seem only one to us, and especially because we pronounce one of its parts more strongly and distinctly than the other—or, as it is called, lay an ACCENT on one member of the compound. Compare, for example, highland with high land, gentleman with gentle man.

105. A compounded word often changes its pronunciation still further, so that, without studying its history, we do not think of what it comes from. So with holiday, which is holy day; furlong, which is furrow-long; fortnight, which is fourteen night; so with forehead and breakfast, and many others.

106. Indeed, we can only make a beginning of understanding the derivation and composition of English words, unless we study their history, in the older languages from which our English has come, and the other languages with which it is related (3).

107. Thus far we have been looking at the words we use in order to be able to tell to what class each one belongs, or what “part of speech" it is; to see what are the principal uses of each part of speech in the sentence; how some parts of speech are inflected; and how some words are derived from others, or put together to form others. Now we need to take up each part of speech by itself, and examine it more fully with regard to some of these matters.

EXERCISES TO CHAPTER IV.

FOR ANALYZING DERIVATIVE AND COMPOUND WORDS.

It must be left to the judgment of the teacher, how far the pupils shall be expected or required to take apart and explain the derivative and compound words which occur in the exercises. If he chooses, this whole fourth chapter may be omitted at first, and also the paragraphs on simple, derivative, and compound words in the following chapters on the parts of speech; and the whole subject may be left until the Grammar is studied through a second time. But it is believed that nothing is brought forward here which is not so simple and elementary that even young scholars may take it up with advantage; and that exercise from the beginning in such simple analysis as the chapter illustrates will be a useful introduction to that study of the history of English words which is to be aimed at, but which only more advanced works can properly deal with.

The enlightened teacher should supplement from his own knowledge the inquiries started here, adapting his further instruction to the capacities of his

classes especially, if they have studied Latin, by leading their attention to the Latin origin, and the derivation by Latin methods, of many of the words met with.

VIII. Miscellaneous examples.

The sky is darkened with thunder-clouds. The snow-drifts lie breast-high in the fence-corners. The industrious laborer wins wealth and happiness. This proud countess was only a beggar-girl in her childhood; she is the heroine of a wonderful and almost incredible story. The prisoner escaped from the keeping of his kind-hearted jailer; but the runaway was speedily recaptured, after a brief but wearisome chase. The rosy-faced school-boy runs to the play-ground with joyous swiftness. Your lordship is welcome. My grandfather sat in his easy-chair, and gazed at the beautiful landscape. The pickpocket was caught by the policeman, and, for security, placed in close confinement. His penknife lies beside the inkstand on his study-table. Great princes have great playthings.

Blind unbelief is sure to err.

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

Thou art glorious in holiness, fearful in praises.

There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in them.
He drags at each remove a lengthening chain.
"Tis Jove's world-wandering herald.
The snow shall be their winding-sheet.
Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
So sinks the day-star in the ocean-bed.

The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,

The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands, brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

Descends the snow.

Athens arose -a city such as vision

Builds from the purple crags and silver towers
Of battlemented cloud, as in derision

Of kingliest masonry; the ocean-floors

Pave it; the evening-sky pavilions it;
Its portals are inhabited

By thunder-zoned winds, each head

Within its cloudy wings with sun-fire garlanded.

CHAPTER V.

NOUNS.

108. A NOUN is, as we have seen (32), the name of anything.

We have noticed the principal uses of the noun in the sentence. Most important of all, it is the subject of the sentence:

It is governed by a preposition (44): thus,

I look at the sun with my eyes, through a glass.

It is qualified by an adjective: thus,

I look at the bright sun, not with my naked eyes, but through a dark glass.

There are other uses of the noun, which will be explained later; but these are the ones by which we can best try a word, to see whether it is or is not to be called a noun.

CLASSES OF NOUNS.

109. A noun is sometimes the name of a separate or individual object: thus,

But a noun is also the name of a part of such an object:

Or a noun is the name of the material of which such an

object is composed: thus,

flesh, wood, silver, porcelain,

iron, clay.

110. Again, a noun is not only the name of an object that can be seen and touched, like those mentioned above, but of one that is perceived by other senses: thus,

noise,

thunder,

odor,

flavor.

Also, of things which we conceive of as existing, though our senses do not show them to us directly: thus,

111. Nouns are names also of a vast number of qualities and conditions and relations of objects: for example,

These are called ABSTRACT nouns, because we abstract (that is, 'draw off, separate ') the qualities, and so forth, from the objects to which they belong, and think of them by themselves, as if they had a separate existence.

112. Anything, in short, which we can put before our minds in such a way as to say something about it, or to make it by itself the subject of an assertion, we have to call by a name, and that name is a noun.

Thus, if we see one boy strike another with a stick, we not only name the three separate things concerned, saying

John struck James with a stick;

but also the parts: thus,

the hand that held the stick;

the cheek which the stick struck.

And we name the act itself, speaking of

the stroke or blow which was struck by John.

Noticing that the blow was a quick and an angry one, and that it hurt, we can speak of these qualities and effects themselves: saying, for example,

the quickness of the blow allowed no dodging;
John's anger was evident;

the pain of the blow was severe;

the mark of the blow remained a long time.

And we moralize about it thus:

striking one's companion deserves punishment;
such an occurrence is painful enough;

the sight was disagreeable to me;

and so on.

It is needless to attempt to classify the whole infinite variety of nouns, but a few classes of especial importance have to be noticed.

113. A noun is generally the name of each member of a whole class of similar things; it belongs to a number of different individuals, and to one of them just as much as to another: for example,

man, dog, city, country, day, month, star.

But in some classes the different individuals are of importance enough to have names as individuals, distinguishing them from others of the same class.

Thus, each country, each city or town of a country, each street of a city, has its own name, by which it may be known from other countries, towns, or streets : for example,

England, Germany, America, China;

London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Peking;

Ludgate, Cornhill, the Boulevards, Broadway. So each day of the week and month of the year: as, Wednesday, Saturday; March, December.

So each planet or star: as,

Venus, Jupiter, Antares, the Pleiades.

So, to its acquaintances, each dog: as,

Tray, Spot, Nix, Rover, Cæsar.