Definition Of Grammar And Of Its DiffeRent Branches Or Parts.

1. In the foregoing Letter I have laid before you some of the inducements to the study of Grammar. In this, I will define, or describe, the thing called Grammar ; and also its different Branches or Parts.

2. Grammar, as I observed to you before, teaches us how to make use of words; that is to says it teaches us how to make use .of them in a proper manner, as I used to teach you how to sow and plant the beds in the garden; for you could have throwed about seeds and stuck in plants of some sort or other, in some way or other, without any teaching of mine ; and so can any body, without rules or instructions, put masses of words upon paper ; but to be able to choose the words which ought to be employed, and to place them where they ought to be placed, we must become acquainted with certain principles and rules; and these principles and rules constitute what is called Grammar.





3. Nor must you suppose, by-and-by, when you come to read-about Nouns and Verbs and Pronouns, that all this tends to nothing but mere ornamental learning, that it is not altogether necessary, and that people may write to be understood very well without it. This is not the case; for without a good deal of knowledge relative to these same Nouns and Verbs, those who write are never sure that they put upon paper what they jneanjo put upon paper, I will, before the close of these letters, show you, that even very learned men have frequently written and caused to be published, not only what they did not mean, but the very contrary of what they meant; and if errors, such as are here spoken of, are sometimes committed by learned men, into what endless errors must those fall, who have no knowledge of any principles or rules, by the observance of which the like may be avoided ? Grammar, perfectly understood, enables us, not only to express our meaning fully and clearly, but so to express it as to enable us to defy the ingenuity of man to give to our words any other meaning than that which we ourselves intend them to express. This, therefore, is a science of substantial utility.

4. As to the different Branches or Parts of Grammar, they are four; and they are thus named: Orthography, Prosody, Etymology, and Syntax.

5. There are two of these branches, on which we have very little to say, and the names of which have been kept in use from an unwillingness to give up the practice of former times; but, as it is usual to give them a.place in books of this kind, I will explain to you the nature of all the four Branches.

6. ORTHOGRAPHY is a word made up of two Greek words, which mean spelling. The use of foreign words, in this manner, was introduced at the time when the English Language was in a very barbarous state; and, though this use has been continued, it ought to be a rule with you, always, when you either write or speak, to avoid the use of any foreign or uncommon word, if you can express your meaning as fully and clearly by an English word in common use. However, Orthography means neither more nor less than the very humble business of putting Letters together properly, so that they shall form

Words. This is so very childish a concern, that I will not appear to suppose it necessary for me to dwell upon it; but, as you will, by-and-by, meet with some directions, under the head. of Etymology, in. which directions Vowels and Consonants will be spoken of, I will here, for form's sake, just observe, that the letters A, E, I, O, and U, are Vowels. Y, in certain cases, is also a Vowel. All the rest of the letters of the alphabet are Consonants.

7. PROSODY is a word taken from the Greek Language, and it means not so much as is expressed by the more common word PRONUNCIATION; that is to say, the business of using the proper sound and employing the due length of time, in the uttering of syllables and words. This is a matter, however, which ought not to occupy much of your attention ; because pronunciation is learned as birds learn to chirp and sing. In some counties of England many words are pronounced jn a manner different from that in which they are pronounced in other counties; and, between the pronunciation of Scotland and that of Hampshire, the difference is very great indeed. But, while all inquiries into the causes of these differences are useless, and all attempts to remove them are vain, the differences are of very little real consequence. For instance, though the Scotch say coorn, the Londoners cawn, and the Hampshire folks earn, we know that they all mean to say corn. Children will pronounce as their fathers and mothers pronounce ; and if, in common conversation, or in speeches, the matter be good and judiciously arranged, the facts clearly stated, the arguments conclusive, the words well chosen and properly placed, hearers, whose approbation is worth having, will pay very little attention to the accent. In short, it is sense, and not sound, which is the object of your pursuit; and, therefore, I have said enough about Prosody.

8. ETYMOLOGY ia a very different matter ; and,' under this head, you will enter on your study. This is a word, which has been formed out of two Greek words; and it means, the pedigree, or relationship ofwords, or, the manner in which one word grows out of, or comes from, another word. For instance, the word walk expresses an action, or movement, ot our legs ; but, in some cases we say walks, in others walked, in others walking. These three latter words are all different from each other, and they all diffef from the original word, walk; but the action or movement, expressed by each of the four, is precisely the same sort of action or movement, and the thred latter words grow out of, or come from, the first. The Words here mentioned differ from each other with regard to the letters of which they are composed. This difference is made in order to express differences as to the Persons who walk, as to the Number of persons, as to the Time of walking. You will come, by-and-by, to the principles and rules, according to which the varying of the spelling of words is made to correspond with these and other differences; an4 these principles and nrles. constitute what is called Etymology.

9. SYNTAX is a word, which comes from the Greek. It means, in that language, the joining of several things together; and, as used by grammarians, it means those principles and rules, which teach us how to put words together so as to form sentences. It means, in short, sentence-making. Having been taught by the rules of Etymology, what are the relationships of words, how words grow out of each other, how they are varied in their letters in order to