131. In speaking of animals whose sex is not known to us, or not regarded, we assign the masculine gender to those distinguished for boldness, fidelity, generosity, size, strength, &c., as the dog, the horse, the elephant. Thus we say, "The dog is remarkably various in his species." On the other hand, we assign the feminine gender to animals characterized by weakness and timidity; as, the hare, the cat, &c., thus, "The cat, as she beholds the light, draws the ball of her eye small and long."

132. In speaking of animals, particularly those of inferior size, we frequently consider them without sex, or of the neuter gender. Thus, of an infant, we say, It is a lovely creature;" of a cat, "It is cruel to its enemy."

133. When the male and female are expressed by distinct terms; as, shepherd, shepherdess, the masculine term has sometimes also a general meaning, expressing both male and female, and is always to be used when the office, occupation, profession. &c., and not the sex of the individual, is chiefly to be expressed. The feminine term is used only when the discrimination of sex is necessary. Thus, when it is said, "the Poets of this country are distinguished for correctness of taste," the term "Poet" clearly includes both male and female writers of poetry But, "the best Poetess of the age," would be said when speaking only of females.

134. Collective nouns, when the reference is to the aggregate as one whole, or when they are in the plural number, are considered as neuter; as, 66 The army destroyed everything in its course;" but when the reference is to the objects composing the collection as individuals, they take the gender of the individuals referred to.

EXERCISES.

1. What is the feminine of-Father, prince, king, master, actor, emperor, bridegroom, stag, buck, hart, nephew, friar, priest, heir, hero, Jew, host, hunter, sultan, executor, horse, lord, husband, brother, son, bull, he-goat, &c.?

2. What is the masculine of-Lady, woman, girl, nieco, nun, aunt, belle, duchess, abbess, empress, heroine, wife, sister, mother, hind, roe, mare, hen-sparrow, shepherdess, daughter, ewe, goose, queen, songstress, widow, &c.?

3. Tell of what gender the following nouns are, and why.

Man, horse, tree, field, father, house, mother, queen, count, lady, king, prince, castle, tower, river, stone, hen, goose, seamstress, mountain, cloud, air, sky, hand, foot, head, body, limb, lion, tiger, mayor, countess ;-friend, neighbor, parent, teacher, assistant, guide ;—sun (129), moon, earth, ship;—cat (132), mouse, fly, bird, elephant, hare.

4. Take any of the above words, and say something respecting the person or thing which it denotes, so as to make a sentence; thus, “My father is at home"

NUMBER.

135. NUMBER is that property of a noun by which it expresses one, or more than one.

136. Nouns have two numbers, the Singular and the Plural. The singular denotes one; as, book, tree: the plural, more than one; as, books, trees.

GENERAL RULE.

137. The plural is commonly formed by adding s to the singular; as, book, books.

SPECIAL RULES.

138. RULE 1.-Nouns in s, sh, ch soft, z, x, or o, form the plural by adding es; as, Miss, Misses; brush, brushes ; match, matches; topaz, topazes; fox, foxes; hero, heroes.

139. Exceptions.-Nouns in eo, io, and yo, have s only as, cameo, cameos; folio, folios; embryo, embryos. So also, canto, cantos. Junto, tyro, grotto, portico, solo, halo, quarto, formerly had s only in the plural; but now more commonly es under the Rule; as, junto, juntoes, &c. Nouns in ch sounding k, add s only; as, monarch, monarchs.

140. Whenever s or es will not coalesce with the final syllable, it adds a syllable to the word; as, age, pl. ages; box, boxes. But where s or es will coalesce, it does not add a syllable; as, book, books; cargo, cargoes. The s will make an additional syllable only after e final, preceded by g, or an s-sound: as, cage, cages; race, races; rose, roses. Es will coalesce, and so not add a syllable, only after o; as, echo, echoes.

141. RULE 2.-Nouns in y after a consonant, change y into ies in the plural; as, lady, ladies. But, Nouns in У after a vowel, and all proper nouns in low the general rule (137); as, day, days; the Pompeys,

the Tullys, &c.

У,

fol

142. RULE 3.-Nouns in for fe, change f or fe into ves in the plural; as loaf loaves: life, lives.

143. Exceptions.-Dwarf, scarf, reef; brief, chief, grief; kerchief, handkerchief, mischief; gulf, turf, surf; safe, fife, strife; proof, hoof, reproof, follow the general rule. Also nouns in ff have their plural ins; as, muff, muffs; except staff, plural staves; but its compounds are regular; as, flagstaff, flagstaffs; wharf has either wharfs or wharves.

EXERCISES.

1. Give the plural of the following nouns, and the rule for forming it; thus, Fox, plural, foxes. Rule-Nouns in s, sh, ch soft, z, x, or o, form the plural by adding es. Or, more briefly : Nouns in x form the plural by adding es.

Fox, book, leaf, candle, hat, loaf, wish, fish, sex, box, coach, inch, sky, bounty, army, duty, knife, echo, loss, cargo, wife, story, church, table, glass, study, calf, branch, street, potato, peach, sheaf, booby, rock, stone, house, glory, hope, flower, city, difficulty, distress, wolf.

Day, bay, relay, chimney, journey, valley, needle, enemy, army, vale, ant, valley, hill, sea, key, toy, monarch, tyro, grotto, nuncio, punctilio, embryo, gulf, handkerchief, hoof, staff, muff, cliff, whiff, cuff, ruff, reef, safe, wharf, fief.

2. Of what number is-Book, trees, plant, shrub, globes, planets, toys, home, fancy, mosses, glass, state, foxes, house, prints, spoon, bears, lilies, roses, churches, glove, silk, skies, hill, river, scenes, stars, berries, peach?

3. Take six of the above words, and say something respecting each; first in the singular, and then in the plural.

NOUNS IRREGULAR IN THE PLURAL.

144. Some nouns are irregular in the formation of their plural;

145. Some nouns have both a regular and an irregular form of the plural, but with different significations; as—

146. NOTE.-Though pence is plural, yet such expressions as fourpence, sixpence, &c., as the name of a sum, or of a coin representing that sum is often regarded as singular, and so capable of a plural; as, "Three fourpences, or two sixpences, make a shilling.”“A new sixpence is heavier than an old one.”

147. Compounds ending in ful or full, and generally those which have the important word last, form the plural regularly; as spoonful, cup-full, coach-full, handful, mouse-trap, ox-cart, court-yard, camera-obscura, &c.; plural, spoonfuls, cup-fulls, coach-fulls, &c. 148. Compounds in which the principal word stands first, pluralize the first word; as

Man-servant changes both; as, men-servants. So also, womenservants, knights-templars.

149. The compounds of man form the plural as the simple word; as, fisherman, fishermen. But nouns accidentally ending in man, and not compounds of man, form the plural by the general rule; as, Turcoman, Mussulman, talisman; plural, Turcomans, Mussulmans, &c.

150. Proper names, when pluralized, and other parts of speech

used as nouns, or mere names, form the plural like nouns of similar endings, as, the Aristotles, the Solons, the Mariuses, the Pompeys, the Ciceros; the ayes and noes, the ins and the outs; by sixes and sevens, by fifties; three fourths, two halves; "His ands and his ors ;" “One of the buts is superfluous."

151. EXCEPTION.-Such words ending in y after a consonant, follow the general rule (137), and not the special rule (141); as, the Livys, the Tullys, the Henrys-"The whys and the bys."

152. Letters, marks, and numerical figures, are made plural by adding 's; as, "Dot your i's, and cross your t's."—"Your s's are not well made.”—“ The 's and 's are not in line."-"Four 6's =eight 3's."—" 9's give place to O's."

153. NOTE.-Some good writers form the plural of proper names, &c., in this way; as, the Marius's, the Pompey's-the why's and the wherefore's. But this is unnecessary, and should be avoided.

154. Words adopted without change from foreign languages, generally retain their original plural. As a general rule, nouns in um or on, have a in the plural. Latin nouns in is, in the plural change is into es; Greek nouns in is, change is into ides: Latin nouns in a, change a into æ; but Greek nouns change a into ata in the plural. The following are the most common, some of which, however, from common use, have become so much a part of the language as to have also the regular English form of the plural. In the following table these are indicated by the letter R.