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10. AnInterjection is a short word denoting passion or emotion: as, 'Oh, Sophonisba! Sophonisba,oh!" Pshaw! Pish! Pooh! Bah! Ah! Au! Eughph! Yaw! Hum! Ha! Lauk! La! Lor! Heigho! Well! There! &c.
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Among the foregoing interjections there may, perhaps, be some unhonored by the adoption of genius, and unknown in the domains of literature. For the present notice of them some apology may be required, but little will be given; their insertion may excite astonishment, but their omission would have provoked complaint: though unprovided with a Johnsonian title to a place in the English vocabulary, they have long been recognised by the popular voice; and let it be remembered, that as custom supplies the defects of legislation, so that which is not sanctioned by magisterial authority may nevertheless be justified by vernacular usage.
TheArticles in English are two,aandthe;abecomesanbefore a vowel, and before anhwhich is not sounded: as,anexquisite,anhour-glass. But if thehbe pronounced, theaonly is used: as,ahomicide,ahomoepathist,ahum.
Aoranis called the indefinite article, because it is used, in a vague sense, to point out some one thing belonging to a certain kind, but in other respects indeterminate; as,
"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!"
So say grammarians. Eating-house keepers tell a different story. A cheese, in common discourse, means an object of a certain shape, size, weight, and so on, entire and perfect; so that to call half a cheese a cheese, would constitute a flaw in an indictment against a thief who had stolen one. But a waiter will term a fraction, or a modicum of cheese, a cheese; a plate-full of pudding, a pudding; and a stick of celery,a salary. Here we are reminded of the famous exclamation of one of these gentry:—"Sir! there's two teas and a brandy-and-water just sloped without paying!"Theis termed the definite article, inasmuch as it denotes what particular thing or things are meant as,
"Themiller he stole corn,Theweaver he stole yarn,And the little tailor he stole broad-clothTo keep the three rogues warm."
A substantive to which no article is prefixed is taken ina general sense; as, "Applesauce is proper for goose that is, for all geese.
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A few additional remarks may advantageously be made with respect to the articles. The mere substitution of the definite for the indefinite article is capable of changing entirely the meaning of a sentence. "That isaticket" is the assertion of a certain fact; but "That istheticket!" means something which is quite different.
The article is not prefixed to a proper name; as, Stubbs, Wiggins, Brown or Hobson, except for the sake of distinguishing a particular family, or description of persons; as, He isaBurke; that is, one of the Burkes, oraperson resembling Burke.
Thedefinite article is frequently used with adverbs in the comparative and superlative degree: as, "Thelonger I live,thetaller, I grow or, as we have all heard the showman say, "This here, gentlemen and ladies,is the vonderful heagle of the sun; the 'otterer it grows, the higherer he flies!"
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Proper names, or substantives, are the names belonging to individuals: as William, Birmingham.
These are sometimes converted into nicknames, of improper names: as Bill, Brummagem.
Common names, or substantives, denote kinds containing many sorts, or sorts containing many individual» under them: as brute, beast, bumpkin, cherub, infant, goblin, &c.
Proper names, when an article is prefixed to them, are employed as common names: as, "They thought him a perfectChesterfield; he quite astonished theBrowns."
Common names, on the other hand, are made to denote individuals, by the addition of articles or pronouns: as,
"There wasalittle man, and he had little gun."
"Thatboy will be the death of me!"
Substantives are considered according to gender, number, and case; they are all of the third person when spokenof, and of the second when spokento;as,
Matilda, fairest maid, who artIn countless bumpers toasted,O let thy pity baste the heartThy fatal charms have roasted!
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The distinction between nouns with regard to sex is called Gender. There are three genders: the Masculine, the Feminine, and the Neuter.
The masculine gender belongs to animals of the male kind: as, a fop, a jackass, a boar, a poet, a lion.
The feminine gender is peculiar to animals of the female kind: as, a poetess, a lioness, a goose.
Theneuter gender is that of objects which are neither males nor females: as, a toast, a tankard, a pot, a pipe, a pudding, a pie, a sausage, &c. &c. &c.
We might go on to enumerate an infinity of objects of the neuter gender, of all sorts and kinds; but in the selection of the foregoing examples we have been guided by two considerations:—
1. The desire of exciting agreeable emotions in the mind of the reader.
2. The wish to illustrate the following proposition, "That almost everything nice is also neuter."
Except, however, a nice young lady, a nice duck, and one or two other nice things, which we do not at present remember.
Some neuter substantives are by a figure of speech converted into the masculine or feminine gender: thus we say of the sun, that when he shines upon a Socialist, t he shines upon a thief; and of the moon, that she affects the minds of lovers.
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Thereare certain nouns with which notions of strength, vigor, and the like qualities, are more particularly connected; and these are the neuter substantives which are figuratively rendered masculine. On the other hand, beauty, amiability, and so forth, are held to invest words with a feminine character. Thus the sun is said to be masculine, and the moon feminine. But for our own part, and our view is confirmed by the discoveries of astronomy, we believe that the sun is called masculine from his supporting and sustaining the moon,and finding her the wherewithal to shine away as she does of a night, when all quiet people are in bed; and from his being obliged to keep such a family of stars besides.
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The moon, we think, is accounted feminine, because she is thus maintained and kept up in her splendor, like a fine lady, by her husband the sun. Furthermore, the moon is continually changing; on which account alone she might be referred to the feminine gender. The earth is feminine, tricked out, as she is, with gems and flowers. Cities and towns are likewise feminine, because there are as many windings, turnings, and little odd corners in them as there are in the female mind. A ship is feminine, inasmuch as she is blown about by every wind. Virtue is feminine by courtesy. Fortune and misfortune, like mother and daughter, are both feminine. The Church is feminine, because she is married to the state; or married to the state because she is feminine—we do not know which. Time is masculine, because he is so trifled with by the ladies.
The English language distinguishes the sex in three manners; namely,
1. By different words; as,
MALE. FEMALE.Bachelor Maid.Brother Sister.Wizard Father And several otherWitch Mother, &c.Words we don't mention,(Pray pardon the crime,)Worth your attention,But wanting in rhyme.
2. Bya difference of termination; as,
MALE. FEMALÉ.Poet Poetess.Lion Lioness, &c.
3. By a noun, pronoun, or adjective being prefixed to the substantive;as,male. female.A cock-lobster A hen-lobster.A jack-ass A jenny-ass (vernacular.)A man-servant, A maid-servant, or flunkey. or Abigail.A male flirt (A common animal) A female flirt (A rare animal.)
We have heard it said, that every Jack has his Jill. That may be; but it is by no means true that every cock has his hen; for there is a
Cock-swain, but no Hen-swain.Cock-eye, but no Hen-eye.Cock-ade, but no Hen-ade.Cock-atrice, but no Hen-atrice.Cock-horse, but no Hen-horse.Cock-ney, but no Hen-ney.
Then we have a weather-cock, but no weather-hen; a tum-cock, but no turn-hen; and many a jolly cock, but not one jolly hen; unless we except some of those by whom their mates are pecked.
Some words; as, parent, child, cousin, friend, neighbour, servant and several others, are either male or female, according to circumstances.
It is a great pity that our language is so poor in the terminations that denote gender. Were we to say of a womanthat she is a rogue, a knave, a scamp, or a vagabond, we feel that we should use, not only strong but improper expressions. Yet we have no corresponding terms to apply, in case of necessity, to the female. Why is this? Doubtless because we never want them. For the same reason, our forefathers transmitted to us the words, philosopher, astronomer, philologer, and so forth, without any feminine equivalent. Alas! for the wisdom of our ancestors! They never calculated on the March of Intellect.
Number is the consideration of an object as one or more; as, one poet, two, three, four, five poets; and so on, ad infinitum.
The singular number expresses one object only; as a towel, a viper.
The plural signifies more objects than one; as, towels, vipers.
Some nouns are used only in the singular number; dirt, pitch, tallow, grease, filth, butter, asparagus, &c.; others only in the plural; as, galligaskins, breeches, &c.
Some words are the same in both numbers; as, sheep, swine, and some others.
The plural number of nouns is usually formed by addingsto the singular; as, dove, doves, love, loves, &c.
Julia, dove returns to dove,Quid pro quo, and love for love;Happy in our mutual loves,Let us live like turtle doves!
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When,however, the substantive singular ends inx, ch softy sh, ss, or s, we add es in the plural.
But remember, though boxIn the plural makes boxes,That the plural of oxShould beoxen, not oxes.
There is nearly as much difference between Latin and English substantives, with respect to the number of cases pertaining to each, as there is between a quack-doctorand a physician; for while in Latin sub-stantives have six cases, in English they have but three. But the analogy should not be strained too far; for the fools in the world (who furnish the quack with his cases) more than double the number of the wise.
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The cases of substantives are these: the Nominative, the Possessive or Genitive, and the Objective or Accusative.
The Nominative Case merely expresses the name of a thing, or the subject of the verb: as, "The doctors differ;"—"The patient dies!"
Possession, which is nine points of the law, is what is signified by the Possessive Case. This case is distinguished by an apostrophe, with the letterssubjoined to it: as, My soul's idol!"—"A pudding's end."
Butwhen the plural ends ins, the apostrophe only is retained, and the othersis omitted: as, "The Ministers' Step;"—"The Rogues' March;"—"Crocodiles' tears—"Butchers' mourning."
When the singular terminates inss, the lettersis sometimes, in like manner, dispensed with: as, "For goodness' sake!"—"For righteousness' sake!" Nevertheless, we have no objection to "Burgess's" Stout.
The Objective Case follows a verb active, and expresses the object of an action, or of a relation: as "Spring beat Bill;" that is, Bill or "William Neate." Hence, perhaps, the phrase, "I'll lick youelegant." The Objective Case is also used with a preposition: as, "You are in a mess."
English substantives may be declined in the following manner:
What is the nominative caseOf her who used to wash your face,Your hair to comb, your boots to lace?A mother!What the possessive?Whose the slapThat taught you not to spill your pap,Or to avoid a like mishap!A mother's!And shall I the objective show?What do I hear where'er I go?How is your?—whom they mean I know,My mother!
Who are the anxious watchers o'erThe slumbers of a little bore,That screams whene'er it doesn't snore?Why, mothers!Whose pity wipes its piping eyes,And stills maturer childhood's cries,Stopping its mouth with cakes and pies?Oh! mother's!
And whom, when master, fierce and fell,Dusts truant varlets' jackets well,Whom do they, roaring, run and tell?Their mothers!
An English Adjective, whatever may be its gender, number, or case, like a rusty weathercock, never varies. Thus we say, "A certain cabinet; certain rogues." But as a rusty weathercock may vary in being more or less rusty, so an adjective varies in the degrees of comparison.
The degrees of comparison, like the Genders, the Graces, the Fates, the Kings of Cologne, the Weird Sisters, and many other things, are three; the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative.
The Positive state simply expresses the quality of an object; as, fat, ugly, foolish.
The Comparative degree increases or lessens the significationof the positive; as fatter, uglier, more foolish, less foolish.
The Superlative decree increases or lessens the positive to the highest or lowest degree; as fattest, ugliest, most foolish, least foolish.
Amongst the ancients, Ulysses must have been thefattest, because nobody couldcompasshim.
Aristides the Just was the ugliest, because he was so veryplain.
The mostfoolish, undoubtedly, was Homer; for who was morenaturalthan he?
The positive becomes the comparative by the addition ofrorer; and the superlative by the addition ofstorestto the end of it; as, brown, browner, brownest; stout, stouter, stoutest; heavy, heavier, heaviest; wet, wetter, wettest. The adverbs more and most, prefixed to the adjective, also form the superlative degree; as, heavy, more heavy, most heavy.
Monosyllables are usually compared by er and est, and dissyllables by more and most; except dissyllables ending in y or in le before a mute, or those which are accented on the last syllable; for these, like monosyllables, easily admit of er and est. But these terminations are scarcely ever used in comparing words of more than two syllables.
We have some words, which, from custom, are irregular in respect of comparison; as, good, better, best; bad, worse, worst, &c.; but the Yankee's "notion" of comparison was decidedly funny; "My uncle's a tarnation rogue; but I'm a tarnationer."
LindleyMurray judiciously observes, that "if we consider the subject of comparison attentively, we shall perceive that the degrees of it are infinite in number, or at least indefinite:" and he proceeds to say, "A mountain is larger than a mite; by how many degrees? How much bigger is the earth than a grain of sand? By how many degrees was Socrates wiser than Alci-biades? or by how many is snow whiter than this paper? It is plain," quoth Lindley, "that to these and the like questions no definite answers can be returned."
No; but an impertinent one may. Ask the first news-boy you meet, any one of these questions, and see if he does not immediately respond, 'Ax my eye or, "As much again as half."
But when quantity can be exactly measured, the degrees of excess may be exactly ascertained. A foot is just twelve times as long as an inch; a tailor is nine times less than a man.
Moreover, to compensate for the indefiniteness of the degrees of comparison, we use certain adverbs and words of like import, whereby we render our meaning tolerably intelligible; as, "Byron was amuch greaterpoet than Muggins."
"Honey isa great dealsweeter than wax."
"Sugar isconsiderablymore pleasant than the cane."
"Maria says, that Dick the butcher isby farthe most killing young man she knows."
The words very, exceedingly, and the like, placed before the positive, give it the force of the superlative; andthis is called by some the superlative of eminence, as distinguished from the superlative of comparison. Thus, Very Reverend is termed the superlative of eminence, although it is the title of a dean, not of a cardinal; and Most Reverend, the appellation of an Archbishop, is called the superlative of comparison.
ABishop, in our opinion, isMost Excellent.
The comparative is sometimes so employed as to express the same pre-eminence or inferiority as the superlative. For instance; the sentence, "Of all the cultivators of science, the botanist is the most crafty," has the same meaning as the following: "The botanist is more crafty than any other cultivator of science." Why? some of our readers will ask—
Because he is acquainted with all sorts ofplants.
Pronouns or proxy-nouns are of three kinds; namely, the Personal, the Relative, and the Adjective Pronouns.
Note.—That when we said, some few pages back, that a pronoun was a word used instead of a noun, we did not mean to call such words as thingumibob, what-siname, what-d'ye-call-it, and the like, pronouns.
And that, although we shall proceed to treat of the pronouns in the English language, we shall have nothing to do, at present, with what some people please to call pronoun-ciation.
"I'm not, Sir."
"You am, Sir!"
"What did I say, Sir?—tell me that."
"You reflected on my perfession, Sir; you said, as there was some people as always stuck up for the cloth; and you insinnivated that certain parties dined off goose by means of cabbaging fiom their customers. I ask any gentleman in the room, if that an't personal.
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"Veil, Sir, vot I says I'll stick to."
"Yes, Sir, like vax, as the saying is."
"Wot d'ye mean by that, Sir?"
"Wot I say, Sir!"
"You 're a individual, Sir!"
"You 're another, Sir!"
"You 're no gentleman, Sir!"
"You 're a humbug, Sir!"
"You 're a knave, Sir!"
"You 're a rogue, Sir!"
"You 're a wagabond, Sir!"
"You 're a willain, Sir!"
"You 're a tailor, Sir!"
"You 're a cobler, Sir!" (Order! order! chair! chair! &c.
The above is what is called personal language. How many different things one word serves to express in English! A pronoun may be as personal as possible, and yet nobody will take offence at it.
There are five Personal Pronouns; namely, I, thou, he, she, it; with their plurals, we, ye or you, they.
Personal Pronouns admit of person, number, gender, and case.
Pronouns have three persons in each number.
In the Singular;
I, is the first person.
Thou, is the second person.
He, she, or it, is the third person.
In the plural;
We, is the first person.
Ye or you, is the second person.
They, is the third person.
Thisaccount of persons will be very intelligible when the following Pastoral Fragment is reflected on:
I love thee, Susan, on my life:Thou art the maiden for a wife.He who lives single is an ass;She who ne'èr weds a luckless lass.It's tiresome work to live alone;So come with me, and be my own.
We maids are oft by men deceived;Ye don't deserve to be believed;You don't—but there's my hand—heigho!They tell us, women can't say no!
The speaker or speakers are of the first person; those spoken to, of the second; and those spoken of, of the third.
Of the three persons, the first is the most universally admired.
The second is the object of much adulation and flattery, and now and then of a little abuse.
The third person is generally made small account of; and, amongst other grievances, suffers a great deal from being frequently bitten about the back.
The Numbers of pronouns, like those of substantives, are, as we have already seen, two; the singular and the plural.
In addressing yourself to anybody, it is customary to use the second person plural instead of the singular. This practice most probably arose from a notion, that to be thought twice the man that the speaker was, gratified the vanity of the person addressed. Thus, theFrench put a double Monsieur on the backs of their letters.
Editors say "We," instead of "I," out of modesty.
The Quakers continue to say "thee" and "thou," in the use of which pronouns, as well as in the wearing of broad-brimmed hats and of stand-up collars, they perceive a peculiar sanctity.
Gender has to do only with the third person singular of the pronouns, he, she, it. He is masculine; she is feminine; it is neuter.
Pronouns have the like cases with substantives; the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.
Would that they were the hardest cases to be met with in this country!
The personal pronouns are thus declined:—
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CASE. FIRST PERSON SINGULAR. FIRST PERSON PLURAL.Nom. I We.Poss. Mine Ours.Obj. Me Us.
CASE. SECOND PERSON. SECOND PERSON.Nom. Thou Ye or you.Poss. Thine Yours.Obj. Thee You.
Now the third person singular, as we before observed, has genders; and we shall therefore decline it in a different way. Variety is charming.
CASE. MASC. FEM. NEUT.Nom. He She It.Poss. His Hers Its.Obj. Him Her It.
CASE. PLURAL.Nom. They.Poss. Theirs.Obj. Them.
Webeg to inform thee, that the third person plural has no distinction of gender.
The Pronouns called Relative are such as relate, for the most part, to some word or phrase, called the antecedent, on account of its going before: they are,who,which, andthat: as, "The man who does not drink enough when he can get it, is a fool: but he that drinks too much is a beast."
Whatis usually equivalent tothat which, and is, therefore, a kind of compound relative, containing both the antecedent and the relative; as, "You want what you'll very soon have!" that is to say, the thing which you will very soon have.
Whois applied to persons,whichto animals and things without life; as, "He is a gentleman who keeps a horse and lives respectably." To the dog which pinned the old woman, they cried, 'Cosar!'"
That, as a relative, is used to prevent the too frequent repetition ofwho and which, and is applied both to persons and things; as, He that stops the bottle is a Cork man."
"This is thehouse thatJack built."
Who is of both numbers; and so is an Editor; for, according to what we observed just now, he is both singular and plural. Who, we repeat, is of both numbers, and is thus declined:—
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To despair shall I doom? Which,that and what are indeclinable; except that whose is sometimes used as the possessive case of which;
"The roe, poor dear, laments amain,
Whose sweet hart was by hunter slain."
Who, which, and what, when they are used in asking questions, are called Interrogatives; as, "Who is Mr. Walker?". "Which is the left side of a round plum-pudding?"
"What is the damage?"
Those who, have made popular phraseology their study, will have found that which is sometimes used for whereas, and words of like signification; as in Dean Swift's "Mary the Cookmaid's Letter to Dr. Sheridan:"
"And now I know whereby you would fain make an excuse,Because my master one day in anger call'd you a goose;Which, and I am sure I have been his servant since October,And he never called me worse than sweetheart, drunk or sober."
What, or, to speak more improperly, wot, is generally substituted by cabmen and hack-drivers for who; as, "The donkey wot wouldn't go."
"The girl wot sweeps the crossing."
That, likewise, is very frequently rejected by the vulgar,who use as in its place; as, "Them as asks shan't have any; and them as don't ask don't want any."
Adjective pronouns partake of the nature of both pronouns and adjectives. They may be subdivided into four sorts: the possessive, the distributive, the demonstrative, and the indefinite.
The possessive pronouns are those which imply possession or property. Of these there are seven; namely, my, thy, his, her, our, your, their.
The word self is added to possessives; as, myself, yourself, "Says I to myself, says I." Self is also sometimesused with personal pronouns; as, himself, itself, themselves. His self is a common, but not a proper expression.
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The distributive are three; each, every, either; they denote the individual persons or things' separately, which, when taken together, make up a number. Each is used when two or more persons or things are mentioned singly; as, "each of the Catos;" "each or the Browns."
Every relates to one out of several; as,
"Every mare is a horse, but every horse is not a mare."
Either refers to one out of two; as,
"When I between two jockeys ride,I have a knave on either side."
Neither signifies "not either;" as, "Neither of the Bacons was related to Hogg."
The demonstrative pronouns precisely point out the subjects to which they relate; such are this and that, with their plurals these and those; as, "This is a Hoosier lad; that is a Yankee school-master."
This refers to the nearest person or thing, and to the latter or last mentioned; that to the most distant, and to the former or first mentioned; as, "This is a man; that is a nondescript."
"At the period of the Reformation in Scotland, a curious contrast between the ancient and modern ecclesiastical systems was observed; for while that had been always maintained by a Bull, this was now supported by a Knox"
The indefinite are those which express their subjects in an indefinite or general manner; as, some, other, any, one, all, such, &c.
When the definite article the comes before the word other,those who do not know better, are accustomed to strike out the he in the, and to say, t'other.
The same persons also use other in the comparative degree; for sometimes, instead of saying quite the reverse, or perhaps reverse, they avail themselves of the expression more t'other.
So much for the pronouns.
The nature of Verbs in general, and that in all languages, is, that they are the most difficult things in the Grammar.
Verbs are divided into Active, Passive, and Neuter; and also into Regular, Irregular, and Defective. To these divisions we beg to add another; Verbs Comic.
A Verb Active implies an agent, and an object acted upon; as, to love; "I love Wilhelmina Stubbs." Here, I am the agent; that is, the lover; and Wilhelmina Stubbs is the object acted upon, or the beloved object.
A Verb Passive expresses the suffering, feeling, or undergoing of something; and therefore implies an object acted upon, and an agent by which it is acted upon; as, to be loved; "Wilhelmina Stubbs is loved by me."
AVerb Neuter expresses neither action nor passion, but a state of being; as, I bounce, I lie.
"Gracious, Major!"