THe Grammer of this invention hath four parts, Orthography, E­tymology, Syntaxis, Proso­dy.

Orthography sheweth with what Character every word is to be written, they are ten, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 0, with a letter or syllable set before, or behind each word for, distinction of parts of Speech, Cases, Numbers, Genders, Persons, Tenses, Compositions, Con­junctions, of which the second part of Grammer teacheth.

The Points of distinction of words and clauses in a sentence, are the same with those of com­mon use; viz. comma [,] which in this Art must be put at the end of every word, to prevent the confounding of the figures.

The middle of a sentence, if it be long, may be marked with a colon [:] but the end of a sen­tence must have a full period [.]

When a Question is asked, put an Interrogati­on point after the last word of the Question, thus [?]

A point of Admiration is added as a sign of a wonder [!]

Also, when two words are drawn together, a [Page 10] line is put betwixt them, called Hyphen [-] as sin-revenging, grace-confirming.

A Parenthesi is used when any words are put between the parts of a sentence, thus mark­ed ()

ETymology teacheth the differences of the parts of speech and the forming of them.

There are seven parts of speech: Noune, Pro­nonn, Verbe, Participle.

Adverb, Conjunction, Preposition.

Note, we reckon the Interjections among the Adverbs, as doe the Greek Grammari­ans.

A Noun is a word, signifying a thing without difference of time, as life, sweet.

Note, whatsoever word in our English tongue hath the particle [a or the,] before it is a Noune, as [a man] the house:] a Noun is either a Sub­stantive, or an Adjective.

A Noun Substantive, is that which of it self is sufficient to expresse its signification, without the addition of another word, as [man, strength.]

A Substantive is either Proper, or Com­mon.

Note, all proper Names of Men, Countries, Cities, Rivers, &c. found and signifie very like to all Nations, they may be writ in the usual letters, so that we need not devise Characters for them, [Page 11] but common Nounes have in most Languages as many several Appellations, as there are several Languages in the world, to remedy which confusion this Character is invented.

An Adjective is that which requireth a Substantive to be joyned with it, to shew its sig­nification, as when we say (white) we must add or understand (milk or snow) or some other Sub­stantive.

Nouns have two numbers, the singular which signifies one, as a book, and the plural which sig­nifies more then one as (books).

There are two Genders. the Masculine, and the Feminine, the Masculine as [a man] the Fe­minin as [a woman] living substances, only di­dinguish Gender.

Other Nouns both abstract, and Concrete, as (coldnesse cold) need no distinction of Gen­der.

Observe diligently several sorts of Nounes, by the letters which distinguish them as follow­eth.

p. Noun Subst. personal male p 3, a man a­bater, or he that abateth, personal female.

p f p f 3 a woman abater, or she that abat­eth.

r Noun Subst. real as r 3, an abatement 3.

x Substantive, Active, as (x 3) an abating, or the action of abating, which is more plain in the words (arming the Active Substantive) and armes the Real Substantive, the one signifies the action of arming, and the other the Weapons themselves.

q A Noun Adjective hath a (q) set before its Character, as q 317 bold.

There is one declension, or manner of declin­ing of Nouns, which indeed are all Aptotes, and vary not their Character, but have the five vow­els instead of Cases set after their Characteristica letter.

Note, that the letter s, set behind the Chara­cter, is a token of the plural number.

Note, the Nominative and the Accusative Case, differ not in signification, only the Nomi­native is set before the Verb, and the Accusative after it. But if the Nominative be put after the Verb, it will serve as well, (as in the Latine and Greek Nouns, the Nominative and Accusative are often alike.)

Note, the signs, or prepositions, in, with, through, by, &c. have several marks which must be taken out of the fift Chapter of Compositions, [Page 13] and set to the Nouns and Verbs in compositi­on.

Note it is unnecessary to vary Adjectives, by Case, or Gender, as our English tongue doth not, and the Latine and Greek in many Ap­totes.

It is therefore convenient that the sign of the Case be prefixed to the Substantive, & that the adjective be put after the substantive; but such as are curious may decline them like Substantives, adding the vowels to their letter.

Nouns are capable of degrees of comparison, as q 317 Bold.

Comparative, q q 317 Bolder, or more bold.

Superlative, q q q 317, Boldest, or most bold.

All numbers are written with their usual Cha­racters, only that they may be known from the words written with the like figures, a cross must be set above, under, before, or behind the fi­gure, as 3 plain, signifies to abate.

The Character of Arithmetical Fractions are retained.

A Pronoun is a part of Speech, used in shew­ing or rehearsing.

The Pronouns being very few, but of most frequent use, are all set down hear: The prin­cipal, are the three Primitive Persons, I, thou, or you, and he, which are expressed by the Vowels, a, e, i. and these Pronoun Vowels set before the letters they are compounded with, which in Verbs and Participles are, b, c, d, f, g, l. For when the Vowels are put after the letters p, q, r, x, they signifie the Cases of several sorts of Nouns, as was taught in the former Chapter.

Pronouns are declined just like the Nouns.

And so is e, and i, declined, &c.

The Derivative Pronouns are distinguished from their Primitives by an (h) set before them, [Page 15] in composition with Nouns: They are thus written, My, or mine Abatement, har 3. Thy Abatement, her 3. His Abatement, hir 3. whose Plurals are Our, Your, Their, as our Abatement hars 3 your Abatement, hers 3 their Abate­ment, hirs 3.

Demonstrative Pronouns are (This, and That, or It, and Self, or Same) which are thus writ­ten.

Sing. This Abatement, hor 3. Plu. These Abatements hor 3 s, which is sometimes called [it] as huac 3 I abated it.

There is also that Personal, as hup 3 That aba­ter, and [This] personal as hop 3. This Abater.

When a word is compounded with [self, or same] as I my self, the same man] it must have the letter z set to it as a z I my self.

The Relative [which or who, and what the Interrogative,] is known by the Consonant [v] set after the Pronoun, it relates unto as [av I which.]

The Relative is thus declined,

Note, some times [That] signifies [which] as (he that loveth, or which loveth) and then it hath the same Character. But sometime [that] is a Conjunction, as [speak that I may hear] for whose Character consult the Dictionary.

Note, When [soever] is compounded with a Relative, then the v may be doubled (as in La­tin quisquis) whosoever. [w]

A Verb is a part of Speech which signifies to do, to suffer, or to be. It hath two Voi­ces the Active and the Passive; whatsoever sig­nifies to do, is called Active, [as to beat] that which denoteth suffering, is called Passive, as [to be beaten.]

Note, Verbs Neuter, as [to Be] set alone, are declined like the Active, which Verb [Be] in our English tongue prefixt to Participles, form­eth the Passive Verbs, as I am beaten, I was beat­en, I shall be beaten, &c.

All Verbs have one General Conjugation in both voices, and four Moods, and six Tenses or Times.

The Indicative Mood affirms or denies any a­ction, or passion, as [I abate.]

The Imperative Mood commands, intreats, or exhorts as [abate thou.]

The Potential Mood hath these signs, may, can, might, could, would, or should, set before the Verb, as [I may abate.]

The Infinitive Mood signifies to do or suffer, without any difference of Number or Person, and therefore is written with plain figures, and in [Page 17] this Art is made the root from whence all the o­ther words are derived, as [to abate 3.]

An Example of the Verbs in both Voi­ces.

Indicative Mood, Presentense.

Sing. I Abate, thou abatest, he abates, or a­bateth.

Plural. We abate, ye abate, they abate.

Imperfect Tense.

Sing. I abated or did abate, thou abatedst, he abated.

Plu. We abated, ye abated, they abated.

Preterperfect Tense.

Sing. I have abated, thou hast abated, he hath abated.

Plu. We have abated, ye have abated, they have abated.

Pluperfect Tense.

Sing. I had abated, thou hadst abated, he had abated.

Plu. We had abated, ye had abated, they had abated.

First Future Tense.

Sing. I will abate, thou wilt abate, he will abate.

Plu. We will abate, ye will abate, they will abate.

Second Future Tense.

Sing. I shall abate, ye shall abate, he shall a­bate.

Plu. We shall abate, ye shall abate, they shall abate.

Imperative Mood Present.

Sing. Let me abate, abate thou, abate he, or him abate.

Plu. Let us abate, abate ye, let them a­bate.

Perfect Tense.

Sing. Let me have abated, let you have abat­ed, let him have abated.

Plu. Let us have abated, let you &c. let them &c.

Note in this Mood [l] is put before the Cha­racteristical letters of the Tenses, to distinguish them from the Indicative. And [m] is the mark of the next Mood.

Potential Mood Present.

Sing. I may or can abate, thou maist or canst abate, he &c.

Plu. We may or can abate, ye &c. they &c.

Imperfect Tense.

Sing. I might or could abate, thou &c. he &c,

Plu. We might or could abate, ye &c. they &c.

First Perfect Tense.

Sing. I might have abaced, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We might have abated, ye &c. they &c.

Second Perfect Tense.

Sing. I would have abated, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We would have abated, ye &c. they &c.

Third Perfect Tense.

Sing. I should have abated, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We should have abated, ye &c. they &c.

First Future.

Sing. I would abate, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We would abate, ye &c. they &c.

Second Future.

Sing. I should abate, thou shouldst &c. he &c.

Plu. We should abate, ye &c. they &c.

Infinitive Mood.

Note, The Passive voice is formed like the Active Moods and Tenses, only setting a distin­guishing line over the head of the Character, as 3 to be abated, so that we need not have set down any Type of this voice, but for the help of such as never learned, or have forgot their Acci­dence.

Indicative Mood Present Tense.

Sing. I am abated, thou art abated, he is aba­ted

Plu. We are abated, ye are abated, they are abated.

Perfect.

Sing. I was abated, thou wast abated, he was abated.

Plu. We were abated, ye were abated, they were abated.

Pret. Perfect.

Sing. I have been abated, thou hast &c. he hath &c.

Plu. We have been abated, ye have &c. they &c.

I had been abated, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We &c. ye &c. they &c.

First Future.

I will abate, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We &c. ye &c. they &c.

Second Future.

I shall abate, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We &c. ye &c. they &c.

Imperative Mood Present Tense.

Let me be abated, be thou abated, let him be abated

Let us be abated, let ye be abated, let them be-abated,

Preter perfect Tense.

Let me have been abated, let you have been abated, let him have been abatedt.

Let us have been abated, let ye &c. let them &c.

Potential Mood present.

Sing. I may or can be abated, thou maist &c. he &c.

Plu. We &c. ye &c. they &c.

Imperfect.

Sing. I might or could be abated, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We &c. ye &c. they &c.

First perfect Tense.

Sing. I might have been abated, thou &c. he ctc.

Plu. we &c. ye &c. they &c.

Second perfect.

I would have been abated, thou &c. he &c.

Third perfect.

Sing. I should have been abated, thou &c. he &c.

First Future.

Sing. I would be abated, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We &c. ye &c. they &c.

Second Future.

I should be abated, thou &c. he &c.

Plu. We &c. ye &c. they &c.

Infinitive mood.

Note, instead of Impersonals in English, the pronoun [it] is before Verbs, as [it pleased God] [Page 25] their Character is hu before the Tenses Chara­cteristical letters, as hub 3 it abateth.

Note, Verbs are capable of being compared, as the Nouns were, by doubling and trebling their Tenses Characteristical letter, as

And so for all other Tenses.

A Participle is a part of speech, partaking of the nature both of a Noun, and a Verb; from a Noun it borrows Gender and Case, from a Verb Tense and signification.

There are six Participles, three of the Active, and three of the Passive signification. The A­ctive are these;

• Participle of the present Tense, abating, boi 3̄
• Participle of the perfect Tense, he which hath abated, doi 3
• Future Tense, about to abate, or he that will abate, goi 3
• Passive. Participle of the present Tense, aba­ted, or he that is abated, boi 3̄
• Preterperfect Tense, he which hath been aba­ted, doi 3̄
• Future, to be abated hereafter, or he which will be abated, goi 3

Note. the Participles may at pleasure be made of any Tense of the Indicative, or Potential Mood.

They are declined as the Nouns and Pronouns were before.

AN Adverb is a part of speech, joyned to Verbs or Nouns (whence some call them Adnouns) to qualifie their signification, as [I justly punish, wilfully blind.]

Adverbs are known by the letter r, set before their Character, as t 3 abatingly

Most derivative Adverbs in English, end in ly as [wisely, foolishly.]

They may be compared by doubling, and tre­bling their letters, as t 3 tt 3 ttt 3.

A Conjunction, is a part of speech, joyning words and sentences together, as [and, if,] they are few, but of frequent use, and therefore they are expressed by Monosyllables set before the words they couple with, are to be found in the [Page 27] Dictionary, and in the last leaf of the Book they are set all together.

A Preposition is a part of speech, set before other parts, as [for, against, with,] and because the Latin Prepositions are in common use in most Vulgar Languages, by reason of many words borrowed from the Latin, as [Postscript, Subscribe, &c.] therefore we have retained such of these Prepositions as are generally known, yet for the help of the Vulgar, their sig­nification in English is set before them in an AL­PHABETICAL Order.

Of [signifying pertaining to a thing] is a sign of the Genitive Case, as the wisdome of God.

Note, (Re) must be set after the word it is com­pounded with, to distinguish it from Re the [Page 29] sign of the Dative Case, of real substantives. All other prepositions should be set befor the word they compound.

(To) the sign of the Dative Case.

(To) before a Verb, is a sign of the Infinitive Mood present.

For Expedition in Writing, in Imitatation of the Learned Tongues, Observe these Compo­sitions.

Desiderative—(na) as na 3 to desire to abate.

Imitative—(ne) as ne 3 to abate [Page 31] in Imitation.

Inceptive—(ni) as ni 3 to begin to abate which the English sometimes expresse by (grow,) as I grow old.

Negative— (no) as no 3 not to a­bate.

Factive, or Causative—(nu) as nu 3 to make or cause to abate.

For other Compositions, look the last leaf of the Book.

SYntaxe is the joyning together of two, or more words in a sentence, and this is either Concord, or Government.

There are three Concords, the first, between the Nominative Case and the Verb; the second, be­tween the Substantive and the Adjective; and the third between the Antecedent and the Rela­tive (which,) and that when it signifies which, whose, and whom.

To know all which, note, when you have a Verb Adjective or Relative, ask the question who, or whom, what? and the word answe­ring to the question, in that sentence and propo­sition, shall be the Nominative to the Verb, the Substantive to the Adjective, and the Antece­dent to the Relative, as in this Example; (I love the Great God which made me: If the [Page 30] question be asked, who loveth? the answer is, I, and that gives the Nominative Case to the Verb.

Secondly, if the Substantive to great be de­manded, the Answer is, God;

And Thirdly, the answer to the Question, who made me? shews the Antecedent to the Rela­tive which.

Note, Howsoever the words in a Sentence be placed for Elegancy, or the Idiom of any Lan­guage, they must be reduced to a plain Gram­matical order, that their Syntax or constructi­on may be known. And therefore it is advised such as practise this Character, would write plain and orderly, according to the directions.

Note, Nouns and Verbs being indeed Ap­totes, affix the signs to them as hath been taught, and there can be no mistake in this writ­ing.

If two, or more Nouns come together, belong­ing to one thing, the latter is put in the same Case with the former, (as Jesus Christ, the Lord our Righteousnesse; here Christ, and Lord, and Righteousnesse, are all the Nominative Case, by Apposition to Jesus.

Note, In the English Tongue an 's put to the Singular Nunber, is a sign of the Genitivc Case set before the word that governs it, as (my Fa­thers Friend) is Equipollent to the Friend of my Father.)

Note, The sign of the Tense, by the English, is sometime set before the Nominative Case to the Verb, especially in Questions, as (doth your Father live?) shall I abate?) let me abate; but [Page 32] in this Character the sign of the Tense must be alway set to the Verb; as al 3? shall I abate? lab 3 let mc abate.

PRosody teacheth how to speak and pro­nounce this Character, for which purpose one Common Name must be given to each fi­gure, and those are Ten Monosyllables borrow­ed from the English names of the figures, which are thus to be pronounced.

on,1, too,2, or[to]tre,3, for,4, or[fo]fi,5, sic,6,

[and in the Plural Number 6s six.]

sen,7, at,8, nin,9, o.0.

Note, When the Consonants prefix'd to the figures, are set alone without Vowels to spell them with, they are thus to be pronounced; bee, cee, dee, fee, gee, lee, mee, nee, pee, qee, ar, soi, tee, vau, wee, xee.

Note, when two Vowels happen together, which must be pronounced as two Syllables, Grammarians set two pricks over their heads, which they call Diaeresis, as [pii him.]

Note, the Vowels (to prevent forreigners [Page 33] mistake, who pronounce them differently from us) must be thus pronounced a, as [man,] e, as [the,] i, ending a syllable, as [35 trefi] to be pronounced as the word [eye.] i, before a Consonant is short, as (lip) O, ending a word, as [Crow] 34 trefo, o before a Conso­nant, sounds short, as [upon,] 12, onto, u, as [under.]

The Dipthong oi, to be pronounc'd as [boy.]

The Passive mark of figures, as ab 3̄, must be pronounced, ab lintre.

For the Accent, or syllable to be raised in each word, observe.

First, If a word be of two syllables, the Ac­cent is in the first, as 34 tréfo.

Second, If the word be a Polysyllable, the Ac­cent must be in the Antepenultima or last sylla­ble but two, (if the Penultima, or last but one have a Vowel next after it) as 3481, trefóraton, but if the Penultima have two Consonants fol­lowing it, the Accent must be on it as 3812 tre­atónto.

For other Polysyllables liberty may be taken of pronouncing them, as shall seem most pleasant to the ear, as 347 may be pronounced tréfosen, or trefósen.

Numerals crosse must be called Cruce, as 3̄ the cruce tree.

Note this Character thus pronounced, will sound like Greek, having divers of its sweetest Cadencies, and is capable of Rhetorical, and Po­etical figures. Look an example of writing and speaking the first Commandement, at the end of the Book.

Take notice that the Grammer and Dictionary is already Translated into the French Tongue, for the use of that Nation, other Languages will be hastned.

If any forreigners, shall please to Publish this Character in their own Countries, in their Na­tive Tongues, I desire the same course may be taken, which we have observed in the French; viz. That a double Index be made, one of the Figures in their order set before the words, and another of the words placed Alphabetically be­fore the Character.

And that care be taken no alteration be made of the Figures. And what additions shall be judged necessary of words omitted in this Edi­tion, that they be propounded to publick debate, whether necessary or no, and being Demonstra­ted to be such, they may be taken in by publick Consent in after Editions.

Note, If you would find any derived word in the Dictionary, which you will know by putting [to before it, as [sodden,] cometh from to seeth and by the Grammatical directions supply marks of Derivation.

Note, The same Character is applyed to most words of the same signification, and therefore when the order of figures seems disturbed in the Dictionary, know, those figures were set before or after to some word of the same sense: And that they may be the better distinguished, those repea­ted figures are of a lesser size then the other.

Note, Not only proper names need no Cha­racter, (as was observed before) but also many [Page 35] Apellatives, Terms of Art, as [Antithesis,] officine Medicines, as [Mithredate] and Di­vers Plants and Animals, as Arecca, Bonasus &c. have but one name in most Languages, and therefore we have spared annexing Characters to them.