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the grammar of english grammars 1 the grammar of english grammars project gutenberg s the grammar of english grammars by gould brown this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever you may copy it give it away or re-use it under the terms of the project gutenberg license included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.net title the grammar of english grammars author gould brown release date march 17 2004 [ebook #11615 language english character set encoding iso-8859-1 start of this project gutenberg ebook the grammar of english grammars produced by karl hagen and the online distributed proofreading team transcriber s notes despite the severity with which the author of this work treats those who depart from his standard of correctness the source text does contain a small number of typographical errors missing punctuation has been supplied silently but all other errors have been left uncorrected to let the reader distinguish such problems from any inadvertent transcription errors that remain i have inserted notes to flag items that appear errors by brown s own standard spellings that are simply different from current practice e.g shakspeare are not noted special characters vowels with macrons are rendered with an equals sign before the vowel vowels with breve marks are rendered with tildes before the vowels kth the grammar of english grammars with an introduction historical and critical the whole methodically arranged and amply illustrated with

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the grammar of english grammars forms of correcting and of parsing improprieties for correction examples for parsing questions for examination exercises for writing observations for the advanced student decisions and proofs for the settlement of disputed points occasional strictures and defences an exhibition of the several methods of analysis and a key to the oral exercises to which are added four appendixes pertaining separately to the four parts of grammar by goold brown author of the institutes of english grammar the first lines of english grammar etc 2 so let great authors have their due that time who is the author of authors be not deprived of his due which is farther and farther to discover truth lord bacon sixth edition revised and improved enlarged by the addition of a copious index of matters by samuel u berrian a m preface the present performance is so far as the end could be reached the fulfillment of a design formed about twenty-seven years ago of one day presenting to the world if i might something like a complete grammar of the english language not a mere work of criticism nor yet a work too tame indecisive and uncritical for in books of either of these sorts our libraries already abound not a mere philosophical investigation of what is general or universal in grammar nor yet a minute detail of what forms only a part of our own philology for either of these plans falls very far short of such a purpose not a mere grammatical compend abstract or compilation sorting with other works already before the public for in the production of school grammars the author had early performed his part and of small treatises on this subject we have long had a superabundance rather than a lack after about fifteen years devoted chiefly to grammatical studies and exercises during most of which time i had been alternately instructing youth in four different languages thinking it practicable to effect some improvement upon the manuals which explain our own i prepared and published for the use of schools a duodecimo volume of about three hundred pages which upon the presumption that its principles were conformable to the best usage and well established thereby i entitled the institutes of english grammar of this work which it is believed has been gradually gaining in reputation and demand ever since its first publication there is no occasion to say more here than that it was the result of diligent study and that it is essentially the nucleus or the groundwork of the present volume.

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the grammar of english grammars 3 with much additional labour the principles contained in the institutes of english grammar have here been not only reaffirmed and rewritten but occasionally improved in expression or amplified in their details new topics new definitions new rules have also been added and all parts of the subject have been illustrated by a multiplicity of new examples and exercises which it has required a long time to amass and arrange to the main doctrines also are here subjoined many new observations and criticisms which are the results of no inconsiderable reading and reflection regarding it as my business and calling to work out the above-mentioned purpose as circumstances might permit i have laid no claim to genius none to infallibility but i have endeavoured to be accurate and aspired to be useful and it is a part of my plan that the reader of this volume shall never through my fault be left in doubt as to the origin of any thing it contains it is but the duty of an author to give every needful facility for a fair estimate of his work and whatever authority there may be for anonymous copying in works on grammar the precedent is always bad the success of other labours answerable to moderate wishes has enabled me to pursue this task under favourable circumstances and with an unselfish independent aim not with vainglorious pride but with reverent gratitude to god i acknowledge this advantage giving thanks for the signal mercy which has upborne me to the long-continued effort had the case been otherwise had the labours of the school-room been still demanded for my support the present large volume would never have appeared i had desired some leisure for the completing of this design and to it i scrupled not to sacrifice the profits of my main employment as soon as it could be done without hazard of adding another chapter to the calamities of authors the nature and design of this treatise are perhaps sufficiently developed in connexion with the various topics which are successively treated of in the introduction that method of teaching which i conceive to be the best is also there described and in the grammar itself there will be found occasional directions concerning the manner of its use i have hoped to facilitate the study of the english language not by abridging our grammatical code or by rejecting the common phraseolgy [sic kth of its doctrines but by extending the former improving the latter and establishing both but still more by furnishing new illustrations of the subject and arranging its vast number of particulars in such order that every item may be readily found an other important purpose which in the preparation of this work has been borne constantly in mind and judged worthy of very particular attention was the attempt to settle so far as the most patient investigation and the fullest exhibition of proofs could do it the multitudinous and vexatious disputes which have hitherto divided the sentiments of teachers and made the study of english grammar so uninviting unsatisfactory and unprofitable to the student whose taste demands a reasonable degree of certainty whenever labour implies the exertion of thought it does good at least to the strong when the saving of labour is a saving of thought it enfeebles the mind like the body is strengthened by hard exercise but to give this exercise all its salutary effect it should be of a reasonable kind it should lead us to the perception of regularity of order of principle of a law when after all the trouble we have taken we merely find anomalies and confusion we are disgusted with what is so uncongenial and as our higher faculties have not been called into action they are not unlikely to be outgrown by the lower and overborne as it were by the underwood of our minds hence no doubt one of the reasons why our language has been so much neglected and why such scandalous ignorance prevails concerning its nature and history is its unattractive disheartening irregularity none but satan is fond of plunging into chaos philological museum cambridge eng 1832 vol i p 666 if there be any remedy for the neglect and ignorance here spoken of it must be found in the more effectual teaching of english grammar but the principles of grammar can never have any beneficial influence over any person s manner of speaking or writing till by some process they are made so perfectly familiar that he can apply them with all the readiness of a native power that is till he can apply them not only to what has been

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the grammar of english grammars 4 said or written but to whatever he is about to utter they must present themselves to the mind as by intuition and with the quickness of thought so as to regulate his language before it proceeds from the lips or the pen if they come only by tardy recollection or are called to mind but as contingent afterthoughts they are altogether too late and serve merely to mortify the speaker or writer by reminding him of some deficiency or inaccuracy which there may then be no chance to amend but how shall or can this readiness be acquired i answer by a careful attention to such exercises as are fitted to bring the learner s knowledge into practice the student will therefore find that i have given him something to do as well as something to learn but by the formules and directions in this work he is very carefully shown how to proceed and if he be a tolerable reader it will be his own fault if he does not by such aid become a tolerable grammarian the chief of these exercises are the parsing of what is right and the correcting of what is wrong both perhaps equally important and i have intended to make them equally easy to any real proficient in grammar nothing can be more free from embarrassment than the performance of these exercises in all ordinary cases for grammar rightly learned institutes in the mind a certain knowledge or process of thought concerning the sorts properties and relations of all the words which can be presented in any intelligible sentence and with the initiated a perception of the construction will always instantly follow or accompany a discovery of the sense and instantly too should there be a perception of the error if any of the words are misspelled misjoined misapplied or are in any way unfaithful to the sense intended thus it is the great end of grammar to secure the power of apt expression by causing the principles on which language is constructed if not to be constantly present to the mind at least to pass through it more rapidly than either pen or voice can utter words and where this power resides there cannot but be a proportionate degree of critical skill or of ability to judge of the language of others present what you will grammar directs the mind immediately to a consideration of the sense and if properly taught always creates a discriminating taste which is not less offended by specious absurdities than by the common blunders of clownishness every one who has any pretensions to this art knows that to parse a sentence is but to resolve it according to one s understanding of its import and it is equally clear that the power to correct an erroneous passage usually demands or implies a knowledge of the author s thought but if parsing and correcting are of so great practical importance as our first mention of them suggests it may be well to be more explicit here concerning them the pupil who cannot perform these exercises both accurately and fluently is not truly prepared to perform them at all and has no right to expect from any body a patient hearing a slow and faltering rehearsal of words clearly prescribed yet neither fairly remembered nor understandingly applied is as foreign from parsing or correcting as it is from elegance of diction divide and conquer is the rule here as in many other cases begin with what is simple practise it till it becomes familiar and then proceed no child ever learned to speak by any other process hard things become easy by use and skill is gained by little and little of the whole method of parsing it should be understood that it is to be a critical exercise in utterance as well as an evidence of previous study an exhibition of the learner s attainments in the practice as well as in the theory of grammar and that in any tolerable performance of this exercise there must be an exact adherence to the truth of facts as they occur in the example and to the forms of expression which are prescribed as models in the book for parsing is in no degree a work of invention but wholly an exercise an exertion of skill it is indeed an exercise for all the powers of the mind except the inventive faculty perception judgement reasoning memory and method are indispensable to the performance nothing is to be guessed at or devised or uttered at random if the learner can but rehearse the necessary definitions and rules and perform the simplest exercise of judgement in their application he cannot but perceive what he must say in order to speak the truth in parsing his principal difficulty is in determining the parts of speech to lessen this the trial should commence with easy sentences also with few of the definitions and with definitions that have been perfectly learned this difficulty being surmounted let him follow the forms prescribed for the several praxes of this work and he shall not err the directions and examples given at the head of each exercise will show him exactly the number the order and the proper phraseology of the particulars to be stated so that he may go through the explanation with every advantage which a book can afford there is no hope of him whom these aids will not save from plunging into chaos

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the grammar of english grammars of all the works of man language is the most enduring and partakes the most of eternity and as our own language so far as thought can project itself into the future seems likely to be coeval with the world and to spread vastly beyond even its present immeasurable limits there cannot easily be a nobler object of ambition than to purify and better it philological museum vol i p 665 it was some ambition of the kind here meant awakened by a discovery of the scandalous errors and defects which abound in all our common english grammars that prompted me to undertake the present work now by the bettering of a language i understand little else than the extensive teaching of its just forms according to analogy and the general custom of the most accurate writers this teaching however may well embrace also or be combined with an exposition of the various forms of false grammar by which inaccurate writers have corrupted if not the language itself at least their own style in it 5 with respect to our present english i know not whether any other improvement of it ought to be attempted than the avoiding and correcting of those improprieties and unwarrantable anomalies by which carelessness ignorance and affectation are ever tending to debase it and the careful teaching of its true grammar according to its real importance in education what further amendment is feasible or is worthy to engage attention i will not pretend to say nor do i claim to have been competent to so much as was manifestly desirable within these limits but what i lacked in ability i have endeavored to supply by diligence and what i could conveniently strengthen by better authority than my own i have not failed to support with all that was due of names guillemets and references like every other grammarian i stake my reputation as an author upon a certain set of opinions and a certain manner of exhibiting them appealing to the good sense of my readers for the correctness of both all contrary doctrines are unavoidably censured by him who attempts to sustain his own but to grammatical censures no more importance ought to be attached than what belongs to grammar itself he who cares not to be accurate in the use of language is inconsistent with himself if he be offended at verbal criticism and he who is displeased at finding his opinions rejected is equally so if he cannot prove them to be well founded it is only in cases susceptible of a rule that any writer can be judged deficient i can censure no man for differing from me till i can show him a principle which he ought to follow according to lord kames the standard of taste both in arts and in manners is the common sense of mankind a principle founded in the universal conviction of a common nature in our species see elements of criticism chap xxv vol ii p 364 if this is so the doctrine applies to grammar as fully as to any thing about which criticism may concern itself but to the discerning student or teacher i owe an apology for the abundant condescension with which i have noticed in this volume the works of unskillful grammarians for men of sense have no natural inclination to dwell upon palpable offences against taste and scholarship nor can they be easily persuaded to approve the course of an author who makes it his business to criticise petty productions and is it not a fact that grammatical authorship has sunk so low that no man who is capable of perceiving its multitudinous errors dares now stoop to notice the most flagrant of its abuses or the most successful of its abuses and of the quackery which is now so prevalent what can be a more natural effect than a very general contempt for the study of grammar my apology to the reader therefore is that as the honour of our language demands correctness in all the manuals prepared for schools a just exposition of any that are lacking in this point is a service due to the study of english grammar if not to the authors in question the exposition however that i have made of the errors and defects of other writers is only an incident or underpart of the scheme of this treatise nor have i anywhere exhibited blunders as one that takes delight in their discovery my main design has been to prepare a work which by its own completeness and excellence should deserve the title here chosen but a comprehensive code of false grammar being confessedly the most effectual means of teaching what is true i have thought fit to supply this portion of my book not from anonymous or uncertain sources but from the actual text of other authors and chiefly from the works of professed grammarians.

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chapter i 6 in what regards the laws of grammatical purity says dr campbell the violation is much more conspicuous than the observance see philosophy of rhetoric p 190 it therefore falls in with my main purpose to present to the public in the following ample work a condensed mass of special criticism such as is not elsewhere to be found in any language and if the littleness of the particulars to which the learner s attention is called be reckoned an objection the author last quoted has furnished for me as well as for himself a good apology the elements which enter into the composition of the hugest bodies are subtile and inconsiderable the rudiments of every art and science exhibit at first to the learner the appearance of littleness and insignificancy and it is by attending to such reflections as to a superficial observer would appear minute and hypercritical that language must be improved and eloquence perfected ib p 244 goold brown lynn mass 1851 table of contents preliminary matters preface to the grammar of english grammars this table of contents catalogue of english grammars and grammarians introduction chapter i of the science of grammar chapter ii of grammatical authorship chapter iii of grammatical success and fame chapter iv of the origin of language chapter v of the power of language chapter vi of the origin and history of the english language

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chapter vii 7 chapter vii changes and specimens of the english language chapter viii of the grammatical study of the english language chapter ix of the best method of teaching grammar chapter x of grammatical definitions chapter xi brief notices of the schemes of certain grammars the grammar of english grammars introductory definitions general division of the subject part i orthography chapter i of letters i names of the letters ii classes of the letters iii powers of the letters iv forms of the letters rules for the use of capitals errors concerning capitals promiscuous errors of capitals chapter ii of syllables diphthongs and triphthongs rules for syllabication observations on syllabication errors concerning syllables chapter iii of words rules for the figure of words observations on figure of words on the identity of words errors concerning figure promiscuous errors in figure

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chapter iv 8 chapter iv of spelling rules for spelling observations on spelling errors in spelling promiscuous errors in spelling chapter v questions on orthography chapter vi exercises for writing part ii etymology introductory definitions chapter i of the parts of speech observations on parts of speech examples for parsing praxis i chapter ii of the articles observations on the articles examples for parsing praxis ii errors concerning articles chapter iii of nouns classes of nouns modifications of nouns persons numbers genders cases the declension of nouns examples for parsing praxis iii errors concerning nouns chapter iv of adjectives classes of adjectives modifications of adjectives regular comparison comparison by adverbs irregular comparison examples for parsing praxis iv errors concerning adjectives chapter v of pronouns classes of the pronouns modifications of the pronouns the declension of pronouns examples for parsing praxis v errors concerning pronouns

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chapter vi 9 chapter vi of verbs classes of verbs modifications of verbs moods tenses persons and numbers the conjugation of verbs i simple form active or neuter first example the verb love second example the verb see third example the verb be ii compound or progressive form fourth example to be reading observations on compound forms iii form of passive verbs fifth example to be loved iv form of negation v form of question vi form of question with negation irregular verbs with obs and list redundant verbs with obs and list defective verbs with obs and list examples for parsing praxis vi errors concerning verbs chapter vii of participles classes of participles examples for parsing praxis vii errors concerning participles chapter viii of adverbs classes of adverbs modifications of adverbs examples for parsing praxis viii errors concerning adverbs chapter ix of conjunctions classes of conjunctions list of the conjunctions examples for parsing praxis ix errors concerning conjunctions chapter x of prepositions list of the prepositions examples for parsing praxis x errors concerning prepositions chapter xi of interjections list of the interjections examples for parsing praxis xi errors concerning interjections chapter xii questions on etymology chapter xiii exercises for writing

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part iii syntax 10 part iii syntax introductory definitions chapter i of sentences the rules of syntax general or critical obs on syntax the analyzing of sentences the several methods of analysis observations on methods of analysis examples for parsing praxis xii chapter ii of the articles rule i syntax of articles observations on rule i notes to rule i 17 of them false syntax under notes to rule i chapter iii of cases or nouns rule ii of nominatives observations on rule ii false syntax under rule ii rule iii of apposition observations on rule iii false syntax under rule iii rule iv of possessives observations on rule iv notes to rule iv 5 of them false syntax under notes to rule iv rule v of objectives after verbs observations on rule v notes to rule v 8 of them false syntax under rule v rule vi of same cases observations on rule vi notes to rule vi 2 of them false syntax under rule vi rule vii of objectives after prepositions observations on rule vii note to rule vii 1 only false syntax under rule vii rule viii of nominatives absolute observations on rule viii false syntax under rule viii chapter iv of adjectives rule ix of adjectives observations on rule ix notes to rule ix 16 of them false syntax under rule ix chapter v of pronouns rule x pronoun and antecedent observations on rule x notes to rule x 16 of them false syntax under rule x rule xi pronoun and collective noun observations on rule xi notes to rule xi 2 of them false syntax under rule xi rule xii pronoun after and observations on rule xii false syntax under rule xii rule xiii pronoun after or or nor observations on rule xiii false syntax under rule xiii chapter vi of verbs rule xiv verb and nominative observations on rule xiv notes to rule xiv 10 of them false syntax under rule xiv rule xv verb and collective noun observations on rule xv note to rule xv 1 only false syntax under rule xv rule xvi the verb after and observations on rule xvi notes to rule xvi 7 of them false syntax under rule xvi rule xvii the verb with or or nor observations on rule xvii notes to rule xvii 15 of them false syntax under rule xvii rule xviii of infinitives with to observations on rule xviii false syntax under rule xviii rule xix of infinitives without to

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chapter vi observations on rule xix false syntax under rule xix 11 chapter vii of participles rule xx syntax of participles observations on rule xx notes to rule xx 13 of them false syntax under rule xx chapter viii of adverbs rule xxi relation of adverbs observations on rule xxi notes to rule xxi 10 of them false syntax under rule xxi chapter ix of conjunctions rule xxii use of conjunctions observations on rule xxii notes to rule xxii 8 of them false syntax under rule xxii chapter x of prepositions rule xxiii use of prepositions observations on rule xxiii notes to rule xxiii 5 of them false syntax under rule xxiii chapter xi of interjections rule xxiv for interjections observations on rule xxiv false syntax promiscuous examples for parsing praxis xiii chapter xii general review false syntax for a general review chapter xiii general rule of syntax critical notes to the general rule general observations on the syntax false syntax under the general rule false syntax under the critical notes promiscuous examples of false syntax chapter xiv questions on syntax

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chapter xv 12 chapter xv exercises for writing part iv prosody introductory definitions and observations chapter i punctuation obs on pauses points names &c section i the comma its 17 rules errors concerning the comma section ii the semicolon its 3 rules errors concerning the semicolon mixed examples of error section iii the colon its 3 rules errors concerning the colon mixed examples of error section iv the period its 8 rules observations on the period errors concerning the period mixed examples of error section v the dash its 3 rules observations on the dash errors concerning the dash mixed examples of error section vi the eroteme its 3 rules observations on the eroteme errors concerning the eroteme mixed examples of error section vii the ecphoneme its 3 rules errors concerning the ecphoneme mixed examples of error section viii the curves and their 2 rules errors concerning the curves mixed examples of error section ix the other marks mixed examples of error bad english badly pointed chapter ii of utterance section i of articulation article i of the definition article ii of good articulation section ii of pronunciation article i powers of letters article ii of quantity article iii of accent section iii of elocution article i of emphasis article ii of pauses article iii of inflections article iv of tones chapter iii of figures section i figures of orthography section ii figures of etymology section iii figures of syntax section iv figures of rhetoric section v examples for parsing praxis xiv chapter iv of versification section i of verse definitions and principles observations on verse section ii of accent and quantity section iii of poetic feet critical observations on theories section iv of the kinds of verse order i iambic verse its 8 measures order ii trochaic verse its nature observations on trochaic metre trochaics shown in their 8 measures order iii anapestic verse its 4 measures observations on the short anapestics order iv dactylic verse its 8 measures observations on dactylics order v composite verse observations on composites section v improprieties for correction

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chapter v 13 chapter v questions on prosody chapter vi exercises for writing key to the oral exercises the key part i orthography chapter i of letters capitals corrections under each of the 16 rules promiscuous corrections of capitals chapter ii of syllables corrections of false syllabication chapter iii of the figure of words corrections under each of the 6 rules promiscuous corrections of figure chapter iv of spelling corrections under each of the 15 rules promiscuous corrections of spelling the key part ii etymology chapter i of the parts of speech remark concerning false etymology

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chapter ii 14 chapter ii of articles 5 lessons chapter iii of nouns 3 lessons chapter iv of adjectives 3 lessons chapter v of pronouns 3 lessons chapter vi of verbs 3 lessons chapter vii of participles 3 lessons chapter viii of adverbs 1 lesson chapter ix of conjunctions 1 lesson chapter x of prepositions 1 lesson chapter xi of interjections 1 lesson the key

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part iii syntax 15 part iii syntax chapter i of sentences remark chapter ii of articles corrections under the 17 notes to rule 1 chapter iii of cases or nouns cor under rule ii of nominatives cor under rule iii of apposition cor under rule iv of possessives cor under rule v of objectives cor under rule vi of same cases cor under rule vii of objectives cor under rule viii of nom absolute chapter iv of adjectives corrections under the 16 notes to rule ix chapter v of pronouns corrections under rule x and its 16 notes corrections under rule xi of pronouns cor under rule xii of pronouns cor under rule xiii of pronouns chapter vi of verbs corrections under rule xiv and its 10 notes cor under rule xv and its note cor under rule xvi and its 7 notes cor under rule xvii and its 15 notes cor under rule xviii of infinitives cor under rule xix of infinitives chapter vii of participles corrections under the 13 notes to rule xx chapter viii of adverbs corrections under the 10 notes to rule xxi

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