IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
FALSE PUNCTUATION.—MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.
"The principal stops are the following:—
The Comma (,) the semicolon (;) the colon (:) the period, or fall stop (.) the note of interrogation (?) the note of exclamation (!) the parenthesis () and the dash (—) [.]"—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 151; Pract. Les., p. 127. "The modern punctuation in Latin is the same as in English. The marks employed, are the Comma (,); Semicolon (;); Colon (:); Period (.); Interrogation (?); Exclamation (!)."—Bullions, Lat. Gram., p. 3.
"Plato reproving a young man for playing at some childish game; you chide me, says the youth, for a trifling fault. Custom, replied the philosopher, is no trifle. And, adds Montagnie, he was in the right; for our vices begin in infancy."—Home's Art of Thinking, (N. Y. 1818,) p. 54.
"A merchant at sea asked the skipper what death his father died? 'My father,' says the skipper, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, were all drowned. 'Well,' replies the merchant, and are not you afraid of being drowned too?'"—Ib., p. 135.
"The use of inverted comma's derives from France, where one Guillemet was the author of them; [and] as an acknowledgement for the improvement his countrymen call them after his name GUILLEMETS."—History of Printing, (London, 1770,) p. 266.
"This, however, is seldem [sic—KTH] if ever done unless the word following the possessive begins with s; thus we do not say, 'the prince' feather,' but, 'the prince's feather.'"—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 17. "And this phrase must mean the feather of the prince but princesfeather written as one word is the name of a plant: a species of amaranth."—See Key.
"Böëthius soon had the satisfaction of obtaining the highest honour his country could bestow."—Ingersoll's Gram. 12mo., p. 279. "Boethius soon had," &c.—Murray's Gram., 8vo, Vol. ii., p. 83.
"When an example, a quotation, or a speech is introduced, it is separated from the rest of the sentence either by a semicolon or a colon; as, 'The scriptures give us an amiable representation of the Deity, in these words; God is love.'"—Hiley's Gram., p. 116. "Either the colon or semicolon may be used when an example, a quotation, or a speech is introduced; as, 'Always remember this ancient maxim; Know thyself.' 'The scriptures give us an amiable representation of the Deity, in these words: God is love.'"—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 155.
"The first word of a quotation, introduced after a colon [, must begin with a capital]; as, always remember this ancient maxim: 'Know thyself.'"— Bullions, E. Gram., p. 159; Lennie's Gram., p. 106. [Lennie has "Always" with a capital.] "The first word of a quotation, introduced after a colon, or when it is in a direct form: as, 'Always remember this ancient maxim: Know thyself.' 'Our great lawgiver says, Take up thy cross daily, and follow me.'"—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 284. "8. The first word of a quotation, introduced after a colon, or when it is in a direct form. EXAMPLES.—'Always remember this ancient maxim, 'Know thyself.' 'Our great Lawgiver says, Take up thy cross daily, and follow me.'"—Weld's Gram., Abridged., p. 17
"Tell me in whose house do you live."—N. Butler's Gram., p. 55. "He, that acts wisely, deserves praise."—Ib., p. 50 "He, who steals my purse, steals trash."—Ib., p. 51. "The antecedent is sometimes omitted, as, 'Who steals my purse, steals trash;' that is, he who, or person who."—Ib., p. 51. "Thus, 'Whoever steals my purse steals trash;' 'Whoever does no good does harm.'"—Ib., p. 53 "Thus, 'Whoever sins will suffer.' This means that any one without exception who sins will suffer."—Ib., p. 53.
"Letters form syllables, syllables words, words sentences, and sentences, combined and connected form discourse."—Cooper's Plain and Practical Gram., p. 1. "A letter which forms a perfect sound, when uttered by itself, is called a vowel, as: a, e, i."—Ib., p. 1. "A proper noun is the name of an individual, as: John; Boston: Hudson; America."—Ib., p. 17.
"Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing."—P. Davis's Gram., p. 96. "In the place of an ellipsis of the verb a comma must be inserted."—Ib., p. 121. "A common noun unlimited by an article is sometimes understood in its broadest acceptation: thus, 'Fishes swim' is understood to mean all fishes. 'Man is mortal,' all men."—Ib., p. 13.
"Thus those sounds formed principally by the throat are called gutturals. Those formed principally by the palate are called palatals. Those formed by the teeth, dentals—those by the lips, labials—those by the nose, nasals, &c."—P. Davis's Gram., p. 113.
"Some adjectives are compared irregularly; as, Good, better, best. Bad, worse, worst. Little, less, least."—Felton's Gram., 1st Ed., p. 63; Ster. Ed., p. 66.
"Under the fourth head of grammar, therefore, four topics will be considered, viz. PUNCTUATION, ORTHOEPY, FIGURES, and VERSIFICATION."— Hart's Gram., p. 161.
"Direct her onward to that peaceful shore,
Where peril, pain and death are felt no more!"
Falconer's Poems, p. 136; Barrett's New Gram., p. 94
BAD ENGLISH BADLY POINTED.
LESSON I.—UNDER VARIOUS RULES.
"Discoveries of such a character are sometimes made in grammar also, and such, too, is often their origin and their end."—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 191.
"Traverse, (to cross.) To deny what the opposite party has alleged. To traverse an indictment, &c. is to deny it."—Id., ib., p. 216.
"The Ordinal [numerals] denote the order or succession in which any number of persons or things is mentioned, as first, second, third, fourth, &c."—Hiley's Gram., p. 22.
"Nouns have three persons, FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD. The First person is the speaker, the Second is the one spoken to, the Third is the one spoken of."—Hiley's Gram., p. 44.
"Nouns have three cases, NOMINATIVE, POSSESSIVE, and OBJECTIVE. The relation indicated by the case of a noun includes three ideas, viz: those of subject, object, and ownership."—Ib., p. 45.
"In speaking of animals that are of inferior size, or whose sex is not known or not regarded, they are often considered as without sex: thus, we say of a cat 'it is treacherous,' of an infant 'it is beautiful,' of a deer 'it was killed.'"—Ib., p. 39.
"When this or these, that or those, refers to a preceding sentence; this, or these, refers to the latter member or term; that, or those, to the former."—Churchill's Gram., p. 136; see Lowth's Gram., p. 102.
"The rearing of them [i. e. of plants] became his first care, their fruit his first food, and marking their kinds his first knowledge."—N. Butler's Gram., p. 44.
"After the period used with abbreviations we should employ other points, if the construction demands it; thus, after Esq. in the last example, there should be, besides a period, a comma."—Ib., p. 212.
"In the plural, the verb is the same in all the persons; and hence the principle in Rem. 5, under Rule iii. [that the first or second person takes precedence,] is not applicable to verbs."—Ib., p. 158.
"Rex and Tyrannus are of very different characters. The one rules his people by laws to which they consent; the other, by his absolute will and power: that is called freedom, this, tyranny."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 190.
"A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, which can be known, or mentioned, as: George; London; America; goodness; charity."—Cooper's Plain and Pract. Gram., p. 17.
"Etymology treats of the classification of words; their various modifications and derivations."—Day's School Gram., p. 9. "To punctuate correctly implies a thorough acquaintance with the meaning of words and phrases, as well as of all their corresponding connexions"—W. Day's Punctuation, p. 31.
"All objects which belong to neither the male nor female kind are called neuter."—Weld's Gram., 2d Ed., p. 57. "All objects, which belong to neither the male nor female kind, are said to be of the neuter gender."—Weld's Gram., Abridged, p. 51.
"The Analysis of the Sounds in the English language presented in the preceding statements are sufficiently exact for the purpose in hand. Those who wish to pursue it further can consult Dr. Rush's admirable work, 'The Philosophy of the Human Voice.'"—Fowlers E. Gram., 1850, §65. "Nobody confounds the name of w or y with their sound or phonetic import."—Ib., §74.
"Order is Heaven's first law; and this confest,
Some are and must be, greater than the rest."—Ib., p. 96.