ENGLISH GRAMMAR is the art of speaking and writing the English language with propriety. It is divided into four parts, viz.

This division may be rendered more intelligible to the student, by observing, in other words, that Grammar treats,

First, of the form and sound of the letters, the combination of letters into syllables, and syllables into words;

Secondly, of the different sorts of words, their various modifications, and their derivation;

Thirdly, of the union and right order of words in the formation of a sentence; and

Fourthly, of the just pronunciation, and poetical construction of sen

tences.

(Grammar is that knowledge of words, which qualifies the possessor to speak and write with propriety. As a science, it unfolds the principles, by which man is directed in the contrivance of the variety of words. Its utility is extended by the opportunities it affords of tracing the connexion, which the phenomena of language, considered as a production of the human mind, have with the principles of our nature.

Grammar may be considered as consisting of two species-Universal and Particular. Universal grammar explains the principles, which are common to all languages, Particular grammar applies those general principles to a particular language, modifying them according to the genius of that tongue, and the established practice of the best speakers and writers, by whom it is used.

The rules, therefore, relating to any particular language, are founded on the established practice of the best speakers and writers of that language, or on the practice of those, who possess that sort of conspicuousness in society, which is considered as entitling them to fix the standard of that language.

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ORTHOGRAPHY.

ORTHOGRAPHY teaches the nature and powers of letters, and the just method of spelling words.

LETTERS.

A letter is the first principle or least part of a word. The letters of the English language, called the English Alphabet, are twenty-six in number.

The following is a list of them in the Roman, Italic, and Old English characters.

f

dee.

ee.

ef.

em.

These letters are the representatives of certain articulate sounds, the elements of the language. An Articulate sound is the sound of the hu man voice, formed by the organs of speech.

DIVISION OF LETTERS.

Letters are divided into Vowels and Consonants.

VOWELS.

A Vowel is an articulate sound, that can be perfectly uttered by it self; as, a, e, o, which are formed without the help of any other sound. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y.

W and y are consonants, when they begin a word or syllable; but in every other situation they are vowels.

CONSONANTS.

A Consonant is an articulate sound, which cannot be perfectly uttered without the help of a vowel; as, b, d, f, l, which require vowels to express them fully. }

Consonants are divided into mutes and semi-vowels. ¡

The mutes cannot be sounded at all, without the aid of a vowel. They are b, p, d, t, k, and c and g hard.

The semi-vowels have an imperfect sound of themselves - They are f, l, m, n, r, v, s, z, x, and c and g soft.

Four of the semi-vowels, namely, l, m, n, r, are also distinguished by the name of liquids, from their readily uniting with other consonants, and flowing, as it were into their sounds.

DIPHTHONGS.

A Diphthong is the union of two vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice, as, ea in beat, ou in sound.

A proper diphthong is that, in which both the vowels are sounded; as, oi in voice, ou in ounce.

An improper diphthong has but one of the vowels sounded; as, ea in eagle, oa in boat.

TRIPHTHONGS.

A triphthong is the union of three vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice; as, eau in beau, iew in view.

SYLLABLES.

A syllable is a sound, either single or compounded, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice, and constituting a word or part of a word, as, a, an, ant.

SPELLING.

Spelling is the art of rightly dividing words into their proper syllables, or of expressing a word by its proper letters.

WORDS.

Words are articulate sounds used by common consent, as signs of our ideas.

A word of one syllable is termed a Monosyllable; a word of two syllables, a Dissyllable; a word of three syllables a Trysyllable; and a word of four or more syllables, a Polysyllable.

All words are either primitive or derivative.

A primitive word is that, which cannot be reduced to any simpler word in the language; as, man, good, content.

A derivative word is that, which may be reduced to another word in English of greater simplicity; as, manful, goodness, contentment.*

There are many English words, which, though compounds in other languages, are to us primitives; thus, circumvent, circumspect, circumstance, delude, concave, complicate, &c. primitive words in English, will be found derivatives when traced in the Latin.

* A compound word is included under the head of derivative words; as penknife, teacup, looking-glass, &c. which may be reduced to other words of greater simplicity.

ETYMOLOGY.

ETYMOLOGY treats of the different sorts of words, their various modifi cations, and their derivation.

Words are divided into nine sorts, commonly called Parts of Speech, viz.

1. An Article is a word placed before nouns to limit their signification; as, a garden, an eagle, the woman.'

Of the whole number of words in the English language, which is about forty thousand, this part of speech embraces only two, a or an and the; and these are called articles from the latin word articulus, which signifies a joint or very small part of any thing.

2. An Adjective or Adnoun, is a word added to a noun, to express some quality or circumstance of the object signified by the noun; as, 'a good man, a sweet apple, a tall tree.'

The word adjective, is derived from the Latin adjicio, to add, to apply, &c. and literally means something added or applied.

3. A Noun or Substantive is the name of any thing that exists, or of which we have any notion; as, 'London, man, fruit, virtue.

The word noun, is derived from the Latin word, nomen, which signifies a name. Nouns are sometimes called Substantives, because they are supposed to be, in general, the names of substances, in contradistinction to adjectives, which are the names only of qualities belonging to those substances. Thus, in the example above given, a sweet apple,'-apple is the name of the substance, and sweet the name of a quality existing in that substance.

4. A Pronoun is a word used for or instead of a noun, to avoid the too frequent repetition of the same word; as, 'The man is happy, he is benevolent, he is useful.'

Pronoun comes from the Latin word Pronomen, compounded of pro, for, and nomen a noun or name. The name of this part of speech indicates its use. Thus, instead of saying, When Cæsar had conquered Gaul, Cæsar fought against Cæsar's country,' as we should be obliged to do, without using the pronoun, we say, 'When Cæsar had conquered Gaul, he fought against his country.'

5. A Verb is a word, which signifies, To Be, To Do, or To Suffer; as, I am, 1 rule, I am ruled; He sleeps, she walks, they are beaten.'

Verb comes from the Latin verbum, which signifies a word, and verbs are so called, because they denote what is said or affirmed of any thing. Thus, when we say, 'grass grows,' the noun grass, signifies the object of which we speak; and the verb, grows, expresses what we say or declare of that object.

6. A Conjunction is a part of speech chiefly used to connect sentences; so as out of two or more sentences, to make but one ;-it sometimes connects only words; as, Thou and he are happy, because you are good; Two and three are five.'

Conjunctions are so called, because they are used to con-join, or to join together.

7. An Adverb is a word used to modify the signification of verbs, adjectives, and sometimes of other adverbs; as, "He reads well, a truly good man, he writes very correctly."

Adverbs are more frequently added to verbs, to modify their signification, than to any other part of speech, and are therefore called ad-verbs.

8. A Preposition serves to connect words with one another, and to show the relation between them; as," He went from Boston to NewYork; She is above disguise; They were conquered by him.”

Preposition comes from the Latin Pre-pono, which signifies to put before; and prepositions are so called (because they are put before nouns and pronouns, to show their relations to other words in the sentence.

9. An Interjection is a word thrown in between the parts of a sentence, to express the passions or emotions of the speaker; as, 'I have alienated my friend, alas ! I fear forever.'

Interjection comes from the Latin interjicio, which signifies to cast or throw between. In the following passage, all the parts of speech are exemplified.

3

8 3 6 5

6 7

2

5

1 3 8 3 5 1 3 2 The power of speech is a faculty peculiar to man; and was bestowed 8 4 8 4 2 8 1 2 on him by his beneficent Creator for the greatest and most excellent 3 6 9 7 7 5 4 5 4 8 1 2 8 3 uses; but alas! how often do we pervert it to the worst of purposes !

In the foregoing sentence, the words, the, a, are articles; peculiar, beneficent, greatest, excellent, worst, are adjectives; power, speech, faculty, man, Creator, uses, purposes, are nouns; him, his, we, it, are pronouns ; is, was, bestowed, do, pervert, are verbs; and, but, are conjunctions; most, how, often, are adverbs; of, to, on, by, for, are prepositions; and alas! is an interjection.

SYNTAX.

SYNTAX treats of the agreement, government, and proper arrangement of words in a sentence.

Syntax principally consists of two parts, Concord and Government.) Concord is the agreement which one word has with another in gender, number, person or case; as, Herod imprisoned John, him whom they called the Baptist.') Here him is of the masculine gender, singular number, third person, and objective case, agreeing in those respects with John.

Government is that power, which one part of speech has over another, in directing its mood, tense, number, person or case; as, He is healthy, because he is temperate She will be punished unless she repent.' In the former of these examples, because, being a conjunction of positive nature, requires the verb, is, following it, to be in the indicative mood; in the latter, unless, being a conjunction expressing doubt or condition, requires the following verb, repent, to be in the subjunctive mood, &c. SENTENCES.

A Sentence is (an assemblage of words, forming a complete sense Sentences are either simple or compound.