ETYMOLOGY treats of the different sorts of words, their various
modifications, and their derivation.
SYNTAX treats of the agreement and government of words, and of their
proper arrangement in a sentence.
The word ETYMOLOGY signifies the _origin_ or _pedigree of words_.
_Syn_, a prefix from the Greek, signifies _together_. _Syn-tax_, means
_placing together_; or, as applied in grammar, _sentence making_.
The rules of syntax, which direct to the proper choice of words, and
their judicious arrangement in a sentence, and thereby enable us to
correct and avoid errors in speech, are chiefly based on principles
unfolded and explained by Etymology. Etymological knowledge, then, is a
prerequisite to the study of Syntax; but, in parsing, under the head of
Etymology, you are required to apply the rules of Syntax. It becomes
necessary, therefore, in a practical work of this sort, to treat these
two parts of grammar in connexion.
Conducted on scientific principles, Etymology would comprehend the
exposition of the origin and meaning of words, and, in short, their
whole history, including their application to things in accordance with
the laws of nature and of thought, and the caprice of those who apply
them; but to follow up the current of language to its various sources,
and analyze the springs from which it flows, would involve a process
altogether too arduous and extensive for an elementary work. It would
lead to the study of all those languages from which ours is immediately
derived, and even compel us to trace many words through those languages
to others more ancient, and so on, until the chain of research would
become, if not endless, at least, too extensive to be traced out by one
man. I shall, therefore, confine myself to the following, limited views
of this part of grammar.