FOUR classes of DERIVED VERBS, as opposed to Primitive, deserve notice.

I. Those ending in -en; as, soften, whiten, strengthen. The -en is a derivational affix, and not a representative of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive form -an (as, lufian to love); or the old English -en (as, tellen, loven).

II. Transitive verbs, derived from intransitives by a change of the vowel of the root.

In Anglo-Saxon these words were more numerous than they are

at present in English.

Intrans. Infinitive.
Yrnan, to run,

Byrnan, to burn,
Drincan, to drink,
Sincan, to sink,

Licgan, to lie,

Sittan, to sit,

Trans. Infinitive.
ærnan, to make to run.
bærnan, to make to burn.
drencan, to drench.

sencan, to make to sink.
lecgan, to lay.
settan, to set.
drefan, to drive.

fyllan, to fell.

wyllan, to make to boil.
a-fligan, to put to flight.
bigan, to bend.

feran, to convey.
weccan, to awaken.

All these intransitives form their preterits by a change of vowel, as, sink, sank; all the transitives by the addition of d or t; as, fell; fell'd.

III. Verbs derived from nouns by a change of accent; as, to survey', from a survey. WALKER attributes the change of accent to the influence of the participial termination -ing.

IV. Verbs formed from nouns by changing a final surd consonant into its corresponding sonant; as, use, to use, pronounced uze; breath, to breathe, pronounced breadhe; half, to halve; grass, to graze. See LATHAM'S English Language.

SECTION CCCLVIII.-REFLECTIVE VERBS.

REFLECTIVE VERBS are those which are followed by reflective pronouns. In English, such verbs are less strongly marked than in some other languages, as, for example, in German and French; yet they exhibit several peculiarities worthy of notice. Their true nature and character will be best seen by reducing to distinct classes all the verbs which might be called by this name.

I. Those formed from transitive verbs, remaining transitive, in which the agent truly and properly acts upon himself; as, to examine one's self, 1 Cor. xi. 28; to honour one's self, John viii. 54; to purify one's self, 1 John iii. 3; to kill one's self; to praise one's self; &c.

These verbs are reflective both in sense and form. They have the emphasis or stress on the reflective pronoun. They are proper middle verbs, or verbs intermediate between the active and passive voices. If this had been the only class of reflective verbs, they would have needed but little notice in our grammars.

II. Those formed from transitive verbs, remaining transitive in form but not in sense, in which the agent does not truly and properly act upon himself; as, to boast one's self, Ps. lii. 1; 2 Cor. xi. 16; to delight one's self, Ps. xxxvii. 4, 11; to exercise one's self, Acts xxiv. 16; to forswear one's self, Matt. v. 33; to fret one's self, Ps. xxxvii. 1, 7, 8; to repent one's self, Ps. cxxxv. 14; to possess one's self, &c.

So far as the sense is concerned, these verbs are neuter or intransitive. It is merely a mode of forming intransitive verbs out of transitive. The reflective pronoun is without emphasis. In many verbs of this class, especially in German and French, the indirect or remote object seems to act on the agent or subject; as, German, sich erinnern, to recollect; sich freuen, to rejoice; French, se repentir, to repent; se plaindre, to lament; English, to repent one's self; to fret one's self.

III. Verbs like those of the first and second classes, which are no longer used in their ordinary transitive meaning; as, to behave one's self, 1 Cor. xiii. 5; 1 Tim. iii. 15 (compare old English behave, to restrain); to bestir one's self, 2 Sam. v. 24 (compare old English bestir, to move); to betake one's self, Is. xiv. 32, marginal reading (compare old English betake, to deliver); to bethink one's self, Kings viii. 47; 2 Chron. vi. 37 (compare Anglo-Saxon bethencan, to consider); to wallow one's self, Jer. vi. 26 (compare old English wallow, to roll); to vaunt one's self, Judges vii. 2; 1 Cor. xiii. 4 (compare French vanter, to praise).

1

These constitute the reflective verbs in English, technically so