Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/778

 and present use, is not always uniform in her decisions."--Jamieson's Rhet., p. 44. "Nouns which denote but one object are considered in the singular number."--Edward's First Lessons in Gram., p. 35. "If, therefore, the example of Jesus should be plead to authorize accepting an invitation to dine on the sabbath, it should be plead just as it was."--Barnes's Notes: on Luke, xiv, 1. "The teacher will readily dictate what part may be omitted, the first time going through it."--Ainsworth's Gram., p. 4. "The contents of the following pages have been drawn chiefly, with various modifications, from the same source which has supplied most modern writers on this subject, viz. LINDLEY MURRAY'S GRAMMAR."--Felton's Gram., p. 3. "The term person in grammar distinguishes between the speaker, the person or thing spoken to, and the person or thing spoken of."--Ib., p. 9. "In my father's garden grow the Maiden's Blush and the Prince' Feather."--Felton, ib., p. 15. "A preposition is a word used to connect words with one another, and show the relation between them. They generally stand before nouns and pronouns."--Ib., p. 60. "Nouns or pronouns addressed are always either in the second person, singular or plural."--Hallock's Gram., p. 54. "The plural MEN not ending in s, is the reason for adding the apostrophie's."--T. Smith's Gram., p. 19. "Pennies denote real coin; pence, their value in computation."-- Hazen's Gram., p. 24. "We commence, first, with letters, which is termed Orthography; secondly, with words, denominated Etymology; thirdly, with sentences, styled Syntax; fourthly, with orations and poems, called Prosody."--Barrett's Gram., p. 22. "Care must be taken, that sentences of proper construction and obvious import be not rendered obscure by the too free use of the ellipsis."--Felton's Grammar, Stereotype Edition, p. 80.

EXERCISE XVIII.--PROMISCUOUS.

"Tropes and metaphors so closely resemble each other that it is not always easy, nor is it important to be able to distinguish the one from the other."--Parker and Fox, Part III, p. 66. "With regard to relatives, it may be further observed, that obscurity often arises from the too frequent repetition of them, particularly of the pronouns WHO, and THEY, and THEM, and THEIRS. When we find these personal pronouns crowding too fast upon us, we have often no method left, but to throw the whole sentence into some other form."--Ib., p. 90; Murray's Gram., p. 311; Blair's Rhet., p. 106. "Do scholars acquire any valuable knowledge, by learning to repeat long strings of words, without any definite ideas, or several jumbled together like rubbish in a corner, and apparently with no application, either for the improvement of mind or of language?"-- Cutler's Gram., Pref., p. 5. "The being officiously good natured and civil are things so uncommon in the world, that one cannot hear a man make professions of them without being surprised, or at least, suspecting the disinterestedness of his intentions."--FABLES: Cutler's Gram., p. 135. "Irony is the intentional use of words to express a sense contrary to that which the speaker or writer means to convey."--Parker and Fox's Gram., Part III, p. 68. "The term Substantive is derived from substare, to stand, to distinguish it from an adjective, which cannot, like the noun, stand alone."--Hiley's Gram., p. 11. "They have two numbers, like nouns, the singular and plural; and three persons in each number, namely, I, the first person, represents the speaker. Thou, the second person, represents the person spoken to. He, she, it, the third person, represents the person or thing spoken of."--Ib., p. 23. "He, She, It, is the Third Person singular; but he with others, she with others, or it with others, make each of them they, which is the Third Person plural."--White, on the English Verb, p. 97. "The words had I been, that is, the Third Past Tense of the Verb, marks the Supposition, as referring itself, not to the Present, but to some former period of time."--Ib., p. 88. "A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, to avoid a too frequent repetition of the same word."--Frazee's Improved Gram., p. 122.

"That which he cannot use, and dare not show,   And would not give--why longer should he owe?"--Crabbe. PART IV.

PROSODY.

Prosody treats of punctuation, utterance, figures, and versification.

OBSERVATIONS. {{Smaller block|1=
 * 1) The word prosody (from the Greek πρὀς, to, and ᾠδὴ, song), is, with regard to its derivation, exactly equivalent to accent, or the Latin accentus, which is formed from ad, to, and cantus, song: both terms, perhaps, originally signifying a singing with, or sounding to, some instrument or voice. {{sc|Prosodia}}, as a Latin word, is defined by Littleton, "Pars Grammaticæ quæ docet accentus, h. e. rationem atollendi et depremendi syllabas, tum quantitatem carundem." And in English, "The art of {{sc|Accenting}}, or the rule of pronouncing syllables truly, {{sc|long}} or {{sc|short}}."&mdash;Litt. Dict., 4to. This is a little varied by Ainsworth thus: "The rule of {{sc|Accenting}}, or pronouncing syllables truly, whether {{sc|long}} or {{sc|short}}."&mdash;Ains. Dict., 4to. Accent, in English, belongs