But as the substantive and adjective together express but one object, and in Latin are declined after the same manner, they have both been comprehended under the same general name.

SUBSTANTIVE.

A Substantive, or Noun, is the name of any person, place, or thing; as, boy, school, book.

Substantives are of two sorts, proper and common names.

Proper names are the names appropriated to individuals, as the names of persons and places; such are Cæsar, Rome.

Common names stand for whole kinds, containing several sorts; or for sorts, containing many individuals under them; as, animal, man, beast, fish, fowl, &c.

Every particular being should have its own proper name; but this is impossible, on account of their innumerable multitude: men have therefore been obliged to give the same common name to such things as agree together in certain respects. These form what is called a genus, or kind; a species, or sort.

A proper name may be used for a common, and then in English it has the article joined to it; as, when we say of some great conqueror, "He is an Alexander;" or "The Alexander of his age."

To proper and common names may be added a third class of nouns, which mark the names of qualities, and are called abstract nouns; as, hardness, goodness, whiteness, virtue, justice, piety, &c.

When we speak of things, we consider them as one or more. This is what we call Number. When one thing is spoken of, a noun is said to be of the singular number ; when two or more, of the plural.

Things considered according to their kinds, are either male or female, or neither of the two. Males are said to be of the masculine gender; females of the feminine; and all other things of the neuter gender.

Such nouns as are applied to signify either the male or the female, are said to be of the common gender; that is, either masculine or feminine.

Various methods are used, in different languages, to express the different connexions or relations of one thing to another. In the English, and in most modern languages, this is done by prepositions, or participles placed before the substantive: in Latin, by declension, or by different cases; that is, by changing the termination of the noun; as, rex, a king, or the king; rēgis, of a king, or of the king.

A Latin noun is declined by Genders, Cases, and Numbers.
There are three genders, Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter.

The cases are six, Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative, and Ablative.

There are two numbers, Singular and Plural.

There are five different ways of varying or declining nouns, called the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth declensions.

Cases are certain changes made upon the termination of nouns, to express the relation of one thing to another.

They are so called, from cădo, to fall; because they fall, as it were, from the nominative, which is therefore named casus rectus, the straight case; and the other cases, casus obliqui, the oblique cases.

The different declensions may be distinguished from one another by the termination of the genitive singular. The first declension has a diphthong; the second has i; the third has is; the fourth has ûs; and the fifth has ei in the genitive.

Although Latin nouns be said to have six cases, yet none of them have that number of different terminations, both in the singular and plural.

GENERAL RULES OF DECLENSION.

1. Nouns of the neuter gender have the Accusative and Vocative like the Nominative, in both numbers; and these cases in the plural end always in a. 2. The Dative and Ablative plural end always alike.

3. The Vocative, for the most part in the singular, and always in the plural, is the same with the Nominative.

Greek nouns in s generally lose s in the Vocative; as, Thomas, Thoma; Anchises, Anchise; Paris, Pari; Panthus, Panthu ; Pallas, -antis; Palla, names of men. But nouns in es of the third declension oftener retain the s; as, o Achilles, rarely -e; O Socrates, seldom -e; and sometimes nouns in is and as; as, O Thais, Mysis, Pallas, -ădis, the goddess Minerva, &c.

4. Proper names for the most part want the plural:

Unless several of the same name be spoken of; as, duodecim Cœsăres, the twelve Cæsars.

The cases of Latin nouns are thus expressed in English:
1. With the indefinite article, a king.

Nouns in Latin are said to be of different genders, not merely from the distinction of sex, but chiefly from their being joined with an adjective of one termination, and not of another. Thus, penna, a pen, is said to be feminine, because it is always joined with an adjective in that termination which is applied to females; as, bona penna, a good pen, and not bõnus penna.

The gender of nouns which signify things without life, depends on their termination, and different declension.

To distinguish the different genders, grammarians make use of the pronoun hic, to mark the masculine; hæc, the feminine; and hoc, the neuter

GENERAL RULES CONCERNING GENDER.

1. Names of males are masculine; as,

Hŏmērus, Homer; păter, a father; poēta, a poet.

2. Names of females are feminine; as,

Hělěna, Helen; mulier, a woman; uxor, a wife; mater, a mother; soror, a sister; Tellus, the goddess of the earth.

3. Nouns which signify either the male or female, are of the common gender; that is, either masculine or feminine; as,

Hic bos, an ox; hæc bos, a cow; hic părens, a father; hæc părens, a mother.
The following list comprehends most nouns of the common gender:-

Patruēlis, a cousin-german, by Princeps, a prince or princess.

the father's side.

Præs, a surety.

Săcerdos, a priest or priestess.
Sus, a swine.

Testis, a witness.
Vātes, a prophet.
Vindex, an avenger.*

But antistes, cliens, and hospes, also change their termination to express the feminine; thus, antistita, clienta, hospita: in the same manner with leo, a lion; leœna, a lioness; èquus, èqua; mūlus, mūla; and many others.

There are several nouns, which, though applicable to both sexes, admit only of a masculine adjective; as, advěna, a stranger; agricola, a husbandman; assecla, an attendant; accola, a neighbour; exul, an exile; latro, a robber; fur, a thief; opifex, a mechanic; &c. There are others, which, though applied to persons, are, on account of their termination, always neuter; as, scortum, a courtesan; mancipium, servitium, a slave, &c.

In like manner, opěræ, slaves or day-labourers; vigilia, excubia, watches; noxœ, guilty persons; though applied to men, are always feminine.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1. The names of brute animals commonly follow the gender of their termination.

Such are the names of wild beasts, birds, fishes, and insects, in which the distinction of sex is either not easily discerned, or seldom attended to. Thus, passer, a sparrow, is masculine, because nouns in er are masculine; so ăquila, an eagle, is feminine, because nouns in a, of the first declension are feminine. These are called Epicene, or promiscuous nouns. When any particular sex is marked, we usually add the word mas or femina; as, mas passer, a male sparrow; femina passer, a female sparrow. ОвS. 2. A proper name, for the most part, follows the gender of the general name under which it is comprehended.

Thus, the names of months, winds, rivers, and mountains, are masculine; because mensis, ventus, mons, and fluvius, are masculine; as, hic Aprīlis, April; hic Aquilo, the north wind; hic Africus, the south-west wind; hic Tiberis, the river Tiber; hic Othrys, a hill in Thessaly. But many of these follow the gender of their termination; as, hæc Matrona, the river Marne in France; hæc Etna, a mountain in Sicily; hoc Sōracte, a hill in Italy.

In like manner, the names of countries, towns, trees, and ships, are feminine, because terra or regio, urbs, arbor, and nāvis, are feminine; as, hæc Egyptus, Egypt; Samos, an island of that name; Corinthus, the city of Corinth; põmus, an apple-tree; Centaurus, the name of a ship. Thus also the names of poems, hæc ilias, -ados, and Odyssea, the two poems of Homer; hæc Eneis, idos, a poem of Virgil's; hæc Eunuchus, one of Terence's Comedies.

The gender, however, of many of these depends on the termination; thus, hic Pontus, a country of that name: hic Sulmo, -õnis; Pessinus, -untis; Hydrus, -untis; names of towns: hæc Persis, -idis, the kingdom of Persia; Carthago, -inis, the city Carthage; hoc Albion, Britain : hoc Care, Reate, Præneste, Tibur, Ilium, names of towns. But some of these are also found in the feminine; as, Gelida Præeneste, Juvenal, iii. 190; Alta Ilion, Ovid. Met. xiv. 466.

The following names of trees are masculine, õleaster, -tri, a wild olive-tree; rhamthe white bramble.

nus,

The following are masculine or feminine; cystisus, a kind of shrub; rubus, the bramble-bush; larix, the larch-tree; lotus, the lote-tree; cupressus, the cypress-tree. The first two however are oftener masculine; the rest oftener feminine.

Those in um are neuter; as, buxum, the bush, or box-tree; ligustrum, a privet; so likewise are suber, -ĕris, the cork-tree; siler, -eris, the osier; robur, -oris, oak of the hardest kind; ǎcer, -ĕris, the maple-tree.

The place where trees or shrubs grow is commonly neuter; as, Arbustum, quercētum,

esculētum, sălictum, fruticētum, &c. a place where trees, oaks, beeches, willows, shrubs, &c. grow: also the names of fruits and timber; as, pōmum, or malum, an apple; pirum, a pear; ěběnum, ebony, &c. But from this rule there are various exceptions.

OBS. 3. Several nouns are said to be of the doubtful gender; that is, are sometimes found in one gender, and sometimes in another; as, dies, a day, masculine or feminine; vulgus, the rabble, masculine or neuter.

FIRST DECLENSION.

Nouns of the first declension end in a, e, as, es.

Latin nouns end only in a, and are of the feminine gender.

The terminations of the different cases are; Nom. and Voc. Sing. a; Gen. and Dat. æ, diphthong; Acc. am; Abl. ά; Nom. and Voc. Plur. œ; Gen. ārum; Dat. and Abl. is; Acc. as. See example, musa, a song, page 6.

EXCEPTIONS.

Exc. 1. The following nouns are masculine: Hadria, the Hadriatic sea; còmēta, a comet; planēta, a planet; and sometimes talpa, a mole; and dāma, a fallow deer. Pascha, the passover, is neuter.

Exc. 2. The ancient Latins sometimes formed the genitive singular in ai; thus, aula, a hall, gen. aulāi; and sometimes likewise in as; which form the compounds of fămilia usually retain; as, māter-familias, the mistress of a family; gen. matris-familias; nom. plur. matres-familias, or matres-familiarum.

Exc. 3. The following nouns have more frequently abus in the dative and ablative plural, to distinguish them in these cases from masculines in us of the second declension:

Anima, the soul, the life.

Dea, a goddess.

Equa, a mare.

Fămăla, a female servant.

Thus, deabus, filiabus, rather than filiis, &c.

Filia, & Näta, a daughter.
Liberta, a freed woman.
Múla, a she-mule.

GREEK NOUNS.

Nouns in as, es, and e of the first declension, are Greek. Nouns in as and es are masculine nouns in e are feminine.

Nouns in as are declined like musa; only they have am or an in the accusative; as, Æneas, Eneas, the name of a man; gen. Æneæ ; dat. -œ; acc. -am or -an; voc. -a; abl. a. So Boreas, -ea, the north wind; Tiāras, -œ, a turban. In prose they have commonly am, but in poetry oftener an, in the accusative. Greek nouns in a have sometimes also an in the acc. in poetry; as, Ossa, -am, or -an, the name of a

Gen. Penelopes,
Dat. Penelope,

Voc. Penelope,
Abl. Penelope.

These nouns, being proper names, want the plural, unless when several of the same name are spoken of, and then they are declined like the plural of musa.

The Latins frequently turn Greek nouns in es and e into a; as, Atrida, for Atrides ; Persa, for Perses, a Persian; Geōmetra, for -tres, a Geometrician; Circa, for Circe; Epitoma, for me, an abridgment; Grammatica, for -ce, grammar; Rhetorica, for -ce, oratory. So Clinia, for Clinias, &c. The accusative of nouns in es and e is found sometimes in em.

Note. We sometimes find the gen. plural contracted; as, Cælicòlûm for Cælicolarum ; Æneădûm

for -arum.

Nouns of the second declension end in er, ir, ur, us, um ; os, on.
Nouns in um and on are neuter; the rest are masculine.

Nouns of the second declension have the gen. sing. in i; the dat. and abl. in o; the accusative in um; the voc. like the nom. (but nouns in us make the vocative in e;) the nom. and voc. plur. in i, or a; the gen. in orum; the dat. and abl. in is; and the acc. in os, or a. See example, puer, a boy, page 6.

After the same manner decline socer, -ĕri, a father-in-law; gener, -ĕrì, a son-inlaw: So furcifer, a villain; Lucifer, the morning star; adulter, an adulterer; armiger, an armour-bearer; presbyter, an elder; Mulciber, a name of the god Vulcan; vesper, the evening; and iber, -ēri, a Spaniard, the only noun in er which has the gen. long, and its compound Celtiber, -ēri: Also, vir, vīri, a man, the only noun in ir; and its compounds, levir, a brother-in-law; semivir, duumvir, triumvir, &c. And likewise sătur, -ŭri, full, (of old, saturus,) an adjective.

But most nouns in er lose the e in the genitive. See example, liber, a book, page 6. In like manner decline,

Ager, a field.

Aper, a wild boar.

Arbiter, (and -trai,) a judge.
Auster, the south wind.

Cancer, a crab-fish.

Căper, a he goat.

Coluber, and -bra, a serpent.

Măgister, a master.

Minister, a servant.

Culter, the coulter of a plough,
a knife.

Faber, a workman.

Liber, the bark of a tree, or a book, has libri; but liber, free, an adjective, and Liber, a name of Bacchus, the god of wine, have liberi. So, likewise, proper names, Alexander, Evander, Periander, Menander, Teucer, Měleager, &c. gen. Alexandri, Evandri, &c. For examples in us and um, see declension of dominus, a master, and of donum, a gift, page 6.

EXCEPTIONS IN GENDER.

Exc. 1. The following nouns in us are feminine, humus, the ground; alvus, the belly; vannus, a sieve: and the following derived from Greek nouns in os:

Abyssus, a bottomless pit. Antidotus, a preservative against poison.

Aretos, the Bear, a constellation near the north pole.

Carbăsus, a sail.

Dialectus, a dialect, or manner
of speech.

Diametros, the diameter of a
circle.

Diphthongus, a diphthong.
Ērēmus, a desert.

Methodus, a method.
Pěriodus, a period.

Perimetros, the circumference.
Phǎrus, a watch-tower.
Synodus, an assembly.

To these add some names of jewels and plants, because gemma and planta are

feminine; as,

Amethystus, an amethyst.

Sapphirus, a sapphire.

Chrysolithus, a chrysolite.

Topazius, a topaz.

an Egyptian reed, of
which paper was
made.

Byssus, fine flax or linen.
Costus, costmary.
Crocus, saffron.
Hyssopus, hyssop.
Nardus, spikenard.

Other names of jewels are generally masculine; as, Beryllus, the beryl; Carbunculus, a carbuncle; Pyropus, a ruby; Smaragdus, an emerald: and also names of plants; as, Asparagus, asparagus, or sparrowgrass; elleborus, ellebore; raphanus, radish, or colewort; intybus, endive, or succory, &c. Exc. 2. The nouns which follow are either masculine Atomus, an atom.

Exc. 3. Virus, poison; pělăgus, the sea, are neuter.

or feminine :

Grossus, a green fig.
Pěnus, a store-house.
Phăsēlus, a little ship.

Exc. 4. Vulgus, the common people, is either masculine or neuter, but oftener

neuter.

EXCEPTIONS IN DECLENSION.

Proper names in ius lose us in the vocative; as,

Horatius, Horati; Virgilius, Virgili; Georgius, Georgi, names of men; Lārius, Lari; Mincius, Minci, names of lakes. Filius, a son also hath fili; genius, one's guardian angel, geni; and deus, a god, hath deus, in the voc. and in the plural more frequently dii and diis, than dei and deis. Meus, my, an adjective pronoun, hath mi, and sometimes meus, in the vocative.