288 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



(5.) Among 1 the secondary derivatives must also be included 

 those formed by means of prefixes as well as suffixes. These 

 are mainly verbs, and are treated somewhat largely under the 

 head of Compound Verbs. 



(6.) In respect to COMPOUNDS, properly so called that is, 

 words formed by the union, not of prefixes and suffixes with 

 radicals, but of radicals, or other independent words, one with 

 another the German is peculiarly rich. Not only is it rich in 

 the abundance of such compounds already in use, but it pos- 

 sesses a rare facility of forming them, as occasions arise, out of 

 its own resources. 



(7.) In forming these compounds, the two components are 

 often merely joined together as one word ; as : lU;rmac$cr (from 

 Uf;r. a clock or watch, and QWacJjcr, a maker). But in numerous 

 cases the union is marked by the insertion of certain letters, 

 which may be called letters of union ; thus 



3)te JTobeSnotfj (from ZO'D, death, and Sftotlj, need, agony), the 

 death-agony. 



>a $tmmeH!t{$t (from Simmcl, heaven, and 2tc$t, light), the 

 light of heaven. 



35te -ijeqenSijute (from ^crj, heart, and ute, goodness), the good- 

 ness of heart. 



35er Spferbeaqt (from 5pferb. horse, and Slrjt, doctor), the horse- 

 doctor. 



35a8 -^irtenleben (from ^itt shepherd, and Seben, life), the pas- 

 toral life. ' 



3)cr @icrfu<$en (from Si, egg, and Jtudben, cake), the omelet. 



(8.) Some of these letters of union are nothing more than the 

 signs of the genitive case of the first component ; others are 

 mere euphonic additions. 



(9.) In some instances the union of the parts of a compound 

 is characterised by the omission of some letters; as: Der imn 

 tag (Scunc, the sun, and ag, day), Sunday. JDcnhuurbig (benfen, 

 to think, and lourtig, worthy), worthy of thought. 



(10.) Finally, in all compounds, the main accent falls upon 

 the first component, which always qualifies or defines the second, 

 as containing the fundamental idea. 



3. PARTS OF SPEECH. 



(1.) The parts of speech in German are usually reckoned ten ; 

 namely, Articles, Nouns or Substantives, Adjectives, Numerals, 

 Pronouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and In- 

 terjections. 



(2.) Of these, six namely, Articles, Nouns, Adjectives, Nume- 

 rals, Pronouns, and Verbs are capable of inflection, that is, 

 admit of changes of termination by which various modifications 

 of meaning are expressed ; the other four namely, Adverbs, 

 Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections are in form in- 

 variable. 



(3.) All parts of speech capable of inflection have two num- 

 bers : the Singular, which denotes but one ; and the Plural, 

 which denotes more than one. 



(4.) All parts of speech capable of inflection, except the verb, 

 have four Cases : namely, the Nominative, Genitive, Dative, and 

 Accusative; also, three Genders, namely, the Masculine, the 

 Feminine, and the Neuter. 



(5.) Cases are variations made in the form of a word, to indi- 

 cate its several relations to other words ; the nominative being 

 that form which denotes the subject of a verb ; the genitive that 

 which is chiefly used in signifying source or possession'; the 

 dative that which indicates the person to whom, or thing to 

 which an action is directed ; and the accusative that which 

 points to the immediate or direct object of an action. 



The cases in German correspond well to those in the Latin 

 language. The Vocative, however, is never counted, because it 

 is exactly the same in form as the nominative ; while the Abla- 

 tive (as in Greek) is wholly wanting, its place being generally 

 supplied by the Dative (with a suitable preposition). 



4. THE ARTICLE. 



(1.) There are two articles in German : the Definite, ber, the; 

 and the Indefinite, ein, a or an. They are inflected thus : 



Singular. 



MASC. 



Norn. Set, 

 Gen, !De, 

 Bat. 3)cm, 

 Ace. >cn, 



FEM. NEUT. 



bif, bo, the. 



fcer, beS, of the. 



ber, bem, to or for the. 



tic, ba?, the. 



Plural, 



FOR ALL GENDERS. 



Nom. She, the. 

 Gen. 53cr, of the. 

 Dat. iDen, to or for the. 

 Ace. Die, the. 



Singular. 



FEM. 



eine, 

 einer, 

 einer, 

 eine, 



NEUT. 



ein, an or a. 

 dne3, of an or a- 

 einem, to or for an or a. 

 ein, an or a. 



MASC. 



Nom. in. 



Gen. @inc, 



Dat. Sinent, 



Ace. Sinen, 

 This article has no plural. 



(2.) Certain prepositions are frequently contracted with th 

 dative and accusative of the definite article into one word.. 



EXAMPLES. 



Dat. 2lm, for an bem, as, am fjeiter, at the fire. 

 Ace. 2ln8, an bag, anS u$t, to the light. 



Ace. SlufS, auf baS, aufs au, upon the house. 



Dat. SSeim, *ei bem, fceim SBater, with the father. 



Ace. 5>itrc$, burcty ba, fcitrc$3 SBaffer, through the water. 



Ace. %ur$, fut ba, fur e(b, for the money. 



Dat. -Sinterm, Ijtntet bem, jjinterm aufe, behind the house. 

 Dat. 3m, in bem, tm -Stminel, in (the) heaven. 



Ace. 3nS, in baS, ins au, into the house. 



Dat. 25om, son bem, Bom llebd, from (the) evil. 



Ace. 93or8, fcor ba, or3 ffenflet, before the window. 



Dat. SSorm, sot tern, orm Sljore, before the gate. 



Dat. itberm, iibet bem, iibcrm Seiter, upon the fire. 



Ace. tibcr, fiber ba, uber 8anb, over (the) land. 



Dat. Untcrm, unter bem, unterm SQBaffer, under (the) -water 

 Dat. Sum, 311 bem, jum gluffe, to the river. 



Dat. 3ur, ju ber, juc I)re, to the honour. 



5. NOUNS. 



(1.) In German, as in English, the nouns (that is, the names 

 of persons and things) are divided into two great classes ; viz. 

 Common nouns, which designate sorts, kinds, or classes of ob- 

 jects ; and Proper nouns, which are peculiar to individuals. 



The student will bear in mind the following rules : 



a. In German all Nouns, as also all parts of speech when used 

 as nouns, begin with a capital letter; as: 1. 3>er 06, n, the son; 

 bie Softer, the daughter. 2. Der ute, the good (man) ; bte utc, 

 the good (woman). 3. DaS <Sina.cn, the singing. 



b. Also : Tlie Indefinite Pronouns ; as : Semanb, anybody, 

 somebody; Sebermann, everybody; StoaS, anything, something; 

 and SiicfytS, nothing. 



Note, that when (5 1 n> a $ and yi'idjtS are connected with > 

 noun, or with an adjective used as a noun, they do not bogie 

 with a capital; as : Sr tyat e tit) a 3 S3rob, he has some bread. (St 

 Ijat nidjtS ute3, he has nothing good. 



c. Also : The absolute Possessive Pronoun (when used substan- 

 tively. Sect. XX. 2) ; as : 5>te SUeinigen, my family ; ba 2Jfei 

 nige, my property. 



d. Also : The Indefinite Numerals, when used without a sub- 

 stantive ; as : Mc8, 2Ule, all ; (Jinige, some ; 2ftancbcr, many a ; 

 9>ie(e, many. 



e. Also : The Personal, Pronouns, 2>it, 3l)t, thou, you, etc, 

 when we would distinguish thereby the person addressed. 



/. Also : Sin, when a numeral adjective, and likewise when a 

 pronoun as distinguished from the article ; as : 3ci> fiabe nur 

 (Sinen 5reunt, I have only one friend. 2)a8 Sine Spferb tft bltnb, 

 ba3 anbcre ift la^m, the one horse is blind, the other is lame. 



g. Lastly, Adjectives derived from names of persons ; as : 



S @djt(lerfc()e au$. Observe, that adjectives derived from 

 the names of countries do not begin with a capital; as: l!er 

 beutfcfye 23unb, the German confederacy , btc franjoftfcfye pradjje, the 

 French language. 



(2.) Under the head of common nouns are commonly included 

 several subdivisions ; as Collective nouns, which are the names 

 of a plurality of individuals considered as unity ; and abstract 

 nouns, which are the names of certain qualities or attributes re- 

 garded as separate from any given substance. 



(3.) The nouns, both common and proper, as before said, are 

 regularly inflected ; thus exhibiting by means of terminations 

 the several modifications of gender, number, and case. The 

 numbers and cases will be made sufficiently clear under the head 

 of declension of nouns. 



6. GENDER. 



(1.) Strictly speaking, the masculine gender belongs exclu- 

 sively to words denoting males ; the feminine, to those denoting 

 females; and the neuter to such only as are neither male nor 

 female. And in English, accordingly, with very little exception, 

 this is found to be actually the case. 



