Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/429

 by supplying a verb we may easily parse them as adverbs. I neither adopt the notion of Horne Tooke, that the same word cannot belong to different parts of speech, nor refer every word to that class to which it may at first sight appear to belong; for both of these methods are impracticable and absurd. The essential nature of each part of speech, and every important peculiarity of its individual terms, it is hoped, will be sufficiently explained in some part or other of this work; but, as the classification of words often depends upon their construction, some explanations that go to determine the parts of speech, must be looked for under the head of Syntax.

OBS. 7.--The proper classification, or subdivision, of adverbs, though it does not appear to have been discovered by any of our earlier grammarians, is certainly very clearly indicated by the meaning and nature of the words themselves. The four important circumstances of any event or assertion, are the when, the where, the how-much, and the how; or the time, the place, the degree, and the manner. These four are the things which we usually express by adverbs. And seldom, if ever, do we find any adverb the notion of which does not correspond to that of ''sometime, somewhere, somewhat, or somehow''. Hence, the general classes of this sort of words ought to be formed under these four heads. The classification heretofore most commonly adopted in English grammar, has every fault which the spirit of awkwardness could possibly give it. The head of it is this: "Adverbs, though very numerous, may be reduced to certain classes, the chief of which are those of Number, Order, Place, Time, Quantity, Manner or Quality, Doubt, Affirmation, Negation, Interrogation, and Comparison."--Murray's Gram., p. 115; Comly's, 66; Kirkham's, 86; R. C. Smith's, 34; Hall's, 26; and others.

CLASSES.

Adverbs may be reduced to four general classes; namely, adverbs of time, of place, of degree, and of manner. Besides these, it is proper to distinguish the particular class of conjunctive adverbs.

I. Adverbs of time are those which answer to the question, ''When? How long? How soon? or, How often?'' including these which ask.

OBS.--Adverbs of time may be subdivided as follows:--

1. Of time present; as, ''Now, yet, to-day, nowadays, presently, instantly, immediately, straightway, directly, forthwith''.

2. Of time past; as, ''Already, just now, lately, recently, yesterday, formerly, anciently, once, heretofore, hitherto, since, till now, long ago, erewhile, erst''.

3. Of time to come; as, ''To-morrow, hereafter, henceforth, henceforward, by-and-by, soon, erelong, shortly''.

4. Of time relative; as, ''When, then, first, just, before, after, while, whilst, meanwhile, as, till, until, seasonably, betimes, early, late, whenever, afterward, afterwards, otherwhile, otherwhiles''.

5. Of time absolute; as, ''Always, ever, never, aye, eternally, forever, perpetually, continually, incessantly, endlessly, evermore, everlastingly''.

6. Of time repeated; as, ''Often, oft, again, occasionally, frequently, sometimes, seldom, rarely, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, annually, once, twice, thrice, or three times''. Above this, we use only the phrases four times, five times, six times, &c. Whether these ought to be reckoned adverbs, or not, is questionable: times, for repetitions, or instances, may be supposed a noun; but such phrases often appear to be used adverbially.

II. Adverbs of place are those which answer to the question, ''Where? Whither? Whence? or, Whereabout?'' including these which ask.

OBS.--Adverbs of place may be subdivided as follows:--

1. Of place in which; as, ''Where, here, there, yonder, above, below, about, around, somewhere, anywhere, elsewhere, otherwhere, everywhere, nowhere, wherever, wheresoever, within, without, whereabout, whereabouts, hereabout, hereabouts, thereabout, thereabouts''.

2. Of place to which; as, ''Whither, hither, thither, in, up, down, back, forth, aside, ashore, abroad, aloft, home, homewards, inwards, upwards, downwards, backwards, forwards''. ''Inward, homeward, upward, downward, backward, and forward'', are also adverbs, as well as adjectives; but some critics, for distinction's sake, choose to use these only as adjectives.

3. Of place from which; as, ''Whence, hence, thence, away, out, off, far, remotely''.

4. Of the order of place; as, First, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, &c. Thus, secondly means in the second place; ''thirdly, in the third place''; &c. For order, or rank, implies place, though it may consist of relative degrees.

III. Adverbs of degree are those which answer to the question, ''How much? How little? or, to the idea of more or less''.

OBS.--Adverbs of degree may be subdivided as follows:--

1. Of excess or abundance; as, ''Much, more, most, too, very, greatly, far, besides; chiefly, principally, mainly, mostly, generally; entirely, full, fully, completely, perfectly, wholly, totally, altogether, all, quite, clear, stark; exceedingly, excessively, extravagantly, intolerably; immeasurably, inconceivably, infinitely''.

2. Of equality or sufficiency; as, ''Enough, sufficiently, competently, adequately, proportionally, equally, so, as, even, just, exactly,