The Grammar of English Grammars Part 140

"Meantime, on Afric's glowing sands, Smote with keen heat, the Trav'ler stands."--_Union Poems_, p. 88.

CHAPTER VIII.--ADVERBS.

The syntax of an Adverb consists in its simple relation to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or whatever else it qualifies; just as the syntax of an English Adjective, (except in a few instances,) consists in its simple relation to a noun or a p.r.o.noun.

RULE XXI.--ADVERBS.

Adverbs relate to verbs, participles, adjectives, or other adverbs: as, "Any pa.s.sion that _habitually_ discomposes our temper, or unfits us for _properly_ discharging the duties of life, has _most certainly_ gained a _very_ dangerous ascendency."--_Blair_.

"_How_ bless'd this happy hour, should he appear, Dear to us all, to me _supremely_ dear!"--_Pope's Homer_.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

The adverbs _yes, ay_, and _yea_, expressing a simple affirmation, and the adverbs _no_ and _nay_, expressing a simple negation, are always independent. They generally answer a question, and are equivalent to a whole sentence. Is it clear, that they ought to be called adverbs? _No_.

"Can honour set to a leg? _No_. Or an arm? _No_. Or take away the grief of a wound? _No_. Honour hath no skill in surgery then? _No_."--SHAK.: _First Part of Hen. IV_, Act v, 1.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

The word _amen_, which is commonly called an adverb, is often used independently at the beginning or end of a declaration or a prayer; and is itself a prayer, meaning, _So let it be_: as, "Surely, I come quickly.

_Amen_: Even so, come Lord Jesus."--_Rev._, xxii, 20. When it does not stand thus alone, it seems in general to be used substantively; as, "The strangers among them stood on Gerizim, and echoed _amen_ to the blessings."--_Wood's Dict._ "These things saith the _Amen_."--_Rev._, iii, 14

EXCEPTION THIRD.

An adverb before a preposition seems sometimes to relate to the latter, rather than to the verb or participle to which the preposition connects its object; as, "This mode of p.r.o.nunciation runs _considerably beyond_ ordinary discourse."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 334. "Yea, _all along_ the times of the apostasy, this was the thing that preserved the witnesses."--_Penington's Works_, Vol. iv, p. 12. [See Obs. 8th on Rule 7th.]

"_Right against_ the eastern gate, Where the great sun begins his state."--_Milton, L'Allegro_.

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

The words _much, little, far_, and _all_, being originally adjectives, are sometimes preceded by the negative _not_, or (except the last) by such an adverb as _too, how, thus, so_, or _as_, when they are taken substantively; as, "_Not all_ that glitters, is gold."--"_Too much_ should not be offered at once."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 140. "_Thus far_ is consistent."--_Ib._, p.

161. "_Thus far_ is right."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 101.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XXI.

OBS. 1.--On this rule of syntax, Dr. Adam remarks, "Adverbs sometimes likewise qualify _substantives_;" and gives Latin examples of the following import: "Homer _plainly_ an orator:"--"_Truly_ Metellus;"--"_To-morrow_ morning." But this doctrine is not well proved by such imperfect phrases, nor can it ever be very consistently admitted, because it destroys the characteristic difference between an adjective and an adverb. _To-morrow_ is here an adjective; and as for _truly_ and _plainly_, they are not such words as can make sense with nouns. I therefore imagine the phrases to be elliptical: "_Vere Metellus_," may mean, "_This is truly_ Metellus;" and "_Homerus plane orator_," "Homer _was plainly_ an orator." So, in the example, "Behold an Israelite _indeed_," the true construction seems to be, "Behold, _here is indeed_ an Israelite;" for, in the Greek or Latin, the word _Israelite_ is a nominative, thus: "_Ecce vere Israelita_."--_Beza_; also _Monta.n.u.s_. "[Greek: Ide alaethos 'Israaelitaes.]"--_Greek Testament.

Behold_ appears to be here an interjection, like _Ecce_. If we make it a transitive verb, the reading should be, "Behold a _true_ Israelite;" for the text does not mean, "_Behold indeed_ an Israelite." At least, this is not the meaning in our version. W. H. Wells, citing as authorities for the doctrine, "Bullions, Allen and Cornwell, Brace, Butler, and Webber," has the following remark: "There are, however, certain forms of expression in which _adverbs_ bear a special relation to _nouns_ or _p.r.o.nouns_; as, 'Behold I, _even I_, do bring a flood of waters.'--_Gen._ 6: 17. 'For our gospel came not unto you in _word only_, but also in power.'--1 _Thes._ 1: 5."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 156; late Ed., 168. And again, in his Punctuation, we find this: "When, however, the intervening word is an _adverb_, the comma is more commonly omitted; as, 'It is _labor only_ which gives a relish to pleasure.'"--_Ib._, p. 176. From all this, the doctrine receives no better support than from Adam's suggestion above considered.

The word "_only_" is often an _adjective_, and wherever its "special relation" is to a noun or a p.r.o.noun, it can be nothing else. "_Even_," when it introduces a word repeated with emphasis, is a _conjunction_.

OBS. 2.--When participles become nouns, their adverbs are not unfrequently left standing with them in their original relation; as, "For the fall and _rising again_ of many in Israel."--_Luke_, ii, 34. "To denote the _carrying forward_ of the action."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 52. But in instances like these, _the hyphen_ seems to be necessary. This mark would make the terms _rising-again_ and _carrying-forward_ compound nouns, and not participial nouns with adverbs relating to them.

"There is no _flying hence_, nor _tarrying here_."--_Shak., Macbeth_.

"What! in ill thoughts again? men must endure Their _going hence_, ev'n as their _coming hither_."--_Id._

OBS. 3.--Whenever any of those words which are commonly used adverbially, are made to relate directly to nouns or p.r.o.nouns, they must be reckoned _adjectives_, and pa.r.s.ed by Rule 9th. Examples: "The _above_ verbs."--_Dr.

Adam_. "To the _above_ remarks."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 318. "The _above instance_."--_Ib._, p. 442. "After the _above_ partial ill.u.s.tration."--_Dr.

Murray's Hist. of Lang._, ii, 62. "The _above explanation_."--_Cobbett's Gram._, -- 22. "For _very_ age."--_Zech._, viii, 4. "From its _very_ greatness."--_Phil. Museum_, i, 431. "In his _then_ situation."--_Johnson's Life of Goldsmith_. "This was the _then_ state of Popery."--_Id., Life of Dryden_, p. 185. "The servant becomes the master of his _once_ master."--_Shillitoe_. "Time _when_ is put in the ablative, time how _long_ is put in the accusative."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 201; _Gould's_, 198.

"Nouns signifying the time _when_ or how _long_, may be put in the objective case without a preposition."--_Wilbur and Livingston's Gram._, p.

24. "I hear the _far-off_ curfew sound."--_Milton_. "Far on the _thither_ side."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 58. "My _hither_ way."--"Since my _here_ remain in England."--_Shak._ "But short and _seldom_ truce."--_Fell_. "An _exceeding_ knave."--_Pope_. "According to my _sometime_ promise."--_Zen.o.bia_, i, 176. "Thine _often_ infirmities."--_Bible_. "A _far_ country."--_Ib._ "_No_ wine,"--"_No_ new thing,"--"_No_ greater joy."--_Ib._ "Nothing _else_."--_Blair_. "_Tomorrow_ noon."--_Scott_.

"Calamity _enough_."--_Tr. Sall.u.s.t_. "For thou _only_ art holy."--_Rev._, xv, 4.

OBS. 4.--It is not my design to justify any uncouth subst.i.tution of adverbs for adjectives; nor do I affirm that all the foregoing examples are indisputably good English, though most of them are so; but merely, that the words, when they are thus used, _are adjectives_, and not adverbs. Lindley Murray, and his copyists, strongly condemn some of these expressions, and, by implication, most or all of them; but both he and they, as well as others, have repeatedly employed at least one of the very models they censure. They are too severe on all those which they specify. Their objections stand thus; "_Such expressions_ as the following, though not dest.i.tute of authority, _are very inelegant_, and do _not suit the idiom_ of our language; 'The _then_ ministry,' for, 'the ministry of that time;'

'The _above_ discourse,' for, 'the preceding discourse.'"--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 198; _Crombie's_, 294; _Ingersoll's_, 206. "The following phrases are also exceptionable: 'The _then_ ministry;' 'The _above_ argument.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 190. "Adverbs used as adjectives, as, 'The _above_ statement;' 'The _then_ administration;' should be avoided."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 285. "_When_ and _then_ must not be used for nouns _and p.r.o.nouns_; thus, 'Since _when_,' 'since _then_,' 'the _then_ ministry,' ought to be, 'Since _which time_,' 'since _that time_,' 'the ministry _of that period_.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 96. Dr. Priestley, from whom Murray derived many of his critical remarks, noticed these expressions; and, (as I suppose,) _approvingly_; thus, "Adverbs are often put for adjectives, agreeably to the idiom of the Greek tongue: [as,] 'The action was _amiss_.'--'The _then_ ministry.'--'The idea is _alike_ in both.'--Addison. 'The _above_ discourse.'--Harris."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 135. Dr. Johnson, as may be seen above, thought it not amiss to use _then_ as Priestley here cites it; and for such a use of _above_, we may quote the objectors themselves: "To support the _above_ construction."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 149; _Ingersoll's_, p. 238. "In all the _above_ instances."--_Mur._, p. 202; _Ing._, 230. "To the _above_ rule."--_Mur._, p. 270; _Ing._, 283. "The same as the _above_."--_Mur._, p.

66; _Ing._, 46. "In such instances as the _above_."--_Mur._, p. 24; _Ing._, 9; _Kirkham_, 23.[427]

OBS. 5.--When words of an adverbial character are used after the manner of _nouns_, they must be pa.r.s.ed as nouns, and not as adverbs; as, "The Son of G.o.d--was not _yea_ and _nay_, but in him was _yea_."--_Bible_. "For a great _while_ to come."--_Ib._ "On this _perhaps_, this _peradventure_ infamous for lies."--_Young_. "From the extremest _upward_ of thine head."--_Shak_.

"There are _upwards_ of fifteen millions of inhabitants."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 266. "Information has been derived from _upwards_ of two hundred volumes."--_Worcester's Hist._, p. v. "An eternal _now_ does always last"--_Cowley_. "Discourse requires an animated _no_."--_Cowper_. "Their hearts no proud _hereafter_ swelled."--_Sprague_. An adverb after a preposition is used substantively, and governed by the preposition; though perhaps it is not necessary to call it a common noun: as, "For _upwards_ of thirteen years."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. xvi. "That thou mayst curse me them _from thence_."--_Numb._, xxiii, 27. "Yet _for once_ we'll try."--_Dr.

Franklin_. But many take such terms together, calling them "_adverbial phrases_." Allen says, "Two adverbs sometimes come together; as, 'Thou hast kept the good wine _until now_.'"--_Gram._, p. 174. But _until_ is here more properly a preposition, governing _now_.

OBS. 6.--It is plain, that when words of an adverbial form are used either adjectively or substantively, they cannot be pa.r.s.ed by the foregoing rule, or explained as having the ordinary relation of _adverbs_; and if the unusual relation or character which they thus a.s.sume, be not thought sufficient to fix them in the rank of adjectives or nouns, the pa.r.s.er may describe them as adverbs used adjectively, or substantively, and apply the rule which their a.s.sumed construction requires. But let it be remembered, that adverbs, as such, neither relate to nouns, nor a.s.sume the nature of cases: but express the time, place, degree, or manner, of actions or qualities. In some instances in which their construction may seem not to be reconcilable with the common rule, there may be supposed an ellipsis of a verb or a participle:[428] as, "From Monday to Sat.u.r.day _inclusively_."--_Webster's Dict._ Here, the Doctor ought to have used a comma after _Sat.u.r.day_; for the adverb relates, not to that noun, but to the word _reckoned_, understood. "It was well said by Roscommon, '_too faithfully is pedantically_.'"--_Com. Sch. Journal_, i, 167. This saying I suppose to mean, "_To do a thing_ too faithfully, is, _to do it_ pedantically." "And, [_I say] truly_, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned."--_Heb._, xi, 15.

OBS 7.--To abbreviate expressions, and give them vivacity, verbs of self-motion (such as _go, come, rise, get_, &c.) are sometimes suppressed, being suggested to the mind by an emphatic adverb, which seems to be put _for the verb_, but does in fact relate to it understood; as,

"I'll _hence_ to London, on a serious matter."--_Shak_. Supply "_go_."

"I'll _in_. I'll _in_. Follow your friend's counsel. I'll _in_"--_Id._ Supply "_get_."

"_Away_, old man; give me thy hand; _away_."--_Id._ Supply "_come_."

"Love hath wings, and will _away_"--_Waller_. Supply "_fly_."

"_Up, up_, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho!"--_Scott_. Supply "_spring_."

"Henry the Fifth is crowned; _up_, vanity!" Supply "_stand_."

"_Down_, royal state! all you sage counsellors, _hence_!"--_Shak._ Supply "_fall_," and "_get you_."

"But _up_, and enter now into full bliss."--_Milton_. Supply "_rise_."

OBS. 8.--We have, on some occasions, a singular way of expressing a transitive action imperatively, or emphatically, by adding the preposition _with_ to an adverb of direction; as, _up with it, down with it, in with it, out with it, over with it, away with it_, and the like; in which construction, the adverb seems to be used elliptically as above, though the insertion of the verb would totally enervate or greatly alter the expression. Examples: "She _up with_ her fist, and took him on the face."--_Sydney, in Joh. Dictionary_. "_Away with_ him!"--_Acts_, xxi, 36.

"_Away with_ such a fellow from the earth."--_Ib._, xxii, 22. "The calling of a.s.semblies I cannot _away with_"--_Isaiah_, i, 13. "_Hence with_ denial vain, and coy excuse."--_Milton's Comus_. Ingersoll says, "Sometimes a whole phrase is used as an interjection, and we call such _interjectional phrases_: as, _out upon him!--away with him!--Alas, what wonder!_ &c."--_Conversations on Gram._, p. 79. This method of lumping together several different parts of speech under the notion of one, and calling the whole an "_adverbial phrase_," a "_substantive phrase_," or an "_interjectional phrase_," is but a forced put, by which some grammarians would dodge certain difficulties which they know not how to meet. It is directly repugnant to the idea of _parsing_; for the pa.r.s.er ever deals with the parts of speech as such, and not with whole phrases in the lump. The foregoing adverbs when used imperatively, have some resemblance to interjections; but, in some of the examples above cited, they certainly are not used in this manner.

OBS. 9.--A _conjunctive adverb_ usually relates to two verbs at the same time, and thus connects two clauses of a compound sentence; as, "And the rest will I set in order _when_ I come,"--_1 Cor._, xi, 34. Here _when_ is a conjunctive adverb of time, and relates to the two verbs _will set_ and _come_; the meaning being, "And the rest will I set in order _at the time at which_ I come." This adverb _when_ is often used erroneously in lieu of a nominative after _is_, to which construction of the word, such an interpretation as the foregoing would not be applicable; because the person means to tell, not _when_, but _what_, the thing is, of which he speaks: as, "Another cause of obscurity is _when_ the structure of the sentence is too much complicated, or too artificial; or _when_ the sense is too long suspended by parentheses."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 246. Here the conjunction _that_ would be much better than _when_, but the sentence might advantageously spare them both; thus, "An other cause of obscurity is too much _complication_, too artificial _a structure_ of the sentence, or too long _a suspension_ of the sense by _parenthesis_."

OBS. 10.--For the _placing_ of adverbs, no definite general rule can be given; yet is there no other part of speech so liable to be misplaced.

Those which relate to adjectives, or to other adverbs, with very few exceptions, immediately precede them; and those which belong to compound verbs, are commonly placed after the first auxiliary; or, if they be emphatical, after the whole verb. Those which relate to simple verbs, or to simple participles, are placed sometimes before and sometimes after them.

Examples are so very common, I shall cite but one: "A man may, in respect to grammatical purity, speak _unexceptionably_, and yet speak _obscurely_, or _ambiguously_; and though we cannot say, that a man may speak _properly_, and at the same time speak _unintelligibly_, yet this last case falls _more naturally_ to be considered as an offence against perspicuity, than as a violation of propriety."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 239.

OBS. 11.--Of the infinitive verb and its preposition _to_, some grammarians say, that they must never be separated by an adverb. It is true, that the adverb is, in general, more elegantly placed before the preposition than after it; but, possibly, the latter position of it may sometimes contribute to perspicuity, which is more essential than elegance: as, "If any man refuse _so to implore_, and _to so receive_ pardon, let him die the death."--_Fuller, on the Gospel_, p. 209. The latter word _so_, if placed like the former, might possibly be understood in a different sense from what it now bears. But perhaps it would be better to say. "If any man refuse so to implore, and _on such terms_ to receive pardon, let him die the death." "Honour teaches us _properly_ to respect ourselves."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 252. Here it is not quite clear, to which verb the adverb "_properly_" relates. Some change of the expression is therefore needful.

The right to place an adverb sometimes between _to_ and its verb, should, I think, be conceded to the poets: as,

"Who dared _to n.o.bly stem_ tyrannic pride."--BURNS: _C. Sat. N._

OBS. 12.--The adverb _no_ is used independently, only when it is equivalent to a whole sentence. This word is sometimes an adverb of _degree_; and as such it has this peculiarity, that it can relate only to comparatives: as, "_No_ more,"--"_No_ better,"--"_No_ greater,"--"_No_ sooner." When _no_ is set before a noun, it is clearly an _adjective_, corresponding to the Latin _nullus_; as, "_No_ clouds, _no_ vapours intervene."--_Dyer_. Dr. Johnson, with no great accuracy, remarks, "It seems an _adjective_ in these phrases, _no_ longer, _no_ more, _no_ where; though sometimes it may be so commodiously changed to _not_, that it seems an adverb; as, 'The days are yet _no_ shorter.'"--_Quarto Dict._ And his first example of what he calls the "_adverb_ NO" is this: "'Our courteous Antony, Whom ne'er the word of _no_ woman heard speak.' SHAKSPEARE."--_Ibid._ Dr. Webster says, "When it precedes _where_, as in _no where_, it may be considered as adverbial, though originally an adjective."--_Octavo Dict._ The truth is, that _no_ is an adverb, whenever it relates to an adjective; an adjective, whenever it relates to a noun; and a noun, whenever it takes the relation of a case.