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51. Declension of Nouns.

The declension of a noun is its variation to denote number and

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1. Put the following nouns in Italics into the possessive case, and let each expression be written on your slates, thus:

Abraham son.

The carpenter axe. The carpenter's axe.

David harp. Moses law. Adams Arithmetic. Webster Dictionary. The coachman dog barked at the herdsman sheep. The lion roar aroused the shepherd dog. The farmer corn was destroyed by his neighbor cow.

Declension of nouns.

2. Give the rule for forming the possessive case.

3. Write the following nouns in the possessive plural, and place some approriate noun after them, thus :—

'The tailors' shears."

"The men's apartment."

Tailor, seaman, captain, doctor, brother, valley, folly, alley, ally, hero, rch, child, director, president, sheep.

53. Parsing.

1. Parsing consists,—

(1.) In telling the part of speech.

(2.) In telling its properties or accidents.

(3.) In pointing out its relation to other words, and giving the

ule for its construction.

2. In parsing a noun,—

(1.) Say it is a noun, and why.

(2.) Common or proper, and why.

(3.) Of the 1st, 2d, or 3d person, and why.

(4.) Of the singular or plural number, and why.

(5.) Of the masculine, feminine, or neuter gender, and why, (6.) Of the nominative, possessive or objective case, and why.

(7.) The rule for construction.

NOTE. The pupil who has been thoroughly drilled in the Introduction, may be able to introduce this third element of parsing, if the teacher choose. The Rules of Syntax will of course be anticipated, if applied here. The teacher can omit or use the rules, as he may think best.

54. Exercise.

MODELS FOR PARSING NOUNS.

1. Washington, the successful general, was also a true patriot. Washington. is a noun,-it is the name of an object; proper,—it is the name of an individual object; third person,—it denotes the person spoken of; singular number,-it denotes but one; masculine gender,-it denotes a male; nominative case,—it is the subject of the proposition "Washington was a patriot," according to Rule I.: "A noun or pronoun used as the subject of a proposition, must be in the nominative case."

Outlines for parsing. Models for parsing.

General. . . is a noun (why ?); common (why); third person (why?); singular number (why?); masculine gender (why?); nominative case, and is put in apposition with Washington. Rule VI.: “A noun or pronoun used to explain or identify another noun or pronoun, is put by apposition in the same case."

Patriot. . . . is a noun (why?); common (why?); third person (why?); singular number (why?); masculine gender (why?); nominative case (why?); it is used as the attribute of the proposition, "Washington was a patriot." Rule II.: "A noun or pronoun used as the attribute of a proposition, must be in the nominative case."

2. John, bring me Fanny's History, that book lying on the desk. John... is a proper noun, second person, singular number, masculine gender, and nominative case independent. Rule X.: "The nominative case independent, and the interjection, have no grammatical relation to the rest of the sentence."

Fanny's. is a proper noun, third person, singular number, feminine gender, possessive case (why ?) and limits History. Rule VII.: "A noun or pronoun used to limit another noun by denoting possession, must be in the possessive case."

History. is a common noun, third person, singular number, neuter gender, objective case, and is the object of bring. Rule VIII.: "A noun or pronoun, used as the object of a transitive verb, or its participles, must be in the objective case."

Book... is a common noun, third person, singular number, neuter gender, objective case, and is put in apposition with History. Rule VI.

Desk... is a common noun, third person, singular number, neuter gender, objective case, and is the object of the preposition on. Rule XIV.: "A noun or pronoun, used as the object of a preposition, must be in the objective case."

3. Select the nouns in the following examples, and parse them according to the forms given above:

The first land discovered by Columbus, was an island, to which he gave the name of San Salvador. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? In truth, the proper rest for man, is change of occupation.

In autumn, there is no sudden blight of youth and beauty; no sweet hopes of life are blasted, no generous aim at usefulness and advancing

Models for parsing.

irtue cut short. The year is drawing to its natural term, the seasons ave run their usual course; all their blessings have been enjoyed, and I our precious things are cared for.-Cooper.

One moment I looked from the hill's gentle slope,

All hushed was the billow's commotion,

And methought that the light-house looked lovely as Hope,
That star on life's tremulous ocean. -Moore.

Land of the beautiful and brave,

The freeman's home, the martyr's grave,
The nursery of giant men,

Whose deeds are linked with every glen!

My own green land for ever!— Whittier.

4. Let the whole class parse these or other words on the slate, thus:Washington, is N. p. 3d. s. m. nom. R. I.

Fanny's is N. p. 3d. s. f. pos.

R. VII.

Desk is N. c. 3d. s. n. obj. R. XIV.

ADJECTIVES.

55. Definitions.

1. An adjective is a word used to limit or qualify a noun; as, "a good school;" "a diligent boy;" "this table;" "ten men;" "the box."

2. All words which have the construction of the adjective are here considered under the head of adjectives. The article, like the adjective, belongs to the noun; it has the same construction as the adjective, and is hence placed among adjectives.

3. Every adjective is a dependent or subordinate word, and must belong to some noun or pronoun as its principal.

4. When the noun or pronoun to which the adjective belongs has been previously used in the same sentence, or is some indefinite word, as, person, some one, or some thing, it may be omitted; as, "I will give you this book, if you will give me that [book]." "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent [persons] take it by force."

5. An adjective belonging to a noun understood, or omitted, takes the place of the latter, and is said to be an adjective used as a noun.

Adjectives defined. Adjective a dependent word. Adjectives used as

nouns.

56. Classes of Adjectives.

1. Adjectives are divided into two classes-limiting and qual fying.

2. A limiting adjective is used to define or restrict the meaning of a noun, without expressing any of its qualities; as, “the house;" "five books;" "this pen."

3. Limiting adjectives are divided into three classes-articles, pronominal adjectives, and numeral adjectives.

57. Articles.

1. The particular limiting adjectives, the, and a or an, are called articles.

2. The is called the definite article, because it points out some particular thing; as, "the desk ;""the sun."

3. A or an, is called an indefinite article, because it does not point out any particular thing; as, "a pen;" "an orchard." 4. An is used before a vowel sound, and a before a consonant sound; as, "an apple;" "a pin;""an hour; "a union;" "an

honor."

5. Although the article is intimately connected with the limitation of nouns, it is to be regarded rather as the sign of limitation than as itself a limiting word. When one says, "The man," the gives notice to the hearer that some particular man is regarded in the mind of the speaker. He will point out, by limiting or individualizing, who that particular man is. A, or an, again, is a sign that the speaker, in regarding a multitude of objects, of the same kind, thinks of one, but no specific or particular one The noun may be limited to show what class or descrip tion of objects is meant, but not to show any particular individual.

6. A, or an, however, may be said to limit whenever it prevents a noun from being used in its widest sense; as, man = the whole human race; a man one man, but no particular one. The, again, may be said to extend the meaning of a noun in the singular, when it is used in such examples as these: "The horse" - all horses. "The dog," &c.

7. The article has the construction of the limiting adjective, and is to be parsed like it.

Adjectives limiting and qualifying. Articles,-definite-indefinite. An before a vowel. A before a consonant.

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