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I. Why are such words as big, great, large, small, placed among qualitative adjectives? Do they not mark quantity?

They mark size, but not amount: they indicate the dimensions of the thing, but not how much of it we refer to.

2. Where are the Ordinal Numerals, first, second, third, etc.?

Their place is among the Demonstrative adjectives, which point out a thing by marking its relation to ourselves or to some other thing. What is this to me is that to you, and vice versa. A thing is fifth in relation to other things which are fourth and sixth. The word fifth answers the question Which? not the questions How many? or How much?

3. If we say ‘blind Milton,' ‘patriotic Hampden,' 'the resounding ocean,' do these adjectives limit the application of the nouns ?

No, for the nouns already name objects which are single or individual. 'Milton' or 'Hampden' is the name of one thing: there is only one ocean. We must understand these expressions as condensed forms of saying 'Milton who was blind,' 'Hampden who was patriotic,' 'the ocean which is resounding.'

4. Why should all and half be classed as Indefinite?

Because they are clearly lacking in numerical definiteness. All may be five or fifty: the same thing is true of half. They express a definite proportion, but not a definite number.

On the other hand none and both must be placed amongst the Definite Quantitative Adjectives, for though all is Indefinite, since it does not express how many, none is as Definite as possible, since it expresses the absence of any. Both, again, means two, but two taken together.

105. The student may find it helpful towards a clear understanding of the classification of adjectives, if he reads the examples given below in their respective groups.

1. Adjectives of Quality: thick, wise, sad, tall, magnificent, modern, holy, native, senior.

2. Adjectives of Quantity:

(i) Definite; Cardinal Numerals, one, two, fifty, no, none, both.

(ii) Indefinite; many, any, some, all, few, half, several, most.

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(ii) Pronominal Adjectives of various kinds: this, what, any, each, his. These we shall deal with in Chapter xiv.

(iii) The Ordinal Numerals, first, twentieth, thousandth.

106. Some Adjectives are used as Nouns.

(a) 'The good, the true, the beautiful,' may be substituted for 'goodness, truth, beauty.' We describe these words as Adjectives employed as Abstract Nouns.

(b) 'The wise,' 'rich and poor,' signify 'wise people,' 'rich and poor people.' We describe these words as Adjectives employed as Concrete Nouns.

(c) Several adjectives have become nouns so completely that they take a plural and a possessive inflexion. Thus, we say Romans, Germans (not however Frenches or Dutches, probably on euphonic grounds, because of the sibilant ending of the adjective), Gladstonians, Jacobites, seniors, elders, betters, ancients, blacks, whites, 'form fours!' 'things are all sixes and sevens, others.

107. Remarks on the Forms of the Numerals. 1. Cardinals indicate the number of things spoken of. They answer the question How many?

One appears with a negative prefix in none-no one: in the possessive case as an adverb in once: as a noun in the plural, 'her little ones.' Five has lost before the v an n which is kept in German fünf, Latin quinque.

Ten supplies the ending -teen to numerals from 13 to 19, and -ty to multiples of 10 up to 90.

Eleven is composed of e or en, meaning 'one,' (compare German ein), and lev or lif which is really the same as dec- in decem, the Latin for 'ten,' though its identity is wonderfully disguised. Yet we see how I can take the place of d if we compare 'Odyssey' and 'Ulysses,' and in our pronunciation of enough, a guttural g has become ƒ.

Twelve similarly contains two + lif, duo + decim, dw-deka.

By some authorities, however, the lif in eleven and twelve is regarded, not as the equivalent of dec-em or déx-a, but as radically connected with the verb leave. If this is the case, eleven and twelve stand respectively for 'one-left' (over ten), 'two-left' (over ten).

Dozen is from douze, Latin duodecim. Here on the contrary we have a case of borrowing-from the French.

Score is from an Old English word, meaning 'to scratch, or notch': it is used now as a verb signifying 'to keep an account. As a noun it sometimes means 'twenty,'-perhaps because twenty was the number of notches marked on one tally or stick,—and sometimes means an indefinite number: 'He made a good score.'

Million is from the Latin mille, ‘a thousand,' with an augmentative suffix -on, signifying 'a big thousand,' just as balloon signifies 'a big ball' and trombone 'a big trumpet.'

2.

Ordinals indicate the position in a series of the things spoken of. First is the superlative of fore, 'most in front,' the o being altered by Umlaut. See p. 50.

Second is from the Latin secundus, 'following,' from sequor, 'I follow.' Our native word was other.

Third was once thrid, retained in the word Riding= Thriding= Thirding, 'a little third,' of Yorkshire. This transposition is called metathesis. See p. 51.

It should be noticed that with the exception of the words second, dozen, million, billion, &c., our numerals are of English origin.

3. Multiplicatives indicate how many times the thing spoken of exceeds some other thing. They are formed by adding -fold to the Cardinals: e.g. twentyfold, hundredfold.

108. The so-called Articles. The words the and an or a are Demonstrative adjectives. In parsing, we may describe the as a demonstrative adjective commonly called the definite article, and an or a as a demonstrative adjective commonly called the indefinite article.

In Old English the was a demonstrative pronoun, declined in three genders, singular and plural. That was its neuter singular.

An is another form of the numeral adjective one. The n is thus part of the root. We have not added n to a, but have dropped the n before words beginning with a consonantal sound.

109. Points of interest connected with the words the and an or a are discussed in the following paragraphs.

I. Do the and an differ so widely from Adjectives as to justify grammarians in regarding them as forming a separate Part of speech?

Let us inquire, first, in what respects they resemble the adjectives that and one, and secondly, in what respects they differ from the adjectives that and one.

In the first place, what are the points of similarity?

(1) They resemble that and one in their force: 'the book' is a weaker form of 'that book,' 'a book' of 'one book.'

(2) They are connected with that and one in their origin: that was the neuter of the, an was the older form of one.

On the other hand, what are the points of difference?

(1) That and one are used as adjectives and as pronouns, the and an are used only as adjectives. Thus we can say 'Give me that book,' 'Give me one book,' using that and one as adjectives, or we can say 'Give me that,' 'Give me one,' using that and one as pronouns or substitutes for nouns. But although we can say 'Give me the book,' 'Give me a book,' using the and a as adjectives, we cannot say 'Give me the,' 'Give me a,' using the and a as pronouns.

(2) An ordinary adjective can be used either attributively, as in the expression, ‘the black horse,' or predicatively, as in the expression, 'The horse is black.' Now the Articles can be used only attributively. We can say 'Sovereignty is one and indivisible,' but we cannot say 'Sovereignty is an and indivisible.' We can say 'John is lazy: James is that also,' but we cannot say 'James is the also.'

But this restriction about the use of the and an affords quite insufficient reason for constituting a new Part of Speech which shall consist of these two words. For there are other adjectives which do not admit of being used to form predicates. We cannot say 'This is my, that is your,' any more than we can say 'This is the, that is an.' this peculiarity does not prevent us from calling my and your adjectives. Why then should the and an be differently regarded?

2. When is an used instead of a?

But

Before words beginning with a vowel, or a silent h, as in heir, honest; but words beginning with a y, or with a u which has the sound of y before it, take a: thus we say 'an utter failure,' but 'a useful machine.' To speak of 'an university' sounds rather pedantic. Words beginning

with an aspirate, however, if accented on the second syllable, commonly take an: thus we speak of an habitual offence,' 'an historic character,' 'an heroic incident,' although, we say 'a habit,' 'a history,' 'a hero.'

3. What are the chief uses of the?

(a) to point out a thing: 'Give me the book,-not the red one, the black one."

(b) to specify objects which are well known to us: 'Let us have a walk in the garden'; 'the village,' 'the church.'

(c) to indicate things of which only a single specimen exists: 'the Alps,' 'the Atlantic,' 'the Thames.' Hence also with superlatives, 'the meanest of mankind,' 'the highest point,' as these are singular objects.

(d) to signify a class, with nouns in the singular number or with adjectives: 'the horse,' 'the ant'; 'the rich,' 'the wise.'

(e) in colloquial language with emphasis on the word the, to give the force of a superlative: 'Here comes the cricketer,' meaning 'the best cricketer.'

(f) as an adverb with comparatives: 'the more the better.' This signifies 'by that much the more by so much the better,' like the Latin quo and eo. The is here a survival of the Old English ablative or instrumental case, thi, from the definite article or demonstrative pronoun

the.

4.

What are the chief uses of an or a?

(a) to signify one: 'three men in a boat', 'two of a trade': 'In a year or two he will come down to a shilling a day.'

(b) to signify any one: 'If a body meet a body:' 'A horse is a vain thing for safety.'

(c) to signify some one, or a certain one: 'A policeman told me there was a fire:' 'He has a great liking for sport.'

QUESTIONS.

I. Give the derivation and definition of the term adjective.

Distinguish the different kinds of adjectives in the sentence:-'Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.'

Give one example of each kind of adjective not represented in the preceding sentence.

[Adjective is from Latin adjectivum, 'what can be added on."]

2. Is it right to say that an Adjective marks the quality of a Noun ?

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