ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 51 



To the extent in the English language that inflection is 

 used for qualification, as for person, number, and gender of 

 the noun and pronoun, and for mode and tense in the verb, 

 to that extent the parts of speech are undifferentiated. But 

 we have seen that inflection is used for this purpose to a 

 very slight extent. 



There is yet in the English language one important differ- 

 entiation which has been but partially accomplished. Verbs 

 as usually considered are undifferentiated parts of speech; 

 they are nouns and adjectives, one or both, and predicants. 

 The predicant simple is a distinct part of speech. The 

 English language has but one, the verb to be, and this is not 

 always a pure predicant, for it sometimes contains within 

 itself an adverbial element when it is conjugated for mode 

 and tense, and a connective element when it is conjugated 

 for agreement. With adjectives and nouns this verb is used 

 as a predicant. In the passive voice also it is thus used, and 

 the participles are nouns or adjectives. In what is some- 

 times called the progressive form of the active voice nouns 

 and adjectives are differentiated in the participles, and the 

 verb "to be" is used as a predicant. But in what is usually 

 denominated the active voice of the verb, the English lan- 

 guage has undifferentiated parts of speech. An examina- 

 tion of the history of the verb "to be" in the English lan- 

 guage exhibits the fact that it is coming more and more to 

 be used as the predicant, and what is usually called the 

 common form of the active voice is coming more and more 

 to be limited in its use to special significations. 



The real active voice, indicative mode, present tense, first 

 person, singular number, of the verb " to eat," is " am eat- 

 ing." The expression " I eat," signifies " I am accustomed 

 to eat." So, if we consider the common form of the active 

 voice throughout its entire conjugation, we discover that 

 many of its forms are limited to special uses. 



Throughout the conjugation of the verb the auxiliaries 

 are predicants, but these auxiliaries, to the extent that the} 7 ' 



