Chapter IV: Part I: The Parts of Speech (1)

NOUNS.

1. In the more simple _state_ of the _Arabs_, the _nation_ is free, because each of her _sons_ disdains a base _submission_ to the _will_ of a _master_.--GIBBON.

[Sidenote: _Name words_]

By examining this sentence we notice several words used as names. The plainest name is _Arabs_, which belongs to a people; but, besides this one, the words _sons_ and _master_ name objects, and may belong to any of those objects. The words _state, submission,_ and _will_ are evidently names of a different kind, as they stand for ideas, not objects; and the word _nation_ stands for a whole group.

When the meaning of each of these words has once been understood, the word naming it will always call up the thing or idea itself. Such words are called nouns.

[Sidenote: _Definition_.]

2. A noun is a name word, representing directly to the mind an object, substance, or idea.

[Sidenote: _Classes of nouns_.]

3. Nouns are classified as follows:--

(1) Proper.

(2) Common. (a) CLASS NAMES: i. Individual.
ii. Collective.
(b) MATERIAL.

(3) Abstract. (a) ATTRIBUTE.
(b) VERBAL

[Sidenote: _Names for special objects._]

4. A proper noun is a name applied to a particular object, whether person, place, or thing.

It specializes or limits the thing to which it is applied, reducing it to a narrow application. Thus, _city_ is a word applied to any one of its kind; but _Chicago_ names one city, and fixes the attention upon that particular city. _King_ may be applied to any ruler of a kingdom, but _Alfred the Great_ is the name of one king only.

The word _proper_ is from a Latin word meaning _limited, belonging to one_. This does not imply, however, that a proper name can be applied to only one object, but that each time such a name is applied it is fixed or proper to that object. Even if there are several Bostons or Manchesters, the name of each is an individual or proper name.

[Sidenote: _Name for any individual of a class._]

5. A common noun is a name possessed by _any_ one of a class of persons, animals, or things.

_Common_, as here used, is from a Latin word which means _general, possessed by all_.

For instance, _road_ is a word that names _any_ highway outside of cities; _wagon_ is a term that names _any_ vehicle of a certain kind used for hauling: the words are of the widest application. We may say, _the man here_, or _the man in front of you_, but the word _man_ is here hedged in by other words or word groups: the name itself is of general application.

[Sidenote: _Name for a group or collection of objects._]

Besides considering persons, animals, and things separately, we may think of them in groups, and appropriate names to the groups.

Thus, men in groups may be called a _crowd_, or a _mob_, a _committee_, or a _council_, or a _congress_, etc.

These are called COLLECTIVE NOUNS. They properly belong under common nouns, because each group is considered as a unit, and the name applied to it belongs to any group of its class.

[Sidenote: _Names for things thought of in mass._]

6. The definition given for common nouns applies more strictly to class nouns. It may, however, be correctly used for another group of nouns detailed below; for they are common nouns in the sense that the names apply to _every particle of similar substance_, instead of to each individual or separate object.

They are called MATERIAL NOUNS. Such are _glass_, _iron_, _clay_, _frost_, _rain_, _snow_, _wheat_, _wine_, _tea_, _sugar_, etc.

They may be placed in groups as follows:--

(1) The metals: _iron_, _gold_, _platinum_, etc.

(2) Products spoken of in bulk: _tea_, _sugar_, _rice_, _wheat_, etc.

(3) Geological bodies: _mud_, _sand_, _granite_, _rock_, _stone_, etc.

(4) Natural phenomena: _rain_, _dew_, _cloud_, _frost_, _mist_, etc.

(5) Various manufactures: _cloth_ (and the different kinds of cloth), _potash_, _soap_, _rubber_, _paint_, _celluloid_, etc.

7. NOTE.--There are some nouns, such as _sun_, _moon_, _earth_, which seem to be the names of particular individual objects, but which are not called proper names.

[Sidenote: _Words naturally of limited application not proper._]

The reason is, that in proper names the intention is _to exclude_ all other individuals of the same class, and fasten a special name to the object considered, as in calling a city _Cincinnati_; but in the words _sun_, _earth_, etc., there is no such intention. If several bodies like the center of our solar system are known, they also are called _suns_ by a natural extension of the term: so with the words _earth_, _world_, etc. They remain common class names.

[Sidenote: _Names of ideas, not things._]

8. Abstract nouns are names of qualities, conditions, or actions, considered abstractly, or apart from their natural connection.

When we speak of a _wise man_, we recognize in him an attribute or quality. If we wish to think simply of that quality without describing the person, we speak of the _wisdom_ of the man. The quality is still there as much as before, but it is taken merely as a name. So _poverty_ would express the condition of a poor person; _proof_ means the act of proving, or that which shows a thing has been proved; and so on.

Again, we may say, "_Painting_ is a fine art," "_Learning_ is hard to acquire," "a man of _understanding_."

9. There are two chief divisions of abstract nouns:--

(1) ATTRIBUTE NOUNS, expressing attributes or qualities.

(2) VERBAL NOUNS, expressing state, condition, or action.

[Sidenote: _Attribute abstract nouns._]

10. The ATTRIBUTE ABSTRACT NOUNS are derived from adjectives and from common nouns. Thus, (1) _prudence_ from _prudent_, _height_ from _high_, _redness_ from _red_, _stupidity_ from _stupid_, etc.; (2) _peerage_ from _peer_, _childhood_ from _child_, _mastery_ from _master_, _kingship_ from _king_, etc.

[Sidenote: _Verbal abstract nouns._]

II. The VERBAL ABSTRACT NOUNS Originate in verbs, as their name implies. They may be--

(1) Of the same form as the simple verb. The verb, by altering its function, is used as a noun; as in the expressions, "a long _run_" "a bold _move_," "a brisk _walk_."

(2) Derived from verbs by changing the ending or adding a suffix: _motion_ from _move_, _speech_ from _speak_, _theft_ from _thieve_, _action_ from _act_, _service_ from _serve_.

[Sidenote: _Caution._]

(3) Derived from verbs by adding _-ing_ to the simple verb. It must be remembered that these words are _free from any verbal function_. They cannot govern a word, and they cannot _express_ action, but are merely _names_ of actions. They are only the husks of verbs, and are to be rigidly distinguished from _gerunds_ (Secs. 272, 273).

To avoid difficulty, study carefully these examples:

The best thoughts and _sayings_ of the Greeks; the moon caused fearful _forebodings_; in the _beginning_ of his life; he spread his _blessings_ over the land; the great Puritan _awakening_; our birth is but a sleep and a _forgetting_; a _wedding_ or a festival; the rude _drawings_ of the book; masterpieces of the Socratic _reasoning_; the _teachings_ of the High Spirit; those opinions and _feelings_; there is time for such _reasonings_; the _well-being_ of her subjects; her _longing_ for their favor; _feelings_ which their original _meaning_ will by no means justify; the main _bearings_ of this matter.

[Sidenote: _Underived abstract nouns._]

12. Some abstract nouns were not derived from any other part of speech, but were framed directly for the expression of certain ideas or phenomena. Such are _beauty_, _joy_, _hope_, _ease_, _energy_; _day_, _night_, _summer_, _winter_; _shadow_, _lightning_, _thunder_, etc.

The adjectives or verbs corresponding to these are either themselves derived from the nouns or are totally different words; as _glad_--_joy_, _hopeful_--_hope_, etc.

Exercises.

1. From your reading bring up sentences containing ten common nouns, five proper, five abstract.

--NOTE.--Remember that all sentences are to be _selected_ from standard literature.

2. Under what class of nouns would you place (_a_) the names of diseases, as _pneumonia_, _pleurisy_, _catarrh_, _typhus_, _diphtheria_; (_b_) branches of knowledge, as _physics_, _algebra_, _geology_, _mathematics_?

3. Mention collective nouns that will embrace groups of each of the following individual nouns:--

man
horse
bird
fish
partridge
pupil
bee
soldier
book
sailor
child
sheep
ship
ruffian

4. Using a dictionary, tell from what word each of these abstract nouns is derived:--

sight
speech
motion
pleasure
patience
friendship
deceit
bravery
height
width
wisdom
regularity
advice
seizure
nobility
relief
death
raid
honesty
judgment
belief
occupation
justice
service
trail
feeling
choice
simplicity

SPECIAL USES OF NOUNS.

[Sidenote: _Nouns change by use._]

13. By being used so as to vary their usual meaning, nouns of one class may be made to approach another class, or to go over to it entirely. Since words alter their meaning so rapidly by a widening or narrowing of their application, we shall find numerous examples of this shifting from class to class; but most of them are in the following groups. For further discussion see the remarks on articles (p. 119).

[Sidenote: _Proper names transferred to common use._]

14. Proper nouns are used as common in either of two ways:--

(1) _The origin of a thing is used for the thing itself_: that is, the name of the inventor may be applied to the thing invented, as a _davy_, meaning the miner's lamp invented by Sir Humphry Davy; the _guillotine_, from the name of Dr. Guillotin, who was its inventor. Or the name of the country or city from which an article is derived is used for the article: as _china_, from China; _arras_, from a town in France; _port_ (wine), from Oporto, in Portugal; _levant_ and _morocco_ (leather).

Some of this class have become worn by use so that at present we can scarcely discover the derivation from the form of the word; for example, the word _port_, above. Others of similar character are _calico_, from Calicut; _damask_, from Damascus; _currants_, from Corinth; etc.

(2) _The name of a person or place noted for certain qualities is transferred to any person or place possessing those qualities_; thus,--

Hercules and Samson were noted for their strength, and we call a
very strong man _a Hercules_ or _a Samson_. Sodom was famous for
wickedness, and a similar place is called _a Sodom_ of sin.

_A Daniel_ come to judgment!--SHAKESPEARE.

If it prove a mind of uncommon activity and power, _a Locke_, _a
Lavoisier_, _a Hutton_, _a Bentham_, _a Fourier_, it imposes its
classification on other men, and lo! a new system.--EMERSON.

[Sidenote: _Names for things in bulk altered for separate portions._]

15. Material nouns may be used as class names. Instead of considering the whole body of material of which certain uses are made, one can speak of particular uses or phases of the substance; as--

(1) _Of individual objects_ made from metals or other substances capable of being wrought into various shapes. We know a number of objects made of iron. The material _iron_ embraces the metal contained in them all; but we may say, "The cook made the _irons_ hot," referring to flat-irons; or, "The sailor was put in _irons_" meaning chains of iron. So also we may speak of _a glass_ to drink from or to look into; _a steel_ to whet a knife on; _a rubber_ for erasing marks; and so on.

(2) _Of classes_ or _kinds_ of the same substance. These are the same in material, but differ in strength, purity, etc. Hence it shortens speech to make the nouns plural, and say _teas_, _tobaccos_, _paints_, _oils_, _candies_, _clays_, _coals_.

(3) _By poetical use_, of certain words necessarily singular in idea, which are made plural, or used as class nouns, as in the following:--

The lone and level _sands_ stretch far away.--SHELLEY.

From all around--
Earth and her _waters_, and the depths of air--
Comes a still voice.--BRYANT.

Their airy ears
_The winds_ have stationed on the mountain peaks.
--PERCIVAL.

(4) _Of detached portions_ of matter used as class names; as _stones_, _slates_, _papers_, _tins_, _clouds_, _mists_, etc.

[Sidenote: _Personification of abstract ideas._]

16. Abstract nouns are frequently used as proper names by being personified; that is, the ideas are spoken of as residing in living beings. This is a poetic usage, though not confined to verse.

Next _Anger_ rushed; his eyes, on fire,
In lightnings owned his secret stings.--COLLINS.

_Freedom's_ fame finds wings on every wind.--BYRON.

_Death_, his mask melting like a nightmare dream, smiled.--HAYNE.

_Traffic_ has lain down to rest; and only _Vice_ and _Misery_, to
prowl or to moan like night birds, are abroad.--CARLYLE.

[Sidenote: _A halfway class of words. Class nouns in use, abstract in meaning._]

17. Abstract nouns are made half abstract by being spoken of in the plural.

They are not then pure abstract nouns, nor are they common class nouns. For example, examine this:--

The _arts_ differ from the _sciences_ in this, that their power
is founded not merely on _facts_ which can be communicated, but
on _dispositions_ which require to be created.--RUSKIN.

When it is said that _art_ differs from _science_, that the power of art is founded on _fact_, that _disposition_ is the thing to be created, the words italicized are pure abstract nouns; but in case _an art_ or _a science_, or _the arts_ and _sciences_, be spoken of, the abstract idea is partly lost. The words preceded by the article _a_, or made plural, are still names of abstract ideas, not material things; but they widen the application to separate kinds of _art_ or different branches of _science_. They are neither class nouns nor pure abstract nouns: they are more properly called _half abstract_.

Test this in the following sentences:--

Let us, if we must have great _actions_, make our own
so.--EMERSON.

And still, as each repeated _pleasure_ tired, Succeeding _sports_
the mirthful band inspired.--GOLDSMITH.

But ah! those _pleasures_, _loves_, and _joys_
Which I too keenly taste,
The Solitary can despise.--BURNS.

All these, however, were mere _terrors_ of the night.--IRVING.

[Sidenote: _By ellipses, nouns used to modify._]

18. Nouns used as descriptive terms. Sometimes a noun is attached to another noun to add to its meaning, or describe it; for example, "a _family_ quarrel," "a _New York_ bank," "the _State Bank Tax_ bill," "a _morning_ walk."

It is evident that these approach very near to the function of adjectives. But it is better to consider them as nouns, for these reasons: they do not give up their identity as nouns; they do not express quality; they cannot be compared, as descriptive adjectives are.

They are more like the possessive noun, which belongs to another word, but is still a noun. They may be regarded as elliptical expressions, meaning a walk _in the morning_, a bank _in New York_, a bill _as to tax on the banks_, etc.

NOTE.--If the descriptive word be a _material_ noun, it may be regarded as changed to an adjective. The term "_gold_ pen" conveys the same idea as "_golden_ pen," which contains a pure adjective.

WORDS AND WORD GROUPS USED AS NOUNS.

[Sidenote: _The noun may borrow from any part of speech, or from any expression._]

19. Owing to the scarcity of distinctive forms, and to the consequent flexibility of English speech, words which are usually other parts of speech are often used as nouns; and various word groups may take the place of nouns by being used as nouns.

[Sidenote: _Adjectives, Conjunctions, Adverbs._]

(1) _Other parts of speech_ used as nouns:--

_The great_, _the wealthy_, fear thy blow.--BURNS.

Every _why_ hath a _wherefore_.--SHAKESPEARE.

When I was young? Ah, woeful _When_!
Ah! for the change 'twixt _Now_ and _Then_!
--COLERIDGE.

(2) _Certain word groups_ used like single nouns:--

_Too swift_ arrives as tardy as _too slow_.--SHAKESPEARE.

Then comes the "_Why, sir_!" and the "_What then, sir_?" and the
"_No, sir_!" and the "_You don't see your way through the
question, sir_!"--MACAULAY

(3) Any part of speech may be considered merely as a word, without reference to its function in the sentence; also titles of books are treated as simple nouns.

The _it_, at the beginning, is ambiguous, whether it mean the sun
or the cold.--Dr BLAIR

In this definition, is the word "_just_," or "_legal_," finally
to stand?--RUSKIN.

There was also a book of Defoe's called an "_Essay on Projects_,"
and another of Dr. Mather's called "_Essays to do Good_."--B.
FRANKLIN.

[Sidenote: _Caution._]

20. It is to be remembered, however, that the above cases are shiftings of the _use_, of words rather than of their _meaning_. We seldom find instances of complete conversion of one part of speech into another.

When, in a sentence above, the terms _the great_, _the wealthy_, are used, they are not names only: we have in mind the idea of persons and the quality of being _great_ or _wealthy_. The words are used in the sentence where nouns are used, but have an adjectival meaning.

In the other sentences, _why_ and _wherefore_, _When_, _Now_, and _Then_, are spoken of as if pure nouns; but still the reader considers this not a natural application of them as name words, but as a figure of speech.

NOTE.--These remarks do not apply, of course, to such words as become pure nouns by use. There are many of these. The adjective _good_ has no claim on the noun _goods_; so, too, in speaking of the _principal_ of a school, or a state _secret_, or a faithful _domestic_, or a _criminal_, etc., the words are entirely independent of any adjective force.

Exercise.

Pick out the nouns in the following sentences, and tell to which class each belongs. Notice if any have shifted from one class to another.

1. Hope springs eternal in the human breast.

2. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate.

3. Stone walls do not a prison make.
Nor iron bars a cage.

4. Truth-teller was our England's Alfred named.

5. A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.

6. Power laid his rod aside,
And Ceremony doff'd her pride.

7. She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies.

8. Learning, that cobweb of the brain.

9. A little weeping would ease my heart;
But in their briny bed
My tears must stop, for every drop
Hinders needle and thread.

10. A fool speaks all his mind, but a wise man reserves something for hereafter.

11. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

12. Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.

13. And see, he cried, the welcome,
Fair guests, that waits you here.

14. The fleet, shattered and disabled, returned to Spain.

15. One To-day is worth two To-morrows.

16. Vessels carrying coal are constantly moving.

17. Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.

18. And oft we trod a waste of pearly sands.

19. A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays
And confident to-morrows.

20. The hours glide by; the silver moon is gone.

21. Her robes of silk and velvet came from over the sea.

22. My soldier cousin was once only a drummer boy.

23. But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.

24. All that thou canst call thine own Lies in thy To-day.

INFLECTIONS OF NOUNS.

GENDER.

[Sidenote: _What gender means in English. It is founded on sex._]

21. In Latin, Greek, German, and many other languages, some general rules are given that names of male beings are usually masculine, and names of females are usually feminine. There are exceptions even to this general statement, but not so in English. Male beings are, in English grammar, always masculine; female, always feminine.

When, however, _inanimate_ things are spoken of, these languages are totally unlike our own in determining the gender of words. For instance: in Latin, _hortus_ (garden) is masculine, _mensa_ (table) is feminine, _corpus_ (body) is neuter; in German, _das Messer_ (knife) is neuter, _der Tisch_ (table) is masculine, _die Gabel_ (fork) is feminine.

The great difference is, that in English the gender follows the _meaning_ of the word, in other languages gender follows the _form_; that is, in English, gender depends on _sex_: if a thing spoken of is of the male sex, the _name_ of it is masculine; if of the female sex, the _name_ of it is feminine. Hence:

[Sidenote: _Definition._]

22. Gender is the mode of distinguishing sex by words, or additions to words.

23. It is evident from this that English can have but two genders,--masculine and feminine.

[Sidenote: _Gender nouns. Neuter nouns._]

All nouns, then, must be divided into two principal classes,--gender nouns, those distinguishing the sex of the object; and neuter nouns, those which do not distinguish sex, or names of things without life, and consequently without sex.

Gender nouns include names of persons and some names of animals; neuter nouns include some animals and all inanimate objects.

[Sidenote: _Some words either gender or neuter nouns, according to use._]

24. Some words may be either gender nouns or neuter nouns, according to their use. Thus, the word _child_ is neuter in the sentence, "A little _child_ shall lead them," but is masculine in the sentence from Wordsworth,--

I have seen
A curious _child_ ... applying to _his_ ear
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell.

Of animals, those with which man comes in contact often, or which arouse his interest most, are named by gender nouns, as in these sentences:--

Before the barn door strutted the gallant _cock_, that pattern of
a husband, ... clapping _his_ burnished wings.--IRVING.

_Gunpowder_ ... came to a stand just by the bridge, with a
suddenness that had nearly sent _his_ rider sprawling over _his_
head--_id._

Other animals are not distinguished as to sex, but are spoken of as neuter, the sex being of no consequence.

Not a _turkey_ but he [Ichabod] beheld daintily trussed up, with
_its_ gizzard under _its_ wing.--IRVING.

He next stooped down to feel the _pig_, if there were any signs
of life in _it_.--LAMB.

[Sidenote: _No "common gender._"]

25. According to the definition, there can be no such thing as "common gender:" words either distinguish sex (or the sex is distinguished by the context) or else they do not distinguish sex.

If such words as _parent_, _servant_, _teacher_, _ruler_, _relative_, _cousin_, _domestic_, etc., do not show the sex to which the persons belong, they are neuter words.

26. Put in convenient form, the division of words according to sex, or the lack of it, is,--

(MASCULINE: Male beings.
Gender nouns {
(FEMININE: Female beings.

Neuter nouns: Names of inanimate things, or of living beings whose sex cannot be determined.

27. The inflections for gender belong, of course, only to masculine and feminine nouns. _Forms_ would be a more accurate word than _inflections_, since inflection applies only to the _case_ of nouns.

There are three ways to distinguish the genders:--

(1) By prefixing a gender word to another word.

(2) By adding a suffix, generally to a masculine word.

(3) By using a different word for each gender.

I. Gender shown by Prefixes.

[Sidenote: _Very few of class I._]

28. Usually the gender words _he_ and _she_ are prefixed to neuter words; as _he-goat_--_she-goat_, _cock sparrow_--_hen sparrow_, _he-bear_--_she-bear_.

One feminine, _woman_, puts a prefix before the masculine _man_. _Woman_ is a short way of writing _wifeman_.

II. Gender shown by Suffixes.

29. By far the largest number of gender words are those marked by suffixes. In this particular the native endings have been largely supplanted by foreign suffixes.

[Sidenote: _Native suffixes._]

The native suffixes to indicate the feminine were _-en_ and _-ster_. These remain in _vixen_ and _spinster_, though both words have lost their original meanings.

The word _vixen_ was once used as the feminine of _fox_ by the Southern-English. For _fox_ they said _vox_; for _from_ they said _vram_; and for the older word _fat_ they said _vat_, as in _wine vat_. Hence _vixen_ is for _fyxen_, from the masculine _fox_.

_Spinster_ is a relic of a large class of words that existed in Old and Middle English,[1] but have now lost their original force as feminines. The old masculine answering to _spinster_ was _spinner_; but _spinster_ has now no connection with it.

The foreign suffixes are of two kinds:--

[Sidenote: _Foreign suffixes. Unaltered and little used._]

(1) Those belonging to borrowed words, as _czarina_, _señorita_, _executrix_, _donna_. These are attached to foreign words, and are never used for words recognized as English.

[Sidenote: _Slightly changed and widely used._]

(2) That regarded as the standard or regular termination of the feminine, _-ess_ (French _esse_, Low Latin _issa_), the one most used. The corresponding masculine may have the ending _-er_ (_-or_), but in most cases it has not. Whenever we adopt a new masculine word, the feminine is formed by adding this termination _-ess_.

Sometimes the _-ess_ has been added to a word already feminine by the ending _-ster_; as _seam-str-ess_, _song-str-ess_. The ending _-ster_ had then lost its force as a feminine suffix; it has none now in the words _huckster_, _gamester_, _trickster_, _punster_.

[Sidenote: _Ending of masculine not changed._]

30. The ending _-ess_ is added to many words without changing the ending of the masculine; as,--

baron--baroness
count--countess
lion--lioness
Jew--Jewess
heir--heiress
host--hostess
priest--priestess
giant--giantess

[Sidenote: _Masculine ending dropped._]

The masculine ending may be dropped before the feminine _-ess_ is added; as,--

abbot--abbess
negro--negress
murderer--murderess
sorcerer--sorceress

[Sidenote: _Vowel dropped before adding_ -ess.]

The feminine may discard a vowel which appears in the masculine; as in--

actor--actress
master--mistress
benefactor--benefactress
emperor--empress
tiger--tigress
enchanter--enchantress

_Empress_ has been cut down from _emperice_ (twelfth century) and _emperesse_ (thirteenth century), from Latin _imperatricem_.

_Master_ and _mistress_ were in Middle English _maister_--_maistresse_, from the Old French _maistre_--_maistresse_.

31. When the older _-en_ and _-ster_ went out of use as the distinctive mark of the feminine, the ending _-ess_, from the French _-esse_, sprang into a popularity much greater than at present.

[Sidenote: _Ending_ -ess _less used now than formerly._]

Instead of saying _doctress_, _fosteress_, _wagoness_, as was said in the sixteenth century, or _servauntesse_, _teacheresse_, _neighboresse_, _frendesse_, as in the fourteenth century, we have dispensed with the ending in many cases, and either use a prefix word or leave the masculine to do work for the feminine also.

Thus, we say _doctor_ (masculine and feminine) or _woman doctor_, _teacher_ or _lady teacher_, _neighbor_ (masculine and feminine), etc. We frequently use such words as _author_, _editor_, _chairman_, to represent persons of either sex.

NOTE.--There is perhaps this distinction observed: when we speak of a female _as an active agent_ merely, we use the masculine termination, as, "George Eliot is the _author_ of 'Adam Bede;'" but when we speak purposely _to denote a distinction from a male_, we use the feminine, as, "George Eliot is an eminent _authoress_."

III. Gender shown by Different Words.

32. In some of these pairs, the feminine and the masculine are entirely different words; others have in their origin the same root. Some of them have an interesting history, and will be noted below:--

bachelor--maid
boy--girl
brother--sister
drake--duck
earl--countess
father--mother
gander--goose
hart--roe
horse--mare
husband--wife
king--queen
lord--lady
wizard--witch
nephew--niece
ram--ewe
sir--madam
son--daughter
uncle--aunt
bull--cow
boar--sow

Girl originally meant a child of either sex, and was used for male or female until about the fifteenth century.

Drake is peculiar in that it is formed from a corresponding feminine which is no longer used. It is not connected historically with our word _duck_, but is derived from _ened_ (duck) and an obsolete suffix _rake_ (king). Three letters of _ened_ have fallen away, leaving our word _drake_.

Gander and goose were originally from the same root word. _Goose_ has various cognate forms in the languages akin to English (German _Gans_, Icelandic _gás_, Danish _gaas_, etc.). The masculine was formed by adding _-a_, the old sign of the masculine. This _gansa_ was modified into _gan-ra_, _gand-ra_, finally _gander_; the _d_ being inserted to make pronunciation easy, as in many other words.

Mare, in Old English _mere_, had the masculine _mearh_ (horse), but this has long been obsolete.

Husband and wife are not connected in origin. _Husband_ is a Scandinavian word (Anglo-Saxon _hūsbonda_ from Icelandic _hús-bóndi_, probably meaning house dweller); _wife_ was used in Old and Middle English to mean woman in general.

King and queen are said by some (Skeat, among others) to be from the same root word, but the German etymologist Kluge says they are not.

Lord is said to be a worn-down form of the Old English _hlāf-weard_ (loaf keeper), written _loverd_, _lhauerd_, or _lauerd_ in Middle English. Lady is from _hlœ̄̄fdige_ (_hlœ̄̄f_ meaning loaf, and _dige_ being of uncertain origin and meaning).

Witch is the Old English _wicce_, but wizard is from the Old French _guiscart_ (prudent), not immediately connected with _witch_, though both are ultimately from the same root.

Sir is worn down from the Old French _sire_ (Latin _senior_). Madam is the French _ma dame_, from Latin _mea domina_.

[Sidenote: _Two masculines from feminines._]

33. Besides _gander_ and _drake_, there are two other masculine words that were formed from the feminine:--

Bridegroom, from Old English _brȳd-guma_ (bride's man). The _r_ in _groom_ has crept in from confusion with the word _groom_.

Widower, from the weakening of the ending _-a_ in Old English to _-e_ in Middle English. The older forms, _widuwa_--_widuwe_, became identical, and a new masculine ending was therefore added to distinguish the masculine from the feminine (compare Middle English _widuer_--_widewe_).

Personification.

34. Just as abstract ideas are personified (Sec. 16), material objects may be spoken of like gender nouns; for example,--

"Now, where the swift _Rhone_ cleaves _his_ way."--BYRON.

The _Sun_ now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came _he_.
--COLERIDGE.

And haply the _Queen Moon_ is on _her_ throne,
Clustered around by all her starry Fays.
--KEATS,

_Britannia_ needs no bulwarks,
No towers along the steep;
_Her_ march is o'er the mountain waves,
_Her_ home is on the deep.
--CAMPBELL

This is not exclusively a poetic use. In ordinary speech personification is very frequent: the pilot speaks of his boat as feminine; the engineer speaks so of his engine; etc.

[Sidenote: _Effect of personification._]

In such cases the gender is marked by the pronoun, and not by the form of the noun. But the fact that in English the distinction of gender is confined to difference of sex makes these departures more effective.

NUMBER.

[Sidenote: _Definition._]

35. In nouns, number means the mode of indicating whether we are speaking of one thing or of more than one.

36. Our language has two numbers,--_singular_ and _plural_. The singular number denotes that one thing is spoken of; the plural, more than one.

37. There are three ways of changing the singular form to the plural:--

(1) By adding _-en_.

(2) By changing the root vowel.

(3) By adding _-s_ (or _-es_).

The first two methods prevailed, together with the third, in Old English, but in modern English _-s_ or _-es_ has come to be the "standard" ending; that is, whenever we adopt a new word, we make its plural by adding _-s_ or _-es._

I. Plurals formed by the Suffix _-en_.

[Sidenote: _The_ -en _inflection._]

38. This inflection remains only in the word oxen, though it was quite common in Old and Middle English; for instance, _eyen_ (eyes), _treen_ (trees), _shoon_ (shoes), which last is still used in Lowland Scotch. _Hosen_ is found in the King James version of the Bible, and _housen_ is still common in the provincial speech in England.

39. But other words were inflected afterwards, in imitation of the old words in _-en_ by making a double plural.

[Sidenote: -En _inflection imitated by other words._]

Brethren has passed through three stages. The old plural was _brothru_, then _brothre_ or _brethre_, finally _brethren_. The weakening of inflections led to this addition.

Children has passed through the same history, though the intermediate form _childer_ lasted till the seventeenth century in literary English, and is still found in dialects; as,--

"God bless me! so then, after all, you'll have a chance to see
your _childer_ get up like, and get settled."--QUOTED BY DE
QUINCEY.

Kine is another double plural, but has now no singular.

In spite of wandering _kine_ and other adverse
circumstance.--THOREAU.

II. Plurals formed by Vowel Change.

40. Examples of this inflection are,--

man--men
foot--feet
goose--geese
louse--lice
mouse--mice
tooth--teeth

Some other words--as _book_, _turf_, _wight_, _borough_--formerly had the same inflection, but they now add the ending _-s_.

41. Akin to this class are some words, originally neuter, that have the singular and plural alike; such as _deer_, _sheep_, _swine_, etc.

Other words following the same usage are, _pair_, _brace_, _dozen_, after numerals (if not after numerals, or if preceded by the prepositions _in_, _by_, etc, they add _-s_): also _trout_, _salmon_; _head_, _sail_; _cannon_; _heathen_, _folk_, _people_.

The words _horse_ and _foot_, when they mean soldiery, retain the same form for plural meaning; as,--

The _foot_ are fourscore thousand,
The _horse_ are thousands ten.
--MACAULAY.

Lee marched over the mountain wall,--
Over the mountains winding down,
_Horse_ and _foot_, into Frederick town.
--WHITTIER.

III. Plurals formed by Adding -s or -es.

42. Instead of _-s,_ the ending _-es_ is added--

(1) If a word ends in a letter which cannot add _-s_ and be pronounced. Such are _box, cross, ditch, glass, lens, quartz_, etc.

[Sidenote: _-Es added in certain cases_.]

If the word ends in a _sound_ which cannot add _-s_, a new syllable is made; as, _niche--niches, race--races, house--houses, prize--prizes, chaise--chaises_, etc.

_-Es_ is also added to a few words ending in -o, though this sound combines readily with _-s_, and does not make an extra syllable: _cargo--cargoes, negro--negroes, hero--heroes, volcano--volcanoes_, etc.

Usage differs somewhat in other words of this class, some adding _-s_, and some _-es_.

(2) If a word ends in _-y_ preceded by a consonant (the _y_ being then changed to _i_); e.g., _fancies, allies, daisies, fairies_.

[Sidenote: _Words in -ies._]

Formerly, however, these words ended in _-ie_, and the real ending is therefore _-s_. Notice these from Chaucer (fourteenth century):--

[Sidenote: _Their old form._]

The _lilie_ on hir stalke grene.
Of _maladie_ the which he hadde endured.

And these from Spenser (sixteenth century):--

Be well aware, quoth then that _ladie_ milde.
At last fair Hesperus in highest _skie_
Had spent his lampe.

(3) In the case of some words ending in -_f_ or -_fe_, which have the plural in _-ves_: _calf_--_calves_, _half_--_halves_, _knife_--_knives_, _shelf_--_shelves_, etc.

Special Lists.

43. Material nouns and abstract nouns are always singular. When such words take a plural ending, they lose their identity, and go over to other classes (Secs. 15 and 17).

44. Proper nouns are regularly singular, but may be made plural when we wish to speak of several persons or things bearing the same name; e.g., _the Washingtons_, _the Americas_.

45. Some words are usually singular, though they are plural in form. Examples of these are, _optics_, _economics_, _physics_, _mathematics_, _politics_, and many branches of learning; also _news_, _pains_ (care), _molasses_, _summons_, _means_: as,--

_Politics_, in its widest extent, is both the science and the art
of government.--_Century Dictionary_.

So live, that when thy _summons comes_, etc.--BRYANT.

It served simply as _a means_ of sight.--PROF. DANA.

[Sidenote: Means _plural_.]

Two words, means and politics, _may be plural_ in their construction with verbs and adjectives:--

Words, by strongly conveying the passions, by _those means_ which
we have already mentioned, fully compensate for their weakness in
other respects.--BURKE.

With great dexterity _these means_ were now applied.--MOTLEY.

By _these means_, I say, riches will accumulate.--GOLDSMITH.

[Sidenote: Politics _plural_.]

Cultivating a feeling that _politics_ are tiresome.--G.W. CURTIS.

The _politics_ in which he took the keenest interest _were
politics_ scarcely deserving of the name.--MACAULAY.

Now I read all the _politics_ that _come_ out.--GOLDSMITH.

46. Some words have no corresponding singular.

aborigines
amends
annals
assets
antipodes
scissors
thanks
spectacles
vespers
victuals
matins
nuptials
oats
obsequies
premises
bellows
billiards
dregs
gallows
tongs

[Sidenote: _Occasionally singular words_.]

Sometimes, however, a few of these words have the construction of singular nouns. Notice the following:--

They cannot get on without each other any more than one blade of
_a scissors_ can cut without the other.--J.L. LAUGHLIN.

A relic which, if I recollect right, he pronounced to have been
_a tongs_.--IRVING.

Besides this, it is furnished with _a forceps_.--GOLDSMITH.

The air,--was it subdued when...the wind was trained only to turn
a windmill, carry off chaff, or work in _a bellows_?--PROF. DANA.

In Early Modern English _thank_ is found.

What _thank_ have ye?--_Bible_

47. Three words were _originally singular_, the present ending _-s_ not being really a plural inflection, but they are regularly construed as plural: _alms, eaves, riches_.

[Sidenote: _two plurals_.]

48. A few nouns have two plurals differing in meaning.

brother--brothers (by blood), brethren (of a society or church).

cloth--cloths (kinds of cloth), clothes (garments).

die--dies (stamps for coins, etc.), dice (for gaming).

fish--fish (collectively), fishes (individuals or kinds).

genius--geniuses (men of genius), genii (spirits).

index--indexes (to books), indices (signs in algebra).

pea--peas (separately), pease (collectively).

penny--pennies (separately), pence (collectively).

shot--shot (collective balls), shots (number of times fired).

In speaking of coins, _twopence_, _sixpence_, etc., may add _-s_, making a double plural, as two _sixpences_.

[Sidenote: _One plural, two meanings._]

49. Other words have one plural form with two meanings,--one corresponding to the singular, the other unlike it.

custom--customs: (1) habits, ways; (2) revenue duties.

letter--letters: (1) the alphabet, or epistles; (2) literature.

number--numbers: (1) figures; (2) poetry, as in the lines,--

I lisped in _numbers_, for the numbers came.--POPE.

Tell me not, in mournful _numbers_.--LONGFELLOW.

_Numbers_ also means issues, or copies, of a periodical.

pain--pains: (1) suffering; (2) care, trouble,

part--parts: (1) divisions; (2) abilities, faculties.

[Sidenote: _Two classes of compound words._]

50. Compound words may be divided into two classes:--

(1) _Those whose parts are so closely joined as to constitute one word._ These make the last part plural.

courtyard
dormouse
Englishman
fellow-servant
fisherman
Frenchman
forget-me-not
goosequill
handful
mouthful
cupful
maidservant
pianoforte
stepson
spoonful
titmouse

(2) _Those groups in which the first part is the principal one, followed by a word or phrase making a modifier._ The chief member adds _-s_ in the plural.

aid-de-camp
attorney at law
billet-doux
commander in chief
court-martial
cousin-german
father-in-law
knight-errant
hanger-on

NOTE.--Some words ending in _-man_ are not compounds of the English word _man_, but add _-s_; such as _talisman_, _firman_, _Brahman_, _German_, _Norman_, _Mussulman_, _Ottoman_.

51. Some groups pluralize both parts of the group; as _man singer_, _manservant_, _woman servant_, _woman singer_.

[Sidenote: _Two methods in use for names with titles._]

52. As to plurals of names with titles, there is some disagreement among English writers. The title may be plural, as _the Messrs. Allen_, _the Drs. Brown_, _the Misses Rich_; or the name may be pluralized.

The former is perhaps more common in present-day use, though the latter is often found; for example,--

Then came Mr. and Mrs. Briggs, and then _the three Miss
Spinneys_, then Silas Peckham.--DR. HOLMES.

Our immortal Fielding was of the younger branch of the _Earls of
Denbigh_, who drew their origin from the _Counts of
Hapsburgh_.--GIBBON.

The _Miss Flamboroughs_ were reckoned the best dancers in the
parish.--GOLDSMITH.

The _Misses Nettengall's_ young ladies come to the Cathedral
too.--DICKENS.

The _Messrs. Harper_ have done the more than generous thing by
Mr. Du Maurier.--_The Critic_.

53. A number of foreign words have been adopted into English without change of form. These are said to be _domesticated_, and retain their foreign plurals.

Others have been adopted, and by long use have altered their power so as to conform to English words. They are then said to be _naturalized_, or _Anglicized_, or _Englished_.

[Sidenote: _Domesticated words._]

The domesticated words may retain the original plural. Some of them have a secondary English plural in _-s_ or _-es_.

Exercise.

Find in the dictionary the plurals of these words:--

I. FROM THE LATIN.

apparatus
appendix
axis
datum
erratum
focus
formula
genus
larva
medium
memorandum
nebula
radius
series
species
stratum
terminus
vertex

II. FROM THE GREEK.

analysis
antithesis
automaton
basis
crisis
ellipsis
hypothesis
parenthesis
phenomenon
thesis

[Sidenote: _Anglicized words._]

When the foreign words are fully naturalized, they form their plurals in the regular way; as,--

bandits
cherubs
dogmas
encomiums
enigmas
focuses
formulas
geniuses
herbariums
indexes
seraphs
apexes

[Sidenote: _Usage varies in plurals of letters, figures, etc._]

54. Letters, figures, etc., form their plurals by adding _-s_ or _'s_. Words quoted merely as words, without reference to their meaning, also add _-s_ or _'s_; as, "His _9's_ (or _9s_) look like _7's_ (or _7s_)," "Avoid using too many _and's_ (or _ands_)," "Change the _+'s_ (or _+s_) to _-'s_ (or _-s_)."

CASE.

[Sidenote: _Definition._]

55. Case is an inflection or use of a noun (or pronoun) to show its relation to other words in the sentence.

In the sentence, "He sleeps in a felon's cell," the word _felon's_ modifies _cell_, and expresses a relation akin to possession; _cell_ has another relation, helping to express the idea of place with the word _in_.

56. In the general wearing-away of inflections, the number of case forms has been greatly reduced.

[Sidenote: _Only two_ case forms.]

There are now only two case forms of English nouns,--one for the _nominative_ and _objective_, one for the _possessive_: consequently the matter of inflection is a very easy thing to handle in learning about cases.

[Sidenote: _Reasons for speaking of_ three cases _of nouns_.]

But there are reasons why grammars treat of _three_ cases of nouns when there are only two forms:--

(1) Because the relations of all words, whether inflected or not, must be understood for purposes of analysis.

(2) Because pronouns still have three case forms as well as three case relations.

57. Nouns, then, may be said to have three cases,--the nominative, the objective, and the possessive.

I. Uses of the Nominative.

58. The nominative case is used as follows:--

(1) _As the subject of a verb_: "_Water_ seeks its level."

(2) _As a predicate noun_, completing a verb, and referring to or explaining the subject: "A bent twig makes a crooked _tree_."

(3) _In apposition_ with some other nominative word, adding to the meaning of that word: "The reaper _Death_ with his sickle keen."

(4) _In direct address_: "_Lord Angus_, thou hast lied!"

(5) _With a participle in an absolute or independent phrase_ (there is some discussion whether this is a true nominative): "The _work_ done, they returned to their homes."

(6) _With an infinitive in exclamations_: "_David_ to die!"

Exercise.

Pick out the nouns in the nominative case, and tell which use of the nominative each one has.

1. Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead; excessive grief, the enemy of the living.

2. Excuses are clothes which, when asked unawares,
Good Breeding to naked Necessity spares.

3. Human experience is the great test of truth.

4. Cheerfulness and content are great beautifiers.

5. Three properties belong to wisdom,--nature, learning, and experience; three things characterize man,--person, fate, and merit.

6. But of all plagues, good Heaven, thy wrath can send,
Save, save, oh save me from the candid friend!

7. Conscience, her first law broken, wounded lies.

8. They charged, sword in hand and visor down.

9. O sleep! O gentle sleep!
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee?

II. Uses of the Objective.

59. The objective case is used as follows:--

(1) _As the direct object of a verb_, naming the person or thing directly receiving the action of the verb: "Woodman, spare that _tree_!"

(2) _As the indirect object of a verb_, naming the person or thing indirectly affected by the action of the verb: "Give the _devil_ his due."

(3) _Adverbially_, defining the action of a verb by denoting _time_, _measure_, _distance_, etc. (in the older stages of the language, this took the regular accusative inflection): "Full _fathom_ five thy father lies;" "Cowards die many _times_ before their deaths."

(4) _As the second object_, completing the verb, and thus becoming part of the predicate in acting upon an object: "Time makes the worst enemies _friends_;" "Thou makest the storm a _calm_." In these sentences the real predicates are _makes friends_, taking the object _enemies_, and being equivalent to one verb, _reconciles_; and _makest a calm_, taking the object _storm_, and meaning calmest. This is also called the _predicate objective_ or the _factitive object_.

(5) _As the object of a preposition_, the word toward which the preposition points, and which it joins to another word: "He must have a long spoon that would eat with the _devil_."

The preposition sometimes takes the _possessive_ case of a noun, as will be seen in Sec. 68.

(6) _In apposition with another objective_: "The opinions of this junto were completely controlled by Nicholas Vedder, a _patriarch_ of the village, and _landlord_ of the inn."

Exercise.

Point out the nouns in the objective case in these sentences, and tell which use each has:--

1. Tender men sometimes have strong wills.

2. Necessity is the certain connection between cause and effect.

3. Set a high price on your leisure moments; they are sands of precious gold.

4. But the flood came howling one day.

5. I found the urchin Cupid sleeping.

6. Five times every year he was to be exposed in the pillory.

7. The noblest mind the best contentment has.

8. Multitudes came every summer to visit that famous natural curiosity, the Great Stone Face.

9. And whirling plate, and forfeits paid,
His winter task a pastime made.

10. He broke the ice on the streamlet's brink,
And gave the leper to eat and drink.

III. Uses of the Possessive.

60. The possessive case always modifies another word, expressed or understood. There are three forms of possessive showing how a word is related in sense to the modified word:--

(1) _Appositional possessive_, as in these expressions,--

The blind old man of _Scio's_ rocky isle.--BYRON.

Beside a pumice isle in _Baiæ's_ bay.--SHELLEY.

In these sentences the phrases are equivalent to _of the rocky isle [of] Scio_, and _in the bay [of] Baiæ_, the possessive being really equivalent here to an appositional objective. It is a poetic expression, the equivalent phrase being used in prose.

(2) _Objective possessive_, as shown in the sentences,--

Ann Turner had taught her the secret before this last good lady
had been hanged for _Sir Thomas Overbury's_ murder.--HAWTHORNE.

He passes to-day in building an air castle for to-morrow, or in
writing _yesterday's_ elegy.--THACKERAY

In these the possessives are equivalent to an objective after a verbal expression: as, _for murdering Sir Thomas Overbury_; _an elegy to commemorate yesterday_. For this reason the use of the possessive here is called objective.

(3) _Subjective possessive_, the most common of all; as,--

The unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display.
--ADDISON.

If this were expanded into _the power which his Creator possesses_, the word _Creator_ would be the subject of the verb: hence it is called a subjective possessive.

61. This last-named possessive expresses a variety of relations. _Possession_ in some sense is the most common. The kind of relation may usually be found by expanding the possessive into an equivalent phrase: for example, "_Winter's_ rude tempests are gathering now" (i.e., tempests that winter is likely to have); "His beard was of _several days'_ growth" (i.e., growth which several days had developed); "The _forest's_ leaping panther shall yield his spotted hide" (i.e., the panther which the forest hides); "Whoso sheddeth _man's_ blood" (blood that man possesses).

[Sidenote: _How the possessive is formed._]

62. As said before (Sec. 56), there are only two case forms. One is the simple form of a word, expressing the relations of nominative and objective; the other is formed by adding _'s_ to the simple form, making the possessive singular. To form the possessive plural, only the apostrophe is added if the plural nominative ends in _-s_; the _'s_ is added if the plural nominative does not end in _-s_.

Case Inflection.

[Sidenote: _Declension or inflection of nouns._]

63. The full declension of nouns is as follows:--

SINGULAR. PLURAL.

1. _Nom. and Obj._ lady ladies
_Poss._ lady's ladies'

2. _Nom. and Obj._ child children
_Poss._ child's children's

[Sidenote: _A suggestion._]

NOTE.--The difficulty that some students have in writing the possessive plural would be lessened if they would remember there are two steps to be taken:--

(1) Form the nominative plural according to Secs 39-53

(2) Follow the rule given in Sec. 62.

Special Remarks on the Possessive Case.

[Sidenote: _Origin of the possessive with its apostrophe._]

64. In Old English a large number of words had in the genitive case singular the ending _-es_; in Middle English still more words took this ending: for example, in Chaucer, "From every _schires_ ende," "Full worthi was he in his _lordes_ werre [war]," "at his _beddes_ syde," "_mannes_ herte [heart]," etc.

[Sidenote: _A false theory._]

By the end of the seventeenth century the present way of indicating the possessive had become general. The use of the apostrophe, however, was not then regarded as standing for the omitted vowel of the genitive (as _lord's_ for _lordes_): by a false theory the ending was thought to be a contraction of _his_, as schoolboys sometimes write, "George Jones _his_ book."

[Sidenote: _Use of the apostrophe._]

Though this opinion was untrue, the apostrophe has proved a great convenience, since otherwise words with a plural in _-s_ would have three forms alike. To the eye all the forms are now distinct, but to the ear all may be alike, and the connection must tell us what form is intended.

The use of the apostrophe in the plural also began in the seventeenth century, from thinking that _s_ was not a possessive sign, and from a desire to have distinct forms.

[Sidenote: _Sometimes_ s _is left out in the possessive singular._]

65. Occasionally the _s_ is dropped in the possessive singular if the word ends in a hissing sound and another hissing sound follows, but the apostrophe remains to mark the possessive; as, _for goodness' sake, Cervantes' satirical work_.

In other cases the _s_ is seldom omitted. Notice these three examples from Thackeray's writings: "Harry ran upstairs to his _mistress's_ apartment;" "A postscript is added, as by the _countess's_ command;" "I saw what the _governess's_ views were of the matter."

[Sidenote: _Possessive with compound expressions._]

66. In compound expressions, containing words in apposition, a word with a phrase, etc., the possessive sign is usually last, though instances are found with both appositional words marked.

Compare the following examples of literary usage:--

Do not the Miss Prys, my neighbors, know the amount of my income,
the items of my _son's_, _Captain Scrapegrace's_, tailor's
bill--THACKERAY.

The world's pomp and power sits there on this hand: on that,
stands up for God's truth one man, the _poor miner Hans Luther's_
son.--CARLYLE.

They invited me in the _emperor their master's_ name.--SWIFT.

I had naturally possessed myself of _Richardson the painter's_
thick octavo volumes of notes on the "Paradise Lost."--DE
QUINCEY.

They will go to Sunday schools to teach classes of little
children the age of Methuselah or the dimensions of _Og the king
of Bashan's_ bedstead.--HOLMES.

More common still is the practice of turning the possessive into an equivalent phrase; as, _in the name of the emperor their master_, instead of _the emperor their master's name_.

[Sidenote: _Possessive and no noun limited._]

67. The possessive is sometimes used without belonging to any noun in the sentence; some such word as _house_, _store_, _church_, _dwelling_, etc., being understood with it: for example,--

Here at the _fruiterer's_ the Madonna has a tabernacle of fresh
laurel leaves.--RUSKIN.

It is very common for people to say that they are disappointed in
the first sight of _St. Peter's_.--LOWELL.

I remember him in his cradle at _St. James's_.--THACKERAY.

Kate saw that; and she walked off from the _don's_.--DE QUINCEY.

[Sidenote: _The double possessive._]

68. A peculiar form, a double possessive, has grown up and become a fixed idiom in modern English.

In most cases, a possessive relation was expressed in Old English by the inflection _-es_, corresponding to _'s_. The same relation was expressed in French by a phrase corresponding to _of_ and its object. Both of these are now used side by side; sometimes they are used together, as one modifier, making a double possessive. For this there are several reasons:--

[Sidenote: _Its advantages: Euphony_.]

(1) When a word is modified by _a_, _the_, _this_, _that_, _every_, _no_, _any_, _each_, etc., and at the same time by a possessive noun, it is distasteful to place the possessive before the modified noun, and it would also alter the meaning: we place it after the modified noun with _of_.

[Sidenote: _Emphasis._]

(2) It is more emphatic than the simple possessive, especially when used with _this_ or _that_, for it brings out the modified word in strong relief.

[Sidenote: _Clearness._]

(3) It prevents ambiguity. For example, in such a sentence as, "This introduction _of Atterbury's_ has all these advantages" (Dr. Blair), the statement clearly means only one thing,--the introduction which Atterbury made. If, however, we use the phrase _of Atterbury_, the sentence _might_ be understood as just explained, or it might mean this act of introducing Atterbury. (See also Sec. 87.)

The following are some instances of double possessives:--

This Hall _of Tinville's_ is dark, ill-lighted except where she
stands.--CARLYLE.

Those lectures _of Lowell's_ had a great influence with me, and
I used to like whatever they bade me like.--HOWELLS

Niebuhr remarks that no pointed sentences _of Cæsar's_ can have
come down to us.--FROUDE.

Besides these famous books _of Scott's and Johnson's_, there is a
copious "Life" by Thomas Sheridan.--THACKERAY

Always afterwards on occasions of ceremony, he wore that quaint
old French sword _of the Commodore's_.--E.E. HALE.

Exercises.

(_a_) Pick out the possessive nouns, and tell whether each is appositional, objective, or subjective.

(_b_) Rewrite the sentence, turning the possessives into equivalent phrases.

1. I don't choose a hornet's nest about my ears.

2. Shall Rome stand under one man's awe?

3. I must not see thee Osman's bride.