+25.+ What a word _does_ determines what part of speech it is. When
primitive man, long ago, first began to use words, in all probability
the first words which he invented were those used to name familiar
objects about him. He invented a word for _man_, _boy_, _tree_,
_animal_, etc. Gradually, all the things he met in his daily life
received a name. About one half of the words in our language are of this
class, the _names_ of things.
Every word which is used as a name of something is called a _noun_. This
word _noun_ is derived from the Latin word which means _name_, so it is
quite the same thing as saying _name_. Notice the following sentences:
Boys run.
Fish swim.
Horses neigh.
Soldiers march.
Flags wave.
Flowers fade.
Girls study.
Winds blow.
Men work.
All of the words used like _boys_, _girls_, _fish_, _horses_,
_soldiers_, _flag_, _winds_, _flowers_ and _men_, are the names of
objects, therefore all of these words are _nouns_. The subject of a
sentence is always a noun or a word used as a noun. However, we may use
in a sentence many nouns besides the noun which is used as the subject,
the noun about which the statement is made. We will study the use of
these nouns later in our lessons.
_The famous palace of the kings of the Moors, at Granada, in Spain, was
called the Alhambra._ We have six nouns in this sentence, _palace_,
_kings_, _Moors_, _Granada_, _Spain_ and _Alhambra_, but the noun
_palace_ is the noun which is the subject--the noun which is the name of
that about which something is said. _Palace_ is the subject; and _was
called_ is the predicate in this sentence.
+26.+ +A noun is a word used as the name of something.+
Now we want to learn to distinguish every word that is used as a name.
Pick out the nouns as you read your books and papers until you are able
to tell every word which is used as a noun, the name of something.
In the following paragraph, the nouns are printed in italics. Carefully
study these nouns:
The _fire_ in the _grate_, the _lamp_ by the _bedside_, the _water_ in
the _tumbler_, the _fly_ on the _ceiling_ above, the _flower_ in the
_vase_ on the _table_, all _things_ have their _history_ and can reveal
to us _nature's_ invisible _forces_.