33/50 The note added by Murray to his definition of a verb, would prove the participle not to be included in this part of speech, and thus practically contradict his scheme. It is also objectionable in respect to construction. The phrase "_by its making sense_" is at least very questionable English; for "_its making_" supposes _making_ to be a noun, and "_making sense_" supposes it to be an active participle. But Lowth says, "Let it be either the one or the other, and abide by its own construction." Nay, the author himself, though he therein contradicts an other note of his own, virtually condemns the phrase, by his caution to the learner against treating words in _ing_, "as if they were of an _amphibious species_, partly nouns and partly verbs."-- _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. |