sonant is doubled in the spelling of the comparative and the superlative; as red, redd-er, redd-est; not red, red-er, red-est.

Rule for Spelling.-In words of more than one syllable, when the positive ends in y, preceded by a mute consonant, the y becomes i in the comparative and superlative; as merry, merri-er, merri-est; not merry, merry-er, merry-est.

Rule for Pronunciation. When the positive ends in -ng, the additional syllables are sounded -ger 1 and-gest; 1 not -er and -est; as long, long-er, longest, pronounced long, long-ger, long-gest; not long, long-er, long-est.

Positive form wanting.—The words better and best have no positive form; since there is no such word as bet or be, meaning good. The same is the case with the words worse and worst.

The word good is found in the positive degree only; there being no such words as gooder and goodest. The same is the case with the word bad; since the words badder and baddest are not used in the present English. The same, also, is the case with the words evil, ill, little, and much.

Two forms of the Comparative.-The word old has two comparative forms :

1. Older; as, I am older than you.

2. Elder; as, I am the elder brother.

It has also two superlatives, oldest and eldest.

Note. The comparative form elder may be used

1 As g in gun.

as a substantive; since we may say, the elders of the

people.

In Anglo-Saxon, several other words changed their

vowels in the comparative degree.

The words inmost, outmost, upmost, midmost, foremost, hindmost, utmost, are doubly superlative.

The words nethermost, uppermost, uttermost, undermost, outermost, and innermost, are trebly superlative.

These last two statements require explanation. The common statement concerning words like utmost is, that they are compound words, formed by the addition of the word most; this, however, is more than doubtful; inasmuch as the Anglo-Saxon language presents us with the following forms:

Besides these, there are in the other allied languages words like fruma=first, aftuma=last, miduma= middle.

Now the words in question show at once, that, as far as they are concerned, the m that appears in the last syllable of each has nothing to do with the word

most.

From the words in question there was formed, in Anglo-Saxon, a regular superlative form in the usual manner; viz., by the addition of -st; as æfte-m-est, fyr-m-est, late-m-est, sið-m-est, yfe-m-est, ute-m-est, inne-m-est.

Hence, in the present English, the different parts of the syllable most (in words like upmost) come from different quarters. The m is the m in the AngloSaxon words innema, &c.; whilst the -st is the common sign of the superlative. Hence, in separating such words as midmost into its component parts, we should write

hind-m-ost

not

hind-most

out-m-ost

out-most.

In certain words the syllable m-ost is added to a word already ending in er; that is, to a word already marked with the sign of the comparative degree.

Having accounted for the m in the words just mentioned, we can account for the m in the word former. Former (for-m-er) is a comparative from the AngloSaxon superlative forma (for-m-a).

PRONOUNS.

§ 241. A pronoun is a variable name capable of forming, by itself, either the subject or the predicate of a proposition.

§ 242. Pronouns differ from substantives in being variable, whereas substantives are invariable names.

§ 243. The following words, along with many others, are pronouns :—I, thou, he, she, it, we, ye, they, this, that, you, who.

§ 244. Pronouns are of different kinds; of these the most important are the following:

1. Personal Pronouns; 2. Possessive Pronouns ; 3. Demonstrative Pronouns ; 4. Relative Pronouns ; 5. Interrogative Pronouns; 6. Reflective Pronouns ; 7. Indeterminate Pronouns; 8. Articles.

§ 245. The personal pronouns are I, thou, we, and

ye.

They denote either the person or persons speaking, or the person or persons spoken to.

§ 246. I and we denote the person or persons speaking, and they are called the first personal pronouns, or the pronouns of the first person. Of these, I is the first personal pronoun singular, and we the first personal pronoun plural.

§ 247. Thou and ye denote the person or persons who are spoken to, and they are accordingly called the second personal pronouns, or the pronouns of the second person. Of these, thou is the second personal pronoun singular, and ye the second personal pronoun plural.

§ 248. The possessive pronouns are six in number, and of two kinds :-1. The possessive pronouns in -n. Mine, thine.-2. The possessive pronouns in -s. Ours, yours, hers, theirs.

§ 249. The demonstrative pronouns take their name from the Latin word demonstro=I point out. They are used to particularise or specify the persons or things to which they apply. The demonstrative pronouns are this, that, and yon.

§ 250. This applies to persons or objects near at hand, and is the demonstrative pronoun which denotes proximity or nearness.

§ 251. That applies to persons or objects which are distant, and is the demonstrative pronoun which denotes distance. Yon is also a pronoun demonstrative of distance.

§ 252. He and it, she and they, are partly demonstrative and partly personal.