An English Grammar Part 4

Every _why_ hath a _wherefore_.--SHAKESPEARE.

When I was young? Ah, woeful _When_!

Ah! for the change 'twixt _Now_ and _Then_!

--COLERIDGE.

(2) _Certain word groups_ used like single nouns:--

_Too swift_ arrives as tardy as _too slow_.--SHAKESPEARE.

Then comes the "_Why, sir_!" and the "_What then, sir_?" and the "_No, sir_!" and the "_You don't see your way through the question, sir_!"--MACAULAY

(3) Any part of speech may be considered merely as a word, without reference to its function in the sentence; also t.i.tles of books are treated as simple nouns.

The _it_, at the beginning, is ambiguous, whether it mean the sun or the cold.--Dr BLAIR

In this definition, is the word "_just_," or "_legal_," finally to stand?--RUSKIN.

There was also a book of Defoe's called an "_Essay on Projects_,"

and another of Dr. Mather's called "_Essays to do Good_."--B.

FRANKLIN.

[Sidenote: _Caution._]

20. It is to be remembered, however, that the above cases are s.h.i.+ftings of the _use_, of words rather than of their _meaning_. We seldom find instances of complete conversion of one part of speech into another.

When, in a sentence above, the terms _the great_, _the wealthy_, are used, they are not names only: we have in mind the idea of persons and the quality of being _great_ or _wealthy_. The words are used in the sentence where nouns are used, but have an adjectival meaning.

In the other sentences, _why_ and _wherefore_, _When_, _Now_, and _Then_, are spoken of as if pure nouns; but still the reader considers this not a natural application of them as name words, but as a figure of speech.

NOTE.--These remarks do not apply, of course, to such words as become pure nouns by use. There are many of these. The adjective _good_ has no claim on the noun _goods_; so, too, in speaking of the _princ.i.p.al_ of a school, or a state _secret_, or a faithful _domestic_, or a _criminal_, etc., the words are entirely independent of any adjective force.

Exercise.

Pick out the nouns in the following sentences, and tell to which cla.s.s each belongs. Notice if any have s.h.i.+fted from one cla.s.s to another.

1. Hope springs eternal in the human breast.

2. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate.

3. Stone walls do not a prison make.

Nor iron bars a cage.

4. Truth-teller was our England's Alfred named.

5. A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.

6. Power laid his rod aside, And Ceremony doff'd her pride.

7. She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies.

8. Learning, that cobweb of the brain.

9. A little weeping would ease my heart; But in their briny bed My tears must stop, for every drop Hinders needle and thread.

10. A fool speaks all his mind, but a wise man reserves something for hereafter.

11. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

12. Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.

13. And see, he cried, the welcome, Fair guests, that waits you here.

14. The fleet, shattered and disabled, returned to Spain.

15. One To-day is worth two To-morrows.

16. Vessels carrying coal are constantly moving.

17. Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.

18. And oft we trod a waste of pearly sands.

19. A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays And confident to-morrows.

20. The hours glide by; the silver moon is gone.

21. Her robes of silk and velvet came from over the sea.

22. My soldier cousin was once only a drummer boy.

23. But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.

24. All that thou canst call thine own Lies in thy To-day.

INFLECTIONS OF NOUNS.

GENDER.

[Sidenote: _What gender means in English. It is founded on s.e.x._]

21. In Latin, Greek, German, and many other languages, some general rules are given that names of male beings are usually masculine, and names of females are usually feminine. There are exceptions even to this general statement, but not so in English. Male beings are, in English grammar, always masculine; female, always feminine.