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Show \ Additional Notes. idea of number; and the word stag's, with a comma before the final s, suggests, in English, another secondat·y idea of something appertaining to the stag, as a stag's horn; which is, however, in our language, as -frequently expressed by the preposition of, as the horn of a stag. In the Greek and Latin languages an idea of gender is joined with the names of intire things, as well as of number; but in the English language the nouns, which express inanimate objects, have no genders :except metaphorically; and even the sexes of many animals have 11ames so totally different from each other, that they rather give an idea of the individual creature than of the sex, as bull and cow, horse ·and mare, boar and sow, dog and bitch. This constitutes another circumstance, which renders our language more simple, and more .easy to acquire; and at the same time contributes to the poetic excellence of it; as by adding a masculine or feminine pronoun, as he, or she, ether nouns substantive are so readily personified. In the Latin language there are five cases besides the nominative, l()f original word, and in the Greek fou.r. Whence the original noull .substantive ·by change of its termination suggests a secondary idea r.eitber _corresponding with the genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, 10r ablative cases, besides the secondary ideas of number and gender .abo¥e mentioned. The ideas suggested by these changes of termination, which are termed cases, ar-e explained in the grammars of these languages, and are expressed ia ours by prepositions, which are called the signs of those cases. Thus the word Domini, of the Lord, suggests beside the primary idea a seco11dary oae of something appertaining to it, as templum domini, the temple of the Lord, or the Lord's temple; ·which in English is either effected by an addition of the letter s, with a comma before it, or by the preposition of This genitive case is said to be · expressed in the Hebrew language simply by the locality of the words in succession to each other; which must so far add to the conciseness of that language. Thus the word Domino, in the dative case, to the Lord, suggests 'besides the primary idea a secondary one of something being added to the primary one; which is effected in English by the preposition to. The accusative case, or Dominum, besides the primary idea implies The Theory and Structure ol' Lwwuao·e ~ b 0 • 91 something havino· acted 1 . ec 11· t mu rem theb cat· t upon t 1e ob1ect of tl t · · 1 " la pnmary rdea; as ftlis ' ea s t 1e mouse Th. . 1 . Greek and Latin by a h f . Is ls t 1us effected in the ' c ano·e o ter . f f but is manao·ed in a b . mma wn ° the noun acted upon . l b ' more concise way in our 1 0' b . . ' 1n t 1e sentence as it .£.' ll 1 an,:,uage y Its sztuation ' lO ows t 1e verb TJ 'f 1 . above sentence was ])la d b '-' . ms J t1e mouse m the ( ce e1ore the b 1 I English the sense would b . 1 ver ' anc t le cat after it, in . e mvertec but not s · 1 · t' ] . stty of o·encrallv pla . . t1 '. o Ill a m; t lis neces- . b .1 cmg 1e accusative f: h . . verHent in poetry. tho ·I 't l 1 case a ter t e verb Js mcon- ' ug 1 I ac c s to the con · l . . . of our languaO'e as it save· tl . . Ciseness anc SimphcJty change of ten~ i~ ation. ' s 1e mterventwn of a preposition, or of a The vocative case f tl L · - . 0 Je atm lano·uao·e or D · b . pnmary idea suo·o·ests a 1 b t;' ' omme, es1des the • bb seconc ary one of appeal 0 1 1 . m our langua()'e is either ·k l b . . . ' . r ac cress; whiCh b l . C: . mai ec y 1 ts SituatiOn m the sentence or v~y~ 1;h~,i~I~~SJ~~o: 0 pre:~cling it. Whence this interjection 0 ~on- ~ . ppeal JOmed to the subsequent noun and is th ~I e properly another noun, or name of an idea ' . e:e- Cipal one like other prepositions. ' precedmg the pnn- The ablative case in the Latin Jano·ua()'e as D . s l 'd b ' ~ ' omzno su O'o-ests a econc ary I ea of somethin o· be in o- deducted f b ' h bo . o Wh' . b e, rom or y t e pnmary ne. . . IC~ IS perhaps more distinctly expressed by one of those prepositiOns m our language; which as it su o·()'ests som 1 t inO' th d' · d . ' bo ew 1a concern- IS e a jOine noun, IS properly another noun . or name of . 1 prece d m· g t 11 e prm· c1·p al one. ' an zc ea ' . When to these variations of the termination of nouns . the smoo ·ular n urn b er are acl d ed t I1 ose equally numerous of the pl l11 l I the g t · t f 1 ura , anc rea . vane y o t 1ese terminations correspondent to the th o·ender t . 'd 1 ree E> s, I 1s ev1 _ent t 1at the prepositions of our own and other ~ode~z~ languages mstead of the changes of termination add to the Simplicity ~f these la~guages, and to the facility of acquiring them. Hence m the Latm language, besides the original or primary idea suggested by each noun substantive, or name of an entire thino· there attends an additional idea of number, another of gender, and ~;10ther suggested by each change of termination, which constitutes the cases. so that in this langua?e fou: ideas. are suggested a.t the same time b; one word; as the pnmary Idea, 1ts gender, number, and case; the 0 |