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CLASSIFICATION is the division of words into their different sorts or parts of speech. A speech is the expression of a thought by words, or it is a sentence.

INFLECTION is the change of form which words undergo in order to express different relations; as the change of termination of a verb to indicate its relation to persons; as, Speak, speakest; or the change of termination of a noun in declension; as, John, John's; or it is the change of termination of an adjective; as, Wise, wiser, wisest. As grammar originally grew out of logic, the former drew from the many of its terms.

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A PROPOSITION is an assertive sentence, or, in other words, it is a sentence containing an assertion; as, Man is mortal; the rain falls; the sun warms the earth.

Every proposition, logically considered, has three parts :— 1. The thing spoken of, called the Subject.

2. That which is said of it, called the Predicate.

3. That which connects the subject and predicate, called the Copula.

Man, in the first example, is the subject; mortal is the predicate; and is is the copula. In the second sentence the predicate and the copula are expressed by a single word, falls, equivalent to is falling. In the third example the predicate and copula are expressed by the words warms the earth, equivalent to is warming the earth.-See Section CCCCLI.

In grammar the subject and predicate are chiefly regarded, while little notice is taken of the copula. For the difference between the logical subject and the grammatical subject, and for the difference between the logical predicate and the grammatical predicate, see Section CCCCLXXVIII.

As language is chiefly made up of propositions, we infer the importance of studying their structure, and of making it the basis of the classification of the parts of speech. In the language of Plato, "Thought and speech are the same; only the internal and silent discourse of the mind with herself is called diavola, thought, or cogitation; but the effusion of the mind through the lips, in articulate sound, is called Móyos, or rational speech.' The several parts of speech correspond to the workings of the mind, of which they are the expression.

SECTION CCXL.-CLASSIFICATION OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

I. A word which can by itself, with all finite verbs, form the subject of a proposition, and with the verb to be can form the predicate of a proposition, is called a NOUN or Substantive; as, "Man dies." In this simple proposition, man is the subject. "Stand up; I also am a man. In this proposition, man is the predicate. Or, a word which is the name of a person, place, or thing, is called a NOUN or Substantive; as Plato, London, virtue.

II. A word which cannot by itself form the subject of a proposition, but which, with the verb to be, can form the predicate of a pro

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position, is called an ADJECTIVE; as, "God is good;" mortal." In the first proposition, good is the predicate; in the second proposition, mortal is the predicate.

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Or, a word which qualifies or limits a noun is called an ADJECTIVE; as, "Wise men;" Virtuous women;" ""Seven children;" "This apple." For the Article, see Section CCLXXXIII.

III. A word which can be used instead of a noun, as either the subject or the predicate of a proposition, is called a PRONOUN; as, "The man is happy; he is benevolent." Here he is used instead of man as the subject of the proposition. "I am he." Here he is

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used with the verb to be as the predicate of the proposition. Or, a word used instead of a noun is called a PRONOUN; as, went to London ;" "Thou hast done a good action;" "He will return."

IV. A word which can by itself form the copula of a proposition, or which can by itself form both the copula and the predicate of a proposition, is called a VERB; as, "Man is mortal;" "Man dies." Here the substantive verb is forms the copula of the first proposition, and the common verb dies, equivalent to is dying, the copula and predicate of the second. See Section XLV.

Or, a word which expresses an assertion is called a VERB; as, "God is," "The sun shines," "John struck Thomas."

V. A word which cannot by itself form a constituent part of a simple proposition, but which can combine with verbs and adjectives and other adverbs to modify their meaning, is called an ADVERB; as, "He reads correctly;' "He was exceedingly careful;" "He does tolerably well."

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Or, a word which qualifies a verb or an adjective is called an ADVERB; as, "John struck Thomas rashly," "The sun shines brightly," "He is more prudent than his neighbour."

VI. A word which by itself cannot form a constituent part of a simple proposition, but which can combine with nouns and pronouns to express some relation, is called a PREPOSITION; as, "Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus, was born at Alopece.”

Or, a word which connects an object with a verb or an adjective is called a PREPOSITION; as, "He went through London;"" He belongs to no party;" "He is wise for himself."'

VII. A word which can connect two propositions without making a part of either, is called a CONJUNCTION; as, "The sun shines and the sky is clear," "He begged for aid because he was in distress."

Or, a word which connects two sentences, or parts of sentences, is called a CONJUNCTION; as, "John writes and Thomas reads;" "I will visit him if he desires it."

VIII. A word which can neither form a part of a proposition nor connect two different propositions, but is thrown in to express some sudden thought or emotion, is called an INTERJECTION; as, Oh! pish! fie!

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Or, a word which expresses sudden emotion of the mind, and is not in grammatical construction with a sentence, is called an INTERJECTION; as, Ah! pshaw! alas!

In this classification we have given two definitions of the several parts of speech, the one founded on their relation to the proposition, and the other the common one.

SECTION CCXLI.-BECKER'S CLASSIFICATION.

All the parts of speech are divided into two classes; namely, NOTIONAL words and RELATIONAL words.

Notional words are those which express notions; that is, ideas of beings or actions formed in the mind. They are, 1. Nouns; 2. Adjectives; 3. Verbs; 4. Adverbs, expressing the manner, time, or place of an action; as, "He writes well;" "He came early;" "He went eastward."

Relational words are those words which do not express a notion or idea, but merely point out the relation between two notional words, or between a notional word and the speaker. They are, 1. Auxiliary verbs; 2. Articles; 3. Pronouns; 4. Numerals; 5. Prepositions; 6. Conjunctions; 7. Certain adverbs, called relational adverbs.

SECTION CCXLII.-TOOKE'S VIEWS.

HORNE TOOKE proves, by an immense induction, that all particles-that is, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions-were originally nouns and verbs; and thence concludes that in reality they are so still, and that the ordinary division of the parts of speech is absurd; keeping out of sight as self-evident the other premiss, which is absolutely false, viz., that the meaning of a word, now and for ever, must be that which it or its root originally bore.”—(See WHATELY'S Logic.) While it is conceded that his researches have thrown a flood of light upon that class of words, we should not allow ourselves to be deceived by the fallacy of his conclusions. Undoubtedly there are great difficulties in the application of the principles of classification to particular words. The same words which belonged to one class at one period in the history of the language, may at another period belong to another class. Thus the word gif was at one period a verb, and at another is, in a form slightly changed (if), a conjunction. The same word may, in different situations, belong to different classes. Thus the word that is in one situation a pronoun, and in another a conjunction. So, too, the word love is in some situations a noun, and in other situations a verb.

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7. What is a proposition?

8. Into how many parts is a proposition divided?

9. What is the basis of the classification of the parts of speech?

10. What is the subject of a proposition? What is the predicate? What is the copula ?

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A NOUN, or SUBSTANTIVE, is a word which can by itself, with all finite verbs, form the subject of a proposition, and with the verb to be can form the predicate of a proposition; as, " Man dies." In this simple proposition, man is the subject. "Stand up; I also am a man." In this proposition man is the predicate.

Or, a NOUN is the name of a person, place, or thing; as Plato, Boston, virtue.

The word noun is from the Latin nomen, a name, through the French nom. Substantive (Latin substantivus, substantia) strictly denotes that which stands under, or is a foundation of accidents or attributes, and which, therefore, may be considered as independent, and may stand by itself. A substantive noun, or a substantive, is, then, a name which can stand by itself, in distinction from an adjective noun or an adjective. It is the name of an object of thought, whether perceived by the senses or the understanding. The name of whatever exists, or is conceived to exist, is a noun. According to the classification of Becker, it is a notional word. Substantive and noun are, in common use, convertible terms.

SECTION CCXLIV.CLASSIFICATION OF NOUNS.

I. PROPER NOUNS are the names of individual persons or things, and not of a species; as, John, Liverpool. Proper nouns are comparatively few in number.

II. COMMON or APPELLATIVE NOUNS are the names of a class of persons or things, or of an individual belonging to a class; as, Man, a man; tree, a tree. Man and tree are classes; a man, a tree, are individuals, each belonging to a class. The following are common

nouns:

1. An ABSTRACT NOUN is the name of a simple quality, action, or condition considered independently of the substance in which it inheres; as, wisdom, journey, brightness, friendship, oratory. Here we do not consider who has wisdom, or who travels, or what is bright, or who is a friend.

2. A CONCRETE NOUN is the name of the substance, and of the quality, action, or condition which inheres in the substance; as, the wise; a traveller; a friend; London; Cicero.

3. A COLLECTIVE NOUN is a name which, in the singular number, denotes more than one; as, an army, a company.

4. CORRELATIVE NOUNS are names of objects which are viewed as related to cach other; as, king and subject; son and father.

5. PARTICIPIAL NOUNS are those which have the form of participles, but perform the office of nouns; as, reading is instructive; the writing is legible. Reading and writing are abstract nouns.

6. DIMINUTIVE NOUNS are those which are derived from other nouns, and which express some diminution of the original meaning; as, satchel from sack; duckling from duck See Section CCCCXXIII.

7. MATERIAL NOUNS are the names of materials; that is, of things which produce no idea of individuality, but only an aggregate notion; as, water, loam, milk.

Other parts of speech, and even the letters of the alphabet, are treated as nouns when they are made the subject of a verb, or the object of a verb or preposition; as, "The learned testify;""The hes and shes will all be there;" "In that sentence the critic struck out on and introduced of;"" is in that word preferable to au," "Mind your p's and q's;" "Your if is a mighty peacemaker."

PROPER NOUNS in the plural number, or with an article prefixed, become common nouns; as, "The Howards;" "He is the Cicero of his age." The term proper is from being proper, that is, peculiar to the individual bearing the name.

COMMON NOUNS, with the definite article prefixed, sometimes become proper nouns; as, The metropolis, the park. The term common is from being common to every individual comprised in the class. The term appellative, from appellare, to call, is applied to common nouns, because they are the names by which classes of objects are called,

SECTION CCXLV.-GENDERS OF NOUNS.

GENDER is a grammatical distinction in nouns expressing the natural distinction of sex. The word gender is from the French genre and the Latin genus, and properly means kind.

The MASCULINE GENDER denotes the male sex; as, a man, a boy. The FEMININE GENDER denotes the female sex; as, a woman, a girl. The NEUTER GENDER denotes the absence of sex; as, a chair, a table.

Gender, in the English language, is expressed,
I. By DIFFERENCE OF TERMINATION.

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