(1) a Full-stop at the end of a sentence and after abbreviations-e.g., viz., ult., i.e., M.P., B.A., K.G., Bart. (2) a Colon or a Semicolon between sentences grammatically independent, but closely connected in sense and not very long. These stops are not used extensively by most writers at the present day. Rapid readers like to have their sentences chopped up short, so that the meaning may be taken in at a glance. (3) a Comma to separate— (a) short co-ordinate sentences: (b) subordinate from principal clauses: (c) the noun in apposition: (d) and the nominative of address: (e) and quotations: f) and a series of words having the same construction: e.g. 'Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow.' (4) a Dash, to separate parentheses and introduce quotations. Some writers have a fondness for the dash and employ it in places where the comma or semicolon would do equally well. Sterne in the last century and Mr Besant in our own make free use of the dash. (5) Inverted Commas, to introduce and to end a quotation. (7) a Note of Exclamation after interjections and exclamations. These rules are 'few and simple.' The student must bear in mind that in using stops at all our sole object is to make our meaning clear; that the insertion of unnecessary stops is a hindrance rather than a help to the reader; that punctuation admits of very few hard and fast laws; that the usage of different writers varies; and that the author is frequently at the mercy of the printer in the matter of stops. Hence it seems a waste of time to burden the memory with elaborate principles of punctuation.] 23. Punctuate the following passage and insert capitals: No one venerates the peerage more than I do but my lords I must say that the peerage solicited me not I the peerage nay more I can say and will say that as a peer of parliament as speaker of this right honourable house as keeper of the great seal as guardian of his majesty's conscience as lord high chancellor of england nay even in that character alone in which the noble duke would think it an affront to be considered as a man I am at this moment as respectable I beg leave to add I am at this moment as much respected as the proudest peer I now look down upon. Thurlow. 285 APPENDIX I. DEFINITIONS OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL Grammar is the science which treats of words and their correct use. Orthoëpy deals with the correct pronunciation of words. Orthography deals with the correct spelling or writing of words. Etymology deals with the classification of words, their derivation and inflexion. Syntax deals with the combination of words in sentences, their government, agreement, and order. Parts of Speech are the classes into which the words of a language fall, when they are arranged according to their separate functions in a sentence. Inflexion is a variation in the form of a word to mark a modification of its meaning. The Accidence of a language consists of the sum-total of the inflexions which the words in a language undergo. Analytic and synthetic are terms applied respectively to languages which have few or many inflexions. A Noun is the name of anything. A Common Noun is one which can be applied to an indefinite number of things in the same sense. A Singular Noun is one which can be applied to only one thing in the same sense. A Proper Noun is a singular name assigned to an individual as a mere distinguishing mark. 3 A Collective Noun is one which denotes a number of things regarded as forming a whole. A Concrete Noun is the name of a thing regarded as possessing attributes. An Abstract Noun is the name of an attribute or quality of a thing. The sum-total of the inflexions marking number and case of a noun or pronoun is called its Declension. Gender is the form of a noun or pronoun corresponding in English to the sex of the thing named. Number is an inflexion which shows whether we are speaking of one thing or of more than one. Case is the form of a noun or pronoun which shows its relation to other words in the sentence. An Adjective is a word which is used with a noun to limit its application. A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. A Relative Pronoun is one which refers to some other noun or pronoun, called its antecedent, and has the force of a conjunction, A Verb is a word with which we can make an assertion. A Transitive Verb is one which indicates an action directed towards some object. An Intransitive Verb is one which indicates a state, or an action which is not directed towards an object. A Reflexive Verb is one in which the subject and the object are the same. A Verb of Incomplete Predication is one which requires the addition of some other word to complete its meaning. The word which is added to complete the meaning of a verb of Incomplete Predication is called the Complement of the Predicate. An Auxiliary Verb is one which is used to supply the place of inflexions in the conjugation of another verb. A Notional Verb is one which has a meaning of its own. An Impersonal Verb is one in which the source of the action is not expressed. The sum-total of the inflexions of a verb is called its Conjugation. Voice is the form of a verb which shows whether the subject of the sentence stands for the doer or for the object of the action expressed by the verb. The Active Voice is that form of the verb which shows that the subject of the sentence stands for the doer of the action expressed by the verb. The Passive Voice is that form of the verb which shows that the subject of the sentence stands for the object of the action expressed by the verb. Mood is the form of a verb which shows the mode or manner in which the action is represented. The Indicative Mood contains the forms used (1) to make statements of fact, (2) to ask questions, and (3) to express suppositions in which the events are treated as if they were facts. The Imperative Mood contains the form used to give commands The Subjunctive Mood contains the forms used to represent actions or states conceived as possible or contingent, but not asserted as facts. The Infinitive Mood is the form which denotes actions or states without reference to person, number, or time. A Gerund is a verbal noun in -ing which, when formed from a transitive verb, can take after it an object. A Participle is a verbal adjective. The active participle of a transitive verb differs from an ordinary adjective in taking an object. Tense is the form of a verb which shows the time at which the action is represented as occurring and the completeness or incompleteness of the action. A Simple Tense is one which is expressed by a single word. A Compound Tense is one which is expressed by the help of an auxiliary verb. Perfect and Imperfect are terms applied respectively to tenses denoting actions which are completed or in progress. A Weak Verb is one which forms its past tense by adding -ed, -d, or -t, to the present. A Strong Verb is one which forms its past tense by change of vowel without the addition of any suffix. Person is the form of a verb which shows whether the subject of the sentence stands for the speaker, for the person addressed, or for some other thing. An Adverb is a word which modifies the meaning of a verb, adjective, or other adverb. A Conjunctive Adverb is one which joins sentences. A Preposition is a word which is used with a noun, or pronoun, to show its relation to some other word in the sentence. A Conjunction is a word, other than a relative pronoun or conjunctive adverb, which joins words and sentences. A Co-ordinating Conjunction is one which joins co-ordinate or independent clauses. A Subordinating Conjunction is one which joins a dependent clause to the principal clause. A Sentence is the complete expression of a thought in words. A Clause is a part of a sentence containing a finite verb. A Phrase is a collection of words without a finite verb. A Simple Sentence contains only one subject and one finite verb. A Compound Sentence contains two or more independent clauses joined by co-ordinating conjunctions. A Complex Sentence contains two or more clauses, of which at least one is dependent. It might also be defined as a sentence which contains a clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction. The Subject of a sentence is the word which stands for the thing about which the assertion is made. The Predicate is the word by means of which the assertion is made. The Object of a verb is the word which stands for the thing towards which the action indicated by the verb is directed. Concord is the agreement of two or more connected words as regards their gender, number, case, or person. Government is the influence exercised upon the case of a noun, or pronoun, by another word. Order is the arrangement of words in a sentence. |