That is evidently in all cases an adjective, or, as some consider it, a demonstrative pronoun; as, “They say that the king is arrived;” “They say that (thing) the king is arrived.”
Whether is an adjective, denoting “which of two;” thus, “Whether he live or die;” that is, “Which of the two things, he live or die.”
As is the same with es, a German article, meaning it, that, or which.
So is sa or so, a Gothic article of the same import.
Than, which Mr. Tooke does not seem to have noticed, is supposed to be a compound of the definitive tha, and the additive termination, en, thus, tha en, thænne, then, and now spelled than[117].
These few examples will serve to explain Mr. Tooke’s theory on this subject; and I am persuaded, that the further we investigate the etymology and real import of conjunctions, the more probable will it appear that they are all nouns or attributives, some belonging to kindred languages, and others compounds or abbreviations in our own. I am persuaded, also, that from a general review of this subject, it must be evident that adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, form no distinct species of words, and that they are all reducible to the class either of nouns or attributives, if their original character and real import be considered. But, as many of them are derived from obsolete words in our own language, or from words in kindred languages, the radical meanings of which are, therefore, either obscure, or generally unknown—and as the syntactical use of several of them has undergone a change—it can be no impropriety, nay, it is even convenient, to regard them not in their original character, but their present use. When the radical word still remains, the case is different. Thus except is by some considered as a preposition; but as the verb to except is still in use, except may, and indeed should, be considered as the imperative of the verb[118]. But in parsing, to say that the word unless is the imperative of the verb onlesan, “to dismiss,” that verb belonging to a different language, would serve only to perplex and to confound, were it even true that the etymology is correct. For this reason, though I perfectly concur with Mr. Tooke as to the proper and original character of these words, I have distributed them under the customary head of prepositions, adverbs, and conjunctions.
CHAPTER X.
OF INTERJECTIONS.
An interjection has been defined to be, “that part of speech which denotes some affection or emotion of the mind.” It is clearly not a necessary part of speech; for, as Tooke observes, interjections are not to be found in books of history, philosophy, or religion: they occur in novels only, or dramatic compositions. Some of these are entirely instinctive and mechanical, as, ha! ha! ha! sounds common to all men, when agitated with laughter. These physical emissions of sound have no more claim to be called parts of speech than the neighing of a horse, or the lowing of a cow. There are others which seem arbitrary, and are expressive of some emotion, not simply by the articulation, but by the accompanying voice or gesture. Grief, for example, is expressed in English by the word ah! or oh! in Latin by oi, ei! and in Greek by οἶ, οἶ, αἶ, αἶ! Here the sounds are not instinctive, or purely mechanical, as in laughing; but the accompanying tone of voice, which is the same in all men, under the influence of the same emotion, indicates clearly the feeling or passion of the speaker. Others, which have been deemed interjections, are, in truth, verbs or nouns, employed in the rapidity of thought and expression, and under the influence of strong emotion, to denote, what would otherwise require more words to express: as, strange! for it is strange; adieu! for I recommend you to God; shame! for it is shame; welcome! for you are welcome.