124 KANSAS UN'IVERSITV QUARTERI.^ . 



III. All F.xaiiiiiiatioii of the i^tatistio^. 



lN]ROi)UCTORY. 



The preposition is a local adverb. 



The prevalent definition of the verb is predication. 



There is no kind of predication that does not imply motion, actual 

 or potential. At any rate in the consideration of the preposition 

 or its relation to the verb, we are justified in making that element 

 predominant which is necessarily the most fundamental. Motion 

 in a verb, then, is that quality in a verb which is capable of direction. 



The fundamental notion of the preposition is one of place. The 

 deviations from this notion, tlie transfers from place to time, or the 

 paling out of the original color, all have their basis in the primal 

 notion of place. 



It is unnecessary to demonstrate the interdependence and kinship 

 of the notions of motion and place. Place involves motion just as 

 the preposition involves the verb. It also lies implicitly in the na- 

 ture of the subject that certain forms of motion will have a natural 

 affinity for certain relations of place, while some forms of both mo- 

 tion and place will absolutely refuse to coalesce. This is due to 

 the different modifications of motion assumed by the verb. By 

 modification of motion, we mean: ///." alteration of its color, the defi- 

 nition of its kind, or the indication of its direction. Absolutely pure 

 motion is free from such modification. If there were a verb which 

 designated motion without reference to' color, direction, or kind, it 

 could be said to express pure motion. But pure motion does not 

 exist in language. Language begins with concrete notions, how- 

 ever general the application which the expression of that notion 

 may have had, after the' notion had once taken form. Thus there 

 are verbs which express motion in a more general way than others. 

 E. g., et/xt, however concrete the notion for which it originally stood, 

 is used for so many different kinds of motion, that, for purposes of 

 this paper, it can be said to express relatively pure motion. 



The motion in a verb may be modified either internally or exter- 

 nally. 



Internal Modification. 



For purposes of the present paper, verbs may be divided into two 

 classes: those expressing actual motion, and those expressing po- 

 tential motion. Verbs of actual motion include those verbs which 

 express motion with its kind, direction or color more or less dis- 

 tinctly marked. Verbs of potential motion include verbs of exist- 

 ence, speech, thought, perception. 



Verbs expressing relatively pure motion are rare, but language 

 does not require many. The verbs e?/xi, tpyo^ai {iXddv) and more 



