CHAP. IV.

Concerning Cases.

AS CASES, or at least their various Ch. IV.
Powers, depend on the knowledge part-
ly of Nouns, partly of Verbs, and partly
of Prepositions; they have been re-
served, till those Parts of Speech had
been examined and discussed, and are
for that reason made the Subject of so
late a Chapter, as the present.

THERE are no CASES in the modern Languages, except a few among the primitive Pronouns, such as I and ME; JE, and Moy; and the English Genitive, formed by the addition of s, as when from Lion, we form Lion's; from Ship, Ship's. From this defect however we may be enabled to discover in some instances what a Case is, the PeriphraT2

sis,

Ch. IV. sis, which supplies its place, being the

Case (as it were) unfolded. Thus Equi is analized into Du Cheval, Of the Horse, Equo into Au Cheval, To the Horse.And hence we see that the GENITIVE and DATIVE CASES imply the joint Power of a Noun and a Preposition, the Genitive's Preposition being A, De, or Ex, the Dative's Preposition being Ad, or Versus.

WE have not this assistance as to the ACCUSATIVE, which in modern Languages (a few instances excepted) is only known from its position, that is to say, by being subsequent to its Verb, in the collocation of the words.

THE VOCATIVE we pass over from its little use, being not only unknown to the modern Languages, but often in the antient being supplied by the Nominative.

THE ABLATIVE likewise was used by the Romans only; a Case they seem

to have adopted to associate with their Ch. IV. Prepositions, as they had deprived their Genitive and Dative of that privilege; a Case certainly not necessary, because the Greeks do as well without it, and because with the Romans themselves it is frequently undistinguished.

THERE remains the NOMINATIVE; which whether it were a Case or no, was much disputed by the Antients. The Peripatetics held it to be no Case, and likened the Noun, in this its primary and original Form, to a perpendicular Line, such for example, as the line AB.

The Variations from the Nominative, they considered as if AB were to fall from its perpendicular, as for example, to AC, or AD. Hence then they only called

T3

CASES, or FALLINGS.

Ch. IV. called these Variations ПTNEEIE, CASUS, The Stoics on the contrary, and the Grammarians with them, made the Nominative a CASE also. Words they considered (as it were) to fall from the Mind, or discursive Faculty. Now when a Noun fell thence in its primary Form, they then called it ПITNIE OPOH, CASUS RECTUS, AN ERECT, or UPRIGHT CASE OF FALLING, such as AB, and by this name they distinguished the Nominative.When it fell from the Mind under any of its variations, as for example in the form of a Genitive, a Dative, or the like, such variations they called ΠΤΩΣΕΙΣ ΠΛΑΓΙΑΙ, CASUS OBLIQUI, OBLIQUE CASES, OF SIDE-LONG FALLINGS (such as AC, or AD) in opposition to the other (that is AB) which was erect and perpendicular(). Hence too Grammarians called the Method of enumerating the various Cases of a Noun, KAIƐIE,

DECLINATIO, a DECLENSION, it be

(a) See Ammon. in Libr. de Interpr. p. 35.

ing

ing a sort of progressive Descent from Ch. IV. the Noun's upright Form thro' its various declining Forms, that is, a Descent from AB, to AC, AD, &c.

OF these CASES we shall treat but of four, that is to say, the NOMINATIVE, the ACCUSATIVE, the GENITIVE, and the DATIVE.

IT has been said already in the preceding Chapter, that the great Objects of natural Union are SUBSTANCE and ATTRIBUTE. Now from this Natural Concord arises the Logical Concord of SUBJECT and PREDICATE, and the Grammatical Concord of SUBSTANTIVE and ATTRIBUTIVE(). These CONCORDS in SPEECH produce PROPOSITIONS and SENTENCES, as that previous CONCORD in NATURE produces: NATURAL BEINGS. This being adsmitted,

T 4

(4) See before, p. 264.