indefinitely, even from our highest literary authorities; but,
since nothing can be settled but by the force of _principles_, he who would
be accurate, must resort to rules,--must consider what is analogical, and,
in all doubtful cases, give this the preference. But, in grammar,
particular analogies are to be respected, as well as those which are more
general. For example, the noun _side_, in that relation which should seem
to require the preceding noun to be in the possessive case, is usually
compounded with it, the hyphen being used where the compound has more than
two syllables, but not with two only; as, _bedside, hillside, roadside,
wayside, seaside, river-side, water-side, mountain-side._ Some instances of
the separate construction occur, but they are rare: as, "And her maidens
walked along by the _river's side._"--_Exodus_, ii, 5. After this noun
also, the possessive preposition _of_ is sometimes omitted; as, "On this
_side_ the river;"(--_Bible_;) "On this _side_ Trent."--_Cowell_. Better,
"On this _side of_ the river," &c. "Blind Bartimeus sat by the _highway
side_, begging."--_Mark_, x, 46. Here Alger more properly writes
"_highway-side._" In Rev., xiv, 20th, we have the unusual compound,
"_horse-bridles._" The text ought to have been rendered, "even unto the
_horses' bridles._" Latin, "usque ad fraenos equorum." Greek, "[Greek: achri
ton chalinon ton hippon]."

OBS. 34.--Correlatives, as father and son, husband and wife, naturally
possess each other; hence such combinations as _father's son_, and _son's
father_, though correct enough in thought, are redundant in expression. The
whole and a part are a sort of correlatives, but the whole seems to possess
its parts, more properly than any of the parts, the whole. Yet we seldom
put the whole in the possessive case before its part, or parts, but rather
express the relation by _of_; as, "a quarter _of_ a dollar," rather than,
"a _dollar's_ quarter." After the noun _half_, we usually suppress this
preposition, if an article intervene; as, "_half a dollar_," rather than,
"half _of_ a dollar," or "a _dollar's_ half." So we may say, "_half the
way_," for "half _of_ the way;" but we cannot say, "_half us_" for "half
_of_ us." In the phrase, "_a half dollar_," the word _half_ is an
adjective, and a very different meaning is conveyed. Yet the compounds
_half-pint_ and _half-penny_ are sometimes used to signify, the _quantity_
of _half a pint_, the _value_ of _half a penny_