The genitive case, though thus general, and supposed by some to have in the Greek language derived from this circumstance its technical name 7rrar715 vvaen, ought not perhaps to be considered as more general than the others. It is distinguished from them by the circumstance of be ing• employed to show that the word put in this ease is subordinate to a noun. Nothing more than a general rela tion betwixt the two ideas is expressed ; but the connec tion thus established has something particular in its adap tation to the purposes of discourse. The ideas thus con nected could not exchange places, nor are they of equal importance in the sentence, as they would be if conjoined by means of the word " and." " The man of virtue" and "the virtue of the man" do not mean the same thing. The ideas expressed by the words man and virtue are in deed connected in both of these phrases ; but when we say a man of virtue," it is intimated that something further is said of " the man " 'When we say " the virtue of the man," it is intimated that the subject on which we enlarge is " the virtue." Both of these are different from a con nection formed betwixt two nouns by the word 44 and ;" which intimates that they are on equal terms in the asser tions which ate made.
Such instances as we mentioned of the genitive being put after verbs and adjectives are so rare, that they may be considered as exceptions in which a stretch is made to give these governing words the power of nouns in the use of language. Every word resembles a noun in contain ing the name of an object or idea. It is only in relative importance in the syntax of sentences that nouns differ from other parts of speech.
Exceptions of a different kind are also found. Nouns are in some instances annexed to other nouns by marks different from those which form the genitive ; C. g. home a secretis, a Latin phrase for a " secretary ;" and in Eng lish we have the phrases " father-IN-law," " cousin BY the mother's side." This last phrase is seldom employed without the use of the verb is preceding it, which gives a different turn to the whole phraseology, and has the power of introducing a greater variety of words than can be an nexed solely to the noun. Such exceptions as we have now mentioned arc equally rare with the former ; a cir cumstance which shews the nature of the genitive case to be almost peculiar.
In the Hebrew language, the placing of one noun after another is often the only sign of the genitive. Jein signifies wine, Helbon is the proper name of a mountain, and Jein Helbon is the expression for " wine of Hellion." Some times it is expressed in a manner which must appear re markable to those who are not acquainted with any ana logous language. The change indicating this mode of
annexation is made on the governing noun, which is then technically said to be in its constructed state, while the noun in the genitive case undergoes no change. Dabar signifies word, and Elohim God ; but there is no separate word for of, nor is any change made on Elohim, to make it equivalent to " of God." Dabar is put in its construct ed state by being changed into debar, which signifies word of. Debar Elohim is " word of God." In like manner, gedolim signifies " great men," haghir " the city." Great men of the city is not gedolim haghir, but gedolei haghir.
In English, as has been already observed, the genitive case is sometimes expressed by the terminations with an apostrophe, as in the first line of Paradise Lost, " Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit." It is thought by some grammarians an improvement in nomenclature, to call this form of the noun an adjective of possession derived from the noun. This distinction makes no difference of doc trine. That mode of describing it seems to have been in consciously suggested by the circumstance of its being, like the adjective in English, placed before the noun to which it is suLordinate. But nothing more than the mean ing of any genitive is signified by the adjective noun itself, as will appear when we come to treat of it. The English s has, with regard to Its etymology, been considered by some as an abbreviation for his. But this (or the equiva lent syllable is) is evidently an original sign in our lan guage, at least independent of such words as his ; and the latter is evidently derived from the pronoun he by having this sign attached to it.
The genitive case is sometimes expressed in English, as it is in Hebrew, by the mere juxtaposition of the nouns, with this difference, that the governed is placed before the governing noun; as in'' cart wheel," " corn field," " gar den wall." Some of these phrases are of more frequent recurrence than others. Sometimes the two words thus conjoined have, both in spelling and pronunciation, been run together into one, as in " timepiece," " statesman," " footman." Others of them are frequently connected in writing by a hyphen, to denote that they are scarcely to be considered as one word, yet not so much separated as two words generally are. In other instances, they are kept as distinct in a sentence as any other words. The meaning is not affected by this variety, and is so clearly expressed by simple juxtaposition in this order as never to admit of Ambiguity. Here we have one fact, by the consideration of which any inordinate predilection for the individuality of words may be reduced within just bounds.