38 SIGNS AND THEIR LAWS. [CHAP. II. 



gebra of Logic. Difference of interpretation will alone divide 

 them. Upon this principle the method of the following work is 

 established. 



16. It now remains to show that those constituent parts of 

 ordinary language which have not been considered in the pre- 

 vious sections of this chapter are either resolvable into the same 

 elements as those which have been considered, or are subsidiary 

 to those elements by contributing to their more precise defi- 

 nition. 



The substantive, the adjective, and the verb, together with 

 the particles and, except, we have already considered. The pro- 

 noun may be regarded as a particular form of the substantive or 

 the adjective. The adverb modifies the meaning of the verb, but 

 does not affect its nature. Prepositions contribute to the ex- 

 pression of circumstance or relation, and thus tend to give pre- 

 cision and detail to the meaning of the literal symbols. The 

 conjunctions if, either, or, are used chiefly in the expression of 

 relation among propositions, and it will hereafter be shown that 

 the same relations can be completely expressed by elementary 

 symbols analogous in interpretation, and identical in form and 

 law with the symbols whose use and meaning have been ex- 

 plained in this Chapter. As to any remaining elements of 

 speech, it will, upon examination, be found that they are used 

 either to give a more definite significance to the terms of dis- 

 course, and thus enter into the interpretation of the literal sym- 

 bols already considered, or to express some emotion or state of 

 feeling accompanying the utterance of a proposition, and thus do 

 not belong to the province of the understanding, with which 

 alone our present concern lies. Experience of its use will tes- 

 tify to the sufficiency of the classification which has been adopted. 



