Hence it is evident, that those words which are termed definitives, how useful soever, cannot be regarded as indispensable.

The pronoun is clearly a substitute for the noun; it cannot therefore be deemed essential. The adjective expressing merely the property or quality in concreto, without affirmation, may be dispensed with ; the connexion of a substance with a quality or property being expressible by the noun and the verb. Thus, "a good man" is equivalent to "a man of, with, or join, goodness." Adverbs, which have been termed attributives of the second order, are nothing but abbreviations, as, here for in this place, bravely for brave like. These, therefore, cannot be considered as essentials in language. In the same manner it might be shown, that all parts of speech, noun and verb excepted, are either substitutes or abbreviations, convenient indeed, but not indispensably requisite. But, as there will be occasion to illustrate this theory, when the generally received parts of speech are severally examined, it is unnecessary to enlarge on the subject at present.

Though the essential parts of speech in every language are only two, the noun and the verb; yet, as there is in all languages a number of words, not strictly reducible to either of these primary divisions, it has been usual with grammarians to arrange words into a variety of different classes. This distribution is partly arbitrary, there being no definite or universally received principle, by which to determine, what discriminative circumstances are sufficient to entitle any species of words to the distinction of a separate order. Hence grammarians are not agreed concerning the number of these subordinate classes. But, into whatever number of denominations they may be distributed, it should be always remembered, that the only necessary parts of speech are noun and verb; every other species of words being admitted solely for despatch or ornament. The parts of speech in English may be reckoned ten, Noun, Article, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Participle, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE NOUN.

SECTION I.

NOUN (Nomen) is that part of speech which expresses the subject of discourse, or which is the name of the thing spoken of, as, table, house, river.

Of Nouns there are two kinds, proper and appellative.)

A proper noun, or name, is the name of an individual, as Alexander, London, Vesuvius.

An appellative, or common noun, expresses a genus, or class of things, and is common or applicable to every individual of that class.

Nouns or Substantives (for these terms are equivalent) have also been divided into natural, artificial, and abstract. Of the first class, man, horse, tree, are examples. The names of things of our own formation are termed artificial substantives, as, watch, house, ship. The names of qualities or properties, conceived as existing by themselves, or separated from the substances to which they belong, are called abstract nouns; while Adjectives, expressing these qualities as conjoined with their subjects, are called concretes. Hard, for example, is termed the concrete, hardness the abstract.

Nouns have also been considered as denoting genera, species, and individuals. Thus man is a generic term, an Englishman a special term, and George an individual. Appellative nouns being employed to denote genera or species, and these orders comprising each many individuals, hence arises that accident of a common noun, called Number, by which we signify, whether one or more individuals of any genus or species be intended.

In English there are two numbers, the singular and the plural. The singular, expressing only one of a class or genus, is the noun in its simple form, as, river; the plural, denoting more than one, is generally formed by adding the letters to the singular, as, rivers *. To this rule, however, there are many exceptions.

Nouns ending in ch, sh, ss, or x, form their plural by adding the syllable es to the singular number, as, church, churches. Ch hard takes s for the plural termination, and not es, as, patriarch, patriarchs ; distich, distichs.

Nouns ending in for fe, make their plural by changing f or fe into ves, as, calf, calves; knife, knives. Except hoof, roof, grief, dwarf, mischief, handkerchief, relief, muff, ruff, cuff, snuff, stuff, puff, cliff, skiff, with a few others, which in the formation of their plurals follow the general rule.

Nouns in o impure form their plural by adding es, as, hero, heroes; echo, echoes: those which end in o pure by adding s, as, folio, folios.

Some nouns have their plural in en, thus following the Teutonic termination, as, ox, oxen ; man, men.

Some are entirely anomalous, as, die, dice; penny, pence; goose, geese; sow, swine; and brother makes brethren*, when denoting persons of the same society or profession. Die, a stamp for coining, makes dies in the plural.

Index makes in the plural indexes, when it expresses a table of contents, and indices, when it denotes the exponent of an algebraic quantity.

Some are used alike in both numbers, as, hoset, deer, sheep, these being either singular or plural.

Nouns expressive of whatever nature or art has made double or plural have no singular, as, bowels, lungs, scissors, ashes, bellows.

"These men were

* Brethren, in scripture, is used for brothers. † The obsolete plural occurs in the Bible. bound in their hosen and hats. - Dan. iii. 21.