Cornell Studies in Classical Philology (Volume 9)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV. ON THE FORCE OF TENSES IN THE PROHIBITIVE. In the American Journal of Philology, Vol. xv, No. 2, Elmer has discussed the force of tenses in the prohibitive. His conclusions were that the perfect subjunctive occurs in this idiom wherever special energy or emotion on the speaker's part is present, the present subjunctive in other cases. These conclusions seemed to me so plausible that I accepted them and incorporated them in my Latin Grammar ( 276); cf. Appendix, 358, 1, d. Three subsequent readings of Plautus, however, tended to shake my confidence in the validity of the theory, and prompted me to institute a fresh examination of the question for Plautus, in whose plays the construction is best represented.1 The results of this examination are here given. The investigation of this question is naturally a somewhat delicate one. Where the problem is to determine the presence or absence of special emotion or excitement, no two persons would probably agree entirely in their judgment concerning the 135 instances of prohibitive expressions involved in this discussion. Most prohibitive expressions, whatever their form, naturally convey some emotion; a prohibition is itself the mark of emotion and excitement. Special emotion or excitement, I have taken to mean emotion or excitement distinctly recognizable as stronger than the ordinary type. When danger threatens, a prohibition prompted by fear of what is impending or by a desire to ward it off, seems to me naturally to convey special emotion. Similarly, eager haste, anxiety for the successful performance of a cherished plan, evident indignation or resentment, all are forms 1Plautus lias 34 instances of the perfect tense, and 63 of the present tense in the prohibitive use. Besides this he...