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Show HINTS AND EXPLANATIONS. 74a There is yet in the English language one important differentiation which has been but partially accomplished Verbs as usually considered are undifferentiated parts of speech; they are nouns and adjectives, one or both, and predicants. The predicant simply is a distinct part of speech. The English language has but one, the verb to be, and this is not always a pure predicant, for it sometimes contains within itself an adverbial element when it is conjugated for mode and tense, and a connective element when it is conjugated for agreement. With adjectives and nouns this verb is used as a predicant. In the passive voice also it is thus used, and the participles are nouns or adjectives. In what is sometimes called the progressive form of the active voice nouns and adjectives are differentiated in the participles, and the verb " to be" is used as a predicant. But in what is usually denominated the active voice of the verb, the English language has undifferentiated parts of speech. An examination of the history of the verb " to be" in the English language exhibits the fact that it is coming more and more to be used as the predicant, and what is usually called the common form of the active voice is coming more and more to be limited in its use to special. significations. The real active voice, indicative mode, present tense, first person, singular number, of the verb " to eat," is " am eating." The expression " I eat" signifies " I am accustomed to eat." So, if we consider the common form of the active voice throughout its entire conjugation, we discover that many of its forms are limited to special uses. Throughout the conjugation of the verb the auxiliaries are predicants, but these auxiliaries, to the extent that they are modified for mode, tense, number, and person, contain adverbial and connective elements. In like manner many of the lexical elements of the English language contain more than one part of speech: " to ascend" is to go up; " to descend" is to go down; and " to depart" is to go from. Thus it is seen that the English language is also synthetic in that its parts of speech are not completely differentiated. The English, then, differs, in this respect from an Indian language only in degree. In most Indian tongues no pure predicant has been differentiated, but |