The Grammar of English Grammars Part 178

"Before I shall say those Things, (O conscript Fathers) about the Public Affairs, which are to be spoken at this Time; I shall lay before you, in few Words, the Motives of the Journey, and the Return."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 149.

"Of well-chose Words some take not care enough.

And think they should be (like the Subject) rough."

--_Ib._, p. 173.

"Then having shewed his wounds, _he'd_ sit (him) down."

--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 32.

UNDER RULE II.--OF INCLUDED POINTS.

"Then Jael smote the Nail into his Temples, and fastened it to the Ground: (for he was fast asleep and weary) so he died. OLD TEST."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 17.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because this parenthesis is not marked as terminating with a pause equal to that which precedes it. But, according to Rule 2d above, "The curves do not supersede other stops; and, as the parenthesis terminates with a pause equal to that which precedes it, the same point should be included, except when the sentences differ in form."

Therefore, a colon should be inserted within the curve after _weary_.]

"Every thing in the Iliad has manners (as Aristotle expresses it) that is, every thing is acted or spoken."--_Pope, Pref. to Homer_, p. vi.

"Those nouns, that end in _f._ or _fe_ (except some few I shall mention presently), form plurals by changing those letters into _ves_: as, thief, _thieves_; wife, _wives_."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 35.

"_As_, requires _as_; (expressing equality) Mine is as good as yours.

_As_,--so; (expressing equality) As the stars, so shall thy seed be.

_So,--as_; (with a negative expressing inequality) He is not so wise as his brother. _So.--that_; (expressing consequence) I am so weak that I cannot walk."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 113; _Pract. Les._, p. 112.

"A captious question, sir (and yours is one,) Deserves an answer similar, or none."--_Cowper_, ii. 228.

MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"Whatever words the verb TO BE serves to unite referring to the same thing, must be of the same case; --61, as, _Alexander_ is a _student_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 75. "When the objective is a relative or interrogative, it comes before the verb that governs it. --40, R. 9. (Murray's 6th rule is unnecessary.)"--_Id., ib._, p. 90. "It is generally improper (except in poetry,) to omit the antecedent to a relative; and always to omit a relative when of the nominative case."--_Id., ib._, p. 130. "In every sentence there must be a _verb_ and a _nominative_ (or subject) expressed or understood."--_Id., ib._, p. 87; _Pract. Lessons_, p. 91. "Nouns and p.r.o.nouns, and especially words denoting time, are often governed by prepositions understood; or are used to restrict verbs or adjectives without a governing word, --50. Rem. 6 and Rule; as, He gave (to) me a full account of the whole affair."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 80. "When _should_ is used instead of _ought_, to express _present_ duty, --20, 4, it may be followed by the present; as, 'You _should_ study that you _may_ become learned.'"--_Id., ib._, p. 123. "The indicative present is frequently used after the words, _when, till, before, as soon as, after_, to express the relative time of a future action; (--24, I, 4,) as, 'When he _comes_, he will be welcome.'"--_Id., ib._, p. 124. "The relative is pa.r.s.ed by stating its gender, number, case, and antecedent, (the gender and number being always the same as those of the antecedent) thus, 'The boy who.' '_Who_' is a relative p.r.o.noun, masculine, singular, the nominative, and refers to '_boy_' as its antecedent."--_Bullions, Pract. Les._, p. 31.

"Now, now, I seize, I clasp _thy_ charms, And now _you_ burst; ah! cruel from my arms."

Here is an unnecessary change from the second person singular to the second plural. It would have been better thus,

"Now, now I seize, I clasp _your_ charms, And now _you_ burst; ah! cruel from my arms."

--_J. Burn's Gram._, p. 193.

SECTION IX.--THE OTHER MARKS.

There are also several other marks, which are occasionally used for various purposes, as follow:--

I. ['] The APOSTROPHE usually denotes either the possessive case of a noun, or the elision of one or more letters of a word: as, "The _girl's_ regard to her _parents'_ advice;"--_'gan, lov'd, e'en, thro'_; for _began, loved, even, through_. It is sometimes used in pluralizing a mere letter or sign; as, Two _a's_--three _6's_.[467]

II. [-] The HYPHEN connects the parts of many compound words, especially such as have two accents; as, _ever-living_. It is also frequently inserted where a word is divided into syllables; as, _con-tem-plate_. Placed at the end of a line, it shows that one or more syllables of a word are can led forward to the next line.

III. ["] The DIaeRESIS, or DIALYSIS, placed over either of two contiguous vowels, shows that they are not a diphthong; as, _Danae, aerial_.

IV. ['] The ACUTE ACCENT marks the syllable which requires the princ.i.p.al stress in p.r.o.nunciation; as, _e'qual, equal'ity_. It is sometimes used in opposition to the grave accent, to distinguish a close or short vowel; as, "_Fancy_:" (_Murray_:) or to denote the rising inflection of the voice; as, "Is it _he?_"

V. [`] The GRAVE ACCENT is used in opposition to the acute, to distinguish an open or long vowel; as, "_Favour_:" (_Murray_:) or to denote the falling inflection of the voice; as, "_Yes_; it is _he_" It is sometimes placed over a vowel to show that it is not to be suppressed in p.r.o.nunciation; as,

"Let me, though in humble speech, Thy refined maxims teach."--_Amer. Review_, May, 1848.

VI. [^] The CIRc.u.mFLEX generally denotes either the broad sound of _a_ or an unusual sound given to some other vowel; as in _all, heir, machine_.

Some use it to mark a peculiar _wave_ of the voice, and when occasion requires, reverse it; as, "If you said _s=o_, then I said _so_."

VII. [[~]] The BREVE, or STENOTONE, is used to denote either the close, short, _shut_ sound of a vowel, or a syllable of short quant.i.ty; as, _l~ive_, to have life,--_r~av'en_, to devour,[468]--_c~al~am~us_, a reed.

VIII. [=] The MACRON, or MACROTONE,[469] is used to denote either the open, long, _primal_ sound of a vowel, or a syllable of long quant.i.ty; as, _l=ive_, having life,--_r=a'ven_, a bird,--_=e'qu=ine_, of a horse.

IX. [----] or [* * * *] or [....] The ELLIPSIS, or SUPPRESSION, denotes the omission of some letters or words: as, _K--g_, for _King; c****d_, for _coward; d....d_, for _d.a.m.ned_.

X. [^] The CARET, used only in writing, shows where to insert words or letters that have been accidentally omitted. XI [{}] The BRACE serves to unite a triplet; or, more frequently, to connect several terms with something to which they are all related. XII. [--] The SECTION marks the smaller divisions of a book or chapter; and, with the help of numbers, serves to abridge references.

XIII. [--] The PARAGRAPH (chiefly used in the Bible) denotes the commencement of a new subject. The parts of discourse which are called paragraphs, are, in general, sufficiently distinguished by beginning a new line, and carrying the first word a little forwards or backwards. The paragraphs of books being in some instances numbered, this character may occasionally be used, in lieu of the word _paragraph_, to shorten references.

XIV. [""] The GUILLEMETS, or QUOTATION POINTS, distinguish words that are exhibited as those of an other author or speaker. A quotation within a quotation, is usually marked with single points; which, when both are employed, are placed within the others: as, "And again he saith, 'Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.'"--_Rom._, xv, 10.

XV. [[]] The CROTCHETS, or BRACKETS, generally inclose some correction or explanation, but sometimes the sign or subject to be explained; as, "He [Mr. Maurice] was of a different opinion."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 213.

XVI. [Fist] The INDEX, or HAND, points out something remarkable, or what the reader should particularly observe.

XVII. [*] The ASTERISK, or STAR, [Dagger] the OBELISK, or DAGGER, [Double dagger] the DIESIS, or DOUBLE DAGGER, and [||] the PARALLELS, refer to marginal notes. The SECTION also [--], and the PARAGRAPH [--], are often used for marks of reference, the former being usually applied to the fourth, and the latter to the sixth note on a page; for, by the usage of printers, these signs are commonly introduced in the following order: 1, *; 2, [Dagger]; 3, [Double dagger]; 4, --; 5, ||; 6, --; 7, **; 8, [Dagger][Dagger]; &c. Where many references are to be made, the _small letters_ of the alphabet, or the _numerical figures_, in their order, may be conveniently used for the same purpose.

XVIII. [[Asterism]] The ASTERISM, or THREE STARS, a sign not very often used, is placed before a long or general note, to mark it as a note, without giving it a particular reference.

XIX. [,] The CEDILLA is a mark borrowed from the French, by whom it is placed under the letter _c_, to give it the sound of _s_, before _a_ or _o_; as in the words, "facade," "Alencon." In Worcester's Dictionary, it is attached to three other letters, to denote their soft sounds: viz., "[,G]

as J; [,S] as Z; [,x] as gz."

[Fist][Oral exercises in punctuation should not be confined to the correction of errors. An application of its principles to points rightly inserted, is as easy a process as that of ordinary syntactical parsing, and perhaps as useful. For this purpose, the teacher may select a portion of this grammar, or of any well-pointed book, to which the foregoing rules and explanations may be applied by the pupil, as reasons for the points that occur.]

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"The princ.i.p.al stops are the following:--

The Comma (,) the semicolon (;) the colon (:) the period, or fall stop (.) the note of interrogation (?) the note of exclamation (!) the parenthesis () and the dash (--) [.]"--_Bullions, E. Gram., p. 151; Pract. Les._, p.

127. "The modern punctuation in Latin is the same as in English. The marks employed, are the _Comma_ (,); _Semicolon_ (;); _Colon_ (:); _Period_ (.); _Interrogation_ (?); _Exclamation_ (!)."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 3.

"Plato reproving a young man for playing at some childish game; you chide me, says the youth, for a trifling fault. Custom, replied the philosopher, is no trifle. And, adds Montagnie, he was in the right; for our vices begin in infancy."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, (N. Y. 1818,) p. 54.

"A merchant at sea asked the skipper what death his father died? 'My father,' says the skipper, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, were all drowned. 'Well,' replies the merchant, and are not you afraid of being drowned too?'"--_Ib._, p. 135.