Dissertations on the English Language, with Notes, Historical and Critical;: to Which is Added, by Way of Appendix, an Essay on a Reformed Mode of Spelling, With Dr. Franklin's Arguments on that SubjectWebster, Noah
General
Dissertations on the English Language, with Notes, Historical and Critical;: to Which is Added, by Way of Appendix, an Essay on a Reformed Mode of Spelling, With Dr. Franklin's Arguments on that Subject
Webster, Noah
English language -- Early works to 1800; English language -- Grammar -- Early works to 1800; Spelling reform -- Early works to 1800
That the noun and verb are the only parts of speech, absolutely
necessary for a communication of ideas among rude nations, will be
obvious to any person who considers their manner of life, and the small
number of their necessary ideas. Their employments are war and hunting;
and indeed some tribes are so situated as to have no occupation but
that of procuring subsistence. How few must be the ideas of a people,
whose sole employment is to catch fish, and take wild beasts for food!
Such nations, and even some much farther advanced towards civilization,
use few or no prepositions, adverbs and conjunctions, in their
intercourse with each other, and very few adjectives. Some tribes of
savages in America use no adjectives at all; but express qualities by
a particular form of the verb; or rather blend the affirmation and
quality into one word.[86] They have, it is said, some connecting words
in their own languages, some of which have advanced towards copiousness
and variety. But when they attempt to speak English, they use nouns and
verbs long before they obtain any knowlege of the particles. They speak
in this manner, go, way---- sun, shine---- tree, fall---- give, Uncas,
rum; with great deliberation and a short pause between the words. They
omit the connectives and the abbreviations, which may be called the
"wings of Mercury." Thus it is evident, that, among such nations, a few
nouns and verbs will answer the purposes of language.
Many of this kind of expressions remain in the English language to
this day. _Go away_ is the savage phrase with the article _a_, derived
perhaps from _one_, or what is more probable, added merely to express
the sound, made in the transition from one word to the other, for if
we attend to the manner in which we pronounce these or two similar
words, we shall observe that we involuntarily form the sound expressed
by _a_ or _aw_. In some such manner are formed _astray_, _awhile_,
_adown_, _aground_, _ashore_, _above_, _abaft_, _among_, and many
others. They are usually called adverbs and prepositions; but they are
neither more nor less than nouns or verbs, with the prefix _a_.[87]
That all the words called adverbs and prepositions, are derived in like
manner, from the principal parts of language, the noun and verb, is not
demonstrable; but that _most_ of them are so derived, etymology clearly
proves.
HORNE TOOKE's THEORY _of the_ PARTICLES.
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