Tho’ the English, Welsh, Greek, and Latin pronouns are, with the other
parts of speech, all defined in the vocabulary at the end of this
essay, it may not be improper here to observe in general, as to their
signification, that the first personal pronoun substantively, and not
substitutionally signifies man as an indefinite line placed alone or by
himself in the centre of things before his extension or division into U
the male and female spring; the 2d, the-o-U or y-o-U, the _off man_ or
woman; 3d, man extended into T, or in his race and possessions; and hi
and shi, the male and female forms and existences; 4th, mankind; 5th, the
first and second female persons; 6th, all mankind, persons, and things,
except the first second and third persons singular. The possessives
express all things to be _in man_, as one universal possessor; and to
relate to his descendents as their qualities and properties. The relative
and interrogative _which_ is a compound of wch-ich signifying the above
action, as _ich_ means the first act of motion or creation, and uch man’s
utmost return of that act or spring upwards. And so used as a general
relative and interrogative of all actions, as _who_ is of persons, and
_what_ of things, and as to the rest they are particularly explained in
the vocabulary.
The personal pronouns and such of the possessives and relatives as will
not join with substantives in construction, are substantives, and the
rest are adjectives; and pronouns like other English nouns, have no
variation or declension of person, number, gender, or case, but each is
an original, distinct name. So that to attempt any further distinction
of pronouns, like all other unnecessary distinctions, would tend to the
confusion, rather than the illustration of language, and they perhaps
might be better distinguished by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or their original
signification of 1st, 2d, 3d, persons singular and plural; tho’ such
names as have no foundation in nature, may require more arbitrary rules
towards their explanation.
Of Nouns Adjective and Participle.
Adjective and participle nouns are _added_ to substantives and
propositions, as expressive of the attributes or qualities, affections,
and accidents of things, as in the following example; The _preying_ beast
was _daring_; the astonished guese are _fled_, _lost_, or _stolen_; and
he is still _pursuing_ a fled, lost, or stolen gus, in order to make a
_sweet_ morsel of its garbage; but all such sensations are _nauseous_
to human nature. But qualities were originally expressed by the verbal
actives, with few particles, and the compounded sorts were adjected
thereto.
And qualities being the effects of light, heat, and motion, flowing upon,
warming or penetrating bodies differently modified in various degrees,
and the sensations thence produced in us, as those of colours, tastes,
sounds and feeling, rather than any internal offences or properties of
matter or substances, adjectives assert or express their subsistence
as the attributes of various substances and things, as the following
specimen of English adjectives shews.
There are no adjectives terminating in b except _ib_, which signifies
life to beings, as in glib _liquid_, and bib to _drink_; for ab, eb, ob,
ub, signifying from or out of life, would be improper to express life
to things, as descending upon, and penetrating them, so as to give them
motion, growth, generation, and sensation. Nor is there any adjective
terminating in the letter p, it being expressive only of the parts of
matter, as divisor of a, e, o, and t.
Ac, ec, ic, oc, uc, and their softer inflections, are expressive of the
different modes of motion, as local, generative, and energic actions
and their contraries, as in, weak, _our action_, black, _shut from the
light_, slack and lag, _a low or earthly action_, meek, _a feminine
action_, epic, _an action past_, like _the first action of light_, high,
_man acting_, light, _its active property_, coasting, _acting along the
edge or lower part of the possessions_, big, _a thing swoln with heat_,
nigh, _acting in_, mock, _the motion of the cheek_, strong, _the property
of the sun’s motion below_, much, _the upper parts_.
Ad, ed, id, od, ud, signify an addition and division of qualities
emanating on men, animals, and substances of earth and water, as in bad,
_an earthly life_, broad, _an addition of country_, dead, _matter without
the addition of quality_, sad, _a low addition or quality_, glad, _that
of being high_, mad, _the addition of being dumb_, or, _a brute_, red,
_a diminution of the colour of light_, aged, _a past or diminished
action_, cold, _the passive quality of being deprived of the sun’s
action_, blind, _deprived of animal light_, mid, _dividing the center
of existence_, insipid, _a thing deprived of the internal taste_, arid,
_the earth deprived_, calid, _deprived of a covering from the heat_,
tid, _property diminished_, acid, _deprived of action_, acrid, _depraved
action of fire_, wild, _deprived of volition_, odd, _deprived of or out
of the circle of possession_, ward, _the spring or the division of man
and woman_, rude, _the privation of truth_, crude, _a rude action_.
Af, ef, if, uf, with the inflections ave and ive, affirm the various
state and situation of men and things in life, as, deaf, _he is deprived
of sense_, safe, _he is standing_, slavish, _he is low_, brave, _he is
a warm or spirited being_, chief, _he is the first_, active, _it is the
property of action_, dative, _he or it is giving to_, accusative, _it
is acting at us_, abusive, _he is from us_, captive, _he is taken_,
abortive, _he is from the border of possessions_, adjective, _it is cast
to_, gruff, _he is an angry man_, bluff, _he is an hairy man_.
Al, el, il, ol, ul, express the qualities of earth and water, as to the
parts of extension and place, the ilation of the sun’s light thereon, all
extension and human intelligence, as in, actual, _upon or in the state
of action_, aerial, _in the state of air_, adverbial, _in the state of
an adverb_, real, _upon the return of matter_, usual, _upon the state of
us_, genial, _in the state of generation_, bestial, _upon the property
of the lower beings_, annual, _upon the return of the year_, able,
_from hell_, or _being deprived of light_, ample, _an extensive place_,
genteel, _the first race_, level, _the place of the female extension_,
single, _acting in a place_, little, _an extension of the rays of light_,
agile, _the acting light_, chill, _without light_, civil, _a race living
together_, evil, _privation of light_, idle, _about a place_, oll or
all, _a circle extended_, whole, _man’s place of action_, full, _man
enlightened_, artful, _the light of man upon properties_, dull, _without
human light_.
Am, im, om, um, are expressive of the different forms, modes, and
existences of the circumambient bodies, as lame, _the mode of crawling_,
warm, _man covered about_, dim, _without extension_, firm, _the fire
about_, some, _the things seen and sounded_, dumb, _an earthly being_.
An, en, in, on, un, signify existences of earth, water, and motion in
general, and of man, as, mean, _me in earth_, human, _an earthly one_,
sane, _sound one_, profane, _from purity_, clean, _an action of light
upon matter_, ashen, _the lower one_, oak being the higher, even,
_springing_, serene, _the stars in_, divine, _God in_, supine, _the low
and up in_, benign, _being in_, twain, _two in_, one or un, _the spring
or man in_, alone, _in the state of one_, none, _no one in_, boon, _the
food one_, wrong, _a man from acting upright_, dun, _the daily one_,
young, _the growing one_.
Ar, er, ir, or, ur, are properties of earth, water, fire, extension,
and human nature, as in clear, _the action of light upon_, dear, _upon
thee_, near, _the not upon_, bitter, _the biting water_, eager, _water
from action_, tender, _thin water_, dire, _he is hot_, intire, _in
possession_, sore, _from the lower_, future, _the man in embrio to be
born_, pure, _a man’s part_, immature, _too soon at man_.
As, es, is, os, us, affirm the different qualities of mankind and things,
as, base, _a low or earthy thing_, adverse, _a spring downwards_,
diverse, _a divided spring_, worse, _a low man_, aguish, _it is from a
spring_, apeish, _he is a son_, wise, _he is man_, actuose, _it is all
active_, close, _it is all shut_, globose, _it is all round as a ball_,
jocose, _it is all joy_, noise, _it is all nose_, as voice is all vocal,
or the sound of the cheeks, upish, _he is up_, abstruse, _from our
property_, astonish, _it is the tone of an ass or brutes_, babish, _that
of a baby_, copious, _a copy of man_, ingenious, _internally generated in
us_.
At, et, it, ot, ut, with their inflections and compounds signify property
or in possession and existence, as, great, _the action of fire at or upon
the possessions_, last, _upon the lowest possession_, agast, _acting
upon the lowest possession_, past, _a thing in the lowest possession or
existence_, vacant, _a thing without possession or property_, radiant,
_a division of rays upon the possessions_, sweet and secret, _female
properties_, absent, _without possession or property_, agent, _acting in
possession_, fit, _it is property_, apt, _a proper thing_, first, _the
fire of life to the lower possessions_, instinct, _in action within_,
white, _the upper property_, or _the firmament_, hot, _the action of the
sun on things_, absorpt, _without a part of the circle of possession_,
both, _man and woman_, moist and most, _things on the ground_, abrupt,
_from the earth up into the possessions_, just, _the property of
mankind_, curst, _a man’s action of the lower property_, occult, _actions
without the property of light_, ancient, _one first in possession_,
decent, _fair in possession_, acute, _a springing property_.
Y, ly, ty, thy, are expressive of properties, existences, and qualities
generally, as in, any _the one in action or possession_, many, _the more
in action or possession_, dry, _the thing without water_, airy, _the
air_, ashy, _the ash_, barrenly, _the barren race_, brotherly, _the
brother race_, happy, _the hap_, holy, _the high all_, sappy, _the sap_,
forty, _the four tyes, times, rounds or tens_, swarthy, _the men of
lower property_, wry, _from upright_; and thus are definable all other
English, Greek, Welsh, and Latin adjectives. These have been taken at
random, and the Greek and Latin terminations of adjectives being all in
as, es, eis, os, òs, oos, ous, us, on, and er, are mere affirmatives, by
the sight, sound, spring, and motion of things.
So that adjectives and participles are names, which imply assertions
and attributes, as those of qualities, affections, and properties of
substances and things generally; but making no compleat sense, nor
determining any particular thing without being joined to another word as
_a daring_, _a daring man_. In the English language they are not varied
in respect to genders, numbers, cases, or otherwise, except as to the
degrees of comparison.
The three degrees of comparison mentioned by grammarians, are the
positive, comparative, and superlative; the positive is the state in
which the name was originally put; the comparative is formed by adding
_er_, a spring beyond the original state, to the quality, where they
will agree in concord, as, deep, _deeper_, _deepest_, high, _higher_,
_highest_, sweet, _sweeter_, _sweetest_; _est_ signifying a spring beyond
the limits of the possessions; forming the superlative degree; but where
those syllables will not so agree with the names and in participles, as
in _aerial_, _ingenious_, _copious_, _daring_, _loving_, _loved_, the
comparative must be formed, by setting _more_, that is, mo-er a great
spring, in apposition to the name; and the superlative by the addition of
_most_, signifying a spring beyond the limits of the possessions.