approaches in signification so nearly to a positive article, that in lan- Sithe thus of two contraries is o lore; and so in the more ancient MS. Poem of the Man in the Moon 66 66 He hath his o foot his other to foren; tinctions. but it was still accented as a separate word; whereas the article a (as was before observed of the other article the) is passed over hastily in pronunciation, as a mere prefix to the general term, which it serves to individualize. Again, the numeral one (like the relative that) is capable of being used alone, which the article a or an is not. We may say, one seeks fame, another riches, and a third, the wisest of the three, content;" but if we use the article, we must add its substantive, as a man should seek content, rather than fame, or riches.” 309. It is unnecessary to enter into those distinctions of the article, Other diswhich do not coincide with the definition above given of this part of speech. Such is the distinction often found in the Greek grammarians between the prepositive and subjunctive articles. The prepositive, viz. ô, ǹ, rò, is what I have called the relative article: the subjunctive, viz. ôs, », ô, is what I have called the subjunctive pronoun. The latter, it is inanifest, has no effect whatever in individualizing a general term; because it is only employed in a dependent sentence, with reference to a term which must have been individualized in the prior or leading sentence. The learned HICKES, in that valuable work the Thesaurus linguarum Septentrionalium, suggests that the AngloSaxon sum, which answers nearly to the Latin quidam, should be considered as an indefinite article. It appears to me rather to belong to the class of pronouns; yet in this and some other instances, the two classes of words approach very nearly together, And thin partitions do their bounds divide. CHAPTER XI. OF PREPOSITIONS. Connectives. 310. FROM the consideration of the Article, which Harris ranks among the Definitives, I proceed to the Prepositions and Conjunctions, which together form his class of Connectives. His reasons for adopt Preposition. 66 ing such a class are these. As in nature a substantive coalesces at once with its attribute, an action with its agent, a passion with its patient, and even a primary attribute with a secondary, so in grammar, the substantive may coalesce at once with its adjective, as a wise man," a "fierce lion;" the verb transitive may coalesce at once with its nominative and accusative, as “Alexander vanquished Darius;" and the adverb with the verb or adjective which it modifies, as "he fought bravely," "he was completely victorious." But when it is necessary to make any other union of conceptions, it can only be done either by a combination of words; by a change in the word which requires to be modified; or by a separate word, which, as it serves to connect the others, may be called a connective. Omitting for the present the two first methods, let us observe how connectives may be used. If in addition to the assertion that Alexander vanquished Darius, I wish to assert that he also vanquished Porus, I can effect this purpose by the connective “and,” as "Alexander vanquished Darius and Porus." If I wish to state the motive of Alexander's fighting, I may say "he fought for fame." The word "and" is commonly called a conjunction; the word "for," a preposition: and it is true that they are both employed to connect words which would otherwise remain unconnected; but there is this important difference between them-the conjunction connects, and does nothing more; the preposition introduces a further conception, namely that of the particular relation in which the connected conceptions stand to each other. In the example given, I do not merely connect, in the mind of the hearer, the conceptions of Alexander, or of fighting, with the conception of fame; for they would be equally connected if fame had been the unexpected and unthought-of consequence of his fighting; but I show that fame stood towards the action in the particular relation of a motive. I therefore consider that the word which thus shows a distinct relation between two conceptions may be justly deemed a separate part of speech. 311. This part of speech has been called a Preposition, because in the Greek and Latin languages the words so employed were commonly (though with some exceptions) præposita, placed immediately before the substantives to which they referred. In those languages, 66 rejected. 312. Now in all this there was much inaccuracy of reasoning, as Errors applied to Universal Grammar. The position of this sort of words in a sentence, had the fact been so in all known languages, must have been owing to accidental causes; but the fact is otherwise. Even in Latin the preposition tenus was always placed after the noun which it governed; so Plautus uses erga after a pronoun, as in mederga, for erga me; and cum is employed in like manner in the common expressions mecum, tecum, nobiscum, vobiscum. These and other examples of a like kind induced some authors to make a class of postpositive "Dantur etiam," says CARAMUEL, prepositions. Postpositiones, quæ præpositiones postpositiva solent dici; " but I shall elsewhere show that there are languages in which all the prepositions, so to speak, are postpositive. Some writers, who for this and similar reasons reject the word preposition, have adopted in its stead that of adnomen, adnoun; but as their example has been seldom followed, and as it is my object to change as little as possible received modes of expression, I shall adhere to the ordinary grammatical term, preposition, only reminding the reader that it is not to be taken as expressing an essential property of the part of speech in question. That prepositions are indeclinable may be the case in most languages, Definition. Examples. Sentence Complex. but is certainly no necessary part of their definition. That they signify nothing of themselves, if it were true in any degree, would be only part of their history, and would throw no light whatever on the grammatical principles which regulate their use. It is not surprising that Mr. TOOKE should ridicule these postpositive prepositions, and nonsignificant words which communicate signification to other words; but unfortunately he only substitutes worse errors of his own, when he asserts that prepositions are always names of real objects, and do not show different operations of the mind. 313. The real character and office of the preposition have been stated with a nearer approach to accuracy by Bishop WILKINS and VOSSIUS; but neither of them seems to have given a full and satisfactory definition of this part of speech. WILKINS says, "Prepositions are such particles whose proper office it is to join integral with integral on the same side of the copula, signifying some respect of cause, place, time, or other circumstance, either positively or privatively." VOSSIUS says, Præpositio est vox per quam adjungitur verbo nomen, locum, tempus, aut caussam significans, seu positive seu privative." It suited Wilkins's scheme of universal grammar to call the preposition a particle; but however appropriate this may be to a theoretical view of language, such as it never did, and probably never will exist, it is inconsistent with those philosophical principles on which the actual use of speech among men depends; neither is it material on which side of the copula a preposition may be placed by the idiom of any particular language. On the other hand, as Wilkins includes under the term integral both the noun and the verb, he is in this respect more accurate than Vossius, for the preposition does not merely join a noun to a verb, but sometimes to another noun. I therefore, with that diffidence which becomes all persons who endeavour in any degree to clear the path of science, shall propose the following definition :A preposition is a part of speech employed in a complex sentence, and serving to express the relation in which the conception named by a noun substantive stands to that named by another noun substantive, or asserted by a verb. 314. Thus, if I say, "he hired a house with a garden," " "Solomon was the son of David," the words with and of are prepositions, the former expressing the relation of contiguity between the substantives "house" and "garden," and the latter expressing the relation of filial descent between the substantives 66 son and "David." Again, if I say, "he spoke concerning the law," "he marched from Capua to Rome," the words concerning, from, and to are prepositions, the first expressing the relation of subjectivity in which the noun "law" stands to the verb "spoke," and the two others expressing the different relations of locality in which the nouns "Capua" and "Rome" stand to the verb "marched." 315. In developing the above definition, I first observe that the sentence in which a preposition is employed must be a complex one: and this is evident; for, in addition to the assertion of a connection ".of." Now with strong pray'r, and now with stern reproach, He stirs their valour. Here the sense would have been wholly lost if the accusative "valour" had been omitted: and the same rule applies where the relation is marked by an inflection of the substantive, as in the original of the passage just quoted Nunc prece, nunc verbis virtutem accendit amaris, * where the ablatives prece and verbis amaris show the relation of instrumentality, in which the conceptions expressed by them stand to the verb accendit; but those ablatives would have been unmeaning had not the verb been followed by its proper accusative, virtutem. 317. In languages which admit of compounding a verb with a pre- Compound position, there may be differences of idiom. The verb, if neuter, * Virg. Æn. 10, 368. verb. |