CHAPTER IX. THE VERB. 239. A VERB is a word which asserts an attribute of a subject of thought. The attribute is usually an action, It may be a condition, The child seems well. It be being or existence, may shall be. The horse runs. God is, and was, and ever This definition virtually excludes the copula, which asserts no attribute until one is supplied, but it will be included in the classification for four reasons: (1) With an added attribute it fulfils all the conditions of the verb; (2) It contains the essential principle of all verbs - assertive power, though in a latent or potential condition; (3) It has the inflectional forms of the verb; (4) It is used as auxiliary in the conjugation of all verbs. 240. The Classification of the verb has been fully discussed in ARTS. 37 and 38. It will be repeated here in summarized form, with the understanding that it has been thoroughly mastered in an earlier stage of the work, and with final emphasis of the fact that a comprehension of the verb and its possibilities is the crucial point in the study of a language, the very foundation upon which valuable knowledge of gram mar rests. 241. According to extent of meaning verbs are classified as 1. Complete. a. Copula. b. Copulative. c. Transitive. d. Transitive-copulative. 242. The Main Classification. 1. A Complete Verb is one that asserts an unlimited and clearly understood attribute. Without assistance it forms the bare predicate of the sentence. 2. An Incomplete Verb is one whose attribute is lacking or deficient, or too general to make an intelligible predicate. Ex. (Attribute lacking.) - You are strong. You perform your work well. (Attribute requires limita- 243. Classification of Incomplete Verbs. a. The Copula, containing nothing but potential assertive power, couples an attribute found in an adjective or substantive to the subject. b. The Copulative Verb contains a vague attribute of condition or appearance which exerts a modifying effect upon the main attribute, which is added in another word. The term means, "somewhat like the copula ;" and the verb is so called because its chief work is to couple the second attribute to the subject. The principal verbs of the class are (a) seem, appear, look, sound, smell, taste, feel, stand, sit, when they express condition, not motion; (b) become, grow, get, turn, go, move, run, etc., when they suggest growth or motion toward a condition, the condition being the principal idea. The latter class are obviously the most difficult to recognize, for they approach the meaning of complete verbs, and it sometimes becomes a question as to whether the following word is a complement or a modifier; but the final test of these, as of all copulatives, is, Do they finally assert a characteristic or condition of the subject? It must be borne in mind that most of these verbs are freely used as complete, or transitive verbs, and that they are copulatives only when they have the meanings explained above. c. The Transitive Verb asserts a very general attribute, limited and determined by the substantive that completes it. In most cases the act terminates upon a receiver. d. The Transitive-copulative Verb asserts a second attribute of the direct object, which attribute expresses the effect which the act has produced upon the receiver of it. Ex. We will make him responsible for the money. There are no verbs that belong solely to this class. It consists of transitive verbs used in a causative sense, i.e., in the sense of making or causing or bringing about of a different condition of the direct object. With this meaning, they are more than ordinarily incomplete, and hence require two complements, the object and objective. 244. Review verb complements classified and explained in ART. 39 and Exercises 1 and 2. INFLECTION OF THE VERB. 245. In most languages the verb is the part of speech most fully inflected, and this was once true of the English. The complexity of an action made this a natural result. To understand it, one wants to know, (1) whether the actor or another reports it; (2) whether one or more actors are engaged; (3) the time of it; (4) whether it actually occurs, or is a mere possibility. The tendency was to pack all these meanings into one word by varying the endings of it. This gave rise to a very large number of forms for each verb. 246. Properties. The different meanings of the verb expressed by distinct forms of the word were called properties. 247. Usual Number of Properties. In a well-inflected language, each verb form shows five distinct properties, Person, Number, Tense, Mode, and Voice. 248. Name of the Inflection. An orderly arrangement of all the forms of the verb which show its different properties is called its conjugation. 249. Amount of Inflection in English. It has been seen that the English noun has lost all but two of its case forms, the pronoun all but three, the adjective all of its case, number, and gender forms; and we have now to add that there is left but a trace of inflection of the verb. There is no inflection whatever for voice; and no verb has more than three forms, which indicate person, number, and tense. 250. Tense. Tense is the inflection of the verb to show, (1) the time of an act or condition; (2) the state of the act or condition (as complete or indefinite) at the time mentioned. There are three divisions of time, present, past, and future. The forms of the verb which show merely the time of the act without reference to the state of it are called simple tenses. The forms which show both the time and the state of the act at the time, are called compound tenses. To show all these tense ideas would require six forms, and most languages have this number. No English verb has more than two tense forms as shown by inflection. Ex. I see I love Present tense. The tense inflection is, then, very slight. All other tense ideas are shown by built-up forms called verbphrases. 251. Meaning of the Present Tense. The present tense expresses: 1. The passing moment of time, The cat sees the bird. 2. Any period which we choose to include with the present, Things are different now (this century). |