of the Greek Tongue, 237 



plicating the initial consonant, we have one form commonly- 

 called middle perfect, as T-£-Ty<7r-a, r-g-rt-a ; following the same 

 process and inserting either the aspirate or x, before the charac- 

 teristic a, we have another form or perfect active, as r-z-rvir-a, 

 or as written, T-£-Ty(pa, r-e-Ti-x-a. Lastly, without reduplicating 

 but sibilating the a, we have a third form, or that called first 

 indefinite, as s.-rvit-axy or written e-ryvj/a, s-rt-ffa. Analytically 

 then, the force of these forms will be expressed by have been, 

 the 6 of the augment, whether disguised as in the temporal, or 

 absolutely expressed as in the syllabic augment, being the 

 radix of s-o; or inj.i be so, that r-B-rvit-a, means accurately 6e, 

 strike have /, or / have been striking. 



It is obvious from what we have occasionally noticed as we 

 proceeded in this analysis, that the verb rvnrco has been very 

 ill chosen as a paradigm or exemplar verb. In the first place, 

 from the Greeks combining 'tis, or ps, into a distinct single 

 character, \(/, andp aspirated, or ^% also into a distinct character, 

 4), it is clear that whenever these combinations occur as both 

 the radical letter tt, and the characteristic s, or the aspirate, 

 are disguised ; the same disadvantage also occurs from aspi- 

 rating the T, as in zrv(p^'n ; secondly, the root is properly only 

 rvTif from the Hebrew sn, not rvTir^ as is manifest from the 

 analysis of all the tenses, the r inserted before the inflections, 

 being found, whether simply or aspirated, only in the present 

 and imperfect tenses, and in the first future and first indefinite, 

 as they are called, passive. Hence it is that for so long a 

 time the second indefinite was classed as a distinct tense swi 

 generis; neither have grammarians yet altogether agreed to 

 abandon this distribution ; whereas it is obvious that z-rvn-ov is 

 as regularly formed an imperfect from the radix rvir, as sruitr-ov 

 is from rvnr. In this view, then, we should consider all the 

 moods of this indefinite, except the indicative, as being also of 

 a present signification, inasmuch as the augjment is dropped and 

 they retain no distinguishing'mark of past time besides. 



In this way, also, we see that the first and second indefinites 

 passive are both of different forms of the same part of the verb, 

 the one being formed from the simple root rvir, as z-rv7C"f\y ; 

 the other from rvitr, aspirating the 9r and r, as swat toov, or as 

 written, sri;(pOajv. To put the correctness of this view beyond 



APRIL—JUNE, 1800, R 



