CLASSES.

Nouns are divided into two general classes; proper and common.

I. A proper noun is the name of some particular individual, or people, or group; as, Adam, Boston, the Hudson, the Romans, the Azores, the Alps.

II. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or class of beings or things; as, Beast, bird, fish, insect, creatures, persons, children.

The particular classes, collective, abstract, and verbal, or participial, are usually included among common nouns. The name of a thing sui generis is also called common.

1. A collective noun, or noun of multitude, is the name of many individuals together; as, Council, meeting, committee, flock.

2. An abstract noun is the name of some particular quality considered apart from its substance; as, Goodness, hardness, pride, frailty.

3. A verbal or participial noun is the name of some action or state of being; and is formed from a verb, like a participle, but employed as a noun: as, "The triumphing of the wicked is short."-Job, xx, 5.

4. A thing sui generis (i. e., of its own peculiar kind,) is something which is distinguished, not as an individual of a species, but as a sort by itself, without plurality in either the noun or the sort of thing; as, Galvanism, music, geometry.

MODIFICATIONS.

Nouns have modifications of four kinds; namely, Persons, Numbers, Genders, and Cases.

PERSONS.

Persons, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish the speaker, the hearer, and the person or thing merely spoken of.

There are three persons; the first, the second, and the third.

The first person is that which denotes the speaker or writer; as, "I Paul have written it." The second person is that which denotes the hearer, or the person addressed; as, "Robert,

who did this?"

The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of; as, "James loves his book."

Obs. 1.-The distinction of persons belongs to nouns, pronouns, and finite verbs; and to these it is always applied, either by peculiarity of form or construction, or by inference from the principles of concord. Pronouns are like their antecedents, and verbs are like their subjects, in person.

Obs. 2.-The speaker seldom refers to himself by name, as the speaker; consequently, nouns are rarely used in the first person. Obs. 3.-When inanimate things are spoken to, it is by a figure of speech, called personification.

NUMBERS.

Numbers, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish unity and plurality.

There are two numbers; the singular and the plural.

The singular number is that which denotes but one; as, "The boy learns.'

The plural number is that which denotes more than one; as, "The boys learn."

The plural number of nouns is regularly formed by adding s or es to the singular: as, book, books; box, boxes.

Obs. 1.-The distinction of numbers belongs to nouns, pronouns, and finite verbs; and to these it is always applied, either by peculiarity of form, or by inference from the principles of concord. Pronouns are like their antecedents, and verbs are like their subjects in number.

Obs. 2.-When a singular noun ends in a sound which will unite with that of 8, the plural is generally formed by adding s only, and the number of syllables is not increased: as, pen, pens; grape, grapes.

Obs. 3.-But when the sound of s cannot be united with that of the primitive word, the plural adds s to final e, and es to other

terminations, and forms a separate syllable: as, page, pages; fox, foxes.

Obs. 4.-Nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant, add es, but do not increase their syllables: as, wo, woes; hero, heroes. Other nouns in o add s only: as, folio, folios.

Obs. 5.-Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant, change y into i, and add es, without increase of syllables: as, fly, flies; duty, duties. Other nouns in y add s only: as, day, days; valley, valleys.

Obs. 6.-The following nouns in f, change into v, and add es, for the plural; sheaf, leaf, loaf, beef, thief, calf, half, elf, shelf, self, wolf, wharf; as, sheaves, leaves, etc. Life, lives; knife, knives; wife, wives; are similar.

Obs. 7.-The greater number of nouns in ƒ and ƒe are regular; as, fifes, strifes, chiefs, griefs, gulfs, etc.

Obs. 8.-The following are still more irregular: man, men; woman, women; child, children; brother, brethren [or brothers]; foot, feet; ox, oxen; tooth, teeth; goose, geese; louse, lice; mouse, mice; die, dice; penny, pence. Dies, stamps, and pennies, coins, are regular.

Obs. 9.-Many foreign nouns retain their original plural; as, arcanum, arcana; radius, radii; vortex, vortices; axis, axes; phenomenon, phenomena, seraph, seraphim.

Obs. 10.-Some nouns have no plural: as, gold, pride, meekness. Obs. 11.-Some nouns have no singular: as, embers, ides, oats, scissors, tongs, vespers, literati, minutiæ.

Obs. 12. Some are alike in both numbers: as, sheep, dcer, swine, hose, means, odds, news, species, series, apparatus.

Obs. 13.-Compounds in which the principal word is put first, vary the principal word to form the plural, and the adjunct to form the possessive case: as, father-in-law, fathers-in-law, father-inlaw's.

Obs. 14-Compounds ending in ful, and all those in which the principal word is put last, form the plural in the same manner as other nouns: as handfuls, spoonfuls, mouthfuls, fellow-servants,

man-servants.

Obs. 15.-Nouns of multitude, when taken collectively, admit the plural form: as, meeting, meetings. But when taken distributively, they have a plural signification, without the form: as, "The jury were divided."

GENDERS.

Genders, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish objects in regard to sex.

There are three genders; the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter.

The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind; as, man, father, king.

The feminine gender is that which denotes per- sons or animals of the female kind; as, woman, mother, queen.

The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female; as, pen, ink, paper.

Obs. 1.-The different genders belong only to nouns and pronouns; and to these they are usually applied agreeably to the order of nature. Pronouns are of the same gender as the nouns for which they stand.

Obs. 2.-Some nouns are equally applicable to both sexes; as, cousin, friend, neighbor, parent, person, servant. The gender of these is usually determined by the context.

Obs. 3.-Those terms which are equally applicable to both sexes, (if they are not expressly applied to females,) and those plurals which are known to include both sexes, should be called masculine in parsing; for, in all languages, the masculine gender is considered the most worthy, and is generally employed when both sexes are included under one common term.

Obs. 4.-The sexes are distinguished in three ways:

I. By the use of different names: as, bachelor, maid; boy, girl; brother, sister; buck, doe; bull, cow; cock, hen.

II. By the use of different terminations: as, abbot, abbess; hero, heroine; administrator, administratrix.

III. By prefixing an attribute of distinction: as, cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow; man-servant, maid-servant; he-goat, she-goat; male relations, female relations.

Obs. 5.-The names of things without life, used literally, are always of the neuter gender. But inanimate objects are often represented figuratively as having sex. Things remarkable for power, greatness, or sublimity, are spoken of as masculine: as, the sun, time, death, sleep, fear, anger, winter, war. Things beautiful, amis able, or prolific, are spoken of as feminine: as, the moon, earth, nature, fortune, knowledge, hope, spring, peace.

Obs. 6.-Nouns of multitude, when they convey the idea of unity, or take the plural form, are of the neuter gender; but when they convey the idea of plurality without the form, they follow the gender of the individuals that compose the assemblage.

Obs. 7.-Creatures whose sex is unknown, or unnecessary to be regarded, are generally spoken of as neuter: as, "He fired at the deer, and wounded it."- "If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it," etc.—Exod., xxii. 1.

CASES.

Cases, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish the relations of nouns and pronouns to other words.

There are three cases; the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb: as, The boy runs; I run.

The possessive case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the relation of property: as, The boy's hat; my hat.

The objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition: as, I know the boy; he knows me.

Obs. 1.-The cases belong only to nouns and pronouns. gouns are not necessarily like their antecedents, in case.

Pro

Obs. 2.-The nominative and the objective of nouns are always alike, being distinguishable from each other only by their place in a sentence, or their simple dependence according to the sense.

Obs. 3.-The subject of a verb is that which answers to who or that before it: as, "The boy runs."- Who runs? The boy. Boy is therefore here in the nominative case.

Obs. 4.-The object of a verb, participle, or preposition, is that which answers to whom or what after it: as, "I know the boy."I know whom? The boy. Boy is therefore here in the objective

case.

Obs. 5.-The possessive case of nouns is formed, in the singular number, by adding to the nominative s preceded by an apostrophe ; and, in the plural, when the nominative ends in s, by adding an apostrophe only: as, boy, boy's, boys'.

DECLENSION OF NOUNS.

The declension of a noun is a regular arrangement of its numbers and cases. Thus :