CHAPTER XVIII.

ON DERIVED VERBS.

s. 347. Of number, person, mood, tense, and conjugation, special notice is taken in their respective chapters. Of the divisions of verbs into active and passive, transitive and intransitive, unless there be an accompanying change of form, etymology takes no cognisance. The forces of the auxiliary verbs, and the tenses to which they are equivalent, are also points of syntax rather than of etymology.

Four classes, however, of derived verbs, as opposed to simple, especially deserve notice.

I. Those ending in _-en_; as _soften_, _whiten_, _strengthen_, &c. Here it has been already remarked that the _-en_ is a derivational affix; and not a representative of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive form _-an_ (as _lufian_, _baernan_=_to love_, _to burn_), and the Old English _-en_ (as _tellen_, _loven_).

II. Transitive verbs derived from intransitives by a change of the vowel of the root.

_Primitive Intransitive Form._ _Derived Transitive Form._ Rise Raise. Lie Lay. Sit Set. Fall Fell. Drink Drench.

In Anglo-Saxon these words were more numerous than they are at present. The following list is taken from the Cambridge Philological Museum, ii. 386.

_Intrans. Infinitive._ _Trans. Infinitive._ Yrnan, _to run_ Aernan, _to make to run_. Byrnan, _to burn_ Baernan, _to make to burn_. {293} Drincan, _to drink_ Drencan, _to drench_. Sincan, _to sink_ Sencan, _to make to sink_. Liegan, _to lie_ Lecgan, _to lay_. Sittan, _to sit_ Settan, _to set_. Dr['i]fan, _to drift_ Draefan, _to drive_. Feallan, _to fall_ Fyllan, _to fell_. Weallan, _to boil_ Wyllan, _to make to boil_. Fleogan, _to fly_ A-fligan, _to put to flight_. Beogan, _to bow_ B['i]gan, _to bend_. Faran, _to go_ Feran, _to convey_. Wacan, _to wake_ Weccan, _to awaken_.

All these intransitives form their praeterite by a change of vowel, as _sink_, _sank_; all the transitives by the addition of _d_ or _t_, as _fell_, _fell'd_.

III. Verbs derived from nouns by a change of accent; as _to surv['e]y_, from a _s['u]rvey_. For a fuller list see the Chapter on Derivation. Walker attributes the change of accent to the influence of the participial termination _-ing_. All words thus affected are of foreign origin.

IV. Verbs formed from nouns by changing a final sharp consonant into its corresponding flat one; as,

_The_ use _to_ use, _pronounced_ uze. _The_ breath _to_ breathe -- breadhe. _The_ cloth _to_ clothe -- clodhe.

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