Chapter XXXVIII

ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WEAK PRAETERITE.

s. 464. The remote origin of the weak praeterite in _-d_ or _-t_, has been considered by Grimm, in the Deutsche Grammatik. He maintains that it is the _d_ in _d-d_, the reduplicate praeterite of _do_. In all the Gothic languages the termination of the past tense is either _-da_, _-ta_, _-de_, _-dhi_, _-d_, _-t_, or _-ed_, for the singular, and _-don_, _-ton_, _-t[^u]m[^e]s_, or _-dhum_, for the plural; in other words, _d_, or an allied sound, appears once, if not oftener. In the plural praeterite of the Moeso-Gothic we have something more, _viz._ the termination _-d[^e]dum_; as _nas-id[^e]dum_, _nas-id[^e]duth_, _nas-id[^e]dum_, from _nas-ja_; _s[^o]k-id[^e]dum_, _s[^o]k-id[^e]duth_, _s[^o]k-id[^e]dum_ from _s[^o]k-ja_; _salb-[^o]d[^e]dum_, _salb-[^o]d[^e]duth_, _s[^a]lb-[^o]d[^e]dun_, from _salb[^o]_. Here there is a second d. The same takes place with the dual form _salb-[^o]d[^e]duts_; and with the subjunctive forms, _salb-[^o]d[^e]djan_, _salb-[^o]d[^e]duts_, _salb-[^o]d[^e]di_, _salb-[^o]d[^e]deits_, _salb-[^o]d[^e]deima_, _salb-[^o]d[^e]deith_, _salb-[^o]d[^e]deina_. The English phrase, _we did salve_, as compared with _salb-[^o]d[^e]dum_, is confirmatory of this.--Deutsche Grammatik, i. 1042.

s. 465. Some remarks of Dr. Trithen's on the Slavonic praeterite, in the Transactions of the Philological Society, induce me to identify the _d-_ in words like _moved_, &c., with the _-t_ of the passive participles of the Latin language; as found in mon-_it_-us, voc-_at_-us, rap-_t_-us, and probably in Greek forms like [Greek: tuph-th-eis].

l. The Slavonic praeterite is commonly said to possess genders: in other words, there is one form for speaking of a past action when done by a male, and another for speaking of a past action when done by a female.

2. These forms are identical with those of the participles, masculine or feminine, as the case may be. Indeed the praeterite is a participle; and the fact of its being so accounts for {391} the apparently remarkable fact of its inflection. If, instead of saying _ille amavit_, the Latins said _ille amatus_, whilst instead of saying _illa amavit_ they said _illa amata_, they would exactly use the grammar of the Slavonians.

3. Hence, as one language, the Slavonic gives us the undoubted fact of an active praeterite growing out of a passive participle (unless, indeed, we chose to say that both are derived from a common origin); and as the English participle and praeterite, when weak, are nearly identical, we have reason for believing that the _d_, in the English active praeterite, is the _t_ in the Latin passive participle.

s. 466. The following extract exhibits Dr. Trithen's remarks on the Slavonic verb:--

"A peculiarity which distinguishes the grammar of all the Slavish
languages, consists in the use of the past participle, taken in an
active sense, for the purpose of expressing the praeterite. This
participle generally ends in _l_; and much uncertainty prevails both as
to its origin and its relations, though the termination has been
compared by various philologists with similar affixes in the Sanscrit,
and the classical languages.

"In the Old Slavish, or the language of the church, there are three
methods of expressing the past tense: one of them consists in the union
of the verb substantive with the participle; as,

_Rek esm'_ _chital esmi'_
_Rek esi'_ _chital esi'_
_Rek est'_ _chital est'_.

"In the corresponding tense of the Slavonic dialect we have the verb
substantive placed before the participle:

_Yasam imao_ _mi' smo_ _imali_
_Ti si imao_ _vi' ste_ _imali_
_On ye imao_ _omi su_ _imali_.

"In the Polish it appears as a suffix:

_Czytalem_ _czytalismy_
_Czytales_ _czytaliscie_
_Czytal_ _czytalie_.

"And in the Servian it follows the participle:

_Igrao sam_ _igrali smo_
_Igrao si_ _igrali ste_
_Igrao ye_ _igrali su_.

"The ending _ao_, of _igrao_ and _imao_, stands for the Russian _al_,
as in some English dialects _a'_ is used for _all_."

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