The grammar of the English language

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J LIBRARY OF CONGRESS."

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Preface

The capacity for thinking systematically and correctly ; for reasoning with logical coherence ; for speaking and writing with readiness and perspicuity ; and, at the same time, with elegance and force ; may justly be ranked among the greatest attainments of life.

This will appear obvious to all who shall consider the great means which have been devised, and brought to bear upon the engines of human improvement, and shall reflect, that those means owe their origin, the force of their combination, and will, ultimately, owe their success, to the united influence of close mental research, and the powers of communication. Neither that research, nor those powers, can, alone, accomplish any great design. They must be united. The former without the latter, is power inert, from want of means : the latter without the former, is means rendered useless by the want of force to wield them.

Those writers, therefore, who, while they aid the learner, in the developement and discipline of his mental powers, shall assist him also, in acquiring the means for a full, free, and forcible display of his ideas, will attain the summit of rational ambition ; as they will thus, more than they can in any gther way, prepare the student to act his part in life with promptness and effect.

Language, of all instruments, is the most powerful. It is ° The Great Lever of human life" — for, whether in science or business, municipal or moral law, politics or religion, man may wish to engage ; language is the efficient auxiliary, by whose assistance, alone, he makes his power felt. From two grand properties of our nature, (thought, and the power of communication,) arise all the improvements and enjoyments of which our state is susceptible.

"Man, but for that, no action could attend And but for this, be thoughtful to no end."

Hence the importance of language ; that, while giving vent to the thoughts, materially subserves the purpose of their expansion. Hence, too, the utility of Grammar, which, while it acts the part of a regulator to language, extends its corrective influence to the thoughts themselves ; inasmuch as he who learns to speak and write correctly, learns also, at the same time, to think correctly.

The importance of English Grammar being considered, we are not surprised at witnessing the late unprecedented increase of books on that science. It is, however, a matter of surprise, that such a host of different writers, on that subject, should be seen, traversing the country from one extremity to the other ; all claiming the honor and reward of having made new and important discoveries in the science ; while their respective systems differ in nothing else, half so much, as in their title pages

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6 PREFACE.

and binding ; and are, generally, compared with Murray's, (absurd as I think his treatise,) in which they seem to have originated, and around which they seem to revolve, like the different planets of the solar system, compared with the sun itself. That some have improved Murray's Grammar, (which is only a condensed compilation of the works of other writers, with their beauties and defects ;) none will deny : that more, in attempting to improve, have only mangled it, is equally certain ; that none of them has yet given to the public an English Grammar — a treatise, adapted- at the same time to the idiom and structure of the English language, and to the capacity of learners — is obvious to every person of a discriminating mind, who has examined the almost innumerable productions, on that science, which have been imposed on the public ; with scarcely any effect besides an increased expenditure for books, an interruption in the regular course of studies, by changes of systems, seldom for the better, not unfrequently for the worse, leaving pupils, after all their perplexity of change and choice, stationary or advancing, according to their own temperament of mind, or the qualifications of their respective teachers.

The chief merit (and an unenviable one it is) of this whole array of authors, with Murray at their head, as Master Commandant , and Kirkham, G. Brown, and Smith, his Coadjutors, consists, not in illustrating and embellishing truth, as truth, but in attempting, with the appearance of candor, and under color of philosophic investigation, to deck, in the garb of truth, " sanctioned by long- established usage" what they know, (and in their notes, by good arguments prove) to be, in Grammar, the very reverse of scientific truth, and logical, philosophical consistency ; the crude disjointed theories of ancient writers ; positions, untenable, not only from being averse to each other, but also from being at open variance with the principles of plain reason and common sense ; and whose universal tendency is, to bewilder and discourage, not to enlighten and cheer, the learner, at his setting-out in the career of literary attainment. To sustain this, I appeal to the experience and observation of every school teacher, not merely school master, and ask, ' Of those who have commenced the study of Grammar, how many thousands, after having raw-spent months, perhaps years, in fruitless, irksome study, and consequent wretchedness, have abandoned it with disgust ; and of the innumerable multitudes that have endured the drudgery of the pursuit, year after year, from the age, perhaps, of ten or twelve, to sixteen or twenty, have, on leaving school, and laying aside their books, discarded all thoughts of Grammar, not practising, (and how could they 1) one jot or tittle of that which they had committed to memory, but never understood. Thus have hundreds of thousands of years been annually wasted, and worse than wasted, because, when thus applied, productive of much real misery ; besides effecting, in pupils, an enervating, withering distrust of their own abilities : a complete mental stupefaction ; a paralysis of the mind. All this is the result of defective and erroneous systems of Grammar, and consequent want of well-qualified teachers.

Such a state of things ought not to exist, nor would it, if men would judge of authors and their productions as of other things, not according to what they profess to be, but what they are. If English Grammar really is, what it should be, a common sense, practical science, it should

PREFACE. 7

be treated of accordingly. It would then no longer be considered almost exclusively the appendage of the library or head of the learned philosophist ; but, like the manna in the wilderness, would be attainable by all, and of incalculable value to all who should attain it.

Law, in a free country, is, professedly, the representation of the people's will, regulated by the principles of reason, and designed to correct, by established rule, the occasional aberrations of individuals and multitudes. Grammar, too, consists of the representation of the principles of communication, as adopted by the learned of a community or country, yet digested according to rational principles, and applied by rule ; that, by restraining the irregularities of genius ; directing the style of the well-informed ; and refining, to expulsion, the awkwardness of the vulgar ; it may produce, as nearly as possible, uniformity and perspicuity, in the expression of ideas, or the transmission of thought.

While all writers on English Grammar have the same end in view, they forget, or neglect, the only means for accomplishing that end. Instead of allowing the English language an idiom peculiar to itself, to exert a constitution- like, controlling influence, they attempt to subject the words of our language to rules governing others ; even in things in which ours is dissimilar. That the words of ours, are derived from almost every other written language, is admitted. That our population is composed of emigrants and their descendants from various other nations, is also true ; and we might, with as much propriety, ordain that foreigners should cbey the laws of those countries from which they respectively came, as that words, derived from other languages, but imbodied into our own, should be controlled by rules governing those languages in which they originated. Instead of founding their respective systems on the immutable principles of common sense, and rendering the " Science of Language" subservient to those principles, these authors have expended more labor, to dress it in the party-colored garb of sophistry, and make it appear, and be thought, what they have imagined it, but what it is not, than would have been requisite to make understood and k?iown, what it is. English Grammar, theorized in this manner, must, like the material universe, bear the impress of ceaseless mutation : while common sense, the only sure basis of any theory, has been, and will for ever be, the same — unchanged — unchanging — unchangeable, amid the general confusion of matter, and the wreck of the universe.

On this imperishable foundation — this rock of eternal endurance — I rear my superstructure, the edifice of scientific truth, the temple of Grammatical consistency. If the materials shall prove to be but u hay, wood, and stubble" let floods of light sweep the base fabric away ; let the fire of truth and reason consume it ; and I, in the citizen, forgetting the individual, shall be the first to rejoice in the destruction of the work of my own hands : and especially, if some skilful architect shall erect in its place, an edifice, more stately, better proportioned, and of greater durability. If when tested by experiment, they shall be found " gold, silver, and precious stone" cemented by that quality which the wisest of men has pronounced " of more value than rubies" let it remain ; a beacon, to guide my countrymen in the pursuit of that first of sciences, the " Science of Language ;" a monument of my humble endeavors to subserve the interests of my country and mankind.

8 PREFACE.

The design of the following work, is, to reduce to the level of a plain understanding, the principles of the English Language, and thus, by increasing, and placing within the reach of every person, facilities for becoming acquainted with those principles, to render a practical knowledge of our vernacular tongue, common to all classes of people. Howfar the author has been successful in his endeavor to remove the obstructions, so long superabundant in this path of science ; to unfold to the view of multitudes, what has heretofore, too long, been considered dark and intricate, and attainable but by few ; to bring to light the latent beauties of the English language ; to make English Grammar, a common sense, practical, every -day science ; is left to the candor and discrimination of a generous and enlightened community. An investigation of the merits or demerits of his theory, he demands as public justice ; not solicits as a personal favor. If it is an improvement of great utility, it should be known, and patronized, for the public good. If it is not, it should be known, and put down, as a public nuisance ;* that neither the work nor its author, may any longer impose, with impunity, on the credulity of the people.

If he has succeeded in accomplishing the end proposed ; in making the crooked paths straight, and the rough ways smooth ; if he shall enable the student to become equally learned and useful, with less expense ; or more learned and useful, with equal expense ; if he shall, in effect, add something to man's brief existence, by shortening the time necessarily spent in preparing him to act his part in life with credit to himself, and usefulness to the world ; then, although, amid the coming revolutions of successive improvement, the name of the author and his work may hereafter perish from the memory of man ; yet, from the consciousness that his efforts, for the advancement of the general good, have not been wholly vain, he will have had, while living, the satisfaction of seeing his highest designs consummated.

0. B. PEIRCE.

Rome, N. Y. December 29th, 1838.

* Whatever imposes the burden of innovation without the advantage of improvement, may, with justice, be termed a nuisance.

Introduction

For a vindication of the new nomenclature, adopted in this treatise ; for an exhibition of the philosophical, principles of the work, as contrasted with the absurdities, errors, and defects, (logically exposed) of the old theories written by Murray, Kirkham, G. Brown, Smith, and others, and published, as " Grammars of the Language" while they are Grammars only in name ; the reader is referred to the Appendix.

Although, to the student of mature mind, the conversational plan of the following treatise, is not necessary ; yet, as it cannot impede his progress ; and may render more lively and interested, the younger pupil, who, with others, may, in a class, use this treatise as a reading book, for which it is designed, it is hoped that the plan will not be objected to. Although it is often said, that " it is now quite too late in the age of the world, to think of offering anything new on a subject as old as the English Language ; yet, repudiating this sentiment to the full extent of it, I have only to ask the candid reader to examine this work ; and, when he shall have done it, to ask him, whether or not, he has, in the nineteenth century, found something new, even in the " Science of the Language ;" and also whether or not he has found in a theory Radically New, a Grammar of the English Language ; something which I believe I have shown, in the Appendix, has never before been found.

In surveying a route, new and direct, through the fields of philosophical truth, to the site of the Temple of Grammatical Science, and carrying with me the materials, gathered on the way, for its construction, I may have crossed the blind and ever devious path of some precedent writer ; but he who shall follow me through, will see, that, with my goal constantly in view, I have proceeded directly to it, not turning to the right or left, for the purpose of intersecting or avoiding another's path.

He who would be sure to give a correct map of a city, should not sit down and copy from other maps, that may, and may not, have been correct in their day, but certainly cannot be now ; but he should survey, in person, every foot of ground, and draw his map to represent it.

This has been my course. I have surveyed the Language, and drawn my theory from it ; writing that theory as though I had never seen a book, entitled an English Grammar : and, should a person doubt the correctness of any principle of the theory ; I shall refer him, not to some other treatise, for settling the dispute, but to the principle of the language to which the point in dispute relates, or which it professes to represent ; just as he whose geography or map is disputed, would lead the disputant to the point of land which the distrusted part of his map or book professes to describe.

The whole of this work's claim to singularity, as the first and only

10 INTRODUCTION.

Grammar of the English Language, rests on two points, which may easily be determined. If the other theories do represent the English Language, and afford rules, philosophically sustained, for determining what is correct, what is incorrect ; and for correcting any thing in style or diction which is wrong ; then, though this should be found & grammar of the Language, it would not be the first and only one; for they, it would appear, had been grammars before it : though this might still be better than they, from its being better adapted to the capacity of the human mind. If the old works do not represent the language, as it is, and do not afford rules for determining what is wrong and for correcting it ; then, of course, if this is a grammar of the language, it is the first and the only one.

Fellow-citizens, will you examine, discriminate, judge, and act ?

There are two Grand Principles on which this work is based. The first is, that every sentence should be spoken or written as it should be parsed ; and, when a sentence has been spoken or written correctly, it should be parsed as it stands : for parsing is describing the words of a sentence as they are used, not as they or some others might have been. The second is, that every term of distinction, used in a theory of this kind, should be a philosophical representative of the principle for whose distinction it is used. Without these grand points, no work, whatever may be its pretensions, can be a Grammar of the Language.

If, with public utility as my leading incentive ; if, with the light of science as my only guide ; and with philosophy as my only means, I have succeeded in my essay, I hope to be useful to my fellow-citizens, by accelerating their proficiency in the science of language, the first and most effective auxiliary of every other science ; and to receive from them the more substantial tokens of their approbation, a liberal patronage and support. If I have failed, may my work sink innoxious to the depths of oblivion ; rather than remain, like too many others, to burden, not to sustain, the rising greatness of the mental and moral constitution of man.

ADDRESS TO TEACHERS.

Consider the persons under your care as rational creatures, endowed, by their Creator, with intellectual faculties which are capable of being raised, by proper exercise, to indefinite expansion and power ; but which, if forced to admit as truths, the unexamined dogmas of schools ; will dwindle to the insignificance of mere brutal instinct ; the imitative propensity of the parrot or the ape.

Remember that active belief, grounded in conviction from personal investigation, can alone benefit and improve mankind ; that the principles of any theory, on any subject, blindly assented to, can never be lasting in their effect ; but like the mist of morning, may be noticed at the moment ; yet pass and are forgotten. Like trees planted on dust-covered rocks, they may spring up, and, for a while, may seem to flourish ; but they very soon wither and die ; while by a course the reverse of this — by exciting the spirit of inquiry, principles investigated are made, by pupils, to become their own ; and are like trees planted in rich alluvial soil, which strike deep their roots ; flourish in greatness and wild luxuriance ; and by their fragrance, their beauty, and their fruit, impart gladness, transport, and felicity to all around.

Therefore,

Never allow your pupils to commit to memory what they do not understand. Explain to them, fully, the parts which demand explanation ; and impress on their minds the fact, that their proficiency and enjoyment (yes ! enjoyment in studying grammar !) in every succeeding part, will depend wholly on their having acquired a thorough knowledge of all that precedes it. Teach them that theories which are not philosophical and practical, are downright insult to the human mind, and should be at once discarded.

Teach them that Grammar is but the geography of the language ; that parsing is only describing the nature and relations of words as they are used, not as they or some others might have been : that any system of pretended grammar, (by whomsoever it may be written,) which does not fix the standard of correctness in language, and afford the means for determining what is incorrect, by showing why it is so ; which does not represent the language as it is, setting the seal of grammatic approval, to what is right, and condemning with reason, what is wrong, is just no grammar at all : that though men, as men, may be esteemed for good intentions ; as authors, they claim respect only for " thinking aright and meaning well;" that books, as guides, are to be valued, not for what their authors have wished to be, but for what they are.

Lead your pupils, step by step, from examining the different materials of whica the fabric of the language is composed, to examining the mode

12 ADDRESS TO TEACHERS.

of arranging and combining the parts to form a just, proportioned? and harmonious structure of the whole. By this means, they will become learned, in fact, in the science of the language. By these means they will acquire confidence in their own powers, and learn how to use them. By these means you will render their minds like a capacious storehouse of well-assorted practical, and (of course) useful science, that can be applied at will ; and drive for ever from your schools the listless inattentive spirit which is so great an obstacle in the way of mental advancement : but, by a contrary course, by having pupils commit to memory what they do not understand, you would benumb their faculties, destroy all relish for school and scholastic pursuit, and make your

Pupils become, by tasks, in schools, Mere book-worms, prating parrots — fools !

You would defeat the very design of their attendance at school, and render their minds like a depository where all things are thrown together in one shapeless, heterogeneous mass ; where, though you are sure every thing is deposited, yet nothing can be of any service ; because, when thus encumbered, it cannot be approached or applied.

By the former course you will open for them a pleasant way, strewed with flowers of invitation, and fruits of nourishment and delight ; to excite activity, to impart health and vigor, and make them forget the toil of the ascent. By the latter you would plant a continuous hedge of thorns in the pathway of unshielded learners, who are at first unable duly to appreciate the gem of literature ; and who instead of being invigorated on the way, and fired by prospect, to ascend the hill of science, and light up, by present usefulness, the glories of a future age will be made to imagine the cost of the attainment greater than the value of the prize ; " to bury their talents in the earthy" and turn back to the gloomy regions of nature's twilight, to grovel in vulgar pursuits, perhaps criminal indulgences, and plod their dreary course through all the journey of life.

Although it may seem out of my province, to advise in things not pertaining to grammar; still, I would express my wish that, in whatever study learners may be engaged, teachers, into whose hands this volume shall fall, would, for their own sake, the present and future advantage of their pupils, and for the good of community, Carry out the principles above referred to ; by informing and exercising the understanding, instead of applying too exclusively to the memory of the learner. By this mode of instruction they will unbar the gates of Science, and usher their disciples into the innermost temple, where they may " perform a lustration for themselves and the people." By a contrary course they will " withhold the key of knowledge, not entering themselves, and those that would enter, they will hinder." Let them consider thai fifteen minutes per day, spent in exercising the understandings is worth more than the whole time, wasted in the exercise of memory, without the aid of tha understanding and judgment.

REMARKS TO THE LEARNER.

If you would advance rapidly and pleasantly in your grammatical ca* reer, be sure to understand every part of the theory at which you shall arrive, before leaving that for another. Read w«th care each principle, as described in the body of the work ,' and then turn to the Appendix, where you will find it more fully explained and illustrated ; as well as exhibited in contrast with other principles.

Although you may be required to commit to memory the definitions in the chart, and the rules in the book, after you shall have read and understood them ; yet, you should be more solicitous to make the principles of the science than to make the language of the hook, your own.

Spurn the idea of quoting, as proof, or in the place of it, the mere authority of names. [This practice, though very common, is but the blind offspring of a depraved and indolent sire, who would extinguish' the light of his child, that he may the more easily conceal his own defects, which he might, and should remedy.] - Remember that authors are but men, and that though there are many learned and thinking men who are not authors ; yet the history of human life in all past time has shown, that there are many authors, who are neither closely thinking men, nor learned in the subjects of which they treat.

Therefore never quote, as your defence, the authority of any man : and do not rest satisfied with your researches, or think your object half attained, till, by investigation, you shall have rendered yourself familiar with the whole, and become able to defend, logically and philosophically, what you admit as fact, and are willing to call your own.

Thus you will find your mental vigor increased ; your powers of discrimination rendered more acute; and your confidence in yourself advancing at every step. You will be able to remove every barrier that may be interposed to prevent your onward course ; to rest on your own resources, and in your own dignity, secure from injury by the assaults of the weak and giddy, who will not endure what they call the drudgery of philosophic investigation ; and whose pretended knowledge is only conjecture or blind assent : who are always flaunting in borrowed plumes ; and, having no mind as their own, are, at best, but the unstable, unenduring mist of popular effervescence — but leaves, borne involuntarily along the current, the fickle and errant multitude.

THE GRAMMAR

OF

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Utility alone can stamp the worth Of theories or actions, men or things.

Chapter I. Language

What is Language 1

It is the means of communicating thoughts from one to another.

Of how many primary kinds is language ?

It is of two kinds ; natural or spoken, and artificial or written.

Note 1. The different incorporations of words, or they and their representative signs, used by the people of different nations, for the expression of ideas, are also called languages *; and generally bear, respeetively, the names of the countries in which they were originally imbodied, or to which they are peculiar : as the English, the French, the Greek language.

Of what does natural language consist ?

It consists of sounds expressing emotion, or rendered significant by usage, by the use of which ideas can be so expressed as to be understood.

Of what does artificial language consist ?

It consists of letters or characters that are signs of significant sounds, by the arrangement of which, in a certain order, ideas can be expressed in such a manner as to be understood.

Examples. By speaking the word pen, the idea of that instrument is conveyed from the speaker of the word to the hearer of it. This is natural language. So also by

16 GRAMMAR.

writing the letters, p, e, n, or by exhibiting a picture of that instrument, the idea of a pen is communicated to the reader of the letters, or to the one beholding its painted resemblance. This is artificial language.

Note 2. Natural language is, to a limited extent, (the representation of the passions,) common to brutes as well as man ; but artificial language, being the work of invention, is peculiar to man ; the power to produce which, being one, among many others, of the superior advantages with which a beneficent Creator has endowed man, above the brute creation. It is also one of the most distinguished advantages which civilized nations enjoy above those in a savage state ; the inhabitants of the former, being able, by the facilities which artificial language afford them, to converse, almost without inconvenience, with friends who are absent in other parts of the world ; and, through books and other publications, to address and inform, and by information, to advance in prosperity and happiness, many thousands at the same time.

GRAMMAR.

What is Grammar?

It is the science of language.

Of how many kinds is grammar?

It is of two kinds ; universal and particular.

Of what does universal grammar consist?

It consists of an exposition of the general principles of communication, by natural or artificial means, which are common to the languages of all nations.

Of what does particular grammar consist?

It consists of an explanation of the general" principles of communication, according to the manner in which they should be applied to a particular language ; being adapted to the structure and idiom of that language.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

Of what does English Grammar consist?

It consists of an exposition of the principles ofthe English language, and directions for speaking and writing it correctly^

What does it teach ?

It teaches how to express ideas, by that language, with clearness, fulness, precision, and elegance.

Into how many parts is it divided ?

It is divided into five part? ; Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, Prosody? and Rhetoric,

ORTHOGRAPHY. 17

Chapter II. Orthography

Of what does Orthography treat ?

It treats of the nature and use of letters, and the manner of combining them to form syllables and words.

LETTERS.