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

86. "Ah! what happiness awaits the virtuous."—Ib., 86.

"Ah, welladay,—do what we can for him, said Trim, maintaining his point,—the poor soul will die."—STERNE: Enfield's Speaker, p. 306. "A well o'day! do what we can for him, said Trim, maintaining his point: the poor soul will die"—Kirkham's Elocution, p. 340.

"Will John return to-morrow."—S. Barrett's Gram., Tenth Ed., p. 55. "Will not John return to-morrow."—Ib., 55. "John! return to-morrow; Soldiers! stand firm."—Ib., 55. "If mea which means my is an adjective in Latin, why may not my be so called in English, and if my is an adjective, why not Barrett's"—Ib., p. 50.

"Oh? Absalom, my son."—O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 375. "Oh! STAR-EYED SCIENCE!! whither hast thou fled?"—Ib., p. 366. "Why do you tolerate your own inconsistency, by calling it the present tense!"—Ib., p. 360. "Thus the declarative mode may be used in asking a question; as, what man is frail."—Ib., p. 358. "What connexion has motive wish, or supposition, with the term subjunctive!"—Ib., p. 348. "A grand reason, truly! for calling it a golden key."—Ib., p. 347. "What 'suffering'! the man who can say this, must be 'enduring.'"—Ib., p. 345. "What is Brown's Rule! in relation to this matter?"—Ib., p. 334.

"Alas! how short is life." "Thomas, study your book."—Day's District School Gram., p. 109. "As, 'alas!' how short is life; Thomas, study your book.'"—Ib., p. 82. "Who can tell us who they are."—Sanborn's Gram., p. 178. "Lord have mercy on my son; for he is a lunatic, etc."—Felton's Gram., 1st Ed., p. 138; Ster. Ed., 140. "O, ye wild groves, O, where is now your bloom!"—Ib., p. 88; Ster. Ed., 91.

   "O who of man the story will unfold!"
        —Farnum's Gr., 2d Ed., p. 104.

    "Methought I heard Horatio say to-morrow.
    Go to I will not hear of it—to-morrow."
        —Hallock's Gr., 1st Ed., p. 221.

    "How his eyes languish? how his thoughts adore
    That painted coat which Joseph never wore?"
        —Love of Fame, p. 66.

SECTION VIII.—THE CURVES.

The Curves, or Marks of Parenthesis, are used to distinguish a clause or hint that is hastily thrown in between the parts of a sentence to which it does not properly belong; as, "Their enemies (and enemies they will always have) would have a handle for exposing their measures."—Walpole.

   "To others do (the law is not severe)
    What to thyself thou wishest to be done."—Beattie.

OBS.—The incidental clause should be uttered in a lower tone, and faster than the principal sentence. It always requires a pause as great as that of a comma, or greater.

RULE I.—THE PARENTHESIS.

A clause that breaks the unity of a sentence or passage too much to be incorporated with it, and only such, should be inclosed within curves, as a parenthesis; as, "For I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing."—Rom., vii, 18.

   "Know then this truth, (enough for man to know,)
    Virtue alone is happiness below."—Pope.

RULE II.—INCLUDED POINTS.

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: as, 1. "Now for a recompense in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged."—2 Cor., vi, 13.

2. "Man's thirst of happiness declares it is:
    (For nature never gravitates to nought:)
    That thirst unquench'd, declares it is not here."—Young.

3. "Night visions may befriend: (as sung above:)
    Our waking dreams are fatal. How I dreamt
    Of things impossible! (could sleep do more?)
    Of joys perpetual in perpetual change!"—Young.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE PUNCTUATION.—ERRORS CONCERNING THE CURVES. UNDER RULE I.—OF THE PARENTHESIS.

"Another is composed of the indefinite article an, which, etymologically means one and other, and denotes one other."—Hallock's Gram., p. 63.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the parenthetic expression, "which etymologically means one," is not sufficiently separated from the rest of the passage. But, according to Rule 1st for the Curves, "A clause that breaks the unity of a sentence or passage too much to be incorporated with it, and only such, should be enclosed within curves, as a parenthesis." Therefore, the curves should be here inserted; and also, by Rule 2d, a comma at the word one.]

"Each mood has its peculiar Tense, Tenses (or Times)."—Bucke's Gram., p. 58.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the expression, "or Times," which has not the nature of a parenthesis, is here marked with curves. But, according to Rule 1st for the Curves, "A clause that breaks the unity of a sentence or passage too much to be incorporated with it, and only such, should be enclosed within curves, as a parenthesis." Therefore, these marks should be omitted; and a comma should be set after the word "Tenses," by Rule 3d.]

"In some very ancient languages, as the Hebrew, which have been employed chiefly for expressing plain sentiments in the plainest manner, without aiming at any elaborate length or harmony of periods, this pronoun [the relative] occurs not so often."—L. Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 127.

"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 pronouns, 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 parsed 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 pronoun, 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 DIÆRESIS, or DIALYSIS, placed over either of two contiguous vowels, shows that they are not a diphthong; as, Danäe, aërial.

IV. ['] The ACUTE ACCENT marks the syllable which requires the principal stress in pronunciation; as, e'qual, equal'ity. It is sometimes used in opposition to the grave accent, to distinguish a close or short vowel; as, "Fáncy:" (Murray:) or to denote the rising inflection of the voice; as, "Is it hé?"

V. [`] The GRAVE ACCENT is used in opposition to the acute, to distinguish an open or long vowel; as, "Fàvour:" (Murray:) or to denote the falling inflection of the voice; as, "Yès; it is hè" It is sometimes placed over a vowel to show that it is not to be suppressed in pronunciation; as,

   "Let me, though in humble speech,
    Thy refinèd maxims teach."—Amer. Review, May, 1848.

VI. [^] The CIRCUMFLEX generally denotes either the broad sound of a or an unusual sound given to some other vowel; as in âll, hêir, machîne. 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 sô."

VII. [[~]] The BREVE, or STENOTONE, is used to denote either the close, short, shut sound of a vowel, or a syllable of short quantity; 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 quantity; 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 damned.

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