Wi' glorious light was glintin';
The hares were hirplin' down the furs,
The lav'rocks they were chantin'.
Burns' Holy Fair.
It is with the oblique cases of the present participles of the classical languages, rather than with the nominative, that we must compare the corresponding participle in Gothic; e.g.,
ἔχοντ-ος (ekhontos), Greek; habent-is, Latin; hapênt-êr, Old High German.
[§ 402]. It has often been remarked that the participle is used in many languages as a substantive. This is true in Greek,
Ὁ πράσσων=the actor, when a male.
Ἡ πρασσοῦσα=the actor, when a female.
Τὸ πράττον=the active principle of a thing.