How to Speak and Write Correctly (3 of 55)

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CHAPTER II

ESSENTIALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Divisions of Grammar--Definitions--Etymology.

In order to speak and write the English language correctly, it is imperative that the fundamental principles of the Grammar be mastered, for no matter how much we may read of the best authors, no matter how much we may associate with and imitate the best speakers, if we do not know the underlying principles of the correct formation of sentences and the relation of words to one another, we will be to a great extent like the parrot, that merely repeats what it hears without understanding the import of what is said. Of course the parrot, being a creature without reason, cannot comprehend; it can simply repeat what is said to it, and as it utters phrases and sentences of profanity with as much facility as those of virtue, so by like analogy, when we do not understand the grammar of the language, we may be making egregious blunders while thinking we are speaking with the utmost accuracy.

DIVISIONS OF GRAMMAR

There are four great divisions of Grammar, viz.:

_Orthography_, _Etymology_, _Syntax_, and _Prosody_.

_Orthography_ treats of letters and the mode of combining them into words.

_Etymology_ treats of the various classes of words and the changes they undergo.

_Syntax_ treats of the connection and arrangement of words in sentences.

_Prosody_ treats of the manner of speaking and reading and the different kinds of verse.

The three first mentioned concern us most.

LETTERS

A _letter_ is a mark or character used to represent an articulate sound. Letters are divided into _vowels_ and _consonants_. A vowel is a letter which makes a distinct sound by itself. Consonants cannot be sounded without the aid of vowels. The vowels are _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_, _u_, and sometimes _w_ and _y_ when they do not begin a word or syllable.

SYLLABLES AND WORDS

A syllable is a distinct sound produced by a single effort of [Transcriber's note: 1-2 words illegible] shall, pig, dog. In every syllable there must be at least one vowel.

A word consists of one syllable or a combination of syllables.

Many rules are given for the dividing of words into syllables, but the best is to follow as closely as possible the divisions made by the organs of speech in properly pronouncing them.

THE PARTS OF SPEECH

ARTICLE

An _Article_ is a word placed before a noun to show whether the noun is used in a particular or general sense.

There are two articles, _a_ or _an_ and _the_. _A_ or _an_ is called the indefinite article because it does not point put any particular person or thing but indicates the noun in its widest sense; thus, _a_ man means any man whatsoever of the species or race.

_The_ is called the definite article because it points out some particular person or thing; thus, _the_ man means some particular individual.

NOUN

A _noun_ is the name of any person, place or thing as _John_, _London_, _book_. Nouns are proper and common.

_Proper_ nouns are names applied to _particular_ persons or places.

_Common_ nouns are names applied to a whole kind or species.

Nouns are inflected by _number_, _gender_ and _case_.

_Number_ is that inflection of the noun by which we indicate whether it represents one or more than one.

_Gender_ is that inflection by which we signify whether the noun is the name of a male, a female, of an inanimate object or something which has no distinction of sex.

_Case_ is that inflection of the noun which denotes the state of the person, place or thing represented, as the subject of an affirmation or question, the owner or possessor of something mentioned, or the object of an action or of a relation.

Thus in the example, "John tore the leaves of Sarah's book," the distinction between _book_ which represents only one object and _leaves_ which represent two or more objects of the same kind is called _Number_; the distinction of sex between _John_, a male, and _Sarah_, a female, and _book_ and _leaves_, things which are inanimate and neither male nor female, is called _Gender_; and the distinction of state between _John_, the person who tore the book, and the subject of the affirmation, _Mary_, the owner of the book, _leaves_ the objects torn, and _book_ the object related to leaves, as the whole of which they were a part, is called _Case_.

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