Plain English

SPELLING

LESSON 21

In Lesson No. 17 we studied concerning abstract nouns derived from qualifying adjectives. We found that we formed these nouns expressing quality from adjectives that describe quality by the addition of suffixes.

Adjectives may likewise be formed from nouns and also from verbs by the addition of suffixes. There are a number of suffixes which may be used to form adjectives in this way; as, al, ous, ic, ful, less, able, ible, ary and ory. Notice the following words: nation, national; peril, perilous; reason, reasonable; sense, sensible; custom, customary; advise, advisory; hero, heroic; care, careful, careless.

To some words, more than one suffix may be added and an adjective of different meaning formed; for example, use, useless, useful; care, careless, careful.

Make as many adjectives as you can from the nouns and verbs given in the spelling lesson for this week by the addition of one or more of the following suffixes:

Al, less, ous, ic, ful, able, ible, ary, ory, and ly.

Monday

• Accident
• Danger
• Origin
• Commend
• Element

Tuesday

• Critic
• Libel
• Attain
• Revolution
• Contradict

Wednesday

• Cynic
• Injury
• Respect
• Station
• Migrate

Thursday

• Event
• Parent
• Order
• Virtue
• Marvel

Friday

• Second
• Fashion
• Consider
• Murder
• Incident

Saturday

• Constitution
• Industry
• Vibrate
• Tribute
• Compliment

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 22

Dear Comrade:

We have practically finished the study of the different parts of speech. We are now in possession of a knowledge of the tools which we need to use in expressing ourselves. We are ready to make practical application of this knowledge in writing and speaking. We will find that with our increasing ability to express ourselves there comes also the power to think clearly. The analysis of language has meant a growing power to think on the part of the people.

We sometimes imagine that simplicity of language was a part of primitive life, but this is not true. Simplicity of language is the product of high civilization. Primitive life was marked, not by simplicity of language, but by the scarcity of language. They made one word stand for an entire sentence, and if they wished to express a little different meaning, an entirely different word had to be used, as for example, in the primitive language: I said to her, would be one word, and I said to him, would be another, entirely different, word.

But as the power of thought began to develop, we began to analyze our meaning and we found that this thought was identical except the him and the her. So as we analyzed our thought our expression of it became more simple. In most languages, the different meaning of the verb, for example, is expressed by an arbitrary change in the verb form. This is called the inflection of the verb. In English we would use several words to express the same thing. For example, the Latin word Fuissem requires four English words to express the same meaning; I should have been, we say in English. So instead of having to learn a great number of different changes in the verb form, we, by the use of auxiliary verbs, have, shall, do, be, etc., are able to express all these shades of thought much more simply and clearly.

Most other languages also have changes for gender. Every noun has a gender of its own and sometimes this form gives the wrong gender to living beings and attributes sex to sexless objects and the only way to know the gender of the noun is simply by memory. Then the adjectives, possessive pronouns and the articles a and the have gender also and have to be changed to suit the gender of the noun; this involves a great effort of memory. So while the English may seem somewhat involved to you, it is, after all, much simpler than other languages. It has been freed from many superfluous endings and unnecessary complications.

Take a little time each day to read something out of the best literature. The quotations given in each of these lessons are from our very best writers. A study of these will be a wonderful help and inspiration to you and bring you in touch with some of the great thinkers of the revolution. They are our comrades and are putting into words the thoughts and hopes and dreams of our lives.

Yours for the Revolution,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

367. In our study of subordinate clauses, we have studied subordinate clauses used as adverbs and as nouns. We have found that adverb clauses can be used in the same way as adverbs, to describe the time, place, manner, cause, condition or purpose of the action expressed in the verb. We have found, also, that a noun clause may be used in any way in which a noun can be used, as the subject of the sentence, the object of a verb or preposition or as the predicate complement. But these are not the only uses to which the subordinate clause may be put. Note the following sentences:

• Wealthy men desire to control the education of the people.
• Men of wealth desire to control the education of the people.
• Men who are wealthy desire to control the education of the people.

Do you see any difference in the words which are used to modify the noun men? In the first sentence, wealthy is an adjective, modifying the noun men. In the second sentence, of wealth is a prepositional phrase, used as an adjective modifying the noun men. In the last sentence, who are wealthy is a clause used in exactly the same way that the adjective wealthy and the adjective phrase of wealth are used, to modify the noun men.

We have expressed practically the same meaning in these three ways: by a word; by a phrase; by a clause.

368. A word used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective.

A phrase used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective phrase.

A clause used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective clause.

Note the difference between a phrase and a clause.

369. A prepositional phrase, used as an adjective, consists of the preposition and the noun which is its object, together with its modifiers. A phrase never has either a subject or a predicate. Who are wealthy, is a clause because it does contain a subject and a predicate. The pronoun who is the subject in the clause, and the predicate is the copulative verb are with the predicate complement, the adjective wealthy.

Exercise 1

In the following sentences change the adjective into a phrase and also into a clause, if possible. For example:

• A fearless man always defends his rights.
• A man without fear always defends his rights.
• A man who is fearless always defends his rights.

1. The unemployed men are becoming desperate.
2. The uneducated masses are demanding equal opportunity.
3. The discovery of gold was an important discovery.
4. Unorganized labor is helpless.
5. The revolution needs intelligent rebels.
6. A few wealthy men are striving to control education.
7. This will be a progressive movement.
8. Labor-saving inventions throw men out of employment.
9. Scientific men prophesy a great advance for the mass.

THE INTRODUCING WORD

370. You will notice that these adjective clauses are introduced by the relative pronouns who, which and that. These relative pronouns fulfil something of the office of a conjunction, because they are serving as connecting elements; they join these subordinate clauses to the words which they modify. But you will note, also, that these relative pronouns not only serve as connecting elements, but they also play a part in the subordinate clause, as either the subject or object. For example:

• The man who has no education is handicapped in the struggle.
• Are these the books that you ordered?

In the first sentence, who has an education is an adjective clause modifying the noun man, introduced by the relative pronoun who, which is also the subject of the verb has.

In the second sentence, that you ordered is an adjective clause, modifying the noun books, introduced by the relative pronoun that, which is also the object of the verb ordered.

371. There is no need to be confused in this matter of clauses. If the clause is used as a noun, either as the subject or the object or in any other way in which a noun can be used, it is a noun clause. If it is used as an adverb and will answer any of the questions why, when, where, or how, etc., it is an adverb clause. If it is used as an adjective,—if it modifies a noun or pronoun,—it is an adjective clause.

You will note that the only way in which a noun is used that does not have its corresponding clause is as a possessive. We do not have possessive clauses. The clause used as an adjective always modifies a noun or pronoun.

372. An adjective clause is a clause used as an adjective and hence always modifies a noun or pronoun.

An adjective clause may be introduced by the relative pronouns, who, which or that. The use of this clause is a great help to us in the expression of our ideas, for it enables us to combine several sentences containing related thoughts into one sentence so we have it all presented to the mind at once.

Exercise 2

In the following sentences, note which are the noun clauses and which are the adjective clauses and which are the adverb clauses. The verb in the subordinate clause is in italics.

1. Life is what we make it.
2. We acquire the strength that we overcome.
3. While he slept the enemy came.
4. All that he does is to distribute what others produce.
5. When faith is lost, when honor dies, the man is dead.
6. Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just; he is naked though he be locked up in steel whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.
7. When strength and justice are true yoke fellows, where can we find a mightier pair than they?
8. You will gain a good reputation if you endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
9. Live as though life were earnest and life will be so.
10. He that loveth makes his own the grandeur that he loves.
11. Who does the best his circumstance allows does well; angels could do no more.
12. He is not worthy of the honeycomb that shuns the hive because the bees have stings.
13. We always may be what we might have been.
14. Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
15. Let me make the songs of the people and I care not who makes the laws.
16. Attention is the stuff that memory is made of.
17. A great writer has said that grace is beauty in action; I say that justice is truth in action.
18. If we do not plant knowledge when young it will give us no shade when we are old.
19. You can no more exercise your reason if you live in constant dread of laughter than you can enjoy your life if you live in constant dread and terror of death.

WHICH RELATIVE PRONOUN TO USE

373. We are sometimes confused as to which relative pronoun to use in introducing an adjective clause. We hesitate as to whether we should use that or who or which. Remember that who always refers to persons, which refers to animals or things, and that may refer to either persons, animals or things.

So when referring to a person, we may use either who or that, and when referring to animals or things, we may use either which or that. As, for example, we may say, either, The man who was here yesterday came back today, or The man that was here yesterday came back today. Either is correct, for who and that both refer to persons.

374. We may make a little distinction in the use of who and that when referring to persons, however. A clause introduced by that is usually a restrictive clause. It limits or restricts the meaning of the noun which it modifies. When you say, The man that was here yesterday, you mean that man and no other, limiting your meaning to that particular man. On the other hand, when you say, The man who was here yesterday, there is no restriction or limitation expressed in the use of the clause, but it is merely a descriptive clause, adding a new fact to our knowledge concerning that particular man.

The same is true when we are speaking of things using either that or which. The clause introduced by which is presumably a descriptive clause. We do, however, often use who or which when the sense of the clause is restrictive, but we should never use that to introduce an adjective clause, unless the sense is restrictive. When in your sentences you can use, instead of the relative pronoun who or which, the conjunction and, you can know that the use of the pronoun who or which is correct. As, for example:

• I have read the book, which I found very interesting.

You could say instead:

• I have read the book and I found it very interesting.

This would express the same meaning. But if you say: I have read the book that I found very interesting, you mean that you limit your idea to this particular book.

375. We do not always observe these niceties in our spoken and written speech, but it is interesting to know the shades of thought and meaning which you can express by the proper use of the language. The man who runs an engine and learns to know and love his machine almost as though it were a human being, can easily recognize the slightest change in the action of his machine. His ear catches the least difference in the sound of the running of the machine, a difference which we, who do not know and love the machine, would never notice.

So it is in language. Once we have sensed its beauty and its wondrous power of expression, we notice all these slight differences and shades of meaning which may be expressed by the use of words. In just the same manner the musician catches the undertones and overtones of the music, which we, who possess an uneducated ear, cannot know; and the artist also has a wondrous range of color, while we, who are not sensitive to color, know only a few of the primal colors.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH CONJUNCTIONS

376. The adjective clauses which we have been studying so far have been introduced by relative pronouns. Adjective clauses may also be introduced by conjunctions, such as, where, when, whence, or why. As, for example:

• Antwerp is the place where a terrible battle was fought.
• No man knows the hour when opportunity will be his.
• Each group has a different reason why this world-war was precipitated.

Note in these sentences the clauses, where a terrible battle was fought, when opportunity will be his, why this world-war was precipitated, are all adjective clauses modifying the nouns place, hour and reason, and are introduced by the conjunctions where, when, and why. These are adjective clauses because they modify, by either limiting or describing, the nouns with which they are used. You will note that we could omit the nouns in the first two of these sentences and these clauses would become noun clauses, for they would be used in the place of a noun. As, for example:

• Antwerp is where a terrible battle was fought.
• No man knows when opportunity will be his.

377. We determine whether a clause is an adjective or an adverb or a noun clause just as we determine whether a word is an adjective, adverb or noun, by the work which it does in a sentence. Noun clauses are used in the place of a noun; adverb clauses modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; adjective clauses modify nouns and pronouns.

THE LITTLE WORD "AS"

378. Adjective clauses may also be introduced by as. As is a very convenient word and may be used in several different ways; sometimes as an adverb, sometimes as a conjunction; and it may also be used as a relative pronoun after such, same and many. For example:

• Such books as you should read are listed here.
• No such person as he ever came here.
• We are facing the same crisis as our comrades faced.
• This is the same as you gave before.
• He has made as many mistakes as you have.

In these sentences as is really used as a relative pronoun, connecting these adjective clauses to the words which they modify. As may also be used as an adverb. I am as tall as you are.

Here the first as modifies tall and is used as an adverb; the second as is a conjunction connecting the subordinate clause you are, with the principal clause. Note that in making comparisons, as is always used when the comparison is equal, so when it is unequal, thus:

• I am as tall as you are.
• She is not so tall as you are.

We have found that as is also used as a conjunction to introduce an adverb clause. For example:

• She is as beautiful as she is good.

The clause, as she is good, is an adverb clause, modifying the adjective beautiful. In the sentence, Do as I say, as I say is an adverb clause of manner, modifying the verb do.

CONNECTIVE WORDS

379. Let us not be confused in this matter of connectives. There are just four classes of connective words:

1. Copulative verbs.
2. Relative pronouns.
3. Prepositions.
4. Conjunctions.

380. The copulative verb is not a pure connective, for it serves another purpose in the sentence. For example, in the sentence, The book is interesting, the copulative verb is connects the adjective interesting with the noun book, which it modifies; but it also is the asserting word in the sentence. So it fulfils a double function. It is an asserting word and also a connective word.

381. The relative pronoun also is not a pure connective, for it serves two purposes in the sentence. It not only connects the clause which it introduces, with the word which it modifies, but it also serves as either the subject or object in the clause. For example: The man who was here has gone. The clause, who was here, is introduced by the relative pronoun who, which connects that clause with the noun man, which the clause modifies. Who also serves as the subject of the verb was.

In the sentence, The men whom we seek have gone, the clause, whom we seek, is introduced by the relative pronoun whom, which connects the clause with the word men, which it modifies. Whom also serves as the object of the verb in the clause, the verb seek.

382. A preposition is not a pure connective, since it serves a double function. It shows the relation of its object to the rest of the sentence and also governs the form of its object. As, for example, in the sentence: The man before me is not the culprit, the preposition before connects its object me with the noun man, which the prepositional phrase modifies, showing the relation between them; and it governs the form of its object, for the pronoun following a preposition must be used in the object form.

383. Even co-ordinate conjunctions can scarcely be considered pure connectives unless it be the co-ordinate conjunction and. Co-ordinate conjunctions such as but, yet, still, however, etc., not only connect words, phrases and clauses of equal rank, but in addition to connecting the words and expressions they also indicate that they are opposite in thought.

384. Co-ordinate conjunctions like therefore, hence, then, etc., connect words, phrases and clauses of equal rank, and also introduce a reason or cause. Co-ordinate conjunctions like or, either, nor, neither, whether, etc., connect words, phrases and clauses of equal rank, and also express the choice of an alternative. Thus these co-ordinate conjunctions can scarcely be considered as pure connectives.

385. Subordinate conjunctions are most frequently used to introduce adverb clauses and have an adverbial meaning. They express, as do adverbs, place, time, manner, cause, reason, purpose, condition or result. Some authorities indicate this double function by calling such words as these conjunctive adverbs, because, even when they are used as conjunctions, they retain some of their adverbial force.

But according to our rule that every word in the sentence is classified according to the function which it performs in that sentence, all words that perform the function of a conjunction are called conjunctions, although we understand that these conjunctions which introduce dependent clauses do still retain some of their adverbial meaning.

Exercise 3

In the following sentences the connectives are in italics. Determine whether they are copulative verbs, relative pronouns, prepositions, co-ordinate conjunctions or subordinate conjunctions.

1. They are slaves who dare not be in the right with two or three.
2. In the twentieth century war will be dead, dogmas will be dead, but man will live.
3. The abuse of free speech dies in a day, but its denial slays the life of the people and entombs the race.
4. Liberty for the few is not liberty.
5. Liberty for me and slavery for you means slavery for both.
6. The greatest thing in the world is for a man to know that he is his own.
7. Nothing can work me damage except myself.
8. He that loveth maketh his own the grandeur which he loves.
9. My life is not an apology, but a life.
10. I cannot consent to pay for a privilege where I have intrinsic right.
11. It is difficult to free fools from the chains which they revere.
12. Desire nothing for yourself which you do not desire for others.
13. All our liberties are due to men who, when their conscience compelled them, have broken the laws of the land.

14. "It takes great strength to live where you belong,

    When other people think that you are wrong."

15. If the truth shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
16. He is true to God who is true to man.

Exercise 4

In the following sentences underscore all the connectives—copulative verbs, prepositions, relative pronouns, co-ordinate and subordinate conjunctions.

"There was a bird's egg once, picked up by chance upon the ground, and those who found it bore it home and placed it under a barn-yard fowl. And in time the chick bred out, and those who had found it chained it by the leg to a log lest it should stray and be lost. And by and by they gathered round it, and speculated as to what the bird might be.

One said, "It is surely a waterfowl, a duck, or it may be a goose; if we took it to the water it would swim and gabble." But another said, "It has no webs to its feet; it is a barn-yard fowl; if you should let it loose it will scratch and cackle with the others on the dungheap." But a third speculated, "Look now at its curved beak; no doubt it is a parrot, and can crack nuts."

But a fourth said, "No, but look at its wings; perhaps it is a bird of great flight." But several cried, "Nonsense! No one has ever seen it fly! Why should it fly? Can you suppose that a thing can do a thing which no one has ever seen it do?" And the bird, with its leg chained close to the log, preened its wings.

So they say about it, speculating and discussing it: and one said this, and another that.

And all the while, as they talked, the bird sat motionless, "Suppose we let the creature loose to see what it will do?"—and the bird shivered. But the others cried, "It is too valuable; it might get lost. If it were to try to fly it might fall down and break its neck." And the bird, with its foot chained to the log, sat looking upward into the clear sky; the sky, in which it had never been—for the bird—the bird, knew what it would do—because it was an eaglet!"

—Olive Schreiner.

Exercise 5

These stirring lines are taken from Arturo Giovannitti's "Arrows in the Gale" and are a part of the poem "The Sermon on the Common." Note the use of the conjunctions. Mark all of the clauses.

Ye are the power of the earth, the foundations of society, the thinkers and the doers of all things good and all things fair and useful, the makers and dispensers of all the bounties and the joys and the happiness of the world, and if ye fold your mighty arms, all the life of the world stands still and death hovers on the darkened abodes of man.

Ye are the light of the world. There was darkness in all the ages when the torch of your will did not blaze forth, and the past and the future are full of the radiance that cometh from your eyes.

Ye are eternal, even as your father, labor, is eternal, and no power of time and dissolution can prevail against you.

Ages have come and gone, kingdoms and powers and dynasties have risen and fallen, old glories and ancient wisdoms have been turned into dust, heroes and sages have been forgotten and many a mighty and fearsome god has been hurled into the lightless chasms of oblivion.

But ye, Plebs, Populace, People, Rabble, Mob, Proletariat, live and abide forever.

Therefore I say unto you, banish fear from your hearts, dispel the mists of ignorance from your minds, arm your yearning with your strength, your vision with your will, and open your eyes and behold.

Do not moan, do not submit, do not kneel, do not pray, do not wait.

Think, dare, do, rebel, fight—ARISE!

It is not true that ye are condemned to serve and to suffer in shame forever.

It is not true that injustice, iniquity, hunger, misery, abjection, depravity, hatred, theft, murder and fratricide are eternal.

There is no destiny that the will of man cannot break.

There are no chains of iron that other iron cannot destroy.

There is nothing that the power of your arms, lighted by the power of your mind, cannot transform and reconstruct and remake.

Arise, then, ye men of the plow and the hammer, the helm and the lever, and send forth to the four winds of the earth your new proclamation of freedom which shall be the last and shall abide forevermore.

Through you, through your united, almighty strength, order shall become equity, law shall become liberty, duty shall become love and religion shall become truth.

Through you, the man-beast shall die and the man be born.

Through you, the dark and bloody chronicles of the brute shall cease and the story of man shall begin.

Through you, by the power of your brain and hand,

All the predictions of the prophets,

All the wisdom of the sages,

All the dreams of the poets,

All the hopes of the heroes,

All the visions of the martyrs,

All the prayers of the saints,

All the crushed, tortured, strangled, maimed and murdered ideals of the ages, and all the glorious destinies of mankind shall become a triumphant and everlasting reality in the name of labor and bread and love, the great threefold truth forever.

And lo and behold, my brothers, this shall be called the revolution.

SPELLING

LESSON 22

In our study of the spelling of English words we have found that there are not many rules that apply. In fact, the only way to learn to spell correctly is by sheer dint of memory.

In last week's lesson we found that a number of adjectives can be formed from nouns or verbs by the addition of able or ible, but we find it difficult to determine whether to add able or ible. The sound is practically the same and we are confused as to whether we should use a or i. There is no rule which applies in this case and there is nothing to do but to master the spelling of these words by memory. These are words which we use a great deal and which are very helpful members of our working vocabulary.

Our list of words in this week's lesson contain some of the most common words which we use ending in ible or able. The words for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all end in able; the words for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will end in ible. Notice them carefully and get fixed firmly in mind the correct spelling. Notice also that most of these adjectives can be changed into adverbs by changing ble to bly. So when you have added these adjectives to your vocabulary, you have also added the adverbs as well.

Monday

• Probable
• Capable
• Usable
• Considerable
• Respectable

Tuesday

• Durable
• Salable
• Advisable
• Available
• Equitable

Wednesday

• Tolerable
• Profitable
• Remarkable
• Valuable
• Comfortable

Thursday

• Possible
• Horrible
• Plausible
• Intelligible
• Terrible

Friday

• Credible
• Visible
• Infallible
• Responsible
• Sensible

Saturday

• Forcible
• Permissible
• Feasible
• Corruptible
• Eligible

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 23

Dear Comrade:

In this lesson we are taking up the study of interjections. Interjections are the language of emotion. This was probably the earliest form of speech. You notice that children use these exclamations often, and the sounds which are imitations of the noises about them. This language belongs also to the savage, whose peculiar and expressive grunts contain whole areas of condensed thought. As we progress from feeling to thinking, the use of the interjection diminishes.

You will not find interjections used in a book on mathematics or physical science or history. To attempt to read one of these books may make you use interjections and express your emotion in violent language, but you will not find interjections in these books. These books of science are books that express thought and not feeling. But if you turn to fiction and to oratory you will find the interjection used freely, for these are the books which treat of the human emotions and feelings. Especially in poetry will you find the interjection used, for poetry is the language of feeling and the interjection is an important part of the poet's stock in trade.

In conversation, these exclamatory words are very useful. They fill the gaps in our conversation and they help to put the listener and the speaker in touch with one another. They are usually accompanied by a gesture, which adds force to the word. The tone of the voice in which they are expressed also means a great deal. You can say, Oh! in half a dozen different ways; you may express surprise, wonder, joy, sorrow, pain, or disgust. A great many different and widely separated feelings can be expressed simply by the tone in which you use the exclamatory words. Some one has said that these words grease the wheels of talk. They serve to help the timid, to give time to the unready and to keep up a pleasant semblance of familiarity.

When we use them in the stress of emotion to express deep feeling, their use is perfectly justified. But one author has called these words "the miserable refuge of the speechless." We use them many times because we have no words with which to express ourselves. This use is unjustified. Be careful that you do not use them in this way. It has been said that the degree of a man's civilization can be pretty fairly judged by the expletives which he uses. Do not sprinkle your conversation with interjections and even stronger words because you are at a loss for other words.

There is a rich mine of words at your disposal. Do not be satisfied with bits of glass that have no value, when the rich diamonds of real expression can be yours for just a little digging. Save your emotional language for the time when you really need it to express deep emotion.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

INTERJECTIONS

386. We have been studying the parts of speech,—the elements of which sentences are composed. But we have another class of words which we call parts of speech because they are spoken and written as words, but which are really not parts of speech in the same sense as the words which we have been discussing. These are words which we call interjections.

Interjection means, literally, thrown between, from jecto, to throw,and inter, between. So interjections do not enter into the constructionof sentences but are only thrown in between. Every word that is really a part of the sentence is either a noun, a pronoun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb, a preposition or a conjunction.

There are words, however, that we use with sentences which do not enter into the construction. For example, you say:

• Oh! I am wounded.
• Aha! I have conquered.
• Alas! He came too late.

387. Words which we use in these sentences, like, oh, aha, alas, are used to express the emotion which you feel in making the statement. Your Oh! in a sentence like: Oh! I am wounded, would probably sound very much like a groan. But your Aha! in the, Aha! I have conquered, will sound like a shout of victory, and your Alas! in the sentence, Alas! He came too late, will express grief or regret over the fact that he came too late.

These words do not assert anything and very much of the meaning which we give them must come from the tone in which they are uttered. Every one, upon hearing them, knows at once whether they express grief or delight.

388. An interjection is an exclamatory word or phrase used to express feeling or to imitate some sound.

389. Interjections may be divided into four classes:

1. Words which we use instead of an assertion to express feeling of various kinds, as:

• (a) Surprise or wonder; as, Oh, Aha, What.
• (b) Pleasure, joy, or exaltation; as, Hurrah, Ha, Ha.
• (c) Pain, sadness or sorrow; as, Alas, Alack.
• (d) Contempt or disgust; as Fie, Fudge, Ugh, Pshaw.

2. Words used instead of a question; as, Eh? Hey?

3. Words used instead of a command; as:

• (a) To call attention; as, Hello, Ahoy, Whoa.
• (b) To express silence; as, Shh, Hush, Hist.
• (c) To direct or drive out, etc., as, Whoa, Gee, Haw, Scat.

4. Words used to imitate sounds made by animals, machines, etc., as, Bow-wow, Ding-dong, Bang, Rub-a-dub.

When we wish to imitate noises or sounds made by animals, machines, etc., in writing, we spell out the words as nearly as we can, just as we write ding-dong to represent the sound of the bell or tick-tock to indicate the ticking of a clock.

Note that a number of our verbs and nouns have been formed from imitating the sound which these nouns or verbs describe or express, as for instance, crash, roar, buzz, hush, groan, bang, puff, etc.

Exercise 1

Mark the interjections in the following sentences. Which express surprise? Which joy? Which sorrow? Which disgust?

1. Alas! We shall never meet again.
2. Bravo! You have done well.
3. Pshaw! Is that the best you can do?
4. Ship ahoy! All hands on deck.
5. Hello! When did you come?
6. Hurrah! We have won the victory.
7. Alas, alack! Those days will never come again.
8. Hist! You must be as still as mice.

Exercise 2

Write sentences using an interjection to express: 1. Joy. 2. Surprise. 3. Pain. 4. Sorrow. 5. Disgust. 6. To ask a question. 7. To call attention. 8. To silence. 9. To direct. 10. To imitate the sound made by an animal. 11. By a machine.

EXCLAMATORY WORDS

390. Interjections express only emotion or feeling. They do not express ideas. However, we have a number of words which are used somewhat as interjections are used, which we may class as exclamatory words, but they express more than interjections, for they express ideas as well as emotions; but, like interjections, they are used independently and have no part in the construction of the sentence.

391. Many ordinary words and phrases are used in this way as exclamations. When they are so used they have no place in the construction of the sentence; that is, they do not depend upon the sentence in which they are used, in any way. A noun used in this way is not used as the subject or the object, but simply as an exclamation.

For example; the noun nonsense may be used as an interjection, as in the sentence; Nonsense! I do not believe a word of it. In this sentence, nonsense is a noun used as an interjection and plays no part in the sentence, either as subject or object, but is an independent construction. There are a number of words used in this way:

1. Nouns and pronouns, as fire, mercy, shame, nonsense, the idea, what.

2. Verbs like, help, look, see, listen, hark, behold, begone.

3. Adjectives like, good, well, brave, welcome, strange.

4. Adverbs like, out, indeed, how, why, back, forward.

5. Prepositions like, on, up, down.

6. Phrases like, Oh dear, dear me, good bye.

Words and phrases such as these, used as exclamations, are not true interjections, for they express a little more than feeling. They express an idea which, in our haste, we do not completely express. The other words necessary to the expression of the idea are omitted because of the stress of emotion. For example:

• Silence! I will hear no more.

In this sentence it is understood that we mean, Let us have silence, I will hear no more. But in the stress of our emotion, we have omitted the words, Let us have.

If we say, Good! that will do splendidly, you know that we mean, That is good, we have simply omitted That is, which is necessary to complete the sentence. Sometimes when we are greatly excited we abandon our sentence construction altogether and use only the most important words. For example:

• A sail! a sail!

This is not a sentence, for it does not contain a verb, yet we know that what was meant was, I see a sail, I see a sail.

Exercise 3

Write sentences using the words given in the foregoing list as exclamatory words, and add as many more to the list as you can think of.

YES AND NO

392. The words yes and no, which we use in reply to questions were originally adverbs, but we no longer use them as adverbs. We no longer combine them with other words as modifying or limiting words, but use them independently. They are in themselves complete answers. Thus, if you ask me the question, Will you come? I may say Yes, meaning, I will come; or, No, meaning, I will not come.

The responsives yes and no thus stand for whole sentences, so they are really independent words. We may use them in connection with other sentences. For example; I may say, Yes, I will come, or No, I will not come. Used in this way, they still retain an independent construction in the sentence. We call them responsives because they are used in response to questions.

OTHER INDEPENDENT EXPRESSIONS

393. Other words may be used in an independent construction in sentences, without depending upon the sentence in which they are used or without having the sentences depend upon them, such as:

1. A word used in address. For example:

• Mr. President, I move that a committee be now appointed.
• Fellow Workers, I rise to address you.

In these sentences, Mr. President and Fellow Workers are nouns used independently; that is, they are neither the subject of the sentence nor used as object or predicate complement. They are independent of all other words in the sentence.

The most common use of words used independently in direct address occurs with imperative sentences. For example:

• Comrades, rouse yourselves.
• Men, strike for freedom.

2. Exclamatory expressions. These are nouns used in the manner in which we have already discussed, as in the sentence:

• Nonsense! I do not believe a word of it.
• Alas! poor Yorick! I knew him well.

3. Words and phrases used parenthetically, as for example:

• By the way, I met a friend of yours today.
• We cannot, however, join you at once.
• He called, it seems, while we were gone.

In these sentences such words as, however, and such phrases as, by the way, and, it seems, are used independently,—in parenthesis, as it were; that is, they are just thrown into the sentences in such a way that they do not modify or depend upon any other word in the sentence. When we analyze our sentences, these independent words are not considered as elements of the sentences in which they are used. It is sufficient to say that they are independent words.

4. Conjunctions used as introductory words. We have noted the use of conjunctions like the co-ordinates and, but, etc., and the subordinates because, in order that, so, for, wherefore, how, whether, etc., which are used to introduce sentences and connect them in thought with sentences and paragraphs which have gone before.

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

394. We have a number of words which we use to introduce our sentences. They are such words as, so, well and why. These are ordinarily adverbs, but when they are used merely to introduce a sentence they retain little of their adverbial force. For example:

• So, that is your only excuse.
• Well, I cannot understand why you should accept it.
• Why, that is no reason at all.

In these sentences, so, well and why do not modify any of the words in the sentences, but are used merely to introduce the sentences. They serve in a measure to connect them with something which has gone before.

395. The adverb there is also used as an introductory word. When it is used in this manner, it loses its adverbial force. There, as ordinarily used, is an adverb of place, but it is often used to introduce a sentence. For example: There is some mistake about it. In this sentence there is not used as an adverb, but it is used simply as an introductory word. It is used to introduce a sentence in which the verb comes before the real subject. Mistake is the real subject of the verb is, and there is used simply as the introductory word.

396. The indefinite pronoun it is also used as an introductory word, to introduce a sentence in much the same manner as there. The real subject of the verb occurs later in the sentence. For example:

• It is best to know the truth.

This could be written, To know the truth is best, and the entire meaning of the sentence would be conveyed.

397. Adverbs of mode. You remember in our study of adverbs, we had certain adverbs which were called adverbs of mode. These are used to modify the entire sentence. They express the feeling in which the entire sentence is uttered. Adverbs of mode may be regarded also as independent words. They are such words as, indeed, surely, certainly, perhaps, etc. For example:

• Indeed, I cannot tell you now.
• Surely, I will comply with your request.
• Perhaps it may be true.
• I certainly hope to do so before long.

Exercise 4

Note in the following sentences the words which are pure interjections, and those which are other parts of speech used as exclamatory words. Mark those which are used in direct address, those which are used parenthetically, and those which are used as mere introductory words.

1. Oh, it seems impossible to believe it.
2. Surely, you will accept my word.
3. Nonsense, there is not the least truth in the story.
4. It will be impossible for us to join.
5. Therefore we urge you to join in this campaign.
6. There is only one solution to the problem.
7. It is difficult to discover the true facts.
8. Well, I have done my best to persuade you.
9. Mr. Chairman, I rise to a point of order.
10. Comrades, come and stand for your rights.
11. Yes, I have studied that philosophy.
12. Enough! we have been enslaved too long.
13. Hark! we hear the tramp of the army of labor.
14. Alas! that any should refuse to join in this battle.
15. You have not, it seems, understood the issue.
16. Indeed, solidarity is our only hope.
17. Br-r-r-r-r-r-r, thus whirl the machines that grind our children's lives.
18. Hush! Over the crash of the cannon sounds the wail of Europe's women and children.

EXPLANATORY WORDS

398. We sometimes use words which do not belong in the construction of a sentence to explain other words in the sentence. For example:

• We, the undersigned, subscribe as follows:
• Helen Keller, the most wonderful woman of this age, champions the cause of the working class.

In the first sentence, the words, the undersigned, are added to the pronoun we to explain who we means. In the second sentence, the words, the most wonderful woman of this age, are added to explain who Helen Keller is. Words added to other words in this way are called explanatory words. They are placed in apposition to the noun which they explain. Apposition means by the side of, or in position near. You remember that in clauses we found that a clause may be placed in apposition with a noun to explain the meaning of that noun. For example:

• There is an old saying, in union there is strength.

These words in apposition may themselves be modified or limited by other words or phrases or clauses. For example:

• Helen Keller, the most wonderful woman of this age, champions the cause of the working class.

In this sentence, woman is the noun placed in apposition to the particular name, Helen Keller, and the noun woman is modified by the adjectives the, and wonderful, and by the phrase of this age.

Sometimes a second explanatory word is placed in apposition to the first one. This is quite often the case in legal documents or resolutions, where the language is quite formal. For example:

• We, the undersigned, members of Local No. 38, do hereby move, etc.
• I, John Smith, Notary Public, in and for the county of Clay, etc.

These words, undersigned and members, are both placed in apposition to the pronoun We, explaining to whom that pronoun refers.

Exercise 5

In the following sentences note the explanatory words and their modifiers:

1. Wendell Phillips, the great abolitionist, was a man of genius.
2. Buckle, the historian, writes from the view point of the materialistic conception of history.
3. Giovannitti, the poet, wrote "Arrows in the Gale."
4. Helen Keller, champion of the working class, wrote the introduction to this book.
5. We, the workers of the world, will some day claim our own.
6. He was found guilty of treason, a crime punishable by death.
7. Ferrer, the martyr of the twentieth century, was put to death by the Spanish government.
8. Jaures, the great French socialist, was the first martyr to peace.
9. But ye, Plebs, Populace, People, Rabble, Mob, Proletariat, live and abide forever.
10. Ye are eternal, even as your father, labor, is eternal.
11. This document, the Constitution of the United States, hinders the progress of the people.
12. The memory of Guttenberg, the inventor of the printing press, should be reverenced by every class-conscious worker.
13. Wallace, the scientist and author, was co-discoverer with Darwin of the theory of evolution.
14. Karl Marx, the thinker, applied this theory to social forces.
15. Do you understand the three basic principles of Socialism—the class struggle, economic determinism and surplus value?

Exercise 6

Read the following list of words and note the ideas which they suggest to you, then make sentences containing these words, modified by a word or group of words in apposition, which explain more fully these words.

Law, martyr, society, education, inventor, commander, freedom, Eugene V. Debs, Karl Marx, Kaiser Wilhelm, The Balkan, Lawrence, Colorado, Calumet.

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION

399. We have found that every word in a sentence bears some relation to every other word, except these words which we have been studying, which we use independently. These explanatory words which we have just been studying are not used independently, but do in a sense modify the noun with which they are placed in apposition. Sometimes we place a noun or a pronoun and its modifiers alongside the whole sentence and it does not really modify any part of the sentence, but modifies the whole sentence in a way, for it expresses an attendant thought or an accompanying circumstance. For example:

• The workers being unorganized, the strike was easily defeated.
• The strikers having won, work was resumed on their terms.

The workers being unorganised and the strikers having won are not clauses for they do not contain a verb. Being unorganized and having won are participles. Neither do they modify any word in the sentence. They are not placed in apposition with any other word. While they do express a thought in connection with the sentence, in construction they seem to be cut loose from the rest of the sentence; that is, they are not closely connected with the sentence, hence they are called absolute constructions. Ab means from, and solute, loose; so this means, literally, loose from the rest of the sentence.

We speak of these as absolute constructions, instead of independent, because the thought expressed is connected with the main thought of the sentence and is really a part of it. Notice that the noun used in the absolute construction is not the subject of the sentence.

Take the sentence, The workers being unorganized, the strike was easily defeated, the noun strike is the subject of the sentence, and the noun workers is used in the absolute construction with the participle, being unorganized.

These absolute constructions can ordinarily be rewritten into adverb clauses. For example, this sentence might read: The strike was easily defeated because the workers were unorganized. Do not make the mistake of rewriting your sentences and using the noun in the absolute construction as the subject of the sentence. For example:

• The workers, being unorganized, were easily defeated.

This is not the meaning of this sentence. The meaning of the sentence is that the strike was easily defeated because the workers were unorganized. But the adverb clause, because the workers were unorganized, instead of being written as an adverb clause, has been written in the absolute construction, the workers being unorganized.

While it is nearly always possible to change these absolute constructions into adverb clauses the sentences are sometimes weakened by the change. These absolute constructions often enable us to make a statement in a stronger manner than we could make it with a clause or in any other way.

Exercise 7

In the following sentences, note the groups of words which are used in absolute construction. Rewrite these sentences and if possible change these words used in absolute construction into equivalent adverb phrases or clauses. Note how some of the sentences are weakened when you make this change.

1. Nationalism having been taught to generation after generation, the workers obeyed the call of the master class to slaughter their fellow workers.
2. The hour having arrived, Ferrer was blindfolded and led forth to die.
3. The mass being without education, capitalism gains an easy victory.
4. The class struggle being a fact, why should we hesitate to join our class?
5. These facts being true, such a conclusion is inevitable.
6. Darwin having stated the theory of evolution, Marx applied its principles to social science.
7. Chattel slavery having been destroyed, wage-slavery became the corner stone of capitalism.
8. The price having been paid, we claim our own.
9. The battle ended, the army left the trenches.

Exercise 8

Mark the interjections in the following quotations. Note the independent constructions. Mark the words used as explanatory words in apposition.

In the mind's eye, I see a wonderful building, something like the Coliseum of ancient Rome. The galleries are black with people; tier upon tier rise like waves the multitude of spectators who have come to see a great contest. A great contest, indeed! A contest in which all the world and all the centuries are interested. It is the contest—the fight to death—between Truth and Error.

The door opens, and a slight, small, shy and insignificant looking thing steps into the arena. It is Truth. The vast audience bursts into hilarious and derisive laughter. What! Is this Truth? This shuddering thing in tattered clothes, and almost naked? And the house shakes again with mocking and hisses.

The door opens again, and Error enters—clad in cloth of gold, imposing in appearance, tall of stature, glittering with gems, sleek and huge and ponderous, causing the building to tremble with the thud of its steps. The audience is for a moment dazzled into silence, then it breaks into applause, long and deafening. "Welcome!" "Welcome!" is the greeting from the multitude. "Welcome!" shout ten thousand throats.

The two contestants face each other. Error, in full armor—backed by the sympathies of the audience, greeted by the clamorous cheering of the spectators; and Truth, scorned, scoffed at, and hated. "The issue is a foregone conclusion," murmurs the vast audience. "Error will trample Truth under its feet."

The battle begins. The two clinch, separate, and clinch again. Truth holds its own. The spectators are alarmed. Anxiety appears in their faces. Their voices grow faint. Is it possible? Look! See! There! Error recedes! It fears the gaze of Truth! It shuns its beauteous eyes! Hear it shriek and scream as it feels Truth's squeeze upon its wrists. Error is trying to break away from Truth's grip. It is making for the door. It is gone!

The spectators are mute. Every tongue is smitten with the palsy. The people bite their lips until they bleed. They cannot explain what they have seen. "Oh! who would have believed it?" "Is it possible?"—they exclaim. But they cannot doubt what their eyes have seen—that puny and insignificant looking thing called Truth has put ancient and entrenched Error, backed by the throne, the altar, the army, the press, the people and the gods—to rout.

The pursuit of truth! Is it not worth living for? To seek the truth, to love the truth, to live the truth? Can any religion offer more?—Mangasarian.