English Grammar in Familiar Lectures / Accompanied by a compendium, embracing a new systematic order of parsing, a new system of punctuation, exercises in false syntax, and a system of philosophical grammar, in notes, to which are added an appendix and a key to the exercises : designed for the use of schools and private learners

by Samuel Kirkham

SYSTEMATIC ORDER OF PARSING.

The order of parsing a PERSONAL PRONOUN, is—a pronoun, and why?—personal, and why?—person, and why?—gender and number, and why?—RULE: case, and why?—RULE.—Decline it.

There are many peculiarities to be observed in parsing personal pronouns in their different persons; therefore, if you wish ever to parse them correctly, you must pay particular attention to the manner in which the following are analyzed. Now notice, particularly, and you will perceive that we apply only one rule in parsing I and my, and two in parsing thou, him, and they.

"I saw my friend."

I is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—personal, it represents the person speaking, understood—first person, it denotes the speaker—singular number, it implies but one—and in the nominative case, it represents the actor and subject of the verb "saw," and governs it, agreeably to RULE 3. The nom. case gov. the verb. Declined—first pers. sing. num. nom. I, poss. my or mine, obj. me. Plur. nom. we, poss. our or ours, obj. us.

My is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—personal, it personates the person speaking, understood—first pers. it denotes the speaker—sing. num. it implies but one—and in the possessive case, it denotes possession; it is governed by the noun "friend", agreeably to RULE 12. A noun or pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the noun it possesses. Declined—first pers. sing. nom. I, poss. my or mine, obj. me. Plur. nom. we, poss. our or ours, obj. us.

"Young man, thou hast deserted thy companion, and left him in distress."

Thou is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—personal, it personates "man"—second person, it represents the person spoken to—mas. gend. sing. num. because the noun "man" is for which it stands, according to RULE 13. Personal pronouns must agree with the nouns for which they stand in gender and number.

Thou is in the nom. case, it represents the actor and subject of the verb "hast deserted," and governs it agreeably to RULE 3. The nom. case governs the verb. Declined—sec. pers. sing. num. nom. thou, poss. thy or thine, obj. thee. Plur. nom. ye or you, poss. your or yours, obj. you.

Him is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—personal, it personates "companion"—third pers. it represents the person spoken of—mas. gend. sing. num. because the noun "companion" is for which it stands: RULE 13. Pers. pro. &c. (Repeat the Rule.)—Him is in the objective case, the object of the action expressed by the active-transitive verb "hast left," and gov. by it: RULE 20. Active-trans. verbs gov. the obj. case. Declined—third pers. mas. gend. sing. num. nom. he, poss. his, obj. him. Plur. nom. they, poss. their or theirs, obj. them.

"Thrice I raised my voice, and called the chiefs to combat, but they dreaded the force of my arm."

They is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—personal, it represents "chiefs"—third pers. it denotes the persons spoken of—mas. gend. plur. num. because the noun "chiefs" is for which it stands: RULE 13. Pers. Pron. &c. (Repeat the Rule.) It is the nom. case, it represents the actors and subject of the verb "dreaded," and governs it: RULE 3. The nom. case, gov. the verb. Declined—third pers. mas. gend. sing. num. nom. he, poss. his, obj. him. Plur. nom. they, poss. their or theirs, obj. them.

NOTE. We do not apply gender in parsing the personal pronouns, (excepting the third person singular,) if the nouns they represent are understood; and therefore we do not, in such instances, apply Rule 13. But when the noun is expressed, gender should be applied, and two Rules.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

I saw a man leading his horse slowly over the new bridge. My friends visit me very often at my father's office. We improve ourselves by close application. Horace, thou learnest many lessons. Charles, you, by your diligence, make easy work of the task given you by your preceptor. Young ladies, you run over your lessons very carelessly. The stranger drove his horses too far into the water, and, in so doing, he drowned them.

Gray morning rose in the east. A green narrow vale appeared before us: its winding stream murmured through the grove. The dark host of Rothmar stood on its banks, with their glittering spears. We fought along the vale. They fled. Rothmar sunk beneath my sword. Day was descending in the west, when I brought his arms to Crothar. The aged hero felt them with his hands: joy brightened his thoughts.

NOTE. Horace, Charles, and ladies, are of the second person, and nom. case independent: see RULE 5, and NOTE. The first you is used in the nom. poss. and obj. case.—It represents Charles, therefore it is singular in sense, although plural in form. In the next example, you personifies ladies, therefore it is plural. Given is a perfect participle. You following given, is governed by to understood, according to NOTE 1, under Rule 32. Run over is a compound verb. And is a conjunction. The first its personates vale; the second its represents stream.

You may now parse the following examples three times over.

COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

"Juliet, retain her paper, and present yours."

Yours is a compound personal pronoun, representing both the possessor and the thing possessed, and is equivalent to your paper. Your is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—personal, it personates "Juliet"—second person, it represents the person spoken to—fem. gender, sing. number, (singular in sense, but plural in form,) because the noun Juliet is for which it stands: Rule 13. Pers. Pron. &c.—Your is in the possessive case, it denotes possession, and is governed by "paper," according to Rule 12. A noun or pron. &c. (Repeat the Rule, and decline the pronoun.) Paper is a noun, the name of a thing—common, the name of a sort of things—neuter gender, it denotes a thing without sex—third person, spoken of—sing. number, it implies but one—and in the obj. case, it is the object of the action expressed by the transitive verb "present," and governed by it: Rule 20. Active-transitive verbs govern the obj. case.

NOTE. Should it be objected, that yours does not mean your paper, any more than it means your book, your house, your any thing, let it be borne in mind, that pronouns have no definite meaning, like other words; but their particular signification is always determined by the nouns they represent.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Julia injured her book, and soiled mine: hers is better than mine. My friend sacrificed his fortune to secure yours: his deeds deserve reward; yours merit disgrace. Henry's labors are past; thine are to come. We leave your forests of beasts for ours of men. My sword and yours are kin.

NOTE. She understood, is nominative to soiled, in the first example; and the substantive part of mine, after than, is nom. to is, understood: Rule 35. The verbs to secure and to come have no nominative. The pronouns mine, my, yours, thine, we, your, ours, my, and yours, personate nouns understood.

REMARKS ON IT.

For the want of a proper knowledge of this little pronoun it, many grammarians have been greatly puzzled how to dispose of it, or how to account for its multiform, and, seemingly, contradictory characters. It is in great demand by writers of every description. They use it without ceremony; either in the nominative or objective case; either to represent one person or thing, or more than one. It is applied to nouns in the masculine, feminine, or neuter gender, and, very frequently, it represents a member of a sentence, a whole sentence, or a number of sentences taken in a mass.

A little attention to its true character, will, at once, strip it of all its mystery. It, formerly written hit, according to H. Tooke, is the past participle of the Moeso-Gothic verb haitan. It means, the said, and, therefore, like its near relative that, meaning, the assumed, originally had no respect, in its application, to number, person, or gender. "It is a wholesome law;" i.e. the said (law) is a wholesome law; or, that (law) is a wholesome law;—the assumed (law) is a wholesome law. "It is the man; I believe it to be them:"—the said (man) is the man; that (man) is the man: I believe the said (persons) to be them; I believe that persons (according to the ancient application of that) to be them. "It happened on a summer's day, that many people were assembled," &c.—Many people were assembled: it, that, or the said (fact or circumstance) happened on a summer's day.

It, according to its accepted meaning in modern times, is not referred to a noun understood after it, but is considered a substitute. "How is it with you?" that is, "How is your state or condition?" "It rains; It freezes; It is a hard winter;"—The rain rains; The frost frosts or freezes; The said (winter) is a hard winter. "It is delightful to see brothers and sisters living in uninterrupted love to the end of their days." What is delightful? To see brothers and sisters living in uninterrupted love to the end of their days. It, this thing, is delightful. It, then, stands for all that part of the sentence expressed in italics; and the sentence will admit of the following construction; "To see brothers living in uninterrupted love to the end of their days, is delightful."

OF ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS.

ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS, PRONOMINAL ADJECTIVES, or, more properly, SPECIFYING ADJECTIVES, are a kind of adjectives which point out nouns by some distinct specification.

Pronouns and adjectives are totally distinct in their character. The former stand for nouns, and never belong to them; the latter belong to nouns, and never stand for them. Hence, such a thing as an adjective-pronoun cannot exist. Each, every, either, this, that, some, other, and the residue, are pure adjectives.

Those specifying adjectives commonly called Adjective Pronouns, may be divided into three sorts; the distributive, the demonstrative, and the indefinite. They are all known by the lists.

I. The distributive adjectives are those that denote the persons or things that make up a number, each taken separately and singly. List: each, every, either, and sometimes neither; as, "Each of his brothers is in a favorable situation;" "Every man must account for himself;" "Neither of them is industrious."

These distributives are words which are introduced into language in its refined state, in order to express the nicest shades and colors of thought. "Man must account for himself;" "Mankind must account for themselves;" "All men must account for themselves;" "All men, women, and children, must account for themselves;" "Every man must account for himself." Each of these assertions conveys the same fact or truth. But the last, instead of presenting the whole human family for the mind to contemplate in a mass, by the peculiar force of every, distributes them, and presents each separately and singly; and whatever is affirmed of one individual, the mind instantaneously transfers to the whole human race.

Each relates to two or more persons or things, and signifies either of the two, or every one of any number taken separately.

Every relates to several persons or things, and signifies each one of them all taken separately.

Either relates to two persons or things taken separately, and signifies the one or the other. "Either of the three," is an improper expression. It should be, "any of the three."

Neither imports not either; that is, not one nor the other; as, "Neither of my friends was there." When an allusion is made to more than two, none should be used instead of neither; as, "None of my friends was there."

II. The demonstrative are those which precisely point out the subject to which they relate. List: this and that, and their plurals, these and those, and former and latter; as, "This is true charity; "that is only its image."

There is but a slight shade of difference in the meaning and application of the and that. When reference is made to a particular book, we say, "Take the book;" but when we wish to be very pointed and precise, we say, "Take that book;" or, if it be near by, "Take this book." You perceive, then, that these demonstratives have all the force of the definite article, and a little more.

This and these refer to the nearest persons or things, that and those to the most distant; as, "These goods are superior to those." This and these indicate the latter, or last mentioned; that and those, the former, or first mentioned; as, "Both wealth and poverty are temptations; that tends to excite pride, this, discontent."

They, those. As it is the office of the personal they to represent a noun previously introduced to our notice, there appears to be a slight departure from analogy in the following application of it: "They who seek after wisdom, are sure to find her: They that sow in tears, sometimes reap in joy." This usage, however, is well established, and they, in such constructions, is generally employed in preference to those.

III. The indefinite are those which express their subjects in an indefinite or general manner. List: some, other, any, one, all, such, both, same, another none. Of these, one and other are declined like nouns. Another is declined, but wants the plural.

The indefinite adjectives, like the indefinite article, leave the meaning unfixed, or, in some degree, vague. With a slight shade of difference in meaning, we say, Give me a paper, one paper, any paper, some paper, and so on. Though these words restrict the meaning of the noun, they do not fix it to a particular object. We therefore call them indefinite.

These adjectives, or adjective pronouns, frequently belong to nouns understood, in which situation they should be parsed accordingly; as "You may take either; He is pleased with this book, but dislikes that (book;) All (men) have sinned, but some (men) have repented."

The words, one, other, and none, are used in both numbers; and, when they stand for nouns, they are not adjectives, but indefinite pronouns; as, "The great ones of the world have their failings;" "Some men increase in wealth, while others decrease;" "None escape."

The word "ones," in the preceding example, does not belong to a noun understood. If it did, we could supply the noun. The meaning is not "the great one men, nor ones men," therefore one is not an adjective pronoun; but the meaning is, "The great men of the world," therefore ones is a pronoun of the indefinite kind, representing the noun men understood, and it ought to be parsed like a personal pronoun. The word others, in the next example, is a compound pronoun, equivalent to other men; and should be parsed like mine, thine, &c. See Note 4th, page 100.

I will now parse two pronouns, and then present some examples for you to analyze. If, in parsing the following exercises, you should be at a loss for definitions and rules, please to refer to the compendium. But before you proceed, you may commit the following