The child learns; children learn. 42. Person has the same significance with the verb as with the noun. The change of person in the verb is due to change of person in the subject, and must in most cases be determined from the form of the subject; as, I heard; you heard; he heard. I hear; thou hearest; he hears. 43. English is not a highly inflected language. Inflectional endings were used in early English, but they have largely disappeared from modern English. The decay of inflected forms has especially affected the noun and the verb. Other means than inflections are used to indicate the various uses of these two parts of speech. The case relations of the noun are freely indicated by prepositional phrases rather than by inflectional endings (see § 197); and the variations of voice, mode, and tense are indicated by verb phrases rather than by mode signs and tense endings (see § 194). CHAPTER IV THE NOUN: CLASSES AND DECLENSION Classes of Nouns 44. A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing; as, Lincoln, Rome, tree, beauty. 1. Any word or sign used as the name of a thing is a noun. When you say "Run is a verb," or "Dot your i," run and i are names of things and are therefore nouns. 2. Groups of words, both phrases and clauses, may be used as nouns. When you say "Over the fence is out," or "I saw what he brought," the phrase 66 over the fence" and the clause "what he brought " name the things talked of just as nouns do. All words or groups of words performing the office of a noun are called substantives. Examples of words and expressions used as substantives: (1) Mind your p's and q's. (2) His firstly and secondly became tiresome. (3) Your if's are too frequent. (4) Mrs. Taft gives weekly at homes. (5) On to Richmond became the motto. (6) Why he came is a mystery. 45. Nouns are of two classes: proper and com mon. A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing, and is always written with a capital initial letter. Titles and personified objects, that is, common things spoken of as persons, are also proper any one of a 46. A common noun is the name of class of persons, places, or things; as scholar, soldier, tree, village, field, pencil. Four classes of common nouns receive special names: collective, abstract, diminutive, and compound. 1. A collective noun names a group or collection of objects; as, dozen, team, class, family. 2. Abstract nouns name a quality, action, or condition without reference to any object to which the quality, action, or condition may belong. They are derived from adjectives, verbs, or other nouns; as, truth (true) movement (move) childhood (child) hearing (hear) 3. A diminutive noun names an object and signifies that it is a small or young or insignificant example of the object named; as, rivulet, duckling, booklet, bootee, playlet. 4. A compound noun consists of two or more words which may also be used independently; as bookcase, blackberry, pickpocket, son-in-law. EXERCISE 7 Give the class to which the following nouns belong and specify how each should be written : General, major, street, school, moon, venus, headland, laziness, simplicity, multitude, indian, inkstand, singing, army, roadside, mercy, chairman, leader, director, doctor, negro, china, western, sight, beauty, selfishness. Declension of Nouns 47. Nouns are inflected to indicate difference in number, gender, and case. Difference of person is not indicated by change of form. 48. Nouns have two numbers: the singular, denoting one thing of the kind named by the noun; and the plural, denoting more than one. 49. The plural of nouns is regularly formed by adding s or es to the singular; as, dogs, horses, churches. 1. Nouns ending in s, x, z, sh, or ch, add es; as, gases, boxes, adzes, sashes, starches. 2. Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel add s; as, days, rays, moneys, valleys. 3. Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant change y to i and add es; as, ladies, bodies, stories. 4. Nouns ending in f, ff, or fe change the ƒ to v and add es; as, halves, wives, loaves, staves. But a few nouns merely add s to the for ff; as, roofs, puffs, cliffs, cuffs, muffs. 5. Nouns ending in o add s or es; as, solos, folios, porticos, oratorios, cantos, tally-hos; calicoes, potatoes, echoes, mottoes, heroes, tomatoes, cargoes, negroes. 50. A few nouns form their plural contrary to rule and must be learned individually : Dice (die), pence (penny), and pease (pea) are rare plurals with meanings different from the meaning of the singular. 51. Proper names with titles, as Mr., Miss, or Mrs., form the plural by changing the title; as, Dr. Holmes Drs. Holmes Mr. Grimm Miss Alcott Mrs. Ward Messrs. Grimm Misses Alcott (also Miss Alcotts) Mistresses Ward, Mesdames Ward (also 52. Some nouns lack the singular or plural form, or use the same form for both numbers. 1. The following nouns have no plural: (1) Names of material; as, gold, lead, clay, flesh, blood. (2) Abstract nouns; as, peace, pride, happiness. 2. Some nouns have no singular; for example: ashes, bellows, annals, clothes, measles, trousers, victuals, vitals, thanks. 3. Some nouns use the same form for both numbers; as, deer, sheep, swine, trout, shad. 4. Some nouns have a plural form but are regularly used as singular; as, news, politics, ethics, mathematics, physics. |