The Greek Verb

Bücher

Angebote / Angebote:

Excerpt from The Greek Verb: Its Structure and Development The oftener we are led by investigations of this kind into regions in which the ground is slippery, the greater the importance, I think, which must be attached to such bare collections of um doubted facts about which it is hardly possible there should be two Opinions. For the etymologist I have undertaken the collection of such facts in my Principles of Greek Etymology. The present work is intended to provide, in a similar collection of verbal forms, a firm basis for the investigation of their origin. On this head I have only ventured with some reluctance upon the very difficult questions of the genesis of verbal forms. These questions must be dealt with by analysis and combination - a province quite distinct from that of the comparison of parallel forms. I have expounded elsewhere Zur Chronologie der indo germanischen Sprachforschung, 2ud edition 1873) my views on the origin and developement of the indo-germanic verbal strue ture. These views, which I still hold, in spite of some amount of opposition, are naturally those on which 1 proceed in the present work.2 With regard to the main questions they are the same views which began with Bopp's foundation of our science in the firm structure of his Comparative Grammar, which were eluci dated and corrected by Schleicher's systematising, though perhaps now and then too logical condensation, and may be regarded as the universal doctrine of Comparative Philology. No reasonable man will imagine that this structure is satisfactory at every point. It has its weak sides, and it is the strengthening, perfecting and correction of these to which the science must devote itself as it advances. Hard problems meet us, in which we have often to content om'selves with the indication of a greater or smaller degree of probability, and we must not fancy that we can settle every thing once for all. But I confess that the attacks lately made from different quarters on the foundations of this structure seem to me not at all likely to shake them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.