vi CONCERNING NECESSARY TRUTHS 137 



But, in the great majority of verbs, the word is 

 the sign of a complex idea, and the predication is 

 expressed only by its form. Thus in " silver 

 shines," the verb "to shine" is the sign for the 

 feeling of brightness, and the mark of predication 

 lies in the form " shine-s." 



Another result is brought about by the forms 

 of verbs. By slight modifications they are made 

 to indicate that a belief, or predication, is a 

 memory, or is an expectation. Thus " silver 

 shone " expresses a memory; " silver will shine " 

 an expectation. 



The form of words which expresses a predica- 

 tion is a proposition. Hence, every predication is 

 the verbal equivalent of a belief; and, as every be- 

 lief is either an immediate consciousness, a mem- 

 ory, or an expectation, and as every expectation is 

 traceable to a memory, it follows that, in the long 

 run, all propositions express either immediate states 

 of consciousness, or memories. The proposition 

 which predicates A of X must mean either, that 

 the fact is testified by my present consciousness, 

 as when I say that two colours, visible at this 

 moment, resemble one another; or that A is 

 indissolubly associated with X in memory; or that 

 A is indissolubly associated with X in expectation. 

 But it has already been shown that expectation 

 is only an expression of memory. 



Hume does not discuss the nature of language, 

 but so much of what remains to be said, concern- 



