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 an INTERJECTION, is—an interjection, and why?

"O virtue! how amiable thou art!"

O is an interjection, a word used to express some passion or emotion of the speaker.

The ten parts of speech have now been unfolded and elucidated, although some of them have not been fully explained. Before you proceed any farther, you will please to begin again at the first lecture, and read over, attentively, the whole, observing to parse every example in the exercises systematically. You will then be able to parse the following exercises, which contain all the parts of speech. If you study faithfully six hours in a day, and pursue the directions given, you may become, if not a critical, at least, a good, practical grammarian, in six weeks; but if you study only three hours in a day, it will take you nearly three months to acquire the same knowledge.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

True cheerfulness makes a man happy in himself, and promotes the happiness of all around him.

Modesty always appears graceful in youth: it doubles the lustre of every virtue which it seems to hide.

He who, every morning, plans the transactions of the day, and follows out that plan, carries on a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life.

The king gave me a generous reward for committing that barbarous act; but, alas! I fear the consequence.

E'en now, where Alpine solitudes ascend,
I set me down a pensive hour to spend;
And, placed on high, above the storm's career,
Look downward where a hundred realms appear:—

Alas! the joys that fortune brings,
Are trifling, and decay;
And those who mind the paltry things,
More trifling still than they.

NOTE. In the second sentence of the foregoing exercises, which is governed by the verb to hide, according to RULE 16. He is nom. to carries; who is nom. to plans. Follows agrees with who understood, and is connected to plans by and; RULE 34. What did the king give? A reward to me. Then reward is in the obj. case, gov. by gave; RULE 20. Me is gov. by to understood; NOTE 1, RULE 32. The phrase, committing that barbarous act, is gov. by for; NOTE 2, under RULE 28. Hour is in the obj. case, gov. by to spend; RULE 20. Look is connected to set by and; RULE 34. Joys is nom. to are. That is gov. by brings; RULE 16. Those is nom. to are understood. They is nom. to are understood; RULE 35.

CASES OF NOUNS.

In a former lecture, I promised to give you a more extensive explanation of the cases of nouns; and, as they are, in many situations, a little difficult to be ascertained, I will now offer some remarks on this subject. But before you proceed, I wish you to parse all the examples in the exercises just presented, observing to pay particular attention to the remarks in the subjoined NOTE. Those remarks will assist you much in analyzing.

A noun is sometimes nominative to a verb placed many lines after the noun. You must exercise your judgment in this matter. Look at the sentence in the preceding exercises beginning with, "He who, every morning," &c. and see if you can find the verb to which he is nominative. What does he do? He carries on a thread, &c. He, then, is nominative to the verb carries. What does who do? Who plans, and who follows, &c. Then who is nom. to plans, and who understood, is nominative to follows.

"A soul without reflection, like a pile

Without inhabitant, to ruin runs."

In order to find the verb to which the noun soul, in this sentence, is the nominative, put the question; What does a soul without reflection do? Such, a soul runs to ruin, like a pile without inhabitant. Thus you discover, that soul is nominative to runs.

When the words of a sentence are arranged according to their natural order, the nominative case, you recollect, is placed before the verb, and the objective, after it; but when the words of a sentence are transposed; that is, not arranged according to their natural order, it frequently happens, that the nominative comes after, and the objective, before the verb; especially in poetry, or when a question is asked: as, "Whence arises the misery of the present world?" "What good thing shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Put these expressions in the declarative form, and the nominative will precede, and the objective follow its verb: thus, "The misery of the present world arises whence; I shall do what good thing to inherit eternal life."

"Now came still evening on, and twilight gray
Had, in her sober livery, all things clad."

"Stern rugged nurse, thy rigid lore
With patience many a year she bore."

What did the evening do? The evening came on. Gray twilight had clad what? Twilight had clad all things in her sober livery. Evening, then, is nom. to came, and the noun things is in the objective case, and gov. by had clad: RULE 20. What did she bear? She bore thy rigid lore with patience, for, or during, many a year. Hence you find, that lore is in the objective case, and governed by bore, according to RULE 20. Year is gov. by during understood: RULE 32.

A noun is frequently nominative to a verb understood, or in the objective, and governed by a verb understood; as, "Lo, [there is] the poor Indian! whose untutored mind." "O, the pain [there is!] the bliss [there is] in dying!" "All were sunk, but the wakeful nightingale [was not sunk.">[ "He thought as a sage [thinks,] though he felt as a man [feels.">[ "His hopes, immortal, blow them by, as dust [is blown by.">[ Rule 35 applies to these last three examples.

In the next place I will explain several cases of nouns and pronouns which have not yet come under our notice. Sometimes a noun or pronoun may be in the nominative case when it has no verb to agree with it.

OF THE NOMINATIVE CASE INDEPENDENT.

Whenever a direct address is made, the person or thing spoken to, is in the nominative case independent; as, "James, I desire you to study."

You notice that, in this expression, I address myself to James that is, I speak to him; and you observe, too, that there is no verb, either expressed or implied, to which James can be the nominative; therefore you know that James is in the nom. case independent, according to Rule 5. Recollect, that whenever a noun is of the second person, it is in the nom. case independent; that is, independent of any verb; as, Selma, thy halls are silent; Love and meekness, my lord, become a churchman, better than ambition; O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!—For a farther illustration of this case, see Note 2, under the 5th Rule of Syntax.

NOTE. When a pronoun of the second person is in apposition with a noun independent, it is in the same case; as, "Thou traitor, I detest thee."

OF THE NOMINATIVE CASE ABSOLUTE.

A noun or pronoun placed before a participle, without any verb to agree with it, is in the nominative case absolute; as, "The sun being risen, we pursued our journey."

Sun is here placed before the participle "being risen," and has no verb to agree with it; therefore it is in the nominative case absolute, according to RULE 6.

NOTE 1. A noun or pronoun in the nominative case independent, is always of the second person; but, in the case absolute, it is generally of the third person.

2. The case absolute is always nominative; the following sentence is therefore incorrect; "Whose top shall tremble, him descending," &c.; it should be, he descending.

OF NOUNS IN APPOSITION.

Two or more nouns or pronouns signifying the same person or thing, are put, by apposition, in the same case; as, "Cicero, the great orator, philosopher, and statesman of Rome, was murdered by Antony."

Apposition, in a grammatical sense, means something added, or names added, in order more fully to define or illustrate the sense of the first name mentioned.

You perceive that Cicero, in the preceding example, is merely the proper name of a man; but when I give him the three additional appellations, and call him a great orator, philosopher, and statesman, you understand what kind of a man he was; that is, by giving him these three additional names, his character and abilities as a man are more fully made known. And, surely, you cannot be at a loss to know that these four nouns must be in the same case, for they are all names given to the same person; therefore, if Cicero was murdered, the orator was murdered, and the philosopher was murdered, and the statesman was murdered, because they all mean one and the same person.

Nouns and pronouns in the objective case, are frequently in apposition; as, He struck Charles the student. Now it is obvious, that, when he struck Charles, he struck the student, because Charles was the student, and the student was Charles; therefore the noun student is in the objective case, governed by "struck," and put by apposition with Charles, according to RULE 7.

Please to examine this lecture very attentively. You will then be prepared to parse the following examples correctly and systematically.

PARSING.

"Weep on the rocks of roaring winds, O maid of Inistore."

Maid is a noun, the name of a person—- com. the name of a sort—fem. gender, it denotes a female—second pers. spoken to—sing. num. it implies but one—and in the nominative case independent, because it is addressed, and has no verb to agree with it, according to

RULE 5. When an address is made, the noun or pronoun addressed, is put in the nominative case independent.

"The general being ransomed, the barbarians permitted him to depart."

General is a noun, the name, &c. (parse it in full:)—and in the nominative case absolute, because it is placed before the participle "being ransomed," and it has no verb to agree with it, agreeably to

RULE 6. A noun or pronoun placed before a participle, and being independent of the rest of the sentence, is in the nominative case absolute.

"Thou man of God, flee to the land of Judah."

Thou is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—personal, it personates "man"—second pers. spoken to—mas. gender, sing. num. because the noun "man" is for which it stands; RULE 13 (Repeat the Rule.)—Thou is in the nominative case independent and put by apposition with man, because it signifies the same thing, according to

RULE 7. Two or more nouns, or nouns and pronouns, signifying the same thing, are put, by apposition, in the same case.

Man is in the nominative case independent, according to Rule 5. Flee agrees with thou understood.

"Lo! Newton, priest of Nature, shines afar,
Scans the wide world, and numbers every star."

Newton is a noun, (parse it in full,) and in the nominative case to "shines." RULE 3.

Priest is a noun, (parse it in full,) and in the nom. case, it is the actor and subject of the verb "shines," and put by apposition with "Newton," because it signifies the same thing, agreeably to Rule 7. (Repeat the Rule.)

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Turn from your evil ways, O house of Israel! Ye fields of light, celestial plains, ye scenes divinely fair! proclaim your Maker's wondrous power. O king! live for ever. The murmur of thy streams, O Lora, brings back the memory of the past. The sound of thy woods, Garmallar, is lovely in my ear. Dost thou not behold, Malvina, a rock with its head of heath? Three aged pines bend from its face; green is the plain at its feet; there the flower of the mountain grows, and shades its white head in the breeze.

The General being slain, the army was routed. Commerce having thus got into the legislative body, privilege must be done away. Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. I being in great haste, he consented. The rain having ceased, the dark clouds rolled away. The Son of God, while clothed in flesh, was subject to all the frailties and inconveniences of human nature, sin excepted; (that is, sin being excepted.)

In the days of Joram, king of Israel, flourished the prophet Elisha. Paul the apostle suffered martyrdom. Come, peace of mind, delightful guest! and dwell with me. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

Soul of the just, companion of the dead!
Where is thy home, and whither art thou fled?

Till Hymen brought his love-delighted hour,
There dwelt no joy in Eden's rosy bower:—
The world was sad, the garden was a wild,
And man the hermit sighed, till woman smiled.

NOTE. Those verbs in italics, in the preceding examples, are all in the imperative mood, and second person, agreeing with thou, ye, or you, understood. House of Israel is a noun of multitude. Was routed and must be done are passive verbs. Art fled is a neuter verb in a passive form. Clothed is a perfect participle. Till is an adverbial conjunction.

When you shall have analyzed, systematically, every word in the foregoing exercises, you may answer the following

QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN PARSING.

Repeat the list of interjections.—Repeat some interjective phrases.—Repeat the order of parsing an interjection.—In order to find the verb to which a noun is nom. what question do you put?—Give examples.—Is the nominative case ever placed after the verb?—When?—Give examples.—Does the objective case ever come before the verb?—Give examples.—Is a noun ever nom. to a verb understood?—Give examples.—When is a noun or pronoun in the nom. case independent?—Give examples.—Are nouns of the second person always in the nom. case independent?—When a pronoun is put by apposition with a noun independent, in what case is it?—When is a noun or pronoun in the nom. case absolute?—Give examples.—When are nouns or nouns and pronouns put, by apposition, in the same case?—Give examples.—In parsing a noun or pronoun in the nom. case independent, what Rule should be applied?—In parsing the nom. case absolute, what Rule?—What Rule in parsing nouns or pronouns in apposition?—Do real interjections belong to written language?—(Phil. Notes.)—From what are the following words derived, pish, fy, lo, halt, farewell, welcome, adieu!

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PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

The term INTERJECTION is applied to those inarticulate sounds employed both by men and brutes, not to express distinct ideas, but emotions, passions, or feelings. The sounds employed by human beings in groaning, sighing, crying, screaming, shrieking, and laughing, by the dog in barking, growling, and whining, by the horse in snorting and neighing, by the sheep in bleating, by the cat in mewing, by the dove in cooing, by the duck in quacking, and by the goose in hissing, we sometimes attempt to represent by words; but, as written words are the ocular representatives of articulate sounds, they cannot be made clearly to denote inarticulate or indistinct noises. Such indistinct utterances belong to natural language; but they fall below the bounds of regulated speech. Hence, real interjections are not a part of written language.

The meaning of those words commonly called interjections, is easily shown by tracing them to their roots.

Pish and pshaw are the Anglo-Saxon paec, paeca; and are equivalent to trumpery! i.e. tromperie, from tromper.

Fy or fie is the imperative, foe, the past tense, and foh or faugh, the past part. of the Saxon verb fian, to hate. Lo is the imperative of look. Halt is the imperative of healden, to hold. Farewell—fare-well, is a compound of faran, to go, and the adverb well. It means, to go well. Welcome—well-come, signifies, it is well that you are come. Adieu comes from the French a Dieu, to God; meaning, I commend you to God.

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