P£/3/3 •-R.S /&& PE 1313 .R8 Copy 1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE GERUND IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. INAUGUKAL - DISSEKTATION ZUR ERLANGUNG DER PHILOSOPHISCHEN DOCTORWURDE AN DEB UNIVERSITAT ZU LEIPZIG VON F. G. A. RUSTEBERG. $1 <@fim, GOTTINGEN 1874. DRUCK DER DIETERICHSCHEN UNIV. - BUCHDRUCKEREI. W. FB. KAESTNEB f JS TEJ3J3 Historical Development of the Gerund in the English language. The English language of to-day has in the so-called Ge- rund a form by the help of which the Englishman is able to express his thoughts with much brevity and precision, giv- ing his speech a great deal of vivacity and energy. One page's reading of Macaulay or Irving will show, how much the best writers are aware of the Gerund's expressiveness. This convenient form is indeed an advantage of the English over the German language which, if the infinitive is not found fit to replace the form in „ing", is often obliged to translate such a short phrase by a long secondary sentence. The French language possesses also a Gerund, but its range of use is more confined than that of the English. Although the French language has more freedom in applying the in- finitive than the German, an English Gerund is very often to be translated by a French secondary sentence. It is not without good reason, that the French Gerund is mentioned here, this form having probably exerted much influence on the modern use of the Gerund in the English language. To judge the extension the Gerund has got by degrees, it is but natural to find out the realm of the like- called form in the original stage of the English language , viz. , in Anglo-Saxon. In comparing the Anglo -Saxon Gerund with the English, nothing is more evident than the fact, that both forms have no connection whatever with each other. The Anglo - Saxon Gerund is really an inflected Infinitive, preceded in the dative case by the preposition „to u . As the genitive is wanting, and nominative and accusative are alike, the Anglo-Saxon Infinitive is declined as follows: Nom. writan. Gen. — Dat. to writanne. Ace. writan. Only this Dative is usually called Gerund, and the form of 1* 4 the two other cases retains the nomination of Infinitive. To exhibit the difference between the Anglo-Saxon and the English Gerund we give some quotations, found in pe- rusing Beovulf. (Beov., ed. by M. Heyne). 1 raed eahtedon hvat svid-ferhdum selest vaere vid faer-gryrum to gefremmanne. Beov., v. 172-174. (They deliberated what would be the best for the brave-hearted to do against the terror of surprise). 2 Sorh is me to secganne. Beov. v. 473. (It gives me pain to say.) 3 No f)at yde byd to befleonne. Ibid. v. 1004. (That is not easy to avoid.) 4 Vundor is to secganne, hu mihtig god manna cynne. . . . Ibid. v/l725. (Wonder is to he said, how powerful God to mankind ) 5. seled him on edle eordan vynne to healdanne hleo-burh vera. Ibid. 1731 and 1732. (God gives him noble earthly property, to maintain the royal castle of the warriors) 6 nas him feor [>anon to gesecanne sinces bryttan. Ibid. 1922 and 23. (It was for him not far to come from there to the giver of treasures.) 7 Ne bid svylc cvenlic {>eav idese to efnanne. Ibid. 1941. and 42. (This is not a ladylike custom for this lady to fol- low it.) 8 nas fat yde ceap, to gegangenne gumena aenigum. Ibid. 2416 and 17. (That was not an easy affair to be brought to an end by some of the men.) 9. Sva, bid geomorlic gomelum ceorle to gebidanne. Ibid. 2445 and 46. (This is painful for the old man to enliven.) 10 odres ne gymed to gebidanne burgum on innan yrfe-veardes, — Ibid. 2452-54. (He does not take trouble about seeing (to see) another heir withiu his castle.) Most quotations show the inclination of the Gerund to follow the verb „to be", either really expressed, or under- stood. In the tenth example the Gerund is preceded by the present tense af the intransitive verb , ; gyman" = to take care. None of these ten Anglo-Saxon Gerunds would allow to be translated by the Dative of the modern Gerund, proof enough of the diverging meaning and character of both forms. Notwithstanding this obvious heterogeneousness it is tried, especially by English grammarians, to prove the modern Gerund to be a derivative from the ancient Gerund, that is to say, not from the Dative, but from the Accusative and Nominative of the ancient Gerund. In proving this they proceed as follows: When the Anglo-Saxon was changed into Semi- Saxon and Old -English, the infinitive became „writen" instead of „writan u , writen was changed into „writin", and finally into „writing u , this last change doubtless facilitated by the existence of a class of abstract nouns in „ung u and „ing u . But this etymology will hardly stand the test. Before the change from the termination ,,an" into „en" took place, the modern Gerund was already cognoscible in the Anglo- Saxon verbal substantive in „ung u . It would, moreover, be difficult to prove the existence of infinitives, ending in „in", to such an extension, as to exert an influence over the for- mation of a new form. It is from this etymology, that English grammarians have so vague an idea about what a Gerund is. Firstly, they call a Gerund what we understand by it, and thiuk it to be a derivative from the Nom. and Ace. of the Anglo-Saxon Infinitive. Secondly, they call a 6 Gerund an Infinitive after intransitive and passive verbs, being according to their opinion the derivative from the An- glo-Saxon inflected Dative. For instance : 1. And fools who came to scoff remained to pray. (Goldsmith.) 2. No children run to lisp their sire's return, Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. (Gray.) 3. A kingdom for a stage, princes to act, And monarchs to behold the swelling scene. (Shakesp.) 4. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. (Shakesp.) — Much more likely is the derivation of the preposition of the infinitive ,,to u from the dative of the Anglo-Saxon Ge- rund. The Anglo - Saxon Infinitive was used without „to'S only the dative case was preceded by it, and besides this in. fleeted by the termination „ne". When in later times the inflectional endings were lost, Nom., Dat., and Accus. of the Infinitive had the same termination, and this similarity in form caused the preposition „to u to be applied to all cases of the Infinitive. Thus the English Infinitive improperly re- ceived the preposition „to". Not being satisfied by the above mentioned way of ety- mologizing, we trace back to former centuries the use of the Gerund. Compared with the frequent use of to-day, its use iu the days of the middle ages was much less common, and tracing farther back, we find that the Gerund was not used with the same variety of meanings. In the early period of Old-English, that is to say in the 13th century, it is neither connected with an object nor with an adverb. At last we find it employed in the sense of the Anglo-Saxon verbal noun, ending in ,,ung". From this consideration we infer that the English Gerund is derived from the Anglo-Saxon verbal noun. The Gerund has sometimes been regarded as a deriva- tive from the present participle. It may be given here sim- ply as a notice, what is to be proved afterwards : The origin of the Gerund has nothing to do with the latter form, although the modern language offers cases, where the discrimination between Gerund and present Participle is hard exough. We mean the Gerund after verbs of ending and of beginning. 1. He again seated himself and began weaving them into one of those garlands. (Bulw. Rienzi I, 1.) 2. The old hag kept murmuring to herself a Saxon rhyme. (Scott.) 3. The first English lottery began drawing on the 11th of January 1569; it continued incessantly drawing, day and night, till the sixth of May following. The Anglo-Saxon form in ,,ung" reminds us of the mo- dern German like sounding substantive termination in „ung", by which, as in Anglo-Saxon, substantives are formed from a verbal root, expressing the idea of their root-verb. Exactly the same does the Gerund of to-day. Both are substanti- vated verbs, in Anglo-Saxon more assuming the nature of a substantive, in modern English more retaining the verbal quality. In early Anglo-Saxon the verbal substantives in „ung" were not very frequent. In the song of Beovulf, for instance, an other word of this sort than „veordung" (from the verb veordian), will scarcely be found. 1. Hvilum hie geheton at harg-trafum vig - veordunga vordum baedon. Beov. v. 175—176. 2. Ful oft ic for lassan lean teohhode hord-veordunge hnaran rince. lb. 952—53. But as it was easy and convenient from the character of this substantive to form new substantives, the later Anglo-Saxon writings abound in such substantives, treated as other substantives, with regard both to inflection and connection with prepositions. In order to show the development of the Gerund, the best way, in our opinion, is to look out for examples in the oldest writers, and to follow the change of the language, re- specting the mentioned form from their time to the present. At first we give examples from the Anglo-Saxon trans- lations of King Alfred. I. Substantives in „ung" are used in the accusative case. 1. To-eacan J)aes landes sceavunge (sceavian *). 1) The word mentioned in brackets is the root- verb of the verbal substantive. 8 King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Boethius, ed. by J. S. Cardale. 2. Aelfred hatef) gretung Vnlfsige (gretan). Alfred's Pastorale. 3. . . . ic maeg forstanden [)ine acsunge (acsian). Alfred's Boeth., ed. by Cardale. II. Substantives in „ung" in connection with prepositions. 1. hu. ^eorne hi vaeron aegther ge ymbe lara ?e ymbe leornun^a (leornian). Alfr. Boeth. 2 nu hit nauht elles nat butan ^uornun^a (^norian). Ibid. 3. butan godes geseahte and frnfun^e (fmfian). Ibid. 4. and hy {) e villaf) on inornun^a ^ebrinjan (murnan). Ibid. 5. butan to tacnunge sorges (tacian). Ibid. 6. 7fi vij> heora {>reaun?a ge vif> olecun^a (freatian). Ibid. III. A substantive in „ung" in the genitive case. 1. Hii mihtest {>u beon on midre f>irre hvearfun^a. (hveorfan). Examining writings of a later period, of the first half of the 13th century, the Ancren Riwle, ed. by Morton, the Sermons, ed. by Wright in the Rel. Ant., the verbal substan- tive is found to be employed quite in the same way, and in most cases in the same form. I. The verbal substantive in the nominative case. 1 hu suneguuge bigon. The Ancr. R., p. 52. 2. „Gode u , cwed he, „beo bod auh hore wunnunge naued not ^et. Ibid. p. 74. 3. f>e heorte wardeins beod f>e vif wittes, sihde and herunge, smecchunge and smellunge, and eueriches limes uelunge. Ibid. 48. To hear, to smell, to feel are verbs of the modern lan- guage, smecchunge reminds of the German verb „schniecken". Translated into modern English , the phrase would contain the Gerunds: Seeing, hearing, smelliug, feeling, a proof that this Gerund is a derivative from the verbal substantive in „ung". 4. Attri speche is cresie and f)wertouer leasunge, bac- bitunge and fikelunge. Ibid. p. 82. 5. f)at is hordom and midliggunge J>e men drigen bitwenen hem. Rel. Ant. ed. by Wright p. 131. II. In the accusative case. 1. Vor heo hunted efter pris, and kecched lastunge. Ancr. R. p. 66. 2. And habbed wlatung of J>e mude. lb. p. 82. III. In connection with prepositions. 1. . . . mid hore blodshedunge irudded andireaded ase f>e martirs weren. Ibid. p. 50. Bloodshedding is a verbal substantive, a little oldfashioned now, but sometimes still used. 3. . . . ne ne shullen habben, fmrh f)e grace of Gode, of todinde ancres, ne of tollinde lokunges. Ibid. p. 50. 3. We speken of and ter after oLherrunge. Ibid. p. 64. 4. And heo opened hire mud mid much madelunge. Ibid. p. 80. 5. And onsweried mid lut wordes to his askunge. Ibid. p. 70. 6 |>et in silence and in hope schal beon ure strencde in Godes seruise a^ein J)es deofles turnes and his fondunges. Ibid. p. 78. The termination in „ung" begins to change. With the same writer , or with contemporary writers , we find „ung" and „mg", even the same word with „ung" and „ing". 10 1. Al Holi Writ is ful af wamingge of eie. Ancr. R. p. 62. 2. Hwat vuel beo icuinen of totinge. Ibid. p. 52. 3. Ved f)ine eien mid totunge. Ibid. p. 100. 4. Vrom mulne and from cheping , from smide and from ancre huse me tidiuge bringed. (ceapiau.) Ibid. p. 88. 5. {>enc ancre f>ene hwat tu f)ouhtes and souhtes po fm uorsoke f>eue world i {line biclusinge (beclysian). 6. Hie was fet of weste wunienge. (vunian). Rel. Ant. p. 128. The text of the Ancren Riwle gives wunnunge: „ . . . . auh hore wunnunge naued not set". p. 74. 7. [>e men tilien in chirche ou salmes, and songes and on redinges. Rel. Ant. p. 129. 8. And |>at is after clepenge, and ascinge and uncuune warienge etc. — (varian). Ibid. 131. The Ancr. R. has askunge, as we have seen before. 9 ne mid cursinge. Ibid. p. 131. It is obvious, that about this time, in the beginning of the 13th century, a revolution took place in the language. The Anglo-Saxon tongue which had gradually undergone so great a change was now completely metamorphosed into another language, which had grown up from it like the flower from the seed. — The mute endings of the words are dropped or weakened still more, the grammatical gender in which a terrible confusion had ruled since the Norman in- vasion, was now, as a rule, determined by sex alone, confin- ing the neuter to objects without sex. The various inflec- tion was simplified, the arrangement of the parts of speech in the phrases became more couform to the meaning which was to be expressed, an improvement caused in a great mea- sure by the French lauguage whose syntax and vocabulary 11 exerted a certain influence over the subdued peoples tongue since the invasion , but whose character and genius is espe- cially cognoscible in the English language since the begin- ning of the 13th century, when both languages began to amalgamize. It is that state af the English language which we are accustomed to call the origin of Old-English. It is during this revolution that the verbal substantive changed its termination from „ung" into „ing". What has been the cause for accepting this latter ending? The ter- mination „ing u was not at all a new one. We meet with substantives ending in „ing" in the earliest periods of Anglo- Saxon. The Anglo-Saxon suffix „ing", having firstly the meaning af „the son of" is used to form Patronymics. From the idea of infant this suffix has accepted the meaning of „little", employed now to form diminutives. Such Patronymcs are found in the song of Beovulf: Sverting, Scylding, Scylfing etc. Moreover „ing" denotes, a state of being. Cf. Beovulf vers 2002: Gemeeting. vers 2618: gadeling, vers 2343: ade- ling. The remark, if perhaps the Anglo-Saxon pronunciation of the ending „ung" , or »the influence of the French pro- nunciation of this syllable have led to the orthography „ing u , may be worth mentioning. In perusing the Ormulum, the La^amon, the Owl and the Nightingale, the Credo in Deum, poems of the 13th cen- tury, the verbal substantive is always found ending in „ing". The verbal substantive used I. As subject: 1. {)in egging iss off flaeshess lusst Annd nohht off sawles fode. Orm. 11675 and 76. 2. Nu thu migt, hule, sitte and clinge; Her among is no chateringe. The Owl and the N. 743 and 44. 3* Wone thi lesing both unwroze (Lesing = Angl.-Sox. leasuug). Ibid. 846. II. As a predicate. 1. Thu golst and wones, and ich singe, Thi stevene is wop, and min skentinge. Owl and Night. 983 and 84. 12 III. As object. 1. Forr uss birrf) sone Jmnnkenn himm, Hiss wissing annd hiss lare. Orm. 11829 and 30. Wissing = Angl.- S. visung or vissuug (visian). 2. For he wolde wid {)au kinge holdeii runinge. La?am. 14069 and 70. The Anglo-Saxon substantive is run, — but the commou way of forming verbal substantives being by the termination ing, runinge was formed. 3. Hengest com to J)an kinge and bad him gistninge. La^. 14261 and 62. 4. Up-risinge of alle men And eche lif J leve. Credo in Deum 21 and 22. 5. Sipmen here steringe forgeten For hire (the Siren's) stefninge. A Bestiary, ed. by Wright and Halliwell 574 and 75 IV. Connected with a verb by a preposition. 1. Birrf) stannden inn till f)eowwtenn Crist Wif)f) fasstinng annd wif)f> beness. Orm. 11435 and 36. 2. Annd waere j>a bikahht and lahht fmrrh fandinng off the deofell. Ibid. 11621 and 22. 3. Ace ure Laferrd Crist ne wass fmrrh nan fandinge wundedd. Ibid. 11804 and 5. 4. gif tveie men goth to wraslinge. The Owl and th. Night. 793. 5. For al mi song is of longinge And i-meind sum del mid woninge. Ibid. v. 867—68. 6. He bi-tagte Josep his ring And his bege of gold for wurding. Genesis and Exod; ed. Morris, v. 1250. 13 It might be the place here to speak about an etymo- logy , mentioned above (pag. 6) as a false one. Generally in grammars of the English language the Gerund of to-day is asserted to be a derivative from the Present Participle. From this asertion, if true, we must infer that the formation of the latter form preceded that of the former. But some pages' reading in writings from the 13th and 14th century will show, that at all events it can be proved, that about this time the present participle is always employed with the termination „inde" , or ,,ende" , or „and" : Examples : „mid spere of wundinde word 1 ' (Aner. Riwle, ed. Morton, p. 58). — „mid schekinde word ^iued speres wunden" (Ibid. p. 58.) — „urom J>e kakelinde ancren". (Ibid, p. 66.) „o{)er a valsinde lune". (Ibid. p. 72.) „mid made- linde mude ne mid ^eoniinde tuteles" (Ibid. p. 80). — „of totinde ancres, ne of tollinde lokunges" (Ibid. p. 76). In the Proclamation of Henry III. (Anno 1258) the ver- bal substantives end in ing, the present participles in inde :" .... send i^retin^e to alle his halde and ileawede" — in ()e two and fowerti5f)e ajeare of ure crunin^e etc." — Present Part. : . . . beo stedefaest and ilestinde" — „beo stedefaest and listinde u — , The Sermons (from the beginning of the 13th century), ed. by Wright in his Reliquiae Antiquae. Verbal substantives: „Hie was fet of weste wunienge" (p. 128.) „On songes, and on redinges" (p. 129.) „and wrade, and onde, and hatinge" (p. 130.) „ne mid cursinge^" (p. 131.) ,,that is after clepenge , and askinge, and uncunne; and warienge" (p. 131.) — Even an old form in „ung" : „and midliggunge f>e men drigen bitwenen hem" (Ibid.). Participles. ,,f)an {>e sa-farinde men sed {>e sa-sterre" (p. 128.) — „J)us quedende : Quorum deus etc." (p. 129.) Ban Michel's Ayenbite of Inivyt, (written in the 14th cent.) ed. by Morris 1866. Verbal substantives: huanne he him uorzuerj) be (by) longe fenchinge" (p. 6.) {>et habbe{) f>e lokingge ous to teche" (p. 8.) — ,,as byej) {>e ouerlinges of holy cherche" (Ibid.) — ,,{)is heste uorbyet {)et non ne ssel slage o{)ren, uor awrekinge" (Ibid.) — „of)er be kueade takinges" (p. 9.) etc. 14 Participles: „to deme [>e dyade and £e libbinde" (p. 13.) — „and alle J>o f)et bye}) to ham helpinde" (p. 30.) — „in a prison uoul and stinkinde" (32.) — „lenynde {>et lenef) zeluer nor o{>ren" (p. 34.) — ,.f)et he dede rine uer ber- ninde and bernston stinkinde oJ)e f)e city of' 1 (p. 49.) — „and so onconnynde" (p. 59.) — „vor .fer bye{> leazinges helpinde, and leazinges likynde, and leazinges deriynde, and in echen is zenne (p. 62 and 63.) There are both, the verbal substantive and the present participle in this last quotation. Richard Bolle de Hampole who lived about 1340, a copy af whose writings we have from 1440, uses the present par- ticiple with the termination „and u : Oyle it es takyne for a lastande saluacyone" — (Rich. Rolle, ed. by Perry.) — „but sownnande the name of Jhesu u (Ibid.) — „and my herte meltes in lufe ^arenande Jhesu (Ibid.) — „ffor owthire {)ay ere in trauale, prayand or thynkande , or redande , or othere gude doande , or withtakand ydill mene „etc. — (Ibid.) The fruit of this little excursion through the mentioned writings is the proof that in fact the present participle, by the influence of the verbal substantive in „ing", accepted also the ending „ing u , so that in Maundeville's manuscript from the end of the 14th century the present participle is found to end in „ing u or „yng". — We found the very reverse of what is generally asserted. Having shown the frailty of this etymology it would be important for our investigation to make out the time, when the ending „inde u or „ende" etc. was changed into „ing". — The Ancren Riwle, written as we mentioned before, in the time from 1200 — 1250 shows „inde". Dan Michel's Ayen- bite of Inwyt, of which treatises the British Museum pos- sesses the author's manuscript from 1340, has the same ter- mination. Richard Rolle de Hampole, the author of , ; Pricke of Conscience", who flourished about the same time wrote also English prose treatises, of which we have only Robert Thornton's copy from the year 1440. This copy has „and". — The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville , written about 1350, has the participle termination „yng". — A Ser- 15 mon against Miracle-Play and the writings of Wicleffe (1375 — 1400) have „ing". — The Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester who wrote about 1300, and those Lives of Saints which are supposed to be written by him show the verbal substantive and the present participle so rarely used, as if the language had lost the signification of these two forms and did not know how to use them. — From these remarks results that the change of the Present Participle took place in the period from 1375 — 1425. It is however to be mentioned that the northern dialect accepted the termination „ing u , and „yng" much later. As to the verbal substantive, an other change took place. This form is for the first time found connected with adverbs or objects, losing by accepting these parts of speech its strict substantive character and assuming the qualities of the Gerund of to-day. It is not difficult to detect the cause the influence of which gave the verbal substantive a new shape. But first we will give a little collection of examples to show the new acquisition the language made. 1 and weren ze{)f)e feginningge to gidere in {>e byleaue of Jesu Crist. Dan Michel's Ayenb. p. 14. 2. Auarice is disordene loue, zuo disordene him ssewef> in f)ri maneres generalliche , ine wynninge boldeliche, ine ofhealdinge streiiliche, ine spendinge scarsliche^, (Ibid. p. 34.) We have three adverbs in this phrase : boldeliche, streit- liche and scarsliche , the ending of which reminds of the Anglo -Saxon adverbial termination „l!ce". 3. For thei seyn, that no man schalle come before no prynce , but that he be bettre and schalle be more gladdere in departynge from his presence thanne he was at the comyuge before him. Maundeville, Ed. Halliw. p. 40. 4 and duelled in the desertes in purchasynge his sustynance. Ibid. p. 47. 16 5. And in comynge doun fro the mount of Olyvete. Ibid. p. 97. 6. There begynnethe the lond of promyssioun and durethe unto Bersabee in lengthe in goynge toward the northe into the southe. Ibid. p. 117. 7. And in a^en comynge fro that castette, a 30 myle, is the city of Dan. Ibid. p. 117. 8 and seeynge ferthermore that al his worldly beyng here. — A treatise of miraclis pleyinge, ed. by Halliwell, p. 45. 9 and so it (miraclis pleyinge) may not ^iven occacioum of turnynge men to the bileve but of pervertyng. Ibid. p. 47. 10. And to the last reson we seyn, that peinture gif it be verry withoute mengyng of lesyngis and not to curious to myche fedynge mennus ivittis. Ibid. p. 50. 11. There shall be beetynge togidre of teth. Wycliffe, Gospel of Matth. 12. And the fallyng doun therof was grete. Ibid. 13. They say that we synne dedly in shavyuge our berdes. Maundeville. p. 19. 14. Confession and knowlichynge In cravinge thi mercy Shulde amenden us. Piers Ploughman, p. 299. 15. He schal mervelously don to us that is in his power, bothe in delyveryng us fro alle perilis and in syvyng us graciously al that us nedith. A Sermon against Miracle-plays p. 44. 1G. I slowh Sampson in schakyng the piler. Chaucer, Cant. Tales. 2468. Not before the close of the 13th and the beginning of 17 the 14th century do we find the verbal substantive to have the same character as the modern Gerund. Till then the substantive in „ung u or ,,ing" was, as we have seen by the examples quoted above , used exactly in the same way a other substantives, that is to say as subject, object, attribu- tively, and adverbially. With the mentioned term, the verbal substantive, altering its sense, gets a wider sphere. By the admission of adverbs and objects it becomes able of replacing in a short way long and inconvenieut secondary sentences , giving in doing so the English language one of the principal features which it possesses: its expres- sive brevity. In examining the last given examples we find thirteen times the Gerund preceded by the preposition „in". It is easy tho prove, by a more extensive collection of examples, the predilection of the Gerund for this preposition , which, as it were , at first occupied the place before a Gerund, fol- lowed by an adverb or object, in order to be imitated by other prepositions. Until the present state of the language, this predilection may be traced. What is the reason for it? — In short , the influence of the French language. The Norman conquest , as it is known , took place 1066. For nearly two centuries both languages flowed side by side, without exerting any important influence upon each other, separated by the national hatred. At last an amalgamation took place, the English vocabulary was enriched by French words, which underwent a change, caused by the German grammar , and the French syntax came in many cases off conqueror over the original construction. French forms in- fluenced also German inflection. The Gerund of the French language, in most cases con- nected with an adverb, or an object, caused the English verbal substantive to accept the same quality, changing the French ,,en u into the English „in u . Having thus got a more verbal character, the English Gerund was allowed to admit of other prepositions. As soon as the Gerund was allowed to be followed by adverbs and objects it had reached that point of develop- ment it maintains still to-day. We have, therefore, come 18 to the last part of our task: to examine how the Gerund is used in the modern English language. One may discriminate betenwe Gerund and Verbal Sub- stantive but only in this way, that we state the Gerunds as that class of verbal substantives which really take adverbs and objects. But necessary this discrimination is not, and many grammarians call all verbal substantives Gerunds, both, such as replace substantives and such as have an obvious verbal meaning. If I say : That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honour (Shakesp., Ant. and Cleop.), feeding, after the men- tioned division would be called a verbal substantive. Or: His purchasing might not be in suspect. (Chaucer), — the form in ing would likewise be called a verbal substantive. The same would be the case in the example: „I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose". Translated into Anglo- Saxon a substantive in „ung" would take the place of breath- ing. „Well wist he by the drought and of his rain The yielding of his seed and of his grain". (Chaucer). A-gildung would be the Anglo-Saxon translation of yielding. ,,It was on his quitting Oxford". — (Macaulay). Quitting, having an object would, after this division , be called a Gerund. As those verbal substantives which simply replace other substantives do not offer other objects to a grammatical exa- mination than common substantives do, we shall leave them out, making only those verbal substantives objects of our inquiry which replace a whole sentence by accepting an object or adverb. In saying that the Gerund replaces sentences it is under- stood , that these sentences cannot be of another kind than secondary sentences. We will examine the use of the Gerund by an inquiry into the different sorts of secondary sentences. These are : I. Substantive sentences, II. Adverbial sentences. III. Attributive sentences. 19 The Gerund seplacing I. Substantive sentences. A. The Gerund replacing a sujective sentence. 1. My being in Egypt, Caesar, What was't to you? No more than my residing here at Rome Might be to you in Egypt. Shakesp., Anton, and Cleop. 2. There is no getting rid of him. Sheridan, Trip to Scarb. 1, 1. 3. Giving alms takes the place of workhouse system. Dickens. 4. Your being Sir Anthony's son, Captain, would itself be a sufficient accommodation. Sherid., The Rivals, HI, 3. B. The Gerund used predicatively. 1. It would be throwing away words to prove what all must admit , the general taste and prosperity of nations — etc. Scott, Minstrel I, 5. C. The Gerund used objectively. 1. I carefully avoided seeing Schiller , Herder or the Duchess Amalia in the coffin. Lewes, G. I, 13, 2. I recollect having heard this subject discussed at the tea table. Byron. 3. I am sorry , Mylord , that business . prevented my sooner attending to your lordship's kind summons. Marryat. 4. To prevent the ladies' leaving us, I ordered the table to be moved. Goldsmith. In example 3 and 4 is shown, that if the subject of that sentence the Gerund belongs to, is different from that of the Gerund , the latter is expressed by a personal pronoun (my sooner attending), or by an Anglo-Saxon genitive (the ladies' leaving us). — In German the Gerunds of these 4 examples would be translated by an Infinitive. Sometimes also the English uses the Infinitive instead of the Gerund. 20 It would be the same to say: I forgot to tell you etc. or : I forgot telling you. — Whether the principal sentence, is to be followed by the Gerund or by the infinitive, depends upon the verb of the principal sentence. Verbs of prevent- ing, forbearing, and intending require the Gerund at all events, while verbs expressing the different states of an action, as well as verbs of purposing and regretting admit of both constructions but prefer also the Gerund. Verbs of observ- ing, suffering, causing, commanding , thinking, and assert- ing require the Accusative with the Infinitive. The Gerund replacing II. Adverbial sentences. A. Temporal sentences. Bemarfo A Gerund preceded by the preposition „in" expresses a certain duration , a Gerund preceded by „on u expresses that the action of the principal sentence follows directly. 1. Before following you , I must know your name and purpose. Scott, Rob. Roy. 2. All is ready against their leaving the dining room. Taylor, A Reade, Masks, I, 2. 3. After considering him attentively , I recognised in him a diligent getter-up of miscellaneous works. Irving, The Sketch Book. 4. They felt as a devout catholic .... at seeing a prelate of the highest dignity sent to the gallows. Macaul., Warren Hastings. 5. There would he anchor his aspect and die With looking on his life. Shakesp., Ant. and Cleop. 6. I have had infinite difficulty in rendering them (these terms) in modern phraseologie. Irving, the Sketch Book. 7. Dalph felt struck with awe on entering into the presence of this learned man. Irving, Dalph Heyliger. 8. They were about burying his neighbour. Warren, Diary I, 17. — 21 B. The Gerund expressing cause. a. Real cause. 1. Warwick is hoarse with calling thee to arms. Shakesp., Henry VI, 2. 2. It was thus from hearing marriage so often recom- mended that my eldest son fixed his affection upon the daughter of . . . etc. Goldsmith. 3. The blow thou hast Shall make thy peace for moving me to rage. Shakesp., Ant. and Cleop. b. Motive. 1. Adrian severely censured the princes of Germany for suffering Luther to spread his pernicious tenets. Roberston. C. The Gerund replacing conditional sentences. 1. He was permitted to return home on condition of sending his son as a pledge. Irving, The Sketch Book.. 2. We do not commit murder in healing wounds. Shakesp., Ant. and Cleop. 3. Satan now is wiser than of yore And tempts by making rich, not making poor. Pope. D. The Gerund replacing concessive sentences. 1. In spite of having been altered and simplified at various periods, (it) has still a look of solemn re- ligious pomp. Irving, the Sketch Book. E. The Gerund replacing final sentences. 1 a system which was ? perhaps , skilfully con- trived for the purpose of facilitating and concealing a great revolution. Macaul., Warren Hast. 2. A covetous fellow , like a jackdaw , steals what he was never made to enjoy, for the sake of hiding it. Gay, Begg. Op. 2, 1. 3. He began studying this language with the intention of cultivating it as much as possible. 22 The sentences under B, 0, D, and E belong to that category, by which is expressed Causality. To this class belongs a fifth sort: the consecutive ssntences which cannot be replaced by a Gerund. F. the Gerund expresses modality. As we did not succeed is discovering an example with one of the English standard writers, we venture to give two examples of our own, to exhibit these sort of clauses. 1. Like my drinking water is his drinking wine. 2. Beyond committing a few useful errors , there is no blot on his character. The Gerund replacing III. Attribntive sentences. 1. This the blest art of turning all to gold. Young, N. Th. 2, 15. 2. I have not the pleasure of knowing the gentleman who is your tutor. Chattam, Lett. 3. 3. What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money. Dickens, Christm. Car. 4. This little delusion was greatly assisted by the cir- cumstance of its being market-day, the thorough- fares about the market-place being filled with carts and horses. Dickens, M. Chuzzlew. 1, 5. 5. Thus they have taken a singular delight in ex- hibiting their most private foibles in a laughable point of view. Irving, the Sketch B. Finally we have to mention the Gerund, used objecti- vely I. after adjectives, II. after verbs, always connected with a preposition. I. The Gerund used objectively after adjectives. 1 . The malady which made him incapable of performing his regal function. Macaulay, Hist, af Engl. 23 2. Nor had he the talents necessary for obtaining the ear of an assembly. Mac., Warr. Hast. 3. And that she begged her, not to share her watch, as she was well used to being alone. Dickens, M. Chuzzlew. 1, 3. II. The Gerund after verbs to which the complement is always joined by a preposition. 1. He succeeded in gaining the confidence of the he- reditary priests of India. Macaulay, Warr. Hast. 2. It is certain that he never was charged with having borne a share etc. Ibid. — 3. Sujah Dowlah was bent on subjugating theRohillas. Ibid. 4. He was accused of having always cherished a secret and implacable hostility towards the whites. Irving, the Sketch Book. 5. There is no species of humour in which the English more excel, than that which consists in caracturing and giving ludicrous appellations, or nicknames. Irving, the Sketchb. Vita. Ich bin geboren am 22. Februar 1841. Mem Geburtsort ist das Dorf Angersteiu iin Leinetbale in der Nacbbarscbaft Gottiugens. Bis zu meinem 14. Lebensjahre geuoss ich den Unterricht meines Yaters, der in meinem Heimathsdorfe Lehrer ist. Von Ostern 1855 ab besuchte ich die Realschule I. Ordn. in Gottingen. Michaelis 1857 sah sich mein Vater durch niedriges Gehalt und eine zahlreiche Familie veranlasst, mich von der Schule fortzunehmen. Ich hatte in dem ge- nannten Zeitraume die Classen von Quinta bis Secunda incl. durchgemacht. Jnng wie ich war, nahm ich eine Hauslehrer- stelle an, die ich zwei Jahr versah, um dann das Konigliche Schullehrer-Seminar in Alfeld zwei Jahr zu besucheu. Das Fortarbeiten in all denjenigen Fachern , in welchen die Got- tinger Realschule mir eine Anweisuug geboten, machte mir nach dem Yerlassen des Seminars die Annahme einer Stelle am Privatinstitute des Herrn Kaune in Lesum moglich, welche Stellung auszufullen ein fleissiges Arbeiten erforderte. Drei Jahr spater wurde ich Erzieher im Hause des Herrn Forster in Bremen, dessen Sohne den Unterricht der Handelsschule genossen. Als Seminarist war ich verpflichtet, eine mir au- derthalb Jahr spater angetragene Schullehrerstelle in Reyers- hausen, einem kleinen Dorfe in Gottingens Nahe, anzunehmen. Neben wenig Gehalt bot mir die Stelle viel Zeit, meine Lieb- lingsstudien , neuere Sprachen mid Geschichte, fortzusetzeu. Gegen Weihnacht 1867 erhielt ich eine Anstellung an der reformierten Schule in Gottiugen. Mein bis dahin ununter- brochenes Arbeiten hatte mich in den Stand gesetzt , die Universitat mit Erfolg benutzen zu konnen. Ich liess mich 25 Ostern 1868 immatricnlieren und versuchte, zwei Herren zu dienen : der Schule und dem Studium. Im Sommer 1871 verliess ich Schule und Universitat, um das Englische jenseits des Kauals zu cultivieren. Iru Hause des Rev. Adams, der seiue Pensionare zur Universitat vorbereitete , fand ich als Lehrer eineu fur meine Zwecke sehr passenden Platz. Ein Jahr spater kehrte ich nach Gottiugen zuriick, bereitete mich aufs Examen pro facult. doc. vor und liess mir im Januar 1873 die Themata zu nieinen Examen sarbeiten geben, die ich Ostern einlieferte. Ich liess mich bewegen, schon damals die Stelle eines Lehrers der neueren Sprachen an der hoheren Biirgerschule in Northeim anzunehmen. Im Laufe des Som- mers machte ich in Gottingen mein miindliches Examen pro fac. doc, dem im Marz 1874 ein Examen zur Erlangung des Doctorgrades an der philosophischen Facuitat der Uni- versitat zu Leipzig folgte. F. G. A. Rusteberg. mTmZlZJP^ss 003 jif'J* / SEE***** °°03J34 324 Conservation Resources Lig-Free® Type I Ph 8.5, Buffered