VERB. 



time foitn the verbs raitu, thunders, &c. The obfervation 

 of their own aSions, or the anions of the animals around 

 them, would foon increafe their ftock of ideas, and put them 

 upon contriving fuitable expreflions for them. Hence might 

 arife fuch words as thefe : Jl^ep, orjleeping ; Jiand, or Jland- 

 ing ; run, or running ; bite, or biti7ig ; hurl, or hurting ; and 

 by joining thefe to fubftantives, by means of the copula is, 

 they might form fuch fentences as thefe, Lion is Jleeping, 

 or perhaps Lionjleep is,Jland is, &c. ; which would foon be 

 oontrafted into Lion Jleeps, Jlands, runs, biles, hurts, &c. 

 Thus our little infulated family might become pofTefled of 

 verbs including an attribute and an affirmation in one word. 

 The next ftep would probably be a diftinftion between 

 aftions in their progrejftve and in their Jinified (late ; i. e. 

 aftions going on in their prefence, and perceived by their 

 fenfes ; and iuch as were ended, and confequently only known 

 to them by memory, by report, or by their effeds : and they 

 might perhaps apply fuch words as raining, thundering, Jleep- 

 ing, &c. to the former kind of aftions ; and fuch as rained, 

 thundered, Jlept,- &c. to the latter. And by joining the 

 copula is to thefe words fignifying perfeft aftions, in the 

 fame manner in which they had joined it before to the words 

 fignifying imperfeft ones, and afterwards contrafting them 

 into fingle words, they might foon acquire a verb exprefling 

 a finifhed aftion and an affirmation in one word. This im- 

 provement would probably fuggeft to them the idea of 

 making fuch further alterations in, or additions to, their 

 verbs, as would make them fignificant of all the grand 

 divifions of time. 



But ftill their verbs would have neither ^fr/on nor number, 

 and would probably remain in that Hate till the invention of 

 pronouns. But this, requiring fome degree of abftraftion, 

 would probably not happen very early ; for, in their firft 

 efforts to exprefs themfelves, they would be more likely to 

 fay, " Thomas loves William and Henry," than " / love thee 

 and him." However, in procefs of time, pronouns would 

 no doubt be introduced : and they might perhaps make 

 fuch alterations in their verbs, as to accommodate them 

 to their numbers and perfons, though fuch an accom- 

 modation does not feem abfolutely neceflary. Languages 

 may therefore exift which do not vary their verbs to exprefs 

 either number or perfon. And, further, it is pofflble that 

 there may be languages fo conftrufted as not to admit any 

 variation in their verbs, even to exprefs time ; for if the verb 

 only contains, in itfelf, an afTertion and an attribute, the time 

 of it may be fixed by adverbs and other adjunfts. This 

 author concludes that a definition applicable to the verb 

 in all languages, and in all its forms, cannot comprehend 

 in it any thing more than what bifhop Lowth has exprefled 

 by faying, " A verb is a word fignifying to be, fo do, or to 



The copula, or fubftantive verb, ts, according to this au- 

 thor, is, as we have already Hated, the fimpleft of all verbs ; 

 and muft neceffarily have been contemporary with the 

 firft efforts of mankind to exprefs their ideas by words. 

 Without this we cannot unite an adjeftive to a fubftantive, 

 or affirm that any thing is good or bad, or poffeffes any 

 quality whatever, or even exifts. But this is the only verb, 

 containing an affirmation, which is fo perfeftly fimple in its 

 nature as not to comprehend, at leaft, two ideas, which may 

 be eafily feparated, nay which muft neceffarily be feparated, 

 in the operations of the mind, whenever it endeavours to ex- 

 prefs them. Pluit, it rains, or is raining, comprehends the 

 idea which the mind forms of that operation of nature which 

 -.ve call rain or raining, and likewife an affirmation of the 

 judgment which the mind forms concerning its prefent ex- 

 "jftence ; and therefore cannot be expreffed more fimply and 



naturally than by is raining, or rain is, which is eafily con- 

 trafted into, rains. 



Verbs, Auxiliary, or Helping, are thofe which ferve in 

 conjugating aftive and paffive verbs ; fuch are, Jam, I have 

 &c. 



The auxiliary verbs are like prepofitions, words of a very 

 general and abftraft nature. They imply the different mo- 

 difications of fimple exiftence, confidered alone, and without 

 reference to any particular thing. In the early ftate of 

 fpeech, the import of them would be incorporated witli every 

 particular verb in its tenfes andmood3,longbefore words were 

 invented for denoting fuch abftraft conceptions of exiftence, 

 alone and by themfelves. But after thefe auxiliary verbs, 

 in the progrefs of language, came to be invented and known, 

 and to have tenfes and moods annexed to them, like other 

 verbs ; it was found, that as they carried in their nature 

 the force of that affirmation which diftingullhes the verb, 

 they might, by being joined with the participle which gives 

 the meaning of the verb, fupply the place of moft of the 

 moods and tenfes. 



The abbot de Dangeau diftinguifhes all verbs into two 

 general kinds ; auxiliary verbs, and verbs which make ufe of 

 auxiliaries. 



This diftinftion fome may tax as not very juft : in regard 

 auxihary verbs fometimes make ufe of auxiliaries themfelves : 

 but this does not deftroy the divifion ; it only (hews, that 

 the auxiliary verb has two formalities, or two different qua- 

 lities, under which it is to be confidered ; in virtue whereof, 

 it conftitutes, as it were, two forts of verbs. 



The verbs which make ufe of auxiliaries, he divides into 

 aSive, neuter, and pronominal. Verbs neuter, he farther dif- 

 tinguifties into neuters aSive and neuters paffive. Pronominah 

 he diftinguifties into identic, reciprocal, neutrized, and pqffived. 

 But feveral of thefe are peculiar to the French language. See 

 Auxiliary Ferbsf. 



When an auxiliary is joined to the verb, the auxiliary goes 

 through all the variations of perfon and number ; and the 

 verb itfelf continues invariably the fame. When there are 

 two or more auxiliaries joined to the verb, the firft of them 

 only is varied according to perfon and number. The aux- 

 ihary mujl admits of no variation. 



Verbs, Regular, are thofe which are conjugated after 

 fome one manner, rule, or analogy. 



Verbs, Irregular, or Anomalous, are thofe which have 

 fomething fingular in the terminations or formations of their 

 tenfes. See Anomalous Verbs. 



The formation of verbs in Englifti, both regular and irre- 

 gular, is derived from the Saxon. The irregular verbs in 

 Englifti are all monofyllables, unlefs compounded ; and they 

 are for the moft part the fame words which are irregular verbs 

 in the Saxon. The firft clafs of irregulars comprehends thofe 

 that are become fo from fome kind of contraftion : thus, fome 

 verbs ending in d or t have the prefent, the paft time, and 

 the participle perfeft and paffive, all alike without any varia- 

 tion ; as, beat, burjl, cojl, &c. which are contraftions from 

 bealed, burjled, cojled, &c. becaufe of the difagreeable found 

 of the fyllable ed after d or t. Others in the paft time and 

 participle perfeft and paffive, vary a little from the prefent, 

 Ijy ftiortening the diphthong, or changing the d into ; ; as, 

 lead, led; meet, met ; bend, bent, Sec. Others not ending in dor 

 t are formed by contraftion ; as, have, had, for haved ; Jlee, 

 Jed, {or fee-ed, &c. The following, befide the contraftion, 

 change alfo the vowel: fell, fold; tell, told; clothe, clad. 

 The fecond clafs of irregulars are thofe that end in ght, both 

 in the paft time and participle, and change the vowel or 

 diphthong into au or ou : they are taken from the Saxon, in 

 which the termination is hte : as, bring, brought ; buy, bought ; 

 5 D 2 fe(i. 



