GRAMMAR. (PART 3.) THE PARTS OF SPEECH. THE NOUN-ITS SUBDIVISIONS. 1. Classes of Nouns. - Any word or expression, whether long or short, that is used in speech or writing as the name of anything, is a noun. Nouns are divided into two great classes: 1. COMMON NOUNS. 2. PROPER NOUNS. COMMON NOUNS. 2. Generic, or Class Names. Most of the nouns in our language are class names; that is, names applied in common or in general to things of the same kind. The word common is derived from two words meaning "bound together." The things denoted by a common noun are united or bound together into one group by certain likenesses-certain common qualities. Thus, the word boy is not a name given to one particular thing and to no other; it is a name of any one of a great genus, or class composed of millions of objects that are alike in certain particulars. These class, or generic names are common nouns. Definition.—A common noun is a noun used to name a class of things. § 16 For notice of the copyright, see page immediately following the title page. 3. Classes of Common Nouns. -Common nouns have been variously subdivided, but all of them may be included under two great classes, as follows: I. Names of Things Sensible. This class comprises the names of substances that are material, and are, therefore, capable of being perceived by the senses; as, tree, horse, sound, brightness, sourness, weight, roughness, odor, fragrance. II. Names of Things Rational. This group includes the class names of all things that are merely conceived or thought of as existing, and cannot be recognized by the direct aid of any of the senses; as, goodness, truth, absence, nearness, mind, thought, loss, fear, regret. Some of the nouns belonging in these classes have been grouped as follows: 1. Collective Nouns. These are sometimes called nouns of multitude, because they denote many things united and thought of as in one group; as, army, jury, congress, flock, nation, tribe, regiment, family. 2. Abstract Nouns. -These are words that name qualities considered apart from the objects that have the qualities, conditions, or states-without notice of the things in which the qualities belong; as, redness, drowsiness, fatigue, keenness. Some abstract nouns are words that name relations independently of the things related; as, nearness, superiority, promptitude, brevity, area. These nouns are so called because they name something drawn away or abstracted from the real things that have the quality, state, or relation. Thus, we may think about length or color or honesty or distance or sadness without considering with attention any sensible objects that have such qualities. Other examples are rudeness, solidity, brevity, reason, beauty, absence, forgetfulness, roundness, silence, emptiness, quality, number, steadiness. 3. Verbal Nouns. - Some words that are made from verbs are used to name actions, just as tree and moon name real things. Walking is better exercise than riding. My having been arrested counted against me. Seeing is believing. Sewing, cooking, and dressmaking are now taught in some schools. Verbal nouns are really abstract nouns, for they name action apart from the actor, just as goodness is the name of something thought of as separated from an object that is good. 4. Other Nouns Regarded as Common.-A common noun has been defined as a name applied to a class of things, but there are many nouns that do not name classes and yet are usually regarded as common nouns. Such are: 1. The names of the sciences; as, chemistry, astronomy, physics. 2. The names of diseases; as, cholera, pneumonia, scarlatina. 3. The names of drugs and chemicals; as, quinine, bromine, phenacetin. Indeed, there is much confusion among authors in classifying nouns, but it is a matter of little practical consequence. The only really important matter is that the student shall be able to know with certainty that a certain word, on account of the work it does, is a noun. PROPER NOUNS. If 5. Nearly all the objects that we think and talk about belong in some class or other, and when we wish to refer to them, their class names are generally definite enough. for any reason it is necessary to specify more particularly a thing that belongs to one of these classes, we may do so by pointing to it, or by joining modifying words to its class name. Thus, we may say, that large red apple, the tall man with black hair, the largest city in the world. But this is not always satisfactory. We may wish to send a letter, money, or other object to some man living and moving about among millions of other men in some great city. It is often necessary to distinguish one thing very clearly from every other in its class. This can be done better than in any other way by giving it a name of its own; as, Boston, July, Henry Clay, William McKinley. Such names are proper nouns; they are so called from the Latin word proprius, meaning “one's own." A proper noun is usually set apart for the purpose of naming one person or other object; and if its work is to be done perfectly, the name must be used for no other purpose. A common noun distinguishes one class from every other class, while a proper noun is intended to distinguish one thing from every other thing. Definition.-A proper noun is a noun used as a special or an individual name. 6. Proper Nouns Used as Common Nouns. A noun that is strictly proper cannot be preceded by a or an, for these modifiers imply that the word before which one of them is placed names a class of things. Thus, a Clay, a Lincoln, a Boston, denotes that there is a class of Clays, of Lincolns, and of Bostons. When preceded by a or an, these words should be called common nouns. The following sentences illustrate this usage; and the nouns, although really common, retain their capitals: A Daniel come to judgment. Some mute inglorious Milton nere may rest. He is a veritable Hercules. INFLECTIONS OF THE NOUN. 7. Definition of Inflection. - The word inflection is one that is much used in grammar. It comes from two Latin words that mean "in" and "a bending"; it denotes that something is bent or changed from one form or condition into another. Thus, we speak of the inflections of the voice, meaning its changes from certain tones to others that are higher or lower. As used in grammar, inflection signifies those changes in the form of a word that come from changes in its use or meaning. Generally, but not always, inflections are |