148 
THE FINAL INFINITIVE. 
23;— Greg. 307.17 a * b ; 373.8, 9; — Oros. 188.10, 11; — Wcerf. 111.3 b , 4 a ; 218.4 s * b ; — Chron. 
253*, 1123 E d * c ; 256 b , 1127 E c * d ; — Laws 38, c. 36 s * b ; 42, c. 49 b * c * d ; 366, c. 79 a * b ; — Mlf. 
Horn. I.320* 1 * 2 ; 582* lt2 ; II. 444* 2 ; — Mlf. Hept.: Gen. 28.20 s ' b ; — Mlf. L. S. XXIIIB. 418, 
419; — Mlf. Int. 155 a * b ; — Mat. 20.19 s * b - c ; — Wulf. 295.32 s * b ; — Poems: Christ 1621 s * b , 
1622. With this list should be compared that given by Dr. Shearin, 1 l. c., pp. 30-31. The 
differences are slight, and arise from the fact that he gives statistics for one work, Kemble’s 
Codex Diplomaticus Mvi Saxoriici, to which I have not had access; that he includes a few 
inflected infinitives that modify a noun ( Bede 62.8 a,b , 9; Mlf. Horn. II. 360 b u 2 * 3 * 4 ; Wulf. 
202.1 s * b ), one that seems to me consecutive ( Bede 330.18 s * b , 19), and one that seems to me 
objective (Greg. 293.3 s * b ). Dr. Farrar does not give a list of this series; nor does Dr. Riggert. 
2. A Clause Alternates with an Infinitive occasionally, as in Mlf. L. S. XXX. 49 s * b , quoted 
on p. 136; J. 12.47, quoted on p. 137; and L. 1.17, quoted on p. 138. Dr. Farrar, l. c., 
pp. 28 and 33, cites only the example from John. In the two examples from the Gospels we 
have the same alternation of clause and of infinitive in the Latin original. 
3. An Inflected Infinitive Alternates with a Prepositional Phrase at times, as in Bede 162.7, 
quoted on p. 139; Oros. 138.8, quoted on p. 140; Mlf. Horn. II. 340 m : Ne lufode he woruld- 
lice sehta for his neode ana, ac to dcelenne eallum wsedliendum; — ib. 430 b : bes sunderhalga 
. . . haefde opene eagan to forhcefednysse, to celmes-deedum , to tSancigenne Gode. 
4. “ For To ” with the Inflected Infinitive of Purpose is found in Chron. 256 b , 1127 E c * d : 
se kyng hit dide for to hauene sibbe of se eorl Angeow, for helpe to hauene togaenes his neue. 
Cf. the New English Dictionary, sub v. for IV, 11, where the earliest example given of this 
idiom is dated 1175 (Cotton Homilies). 
5. An Inflected Infinitive without “ To ” is found in Mlf. L. S. 222.39: ba petrus si&ode 
neosigenne [MSS. U. and B.: neosigende] ba geleaffullan. 
6. The Uninfected Infinitive after “ Beran,” 11 Hladan,” and “ Sellan.” — Dr. Wulfing, 2 
l. c., II, pp. 178 and 181, seems to consider as objective the uninflected infinitive after beran, 
hladan, and sellan, but the Latin equivalents in most cases show, I think, that the infinitive 
is final, as in the Latin da bibere etc. Occasionally in Anglo-Saxon, drincan (after sellan ) 
may be a noun instead of an infinitive, as it at times corresponds to the Latin noun, potum, 
instead of to the infinitive, bibere, as in Mlf. Hept.: Ex. 2.19 (hlod wseter mid us and sealde 
bam sceapum drincan = hausit aquam nobiscum potumque dedit ovibus). The infinitive 
after these verbs is considered final by Dr. Shearin, 1 1. c., pp. 13-15. 
7. A Final Infinitive as Modifier of a Verb to Be Supplied. — Occasionally a final infini¬ 
tive modifies an infinitive that is to be supplied as the complement of an auxiliary verb, as 
in Mlf. Hept.: Gen. 22.4 (Da on bone briddan deeg, ba hig ba dune gesawon, beer beer hig to 
sceoldon to ofsleanne Isaac = vidit locum procul) and in A. S. Horn. & L. S. II, 15.218 (Ge- 
swic bu earming, ne miht bu to nahte minne msegbhad me to beswicenne). 
8. The Uninflected Infinitive as a Translation of the Latin Supine in “ -um.” — iElfric, 
in his Grammar, p. 134, gives several examples of an uninflected infinitive translating a 
Latin supine, after a verb of motion in each language, and seems to say that the infinitive 
denotes futurity, but in each example the infinitive, while future in sense, also denotes pur¬ 
pose, I think. The examples are: vis amatum ire? = wylt bu faran lufian? uenatum pergo 
= ic fare huntian; uis doctum ire? = wylt bu gan leornian? lectum pergit = he gseb rsedan; 
bibitum pergo = ic gange drincan. 
9. Final or Predicative Infinitive? — Dr. Kenyon, l. c., p. 137, considers the two infinitives 
(beon and faran) after todceldon, in Oros. 46.15, 16, as final. To me, however, they seem 
predicative, and the infinitive phrase seems absolute: see Chapter VIII, p. 118, and section D 
of Chapter XII, p. 169. 
10. Infinitive or Indicative ? — In Ex. 166 (Wulfas sungon atol sefenleob setes on wenan, 
carleasan deor, cwyldrof beodan on labra last leodmsegnes ful), as Grein, in his Sprachschatz, 
sub v. beodan, states, we may have the infinitive of beodan, 1 announce,’ or the preterite plural 
of bidan, 1 await.’ Professor J. W. Bright kindly writes me that the presumption is certainty 
against the infinitive, and that he would read fyl for ful. Accordingly, I have omitted beodan 
from my statistics. 
11. “ The Split Infinitive.” —• In the second infinitive quoted in Note 4 above, we seem 
to have the earliest instance of splitting the infinitive in the English language, though it is 
of the compound prepositional infinitive introduced by for to, not of the simple prepositional 
infinitive introduced by to, to which latter idiom the phrase, “ the split infinitive,” is usually 
applied. Of the latter idiom, the earliest instance cited by F. Hall is from Wycliffe: see his 
“ On the Separation, by a Word or Words, of To and the Infinitive Mood,” as cited in my 
bibliography. 
