ADVERTISEMENT

OF THE PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF WILLIAMS'

COLLEGE.

THE inconvenience and disadvantage experienced both by inftructors and students, from the use of different Latin Grammars, render it highly expedient to establish a uniformity in this College. Adam's Latin Grammar, which by very good judges, is confidered as the best and most complete Grammar of the Latin Language, has for feveral years been generally used in this feminary. But the English part of this Grammar, which very confiderably increases its fize and price, is found by experience to be not only useless but very in convenient to the student and inftructor. An Abridgment of this Grammar having been shown to us, in which the English part, and other useless parts are omitted, we hereby recommend this cheap, abridged and more convenient Edition to all students who expect to refort to this College for education, and direct that all who are hereafter admitted as members of this fem inary ufe it in their claffical exercises.

Williamflown, Dec 30, 1805.

THE

RUDIMENTS

OF

LATIN GRAMMAR.

GRAMMAR is the art of speaking and writing cor

Latin Grammar is the art of speaking and writing the Latin language correctly.

The Rudiments of Grammar are plain and easy inftructions, teaching beginners the first principles and rules of it.

Grammar treats of fentences, and the feveral parts of which they are compounded.

Sentences confift of words; Words confift of one or more fyllables; Syllables of one or more letters. So that Letters, Syllables, Words, and Sentences, make up the whole fubject of Grammar.

LETTERS.

That part of Grammar which treats of letters, is called Orthography.

The letters in Latin are twenty-five: A, a; B, b; C, c; D, d; E, e; F, f; G, g; H, h; I, i; J, j; K, k; L, 1; M, m; N, n; O, o; P, p; Q, q; R, r; S, f; T, t; U, u; V, v; X, x; Y, y ; Z, z. ‹

Letters are divided into Vowels and Confonants. Six are vowels; a, e, i, o, u, y. All the rest are confonants.

A vowel makes a full found by itself; as, a, e. A confonant cannot make a perfect found without a vowel; as, b, d.

A vowel is properly called a fimple found; and the founds formed by the concourfe of vowels and confonants, articulate founds.

Confonants are divided into Mutes, Semi-vowels, and Double Confonants.

A mute is fo called, because it entirely ftops the paffage of the voice; as, p in ap.

The mutes are, p, b; t, d'; c, k, q, and g : but b, d, and g, perhaps may more properly be termed Semi-mutes.

A femi-vowel, or half-vowel, does not entirely ftop the paffage of the voice; thus, al.

The femi-vowels are, l, m, n, r, s, f. The first four of these are also called Liquids, particularly / and r; becaufe they flow foftly and eafily after a mute in the fame fyllable; as, bla, fira.

The mutes and femi-vowels may be thus distinguished. In naming the mutes, the vowel is put after them; as, pe, be, &c.: but in naming the femi vowels, the vowel is put before them; as, el, em, &c.

The double confonants are x, z, and j. X is made up of 65, ks, or gs. Z feems not to be a double confonant in English. It has the fame relation to s, as v has to ƒ, being founded fomewhat more foftly.

In Latin, z, and likewise k, and y, are found only in words derived from the Greek.

r in English is fometimes a confonant, as in youth. H by fome is not accounted a letter, but only a breathing.

DIPHTHONGS.

A Diphthong is two vowels joined in one found. If the found of both vowels be diftinctly heard, it is called a Proper Diphthong; if not, an Improper Diphthong.

The proper diphthongs in Latin are commonly reckoned three; au, eu, ei; as in aurum, Eurus, omneis. To thefe, fome, not improperly, add other three, namely, ai; as in Maia; oi, as in Troia; and ui, as in Harpuia; or in cui and buic, when pronounced as monofyllables.

The improper diphthongs in Latin are two, ae, or when the vowels are written together, a; as aetas, or atas; oe, ora; as, poena, or pæna; in both which the found of the e only is heard. The ancients commonly wrote the vowels feparately, thus, aetas, poena.

SYLLABLES.

A fyllable is the found of one letter, or of several letters pronounced by one impulfe of the voice.

In every word there are as many fyllables as there are diftinct founds.

In Latin there are as many fyllables in a word, as there are vowels or dipthongs in it; unless when u with any other vowel comes after g, q, or s, as in lingua, qui, fuadeo; where the two vowels are not reckoned a diphthong, because the found of the u vanishes, or is little heard.

Words confifting of one fyllable, are called Monofyllables; of two, Diffyllables; and of more than two, Polyfyl lables. But all words of more than one fyllable, are commonly called Polyfyllables.

In dividing words into fyllables, we are chiefly to be directed by the ear. Compound words fhould be divided into the parts of which they are made up; as, up-on, without, &c. and fo in Latin words, ab-utor, in-ers, propter-ea, et-enim, &c. In like manner, when a fyllable is added in the formation of the English verb; as, loved, lov-ing, loveth, will-ing, &c.

Obferve, A long fyllable is thus marked [-]; as, amāre ; or with a circumflex accent thus, [^]; as, amâris. A fhort fyllable is marked thus [~]; as, omnibus.

What pertains to the quantity of fyllables, to accent, and verfe, will be treated of afterwards.

WORDS.

A word is one or more fyllables joined together, which men have agreed upon to fignify fomething.

That part of Grammar which treats of words, is called Etymology, or Analogy.

All words may be divided into three kinds; namely, 1. fuch as mark the names of things; 2. fuch as denote what is affirmed concerning things; and 3. fuch as are fignificant only in conjunction with other words; or what are called Subftantives, Attributives, and Connectives. Thus, in the following fentence," The diligent boy reads "the lesson carefully in the school, and at home," the words boy, lesson, school, bome, are the names we give to the things fpoken of; diligent, reads, carefully, express what is affirmed concerning the boy; the, in, and, at, are only fignificant when joined with the other words of the fentence.

All words whatever are either fimple or compound, primitive or derivative.

The divifion of words into fimple and compound, is called their Figure; into primitive and derivative, their Species or kind.

A fimple word is that which is not made up of more than one, as pius, pious; ego, I; doceo, I teach.

A compound word is that which is made up of two or more words; or of one word, and fome fyllable added; as, impius, impious; dedoceo, I unteach; egomet, I myself.

1

A primitive word is that which comes from no other; as, pius, pious; difco, I learn; doceo, I teach.

A derivative word is that which comes from another word; as, pietas, piety; doārīna, learning.

The different claffes into which we divide words, are called Parts of Speech.

PARTS OF SPEECH.

The parts of fpeech in Latin are eight; 1. Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle; declined: 2. Adverb, Prepofition, Interjection, and Conjunction; undeclined.

Declinable parts of speech are those which receive different changes, particularly on the end, which is called the Termination of words.

The changes made upon words are by grammarians called Accidents.

Of old, all words which admit of different terminations were faid to be declined. But Declenfion is now applied