INTRODUCTION. 
5 
(c) Of cause: — uninflected: Bede 484.15: mynstres, on bam ic gefeo 
Siowian bsere uplican arfaestnesse = 359.13: in quo supernae pietati deseruire 
gaudeo ;—inflected: A. S. Horn. & L. S. II. 18.189: ic nu forsceamige to 
secganne mine ungeleaffulnesse. 
(d) Of specification with verbs: — inflected: Woerf. 180.26: bset he 
geloered woes wyrta to begangenne = 217 C 1 : Quod vir gentilis valde libenter 
accepit, cum in nutriendis oleribus quia peritus esset audivit. 
( e ) Of result: — inflected: Bede 174.22: wundro . . . , ba be nu to long to 
secgenne syndon = 143.30: sed haec nos ad alia tendentes, suis narrare permitti - 
mus; Bede 468.7 a ’ b : he hine 7 his beode gelcedde to mcersianne 7 to weorSianne 
ba . . . tide = 332.19: se suosque omnes ad . . . tempus celebrandum perduxit. 
(/) Of absolute relationship: — uninflected: see Chapter XII, section vi; — 
inflected: Wulf. 115.3: bider sculan beofas . . . and, hrsedest to secganne, 
ealle ba manfullan. 
In the adjectival use, the infinitive, habitually inflected, modifies a noun or 
pronoun. A few examples wdll suffice for illustration: — uninflected: L. 12.5: 
adraedab bone be anweald hacfb, sebban he ofslyhb, on helle asendan = timete 
eum qui, postquam occiderit, habet potestatem mittere in gehennam; — inflected: 
Greg. 307.9: us salde bisne urne willan to brecanne = 234.27: ut exemplum 
nobis frangendoe nostrse voluntatis praebeat; Greg. 127. 1, 2: Gif baer bonne sie 
gierd mid to dreageanne, sie baer eac stcef mid to wreSianne = 88.14,15: Si ergo est 
districtio virgce, qua q feriat, sit et consolatio baculi, quae sustentet; Bede 100.2: 
bisses geleafa 7 wyrcnis seo lefed God ( sic for Gode f) onfenge 7 allum to fylgenne 
= 82.2: huius fides et operatio Deo deuota atque omnibus sequenda credatur. 
This classification does not differ greatly from that current in most of the 
treatises on Anglo-Saxon syntax. The chief variations, adopted here primarily 
for the sake of simplicity, are (1) the limitation of the term adverbial to those 
uses in which the infinitive is an adverbial modifier of verb, adjective, or adverb, 
— which excludes the objective use, though the latter is included in the wider 
sense given to adverbial in many Germanic treatises; (2) the extension of the 
term predicative so as to cover, not simply, as with Professor Delbriick, 1 the 
infinitive complementary to the verb to be, but also the infinitive complementary 
to the auxiliaries and to certain other verbs (of motion and of rest), as well as 
the infinitive quasi-predicative to a subject accusative, the aim being to put 
under the one head all the uses in which the verbal (or assertive) power of the 
infinitive is strongest. As a separate chapter is given to each of these sub¬ 
divisions of the predicative infinitive, the discussion will be equally clear to 
those who may prefer not to adopt the classification suggested. Nor, I believe, 
will the fact that the predicative use of the infinitive is, in some instances, of 
substantival (objective) origin, as when complementary to the auxiliary verbs, 
and, in others, of adverbial (final) origin, as when complementary to beon 
(■wesan ) and to {w)uton, invalidate the usefulness of the proposed classification. 
Finally, it should be added that, while for the sake of clearness my discussion 
is arranged according to the function of the infinitive, under each use account 
is taken as to whether the infinitive is uninflected or inflected, and the ground 
of differentiation and of subsequent confusion of the two forms is sought. 
1 Delbriick, 1 l. c., II, p. 460. 
