1000000030

L A N

0 )

L A N

~cqu¡inled

IVitn

t~d~

IIVO I¡ngn' nes,

c~n

f. ti,fy himfdf

in this particnl:t1', IVilhonl any fUflher trouhle

th~n

marking down

~ny

number of Latin noun" IVith Ihtir

tr<nnulons inEnglilh ;

thounh l ilnnnccen-",y

dlVdl

long~r

on thispHtieul.,

Hut ifthe inOeaionof nounsis

~ dif~dv~nlage

tO a

I~n·

guage in point of diverfil Yof fouOlls, it is very mueh

the reverf, wilh regard 10 Ihe vJriely il . 1I01V1 io the

aro

ranging the IVords of Ihe plm fe,

Her~,

indetd, the

Tranfpofilive

hogua~e

!hines fonh io , 11 itl glory, and

the An.logous mull yield the palm IVilhoul

th~

fmal·

len difpule, For as the

nominalivt rnfo

(or that nOlln

IVhieh is theeaufe of that energy exprelfed by Ihe verb)

is dilfaent from Ihe

acclljali",

(or Ihal noun upoowhieh

¡he eoergy exprdfed by the verb is exerteJ ) Ihefe m. y

be pldCtd in any fi llt Ilion that the IVriter n,all thiok pro·

per, IVithout oeeafioniog the fmallell coofufion: IVhereas

in the analogous languages, as thefe tIVO different nates

of the noun are exprdfed by the fame 1V0rd, theyeaooot

be dillioguin,ed but by their pofitioo alooe; fo that the

noun IVhieh is the ellieienl caufe mun alIVays precede the

verb, and Ihat IVhieh is the all ive fubjea mun follow;

IVhieh greatlyeramps theharmonious Row ofeompofition,

- Thu! the Latins, IVithout the fm allen perplexilY in

the meaning, eoulJ fay either

Brulum amavil CnJlilll,

CnJlil1l amat'il Brutum,

lJl'ulul// CaJliuJ amnvit,

COJliIlJ Brutu/l/ o/l/allil,

As thetermination of the word

CaJliuJ

always points out;that it is in the

nominoliv, caft,

and therefore that he is the perfonfrom whom the enero

gy proceeds; andio the fame manner, as theterminatioo

of the word

BrutulI/

points OUt tha! it is in the

aecufalivt

ca!(,

and eonfequently that he is the objea opon whieh

the energy is exerted; the meaning continues Ilill di·

Ilinél and clear, notwithnanding ofalllhefef,veral varia·

tions: whereas in the Engli!h I. nguage, we eould only

fay

CaJliul lo"(d BrlllUJ,

or, b), a more (oreed phrafe.

ology,

CalfiuJ Brullu lourd :

Were \Ve to reverfe

the cafe, as in the Latin, the meaning alfo would

be reverfed ; for if we fay

BrutuJ loved CalfiuJ,

it is

evident, th.I, ionead of beiog the perfo n beloved, 'ál

before,

BrUluJ

OOIV becomes the perfon (rom whom

the eo:rgy proeceds, and

Calfilu

becomes the objea

bclored.- Io this rcfpeft, thelefore, the analogoul lan·

~lIages

are Rreatly inferior to the tranfpofitive;

an~

io·

decd it is froOl tiris liogle eireumllance alone tha! they

uerire Iheir ehief ex" lIenee,

BUI a"hough it thus appears evident, that any lan·

guage, whieh has a panicular I'ariation o( its nouns tO

ddlinglií!h the

aceufativ,

from the

non/inaliv, cafo,

has

aro

advantage 01her thofe languages whiehhave nonc; yet

it docs not appear Ihat an)' olher of their

cafa

adds tO

the v",iety, but rather Ihe reverfe: for, io Latin, we

can only f,y'

Amor

D,i ;

Eo~lilh

the f'Ole phr. fe

may be rendercd, either,- Ih,

lov,

Cod,- o/ Cad

Ih,

IWl,- or,

by a more foreed arraosement,

Cod

(he

lov,

o¡' And as thefe ohlique cafes , as the b ·

tios c>lIed them, .;;ccpt the aceufative, are c1early di·

flin~uin,ed

fromone aoother, and (rout the nomioatire,

the prepofition whiLh aeeompaoies theOl, we are oot

confir,ed to aoy pani, u!.tr

.,,"n~cmeot

IVilh reS",d tO

tllc[e al Wilh the

aceuf~l¡vc,

but m,y rl.1ce theOl in what

order IVepbfe, a. io Miltoo', elegant inrocation at the

bcr,iooins u( PoraMe Lull :-

Oh Ol)O'S fi ,ll difobedieoec, and the (,uit

Of tlut (oruiddentree, whof, mortal talle

Hl'Ilught death into the world, . nd all oor

IVO,

Wilh lufs o( Eden, till one grcm r M, n

Rcllore liS, and resain the bli(sflll fm,

SinE, heaveoly mufe,

In this fentenee the mo(pofition is almon as great as the

Latio

IJogua~e

IVould aellOit of, aorl the meaoing as di.

Ilina as i( MlllOo haJ hegun IVith the plaio language of

profe, thus,- " Hcavenly mufe, fiog of man's Grll difo·

bedi.nce,"

te.

nefore IVe Icave this heaJ, IVe may remalk, that the

little attentinn whieh feems to have been paid to this pe·

culiar . dvaotage derived (roOl the ufe of an accufa·

tive cafe di!ferent from the nominative, is fomev.hat (ur.

prifiog,- The Latins, who had mnre oecafioo

attend

10 this with eare thall Qny other nation, have in

m.ny

cafes overlooked it , " is evideot fromthe m. ny inllaoces

we meel with in Iheir.langu' ge where Ihis is nOI dinin·

guinled. For thenomioanve and aceufative are the fame

io the fi ngular number of all thofe o( the fi rf! dcclenfion

ending in

as is likewife the eafe IVith thofe in

the feeond, io

of the third, and in u o( the founh.

InIhe plural o\lmber, there is no

dillin~ion

between thcIC:

tlVO cafes in thofe o(lhe feeood declenfiooeoding io

UM,

oor in all thofeofthe third , founh, aod fifth , of every ter.

mination, the number of whieh is very confiderable So

thal thei r I.nguage reaps no advantage io this re(pea

from .Imof! one half o( their nouns, Nor have any of

the modero laoguages iD Europe, however much they

may have borrowed from the ancient languages io other

refpeas, attempted tO (Opy from themin thisparticular ;

from whiehperhap! more advanta¡;-<! IVo\llJ have beengain·

ed, than f,.om eopying all tireotlrerfuppofed exeelleneies

of their language -But to returo to our fubjea .

It remains tlrat IVe confider, whether the inRea ioo of

nou'ns give! aoy aJvantage over the method o( defining

Ihem by prepolitions, in point of dillinélnefs and precio

fion of meaniog.-Hul in this refpe{t too the an.logous

laoguage muf! come off

vi,~orious.-lndeed

Ihis is the

particular in IVhieh their

~reatell

exeelleneeeonfins ; oor

was ir, IVe believe, ever difputeJ, bm th. r, io poiot of

aeeuraeyaod precifion, this methad muf! exce! all others,

ho...ever il may he defcllive io olher refpeas,-We ob·

ferved under this he.d, when fpe.kins of verbs, thal it

might perhapsbe polr.ble tOforma I. nguage by inAdlion

IVhleh Ihollld be eapable of as r,rCat aceuracy as in the

more fimple order of auxiliaries: bUl this would I"re

beco fueh an infinite labour, that it IVas not to be expec·

ted that ever human powers would have been aole to ae·

compliA, il. More <ofy \\'ould it havebe:otOhave form–

ed the fel'eral ioRca ions of the nouns fo dllfacnt from

ooe aoother, as to h. fe rendere.! it impoiliblcel'cr 10mif·

"ke the lIleaniog. Yer eveoIhis

nOt h(enattempte,l.

Ao.! as \\'e tiod that thol<laogoar,es "hi,h hJI'e adopte"

the met hod of inne{tinr. thClr vClbs 31e 1Il0r' ImpI'rfdl io

puiot

01'

prcciliulI th," the otl" r, f" Ihe falite mal'

:'c

r.,I,1

of rnlleélio¡; the

noullS:

for

OIJI tOmelltton th '

11(1

~.)'

\\bh. h