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William S. Balch - Lectures on Language

W >> William S. Balch >> Lectures on Language



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LECTURES ON LANGUAGE,

AS PARTICULARLY CONNECTED WITH

ENGLISH GRAMMAR.


DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF TEACHERS AND ADVANCED LEARNERS.


BY WM. S. BALCH.


Silence is better than unmeaning words.--_Pythagoras._


PROVIDENCE:
B. CRANSTON & CO.
1838.


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838,

BY B. CRANSTON & CO.

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Rhode-Island.




PROVIDENCE, Feb. 24, 1838.

TO WM. S. BALCH,

SIR--The undersigned, in behalf of the Young People's Institute, hasten
to present to you the following _Resolutions_, together with their
personal thanks, for the Lectures you have delivered before them, on the
Philosophy of Language. The uncommon degree of interest, pleasure and
profit, with which you have been listened to, is conclusive evidence,
that whoever possesses taste and talents to comprehend and appreciate
the philosophy of language, which you have so successfully cultivated,
cannot fail to attain a powerful influence over the minds of his
audience. The Committee respectfully request you to favor them with a
copy of your Lectures for the Press.

Very respectfully,
Your most obedient servants,
C. T. JAMES,
E. F. MILLER,
H. L. WEBSTER.

* * * * *

_Resolved_, That we have been highly entertained and greatly instructed
by the Lectures of our President, on the subject of Language; that we
consider the principles he has advocated, immutably true, exceedingly
important, and capable of an easy adoption in the study of that
important branch of human knowledge.

_Resolved_, That we have long regretted the want of a system to explain
the grammar of our vernacular tongue, on plain, rational, and consistent
principles, in accordance with philosophy and truth, and in a way to be
understood and practised by children and adults.

_Resolved_, That in our opinion, the manifold attempts which have been
made, though doubtless undertaken with the purest intentions, to
simplify and make easy existing systems, have failed entirely of their
object, and tended only to perplex, rather than enlighten learners.

_Resolved_, That in our belief, the publication of these Lectures would
meet the wants of the community, and throw a flood of light upon this
hitherto dark, and intricate, and yet exceedingly interesting department
of a common education, and thus prove of immense service to the present
and future generations.

_Resolved_, That Messrs. Charles T. James, Edward F. Miller, and Henry
L. Webster, be a Committee to wait on Rev. William S. Balch, and request
the publication of his very interesting Course of Lectures before this
Institute.

* * * * *

PROVIDENCE, Feb. 25, 1838.

MESSRS. C. T. JAMES, E. F. MILLER, AND H. L. WEBSTER:

GENTLEMEN--Your letter, together with the Resolutions accompanying it,
was duly and gratefully received. It gives me no ordinary degree of
pleasure to know that so deep an interest has been, and still is, felt
by the members of our Institute, as well as the public generally, on
this important subject; for it is one which concerns the happiness and
welfare of our whole community; but especially the rising generation.

The only recommendation of these Lectures is the subject of which they
treat. They were written in the space of a few weeks, and in the midst
of an accumulation of engagements which almost forbade the attempt. But
presuming you will make all due allowances for whatever errors you may
discover in the style of composition, and regard the _matter_ more than
the _manner_, I consent to their publication, hoping they will be of
some service in the great cause of human improvement.

I am, gentlemen,
Very respectfully yours,
WM. S. BALCH.




PREFACE.


There is no subject so deeply interesting and important to rational
beings as the knowledge of language, or one which presents a more direct
and powerful claim upon all classes in the community; for there is no
other so closely interwoven with all the affairs of human life, social,
moral, political and religious. It forms a basis on which depends a vast
portion of the happiness of mankind, and deserves the first attention of
every philanthropist.

Great difficulty has been experienced in the common method of explaining
language, and grammar has long been considered a dry, uninteresting, and
tedious study, by nearly all the teachers and scholars in the land. But
it is to be presumed that the fault in this case, if there is any, is to
be sought for in the manner of teaching, rather than in the science
itself; for it would be unreasonable to suppose that a subject which
occupies the earliest attention of the parent, which is acquired at
great expense of money, time, and thought, and is employed from the
cradle to the grave, in all our waking hours, can possibly be dull or
unimportant, if rightly explained.

Children have been required to learn verbal forms and changes, to look
at the mere signs of ideas, instead of the things represented by them.
The consequence has been that the whole subject has become uninteresting
to all who do not possess a retentive verbal memory. The philosophy of
language, the sublime principles on which it depends for its existence
and use, have not been sufficiently regarded to render it delightful and
profitable.

The humble attempt here made is designed to open the way for an
exposition of language on truly philosophical principles, which, when
correctly explained, are abundantly simple and extensively useful. With
what success this point has been labored the reader will determine.

The author claims not the honor of entire originality. The principles
here advanced have been advocated, believed, and successfully practised.
William S. Cardell, Esq., a bright star in the firmament of American
literature, reduced these principles to a system, which was taught with
triumphant success by Daniel H. Barnes, formerly of the New-York High
School, one of the most distinguished teachers who ever officiated in
that high and responsible capacity in our country. Both of these
gentlemen, so eminently calculated to elevate the standard of education,
were summoned from the career of the most active usefulness, from the
scenes they had labored to brighten and beautify by the aid of their
transcendant intellects, to unseen realities in the world of spirits;
where mind communes with mind, and soul mingles with soul, disenthraled
from error, and embosomed in the light and love of the Great Parent
Intellect.

The author does not pretend to give a system of exposition in this work
suited to the capacities of small children. It is designed for advanced
scholars, and is introductory to a system of grammar which he has in
preparation, which it is humbly hoped will be of some service in
rendering easy and correct the study of our vernacular language. But
this book, it is thought, may be successfully employed in the
instruction of the higher classes in our schools, and will be found an
efficient aid to teachers in inculcating the sublime principles of which
it treats.

These Lectures, as now presented to the public, it is believed, will be
found to contain some important information by which all may profit. The
reader will bear in mind that they were written for, and delivered
before a popular audience, and published with very little time for
modification. This will be a sufficient apology for the mistakes which
may occur, and for whatever may have the appearance of severity, irony,
or pleasantry, in the composition.

On the subject of Contractions much more might be said. But verbal
criticisms are rather uninteresting to a common audience; and hence the
consideration of that matter was made more brief than was at first
intended. It will however be resumed and carried out at length in
another work. The hints given will enable the student to form a
tolerable correct opinion of the use of most of those words and phrases,
which have long been passed over with little knowledge of their meaning
or importance.

The author is aware that the principles he has advocated are new and
opposed to established systems and the common method of inculcation. But
the difficulties acknowledged on all hands to exist, is a sufficient
justification of this humble attempt. He will not be condemned for his
good intentions. All he asks is a patient and candid examination, a
frank and honest approval of what is true, and as honest a rejection of
what is false. But he hopes the reader will avoid a rash and precipitate
conclusion, either for or against, lest he is compelled to do as the
author himself once did, approve what he had previously condemned.

With these remarks he enters the arena, and bares himself to receive the
sentence of the public voice.




CONTENTS.


LECTURE I.

GENERAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE.

Study of Language long considered difficult.--Its importance.--Errors
in teaching.--Not understood by Teachers.--Attachment to old
systems.--Improvement preferable.--The subject important.--Its
advantages.--Principles laid down.--Orthography.--Etymology.--Syntax.--
Prosody.


LECTURE II.

THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE.

General principles of Language.--Business of Grammar.--Children are
Philosophers.--Things, ideas, and words.--Actions.--Qualities of
things.--Words without ideas.--Grammatical terms inappropriate.--
Principles of Language permanent.--Errors in mental science.--Facts
admit of no change.--Complex ideas.--Ideas of qualities.--An
example.--New ideas.--Unknown words.--Signs without things
signified.--Fixed laws regulate matter and mind.


LECTURE III.

WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE.

Principles never alter.--They should be known.--Grammar a most important
branch of science.--Spoken and written Language.--Idea of a thing.--How
expressed.--An example.--Picture writing.--An anecdote.--Ideas expressed
by actions.--Principles of spoken and written Language.--Apply
universally.--Two examples.--English language.--Foreign words.--Words in
science.--New words.--How formed.


LECTURE IV.

ON NOUNS.

Nouns defined.--Things.--Qualities of matter.--Mind.--Spiritual
beings.--Qualities of mind.--How learned.--Imaginary things.--Negation.
--Names of actions.--Proper nouns.--Characteristic names.--Proper nouns
may become common.


LECTURE V.

ON NOUNS AND PRONOUNS.

Nouns in respect to persons.--Number.--Singular.--Plural.--How
formed.--Foreign plurals.--Proper names admit of plurals.--Gender.--No
neuter.--In figurative language.--Errors.--Position or case.--Agents.--
Objects.--Possessive case considered.--A definitive word.--Pronouns.--
One kind.--Originally nouns.--Specifically applied.


LECTURE VI.

ON ADJECTIVES.

Definition of adjectives.--General character.--Derivation.--How
understood.--Defining and describing.--Meaning changes to suit the
noun.--Too numerous.--Derived from nouns.--Nouns and verbs made from
adjectives.--Foreign adjectives.--A general list.--Difficult to
be understood.--An example.--Often superfluous.--Derived from
verbs.--Participles.--Some prepositions.--Meaning unknown.--With.--
In.--Out.--Of.


LECTURE VII.

ON ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives.--How formed.--The syllable _ly_.--Formed from proper nouns.
--The apostrophe and letter _s_.--Derived from pronouns.--Articles.--_A_
comes from _an_.--_In_definite.--_The_.--Meaning of _a_ and _the_.--
Murray's example.--That.--What.--"Pronoun adjectives."--_Mon_,
_ma_.--Degrees of comparison.--Secondary adjectives.--Prepositions admit
of comparison.


LECTURE VIII.

ON VERBS.

Unpleasant to expose error.--Verbs defined.--Every thing acts.--Actor
and object.--Laws.--Man.--Animals.--Vegetables.--Minerals.--Neutrality
degrading.--Nobody can explain a neuter verb.--_One_ kind of
verbs.--_You_ must decide.--Importance of teaching children the
truth.--Active verbs.--Transitive verbs false.--Samples.--Neuter verbs
examined.--Sit.--Sleep.--Stand.--Lie.--Opinion of Mrs. W.--Anecdote.


LECTURE IX.

ON VERBS.

Neuter and intransitive.--Agents.--Objects.--No actions as such can be
known distinct from the agent.--Imaginary actions.--Actions known by
their effects.--Examples.--Signs should guide to things signified.--
Principles of action.--=Power=.--Animals.--Vegetables.--Minerals.--All
things act.--Magnetic needle.--=Cause=.--Explained.--First
Cause.--=Means=.--Illustrated.--Sir I. Newton's example.--These
principles must be known.--=Relative= action.--Anecdote of Gallileo.


LECTURE X.

ON VERBS.

A philosophical axiom.--Manner of expressing action.--Things taken for
granted.--Simple facts must be known.--Must never deviate from the
truth.--Every _cause_ will have an _effect_.--An example of an
intransitive verb.--Objects expressed or implied.--All language
eliptical.--Intransitive verbs examined.--I run.--I walk.--To step.--
Birds fly.--It rains.--The fire burns.--The sun shines.--To smile.--Eat
and drink.--Miscellaneous examples.--Evils of false teaching.--A change
is demanded.--These principles apply universally.--Their importance.


LECTURE XI.

ON VERBS.

The verb =to be=.--Compounded of different radical words.--=Am=.
--Defined.--The name of Deity.--_Ei_.--=Is=.--=Are=.--=Were=,
=was=.--=Be=.--A dialogue.--Examples.--Passive Verbs examined.--Cannot
be in the present tense.--The past participle is an adjective.


LECTURE XII.

ON VERBS.

=Mood=.--Indicative.--Imperative.--Infinitive.--Former distinctions.--
Subjunctive mood.--=Time=.--Past.--Present.--Future.--The future
explained.--How formed.--Mr. Murray's distinction of time.--Imperfect.--
Pluperfect.--Second future.--How many tenses.--=Auxiliary Verbs=.--Will.
--Shall.--May.--Must.--Can.--Do.--Have.


LECTURE XIII.

ON VERBS.

Person and number in the agent, not in the action.--Similarity of
agents, actions, and objects.--Verbs made from nouns.--Irregular
verbs.--Some examples.--Regular Verbs.--_Ed_.--_Ing_.--Conjugation of
verbs.--To love.--To have.--To be.--The indicative mood varied.--A whole
sentence may be agent or object.--Imperative mood.--Infinitive mood.--Is
always future.


LECTURE XIV.

ON CONTRACTIONS.

A temporary expedient.--Words not understood.--All words must have a
meaning.--Their formation.--Changes of meaning and form.--Should be
observed.--=Adverbs=.--Ending in _ly_.--Examples.--Ago.--Astray.--Awake.
--Asleep.--Then, when.--There, where, here.--While, till.--Whether,
together.--Ever, never, whenever, etc.--Oft.--Hence.--Perhaps.--Not.
--Or.--Nor.--Than.--As.--So.--Conjunctions.--Rule 18.--If.--But.--Tho.
--Yet.




LECTURES ON LANGUAGE.




LECTURE I.

GENERAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE.

Study of Language long considered difficult.--Its importance.--Errors
in teaching.--Not understood by Teachers.--Attachment to old
systems.--Improvement preferable.--The subject important.--Its
advantages.--Principles laid down.--Orthography.--Etymology.--
Syntax.--Prosody.


LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

It is proposed to commence, this evening, a course of Lectures on the
Grammar of the English Language. I am aware of the difficulties
attending this subject, occasioned not so much by any fault in itself,
as by the thousand and one methods adopted to teach it, the multiplicity
of books pretending to "simplify" it, and the vast contrariety of
opinion entertained by those who profess to be its masters. By many it
has been considered a needless affair, an unnecessary appendage to a
common education; by others, altogether beyond the reach of common
capacities; and by all, cold, lifeless, and uninteresting, full of
doubts and perplexities, where the wisest have differed, and the firmest
often changed opinions.

All this difficulty originates, I apprehend, in the wrong view that is
taken of the subject. The most beautiful landscape may appear at great
disadvantage, if viewed from an unfavorable position. I would be slow to
believe that the means on which depends the whole business of the
community, the study of the sciences, all improvement upon the past, the
history of all nations in all ages of the world, social intercourse,
oral or written, and, in a great measure, the knowledge of God, and the
hopes of immortality, can be either unworthy of study, or, if rightly
explained, uninteresting in the acquisition. In fact, on the principles
I am about to advocate, I have seen the deepest interest manifested,
from the small child to the grey-headed sire, from the mere novice to
the statesman and philosopher, and all alike seemed to be edified and
improved by the attention bestowed upon the subject.

I confess, however, that with the mention of _grammar_, an association
of ideas are called up by no means agreeable. The mind involuntarily
reverts to the days of childhood, when we were compelled, at the risk of
our bodily safety, to commit to memory a set of arbitrary rules, which
we could neither understand nor apply in the correct use of language.
Formerly it was never dreamed that grammar depended on any higher
authority than the books put into our hands. And learners were not only
dissuaded, but strictly forbidden to go beyond the limits set them in
the etymological and syntactical rules of the authors to whom they were
referred. If a query ever arose in their minds, and they modestly
proposed a plain question as to the _why_ and _wherefore_ things were
thus, instead of giving an answer according to common sense, in a way to
be understood, the authorities were pondered over, till some rule or
remark could be found which would apply, and this settled the matter
with "proof as strong as holy writ." In this way an end may be put to
the inquiry; but the thinking mind will hardly be satisfied with the
mere opinion of another, who has no evidence to afford, save the
undisputed dignity of his station, or the authority of books. This
course is easily accounted for. Rather than expose his own ignorance,
the teacher quotes the printed ignorance of others, thinking, no doubt,
that folly and nonsense will appear better second-handed, than fresh
from his own responsibility. Or else on the more common score, that
"misery loves company."

Teachers have not unfrequently found themselves placed in an unenviable
position by the honest inquiries of some thinking urchin, who has
demanded why "_one noun governs_ another in the possessive case," as
"master's slave;" why there are more tenses than _three_; what is meant
by a _neuter_ verb, which "signifies neither action nor passion;" or an
"intransitive verb," which expresses the highest possible action, but
terminates on no object; a cause without an effect; why _that_ is
sometimes a pronoun, sometimes an adjective, and not unfrequently a
conjunction, &c. &c. They may have succeeded, by dint of official
authority, in silencing such inquiries, but they have failed to give a
satisfactory answer to the questions proposed.

Long received opinions may, in some cases, become law, pleading no other
reason than antiquity. But this is an age of investigation, which
demands the most lucid and unequivocal proof of the point assumed. The
dogmatism of the schoolmen will no longer satisfy. The dark ages of
mental servility are passing away. The day light of science has long
since dawned upon the world, and the noon day of truth, reason, and
virtue, will ere long be established on a firm and immutable basis. The
human mind, left free to investigate, will gradually advance onward in
the course of knowledge and goodness marked out by the Creator, till it
attains to that perfection which shall constitute its highest glory, its
truest bliss.

You will perceive, at once, that our inquiries thro out these lectures
will not be bounded by what has been said or written on the subject. We
take a wider range. We adopt no sentiment because it is ancient or
popular. We refer to no authority but what proves itself to be correct.
And we ask no one to adopt our opinions any farther than they agree with
the fixed laws of nature in the regulation of matter and thought, and
apply in common practice among men.

Have we not a right to expect, in return, that you will be equally
honest to yourselves and the subject before us? So far as the errors of
existing systems shall be exposed, will you not reject them, and adopt
whatever appears conclusively true and practically useful? Will you, can
you, be satisfied to adopt for yourselves and teach to others, systems
of grammar, for no other reason than because they are old, and claim the
support of the learned and honorable?

Such a course, generally adopted, would give the ever-lasting quietus to
all improvement. It would be a practical adoption of the philosophy of
the Dutchman, who was content to carry his grist in one end of the sack
and a stone to balance it in the other, assigning for a reason, that his
honored father had always done so before him. Who would be content to
adopt the astrology of the ancients, in preferance to astronomy as now
taught, because the latter is more modern? Who would spend three years
in transcribing a copy of the Bible, when a better could be obtained
for one dollar, because manuscripts were thus procured in former times?
What lady would prefer to take her cards, wheel, and loom, and spend a
month or two in manufacturing for herself a dress, when a better could
be earned in half the time, merely because her respected grandmother did
so before her? Who would go back a thousand years to find a model for
society, rejecting all improvements in the arts and sciences, because
they are innovations, encroachments upon the opinions and practices of
learned and honorable men?

I can not believe there is a person in this respected audience whose
mind is in such voluntary slavery as to induce the adoption of such a
course. I see before me minds which sparkle in every look, and thoughts
which are ever active, to acquire what is true, and adopt what is
useful. And I flatter myself that the time spent in the investigation of
the science of language will not be unpleasant or unprofitable.

I feel the greater confidence from the consideration that your minds are
yet untrammeled; not but what many, probably most of you, have already
studied the popular systems of grammar, and understood them; if such a
thing is possible; but because you have shown a disposition to learn, by
becoming members of this Institute, the object of which is the
improvement of its members.

Let us therefore make an humble attempt, with all due candor and
discretion, to enter upon the inquiry before us with an unflinching
determination to push our investigations beyond all reasonable doubt,
and never rest satisfied till we have conquered all conquerable
obstacles, and come into the possession of the light and liberty of
truth.

The attempt here made will not be considered unimportant, by those who
have known the difficulties attending the study of language. If any
course can be marked out to shorten the time tediously spent in the
acquisition of what is rarely attained--a thoro knowledge of language--a
great benefit will result to the community; children will save months
and years to engage in other useful attainments, and the high
aspirations of the mind for truth and knowledge will not be curbed in
its first efforts to improve by a set of technical and arbitrary rules.
They will acquire a habit of thinking, of deep reflection; and never
adopt, for fact, what appears unreasonable or inconsistent, merely
because great or good men have said it is so. They will feel an
independence of their own, and adopt a course of investigation which
cannot fail of the most important consequences. It is not the saving of
time, however, for which we propose a change in the system of teaching
language. In this respect, it is the study of one's life. New facts are
constantly developing themselves, new combinations of ideas and words
are discovered, and new beauties presented at every advancing step. It
is to acquire a knowledge of correct principles, to induce a habit of
correct thinking, a freedom of investigation, and at that age when the
character and language of life are forming. It is, in short, to exhibit
before you truth of the greatest practical importance, not only to you,
but to generations yet unborn, in the most essential affairs of human
life, that I have broached the hated subject of grammar, and undertaken
to reflect light upon this hitherto dark and disagreeable subject.

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