3i8 granunatical disquisittons. ■^'^g- 29*^ 



qualified than I am. to undertake the talk, which 

 thej will find not lefs entertaining than instructive*. 



• This efsay having been read in the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a ve- 

 ry imperfect abstract of it was given in the first volume of these transac- 

 tions, which called forth the following critique from the reviewer, in the 

 Gentleman's Magazine for June 1788. April 19. Dr James Anderson - 

 read observations on a peculiarity in the Eng!i(h language, usually called 

 the genitive case. He is of opinion, " that the Englilh noun admits of 

 " no inflection by cases, and therefore that the term genitive is impro- 

 *' per." He contends, that "the addition of the letter V, with an apos- 

 *' trophe to a noun, as Jchn^s "off; is not an inflection of the noun, and 

 " therefore cannot be termed a case." He affirms, that " when a 

 " noun undergoes a change of this sort, it ceases to be itself a noun, and 

 " becomes immediately a definitive." 



" If," adds this elegant critic, '< this be be notabsurd, it has much the 

 appearance of absurdity ; and we would advise Dr Anderson, before he 

 ventures again to read any thing in the society, about nouns ceasing to be 

 nouns, and becamir.g defir.i'.ivcs, to pursue with atttntion, the diversions of 

 purley." &c. 



Perhaps ifDr Anderson advised this profound critic, before he again : 

 ventured to criticise works of this nature, to have recourse to his gram- 

 mar, or any common dictionary, he would make a very proper return} 

 for he will there find, that, so far is it a wonderful case, that a ncur, by m 

 slight variation, ceases to be a ncun, and ranges under some other fart »f speetky 

 that he can scarcely read a sentence in which something of that kind does 

 not occur. And the same thing happens with regard to verbs'and adjec- 

 ctlves. He will admit xhzX. flight is a noun ; — he cannot deny that flighty 

 ■s the same noun with a small variation; — but this he will find by his dic- 

 tionary is no longer accounted a noun, but an adjective. The sameo^'ff- 

 tivetby another slight variation into flightinefs, ceases once more to be anad- 

 jecti-ve, ini becomes, again a noun. Such mutations in grammar are so com- 

 mon, as to be familiar with everyTyro in grammatical rudiments. Sometimes - 

 these mutations are made without any change of letters ; as haste a noun^ 

 to make haste, a f fri ; as also from the same root, hastily, adverb i 

 hasty, adjective \ hastinefs, abstract ntun. Examples of this sort might 

 be multiplied without end. Where then is the absurdity of saying that 

 the same thing may take place in the formation of definitives as takes 

 place in regard to verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and nouns ? there surely 

 would be no impropriety in saying, indifferently, either this is an absurd 

 critii ; or he writes absurdly ; or he utters an absurdity ; in which case 

 the same word absurd, with very slight variations, is made to stand as an 

 adjectivtt an adverb, and a noun, 



