The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown (free ebook reader .txt) 📕

opposition to, or in contrast with, each other, are separated by commas."—Bullions, p. 153; Hiley, 113. (24.) "On which ever word we lay the emphasis, whether on the first, second, third, or fourth, it strikes out a different sense."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 243. (25.) "To inform those who do not understand sea phrases, that, 'We tacked to the larboard, and stood off to sea,' would be expressing ourselves very obscurely."—Ib., p. 296; and Hiley's Gram., p. 151. (26.) "Of dissyllables, which are at once nouns and verbs, the verb has commonly the accent on the latter, and the noun, on the former syllable."—Murray, p. 237. (27.) "And this gives our language a superior advantage to most others, in the poetical and rhetorical style."—Id. ib., p. 38; Ingersoll, 27; Fisk, 57. (28.) "And this gives the English an advantage above most other languages in the poetical and rhetorical style."—Lowth's Gram, p. 19. (29.) "The second and third scholar may read the same sentence; and as many, as it is necessary to learn it perfectly to the whole."—Osborn's Key, p. 4.

(30.) "Bliss is the name in subject as a king,
       In who obtain defence, or who defend."
        —Bullions, E. Gram., p. 178.

LESSON XVI.—MANY ERRORS.

"The Japanese, the Tonquinese, and the Corceans, speak different languages from one another, and from the inhabitants of China, but use, with these last people, the same written characters; a proof that the Chinese characters are like hieroglyphics, independent of language."—Jamieson's Rhet., p. 18. "The Japanese, the Tonquinese, and the Corceans, who speak different languages from one another, and from the inhabitants of China, use, however, the same written characters with them; and by this means correspond intelligibly with each other in writing, though ignorant of the language spoken in their several countries; a plain proof," &c.—Blair's Rhet., p. 67. "The curved line is made square instead of round, for the reason beforementioned."—Knight, on the Greek Alphabet, p. 6. "Every one should content himself with the use of those tones only that he is habituated to in speech, and to give none other to emphasis, but what he would do to the same words in discourse. Thus whatever he utters will be done with ease, and appear natural."—Sheridan's Elocution, p. 103. "Stops, or pauses, are a total cessation of sound during a perceptible, and in numerous compositions, a measurable space of time."—Ib., p. 104. "Pauses or rests, in speaking and reading, are a total cessation of the voice during a perceptible, and, in many cases, a measurable space of time."—Murray's Gram., p. 248; English Reader, p. 13; Goldsbury's Gr., 76; Kirkham's, 208; Felton's, 133; et al. "Nouns which express a small one of the kind are called Diminutive Nouns; as, lambkin, hillock, satchel, gosling, from lamb, hill, sack, goose."—Bullions, E. Gram., 1837, p. 9. "What is the cause that nonsense so often escapes being detected, both by the writer and by the reader?"—Campbell's Rhet., p. xi, and 280. "An Interjection is a word used to express sudden emotion. They are so called, because they are generally thrown in between the parts of a sentence without reference to the structure of the other parts of it."—M'Culloch's Gram., p. 36. "Ought (in duty bound) oughtest, oughtedst, are it's only inflections."—Mackintosh's Gram., p. 165. "But the arrangment, government, agreement, and dependence of one word upon another, are referred to our reason."—Osborn's Key, Pref., p. 3. "Me is a personal pronoun, first person singular, and the accusative case."—Guy's Gram., p. 20. "The substantive self is added to a pronoun; as, herself, himself, &c.; and when thus united, is called a reciprocal pronoun."—Ib., p. 18. "One cannot avoid thinking that our author had done better to have begun the first of these three sentences, with saying, it is novelty which bestows charms on a monster, &c."—Blair's Rhet., p. 207. "The idea which they present to us of nature's resembling art, of art's being considered as an original, and nature as a copy,[451] seems not very distinct nor well brought out, nor indeed very material to our author's purpose."—Ib., p. 220. "The present construction of the sentence, has plainly been owing to hasty and careless writing."—Ib., p. 220. "Adverbs serve to modify, or to denote some circumstance of an action, or of a quality, relative to its time, place, order, degree, and the other properties of it, which we have occasion to specify."—Ib., p. 84. "The more that any nation is improved by science, and the more perfect their language becomes, we may naturally expect that it will abound more with connective particles."—Ib., p. 85. "Mr. Greenleaf's book is by far the best adapted for learners of any that has yet appeared on the subject."—DR. FELTUS and BP. ONDERDONK: Greenleaf's Gram., p. 2. "Punctuation is the art of marking in writing the several pauses, or rests, between sentences, and the parts of sentences, according to their proper quantity or proportion, as they are expressed in a just and accurate pronunciation."—Lowth's Gram., p. 114. "A compound sentence must be resolved into simple ones, and separated by commas."—Greenleaf's Gram., p. 41; Allen Fisk's, 155.[452] "Simple sentences should be separated from each other by commas, unless such sentences are connected by a conjunction: as, 'Youth is passing away, age is approaching and death is near.'"—Hall's Gram., p. 36. "V has the sound of flat f, and bears the same relation to it, as b does to p, d to t, hard g to k, and z to s. It has one uniform sound."—Murray's Gram., p. 17; Fisk's, 42. "V is flat f, and bears the same relation to it as b does to p, d to t, hard g to k, and z to s. It is never irregular."—Walker's Dict., p. 52. "V has the sound of flat f; and bears the same relation to it as z does to s. It has one uniform sound."—Greenleaf's Gram., p. 20. "The author is explaining the distinction, between the powers of sense and imagination in the human mind."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, Vol. i, p. 343. [The author is endeavouring] "to explain a very abstract point, the distinction between the powers of sense and imagination in the human mind."—Blair's Rhet., p. 164. "HE (Anglo-Saxon he) is a Personal pronoun, of the Third Person, Masculine Gender (Decline he), of the singular number, in the nominative case."—Fowler's E. Gram., 8vo, 1850, §589.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER THE CRITICAL NOTES. UNDER CRITICAL NOTE I.—OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

"The passive voice denotes a being acted upon."—Maunders Gram., p. 6.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the term "being acted upon" as here used, suggests a doubt concerning its classification in parsing. But, according to Critical Note 1st, "Words that may constitute different parts of speech, must not be left doubtful as to their classification, or to what part of speech they belong." Therefore, the phraseology should be altered; thus, "The passive voice denotes an action received." Or; "The passive voice denotes the receiving of an action."]

"Milton, in some of his prose works, has very finely turned periods."—Blair's Rhet., p. 127; Jamieson's, 129. "These will be found to be all, or chiefly, of that class."—Blair's Rhet., p. 32. "All appearances of an author's affecting harmony, are disagreeable."—Ib., p. 127; Jamieson, 128. "Some nouns have a double increase, that is, increase by more syllables than one; as, iter, itin~eris."—Adam's Gram., p. 255; Gould's, 241. "The powers of man are enlarged by advancing cultivation."—Gurney's Essays, p. 62. "It is always important to begin well; to make a favourable impression at first setting out."—Blair's Rhet., p. 307. "For if one take a wrong method at first setting out, it will lead him astray in all that follows."—Ib., 313. "His mind is full of his subject, and his words are all expressive."—Ib., 179. "How exquisitely is this all performed in Greek!"—Harris's Hermes, p. 422. "How little is all this to satisfy the ambition of an immortal soul!"— Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 253. "So as to exhibit the object in its full and most striking point of view."—Blair's Rhet., p. 41. "And that the author know how to descend with propriety to the plain, as well as how to rise to the bold and figured style."—Ib., p. 401. "The heart can only answer to the heart."—Ib., p. 259. "Upon its first being perceived."—Harris's Hermes, p. 229. "Call for Samson, that he may make us sport."—Judges, xvi, 25. "And he made them sport."—Ibid. "The term suffer in this definition is used in a technical sense, and means simply the receiving of an action, or the being acted upon."—Bullions, p. 29. "The Text is what is only meant to be taught in Schools."—Brightland, Pref., p. ix. "The perfect participle denotes action or being perfected or finished."— Kirkham's Gram., p. 78. "From the intricacy and confusion which are produced by their being blended together."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 66. "This very circumstance of a word's being employed antithetically, renders it important in the sentence."—Kirkham's Elocution, p. 121. "It [the pronoun that] is applied to both persons and things."—Murray's Gram., p. 53. "Concerning us, as being every where evil spoken of."—Barclay's Works, Vol. ii, p. vi. "Every thing beside was buried in a profound silence."—Steele. "They raise more full conviction than any reasonings produce."—Blair's Rhet., p. 367. "It appears to me no more than a fanciful refinement."—Ib., p. 436. "The regular resolution throughout of a complete passage."—Churchill's Gram., p. vii. "The infinitive is known by its being immediately preceded by the word to."—Maunders Gram., p. 6. "It will not be gaining much ground to urge that the basket, or vase, is understood to be the capital."—Kames, El. of Crit., Vol. ii, p. 356. "The disgust one has to drink ink in reality, is not to the purpose where the subject is drinking ink figuratively."—Ib., ii, 231. "That we run not into the extreme of pruning so very close."—Blair's Rhet., p. 111. "Being obliged to rest for a little on the preposition by itself."—Ib., p. 112; Jamieson's Rhet., 93. "Being obliged to rest a little on the preposition by itself."—Murray's Gram., p. 319. "Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding."—1 Chron., xxix, 15. "There maybe a more particular expression attempted, of certain objects, by means of resembling sounds."—Blair's Rhet., p. 129; Jamieson's, 130; Murray's Gram., 331. "The right disposition of the shade, makes the light and colouring strike the more."—Blair's Rhet., 144. "I observed that a diffuse style inclines most to long periods."—Ib., p. 178. "Their poor Arguments, which they only Pickt up and down the Highway "—Divine Right of Tythes, p. iii. "Which must be little, but a transcribing out of their writings."—Barclay's Works, iii, 353. "That single impulse is a forcing out of almost all the breath."—Rush, on the Voice, p. 254. "Picini compares modulation to the turning off from a road."—Gardiner's Music of Nature, p. 405. "So much has been written, on and off, of almost every subject."—The Friend, ii, 117. "By reading books written by the best authors, his mind became highly improved."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 201. "For I never made the being richly provided a token of a spiritual ministry."—Barclay's Works, iii, 470.

UNDER CRITICAL NOTE II.—OF DOUBTFUL REFERENCE.

"However disagreeable, we must resolutely perform our duty."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 171.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the adjective disagreeable appears to relate to the pronoun we, though such a relation was probably not intended by the author. But, according to Critical Note 2d, "The reference of words to other words, or their syntactical relation according to the sense, should never be left doubtful, by any one who means to be understood." The sentence may be amended thus: "However disagreeable the task, we must resolutely perform our duty."]

"The formation of verbs in English, both regular and irregular, is derived from the Saxon."—Lowth's Gram., p. 47. "Time and chance have an influence on all things human, and on nothing more remarkably than on language."—Campbell's Rhet., p. 180. "Time and chance have an influence on all things human, and on nothing more remarkable than on language."—Jamieson's Rhet., p. 47. "Archytases being a virtuous man, who happened to perish once upon a time, is with him a sufficient ground," &c.—Philological Museum, i, 466. "He will be the better qualified to understand, with accuracy, the meaning of a numerous class of words, in which they form a material part."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 120. "We should continually have the goal in view, which would direct us in the race."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 172. "But [Addison's figures] seem to rise of their own accord from the subject, and constantly embellish it."—Blair's Rhet., p. 150; Jamieson's, 157. "As far as persons and other animals and things that we can see go, it is very easy to distinguish Nouns."—Cobbett's Gram., ¶14. "Dissyllables ending in y, e mute, or accented on the last syllable, may be sometimes compared like monosyllables."—Frost's El. of Gram., p. 12. "Admitting the above objection, it will not overrule the design."—Rush, on the Voice, p. 140. "These philosophical innovators forget, that objects are like men, known only by their