oraσai, &c. III. In the perfect and pluperfect passive of all verbs: the e, however, before the σ, being dropped, and the double consonant brought in; as, τέτυψαι for τετύπεσαι; ἐτέτυψο for ἐτετύπεσο. IV. In some irregular futures ; as, ἔδομαι, ἔδεσαι ; φάγομαι, φάγεσαι.

(2.) Imperfect.

The old form of the second person singular of this tense was ἐτύπτεσο; from which the Ionians made ἐτύπτεο, and the Attics τύπτου.

(3.) First Future.

The second person singular of this tense ended originally in coa; whence the Ionians formed eat, and the Attics el. The form belongs to the common dialect.

V. FORCE OF THE TENSES.

General Remarks.

1. The time in which an action can take place is either present, past, or future. There are thus in Greek, as in every language, three principal tenses; the Present (ó éveσtws), the Preterite (ὁ παρῳχημένος), and the Future (ὁ μέλλων).

2. Of the present, there is only one simple form in Greek; but for the preterite there are more than in any other language.

3. An action, for instance, is represented as either in itself and absolutely past, or as relatively past in respect to another time expressed or conceived. The aorist serves to denote the time entirely past; the imperfect, the perfect, and the pluperfect, the relative time.

4. The imperfect (ò τaρaτatiкòs) represents a past action as continuing during another past action, and accompanying it; the perfect (xpovos Tαрakeίμevos T TaρóvTI) and plu perfect (o vπepoVVTEXIKOS) designate an action completed, but continuing, in its immediate consequences, to another time; the perfect to the present; the pluperfect to a time past.

5. In the same way, the future is conceived under three modifications; either as simply future, without reference to another action, as in the first and second futures active

and future middle; or as future and complete, as in the first and second futures passive; or as future, and with reference to an action to take place in a still more remote futurity, as in the third future passive.

Special Remarks.

1. According to what has just been remarked, the present, as in all languages, designates an action present and still incomplete; while, of the three tenses of past time, the aorist marks a past action in itself, without any reference to another action at the same or a different time.

2. The perfect, on the contrary, expresses an action which has taken place, indeed, at a previous time, but is connected, either in itself or its consequences, or its accompanying circumstances, with the present time. Thus, eypaya, "I wrote," signifies, indeed, the completion of the action; but it does not determine whether the consequences of it, namely, the writing which I have written, be still existing or not. On the contrary, yeypapa, “I have written," besides indicating the fact of my having written, shews also the continued existence of the writing. In the same manner, yeɣáμŋкa, “I am married;" on the contrary, éyáunoa, "I married." Hence Kékтnμa signifies, “I possess," properly, "I have acquired unto myself, and the acquisition is still mine."

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3. The perfect retains its reference to a continued action through all the moods. Thus : Ὁ μὲν λῃστὴς οὗτος ἐς τὸν Πυριφλεγέθοντα ἐμβεβλήσθω· “ Let this robber be cast into Pyriphlegethon, and remain there." And again: 'Egióvtes, εἶπον τὴν θύραν κεκλείσθαι “On going out, they gave directions that the door should be shut, and kept so.

4. The imperfect expresses, (1) An action continuing during another action which is past. It differs from the aorist in this, that the aorist marks an action past, but transient; the imperfect, an action past, but at that time continuing. Thus: Τοὺς πελταστὰς ἐδέξαντο (an immediate action) οἱ βάρβαροι καὶ ἐμάχοντο (continued action): ἐπεὶ δ ̓ ἐγγὺς ἦσαν (continued) οἱ ὁπλῖται ἐτράποντο (immediate), καὶ οἱ μὲν πελτασταὶ εὐθὺς εἶποντο (continued): “ The barbarians received the targeteers and fought; but when the heavy armed men were near, they turned away in flight, and the targeteers immediately pursued them."

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5. The imperfect also expresses, (2) An action continued by being frequently repeated; as, Τὸν σῖτον τὸν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ διεφθείρετε, καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐτέμνετε “You destroyed from time to time the grain throughout the country, and you ravaged the land."

6. This same tense also expresses, on some occasions, an action begun or contemplated, but not completed; or, in other words, an attempt not brought to a successful conclusion: as, éμolovтo," he wished to hire," (Herod. 1. 68.): and again: Tau' čOvŋoke tékva “My children were on the point of losing their lives."

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7. The third future passive refers to an action which will be permanent or continued in future time; and it therefore bears the same relation to the other futures as, among the tenses of the past time, the perfect does to the aorist. It is sometimes, therefore, in consequence of this, styled the Perfect's Future. Thus, Ἐμοὶ δὲ λελείψεται ἄλγεα λυγρά While mournful woes shall continue to remain unto me." And again, Ο πολίτης ἐν καταλόγῳ οὐδεὶς μετεγγραφήσεται, ἀλλ ̓, ὥσπερ ἦν τὸ πρῶτον, ἐγγεγράψεται “ No citizen shall become enrolled in another class, but shall remain enrolled in that in which he was at first.”

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8. Hence, of those verbs whose present marks only the beginning of an action, but the perfect the complete action, the third future is used in order to shew that the perfect action is to happen in future; as, ктáομaι, “Í acquire;" κέκτημαι, I possess;" KEктýσoμaι, “I shall possess:' whereas KTηooμat means merely, "I shall acquire for myself."

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9. The third future is therefore often used to express the rapidity of an action, by taking, not the beginning of it, but its completion, and the state resulting from it; as, TEπαÚσεται, 'he shall instantly cease;" πеπрážeтaι, “it shall be immediately done." It is this meaning which has obtained for it the less correct name of Paulo-post-futurum ; namely, what will take place soon, or a little after the present.

10. Besides the simple forms of the future, there is also a periphrastic future, made up of μéλλw and the infinitive of the present, the aorist, or the future; and corresponding with the Latin periphrastic future of the participle in urus and the verb sum. It answers to the English, "being about to do any thing;" "intending to do a thing;" &c.

11. The aorist not only refers to instantaneous action, but is also frequently employed with the meaning, "to be wont.” Thus, Ἤν τις τούτων τι παραβαίνῃ ζημίαν ἐπέθεσαν If any person transgress any one of these, they inflict punishment upon him.

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12. The second aorist differs from the first in form alone, not in meaning. Two modes of forming the past or historical tense got early into use in Greece': the one gave that which we call the first aorist; the other, that which we call the second aorist. The former, from its origin, was truly a distinct tense, having a system of terminations altogether peculiar to itself; but the latter is little else than a slight modification of the imperfect. Usage early declared itself in favour of the former; and, at the period when Greek literature began, the second form obtained only in a limited number of the more primitive verbs; while every verb of more recent and derivative formation exhibited the first exclusively. In a very few words only are both forms to be found: and even in these, the duplicates, for the most part, belong to different dialects, ages, or styles. In import, these two forms of the aorist never differed.

13. A satisfactory illustration of the principle which has just been stated, in relation to the second aorist, may be found in our own language. In English, also, there are two originally distinct modes of forming the common past tense: the first, by adding the syllable ed; as in, I killed : the other, chiefly by certain changes in the vowels; as in, I wrote, I saw, I knew, I ran, &c. Let the student call the former and regular form the first aorist, and the latter the second, and he will have a correct idea of the amount of the distinction between those tenses in Greek. The form erva in Greek is what “I killed" is in English; that is, the regular form of the past tense, which obtains in a vast majority of verbs. The form eλaßov, on the contrary, is altogether analogous to "I took," or "I saw;" acknowledged by all grammarians not as a second or distinct preterite, but as an instance of irregular variety of formation obtaining in certain verbs.

14. It may be objected to this view of the subject, that there are verbs in Greek in which both forms of the aorist A careful examination, however, will prove that

occur.

(1) Philosophical Museum, No. iv. p. 197. Cambridge, 1832

the number of such verbs is extremely small, compared with that of those which have only the one or the other aorist. But even here the analogy is supported by the English verb, since we meet with many instances in which English verbs retain both forms of the preterite. Thus, for example, I hanged, or, I hung; I spit, or, I spat; I awaked, or, I awoke; I cleft, I clave, or, I clove. Such duplicates in Greek verbs are extremely rare: probably there is not one Greek verb in five hundred in which they can be met with. The form called the second aorist is, indeed, common enough; but then, where it exists, that of the first aorist is almost always wanting. We have εὗρον, ἔλαβον, εἶδον, ἤγαγον, ἔλιπον, ἔδραμον ; but the regular form is as much a non-entity in these verbs as it is in the English verbs I found, I took, I saw, I led, I left, I ran, &c. The first aorist in these would be sheer vulgarity; it would be parallel to, I finded, I taked, I seed.

15. In strictness, therefore, the Greek verb has but one aorist active; that aorist, when regular, following the model of erva, but being sometimes formed less regularly, in another manner, like eaßov. Now and then, in the variety of dialects and styles, two forms appear in the same verb, as in eπecoɑ and ěπ10ov: one of these, however, as in this instance, emeιoa, being that in ordinary use; the other rare, anomalous, and nearly obsolete.

16. The second future, also, has only, in strictness, an existence in name; and the same principle may be applied to it, as in the case of the second aorist. Verbs in Aw, uw, vw, pw, have no second future in other verbs, the second future is only a dialect modification of the first.

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VI. VOICES.

The active and passive voices of the Greek verb have nothing very peculiar in their signification, when compared with the corresponding voices of the Latin verb. We shall therefore confine our remarks to

The MIDDLE Voice.

1. The Middle Voice has been so called by grammarians, as having a middle signification between the active and passive; implying neither action nor passion simply, but a union, in some degree, of both.