Carroll's elementary grammar

Front matter

Shan gopjjrigtrt l|n.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Preface

The many suggestions made by various educators and teachers that my large Grammar is not adapted for the use of beginners, and the wishes expressed that I would prepare an elementary work for the younger class of learners, have induced me to compile this abridgment which, I trust, will be found sufficiently simple for the primary classes, and of sufficient scope to enable those pupils, who cannot spare the time to go through a full course, to acquire such a knowledge of the true principles of the language as will enable them to perform the duties of their respective stations in life to the entire satisfaction of those with whom they will be associated. All experience proves that no system of teaching is so well calculated to insure success, as that which is accompanied by explicit and appropriate illustrations of the principles inculcated. A short example will often give a clearer conception of a precept, than the most explicit words could convey. For this reason it has been thought proper to adopt an exercise to each chapter and section throughout the work, so that the pupil, at every stage of his progress, may have a practical illustration of the portion under his immediate study. By this arrangement it is believed that the present abridgment will, in a great measure, facilitate the progress of youth in the march of mental improvement, and prepare pupils for the study of my larger work.

JOHN CARROLL, A. M.

Table Of Contents

PAGE.

Preface 3

English Grammar 7

Part I. Orthography

Q. — What does Orthography include and teach?

A. — Orthography includes a knowledge of the nature and power of letters and teaches how to spell words correctly. It treats, 1st, of Letters; 2nd, of Syllables, and 3d, of Words.

Q. — What is the nature of a letter?

A.— The nature of a letter is to be a character or mark, expressive of a simple elementary sound.

Q. — What is the power of a letter?

A. — The power of a letter is the change which the addition or diminution of a letter in a word causes in some other letter in that word. As, hat, 'hate, fate, fat.*

Q. — What does the word orthography mean?

A. — Orthography means ivord-maMng or spelling; and is usually learned from spelling-books and dictionaries.

* For a full explanation see Carroll's Large Grammar, page 14.

•7

1.— Letters.

Q.— What is a letter?

A. — A letter is the first principle, or least part of a word. The English alphabet contains twenty-six letters.

Q. — How are letters divided?

A. — Letters are divided into vowels and consonants.

Q. — What is a vowel, and which letters are vowels ?

A. — A Vowel is a letter that can be perfectly sounded by itself. The vowels are o, e, i, o, it, and sometimes 10 and y ; w and y are consonants when they begin a word or syll ible, or when they precede a vowel sound in the same syllable, but in every other situation they are vowels.

Q. — What is a consonant, and which are they?

A. — A Consonant is a letter that cannot be fully sounded without the aid of a vowel, as 6, d,f, I. All letters, except the vowels, are consonants.

Q. — How are consonants divided?

A. — Consonants are divided into mutes and semi-vowels.

Q. — What is said of the mutes, and which are they?

A. — The mutes cannot be sounded at all without the aid of a vowel. They are b, p, t, d, k, q, and c and g, hard.

Q. — What is said of semi- vowels, and which are they?

A. — The semi-vowels have an imperfect sound of themselves. They are /, j, I, m, n, r, s, v, x, z, and c and g soft, and w and y when they are not vowels.

Q. — Which of the semi-vowels are called liquids, and why?

A. — Four of the semi-vowels, namely, I, m, n and r, are also called liquids, because they readily unite with other consonants, and flow, as it were, into their sounds.

Q. — In naming the mutes and semi-vowels, what occurs?

A. — In naming the mutes, the accompanying vowels generally follow, as be, pe; in naming the semi-vowels, the accompanying vowels precede, as ef, el.

Q. — How is the voice affected in sounding the mutes and semi- vowels?

A. — In sounding the mutes, the voice is stopped short, as in up; in sounding the semi-vowels, the voice may be prolonged, as in al.

Q. — How are consonants classed with regard to the vocal organs?

A. — The consonants are also divided, according to the part of the vocal organs by which they are formed. The principal divisions of this sort are labials, dentals, palatals, gutturals, nasals and Unguals.

Q. — By which vocal organs are the labials, dentals, palatals, gutturals, nasals and Unguals chiefly formed ?

A. — Labials are formed chiefly by the lips, Dentals by the teeth, Palatals by the palate, Gutturals by the throat, Nasals by the nose, and Linguals by the tongue.

Q. — What letters are called labials, dentals, palatals, gutturals, nasals and Unguals?

A. — The Labials are p, b, f, v; the Dentals t, d, c, soft, s and z; the Palatals g soft, and j; the Gutturals k, q and c, and g hard ; the Nasals m and n; and the Linguals I and r.

Q. — What is a diphthong?

A. — A Diphthong is the union of two vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice, as oi in voice, ou in sound.

Q. — What is a proper diphthong?

A. — A Proper Diphthong is one in which both the vowels are sounded, as oi in loin, ou in found.

Q. — What is an improper diphthong?

A. — An Improper Diphthong is one in which only one of the vowels is sounded, as ea in beat, oa in boat.

Q. — What is a triphthong?

A. — A Triphthong is the union of three vowels in one sound, as eau in beau, iew in view.

Q. — What is a proper triphthong?

A. — A Proper Triphthong is one in which all the vowels are sounded, as uoy in buoy.

Q. — What is an improper triphthong?

A. — An Improper Triphthong is one in which all the vowels are not sounded, as eau in beauty, iew in revieio.

Q. — How is the vowel u after q considered?

A. — C after q is never considered as part of a diphthong or of a triphthong.

2.— Syllables.

Q.— What is a syllable ?

A. — A syllable is a disinct sound, either simple or compound, uttered bjr a single impulse of the voice, constituting a word, or part of a word, as a, an, ant.

Q. — What are all words termed, respecting their number of syllables?

A. — A word of one syllable is termed a monosyllable; a word of two syllables a dissyllable ; a word of three syllables a trisyllable ; and a word of four or more syllables a polysyllable.

Q. — How is the number of syllables in a word determined, and what is the division of words into syllables called?

^1. — There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels and diphthongs, npt counting those which are silent or unsounded ; and the division of words into syllables is called Syllabication.

3.— Words.

Q. — What are words?

A. — Words are articulate sounds, used by common consent, as signs of our ideas.

Q. — How are words classed, with regard to their origin?

A. — All words are either primitive, derivative, or compound.

OKTHOGRAPHY. 11

Q. — What is a primitive word?

A. — A primitive word is that which cannot be reduced to a simpler word in the language, as man, good, content.

Q. — What is a derivative word ?

A- — A derivative word is that which may be reduced to a simpler word, as manful, goodness, contentment.

Q. — What is a compound word?

A. — A compound word is one which is composed of two or more words, as school-master, ink-stand.

Q. — How may compound words in common use be written?

A. — Compound words in common use may have their component parts united together, and may be written as single words, as inkstand, or they may be separated by a hyphen, as rail-road, glass-house, bee-hive.

Q. — How may a word be divided at the end of a line in writing ?

A. — In writing, a word of more than one syllable may be divided at the end of a line, but a monosyllable, or a syllable, never.

THE SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.

A. — A has four sounds, the long, as in name, basin ; the broad, as in call, wall ; the short, as in fat, hat ; and the flat, Italian sound, as in bar, far, farther'.

The improper diphthong, aa, has the short sound of a in Balaam, Canaan, Isaac; and the long sound of a in Baal, Gaal, Aaron.

The Latin diphthong ce, has the long sound of e, in cenigma, Ccesar, and some other words. But many authors reject this useless excrescence of antiquity, and writs enigma, Cesar.

The diphthong ai has the long sound of a, as in pail, sail, except in plaid, said, again, fountain, Britain, and some others.

All is sounded like broad a in taught, like flat a in aunt, like long o in hautboy, and like short o in laurel.

Aw has always the sound of broad a, as in bawl, crawl.

Ay has the long sound of a, as in pay, delay.

B. — B has only one sound, as in bad, baker, number.

B is silent when it follows m in the same syllable, as in lamb, &c, except in accumb, rhomb, and succumb. It is also silent before t in the same syllable, as in doubt, debtor, &c. , and in the word subtle.

C. — C sounds like k before a, o, u, r, I, t, and at the end of syllables, as in cart, cottage, curious, craft, tract, cloth, victim, flaccid. It has the sound of s before e, i and y, as in cedar, cider, cycle. It has the sound of sh when followed by a diphthong, and is preceded by the accent, either primary or secondary, as in social, pronunciation, &c. ; and of z in discern, sacrifice, suffice. It is silent in arbuscle, czar, czarina, indict, victuals, muscle.

Ch is commonly sounded like tsh, as in child, church, chin, but in words derived from the ancient languages it has the sound of k, as in chemist, chorus, and likewise in foreign names, as in Achish, Enoch. In words from the French, ch sounds like sh, as in chaise, chevcdier, and also when preceded by I or n, as in milch, bench, clinch, &c.

Ch in arch, before a vowel, sounds like k, as in Archangel, except in arched, archery, archer, archenemy, but before a consonant it sounds like tsh, as 1n archbishop. Ch is silent in schism, yacht, drachm.

D. — D has one uniform sound, as in death, do, did. It sounds like dj, or j, when followed by long u, preceded by the accent, as in educate, verdure. It also sounds like j, in grandeur, soldier.

The termination ed, in adjectives and participial adjectives, retains its distinct sound, as a toick-ed man, a learn-ed man, bless-ed are the meek ; but in verbs the e is generally dropped, as passed, walked, flashed, aimed, rolled, &c, which are pronounced past, walkt, flasht, aimd, rold.

E. — E has a long sound as in me, he, scheme; a short sound as in met, men, tent, and sometimes the sound of flat a as in sergeant, and of short i, as in yes, pretty, England, and generally in the unaccented terminations, es, et, en.

F. — F has one unvaried sound as in fan, muffin, except in of, which when uncompounded, is pronounced ov. A wive's portion, a calve' 's head are improper. They should be, a wife's portion, a calfs head.

G. — Gr has two sounds. It is hard before a, o, u, I, and r, and at the end of a word, as in gay, go, gun, glory, grant, bag, snug. It is soft before e, i, and y, as in genius, ginger, Egypt. Exceptions : get, gewgaw, gimlet, and some others. G is silent before n, as in gnat, &c.

H. — H has an articulate sound as in hat, horse, hull. H is silent after r, as in rhetoric, rhubarb.

I. — J has a long sound as in pine, and a short one as in pin. Before r, it is often sounded like u short, as in first, third, and in other words like short e, as in birth, virtue. In some words it has the sound of long e, as in machine, marine, profile, &c.

J. — J has the compressed sound of dzh, nearly equal to the soft sound of g except in hallelujah, in which it is pronounced like y.

K. — K has the sound of c hard, and is 1 used before e, i, and y, where c would be soft as in kept, king, skirt, murky. It is silent before n, as in knife, knell, knocker, knuckle.

Li. — L has always a soft liquid sound as in love, billoiv. It is often silent as in half, talk, ivalk, almond.

M. — M has always the same sound as in man, murmur, mountain, monumental; except in the word Comptroller, which is pronounced controller.

N. — N has two sounds, the one pure, as in man, net, noble ; the other, a compound sound, as in ankle, banquet, distinct, &c, pronounced angkl, bangkioet, &c. N final, is silent when preceded by m, as in hymn, autumn, &c.

O. — has a long sound as in no, note, over, and a short one as in not, got. It has the sound of oo, as in move, prove, and the sound of u short, as in love, dove, son, doth, does, attorney ; and generally in the terminations, op, ot, or, on, om, ol, od, &c.

P. — P has but one uniform sound, as in pin, slipper; except in cupboard, and clapboard, where it has the sound of b. It is mute in psalm, Ptolemy, tempt, empty, corps, raspberry, and receipt.

Ph has the sound of /, as in philosophy , Philip, &c, and of v, as in Stephen.

Q. — Q is sounded like k, and is always followed by u pronounced like iv, as in quadrant, queen, conquest.

R. — R has a rough sound as in Rome, river, rage, and a smooth one as in bard, card, regard. In the unaccented termination re, the r is sounded after the e, as in fibre, centre, &c.

S. — S has a flat sound like z, as in raise, besom, and at the beginning of words, a sharp hissing sound ; as in sai?it,

OltTHOGRAPHY. 1 5

sister, sample. It has the sound of sh when preceded by the accent and another s, or a liquid, and followed by a diphthong or long u, as in pressure, expulsion, censure. S, sounds like zh when preceded by the accent and a vowel, and followed by a diphthong or long u, as in brasier, usual. * It is mute in isle, corps, demesne, viscount.

T. — T is sounded in take, temper. T, before u, when the accent precedes, and generally before* eou, sounds like tsh, as nature, virtue, righteous, are pronounced natshure, virtshue, richeus. Ti, before a vowel, preceded by the accent, has the sound of sh, as in salvation, negotiation, except in such words as tierce, tiara, &c, and unless an s goes before, as question, and excepting also derivatives from words ending it ty, as in mighty, mightier.

Til has two sounds, one thin and sharp as in thin, path, panther, the other broad, or vocal, as in thine, then, worthy, &e.

U. — U has three sounds, a long one, as in tube, mule, cubic; a short one, as in tub, dull, custard, and an obtuse sound, as in pull, full, bushel. It is pronounced like short e in bury, and like short * in busy, business.

V. — V has one uniform sound as in vote, value, love, vanity.

W. — W when a consonant has its sound, which is heard in wo, beware. W is silent before r, as in wry, wrap, wrinkle, and also in answer, sword, &c. Before h, it is pronounced as if written after the h, as in why, when, what, hwy, hwen, hwat. When heard as a vowel, it takes the sound of u, as in draw, crew, now.

X. — X has a sharp sound like ks, when it ends a syllable with the accent on it, as excel, exchange, exercise, or when it precedes an accented syllable which begins with any consonant except h, as excuse, extent, but when the following accented syllable begins with a vowel or h, it has generally a flat sound, like gs, or gz, as in exert, example, exhort, &c. X has the sound of z at the beginning of proper names of Greek original, as in Xanthus, Xenephon, Xeries.

■Y. — Y when a consonant has its proper sound, as in youth, York, yes, yet, new-year. When y is employed as a vowel, it has exactly that sound that i would have in the same situation as in rhyme, system, party, pyramid.

Z. — Z has the sqund of flat s, as in breeze, brazen. RULES FOR SPELLING.

Spelling is the art of expressing a word by its proper letters.

The orthography of the English language is so anomalous, and in many cases arbitrary, that proficiency in it can be acquired only by practice, and the use of the spellingbook and dictionary. The following rules are of a general character, though even to these there may be a few exceptions.

RULE I.

Monosyllables ending in /, I, or s, preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant, as staff, mill, pass.

Exceptions. — Of, if, as, is, has, was, yes, his, this, us, gas, pus.

EXERCISES.

RULE II.

Words ending in any other consonant than /, I, or s, do not double the final letter, as man, hat, war, drug.

EXERCISES.

RULE III.

Monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, ending with a single consonant that is preceded by a single vowel, double that consonant when they assume another syllable that begins with a vowel, as wit, toitty; thin, tliinnish; admit, admittance, admitted.

Exceptions. — But x and h are never doubled.

But when a diphthong or double vowel precedes, or the accent is not on the last syllable, the consonant remains single, as toil, toiling; maid, maiden; wo®l, ivoolen; fool, foolish; offer, offering; visit, visited.

Exception. — In quit, t is preceded by two vowels, but the u has the consonant sound of w.

Remarks. — There are four conditions to be regarded in this doubling. (1.) The word must be a monosyllable, or a word accented on the last syllable. (2.) It must end in a single consonant. (3.) This consonant must be preceded by a single vowel. (4.) The termination or suffix must begin with a vowel.

Examples. — In differ-ing, the first condition is wanting ; in defend-iug, the second ; in recoil-mg, the third ; and in allot-ment, the fourth condition is wanting.

2. The reason for doubling the consonant is that the short sound of the vowel may be retained in the derivative ;

thus, bloting would be pronounced like bloating, with the long sound of o. But in such words as are formed, according to the second part of the rule, or do not possess the four conditions required, the proper sound is retained without doubling.

3. There are more than sixty words about which there is a disagreement among lexicographers, as to whether the final consonant should or should not be doubled. These words, ending chiefly in I, conform to the other three conditions of the rule, but are not accented on the last syllable. Webster, and those who accept him as authority, do not double the final consonant in these cases. Worcester, and his English predecessors, Richardson, Walker, Johnson, and others, do double the final consonant. Worcester writes travel, travelling, traveller; worship, worshipping, worshipper. Webster writes travel, traveling, traveler; worship, worshiping, worshiper.

EXERCISES.

EULE IV.

Words ending in double I, in taking ness, less, ly, or fid, after them, generally omit one I, as fulness, skilless, fully, skilful, chilness.

But words ending in any double letter, but I, and taking ness, less, ly, or fid, after them, retain the letter double, as harmlessness, carelessness, carelessly, stiffly, successful.

Note. — In the words skilful and chilness, Mr. Webster, and some others, retain the double I, and write skillful and dullness. ■

EXERCISES.

. RULE V.

Final e is omitted before terminations beginning with a vowel, as save, saving; force, forcible; blame, blamable.

Exceptions. — Words ending in ce or ge, retain e before able, to preserve the soft sound of c and g, as change, changeable; peace, peaceable.

Remarks. — 1. Some writers retain e when able is added to blame, move, reprove, sale, and their compounds.

2. The word singe retains e before ing, to distinguish it from singing from sing. The words shoe and hoe also retain e before ing.

EXERCISES.

RULE VI.

Silent e is retained before terminations beginning with consonants, as close, closely; abate, abatement.

Exceptions. — Duly, truly, awful, drop e. Argument is derived from the Latin argumentum, and not from argue.

When the e is preceded by dg, some drop and others retain e, as abridge, abridgment, or abridgement. The e is usually dropped in judgment.

EXERCISES.

RULE VII.

Words ending in y, preceded by a consonant, change y into i when a consonant is added, as fly, flies; merry, merrier, merriest, merriment.

Exception 1. — Before ing, y is retained that i may not be doubled, as carry, carrying; deny, denying.

Remark. — Words ending in ie after dropping e before ing, change i into y, for the same reason ; as die, dying.

Exception 2. — Dyeing, the present participle of dye, retains e to distinguish it from dying, the present participle of die.

Remark. — Words ending in y, preceded by a vowel, retain the y unchanged, as play, playing ; valley, valleys; boy, boyish; boy, boyhood; but lay, pay, say,, make laid, paid, said, and day makes daily.

EXERCISES.

RULE VIII.

Some words ending in II drop one I in composition, as full, handful; all, always; till, until.

Remark. — Some writers improperly drop one I in such words as foretell, enroll, recall, &c.

exercises.

Correct the errors in the following :

RULE IX.

The terminations eive and ieve in such words as receive, relieve, &c, eive is used if the letter c precedes, as receive, perceive; but ieve is used if any other letter precedes, as believe, retrieve.

EXERCISES.

Now, repeat the sounds of the letters, and the rules for spelling.

N. B. — From the foregoing, you can learn the leading principles of orthography, and for further explanations see Carroll's Large Grammar, page 26, &c.

Part II. Etymology

Question.— What does Etymology teach ?

Answer. — Etymology teaches how to form from all the words iu the English language several grand divisions or sorts, commonly called parts of speech.

Q. — What does it include?

A. — It includes a knowledge of the meaning and use of words, also their different changes and derivations.

Q. — What does the word signify?

A. — Etjnnology signifies the origin or pedigree of words.

Q. — What does etymology first treat of?

A. — First. — Etjnnology treats of the classification of words.

Q. — Into how many divisions or sorts are words divided ?

A. — All the words of the English language are divided into ten sorts, commonly called parts of speech, namely : Noun, Article, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Participle, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection.

1. — A Noun is the name given to the name of any person, place, or thing, as man, London, knife, &c.

2. — An Article is a word placed before a noun, to limit its meaning, as, a man, an apple, the boy, the apples, &c. There are only two articles, a or an and the.

3. — An Adjective is a word joined or added to a noun to describe it, or to express its quality, as a good boy, a sweet apple, an honest man, &c. 22

4. — A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun to avoid a disagreeable repetition of the noun, as, John goes to school, he learns fast, and he will excel. You perceive that the little word h& stands for, or instead of John, and is therefore called a pronoun. In the expressions, "He loves," "She writes," "It snows," the words, he, she and it are pronouns, because they are used instead of nouns. Hereafter, I will make you acquainted with the origin and use of the several kinds, of pronouns.

5. — A Verb is a word which signifies to be, to do, or

to suffer, as, I am, I rule, I am ruled.

Remark. — The verb is the most important part of speech, for without it no sentence can be expressed. It is.theverb that describes or tells the state or condition of the noun or subject of which we speak, by telling whether it only exists, or performs some action, or is acted upon, as, "John lives." "John beats James." "John is beaten by Joseph." In these examples, the verb lives, signifies "to be, or to exist;" the verb beats, signifies "to do, or to perform some act," and the verb is beaten, signifies "to suffer," which means that John suffered and received the effect of the act performed by Joseph. This definition of the verb has been changed by many authors, but as yet no definition has been given which is not objectionable. At a future time, and in the proper place, this subject will be fully illustrated.

6. — A Participle is a word derived from a verb, and partakes of the nature of a verb and also of an adjective, as, "I found a man laboring in the field," and "The laboring man should not be wronged." In the first example, the word laboring expresses action, and therefore resembles a verb; in the second, it is joined to the noun man, to describe it, and therefore resembles an adjective.

*7. — An Adverb is a word used to qualify a verb, a participle, an adjective, or another adverb, as, "John speaks distinctly," "He is writing rapidly," "He is remarkably diligent," and "He reads very correctly."

8. — A Preposition connects words together, and thereby shows the relation between them, as, "He sailed for Europe." "Look above this earth."

9. — A Conjunction is a word used to connect words and sentences together, as, "King and Queen." "Life is short and art is long."

10. — An Interjection is used to express some strong or sudden emotion of the mind, as Ah! Alas! Bravo! Hush ! &c.

These definitions of the parts of speech ought to be practically and fully understood in order to be able to understand hereafter the properties peculiar to each class, and how one class of words is derived from another.

Q. — What does etymology secondly explain, and what is meant by the modification of words?

A. — Second. — Etymology explains the accidents or properties peculiar to each class or sort of words and their present modifications. By modifications, I mean the changes produced in their endings, in consequence of their assuming different relations in respect to one another. These changes, such as fruit, fruits, fruit's; he, his, him ; write, writest, writeth, writes, wrote, written, writing, writer ; a, an ; ample, amply ; and the like will be explained in their appropriate places.

Q. — What does etymology thirdly treat of, and what do you understand by the derivation of words?

A. — Thtkd. — Etymology treats of the derivation of words, that is, it teaches how one word conies from, or grows out of another. For example, from the word speak come the words speakes£, speaker, speaks, speak^io, spoke, spoken, speaker, speaker's, speakers. These, you perceive, are all one and the same word, and all, except the last three, express the same kind of action. They differ from each other only in the termination. These changes in the termination are produced on the word in order to make it correspond with the various persons who speak, the number of persons, or the time of speaking, as, I speak, thou speakest, the man speaketh, or speaks, the men speak, I spoke. The speaker speaks another speaker's speech. Some parts of speech are also derived from one another, namely :

1. Nouns are derived from verbs.

2. Verbs are derived from nouns, adjectives, and sometimes from adverbs.

3. Adjectives are derived from nouns.

4. Nouns are derived from adjectives.

5. Adverbs are derived from adjectives.

1. Nouns are derived from verbs, as from "to love," comes "lover;" from "to visit, visitor;" from "to survive, survivor," &c.

In the following instances, and in many others, it is difficult to determine whether the verb was deduced from the noun, or the noun from the verb, viz: "Love, to love; hate, to hate ; fear, to fear ; sleep, to sleep ; walk, to walk ; ride, to ride ; act, to act ;" &c.