16. Infinitive, Participle

When the verb is inflected for the categories so far discussed, it is said to be a finite form of the verb. But alongside these forms there also three non-finite forms of most verbs. The first is the infinitive proper, which is essentially a noun formed from the present tense verbal stem; consider PDE “to run”. The second is the present participle, which is an adjective formed from the present stem, analogous to forms like PDE ‘running’. The third is the preterite participle, an adjective sometimes but not always based on the preterite stem of the verb, and etymologically identical with forms like ‘driven’ in ‘I have driven’ or ‘a driven man’.

INFINITIVE is not only an indefinite form f a verb. Originally infinitives were verbal agent nouns. (Nomina Agentis) – віддієслівні іменники.

Infinitive as a frm of verbs appeared in IE languages after disintegration of the IE unity. Germ. inf. derives from the noun with the suffix –no-. in old Germ. lang-es analogical forms could be declined. They later developed into verbal form, and prepositions (OE to , OHG zi, zu, OIsl. At) – into a particle that goes with the verb. Germ. inf. didn’t have categories of the mood and tense. Nly later appeared analytical forms of the inf.

Participles are verbal agent adjectives. It can be declined by case, and in Latin, Russian by tense and mood.We distinguish ParticipleI (active) and Part.II (passive). Participle I is formed from strong and weak verbs by adding suffix –nd-. Participle II: strong verb + n weak verb + þ/d/t.

In England Participle I is –ing form.

17. Nominals, their categories.

Nounhad such categories:

• gender (masc, fem, neut)

• number (singular, plural)

• case (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, instrumental)

• declension (strong, weak, minor, root)

Adjective

• declension (weak, strong)

• degrees of comparison (positive, comparative, superlative)

Pronoun

• number (sg, pl, dual)

• person (only personal pronouns)

• case (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental)

• gender (only in demonstrative pronouns)

Numeralsfrom 1 to 4 had case.

18. Categories of noun.

The noun in Old German had such categories:

• gender (masc, fem, neut) This distinction was not a grammatical category, it was merely a classifying feature. The gender

1. regulates the forms of adj and articles accompanying nouns

2. to a certain extent regulates which specific forms of the case and number endings appear on the nouns.

• number (singular, plural) Like in ME all the German lang-es distinguish SG and Pl.

• case:

Nominative can be defined as the case of the active agent

Accusativeis the use of the direct object, and also the case required by a preposition

Similarly, a number of prepositions regularly require Genitive. It was primarily the case of nouns and pronouns serving as attribute to their nouns.

The Dative was the chief case used with the prepositions or as an indirect personal object.

Rare even in the eldest attested stages was used Vocative or the case of address: the only Germ. Lang showing this case is Goth.

Instrumental (no in Gothic) is used to identify the instrument of an action.

!!! The Dative Sg: 1) ending –ai as in maujai (to the girl)

2) ending –au as in magau (to the boy)

• declension (strong, weak, minor, root)

19. Noun structure in PG. The original reconstructed structure of noun in PG as in other Indo-European languages included three components: root, stem-forming suffix and inflection. The root rendered lexical meaning; stem-forming suffix was placed between root and inflection. Its original function might have been to classify nouns according to various lexical groups. Inflections served as means of connection in sentences together with prepositions.

Neither of Indo-European languages preserved words with an ideal three-component structure. Normally stem-forming suffixes coalesced with inflection or root. Though in Gothic one can trace stem-forming suffixes by comparing forms of other stems. For example, Dative and Accusative Plural of nouns with vowel-stems:

Masculine in –a-	Masculine in –i-	Feminine in –ō-	Masculine in –u-
Dative wulf-a-m	gast-i-m	gib-ō-m	sunum
Accusative wulf-a-ms	gast-i-ns	gib-ō-s	sununs

In Gothic, as in the oldest periods of the other Germanic languages, nouns are divided into two great classes, according as the stem originally ended in a vowel or consonant. Nouns, whose stems originally ended in a vowel, belong to the vocalic or so-called Strong Declension. Those, whose stems end in –n, belong to the Weak Declension.