our volition. There
are other words used to express other circumstances attending upon
verbs, as may, can, shall, all which are probably the remains of
verbs otherwise obsolete. Lastly, when we recollect, that in the moods
and tenses of verbs one word expresses never less than three ideas in
our language, and many more in the Greek and Latin; as besides those
three primary ideas the idea of person, and of number, are always
expressed in the indicative mood, and other ideas suggested in the
other moods, we cannot but admire what excellent abbreviations of
language are thus achieved; and when we observe the wonderful
intricacy and multiplicity of sounds in those languages, especially in
the Greek verbs, which change both the beginning and ending of the
original word through three voices, and three numbers, with uncounted
variations of dialect; we cannot but admire the simplicity of modern
languages compared to these ancient ones; and must finally perceive,
that all language consists simply of nouns, or names of ideas,
disposed in succession or in combination, all of which are expressed
by separate words, or by various terminations of the same word.

_Conclusion._

The theory of the progressive production of language in the early
times of society, and its gradual improvements in the more civilized
ones, may be readily induced from the preceding pages. In the
commencement of Society the names of the ideas of entire things,
which, it was necessary most frequently to communicate, would first be
invented, as the names of individual persons, or places, fire, water,
this berry, that root; as it was necessary perpetually to announce,
whether one or many of such external things existed, it was soon found
more convenient to add this idea of number by a change of termination
of the word, than by the addition of another word.

As many of these nouns soon became general terms, as bird, beast,
fish, animal; it was next convenient to distinguish them when used for
an individual, from the same word used as a general term; whence the
two articles _a_ and _the_, in our language, derive their origin.

Next to these names of the ideas of entire things, the words most
perpetually wanted in conversation would probably consist of the
names of the ideas of the parts or properties of things; which might
be derived from the names of some things, and applied to others which
in these respects resembled them; these are termed adjectives, as ro