OUR LANGUAGE KEY.
A E I O U Y
We are small, and we are few,
But we're wondrous mighty, too,--
For no word can language wear,
Save in it we hold a share.
One of us in May is met,--
One is caught in every net;
One is in the clambering vine,
One, in Moon, must ever shine;
One's in you,--and all so shy,
The last is hiding in your eye.
THE SPEECH FAMILY.
The name of everything we know,
as slate, or book, or toy,
Is called a Noun.
All names are nouns; remember this, my boy.
A word that means to be,
to act, or to be acted on,
Is called a Verb; as is,
or eat, or sing; or he is gone. [{125}]
A word that tells the color, form, or quality of things,
Is called an Adjective; as, bright, or round, or softest wings.
A word that tells how things are done, as quickly, bravely, well.
Is called an Adverb; and I'm sure you many more can tell.
A word that's used in place of nouns, a Pronoun we may call;
As, I for mother; you, for James; this, that, for hoop or ball
A Preposition's placed before a noun, and serves to show
Relation to some other word; as, Rover's in the snow.
And then Conjunctions join two words or sentences together;
As, man and boy, or birds will fly and winds blow o'er the heather.
Then Interjections, Oh! and Ah! Behold! and many another,
Express surprise, delight; dismay, far more than every other. [{126}]
And these the Parts of Speech we call; Eight parts as you may tell;
And all the language you will know, when these you've studied well.
NUMBER AND GENDER.
A NOUN or name that means but one,
Is called in the singular number;
But when it stands for more than one,
'Tis plural, child, remember.
* * * * *
A NOUN that is the name of males,
As ox, or horse, or father,
Is masculine in gender, dear;
While cow, and mare, and mother,
And all the names of females, child,
Are feminine, 'tis true;
Now tell me all the names you know,
And tell their gender, too.
But you will find there's many a noun
Not male, nor female either,
As chair, and book; and such we call
In neuter gender--neither.