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While the rule for the changing of the final y to i, when preceded by a consonant, applies to derivatives, it does not apply to compounds. Thus, we have penniless but pennyworth, merciful but mercy-seat.

Before ing and ish the final y is retained to prevent the doubling of i; as, pity, pitying, baby, babyish.

Words ending in ie, dropping the e, change the i into y to prevent doubling the i on taking an additional syllable beginning with i; as, die, dying; lie, lying.

Ize or ise ?-In words ending in ize or ise, sounded alike, as in size and wise, z is used in such as are formed essentially by means of the termination; as, apologize, philosophize, sympathize, brutalize; and s is used in such as are formed essentially by means of prefixes; as, rise, arise, advise, devise, supervise, surmise, comprise, compromise.

There are, however, many exceptions to this rule, as in the words advertise, catechise, chastise, criticise, exercise, exorcise, merchandise; also, size, assize, capsize, detonize, recognize.

If the rule could be made effective it would be the means of rejecting many variable spellings.

Some words ending in l drop one I in composition; as, all, always; full, beautiful, artful; well, welfare.

Of words ending in or or our, there are more than three hundred, but few of them now, in America at least, retain the form our. Labour, behaviour, honour, and endeavour, though occasionally so written in England, are, in the United States, written with the termination or instead of our, and this whole class of words will probably at no distant day become uniform in the use of the termination or, just as the k has disappeared from such words as musick, publick, logick, etc.

Able and ible.-It is frequently difficult to remember which of these endings to use in the writing of

certain words. Is it collectable or collectible? The only safe guide seems to be one's knowledge of Latin. For the first conjugation the termination is abilis, from which we get able, as in arable. For the second conjugation the termination is ibilis, from which we get ible, as in docible. For the third and the fourth conjugation it is ibilis, giving us ible. But to one who has not been a student of Latin these rules will be of little use, and yet nothing more satisfactory can be offered.

The tendency at the present time in the case of such words as center, is to use the termination ter rather than tre, though either is correct, and we may write center or centre, theater or theatre.

Many words of the language have two or more forms, with authority for each; as, plough, plow; inquiry, enquiry; hight, height; indorse, endorse; meter, metre.

Frequently words are written by inserting an apostrophe for an omitted letter or letters. Thus, we have don't for do not, doesn't for does not, isn't for is not, won't for woll not, the old form of will not, I'll for I will, sha'n't for shall not, ma'am for madam, 'tis and it's for it is, e'en for even, e'er for ever, o'er for over, pr'ythee for I pray thee, o'clock for of the clock, and many others.

Ie or ei? In words containing the combinations ie or ei, c is usually followed by ei and the other consonants by ie, but there are some exceptions to this rule; as, seize, seizure, leisure, weird.

Always write c with ian, never tian.

A late writer on orthography says there are only eleven efies, derived from arefy, calefy, humefy, liquefy, madefy, rarefy, putrefy, tabefy, torrefy, stupefy, defy; thus, liquefied, rarefied, etc. All the others are ifies; as, simplify, simplified, verify, verifies, verified. Even of the eleven efies, not more than six are words in common use.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

THE object of this book is not to give a full discussion of the subject of English Grammar, but simply to present such points in both the etymology and the syntax of our language as are likely to be interesting and useful to writers and speakers.

There are many parts of grammar which, while useful and interesting to the student and the teacher of English, are of comparatively little importance to one who desires simply to know how to write or speak the language correctly. These it has been thought best to omit, as being in a measure foreign to the purpose of giving practical help in the use of good English.

The words of our language are divided according to their use into classes called parts of speech. These classes are known as nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Under this classification adjectives are made to include articles, and verbs to include participles.

Every word in the English language may be placed in some one of these classes, according to the use made of the word in expressing thought.

Each of these classes has its special function,-the noun to represent names of things; the pronoun to act as a substitute for a noun; the verb to express action, state or being; the adjective to modify the meaning of a noun or a pronoun; the adverb to modify the meaning of an adjective, a verb, or another adverb; the

preposition to show relation; the conjunction to connect; and the interjection to express emotion.

NOUNS.

Any name of an object is a noun. The word object, as here used, is meant to include anything that can be thought of, whether perceptible to the senses or not. For instance, the senses give us no perception of time, cause, space, and other intuitive ideas, or of spirit, soul, or the mind itself, but we know that all these things exist, and their names are therefore classed as nouns.

The names of signs, symbols, words, etc., are nouns when spoken of, as the italicised words in the following sentences: "A is a vowel ;""The is usually an article;" "I is a pronoun;" "+(plus) is the sign of addition."

Any part of a sentence when used as a name may be called a noun, as the phrase admission free in the following: "Admission free" was posted on the walls.

The most important division of nouns, so far as writing correctly is concerned, is that into Common and Proper nouns; that is, names representing classes; as, boy, girl, ocean, city; and nouns having individual or particular names; as, John, Mary, Atlantic, Philadelphia.

The chief thing to be observed in the writing of nouns is that every proper noun should begin with a capital

letter.

When a proper noun is made to denote a class, as "He was the Cicero of his age;" that is, "the orator of his age," it becomes a common noun, but the capital letter is retained.

When a common noun is used as the name of a particular object, it becomes a proper noun, and is written with a capital letter; as, "The Park;" "The College;" "The River."

When two or more words are used to express but one proper name, as General Meade, William Henry Russell, Queen Victoria, Duke of Kent, Chesapeake Bay, it constitutes but one name, known as a complex proper noun, and each of its principal or component parts begins with a capital letter.

When a noun consists of two or more parts consolidated or united by a hyphen, as grandfather, son-in-law, it is known as a compound noun.

Many proper names, of which there are said to be over 70,000 of places alone, had their origin in common names or common adjectives; thus, Brook, Dale, Hill, Woods, Rivers, Waters,-names of natural objects; Brown, White, Green, Black, Gray,-names of colors; Smith, Carpenter, Driver, Seaman, Sailor, Fisher, Bishop,-names of occupations; Wolf, Fox, Sheep, Bear, Beaver, Hare,― names of animals.

Frequent compounds occur, as Whiteman, Greenman, Greenwood, Gottlieb (God love), Greenhut (green hat), Peterson (son of Peter), Johnson, Jackson, Williamson.

Nouns are further divided into collective, verbal, and abstract.

The collective noun is the name of a group or collection; thus, flock (of sheep), herd (of cattle or swine), drove (of horses), covey (of partridges), audience (of hearers), bevy (of girls), group (of paintings), crowd (of people), congregation (of people), school (of learners), are all collective nouns.

NUMBER.

One of the chief things to be considered in connection with nouns is number.

1. Usually nouns form their plurals by annexing s to the singular when the sound of that letter will coalesce

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