A Pronoun preceded by a Preposition is often replaced by the corresponding Adverb with the Preposition after it, asThere is no good in it-There is no good therein.

=

The house in which Dentatus lived The house wherein, etc. The means by which he hopes to succeed = The means whereby, etc.

=

There was a house, and they brought us to it They brought us thereto.

This was also the case in the earliest English, e.g.

Hie læddon thone cyning to anum

treowe, and tiegdon hine tharto.

They led the king to a

tree, and tied him to it.

Negatives and Affirmatives.

The present rule is that 'Two Negatives make a Positive; but in Old English writers, in the provinces, and in other languages, a different practice prevails, e.g.

'Ne eom ic na Crist.'-John i. 20, A.-S. 995. (Double Negative.) 'Nor I nill make mention

Nor of robe nor of treasour.'- Chaucer.

'He never yet no villanie ne sayde

In all his life unto ne manere wight.'-Ibid.

(Triple Negative.)

(Quadruple Negative.)

Shakespeare frequently uses the double negative, but at early as the end of the fourteenth century we find a single negative emphatically used :

as

'I am not Crist.'—John i. 20 (Wiclif, 1389).

In the West of England double negatives are still employed,

I never didn't, and I never won't
never will.

=

I never did, and I

Latin resembles modern English in its use of negatives, but Greek and French employ double negatives, which strengthen, not destroy, each other.

A double negative is sometimes used in English

(1) For variety of expression, as, 'He is certainly not unknown to the police.'

(2) To render an assertion less emphatic, as, ' He is perhaps not unskilful.’

Ever and never.

Ever is used (1) as an Adverb of time, meaning 'always; (2) as an Adverb of degree, followed by 'so, not;' to indicate that the Adjective which it limits is to be taken in its widest possible extent, as—

He was ever solicitous for the welfare of others.

Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.

Never is used (1) as an Adverb of time; (2) as a strong Adverb of negation, e.g.

What is worthless is never in danger.

He answered him never a word.

The expressions 'Never so wisely,' etc.

In old-fashioned writers we meet with passages like the following:

Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.

The Lord is king, be the people never so impatient.

It is customary to say that in these expressions never is put for ever. But it is well to remember that even as it stands a sentence of this character is logically accurate.

Never so wisely so wisely as they never charmed before. Never so impatient=so impatient as they have never yet shown themselves.

Use of no for not.

The use of the Adjective no for the Adverb not is often condemned as ungrammatical. But it has the sanction of

some of our best writers :

'If you be maid or no.'—Shakespeare.

'Thou knowest alone whether this was or no.'--Tennyson.

Dr. Angus says that phrases like 'whether or no' are appropriate only where there is a suppressed Noun, as 'Whether he be a sinner or no (sinner) I cannot tell.' Otherwise, 'whether or not' is the proper expression, as—

Whether love be natural or not, it contributes to happiness.

What are yes and no?

The Adverbs of assent and negation, yes and no (sometimes called Adverbs of certainty), are peculiar words. Strictly speaking, as they never discharge the functions of an Adverb (see Definition), they have no right to be classed as such. It has even been suggested that they should be classed among the Interjections.

Yea and nay.

The ancient use of these words was different from the present. Yea and nay were answers to questions framed in the affirmative, as, 'Will he go?' answer 'Yea' or 'Nay.' But if the question was framed in the negative, as, 'Will he not go?' the answer was, 'Yes' or 'No.'

This distinction being a mere verbal nicety, and adding nothing to the force or clearness of an expression, has been allowed to disappear. It was already growing obsolete in the time of Henry the Eighth. More finds fault with Tyndale for not observing this distinction correctly.

On the Adverb of Assent.

Although various Adverbs may be employed to express assent, in most languages a special word is selected. In those of the Pelasgian stock, preference is given to an Adverb formed from the Demonstrative Pronoun. Thus, in Old French, oyl and oc (illud and hoc); in Spanish, and frequently in Modern French, si (sic).

In Modern English we sometimes meet with the Demonstrative so, and in certain old writers, that, as—

'Crown him? That.'-Shakespeare.

The Anglo-Saxon gese, which supplied the word ye, is a compound of yea and the old Subjunctive verb si or sie, and therefore means, literally, 'Yea, let it be.' Yea (A.S. gea) is

of the same origin as the German ja.

The Verb 'to be' with an Adverb.

When the Verb to be is not used as a copulative, it may be modified by an Adverb, as, 'Are you well? All's well.'

Correlative Adverbs.

Induced by Latin and Early English usage, certain Relative Adverbs are sometimes used in pairs, where according to modern ideas the former by itself would suffice, e.g.—

'Where he bowed, there he fell' (Place).-Judges v. 27.

• When I fall, then shall I arise' (Time).

As he commanded, so I performed' (Manner).

'Marke which way sits the Wether-cocke,

And that way blows the wind.'-Ballad Society, vol. i. p. 344

Cf. Latin quid id, quo..

eo, etc.

ANSWERED QUESTIONS.

1. Q. Give one example of each of the following - Adverbs of affirmation, negation, probability, manner, degree; Adverbs indicating duration of time, rest in a place, and motion from a place.

A. Such are yes, no, perhaps, quickly, almost; always, there, up

wards.

2. Q. Form Adverbs from the Nouns

day, head, wise, times, home,
shore, bed, holy, one, reed, and
others with the same root as
here, there, where.

A. Daily, headlong, wisely, betimes, homeward, ashore, abed, holily, once, needs; hither and hence, thither and thence, whither and whence.

3. Q. Substitute for each of the Pronominal Adverbs in the following sentences, a Preposition followed by a Relative Pronoun, leaving the sense unchanged -- The hour when he appeared was seven;' 'The house where I saw him was close by;' 'The source whence it comes is well known;' 'The

reason why he did it was obvious.'

A. For when we must substitute at which; for where we must substitute in which; for whence we must substitute from which; for why we must substitute for which. 4. Q. Mention some Adverbs that

have two forms, one of them being the ending of the Genitive Case, the other that of the Objective.

A. Such are alway and always, beside and besides, straightway and the old form straightways, sometime and sometimes.

5. Q. Point out how the etymologi

cal meaning of only and even is preserved in the sentences following:-(a)' Only a philosopher can be happy in poverty;' (b) Even the poorest have some hobby.'

A. Only is derived from one' (A.S. an-lic, one-like), and the above sentence is equivalent to an assertion that as regards the power of bearing poverty the philosopher is a single person, or stands alone. Even means literally 'on a level;'