The Grammar of English Grammars

by Goold Brown

W.

W, its name and plur. numb.
—simpler term than Double-u perhaps desirable; DR. WEBST. on the
lett.
—W, when a vowel
—with vowel foll., sound of
—before h, how pronounced
—in Eng. never used alone as a vowel
—no diphthongs or triphth. in Eng., beginning with.

Wages, noun, plur. by formation; its construe, with a verb.

Walker, J., estimate of his Critical Pronouncing Dictionary —in his lexicography how far followed DR. JOH.

Was, contrary to usage preferred by some to were, in the imperf. sing, of the subj.

We, plur., as representing the speaker and others; how sometimes used in stead of the sing.; sometimes preferred by monarchs to I.

Webster, Dr. N., describes language as comprehending the voice of brutes
—never named the Eng. letters rightly
—his orthography as a standard; do. compared with that of DR. JOH.
—the result to himself of his various attempts to reform our orthog.;
the value of his definitions.

Weight, measure, &c., see Time.

Wert, as used in lieu of wast —its mood not easy to determine; authorities for a various use of.

What, its class and nature
—to what usually applied; its twofold relat. explained
—its numb.; example of solec. in the use of
—as a mere adj., or as a pron. indef.
—its use both as an adj. and as a relative at the same time; do. for
who or which, ludic. and vulg.
—declined
—how to be disposed of in etymolog. parsing; how to be parsed
syntactically
—how becomes an interj.
—used appar. for an adv.; uttered exclamatorily before an adj., to be
taken as an adj., ("WHAT PARTIAL judges are our," &c.,)
—followed by that, by way of pleonasm, ("WHAT I tell you in
darkness, THAT," &c.,)
—with but preceding, ("To find a friend, BUT WHAT" &c.,)
—vulg. use of, for that
—derivation of, from Sax., shown.

Whatever or whatsoever, its peculiarities of construe., the same as
those of what; its use in simp, relation
—its construc. as a double relative; whether it may be supposed
ellipt.
—its declension.

When, where, or while, in what instance not fit to follow the verb is
—When, where, whither, as partaking of the nature of a pron.;
construc, of do., with antecedent nouns of time, &c., how far
allowable
—derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.

Whether, as an interrog. pron.; as a disjunc. conjunc.
—conjunc. corresponsive to or
—as do., its derivation from Sax.

Which, relative
—its former use; to what objects now confined
—its use after a personal term taken by meton. for a thing; do., as
still applicable to persons
—is of all the genders, (in oppos. to MURR., WEBST., et. al.,)
—is less approp. than who, in all personifications
—its construc. when taken in its discrim. sense,
—how differs from the rel. that
—BLAIR'S incorrect remarks respecting
—Which, as rel. or interrog., declined
—Which, sometimes takes whose for its poss.,
—represents a prop. name taken merely as a name, ("Herod
—WHICH is but," &c.,)
—do. nouns of mult, expressing persons, when such are strictly of the
neut. gend., ("The COMMITTEES WHICH" &c.,)
—in what cases is less approp. than that
—does not fitly represent an indicative assertion, ('"Be ATTENTIVE,
without WHICH," &c.,)
—its Sax. derivation shown
—The which, obsol.,
—Which, interrog., what demands,
—to what objects applied
—now used for the obsol. whether.

Whichever, whichsoever, signif. and construc. of
—declension of.

Who, relative
—to what usually applied
—has superseded which, formerly applied to persons, ("Our Father
WHO art" &c.,)
—to be preferred to which, in all personifications
—how differs from the rel. that
—Who, as rel. or interrog., declined,
—Whose, use of, for the defec. poss., of which
—Than whom, (see Than.)
—Who, interrog., what demands
—may be the anteced. of the rel. that
—Who, derivation of, from Sax.

Whoever, and whoso or whosoever, signif. and construc. of
—declens. of
—Whoso and whatso, antiq., import and use of,

Whole, improp. use of, for all. ("Almost the WHOLE inhabitants," HUME.,).

Why, after nouns of cause, (see When, &c.)
—Why, wherefore, therefore, their class.

Will, verb, how varied
—use of, as a principal verb.

Wis, verb, pret. wist, signif. and use of
—Had I wist,

With, for and, (see Cum:)
—added to adv. of direc., with emphat. imperat. ("Up WITH it").
Withal its class and construc. Without, obsol. use of, for
unless or except. Withouten, paragog. and poet. form.
Withinside of Won't, whence formed; its pronunc.

Worcester, Dr. J. E., his Universal and Critical Dictionary WORDS,
treated.
—Word, defined.
—Words distinguished, and the divisions of, defined.
—(See Compound Word.)
—Words, Rules for the figure of;
—simp., when compounding is to be avoided
—when to be joined, or to be written separately
—Words, the nature of, explained
—the consid. of, as comm., and as prop.,
—brevity sought in the comm. use of
—the identity of, in what consists
—unsettled and variable usage with respect to the figure of
—Words that may constitute diff. parts of speech, their construc.
not to be left doubtf.
—the reference of, to other words, do.
—senselessly jumbled, charac. of
—entirely needless, how to be disposed of
—unintelligently misapplied, what indicates,
—Words, PUNCT. of: in pairs; alternated; put absol.; in appos.;
repeated
—Words, derivation of, treated
—most of those regarded as primitives in Eng., may be traced to
ulterior sources
—the study of, its importance
—how the knowledge of, may be promoted with respect to Eng.
—Words, the use of, as affecting Purity
—do., as affect. Propriety
—do., as affect. Precision
—do., as affect. Perspicuity
—do., as affect. Strength

Worshiper, whether properly written with a single or a double p

Worth, its class and construc.

Worthy, admits not ellips. of prep, of before obj. following

Writing, to write, what meant by