Part 4 (1/2)
”The overned_ by slave! If grammars are true there can be no need of abolition societies, unless it is to look after the master and see that he is not abused The rider's horse; the captain's shi+p; the general's ar's subject How false it would be to teach scholars the idea of _property_ and _government_ in such cases The _teacher's scholars_ should never learn that by virtue of their graht to _govern_ their teachers; nor the overn his ly to have the _ladies_ understand thenify by their advertisements that the ”ladies' ht veils, the ladies' gloves and elegant Thibet, silk and challa dresses, were the _property_ of the ladies; for in that case they ht claier trouble the merchant with the care of it
”Peter's wife's mother lay sick of a fever” ”_His_ physician said that _his_ disease would require _his_ utress in _his_ li, which can not be explained intelligibly by the existing grammars In fact, the words said to be nouns in the possessive case, have changed their character, by use, from nouns to adjectives, or definitive words, and should thus be classed Russia iron, Holland gin, China ware, Aton tavern, Lafayette house, Astor house, Hudson river, (formerly Hudson's,) Baffin's bay, Van Diee, a paper book, a bound book, a red book, John's book--one which John is known to use, it enerally known as some way connected with him,--Rev Mr
Srammar; not the property nor in the possession of Lindley Murray, neither does it _govern hiht on earth It is ht it, have possessed it these ten years; but, thank fortune, aoverned_ by it But more on this point e come to the proper place What I have said, will serve as a hint, which will enable you to see the i the ”possessive case”
It es That is a poor reason e should break the barriers of natural language
Beside, I know not hoe should decide by that rule, for none of thelish possessive The genitive of the French, Latin, or Greek, will apply in only a few respects The former has _three_, the latter five, and the Latin six cases, neither of which correspond with the possessive, as explained by Murray and his satellites We should be slow to adopt into our language an idio to it, and compel learners to make distinctions where none exist It is an easy matter to tell children that the apostrophe and letter _s_ marks the possessive case; but when they ask the difference in thebetween the use of the noun and those which all admit are adjectives, it will be no indifferent task to satisfy thee or the sense conveyed, between Hudson'_s_ river, and _Hudson_ river?
Davis's straits, or Bass straits? St John's church, or Episcopal church? the sun's beams, or sun shi+ne? In all cases these words are used to define the succeeding noun They regard ”property or possession,”
only when attending circun fro of the word itself, are so coive it that import And in such cases, we retain these words as adjectives, long after the property has passed froave it a name _Field's_ point, _Fuller's_ rocks, _Fisher's_ island, _Fulton's_ invention, will long be retained after those whose nas, have slept with their fathers and been forgotten Blannerhassett's Island, long since ceased to be his property or tranquil possession, by confiscation; but it will retain its specific name, till the inundations of the Ohio's waters shall have washed it away and left not a wreck behind
The distinctions I have made in the positions of nouns, will be clearly understood e come to the verbs A few remarks upon pronouns will close the present lecture
pronOUNS
pronouns are such as the word indicates _Pro_ is the latin word _for_; pro-noinally nouns, used specifically _for_ other nouns, to avoid the too frequent repetition of the saton was the father of his country; _he_ was a valiant officer _We_ ought to respect _him_ The word _we_, stands for the speaker and all present, and saves the trouble of naton, to avoid the monotony which would be produced by a recurrence of his name
pronouns are all of one kind, and few in nuive you a list of theents_ _Objects_ { 1st person, I, ular_ { 3d ” mas { he, him, { ” fem { she, her, { it, it
{ 1st person, we, us, _Plural_ { 2d ” ye, or you, you, { 3d ” they, them, hom
The two last ender
The frequent use of these words render thee They are so short, and their sound so soft and easy, that the frequency of their recurrence does not mar the beauty of a sentence, but saves us from the redundancy of other words
They are substituted only when there is little danger ofthe nouns for which they stand They are, however, sometimes used in a very broad sense; as, ”_they say_ it is so;” eneral sentiment _It_ frequently takes the lead of a sentence, and the thing represented by it cos were thus and so” Here _it_ represents the single idea which is afterward stated at length ”_It_ is so” ”_It_ may be that the nations will be destroyed by wars, earthquakes, and famines”
But more of this e come to speak of the composition of sentences
The words now classed as pronouns were originally _na been obsolete They are now used only in their secondary character as the representatives of other words The word _he_, for instance, signified originally _to breathe_ It was applied to the living beings who inhaled air It occurs with little change in the various languages of Europe, ancient and ent which lives and acts The word _her_ ht_, but is specifically applied to females which are the objects of action
Was it in accordance with the design of these lectures, it would give in, changes andof these words till they ca liht be traced thro all the languages of Europe; the Arabic, Persic, Aruages of Asia But as they are now adht fro about philosophic principles rather than verbal criticisms, I shall forbear a further consideration of these words
In the proper place I shall consider those words formerly called ”Adjective pronouns,” ”pronoun Adjectives,” or ”pronorammar makers, who desired to show off a speck of i a new idea to express It is a query in some minds whether the seventy-two ”sirammar ever had any distinct notions in their heads which they did not obtain from the very man, who, it would see
LECTURE VI
ON ADJECTIVES
Definition of adjectives--General character--Derivation--How understood--Defining and describing--Meaning changes to suit the noun--Too numerous--Derived fron adjectives--A general list--Difficult to be understood--An example--Often superfluous--Derived fro unknown--With-- In--Out--Of
The most important sub-division of words is the class called Adjectives, which we propose to notice this evening _Adjective_ signifies _added_ or _joined to_ We enate that class of words which are _added to nouns to define or describe the this, we strictly adhere to the principles we have already advanced, and do not deviate froulation of speech
In speaking of things, we had occasion to observe that the s, but of their properties; as, the hardness of flint; the heat of fire; and that we spoke of one thing in reference to another We coe