Thus each means every individual of a certain class viewed separately. Each circling wheel a wreath of flowers entwines.-Darwin. The Distributive pronouns are each, every, either, neither. 266. Each (A.S. æ-lc, O. E. i-lk, i-lka, y-che, e-ch) is a compound of æ, probably meaning "one," and lic, "like." The lk has become ch. Compare whi-lk and whi-ch, swi-lk and su-ch, mikel and much. It is used either as an adjective or a noun: Each had his place appointed, each his course.-Milton. Each ivied arch and pillar lone Pleads haughtily for glories gone.—Byron. Every (0. E. ever-ilk, ever-ich, ever-ech, ever-ie), a compound of ever and ilk. While each refers to individuals considered separately (quisque), its compound every refers to individuals considered collectively (omnis), “each and all:” “A storm of universal fire blasted every field, consumed every house, destroyed every temple" (Burke). In modern English it is used only as an adjective, and on that ground has been excluded by some writers from the class of pronouns ; but in O. E. it is frequently employed as a noun: And everich had a chaplet on her head.—Chaucer. 66 267. Either (A. S. aghwa-ther, æg-ther, œy-ther, a-ther, a-ther, O. E. ai-ther, ei-the, eith, o-ther). The A. S. ag-hwa, "whoever," "everyone," is compounded of ag (Germ. ewig), ever," and hwa, "who," and the suffix -ther means “ of two.” Hence either, a compression of ag-hwa-ther, means "whichever of the two you please." It is sometimes a noun, and sometimes an adjective. But never either found another To free the hollow heart from paining.-Coleridge. Sometimes it has the meaning of "both." ne. On either side Is level fen, a prospect wild and wide, Wiclif uses the compound ever-either=both. Neither (A. S. náther, O. E. nother) is either with the negative prefix It is sometimes a noun, and sometimes an adjective. 268. Table of simple Pronominal Adverbs. Pronouns. Place where. Motion to Motion from. Time when. Manner. Cause. For the Compound Adverbs see sections 251, 256. VERBS. 269. Verb is the grammatical term for an action, i e. doing something; as run, stand, write, see, think. 270. An action does not necessarily imply motion. It may, or may not, be accompanied by movement. Run, strike, walk, imply change of position, i.e. motion; stand, sit, hear, live, imply no change of position. All of these are actions: i. e. they show that the agent is doing something. 271. The source of an action, i.e. the person or thing from which the action proceeds, is called the subject of the verb: An Indian maid rushed from a thicket behind him.-Steele. The merry lark has poured His early song against yon breezy sky.—Keats. 272. The actions of animate beings are figuratively ascribed to inanimate objects: The smoke goes dancing from the cottage trees.-L. Hunt. The wild cataract leaps in glory.-Tennyson. Hence abstract nouns, simple or compound, are employed as the subjects of verbs: Experience and sensation in vain persuade; hope, more powerful than either, dresses out the distant prospect in fancied beauty.—Goldsmith. To fly was impossible.-Prescott. [To astonish as well as to sway by his energies] became the great end of his life.—Channing. 273. The person or thing towards which the action is directed is called the object of the verb: I shot the albatross.-Coleridge. I'll smoothly steer my little boat.-Keats. And his hand forbore [to smite the ore].-Mackay. I thought [ten thousand swords must have leapt from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult].-Burke. 274. When the action is directed towards some specified object, the verb is termed transitive; when the action affects the agent only, the verb has no object and is called intransitive or neuter, or, more correctly, reflective: The sea-bird rises, as the billows rise.-Landor. He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all.--Goldsmith. 275. Intransitive verbs are frequently employed as transitives : Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap.-Gray. I cannot heave my heart into my mouth.-Shakspere. Nay, you must not freeze.—Id. Chill penury repressed their noble rage And froze the genial current of the soul.-Gray. 276. When the source of the action is not known, the verb, if active, is said to be impersonal. There are no such verbs in English.* In me-seems and me-thinks, i. e. "it appears to me," the subject is expressed in the words that follow or precede the verb: Methinks [the lady doth protest too much].—Shakspere. [There is no place in paradise So good in for to dwell or be As in that garden], thoughté me.-Chaucer. In such phrases as "it rains," "it snows," the source of the action was unknown; but, as the subject in English is usually expressed, the unknown noun was represented by the neuter pronoun it. Verbs so used are frequently called unipersonal, because they are always of the third person singular. 277. When the object of a transitive verb is the same person or thing as the subject, the verb is called reflective: Thou hast undone thyself.-Shakspere. He threw himself, tired and breathless, on a little hillock.—Steele. Languages which possess a reflective pronoun (§ 256) usually have a separate form for the reflective verb. It consists of the active verb with the reflective pronoun suffixed. As there is no such pronoun in English, there is no special form for verbs of this nature. The expedients employed to express the action of the agent upon itself are described in § 256. 278. It is sometimes inconvenient, or impossible, to specify the agent or source of the action. For example, a bird is found killed. It is evident that the action (kill) has been performed; but the agent is unknown. In such cases it was usual to ascribe the action to the object itself, and to say, "the bird has killed itself." Compare the French s'appeller, "to be called." Languages which possess a reflective form of the verb employ it for this purpose: but, in English, where no such form exists, we express our ignorance of the real agent by employing the verb be and the perfect participle: "the bird is killed;" i.e. "the bird is an object deprived of life." * Verba Impersonalia proprie non habemus; sed quæ Latini Impersonaliter efferunt, nos efferimus personaliter, præfixa voce nominitiva it.-Wallis, c. xii. 279. When the subject of the verb is the actual agent, the verb is called active: "I shot the albatross." When the object of the verb is for convenience assumed to be the agent, the verb is called passive: "the albatross was shot." An active verb is said to be of the active voice; a passive verb, of the passive voice. 280. As passive verbs have grown out of reflectives, and reflectives have no special form in English, there can be no special form for the passive. They are expressed by a combination of the verb be and the perfect participle. The perfect participle formed by inflection is passive, if the verb from which it is formed is transitive; but we sometimes find participles so formed from intransitive verbs, as come, arrived, &c. In such cases the combination with be produces, not a passive, but a reflective verb: "he is come," "they are arrived." Some writers would alter these into "he has come," 66 'they have arrived." This alteration is both inaccurate and unnecessary. 281. As the subject of the passive was once the object of an active verb, passives can be formed only from transitives. Mood. 282. Mood (from the Latin modus, mode or manner) is a grammatical term, signifying the manner of expressing an action, i. e. the way in which we speak of it. 283. In simply stating a fact or asking a question, we employ the Indicative mood, so called from a Latin word meaning to "declare” or "assert." Then came wand'ring by A shadow like an angel, with bright hair Shakspere. |