The Grammar of English Grammars Part 90

I have ruined my friend,' 'Alas! I fear for life,' _which words_ here appear to be thrown in _between the sentences_, to express pa.s.sion or feeling? Ans. _Oh! Alas!_ Q. What does _interjection_ mean? Ans. _Thrown between_. Q. What name, then, shall we give such words as _oh! alas! &c._?

Ans. INTERJECTIONS. Q. What, then, are interjections? Ans. Interjections are words thrown in _between the parts of sentences_, to express the pa.s.sions or sudden feelings of the speaker. Q. How may an interjection generally be known? Ans. By _its taking_ an exclamation _point_ after it: [as,] '_Oh!_ I have alienated my friend.'"--_R. C. Smith's New Gram._, p.

39. Of the interjection, this author gives, in his examples for parsing, _fifteen_ other instances; but nothing can be more obvious, than that not more than one of the whole fifteen stands either "between sentences" or between the parts of any sentence! (See _New Gram._, pp. 40 and 96.) Can he be a competent grammarian, who does not know the meaning of _between_; or who, knowing it, misapplies so very plain a word?

OBS. 4.--The Interjection, which is idly claimed by sundry writers to have been the first of words at the origin of language, is now very constantly set down, among the parts of speech, as the last of the series. But, for the name of this the last of the ten sorts of words, some of our grammarians have adopted the term _exclamation_. Of the old and usual term _interjection_, a recent writer justly says, "This name is preferable to that of _exclamation_, for some exclamations are not interjections, and some interjections are not exclamations."--GIBBS: _Fowler's E. Gram._, --333.

LIST OF THE INTERJECTIONS.

The following are the princ.i.p.al interjections, arranged according to the emotions which they are generally intended to indicate:--1. Of joy; _eigh!

hey! io!_--2. Of sorrow; _oh! ah! hoo! alas! alack! lackaday! welladay!_ or _welaway!_--3. Of wonder; _heigh! ha! strange! indeed!_--4. Of wishing, earnestness, or vocative address; (often with a noun or p.r.o.noun in the nominative absolute;) _O!_--5. Of praise; _well-done! good! bravo!_--6. Of surprise with disapproval; _whew! hoity-toity! hoida! zounds! what!_--7. Of pain or fear; _oh! ooh! ah! eh! O dear!_--8. Of contempt; _fudge! pugh!

poh! pshaw! pish! tush! tut! humph!_--9. Of aversion; _foh! faugh! fie! fy!

foy!_[318]--10. Of expulsion; _out! off! shoo! whew! begone! avaunt!

aroynt!_--11. Of calling aloud; _ho! soho! what-ho! hollo! holla! hallo!

halloo! hoy! ahoy!_--12. Of exultation; _ah! aha! huzza! hey! heyday!

hurrah!_--13. Of laughter; _ha, ha, ha; he, he, he; te-hee, te-hee._--14.

Of salutation; _welcome! hail! all-hail!_--15. Of calling to attention; _ho! lo! la! law![319] look! see! behold! hark!_--16. Of calling to silence; _hush! hist! whist! 'st! aw! mum!_--17. Of dread or horror; _oh!

ha! hah! what!_--18. Of languor or weariness; _heigh-ho!

heigh-ho-hum!_--19. Of stopping; _hold! soft! avast! whoh!_--20. Of parting; _farewell! adieu! good-by! good-day!_--21. Of knowing or detecting; _oho! ahah! ay-ay!_--22. Of interrogating; _eh? ha? hey?_[320]

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--With the interjections, may perhaps be reckoned _hau_ and _gee_, the imperative words of teamsters driving cattle; and other similar sounds, useful under certain circ.u.mstances, but seldom found in books. Besides these, and all the foregoing, there are several others, too often heard, which are unworthy to be considered parts of a cultivated language. The frequent use of interjections savours more of thoughtlessness than of sensibility. Philosophical writing and dispa.s.sionate discourse exclude them altogether. Yet are there several words of this kind, which in earnest utterance, animated poetry, or impa.s.sioned declamation, are not only natural, but exceedingly expressive: as, "Lift up thy voice, _O_ daughter of Gallim; cause it to be heard unto Laish, _O_ poor Anathoth."--_Isaiah_, x, 30. "_Alas, alas_, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgement come."--_Rev._, xviii, 10.

"_Ah me!_ forbear, returns the queen, forbear; _Oh!_ talk not, talk not of vain beauty's care."

--_Odyssey_, B. xviii, l. 310.

OBS. 2.--Interjections, being in general little else than mere natural voices or cries, must of course be adapted to the sentiments which are uttered with them, and never carelessly confounded one with an other when we express them on paper. The adverb _ay_ is sometimes improperly written for the interjection _ah_; as, _ay me!_ for _ah me!_ and still oftener we find _oh_, an interjection of sorrow, pain, or surprise,[321] written in stead of _O_, the proper sign of wishing, earnestness, or vocative address: as,

"_Oh_ Happiness! our being's end and aim!"

--_Pope, Ess. Ep._ iv, l. 1.

"And peace, _oh_ Virtue! peace is all thy own."

--_Id., ib., Ep._ iv, l. 82.

"_Oh_ stay, O pride of Greece! Ulysses, stay!

O cease thy course, and listen to our lay!"

--_Odys._, B. xii, 1 222.

OBS. 3.--The chief characteristics of the interjection are independence, exclamation, and the want of any definable signification. Yet not all the words or signs which we refer to this cla.s.s, will be found to coincide in all these marks of an interjection. Indeed the last, (the want of a rational meaning,) would seem to exclude them from the language; for _words_ must needs be significant of something. Hence many grammarians deny that mere sounds of the voice have any more claim to be reckoned among the parts of speech, than the neighing of a horse, or the lowing of a cow.

There is some reason in this; but in fact the reference which these sounds have to the feelings of those who utter them, is to some extent instinctively understood; and does const.i.tute a sort of significance, though we cannot really define it. And, as their use in language, or in connexion with language, makes it necessary to a.s.sign them a place in grammar, it is certainly more proper to treat them as above, than to follow the plan of the Greek grammarians, most of whom throw all the interjections into the cla.s.s of _adverbs_.

OBS. 4.--Significant words uttered independently, after the manner of interjections, ought in general, perhaps, to be referred to their original cla.s.ses; for all such expressions may be supposed elliptical: as, "_Order!_ gentlemen, _order!_" i.e., "Come to order,"--or, "Keep order." "_Silence!_"

i.e., "Preserve silence." "_Out! out!_" i.e., "Get out,"--or, "Clear out!"

(See Obs. 5th and 6th, upon Adverbs.)

"Charge, Chester, charge! _On_, Stanley, _on_!

Were the last words of Marmion."--_Scott_.

OBS. 5.--In some instances, interjections seem to be taken substantively and made nouns; as,

"I may sit in a corner, and cry _hey-ho_ for a husband."--_Shak_.

So, according to James White, in his Essay on the Verb, is the word _fie_, in the following example:

"If you deny me, _fie_ upon your law."--SHAK.: _White's Verb_, p. 163.

EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS XI.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Eleventh Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and define the different parts of speech, and_ ALL _their cla.s.ses and modifications.

The definitions to be given in the Eleventh Praxis, are, two for an article, six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a p.r.o.noun, seven for a verb finite, five for an infinitive, two for a participle, two (and sometimes three) for an adverb, two for a conjunction, one for a preposition, and two for an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE Pa.r.s.eD.

"O! sooner shall the earth and stars fall into chaos!"--_Brown's Inst._, p.

92.

_O_ is an interjection, indicating earnestness. 1. An interjection is a word that is uttered merely to indicate some strong or sudden emotion of the mind. 2. The interjection of wishing, earnestness, or vocative address, is _O_.

_Sooner_ is an adverb of time, of the comparative degree; compared, _soon, sooner, soonest_. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner. 2. Adverbs of time are those which answer to the question, _When? How long? How soon?_ or, _How often?_ including these which ask. 3.

The comparative degree is that which is more or less than something contrasted with it.

_Shall_ is an auxiliary to _fall_. 1. An auxiliary is a short verb prefixed to one of the princ.i.p.al parts of an other verb, to express some particular mode and time of the being, action, or pa.s.sion.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_, which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Earth_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or cla.s.s, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or p.r.o.noun, which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_And_ is a copulative conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so connected. 2. A copulative conjunction is a conjunction that denotes an addition, a cause, a consequence, or a supposition.

_Stars_ is a common noun, of the third person, plural number, neuter gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or cla.s.s, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The plural number is that which denotes more than one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or p.r.o.noun which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_Fall_, or _Shall fall_, is an irregular active-intransitive verb, from _fall, fell, falling, fallen_; found in the indicative mood, first-future tense, third person, and plural number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_. 2. An irregular verb is a verb that does not form the preterit and the perfect participle by a.s.suming _d_ or _ed_. 3. An active-intransitive verb is a verb that expresses an action which has no person or thing for its object. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5. The first-future tense is that which expresses what will take place hereafter. 6. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The plural number is that which denotes more than one.

_Into_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a p.r.o.noun.

_Chaos_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or cla.s.s, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or p.r.o.noun, which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition.

LESSON I.--PARSING.

"Ah! St. Anthony preserve me!--Ah--ah--eh--eh!--Why--why--after all, your hand is not so co-o-o-old, neither. Of the two, it is rather warmer than my own. Can it be, though, that you are not dead?" "Not I."--MOLIERE: _in Burgh's Speaker_, p. 232.

"I'll make you change your cuckoo note, you old philosophical humdrum, you--[_Beats him_]--I will--[_Beats him_]. I'll make you say somewhat else than, 'All things are doubtful; all things are uncertain;'--[_Beats him_]--I will, you old fusty pedant." "Ah!--oh!--ehl--What, beat a philosopher!--Ah!--oh!--eh!"--MOLIERE: _ib._, p. 247.