ss and
ineffectual teaching be still preserved.

LECTURE XIV.

ON CONTRACTIONS.

A temporary expedient.--Words not understood.--All words must have
a meaning.--Their formation.--Changes of meaning and form.--Should
be observed.--=Adverbs=.--Ending in _ly_.--Examples.--Ago.--Astray.
--Awake.--Asleep.--Then, when.--There, where, here.--While,
till.--Whether, together.--Ever, never, whenever, etc.--Oft.--Hence.
--Perhaps.--Not.--Or.--Nor.--Than.--As.--So.--Distinctions
false.--Rule 18.--If.--But.--Tho.--Yet.

We have concluded our remarks on the necessary divisions of words.
Things _named_, _defined_ and _described_, and their _actions_,
_relations_, and _tendencies_, have been considered under the classes of
Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs. To these classes all words belong when
properly explained; a fact we desire you to bear constantly in mind in
all your attempts to understand and employ language. But there are many
words in our language as well as most others, which are so altered and
disguised that their meaning is not easily comprehended. Of course they
are difficult of explanation. These words we have classed under the head
of _Contractions_, a term better calculated than any other we have seen
adopted to express their character. We do not however lay any stress on
the appropriateness of this appellation, but adopt it as a temporary
expedient, till these words shall be better understood. They will then
be ranked in their proper places among the classes already noticed.

Under this head may be considered the words usually known as "adverbs,
conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections." That the etymology and
meaning of these words have not been generally understood will be
conceded, I presume, on all hands. In our opinion, that is the only
reason why they have been considered under these different heads, for in
numberless cases there is nothing in their import to correspond with
such distinctions. Why "an adverb expresses some _quality_ or
circumstance respecting a verb, adjective, or other adverb;" why "a
conjunction is chiefly used to connect sentences, so as out of _two_ to
make only _one_ sentence;" or why "prepositions serve to connect words
with one another, and show the relation between them," has never been
explained. They have been _passed over_ with little difficulty by
teachers, having been furnished with lists of words in each "part of
speech," which they require