f adjective.....................213 first" or "the first two "? 214 ngest of the two "...........216 "A proper selection of faulty com- Had have been............... .......... .......... "If he have the money' ..........250 right way"... ENGLISH GRAMMAR. ENGLISH GRAMMAR is an explanation of the principles of the English language. These principles relate, 1. To the written characters of the language; 2. To its pronunciation; 3. To the classification of its words; 4. To the construction of its sentences; 5. To its versification. The first division is called ORTHOGRAPHY; the second ORTHOEPY; the third ETYMOLOGY; the fourth SYNTAX; and the fifth PROSODY. Remark. These principles are derived from the usage of the best writers and speakers. This is the final standard in all cases. The grammarian merely generalizes the facts of the language. (See Note A in Appendix.) I. ORTHOGRAPHY. ORTHOGRAPHY treats of letters and their combination in syllables and words. A LETTER is a character used to represent an elementary sound made by the organs of speech. The ORGANS OF SPEECH consist of the vocal tube and the articulating organs. The VOCAL TUBE consists of the trachea, or windpipe, and the mouth; the whole forming a tube similar, in some respects, to the pipe of a church-organ. The lungs may be compared to the bellows of an organ. The ARTICULATING ORGANS are the tongue, the palate, the teeth, and the lips. Remarks.-1. The vocal tube may be varied in its length and other dimensions, so as to produce different sounds. 2. To illustrate this we may make in succession the sounds represented by α, 0, 00. After we have made the sound of a we perceive that, in order to make the sound of o, we lengthen the vocal tube by protruding the lips; and that we protrude the lips still further in making the sound of oo. The aperture is also contracted as the lips are protruded. CLASSES OF SOUNDS. I. WITH RESPECT TO ARTICULATION. UNARTICULATED SOUNDS are sounds which pass uninterrupted through the vocal tube; as the sounds represented by a, e, o. ARTICULATED SOUNDS are sounds which are interrupted by the articulating organs; as the sounds represented by b, p, k, t. Remarks.-1. The stream of sound passing through the vocal tube may be interrupted, (a) By pressing the tongue against the palate, as in making the sound represented by k. (b) By closing the lips, as in making the sound represented by p. (c) By pressing the tongue against the teeth, as in the sound represented by t. (d) By forcing the sound through the nose. This is done while we interrupt the passage of sound through the mouth either by closing the lips, as in the sound represented by m; or by pressing the tongue against the upper jaw, as in the sound represented by n; or by pressing the tongue against the palate, as in the sound represented by ng.* 2. Sounds of the first kind are called palatals; of the second kind dentals, from the Latin dens, a tooth; of the third kind labials, from the Latin labium, a lip; of the fourth kind nasals, from the Latin nasus, a nose. 3. The word articulate is derived from the Latin articulus, a little joint. Speech is broken into joints, as it were, by the articulating organs. 4. Most of the articulating organs are concerned in all sounds; but in forming unarticulated sounds they are concerned merely as parts of the vocal tube. II. WITH RESPECT TO VOICE. Sounds may be either with voice or without voice. Thus the sound of v is made with voice, and that of ƒ without voice. A person with a cold is said to "speak through his nose," when in fact the passages of the nose are so closed that he can not "speak through his nose." Remarks.-1. The difference between these two kinds of sound may be perceived by pronouncing the syllables ef and ev, and prolonging the sound of the latter part of each of these syllables, thus making the sounds represented by f and v. It will be observed that we make the sound of f by forcing a current of air between the lower lip and the upper front teeth, and the sound of v by adding to the sound of f voice from the throat. 2. Voice is produced by an apparatus, called the glottis, in the upper part of the windpipe. This apparatus may be made to vibrate, like the reeds of a musical instrument, and thus to produce voice as distinguished from aspiration, the latter being the term applied to such sounds as that of f. The vibration may be felt by placing the finger on the projection in the throat called "Adam'sapple." Sounds are divided into vocals, non-vocals, and subvocals. VOCALS are sounds made by the uninterrupted passage of voice through the vocal tube; as the sounds represented by a, e. NON-VOCALS are sounds made by the passage of air interrupted by the articulating organs; as the sounds represented by b, k. SUBVOCALS are sounds made by the passage of voice interrupted by the articulating organs; as the sounds represented by b, d, r. The letter h represents merely a forcible emission of the breath before a vocal sound; as in hay, he, ho. Remarks.-1. The true force of h may be learned by sounding a, ha; o, ho; oo, hoo. In sounding ha, ho, hoo, the organs take the position which they have in sounding a, o, oo, and the breath is forcibly emitted before the sounds.* 2. The word vocal is derived from the Latin vocalis, of the voice; subvocal from vocal and sub, under, implying a lower degree of vocality. 3. Each of the non-vocals has its corresponding subvocal; as, p, b; t, d; k, g hard; s, z; f, v. Do not those who are said to "omit the sound of h where it ought to be uttered and utter it where it ought to be omitted" really employ a slight aspiration, or half h, in both cases? Thus, for old hall they do not really say hold all, but hold hall, the half h added and the half h taken away seeming to others a full h. The statement that a large number of people perversely take away a sound from all the words to which it belongs and insert it where it does not belong would seem to be absurd on the face of it. The barber in Punch expresses his opinion that the cholera is in the hair. "Then," observes the customer, "you ought to be very careful what brushes you use." "O, sir,' replies the barber, laughing, "I didn't mean the air of the ed, but the hair of the hatmosphere." From hair and head the barber took away half of the h, pronouncing the words with only half as much aspiration as the customer used; air and atmosphere he pronounced with the same half h which to the customer seemed a whole h. |