The English Language Part 56

Grammatically, the contrast is considerable. The inflection of nouns expresses the ideas of s.e.x as denoted by gender, and of relation in place as denoted by cases. That of verbs rarely expresses s.e.x, and never position. On the other hand, however, it expresses what no noun ever does or can express; _e.g._, the relation of the agent to the individual speaking, by means of person; the time in which acts take place, by means of tense; and the conditions of their occurrence, by means of mood.

The idea of number is the only one that, on a superficial view, is common to these two important parts of speech.

Logically, the contrast is inconsiderable. A noun denotes an object of which either the senses or the intellect can take cognizance, and a verb does no more. _To move_=_motion_, _to rise_=_rising_, _to err_=_error_, _to forgive_=_forgiveness_. The only difference between the two parts of speech is this, that, whereas a noun may express any object whatever, verbs can only express those objects which consist in an action. And it is this superadded idea of action that superadds to the verb the phenomena of tense, mood, person, and voice; in other words, the phenomena of conjugation.

-- 343. A noun is a word capable of declension only. A {290} verb is a word capable of declension and conjugation also. The fact of verbs being declined as well as conjugated must be remembered. The participle has the declension of a noun adjective, the infinite mood the declension of a noun substantive. Gerunds and supines, in languages where they occur, are only names for certain cases of the verb.

Although in all languages the verb is equally capable of declension, it is not equally declined. The Greeks, for instance, used forms like

[Greek: to phthonein]=_invidia_.

[Greek: tou phthonein]=_invidiae_.

[Greek: en toi phthonein]=_in invidia_.

oftener than the Romans. The fact of there being an article in Greek may account for this.

-- 344. Returning, however, to the ill.u.s.tration of the substantival character of the so-called infinitive mood, we may easily see--

[alpha]. The name of any action may be used without any mention of the agent. Thus, we may speak of the simple fact of _walking_ or _moving_, independently of any specification of the _walker_ or _mover_.

[beta]. That, when actions are spoken of thus indefinitely, the idea of either person or number has no place in the conception; from which it follows that the so-called infinitive mood must be at once impersonal, and without the distinction of singular, dual, and plural.

[gamma]. That, nevertheless, the ideas of time and relation in s.p.a.ce _have_ place in the conception. We can think of a person being _in the act of striking a blow_, of his _having been in the act of striking a blow_, or of his _being about to be in the act of striking a blow_. We can also think of a person being _in the act of doing a good action_, or of his being _from the act of doing a good action_.

This has been written to show that verbs of languages in general are as naturally declinable as nouns. What follows will show that the verbs of the Gothic languages in particular were actually declined, and that fragments of this declension remain in the present English.

-- 345. The inflection of the verb in its impersonal (or {291} infinitive form) consisted, in full, of three cases, a nominative (or accusative), a dative, and a genitive. The genitive is put last, because its occurrence in the Gothic language is the least constant.

In Anglo-Saxon the nominative (or accusative) ended in -an:

Lufian =_to love_=_amare_.

Baernan =_to burn_=_urere_.

Syllan =_to give_=_dare_.

Be it observed, that the _-en_ in words like _strengthen_, &c., is a derivational termination, and by no means a representation of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive inflection. The Anglo-Saxon infinitive inflection is lost in the present English, except in certain provincial dialects.

In Anglo-Saxon the dative of the infinitive verb ended in _-nne_, and was (as a matter of syntax) generally, perhaps always, preceded by the preposition _to_.

To lufienne =_ad amandum_.

To baernenne =_ad urendum_.

To syllanne =_ad dandum_.

The genitive, ending in _-es_, occurs only in Old High German and Modern High German, _plasannes_, _weinnenes_.

-- 346. With these preliminaries we can take a clear view of the English infinitives. They exist under two forms, and are referable to a double origin.

1. The independent form.--This is used after the words _can_, _may_, _shall_, _will_, and some others, as, _I can speak_, _I may go_, _I shall come_, _I will move_. Here there is no preposition, and the origin of the infinitive is from the form in _-an_.

2. The prepositional form.--This is used after the majority of English verbs, as _I wish to speak_, _I mean to go_, _I intend to come_, _I determine to move_. Here we have the preposition _to_ and the origin of the infinitive is from the form in _-nne_.

Expressions like _to err_=_error_, _to forgive_=_forgiveness_, in lines like

To err is human, to forgive divine,

are very remarkable. They exhibit the phenomena of a nominative case having grown not only out of a dative but out of a dative _plus_ its governing preposition.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

ON DERIVED VERBS.

-- 347. Of number, person, mood, tense, and conjugation, special notice is taken in their respective chapters. Of the divisions of verbs into active and pa.s.sive, transitive and intransitive, unless there be an accompanying change of form, etymology takes no cognisance. The forces of the auxiliary verbs, and the tenses to which they are equivalent, are also points of syntax rather than of etymology.

Four cla.s.ses, however, of derived verbs, as opposed to simple, especially deserve notice.

I. Those ending in _-en_; as _soften_, _whiten_, _strengthen_, &c. Here it has been already remarked that the _-en_ is a derivational affix; and not a representative of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive form _-an_ (as _lufian_, _baernan_=_to love_, _to burn_), and the Old English _-en_ (as _tellen_, _loven_).

II. Transitive verbs derived from intransitives by a change of the vowel of the root.

_Primitive Intransitive Form._ _Derived Transitive Form._ Rise Raise.

Lie Lay.

Sit Set.

Fall Fell.

Drink Drench.

In Anglo-Saxon these words were more numerous than they are at present. The following list is taken from the Cambridge Philological Museum, ii. 386.

_Intrans. Infinitive._ _Trans. Infinitive._ Yrnan, _to run_ aernan, _to make to run_.

Byrnan, _to burn_ Baernan, _to make to burn_.

{293} Drincan, _to drink_ Drencan, _to drench_.

Sincan, _to sink_ Sencan, _to make to sink_.

Liegan, _to lie_ Lecgan, _to lay_.

Sittan, _to sit_ Settan, _to set_.

Drifan, _to drift_ Draefan, _to drive_.

Feallan, _to fall_ Fyllan, _to fell_.

Weallan, _to boil_ Wyllan, _to make to boil_.

Fleogan, _to fly_ A-fligan, _to put to flight_.

Beogan, _to bow_ Bigan, _to bend_.

Faran, _to go_ Feran, _to convey_.

Wacan, _to wake_ Weccan, _to awaken_.

All these intransitives form their praeterite by a change of vowel, as _sink_, _sank_; all the transitives by the addition of _d_ or _t_, as _fell_, _fell'd_.

III. Verbs derived from nouns by a change of accent; as _to survey_, from a _survey_. For a fuller list see the Chapter on Derivation. Walker attributes the change of accent to the influence of the participial termination _-ing_. All words thus affected are of foreign origin.