OLII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [eth. ass. 20 



better accomplished by omitting to express the number. It is 

 thus that in a perfectly developed org-anic language it is pos- 

 sible for the speaker to give his attention exclusively to the 

 expression of the thought desired, and he need not detain 

 the locution to consider and express multifarious inconsequent 

 details. Wliy sliould a person in speaking of a ship be com- 

 pelled to think of its number, its gender, and its case every 

 time he uses the word, or the verb with it, or the adjective 

 with it, when such particulars are of no consequence in the 

 narrntive? 



The varying of forms of words to express particulars about 

 the thing of which the word is a name is called inilection. 

 The classical languages are thus highly inflected. The mod- 

 ern languages which have developed from the classical stage 

 are more thoroughly organic. Yet men with linguistic super- 

 stitions mourn the degeneracy of English, German, and French 

 without being aware of tlie great improvement which has been 

 made in them as instruments for the expression of thought. 



All words are names, and names are used in sentences for 

 the purpose of making assertions. A sentence consists of a 

 subject, an asserter, and an object. The subject is that of 

 which something is asserted. The object is that which is 

 asserted of the subject, and the asserter is that which predi- 

 cates the object of the subject. In the science of language 

 subject and object are terms used in a different sense from 

 that in which they are used in psychology. Sometimes the 

 sentence is said to be composed of subject and predicate, in 

 which case the asserter and the object are considered as one; 

 but this habit involves an error in the discrimination of the 

 offices of words. It is fundamental to the sentence that the 

 three offices should be performed. 



The offices of words in sentences, as distinguished from their 

 meanings, are as subject, asserter, and object; but as we call 

 the asserter a verb we may say that the primary parts of 

 speech are subject, verb, and object. Then there are subor- 

 dinate parts of speech. The subject may be qualified, limited, 

 or defined; we shall call the words which perform this office 

 adjectives. The verb may also be qualified, limited, or de- 



