The Grammar of English Grammars, Goold Brown [ebook reader for manga txt] 📗

by the apostrophe, which is no sign of pause; and the confounding of these with words "abbreviated," makes this rule utterly absurd. As for the period "after numeral letters," if they really needed it at all, they would need it severally, as do the abbreviations; but there are none of them, which do not uniformly dispense with it, when not final to the number; and they may as well dispense with it, in like manner, whenever they are not final to the sentence.

OBS. 4.—Of these letters, Day gives this account: "M. denotes mille, 1,000; D., dimidium mille, half a thousand, or 500; C. centum, 100; L. represents the lower half of C., and expresses 50; X. resembles V. V., the one upright, the other inverted, and signifies 10; V. stands for 5, because its sister letter U is the fifth vowel; and I. signifies 1, probably because it is the plainest and simplest letter in the alphabet."—Day's Punctuation, p. 103. There is some fancy in this. Dr. Adam says, "The letters employed for this purpose [i.e., to express numbers.] were C. I. L. V. X."—Latin and Eng. Gram., p. 288. And again: "A thousand is marked thus CI[C-reverserd], which in later times was contracted into M. Five hundred is marked thus, I[C-reversed], or by contraction, D."—Ib. Day inserts periods thus: "IV. means 4; IX., 9; XL., 40; XC., 90; CD., 400; CM., 900."—Page 703. And again: "4to., quarto, the fourth of a sheet of paper; 8vo., octavo, the eighth part of a sheet of paper; 12mo., duodecimo, the twelfth of a sheet of paper; N. L., 8°., 9'., 10''., North latitude, eight degrees, nine minutes, ten seconds."—Page 104. But IV may mean 4, without the period; 4to or 8vo has no more need of it than 4th or 8th; and N. L. 8° 9' 10'' is an expression little to be mended by commas, and not at all by additional periods.

OBS. 5.—To allow the period of abbreviation to supersede all other points wherever it occurs, as authors generally have done, is sometimes plainly objectionable; but, on the other hand, to suppose double points to be always necessary wherever abbreviations or Roman numbers have pauses less than final, would sometimes seem more nice than wise, as in the case of Biblical and other references. A concordance or a reference Bible pointed on this principle, would differ greatly from any now extant. In such references, numbers are very frequently pointed with the period, with scarcely any regard to the pauses required in the reading; as, "DIADEM, Job 29. 14. Isa. 28. 5. and 62. 3. Ezek. 21. 26."—Brown's Concordance. "Where no vision is, the people perish, Prov. xxix. 18. Acts iv. 12. Rom. x. 14."—Brown's Catechism, p. 104. "What I urge from 1. Pet. 3. 21. in my Apology."—Barclay's Works, iii, 498. "I. Kings—II. Kings."—Alger's Bible, p. iv. "Compare iii. 45. with 1. Cor. iv. 13."—Scott's Bible, Pref. to Lam. Jer. "Hen. v. A. 4. Sc. 5."—Butler's Gram., p. 41. "See Rule iii. Rem. 10."—Ib., p. 162. Some set a colon between the number of the chapter and that of the verse; which mark serves well for distinction, where both numbers are in Arabic figures: as, "'He that formed the eye, shall he not see?'—Ps. 94: 9."—Wells's Gram., p. 126. "He had only a lease-hold title to his service. Lev. 25: 39, Exod. 21: 2."—True Amer., i. 29. Others adopt the following method which seems preferable to any of the foregoing: "Isa. Iv, 3; Ezek. xviii, 20; Mic. vi, 7."—Gurney's Essays, p. 133. Churchill, who is uncommonly nice about his punctuation, writes as follows: "Luke. vi, 41, 42. See also Chap. xv, 8; and Phil., iii. 12."—New Gram., p. 353.

OBS. 6.—Arabic figures used as ordinals, or used for the numeral adverbs, first, or firstly, secondly, thirdly, &c., are very commonly pointed with the period, even where the pause required after them is less than a full stop; as, "We shall consider these words, 1. as expressing resolution; and 2. as expressing futurity."—Butler's Gram., p. 106. But the period thus followed by a small letter, has not an agreeable appearance, and some would here prefer the comma, which is, undoubtedly, better suited to the pause, A fitter practice, however, would be, to change the expression thus: "We shall consider these words, 1st, as expressing resolution; and, 2dly, as expressing futurity."

OBS. 7.—Names vulgarly shortened, then written as they are spoken, are not commonly marked with a period; as, Ben for Benjamin. "O RARE BEN JOHNSON!"—Biog. Dict.

   "From whence the inference is plain,
    Your friend MAT PRIOR wrote with pain."
        —LLOYD: B. P., Vol. viii, p. 188.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE PUNCTUATION.—ERRORS CONCERNING THE PERIOD. UNDER RULE I.—DISTINCT SENTENCES.

"The third person is the position of the name spoken of; as, Paul and Silas were imprisoned, the earth thirsts, the sun shines."—Frazee's Gram., 1st Ed., p. 21; Ster. Ed., p. 23.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because three totally distinct sentences are here thrown together as examples, with no other distinction than what is made by two commas. But, according to Rule 1st for the Period, "When a sentence, whether long or short, is complete in respect to sense, and independent in respect to construction, it should be marked with the period." Therefore, these commas should be periods; and, of course, the first letter of each example must be a capital.]

"Two and three and four make nine; if he were here, he would assist his father and mother, for he is a dutiful son; they live together, and are happy, because they enjoy each other's society; they went to Roxbury, and tarried all night, and came back the next day."—Goldsbury's Parsing Lessons in his Manual of E. Gram., p. 64.

"We often resolve, but seldom perform; she is wiser than her sister; though he is often advised, yet he does not reform; reproof either softens or hardens its object; he is as old as his classmates, but not so learned; neither prosperity, nor adversity, has improved him; let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall; he can acquire no virtue, unless he make some sacrifices."—Ibid.

   "Down from his neck, with blazing gems array'd,
    Thy image, lovely Anna! hung portray'd,
    Th' unconscious figure, smiling all serene,
    Suspended in a golden chain was seen,"—S. Barrett's E. Gr., p. 92.

UNDER RULE II.—ALLIED SENTENCES.

"This life is a mere prelude to another, which has no limits, it is a little portion of duration. As death leaves us, so the day of judgment will find us."—Merchant's School Gram., p. 76.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the pause after limits, which is sufficient for the period, is marked only by the comma. But, according to Rule 2d, "The period is often employed between two sentences which have a general connexion, expressed by a personal pronoun, a conjunction, or a conjunctive adverb." It would improve the passage, to omit the first comma, change the second to a period, and write the pronoun it with a capital. Judgment also might be bettered with an e, and another is properly two words.]

"He went from Boston to New York; he went from Boston; he went to New York; in walking across the floor, he stumbled over a chair."—Goldsbury's Manual of E. Gram., p. 62.

"I saw him on the spot, going along the road, looking towards the house; during the heat of the day, he sat on the ground, under the shade of a tree."—Id., ib.

"George came home, I saw him yesterday, here; the word him, can extend only to the individual George"—S. Barrett's E. Gram., 10th Ed., p. 45.

"Commas are often used now, where parentheses were formerly; I cannot, however, esteem this an improvement."—See the Key.

   "Thou, like a sleeping, faithless sentinel
    Didst let them pass unnoticed, unimproved,
    And know, for that thou slumb'rest on the guard,
    Thou shalt be made to answer at the bar
    For every fugitive."
        —Hallock's Gram., p. 222; Enfield's Sp., p. 380.

UNDER RULE III.—OF ABBREVIATIONS.

"The term pronoun (Lat pronomen) strictly means a word used for, or instead of a noun."—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 198.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the syllable here put for the word Latin, is not marked with a period. But, according to Rule 3d, "The period is generally used after abbreviations, and very often to the exclusion of other points; but, as in this case it is not a constant sign of pause, other points may properly follow it, if the words written in full would demand them." In this instance, a period should mark the abbreviation, and a comma be set after of. By analogy, in stead is also more properly two words than one.]

"The period is also used after abbreviations; as, A. D. P. S. G. W. Johnson."—Butler's Pract. Gram., p. 211. "On this principle of classification, the later Greek grammarians divided words into eight classes or parts of speech, viz: the Article, Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle, Adverb, Preposition, and Conjunction."—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 191.

"'Metre is not confined to verse: there is a tune in all good prose; and Shakspeare's was a sweet one.'—Epea Pter, II, 61. Mr. H. Tooke's idea was probably just, agreeing with Aristotle's, but not accurately expressed."—Churchill's New Gram., p. 385.

"Mr. J. H. Tooke was educated at Eton and at Cambridge, in which latter college he took the degree of A. M; being intended for the established church of England, he entered into holy orders when young, and obtained the living of Brentford, near London, which he held ten or twelve years."—Div. of Purley, 1st Amer. Edition, Vol. i, p. 60.

   "I, nor your plan, nor book condemn,
    But why your name, and why A. M!"—Lloyd.

MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, &c. Isaiah. lviii. 7."—Butler's Gram., p. 67. "'He that hath eeris of herynge, here he. Wiclif. Matt xi."—Butler's Gram., p. 76. "See General Rules for Spelling, iii., v., and vii."—Butler's Gram., p. 81. "'False witnesses did rise up.' Ps. xxxv. ii."—Butlers Gram., p. 105.

"An explicative sentence is used for explaining. An interrogative sentence for enquiring. An imperative sentence for commanding."—S. Barrett's Prin. of Language, p. 87. "In October, corn is gathered in the field by men, who go from hill to hill with baskets, into which they put the ears; Susan labors with her needle for a livelihood; notwithstanding his poverty, he is a man of integrity."—Goldsbury's Parsing, Manual of E. Gram., p. 62.

"A word of one syllable, is called a monosyllable. A word of two syllables; a dissyllable. A word of three syllables; a trissyllable. A word of four or more syllables; a polysyllable."—Frazee's Improved Gram., 1st Ed., p. 15. "A word of one syllable, is called a monosyllable. A word of two syllables, a dissyllable. A word of three syllables, a trissyllable. A word of four or more syllables, a polysyllable."—Frazee's Improved Gram., Ster. Ed., p. 17.

"If I say, 'if it did not rain, I would take a walk;' I convey the idea that it does rain, at the time of speaking, If it rained, or did it rain, in the present time, implies, it does not rain; If it did not rain, or did it not rain, in present time, implies that it does rain; thus in this peculiarity, an affirmative sentence always implies a negation, and a negative sentence an affirmation."—Frazee's Gram., 1st Ed., p. 61; Ster. Ed., 62. "If I were loved, and, were I loved, imply, I am not loved; if I were not loved, and, were I not loved, imply, I am loved; a negative sentence implies an affirmation; and an affirmative sentence implies a negation, in these forms of the subjunctive."—Ib., Old Ed., p. 73; Ster. Ed., 72.

"What is Rule III.?"—Hart's Gram., p. 114. "How is Rule III. violated?"—Ib., p. 115. "How do you parse 'letter' in the sentence, 'James writes a letter'? Ans.—'Letter is a noun com., of the MASC. gend., in the 3d p., sing. num., and objective case, and is governed by the verb 'writes,' according to Rule III., which says. 'A transitive verb,' &c."—Ib., p. 114.[465]

   "Creation sleeps. 'T is as the general pulse
    Of life stood still, and nature made a pause;
    An awful pause! prophetic of her end,
    And let her prophecy be soon fulfilled;
    Fate drop the curtain; I can lose no more."—Hallock's Gram., p. 216.

SECTION V.—THE DASH.

The Dash is mostly used to denote an unexpected or emphatic pause, of variable length; but sometimes it is a sign of faltering, or of the irregular stops of one who hesitates in speaking: as, "Then, after many pauses, and inarticulate sounds, he said: 'He was very sorry for it, was extremely concerned it should happen so—but—a—it was necessary—a—' Here lord E——— stopped him short, and bluntly demanded, if his post were destined for an other."—See Churchill's Gram., p. 170.

RULE I.—ABRUPT PAUSES.

A sudden interruption,