ter
one, into which an equally successful professor of grammar has condensed a
much greater number and variety of faults,--is seen in the following
citation: "The verb is so called, because it means _word_; and as there can
be no sentence without it, it is called, emphatically, _the
word_."--_Pinneo's Analytical Gram._, p. 14. This sentence, in which,
perhaps, most readers will discover no error, has in fact faults of so many
different kinds, that a critic must pause to determine under which of more
than half a dozen different heads of false syntax it might most fitly be
presented for correction or criticism. (1.) It might be set down under my
Note 5th to Rule 10th; for, in one or two instances out of the three, if
not in all, the pronoun "_it_" gives not the same idea as its antecedent.
The faults coming under this head might be obviated by three changes, made
thus: "The verb is so called, because _verb_ means _word_; and, as there
can be no sentence without _a verb, this part of speech_ is called,
emphatically, _the word_." Cobbett wisely says, "Never put an _it_ upon
paper without thinking well of what you are about."--_E. Gram._, 196. But
(2.) the erroneous text, and this partial correction of it too, might be
put under my Critical Note 5th, among _Falsities_; for, in either form,
each member affirms what is manifestly untrue. The term "_word_" has many
meanings; but no usage ever makes it, "_emphatically_" or otherwise, a name
for one of the classes called "parts of speech;" nor is there nowadays any
current usage in which "_verb_ means _word_." (3.) This text might be put
under Critical Note 6th, among _Absurdities_; for whoever will read it, as
in fairness he should, taking the pronoun "_it_" in the exact sense of its
antecedent "_the verb_," will see that the import of each part is
absurd--the whole, a two-fold absurdity. (4.) It might be put under
Critical Note 7th, among _Self-Contradictions_; for, to teach at once that
"_the verb_ is _so_ called," and "is called, emphatically,"
_otherwise_,--namely, "_the word_,"--is, to contradict one's self. (5.) It
might be set down under Critical Note 9th, among examples of _Words
Needless_; for the author's question is, "Why is the verb so called?" and
this may be much better answered in fewer words, thus: "THE VERB is so
called, because in French it is called _le verbe_ and in Latin, _verbum_,
which means _word_." (6.) It might be put under Critical Note 10th, as an
exam