But a contained noun, like any other noun, may have an apposite. Thus the apposite of a sleep may be the sleep of death. Such apposites, like all other apposites, have the effect of limiting the noun's range of application. Hence if they be added to the verb, in which the noun is still embedded, they have the immediate effect of limiting the verb's range of application. And the substantival, which would stand in apposition to the contained noun if it were extracted from the verb, is called the Cognate Object in this book, although the name is also applied in a stricter sense to an object consisting of the contained noun itself, e.g. 'I have fought the fight.' A cognate object may occur after any kind of verb-active passive or neuter-transitive or intransitive, e.g. He struck the horse [direct object] a blow [cognate object]. He sang a ballad [cog. obj.]. He ran a race [cog. obj.]. He slept the-sleep-of-the-just [cog. obj.]. The cognate object of an active verb is frequently used as the subject of the passive verb. Such a construction is quite grammatical, but very illogical, as a single example will show. 1 'To teach' = to cause to learn, to instruct, and is properly followed by a direct object; but, if it means 'to give information,' then it will be completed by an indirect (dat.) object, e.g. 'Music was taught to him.' The direct is, however, the standard construction, and is to be seen in O.E., where the verb 'læran' = to teach, takes the acc. of the person taught. Thus, when we say 'Music was taught,' we speak good grammar and are understood; but we have nevertheless said what is logically absurd, inasmuch as it was not the Music which was instructed, but certain unnamed Pupils, who alone could form the logical subject of the passive verb. The same illogical character may be detected, although less readily, in such sentences as, 'The race was run'; 'A song was sung'; 'A sermon was preached'; 'A story was related'; 'That he still lived was asserted'; 'That he should go was commanded'; 'How they marched was enquired'; inasmuch as none of these grammatically passive subjects are really being acted upon, but rather are themselves the action, for Obs. The test question, which best serves to distinguish the Cognate object from all other objects, is, Does it tell in what the contained noun consists? Thus, in 'He sang a hymn,' 'He played a waltz,' 'He ran a race,' 'He learned grammar,' 'He taught music,' 'He constructed a box,' 'He does love,' 'He said that you were here,' 'He begged that you would go,' 'He asked how you were,' the words and clauses placed in italics are all cognate objects, for we can say— = 41. Verbs involving the categorical or hypothetical Assertion of a fact, feeling, or opinion, are commonly followed by a Cognate object, consisting of an oblique assertion.1 There is an assertion of fact in such verbs as say assert, deny, grant, write, acknowledge, confess, promise, vow, &c.; an assertion of perception in such verbs as perceive, feel, see, hear, observe, discern, &c.; and of opinion in such verbs as suppose, expect, anticipate, reckon, deem, think, judge, doubt, believe, fear, dread, will, wish, desire, need, hope, remember, understand, learn, know, determine, resolve, &c. After such verbs the cognate objective clause tells us in what consists the assertion, denial, writing, promise, perception, observation, supposition, thought, belief, wish, knowledge, determination, &c. &c. Verbs involving a Petition are commonly followed by a Cognate object, consisting of an oblique petition. The verbs, say=command, exhort, entreat, ask = beg, petition, request, beseech, &c. have such an oblique clause, serving to tell us in what consists the command, petition, request, &c. Verbs involving a Question are commonly followed by a Cognate object, consisting of an oblique question. The verbs, ask = inquire, question, &c. have such an oblique clause, serving to tell us in what consists the enquiry, question, &c. Obs. 1.—When the subject of any one of these oblique clauses has been anticipated in the subject, object, or indirect object, of the verb on which the clause depends, the finite verb of the said clause is sometimes turned into an infinitive, e.g. 'I hope that I may go' I hope to go. 'He begged of you that you would go' He begged of you to go. 'She asked whom she should send' She asked whom to send. = Obs. 2.-The oblique assertion and petition are occasionally represented by the standard classical construction known as the "Acc. c. Infin.'' [i.c. accusative with infinitive]. This construction most probably originated in the contraction of a clause [see Obs. 1] whose subject had been anticipated by the object [acc.] of the main verb, e.g. 'I knew him that he was bold' I knew him to be bold; but it is not possible idiomatically to restore every acc. c. infin. to this supposed original form, e.g. we cannot = 1 They include many Factitive verbs, see § 43. very well replace 'I wish the ship to go,' by 'I wish the ship that it should go.' In the acc. c. infin. construction the "acc." represents what would be the subject of the fully expressed clause; hence, if we encounter an acc. governed by the infinitive, we have no true instance of an acc. c. infin. construction, e.g. in 'He asked whom to send,' the word 'whom' is an acc. and the 'to send' is an infin., but they do not form an 'acc. c. infin.,' because 'whom' is governed by 'to send.' As however the object of an active verb becomes the subject of a passive, we see that by turning an active infinitive into a passive infinitive we may produce a genuine acc. c. infin., e.g. 'His lord commanded to sell him' = His lord commanded him to be sold that he should be sold. Obs. 3.-Except when the infinitive is in the passive voice, an acc. c. infin. seems almost an impossibility after a verb of petition. The reason for this lies in the evident fact that the persons, to whom petitions are addressed or from whom something is asked, are in reality nothing more than indirect objects, discharging the functions of a dative or ablative, and therefore not of an accusative. But though we must never treat them as otherwise than indirect objects in our analysis of modern English, yet we must not overlook the fact that, in spite of the logical absurdity, O.E. was not always consistent as to the essentially indirect regimen of the persons addressed in a petition [§ 54]. Thus in the two following examples the same verb 'Hét' he commanded, is firstly followed by a dative and secondly by an accusative case ;-'Hét þám sin-híwum [dat.] wæstmas fédan,' (Cædmon) = He commanded to the pairs to produce fruits; 'He hét þá menegu [acc.] þæt hí, &c.,' A.S.V. He commanded the multitude that they, &c. But that, in spite of such anomalies, we are now justified in analyzing in accordance with logical considerations is borne out by many such passages as, 'He beád him [dat.], þæt hí hit nánum men ne sædon,' A.S.V. 'He comaundide to hem [i.e. to them], that thei schulden seye to no man.'-Wycliffe, Mark vii. 36. = = Obs. 4.-If I describe the purport of my petition, I thereby declare my purpose in making the petition. But while the purport constitutes a cognate object, the purpose constitutes an adverbial [final] clause. Hence it is not surprising that the construction of the oblique petition is frequently borrowed from the adverbial clause expressive of final cause or purpose. Thus in Latin both are constructed with "ut c. Subj. ;" and even in O.E. and modern English the "that" which introduces the oblique petition is almost replaceable by an “in order that." [See § 112, Obs. 1.] 42. There are verbs which, although involving no assertion or petition, are nevertheless made [somewhat illogically] to receive a Cognate object, consisting of a noun clause. Such are verbs expressive of Emotion, e.g. rejoice, sorrow, fear, wonder, am surprised, am astonished, am blamed, am concerned, &c. We are constrained to classify the clauses following these verbs as cognate objects for two reasons. First, they are not direct objects because they remain when the verb is in the passive voice, e.g. 'I am surprised that you are here.' Secondly, they are not indirect objects, because they often discharge the functions of a nominative, e.g. 'That you are here surprises me.' But though we reckon these objects as cognate, they approach very near to adverbial clauses, as seen in the following observation. Obs. The cognate object following on a verb of Emotion approximates closely to an adverbial of Initial Cause. This arises from the fact that the nature of an emotion, though not logically identical with its cause, is yet sufficiently revealed by the mention of the cause, e.g. 'I rejoice that he is safe' 'I rejoice because he is safe.' = 1 43. Verbs expressive of Production or Effect are called Factitives [facere = to make] because they contain the idea of Making, by deed, e.g. create, produce, make, form, invent, write, paint, effect, cause, &c. &c. by word, e.g. report, proclaim, declare, describe, prove, &c. &c. and by thought, e.g. judge, take, esteem, elect, select, choose, &c. &c. All such verbs, when they are used in their factitive sense, are usually followed by a cognate object telling in what the production or effect consists [but see § 47]. A factitive may however do one of two very different things. It may either tell of making something or of making something to be or to do something. In the former case the factitive verb will be followed by only a cognate object; in the latter the active factitive will be followed by both a direct and a cognate object, and the passive factitive by only the 6 1 Although a Cause and an Effect are very different things, yet the verb to cause' has much the same force as 'to effect.' Thus there is grammatically no difference between 'I caused that,' and 'I effected that.' |