VERB VERDUN. 



803 



belongs to the European stock, than the verb of the 

 North American Indian ? (See Indian Languages} 

 Again what wonderful modifications do we meet 

 with in the Hebrew verb ! How striking is the San- 

 scrit verb ! The verb of the different nations shows 

 us, more than any other part of speech, the different 

 division of ideas, if we may call it so, which takes 

 place in different languages ; for instance, in most 

 languages known to us, the idea that something is af- 

 fected by the action of something else, either has not 

 a peculiar form of expression (this is generally the 

 case in English), or is expressed by the accusative of 

 the object, that is, by a change in the name of the 

 object, e.g. Filius amat patreni. But there are lan- 

 guages in which this idea is expressed by a change 

 in the subject, which acts ; and this is as logical a 

 way as the other. An object may be conceived 

 merely in reference to time, or in a peculiar state 

 of action or passion. The former mode of conceiv- 

 ing them is the basis of the verb to be (verbum sub- 

 stantiuum*), which is therefore used to unite the sub- 

 ject and predicate (e. g. I am unwell), and becomes 

 an auxiliary verb. In the case of those verbs which 

 indicate a peculiar state of the subject, together 

 with the idea of time, the state may have reference 

 to the subject alone (" I sit," " I He"), or, at the 

 same time, express a relation of action or passion 

 between the subject and an object. The first kind 

 of verbs are called intransitive or neuter (because 

 they neither act nor suffer). To them belongs the 

 verb to be. The other class is called transitive. 

 The transitive verbs are either active or passive. 

 The former indicate action (e. g. " I read a book"), 

 and include the reciprocal verbs (e. g. " I bathe 

 myself"), in which the subject makes itself the ob- 

 ject. The passive verb indicates that the subject 

 is the recipient of the action, as, " I am beaten," 

 which, however, appears clearer in those languages 

 that have peculiar forms for this state, as amor (" I 

 am loved"). The passive form has also a reflective 

 meaning ; that is, it indicates a relation of the sub- 

 ject to itself, which, in the Greek grammar, is called 

 the middle voice. The deponent verb and neu- 

 ter passive verb are particular forms of particular 

 languages. Besides the three voices (genera"), there 

 are the modes (i. e. the ways in which the predicate 

 is brought into relation to the subject, whether it 

 is given as necessary, real or possible). To these 

 forms belong the imperative and conjunctive, or 

 subjunctive. But languages do not always repre- 

 sent these modes in peculiar forms. One of the 

 peculiar modifications of the mode is the Greek 

 optative. Formerly, the infinitive was also called 

 a mode ; but the infinitive does not necessarily be- 

 long to the predicate, and may also take the place of 

 a substantive. In the same way the participle is not 

 a mode, but only an adjective formed from the 

 verb. 



Further, we must notice the various forms of 

 time (tenses'), i. e. those forms of the verb by which 

 its state is indicated in reference to peculiar times. 

 These are, in general, the present, past and future; 

 hence the simple tenses are the present, perfect or 

 preterit, and the future ; but these are still more 

 modified in most languages, and are expressed 

 either by peculiar forms or by paraphrases with 

 auxiliary verbs. These tenses are called absolute 

 if they state any thing without reference to some- 

 thing else, and relative if they do it with reference 

 to another time or action (e. g. " I had done it 

 when he came") ; to which, therefore, belong the 

 imperfect, pluperfect and future. 



We must next notice the three persons, of whom 

 something is stated by the verb. There are three 

 in the singular and three in the plural (i. e. the 

 subject, another one present, or addressed, and 

 another one absent, and not addressed). The 

 plural expresses the same relations as existing in 

 the case of two or more individuals. The persons 

 are /, thou, he, we, you, they, which are indicated 

 by pronouns, or forms in the verb, or by both. 

 Where there is no person, the verb becomes im- 

 personal (e. g. " it thunders"). Some languages 

 go further, and designate also the genus of the per- 

 son acting or being in a certain state, and express 

 in the verb whether this person is male or female ; 

 so that, where the Latins have but one form for amat, 

 they would have two forms. To set forth all the 

 various forms of a verb used for the designation of 

 the manifold relations which it is fitted to express, is 

 called conjugating it. The conjugation is regular 

 or irregular ; the first when it conforms to certain 

 rules existing in the language, the latter if the verb 

 deviates from these. Most of the irregular verbs, 

 however, can be brought again under certain rules, 

 and so far become again regular. As respects their 

 origin, verbs are primitive or derivative. To the 

 latter class belong those by which the state is de- 

 signated as modified by circumstances (e. g. dictitare, 

 from dico, in Latin ; spotteln, from spotten, in Ger- 

 man). Often, however, the verb is derived from 

 some adjective or substantive. 



VERBENALIA. See Vervain. 



VERDE, CAPE. See Cape Verde. 



VERDE (CAPE) ISLANDS. See Cape Verde 

 Islands. 



VERDICT. See Jury. 



VERDIGRIS ; an impure acetate of copper, be- 

 ing a mixture of the acetates and the carbonates of 

 copper, and the hydrated oxide of copper. The 

 best varieties approximate to the following com- 

 position : 



French. English. 



Acetic acid, 29'3 29-62 



Peroxide of copper, 43'5 44'2 



Water 25-2 25'51 



Impurity, 2-0 0-62 



VERDITER is a blue pigment, obtained by 

 adding chalk or whiting to the solution of copper in 

 aquafortis. It is prepared as follows : A quantity 

 of whiting is put into a tub, and upon this the 

 solution of copper is poured. The mixture is to be 

 stirred every day for some hours together, till the 

 liquor loses its colour. The liquor is then to be 

 poured off, and more solution of copper is to be 

 added. This is to be repeated till the whiting has 

 acquired its proper colour. Then it is to be spread 

 on large pieces of chalk, and dried on the sun. It 

 consists of 



Carbonic acid, 30-00 



Water 3-33 



Lime, 7'00 



Oxygen, 9'33 



Copper, 50-00 



VERDUN (anciently Verodununi) ; a town of 

 France, and principal place of a district in the de- 

 partment of the Meuse; Ion. 5 22' E.; lat. 49 9 

 N.; population, 10,000. Before the revolution, it 

 was the capital of a province called Verdunois. It 

 is large, populous, and consists of three parts, the 

 upper, lower and new towns, and contains nine 

 churches and three hospitals. Exclusive of its 

 fortifications, this place is further defended by a 

 fine citadel. By the treaty of Verdun (843), the 

 sons of Louis le Debonnaire, son and successor of 

 3 K2 



