Of Nouns Substantive.
A Noun Substantive denotes a substance, as a spirit, an animal, a vegetable, or any other thing that may be conceived to subsist, as agreeableness, agility, acceleration; which, tho’ their qualities, agreeable, agile, accelerate, are indefinite or indeterminate, yet by the signs, ness, ty, ion, signifying substances, properties, and the sun’s motion, acquire such a determinate meaning as to become substantives, and to shew their meaning without being joined with any other word. And all names, whether of substances, qualities, or other things, to which the articles an or the, or any other substantive signs are joined or set in apposition, are nouns substantive.
There are in the English language more substantive names than seem to be necessary for an universal language, besides the synonymas of various other dialects, which are incongruous in sense, with the hieroglyfic signs, and tend to darken and confound the natural sense and sounds of names and things. Tho’ the English vocables are explained elsewhere, we shall here take notice of some peculiarities of that nature in the English substantives.
Bl-ab, b-abe; ebb, gl-ebe; rib, tr-ibe; kn-ob, gl-obe; t-ub, t-ube; where the final e should be dropped, and the remaining vowel marked with a grave accent, as tub, tùb.
B-ack, b-ake; b-eck, b-eke; l-ick, like, link; p-ock, p-oke, m-uck, p-uke. These might be wrote as lic, lìc.
Ax, sex, ra-dix, ox, ux, as acs or ach as formerly. Ach, be-ach, spe-ech, st-ich, l-och, n-och, touch.
M-atch, l-etch, itch, b-otch, sm-utch.
H-ac, ar-se, ace, dice, d-oce, d-uce.
H-ag, l-eg, g-ig, l-og, h-ug.
Age, b-adge, coll-ege, edge, se-ige, br-idge, d-oge, l-odge, subterf-uge, b-udge.
Aight, eight, f-ight, f-ought, o-ught. These eight last classes are made use of to express the three subsisting sorts of actions, viz. the local or inanimate, the generative and energic, when the first might be expressed by c, the second by g, and the third by ch, as, ac, àc, and aç with a cedille, that is, the acute, the grave, and soft or feminine; ag, àg, āg for the short, long, and soft of the generative species of motion; and ach, àch, and āch, the last to be sounded like the Welsh ch or the English wh in what or where, for the acute, grave, and gutteral of energies and animal motions; so that these three letters, which the Welsh inflect so as to express the cases and genders by the difference of acute, grave, and gutteral, might very well serve for all the uses of the eight last classes of names, should the whole be deemed necessary. But, those of the third, fifth, eighth, and ninth classes are compound sounds expressed by a combination of characters, which ought not to be kept together but in terminations; they having been corruptly introduced into languages by the Greeks and Romans, in order to express qualities and pleasant sounds contrary to the nature of things.
Bre-ad, bl-ade, br-ed, br-eed, ma-id, si-de, c-od, c-ode, b-ud, pr-ude, should be wrote and accented as ud, ùd.
St-af, st-ave, be-ef, be-eve, l-ife, ol-ive, beho-of, beho-ove, c-ave, might be made staff and stàf, as formerly.
An-im-al, male, h-ell, h-eel, circ-le, Apr-il, v-ill, b-ile, car-ol, par-ole, c-ull, b-ull, m-ule, might be wrote and accented al, àl, el, èl, il, ìl, not eel, ol, òl, ul, ùl; or as the Welsh and Spanish aspirate ll.
H-am, l-ame, sarc-asm, anth-em, th-eme, apoth-egm, cla-im, cl-ime, quiet-ism, wisd-om, h-ome, mikrocosm, ch-um, h-ume, usm. Here the final e might be dropped, and the Greek compounds have no particular meaning; all being alike expressive of the forms of substances and things.
Me-an, m-ane, g-ang, p-en, obsc-ene, chall-enge, p-in, p-ine, th-ing, mo-ti-on, t-ong, b-un, b-ung. These signify various existences and things, and are properly accented; but the final e might be exchanged in writing, for the grave accent, màn.
Attend-ance, abstin-ence, prov-ince, sc-once, d-unce. These may do as to orthography and accent, and signify the ens or essence of various things, as, ance of earthly substances, ens those of water, ince of things in general, once of motion, and unce of man, as in dunce or di-unce a privative of the human essence.
Ant, ag-ent, m-int, f-ont, h-unt, signify the possession of the earth and water or property, properties in general, the property of motion and human property, that is of hunting or driving to and fro in the possessions.
G-ap, g-ape, sle-ep, p-eep, tr-ip, tr-ipe, h-op, h-ope, s-up, d-upe, shap, ship, shop. Here the grave accent might serve for the final e; the meaning thereof being the division generally of matter into substances or parts, except the terminations shap, ship, and shop, signifying from high or high.
Cell-ar, c-are, be-er, p-er, or pear, f-ir, fire, clam-or, st-ore, c-ur, cens-ure, am-our or am-ur, here the final e might be dropped; and ar signifies upon, àr earth, er since, èr water, ir high or to, ìr fire, or from, òr an extension of possession, or a circle, ur or wr a man.
Lam-as, ass, g-aze, ash, be-ast, actr-ess, sque-ese, fl-esh, ap-ish-ness, apt-ness, ch-est, bl-iss, s-ize, f-ish, l-ist, m-oss, d-oze, osh, c-ost, b-uss, f-uze, bush, b-ust, might be all expressed and accented as, as, às, ash, ast to express the affirmations and energies of affections, properties, and things.
P-at, p-ate, p-et, def-ete, b-it, b-ite, kn-ot, m-ote, c-ut, mute, p-ath, t-eeth, fa-ith, m-oth, mo-uth. These express the identity and property of different parts or things, and the final e might be exchanged for the grave accent.
Abili-ty, agili-ty, ami-ty, du-ty, antipa-thy, apa-thy, sympa-thy. These signify different general properties and qualities of things.
Aristocra-cy, oligar-chy, ordina-ry, mason-ry, orator-y, lecher-y, grocer-y, orthodox-y, ha-y, ho-y. The cy and chy signify different qualities, and the y is the Welsh the.
Ma-w, me-w, mo-w, and s or es for substantives of a plural nature. This w signifies different springs.
Substantives are distinguished by grammarians into appellatives or general names of things common to many individuals, as man, river, month, wind; and proper names, appropriated only to individuals, as, George, Britain, London, October, Libs, which admit of neither articles or plurality of numbers. But all words, excepting one or an, according to their natural meaning seem to me to be appellative and capable of being applied to things of a plural nature, were their primitive sense understood, as for instance, George, which originally signified a chief of the circle nation, as an appellative name of a magistrate, in the same manner as King, Prince, Duke, or any other; but when its original meaning was lost, and it came to be adopted as a Christian name by different families, it was thence supposed to be a mere arbitrary term, imposed as the name of an individual; and so as to Britain, London, October, Libs, Thames, Avon, which were originally appellatives or common expressions for the sea coast, long towns, the eighth month from the spring, the west south-west, or Libian wind, the limits of the Iceni, and Rivers. So that these names, so long as their original meanings were understood, were as much appellative or common expressions, as man, river, month, wind, or any other common names, and as capable too of a plural or singular sense, in concord with the articles or demonstrative pronouns; as, a, the, this, or that, chief of the circle nation or long town, &c. Hence the distinction of common and proper names seems to be frivolous and unnecessary.
All substantives were originally appellative and plural, and the articles and demonstrative pronouns were set in apposition or as terminations thereto, to determine their singular nature as well as the identity of the individual. But as they are now mostly understood as the signs of single things, the English method of adding s or es as a plural termination, should be generally followed as the best method; unless substantives and their articles should be restored to their original sense and use; but in either case the particles, an or en, as terminations of plural names, when the sense will admit of their being singular, and en does not express the male and female of the same kind, as men does both man and woman, seem to be improper. Nor is it best so to continue the use of such plurals, as mice, lice, teeth, feet, geese, but rather mus, lus, toth, fot, gus, which are so in their nature, as expressing the little eaters, the little family, the grinders, the movers and the water nation. It is however certain that the numbers of nouns are in their nature but two, singular and plural, one and two or many, but whether they are expressed by one or an, and two or as and es seems not to be very material, tho’ as and es were the primitive signs, as, as signified the masculine gender, and es the feminine. And numbers and genders ought to be the same.
There were originally no other distinction of genders of nouns than the masculine and feminine, and which were distinguishable only by the signification of vocables; and whatever other arbitrary modes and distinctions as to genders of nouns and their declensions or inflections have been arbitrarily made by other nations, the English still in fact adhere to the original masculine and feminine genders, the only distinction of nature, as and es; for were the meaning of substantives precisely understood, they would all appear to be either masculine or feminine, at least, as relative to man and woman, or according to their active and passive, or hard and soft sounds. Nor do the English adjectives or pronouns vary as to genders, numbers, or cases, as has been supposed; but naturally agree in concord, without any variation or inflection thereof, from their primitive state.
Indeed if the Welsh modes of inflection derive their origin from the original language, which was musical, and vocables could be reduced to their true primitive state, perhaps it might be the best way, but as that might be impracticable or too arduous a task, we may as well stick to our old English voices, which deviate so very little from the primitive language.
And, as to any variation of cases or the declension of nouns, the English still remains in the primitive state of language without any; their prepositions being fully expressive of the situation and direction of actions and things, and those of other nations being altogether arbitrary and calculated more for the sake of variety and preservation of vocables, than from any necessity, as their prepositions and vocables might in their primitive state be as expressive, and agree in concord, like the English, which has no other state or case, than that in which names were originally formed, or the nominative, as will appear to any one, that will be at the trouble of a deliberate consideration of the origin, frame, and construction of the English language, whatever may have been advanced by our modern grammarians, as to the variation of the genitive or possessive case.