its unity and name, as the Anglo-Saxon language; but has created in it a variety and multiplicity of words, which have enriched the language, and made its aptitude of embodying foreign words within itself, one of its special characteristics.

6. The second peculiarity of the English language is the constant uniformity in the arrangement of the principal parts of a sentence, towit: First, the subject; second, the copula or predicate verb; third, the object of a verb or preposition. This fixedness of position of the principal elements of a sentence, forms almost an invariable rule in the English language.

This peculiarity arises from the want of change in the terminations of nouns, adjectives and verbs; and is therefore, absolutely necessary for the exact understanding of the meaning of a sentence or period, and for avoiding equivocation.

7. The cause of this peculiarity of the English language, as compared with other languages, deserves a more ample notice. We shall therefore make a short digression, in order to trace it back to its original source.

8. We may pre-suppose, in the first place,

(6.) What is the second peculiarity of the English language? Whence does it arise?

that, in a wide sense, "language is a collection of conventional signs, established for the conveyance of ideas and internal emotions, by the members of human society; which signs may be expressed by some organ of the human body, such as the tongue, eye and hand." In a more particular sense, "Language is the collection of sounds, articulated by the organs of speech, expressive of ideas and internal emotions." The word language is derived from the Latin lingua, which means tongue, the tongue being the principal organ employed for the expression of ideas.

9. The ideas which men communicate to each other, are principally of four kinds; first, ideas of objects, either material or immaterial; second, ideas of qualities of objects; third, ideas of the state or condition of objects; either active, passive' or neuter state; fourth, ideas of the mode and degree of the state of objects.

10. To these four kinds of ideas communi

(8.) What is language in a general sense?

How may language be defined in a more particular sense?
Whence is the word language derived?

(9.) How many kinds of ideas do men communicate to each other?

Name the first-second-third--fourth kind.

cated by men to each other, a fifth may be added, namely, that of a sudden emotion of the mind caused by the perception of an extraordinary object, and an extraordinary quality, or state of the object.

11. To express these five kinds of ideas, nations have adopted, in their respective languages, five classes of articulated sounds. The first class of articulated sounds, which expresses ideas of objects, has been termed, by a generic word,

name, or noun.

The second class of sounds, which expresses qualities of objects, has been called adjective.

The third class of sounds, which expresses the action, passion, or state of being of objects, has been called verb, either active, or passive, or

neuter.

The fourth class of sounds, which expresses the mode or degree of the action, passion, or state of being, has been named adverb; and the fifth class of sounds, which indicates a sudden emotion of

(10.) What is the fifth kind of ideas or emotions? (11.) How many are the classes of articulated sounds used to express these five kinds of ideas and internal emotions?

How has the first class, which expresses ideas of objects, been termed ?

What is the name of the second--third-fourth-fifth?

the mind, or the perception of something extraordinary, has been termed interjection.

12. These five kinds of ideas and perceptions. may be caused in the mind by nearly all objects which exist; especially those which are connected with man's life, and his existence in society. Hence, the use of signs whereby to express them, is absolutely indispensable to a man in his intercourse with others.

13. For this reason, the five before-mentioned classes of articulated sounds, namely, the Noun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, and Interjection, may be considered as essential parts of a spoken language; without which, it would be impossible to discourse with others, even imperfectly, on scarcely any subject. These parts are called by grammarians, parts of speech.

14. The other parts of language, termed also parts of speech, (which vary as to the number in

(12.) Are all objects that exist, capable of causing in the mind the five kinds of ideas and emotions above enumerated?

Are these signs, expressive of those five kinds of ideas and emotions, absolutely necessary to a man in society?

(13.) Are the five before-mentioned classes of articulated sounds essential parts of a spoken language? How are they called by grammarians?

the different languages of nations), namely, the Article, Pronoun, Participle, Conjunction, and Preposition, although necessary for the full conveyance of the speaker's meaning, as well as for the connection and dependence of the words, are not so indispensable, that, without them, the meaning of the speaker may not be understood, from other adjuncts at least. So, we often understand Indians and Asiatics, who express their ideas by disconnected and ungrammatical sentences. Hence, the last five classes or parts of speech just mentioned, may be regarded, in a strict sense, as nonessential parts of a language.

15. The five essential parts of language, with the exception of interjections, admit of some properties which are deemed accidental, and are called by grammarians, modifications.

16. The accidental properties of NOUNS are gender, number, and case; of VERBS, are moods, tenses, numbers, and persons; of ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS, are degrees. INTERJECTIONS have no accidental properties.

14.) What are the other parts of language?

Are they essential? Why not?

(15.) Have the essential parts of language any properties? (16.) What are the accidental properties of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, interjections?