THE ACTIVE INFINITIVE. 
65 
0 d) With certain verbs having a double (or occasionally a triple) regimen 
in the narrower sense: — 
(aa) Those governing the accusative or the genitive ( bewerian , ‘ prohibit/ 
1 forbid:’ cf. 1 (b) and (c); biddan, ‘ request/ ‘demand:’ cf. 1 (d) (bb ); ge- 
hatan , ‘ order/ ‘ promise: ’ cf. 1 (b);geSafian, ‘ allow:’ cf. 1 (b); gieman, ‘ care 
(for ); 1 ondrcedan (also with reflexive dative), ‘ fear; ’ tilian, ‘ attempt/ ‘ strive 
for: ’ cf. 1 (c); Sencan , * think/ ‘ think of; ’ wenan (also with dative of person), 
‘ hope for/ ‘ expect; ’ ml(l)nian, ‘ desire ’). Again, the double construction 
is the result, I believe, of the double regimen of these verbs; and the line be¬ 
tween the uninflected and the inflected infinitive is in most cases as patent and 
as thin as that between ‘ hope for ’ and ‘ expect ’ and ‘ attempt ’ and ‘ strive 
for.’ — For one of these verbs, however, Sencan, it has been declared 1 that we 
have the uninflected infinitive as a rule when the infinitive precedes the verb, 
Sencan, and the inflected infinitive when following it, the author of this theory, 
Dr. van der Gaaf, declaring that he could find only eight examples of the un¬ 
inflected infinitive following &encan. But I find a total of 35 (or, omitting two 
doubtful examples, of 33) uninflected infinitives following Sencan, while the 
total number of inflected infinitives is 34, all following the finite verb. Another 
objection to the contention of Dr. van der Gaaf is the fact that in several 
instances we find one and the same verb both preceded and followed, in 
the same sentence, by an uninflected infinitive, as in Beow. 800, 801; Gen. 
1274, 1275; And. 150, 151, 152; Ps. 93.20 a - b , 149.7 a - b , 8 a - b ; Fallen Angels 
183, 184, 208-209. Moreover, Dr. van der Gaaf declares that only the unin¬ 
flected infinitive is found in the poetry with this verb. As my statistics show, 
however, at least one example of the inflected infinitive occurs in the poems 
(Ps. 118.59: Swa ic wegas bine wise Gence to ferenne fotum minum), and six 
more occur in the Charms (V, C, 4 a - b - c> d , 5 a> b ), which six occur in the prose 
prologue to the Charms , and doubtless were excluded from Dr. van der Gaaf’s 
poetic count, though given in Wiilker’s Bibliothek der Angelsachsischen Poesie. 
That nearness to or distance from the chief verb is not an important factor in 
the double regimen with Senca-n is proved by the fact that we have the in¬ 
flected infinitive when separated therefrom ( Wcerf. 252.4, 253.7; Greg. 11.14; 
Oros. 212.29; Chron. 190 b , 1065 C b , 229 b , 1094 E d , 233 m , 1097 E a ; Mf. Hept.: 
Gen. 37.18, 21 ; Charms V, C, 4 b - c > d , 5 a> b ) as well as when juxtaposed there¬ 
with (in the remaining instances), as is true, also, of the uninflected infinitive 
(three of which, however — Oros. 282.9 b , 292.29 (with <$uhte for Sohtef); 
AElf. Hept.: Gen. 48.17 b — are the second in a series of two commencing with 
an inflected infinitive). As both the uninflected infinitive and the inflected 
infinitive are found in poetry and in Early West Saxon, it is probable that 
from the beginning each infinitive was allowable with this verb, though the 
uninflected was the favorite in poetry in the ratio of 61 to l . 2 — For the same 
reason it is likely that either infinitive was allowable also with tilian and with 
wil(l)nian from the first, but neither verb was common in the poetry, only two 
examples occurring therein of each (tilian, 2 U.; wilnian: 1 U., 1 I.). 
(bb) Those governing the accusative or the dative (biddan (accusative or 
dative of person), ‘request/ ‘demand:’ cf. 1 (d) (aa)). With this verb, 
1 See van der Gaaf, 1 1. c., pp. 52-62. 
2 Since writing the above, I have come upon the following statement by Dr. H. Willert, in his “ Vom In- 
finitiv with To,” p. 103: “ So soli, wenn &encan and wenan sich mit dem prapositionalen Infinitiv verbinden, die 
Sache bezeichnet werden, auf welche sich die Gedanken richten.’' 
