Johnson's Dictionary of the English language, for the use of schools. With a collection of philological, literary, and historical articles

at the same time, distinguishes the syllable itself to which it belongs from the others which compose the word. Thus, in the word hab'it, the accent upon the b distinguishes that letter from the others, and the first syllable from the last. In the word repu'te the u is the distinguished letter, and the syllable which contains it the distinguished syllable: but in the word reputable, the seat of the accent is changed to the first syllable, and p becomes the distinguished letter. The great distinction of our accent depends upon its seat, which may be either upon a vowel or a consonant. Upon a vowel, as in the words glory, father, holy; upon a consonant, as in the words hab'it, bat'tle, borrow. When the accent is on the vowel, the syllable is long; because the accent is made by dwelling upon the vowel. When it is on the consonant, the syllable is short; because the accent is made by passing rapidly over the vowel, and giving a smart stroke of the voice to the following consonant."

The acknowledged utility of a Dictionary is the facility which it affords for immediate and ready reference; but in most of the editions of Johnson the antiquated system of alphabetically commingling the letters I-J and U—V, whether initials or medials, has been pertinaciously retained. Now as these letters are no longer considered as synonymous, the system is usually productive of much perplexity, and even uncertainty, in searching for any word commencing with those letters. Hence the editor has considered a complete remodification absolutely necessary, and has accordingly inserted each of them separately, whether they occur at the beginning or in the middle of words, the I's preceding the J's, and the U's preceding the V's. Thus, for example, the word "Idea," will not be found after "javelin" or "jaundice," but in its proper alphabetical place among the I's; and the word "Inure," instead of being inserted, as heretofore, at some distance after the word "invent," will appear in its legitimate position among the preceding Inu's. In the same manner, the words "subingression" and "subitaneous" are here made to precede the words "subjacent" and "subject," instead of following them, as in many editions, at an almost undiscoverable distance.

LONDON, June 1855.

P. A. NUTTALL.

The words that constitute our language are classified under eight distinct heads, which received their names from the Romans, called "Parts of Speech" they consist of the NOUN SUBSTANTIVE, the ADJECTIVE, the PRONOUN, the VERB, the ADVERB, the PREPOSITION, the CONJUNCTION, and INTERJECTION. They are found appended to each word in the dictionary, and are thus abbreviated:

The four first parts of speech being declinable, or variable in grammatical formation, have different collateral words emanating from them, which are thus abbreviated :

part........ participle

....

part. a. ...participial adjective part. pass... participle passive pret.........preterite

s. pl. ........substantive plural
v. a........... verb active
v. n..........verb neuter
v. imp..

........verb impersonal

The first eight, however, comprehend all the leading parts of speech; and each of the 60,000 words, of which our language is composed, belongs to one or other of them. Thus the NOUN SUBSTANTIVE (derived from the Latin nomen substantivum) is "the name" of any thing that possesses "substantiality" or abstract being.-The NOUN ADJECTIVE (from the Latin adjectum) is a word "added to" the substantive, to signify the addition of some quality, circumstance, or manner of being.-The PRONOUN (from the Latin pro nomine) is used in "place of the Noun," to avoid tautological repetition.The VERB (from the Latin verbum) is "the word" of a sentence, which asserts, commands, or inquires, and completes its grammatical construction.— The ADVERB (from the Latin ad verbum) is a word appended "to a verb," to express some circumstance relating to it; that is, to qualify it, or define the manner how.-The PREPOSITION (from the Latin præpositum) is a word "placed before" a noun or pronoun to show its relation to something previously mentioned.-The CONJUNCTION (from the Latin conjunctio) is used for the "joining together" of words or sentences.-The INTERJECTION (from

the Latin interjectum) is an abrupt exclamation "thrown between " the words of a sentence.

Such is a brief explanation of what are significantly called the "Parts of Speech," which are found to exist in all languages. But on referring to the dictionary the student will find words innumerable which are both substantives and verbs, or substantives and adjectives, or verbs active and neuter, according to the respective senses in which they are used. Thus the common word "Act" is explained as a verb active, a verb neuter, and a substantive; while "Except" appears not only as a verb active and neuter, but also as a preposition and a conjunction. Hence arises the necessity of clearly understanding the true import and value of these terms, which, in truth, constitute the nomenclature of grammar and the fulcrum of philology.

LIST OF CONTENTS

PREFIXED AND APPENDED TO THE DICTIONARY.

INTRODUCTION :—

On the ORIGIN, CONSTRUCTION, and DERIVATION of the ENGLISH