CHAPTER XXXVIII.
ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WEAK PRÆTERITE.
[§ 464]. The remote origin of the weak præterite 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 præterite of do. In all the Gothic languages the termination of the past tense is either -da, -ta, -de, -ði, -d, -t, or -ed, for the singular, and -don, -ton, -tûmês, or -ðum, for the plural; in other words, d, or an allied sound, appears once, if not oftener. In the plural præterite of the Mœso-Gothic we have something more, viz. the termination -dêdum; as nas-idêdum, nas-idêduþ, nas-idêdum, from nas-ja; sôk-idêdum, sôk-idêduþ, sôk-idêdum from sôk-ja; salb-ôdêdum, salb-ôdêduþ, sâlb-ôdêdun, from salbô. Here there is a second d. The same takes place with the dual form salb-ôdêduts; and with the subjunctive forms, salb-ôdêdjan, salb-ôdêduts, salb-ôdêdi, salb-ôdêdeits, salb-ôdêdeima, salb-ôdêdeiþ, salb-ôdêdeina. The English phrase, we did salve, as compared with salb-ôdêdum, is confirmatory of this.—Deutsche Grammatik, i. 1042.
[§ 465]. Some remarks of Dr. Trithen's on the Slavonic præterite, 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 τυφ-θ-είς.
l. The Slavonic præterite 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 præterite is a participle; and the fact of its being so accounts for
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 præterite 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 præterite, when weak, are nearly identical, we have reason for believing that the d, in the English active præterite, is the t in the Latin passive participle.
[§ 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 præterite. 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."