OBS. 3.-The following nouns in f, change ƒ into v, and add es, for the plural; sheaf, leaf, loaf, beef, thief, calf, half, elf, shelf, self, wolf, wharf: as, sheaves, leaves, &c. Life, lives; knife, knives; wife, wives; are similar. Staff makes staves: though the compounds of staff are regular; as, flagstaff, flagstaffs. The greater number of nouns in ƒ and fe, are regular; as, fifes, strifes, chiefs, griefs, gulfs, &c.

OBS. 4.-The following are still more irregular: man, men; woman, women; child, children; brother, brethren [or brothers;] foot, feet; ox, oxen; tooth, teeth; goose, geese; louse, lice; mouse, mice; die, dice; penny, pence. Dies, stamps, and pennies, coins, are regular.

OBS. 5.-Many foreign nouns retain their original plural: as, arcanum, arcana; datum, data; erratum, errata; effluvium, effluvia; medium, media [or mediums;] minutia, minutiæ; stratum, strata; stamen, stamina; genus, genera; genius, genii [geniuses, for men of wit;] magus, magi; radius, radii; appendix, appendices [or appendixes;] calx, calces; index, indices [or indexes;] vortex, vortices; axis, ares; basis, bases; crisis, crises; thesis, theses; antithesis, antitheses; diæresis, diareses; ellipsis, ellipses; emphasis, emphases; hypothesis, hypotheses; metamorphosis, metamorphoses; automaton, automata; criterion, criteria [or criterions;] phanomenon, phænomena; cherub, cherubim; seraph, seraphim; beau, beaux [or beaus.]

OBS. 6.-Some nouns (from the nature of the things meant) have no plural; as, gold, pride, meekness.

OBS. 7.-Proper names of individuals, strictly used as such, have no plural. But when several persons of the same name are spoken of, the noun becomes in some degree common, and admits the plural form and an article; as, The Stuarts-The Cæsars: so likewise when such nouns are used to denote character; as, "The Aristotles, the Tullys, and the Livys."-Burgh.

OBS. 8.-The proper names of nations and societies are generally plural; and, except in a direct address, they are usually construed with the definite article: as, The Greeks-The Jesuits.

OBS. 9.-When a title is prefixed to a proper name so as to form a sort of compound, the name, and not the title, is varied to form the plural; as, The Miss Howards-The two Mr. Clarks. But a title not regarded as a part of one compound name, must be made plural, if it refer to more than one; as, Messrs. Lambert and Son-The Lords Calthorpe and Erskine The Lords Bishops of Durham and St. David's-The Lords Commissioners of Justiciary.

OBS. 10. Some nouns have no singular; as, embers, ides, oats, scissors, tongs, vespers, literati.

ÖBS. 11.-Some nouns are alike in both numbers; as, sheep, deer, vermin, swine, hose, means, odds, news, species, series, apparatus. The following are sometimes construed as singular, but more frequently, and more properly, as plural: alms, amends, pains, riches; ethics, mathematics: metaphysics, optics, politics, pneumatics, and other similar names of sciences. Bellows and gallows are properly alike in both numbers; (as, "Let a gallows be made." Esther, v. 14. "The bellows are burned."-Jer. vi. 29;) but they have a regular plural in vulgar use. Bolus, fungus, isthmus, prospectus, and rebus, admit the regular plural.

OBS. 12.-Compounds in which the principal word is put first, vary the principal word to form the plural, and the adjunct to form the possessive Case; as, Sing. father-in-law, Plur. fathers-in-law, Poss. father-in-law's Sing. court-martial, Plur. courts-martial, Poss. court-martial's. The Possessive plural of such nouns, is never used.

S

OBS. 13.-Compounds ending in ful, and all those in which the principal word is put last, form the plural in the same manner as other nouns;

as, handfuls, spoonfuls, mouthfuls, fellow-servants, man-servants, outpourings, ingatherings, downsittings.

OBS. 14.-Nouns of multitude, when taken collectively, generally admit the plural form; as, meeting, meetings: but when taken distributively, they have a plural signification, without the form; as, "The jury were divided."

OBS. 15.-When other parts of speech become nouns, they either want the plural, or form it regularly, like common nouns of the same endings; as, "His affairs went on at sixes and sevens."-Arbuthnot. "Some mathematicians have proposed to compute by twos; others, by fours; others, by twelves."-Churchill. "Three fourths, nine tenths."—Id. "Time's takings and leavings."-Barton. "The yeas and nays."-Newspaper. "The ays and noes."-Ibid. "The ins and the outs."-Ibid. "His ands and his ors."-Mott. "One of the buts."-Fowle. "In raising the mirth of stupids."-Steele.

GENDERS.

Genders are modifications that distinguish objects in regard to sex.

OBS.-The different genders are founded on the natural distinction of sex in animals, and on the absence of sex in other things. In English, they belong only to nouns and pronouns; and to these they are usually applied agreeably to the order of nature. Pronouns are of the same gender as the nouns for which they stand.

There are three genders; the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter.

The masculine gender is that which denotes animals of the male kind; as, man, father, king.

The feminine gender is that which denotes animals of the female kind; as, woman, mother, queen.

The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female; as, pen, ink, paper.

OBS. 1.-Some nouns are equally applicable to both sexes; as, cousin, friend, neighbour, parent, person, servant. The gender of these is usually determined by the context. To such words, some grammarians have applied the unnecessary and improper term common gender. Murray justly observes, "There is no such gender belonging to the language. The business of parsing, can be effectually performed without having recourse to a common gender." The term is more useful, and less liable to objection, as applied to the learned languages; but with us it is plainly a sole

cism.

OBS. 2.-Generic names, even when construed as masculine or feminine, often virtually include both sexes; as, "Hast thou given the horse strength hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?"-"Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?"-Job. These are called epicene nouns.

OBS. 3.—Those terms which are equally applicable to both sexes, (if they are not expressly applied to females,) and those plurals which are known to include both sexes, should be called masculine in parsing; for, in all languages, the masculine gender is considered the most worthy, and is generally employed when both sexes are included under one common

term.

OBS. 4.-The sexes are distinguished in three ways:

I. By the use of different names: as, bachelor, maid; boy, girl; brother, sister; buck, doe; bull, cow; cock, hen; drake, duck; earl, countess; father, mother; friar, nun; gander, goose; hart, roe; horse, mare; husband, wife; king, queen; lad, lass; lord, lady; man, woman; master, mistress; milter, spawner; nephew, niece; ram, ewe; sloven, slut; son, daughter; stag, hind; steer, heifer; uncle, aunt; wizard, witch.

II. By the use of different terminations: as, abbot, abbess; adminis trator, administratrix; adulterer, adulteress; bridegroom, bride; caterer, cateress; duke, duchess; emperor, emperess or empress; executor, executrix; governor, governess; hero, heroine; landgrave, landgravine; margrave, margravine; marquis, marchioness; sorcerer, sorceress; sultan, sultaness or sultana; testator, testatrix; tutor, tutoress or tutress; widower, widow.

The following nouns become feminine by merely adding ess; baron, dea con, heir, host, jew, lion, mayor, patron, peer, poet, pricst, prior, prophet, shepherd, viscount.

The following nouns become feminine by rejecting the last vowel, and adding ess; actor, ambassador, arbiter, benefactor, chanter, conductor, doctor, elector, enchanter, founder, hunter, idolater, inventor, prince, protector, songster, spectator, suitor, tiger, traitor, votary.

III. By prefixing an attribute of distinction: as, cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow; man-servant, maid-servant; he-goat, she-goat; male relations, female relations.

OBS. 5.-The names of things without life, used literally, are always of the neuter gender. But inanimate objects are often represented figuratively, as having sex. Things remarkable for power, greatness, or sublimity, are spoken of as masculine; as, the sun, time, death, sleep, fear, anger, winter, war. Things beautiful, amiable, or prolific, are spoken of as feminine; as, the moon, earth, nature, fortune, knowledge, hope, spring, peace.

OBS. 6.-Nouns of multitude, when they convey the idea of unity, or take the plural form, are of the neuter gender; but when they convey the idea of plurality without the form, they follow the gender of the individuals that compose the assemblage.

OBS. 7.-Creatures whose sex is unknown, or unnecessary to be regarded, are generally spoken of as neuter; as, "He fired at the deer, and wounded it.""If a man shall steal an or or a sheep, and kill it or sell it;" &c. . Ex. xxii. 1.

CASES.

Cases are modifications that distinguish the relations of nouns and pronouns to other words.

OBS.--The cases are founded on the different relations under which things are represented in discourse, and from which the words acquire correspondent relations, or a dependence on each other according to the In English, these modifications, or relations, belong only to nouns and pronouns. Pronouns are not necessarily like their antecedents, in

sense.

case.

There are three cases; the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which denotes the subject of a verb: as, The boy runs; I run.

OBS.-The subject of a verb is that which answers to who or what before it; as, "The boy runs' "-Who runs? The boy. Boy is therefore here in the nominative case.

The possessive case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which denotes the relation of property: as, The boy's hat; my hat.

OBS. 1.-The possessive case of nouns is formed, in the singular number, by adding to the nominative s preceded by an apostrophe; and, in the plural, when the nominative ends in s, by adding an apostrophe only: as, sing. boy's; plural, boys'.

OBS. 2.-Plural nouns that do not end in s, usually form the possessive case in the same manner as the singular; as, man's, men's.

OBS. 3.-When the singular and the plural are alike in the nominative, the apostrophe, which (as Dr. Johnson has shown) is merely a sign of the case, and not of elision, ought to follow the s in the plural, to distinguish it from the singular; as, sheep's, sheeps'.

OBS. 4.-The apostrophic s adds a syllable to the noun, when it will not unite with the sound in which the nominative ends; as, torch's, pronounced torchiz.

OBS. 5.-The apostrophe and s are sometimes added to mere characters, to denote plurality, and not the possessive case; as, Two a's-three b'sfour 9's. In the following example they are used to give the sound of a verbal termination to words that are not properly verbs: "When a man in a soliloquy reasons with himself, and pro's and con's, and weighs all his designs," &c.-Congreve.

The objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition: as, I know the boy; he knows me.

OBS. 1.-The object of a verb, participle, or preposition, is that which answers to whom or what after it; as, "I know the boy"-I know whom? The boy. Boy is therefore here in the objective case.

OBS. 2.-The nominative and the objective of nouns, are always alike, being distinguishable from each other only by their place in a sentence, or their simple dependence according to the sense.

DECLENSION OF NOUNS.

The declension of a noun is a regular arrangement of its numbers and cases.

Thus:

CHAPTER II.-ETYMOLOGICAL.

In the Second Chapter, it is required of the pupil—to distinguish and define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of the articles and nouns.

The definitions to be given in the Second Chapter, are two for an article, six for a noun-and one for an adjective, a pronoun, a verb, a participle, an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus:

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"James is a lad of uncommon talents."

James is a proper noun, of the third person, singular number, masculine gender, and nominative case.

1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned.

2. A proper noun is the name of some particular individual or people. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of.

4. The singular number is that which denotes but one.

5. The masculine gender is that which denotes animals of the male

kind.

6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which denotes the subject of a verb.

Is is a verb.

1. A verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted upon.

A is the indefinite article.

1. An article is a word placed before nouns, to limit their signification.

2. The indefinite article is an or a, which denotes one thing of a kind, but not any particular one.

Lad is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, masculine gender, and nominative case.

1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned.

2. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or class of things.