Compendium

“ COMPLEMENTS. +Hints for Oral Instruction+.—When we say, The sun gives, we express no complete thought. The subject sun is complete, but the predicate gives does not make a complete assertion. When we say, The sun gives light, we do utter a complete thought. The predicate gives is completed by the word light. Whatever fills out, or completes, we call a +Complement+. We will therefore call light the complement of the predicate. As light completes the predicate by naming the thing acted upon, we call it the +Object Complement+. ”

“ A Compound Proposition, reducible to two or more simple ones, is said to be exponible.
The modes of compounding sentences are explained in every grammar-book. One of the commonest forms is the copulative, such as Salt is both savoury and wholesome, equivalent to two simple propositions: Salt is savoury; Salt is wholesome. Pure water is neither sapid nor odorous, equivalent to Water is not sapid; Water is not odorous. Or, again, Tobacco is injurious, but not when used in moderation, equivalent to Much tobacco is injurious; a little is not. ”

“ Compounds wherein one element is compound are called decomposites.
§ 370. There are a number of words which are never found by themselves; or, if so found, have never the same sense that they have in combination. Mark the word combination. The terms in question are points of combination, not of composition: since they form not the [271] parts of words, but the parts of phrases. Such are the expressions time and tide—might and main—rede me my riddle—pay your shot—rhyme and reason, &c. ”

“ We have defined the first to be a compound “of substance and accident,” or a compound “of essence and something accidentally superadded to it.” The second we defined to be a compound “of substances uniting in one essence or nature.” But, as we noticed, the authors pledged to the theory of substantial generations admitted of no “substantial” compound but that which was believed to consist of matter and substantial form; and accordingly all compounds the form of which was an accidental entity, say composition, were considered by them as accidental. ”

“ To determine the proportion of the several elements in the formation of a medicinal drug, and to describe the subsequent changes it undergoes in the living economy, presupposes some knowledge, on the part of the old Indian writers, of chemical analysis and the process of decomposition. ”

“ But the most absurd and preposterous hypothesis that has disgraced the annals of medicine, and bestowed medicinal reputation upon substances of no intrinsic worth, is that of the Doctrine of Signatures, as it has been called, which is no less than a belief that every natural substance which possesses any medicinal virtue, indicates by an obvious and well-marked external character, the disease for which it is a remedy, or the object for which it should be employed! ”

“ If the compound he desires to produce is found to be composed of elements different from those which form the compound wherewith his operations begin, he is directed to bring about a reaction, or a series of reactions, between the compound which is to be changed, and some other collocation of elements the composition of which is known to be such that it can supply the new elements which are needed for the production of the new compound. ”

“ The immediate principles of substantial compound are three, as in the primitive being: to wit, act, term, and complement; but they are of a different nature, as we are going to explain. Two cases are to be examined. For the physical parts, which unite to make one compound nature, sometimes rank all alike as material constituents of the compound, as in water, iron, silver, and other natural bodies ”

“ Nor do we deny that the properties of the compound must be ultimately traced to some substantial principle; for we admit the common axiom that “the first principle of the being is the first principle of its operations”; and thus we attribute the activity of the compound nature to the substantial forms of its components. But we maintain that the same components may constitute different specific compounds having different properties and different operations, according as they are disposed in different manners and subjected to a different composition. ”

“ When we have once formed a compound, and applied it to a given purpose, we are not at all solicitous to keep up the memory of its origin; we are, rather, ready to forget it. The word once coined, we accept it as an integral representative of the conception to which we attach it, and give our whole attention to that, not concerning ourselves about its derivation, or its etymological aptness. Practical convenience becomes the paramount consideration, to which every other is made to give way. ”

“ You will first note that the definer has not declared what sort of composition. There is a great difference between one mode of composition and another; the mode must be specialized. Both flesh and bone may be defined — a composition of fire, earth, and water; but one mode of composition makes flesh, another makes bone, out of these same elements. You may also take the farther objection that to define a compound as composition is erroneous; the two are essentially disparate, one of them being abstract, the other concrete.339 ”

“ From the results of numerous and exact analyses chemists know, first, that all natural substances may be divided into simple and compound substances; secondly, that the true distinction of primary or simple substances is ability to resist decomposition, so that the word simple is synonymous with the word undecomposable; thirdly, that by compounds we signify substances which are susceptible of analysis, or from which we can extract materials more simple, or of which the complexity of composition diminishes in degree as the analysis is extended ”

“ On certain words wherein the fact of their being compound is obscured.—Composition is the addition of a word to a word, derivation is the addition of certain letters or syllables to a word. In a compound form each element has a separate and independent existence; in a derived form, only one of the elements has such. Now it is very possible that in an older stage of a language two words may exist, may be put together, and may so form a compound, each word having, then, a separate and independent existence. ”

“ But in the case of compound nouns, adjectives, and adverbs the first member of the compound (unless it be ge- or be-) receives the stronger stress: héofon-rīce, heaven-kingdom; ǫ́nd-giet, intelligence; sṓð-fæst, truthful; gód-cund, divine; éall-unga, entirely; blī́ðe-līce, blithely. But be-hā́t, promise; ge-béd, prayer; ge-fḗalīc, joyous; be-sǫ́ne, immediately.
Compound verbs, however, have the stress on the radical syllable: for-gíefan, to forgive; of-línnan, to cease; ā-cnā́wan, to know; wið-stǫ́ndan, to withstand; on-sácan, to resist. ”

“ Also in the case of a body of variable composition, when all the quantities of the components except one vanish, the potential for that one will be equal to the value of for one unit of the body. We may make this occur for any given composition of the body by choosing as one of the components the matter constituting the body itself, so that the value of for one unit of a body may always be considered as a potential. ”

“ Either of the elements of a compound may be a noun (n) or an adjective (a) ; thus we have four possible types: 1. n-n; 2. a-n; 3. a-a; 4. n-a. The formation of compounds of these types is an ordinary gram­matical construc­tion, and any elements may be combined if they make sense, whether the combi­nation is in general use or not. The relation to one another of the elements and the meaning of the resulting compound must be left to be dealt with in the Syntax; here, only the forms of compounds can be consid­ered.
ii. (1) The second element of a compound has its initial softened ”

“ The classification of substances adopted is founded rather upon facts than analogies, and in consequence certain bodies have been placed among the simple principles which, from their resemblance to other bodies of known composition, have been generally arranged in the class of compounds. ”

“ The members of such a compound may obviously be of any number, two or more than two. No compound of any other class can contain more than two members — of which, however, either or both may be compound, or decompound (below, 1248) .
II. d. Determinative compounds, of which the former member is syntactically dependent on the latter, as its determining or qualifying adjunct: being either, 1. a noun (or pronoun) limiting it in a case-relation, or, 2. an adjective or adverb describing it. ”

“ The parts of which a compound sentence consists, are called Members or Clauses. In every compound sentence there are either several subjects and one attribute, or several attributes and one subject, or both several subjects and several attributes; that is, there are either several nominatives applied to the same verb, or several verbs applied to the same nominative, or both. Every verb marks a judgment or attribute, and every attribute must have a subject. There must, therefore, be in every sentence or period, as many propositions as there are verbs of a finite mode. ”

“ Nevertheless, I must say that it seems to me that to assume the compound to be older than the simple looks very much like something that is contrary to first principles, and indeed the very fact that simple names are so often used in place of compounds appears to me to show that they are more natural to men, and that men would generally adopt them if they could. ”

“ Two years ago your uncle advanced a theory that materialization phenomena were produced by a substance which he termed 'psychoplasm.' After listening to his argument, I was convinced that he was right. Since then, we have attended numerous materialization seances, with the object of securing a sample of this elusive material for examination. It always disappears instantly when bright light is flashed upon it, or when the medium is startled or alarmed, and our efforts in this direction have always been fruitless. ”

“ But the next step in composing, which has been mentioned throughout the book, is more necessary in argumentation than in any other form of expression. You must not only have an outline in mind for what you are about to say, but that outline should be written, and almost as much time and thought should be given to it as to the composition itself; for clear thought is the great essential in argumentation, and a carefully prepared outline is the greatest help to clear thought.
88. The Introduction.—There are three parts to every outline for a discussion or argument. ”

“ Composition, indeed, is but a species of declension and conjugation. Parricida and patris (oc) cisor, φερέοικος and οἶκον φέρει, have exactly the same force and meaning. The only difference between good-for-nothing as a compound and “he is good for nothing” in a complete sentence, is that the first can be used as an attribute. The ordinary genitive of the Semitic tongues, the so-called “construct [391] state,” is really an instance of composition, the first noun—that which “governs” the second—being pronounced in a single breath with the other, and accordingly losing the case-terminations. ”

“ A simple word is one that is not compounded, not composed of other words; as, watch, man, house, tower, never, the, less.
A compound word is one that is composed of two or more simple words; as, watchman, watchhouse, watchtower, nevertheless.
Permanent compounds are consolidated; as, bookseller, schoolmaster: others, which may be called temporary compounds, are formed by the hyphen; as, good-natured, negro-merchant.
RULES FOR THE FIGURE OF WORDS.
RULE I.--COMPOUNDS.
Words regularly or analogically united, and commonly known as forming a compound, should never be needlessly broken apart. ”

“ V Any pair of words used as one name of which the second is a noun but the first not really an adjective should be written as a compound; foster-brother, down-town, after-consideration.
As elsewhere the use of the hyphen depends largely in the familiarity of the phrase; spoilsport, pickpocket.
VI Any two words other than nouns should be treated as a compound, generally solid, when arbitrarily associated as a name; standpoint, outlook.
VII A name or an adjective made by adding a suffix to a proper name compounded of two words should be treated as a compound with a hyphen ”

“ According to certain known laws of composition, complex substances, which never before existed, are formed, and fulfil anticipations both as to their general properties and as to the proportions of their constituents—as proved by analysis. ”

“ In the first case, the physical components taken together constitute the adequate potential term or the compound nature; because, as they are all alike material constituents, they are all alike potential respecting their composition; and thus they are all equally liable to be tied together by physical action. The specific composition will be the act of the compound essence; for it is such a composition that formally binds together those physical components into one specific compound. ”

“ Fifthly, If a body consist of two substances, and to this compound be presented a third substance, that has no Affinity at all with one of the two primary substances aforesaid, but has a greater Affinity with the other than those two substances have with each other, there will ensue a decomposition, and a new union ”

“ What is the use of giving, for instance, an unestablished, and perhaps preposterous, notion of corporeal quantity to him who has as yet to learn what is the essential composition of bodies? Is a student prepared to realize the true nature of the quantity of mass, or of the quantity of volume, who has never yet explored either the mysterious attributes of formal continuity or the intimate constitution of material substance? ”

“ The reason why a preposition is required before the patient, in the case of the compound name of the action, and not of the single name, is, that the word which stands with respect to the verb in the 209 immediate relation of the recipient or patient of the action, is not the man, but the thing done. ”