THE many incorrect Editions of this Book published of late years, have occasioned much trouble and vexation to Instructors of Youth, who bave therefore long wished to see an Edition accurately revised and corrected. To attain an object so important to Master and Scholar, the Proprietor of the Scotch Edition (from which this is carefully printed) dotained the assistance of the Rector of the Grammar School of Aberbeen; who has not only carefully compared this with the latest editions published in the Author's life time, and under his own inspection; but, by marking the quantity of the Penult Syllable, where it was most liable to be mistaken, has also, it is hoped, made it easier for Beginners to acquire a just Pronunciation of the Language.

OF

THE LATIN TONGUE;

OR,

A PLAIN AND EASY INTRODUCTION

TO

LATIN GRAMMAR.

D. Novemdecim; b, c, d, f, S. Nineteen; b, c, d, f, g, h, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, D. Quinque; ae (vel a) oe, S. Five; ae (or æ), oe (or (vel a) au, eu, ei: ut, aetas, vel œ), au, eu, ei: as aetas, or ætas, atas; poena, vel pæna, audio, poena, or pœna, audio, euge, euge, hei.

hei.

NOTES.

GRAMMAR is the art of speaking any language rightly; as Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, &c.

Latin Grammar is the art of speaking rightly the Latin Tongue. The RUDIMENT'S of that Grammar are plain and easy instructions, teaching Beginners the first Principles, or the most common and necessary rules of Latin.

The Rudiments may be reduced to these four heads; I. Treating of Letters. II. Of Syllables. III. Of Words. IV. Of Sentences. These are naturally made up one of another; for one or more Letters make a Syllable, one or more Syllables make a Word, and two or more Words make a Sentence.

A Letter is a Mark or Character representing an uncompounded Sound.

K, Y, Z, are only to be found in words originally Greek; and H, by some, is not accounted a Letter, but a Breathing.

We reckon the J, called Jod (or Je), and the V, called Vau, two letters distinct from I and U; because not only their Figures, but their Powers or Sounds, are quite different; Jsounding like G before E, and almost like F.

A Vowel is a Letter that makes a full and perfect Sound by itself.

A Consonant is a Letter that cannot sound without a Vowel. A Syllable is any one complete sound.

There can be no Syllable without a Vowel; and any of the six Vowels alone, or any Vowel with one or more consonants before or after it, make a syllable.

There are, for the most part, as many syllables in a Word as there are Vowels in it; only there are two kinds of syllables in which it is otherwise, viz. 1. When U, with any other Vowel, comes after G, Q, or S; as in Lingua, Qui, Suadeo, where the sound of the U vanishes, or is little heard. 2. When two Vowels join to make a diphthong or double Vowel.

A Diphthong is a sound compounded of the sounds of two Vowels, so as both of them are heard.

Of Diphthongs, three are proper, viz. au, eu, ei, in which both Vowels are heard; and two Improper, viz. a, a, in which the a and o are not heard, but they are pronounced as e simple.

Some, not without reason, to these five Diphthongs add other three; as ai in Maia, oi in Troia, yi or ui in Harpyia or Harpuia.

PARS SECUNDA.

De Dictionibus.

PART SECOND.

Of Words.

Speech are there ?

M. QUOT sunt partes Ora- M. HOW many parts of tionis ? D. Octo; Nomen, Pronomen, S. Fight; Noun, Pronoun, Verbum, Participium ; Adverbi- Verb, Participle; Adverb, Preum, Prepositio, Interjectio, Con- position, Interjection, Conjunc tion.

junctio.

M. Quomodo dividuntur ? D. In Declinabiles et Inde@linabiles.

M. Quot sunt Declinabiles? D. Quatuor; Nomen, Pronomen, Verbum, Participium.

M. Quot sunt Indeclinabiles? D. Item quatuor; Adverbium, Præpositio, Interjectio, Conjunctio.

M. How are they divided ? S. Into Declinable and Indeclinable.

M. How many are declinable? S. Four; Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle.

M. Howmany are indeclinable? S. Likewise four; Adverb, Preposition, Interjection, Conjunction.

A Word, (vox or dictio) is one or more syllables joined together, which Men have agreed upon to signify something.

Words are commonly reduced to eight Classes, called Parts of Speech: but some comprise them all under three classes, viz. Noun, Verb, and Adverb. Under Noun they comprehend also Pronoun and Participle; and under Adverb also Preposition, Interjection, and Conjunction. Others, to these, add a fourth Class, viz. Adnoun, comprehending Adjectives under it, and restricting Nouns to Substantives only. These by some are otherwise called Names, Qualities, Affirmations, and Particles.

The declinable Parts of Speech are so called, because there is some change made upon them, especially in their last syllables, and this is what we call Declension, or declining of Words, Butthe indeclinable parts continue unchangeably the same.

The last syllable on which these changes do fall, is called the Ending or Termination of Words.

These changes are made by what Grammarians call Accidentia i. e. The Accidents of Words.

A2

These Accidents are commonly reckoned six, viz. Gender, Case, Number, Mood, Tense, and Person. Of these, Gender and Case are peculiar to three of the declinable Parts of Speech, viz. Noun, Pronoun, and Participle; and Mood, Tense, and Person are peculiar to one of them, viz. Verb; and Number is common to them all.

NOTE 1. That Person may also be said to belong to Noun or Pronoun; but then it is not properly an accident, because no change is made by it in the Word.

NOTE 2. That Figure, Species, and Comparison, which some call Accidents, do not properly come under that name, because the words have a different signification from what they had before. See Chap. IX.

NOTE 3. That the changes that happen to a Noun, Pronoun, and Participle, are in a stricter sense, called Declension or Declination of them; and the changes that happen to a Verb are called Conjugation.

CAP. I.

De Nomine.

M. QUOMODO declinatur Nomen?

D. Per Genera, Casus, et Numeros.

M. Quot sunt Genera ?

D. Tria; Masculinum, Femininum, et Neutrum.

M. Quot sunt Casus ?

D. Sex; Nominativus, Geni

CHAP. I.

Of Noun.

M. HOW is a Noun declin

ed?

S. By Genders, Cases, and Numbers.

M. How many Genders are there?

S. Three; Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter.

M. Howmany Casesarethere?

S. Six; Nominative, Geni

tive, and Ablative.

tivus, Dativus, Accusativus, Vc-tive, Dative, Accusative, Voca

cativus, et Ablativus.

M. Quot sunt Numeri ?

D. Duo; Singularis et Pluralis. M. Quot sunt Declinationes?

D. Quinque; Prima, Secunda, Tertia, Quarta, et Quinta.

M. How many Numbers are

there?

S. Trwo; Singular and Plural. M. How many Declensions are there? S. Five; First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth.