THE INFINITIVE WITH ADJECTIVES. 
257 
/ed/ue Tropeveo-Oai ) 1 — (b) Philip. 1.24: appan du wisan in leika, paurftizo in 
izwara = to 8c C7 TLfiivuv iv crapKi avayKaiorcpov Sl vpa<s 2 (or subjective?). 
As the Gothic infinitive (simple) after adjectives has several different cor¬ 
respondents in Greek, the construction is probably native. 
In Old Norse, on the other hand, the infinitive, usually with at, is frequently 
used with adjectives. Concerning this idiom we read in Falk and Torp, l. c., 
p. 204: “ Til adjektiver f0ies infinitiv paa en tredobbelt maade: a. Som til et 
ved substantiv dannet udsagn kan i oldnorsk infinitiv ogsaa fpies til et adjek- 
tivisk, ikke til adjektivet alene. Saadanne adjektiver er de som betegner 
vane, beredthed, skikkethed, begjserlighed, berettigelse, osv.: vapn er hann var 
vanr at hafa; vera buinn at riSa; vera lystr at lifa; ufuss em ek at lata petta hand a 
mik leggja. Kun i det poetiske sprog kan undertiden at mangle. . . . b. Medens 
ved den foregaaende gruppe infinitiven er styret af hele det verbalt fplte udtryk, 
kan ved andre adjektiver infinitiv staa paa en friere maade, som betegnelse for 
den handling med hensyn til hvilken egenskaben fremtrseder. Denne infinitiv 
nedstammer direkte fra det gamle gerundium, hvorfor at her aldrig (udenfor 
poesien) kan mangle: drjugr at ljuga (droi til at lyve); fir Sir illir yfir at fara; 
hrceSiligr at sja (frygtelig at skue). Saaledes fremdeles: den er let at lokke, som 
efter vil hoppe; han er ikke god at komme til rette med. c. Hvor adjektivet har 
adverbiet ‘ saa ’ foran sig, betegnes ved infinitiven en f0lge: vser saa snil at sige mig. 
Ved imperativ bruges ogsaa sideordning: vser saa snil og sig mig, ligesom i svensk 
dagligtale samt tysk (seien Sie so gut und tun Sie das) og engelsk (be so kind and 
tell me). Hvor ‘saa’ mangier, gaar betydningen over i kausal: er du gal at 
bsere dig saadan ad.” See, too, Lund, l. c., pp. 371 ff.; Nygaard, l. c., p. 225. 
In Old High German, the uninflected infinitive (a) is much less frequent than 
the inflected ( h ). The uninflected infinitive habitually answers to a Latin in¬ 
finitive; the inflected often does, but it corresponds also to a Latin future par¬ 
ticiple and to ad + a gerund. Some adjectives are followed by each infinitive. 
Examples are:— (a): Tatian 88.21: mahtig ist arwekkan = potest suscitare; Is. 
37.21: chiwon was ardhinsan = solehat rapere; 3 Otfrid 1,17.43: giwon was queman 
zi in; 4 B. R. 36.1: fora wesan wirdiger ist = preesse dignus est; 5 — ( b ) Tatian 
318.27: was giwon ther grauo zi forlazzanne einan = consuerat preses dimittere 
unum; ih. 90.4: ni bim wirdig zi traganne = non sum dignus portare; ib. 291.19: 
garo bin zi faranne = paratus sum ire; ib. 334.25: lazze in herzen zi giloubanne 
= tardi corde ad credendum. 6 
So divergent are the Latin correspondents to the infinitive with adjectives 
in Old High German that it seems probable that the idiom was native thereto, 
whether the infinitive was uninflected or inflected. In Otfrid and in Tatian 
the inflected infinitive is the rule. 
In Old Saxon, (a) the uninflected infinitive is rare; ( b ) the inflected, common: 
(a) Hel. 4720: thar uuas hie upp giuuono gangan; ib. 3821: thia scattos thia gi 
sculdiga sind an that geld (te C) geban; 7 — ( b ) Hel. 1794: hie ist garo . . . ti 
gebanne; ib. 650: uuarun . . . fusa ti faranne; ib. 3988: te hui bist thu so gem 
. . . tharod te faranne ? 8 
Most probably, therefore, the infinitive, uninflected and inflected, with ad¬ 
jectives is an idiom native to the Germanic languages. 
i From Kohler, 2 A., 1. c., p. 452. 2 Ibidem, p. 430. 3 From Denecke, l. c., p. 22. 
4 From Erdmann, 1 O., 1. c., p. 204, who tells us that giwon is the only adjective that is followed by an un¬ 
inflected infinitive in Otfrid, and that only twice. 
8 From Denecke, l. c., p. 22. 8 Ibidem, p. 71. 7 From Pratje, l. c., p. 70. 8 Ibidem, p. 74. 
