GRAMMAR. 



this union, or co-opcratlon, ii the copulative anJ,' but when 

 a pjrfon or thin^ oppofos or coiinteratts auothor, «y.-i, in the 

 fbrn of an(l, is combined with another word to cxpTi.-k rj^ainjl 

 or in return ; as unthuyrj, a luortl in return for a zvjrri, i. e. 

 annnf'U.'er ; a>u[fitrts,a'^(n:tjlthej'im, fee Hicks's Anglo-Saxon 

 Grammar, ,) rfy When objeds a'ft upon the orjfans of 

 fenfe, the mind is fuppoiod irt return to act upon the im- 

 preflions of thofe objei^ts in order to perceive them, and 

 the perception fo acquired is called in Greek o-.vn/.r.ii . 

 Hence, in Angli-Saxon ancl^it, if we attend to the com- 

 pofition of the wor;!, means thit fenfe which tlie mind aSs 

 pr acquires by a reciprocal atlion on its own organs. 



The conjunftion, according to Mr. Harris and otlier 

 o-rammarians, connecls not ivorJs hut /enteitces, fo as out of 

 two to make one fentence. Thus, you and I and Peter 

 rode to London, is one ientence made of three. But this 

 notion Mr. Tooke refutes by tlie following example : two 

 and two are four, A B {inJ B C atul C A form a triangle. 

 John and Jane are a handlome pair. Does A B form a 

 triangle, B C form a triangle ? Is John a couple ? Is Jane 

 a couple .' Are two four ? p 221. In truth, conjunctions 

 as well 33 prepofitions affect words and not fentences, and 

 their office is to combme the words fucceeding to the 

 words going before them, i. e. to combine a verb coming 

 after with a preceding verb ; a noun coming after with a 

 preceding noun, an adjective coming after with a preceding 

 adjeftive, &c. 



Mr. Tooke has not given the etymon of than, though it 

 exifts only in Anglo-Saxon under the form of thonne, and in 

 Oothic under that of thana. But in order to come at its 

 origin, we muft attend to the effect wiiich external objeCls 

 produce on the organs of fenle. When two qualities, un- 

 equal in degree, are compared, that which exceeds appears 

 to receive by means of the contraft an immediate augmen- 

 tation ; while on the other hand, the lefs feems to diminilh. 

 This being the cale, and human nature being the fame in 

 all ages and countries, the fame form of exprelTnig the 

 degrees of cemparifon has obtained in all languages. 

 Thus in Hebrew tub min Lherujl, good from gold, i. e. bet- 

 ter than gold. The Arabs borrowed the Hebrew min to 

 exprefs their comparative ; and the Perfians denote it by 

 ee, a word of the fame import. The Latin tongue in 

 this inltance is founded on the fame general principle — 

 Ctarior fok, brighter from the fun. The French di and tlie 

 Italian di are taken from the Latin de ; and as the ufe 

 of cafes in thefe languages has for the moil part given way 

 to prepofitions, they exprefs their degrees of comparifon 

 by thefe particles in the fenfe oi from. In our own tongue 

 the mode of exprefling the comparative leems alone unin- 

 telligible. But by tracing then to its root the myitery 

 vanifhes ; and we recognize the fame great principle of 

 nature. The imperative of the Hebrew \^l, natlan, which 

 has given birth to correfponding verbs in all otlier lan- 

 guages, is ^J^, than, which is precifely our Englilh t/jctn, 

 retaining not only its original found, but moreover its 

 original fenfe of give, put, place. Thus, his face was brighter 

 than the fun. Put the iun (namely by tlie fide) his face 

 was brighter. Lighter than gold. Put gold, it is lighter. 

 From the juxtapofition of gold it becomes lighter ; or 

 as in other languages lighter from gold. I Ihall only add 

 that von, from, of the Germans, is a corruption of tlie He- 

 brew r^, min or mon, jn, b, v, being interchangeable let- 

 ters. Accordin.gly the Germans lay in the fuperlative, der 

 befte von feine;i brudern, the bell from his brothers, the 

 bell of his brothers. 



It llill remains that we notice the adverbs and inlerjeltiont, 

 but as we have already occupied fo much of our readers at- 

 tention in dilcuffir.g the other parts of fpccch, wt Ihall dif. 



patch thefe by one or two general remarks. Adv^'rbs, or as 

 Mr. Harris defcrib-5 them, attributes of a fecondary kind, 

 an; corruptions from nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbj. 

 Tlie name of adverbs given to fiich corruptions is not, it 

 (hould be oblerved, defcriptive of their nature, as diftinft 

 parts of fpeech, but o' their ufe in modifying the verb or 

 adj.ctive to which tin y ar- annexed An adverb is often a 

 fiib htutc for a whole clnufe, as here, for in this place ; then, 

 for at that tim^. In this view, adverbs arc the only word* 

 which properly coiie under the denomination of aiireviationt, 

 a term of which Mr. Tooke is lo fond, and to which ho fo 

 improperly refers feveral other parts of I'peech. As to intcr- 

 jeclions, it may be quellioned whether or not thev can be con- 

 lidered as arlieulnle founds, though they have been ufually 

 honoured with a dilUncl department in language. One ton- 

 fideration, however, is calculated lo leave them in poireffioii 

 of their hitherto enjoyed honours. Interjcdions, it is true, 

 are not dillincl names of our feelings and palTions, and there- 

 fore they have not, like other words, derived articulation 

 from the affociation of fenfe with found; neverthelefs they 

 confiil of certain exprejfions or cries, which, as founded in na- 

 ture, arc as well calculated to recal to our minds ideas of 

 certain emotions, as if, like other words, they had been by 

 common confent made the figns of thofe emotions. 



Gii.\.MM.\R is alfo ufed for a book concerning the rules 

 of grammar, which obtain in any language. See L.\N- 



OLAGi;. 



The ancient grammars are : for the Hebrew, that of rab- 

 bi Juda Chiug, which is commonly held the firil Hebrew 

 grammar that appeared ; though it is certain, rabbi Saadias 

 Haggaon, who lived before rabbi Juda, compofed two works 

 of the fame kind : one exprefsly of grammar ; and the other 

 of the elegancies of the Hebrew tongue. 



For the Greek, the oldetl grammar is that of Gaza: the 

 Latin ones are the works of Martianus Capelhi, Prifciao, 

 and Afconius Pedianus. 



The modern grammars are ; i . For the Hebrew, that of 

 Pagninus, the edition of Hen. Stephens, or le Preux ; at 

 Geneva, in 1592 ; that of Petrus Martinius at Rochel 

 1502 ; that of Buxtorf ; that of Ludovicus Deus, in three 

 languages ; that of Sixtinus Amama, which is a coUeftion 

 from Nlartinius and Buxtorf; that of Bellarmine, with the 

 notes of Muis ; thofe of Y. Sglanthcr, of W. Schickard, 

 and of Vift. Bythner, to the latter of which is annexed a 

 brief account ot the Chaldee, are ufeful for beginners ; and 

 thofe of Gronovius, Stluiltens, Schroeder, Bayly, Bennet, 

 Robertfon, &c.; and for the Hebrew, without the Maflbretic 

 points, the exccl-ent grammar of Mafclef, to the fccond edi- 

 tion of which, publillied at Paris in 1743, arc annexed Chal- 

 dee, Syriac, and Samaritan grammars; thofe of Sharp, Wil- 

 fon, Bates, Parkhurft, &c. 2. For the Clialdee, the bed are 

 thofe of Martinius, Buxtorf, and Lud. Deus, in three lan-- 

 guages. 3. For the vSyriac, thofe of .Aniira, Myricxus, Wa- 

 ferus, and Bevcridge; with the Chaldee and Sj-riac ones of 

 Buxtorf, of Lud. Deus in three languages, and that of Lemb- 

 den. 4. For the Coptic, the Prodromus Coptus, and Lingua 

 yEgyptiaca RelHtuta of Kircher. 5. For the Arabic, that of 

 Erpcniiis, and that of Gohus. whicii is only Erpenius's a little 

 augmented. 6. For the Ethiopic, that of J. Ludolphus. 

 7. For the Periian, that of Lud. Deus, and that of llr 

 \Villiam Jones. 8. For the Sancrit, thole of Wilkins 

 and Carey. 9. For the Armenian, thofe of ScliriX'der 

 and (^.alanus. 10. For the Greek, thofe of Mart. 

 Rulandus Sylburgius, F Moquct, VolTlus, Gaza, Her- 

 man, Bufhy, Port Royal, Manutius, Bell, Milner, Moor, 

 Parkliurll, Valpy, Jones, &c. ii. For the Latin, thofe of 

 Diomedes, Defpauter, the Minerva of SanCtius, thofe of 

 VolTuis, Ward, Clarke, and Sprat ; that of Port Royal, whitk 



6- is 



