Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Κύρῳ ἥδετο οὐ δυναμένῳ σιγῶν, ἀλλ ̓, ὥσπερ σκύλακι γενναίῳ, ἀνακλάζοντι — he delighted in Cyrus, when he (Cyrus) was unable to remain silent, but gave tongue like a thoroughbred whelp'. We are not at liberty to translate literally: 'he delighted in Cyrus, being unable to remain silent, but giving tongue, &c.'

ἡδομένοισιν ἡμῖν οἱ λόγοι γεγόνασι— the words have been said to our satisfaction'; lit. 'to us pleased'.

σύνοιδά σοι ηδικημένῳ— I am aware of your having been wronged': lit. 'I am aware of you having been wronged' (participle).

οὔκουν ἐκεῖν ̓ ἀλλόκοτον, ὁ Θέωρος κόλαξ γενόμενος ; lit. Was not that a strange thing, Theorus having become (participle, nominative) a flatterer ? ' 'Theorus's having become' (infin.) would not sound satisfactorily; rather use the clause form.

The Verbal Noun in 'ing'.

There is an almost insensible transition from the infinitive in 'ing' to the verbal abstract noun of the same termination. 'Neither blessing nor cursing could change him'; here we can hardly say whether 'blessing' and 'cursing' are infinitives or nouns. The test of the Infinitive as contrasted with the Noun is the presence of verb accompaniments, such as an object, or an adverb: 'blessing him and cursing him were alike ineffectual'; 'greatly blessing and severely cursing were equally unavailing'. If there be not a verb adjunct, the decision would rest on the presence of the noun adjuncts, as the adjective and plural number: 'perpetual communing is a sign of love', 'blessings on the man that invented sleep'. The use of the plural shows, however, that the word has passed a stage beyond the verbal abstract noun: for an abstract noun has not the plural until it is first changed into a class noun. 'Here after many dancings, singings, walkings, runnings, wrestlings, and other trying of masteries'. The plurals are all nouns, but not abstract; they are converted with class nouns. We must look upon 'try

ing' not as an infinitive, but as an abstract noun limited by the adjective 'other'. The infinitive construction would be ' otherwise trying masteries'.

The ambiguity created by so many forms in 'ing' discourages the use of verbal nouns having this genuine English ending, and throws us more upon the Latin part of the vocabulary, which provides us with the characteristic suffix 'ion'. In the matter of sound also, the 'ing', although in itself melodious, is yet apt to be painfully alliterated.

The Gerund.

The infinitive form used to express a purpose, is readily distinguished by this marked signification. In the sentence, the gerund is not the object of a verb like the infinitive, it has the character of either an adverb or an adjective, and may always be expanded into a clause.

I love to write (inf.), amo scribere.

I come to write (ger.), venio ut scribam.

The gerund here is adverbial.

[ocr errors]

'A house to let'; the course to steer by'; a place to lie in '; 6 a thing to be done'; 'a city to take refuge in '; 'the means to do ill deeds'-are adjective gerunds; they may all be expanded into clauses; a house that the owner lets or will let'; 'the course that we should steer by '; 'a thing that should be done'; 'a city wherein one may take refuge'; 'the means whereby ill deeds may be done'.

[ocr errors]

An old form of the gerund is seen in- The thief cometh not, but for to steal'. In older writers, 'for' is very common before 'to', both with gerunds and with infinitives.

THE AUXILIARY VERBS.

The so-called auxiliary verbs do not merely enter into our scheme of the verb; they also recur incessantly for the expression of most important meanings.

MISTAKES AS TO THE FUTURE TENSE.

179

'Shall' and Will'.

The distinctive uses of these two auxiliaries are fully given in the Grammar.

It was a grand mistake in the grammars, both English and Latin, to give the future tense of our verb

I shall or will write.

Thou shalt or wilt write.

He shall or will write.

The alternative forms are totally different meanings. One alternative expresses futurity, the other a present determination. Thus

[blocks in formation]

This is the future tense, indefinite. The alternative scheme does not express futurity.

I will write = Lat. volo scribere.

Thou shalt write = volo ut scribas.

[blocks in formation]

All this is the following out of a determination on the part of one person, committing himself, and imposing an obligation upon two other persons. So

'The meteor flag of England

Shall yet terrific burn',

must not be parsed as giving 'burn' in the future tense. There is no futurity stated by the verb; it is partly implied from the effect that must succeed the resolution itself; and partly expressed by the adverb 'yet'. The parsing is-third person singular present of the verb 'shall' united with the infinitive 'burn'.

In the New Testament, the simple future is used for resolution, the two ideas not being separated either in the Greek, or in the Latin translation. Thou shalt love' (volo ut ames) is in Greek ayawηoeis, in Latin amabis. On the other hand, the simple 'will' in the second and third persons, suggest

=

ing little or nothing more than mere futurity, is frequently used by our translators as a rendering of the emphatic Déλers and féλe in the Greek. Thus: Then said Jesus to the twelve, Will ye also go away?' (μǹ kai vμeîs Oédete ὑπάγειν ; Are ye willing, desirous?) (John VI. 67.) 'Wilt thou kill me as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday ?' (μὴ ἀνελεῖν σὺ θέλεις ; με Dost thou wish or intend to kill me?) (Acts VII. 28.) So 'Herodias would have killed him” (ἤθελεν αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι = was desirous to kill him).

I append some additional examples of the distinctive uses of 'will' and 'shall'.

‘I will (determination of speaker) make of thee a great nation, and in thee shall (favourable and unavoidable result to the 'families', the speaker being more or less associated with it as the cause) all families of the earth be blessed.'

6 The Parliament shall receive a terrible blow, and shall not see who hurts them.' The determining power is external to the subject' Parliament', and is more or less associated with the speaker.

'If you will (action altogether dependent on the person addressed) call at my house in a day or two, you shall (promise on part of speaker to person addressed) have a letter of introduction to his lordship.'

'Be angry when you will, it shall have scope:
Do what you will, dishonour shall be humour.'
'Be thou as lightning in the eyes of France;
For ere thou canst report I will be there,

The thunder of my cannon shall be heard.'

The following occurs in Lord Chatham's Despatches and is a correct employment of 'shall':-'As soon as the season of the year, and the navigation of those seas shall allow, and in case the force of our fleet under your command shall be sufficient -'. The meaning of eventuality is expressed.

'As for the duration of the defence, it is my duty to direct that it shall (subject 'it' is controlled by the speaker) consist solely of a protest setting forth the violence used, and

of nothing further; that is to say that, as soon as the breach shall be opened (eventuality), negotiations shall be entered into (speaker's control over negotiations) for the surrender of the town,'

'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper (promise-influence of speaker on 'weapon'); and every tongue that shall rise (eventuality) against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn (decree of speaker).'

'Whosoever shall break (eventuality) one of these least commandments, and shall teach (eventuality) men so, he shall be called (settled independently of subject 'he', the speaker being associated with the cause) the least in the kingdom of heaven.'

'Whoever shall now compare (eventuality) the country round Rome with the country round Edinburgh, will be able (simple future) to form some judgment as to the tendency of Papal domination.' (Macaulay.)

'Then wilt thou not be loth

To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A paradise within thee.'

Mätzner quotes from Addison: 'You shall sometimes know that the mistress and maid shall quarrel, . . and at last the lady shall be pacified to turn her out of doors, and give her a very good word to everybody else'.

Shall quarrel', shall be pacified', are not very far from the meaning expressed by 'will' in the cases just to be cited. But why shall? Compare: 'There is not a girl in town, but, let her have her will, in going to mark, and she shall dress like a shepherdess'. Might 'shall' indicate that the speaker selects the special action predicated ?—as a sample of the ongoings.

Hamlet's letter to the King begins: 'High and mighty, you shall know I am set naked on your kingdom. 'You shall know' 'you must know' = 'let me tell you'. The influence of the speaker over the person spoken to is signified by 'shall’.

[ocr errors]

=

So: An election for a disputed borough shall cost the

« ZurückWeiter »