212 ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



my father is sick," for there is really a logical foundation for the dis- 

 tinction made here by Finnish: isdni on vanha (nominative); isdni 

 on jo tullut vanhaksi (translative, indicating the state into which 

 any one or anything passes); isdni on sairaana (essive, indicating 

 the state in which anybody or anything is). The distinction is a real 

 one in Finnish, because it is shown externally; but it is not a real 

 one in English. In the same manner we should be justified in speak- 

 ing of a dative case in English, if it had either a distinct form or 

 manifested itself outwardly in some other manner, for example, by 

 a fixed position. If the dative preceded invariably the accusative, 

 we might recognize a positional dative, but it does not. In " I gave 

 it him" there is nothing grammatical to show us which of the two 

 words is the indirect object. It is true that when the direct object 

 is a noun (not a pronoun) the indirect object is always placed before 

 the direct object; but that is not enough to establish a separate case, 

 unless, indeed, we should be willing to apply the same designation of 

 " dative case " to all the nouns placed first in each one of the follow- 

 ing sentences : 



I told the boy some stories. 



I asked the boy a few questions. 



I heard the boy his lessons. 



I took the boy long walks. 



I kissed the boy good-night. 



[I painted the wall a different color.] 



I called the boy bad names. 



I called the boy a scoundrel. 1 



If we are to speak of separate datives and accusatives in English, 

 I for one do not know where in this list the dative goes out and the 

 accusative comes in. (Note that in the second sentence Old English 

 would have had two accusatives.) In the same manner I think it 

 perfectly idle to inquire what case is employed in " he was tied hand 

 and foot," "they were now face to face," "we shall go down Harrow 

 way this day week," "I saw a man the age of my grandmother," etc. 

 We have here various employments of the " kernel " or " crude form " 

 of a noun, and nothing else. It is even more wrong to speak of phrases 

 with to and of as datives and genitives, as is done, for instance, in 

 articles on " Die Trennung eines Genitivs von seinem regierenden 

 Worte durch andere Satzteile." What is meant is the order of two 

 prepositional (or adverbial) adjuncts, as in " the arrival at Cowes of 

 the German Emperor." Of the Emperor is no more a genitive than at 

 Cowes is an accusative or from Cowes an ablative. Whoever takes an 

 interest in the purification of English grammar from such sham 

 classifications as I have here instanced, will find great help in an 



1 Some of these combinations may not be very frequent, but they all occur and 

 all have to be analyzed. 



