Remarks on Particular Letters.

h is silent in the words heir, honest, honour, hour. It has lost in English its aspirate character when following g in such words as fight, night, right. It is aspirated, although not written as the inital letter, in the words who, whose, whom; but has ceased to be so in the words which, what, when, etc. These words were formerly written hwo, hwich, hwat, etc.

j has been added to the English alphabet in very recent times. It was formerly denoted by the letter i.

k and g are generally silent before n: sign, condign; knife,
know, knowledge, etc.

th has two sounds in English—a sharp and a flat :—thin,
thick, through, throw (sharp); this, that, though, then
(flat). The latter sound stands in the same relation to
d as the former does to t, and is thus equivalent to dh.
In Anglo-Saxon and Old English the sounds were
represented by different letters—p for th, ð for dh.
v and u were formerly represented alike by the letter u,
although the one is a vowel, the other a consonant.
The letter v was first used by the Elzevir family at
Leyden in the seventeenth century.

On the Interchange of Letters in derivation.

In comparing one language with another, we often find that the letters formed by the same organ are interchangeable according to fixed laws. Hence, to watch these changes, and discover these laws, gives fresh interest to the study of a language, and helps us to master it more easily. The principal changes are as follow:

b is frequently interchanged with other labials. It often becomes v, as in the Latin words ferbui, fervi; sebum, sevum. The b in Latin usually becomes v in French and Italian: cf. habere, avere, avoir. The letter b is often inserted between m and a liquid, in French words derived from the Latin: cumulare, combler; numerus, nombre.

c. The Latin c usually becomes ch in the Romance languages. Latin: caballus, calidus, camera, canis, cantare; French: cheval, chaud, chambre, chien, chanter. The same law of interchange may also be illustrated by the names of places in England. The hard c sound of the Latin castra becomes softened into ch in such words as Chester, Chichester, Winchester; but retains its primary sound in Lancaster, Tadcaster, etc. It may also be illustrated by comparing such names as Wick, Northwick, Painswick, Powick, with Dulwich, Greenwich, Woolwich, etc. Cf. also kirk, church; wake,

watch; bake, batch, etc.

The letter c sometimes changes into g in French (cf. Latin, acre, macer, with French, aigre, maigre), or into s (cf. Latin, facimus, licere, placere, with French faisons, loisir, plaisir).

d. The Latin d usually becomes z in Italian (cf. Latin,

ardens, medius, pendulus, radius; and Italian, arzente, mezzo, penzolo, razzo), or both in French and Italian is often omitted. (Cf. Latin, ad, apud, modo, fides; and Italian, a, appo, mò, fè. Also, cf. Latin, audire, fides, nudus, videre; and French, ouïr, foi, nu, voir.)

f in the Teutonic languages interchanges with b (cf. Latin, frater, ferre, frango, and English brother, bear, break). The initial ƒ in Latin often becomes initial h in Spanish (Latin, ferrum, filius, facere; Spanish, hierro, hijo, hacer).

1. The Latin al almost invariably becomes au in French (cf. Latin, talpa, albus, delphinus, altus, alter, dulcis;

and French, taupe, aube, dauphin, haut, autre, doux). p changes often into v in the Romance languages (cf. Latin, coopertus, pauper, ripa; Italian, coverto, povero, riva; French, couvert, pauvre, rive).

S

in Latin often becomes final z in French (cf. Latin, casa, nasus, rasus; and French, chez, nez, rez). The Latin initial s becomes initial e in French (cf. Latin, scribere, stabulum, scala; and French, écrire, étable, échelle).

CHAPTER II.

THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

IN the classification of our words we must be careful that we arrange them exclusively upon the idea of their various functions; that we do not negligently allow any word to belong to more than one class; and that our arrangement shall include every word in the language.

Before we arrange our words into parts of speech, it will be well to look for a moment to a wider basis of classification, and to consider how all the words in a language may be resolved into two simple classes-Notional and Relational.

Words are the symbols which we employ to express our thoughts. Now, we may exercise our thought either in considering things themselves, or in considering the relations that exist between things. To denote a single thing of which we can conceive, we employ a Notional Word (boy, tree, house, wisdom, running, happy, to dance). To denote a relation which exists between two objects, we either alter the form of the word (John, John's; man, men), or we employ another word (of, here, in, now). When a different word is employed, it is called a Relational Word.

Notional words, even when used alone, convey a complete signification to the mind. Relational words have no signification apart from their connection with other words. Thus all the Pronouns are relational words, and have no distinct signification in a sentence unless properly connected with Substantives. The Pronoun I has no meaning unless it be known who uses it, and he is called demonstrative (i. e. pointing), because it refers to nobody definitely unless its

use is accompanied in some way or other with pointing; or in other words, it conveys in itself no distinct notion.

The nine classes into which we shall arrange our words are called "Parts of Speech."

4. PRONOUN.

There are nine Parts of Speech.-1. SUBSTANTIVE. 2. ARTICLE. 3. ADJECTIVE. 5. VERB. 6. ADVERB. 7. PREPOSITION. 8. CONJUNCTION. 9. INTERJECTION.

1. Substantives.-A Substantive is the name of anything of which we can form a conception. Substantives are of two kinds, Proper and Common: John, boy.

2. Articles.-An Article is a word placed before a substantive to extend or limit its application: a, the.

3. Adjectives.-An Adjective is a word which qualifies a substantive: good, happy, true, bitter.

4. Pronouns.-A Pronoun is a relational word which can be used as the subject or object of a sentence: I, you, he, that, many, few, mine.

5. Verbs. A Verb is a word which predicates, that is, which forms a sentence. Verbs are of two kindsNotional and Relational. Notional Verbs are again divided into Transitive (he threw the stone), and Intransitive (the tree grows).

When a Relational Verb is used with some part of another verb, merely to express tense, mood, or voice, it is an Auxiliary Verb.

Thus there are three kinds of Auxiliary Verbs— those of Tense, Mood, or Voice:-You WILL come. He MAY go. He was injured.

A Participle is that part of a verb which partakes of the nature of a verb and an adjective:-A running

stream. A defeated general. The changing seasons. Altered circumstances.

A Participial Substantive is one that partakes of the nature of a verb and a substantive: Walking is healthy. Talking is forbidden. We learn drawing at school. The wounded are taken to the hospital.

The fallen and the forsaken were the objects of his benevolence. All this arises from transgressing rules. Your having refused necessitates my going.

That part of the verb which is formed by the infinitive, preceded by the word to, and which may often be used instead of a participial substantive, is called the Supine: To walk is healthy. To be suspected is disagreeable.

6. Adverbs. An Adverb is a word which qualifies or limits some other word in a sentence with regard to time, place, manner, degree, etc., frequently, there, well, exceedingly.

7. Prepositions.-A Preposition is a word which joins a substantive or pronoun to some other word, and governs that substantive or pronoun in the objective case-I wrote to her. We lived in London.

8. Conjunctions.-A Conjunction is a word which connects sentences, and shows the relation between them: John is here, and James is coming.

9. Interjections.-An Interjection is a word which stands apart from the construction of a sentence, and is thrown in merely to express sudden thought or emotion :-Oh! alas!