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

has contrived to render this idea of their throwing of the mountains, which in itself has so much grandeur, burlesque and ridiculous."—Dr. Blair cor. "To which not only no other writings are to be preferred, but to which, even in divers respects, none are comparable."—Barclay cor. "To distinguish them in the understanding, and treat of their several natures, in the same cool manner that we use with regard to other ideas."—Sheridan cor. "For it has nothing to do with parsing, or the analyzing of language."—Kirkham cor. Or: "For it has nothing to do with the parsing, or analyzing, of language."—Id. "Neither has that language [the Latin] ever been so common in Britain."—Swift cor. "All that I purpose, is, to give some openings into the pleasures of taste."—Dr. Blair cor. "But the following sentences would have been better without it."—L. Murray cor. "But I think the following sentence would be better without it." Or: "But I think it should be expunged from the following sentence."— Priestley cor. "They appear, in this case, like ugly excrescences jutting out from the body."—Dr. Blair cor. "And therefore the fable of the Harpies, in the third book of the Æneid, and the allegory of Sin and Death, in the second book of Paradise Lost, ought not to have been inserted in these celebrated poems."—Id. "Ellipsis is an elegant suppression, or omission, of some word or words, belonging to a sentence."—Brit. Gram. and Buchanan cor. "The article A or AN is not very proper in this construction."—D. Blair cor. "Now suppose the articles had not been dropped from these passages."—Bucke cor. "To have given a separate name to every one of those trees, would have been an endless and impracticable undertaking."—Blair cor. "Ei, in general, has the same sound as long and slender a." Or better: "Ei generally has the sound of long or slender a."—L. Murray cor. "When a conjunction is used with apparent redundance, the insertion of it is called Polysyndeton."—Adam and Gould cor. "EACH, EVERY, EITHER, and NEITHER, denote the persons or things that make up a number, as taken separately or distributively."—M'Culloch cor. "The principal sentence must be expressed by a verb in the indicative, imperative, or potential mood"—S. W. Clark cor. "Hence he is diffuse, where he ought to be urgent."—Dr. Blair cor. "All sorts of subjects admit of explanatory comparisons."—Id. et al. cor. "The present or imperfect participle denotes being, action, or passion, continued, and not perfected."—Kirkham cor. "What are verbs? Those words which chiefly express what is said of things."—Fowle cor.

   "Of all those arts in which the wise excel,
    The very masterpiece is writing-well."—Sheffield cor.

    "Such was that muse whose rules and practice tell,
    That art's chief masterpiece is writing-well."—Pope cor.

LESSON XIV.—OF THREE ERRORS.

"From some words, the metaphorical sense has justled out the original sense altogether; so that, in respect to the latter, they have become obsolete."—Campbell cor. "Surely, never any other mortal was so overwhelmed with grief, as I am at this present moment."—Sheridan cor. "All languages differ from one an other in their modes of inflection."—Bullions cor. "The noun and the verb are the only indispensable parts of speech: the one, to express the subject spoken of; and the other, the predicate, or what is affirmed of the subject."—M'Culloch cor. "The words Italicized in the last three examples, perform the office of substantives."—L. Murray cor. "A sentence so constructed is always a mark of carelessness in the writer."—Dr. Blair cor. "Nothing is more hurtful to the grace or the vivacity of a period, than superfluous and dragging words at the conclusion."—Id. "When its substantive is not expressed with it, but is referred to, being understood."—Lowth cor. "Yet they always have substantives belonging to them, either expressed or understood."—Id. "Because they define and limit the import of the common names, or general terms, to which they refer."—Id. "Every new object surprises them, terrifies them, and makes a strong impression on their minds."—Dr. Blair cor. "His argument required a more full development, in order to be distinctly apprehended, and to have its due force."—Id. "Those participles which are derived from active-transitive verbs, will govern the objective case, as do the verbs from which they are derived."—Emmons cor. "Where, in violation of the rule, the objective case whom follows the verb, while the nominative I precedes it."—L. Murray cor. "To use, after the same conjunction, both the indicative and the subjunctive mood, in the same sentence, and under the same circumstances, seems to be a great impropriety."—Lowth, Murray, et al. cor. "A nice discernment of the import of words, and an accurate attention to the best usage, are necessary on these occasions."—L. Murray cor. "The Greeks and Romans, the former especially, were, in truth, much more musical than we are; their genius was more turned to take delight in the melody of speech."—Dr. Blair cor. "In general, if the sense admits it early, the sooner a circumstance is introduced, the better; that the more important and significant words may possess the last place, and be quite disencumbered."—Murray et al. cor.; also Blair and Jamieson. "Thus we find it in both the Greek and the Latin tongue."—Dr. Blair cor. "Several sentences, constructed in the same manner, and having the same number of members, should never be allowed to come in succession."— Blair et al. cor. "I proceed to lay down the rules to be observed in the conduct of metaphors; and these, with little variation, will be applicable to tropes of every kind."—Dr. Blair cor. "By selecting words with a proper regard to their sounds, we may often imitate other sounds which we mean to describe."—Dr. Blair and L. Mur. cor. "The disguise can scarcely be so perfect as to deceive."—Dr. Blair cor. "The sense does not admit of any other pause, than one after the second syllable 'sit;' this therefore must be the only pause made in the reading."—Id. "Not that I believe North America to have been first peopled so lately as in the twelfth century, the period of Madoc's migration."—Webster cor. "Money and commodities will always flow to that country in which they are most wanted, and in which they will command the most profit."—Id. "That it contains no visible marks of certain articles which are of the utmost importance to a just delivery."—Sheridan cor. "And Virtue, from her beauty, we call a fair and favourite maid."—Mack cor. "The definite article may relate to nouns of either number."—Inf. S. Gram. cor.

LESSON XV.—OF MANY ERRORS.

(1.) "Compound words are[, by L. Murray and others, improperly] included among the derivatives."—L. Murray corrected. (2.) "The Apostrophe, placed above the line, thus ', is used to abbreviate or shorten words. But its chief use is, to denote the possessive case of nouns."—Id. (3.) "The Hyphen, made thus -, connects the parts of compound words. It is also used when a word is divided."—Id. (4.) "The Acute Accent, made thus ´, denotes the syllable on which stress is laid, and sometimes also, that the vowel is short: as, 'Fáncy.' The Grave Accent, made thus `, usually denotes, (when applied to English words,) that the stress is laid where a vowel ends the syllable: as, 'Fàvour.'"—Id. (5.) "The stress is laid on long vowels or syllables, and on short ones, indiscriminately. In order to distinguish the long or open vowels from the close or short ones, some writers of dictionaries have placed the grave accent on the former, and the acute on the latter."—Id. (6.) "The Diæresis, thus made ¨, is placed over one of two contiguous vowels, to show that they are not a diphthong."—Id. (7.) "The Section, made thus §, is sometimes used to mark the subdivisions of a discourse or chapter."—Id. (8.) "The Paragraph, made thus ¶, sometimes denotes the beginning of a new subject, or of a passage not connected with the text preceding. This character is now seldom used [for such a purpose], except in the Old and New Testaments." Or better:—"except in the Bible."—Id. (9.) "The Quotation Points, written thus " ", mark the beginning and the end of what is quoted or transcribed from some speaker or author, in his own words. In type, they are inverted commas at the beginning, apostrophes at the conclusion."—Id. (10.) "The Brace was formerly used in poetry at the end of a triplet, or where three lines rhymed together in heroic verse; it also serves to connect several terms with one, when the one is common to all, and thus to prevent a repetition of the common term."—Id. (11.) "Several asterisks put together, generally denote the omission of some letters belonging to a word, or of some bold or indelicate expression; but sometimes they imply a defect in the manuscript from which the text is copied."—Id. (12.) "The Ellipsis, made thus ——, or thus ****, is used where some letters of a word, or some words of a verse, are omitted."—Id. (13.) "The Obelisk, which is made thus [Obelisk]; and the Parallels, which are made thus ||; and sometimes the letters of the alphabet; and also the Arabic figures; are used as references to notes in the margin, or at the bottom, of the page."—Id. (14.) "The note of interrogation should not be employed, where it is only said that a question has been asked, and where the words are not used as a question; as, 'The Cyprians asked me why I wept.'"—Id. et al. cor. (15.) "The note of interrogation is improper after mere expressions of admiration, or of any other emotion, though they may bear the form of questions."—Iid. (16.) "The parenthesis incloses something which is thrown into the body of a sentence, in an under tone; and which affects neither the sense, nor the construction, of the main text."—Lowth cor. (17.) "Simple members connected by a relative not used restrictively, or by a conjunction that implies comparison, are for the most part divided by the comma."—Id. (18.) "Simple members, or sentences, connected as terms of comparison, are for the most part separated by the comma."—L. Murray et al. cor. (19.) "Simple sentences connected by a comparative particle, are for the most part divided by the comma."—Russell cor. (20.) "Simple sentences or clauses connected to form a comparison, should generally be parted by the comma."—Merchant cor. (21.) "The simple members of sentences that express contrast or comparison, should generally be divided by the comma."—Jaudon cor. (22.) "The simple members of a comparative sentence, when they are long, are separated by a comma."—Cooper cor. (23.) "Simple sentences connected to form a comparison, or phrases placed in opposition, or contrast, are usually separated by the comma."—Hiley and Bullions cor. (24.) "On whichever word we lay the emphasis,—whether on the first, the second, the third, or the fourth,—every change of it strikes out a different sense."—L. Murray cor. (25.) "To say to those who do not understand sea phrases, 'We tacked to the larboard, and stood off to sea,' would give them little or no information."—Murray and Hiley cor. (26.) "Of those dissyllables which are sometimes nouns and sometimes verbs, it may be observed, that the verb is commonly accented on the latter syllable, and the noun on the former."—L. Murray cor. (27.) "And this gives to our language an advantage over most others, in the poetical or rhetorical style."—Id. et al. cor. (28.) "And this gives to the English language an advantage over most others, in the poetical and the rhetorical style."—Lowth cor. (29.) "The second and the third scholar may read the same sentence; or as many may repeat the text, as are necessary to teach it perfectly to the whole class."—Osborn cor.

    (30.) "Bliss is the same, in subject, or in king,
          In who obtain defence, or who defend."
        —Pope's Essay on Man, IV, 58.

LESSON XVI.—OF MANY ERRORS.

"The Japanese, the Tonquinese, and the Coreans, speak languages differing from one an other, and from that of the inhabitants of China; while all use the same written characters, and, by means of them, correspond intelligibly with one an other in writing, though ignorant of the language spoken by their correspondents: a plain proof, that the Chinese characters are like hieroglyphics, and essentially independent of language."—Jamieson cor.; also Dr. Blair. "The curved line, in stead of remaining round, is changed to a square one, for the reason before mentioned."—Knight cor. "Every reader should content himself with the use of those tones only, that he is habituated to in speech; and should give to the words no other emphasis, than what he would give to the same words, in discourse. [Or, perhaps the author meant:—and should give to the emphatic words no other intonation, than what he would give, &c.] Thus, whatever he utters, will be delivered with ease, and will appear natural."—Sheridan cor. "A stop, or pause, is a total cessation of sound, during a perceptible, and, in musical or poetical compositions, a measurable space of time."— Id. "Pauses, or rests, in speaking or reading, are total cessations of the voice, during perceptible, and, in many cases, measurable spaces of time."—L. Murray et al. cor. "Those derivative nouns which denote small things of