146 
THE FINAL INFINITIVE. 
Mat. 12.4: hu he ... set 6a offringhlafas 6e ncerun him alyfede to etynne 
= Quomodo . . . panes . . . comedit, quos non licebat ei edere. 
ceosan, choose: 
Mlj. L. S. XXXII. 223: 6e beo& gecorene gode to Segnigenne. 
(ge)Ia6ian, invite: 
Bede 394.19: woes 6yder gela&od circan to halgianne = 287.6: Contigit . . . 
uirurn ... ad dedicandam ecclesiam . . . uocari. 
(ge)wyrcan, make , build: 
Bede 354.19 a> b : 6a hus 6a 6e in to gebiddenne j to leornienne geworhte wceron 
= 265.13 a > b : quae ad orandum uel legendum factae erant. 
sellan, give , entrust: 
Bede 480.26, 27: 6a woes ic . . . seald to fedanne j to loerenne 6am . . . 
abbude Benedicte = 357.9: datus sum educandus . . . abbati Benedicto. 
sendan, send: 
Bede 108.23: A. ... to loeranne Ongol6eode sended woes = 89.5: ad praedi- 
candum genti Anglorum missus est. 
Differentiation of the Two Infinitives. 
We find that in the poetry practically only the uninflected infinitive of 
purpose is used, that it is very frequent after verbs of motion, and is very rare 
after other verbs; that in the prose we have the uninflected infinitive of pur¬ 
pose after certain verbs (1) of motion and (2) of giving only, 1 but that more 
frequently the inflected infinitive is found, in prose, with these two groups of 
verbs, while with a very large number of verbs only the inflected infinitive is 
found. Moreover, as will be shown in the section on the origin of the final 
infinitive, in Chapter XIV, the Latin original has much to do with whether or 
not the infinitive is inflected in Anglo-Saxon prose: in a number of instances 
the uninflected infinitive in Anglo-Saxon translates a Latin final infinitive after 
verbs of motion and of giving; and the inflected infinitive, with verbs of all 
kinds, the Latin gerund or gerundive. Not a few times, however, the inflected 
infinitive is found, especially in the Gospels , translating a Latin final infinitive 
after verbs of motion, — a circumstance doubtless due in part to the fact that 
the inflected infinitive had by that time become a common instrument for the 
expression of purpose owing to the Early West Saxon’s frequent translation 
of the Latin gerund and gerundive by an inflected infinitive and in part to the 
superior clarity 2 of the inflected infinitive as a means of expressing purpose. 
At any rate, purpose was normally expressed by the inflected infinitive in all 
Anglo-Saxon prose, early and late, except in the Gospels , in which the unin¬ 
flected infinitive slightly predominates owing to the large number of final 
infinitives in the Latin original, and except in the Lceceboc, in which the unin¬ 
flected infinitive decidedly predominates owing to the very frequent use of the 
uninflected infinitive after sellan , ‘ give ’ (especially with drincan , 1 drink,’ and 
etan, 1 eat ’). The probability that the few instances of the inflected infinitive 
of purpose in Anglo-Saxon poetry are due to Latin influence is discussed in the 
section on the origin of the final infinitive, in Chapter XIV. 
1 Sporadically, also, with certain verbs (3) of rest and (4) of commanding; in (4) in direct translation of 
Latin final infinitives. 
* On the ambiguity of the uninflected infinitive as the complement of the verb of motion see Chapter XIV. 
section x. 
