[134] Wells, having put the articles into the class of adjectives, produces authority as follows: "'The words a or an, and the, are reckoned by some grammarians a separate part of speech; but, as they in all respects come under the definition of the adjective, it is unnecessary, as well as improper, to rank them as a class by themselves.'—Cannon." To this he adds, "The articles are also ranked with adjectives by Priestley, E. Oliver, Bell, Elphinston, M'Culloch, D'Orsey, Lindsay, Joel, Greenwood. Smetham, Dalton, King, Hort, Buchanan, Crane, J. Russell, Frazee, Cutler, Perley, Swett, Day. Goodenow, Willard, Robbins, Felton, Snyder, Butler, S. Barrett, Badgley, Howe, Whiting, Davenport, Fowle, Weld, and others."—Wells's School Gram., p. 69. In this way, he may have made it seem to many, that, after thorough investigation, he had decided the point discreetly, and with preponderance of authority. For it is claimed as a "peculiar merit" of this grammar, that, "Every point of practical importance is thoroughly investigated, and reference is carefully made to the researches of preceding writers, in all cases which admit of being determined by weight of authority."—WILLIAM RUSSELL, on the cover. But, in this instance, as in sundry others, wherein he opposes the more common doctrine, and cites concurrent authors, both he and all his authorities are demonstrably to the wrong. For how can they be right, while reason, usage, and the prevailing opinion, are still against them? If we have forty grammars which reject, the articles as a part of speech, we have more than twice as many which recognize them as such; among which are those of the following authors: viz., Adam, D. Adams, Ainsworth, Alden, Alger, W. Allen, Ash, Bacon, Barnard, Beattie, Beck, Bicknell, Bingham, Blair, J. H. Brown, Bucke, Bullions, Burn, Burr, Chandler, Churchill, Coar, Cobbett, Cobbin, Comly, Cooper, Davis, Dearborn, Ensell, Everett, Farnum, Fisk, A. Flint, Folker, Fowler, Frost, R. G. Greene, Greenleaf, Guy, Hall, Hallock, Hart, Harrison, Matt. Harrison, Hazen, Hendrick, Hiley, Hull, Ingersoll, Jaudon, Johnson, Kirkham, Latham, Lennie, A. Lewis, Lowth, Maltby, Maunder, Mennye, Merchant, T. H. Miller, Murray, Nixon, Nutting, Parker and Fox, John Peirce, Picket, Pond, S. Putnam, Russell, Sanborn, Sanders, R. C. Smith, Rev. T. Smith, Spencer, Tower, Tucker, Walker, Webber, Wilcox, Wilson, Woodworth, J. E. Worcester, S. Worcester, Wright. The articles characterize our language more than some of the other parts of speech, and are worthy of distinction for many reasons, one of which is the very great frequency of their use.
[135] In Murray's Abridgement, and in his "Second Edition," 12mo, the connective in this place is "or;" and so is it given by most of his amenders; as in Alger's Murray, p. 68; Alden's, 89; Bacon's, 48; Cooper's, 111; A. Flint's, 65; Maltby's, 60; Miller's, 67; S. Putnam's, 74; Russell's, 52; T. Smith's, 61. All these, and many more, repeat both of these ill-devised rules.
[136] When this was written, Dr. Webster was living.
[137] In French, the preposition à, (to,) is always carefully distinguished from the verb a, (has,) by means of the grave accent, which is placed over the former for that purpose. And in general also the Latin word à, (from,) is marked in the same way. But, with us, no appropriate sign has hitherto been adopted to distinguish the preposition a from the article a; though the Saxon a, (to,) is given by Johnson with an acute, even where no other a is found. Hence, in their ignorance, thousands of vulgar readers, and among them the authors of sundry grammars, have constantly mistaken this preposition for an article. Examples: "Some adverbs are composed of the article a prefixed to nouns; as a-side, a-thirst, a-sleep, a-shore, a-ground, &c."—Comly's Gram., p67. "Repeat some [adverbs] that are composed of the article a and nouns."—Kirkham's Gram., p. 89. "To go a fishing;" "To go a hunting;" i.e. "to go on a fishing voyage or business;" "to go on a hunting party."—Murray's Gram., p. 221; Fisk's, 147; Ingersoll's, 157; Smith's, 184; Bullions's, 129; Merchant's, 101; Weld's, 192, and others. That this interpretation is false and absurd, may be seen at once by any body who can read Latin; for, a hunting, a fishing, &c., are expressed by the supine in um: as, "Venatum ire."—Virg. Æn. I.e., "To go a hunting." "Abeo piscatum."—Beza. I.e. "I go a fishing."—John, xxi, 3. Every school-boy ought to know better than to call this a an article. A fishing is equivalent to the infinitive to fish. For the Greek of the foregoing text is [Greek: Hupágo hálieúein,] which is rendered by Montanus, "Vado piscari;" i.e., "I go to fish." One author ignorantly says, "The article a seems to have no particular meaning, and is hardly proper in such expressions as these. 'He went a-hunting,' She lies a-bed all day.'"—Wilcox's Gram., p. 59. No marvel that he could not find the meaning of an article in this a! With doltish and double inconsistency, Weld first calls this "The article a employed in the sense of a preposition," (E. Gram., p. 177,) and afterwards adopts Murray's interpretation as above cited! Some, too, have an absurd practice of joining this preposition to the participle; generally with the hyphen, but sometimes without: thus, "A-GOING, In motion; as, to set a mill agoing."—Webster's Dict. The doctor does not tell us what part of speech agoing is; but, certainly, "to set the mill to going," expresses just the same meaning, and is about as often heard. In the burial-service of the Common Prayer Book, we read, "They are even as asleep;" but, in the ninetieth Psalm, from which this is taken, we find the text thus: "They are as a sleep;" that is, as a dream that is fled. Now these are very different readings, and cannot both he right.
[138] Here the lexicographer forgets his false etymology of a before the participle, and writes the words separately, as the generality of authors always have done. A was used as a preposition long before the article a appeared in the language; and I doubt whether there is any truth at all in the common notions of its origin. Webster says, "In the words abed, ashore, &c., and before the participles acoming, agoing, ashooting, [he should have said, 'and before participles; as, a coming, a going, a shooting,'] a has been supposed a contraction of on or at. It may be so in some cases; but with the participles, it is sometimes a contraction of the Saxon prefix ge, and sometimes perhaps of the Celtic ag."—Improved Gram., p. 175. See Philos. Gram., p. 244. What admirable learning is this! A, forsooth, is a contraction of ge! And this is the doctor's reason for joining it to the participle!
[139] The following construction may he considered an archaism, or a form of expression that is now obsolete: "You have bestowed a many of kindnesses upon me."—Walker's English Particles, p. 278.
[140] "If I or we is set before a name, it [the name] is of the first person: as, I, N— N—, declare; we, N— and M— do promise."—Ward's Gram., p. 83. "Nouns which relate to the person or persons speaking, are said to be of the first person; as, I, William, speak to you."—Fowle's Common School Gram., Part ii, p. 22. The first person of nouns is admitted by Ainsworth, R. W. Bailey, Barnard, Brightland, J. H. Brown, Bullions, Butler, Cardell, Chandler, S. W. Clark, Cooper, Day, Emmons, Farnum, Felton, Fisk, John Flint, Fowle, Frazee, Gilbert, Goldsbury, R. G. Greene, S. S. Greene, Hall, Hallock, Hamlin, Hart, Hendrick, Hiley, Perley, Picket, Pinneo, Russell, Sanborn, Sanders, Smart, R. C. Smith, Spear, Weld, Wells, Wilcox, and others. It is denied, either expressly or virtually, by Alger, Bacon, Comly, Davis, Dilworth, Greenleaf, Guy, Hazen, Ingersoll, Jaudon, Kirkham, Latham, L. Murray, Maltby, Merchant, Miller, Nutting, Parkhurst, S. Putnam, Rev. T. Smith, and others. Among the grammarians who do not appear to have noticed the persons of nouns at all, are Alden, W. Allen, D. C. Allen, Ash, Bicknell, Bingham, Blair, Buchanan, Bucke, Burn, Burr, Churchill, Coar, Cobb, Dalton, Dearborn, Abel Flint, R. W. Green, Harrison, Johnson, Lennie, Lowth, Mennye, Mulligan, Priestley, Staniford, Ware, Webber, and Webster.
[141] Prof. S. S. Greene most absurdly and erroneously teaches, that, "When the speaker wishes to represent himself, he cannot use his name, but must use some other word, as, I; [and] when he wishes to represent the hearer, he must use thou or you."—Greene's Elements of E. Gram., 1853, p. xxxiv. The examples given above sufficiently show the falsity of all this.
[142] In shoe and shoes, canoe and canoes, the o is sounded slenderly, like oo; but in doe or does, foe or foes, and the rest of the fourteen nouns above, whether singular or plural, it retains the full sound of its own name, O. Whether the plural of two should be "twoes" as Churchill writes it, or "twos," which is more common, is questionable. According to Dr. Ash and the Spectator, the plural of who, taken substantively, is "whos."—Ash's Gram., p. 131.
[143] There are some singular compounds of the plural word pence, which form their own plurals regularly; as, sixpence, sixpences. "If you do not all show like gilt twopences to me."—SHAKSPEARE. "The sweepstakes of which are to be composed of the disputed difference in the value of two doubtful sixpences."—GOODELL'S LECT.: Liberator. Vol. ix, p. 145.