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The Grammar of English Grammars

Chapter 1270: E.
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A comprehensive, methodically arranged grammar of English that opens with historical and critical context and proceeds through precise rules, definitions, and abundant illustrative examples. It provides instruction in parsing and correction, exercises for writing, questions for examination, and appendices treating each major part of grammar. The author evaluates different methods of analysis, supplies decisions and proofs on disputed points, and offers observations for advanced study. Practical application is emphasized through drills and corrective practice designed to make grammatical principles readily accessible and usable by both learners and teachers.

Consonants, divisions and subdivisions of —properties of, as sharp, flat, labial, &c.

Construing, whether differs from parsing

Continuance of action, see Compound or Progressive

Contractions, in the orthog. and the pronunciation of words —ocular, in printing poetry, not important

Correlatives, combinations of, ("Father's son,") how to be regarded

Corresponding, or corresponsive conjunctions, in what manner used
    —named and exemplified in their several pairs
    —nature of the terms standing in the relat. of
    —the former of two, how parsed
    —CHURCH. canon on the use of
    —Or
    —or, and nor
    —nor, by poet. usage Crotchets, or brackets, how used
    —confused and inaccurate teaching of WEBST. et al., concerning

Cum with an ablative, Lat., ("Dux CUM aliquibus," &c.,) the construc. imitated in Eng. —canon on do.

Curves, or marks of parenthesis —have been in use for centuries —the use of, not to be discarded —confused teaching of WEBST. et al., respecting do. —what used to distinguish —clause enclosed by, how to be uttered; pause of do. —Rules for the application of

Customary actions require to be expressed by indic. pres.

D.

D, name and plur. numb. —sounds of —written for a number

Dactyl, defined

Dactylic verse
    —stress, on what syll. laid; what rhyme it generally forms
    —is not very common; seldom pure and regular
    —shown in its eight measures
    —has been but little noticed by prosodists and grammarians
    —misconceived and misrepresented Rev. D. BLAIR

Dare, construc. with infin. foll.
    —Use of the form DARE for the third pers. sing.

Dash, the mark, explanation of —LOWTH et al. make no mention of —Rules for the application of —Dash, needless, how to be treated —between quotation and name of the author —applied to side-title —used to signify omission

Dates, ordinarily abbreviated; how best written —objectives in, without their prepositions

Dative case, faulty relic, in Eng., of old Sax., ("It ascends ME into," &c., SHAK.)

Days of the week, names of, to be reckoned prop. names, and written with capital

Deaf and dumb
    —The deaf and dumb, to whom the letters represent no sounds, learn
      to read and write; what inferred herefrom

Defective verb, what verb so called —which tenses of, wanting —Defective verbs, whether they should be reckoned a distinct class —may, can, must, and shall, not to be referred to the class of —will, beware, &c., construc. and import of explained —Defec. verbs, List of

Definite article, defined
    —Definite art., its demonstrative character
    —used before names of rivers
    —do. by way of eminence
    —no rule of agreem. for, in Eng.
    —prefixed as an adv., to comparatives and superlatives
    —repeated before every term in a series of adjectives used ellipt. as
      nouns
    —used for a poss. pron., ("Full in THE face")
    —position with respect to its noun
    —required before antecedent to a restricted relative. See also The

Definition, defined —A perfect definition, what —Definitions, needful qualities of certain, in gram. —bad, peculiar vice of —Crit. N. on

Definitives, what, in Eng., and how to be classed —example to show what is meant by —Definitive word required before antecedent to restricted relative

Degrees of comparison, see Comparison

Deity, names of, use of capitals in
    —in all languages, masc.; direct names of, do.. The sing. numb,
      universally employed in reference to the Supreme Being

Demonstratives, from the class, pronominal adjectives

Derivation, as a topic of gram., what explains —importance of —a knowledge of what languages will throw light on the subject of Eng.

Desiring, verbs of; see Commanding

Desisting, verbs of; with part., in stead of infin.

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 adjectivesDistributive 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.

 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 besidesElse, 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.

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.

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 —not used in our common Bibles; the defect in what measure relieved

H.

H, its name and plur. numb. —its sound —in what words silent —in what positions do. —an used formerly before all words beginning with

Hand, or index, use of

Handwriting, script letters in

Harmonical pauses, see Pauses

Have, verb, how varied
    —derivation of; with perf. part., import of the tense
    —Had, with better, rather, &c., before the infin.

He and she, sometimes used as nouns
    —as prefixed to nouns to denote gend.
    —whether to be connected by a hyphen to the nouns to which prefixed

Hear, with objective, and an infin. without to
    —with infin. alone, perhaps ellipt, ("I HAVE HEARD TELL")
    —Heard, verb, why irregular
    —its pronunc.

Hebrew letters, some account of; names, characters, and significations of
    —whether they are, or are not, all consonants, long a subject of
      dispute
    —The

Hebrew names for the months, were prop. nouns
    —Hebrew, what pointing adopted in

Hence, thence, whence, with from prefixed. "I'll HENCE," see Adverbs

Heptameter line, iambic, examples of —trochaic, do —dactylic, do.

Here, there, where, force of, when compounded with prepositions
    —with verb of motion, perh. allowable for hither, thither, whither.
      Hereof, thereof, whereof, placed after nouns, what to be called.
      Herein, therein, &c., their class and nature

Heroic verse, see Pentameter

Heterogeneous terms, in general, two such not to be connected by a conjunc.

Hexameter line, iambic, examples of —trochaic, do —dactylic, do.

Hissing sounds, concurrence of, in forming the poss. case, how avoided

Hold, noun, after lay, take, &c., whether preferably construed with of, on, or upon

Hoping, &c., verbs of, see Commanding

How, after nouns of manner, its nature
    —not to be used before that, or in stead of it
    —derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.

Hyperbaton, explained
    —its frequency in poetry; how should be used
    —is diff. from synchysis

Hyperbole, defined —Hyperboles, by what commonly expressed

Hypermeter, meaning of, in scansion

Hyphen, its uses
    —present use in compound names
    —Rules for the insertion of, in compounds
    —signif. of the name
    —Hyphen, abuse of
    —CHURCH, on the use of, in comp. words
    —in the figure of an adj., with a change of the synt. and sense
    —necessary with a verbal noun and an adjunct
    —do. with comp. participles, converted

Hypobacchy, or antibacchy, defined

I.

I, lett., self-naming; its plur.
    —its usual sounds
    —diphthongs beginning with; triphth. do., I, pron. with cap. lett.,
      I, as written for a number. I, adv., see Ay

Iambic verse, treated
    —Iamb. verse, stress where laid in; effect of a short syll. added to
      a line of
    —shown in its eight measures
    —is seldom pure through a long succession of lines
    —some of its diversifications shown. See also Dimeter, Trimeter, &c.

Iambus, or iamb, defined

Idea of unity, and of plurality, how formed

Identity of words, the principle of, considered
    —Identity, proper, RULE for, ("Same Cases.") Identification,
      false, N. concerning

Idioms or peculiarities of expression, when to be approved or valued

If, the Biblical use of, to express an emphat. negation —its derivation from Sax.

Ignorance, literary, Crit. N. concerning

Imagery, or Vision, explained

Imperative mood, defined —Imperat. mood, why so called; in what manner applied —its one tense, and the import of do —its inflection shown in the verb LOVE, conjugated —what nominatives only it takes —use of, in the Gr. lang.; do., in Lat., Ital., Fr., and Span —may have all the persons and numbers —poet.

Imperfect tense, defined
    —Imperf. tense, the form, how far applicable to the Eng. tense so
      called
    —in its simple form is the preterit
    —in the pot. and subj. moods, an aorist
    —of the indic. and the subj., how distinguished
    —of the sub., to express a mere supposition, with indef. time

Imperfect participle, or first part., defined
    —its form
    —The first part., has been variously called
    —why rightly termed imperfect participle
    —for what forms of the Lat. gram., stands
    —is applicable to time pres., past, or fut.; is not always active,
      even when derived from an act. verb
    —may be turned to a multiplicity of uses
    —appar. put absolute, (Admitting,
    —Allowing
, &c.)
    —distinguished, with respect to governm., from a particip. noun
    —as equivalent to infin. mood; heads of regular equivalence
    —how compares with the Lat. gerund
    —its nature and construc.

Impersonal verbs, so called, their peculiarity of use —called monopersonal by some

Impropriety of language, what embraces

In and into, difference between; nature of the relation expressed by each; derivation of, from Sax.

Inclusive and exclusive terms of a comparison

Incorrigible errors, Crit. N. concerning

Indefinite article, see An, A Indefinite pronouns, of the class pronom. adjectives

Independent, see Absolute

Index, or hand, use of

Indicative mood, defined
    —Indic. mood, why so called; its nature and use
    —use of its pres. tense
    —do. of its form of the pluperf. in lieu of the pot. pluperf.
    —wherein differs characteristically from the subj.; the two moods
      continually confounded by writers
    —Indic. mood, format, and inflec. of its tenses shown in the verb
      LOVE, conjug.
    —employed to express a conditional circumstance assumed as a fact

Inelegance of language, see Awkwardness.

Infinitive mood, defined
    —Infin. mood, so called in oppos. to the other moods
    —usually distinguished by the prep. to before it
    —its pres., the ROOT, or radical verb; what time it expresses
    —archaic form in en
    —its two tenses shown in the verb LOVE, conjug.
    —Synt. of
    —Infin. mood, by what governed; (see To:)
    —true construc. of, explained by the 18th Rule of the Synt.
    —why simple of solution in Eng.; whether ever governed by a prep, in
      Fr., Span., or Ital.
    —whimsical account of, given by NIX.
    —how expressed in the Anglo-Sax. of the 11th century
    —why may not, as some grammarians teach, be | considered a noun
    —DR. WILS. on the charac. and import of
    —to what other terms may be connected
    —what in its nature, and for what things chiefly may stand
    —taken abstractly, as subject of finite verb
    —Loose infinitives, improp. in precise language
    —Infin. mood, position of
    —misplacement of, to be avoided
    —distinction of voice in, often disregarded, ("You are to BLAME;")
      hypercrit. teachings of SANB. and BLAIR hereon
    —Infin., after bid, dare, &c., without TO
    —whether used with TO after have, help, and find
    —Infin., BY WHAT governed, often imposs. to say, according to the
      instructions of MURR.
    —Infinitives connected, governed by one preposition
    —Infinitive, ellipsis of, after to, whether to be approved
    —sometimes doubtful whether transitive or intransitive
    —in pause, or in remote dependence, punct. of
    —poet. placing of
    —Greek construc. of, in poetic use

Inflections, defined
    —rising and falling, explained; do., as applied to questions
    —notation of, in writing and printing
    —the rising more numerous than the falling; predominance of the rising
      in oral lang.; the falling, for what used, COMST.
    —what kind of rules for, have been given by writers
    —the rising and the falling, to be used with prop. discrimination;
      what should determine the direction of
    —Inflection, what constitutes the circumflex

Innovation extravagant, into the system of synt. or gram., a particular instance of, noticed

Inscriptions appear best in full capitals

Instead, what reckoned, and how best written

Intending, &c., verbs of, see Commanding.

Intensive nature of comparatives and superlatives, A. MURR.

Interrogative pronouns, defined
    —what they severally demand
    —their use and construc.
    —in what differ from relatives
    —are always of the third pers.
    —declined
    —their place in a sentence
    —their construc. of cases, to what similar

Interrogative sentences, agreem. of verbs in

INTERJECTIONS, Etymol. of
    —Interjection, defined
    —derivation and signif. of the term; LOWTH'S error in describing the
      interjections
    —Interjections, numb. of, in common use
    —List of
    —Interjections, the frequent use of, an indication of
      thoughtlessness; expressiveness of some interjections in earnest
      utterance, &c.
    —should be discriminatively used
    —chief characteristics of; referred to the class of adverbs by the
      Gr. grammarians
    —significant words uttered as, ("Out! out!")
    —appar. taken substantively
    —Synt. of
    —absolute construc. of
    —have no construc. with cases, as in Lat. and Gr.
    —appar., sometimes connected to other words by a prep., or by that
    —place of
    —punct. of
    —ellips. of, shown
    —derivation of
    —frequency of, in poet. lang.

Inversion of terms, sometimes of advantage, in respect to strength and vivacity of expression.

Irony, figure explained

Is being, with a perf. part., or the subject of the UNCO-PASSIVE form of verbs, canvassed

Ise or ize, which of these terminations to be taken in forming derivatives under Deriv. of Verbs

Ish, termination, whether it may be accounted a degree of comparison

It. its chief use
    —declined
    —to what creatures may be applied
    —put for the distance, ("How far do you call IT?" &c., PRIESTL.,)
    —without definite reference to an anteced.
    —as explet., and referring to something expressed afterwards; faulty
      omission of, before verb, in such construc.
    —had formerly no variation of cases
    —its poss. form ITS, for of it, of recent origin, and not found in
      the text of the common Bible
    —wrongly excluded by some from the list of pers. pronouns:
    —its derivation from Sax., traced

Italic letters, Italics, some account of —for what purpose used —how denoted in preparing manuscripts

J.

J, its name and plur. numb. —why never doubled —why never ends a word in Eng. —impropriety of dividing on the letter, in syllabication —sounds of,

Johnson, Dr. S., his authority in Eng. orthography

Joint nominatives, agreem. of verb with
    —whether words connected by with can be used as. Joint
      antecedents
, agreem. of pron. with
    —of different persons, agreem. of verb or pron. with, in ellipt.
      construc.

Jumbling together of the active voice and the passive, the manner of some —Jumbling, senseless, Crit. N. censuring

K.

K, its name and plur. —in general, not needed in words derived from the learned languages —its sounds —when silent —Two Kays standing together

Kind, sort, with these or those improp. preceding

L.

L, its name and plur. numb. —of the class liquids —final, monosyllables ending in —final double, to what words peculiar —its sound; in what words silent —where doubled —written for a number

Labial letters, how articulated

Language, the primitive sense of the term, what embraced; signif. of do.,
as now used
    —in opposition to some grammarians, BROWN confines the term to speech
      and writing
    —loose explanations of the word by certain slack thinkers; WEBST.
      notion of
    —SHERID. idea of; KIRKH. wild and contradictory teachings concerning
    —Language, PROPRIETY of, in what consists; IMPROPRIETY of, what
      embraces
    —PRECISION of, in what consists; Precepts concerning its opposites
    —Language, Eng., (see English Language)
    —Languages, uniform SERIES OF GRAMMARS for teaching the Eng., Lat.,
      and Gr., that of DR. BULL., noticed

Lay, pay, and say, how written in the pret. and the perf. part.

Leading principles in the construc. of sentences, in what embraced in the Grammar

Least parts of language, as written, as spoken, &c., what constituents so called

Legal phraseology, in contrast with that of common life

Less, improper use of, for fewer, ("No LESS than three dictionaries," DR. WEBST.)

Lest, use of, for THAT, without due regard to its import, ("I feared LEST," &c.) —derivation of, from Sax.

Let, verb, its construc, with an infin. following

LETTERS, in the Eng. alphabet, numb. of, and numb. of sounds which they
represent
    —a knowledge of, in what consists
    —infinite variety in, yet the letters always THE SAME
    —different sorts of types, or styles of, used in Eng.
    —names of, in Eng.; do., sing, and plur.
    —Classes of, named and defined
    —powers of
    —the JUST POWERS of, (see Power)
    —Forms of, and their distinctions, in the Eng. lang.
    —different sorts of, to be kept distinct
    —slanting strokes of the Roman, described
    —Italic, chief use of
    —capital, employment of
    —small, do.
    —Letters, history of
    —the names of, are words of a peculiar kind
    —the names and powers of, not always identical
    —general neglect of learning to write the names of, in Eng.
    —importance of learning to write do.
    —erron. teaching with respect to certain names of
    —Letters of the Heb. alphabet given, with their names, and the
      significations of do.
    —of the Gr. alphabet, with their names
    —of the Lat. alphab., their names nearly lost
    —of do., as now printed
    —Letters, the twenty-six, possible combinations and mutations of
    —of the alphab., read by their names, how taken
    —do., written for numbers, what their nature; omission of period
      after such letters
    —DAY'S account of do.
    —Letters, the SOUNDS of, treated
    —Letters, the small, period of their adoption
    —used for references
    —Letter, definition of
    —Letter, the sound of, called its POWER; yet its power not
      necessarily identified with its sound
    —A letter, in what consists Like, near, nigh, appar.,
      prepositions; why not placed by BROWN with the prep. Lily, W.,
      grammarian, his arrangement of Lat. syntax

Lines, poetic, technical denominations of

Liquids, what letters so called

Literary division of a work, common order of, downwards, and throughout;
but all literary works not thus divided. Literary blunders, Crit. N.
concerning
    —awkwardness, do.
    —ignorance, do.
    —silliness, do.

Little, lesser, less, different uses and import of
    —Little, much, &c., preceded by not, too, or other such adv., how
      taken
    —Less, improp. used as an adj. of number; does not signify fewer;
      not to be used in the sense of do.
    —Less, least, adv., to be parsed separately, in the comparison of
      adjectives and adverbs

LOVE, verb active-trans., CONJUGATED affirmatively —BE LOVED, pass., do. —LOVE, conjug. negatively —do., interrogatively —do., interrogatively and negatively

Low and provincial expressions, use of, as opp. to purity, PREC. against

Ly, most common terminal of Eng. adverbs; added to nouns to form adjectives

(I,) u; 1055, b; 1053, L:
    —when adverbs ending in, are preferable to those of other forms.

M.

M, its name and plur. numb., —of the class liquids, —its sounds, —when silent, —as written for a number.

Macron, or macrotone, mark, its use.

Make, verb, whether to should be suppressed, and be, inserted, after, ("MAKE yourself BE heard," BLAIR,) —its construc. with infin. following.

Man and woman, comp. nouns in, (man-servant, woman-servant, &c.,) how pluralized.

Many a, with noun sing. represented by a plur. pronoun.

Marks, or points, used in literary composition, the principal; occasional. See Punctuation.

May, verb, how varied, —derivation and uses of.

Mean, means, use and construc. of.

Measure, &c., see Time. Measure, poetical, see Verse.

Melody or beauty of a sentence, words necessary to, rarely to be omitted.

Member, or clause, defined.
    —Memb. and clause, generally used as synonymous, are discriminated
      by some,
    —Clause and phrase, confounded by some,
    —Members, simple, of a sent., punct. of,
    —complex, do., do.,
    —Members of a sentence, arrangem. of, as affecting STRENGTH.

Metaphor, defined, —what commonly understood to be, —agreem. of pron. with antecedent in cases of.

Methinks, explanation of; the lexicographers on the word.

Metonymy, defined, —Meton., on what founded, —agreem. of pron. with its antecedent, in cases of.

Metres, more found in actual use, than those acknowledged in the ordinary schemes of prosody. Metre, see Verse.

Milton, MURR. proposed amendment of the "unintelligible" language of a
certain passage of, criticised,
    —double solec. in a pass, of, noticed,
    —his poem, L'Allegro, what its versificat.; what the management of
      the orders of its verse,
    —do., Il Penseroso, what its extent and construction.

Miss or Misses, Mr. or Messrs., what the proper applicat. of, when name and title are to be used together, in a plur. sense.

Mistaken, to be, irregularity of the verb; its import as applied to persons, and as applied to things.

Mimesis, explained; droll examples of.

Minus, plus, versus, viâ, Lat., use of, in Eng., in partic. constructions.

Mixing of synt. with etymol., the manner of INGERS., KIRKH., et al., censured. Mixture of the forms of style, inelegance of.

Modifications, defined, —sense of the term as employed by BROWN.

Moloss, defined.

Monometer, scarcely constitutes a line, yet is sometimes so placed. —Monometer line, iambic, examples of, —trochaic, do., —anapestic, do., —dactylic, an examp. of.

Monopersonal verbs, see Impersonal Verbs.

Monotone, what, and how produced in elocution.

Months and days, names of, appar. proper names, and require capitals, —how best expressed in literary compositions.

Moods of a verb, term defined, —the five, named and defined, —Mood, or MODE, the name. See Infinitive Mood, Indic. Mood, &c.

More and most, in ambiguous construction, ("Some people MORE than them," MURR.,) —how parsed in comparisons of adjectives and adverbs.

Moses, in what characters, is supposed to have written.

Most, for almost, by vulgarism.

Motion, verbs of, with hither, &c., in stead of here.

Much, little, all, &c., as nouns, —preceded by not, too, or other such adv., —This much, in stead of thus much, DR. BLAIR.

Mulkey, W., strictures on his system of orthoëpy.

Multiplication, subject of the verb in, see Abstract Numbers.

Multiplicative numerals, as running on in a series; how written above decuple or tenfold.

Multitude, noun of, see Collective Noun.

Mute or silent, epithet applied to what letters. —Mutes, what so reckoned; of these, which imperfect. —Where a letter must be once mute.

My and mine, thy and thine, as duplicate forms of the poss. case, use of.

N.

N, its name and plur. numb., —of the class liquids, —its sounds, —in what position silent.

Name and title, see Proper Names.

Naming the letters of the alphab., importance of.

Narration, see Discourse.

Nasals, what consonants so called.

Near and nigh, see Like.

Need, as an uninflected third pers. sing. of the verb,
    —has perh. become an auxiliary of the pot. mood,
    —to what tenses must be understood to belong, if to be recognized as
      an auxil. of the pot. mood,
    —that good writers sometimes inflect the verb, and sometimes do not,
      and that they sometimes use to after it, and sometimes do not, how
      may be accounted for
    —three authorized forms of expression, with respect to the verb.
      Needs, as an adv., its composition

Needless, mixing of characters in printing, bad effect of
    —capitals; effect of
    —articles, to be omitted
    —ellipses, the supposition of, a common error among grammarians
    —use of participles for nouns, or nouns for participles
    —words, ineleg.
    —possessive or art. before a part., how corrected
    —periods, or other points, after certain numeral expressions
    —abbreviations, offend against taste
    —dashes inserted, how to be treated

Negation, expressed in the early Eng. by multiplied negatives; such manner of expression now obsolete and improper —Effect on a negation, of two negatives in the same clause

Negatives, the comm. rule of the grammars, that "two negatives, in Eng., destroy each other, or &c.," whether a correct one

Neither, see Either

Neuter verb, defined
    —Neuter verbs, the active-trans. verbs are so called in most
      grammars and dictionaries; the absurdity of this
    —extent of this class of verbs; their existence in any lang. denied by
      some grammarians
    —Neut. verb BE, conjugated
    —Neuter verbs, made from active-transitives, (am come, is gone,
      &c.;) these called by some, "neuter passives"
    —of passive form, (am grown, are flown, &c.,) as errors of
      conjugat., or of synt.
    —do., how may be distinguished from pass. verbs
    —do., DR. PRIESTL. mistaken notions concerning their nature and
      propriety
    —Neut. verbs, and their participles, take the same case after as
      before them
    —Neuter verb between two nominatives, its agreem.

Nevertheless, its composition and class

No or none, pronom. adj. No, as negative adj., "remarkable ambiguity
in the use of," noticed by PRIESTL., ("No laws are better than the
English
;") how the ambiguity may be avoided
    —as a simple negation, its construc.
    —as an adv. of deg., relating only to comparatives, ("NO more,"
    —"NO better")
    —set before a noun, is an adj., corresponding to Lat. nullus
    —In the phrases, no longer, no more, no where, DR. JOH. appar.
      suggests wrongly the class; its true class according to its several
      relations
    —No, or an other independent negative, repeated, its effect
    —No, adv., not to be used with reference to a verb or part.
    —derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.

Nominative case, defined
    —Nom. case, how distinguished from the objective in nouns
    —as subj. of a finite verb
    —different ways of using
    —Nominative and verb, usual position of, and when varied
    —Nom. case and object., at the same time, noun placed in the
      relation of
    —Nom. following a verb or part, with what must accord in signif. See
      also Subject, &c.

Nominative sentences, examples of what MURR. erron. so terms; the prop. construc. shown

Nor, see Or.

Not, its place in negative questions
    —how spoken in grave discourse, and how ordinarily
    —vulg. contractions of, with certain verbs
    —used with other negatives
    —do. with nor (in stead of or) following, whether correctly, or
      not
    —derivation of, from Anglo-Sax. Not but, how resolved. Not only,
      not merely
, to what are correspondents

Notwithstanding, import and construc. of; misunderstood by DR. WEBST.
    —formation and signif. of

NOUNS, Etymol. of
    —Noun, defined
    —Nouns, Classes of, named and defined
    —Modifications of, named
    —Persons of, named and defined; (see Persons)
    —Numbers of, do.; (see Plural Number)
    —Genders of, do.; (see Genders)
    —Cases of, do.; (see Cases)
    —Declension of
    —Nouns, number of, in Eng.
    —the sense of, how made indefinitely partitive
    —examples of words commonly belonging to other classes, used as
    —collective, abstract, and verbal or participial, included among
      common nouns; (see Collective Noun, and Particip. Noun)
    —proper, (see Proper Names)
    —Nouns, Synt. of
    —Noun, why may not be put in the relation of two cases at once
    —taken figuratively sing. for literally plur.
    —required to be repeated, or inserted, in stead of a pronoun
    —ellips. of, shown
    —Nouns of time, measure, distance, &c., (see Time)
    —Nouns, derivation of, from nouns, adjectives, verbs, or participles
    —poet. peculiarities of

Numbers, the distinction of, to what belongs, and how applied. (See
Plural Number.) Numbers, cardinal, ordinal, &c., (see Cardinal
Numbers
, &c.)
    —Numbers, abstract, expressions of multiplication in, ("Twice one
      IS two,"
    —"Twice two ARE four," &c.,) seven different opinions of
      grammarians respecting, examined by BROWN; who determines the prop.
      forms of expression
    —Numbers, expressed by letters, how to be considered; whether to be
      marked by the period
    —combined arithmetical, one adjective relating to an other

Numerals, numeral adjectives, see Adjectives, Numeral. Numerical figures used for references

O.

O, lett., as A, E, I, and U, self-naming
    —its plural
    —formation of the plur. of nouns in
    —sounds properly its own
    —where sounded as short u
    —do. as obscure e
    —diphthongs beginning with
    —triphth. do. O, interj., with cap. lett.
    —what emotion indicates
    —differs from oh
    —as denoting earnestness, before nouns or pronouns put absol. by
      direct address; is no positive index of the vocative
    —O, &c., MURR., erron. doctrine concerning, to what teaching it has
      given rise
    —O, &c., with a case following, Lat. construc. of, examined
    —O, not unfreq. confounded with oh, even by grammarians.

Obelisk, or dagger, as mark of reference.

Objective case, defined
    —Obj. case, how distinguished from the nom. in nouns
    —before the infin. mood, how taken in Eng.
    —as governed by active-trans. verb or part.
    —"Active verbs govern the obj. case," MURR., defect of this brief
      assertion; its uselessness as a RULE for "the syntax of verbs."
    —Obj. case, of how many constructions susceptible
    —whether infinitives, participles, &c., can be in
    —two nouns in, after a verb, how parsed,
    —Whether any verb in Eng. governs two objectives not coupled
    —Obj. case as governed by passive verbs, erron. allowed by some
    —what verbs not to be employed without
    —Obj. case as governed by prep.
    —"Prepositions gov. the obj. case," why the brief assertion is
      exceptionable, as the sole RULE, in parsing prep.

Obsolete or antiquated words, use of, as opposed to purity, PREC. against
    —Things obsolete in Eng., DR. LATHAM'S attempts to revive.

Ocean, figurative representation of, as uttering his voice in tones of varied quantity.

Octometer line, may be reduced to tetrameter —iambic, examples of —trochaic, do —dactylic, example of —Octometer, trochaic, rhyme and termination of; its pauses, and how may be divided; the most common form of.

Of and on or upon, difference between.

Old English, characters of its alphabet, shown —occasional use of do.

Omissions of words that are needful to the sense, Crit. N. against.

Omitting, verbs of, with part. in stead of infin.

One, employment of, as a noun or as a substitute for a noun; how classed
by some grammarians
    —may be preceded by the articles, or by adjectives
    —like Fr. on or l'on, used indef. for any person; in this sense
      preferable to a pers. pron. applied indefinitely
    —CHURCH., citation ridiculing the too frequent use of, for pers. pron.
    —as pronom. adj., requires verb and pron. in the third pers. sing. to
      agree with it. One an other, see Other. One, or a unit, whether
      it is a number.

Only, derivation of; class and meaning of, in its several different
relations
    —strictures on the instructions of grammarians respecting the
      classification and placing of
    —ambiguous use of, (as also of but,)
    —use of, for but, or except that, not approved of by BROWN
    —Not only, not merely
    —but
, &c., correspondents.

Onomatopoeia described and exemplified (extr. from SWIFT.)

Or, as expressing an alternation of terms, (Lat., sive.)
    —in Eng., is frequently equivocal; the ambiguity how avoided
    —Or, perh. contracted from other
    —Or and nor discriminated
    —Or, nor, grammarians dispute which of these words should be adopted
      after an other negative than neither or nor; MURR., following
      PRIESTL., teaches that either word may be used with equal propriety;
      BURN'S doctrine; BROWN, after revising CHURCH., attempts to settle
      the question,
    —Or ever, ("OR EVER the earth was,") the term explained.

Or or our, terminat., number of Eng. words in; how many of these may be written with our; BROWN'S practice and views in respect to this matter.

Oral spelling, the advantage of, to learners.

Order of things or events, the natural, PREC. directing the observance of, in the use of lang.

Orders of verse, see Verse.

Ordinal numeral, (see Numerals.)
    —Ordinal adjectives may qualify card. numbers; cannot properly be
      qualified by do.

Orthoëpy, see Pronunciation.

ORTHOGRAPHY
    —Orthography, of what treats
    —difficulties attending it in Eng.
    —DR. JOHNSON'S improvements in
    —DR. WEBSTER'S do., in a different direction
    —ignorance of, with respect to any word used, what betokens in the
      user (See also Spelling.) Orthography, figures of, MIMESIS and
      ARCHAISM
    —its substantive or pronominal character; (with one.) how classed by
      some; may be preceded by the articles
    —requires than before the latter term of an exclusive comparison;
      yet sometimes perhaps better takes the prep. besides. Each other one
      an other
, import and just application of,
    —misapplication of, frequent in books,
    —DR. WEBST. erron. explanation of other, as "a correlative to
      each,"
    —One and other, frequently used as terms relative and partitive,
      appar. demanding a plur. form,
    —An other, in stead of another. Somehow or other, somewhere or
      other, how other is to be disposed of.

Ought, principal verb, and not auxiliary, as called by MURR. et al., —originally part of the verb to OWE; now used as defec. verb, —its tense, as limited by the infin. which follows.

Ourself, anomalous form peculiar to the regal style,
    —peculiar construc. of.

Own, its origin and import; its class and construc.,
    —strangely called a noun by DR. JOH.

P.

P, its name and plur. numb., —its sound, —when silent, —Ph, its sounds.

Pairs, words in, punct. of.

Palatals, what consonants so called.

Parables, in the Scriptures, see Allegory.

Paragoge, explained.

Paragraph mark, for what used.

Paralipsis, or apophasis, explained.

Parallels, as marks of reference.

Parenthesis, signif. and twofold application of the term,
    —Parenthesis, marks of, (see Curves.)
    —What clause to be inclosed within the curves as a PARENTHESIS, and
      what should be its punct.,
    —Parentheses, the introduction of, as affecting unity.

Parsing, defined.
    —Parsing, its relation to grammar,
    —what must be considered in,
    —the distinction between etymological and syntactical, to be
      maintained, against KIRKH. et al.,
    —character of the forms of etymological adopted by BROWN,
    —what implied in the right performance of,
    —whether different from analysis,
    —what to be supplied in.
    —Parsing, of a prep., how performed,
    —of a phrase, implies its separation,
    —the RULES OF GOVERNM., how to be applied in,
    —of words, is not varied by mere transposition.
    —Parsing, etymological and syntactical, in what order to be taken,
    —the SENSE, why necessary to be observed in; what required of the
      pupil in syntactical,
    —syntactical, EXAMPLE of.
    —Parsing or CORRECTING, which exercise perh. the more useful.