the lower classes persisted in using English from day to day. In the fourteenth century English again became the language of literature, being used by such men as Chaucer, Langland, and Wiclif. During this period the inflections of English became fewer; there was a simplification of grammar and of spelling; more attention was paid to ease and grace of expression.

Modern English.-The Modern English period began in 1500 and extends to the present day. This period shows rapid development of grammar and spelling in regard to simplicity and regularity of forms. The influence of Greek, Latin, and also of Italian is one of importance during this epoch. In the fifteenth century came the Renaissance (Re-na-son-s), or New-birth of Learning, when Greek scholars, driven out of Constantinople by the Turks, went to western homes and introduced Greek culture. They established themselves in Italy, finding among educated Italians warm friends. Englishmen visiting Italy brought home accounts of Greek scholarship, so bit by bit these influences entered the life of England and helped to shape the language.

In placing English beside other languages, we notice that it has (1) a larger vocabulary than other tongues, (2) fewer inflections, (3) a more definite and exact order of words in the sentence, (4) many more difficulties in pronunciation of words. The English vocabulary is made up of words from many languages; no other speech has so many borrowed forms. In

illustration of this it is interesting to note the following examples of words that have entered the vocabulary at various epochs.

Celtic: dun (Dundee), bannock.

Latin, first invasion: castra (Lancaster), pound, money.
Latin, second invasion: bishop, altar, priest, monk.
Danish: sky, egg, they.

French: vassal, feudal, judge, jury, religion, venison,
pastry, chapel, castle.

Greek: biography, ecclesiastical, epistle.

These words represent only a few of those which have been absorbed by the English. Spanish, Turkish, Arabic, and other languages have given us terms in everyday use. French and Latin have been most important in their action upon our tongue. Most words relating to law, religion, medicine, architecture, cooking, hunting, society, and dress come from one or the other of these languages, which, we must remember, stand in the relation of parent and child, French being derived from Latin. Sometimes the Latin word was taken bodily into English, sometimes the French form modified from Latin.

The English language, then, is one of the leading languages of the world; it has developed rapidly during fifteen centuries; it has gained much from contact with other languages; it is still capable of growth and of greater perfection if regarded with respect, and used with affectionate care.

EXERCISE.

1. Look up the following words in the dictionary and

find out from what language each is derived:

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF GRAMMAR

Definition of Grammar.-Grammar (Greek, to write) is the science of speaking or of writing correctly, with due regard for the rules that govern a language. No two languages have the same grammar; each has its individual laws, and the careful speaker obeys these laws scrupulously. A grammar of a language states what the parts of speech are, what changes they undergo when put in a sentence, and what their relation to one another is, in the sentence.

The Sentence: Subject and Predicate.-The sentence consists of a number of words in such a relation to one another that they convey a complete thought. Every sentence has two parts,—the subject, or the person or thing about which the sentence as a whole asserts something, and the predicate, or that which is asserted about the subject. The subject may consist of a single word or of a group of words; this is also true of the predicate. In the following examples the subject is printed in italics to distinguish it from the rest of the sentence, which is the predicate.

The Parts of Speech. When more than a single word is needed in the subject to name the thing spoken of, and more than a single word in the predicate to say something about this thing, every word has its special office in expressing the thought, and is named according to the part it plays. There are eight of these "parts of speech," as we call them, and there are illustrations of each in the following sentence:

Oh, a pretty girl led me along the uneven and very muddy path.

1. A noun is a word used as a name (Latin nomen, a name): girl, path.

2. A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun (Latin pro, for, and nomen, a name): me.

Nouns and pronouns are called substantives.

3. An adjective is a word that modifies the meaning of a substantive (Latin ad-jicere, to place next to): uneven, muddy.

4. A verb is a word that asserts the action or the
existence of some subject (Latin verbum, a
word, a verb): led.

5. An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of
a verb, an adjective, or another adverb (Latin
ad to, and verbum, a word, or a verb): very.
6. A preposition is a word that shows the relation of
the substantive that follows it to other words
in the sentence (Latin prae-ponere, to place
before) along.

7. A conjunction is a word that connects words,
phrases, or clauses (Latin con-jungere, to join
together): and

8. An interjection is a word expressing strong feeling but not a definite thought (Latin inter-jicere, to throw into): oh.