Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/456

 mes improperly written for the interjection ah; as, ay me! for ah me! and still oftener we find oh, an interjection of sorrow, pain, or surprise,[321] written in stead of O, the proper sign of wishing, earnestness, or vocative address: as,

"Oh Happiness! our being's end and aim!" --''Pope, Ess. Ep.'' iv, l. 1.

"And peace, oh Virtue! peace is all thy own." --Id., ib., Ep. iv, l. 82.

"Oh stay, O pride of Greece! Ulysses, stay!   O cease thy course, and listen to our lay!" --Odys., B. xii, 1 222.

OBS. 3.--The chief characteristics of the interjection are independence, exclamation, and the want of any definable signification. Yet not all the words or signs which we refer to this class, will be found to coincide in all these marks of an interjection. Indeed the last, (the want of a rational meaning,) would seem to exclude them from the language; for words must needs be significant of something. Hence many grammarians deny that mere sounds of the voice have any more claim to be reckoned among the parts of speech, than the neighing of a horse, or the lowing of a cow. There is some reason in this; but in fact the reference which these sounds have to the feelings of those who utter them, is to some extent instinctively understood; and does constitute a sort of significance, though we cannot really define it. And, as their use in language, or in connexion with language, makes it necessary to assign them a place in grammar, it is certainly more proper to treat them as above, than to follow the plan of the Greek grammarians, most of whom throw all the interjections into the class of adverbs.

OBS. 4.--Significant words uttered independently, after the manner of interjections, ought in general, perhaps, to be referred to their original classes; for all such expressions may be supposed elliptical: as, "Order! gentlemen, order!" i.e., "Come to order,"--or, "Keep order." "Silence!" i.e., "Preserve silence." "Out! out!" i.e., "Get out,"--or, "Clear out!" (See Obs. 5th and 6th, upon Adverbs.)

"Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!   Were the last words of Marmion."--Scott.

OBS. 5.--In some instances, interjections seem to be taken substantively and made nouns; as,

"I may sit in a corner, and cry hey-ho for a husband."--Shak.

So, according to James White, in his Essay on the Verb, is the word fie, in the following example:

"If you deny me, fie upon your law."--SHAK.: White's Verb, p. 163.

EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS XI.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

''In the Eleventh Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and define the different parts of speech, and ALL their classes and modifications.

The definitions to be given in the Eleventh Praxis, are, two for an article, six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven for a verb finite, five for an infinitive, two for a participle, two (and sometimes three) for an adverb, two for a conjunction, one for a preposition, and two for an interjection. Thus'':--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"O! sooner shall the earth and stars fall into chaos!"--Brown's Inst., p. 92.

O is an interjection, indicating earnestness. 1. An interjection is a word that is uttered merely to indicate some strong or sudden emotion of the mind. 2. The interjection of wishing, earnestness, or vocative address, is O.

Sooner is an adverb of time, of the comparative degree; compared, ''soon, sooner, soonest''. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner. 2. Adverbs of time are those which answer to the question, ''When? How long? How soon? or, How often?'' including these which ask. 3. The comparative degree is that which is more or less than something contrasted with it.

Shall is an auxiliary to fall. 1. An auxiliary is a short verb prefixed to one of the principal parts of an other verb, to express some particular mode and time of the being, action, or passion.

The is the definite article. 1. An article is the word the, an, or a, which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite article is the, which denotes some particular thing or things.

Earth is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

And is a copulative conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so connected. 2. A copulative conjunction is a conjunction that denotes an addition, a cause, a consequence, or a supposition.

Stars is a common noun, of the third person, pl