Use of Auxiliary Verbs in Romance Languages. 3 



desire to avoid the repetition of habere. If such had been the 

 cause in Portuguese and Spanish of that innovation, probably 

 the same cause would have exerted its influence over other 

 Romance languages and produced in them parallel changes. 

 A strong objection to the view of Diez is found in the very- 

 history of habere in Spanish and Portuguese. Why is it that, 

 during several centuries, the Spanish did not feel the neces- 

 sity of using tener for haber, when the latter was used as a 

 principal verb, and of reducing it to a mere inflectional part 

 of other verbs, or to a mere auxiliary, as subsequently hap- 

 pened ? If the use of haber from the first known period of 

 the Spanish language be exhibited, it will be seen that this 

 verb was treated as a principal, or true verb, side by side with 

 tener, and that the instances of its occurrence as such by far 

 outnumbered those of tener ; that its use went on decreasing 

 steadily, but slowly, till it disappeared (except when used im- 

 personally, or with the force of deber) to play the part of a 

 mere verbal inflectional ending. Statistics here will not be 

 out of place, and they will show better than any general 

 statement the fate of haber. 



Haber. Tener. 



El libra de las Reyes d' Orient. 



E hovieron gozo por mira. Buena casa e fuerte tenemos. 



Grant ira avia. Yo tengo tan manya cuita. 



E non ayamos de ellos duelos. 

 Que nunqua mas fin non habra. 



Vida de Santa Maria Egipciaca, 



Si ayades de Dios pai'don. 



E los que de Dios non an cura. 



Nos ende avremos grant lacerio. 



Que debes haber honor. 



Doce anyos hovo de edat. 



Sol que aya algo quel dar. 



Ellos avien grant sabor. 



Ella avie cinquanta vivos (amigos). 



Redondas avie las orejas. La faz tenie colorada. 



Si de Dios ayas amor. 



Non ho talente d'aqui estar. 



33 



