ETYMOLOGY.

In English we have nine forms of words, or parts of speech. 1. The ARTICLE-placed before nouns to help to determine their signification: as, a man, the man.

2. The SUBSTANTIVE, or NOUN-which is the name of any object whatever, of which we have any idea; as, a man, a horse, a spirit, grief, love.

3. The PRONOUN-used as a substitute for the noun: as, he, she, it.

4. The ADJECTIVE-added to the noun to denote its quality: as, an honest man, a white horse, an evil spirit.

5. The VERB-which signifies a state of existence, acting or suffering: as, the centinels slept, the enemy entered, the fort 19as taken."

6 The ADVERB-used to qualify or enforce the meaning of other words. It is used sometimes to a verb: as, he reads well. -Sometimes to an adjective: as, 66 an exceeding high mountain."-Sometimes to another adverb; as, “most divinely fair."

7. The PREPOSITION-placed between words to connect them together: as, "the path to fame lies through the road to danger."

8. The CONJUNCTION-used to connect sentences, as prepositions connect words: as, "fear God and honour the King." 9. The INTERJECTION-used to express the surprise or af fection of the speaker: as, O! alas!

These are the nine parts of speech in the English tongue; every word of which is reducible to one of these parts.

The ARTICLE is placed before substantives to shew how far their signification extends.

There are only two articles in English, a and the: a becomes an before a vowel, and before a silent h; as, an acorn, an hour. But if the h be sounded, the a only is to be used, as, a hand, a heart, a highway.

A or an is styled the indefinite article: it is used in a vague sense, to point out one single thing of the kind, in other respects indeterminate; as, "Give me a book;" "Bring me an apple."

The is called the definite article, because it ascertains what particular thing or things are meant: as, "Give me the book ;"Bring me the appies ;" meaning some book, or apples, referred to.

SUBSTANTIVE.

The substantive or noun is the name of any thing that exists; of any object whatever of which we have any idea or notion; or of which we can think and converse; as, London, man, virtue, wisdom.

Nouns are either proper or common. Proper names or substantives, are the names appropriated to individuals or places; aa, George, London, Thames.

common names or substantives, stand for kinds containing many sorts, or for sorts containing many individuals under them; as, animal, man, tree, &c.

There are three attributes belonging to an English noun, viz.— number, gender, and case; and they are all of the third person, when spoken of, and of the second, when spoken to; as "Blessings attend us on every side: Be grateful, children of men!" that is, " ye children of men."

NUMBER.

This is either singular or plural. The singular number expresses one object: as, a song the plural, two or more, as, songs.

The plural number is mostly formed, in English, by the addition of s, or es; as, boy, boys; goat, goats; fox, foxes.

Some change the finto v: as, wife, wives; leaf, leaves. Some plurals end in en; as, or, oxen; child, children; man, men; brother, brethren. In the latter, and some others, the o, in the first syllable is changed inte e. This form is the remains of the Teutonic language; and the following of the Saxon: 'ouse, lice; mouse, mice; tooth, teeth.

Some nouns ending in y, change it into i; as city, citics; gallery, galleries.

Some nouns have no plural: as, corn, gold, pitch, sloth, &c. And others no singular numbers: as, annals, bellows, scissars, lungs, &c. The words sheep and deer have no variation of number.

GENDER.

All nouns in English, whether common or proper, are considered with relation to gender, as being either of the masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. That is, either of the male or fe male sex, or neither.

The masculine or feminine genders are applied to the names of animals only, and such whose sex is obvious: as, man, Thomas, ox, which are of the masculine gender: Mary, woman, hen, cow, which are of the feminine gender. Those whose sex is not evident are of the neuter gender: as, oyster, worm, house, tree; except in poetry, &c. where inanimate objects, and the human passions, are personified into men and women, and consequently have their genders.

A few substantives are marked by their terminations: as, prince, princess lion, lioness; actor, actress.

The chief use of gender is to agree with the pronoun.

The distinction of sex is frequently denoted by different words ' or terminations, &c.

3. By a noun, pronoun, or adjective, being prefixed to the

substantive: as,

We have three cases of the noun: the nominative, possessive, and objective case.

The nominative case is the simple name of the noun, without relation to other objects; as, "John."

The possessive signifies the relation of possessiou, as "John's book," and was formerly written "Johnis book, and not," John his book," as it is vulgarly written. It may also be expressed by inverting the phrase, and inserting the preposition: as, "the book of John."

"the

When the sign of the possessive case is to be added to a phrase of several words, it is generally joined to the last word: as, king's palace." "my father's house." To the plural noun ending in s, the s is not added: as, the "arrows' heads," on wings."

eagles'

The objective case, though fouuded in grammar, is formed as the nominative, and expresses the object of a sentence "man loves society."

PRONOUNS.

as,

A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, to avoid the too frequent repetition of it; as, John loves his book; "he is benevolent," "he is useful."

Here the pronoun his and he supply the place of John and prevent its repetition.

There are three kinds of pronouns, viz. the personal, the relative, and the adjective.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

There are five personal pronouns, viz. I, thou, he, she, it; with their plurals, we, ye, or you, they.

They admit of person, number, gender, and case.

The persons of pronouns are three in each of the numbers, viz. I, or me, is the first person, as he speaks of himself.

Thou, or thee, is the second person, because addressed to another.

He, she, or it, are of the third person, because some other person or thing is intended,-These are of the singular number. We, is the first person.

Ye, or you, is the second person
They, is the third person.

These are plural.

Gender has respect only to the third person singular of the pronouns, he, she, it. He is masculine; she is feminine; it is

neuter.

Pronouns have three cases; the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

The objective case of a pronoun has, in general, a form diferent from that of the nominative or the possessive case.

The personal pronouns are thus declined.

Thou in all its cases, generally gives place to you, except in a very solemn style, and in addresses to the Deity.

As the personal pronoun is a substitute for a noun, so it has the same nature in grammatical construction, and is capable of forming a sentence without the aid of the substantive: as, that speak unto thee am he [Christ]." John iv. 26.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

"I

Relative pronouns are such as in general relate to some word or phrase going before, which is therefore called the antecedent :