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we have aghwæther, ægther, 'every one of two,' 'each,' either.' See Bosworth, Anglo-Saxon Dictionary; and Hensleigh Wedgwood, Dictionary of English Etymology.

But Dr. Bosworth gives another form-athor, auther, awther, ' either,' 'other,' 'both.' And we may observe that the pronunciation of the word either is various: some say ether, others ither, and in some counties the people say ōther. It is used both as an adjective and as a substantive :

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Very commonly we find the alternative either, where we might expect the distributive each: as,

On either side

Is level fen, a prospect wild and wide,
With dike on either hand.

Crabbe:

Elated with this easy conquest, and presuming on the distresses or the degeneracy of the Romans, Sapor obliged the strong garrisons of Carrhæ and Nisibis to surrender, and spread devastation and terror on either side of the Euphrates.-Gibbon, Decline and Fall, c. 10. According to modern usage,

either means 'one or other.'

each means ( one and other.'

Now Gibbon does not intend to tell us, that Sapor carried devastation on one or other' bank of the Euphrates, but upon both banks of the river; and therefore we might have expected each instead of either.

Still, as the older forms of the language exhibit either in the sense of each,' I do not venture to say that Gibbon is wrong.

286. NEITHER is compounded of ne 'not,' and either; and we remark, that while either means 'one or other,' neither means 'not one and not the other'; for the negative excludes each. Either and neither refer strictly to one of two objects: hence the following sentence is inaccurate :

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Neither of

Injustice springs only from three causes.
these causes for injustice can be found in a Being
wise, powerful, benevolent.

We cannot say 'Neither of three': we should read, 'No one of these causes.'

CHAPTER IX.

ARTICLES.

287. Professor Max Müller remarks, that though the general outline of grammar existed at an early period in the schools of the Greek philosophers, yet the critical study of Greek took its origin at Alexandria, and was chiefly based on the text of Homer.

Plato recognised the ' noun and the 'verb' as the two component parts of speech; Aristotle added 'conjunctions' and articles.' But with Aristotle, the word rhema (óñμa), commonly translated by the term verb, is little more than a 'predicate.' For, in such a sentence as 'snow is white,' he would have called 'white' a rhema (¿ñμa); and under the head of 'articles' he would have comprised many words, which modern grammarians classify among other parts of speech.

When the scholars of Alexandria were engaged in publishing critical editions of the Greek classics, they were obliged to discuss the various forms of Greek grammar. They raise such points as these: Did Homer use the article? Did Homer use the article before proper names? Here the term 'article' had obtained a more precise meaning, as distinguished, for example, from the demonstrative pronoun.

Article is a literal interpretation of the Greek word arthron (äpopov), which literally signifies the 'socket of a joint.' The word was first used by Aristotle, and was fancifully applied to words which formed the sockets' in which the members of a sentence were supposed to move. Before the time of Zenodotus, the first librarian of Alexandria, 250 B.C., all pronouns were simply classed as 'sockets,' arthra, or 'articles' of speech. Zenodotus was the first to introduce a distinction between personal pronouns and the mere articles or articulations of speech, which henceforth retained the name of arthra. (See Max Müller, Science of Language, First Series, pp. 87-89.)

288. In English we have two articles, an (sometimes contracted to a) and the.

An, called the Indefinite Article, is used in speaking of any individual of a class. The old notion was, that the Indefinite Article was a, but that n was added (an) before a word beginning with a vowel or silent h. The fact is just the

contrary; the article is an, and n is dropped before a word beginning with a consonant, or with vocal h.

The, called the Definite Article, is employed in speaking of a particular object, or class of objects. It is regarded as defining,' that is 'marking out,' the object in question.

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INDEFINITE ARTICLE.

289. AN is a modification of the numeral one; AngloSaxon, an or an; Old English, ane, an, a.

When it comes before a word beginning with a consonant, or with h vocal, w or y, the letter n is dropped: as 'a man,' a horse,' 'a wall,' 'a year.'

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In older English it is frequently written before h vocal, as an house'; and even yet, some writers think proper to say, historical account.'

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It was also common to write an before a word beginning with the letter u: as, 'an University.' But where the initial u has the force of yu, it is now customary to omit n: as, ' a Union,' a University.'

When several objects are separately specified, the indefinite article is usually placed before each :

Leave not a foot of verse, a foot of stone,

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A page, a grave, that they can call their own.-Pope. Hence, when the indefinite article is expressed before the first only of two or more nouns, the reader will infer that the nouns are to be taken together, as referring to the same person or thing. Thus, a priest and king' will be interpreted to indicate the same individual holding the offices of priest and king combined. Similarly, 'a coachhouse and stable' implies that the two form one building, or one tenement, or that they are in close connection. Consequently, if we wish to mark separation, we must repeat the article: a priest and a king'; ་ a coachhouse and a stable.' By this rule, 'a black and a white horse' means two horses; a black and white horse

means one horse.

The same rule applies to the use of the Definite Article : 'the secretary and treasurer' would lead us to suppose that one person occupied a twofold position; but the secretary and the treasurer' would point to two distinct persons.

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290. If two nouns are applied to the same person, by way of comparison, the article is used only once: as,

Southey is a better prose writer than poet.

Not that it would be wrong to say, 'a better prose writer than a poet'; for we might turn the sentence thus::

Southey is more successful as a prose writer than as a poet.

291. The force of a, prefixed to a noun, is to represent that noun as belonging to a class; for instance, 'Gold is a metal,' means, 'Gold is one of the class of metals.' It is therefore very frequently found with common nouns, that is nouns which are employed in a general sense, as representing a class.

Sometimes in poetry, or in oratory, a proper name is used with the indefinite article, and thus receives something of the force of a common noun, indicating a character like that of the person named :—

'Frenchmen, I'll be a Salisbury to you;' that is, as terrible as the Earl of Salisbury.

He may be a Newton or a Herschel in affairs of astronomy, but of the knowledge of affairs of the world he is quite ignorant.—Burke.

That is, as profound as Newton or Herschel.'

This use of the Indefinite Article may sometimes be employed with good effect; but it has been so hackneyed by rhetoricians and declaimers, that a man of taste will be very careful in imitating this construction.

292. As the Indefinite Article indicates one thing of a kind, it must not be joined with a word denoting a whole kind or class. We เ say the unicorn is a kind of rhinoceros,' but not 'the unicorn is a kind of a rhinoceros.'

293. When two or more objects are distinctly specified, and attention is drawn to each, the Indefinite Article should be repeated: as,

Burleigh had a cool temper, a sound judgment, and a constant eye to the main chance.—Macaulay.

294. When an indefinite article is used with a noun, and the noun is qualified by several adjectives, the construction will depend upon the force of those adjectives :

1. If the adjectives are all to the same purpose, so that one merely amplifies the other, it is sufficient to prefix the article to the first alone: as,

There is about the whole book a vehement, contentious, replying manner.-Macaulay.

2. But where there is a marked emphasis, or contrast, the article is usually repeated: as.

He went like one that hath been stunned,

And is of sense forlorn;

A sadder and a wiser man

He rose the morrow morn.

Coleridge, Ancient Mariner.

There is a difference between a liberal and a prodigal hand.-Ben Jonson.

295. In Early English, when a noun is qualified by the article a, and an adjective follows the noun, it is customary to repeat the article; as,

A monk there was, a fayre.

Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, Prologue. Therefore he was a prickasoure a right.—Ibid.

that is, 'a good hard rider;' where, however, the more recent editions have ' aright.'

When several adjectives follow the noun, the article is repeated with each: as,

A Frere there was, a wanton, and a mery.-Ibid.

In later English, it is not uncommon to find the usual order-article, adjective, noun, and then another adjective with the article repeated: as,

Falstaff: And yet there is a virtuous man, whom I have often noted in thy company, but I know not his

name.

Prince Henry: What manner of man, an it like your
majesty?

Falstaff: A good portly man, i' faith, and a corpulent.
1st Hen. IV., ii. 4.
A very good piece of work, I assure you, and a merry.
Midsummer Night's Dream, i. 2.

POSITION

296. When the indefinite article is used in connection with an adjective and a noun, where the adjective qualifies the noun, varieties of position are observable.

In Early English, we sometimes find the same order as in our modern language-article, adjective, noun: for example, to hare feire burge,

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