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THE COUNTRYMAN.
96
TURN WOLD, GA., FEBRUARY 14,1 S(i5< j it means.
Grammar for my Boys.
BY J. A. TURNER.
Lesson I.— What Grammar Means.
Father.—Come Willie, you and
Mike, and let me talk to you about
studying grammar. Do you know
what grammar teaches you to do ?
Willie.—Yes, sir : It teach us how
to write, and speak correctly.
Father.—Your answer is right, but
your language is wrong. You say it
teach: yon should say it teaches.
Now you cau learn, by studying
grammar, why you must say it teach
es, instead of saying it teach. But
you will learn this, after awhile. I
can’t tell you, now. But I want the
answer given correctly—what does
grammar teach ?
Mike.—Father, I can tell: it teach
es us how to write, and speak cor
rectly.
Father.—That is right, my son.
You know I talk to you and Willie,
overy day, about your talking like
the negroes. You say you don’t know
any better, bow to talk. Well, you
must learn grammar, now, and that
will teach you how to talk.
Mike.—Father, what makes you
call what we are going to study,
grammar ?
Father.—The word grammar comes
from the Greek word gramma, which
means letter. Now, in writing, or
talking words, we must not leave out
any of the letters that it takes to
spell the right word. What you are
going to study teaches you how to use
the right letter, or (as the Greeks
would say) the right gramma, in the
right place. Therefore the study you
are about to begin, is called grammar.
Lesson II.—About Parts of Speech.
Father.—Willie, do you know what
speech means 1
Willie.—No, sir.
Mike.—Father, 1 have heard you
make a speech.
Father.—Yes, and when I made a
speech, I talked, didn’t I ?
Willie.—Father, doesn’t speech
mean talk ?
Father.—Yes, my son, that is what
Talk, and speech, and lan
guage, and words are pretty much the
same. When you talk, you use
speech, or language, or words. When
1 make a speech, it is made of words,
and every word is a part ef my speech.
Mike.—Well, every time brother
Willie and I talk, we use parts of
speech, don’t we ?
Father .— Yes, and although we
have many thousands of words, yet
wo only have nine parts of speech.
These nine parts of speech have nine
names, which I will tell you present
ly. Every word you use in talking,
is one or another of these nine parts
of speech.
Willie.—Father, I don’t under
stand that. If we have so many thou
sands of words, that are the same
thing as parts of speech, I can’t see
how we don’t have but nine parts of
speech.
Father.—Well, I will try to ex
plain that to you. How many kinds
of birds did you ever see, Mike 1
Mike.—A blue bird, a black bird, a
yellow bird, a red bird, a white bird,
and a speckled bird.
Willie.—That makes six.
Father.—Yes, and these are only
six kinds of birds : but there are thou
sands of birds, though you see only
six kinds. Now, Willie, every time
you take your gun, and go hunting,
and shoot a bird, you know he is a
blue bird, a black bird, a white bird,
a yellow bird, a red bird, or a speck
led bird. And if you kill a hundred
birds, they are all one, or another of
these six kinds of birds—are they
not ?
Willie.—I begin to understand y ou,
now.
Mike.—Yes, I do, too: and if we
use a huudred words, while we are
talking, all of the words are one or
another of the nine parts of speech.
Father.—That is so. Just as soon
as you see a bird, you can tell
what kind of a bird it is, and I
am going to explain to you the parts
of speech, so that as soon as you see,
or hear a word, you can tell what part
of speech it is.
Lesson 111.—About the Noun.
Father.—Willie, do you know
what noun means %
Willie.—No, sir.
Father.—Then I will tell you. It
means name. It comes from the Lat-
in word nomen, that means name.
-Nomen is changed to noun, and noun
means name. You hear me use a
great many words when I talk to
you, and whenever I say Willie, or
Mike, I call a name, don’t I ?
Mike.—Yes, sir. And if Mike is
a name, it is a noun too, isn’t it ?
Father.—Yes, and Willie is^ a
name, too, and Willie is a noun. So
we have found out one part of speech,
and that is the noun. Now, whenever
you see, or hear a word that is the
name of any body, you may know
that that word is a noun. Willie
and Mike are the names of boys, and
therefore the words Willie and Mike
are nouns.
Willie.— Well, father, isn’t horse a
noun, too ?
Father.—Why do you think so,
my son ?
Willie.—Because horse is the name
of something we ride, and every name
is a' noun.
Father.—That is right.
Mike.—And Eatonton must be a
noun, too, because it is the name of a
place.
Father.—A man, or woman, or
boy, or girl, is a person. Mike and
Willie, then, are persons : and you
say their names aro nouns. A noun,
then, may be a person, may it not ]
Mike.—Yes, sir.
Father.—Eatonton is the name of
a pilace. Is Eatonton a noun ?
Willie.—Yes, sir, because it is a
name. Nothing can be a name with
out being a noun.
Father.— Book is the name of a
thing to read. Is book a noun ?
Mike.—Yes, sir, because it is a
name.
Father.—Now, Willie, tell me what
a noun is.
Willie.—A noun is the name of any
person, place, or thing.
Father.—So you have loarned, in
this lesson, about one part of speech