Chapter VII: Section I: Of Substantives in General

Substantives are either proper or common.

Proper names, or substantives, are the names belonging to individuals: as William, Birmingham.

These are sometimes converted into nicknames, or _im_proper names: as Bill, Brummagem.

Common names, or substantives, denote kinds containing many sorts, or sorts containing many individuals under them: as brute, beast, bumpkin, cherub, infant, goblin, &c.

Proper names, when an article is prefixed to them, are employed as common names: as, “They thought him a perfect _Chesterfield_; he quite astonished the _Browns_.”

Common names, on the other hand, are made to denote individuals, by the addition of articles or pronouns: as,

“There was _a_ little man, and he had _a_ little gun.”

“_That_ boy will be the death of me!”

Substantives are considered according to gender, number, and case; they are all of the third person when spoken _of_, and of the second when spoken _to_: as,

Matilda, fairest maid, who art
In countless bumpers toasted,
O let thy pity baste the heart
Thy fatal charms have roasted!