Part 6 (1/2)
On the other hand, should I say _a_ star shi+nes, _a_ lion roars, _an_ Indian is abused, _a_ wind blows, _a_ cloud appears, you would understand me to allude very _definitely_ to _one_ ”particular” object, as separate and distinguished from others of its kind
But what is the wonderful peculiarity in theand use of these two little words thatelse, as to demand a separate ”part of speech?” You may be surprised when I tell you that there are other words in our language derived fro; but such is the fact, as will soon appear Let us ask for the etynifies _one_, never more, never less In this respect it is always _definite_ It is so, sos, to a [one] man, or to a [one] hundred es, ancient and ; Greek _eis_, ein; Latin _unus_; Aruese _hum_; French _un_; German _ein_; Danish _een_, _en_; Dutch _een_; Swedish _en_; Saxon, _an_, _aen_, _one_--frolish _ane_; and es it defines a thing to be _one_, a united or congregated whole, and the word _one_the sense Fronifies _oned_, _united_, _joined_, as we shall see e coes _a_ is styled an article, in others it is not The Latin, for instance, has no article, and the Greek has no _indefinite_ But all languages have words which are like ours, pure adjectives, eues have _articles_, and therefore ours should, is fallacious The Latin, which was surpassed for beauty of style or power in deliverance by few, if any others, never suffered from the lack of articles Nor is there any reason e should honor two sh rank to the exclusion of others quite as worthy
_The_ is always used as a definitive word, tho it is the least definite of the defining adjectives In fact e desire to ”_ascertain particularly_ what thing is meant,” we select some more definite word
”Give me _the_ books” Which? ”Those with red covers, that in calf, and this in Russia binding” _The_ nations are at peace What nations?
_Those_ which were at war You perceive hoe employ words which are more definite, that is, better understood, to ”_point out_” the object of conversation, especially when there is any doubt in the case What occasion, then, is there to give these [the?] words a separate ”part of speech,” since in character they do not differ froe?
We will notice another frivolous distinction made by Mr Murray, merely to sho learnedto special rules in the general application of words He says, ”Thou art _a_ eneral and _harmless_ expression; but, thou art _the_ man, (as Nathan said to David,) is an assertion capable of striking terror and re here, on which he insists, attaches to the articles _a_ and _the_ It is a sufficient refutation of this definition to make a counter staterammarian in the world; or, he is _a_ fool, _a_ knave, and _a_ liar” Which, think you, would be considered the most _harmless_ expression? Suppose it had been said to Aaron Burr, thou art _a_ traitor, or to General Williaard the phrase as ”_harmless!_” On the other hand, suppose a beautiful, acco lady, should observe to one of her suitors, ”I have received offers of entlemen besides yourself, but thou art =the= man of my choice;” would it, think you, _strike_ terror and re student of Murray whose feelings had beco of his author as to be filled with ”terror and remorse” under such favorable circumstances, while fair prospects of future happiness were thus rapidly brightening before hie ye what I say
The adjective _that_ has obtained a very extensive application in language However, it may seem to vary in its different positions, it still retains its pri It is comprised of _the_ and _it_, thait, theat, thaet (Saxon,) thata (Gothic,) dat (Dutch) It is the e It is by use applied to things in the singular, or to a arded as a whole By use, it applies to a collection of ideas expressed in a sentence; as, it was resolved, _that_ What? Then follows _that fact_ which was resolved
”Provided _that_, in case he does” so and so ”It was agreed _that_,”
_that fact_ was agreed to which is about to be made known I wish you to understand, all thro these lectures, _that_ I shall honestly endeavor to expose error and establish truth Wish you to understand _what_? _that fact_, afterwards stated, ”I shall endeavor,” &c You can not : _that_ would be impossible What would be i
You can not fail to observe the true character of this word called by our grammarians ”adjective pronoun,” ”relative pronoun,” and ”conjunction” They did not think to look for itsHad that (duty) been done, it would have stood forth in its true character, an i word
The only difficulty in the explanation of this word, originates in the fact, that it was forular nu directly to an object; as, _that man_ And it never should be used otherwise But we often see phrases like this; ”These are the men _that_ rebeled” It should be, ”these are the men _who_ rebeled” This difficulty can not be overcos, such instances are rare _This_ and _that_ are applied to the singular; _these_ and _those_ to the plural
=What= is a co of both, when e in itself both the antecedent and the relative,” as our authors tell us But when it is dissected, it will readily enough be understood to be an adjective, defining things under particular relations
But I shall weary your patience, I fear, if I stay longer in this place to exay of s and use of many words included in the list of conjunctions, which are truly adjectives, such as _both_, _as_, _so_, _neither_, _and_, etc; but I let them pass for the present, to be resumed under the head of contractions
Froiven of this class of words, we are saved the tediousness of studying the grammatical distinctions made in the books, where no real distinctions exist In character these words are like adjectives; theirof all other words, is peculiar to themselves Let that be known, and there will be little difficulty in classing them We need not confuse the learner with ”adjective pronouns, possessive adjective pronouns, distributive adjective pronouns, demonstrative adjective pronouns, _indefinite_ adjective pronouns,” nor any other adjective pronouns, which can never be understood nor explained Children will be slow to apprehend the propriety of a union of _adjectives_ and _pronouns_, when told that the former is always used _with_ a noun, and never _for_ one; and the latter always _for_ a noun, but never _with_ one; and yet, that there is such a strange combination as a ”_distributive or indefinite adjective pronoun_,”--”confusion worse confounded”
In the french language, the gender of adjectives is varied so as to agree with the nouns to which they belong ”Possessive pronouns,” as they are called, come under the same rule, which proves them to be in character, and forender The father says, _hter; and the mother, _mon_ (masculine) _fils_, ood father; _bonne ood mother; or, in Latin, _bonus pater_, or _bona mater_; or, in Spanish, _bueno padre_, _buena es, as well as all others, where the adjectives vary the terree with the noun, the same fact may be observed in reference to their ”pronouns” If it is a fact that these words are _pronouns_, that is, stand for other _nouns_, then the father is _feminine_, and the mother is _masculine_; and whoever uses theender to do so
Describing adjectives adrees of corees have been reckoned three; positive, coing the termination The _positive_ is deterreat house, a small book, compared with others of their kind This is truly a coreat_er_ house, a sreat_est_ house, the small_est_ book
Several adjectives express a comparison less than the positive, others increase or direes; as, whit_ish_ white, _very_ white, _pure_ white; whit_er_, _considerable_ whiter, _much_ whiter; whit_est_, the _very_ whitest, _much_ the whitest _beyond all comparison_, so that there can be none _whiter_, nor _so white_
We ood_, in the coreat deal_ whiter; a _good_ reat_ many men As we never hear of a _small_ deal, or a _bad_ deal whiter, nor of a _bad many_, nor _little many_, it would be well to avoid such phrases
The words which are added to other adjectives, to increase or diminish the comparison, or assist in their definition, may properly be called _secondary adjectives_, for such is their character They do not refer to the thing to be _defined_ or _described_, but to the adjective which is affected, in souished fro this fact Take for example: ”A _very dark red_ raw silk lady's dress handkerchief” The resolution of this sentence would stand thus:
_A_ ( ) handkerchief
A ( ) _red_ ( ) handkerchief
A ( ) _dark_ red ( ) handkerchief
A _very_ dark red ( ) handkerchief
A very dark red ( ) _silk_ ( ) handkerchief
A very dark red _raw_ silk ( ) handkerchief
A very dark red raw silk ( ) _dress_ handkerchief