§ 281. Expressions like to err = error, to forgive = forgiveness, in lines like

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.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ON DERIVED VERBS.

§ 282. Of the divisions of verbs into active and passive, 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 classes, however, of derived verbs, as opposed to simple, especially deserve notice.

I. Those ending in -en; as soften, whiten, strengthen, &c. Here the -en is a derivational affix; and not a representative of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive form -an (as lufian, bærnan = 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.

In Anglo-Saxon these words were more numerous than they are at present.

All these intransitives form their præterite by a change of vowel; as sink, sank; all the transitives by the addition of d or t, as sell, sell'd.

III. Verbs derived from nouns by a change of accent; as to survéy, from a súrvey.

Walker attributes the change of accent to the influence of the participial termination -ing. All words thus affected are of foreign origin.

IV. Verbs formed from nouns by changing a final sharp consonant into its corresponding flat one; as,

CHAPTER XIX.

ON THE PERSONS.

§ 283. Compared with the Latin, the Greek, the Mœso-Gothic, and almost all the ancient languages, there is, in English, in respect to the persons of the verbs, but a very slight amount of inflection. This may be seen by comparing the English word call with the Latin voco.

Here the Latins have different forms for each different person, whilst the English have forms for two only; and even of these one (callest) is becoming obsolete. With the forms voc-o, voc-amus, voc-atis, voc-ant, there is, in the current English, nothing correspondent.

In the word am, as compared with are and art, we find a sign of the first person singular.

In the old forms tellen, weren, &c., we have a sign of the plural number.

§ 284. In the Modern English, the Old English, and the Anglo-Saxon, the peculiarities of our personal inflections are very great. This may be seen from the following tables of comparison:—

§ 285. Herein remark; 1. the Anglo-Saxon addition of t in the second person singular; 2. the identity in form of the three persons of the plural number; 3. the change of -að into -en in the Old English plural; 4. the total absence of plural forms in the Modern English; 5. the change of the th into s, in loveth and loves. These are points bearing especially upon the history of the English persons. The following points indicate a more general question:

1. The full form prennames in the newer Old High German, as compared with sôkjam in the old Mœso-Gothic.

2. The appearance of the r in Icelandic.

3. The difference between the Old Saxon and the Anglo-Saxon in the second person singular; the final t being absent in Old Saxon.

§ 286. The person in -t.—The forms art, wast, wert, shalt, wilt, or ar-t, was-t, wer-t, shal-t, wil-t, are remarkable. Here the second person singular ends, not in -st, but in t. The reason for this is to be sought in the Mœso-Gothic and the Icelandic.

In those languages the form of the person changes with the tense, and the second singular of the præterite tense of one conjugation is, not -s, but -t; as Mœso-Gothic, svôr = I swore, svôrt = thou swarest, gráip = I griped, gráipt = thou gripedst; Icelandic, brannt = thou burnest, gaft = thou gavest. In the same languages ten verbs are conjugated like præterites. Of these, in each language, skal is one.

§ 287. Thou spakest, thou brakest, thou sungest.^[53]—

In these forms there is a slight though natural anomaly. They belong to the class of verbs which form their præterite by changing the vowel of the present; as sing, sang, &c. Now, all words of this sort in Anglo-Saxon formed their second singular præterite, not in -st, but in -e; as þú funde = thou foundest, þú sunge = thou sungest. The English termination is derived from the present. Observe that this applies only to the præterites formed by changing the vowel. Thou loved'st is Anglo-Saxon as well as English, viz., þú lufodest.

§ 288. In the northern dialects of the Anglo-Saxon the -ð of plurals like lufiað = we love becomes -s. In the Scottish this change was still more prevalent:

James I. of England ends nearly all his plurals in -s.

CHAPTER XX.

ON THE NUMBERS OF VERBS.

§ 289. As compared with the present plural forms, we love, ye love, they love, the Anglo-Saxons had the truly plural forms, we lufiað, ge lufiað, hi lufiað. The Old English also had a true plural inflection we loven, ye loven, they loven. The present English wants both the form in -en, and the form in -að. In other words, the Anglo-Saxon and the Old English have a plural personal characteristic, whilst the Modern English has nothing to correspond with it.

§ 290. In the forms luf-iað, and lov-en, the change from singular to plural is made by adding a syllable; but there is no reason against the inflection running thus—I love, thou lovest, he loves; we lave, ye lave, they lave; in other words, there is no reason against the vowel of the root being changed, just as is the case with the form speak, spoke; fall, fell.

Now, in Anglo-Saxon, with a great number of verbs such a plural inflection not only actually takes place, but takes place most regularly. It takes place, however, in the past tense only. And this is the case in all the Gothic languages as well as in Anglo-Saxon. Amongst the rest, in—

Mœso-Gothic.

Anglo-Saxon.

From these examples the reader has himself drawn his inference; viz. that words like

generally called double forms of the past tense, were originally different numbers of the same tense, the forms in a, as swam, being singular, and the forms in u, as swum, plural.

CHAPTER XXI.

ON MOODS.

§ 291. The Anglo-Saxon infinitive has already been considered.

Between the second plural imperative, and the second plural indicative, speak ye, and ye speak, there is no difference of form.

Between the second singular imperative speak, and the second singular indicative, speakest, there is a difference in form.

Still, as the imperative form speak is distinguished from the indicative form speakest by the negation of a character rather than by the possession of one, it cannot be said that there is in English any imperative mood.

§ 292. If he speak, as opposed to if he speaks, is characterized by a negative sign only, and consequently is no true example of a subjunctive. Be, as opposed to am, in the sentence if it be so, is a fresh word used in a limited sense, and consequently no true example of a subjunctive. It is a different word altogether, and is only the subjunctive of am, in the way puss is the vocative of cat.

The only true subjunctive inflection in the English language is that of were and wert, as opposed to the indicative forms was and wast.

CHAPTER XXII.

ON TENSES IN GENERAL.

§ 293. The nature of tenses in general is best exhibited by reference to the Greek; since in that language they are more numerous, and more strongly marked than elsewhere.

I strike, I struck.—Of these words, the first implies an action taking place at the time of speaking, the second marks an action that has already taken place.

These two notions of present and of past time, being expressed by a change of form, are true tenses. If there were no change of form, there would be no change of tense. They are the only true tenses in our language. In I was beating, I have beaten, I had beaten, and I shall beat, a difference of time is expressed; but as it is expressed by a combination of words, and not by a change of form, no true tenses are constituted.

§ 294. In Greek the case is different. Τύπτω (typtô) = I beat; ἔτυπτον (etypton) = I was beating; τύψω (typsô) = I shall beat; ἔτυψα (etypsa) = I beat; τέτυφα (tetyfa) = I have beaten; ἐτετύφειν (etetyfein) = I had beaten. In these words we have, of the same mood, the same voice, and the same conjugation, six different tenses; whereas, in English, there are but two. The forms τέτυφα and ἔτυψα are so strongly marked, that we recognise them wheresoever they occur. The first is formed by a reduplication of the initial τ, and, consequently, may be called the reduplicate form. As a tense it is called the perfect. In the form ἔτυψα an ε is prefixed, and an σ is added. In the allied language of Italy the ε disappears, whilst the σ (s) remains. Ἔτυψα is said to be an aorist tense. Scripsi is to scribo as ἔτυψα is to τύπτω.

§ 295. Now in the Latin language a confusion takes place between these two tenses. Both forms exist. They are used, however, indiscriminately. The aorist form has, besides its own, the sense of the perfect. The perfect has, besides its own, the sense of the aorist. In the following pair of quotations, vixi, the aorist form, is translated I have lived, while tetigit, the perfect form, is translated he touched.

§ 296. When a difference of form has ceased to express a difference of meaning, it has become superfluous. This is the case with the two forms in question. One of them may be dispensed with; and the consequence is, that, although in the Latin language both the perfect and the aorist forms are found, they are, with few exceptions, never found in the same word. Wherever there is the perfect, the aorist is wanting, and vice versâ. The two ideas I have struck and I struck are merged into the notion of past time in general, and are expressed by one of two forms, sometimes by that of the Greek perfect, and sometimes by that of the Greek aorist. On account of this the grammarians have cut down the number of Latin tenses to five; forms like cucurri and vixi being dealt with as one and the same tense. The true view is, that in curro the aorist form is replaced by the perfect, and in vixi the perfect form is replaced by the aorist.

§ 297. In the present English there is no undoubted perfect or reduplicate form. The form moved corresponds in meaning not with τέτυφα and momordi, but with ἔτυψα and vixi. Its sense is that of ἔτυψα, and not that of τέτυφα. The notion given by τέτυφα we express by the circumlocution I have beaten. We have no such form as bebeat or memove. In the Mœso-Gothic, however, there was a true reduplicate form; in other words, a perfect tense as well as an aorist. It is by the possession of this form that the verbs of the first six conjugations are characterized.

In Mœso-Gothic, as in Latin, the perfect forms have, besides their own, an aorist sense, and vice versâ.

In Mœso-Gothic, as in Latin, few (if any) words are found in both forms.

In Mœso-Gothic, as in Latin, the two forms are dealt with as a single tense; láilô being called the præterite of láia, and svôr the præterite of svara. The true view, however, is that in Mœso-Gothic, as in Latin, there are two past tenses, each having a certain latitude of meaning, and each, in certain words, replacing the other.

The reduplicate form, in other words, the perfect tense, is current in none of the Gothic languages except the Mœso-Gothic. A trace of it is said to be found in the Anglo-Saxon of the seventh century in the word heht, which is considered to be hê-ht, the Mœso-Gothic háiháit, vocavi. Did from do is also considered to be a reduplicate form.

§ 298. In the English language the tense corresponding with the Greek aorist and the Latin forms like vixi, is formed after two modes; 1, as in fell, sang, and took, from fall, sing, and take, by changing the vowel of the present: 2, as in moved and wept, from move and weep, by the addition of -d or -t; the -d or -t not being found in the original word, but being a fresh element added to it. In forms, on the contrary, like sang and fell, no addition being made, no new element appears. The vowel, indeed, is changed, but nothing is added. Verbs, then, of the first sort, may be said to form their præterites out of themselves; whilst verbs of the second sort require something from without. To speak in a metaphor, words like sang and fell are comparatively independent. Be this as it may, the German grammarians call the tenses formed by a change of vowel the strong tenses, the strong verbs, the strong conjugation, or the strong order; and those formed by the addition of d or t, the weak tenses, the weak verbs, the weak conjugation, or the weak order. Bound, spoke, gave, lay, &c., are strong; moved, favoured, instructed, &c., are weak.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE STRONG TENSES.

§ 299. The strong præterites are formed from the present by changing the vowel, as sing, sang; speak, spoke.

In Anglo-Saxon, several præterites change, in their plural, the vowel of their singular; as

The bearing of this fact upon the præterites has already been indicated. In a great number of words we have a double form, as ran and run, sang and sung, drank and drunk, &c. One of these forms is derived from the singular, and the other from the plural.

In cases where but one form is preserved, that form is not necessarily the singular; indeed, it is often the plural;—e.g., Ic fand, I found, we fundon, we found, are the Anglo-Saxon forms. Now the present word found comes, not from the singular fand, but from the plural fundon; although in the Lowland Scotch dialect and in the old writers, the singular form occurs;

§ 300. The verbs wherein the double form of the present præterite is thus explained, fall into two classes.

1. In the first class, the Anglo-Saxon forms were á in the singular, and i in the plural; as—

This accounts for—

2. In the second class, the Anglo-Saxon forms were a in the singular, and u in the plural, as—

This accounts for—

§ 301. The following double præterites are differently explained. The primary one often (but not always) is from the Anglo-Saxon participle, the secondary from the Anglo-Saxon præterite.

§ 302. The following verbs have only a single form for the præterite,—

§ 303. An arrangement of the preceding verbs into classes, according to the change of vowel, is by no means difficult, even in the present stage of the English language. In the Anglo-Saxon, it was easier still. It is also easier in the provincial dialects, than in the literary English. Thus, when

as they actually are by many speakers, they come in the same class with,—

and form their præterite by means of a similar change, i.e., by changing the sound of the ee in feet (spelt ea) into that of the a in fate; viewed thus, the irregularity is less than it appears to be at first sight.

Again, tread is pronounced tredd, but many provincial speakers say treed, and so said the Anglo-Saxons, whose form was ic trede = I tread. Their præterite was træd. This again subtracts from the apparent irregularity.

Instances of this kind may be multiplied; the whole question, however, of the conjugation of the strong verbs is best considered after the perusal of the next chapter.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE WEAK TENSES.

§ 304. The præterite tense of the weak verbs is formed by the addition of -d or -t.

If necessary, the syllable -ed is substituted for -d.

The current statement that the syllable -ed, rather than the letter -d is the sign of the præterite tense, is true only in regard to the written language. In stabbed, moved, bragged, whizzed, judged, filled, slurred, slammed, shunned, barred, strewed, the e is a point of spelling only. In language, except in declamation, there is no second vowel sound. The -d comes in immediate contact with the final letter of the original word, and the number of syllables remains the same as it was before. We say stabd, môved, bragd, &c.

§ 305. When, however, the original word ends in -d or -t, as slight or brand, then, and then only is there the real addition of the syllable -ed; as in slighted, branded.

This is necessary, since the combinations slightt and brandd are unpronounceable.

Whether the addition be -d or -t depends upon the flatness or sharpness of the preceding letter.

After b, v, th (as in clothe), g, or z, the addition is -d. This is a matter of necessity. We say stabd, môvd, clôthd, braggd, whizzd, because stabt, môvt, clotht, braggt, whizzt, are unpronounceable.

After l, m, n, r, w, y, or a vowel, the addition is also -d. This is the habit of the English language. Filt, slurt, strayt, &c., are as pronounceable as filld, slurrd, strayd, &c. It is the habit, however, of the English language to prefer the latter forms.

All this, as the reader has probably observed, is merely the reasoning concerning the s, in words like father's, &c., applied to another letter and to another part of speech.

§ 306. The verbs of the weak conjugation fall into three classes.

I. In the first there is the simple addition of -d, -t, or -ed.

To this class belong the greater part of the weak verbs and all verbs of foreign origin.

§ 307. II. In the second class, besides the addition of -t or -d, the vowel is shortened,

Here the final consonant is -t.

Here the final consonant is -d.

§ 308. III. In the second class the vowel of the present tense was shortened in the præterite. In the third class it is changed.

To this class belong the remarkable præterites of the verbs seek, beseech, catch, teach, bring, think, and buy, viz., sought, besought, caught, taught, brought, thought, and bought. In all these, the final consonant is either g or k, or else a sound allied to those mutes. When the tendency of these sounds to become h and y, as well as to undergo farther changes, is remembered, the forms in point cease to seem anomalous. In wrought, from work, there is a transposition. In laid and said the present forms make a show of regularity which they have not. The true original forms should be legde and sægde, the infinitives being lecgan, secgan. In these words the i represents the semivowel y, into which the original g was changed. The Anglo-Saxon forms of the other words are as follows:—

§ 309. Out of the three classes into which the weak verbs in Anglo-Saxon are divided, only one takes a vowel before the d or t. The other two add the syllables -te or -de, to the last letter of the original word. The vowel that, in one out of the three Anglo-Saxon classes, precedes d is o. Thus we have lufian, lufode; clypian, clypode. In the other two classes the forms are respectively bærnan, bærnde; and tellan, tealde, no vowel being found. The participle, however, as stated above, ended, not in -de or -te, but in -d or -t; and in two out of the three classes it was preceded by a vowel; the vowel being e,—gelufod, bærned, geteald. Now in those conjugations where no vowel preceded the d of the præterite, and where the original word ended in -d or -t, a difficulty, which has already been indicated, arose. To add the sign of the præterite to a word like eard-ian (to dwell) was an easy matter, inasmuch as eardian was a word belonging to the first class, and in the first class the præterite was formed in -ode. Here the vowel o kept the two d's from coming in contact. With words, however, like métan and sendan, this was not the case. Here no vowel intervened; so that the natural præterite forms were met-te, send-de, combinations wherein one of the letters ran every chance of being dropped in the pronunciation. Hence, with the exception of the verbs in the first class, words ending in -d or -t in the root admitted no additional d or t in the præterite. This difficulty, existing in the present English as it existed in the Anglo-Saxon, modifies the præterites of most words ending in -t or -d.

§ 310. In several words there is the actual addition of the syllable -ed; in other words d is separated from the last letter of the original word by the addition of a vowel; as ended, instructed, &c.

§ 311. In several words the final -d is changed into -t, as bend, bent; rend, rent; send, sent; gild, gilt; build, built; spend, spent, &c.

§ 312. In several words the vowel of the root is changed; as feed, fed; bleed, bled; breed, bred; meet, met; speed, sped; rēad, rĕad, &c. Words of this last-named class cause occasional difficulty to the grammarian. No addition is made to the root, and, in this circumstance, they agree with the strong verbs. Moreover, there is a change of the vowel. In this circumstance also they agree with the strong verbs. Hence with forms like fed and led we are in doubt as to the conjugation. This doubt we have three means of settling, as may be shown by the word beat.

a. By the form of the participle.—The -en in beaten shows that the word beat is strong.

b. By the nature of the vowel.—The weak form of to beat would be bet, or beăt, after the analogy of feed and read. By some persons the word is pronounced bet, and with those who do so the word is weak.

c. By a knowledge of the older forms.—The Anglo-Saxon form is beáte, beot. There is no such a weak form as beáte, bætte. The præterite of sendan is sende weak. There is in Anglo-Saxon no such form as sand, strong.

In all this we see a series of expedients for distinguishing the præterite form from the present, when the root ends with the same sound with which the affix begins.

The change from a long vowel to a short one, as in feed, fed, &c., can only take place where there is a long vowel to be changed.

Where the vowels are short, and, at the same time, the word ends in -d, the -d of the present may become -t in the præterite. Such is the case with bend, bent.

When there is no long vowel to shorten, and no -d to change into -t, the two tenses, of necessity, remain alike; such is the case with cut, cost, &c.

§ 313. The following verbs form their præterite in -t:—

§ 314. Certain so-called irregularities may now be noticed.—Made, had.—In these words there is nothing remarkable but the ejection of a consonant. The Anglo-Saxon forms are macode and hæfde, respectively. The words, however, in regard to the amount of change, are not upon a par. The f in hæfde was probably sounded as v. Now v is a letter excessively liable to be ejected, which k is not. K, before it is ejected, is generally changed into either g or y.