A grammatical institute, of the English language, comprising, an easy, concise, and systematic method of education, designed for the use of English schools in America. : In three parts. : Part II. Containing, a plain and comprehensive grammar, grounded on the true principles and idioms of the language; with an analytical dissertation, in which the various uses of the auxiliary signs are unfolded and explained: and an essay towards investigating the rules of English verse. / By Noah Webster, Jun. Esq. ; [One line in Latin from Cicero]

DERIVATION and COMPOSITION of WORDS.

This is what Dr. Ash calls the grand laboratory of the English language; for by the help of certain prefixes and terminations, we form new words to express any idea we please. The modes of deriva|tion and composition of most general use are the following.

Saxon Modes.

From a substantive or noun we form an adjective by the terminations,

			Noun.	Adj.
ful	which signifies abundance	as,	joy,	joyful.
some	the same	as,	game,	gamesome.
less	which denotes a want	as,	hope,	hopeless.
	of the quality
ly	which denotes likeness to,	as,	man,	manly.
y	which denotes fulness &c.	as,	dirt,	dirty.
ish	denoting likeness to	as,	child,	childish.
like	the same	as,	lion,	lionlike.
wise	denoting skill	as,	weather,	weatherwise.

From one noun we form another by the termi|nation,

			Noun.	Noun.
head	denoting state or condition	as,	God,	Godhead.
h••••d	the same	as,	man,	manhood.
ship	denoting office or juris|diction	as,	clerk,	clerkship,
rick	the same	as,	bishop,	bishoprick,
wick	the same	as,	bailiff,	bailiwick.
dom	jurisdiction	as,	king,	kingdom.

From an adjective we form a noun by the termi|nation,

			Adj.	Noun
ness	denoting state or condition	as,	good,	goodness.

Another adjective, by the terminations,

			Adj.	Adj.
some	denoting the quality in great degree	as,	glad,	gladsome.
ish	denoting a diminution of the quality	as,	white,	whitish.

From adjectives we form adverbs in ly, w••••••h sig|nify the manner of a quality or action▪ as pru|dent, prudently; that is, in a prudent manner.

From a verb we form a noun by the termination er, as help, helper.

The particle un, is prefixed to verbs, adjectives, and participles, and implies negation; as, dress, un|dress, holy, unholy.

Re, signifies repetition, and is prefixed to, nouns, verbs and participles; as, union re-union, animate, re-animate, elect re-elect.

The words well, ill, half, are prefixed to partici|ples; as, accepted, well-accepted, advised, ill-advi|sed, eaten, half-eaten.

All, is prefixed to adjectives and participles; as, wise, all-wise, seeing, all-seeing.

Happify, is a compound of British and Latin ori|ginals.

Latin Modes.

From nouns we form adjectives by the termina|tions,

			Nouns.	Adj.
ous	which denotes the qual|ity of the noun	as,	joy,	joyous
al	the same	as,	scripture,	scriptural.
ive	the same	as,	sport,	sportive.
able	denoting power or ca|pacity	as,	sale,	saleable.

From nouns we form other nouns by the termi|nation,

		Noun.	Noun.
ist	as,	art,	artist.
ian	as,	logic,	logician.

From an adjective we form another adjective by the termination al, as, heroic, heroical; but these signify the same thing; and the termination is com|monly omitted.

From an adjective we form a noun, in ity, as, pli|able, p••••••••ility.

From the verb we form adjectives by the termi|nation,

			Verb.	Adj.
able	which denotes power or capacity	as,	attain,	attainable.
ive		as,	effect,	effective.
ant		as,	comply,	compliant
ent		as,	differ,	different.

From the verb we form nouns in,

		Verb.	Nouns.
ation	as,	frustrate,	frustration.
etion	as,	complete,	completion
ition	as,	add,	addition.
ance	as,	attend,	attendance
ence	as,	exist,	existence.

Prefixes.

Ante, prefixed to verbs, participles and nouns, sig|nifies before, as dated, ante-dated, chamber, ante-chamber.

Co, signifies with, as exist, co-exist, partner, co-partner.

Non, signifiing not, is prefixed to nouns, as con|formist, non-conformist.

In, im, ir, implying negation, are prefixed to nouns, adjectives and adverbs, as congruity, incon|gruity, possible, impossible, regular, irregular.

Pre signifying priority or eminence, i••

prefixed to verbs, nouns and adjectives, as suppose, pre-suppose, existence, pre-existence, eminent, pre-eminent.

Counter, signifying opposition, is prefixed to nouns, verbs and participles, as project, counter-project, act, counter-act, poised, counter-poised.

Super, signifying above, is prefixed to adjectives and verbs, as abundant, super-abundant, abound, super-abound.

Inter, signifying between, is prefixed to verb••, nouns and participles, as mix, intermix, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, in|termission, woven, interwoven.

Greek Modes.

From the noun we form a verb in ize, as author, authorize, and another noun is ism, as Calvin, Cal|vinism.

From the verb, is formed a noun in sm, as baptise, baptism.

Anti, signifying opposition, is prefixed to nouns and adjectives, as ministerial, anti-ministerial.

French Modes.

From a noun is formed another noun, in age, as pound, poundage, person, personage.

From a verb is formed a noun, in ment, as resent, resentment.

Mis, emplying error, is prefixed to nouns, verbs and participles, as demeanor, misdemeanor, apply, misapply, informed, misinformed.

Dis, implying contrariety, is prefixed to nouns, verbs and participles, as repute, disrepute, claim dis|claim, possessed, dispossessed.

We have one species of composition, which is ve|ry common, especially among poets, which must not be omitted: This is when two whole words are united to express some complex idea with concise|ness and energy. Of this kind are the following: "Cloud-compelling Jove," "cloud-topt hill," Pope. "Root-obstructed channel," Hervey. "Heart-felt

pangs," "Sun-descended race." These are adjectives in sense, but formed of a noun and a participle and convey the whole meaning of a phrase in a single word.

Many of these compound adjectives, in the sub|lime style, acquire a beauty and force that would be entirely lost in a circumlocution. But care should be taken not to indulge this licence of composition to such a degree, as to unite words that appear harsh and unnatural. Such are the "devotion-confounding pests" ••heridan, and the "sin and sorrow-sunk" of Dodd.