Parts Of Speech?

Posted by R. Berg on September 24, 2003

In Reply to: Parts Of Speech? posted by TheFallen on September 24, 2003

: Despite still just about remembering my French and German grammar, have I gone mad when I claim that, in the English language, there are nine parts of speech? My mother unearthed a Victorian children's book that only delineated eight (in nursery rhyme form), but I'm claiming that the definite and indefinite articles form a part of speech in their own right.

: P.S. I'll brook no nonsense about gerunds and gerundives here.

I believe that the official line when I went to school was that there were eight. Webster's Unabridged, 2nd ed. , s.v. "part of speech," lists eight. The OED says "Usually reckoned as eight . . . (sometimes as nine, the article being reckoned separately from the adjective)."

• We Need More Parts Of Speech Bob 24/September/03
  • We Need More Parts Of Speech Lewis 25/September/03
    • We Need More Parts Of Speech Bob 26/September/03