Chapter 144

ON THE PARTICIPLES.

§ 481. The present participle, or the participle in -ing, must be considered in respect to its relations with the substantive in -ing. _Dying-day_ is, probably, no more a participle than _morning-walk_. In respect to the syntax of such expressions as the forthcoming, I consider that they are _either_ participles or substantives.

1. When substantives, they are in regimen, and govern a genitive case--_What is the meaning of the lady's holding up her train?_ Here the word _holding_ = _the act of holding_.--_Quid est significatio elevationis pallæ de parte foeminæ._

2. When participles, they are in apposition or concord, and would, if inflected, appear in the same case with the substantive, or pronoun, preceding them--_What is the meaning of the lady holding up her train?_ Here the word _holding_ = _in the act of holding_, and answers to the Latin _foeminæ elevantis_.--_Quid est significatio foeminæ elevantis pallam?_

§ 482. The past participle corresponds not with the Greek form [Greek: tuptomenos], but with the form [Greek: tetummenos]. _I am beaten_ is essentially a combination, expressive not of present but of past time, just like the Latin _sum verberatus_. Its Greek equivalent is not [Greek: eimi tuptomenos] = _I am a man in the act of being beaten_, but [Greek: eimi tetummenos] = _I am a man who has been beaten_. It is past in respect to the action, though present in respect to the state brought about by the action. This essentially past element in the so-called present expression, _I am beaten_, will be again referred to.

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