And then _Conjunctions_ join two words or sentences together; As, man _and_ boy, or birds will fly _and_ winds blow o'er the heather. Then _Interjections_, _Oh!_ and _Ah! Behold!_ and many another, Express surprise, delight; dismay, far more than every other. {126} And these the _Parts of Speech_ we call; _Eight_ parts as you may tell; And all the language you will know, when these you've studied well. _NUMBER AND GENDER._ A NOUN or name that means but one, Is called in the _singular number_; But when it stands for more than one, 'Tis _plural_, child, remember. * * * * * A NOUN that is the name of males, As ox, or horse, or father, Is _masculine_ in _gender_, dear; While cow, and mare, and mother, And all the names of females, child, Are _feminine_, 'tis true; Now tell me all the names you know, And tell their gender, too. But you will find there's many a noun Not male, nor female either, As chair, and book; and such we call In _neuter gender_--neither. {127} ONE LITTLE CHICKEN. ONE little chicken, two little chickens, three little chickens, dear; Don't you see we add _s_, when more than one is here? And this we do with almost all the nouns that may appear. One little birdy, two little birdies, three little birdies soar; The _y_ is changed to _i-e-s_ for birdies two or more; And this, when a word shall end in _y_ with a _consonant_ before. One little donkey, two little donkeys, three little donkeys bray. But here the _y_ remains unchanged, and _s_ is called in play; And this, when a word shall end in _y_, where a _vowel_ leads the way. {128} _LETTERS._ A, E, I, O, U, The _vowels_ we may call; W, Y, are vowels too, Whene'er they chance to fall To the end of syllable or word. And this we well may know That all the rest are _consonants_; Just nineteen in a row. K, P, and T are called the _mutes_, Because they interrupt All voice or sound; while B and D Can only intercept; Hence these are partial mutes, my child; And H is _aspirate_; And _th_, too, in _th_ink and _th_rone, But vocal in _this, that._ {129} Then lip-letters, or _labials_, And _dentals_, or tooth letters, With _palatals_ and _sibilants_ Seem wondrously like fetters. But, ah! instead of prisoning, They open wide the way That leads to Learning's loftiest heights; Press on, and win the day. * * * * * WORDS. TELL me the name of something, dear; As book, or ball, or kite; Now tell some quality of each, As big, or round, or light. And now some word that means _to be_ Yes, _is_, my child, you're right. The ink is black, The snow is white, The ice is hard--is cold: The sky is blue, The air is light, Sometimes the child is bold. {130} And thus let names of everything Afar or near be told; And Qualities of each and all Let memory infold. * * * * *