Hieroglyfic: or, a Grammatical Introduction to an Universal Hieroglyfic Language

Of Pronouns or general Personates.

Pronouns, so called from their being supposed to be mere substitutes of nouns, ought according to their signification to be deemed either substantives or adjectives; for as general signs they serve to personate, demonstrate, relate, and interrogate persons, things, and parts of discourses; and being all demonstrative and interrogative, they are properly distinguishable only into the following sorts, viz.

Tho’ the English, Welsh, Greek, and Latin pronouns are, with the other parts of speech, all defined in the vocabulary at the end of this essay, it may not be improper here to observe in general, as to their signification, that the first personal pronoun substantively, and not substitutionally signifies man as an indefinite line placed alone or by himself in the centre of things before his extension or division into U the male and female spring; the 2d, the-o-U or y-o-U, the off man or woman; 3d, man extended into T, or in his race and possessions; and hi and shi, the male and female forms and existences; 4th, mankind; 5th, the first and second female persons; 6th, all mankind, persons, and things, except the first second and third persons singular. The possessives express all things to be in man, as one universal possessor; and to relate to his descendents as their qualities and properties. The relative and interrogative which is a compound of wch-ich signifying the above action, as ich means the first act of motion or creation, and uch man’s utmost return of that act or spring upwards. And so used as a general relative and interrogative of all actions, as who is of persons, and what of things, and as to the rest they are particularly explained in the vocabulary.

The personal pronouns and such of the possessives and relatives as will not join with substantives in construction, are substantives, and the rest are adjectives; and pronouns like other English nouns, have no variation or declension of person, number, gender, or case, but each is an original, distinct name. So that to attempt any further distinction of pronouns, like all other unnecessary distinctions, would tend to the confusion, rather than the illustration of language, and they perhaps might be better distinguished by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or their original signification of 1st, 2d, 3d, persons singular and plural; tho’ such names as have no foundation in nature, may require more arbitrary rules towards their explanation.

Of Nouns Adjective and Participle.

Adjective and participle nouns are added to substantives and propositions, as expressive of the attributes or qualities, affections, and accidents of things, as in the following example; The preying beast was daring; the astonished guese are fled, lost, or stolen; and he is still pursuing a fled, lost, or stolen gus, in order to make a sweet morsel of its garbage; but all such sensations are nauseous to human nature. But qualities were originally expressed by the verbal actives, with few particles, and the compounded sorts were adjected thereto.

And qualities being the effects of light, heat, and motion, flowing upon, warming or penetrating bodies differently modified in various degrees, and the sensations thence produced in us, as those of colours, tastes, sounds and feeling, rather than any internal offences or properties of matter or substances, adjectives assert or express their subsistence as the attributes of various substances and things, as the following specimen of English adjectives shews.

There are no adjectives terminating in b except ib, which signifies life to beings, as in glib liquid, and bib to drink; for ab, eb, ob, ub, signifying from or out of life, would be improper to express life to things, as descending upon, and penetrating them, so as to give them motion, growth, generation, and sensation. Nor is there any adjective terminating in the letter p, it being expressive only of the parts of matter, as divisor of a, e, o, and t.

Ac, ec, ic, oc, uc, and their softer inflections, are expressive of the different modes of motion, as local, generative, and energic actions and their contraries, as in, weak, our action, black, shut from the light, slack and lag, a low or earthly action, meek, a feminine action, epic, an action past, like the first action of light, high, man acting, light, its active property, coasting, acting along the edge or lower part of the possessions, big, a thing swoln with heat, nigh, acting in, mock, the motion of the cheek, strong, the property of the sun’s motion below, much, the upper parts.

Ad, ed, id, od, ud, signify an addition and division of qualities emanating on men, animals, and substances of earth and water, as in bad, an earthly life, broad, an addition of country, dead, matter without the addition of quality, sad, a low addition or quality, glad, that of being high, mad, the addition of being dumb, or, a brute, red, a diminution of the colour of light, aged, a past or diminished action, cold, the passive quality of being deprived of the sun’s action, blind, deprived of animal light, mid, dividing the center of existence, insipid, a thing deprived of the internal taste, arid, the earth deprived, calid, deprived of a covering from the heat, tid, property diminished, acid, deprived of action, acrid, depraved action of fire, wild, deprived of volition, odd, deprived of or out of the circle of possession, ward, the spring or the division of man and woman, rude, the privation of truth, crude, a rude action.

Af, ef, if, uf, with the inflections ave and ive, affirm the various state and situation of men and things in life, as, deaf, he is deprived of sense, safe, he is standing, slavish, he is low, brave, he is a warm or spirited being, chief, he is the first, active, it is the property of action, dative, he or it is giving to, accusative, it is acting at us, abusive, he is from us, captive, he is taken, abortive, he is from the border of possessions, adjective, it is cast to, gruff, he is an angry man, bluff, he is an hairy man.

Al, el, il, ol, ul, express the qualities of earth and water, as to the parts of extension and place, the ilation of the sun’s light thereon, all extension and human intelligence, as in, actual, upon or in the state of action, aerial, in the state of air, adverbial, in the state of an adverb, real, upon the return of matter, usual, upon the state of us, genial, in the state of generation, bestial, upon the property of the lower beings, annual, upon the return of the year, able, from hell, or being deprived of light, ample, an extensive place, genteel, the first race, level, the place of the female extension, single, acting in a place, little, an extension of the rays of light, agile, the acting light, chill, without light, civil, a race living together, evil, privation of light, idle, about a place, oll or all, a circle extended, whole, man’s place of action, full, man enlightened, artful, the light of man upon properties, dull, without human light.

Am, im, om, um, are expressive of the different forms, modes, and existences of the circumambient bodies, as lame, the mode of crawling, warm, man covered about, dim, without extension, firm, the fire about, some, the things seen and sounded, dumb, an earthly being.

An, en, in, on, un, signify existences of earth, water, and motion in general, and of man, as, mean, me in earth, human, an earthly one, sane, sound one, profane, from purity, clean, an action of light upon matter, ashen, the lower one, oak being the higher, even, springing, serene, the stars in, divine, God in, supine, the low and up in, benign, being in, twain, two in, one or un, the spring or man in, alone, in the state of one, none, no one in, boon, the food one, wrong, a man from acting upright, dun, the daily one, young, the growing one.

Ar, er, ir, or, ur, are properties of earth, water, fire, extension, and human nature, as in clear, the action of light upon, dear, upon thee, near, the not upon, bitter, the biting water, eager, water from action, tender, thin water, dire, he is hot, intire, in possession, sore, from the lower, future, the man in embrio to be born, pure, a man’s part, immature, too soon at man.

As, es, is, os, us, affirm the different qualities of mankind and things, as, base, a low or earthy thing, adverse, a spring downwards, diverse, a divided spring, worse, a low man, aguish, it is from a spring, apeish, he is a son, wise, he is man, actuose, it is all active, close, it is all shut, globose, it is all round as a ball, jocose, it is all joy, noise, it is all nose, as voice is all vocal, or the sound of the cheeks, upish, he is up, abstruse, from our property, astonish, it is the tone of an ass or brutes, babish, that of a baby, copious, a copy of man, ingenious, internally generated in us.

At, et, it, ot, ut, with their inflections and compounds signify property or in possession and existence, as, great, the action of fire at or upon the possessions, last, upon the lowest possession, agast, acting upon the lowest possession, past, a thing in the lowest possession or existence, vacant, a thing without possession or property, radiant, a division of rays upon the possessions, sweet and secret, female properties, absent, without possession or property, agent, acting in possession, fit, it is property, apt, a proper thing, first, the fire of life to the lower possessions, instinct, in action within, white, the upper property, or the firmament, hot, the action of the sun on things, absorpt, without a part of the circle of possession, both, man and woman, moist and most, things on the ground, abrupt, from the earth up into the possessions, just, the property of mankind, curst, a man’s action of the lower property, occult, actions without the property of light, ancient, one first in possession, decent, fair in possession, acute, a springing property.

Y, ly, ty, thy, are expressive of properties, existences, and qualities generally, as in, any the one in action or possession, many, the more in action or possession, dry, the thing without water, airy, the air, ashy, the ash, barrenly, the barren race, brotherly, the brother race, happy, the hap, holy, the high all, sappy, the sap, forty, the four tyes, times, rounds or tens, swarthy, the men of lower property, wry, from upright; and thus are definable all other English, Greek, Welsh, and Latin adjectives. These have been taken at random, and the Greek and Latin terminations of adjectives being all in as, es, eis, os, òs, oos, ous, us, on, and er, are mere affirmatives, by the sight, sound, spring, and motion of things.

So that adjectives and participles are names, which imply assertions and attributes, as those of qualities, affections, and properties of substances and things generally; but making no compleat sense, nor determining any particular thing without being joined to another word as a daring, a daring man. In the English language they are not varied in respect to genders, numbers, cases, or otherwise, except as to the degrees of comparison.

The three degrees of comparison mentioned by grammarians, are the positive, comparative, and superlative; the positive is the state in which the name was originally put; the comparative is formed by adding er, a spring beyond the original state, to the quality, where they will agree in concord, as, deep, deeper, deepest, high, higher, highest, sweet, sweeter, sweetest; est signifying a spring beyond the limits of the possessions; forming the superlative degree; but where those syllables will not so agree with the names and in participles, as in aerial, ingenious, copious, daring, loving, loved, the comparative must be formed, by setting more, that is, mo-er a great spring, in apposition to the name; and the superlative by the addition of most, signifying a spring beyond the limits of the possessions.

Of Prepositions

A Preposition is a substantive part of speech set before other names, most commonly substantives, either in apposition, as, before a noun, or in composition, as, preposition, to denote the situation or place of action, or rest of the things, to which they are joined; at the same time implying their similar relations or kindred; and connecting the names of substances, as, from this book, with the pen of the writer; or from thence, it may be inferred that prepositions are of themselves significant of things. But the use of prepositions or the names of cases are best understood from the following explanation thereof.

It is observable that O is an universal expression for the circle of motion and extension; that i signifies a perpendicular line or man placed in its center; and that this line, with a traverse one, expressed by T or ⊥ and signifying mankind and other beings and things as extended, and the properties of man denote the nominative case, or that in which they were first named; and all the other cases, as they happen upon, up or down, or to or from either of these lines, are distinguished as in the following example.

These prepositions are definable as follows.

In, with, within, to, into, unto, at, towards. In, signifies man placed in the center of existences, as a middle being, partaking of, and connecting matter with spirit; with is the spring of i into male and female, and T their possessions inflected; within is the same in the circle of possession: to is T-O, the property of motion from T to the circle of motion; into the same within the possessions; unto, at, and towards, the same towards man or the line of possession; afore, before, against, signify things or parts in and out of the borders of possession.

After, behind, since, according to. After is off T or the border of possession; behind is to be after man in possession; since, having been in possession; according to, agreeing together in acting; between, betwixt, among, amongst, for, from, about; for, the parts or things of the circle of possession; about and from the parts or things within the circle of possessions of men; between and betwixt, the line i dividing the possessions; among and amongst, the things about the circle of possession. Above, up, on, upon; above, the upper spring of the human sight; up, the spring part, on and upon the sky.

Under, below, beneath, down. Under, not sprung within or up the possessions; down, not sprung in; below, from being up; beneath, to be not in possession.

Out, of, from, out of, without. Out, from the possessions of men and things; of, the things within the borders; from, the surrounding parts therein; without, out of possession.

By, through, over, over and above, besides, beyond, except, until. By, the part; besides, below the part; beyond, by the upper covering; thro’, from the possessions; over, from the spring of sight; except, acting out of the possession part; until, during the spring or possession of light; the two last names serve also for conjunctions.

CONJUNCTIONS.

A Conjunction is an active part of speech, that connectively or disjunctively joins together words and sentences, as the names of actions, as prepositions do those of substances. They have been divided by grammarians into various sorts; tho’ the only significant distinction seems to be into copulatives, connectives, and disjunctives, as the two former sorts absolutely connect and coalesce both the sentences and their meaning, or when the expression is only of mere local or inanimate motion, barely move on, connect, and continue the sentence or discourse, without any compatibility of meaning; and the latter sorts conditionally, exceptionably, or interrogatively do the same. Of the first class are, and or ond, on in division or discourse, but, be it as or by man and things soon, yet, it is or springs, also, on so, likewise, the same way, still, light on things, altho’, upon to, notwithstanding, not opposing the former action, however, be the spring of action as it may, nevertheless, without any spring, as, the earth seen, as well as, its surface or under it out of sight, for, the part in the circle, therefore, the parts and spring within the circle, wherefore, the parts in which circle, because, by our own actions, that, towards possession. And the disjunctives are the following; or, the promiscuous things within the circle of possession, either, action or matter, nor, not the things promiscuously within the circle of possession, neither, no action or rest, till or untill, during the spring of light on the possessions, whilst or while, the action of the upper light on the possessions, if, life or is it life? unless, my spring out, except, acting from the parts of possession, besides, by the side; and with which sense the Welsh, Greek and Latin conjunctions correspond, as appears by an analysis thereof at the end of this essay.

An example of their use and construction.—Was it pride and folly, or avarice and envy, that caused the confusion of human speech? It was neither the one or the other, but the effect of some supernatural cause, as, the scripture informs us. Nor is it probable, that so great a deviation could have naturally happened; unless there was some very great wilful perversion of the original language, whilst mankind were contending for possessions as well as power. Nevertheless the first language is still recoverable, notwithstanding its many divisions and great disguise, if the subject be adverted, after a right method. And altho’ it may be also attended with some labor to mankind, except those already skilled in languages, yet it may be attained by any English reader, that will endeavour it, for, however languages may differ, as to the manner of combination or construction of names and sentences, they are certainly one and the same in their principles, and likewise in their particles; because the letters and particles of all languages appear by this essay to be still the same. Besides, as human speech derives its origin from a supernatural cause, its various dialects cannot differ as to their materials. Wherefore then so many different opinions concerning these matters, but from our own remissness? Let us therefore exert our faculties in the laudable undertaking of recovering the first universal language, that we may be thereby restored to our senses, which seem to be equally perverted.

VERBS.

Verbs are either simple or compound. The simple are those springs or energic signs in human speech, which, mark the relation and connection of the subject and attribute of a proposition; and affirm or deny the agreement or disagreement betwixt things, as, man is an animal. Compound or concrete verbs also include adjectives and participles; or the qualities and attributes of the subject of a proposition, as, man thinks or think is; sometimes only the subject, as mae, eimi, I am, or sum; and frequently the subject, affirmation and attribute, as, walketh, man is upon action. In some dialects verbs have been so modified, as to denote or imply the modes, times, persons, genders, and numbers of the things affirmed; and nominally distinguished, as verbs active, passive, neuter, personal, impersonal, regular, irregular, auxiliary, and substantive; tho’ according to their real use and signification, all verbs seem to be substantive and auxiliary, and either singly, or conjunctively, with adjectives or participles, formed into attributive or compound verbs, express all modes of actions and affirmations, as appears by the following instances; sum, I am, or, it is man’s existence, es, the second person created or the feminine gender, est, the second, first, and a third person born of the first and second, fui, I have lived or been, fuisti, thou hast lived or been, fuit, he the person born, hath lived or been; amo, I love or am for a woman, the first person, amas, the feminine the second person, amat, the third person produced, the third person, am-avi for ui in fui, he has loved or been loved, the past tense; doceo, I teach or give the lowering action to man, the first person, doc-es, the second person or feminine gender, doc-et the third proceeding from the other two, doc-ui, as in fui, I have lived or been taught, the past tense; lego I read or recall, the first person, leg-is the second, leg-it the third, and leg-i, man read the past; audio, I hear, or, spring the passive sense, au-di-is, au-di-it and au-di-vi, I have lived or been heard; and the conjugating particles seem to be the degrees of comparison, as, a, e, i, or as, es is, male, female, mankind, or earth, water and fire, or motion and existences in general; and the persons of U man, and thence all things of the masculine gender the first person, as, es, or is signifying the feminine in different degrees and qualities, the second, and at, et, it, the rest of mankind and things, the third person, am-us, em-us, im-us, all men of the male kind of the first person plural, atis, etis, itis, all except the first person singular of the second, and ant, ent, int, all mankind and things in different degrees, except the first and second person singular, of the third person plural; and thus may be explained all the Latin and Greek modes of conjugating verbs.

Verbs are farther distinguished by grammarians into active, passive, and neuter, as being expressive of actions, passions, or neither the one or the other, but mere being or existing, as, I love, am loved, live, walk, or stand; tho’ according to the signification of words, there does not seem to be any real ground for the latter distinction, for to love, to be loved, to live, sleep or rest, must signify either actions, active passions and energies, or their privation and passiveness. So that the distinction in this respect might be more properly made into active and passive only, agreeable to the masculine and feminine, the only proper distinction of nouns as to genders; all actions, substances, and things, at least, as having relation to mankind, being either masculine or feminine, and the distinctions made by the Greeks and Romans being mostly arbitrary and contrary to the meaning of words which ought to determine the genders of nouns.

Verbs have a designation of person, corresponding with the personal pronouns; of number with the singular and plural of nouns, of tenses as representing present, past, and future actions and things; and of modes or the manner in which they ought to be expressed. But whatever necessity there may be for a great variety of modes and tenses in dialects, constructed upon arbitrary principles, it does not appear that any more than one is needful for a natural language, or that the modes of conjugating verbs or any other, are in fact expressible by human speech any otherwise than by the whole form or order of inflection and things. And tho’ present, past, and future, seem to be necessary expressions, according to our present mode of conception, yet they are not in reality any representation of time, but of our manner of dividing or reckoning the changes of motions or number of actions in extension, which in the eternal state of spirits, or perhaps in a vacuum, might be deemed as one intire action or the present tense.

Simple verbs or affirmatives are all substantive and incapable of being inflected themselves, but serve as auxiliaries in the affirmations and inflections of compound verbs, tho’ alone, without the assistance of compound verbs sufficient to express every mode of affirmations, of actions and things, and fully correspond with the nouns and pronouns, as for instance, I am doing, have done, may, can, will, shall, must, or ought to do; thou, art doing, hast done, &c; he, she, a man, or, John is doing, hath done, speaks, speaketh, &c. We are or were doing, have done, &c; besides, id, ed, with their inflections ith and eth, and also is, added as affirmations in the third person singular to compound verbs; which express attributes, affirmations, and persons, and sometimes the subject and number, tho’ the number is commonly implied by the noun or pronoun. In the following specimen of conjugating verbs, the persons, number, and actions or tenses are expressed by different words, with very few variations of terminations.

The Modes of Conjugating VERBS.

The feminine or endearing inflections of the second persons thou and ye have been omitted, as needless, since they all agree with the pronouns you and ye, and the only changes are from are and be to art and beest, have to hast, were to wert, shall and will to shalt and wilt, and might to mightest, and do to dost; but to make use of them in the masculine gender, would be depreciating it. And the participle perfect, being superfluous, it has been likewise omitted; for as ing the present is compleat, so is ed for the past or the privative of springs or actions.

The signification of the conjugating verbs in the four languages is as follows, viz. 1. Am, mae, ειμι, sum, in full form of existence; be, fi, φυω, fio, I live; can, dichon, δυναμαι, possum, in act or able to act; may, amhay, ωμει, sim, about acting; would, could, should, might, ought, buasun, ειην, essem, the will or act sprung or past; shall, will, must, byddaf, εσομαι, ero, the lower acting up, the spring of human light, the lower things sprung up; was oeddun, ῆν, eram, man or spring past; have been, bum, ῆμην, fui, acted in life. 2. Are, ere, or art, beest, wit, or idwit, εις, es, the lesser spring, and it is the spring of life. 3. Is, it is, fi, id, idiu, εστι, est, it is seen, sounded, smelt, &c; hath, it acts; had or ha-ed, action past; hadst, a female action past; do or dost, motion past. 4. Are, ym, εσμην, sumus, men in the spring; were, buasom, εμεθα, eramus, men sprung. Let, bydd, εστο, esto, extend or take thy place; to be, bod, ειναι, esse, the property of motion to beings, which converts substantives into adjectives; ing, in action; it is not, nid, ουκ εστι, non est, there is no motion.

All English verbs which vary from this mode of inflection being erroneous and irregular, ought not to be established by grammatical rules, but restored to the primitive state in the present tense, and marked in the past tense with the proper accent; or if it should appear to be necessary, to add proper conjugations. But as verbs lose their qualities or active state in the past tense, the English verbs ending in d and t in the past tense, have been very properly diminished and substantived, and accordingly contracted in their sounds, of ed to that of d and t, as taught from teached, when the ch was accented hard, and a like the German a or o, felt for feeled, checkt for checked, slept for sleeped, left for leaved, gilt for gilded, bled for bleeded, fed for feeded, had for haed, fed for feeded, fled for flyed, sold for selled, and such others as are so contracted without any other variation, that are capable of a past tense, except, let, put, do, think, and other imperatives, which can form no perfect past tense, without the aid of the auxiliary verb have, to express some degree of human energy or return to the creative fiat. And as all other tenses seem to be arbitrary and indefinite, the best way of expressing the minuter divisions of actions must be by adverbs or numerals.

And as there is no sort of foundation or necessity for the participle perfect, the best way of correcting those verbs which are supposed to be irregular therein, would be to drop it as superfluous, and fully as well expressed by the past tense, as help, helped, without holpen, cleave, cleaved, or cleft, instead of cleave, clave, clove and cloven, hang hanged, for hang hung. And as to the forming a regular past tense, by reducing irregular verbs to their primitive state in the present tense, the following may perhaps be no improper observation, viz. all in fall, before the corrupt sound of the northern a, as that of o, was, as it ought to be, accented, like ale in pale, and marked with a long accent, as signifying from high; its past tense accented short, as all in shall; and wrote fall and not fell; the e not having then taken the place of a, nor a, that of o; shake, signifying a passionate action of a subject, is properly accented and wrote in the present tense, but its past tense having partaken of the northern accent, it then came to be wrote and accented shook, instead of shaked, which, notwithstanding its long establishment by vulgar custom ought to be rectified accordingly; and so as to swear, heave, freeze, abide, strike, dig, and various other instances, where the e has assumed the place of a, a of o, o of a, e, i, or u, of i, or any other change of vowels from the present, to form the past tense; except such as do and did, which are different words, and of themselves incapable of any inflection. And the English terminations an and en, borrowed from the northern dialects, add nothing to the meaning of our names, but the English, or Engli-Saxon names, are of a southern or Celtic origin, and as fully expressive of the meaning to which they are applied without them; except where they are added to form the singular number, or to active names as substantiving articles, as in all other Celtic dialects.

ADVERBS.

Adverbs are certain energic or active particles or additional verbs added to, or joined with other names in propositions, to denote the degrees and manner of things, as to quantity, situation, quality, motion, and rest. Of quantity, as less, lesser, least, much, more, most, great, greater, greatest, long, longer, longest, short, shorter, shortest, broad, broader, broadest. Of situation or place, as where, whither? up, down, above, below, high, higher, highest, here, there, yonder, far, farther, farthest, within, without, upwards, downwards, forwards, backwards, and such as are expressive of the situation of bodies in motion, or at rest. Of qualities, as wisely, knowingly, sensibly, decently, likely, fairly, warmly, foolishly, beastly, coldly, hardly, and such as express intentional qualities. Of motion and rest; as comprehending affirmatives, interrogatives, interjectories, and those improperly called adverbs of time, as, when? now, anon, then, yesterday, to-day, to-morrow, henceforwards, ever, never, how often? often, oftener, oftenest, once, twice, thrice, seldom, however, away, begone, adieu, speedily, slowly, verily, yes, yea, no, why, however, perhap, alternately, as, alack, ha, alas, ho, oh.

There are no other sorts of adverbs, expressive of the order, time, or manner of things, as appears by the definition of those of the four languages in the vocabulary; nor does it thence appear that there is in fact above three sorts of adverbs, namely, quantity or extension or bulk of bodies; quality or an illation of light, heat and motion thereon, and penetrating the same, expressed by ly, as ty does extension in substantiving qualities; and motions energic, animate, and local, with the contraries, as privation, rest, and matter. And the degrees, like adjectives, are compared by adding er and est, as comparative and superlative, to the positive or the state or degree of beings and things in act, or putting more or most in apposition thereto.

The degrees of distance and situation, are reckoned like prepositions, upon lines, upright, across, or slantways, extended from the centre of action or existence in our system where man is supposed to stand; or upon man as a mikrocosm standing up with arms extended; his head representing the unseen celestial system, being the superlative degree upwards, the extent of his sight or the sky, the comparative, his body or the world, the positive, upwards, downwards, and crosswise, his limbs below the parts of generation, as representing the parts below the earth’s surface or growth part, the comparative downwards, and beyond it the superlative, the extent of view, the comparative sideways, and beyond it the superlative, as appears by the definition of Adverbs in the vocabulary. And tho’ interjections are supposed to add nothing to the sentence, they certainly express the sorts and degrees of energy with which the whole is affirmed.

SYNTAX.

Having thus explained the several parts of a rational grammar, it now remains only to lay down some general rules for their construction, into simple and compound sentences, according to their natural concord, government, and arrangement.

All the parts of speech, which were originally only particles of one or two letters, having naturally coalesced and united, in more complex names, and words or propositions, without the assistance of art, so in all languages, like the English, in which respect both the simple and complex names still retain their primitive state, without any loss of their natural powers of construction, by any arbitrary addition or combination of artificial signs or modes of concord, like the Greek and Latin, the parts both simple and complex being precisely understood, will still be governed by their meaning, and naturally coincide in sentences, in the same manner as the ideas of a person unacquainted with the artificial rules of logick, are by their natural relation logically connected and formed into regular thesises, hypothesises and synthesises. As for instance; a person, who perfectly knows the meaning of the parts, can in his mind form and express the following sentences; two and two of any thing are, is or is to be sounded four, and not three; and should they happen to be horses, whether with or without shoes, they must be the horses of some man, rather than those of a cow; but if they are delivered, in whatever place they stand, it must be to and from some place, and by and to some body, or if they should only be called, it ought to be done by their right names. Or; supposing Adam, i, or any one know myself or himself to be the first man, inhabiting space, and that his length and breadth of extension, was at all times or upon all motions, and as much more, as he or i might by the extension of the arms acquire, without dispossessing another, were our own property, i might, as the first existence and proprietor here of the kind, call myself the first, one, or i. If I had a wife and a son, who had a wife and a son, and had been taught to tell seven in English, with their precise meaning, I might as my next relation, as well as the second person in existence, name my wife two or thou, my son, as the third in being and possession, I might name he, him, or three, which make up the number of the singular stock; and as to the plural number or stock, the first and second person of the singular, and the son which sprung from them, with his son being four in number, and the first spring of the second stock might be named we, as the first person plural; the two wives ye, the second persons plural of the kind or genders; and all other persons excepting those of the singular number, as the grandson and his offspring, the sixth person from the first or the third in the second generation or plural number, they. Then if the first man or any other perfectly understood the meaning of all other names and energies, which appear to be as equally related to the nature of things as these, he could have no difficulty of putting them together according to true concord, as the meaning and signification would not permit him to err; nor indeed is the English to be taught by any other significant rules. The parts of speech being precisely understood, the best way then of acquiring the right English construction, is carefully to observe the manner and style of the best English writers, and to procure an habit thereof by reading and writing, rather than be perplexed by innumerable tedious and unmeaning rules of phrases, sentences, distinctions, and variations of names, from their natural order; for which there is no sort of foundation in the English, or any other language of nature.

But since the English language is that here proposed as an universal one, it may not however be improper to take some little farther notice of the rules of English Syntax. In all languages to form a right sentence the words must agree in construction with one another, as to case, number, gender, and person, either according to the natural order of things, or some arbitrary mode of concord and government, by a variation of the terminations substituted in lieu thereof in particular languages. But the English doth so only from the sense of the words, without any variation of terminations, except that es or s signifying the feminine gender, is sometimes added to form the plural number of substantives, and the substantive verb is, or the pronouns it, with its inflections, to form the third person singular of verbs, and as and es in some instances, to express the masculine and feminine genders.

And though it has no other case but the nominative, or any variation of cases at all, yet all English verbs agree with the substantives in number and person, without any exception; and the state or situation of substantives are expressed by prepositions set in apposition thereto in the same manner as the articles; nor have the adjectives any variations, besides the degrees of comparison; and yet both they and participles agree with the substantives in gender, number and case; and when two substantives of different sorts of things come together, the place, state, or case of the last is expressed by the preposition of or-’s, signifying of his; unless the latter substantive is of the same sort with, or explains the former; in which case they are both of the same case, state, or situation. Conjunctions, adverbs, and relatives, serve to connect sentences, as prepositions do words. The relatives who, what, and which, and all other English names as well as things, must agree with the antecedents as their originals, whether persons, actions, or substantives. When two verbs come together, the latter is to be in the infinitive mode.

VOCABLES.

An additional vocabulary of primitive nouns defined, with a separate explication of pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions; which compleats what has been already published, of the English, Welsh, Greek, and Latin primitive names, and fully explains the nature and origin of all the vocables and parts of those several languages.