I have been wondering how grammar terms received their names. Some of the origins are baffling.
A noun, that part of speech that names people, places and things, comes from the Latin word "nomen," meaning "name." That makes sense.
We don't seem to use the word "noun" outside of grammar conversations. The root, "nomen," is used in "nomenclature," the system of finding names for objects in science and art.
Better than that is the word "nomenclator." Today, it means the person who gives names to things. Originally, it meant the slave who traveled with his master to tell him the names of the people the master met. I would hire someone at a living wage to do that for me if I could afford it.
"Verb," the part of a sentence that conveys action, comes from the Latin word for "word."
Again, that's simple enough. All verbs are, indeed, words. The word also is used as part of longer words. "Verbal" is an adjective meaning "having to do with words." A "verbose" person is one who talks a lot.
The root of "article" -- a word such as "a" or "the" -- is curious. The Latin root means either "joint," "division" or "limb."
Articles also are stories in newspapers or magazines, clauses in business contracts or other documents, or certain items.
I suppose an article in a grammatical context is an item.
"Apostrophe" is a big word for that small but mighty punctuation mark. Its Greek root means "the act of turning away from."
We sometimes use an apostrophe to indicate that we have omitted a letter or letters from a word. "I'm" is short for "I am." "She'd" is short for "she would." Maybe that's where the "turning away" comes in.
But the apostrophe is also used to indicate possession:
Griffin's injury
Angela's ashes
Custer's last stand
In those cases, the "turning away" doesn't make sense.
"Comma" comes from the Greek word "komma," or a piece cut off. A comma looks just like an apostrophe, but it's at a different height on the line of text. Still, I guess it looks like a piece cut off something. I suppose it resembles an appendix.
But I don't think the meaning has anything to do with its purpose.
"Colon" has a Latin root meaning "a part of a poem," and it has a Greek root meaning, "limb." We have another limb derivation. A colon introduces lists. A leg does not.
A gerund is a noun created by adding an "ing" to the end of a verb. Examples are:
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Being There
Breaking Away
The root is Latin for "to bear" or "carry on." Maybe the "-ing" figuratively carries the verb into the noun kingdom.
An adjective describes or qualifies a noun. Its Latin root means "to throw." I guess when you describe things you may splatter traits on them.
A conjunction is a word such as "and," "but" or "so" that connects parts of sentences. The Latin root is "a joining," and the Greek root is "binding together."
That one makes sense. Maybe that's why conjunctions are explained so well in the unmatchable song "Conjunction Junction," created by the Schoolhouse Rock people.
A breve is the character shaped like a "u" over some vowels in a pronunciation key. It means the vowel has a short sound, as in these words:
Had, debt, with, lot, bud
"Breve" is from the Latin root for "short."
The macron is the straight line over vowels in pronunciations to tell you to use a long sound, such as in:
Late, beet, bite, hope, sure
Isn't that tidy? (Let's pretend the French prime minister isn't named Emmanuel Macron, OK?)
WEEKLY REVIEW
Amounts and numbers are different things. "Amount" is a word for things that can't be counted, only described in terms of volume. "Number" is for things that can be counted or have a quantity.
That's a large amount of cookie dough.
That will make a large number of cookies.
In describing a crowd:
Wrong: The authorities are expecting a large amount of people to attend.
Right: The authorities are expecting a large number of people attend.
Count nouns are those that can be numbered. Examples are endless: pounds, apples, pebbles, toffee chips.
Things that can't be quantified are "mass nouns." They are preceded by indefinite terms such as "some," "certain" and "much." Examples include pride, energy, irony, dirt.
Sources: Merriam-Webster, American Heritage Dictionary, Grammarist, Grammar Monster.
ActiveStyle on 08/06/2018