Several Papers on the Philosophy of the Composition of Verbs with Prepositions in Greek - As

Illustrated by the Greek of Thucydides. Fourth Paper

Author(s): David H. Holmes
Source: The New York Latin Leaflet, Vol. 2, No. 46 (Apr. 7, 1902), pp. 1-2
Published by: Classical Association of the Atlantic States
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40405052
Accessed: 23-02-2015 18:19 UTC

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No 46

javelins, or^S? natural phenomenasuch as rivers,

wind and storm,clouds and stars,time and sound,
is too frequentto need confirmatory
referencesand
to denote the relativepurityof the
quite sufficient
idea of motioncontainedin it. II Anotherevid.ence
plays the partof
SeveralPapers on the Philosophyof the Com- is furnishedby the factthatpxofiai
and oxo/iiat
two verbsof motion
presentto both ?*<>
positionof VerbswithPrepositionsin Greek with exactly opposite points of view. Ill Here
-as Illustratedby the Greekof Thucydides again we findthat same prepositionalbalance as in
the case of ffy,
exceptthatin this case the preposiFOURTHPAPER
tions are ir and mycnrpxofJLai
and npxofiai
(irsTudtiv)
each occurring76 times.
(kireWelv)
Internal Modification
Next to elfiiand pxH-aL
(Metv),
thoughby a considFor purposesof the presentpapers,verbs may be
divided into two classes: those expressingactual erableinterval,ranksaivcj. In a'wuat least thecolor
becomesvisible. Yet no littlefreedomis also here
motion, and those expressing potential motion.
manifest,as a participleoftenaccompaniesthe verb
verbs
which
Verbs of actual motioninclude those
to
show the kind of motion. Thus, // 2 167:
express motion with its kind, directionor color
and id 2 665: yyevyuv.Anotherevidence
aiaoa
ij
of
more or less distinctly
marked. Verbs
potential is that ;
certain
tensesof aivuare represented
by ifu
motioninclude verbs of existence,speech,thought,
and pxopcu(Welv).
perception.
These three verbs, etyi,pxofiai(Oev)
and aivt,susVerbs expressingrelativelypure motionare rare,
tain
much
the
same
relation
to
what
are ordivery
The
verbs
but language does not require many.
narilyclassed in thegrammarsas verbsof motion,as
elfii,Ipxofiai(iWelv) and more remotely,aivu, furnish noiu
does to whatare morebroadlytermedverbsof
the best examplesof relativelypure motionin the
action.
language.
The momentcoloris givento themotionof a verb,
That fiiis well selectedis attestedby the followthat momentinternalmodificationsets in and the
ing considerations:I It is used for various kinds
of motionwithoutdistinction.Thus, for walking: sphereof the verb is narrowed. The firstcurtailmentis givento the idea of motionin theexpression
II 7 213: iroooivijEfiCLKp
iac ; for hastening: Od 15
of
its characteror kind. Thus, aTiXo,
nfmr^
tttttu,
KcXuv
XK
for
avr
ovp' eoerat;
flightof birds:
213:
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II 17 756; for the motion of things: II 3 611;

eloiviovp;etc. II It is shown by the alirtenv

mostequal balanceof the"whither"and "whence"reof theverbwiththe
lationsas seen in thecomposition
iretfii
occurring33 times
prepositionsn and irp,
and npoeifu
29 times. This considerationis not set
aside by the factthatm occurs83 timesin composition with this verb, because mi is hostile, the
- a
sphere of emvaiin Thucydidesbeing military
to be bornein mind. Hence the prefactconstantly
ponderanceof t is of no accountin thisconnection.
is a good examplealso, as shownby
'Epxofiai
(kWeiv)
the followingfacts: I It is frequently
used with a
supplementary
participleshowingthe manneror the
kindof the motion. Thus, //11 715: ijMedovoa
; id
10 510: TTe^orifihoc
; Od 6 40: koeogiv
2By
pxeodai;

ijtpo,lOTJifu,
Tqfit,xo; and nvtfw,
0o>,rpetpo, etc.

Still

further
andmoreimportant
in thisconcurtailment,
is seenin verbswhichexpresswithgreater
nection,
or less definiteness,
the direction
of theirmotion.
etc. Verbs in which
Thus, VKu,olxopai,iKj,aKouovdeo,

the idea of motionis obscuredor even lost in the

color of the action,formanothergroup,by far the
largest, owing to the almost endless varieties of
activity. As soon as a new activityis introduced
into life, a new verb is createdin language. Thus
the historyof the verbbecomesthe historyof civilization. Tf is evidentthat verbs like reixifa,orfiea,
fixo/iat,
etc,have morecolor or are morepicturesque
thanelfi Tr/nro)
or y; whileverbslike A*,kMktu,
tvpi,K j, etc,possess stillless motionif not indeed
also stil1Tiorecolor. Thus, the idea of motionmay
be almost whollysupplantedas in verbs like evu
11 5 204: ne eikfjtova; of Hying: Od 14 334. In
fact the use of this verb of the motionof spears, and OvyanG).
Thus we see thatthe idea of motionin

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THE LATIN LEAFLET

a verb is modifiedinternally
in color,kindor direc- idea of existencegives place to condition. Cf w,
vaifj.ov).
tion.
In like manner,in the case of verbs of speech,
External Modification
elirov
and yu(07/
not occurringin compoyopevu,
In externalmodification
theproblemis simpler. It sition) maybe said to be mostnearlycolorless. But
and
it not germaneto our subjectto discussherethe ex- the idea of speech assumes characterin Ka'u
stillmoreso in oau, kw/lu,
still moreso in
yp<j>cj*
ternallimitationsof motioneffected
by adverbialor ^o-o/za,
and becomesfaintin
fivvpt,
paprvph-ojLiai,
abnominalmeans. Such influences
do not effectany ioKcj,jLioXoyu.
Again in verbsof thoughtand perception.This vachange in the characterof the motionexpressedby
the verb. I have alreadydefinedwhatI meanby the rietyof potentialmotionfindsits purestexpressionin
not beingused in
yiyvoiccj
(io/im
termmodification.External modification
is limited the verbsvou-ofiai,
on the
composition),becomingcolored in npivu-ofuu
to directionand henceto the prepositions.We have one hand,and in elov,poand icovo
on the other;
to do here with prepositionsin compositiononly. while in fiifw?JcKO)y
the mobility of
<f>oeo)and ?*,iru
and
Our subjectmightbe statedthus: The limitsset to thethoughtis replacedbycolor,and in alavofiai
fiavdvuthe notionsof thoughtand perceptionare
externalmodification
by internalmodification.It is mixed.
evidentthatcertainkindsof motionare inconsistent It appears thereforefromthis general surveyof
withcertainvarietiesof direction.Such limitations
are the combinableverbs,withthe aid of the statistical
natural. Again certainotherkindsof motionmaybe tablesgiven above, thatthe rangeof prepositionsis
in the case of those verbs which express
so characteristic
of certaindepartments
of literature largest
motionmostnearlyin its purity,actual or potential,
as to be confined
moreor less strictly
to thesedepart- physicalor in theformof existence,speech,
thought,
ments. On the otherhand, the department
may be or perception;and as those notions givo place to
definition
of
kind
or
the
of such a natureas to exclude certainvarietiesof
color,
direction,
range of
grows less. That is to say:
directionor of modification.Again,theaffiliation
of prepositions
In general,therangeof combinableprepositionsof
a certainkindof motionfora certaindirectionmay a verb
is in directratio to the nearnesswith which
be so strongas by thatveryfactto refuseaffiliation the verb expressespure motion.
withotherdirectionsin no wayhostilein themselves, Untilotherauthorsare examinedin the same way.
thus bringingabout usurpationfrom the point of however,we cannot safelygo furtherthan to say
that the indicationsfor Thucydides point in this
view of the direction,and exclusionfromthe point
direction,and even herethereare a few
obof view of motion. Such limitationsare empirical jections. These are not many and notpossible
difficult
to
answer.
and artificial.
DHH
Having thusseen thattheprincipalelementsat the
The constructions
ofyptjx
justifythisclassification.
basis of verband preposition
are motion,place,direction,let us see how theseelementsaffectthe compo- Professor
Peck's AddressbeforeThe Latin Club
sitionof verbswithprepositions,
so far as indicated
by the languageof Thucydides;and whatlightthey
In manyways,thefifth
meetingof The Latin Club
throwon the questionsof range,affinity,
favoritism, at theHotel Alberton March29, was themostinterloss of color,etc,announcedat the beginningof our esting and stimulatingyet held. Professor
Peck,
discussion.
whose subject was the general one of Secondary
Perhapsthe mostpracticalway of gettingat a re- Latin, took the ground that the Latin of the secsultis to collectall theverbshavingthegreatestcom- ondary schools should be planned for the
binablerangeof prepositions
and place side student,not for the studentwho was sure toaverage
together,
on
by side withthemthoseverbshavingthe next high- withhis Latin underany circumstances.Too go
much
est range,and so on to a pointwherea clearobserva- Latin was read in the secondaryschools under the
tioncan be made of the changewhichtakesplace in presentsystem,and poorlyread. Caesar should
give
the kind, directionor characterof the motionex- place to interesting
and easy portions of Livy.
pressed by them,as theirprepositionalranges be- Cicerocould stay,but onlyfouror fiveorations
: the
come narrower. See Table II, page 17, for a list fouragainstCatilineand perhapsthe Archias. For
arrangedfor this purpose.
should
be
substituted
the Odes of Horace and
Vergil
As I have alreadyshown,relativelypure motionis these should be read and rereadand in
manycases
best seen in elfii,
and aivu. This mo- memorized. In fact quantityshould give
pxofiai,
{kWelv)
place to
tion is stamped with a certain character in the qualityand the watchwordshould be "Learn
to the
verbs,aXhj,ya>,
x",<ppu,
etc, is given mannerin last line". More attentionshould be paid to the
irU>y
tttttg),
forq/u,0G>,etc, direction in t}ku,lenu, writingof Latin Prose and the masteryof syntax.
enojai, iKcj,etc, while in verbs like taxodi, vaynau, The vain attemptto meetvast requirements
was the
etc, the color of the action is more prominentthan death of good Latin.
thenotionof motion,whichcontinuesto growless in
to
the
Easter season not so many ladies
Owing
pxu,Seu,yeau,and is scarcelyfeltat all in ncu, were presentas usual, but therewas a larger
repreEVCJ,
dvtfaKU.
sentationof out-of-townteachers. The following
The same variationin color is also seen in verbs new memberswere added to the roll:
Sidney G
expressingpotentialmotion. Thus, in verbs of ex- Ashmore,Union College, Schenectady,NY;J
Edistence,elfiiand yiyvofiai
may be takenas beingmost mundBarss,The HotchkissSchool,Lakeville,Conn;
nearlycolorless. The metaphysicalidea of motion Harry ThurstonPeck, Columbia
University;JohnJ
in such verbs often becomes physicalwhen given Schoonhooven,
Brooklyn; William F Tibbetts,
direction. But the idea of motionfades out as the Erasmus
Hall High School, Brooklyn.

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