merely a clause or part of a sentence; as, it came to pass

that God did tempt Abraham. subject, but it is not a person. sonal verbs.

These propositions have a These are improper imper.

IV. Where the logical subject is indefinite, or refers to no particular person; as, they say, that is, it is said, or somebody says. These have no claim to be regarded as impersonal verbs.

Note. There are some impersonal verbs in English which are used, or have been used, in certain situations, without the pronoun it. It may be important to notice this peculiarity, as our common grammars are silent on the subject. (1.) Me seemeth or meseems, past meseemed, it seems to me, Lat. mihi videtur; as,

"Me seemeth good, that with some little traine

Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fetched

Hither to London, to be crown'd our king."-SHAKSPEARE.

The verb to seem is intransitive; consequently the pronoun me has here the power of a dative case, as it has in Anglo-Saxon.

(2.) Me thinketh or methinks, hym thinketh, past methought, it seems to me; as,

"With suche gladnes I daunce and skip,

Me thinketh I touche not the floore."-Gower.

"Some such resemblances methinks I find

Of our last evening's talk, in this thy dream,

But with addition strange; yet be not sad."-MILTON.

"So that hym thinketh of a daie

A thousande yere till he maie se

The visage of Penelope,

Whiche he desireth moste of all."-Gower.

"One came, methought, and whispered in my ear."-POPE.

The verb to think, to seem, Goth. thugkjan, Old Sax thunkian, Anglo-Sax. thincan, Old Germ. dunkjan, Germ. dünken, is to be carefully distinguished from to think, to imagine, Goth. thagkjan, Old Sax. thenkian, Anglo-Sax. thencan, Old Germ. denkjan, Germ. denken.

The verb to think here is intransitive; consequently the pronouns me and hym have the power of the dative case.

Compare Anglo-Sax. methinceth or me thincth, him thincth, past me gethuhte, where the pronoun is in the dative case; Old Eng. me-thuncketh; Germ. mich or mir dünket; Swed. metyckas; Dan. metykkes.

(3.) Me listeth or me lists; past, me listed, him list, it pleases me; as,

"To whatsoever land

By sliding seas me listed them to lede."-SURREY: Virgile.

"To the holy land him list."-R. BRUNNE.

The verb to list is a transitive verb; consequently the pronoun me or him is in the accusative. Compare Anglo-Sax. me lyste, it pleases me, hine lyste, it pleases him, where the pronouns me and hine are in the accusative.

CHAPTER XXIII.

DEFECTIVE VERBS.

§310. A DEFECTIVE VERB is one which wants some of the Principal Parts, as in the following list:

COULD is irregular, for the 7 is not a part of the original word. Anglo-Saxon, Pres., Ic can; Pret., Ic cude; Past Part., Cus. The is accounted for by a process of imitation. In would and should I has a proper place. It is a part of the original words, will and shall. A false analogy

looked upon could in the same light. As the 7 is not pronounced, it is an Irregularity, not of language, but of Or thography.

MAY, SHALL, WILL.

See § 284.

MUST is never varied in termination.

OUGHT is varied in the Second Person Singular; Thou oughtest.

BEWARE is used only in the Imperative and the Infinitive Mode.

QUOTH is used chiefly in the First and Third Persons Singular of the Present and Preterite Tenses. It has the pecul iarity of preceding its pronoun. Instead of saying I quoth, he quoth, we say quoth I, quoth he. In the Anglo-Saxon it was not defective. It was found in the other Tenses. Pres., Ic cwede, pú cwyst, he cwy; Pret., Cwæð. In the Scandinavian it is current in all its forms. There, however, it means not to speak, but to sing. It belonged to the strong conjugation, and formed its preterite by a change of vowel. WIS is obsolete; Wist is not much used.

WIT, Anglo-Saxon Witan, to know, is confined to the phrase in the Infinitive, to wit—namely, Latin videlicet. HARK is used only in the Imperative Mode.

Aм, BE, Was are strictly Defective verbs, though usually classed as Irregular; just as good, better, best, furnish instances of defectiveness in comparison, though commonly considered as furnishing an instance of irregular comparison.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ADVERBS.

§ 311. AN ADVERB is a word which can not by itself form a constituent part of a simple proposition, but which can, in a complex proposition, combine with verbs, adjectives, and other Adverbs, to modify their meaning; as, "He reads correctly;" "he was exceedingly careful;"" he does tolerably well." See § 405.

It was added to the

Its name indicates its Character. verb (Latin adverbium) to modify its signification; hence the Greek writers defined it thus: Επίῤῥημά ἐστι μέρος λόγου ἄκλι τον, ἐπὶ τὸ ῥῆμα τὴν ἀναφορὰν ἔχον. "The Adverb is an indeclinable part of speech, having relation to the verb."

§ 312. The Adverb belongs to the class of indeclinable words called PARTICLES. To this class also belong Prepositions, Conjunctions, Interjections, and Inseparable Prefixes. But Adverbs susceptible of comparison are not properly Particles. Though Particles now appear only as helps to the principal words, the Verb, the Adjective, the Substantive, and the Pronoun, they were themselves originally Nouns or Verbs, Pronouns or Adjectives. Though acting a subordinate part in sentences, they still have a meaning. In their humble position among other words they often seem to express an idea or an assertion within the idea or the assertion expressed by those principal words. The same particle is in different connections an adverb, a conjunction, or a preposition.

ORIGIN OF ADVERBS.

§ 313. "Omnis pars orationis migrat in Adverbium." "Every part of speech is capable of becoming an Adverb." Thus the words much and very, scarce and stark, originally ADJECTIVES, become adverbs. The words adrift and atwist are adverbs derived from the PARTICIPLES of the verbs drifan, twisan. The words here, there, hence, whence are adverbs derived from PRONOUNS. The words once, twice, thrice are adverbs derived from NUMERALS. The words yet, ado, together are adverbs which seem to be derived from the VERBS get, do, and gather. The words while, to-morrow, yesterday, originally SUBSTANTIVES, are used as adverbs.

Adverbs such as these just mentioned may be called Adverbs of Deflection, while adverbs such as Now, which have not been satisfactorily shown to have originated in any other part of speech, may be called Absolute Adverbs.

§ 314. ADVERBS ENDING IN "LY."—Ly, Anglo-Saxon lic, was once an independent word, the Anglo-Saxon lic-like. Words of this termination were in Anglo-Saxon compound adjectives. So in Old English we have the Adjective eorthliche,

earthly; ferliche, strange. In modern English there are words such as godly, lonely, lovely. Godly is equivalent to God-like. According to the present habit of the English language, an adjective is converted into an adverb by annexing ly; as, bright, brightly. This class of adverbs may be called adverbs of Deflection, and laxly adverbs of derivation.

state.

§ 315. ADVERBS WITH THE PREFIX "A."-1. In some instances a stands in the place of the prepositions in or on; as, alive, anciently written on lyve, i. e., in life, or in a living Aloud was anciently written on loud; as, "On loud he speired what art thou?" 2. It was formerly expressed by the preposition of; as, anew, anciently written of new, as we now say of late. 3. It is the article a; as, awhile, i. e., a time. 4. It is part of the pronominal adjective all; as, alone, anciently written all one, i. e., absolutely one. is corrupted from the participial prefix ge or ye; as, adrift. The prefix a belongs to many sea terms; as, aboard, ashore, &c., and to many other ancient and modern words; afire= in fire, on fire; ablaze on blaze; asleep in sleep.

5. It

§ 316. ADVERBIAL PRONOUNS.-Here, hence, hither are in their origin related to the pronoun he. There, thence, and thither are in their origin related to the or that; as are Where, whence, whither to who or what. Then, when are also related to that and what. Why is related to who, as also is how. Than and thus are severally related to that and this. The words Here, there, where, united with other words, form a variety of compound adverbs; as, Herein, hereafter, thereof, whereupon.

The following distinction should be noticed concerning interrogatives. If you ask who, which, what, how many, you inquire concerning some Noun; but if you ask where, whence, whither, when, how often, you inquire concerning some Verb. Hence the propriety of calling the class which relate to nouns pronouns, and the class that relates to verbs adverbs.

ADVERBS FROM CONCRETE SUBSTANTIVES.

§ 317. Adverbs formed from CONCRETE SUBSTANTIVES must be carefully distinguished from the ordinary cases or uses of such substantives.