INFINITIVE AND GERUNDS.

368. In §§ 29-36 we discussed the history of the English infinitive, and we saw that the prefix to, its ordinary sign in modern English, belonged originally to the gerundial form of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive. Even in modern English, this prefix is not always necessary; it is generally omitted after some of the auxiliaries, as may, can, and after some other verbs, as, bid, make.

But in other cases, where to signifies in order to,' it is a true preposition and marks a gerund. As He came to see me,' that is, for seeing me,' 'for the purpose of seeing me; or, as it was expressed at one period, for to see me.' We call this the Gerund with to.

The form in -ing as 'loving,' 'writing,' which must not be confounded with the present participle, is considered by Dr. Adams, whose opinions we followed, a remnant of the old infinitive. But as it has been usual to call this form a Gerund, some may wish to retain that term. If so they should distinguish between the Gerund in -ing, and the Gerund with to.

369. There is considerable difficulty in determining the forms in -ing. The account given by Dr. Adams is the most consistent that I have seen. The following view is taken by Professor Max Müller, Lectures on the Science of Language, Second Series, pp. 15-18: "We have not very far to go in order to hear such phrases as he is a-going, I am a-coming, &c.' instead of the more usual he is going, I am coming.' Now, the fact is that the vulgar or dialectic expression he is a-going' is far more correct than he is going.' (Archdeacon Hare, Words corrupted by False Analogy or False Derivation, p. 65.)"

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Ing, in our modern grammars, is called the termination of the participle present, but it does not exist as such in Anglo-Saxon. In AngloSaxon the termination of that participle is ande or inde. This was preserved as late as Gower's and Chaucer's time, though in most cases it had then already been supplanted by the termination -ing. For example,

Pointis and sleves be wel sittande

Full right and straight upon the hande.

Romaunt of the Rose, 2264.

"Now, the termination -ing is clearly used in two different senses, even in modern English. If we say a loving child,' loving is a verbal adjective. If we say 'loving our neighbour is our highest duty,' loving is a verbal substantive. Again, there are many substantives in -ing, such as building, wedding, meeting, where the verbal character of the substantive is almost, if not entirely, lost."

"Now, if we look to Anglo-Saxon, we find the termination -ing used, (1) To form patronymics; for instance, Godvulfing, the son of Godvulf. In the Anglo-Saxon translation of the Bible, the son of Elisha is called Elising.

(2). "Ing is used to form more general attributive words, such as abeling (atheling), a man of rank;' lyteling, an infant;' nîðing, 'a bad man. This -ing being frequently preceded by another suffix, the 7, we arrive at the very common derivative -ling, in such words as darling, kireling, yearling, foundling, nestling, worldling, changeling.

"It has been supposed that the modern English participle was formed by the same derivative; but in Anglo-Saxon, this suffix -ing is chiefly attached to nouns and adjectives, not to verbs. There was, however, another derivative in Anglo-Saxon, which was attached to verbs in order to form verbal substantives. This was -ung, the German -ung. For instance, clansung, 'cleansing;' beacnung, 'beaconing,' &c. In early Anglo-Saxon, these abstract nouns in -ung are far more numerous than those in ing. Ing, however, began soon to encroach on -ung, and at present no trace is left in English of substantives derived from verbs by means of -ung.

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Although, as I said, it might seem more plausible to look on the modern participle in English as originally an adjective in -ing, such popular phrases as a-going, a-thinking point rather to the verbal substantive in -ing as the source from which the modern English participle was derived. I am going' is really a corruption of 'I am a-going,' i. e. 'I am on going,' and the participle present would thus, by a very simple process, be traced back to a locative case of a verbal noun."

PARTICIPLES.

370. Participles are verbal adjectives, differing from ordinary adjectives in this, that they retain some of the powers of a verb; for instance, the active participle of a verb transitive can govern an objective case: as, 'He stood there throwing stones.'

We have, in English, two participles:

(1) The Imperfect or incomplete participle in -ing.

(2) The Perfect or complete participle ending in -ed, -d, -t, -en, or -n.

Sometimes the Imperfect participle is called the present participle, and the Perfect is called the past participle.

par

The participle in -ing has an active force. And as it happens that, in the case of Transitive verbs, the Perfect ticiple is always passive, a confusion has arisen in the minds of some persons, who have not been able to decide whether the form in -ed is originally a past participle, or a passive participle, or whether there be any connection between past and passive.

The participle in -ed is Perfect, that is to say, it denotes an action completed or finished, but it is not necessarily passive: for example, in 'I have walked,' there is nothing passive. But

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in 'I have written,' though the whole phrase stands for the perfect tense active, yet written' is a passive participle. The difficulty is thus explained: that 'I have written a letter' is originally 'I have a letter written,' where 'written' is the passive participle used as an adjective, and agreeing with 'letter.' In Latin, we find such forms as habeo scriptam epistolam, which means 'I have (or hold) a letter written,' rather than 'I have written a letter;' but the construction is near enough to throw light upon our form, and has suggested the explanation.

371. The participle in -ing is used with the active form of verbs transitive, or with intransitive verbs: as 'He is making progress,' He is travelling.' Although the auxiliary be is commonly used with passive forms, we must be careful not to mistake it for a sign of the passive: 'He is making' is active and transitive.

We should carefully watch the use of the participles with the verb be, in the case of intransitive verbs; for instance,

In modern English, we more commonly say 'He has come;' but he is come is more common in older English, and is warranted by the German 'er ist gekommen.'

372. There is, however, one construction in which, to all appearance, we find an active participle in -ing, where we should expect a passive; as,

The house is building.

The temple was forty years building.

In older stages of the language, these sentences were expressed The house is a-building,' 'The temple was forty years a-building;' and the particle a is said to be a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon preposition an, 'on,' 'in.'

If so, then the word 'building' is here not a participle but a Gerund (or Infinitive) in -ing. For the participle standing alone could not be governed by a preposition; such government demands an infinitive or a gerund:

373. But in a few instances, wherein this explanation does not seem applicable, we still find the form in -ing, where we should expect a passive participle: as,

beholding for beholden.

owing for owed (i.e. 'owe ').

wanting for wanted.

I would not be beholding to fortune for any part of the victory.-Sidney.

I'll teach you what is owing to your Queen.-Dryden. We have the means in our hands, and nothing but the application of them is wanting.-Addison.

The phrase a-wanting is heard in some dialects.

374. On the other hand, we sometimes find the Perfect participle of a transitive verb used, where we expect an active and not a passive sense; as,

mistaken for mistaking.

You are too much mistaken in this king.-Hen. V. ii. 4. Compare the question addressed by Othello to Cassio:

How comes it, Michael, you are thus forgot?

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i. e. that you have so far forgotten yourself.'

AUXILIARIES.

Othello, ii. 3.

375. As the inflections of English verbs are few, we need some assistance to express the various relations of Voice, Mood, and Tense. Hence, we call in the aid of certain verbs, which are termed Auxiliaries or Helpers. We have one auxiliary of Voice; several auxiliaries of Mood; and three auxiliaries of Tense.

I. AUXILIARY OF VOICE.

376. The verb Be, joined to the perfect participle of a transitive verb, is used to form the Passive Voice: as,

Plural.
1. We are,
2. You are,
3. They are.

The auxiliary verb be is not always the sign of the passive voice. With the present participle of transitive verbs, it denotes the present-imperfect tense of the active voice: as 'I am loving,' 'I am striking.'

It is also employed in the present-imperfect tense of intransitive verbs, which are never used in the passive; as, 'I am walking,' 'I am coming,' 'I am going.' These would be rendered in Latin, ambulo, venio, eo. See § 346.