Edict

“ To suppose an ellipsis where there is none, or to overlook one where it really occurs, is to pervert or mutilate the text, in order to accommodate it to the parser's or reader's ignorance of the principles of syntax. There never can be either a general uniformity or a self-consistency in our methods of parsing, or in our notions of grammar, till the true nature of an ellipsis is clearly ascertained; so that the writer shall distinguish it from a blundering omission that impairs the sense, and the reader or parser be barred from an arbitrary insertion of what would be cumbrous and useless. ”

“ Adjectives are of three kinds, pronominal, verbal, and numeral.
Adjectives of either kind are prefixed to their nouns, by means of the connective သည် or သော, if singular, and the same, or ကုန်​သည် or ကုန်​သော, if plural, or directly affixed. But to this general rule; there are several exceptions, particularly in the pronominals.
An adjective and noun, united in either way, form a compound word, which admits the plural affix, and the affixes of case, the same as a simple noun. ”

“ Then, resolving that each word ought to be classed according to the meaning which its etymology fixes upon it, he refers the number of classes to nature, thus: "If, then, each [word] has a meaning, and is capable of raising an idea in the mind, that idea must have its prototype in nature. It must either denote an exertion, and is therefore a verb; or a quality, and is, in that case, an adjective; or it must express an assemblage of qualities, such as is observed to belong to some individual object, and is, on this supposition, the name of such object, or a noun. ”

“ But it should be remembered that equivalence of meaning is not sameness of grammatical construction; and, even if the construction be the same, to parse other equivalent words, is not really to parse the text that is given. A good parser, with the liberty to supply obvious ellipses, should know how to explain all good English as it stands; and for a teacher to pervert good English into false doctrine, must needs seem the very worst kind of ignorance. What can be more fantastical than the following etymology, or more absurd than the following directions for parsing? ”

“ In the Grammar I have cut down the phonology to the narrowest limits, giving only what is necessary to enable the beginner to trace the connection of forms within the language itself. Derivation and syntax have been treated with the same fulness as the inflections. In my opinion, to give inflections without explaining their use is as absurd as it would be to teach the names of the different parts of a machine without explaining their use, and derivation is as much a fundamental element of a language as inflection. ”

“ An adjective, however, is capable of standing by itself as the predicate of a proposition; as when we say, Snow is white; and occasionally even as the subject, for we may say, White is an agreeable color. The adjective is often said to be so used by a grammatical ellipsis: Snow is white, instead of Snow is a white object; White is an agreeable color, instead of, A white color, or, The color white, is agreeable. The Greeks and Romans were allowed, by the rules of their language, to employ this ellipsis universally in the subject as well as in the predicate of a proposition. ”

“ Serjeant Parsing began, when he was interrupted by a solemn voice near him, as Dr. Syntax suddenly rose and said, “Active verbs govern the Objective Case; active verbs govern the Objective Case;” and then sat down again.
“I know what he means by that,” said Dr. Verb. “Active verbs are those whose action passes on to some one or something else, as in the sentence, ‘Harry kicked the cat,’ the action of kicking passed on to the poor cat; and in ‘I ate my dinner,’ the action of eating passed on and consumed the dinner; so kick and eat are both active verbs, and govern an Objective Case.” ”

“ The words may with much more propriety be parsed separately, the degree being ascribed to the adverb—or, if you please, to both words, for both are varied in sense by the inflection of the former. The degrees in which qualities may exist in nature, are infinitely various; but the only degrees with which the grammarian is concerned, are those which our variation of the adjective or adverb enables us to express—including, as of course we must, the state or sense of the primitive word, as one. ”

“ It is questionable, whether a noun or an adjective which follows the verb and forms part of the assertion, is to be included in "the grammatical predicate" or not. Wells says, No: "It would destroy at once all distinction between the grammatical and the logical predicate."--School Gram., p. 185. An other question is, whether the copula (is, was or the like,) which the logicians discriminate, should be included as part of the logical predicate, when it occurs as a distinct word. ”

“ Syntactic convertibility.—The combination to err, is at this moment an infinitive verb. Nevertheless it can be used as the equivalent to the substantive error.
To err is human = error is human. Now this is an instance of syntactic conversion. Of the two meanings, there is no doubt as to which is the primary one; which primary meaning is part and parcel of the language at this moment.
The infinitive, when used as a substantive, can be used in a singular form only. ”

“ But whatever may be its true derivation, no one can well deny that able, as a suffix, belongs most properly, if not exclusively, to verbs; for most of the words formed by it, are plainly a sort of verbal adjectives. And it is evident that this author is right in supposing that English words of this termination, like the Latin verbals in bilis, have, or ought to have, such a signification as may justify the name which he gives them, of "potential passive adjectives;" a signification in which the English and the Latin derivatives exactly correspond. ”

“ Even in etymological parsing, some regard must be had to the syntactical relations of words. By modifications, we commonly mean actual changes in the forms of words, by which their grammatical properties are inherently distinguished; but, in all languages, the distinguishable properties of words are somewhat more numerous than their actual variations of form; there being certain principles of universal grammar, which cause the person, number, gender, or case, of some words, to be inferred from their relation to others ”

“ But in syntactical parsing, in which we are to omit the definitions, and state the construction, we ought to explain what terms the preposition connects, and to give a rule adapted to this office of the particle. It is a palpable defect in nearly all our grammars, that their syntax contains NO SUCH RULE. "Prepositions govern the objective case," is a rule for the objective case, and not for the syntax of prepositions. ”

“ A word "written as a substantive," unquestionably is a substantive; but neither of these is here entitled to that name. Yet Smith, and other satellites of Murray, endorse his doctrine; and say, that good and bad in this example, and all adjectives similarly circumstanced, "may be considered nouns in parsing."--Smith's New Gram., p. 52. "An adjective with the definite article before it, becomes a noun, (of the third person, plural number,) and must be parsed as such."--R. G. Greene's Grammatical Text-Book, p. ”

“ But as they are now mostly understood as the signs of single things, the English method of adding s or es as a plural termination, should be generally followed as the best method; unless substantives and their articles should be restored to their original sense and use; but in either case the particles, an or en, as terminations of plural names, when the sense will admit of their being singular, and en does not express the male and female of the same kind, as men does both man and woman, seem to be improper. ”

“ Adjectives, which must agree in gender and number with the noun which they qualify, generally form the neuter by adding t, and their plural by adding e to the abstract singular form; as, en god Mand, 'a good man;' et godt Barn, 'a good child;' gode Drenge, 'good boys.'
When the adjective is preceded by the independent demonstrative article, den, det, de, it generally takes an e, as den gode Mand, det gode Barn, de gode Drenge. ”

“ Thus an agricultural dictionary will not be entered under Dictionaries, but under Agriculture, in a little division Dictionaries. Now and then some one asks for “a grammar,” “the dictionary.” It does not follow that it would be well to jumble together, under a form-heading, Grammars or Dictionaries, all grammars and lexicons in all languages. Those who inquire so vaguely must be made to state their wishes more definitely. The cataloguer does his part if he inserts a note under such headings explanatory of the practice of the catalogue ”

“ Such adjectives as one, each, every, etc., can be used only with singular nouns. Such adjectives as several, various, many, sundry, two, etc., can be used only with plural nouns. In many cases, the noun which the adjective modifies is omitted, and the adjective thus acquires the force of a pronoun; as, Few are seen, Several have come.
Page 40 The adjective pronouns this and that have plural forms, these and those. The plurals must be used with plural nouns. To say those kind is then incorrect. It should be those kinds. Those sort of men should be that sort of men or those sorts of men. ”

“ In our vocabulary
we frequently give the radical only or one of these derivativs, leaving the others to be inferred.
From any radical denoting a quality may be formed, by adding ik, an adjectiv attributing that quality, as gud, goodness, gudik, good; jap, sharpness, japik, sharp. Thus dropping ness is equivalent to adding ik, or vice versa. In this case we usually give the adjectiv only, leaving the student to drop the ik and add the ness or we give the noun only, leaving him to drop the ness and add the ik. ”

“ So that adjectives and participles are names, which imply assertions and attributes, as those of qualities, affections, and properties of substances and things generally; but making no compleat sense, nor determining any particular thing without being joined to another word as a daring, a daring man. In the English language they are not varied in respect to genders, numbers, cases, or otherwise, except as to the degrees of comparison.
The three degrees of comparison mentioned by grammarians, are the positive, comparative, and superlative ”

“ In compounding words, the usual mode has been, to prefix to the term denoting the principal idea the word denoting the accessory idea or circumstance by which the signification of the principal word is modified. Accordingly we find Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs modified by prefixing to them a Noun, an Adjective, a Verb, or a Preposition.
In forming compound words, a Rule of very general application is, that when the Subjunctive term begins with a Consonant, it is aspirated. ”

“ But, leaving “style” out of the question, a proof-reader should endeavor to have a reason for every omission he allows, and for every insertion he makes. We advise him, then, in the first place to note which method seems required by the golden rule of elucidating the meaning; then consider, further, if the sentence already contains commas, whether inserting more would offend the eye. Let him decide each case on its own merits; leaning, when in doubt, in favor of such grammatical rule as he may have adopted. But use judgment; for the most precise grammarians lay down pages of exceptions ”

“ Let the learner therefore be on his guard, remembering that grammar, both in its study and in its practice, requires the constant exercise of a rational discernment. Those letters which name themselves, take for their names those sounds which they usually represent at the end of an accented syllable; thus the names, A, E, I, O, U, are uttered with the sounds given to the same letters in the first syllables of the other names, Abel, Enoch, Isaac, Obed, Urim; or in the first syllables of the common words, paper, penal, pilot, potent, pupil. ”

“ Some writers have classed adjectives with verbs; because, with a neuter verb for the copula, they often form logical predicates: as, "Vices are contagious." The Latin grammarians usually class them with nouns; consequently their nouns are divided into nouns substantive and nouns adjective. With us, substantives are nouns; and adjectives form a part of speech by themselves. This is generally acknowledged to be a much better distribution. Adjectives cannot with propriety be called nouns, in any language; because they are not the names of the qualities which they signify. ”

“ Yet the knowledge of words that the student derives from the dictionary is not sufficient. When one hears an educated foreigner speak, he detects little errors in his use of words,—errors which are not the fault of definition, but errors in the idiomatic use of words. This use cannot be learned from a dictionary, where words are studied individually, but only by studying them in combination with other words where the influence of one word upon another may be noted. ”

“ And a little experience will satisfy any man, that the young will as easily apprehend them, as gender, number, declension, and other grammar-terms." See R. Johnson's Grammatical Commentaries, p. 4.
11. It is true, that the relation of words—by which I mean that connexion between them, which the train of thought forms and suggests—or that dependence which one word has on an other according to the sense—lies at the foundation of all syntax. No rule or principle of construction can ever have any applicability beyond the limits, or contrary to the order, of this relation. ”

“ E predominates so remarkably that an individual sentence of any length is rarely seen in which it is not the prevailing character.
“Here, then, we have, in the very beginning, the groundwork for something more than a mere guess. The general use which may be made of the table is obvious—but, in this particular cipher, we shall only very partially require its aid. As our predominant character is 8, we will commence by assuming it as the e of the natural alphabet. ”