Bring up sentences containing five personal pronouns in the
possessive, some of them being double possessives.
(_c_) Tell which use each _it_ has in the following sentences:--
1. Come and trip it as we go,
On the light fantastic toe.
2. Infancy conforms to nobody; all conform to it.
3. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good.
4. Courage, father, fight it out.
5. And it grew wondrous cold.
6. To know what is best to do, and how to do it, is wisdom.
7. If any phenomenon remains brute and dark, it is because the
corresponding faculty in the observer is not yet active.
8. But if a man do not speak from within the veil, where the word is
one with that it tells of, let him lowly confess it.
9. It behooved him to keep on good terms with his pupils.
10. Biscuit is about the best thing I know; but it is the soonest
spoiled; and one would like to hear counsel on one point, why it is
that a touch of water utterly ruins it.
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.
[Sidenote: _Three now in use._]
97. The interrogative pronouns now in use are _who_ (with the forms
_whose_ and _whom_), _which_, and _what_.
[Sidenote: _One obsolete._]
There is an old word, _whether_, used formerly to mean which of two,
but now obsolete. Examples from the Bible:--
_Whether_ of them twain did the will of his father?
_Whether_ is greater, the gold, or the temple?
From Steele (eighteenth century):--
It may be a question _whether_ of these unfortunate persons had
the greater soul.
[Sidenote: _Use of_ who _and its forms._]
98. The use of _who_, with its possessive and objective, is seen in
these sentences:--
_Who_ is she in bloody coronation robes from Rheims?--DE QUINCEY.
_Whose_ was that gentle voice, that, whispering sweet,
Promised, methought, long days of bliss sincere?--BOWLES.
What doth she look on? _Whom_ doth she behold?--WORDSWORTH.
From these sentences it will be seen that interrogative _who_ refers
to _persons only_; that it is not inflected for gender or number, but
for case alone, having three forms; it is always third person, as it
always asks _about_ somebody.
[Sidenote: _Use of_ which.]
99. Examples of the use of interrogative _which_:--
_Which_ of these had speed enough to sweep between the question
and the answer, and divide the one from the other?--DE QUINCEY.
_Which_ of you, shall we say, doth love us most?--SHAKESPEARE.
_Which_ of them [the sisters] shall I take?--_Id._
As shown here, _which_ is not inflected for gender, number, or case;
it refers to either persons or things; it is selective, that is, picks
out one or more from a number of known persons or objects.
[Sidenote: _Use of_ what.]
100. Sentences showing the use of interrogative _what_:--
Since I from Smaylho'me tower have been,
_What_ did thy lady do?--SCOTT.
_What_ is so rare as a day in June?--LOWELL.
_What_ wouldst thou do, old man?--SHAKESPEARE.
These show that _what_ is not inflected for case; that it is always
singular and neuter, referring to things, ideas, actions, etc., not to
persons.
DECLENSION OF INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.
101. The following are all the interrogative forms:--
SING. AND PLUR. SING. AND PLUR. SINGULAR
_Nom._ who? which? what?
_Poss._ whose? -- --
_Obj._ whom? which? what?
In spoken English, _who_ is used as objective instead of _whom_; as,
"_Who_ did you see?" "_Who_ did he speak to?"
[Sidenote: _To tell the case of interrogatives._]
102. The interrogative _who_ has a separate form for each case,
consequently the case can be told by the form of the word; but the
case of _which_ and _what_ must be determined exactly as in nouns,--by
the _use_ of the words.
For instance, in Sec. 99, _which_ is nominative in the first sentence,
since it is subject of the verb _had_; nominative in the second also,
subject of _doth love_; objective in the last, being the direct
object of the verb _shall take_.
[Sidenote: _Further treatment of_ who, which _and_ what.]
103. _Who_, _which_, and _what_ are also relative pronouns; _which_
and _what_ are sometimes adjectives; _what_ may be an adverb in some
expressions.
They will be spoken of again in the proper places, especially in the
treatment of indirect questions (Sec. 127).
RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
[Sidenote: _Function of the relative pronoun_.]
104. Relative pronouns differ from both personal and interrogative
pronouns in referring to an antecedent, and also in having a
conjunctive use. The advantage in using them is to unite short
statements into longer sentences, and so to make smoother discourse.
Thus we may say, "The last of all the Bards was he. These bards sang
of Border chivalry." Or, it may be shortened into,--
"The last of all the Bards was he,
_Who_ sung of Border chivalry."
In the latter sentence, _who_ evidently refers to _Bards_, which is
called the antecedent of the relative.
[Sidenote: _The antecedent._]
105. The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun, pronoun, or other
word or expression, for which the pronoun stands. It usually precedes
the pronoun.
Personal pronouns of the third person may have antecedents also, as
they take the place usually of a word already used; as,--
The priest hath _his_ fee who comes and shrives us.--LOWELL
In this, both _his_ and _who_ have the antecedent _priest_.
The pronoun _which_ may have its antecedent following, and the
antecedent may be a word or a group of words, as will be shown in the
remarks on _which_ below.
[Sidenote: _Two kinds._]
106. Relatives may be SIMPLE or INDEFINITE.
When the word _relative_ is used, a simple relative is meant.
Indefinite relatives, and the indefinite use of simple relatives, will
be discussed further on.
The SIMPLE RELATIVES are _who_, _which_, _that_, _what_.
[Sidenote: Who _and its forms._]
107. Examples of the relative _who_ and its forms:--
1. Has a man gained anything _who_ has received a hundred favors
and rendered none?--EMERSON.
2. That man is little to be envied _whose_ patriotism would not
gain force upon the plain of Marathon.--DR JOHNSON.
3. For her enchanting son,
_Whom_ universal nature did lament.--MILTON.
4. The nurse came to us, _who_ were sitting in an adjoining
apartment.--THACKERAY.
5. Ye mariners of England,
That guard our native seas;
_Whose_ flag has braved, a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze!--CAMPBELL.
6. The men _whom_ men respect, the women _whom_ women approve,
are the men and women _who_ bless their species.--PARTON
[Sidenote: Which _and its forms._]
108. Examples of the relative _which_ and its forms:--
1. They had not their own luster, but the look _which_ is not of
the earth.--BYRON.
2. The embattled portal arch he pass'd,
_Whose_ ponderous grate and massy bar
Had oft roll'd back the tide of war.--SCOTT.
3. Generally speaking, the dogs _which_ stray around the butcher
shops restrain their appetites.--COX.
4. The origin of language is divine, in the same sense in _which_
man's nature, with all its capabilities ..., is a divine
creation.--W.D. WHITNEY.
5. (_a_) This gradation ... ought to be kept in view; else this
description will seem exaggerated, _which_ it certainly is
not.--BURKE.
(_b_) The snow was three inches deep and still falling, _which_
prevented him from taking his usual ride.--IRVING.
[Sidenote: That.]
109. Examples of the relative _that_:--
1. The man _that_ hath no music in himself,...
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
--SHAKESPEARE
2. The judge ... bought up all the pigs _that_ could be
had.--LAMB
3. Nature and books belong to the eyes _that_ see them.--EMERSON.
4. For the sake of country a man is told to yield everything
_that_ makes the land honorable.--H.W. BEECHER
5. Reader, _that_ do not pretend to have leisure for very much
scholarship, you will not be angry with me for telling you.--DE
QUINCEY.
6. The Tree Igdrasil, _that_ has its roots down in the kingdoms
of Hela and Death, and whose boughs overspread the highest
heaven!--CARLYLE.
[Sidenote: What.]
110. Examples of the use of the relative _what_:--
1. Its net to entangle the enemy seems to be _what_ it chiefly
trusts to, and _what_ it takes most pains to render as complete
as possible.--GOLDSMITH.
2. For _what_ he sought below is passed above, Already done is
all that he would do.--MARGARET FULLER.
3. Some of our readers may have seen in India a crowd of crows
picking a sick vulture to death, no bad type of _what_ often
happens in that country.--MACAULAY
[_To the Teacher._--If pupils work over the above sentences carefully,
and test every remark in the following paragraphs, they will get a
much better understanding of the relatives.]
REMARKS ON THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
[Sidenote: Who.]
111. By reading carefully the sentences in Sec. 107, the following
facts will be noticed about the relative _who_:--
(1) It usually refers to persons: thus, in the first sentence, Sec.
107, _a man...who_; in the second, _that man...whose_; in the third,
_son_, _whom_; and so on.
(2) It has three case forms,--_who_, _whose_, _whom_.
(3) The forms do not change for person or number of the antecedent. In
sentence 4, _who_ is first person; in 5, _whose_ is second person; the
others are all third person. In 1, 2, and 3, the relatives are
singular; in 4, 5, and 6, they are plural.
[Sidenote: Who _referring to animals_.]
112. Though in most cases _who_ refers to persons there are
instances found where it refers to animals. It has been seen (Sec. 24)
that animals are referred to by personal pronouns when their
characteristics or habits are such as to render them important or
interesting to man. Probably on the same principle the personal
relative _who_ is used not infrequently in literature, referring to
animals.
Witness the following examples:--
And you, warm little housekeeper [the cricket], _who_ class With
those who think the candles come too soon.--LEIGH HUNT.
The robins...have succeeded in driving off the bluejays _who_
used to build in our pines.--LOWELL.
The little gorilla, _whose_ wound I had dressed, flung its arms
around my neck.--THACKERAY.
A lake frequented by every fowl _whom_ Nature has taught to dip
the wing in water.--DR. JOHNSON.
While we had such plenty of domestic insects _who_ infinitely
excelled the former, because they understood how to weave as well
as to spin.--SWIFT.
My horse, _who_, under his former rider had hunted the buffalo,
seemed as much excited as myself.--IRVING.
Other examples might be quoted from Burke, Kingsley, Smollett, Scott,
Cooper, Gibbon, and others.
[Sidenote: Which.]
113. The sentences in Sec. 108 show that--
(1) _Which_ refers to animals, things, or ideas, not persons.
(2) It is not inflected for gender or number.
(3) It is nearly always third person, rarely second (an example of its
use as second person is given in sentence 32, p. 96).
(4) It has two case forms,--_which_ for the nominative and objective,
_whose_ for the possessive.
[Sidenote: _Examples of_ whose, _possessive case of_ which.]
114. Grammarians sometimes object to the statement that _whose_ is
the possessive of _which_, saying that the phrase _of which_ should
always be used instead; yet a search in literature shows that the
possessive form _whose_ is quite common in prose as well as in poetry:
for example,--
I swept the horizon, and saw at one glance the glorious
elevations, on _whose_ tops the sun kindled all the melodies and
harmonies of light.--BEECHER.
Men may be ready to fight to the death, and to persecute without
pity, for a religion _whose_ creed they do not understand, and
_whose_ precepts they habitually disobey.--MACAULAY
Beneath these sluggish waves lay the once proud cities of the
plain, _whose_ grave was dug by the thunder of the
heavens.--SCOTT.
Many great and opulent cities _whose_ population now exceeds that
of Virginia during the Revolution, and _whose_ names are spoken
in the remotest corner of the civilized world.--MCMASTER.
Through the heavy door _whose_ bronze network closes the place of
his rest, let us enter the church itself.--RUSKIN.
This moribund '61, _whose_ career of life is just coming to its
terminus.--THACKERAY.
So in Matthew Arnold, Kingsley, Burke, and numerous others.
[Sidenote: Which _and its antecedents_.]
115. The last two sentences in Sec. 108 show that _which_ may have
other antecedents than nouns and pronouns. In 5 (_a_) there is a
participial adjective used as the antecedent; in 5 (_b_) there is a
complete clause employed as antecedent. This often occurs.
Sometimes, too, the antecedent follows _which_; thus,--
And, which is worse, _all you have done
Hath been but for a wayward son_.
--SHAKESPEARE.
Primarily, which is very notable and curious, I observe that _men
of business rarely know the meaning of the word "rich_."--RUSKIN.
I demurred to this honorary title upon two grounds,--first, as
being one toward which I had no natural aptitudes or predisposing
advantages; secondly (which made her stare), _as carrying with it
no real or enviable distinction_.--DE QUINCEY.
[Sidenote: That.]
116. In the sentences of Sec. 109, we notice that--
(1) _That_ refers to persons, animals, and things.
(2) It has only one case form, no possessive.
(3) It is the same form for first, second, and third persons.
(4) It has the same form for singular and plural.
It sometimes borrows the possessive _whose_, as in sentence 6, Sec.
109, but this is not sanctioned as good usage.
[Sidenote: What.]
117. The sentences of Sec. 110 show that--
(1) _What_ always refers to things; is always neuter.
(2) It is used almost entirely in the singular.
1. The man _that_ hath no music in himself,...
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
--SHAKESPEARE
(3) Its antecedent is hardly ever expressed. When expressed, it
usually follows, and is emphatic; as, for example,--
What I would, _that_ do I not; but what I hate, _that_ do
I.--_Bible_
What fates impose, _that_ men must needs abide.--SHAKESPEARE.
What a man does, _that_ he has.--EMERSON.
Compare this:--
Alas! is _it_ not too true, what we said?--CARLYLE.
DECLENSION OF RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
118. These are the forms of the simple relatives:--
SINGULAR AND PLURAL.
_Nom._ who which that what
_Poss._ whose whose -- --
_Obj._ whom which that what
HOW TO PARSE RELATIVES.
119. The _gender_, _number_, and _person_ of the relatives _who_,
_which_, and _that_ must be determined by those of the antecedent; the
_case_ depends upon the function of the relative in its own clause.
For example, consider the following sentence:
"He uttered truths _that_ wrought upon and molded the lives of
those _who_ heard him."
Since the relatives hold the sentence together, we can, by taking them
out, let the sentence fall apart into three divisions: (1) "He uttered
truths;" (2) "The truths wrought upon and molded the lives of the
people;" (3) "These people heard him."
_That_ evidently refers to _truths_, consequently is neuter, third
person, plural number. _Who_ plainly stands for _those_ or _the
people_, either of which would be neuter, third person, plural number.
Here the relative agrees with its antecedent.
We cannot say the relative agrees with its antecedent in _case_.
_Truths_ in sentence (2), above, is subject of _wrought upon and
molded_; in (1), it is object of _uttered_. In (2), _people_ is the
object of the preposition _of_; in (3), it is subject of the verb
_heard_. Now, _that_ takes the case of _the truths_ in (2), not of
_truths_ which is expressed in the sentence: consequently _that_ is in
the nominative case. In the same way _who_, standing for _the people_
understood, subject of _heard_, is in the nominative case.
Exercise.
First find the antecedents, then parse the relatives, in the following
sentences:--
1. How superior it is in these respects to the pear, whose blossoms
are neither colored nor fragrant!
2. Some gnarly apple which I pick up in the road reminds me by its
fragrance of all the wealth of Pomona.
3. Perhaps I talk with one who is selecting some choice barrels for
filling an order.
4. Ill blows the wind that profits nobody.
5. Alas! it is we ourselves that are getting buried alive under this
avalanche of earthly impertinences.
6. This method also forces upon us the necessity of thinking, which
is, after all, the highest result of all education.
7. I know that there are many excellent people who object to the
reading of novels as a waste of time.
8. I think they are trying to outwit nature, who is sure to be
cunninger than they.
[Sidenote: _Parsing_ what, _the simple relative_.]
120. The relative _what_ is handled differently, because it has
usually no antecedent, but is singular, neuter, third person. Its case
is determined exactly as that of other relatives. In the sentence,
"What can't be cured must be endured," the verb _must be endured_ is
the predicate of something. What must be endured? Answer, _What can't
be cured_. The whole expression is its subject. The word _what_,
however, is subject of the verb _can't be cured_, and hence is in the
nominative case.
"What we call nature is a certain self-regulated motion or change."
Here the subject of _is_, etc., is _what we call nature_; but of this,
_we_ is the subject, and _what_ is the direct object of the verb
_call_, so is in the objective case.
[Sidenote: _Another way._]
Some prefer another method of treatment. As shown by the following
sentences, _what_ is equivalent to _that which_:--
It has been said that "common souls pay with _what_ they do,
nobler souls with _that which_ they are."--EMERSON.
_That which_ is pleasant often appears under the name of evil;
and _what_ is disagreeable to nature is called good and
virtuous.--BURKE.
Hence some take _what_ as a double relative, and parse _that_ in the
first clause, and _which_ in the second clause; that is, "common
souls pay with _that_ [singular, object of _with_] _which_ [singular,
object of _do_] they do."
INDEFINITE RELATIVES.
[Sidenote: _List and examples._]
121. INDEFINITE RELATIVES are, by meaning and use, not as direct as
the simple relatives.
They are _whoever_, _whichever_, _whatever_, _whatsoever_; less common
are _whoso_, _whosoever_, _whichsoever_, _whatsoever_. The simple
relatives _who_, _which_, and _what_ may also be used as indefinite
relatives. Examples of indefinite relatives (from Emerson):--
1. _Whoever_ has flattered his friend successfully must at once
think himself a knave, and his friend a fool.
2. It is no proof of a man's understanding, to be able to affirm
_whatever_ he pleases.
3. They sit in a chair or sprawl with children on the floor, or
stand on their head, or _what_ else _soever_, in a new and
original way.
4. _Whoso_ is heroic will always find crises to try his edge.
5. Only itself can inspire _whom_ it will.
6. God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose.
Take _which_ you please,--you cannot have both.
7. Do _what_ we can, summer will have its flies.
[Sidenote: _Meaning and use._]
122. The fitness of the term _indefinite_ here cannot be shown
better than by examining the following sentences:--
1. There is something so overruling in _whatever_ inspires us
with awe, in _all things which_ belong ever so remotely to
terror, that nothing else can stand in their presence.--BURKE.
2. Death is there associated, not with _everything that_ is most
endearing in social and domestic charities, but with _whatever_
is darkest in human nature and in human destiny.--MACAULAY.
It is clear that in 1, _whatever_ is equivalent to _all things
which_, and in 2, to _everything that_; no certain antecedent, no
particular thing, being referred to. So with the other indefinites.
[Sidenote: What _simple relative and_ what _indefinite relative_.]
123. The above helps us to discriminate between _what_ as a simple
and _what_ as an indefinite relative.
As shown in Sec. 120, the simple relative _what_ is equivalent to
_that which_ or the _thing which_,--some particular thing; as shown by
the last sentence in Sec. 121, _what_ means _anything that_,
_everything that_ (or _everything which_). The difference must be seen
by the meaning of the sentence, as _what_ hardly ever has an
antecedent.
The examples in sentences 5 and 6, Sec. 121, show that _who_ and
_which_ have no antecedent expressed, but mean _any one whom_, _either
one that_, etc.
OTHER WORDS USED AS RELATIVES.
[Sidenote: But _and_ as.]
124. Two words, but and as, are used with the force of relative
pronouns in some expressions; for example,--
1. There is not a leaf rotting on the highway _but_ has force in
it: how else could it rot?--CARLYLE.
2. This, amongst such other troubles _as_ most men meet with in
this life, has been my heaviest affliction.--DE QUINCEY.
[Sidenote: _Proof that they have the force of relatives._]
Compare with these the two following sentences:--
3. There is nothing _but_ is related to us, nothing _that_ does
_not_ interest us.--EMERSON.
4. There were articles of comfort and luxury such _as_ Hester
never ceased to use, but _which_ only wealth could have
purchased.--HAWTHORNE.
Sentence 3 shows that _but_ is equivalent to the relative _that_ with
_not_, and that _as_ after _such_ is equivalent to _which_.
For _as_ after _same_ see "Syntax" (Sec. 417).
[Sidenote: _Former use of_ as.]
125. In early modern English, _as_ was used just as we use _that_ or
_which_, not following the word _such_; thus,--
I have not from your eyes that gentleness
And show of love _as_ I was wont to have.--SHAKESPEARE
This still survives in vulgar English in England; for example,--
"Don't you mind Lucy Passmore, _as_ charmed your warts for you
when you was a boy? "--KINGSLEY
This is frequently illustrated in Dickens's works.
[Sidenote: _Other substitutes._]
126. Instead of the phrases _in which_, _upon which_, _by which_,
etc., the conjunctions _wherein_, _whereupon_, _whereby_, etc., are
used.
A man is the facade of a temple _wherein_ all wisdom and good
abide.--EMERSON.
The sovereignty of this nature _whereof_ we speak.--_Id._
The dear home faces _whereupon_
That fitful firelight paled and shone.--WHITTIER.
PRONOUNS IN INDIRECT QUESTIONS.
[Sidenote: _Special caution needed here._]
127. It is sometimes hard for the student to tell a relative from an
interrogative pronoun. In the regular direct question the
interrogative is easily recognized; so is the relative when an
antecedent is close by. But compare the following in pairs:--
1. (_a_) Like a gentleman of leisure _who_ is strolling out for
pleasure.
(_b_) Well we knew _who_ stood behind, though the earthwork hid
them.
2. (_a_) But _what_ you gain in time is perhaps lost in power.
(_b_) But _what_ had become of them they knew not.
3. (_a_) These are the lines _which_ heaven-commanded Toil shows on
his deed.
(_b_) And since that time I thought it not amiss To judge _which_
were the best of all these three.
In sentences 1 (_a_), 2 (_a_) and 3 (_a_) the regular relative use is
seen; _who_ having the antecedent _gentleman_, _what_ having the
double use of pronoun and antecedent, _which_ having the antecedent
_lines_.
But in 1 (_b_), 2 (_b_), and 3 (_b_), there are two points of
difference from the others considered: first, no antecedent is
expressed, which would indicate that they are not relatives; second, a
question is disguised in each sentence, although each sentence as a
whole is declarative in form. Thus, 1 (_b_), if expanded, would be,
"Who stood behind? We knew," etc., showing that _who_ is plainly
interrogative. So in 2 (_b_), _what_ is interrogative, the full
expression being, "But what had become of them? They knew not."
Likewise with _which_ in 3 (_b_).
[Sidenote: _How to decide._]
In studying such sentences, (1) see whether there is an antecedent of
_who_ or _which_, and whether _what_ = _that_ + _which_ (if so, it is
a simple relative; if not, it is either an indefinite relative or an
interrogative pronoun); (2) see if the pronoun introduces an indirect
question (if it does, it is an interrogative; if not, it is an
indefinite relative).
[Sidenote: _Another caution._]
128. On the other hand, care must be taken to see whether the
pronoun is the word that really _asks the question_ in an
interrogative sentence. Examine the following:--
1. Sweet rose! whence is this hue
_Which_ doth all hues excel?
--DRUMMOND
2. And then what wonders shall you do
_Whose_ dawning beauty warms us so?
--WALKER
3. Is this a romance? Or is it a faithful picture of _what_ has
lately been in a neighboring land?--MACAULAY
These are interrogative sentences, but in none of them does the
pronoun ask the question. In the first, _whence_ is the interrogative
word, _which_ has the antecedent _hue_. In the second, _whose_ has the
antecedent _you_, and asks no question. In the third, the question is
asked by the verb.
OMISSION OF THE RELATIVES.
[Sidenote: _Relative omitted when_ object.]
129. The relative is frequently omitted in spoken and in literary
English when it would be the object of a preposition or a verb. Hardly
a writer can be found who does not leave out relatives in this way
when they can be readily supplied in the mind of the reader. Thus,--
These are the sounds we feed upon.--FLETCHER.
I visited many other apartments, but shall not trouble my reader
with all the curiosities I observed.--SWIFT.
Exercise.
Put in the relatives _who_, _which_, or _that_ where they are omitted
from the following sentences, and see whether the sentences are any
smoother or clearer:--
1. The insect I am now describing lived three years,--GOLDSMITH.
2. They will go to Sunday schools through storms their brothers
are afraid of.--HOLMES.
3. He opened the volume he first took from the shelf.--G. ELIOT.
4. He could give the coals in that queer coal scuttle we read of
to his poor neighbor.--THACKERAY.
5. When Goldsmith died, half the unpaid bill he owed to Mr.
William Filby was for clothes supplied to his nephew.--FORSTER
6. The thing I want to see is not Redbook Lists, and Court
Calendars, but the life of man in England.--CARLYLE.
7. The material they had to work upon was already democratical by
instinct and habitude.--LOWELL.
[Sidenote: _Relative omitted when_ subject.]
130. We often hear in spoken English expressions like these:--
There isn't one here ‸ knows how to play ball.