duty of predication. Such a sentence as He seems happy, then, must be considered as short for He seems to be happy. Now He seems to be happy is grammatically on a par with such a sentence as He happened to be standing at the window: i. e. 1o like the latter it may be considered as a condensed form for a complex sentence (He seems to be happy = It seems that he is happy. He happened to be standing at the window = It happened that he was standing at the window.); 2o to seem, like to happen, is expressive of an adverbial idea. For fuller details see II, 31, ff., and V, 12, ff. Another peculiarity of to seem and to appear, which distinguishes them from the real copulas, is that they may be accompanied by an object with to. It seemed to him impossible that he should ever confess to her the truth about Eppie. SIL. MARN, Ch. XVII, 138. DEN HERTOG, (NED. SPRAAKK., I, § 6) includes the verbs schijnen, lijken, etc. among the copulas when they are immediately connected with a predicative noun or adjective; he sets them down as modal verbs when they precede to be or another verb. It seems difficult to assign a reason why this has been done, there being not the least difference in meaning or function, to justify the differentiation. COPULAS OF THE FIRST KIND. 4. The principal copula of the first group is to be. To be may be said to be devoid of any sense when connecting an adjective or a noun with the subject, as in John is rich. Charles is a soldier. But when to be forms the predicate with an adverbial adjunct, it is generally expressive of some idea. In this case it often varies with another verb, not a copula. My bed is (stands) close to the wall. On the wall there are (hang) a few pictures. He is (lies) in bed. Note the idiom in: You have named the very thing I would be at. Riv., IV, 3. She's always about your trinkets and drawers. VAN. FAIR, I, It is not often that we regret the absence of a preface. LIT. On your head be the consequences! The victory was to the Western powers. Mc. CARTHY). That interference was not much to his honour. WAR. HAST., 655 b. How is it that you are so wet? For How is it etc. we also, though rarely, find How comes it etc. To be is also meaningless when the preposition and the noun form a word-group that denotes a state and is, therefore, equivalent to an adjective or participle. Thus I am at liberty. I am disengaged. Details in a subsequent chapter. = 5. The other verbs that are used as copulas of the first group never merely link the subject to the nominal. They have a certain meaning of their own, which may be said to be a faded reflection of their ordinary signification, their use as copulas being limited to certain combinations (12, Iv; MäтZN., II, 35). The following deserve mention. to fall, as in to fall short (of), to fall flat. (12, 1.) The daily mass of exchange and banking transactions which are carried on through the Clearing House in London seldom falls short of £20.000000 in the dullest time of the year. Esc., ENGL., CH. VIII, 106. Many things that I imagined would give me intense satisfaction had fallen curiously flat. SORR. OF SAT., I, Ch. VII, 92. to feel as in to feel ill, to feel assured, etc. (12, 1). In these and similar collocations to feel has developed its faded meaning through the dropping of the reflective pronoun. For details see a subsequent chapter. i. The reflective pronoun is, however, not regularly suppressed. a. It is almost invariably absent when the nominal is a pure adjective. From that time Mr. Freely felt sure of success. BROTH. JAC. Paul had already felt certain that it must be either Briggs or Tozer. He felt so strange and nervous. PICKW. ii. I had heard it of course, but I felt myself fortunate in not having to spell it. GLOW-WORM TALES, I, C, 57. i. The mother and wife felt herself shy, intimidated. MARC, Bê. I, B. It is mostly absent before participial adjectives. She felt much honoured by Mr. Pipkin's addresses. PICK W. 1) WENDT, E. S., XV, 90. α. That night Summers-Howson felt very depressed. CULM. POINT. ii. Amelia felt herself not a little amused and grateful to be thus sud- i. ii. i. ii. 7. It is more frequently used than dropped before a prepositional phrase denoting a state. The girl had made him feel himself more of a fool than he had done for years. ROB. ELSM. Robert felt himself in no mood this evening for a dinner party. ib. I feel out of sorts with all things. ORV. COL., CH. IV, 55. He felt himself the happiest young clerk. STOF.. HANDL., III, § 112, N. THE GREEN, MRS. MERRIDEW'S FORTUNE, CH. IV. The reflective pronoun cannot, of course, be suppressed when it represents the accusative in the construction 'accusative with infinitive'. Clara felt herself grow suddenly hot. Eт. Woм., CH. XIX. 5. Nor is the suppression possible when a present participle takes the place of the infinitive. Early in the day though it was, I felt myself being dreamily lulled off into a musing fit. THREE MEN, CH. VI, 60. 7. The same also applies to such sentences as contain a concealed accusative with infinitive, the infinitive to be being understood. I felt myself marked out for destruction. STOF., HANDL., III, § 112, N. To feel also approximates to a copula in such a sentence as The bed feels hard. MAS., § 183. Here the weakening is due to the logical object having become the grammatical subject. Other instances of such like verbs, which are called by SWEET (N. E. GR., § 249) passival verbs, are to cut, as in The meat cuts tough. (MAS., § 183.) to eat, as in The cakes eat short and crisp. (ib.) Further details in a subsequent chapter. to go, in connection with a. adjectives or equivalent phrases indicating an undesirable state, especially neglect, privation or disadvantage. MURRAY, i-v. go, 6, 7. See also 12, I. The land was allowed to go waste till [etc.] J. C. LEES 1). To hurt anybody went directly contrary to her nature. ET. WOм., 1) MURRAY. Now that I've had my tea, I feel too charitably disposed to let other I very much fear she'll have to go thirsty. ib., Ch. VII. Viola had almost to go without education. MONA CAIRD 1). A mare goes somewhere about eleven months with young. JOURN. 3) the adjective current. Their language goes current along most of the sea-coast. HAMILTON 1). Note. Besides to go current we meet with to pass current and to run current. In all these collocations current stands for an earlier for current. MURRAY, i. v. current, 8. Also in such a turn of expression as Don't you go talking to Mr. Hardy in the way you do. MARC., I, 37. the verb to go is practically little more than a copula. See also X, 6, Iv; XIX, 68, II. to hold, as in to hold good, true. The change of meaning is due. to the suppression of the reflexive pronoun. MURRAY, i. v. hold, 23, c. This law holds good for all living beings. HURL., LECT. AND ESs., 50a. The saying of the poet holds true in a large degree. to look, as in to look pale. Why looks your grace so pale. RICH. II, III, 22). SMILES 1). One of those strange creatures who took their oldest when they are very young. CHUZ. 2). Note. Before a noun-predicate to look is sometimes, though rarely, followed by to be. (12, Iv.) Young Pen looked to be a lad of much more consequence than he was really. PEND. I, Ch. XVIII, 187. to make, as in to make merry, to make bold, to make one. (12, 1.) These expressions afford other instances of a verb becoming faded in meaning through the dropping of the reflexive pronoun. I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry. CHRISTM. CAR.. I, 10. I made bold to tell her majesty that I owed no other obligation to my late master. SWIFT, VOY. TO BROBD., Cн. III, 145a. Compare with this: And I will be bold to say my two girls have had a pretty good education. VIC., CH. XI. 1) MURRAY; 2) MäтZN., II, § 8. I made one in the dance. BLEAK HOUSE, CH. XXXVIII, 331. Also in to make a good husband, etc., the verb to make appears In short, he had so well mixed and digested his knowledge of men and books, that he made one of the most accomplished persons of his age. SPECT., CXXIII. She would make a good wife. PEND., II, CH. III, 34. I am sure I hated your poor dear uncle before marriage as if he'd been a blackamoor, and yet, miss, you are sensible what a wife I made. Riv., I, 2. I am told he makes a very handsome corpse. GOOD-NAT. MAN, I. The above explanation does not, of course, fall to the ground by the presence of an object as in You'll make my child a good husband. KN. ERR., CH. XXXIV, 342. It's a poor return I get for making you the wife I've made you all these years. MILL ON THE FLOSS, Ch. XII, 110. to mean, as in the following quotations (XIX, 17). If keeping one's temper means concealing that one has lost it, then to prove, as in This proved impossible. Here again we have an instance of the dropping of the reflective pronoun entailing a modification in the meaning of the verb. To prove as used in the above sentence, is often followed by to be. i) This gun proved of the greatest service to us. KING SOL., 144. She proved a real treasure to her second husband. ib., I, CH. III, 43. A few of them proved quite unsuitable for their work. TIMES.. ii) He began to wonder whether it would prove to be an unwelcome love-letter. KN. ERR., CH. XXXI, 313. You know who Beverley proves to be? Riv., V, 1. The missing witness ... proves to be... the same person who had called on Mr. Roger Morton. NIGHT AND MORN., 437. |