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CHAP, V.

Of Verbs.

Our pupils, as we have seen, have got by heart the different tenses of the verb to carry, but remain ignorant of their import. We have now to initiate them in the whole metaphysick of verbs; without a knowledge of which, their education would be extremely defective.

This appears a difficult enterprise, and yet the execution of it is very simple.

Verbs are composed of persons, numbers, tenses, and moods. The present of the indicative of the verb carry, has already furnished us with signs for the different persons and numbers; all that is further necessary is, to aid, in some small degree, the language of signs, natural to deaf and dumb persons from infancy, by making the application of them serve to designate tenses and moods,

ART. I.

Of the application of Signs to the Tenses of Verbs.

THE pupil, though deaf and dumb, had, like us, an idea of the past, the present, and the future, before he was placed under our tuition, and was at no loss for signs to manifest the difference.

Did he mean to express the present ac tion? He made a sign prompted by nature, which we all make in the same case, without being conscious of it, and which consists in appealing to the eyes of the spectators to witness the presence of our operation; but if the action did not take place in his sight, he laid his two hands flat upon the table, beating upon it gently, as we are all apt to do on similar occasions; and these are the signs he learns again in our lessons, by which to indicate the present of a verb.

Did he design to signify that an action is past? he tossed his hand carelessly two or three times over his shoulder: these signs we adopt to characterize the past tense of a verb.

And lastly, when it was his intention to announce a future action, he projected his right hand: here again is a sign we give him to represent the future of a verb.

It is now time to call in art to the assistance of nature.

Having previously taught him to write the names of the days in the week, we desire him to set them down, Sunday, Saturday, Friday, Thursday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; and we then put on each side of his writing what follows before and after the same words under different heads.

PRESENT.

To-day, Sunday, I arrange nothing.

IMPERFECT.

Yesterday, Saturday, I was arranging my books.

PERFECT.

Day before yesterday, Friday, I arranged my chamber.

PAST PERFECT.

Three days ago, Thursday, I had arranged my closet.

FUTURE.

To-morrow, Monday, I shall arrange my papers.

FUTURE.

Day after to-morrow, Tuesday, I shall arrange my drawers.

FUTURE.

Three days hence, Wednesday, I shall arrange my cupboards.

Yesterday, day before yesterday, three days ago, are explained by the number of times we have slept since the day of which we speak.

To-morrow, day after to-morrow, three days hence, are explained by the number of times we are to sleep till the day in question arrives.

We next teach our pupil to lay a restric

tion upon his motions. To express a thing past, he used to throw his arm backwards and forwards towards his shoulder, without rule; we tell him, he must throw it only once for the imperfect, twice for the perfect, and three times for the past perfect; which in truth is analogous to what is signified, the past perfect announcing an action longer past than the perfect; and the latter being in the same predicament with regard to the imperfect.

We take particular care to make our pupil observe the variation of the termination of verbs in their different tenses, pointing out each of these variations with his finger. We make him remark the different tenses of the indicative; we put them all down, in order, upon an horizontal line, with their respective titles, the table on which they are written being divided for the purpose into equal squares, that are to be permanent.

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