19. Compound nouns generally form their plural by adding s (or en) to the last word; thus Plural. Maid-servants Make-shifts Singular. Make-shift Noble-man Noble-men 20. A few compound nouns made up of a noun and an adjective, or of two nouns joined by a preposition, form the plural by adding s to the first word; as, Singular. Plural. Aide-de-camp Aides-de-camp Singular: Plural. Fathers-in-law Court-martial Courts-martial Knight-errant Knights-errant Cousin-german Cousins-german Note.-Double titles have double plurals; as, Knights Templars, Lords Justices, etc. Observations.-Brother makes brothers when it refers to the members of the same family, and brethren when it refers to the members of the same society or calling. Die and sow make dice and swine. But die, when it means a stamp for coining, makes dies in the plural. And so penny makes pennies when that particular coin is meant. Genius makes geniuses when applied to men, and genii when applied to spirits. Index makes indexes when applied to a table of contents, and indices when applied as the exponents of an algebraic quantity. 21. Nouns adopted without change from other languages generally retain their original plurals. 22. Greek nouns ending in is, change the is into es in the plural, and those ending in on change the on into a; as, basis, bases; thesis, theses; criterion, criteria; phenomenon, phenomena. 23. Hebrew nouns generally take im for the plural; as, cherub, cherubim. 24. Latin nouns ending in us generally change the us into i in the plural (second Latin declension); and those ending in um, into a; as, focus, foci; stimulus, stimuli; medium, media; stratum, strata. 25. French nouns ending in u take x in the plural; as, beau, beaux. 26. Abstract nouns, the names of arts and sciences, the names of metals, etc., are seldom used in the plural; as, sweetness, sourness, music, geology, gold, silver, etc.* * In the Bible and the Prayer Book, however, are found righteousnesses, negligences, ignorances, etc. 27. Some nouns are not used in the singular; as, bellows, drawers, oats, tongs, archives, assets, bowels, clothes, goods, measles, morals, scissors, etc. 28. Some nouns in the plural form are used with a singular verb; as, news has just arrived, etc. 29. A few nouns are alike in both numbers; as, deer, sheep, swine, etc.* Note.-Some nouns are used in the singular form with a plural signification; as, The general attacked the enemy, and drove them from their entrenchments. 1. What is a noun ? 2. Into how many kinds may nouns be divided? 3. What is a proper noun? 4. What is a common noun? 5. What is an abstract noun ? 6. What is a noun sometimes called when it is derived from a verb? 7. When a noun denotes a number of things taken together, what is it called? 8. Nouns have what? 9. What is number? 10, How many numbers have nouns, and what do they denote? II. What is the first rule for the formation of the plural? 12. How do nouns ending in s, sh, ch, etc., form the plural? State exceptions. 13. How do nouns ending in y form the plural? 14. When they is preceded by a vowel, how is the plural formed? 15. Give the substance of the note ? 16. What are the nouns that change ƒ, or fe into ves in the plural? 17. What is said of the remaining nouns that end in ƒ or fe? 18. What is the plural of child, foot, etc? Give the sub * This word, however, is a real plural as, sow, sowen swine; like cow, cowen=kine. In Italian the i is a regular plural, as it is in the parent language, Latin. stance of the observations. 19. What is said of nouns adopted without change from other languages? 20. How do Greek nouns ending in is and on form the plural? 21. How do Hebrew nouns generally form the plural? 22. How do Latin nouns ending in us and um generally form the plural? 23. What is said of abstract nouns, etc? 24. Are there any nouns that are never used in the singular ? 25. Are there any nouns that have the plural form and a singular verb? 26. Are there any nouns alike in both numbers? MIXED EXERCISE. Point out the nouns in the following sentence, and tell whether they are proper, etc. :— Cæsar defeated Pompey at the battle of Pharsalia, although his army was not half so large as that of Pompey, in the year before Christ 48. Give the plural of the following nouns :—' Table, chair, apple, pear, bench, trench, branch, brush, push, thrush, puss, lass, miss, potato, motto, cargo, tyro, grotto, folio, fox, tax, box, leaf, loaf, calf, chief, grief, proof, lady, baby, bounty, day, way, toy, Henry, Mary, Gregory, man, woman, child, crisis, ellipsis, automaton (Greek). seraph (Hebrew), magus, radius, stimulus, arcanum, erratum, medium (Latin). GENDER. 1. Gender is the distinction of nouns as applied to the sexes. 2. Genders are divided into masculine, feminine, and neuter. 3. The masculine denotes the names of animals of the male sex; as, a boy, a bull. 4. The feminine denotes the names of animals of the female sex; as, a girl, a cow. 5. The neuter denotes the name of any object that is neither masculine nor feminine; as, school, table. 6. Anything that is either masculine or feminine is said to be of the common gender; as, parent, child, bird, etc. 7. The gender of nouns is distinguished in three ways; by a different word, by a different termination, and by prefixing another word. 8. First way, taking a different word, embraces the following: 9. Second way-Different endings are used, as follow: Feminine. Infanta (Span.) Masculine. Infant Instructor Lass (Ladess) Ambassador Ambassadress Landgrave Landgravine EFER Heir Heritor Hero Host Hunter Heiress Heretrix Hostess Huntress Traitor Tutor Viscount Widower Votaress Widow 10. The Third way, prefixing another word, embraces these : Note. Many neuter nouns are by a figure of speech sometimes represented as though they were of the masculine or feminine gender. Those objects in nature that are indicative of strength, robustness, or that are the communicators of anything, may be regarded as masculine; while those objects that are indicative of weakness or beauty, or that are the recipients of anything, may be regarded as feminine. Thus the sun may be regarded as masculine, because he communicates his light, whilst the moon may be regarded as feminine, because she receives and reflects the sun's light. Thus war may be regarded as masculine and peace as feminine, and thus all the virtues may be regarded as feminine. Countries, churches, and ships are sometimes regarded as feminine. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. I. What is gender? 2. How are genders divided? 3. What does the masculine denote? 4. What the feminine? 5. What the neuter? 6. What is common gender? 7. How many ways of distinguishing the gender are there, and what are they? 8. What is the feminine of bachelor, beau, boar, boy, etc.? 9. What does the second way embrace? 10. What words does the third way embrace? II. Give the substance of the note. EXERCISE. Tell the gender of the following nouns :— Wife, bird, lady, friend, man, bone, piece, king, custom, prince, goddess, sister, lord, nature, child, brother, night, raven, father, brute, monk, patriot, lion. CASE. 1. Case is the form in which a noun or pronoun is used, in order to show the relation in which it stands to other words. 2. Nouns have three cases, the nominative, possessive, and objective. |