first sentence something is said about a male lion, and in the second
something is said about a female lion. The modification of the noun to
denote the sex of the thing which it names is called +Gender+. _Lion_,
denoting a male animal, is in the +Masculine Gender; and _lioness_,
denoting a female animal, is in the +Feminine Gender+. Names of things that
are without sex are said to be in the +Neuter Gender+. Such nouns as
_cousin, child, friend, neighbor_ are either masculine or feminine. Such
words are sometimes said to be in the _Common Gender_.
Sex belongs to the thing; and gender, to the noun that names the thing.
Knowing the sex of the thing or its lack of sex, you know the gender of the
noun in English that names it; for in our language gender follows the sex.
But in such modern languages as the French and the German, and in Latin and
Greek, the gender of nouns naming things without reference to sex is
determined by the likeness of their endings in sound to the endings of
words denoting things with sex. The German for table is a masculine noun,
the French is feminine, and the English, of course, is neuter. [Footnote:
In Anglo-Saxon, the mother-tongue of our language, gender was grammatical,
as in the French and the German; but, since the union of the Norman-French
with the Anglo-Saxon to form the English, gender has followed sex.]
* * * * *
+DEFINITIONS+.
+_Gender_ is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes sex+.
+The _Masculine Gender_ denotes the male sex+.
+The _Feminine Gender_ denotes the female sex+.
+The _Neuter Gender_ denotes want of sex+.
Gender Forms.
No English nouns have distinctive neuter forms, but a lew have different
forms to distinguish the masculine from the feminine.
The masculine is distinguished from the feminine in three ways:--
1st. By a difference in the ending of the words.
2d. By different words in the compound names.
3d. By using words wholly or radically different.
_Ess_ is the most common ending for feminine nouns. [Footnote: The suffix
_ess_ came into the English language from the Norman-French. It displaced
the feminine termination of the mother-tongue (A. S. _estre_, old English
_ster_). The original meaning of _ster_ is preserved in _spinster_. _Er_
(A. S. _ere_) was originally a masculine suffix; but it now generally
denotes an agent without reference to sex; as, _read-er, speak-er._]
+Direction+.--_Form the feminine of each of the following masculine nouns
by adding e s s :--_
Author, baron, count, deacon, giant, god (see Rule 3, Lesson 127), heir,
host, Jew, lion, patron, poet, prince (see Rule 1, Lesson 127), prior,
prophet, shepherd, tailor, tutor.
(Drop the vowel _e_ or _o_ in the ending of the masculine, and add _ess_.)
Actor, ambassador, arbiter, benefactor, conductor, director, editor,
enchanter, hunter, idolater, instructor, preceptor, tiger, waiter.
(Drop the masculine _er_ or _or_, and add the feminine _ess_.)
Adventurer, caterer, governor, murderer, sorcerer.
(The following are somewhat irregular.)
+Direction+.--_Learn these forms:_--
Abbot, abbess; duke, duchess; emperor, empress; lad, lass; marquis,
marchioness; master, mistress; negro, negress.
_Ess_ was formerly more common than now. Such words as _editor_ and
_author_ are now frequently used to denote persons of either sex.
+Direction+.--_Give five nouns ending in e r or o r that may be applied to
either sex._
Some words, mostly foreign, have various endings in the feminine.
+Direction+.--Learn the following forms:--
Administrator, administratrix; Augustus, Augusta; beau, belle; Charles,
Charlotte; Cornelius, Cornelia; czar, czarina; don, donna; equestrian,
equestrienne; executor, executrix; Francis, Frances; George, Georgiana;
Henry, Henrietta; hero, heroine; infante, infanta; Jesse, Jessie; Joseph,
Josephine; Julius, Julia _or_ Juliet; landgrave, landgravine; Louis, Louisa
_or_ Louise; Paul, Pauline; signore _or_ signor, siguora; sultan, sultana;
testator, testatrix; widower, widow.
In some compounds distinguishing words are prefixed or affixed.
+Direction+.--_Learn the following forms_:--
Billy-goat, nanny-goat; buck-rabbit, doe-rabbit; cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow;
Englishman, Englishwoman; gentleman, gentlewoman; grandfather, grandmother;
he-bear, she-bear; landlord, landlady; man-servant, maid-servant; merman,
mermaid; Mr. Jones, Mrs. or Miss Jones; peacock, peahen.
Words wholly or radically different are used to distinguish the masculine
from the feminine.
(This is a matter pertaining to the dictionary rather than to grammar.)
+Direction+.--_Learn the following forms_:--
Bachelor, maid; buck, doe; drake, duck; earl, countess; friar _or_ monk,
nun; gander, goose; hart, roe; lord, lady; nephew, niece; sir, madam; stag,
hind; steer, heifer; wizard, witch; youth, damsel _or_ maiden.
The pronoun has three gender forms:--Masculine _he_, feminine _she_, and
neuter _it_. [Footnote: _It_, although a neuter form, is used idiomatically
to refer to a male or a female as, _It_ was _John_; _It_ was _Mary_.]
+Direction+.--_Give five examples of each of the three ways of
distinguishing the masculine from the feminine._
* * * * *
LESSON 118.
GENDER FORMS IN CONSTRUCTION.
Gender as a matter of orthography is of some importance, but in grammar it
is chiefly important as involving the correct use of the pronouns _he_,
_she_, and _it_.
When a singular noun is used so as to imply persons of both sexes, it is
commonly represented by a masculine pronoun. [Footnote: When it is
necessary to distinguish the sexes, both the masculine and the feminine
pronoun should be used; as, _Each person was required to name his or her
favorite flower._]
+Example+.--Every _person_ has _his_ faults.
The names of animals are often considered as masculine or feminine without
regard to the real sex.
+Examples+.--The _grizzly bear_ is the most savage of _his_ race. The _cat_
steals upon _her_ prey.
+Remark+.--The writer employs _he_ or _she_ according as he fancies the
animal to possess masculine or feminine characteristics. _He_ is more
frequently employed than _she_.
The neuter pronoun _it_ is often used with reference to animals and very
young children, the sex being disregarded.
+Examples+.--When the _deer_ is alarmed, _it_ gives two or three graceful
springs. The little _child_ reached out _its_ hand to catch the sunbeam.
+Remark+.--_It_ is quite generally used instead of _he_ or _she_, in
referring to an animal, unless some masculine or feminine quality seems to
predominate.
Inanimate things are often represented as living beings, that is, they are
personified, and are referred to by the pronoun _he_ or _she_.
+Example+.--The _oak_ shall send _his_ roots abroad and pierce thy mold.
+Remark+.--The names of objects distinguished for size, power, or sublimity
are regarded as masculine; and the names of those distinguished for grace,
beauty, gentleness, or productiveness are considered as feminine.
Personification adds beauty and animation to style.
+Direction+.--_Study what is said above, and then fill each of the blanks
in the following sentences with a masculine, a feminine, or a neuter
pronoun, and in each case give the reason for your selection_:--
1. No one else is so much alone in the universe as ---- who denies God.
2. A person's manners not unfrequently indicate ---- morals,
3. Everybody should think for ----.
4. The forest's leaping panther shall yield ---- spotted hide.
5. The catamount lies in the boughs to watch ---- prey.
6. The mocking-bird poured from ---- little throat floods of delirious
music.
7. The wild beast from ---- cavern sprang, the wild bird from ---- grove.
8. The night-sparrow trills ---- song.
9. The elephant is distinguished for ---- strength and sagacity.
10. The bat is nocturnal in ---- habits.
11. The dog is faithful to ---- master.
12. The child was unconscious of ---- danger.
13. The fox is noted for ---- cunning.
14. Belgium's capital had gathered then ---- beauty and ---- chivalry.
15. Despair extends ---- raven wing.
16. Life mocks the idle hate of ---- arch-enemy, Death.
17. Spring comes forth ---- work of gladness to contrive.
18. Truth is fearless, yet ---- is meek and modest.
+Direction+.--_Write sentences in which the things named below shall be
personified by means of masculine pronouns_:--
Death, time, winter, war, sun, river, wind.
+Direction+.--Write sentences in which the things named below shall be
personified by means of feminine pronouns:--
Ship, moon, earth, spring, virtue, nature, night, England.
+Caution+.--Avoid changing the gender of the pronoun when referring to the
same antecedent.
+Direction+.--_Correct these errors_:--
1. The polar bear is comparatively rare in menageries, as it suffers so
much from the heat that he is not easily preserved in confinement.
2. The cat, when it comes to the light, contracts and elongates the pupil
of her eye.
3. Summer clothes herself in green, and decks itself with flowers.
4. War leaves his victim on the field, and homes desolated by it mourn over
her cruelty.
* * * * *
LESSON 119.
NOUNS AND PRONOUNS--PERSON AND CASE.
+Introductory Hints+.--Number and gender, as you have learned, are
modifications affecting the meaning of nouns and pronouns--number being
almost always indicated by form, or inflection; gender, sometimes. There
are two modifications which do not refer to changes in the meaning of nouns
and pronouns but to their different uses and relations. These uses and
relations are not generally indicated by form, or inflection.
_I, Paul_, have written. _Paul, thou_ art beside thyself. _He_ brought
_Paul_ before Agrippa. In these three sentences the word _Paul_ has three
different uses, though, as you see, its form is not changed. In the first
it is used to name the speaker; in the second, to name the one spoken to;
in the third, to name the one spoken of. These different uses of nouns and
pronouns and the forms used to mark these uses constitute the modification
called +Person+. _I, thou, and he_ are personal pronouns, and, as you see,
distinguish person by their form. _I_, denoting the speaker, is in the
+First Person+; _thou_, denoting the one spoken to, is in the +Second
Person+; and _he_, denoting the one spoken of, is in the +Third Person+.
Instead of _I_ a writer or speaker may use the plural _we_; and through
courtesy it came to be customary, except among the Friends, or in the
language of prayer and poetry, to use the plural _you_ instead of _thou_.
_The bear killed the man_. _The man killed the bear_. _The bear's grease
was made into hair oil_. In the first sentence the bear is represented as
performing an act; in the second, as receiving an act; in the third, as
possessing something. These different uses of nouns and pronouns and the
forms used to mark these uses constitute the modification called +Case+. A
noun used as subject is in the +Nominative Case+; used as object complement
it is in the +Objective Case+; and used to denote possession it is in the
+Possessive Case+.
Some of the pronouns have a special form for each case; but of nouns the
possessive case is the only one that is now marked by a peculiar form. We
inflect below a noun from the Anglo-Saxon, [Footnote: The Anglo-Saxon cases
are nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative; the Latin are
nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, and ablative; the
English are nominative, possessive (genitive), and objective.
ANGLO-SAXON.
Hlaford, _lord_.
Singular. Plural.
Nom. hlaford, hlaford-_as_.
Gen. hlaford-_es_, hlaford-_a_.
Dat. hlaford-_e_, hlaford-_um_.
Acc. hlaford, hlaford-_as_.
Voc. hlaford, hlaford-_as_.
LATIN.
Dominus, _lord_.
Singular. Plural.
Nom. domin-_us_, domin-_i_.
Gen. domin-_i_, domin-_orum_.
Dat. domin-_o_, domin-_is_.
Acc. domin-_um_, domin-_os_.
Voc. domin-_e_, domin-_i_.
Ab. domin-_o_, domin-_is_.
ENGLISH.
Lord.
Singular.
Nom. lord,
Pos. lord-_'s_,
Obj. lord;
Plural.
Nom. lord-_s_,
Pos. lord-_s'_,
Obj. lord-_s_.]
and one from the Latin, the parent of the Norman-French, in order that you
may see how cases and the inflections to mark them have been dropped in
English. In English, prepositions have largely taken the place of case
forms, and it is thought that by them our language can express the many
relations of nouns to other words in the sentence better than other
languages can by their cumbrous machinery of inflection.
+DEFINITIONS+.
+_Person_ is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes the
speaker, the one spoken to, or the one spoken of+.
+The _First Person_ denotes the one speaking+.
+The _Second Person_ denotes the one spoken to+.
+The _Third Person_ denotes the one spoken of+.
A noun is said to be of the first person when joined as an explanatory
modifier to a pronoun of the first person; as, _I, John_, saw these things;
_We Americans_ are always in a hurry. [Footnote: It is doubtful whether a
noun is ever of the first person. It may be said that, in the sentence _I,
John, saw these things_, John speaks of his own name, the expression
meaning, _I_, _and my name is John_, etc.]
A noun is of the second person when used as explanatory of a pronoun of the
second person, or when used independently as a term of address; as, _Ye
crags_ and _peaks_; Idle time, _John_, is ruinous.
+Direction+.--_Compose sentences in which there shall be two examples of
nouns and two of pronouns used in each of the three persons_.
+Person Forms+.
Personal pronouns and verbs are the only classes of words that have
distinctive person forms.
+Direction+.--_From the forms of the pronouns given in Lesson 124, select
and write in one list all the first person forms; in another list, all the
second person forms; and in another, all the third person forms._
Person is regarded in grammar because the verb sometimes varies its form to
agree with the person of its subject; as, _I see_; _Thou seest_; _He sees_.
+DEFINITIONS+.
+_Case_ is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes its office
in the sentence+.
+The _Nominative Case of a noun or pronoun_ denotes its office as subject
or as attribute complement+.
+The _Possessive Case of a noun or pronoun_ denotes its office as
possessive modifier+.
+The _Objective Case of a noun or pronoun_ denotes its office as object
complement, or as principal word in a prepositional phrase+.
A noun or pronoun used independently is said to be in the nominative case.
+Examples+.--I am, _dear madam_, your friend. Alas, _poor Yorick_! _He
being dead_, we shall live. _Liberty_, it has fled! (See Lesson 44.)
A noun or pronoun used as explanatory modifier is in the same case as the
word explained--"is put by apposition in the same case."
+Examples+.--The first colonial _Congress_, _that_ of 1774, addressed the
_King_, _George III_. He buys is goods at _Stewart's_, the dry-goods
_merchant_.
A noun or pronoun used as objective complement is in the objective case.
+Examples+.--They made him _speaker_. He made it _all_ it is.
A noun or pronoun used as attribute complement of a participle or an
infinitive is in the same case (_Nom._ or _Obj._) as the word to which it
relates as attribute.
+Examples+.--Being an _artist_, _he_ appreciated it. I proved _it_ to be
_him_.
+Remark+.--When the assumed subject of the participle or the infinitive is
a possessive, the attribute complement is said to be in the nominative
case; as, Its _being he_ [Footnote: The case of _he_ in these examples is
rather doubtful. The nominative and the objective forms of the pronoun
occur so rarely in such constructions that it seems impossible to determine
the usage. It is therefore a matter of no great practical importance.
Some, reasoning from the analogy of the Latin, would put the attribute
complement of the abstract infinitive in the objective, supposing _for_ and
some other word to be understood; as, _For one to be him_, etc. Others,
reasoning from the German, to which our language is closely allied, would
put this complement in the nominative.
The assumed subject of the infinitive being omitted when it is the same in
sense as the principal subject, _him_, in the sentence _I wish_ (_me_ or
_myself_) _to be him_, is the proper form, being in the same case as _me_.]
should make no difference. When the participle or the infinitive is used
abstractly, without an assumed subject, its attribute complement is also
said to be in the nominative case; as, To _be he_ [Footnote: See footnote
above.] is to be a scholar; _Being_ a _scholar_ is not _being_ an _idler_.
+Direction+.--_Study carefully the Definitions and the Remark above, and
then compose sentences in which a noun or a pronoun shall be put in the
nominative case in four ways; in the objective in five ways; in the
possessive in two ways_.
* * * * *
LESSON 120.
ANALYSIS AND PARSING.
+Direction.+--_Analyze the following sentences, and give the case of each
noun and pronoun:_--
1. Not to know what happened before we were born is to be always a child.
2. His being a Roman saved him from being made a prisoner.
3. I am this day weak, though anointed king.
+Explanation.+--Nouns used adverbially are in the objective case because
equivalent to the principal word of a prepositional phrase. (See Lesson
35.)
4. What made Cromwell a great man was his unshaken reliance on God.
5. Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa, was not a prophet's son.
6. Arnold's success as teacher was remarkable.
+Explanation.+--_Teacher_, introduced by _as_ and used without a possessive
sign, is explanatory of _Arnold's_.
7. Worship thy Creator, God; and obey his Son, the Master, King, and
Saviour of men.
8. Bear ye one another's [Footnote: For the use of _one another_, see
Lesson 124.] burdens.
+Explanation.+--The singular _one_ is explanatory of the plural _ye_, or
_one another's_ may be treated as a compound.
9. What art thou, execrable shape, that darest advance?
10. O you hard hearts! you cruel men of Rome!
11. Everybody acknowledges Shakespeare to be the greatest of dramatists.
12. Think'st thou this heart could feel a moment's joy, thou being absent?
13. Our great forefathers had left him naught to conquer but his country.
(For the case of _him_ see explanation of (3) above.)
14. I will attend to it myself.
+Explanation+.--_Myself_ may be treated as explanatory of _I_.
15. This news of papa's puts me all in a flutter. [Footnote: See second
foot-note, page 247.]
16. What means that hand upon that breast of thine? [Footnote: See second
foot-note, page 247.]
* * * * *
LESSON 121.
PARSING.
+TO THE TEACHER+.--We do not believe that the chief end of the study of
grammar Is to be able to parse well, or even to analyze well, though
without question analysis reveals more clearly than parsing the structure
of the sentence, and is immeasurably superior to it as intellectual
gymnastics. We would not do away with parsing altogether, but would give it
a subordinate place.
But we must be allowed an emphatic protest against the needless and
mechanical quoting, in parsing, of "Rules of Syntax." When a pupil has said
that such a noun is in the nominative case, subject of such a verb, what is
gained by a repetition of the definition in the Rule: "A noun or a pronoun
which is the subject of a finite verb is in the nominative case"? Let the
reasons for the disposition of words, when given at all, be specific.
+Parsing+--a word is giving its classification, its modifications, and its
syntax, _i.e._, its relation to other words.
+Direction+.--_Select and parse in full all the nouns and pronouns found in
the first ten sentences of Lesson_ 120. _For the agreement of pronouns, see
Lesson_ 142.
+Model for Written Parsing+.--_Elizabeth's favorite, Raleigh, was beheaded
by James I_.
CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS. | SYNTAX.
-----------------|-----------------------|------------------------------
|_Per- Num- Gen-_ |
_Nouns. Kind_.|_son. ber. der. Case_.|
-----------------|-----------------------|------------------------------
Elizabeth's Prop.| 3d Sing. Fem. Pos. | Mod. of _favorite_.
favorite Com. | 3d Sing. Mas. Nom. | Sub. of _was beheaded_.
Raleigh Prop.| 3d Sing. Mas. Nom. | Expl. Mod. of _favorite_.
James I. Prop.| 3d Sing. Mas. Obj. | Prin. word of Prep. phrase.
TO THE TEACHER.--For exercises in parsing nouns and pronouns, see Lessons
28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 44, 46, 59, 60, 71, 73, 78, 80, and 81. Other
exercises may be selected from examples previously given for analysis, and
parsing continued as long as you think it profitable.
* * * * *
LESSON 122.
CASE FORMS--NOUNS.
Nouns have two case forms, the simple form, common to the nominative and
the objective case, and the possessive form.
+RULE.--The _Possessive Case_ of nouns is formed in the singular by adding
to the nominative the apostrophe and the letter _s_ (_'s_); in the plural
by adding (_'_) only. If the plural does not end in _s_, (_'s_) are both
added. [Footnote: In Anglo-Saxon, _es_ was a genitive (possessive) ending
of the singular; as, _sta:n_, genitive _sta:n-es_. In old English, _es_ and
_is_ were both used. In modern English, the vowel is generally dropped, and
(') stands in its place. The use of the apostrophe has been extended to
distinguish the possessive from other forms of the plural.
Some have said that our possessive ending is a remnant of the pronoun
_his_. Phrases like, "Mars _his_ sword," "The Prince _his_ Players," "King
Lewis _his_ satisfaction" are abundant in Early, and in Middle, English.
But it has been proved that the _his_ in such expressions is an error that
gained its wide currency largely through the confusion of early English
orthography.
Professor Hadley has clearly shown that the Saxon termination has never
dropped out of the language, but exists in the English possessive ending
to-day.]
+Examples+.--_Boy's, boys', men's_.
+Remark+.--To avoid an unpleasant succession of hissing sounds, the _s_ in
the possessive singular is sometimes omitted; as, _conscience' sake_,
_goodness' sake_, _Achilles' sword_, _Archimedes' screw_ (the _s_ in the
words following the possessive here having its influence). In prose this
omission of the _s_ should seldom occur. The weight of usage inclines to
the use of _s_ in such names as _Miss Rounds's_, _Mrs. Hemans's_, _King
James's_, _witness's_, _prince's_. Without the _s_ there would be no
distinction, in spoken language, between _Miss Round's_ and _Miss Rounds'_,
_Mrs. Heman's_ and _Mrs. Hemans'_.
+Remark+.--Pronounce the ('_s_) as a separate syllable (= _es_) when the
sound of _s_ will not unite with the last sound of the nominative.
+Remark+.--When the singular and the plural are alike in the nominative,
some place the apostrophe after the _s_ in the plural to distinguish it
from the possessive singular; as, singular, _sheep's_; plural, _sheeps'_.
+Direction+.--_Study the Rule and the Remarks given above, and then write
the possessive singular and the possessive plural of each of the following
nouns_:--
Actor, elephant, farmer, king, lion, genius, horse, princess, buffalo,
hero, mosquito, negro, volcano, junto, tyro, cuckoo, ally, attorney, fairy,
lady, monkey, calf, elf, thief, wife, wolf, chief, dwarf, waif, child,
goose, mouse, ox, woman, beau, seraph, fish, deer, sheep, swine.
Compound names and groups of words that may be treated as compound names
add the possessive sign to the last word; as, a _man-of-war's_ rigging, the
_queen of England's_ palace,[Footnote: In parsing the words _queen_ and
_England_ separately, the ('_s_) must be regarded as belonging to _queen_;
but the whole phrase _queen of England's_ may be treated as one noun in the
possessive case.] _Frederick the Great's_ verses.
+Remark+.--The possessive plural of such terms is not used.
The preposition _of_ with the objective is often used instead of the
possessive case form--_David's_ Psalms = Psalms _of David_.
+Remarks+.--To denote the source from which a thing proceeds, or the idea
of belonging to, _of_ is used more frequently than ('_s_).
The possessive sign (_'s_) is confined chiefly to the names of persons, and
of animals and things personified. We do not say the _tree's_ leaves, but
the leaves _of the tree_.