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

Despauter, (Despauterius Joannes,) grammarian, when died
    —his Lat. Gram.
    —his remark on the origin of using plur. pron. of second pers. for
      sing.
    —gives the rule that the verb governs the nominative before it

Diæresis, or dialysis, mark, place and use of
    —explained

Diesis, or double dagger, for what purpose used. Dimeter, line,
iambic, examples of
    —trochaic, do.
    —anapæstic, do.
    —dactylic, do.

Diphthong, defined —Diphthongs, distinction of —enumeration and specification of the Eng.

Discourse, or narration, its nature and requirements

Disjunctive conjunction, defined —Disjunctives, List of —Disjunctive OR, see Or

Distance, see Time, &c.

Distribution, of words into classes, a matter of some difficulty; explanations concerning, for learners —of verbs in Lat., grammarians have disputed respecting

Distributives, of the class pronominal adjectives —Distributive term sing. in apposit. with a plur.

Division, literary, see Literary Division

Do, verb, how varied: —particular uses of —in what manner may be substituted for an other term

Double comparatives and double superlatives, how may be regarded; canon; (LATH. and CHILD)

Double negatives, see Negation, and Negatives

Doubling of the final consonant before additional syll.; not doubling,
before do.
    —Double letter retained
    —Doubling, certain letters incline to; others, do not

Doubtful case after a part., in what kind of examples found; the construc. to be avoided

Drink, verb, grammarians greatly at variance respecting the pret. and the perf. part. of

Dual number, found in Gr. and in Arab., what denotes

Duplication, see Doubling

Du Vivier, G., his Grammaire des Grammaires, and his Traité des Participes, a copious treatment of the Fr. participle

 E, (as A, O, I, and U,) self-naming:
    —how spoken and written
    —its plur.
    —sounds properly its own
    —final, mute, and to what belongs; exceptions
    —effect on preced. vowel, of e mute after a sing. conson., or after
      st, or th
    —diphthongs beginning with
    —triphthongs do.

Each, pronom. adj., always of the third pers. sing.; its agreements. Each other, see Other

Ecphoneme, or note of exclamation —occasional introduction into the classics —diversely called by MURR. et al. —for what used, and of what a sign —Rules for the application of

Ecphonesis, defined

Either and neither, pronom. adjectives, relate to two only
    —M. HARR. on the illegit. use of
    —their numb. and pers.; what agreements they require, when they are
      the leading words in their clauses
    —derivation of, from the Sax.

Either
    —or, neither
    —nor, corresponsives:
    —transposed, with repeated disjunction or negat.

Elegiac stanza, description of

Elementary sound, or elements of speech, defined. See Sounds

Ellipsis, figure defined
    —either not defined by grammarians in general, or absurdly defined
    —frequent in comp. sentences
    —to be supplied in parsing
    —supposed, may change the construc. without affecting the sense
    —the principle of, as explaining several questionable but customary
      expressions, ("Fair and softly GOES far")
    —MURR. on "THE ellipsis"
    —Ellipsis supplied, EXAMPLES of
    —Needless ellipses, the supposition of, to be avoided
    —Ellipses, faulty, as opposed to perspicuity, PREC. against.
      Ellipsis, or suppression, mark of, how figured, and what used to
      denote

Elliptical construction of nouns, ("A horse, a horse," &c., SHAK.)

Elocution, defined

Else, other, &c., with than, in exclusive comparisons —Else or other, sometimes construed with besides —Else, derivation of

Emphasis, defined: —comparative view of accent and —as connected with quantity, MURR. —as affecting accent —what the guide to a right. —Emphatic words, not to be multiplied

Enallage, defined —signif. of the Gr. word —special application of the term —with what other terms synonymous —the most common forms of, in Eng. —examples of, how differ from solecisms —too much latitude was given to the fig. by Despauter, and by others

Enallixis, see Enallage

Ending of a sentence with an adv., a prep., or any inconsid. word or phrase, PREC. concerning

English Grammar, see Grammar

English language, some account of its origin
    —its character
    —its simplicity and facility asserted by LOWTH
    —its chief defect, according to DR. JOH.

Enumeration of numbers, see Addition

Epicene nouns, see Generic Names Epithets, new compound, poets frequently form

Equivalence, the argument of, has often led into errors

Equivocal, or ambiguous construc. of cases, to be avoided —of rel. pron., by misplacement —of prep. with converted part., how amended —of the word but, ("There cannot be BUT one," &c.) —of words, leaving the classification doubtful, Crit. N. concerning —Equiv., or ambig. expressions, as opposed to propriety, PREC. against

Eroteme, its form in Greek
    —derivation; fitness of the name
    —diversely called by MURR. et al.
    —its use
    —Rules for do.
    —its value as a sign of pause
    —retained by a quoted question

Erotesis, explained

Errors, incorrigible, Crit. N. concerning

ETYMOLOGY
    —Etymol., of what treats
    —when and how should be taught
    —figures of, term defined; the principal do., named and defined
    —Etymology and meaning of words, HARRIS on the usefulness of
      disquisitions into

Ever, contrac., e'er; so in comp. rel. pronouns
    —Ever a one, contrac. by the comm. people into e'er a one
    —Ever and never, opposite to each other in sense, yet freq.
      confounded and misapplied; canon on the employment of
    —Ever so, (prop., everso,) signif. of
    —Ever so wisely, its propriety determined, against the false
      phraseology never so wisely
    —Ever, derivation of, from Sax.

Example, as used in teaching, meaning of
    —Examples, use of capitals in

Exception, noun, and except, verb, whether more properly followed by from or by to

Exclamation, note of, (see Ecphoneme) —Exclamation, nom. absolute by —the case of nouns used in

Exclusive and inclusive terms of a comparison

Exercise, in grammar, what

Expecting, &c., verbs of, see Commanding

Extended compositions, gradation of the parts in

F, its name and plur. numb. —final in monosyllables, to be doubled —formation of the plur. of nouns in, and in ff —its sound

Fable, how may be defined
    —What the term denotes in the Scriptures

Fall short of, make bold with, &c., how the adjective in such phrases is to be explained in parsing

False identification, (under synt. of SAME CASES,) Note exposing the error of

Falsities in sentences, Crit. N. directed against

Feel, its construc. with the infin.

Few and many, form and construc. of. Fewer, see Little

FIGURES, treated
    —Figure, in gram., what
    —Figures, distinctive names of some; frequent occurrence of those of
      rhetoric
    —Figure of words, signif. of the term
    —Figure of words, Rules for
    —suggestions additional to do.
    —unsettled and variable usage in that which relates to
    —Figure of orthog., what; what the principal figures of do.
    —Figure of etymol., what
    —Figures of etymol., the principal, named and defined
    —Figure of synt., what
    —Figures of synt., the principal, named and defined
    —Figure of rhet., what
    —Figures of rhet., why certain are called tropes
    —on what mostly founded
    —the principal, named and defined
    —affect the agreem. of pronouns with their antecedents
    —Figures, how many BROWN deems it needful to define and illustrate
    —Figures, definitions of sundry, in the lang. of authors,
      corrected, KEY. Figures, Arabic, in what cases pointed by some

Final f, l, or s, in spelling; other finals than, in do. —ck or c, use of —ll, to what confined —e of a primitive, when omitted; when retained —y of a prim. word before a terminat., how managed —ise or ize, which termination to be taken —Finals, what letters may assume the position of; what may not, and why

Finite verbs, agreem. of, with subjects, a principle of Univ. Gram.
    —Rules concerning
    —Fin. verb understood, punct. of First words, initial capital to
    —faulty practice of grammarians with respect to

Foot, poetic, see Poetic Feet

Foreign words or idioms, unnecessary use of, in opposition to purity

For, with all, as equivalent to although
    —For as much as, &c., having the nature of conjunctions
    —For that
    —For, with perf. part., ("FOR lost")
    —with ever
    —before TO and infin.
    —as introducing its object before an infin.. For, conj., because,
      from Sax.; anc. expressed for that

Forever, or for ever, its class

Former and latter, nature and applic. of Forms of letters, in type or
character
    —Forms OF VERBS, a knowledge of THE TRUE, nothing more important in
      gram. than Forsooth, signif. and use of

Friends, the Society of; their employment, in familiar discourse, of the
sing. pron. of the second pers.
    —generally neglect to compound their numeral names of the months and
      days
    —their misemployment of thee for thou
    —their manner of speaking, different from the solemn style
    —examples of their manner of forming the verb with the pron. thou;
      their simplificat. of the verb

From, derivation of, from Sax. —From forth, from out, construc. of, explained —Off from, examp. of the use of

Full, in permanent compounds, how written; in temporary do., do. —compounds in, (spoonful, handful, &c.,) how pluralized

Future, contingency, how best expressed

Future tense, FIRST, how formed, and what expresses —SECOND, do., do., and how varied

Futurity, often denoted by the infin., ("The world TO COME")

G, its name and plur. —its sounds —when silent —Gh, sounds of, and silence

Gardiner, W., his new analysis of the Eng. alphab., noticed

Genders, term defined
    —Genders, the diff., named and defined
    —on what founded, and to what belong
    —Gender, inconsistent views of, as given by many of the grammarians;
      WELLS and MURR. criticised
    —confounded with sex by some writers; others otherwise confuse the
      matter
    —Common gender, of the old grammarians, the term objectionable with
      respect to Eng.
    —Gender, how in many instances determined
    —figuratively ascribed, how indicated
    —denoted by he and she prefixed to nouns
    —denied by MURR. et al. to pronouns of the first and second persons
    —of pron., the preference of, when joint antecedents are of
      different genders

General truths and customary actions, to be expressed by the indic. pres.

Generic names, sense and construc. of

"Genitives, double," discovered by our grammarians, the true explanation of all such

Gentile names, nature and construc. of

German language, form of its type —use of the comma less freq. in, than in Eng.

Gerund, Lat., explanation of
    —what form of an Eng. participle corresponds to
    —"Gerund in English," how becomes "a substantive," according to DR.
      ADAM et al., Gerundives, what

Giving, paying, procuring, &c., verbs of, with ellips. of to or for before the objective of the person

GOVERNMENT, of words, defined
    —to what parts of speech has respect
    —the rules of, whether to be applied to the governing or the governed
      words
    —do., how many in the best Lat. grammars; usual faults in the
      distribution of these
    —Governments in Eng. synt. how many
    —false, examples of, cited from grammarians

Grecism, literal, in Eng., ("Before Abraham was, I AM") comp.

GRAMMAR, defined
    —An English Grammar, what professes to be
    —ENGLISH GRAMMAR, what in itself; what knowledge implies
    —when worthy to be named a science
    —Grammar, how to be taught, and its principles how made known
    —the true principles of, in whose possession
    —a rule of, what
    —Grammar, how divided; its parts, of what severally treat
    —what it requires
    —rightly learned, what ability it confers
    —what many vain pretenders to, have shown by their works
    —on questions of, the practice of authors should have more weight than
      the dogmatism of grammarians. Grammars of different languages, how
      far must needs differ; strictures on those of PROF. BULL., A grammar
      designed for English, the chief end of. Grammatical doctrine, the
      truth of, in what consists

Granting, supposing, &c., see Admitting

Grave accent, as opposed to acute —as preserving the vocality of e

Greek alphabet, characters of, shown and named

Guillemets, or quotation points, what words they distinguish —how applied to a quotation within a quotation