The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown (free ebook reader .txt) 📕

names of this sort: as, steamboat, railroad. The propriety or impropriety of these additions to the language, is not to be determined by dictionaries; for that must be settled by usage before any lexicographer will insert them. And so numerous, after all, are the discrepancies found in our best dictionaries, that many a word may have its day and grow obsolete, before a nation can learn from them the right way of spelling it; and many a fashionable thing may go entirely out of use, before a man can thus determine how to name it. Railroads are of so recent invention that I find the word in only one dictionary; and that one is wrong, in giving the word a hyphen, while half our printers are wrong, in keeping the words separate because Johnson did not compound them. But is it not more important, to know whether we ought to write railroad, or rail-road, or rail road, which we cannot learn from any of our dictionaries, than to find out whether we ought to write rocklo, or roquelo, or roquelaur, or roquelaure, which, in some form or other, is found in them all? The duke of Roquelaure is now forgotten, and his cloak is out of fashion.

OBS. 8.—No regular phrase, as I have taught in the second rule above, should be needlessly converted into a compound word, either by tacking its parts together with the hyphen, or by uniting them without a hyphen; for, in general, a phrase is one thing, and a word is an other: and they ought to be kept as distinct as possible.[113] But, when a whole phrase takes the relation of an adjective, the words must be compounded, and the hyphen becomes necessary; as, "An inexpressibly apt bottle-of-small-beer comparison."—Peter Pindar. The occasions for the compounding of words, are in general sufficiently plain, to any one who knows what is intended to be said; but, as we compound words, sometimes with the hyphen, and sometimes without, there is no small difficulty in ascertaining when to use this mark, and when to omit it. "Some settled rule for the use of the hyphen on these occasions, is much wanted. Modern printers have a strange predilection for it; using it on almost every possible occasion. Mr. L. Murray, who has only three lines on the subject, seems inclined to countenance this practice; which is, no doubt, convenient enough for those who do not like trouble. His words are: 'A Hyphen, marked thus - is employed in connecting compounded words: as, Lap-dog, tea-pot, pre-existence, self-love, to-morrow, mother-in-law.' Of his six examples, Johnson, our only acknowledged standard, gives the first and third without any separation between the syllables, lapdog, preexistence; his second and fifth as two distinct words each, tea pot, to morrow; and his sixth as three words, mother in law: so that only his fourth has the sanction of the lexicographer. There certainly can be no more reason for putting a hyphen after the common prefixes, than before the common affixes, ness, ly, and the rest."—Churchill's Gram., p. 374.

OBS. 9.—Again: "While it would be absurd, to sacrifice the established practice of all good authors to the ignorance of such readers [as could possibly mistake for a diphthong the two contiguous vowels in such words as preexistence, cooperate, and reenter]; it would unquestionably be advantageous, to have some principle to guide us in that labyrinth of words, in which the hyphen appears to have been admitted or rejected arbitrarily, or at hap-hazard. Thus, though we find in Johnson, alms-basket, alms-giver, with the hyphen; we have almsdeed, almshouse, almsman, without: and many similar examples of an unsettled practice might be adduced, sufficient to fill several pages. In this perplexity, is not the pronunciation of the words the best guide? In the English language, every word of more than one syllable is marked by an accent on some particular syllable. Some very long words indeed admit a secondary accent on another syllable; but still this is much inferior, and leaves one leading accent prominent: as in expos'tulatory. Accordingly, when a compound has but one accented syllable in pronunciation, as night'cap, bed'stead, broad'sword, the two words have coalesced completely into one, and no hyphen should be admitted. On the other hand, when each of the radical words has an accent, as Chris'tian-name', broad'-shoul'dered, I think the hyphen should be used. Good'-na'tured is a compound epithet with two accents, and therefore requires the hyphen: in good nature, good will, and similar expressions, good is used simply as an adjective, and of course should remain distinct from the noun. Thus, too, when a noun is used adjectively, it should remain separate from the noun it modifies; as, a gold ring, a silver buckle. When two numerals are employed to express a number, without a conjunction between them, it is usual to connect them by a hyphen; as, twenty-five, eighty-four: but when the conjunction is inserted, the hyphen is as improper as it would be between other words connected by the conjunction. This, however, is a common abuse; and we often meet with five-&-twenty, six-&-thirty, and the like."—Ib., p. 376. Thus far Churchill: who appears to me, however, too hasty about the hyphen in compound numerals. For we write one hundred, two hundred, three thousand, &c., without either hyphen or conjunction; and as five-and-twenty is equivalent to twenty-five, and virtually but one word, the hyphen, if not absolutely necessary to the sense, is certainly not so very improper as he alleges. "Christian name" is as often written without the hyphen as with it, and perhaps as accurately.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. ERRORS IN THE FIGURE, OR FORM, OF WORDS. UNDER RULE I.—OF COMPOUNDS.

"Professing to imitate Timon, the man hater."—Goldsmith's Rome, p. 161.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the compound term manhater is here made two words. But, according to Rule 1st, "Words regularly or analogically united, and commonly known as forming a compound, should never be needlessly broken apart." Therefore, manhater should be written as one word.]

"Men load hay with a pitch fork."—Webster's New Spelling-Book, p. 40. "A pear tree grows from the seed of a pear."—Ib., p. 33. "A tooth brush is good to brush your teeth."—Ib., p. 85. "The mail is opened at the post office."—Ib., p. 151. "The error seems to me two fold."—Sanborn's Gram., p. 230. "To pre-engage means to engage before hand."—Webster's New Spelling-Book, p. 82. "It is a mean act to deface the figures on a mile stone."—Ib., p. 88. "A grange is a farm and farm house."—Ib., p. 118. "It is no more right to steal apples or water melons, than money."—Ib., p. 118. "The awl is a tool used by shoemakers, and harness makers."—Ib., p. 150. "Twenty five cents are equal to one quarter of a dollar."—Ib., p. 107. "The blowing up of the Fulton at New York was a terrible disaster."—Ib., p. 54. "The elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu."—SCOTT: 2 Kings, x, 5. "Not with eye service, as men pleasers."—Bickersteth, on Prayer, p. 64. "A good natured and equitable construction of cases."—Ash's Gram., p. 138. "And purify your hearts, ye double minded."—Gurney's Portable Evidences, p. 115. "It is a mean spirited action to steal; i. e. to steal is a mean spirited action."—Grammar of Alex. Murray, the schoolmaster, p. 124. "There is, indeed, one form of orthography which is a kin to the subjunctive mood of the Latin tongue."—Booth's Introd. to Dict., p. 71. "To bring him into nearer connexion with real and everyday life."—Philological Museum, Vol. i, p. 459. "The common place, stale declamation of its revilers would be silenced."—Ib., i, 494. "She formed a very singular and unheard of project."—Goldsmith's Rome, p. 160. "He had many vigilant, though feeble talented, and mean spirited enemies."—ROBERTS VAUX: The Friend, Vol. vii, p. 74. "These old fashioned people would level our psalmody," &c.—Music of Nature, p. 292. "This slow shifting scenery in the theatre of harmony."—Ib., p. 398. "So we are assured from Scripture it self."—Harris's Hermes, p. 300. "The mind, being disheartened, then betakes its self to trifling."—R. Johnson's Pref. to Gram. Com. "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them."—Beacon, p. 115: SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS: John, xx, 23. "Tarry we our selves how we will."—Walker's English Particles, p. 161. "Manage your credit so, that you need neither swear your self, nor want a voucher."—Collier's Antoninus, p. 33. "Whereas song never conveys any of the above named sentiments."—Rush, on the Voice, p. 424. "I go on horse back."—Guy's Gram., p. 54. "This requires purity, in opposition to barbarous, obsolete, or new coined words."—Adam's Gram., p. 242; Gould's, 234. "May the Plough share shine."—White's Eng. Verb, p. 161. "Which way ever we consider it."—Locke, on Ed., p. 83.

   "Where e'er the silent (e) a Place obtains,
    The Voice foregoing, Length and softness gains."
        —Brightland's Gr., p. 15.

UNDER RULE II.—OF SIMPLES.

"It qualifies any of the four parts of speech abovenamed."—Kirkham's
Gram., p. 83.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because abovenamed is here unnecessarily made a compound. But, according to Rule 2d, "When the simple words would only form a regular phrase, of the same meaning, the compounding of any of them ought to be avoided." Therefore, above and named should here have been written as two words.]

"After awhile they put us out among the rude multitude."—Fox's Journal. Vol. i, p. 169. "It would be ashame, if your mind should falter and give in."—Collier's Meditations of Antoninus, p. 94. "They stared awhile in silence one upon another."—Rasselas, p. 73. "After passion has for awhile exercised its tyrannical sway."—Murray's Gram., ii, 135 and 267. "Though set within the same general-frame of intonation."—Rush, on the Voice, p. 339. "Which do not carry any of the natural vocal-signs of expression."—Ib., p. 329. "The measurable constructive-powers of a few associable constituents."—Ib., p. 343. "Before each accented syllable or emphatic monosyllabic-word."—Ib., p. 364. "One should not think too favourably of oneself."—See Murray's Gram., Vol. i, p. 154. "Know ye not your ownselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you."—Barclay's Works, Vol. i, p. 355. "I judge not my ownself, for I know nothing of my ownself."— Wayland's Moral Science, p. 84. "Though they were in such a rage, I desired them to tarry awhile."—Josephus, Vol. v, p. 179. "A instead of an is now used before words beginning with a long."—Murray's Gram., p. 31. "John will have earned his wages the next new-year's day."—Murray's Gram., p. 82. "A new-year's-gift is a present made on the first day of the year."—See Johnson, Walker, Webster, et al. "When he sat on the throne, distributing new-year's-gifts."—STILLINGFLEET, in Johnson's Dict. "St. Paul admonishes Timothy to refuse old-wives'- fables."—Author. "The world, take it altogether, is but one."— Collier's Antoninus, B. vii, Sec. 9. "In writings of this stamp we must accept of sound instead of sense."—Murray's Gram., p. 298. "A male-child, A female-child, Male-descendants, Female-descendants."— Goldsbury's C. S. Gram., p. 13; Rev. T. Smith's Gram., p. 15. "Male-servants, Female-servants. Male-relations, Female-relations."— Felton's Gram., p. 15.

   "Reserved and cautious, with no partial aim,
    My muse e'er sought to blast another's fame."—Lloyd, p. 162.

UNDER RULE III.—THE SENSE.

"Our discriminations of this matter have been but four footed instincts."—Rush, on the Voice, p. 291.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the term four footed is made two words, as if the instincts were four and footed. But, according to Rule 3d, "Words otherwise liable to be misunderstood, must be joined together, or written separately, as the sense and construction may happen to require." Therefore, four-footed, as it here means quadruped, or having four feet, should be one word.]

"He is in the right, (says Clytus,) not to bear free born men at his table."—Goldsmith's Greece, Vol. ii, p. 128. "To the short seeing eye of man, the progress may appear little."—The Friend, Vol. ix, p. 377. "Knowledge and virtue are, emphatically, the stepping stone to individual distinction."—Town's Analysis, p. 5. "A tin peddler will sell tin vessels as he travels."—Webster's New Spelling-Book, p. 44. "The beams of a wood-house are held up by the posts and joists."—Ib., p. 39. "What you mean by future tense adjective, I can easily understand."—Tooke's Diversions, Vol. ii, p. 450. "The town has been for several days very well behaved."—Spectator, No. 532. "A rounce is the handle of a printing press."—Webster's' Dict.; also El. Spelling-Book, p. 118. "The phraseology we call thee and thouing is not in so common use with us, as the tutoyant among the French."—Walker's Dict., w. Thy. "Hunting, and other out door sports, are generally pursued."—Balbi's Geog., p. 227. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden."—SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS: Matt., xi, 28. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son to save it."—Barclay's Works, i, p. 71. See SCOTT'S BIBLE: John, iii, 16. "Jehovah is a prayer hearing God: Nineveh repented, and was spared."—N. Y. Observer, Vol. x, p. 90. "These are well pleasing to God, in all ranks and relations."—Barclay's Works, Vol. i, p. 73. "Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the