92 SEMITIC LANGUAGE 



that they separated from the original mass and settled in some place 

 in Africa before crossing into Asia there is nothing to make this 

 inconceivable. But because of the pronounced unity of Semitic 

 peoples, it is more probable that they would have come over into Asia 

 before breaking up into different nationalities. The question as to their 

 first resting-place is referred to above. The arguments commonly 

 adduced in favor of one region or another cannot be regarded as 

 conclusive. There is little in favor of Armenia as the cradle of the 

 Semitic race. The argument for it is that it lies in that central 

 Asiatic region whence so many streams of population have poured 

 forth; but, as we have seen, Arabia and Babylonia also have been 

 centres of dispersion. Recent writers are disposed to decide in favor 

 either of Babylonia or Arabia, the majority preferring the latter 

 region. There is much to say for this, especially if Arabia be under- 

 stood to include the whole desert region up to the Euphrates and 

 westward to the Aramean lands. More than this can hardly be said. 

 In view of the remoteness of the events involved, the absence of 

 historical monuments, and our ignorance of the social conditions 

 of that early time, it cannot be surprising that we should find our- 

 selves forced to leave the question unsolved. Succeeding discoveries 

 may open the way for a more definite opinion, but at present the 

 data are insufficient to permit a positive assertion or denial in the 

 case of any one of the regions under consideration. 



The Perfect and the Imperfect 



The basis of the Perfect, it is now commonly held, is a noun - 

 whether an abstract or a concrete noun it is not important in our 

 present inquiry to decide. In the third person this noun is inflected 

 in accordance with Semitic rules. The second and first persons are 

 formed by the attachment of pronouns expressing the subject or 

 agent of the action. 



In like manner the basis of the Imperfect is a noun, inflected in the 

 third person according to nominal rules. This noun is not the simple 

 stem, but is made by a prefix. The second and first persons, also, are 

 formed by prefixes. The second person has the ordinary dual and 

 plural endings, and in the singular what seems to be a feminine 

 ending. The prefixes of the second and first persons appear to be 

 pronouns, and the same may be the case with the prefix of the third 

 person. Thus the formal difference between the Perfect and the 

 Imperfect is that in the former the grammatical subject is appended 

 to the stem, while in the latter it is prefixed. 



The important part played in Semitic morphology by prefixes is gen- 

 erally recognized. While mere relational modifications are expressed 

 by affixes (as in the case of the feminine, the plural, and relative 



