l. The Slavonic praeterite 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 praeterite is a participle; and the fact of its being so accounts for {391} 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 praeterite 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 praeterite, when weak, are nearly identical, we have reason for believing that the _d_, in the English active praeterite, is the _t_ in the Latin passive participle.

s. 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 praeterite. 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_."

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