cognate object, the direct object of the active voice having become the subject of the passive. He made the table [cog.]. Thus He made the table [dir.] to be round [cog.]. The table [subject] was made to be round [cog.]. She caused [ effected] mischief [cog.]. = She caused [= made] mischief [dir.] to arise [cog.]. Mischief [subj.] was caused to arise [cog.] by her. Obs. 1.-These two uses imply a slight change in the meaning of the same verb. Thus, in 'He made the table,' the verb 'made = constructed; whereas, in 'He made the table to be round,' the verb 'made' = cut, carved, or some other transitive act. See § 47. Obs. 2.—Usage prevents us from affording instances of the same constructions after every factitive; but generally speaking the cognate object is a noun, pronoun, infinitive, or an oblique assertion [see § 41]. The infinitive is almost always that of the copula; hence it almost always requires to be completed by a Complement. But as the complement is in reality the completion of the copula, both copula and complement must be taken as together forming one cognate object. Obs. 3.-The absence of the 'to be' often causes this cognate object to be represented by nothing save a complement. i.e. a co-ordinating apposite or attribute [§ 22]. When this apposite or attribute is in agreement with the subject of a passive main verb, we have the phenomenon of a cognate object in the nominative! e.g. 'The table was made round [nom.]. The peculiarity of this construction has induced some grammarians to take many Factitive verbs as copulas, and hence to analyze the above sentence thus, 'The table [subject] was made [copula] round [complement].' We however shall take such nominatives either as cognate objects, or as co-ordinating apposites and attributes. 44. Verbs expressive of Naming [e.g. name, call, &c.] are usually followed by a cognate object telling in what the name consists. If this cognate object be a Quotation, the name will of course appear as in the nominative; if not, it will stand as in the objective [acc.] case. Inasmuch as we have now lost, the distinctive case-endings of the nominative and accusative it is only by a reference to O.E. that we can put the English usage in this respect to the test. From this source we learn that the cognate object after a verb of naming is a quotation, i.e. is in the nominative, e.g. 'pone un-ge-met líce eargan þú miht hátan hara [nom.]' = The immoderately timid thou mayest call Hare. 45. Many other verbs are, at least in some of their shades of meaning, completed by a cognate object consisting of a Noun or Pronoun. Such is the case with verbs of Giving, e.g. give, grant, contribute, pay, inflict, &c.; with verbs of Gaining, e.g. gain, acquire, purchase, &c. ; verbs of Possessing, eg. possess, hold, contain, &c.; verbs of Measuring, e.g. measure, weigh, &c.; and with various other groups. All these may be completed by a cognate object telling in what the gift, gain, possession, measurement, or weight, consists. But by a very slight change in meaning many of these verbs become transitive, and are completed by a direct object, as is seen in the following examples : I paid a shilling [cog.]. I paid the servant [dir.]. That machine weighs a ton [cog.].That machine weighs sugar [dir.]. I painted the door [dir.] green. I painted the picture [cog.]. 46. The Cognate object slides into an adverbial or an Indirect object after verbs expressive of a Duration Course, Progress, or Direction, e.g. endure, continue, live, walk run, sail, go, &c. That the completion of such verbs may be regarded as cognate objects is clear, inasmuch as such objects tell us in what the duration, course, progress, or direction consists but that they are also of an adverbial nature is equally evident, inasmuch as they tell us of the Time or Place of an action. Hence we shall find it best to speak of them : either as Indirect objects or as Adverbials [discharging an Adverbial Accusative function], according as we feel them to be essential or accidental additions to a verb. The student will experience no difficulty in distinguishing this kind of accusative from others, inasmuch as it always admits of the addition of such prepositions as 'during,' 'through,' ' along,' 'towards,' &c. Thus 'He remained [during] a year.' 'He lived [through] a century.' 'He walked [along] the deck.' 'He paced [along] the street.' 'He ran [along] the course.' 'He sailed [along] the sea.' 'He will go [towards] home.' O.E. 'Hig prý dagas [acc.] mid me wunodon.' A.S.V. They continued three days with me. 'He gazed the sky.' Milton. = 47. A Cognate object is often replaced by an Indirect object [§ 52], as might be inferred from what has been said in § 41, Obs. 4, and § 42, Obs. Thus verbs of petition are sometimes completed by either a cognate or an indirect object, e.g. 'I begged that he would give me a shilling [cog.].' 'I begged to the end that I might get a shilling [ind.].' 'I begged for a shilling [ind.].' Thus, again, some verbs of desire, &c., when completed by a clause, will have a cognate object; and, when by a phrase, an indirect object; e.g. 'I wish that I may be satisfied [cog.]'; 'I wish for satisfaction [ind.].' Thus, again, a factitive verb may have its cognate object replaced by an indirect object telling of effect, likeness, or substitution, e.g. He made the table round [cog.].' He made the table so that it was round [ind.].' 'We counted him to be a fool [cog.].' We counted him as if he were a fool [ind.].' 'We counted him for a fool [ind.].' 48. A Cognate object is often replaced by a direct object. This is especially common after verbs of Perception, e.g. perceive, see, hear, feel, &c. An uncertainty as to the nature of an object must always exist when that object serves simultaneously to indicate in what the act consists, and on what the act is exercised. But a close consideration of the question seems to lead to the conclusion that while the nounclause which follows a verb of perception is cognate [see § 41], the noun or pronoun which follows it is usually direct. In other words, that while the clause tells in what the perception consists, the noun or pronoun usually tell on what the perceptive faculty is exercising itself. Hence in 'He perceived that you were mistaken' and 'He perceived a storm' we shall take the former object as cognate and the latter as direct. Such functional transitions are almost certain indications of a changed shade of meaning in a verb. [See also § 50.] 49. The Direct Object is that on which an action operates, exercises, or expends itself. Hence it can only occur after such active verbs [and their verbal nouns and participles] as imply the exercise of an active energy on something. Such verbs are called Transitives, whereas all others [whether active, passive, or neuters] are called Intransitives. But both the direct object of a transitive and the logical subject of a passive verb represent that on which the action operates ; hence we can always turn a sentence from an active to a passive form, by using the direct object of the former as the subject of the latter, thus Obs. 1.—With Reflexive verbs [see Self-affecting verbs, § 21] the direct object is identical with the subject, inasmuch as the subject is represented as affecting itself, e.g. 'I bethink me.' 'The young lions...lay them down in their dens.'-A. V. Obs. 2. The student will generally have little difficulty in distinguishing a direct from a cogoate object, if he uses the following test questions :— On what is the action exercised? In what does the action consist? The former gives the direct, the latter the cognate object. It may also be observed that a direct object never occurs after a passive or neuter verb, never occurs after a complement, unless the complement be a transitive verbal-noun or verbal adjective, and never has a preposition governing it. 50. Direct objects are often omitted or replaced by cognate or by indirect objects, when the same verb has both transitive and intransitive shades of meaning [See §§ 45, 47, 48]. It is in fact perfectly impossible to make two lists of verbs, and to say, This one consists of transitives, and That one consists of intransitives. All depends upon the shade of meaning. Thus it is impossible to say whether the verb 'ride' is transitive or intransitive, and we can say with perfect propriety 'He rides the horse [trans.].' 'He is out riding [intrans.].' Again, who can classify the verb 'believe,' when we see it completed in three different ways, as, 'He believes the Creed [cog. obj.].' 'He believes God [dir. obj.].' 'He believes in you [ind. obj.].' The difficulty of classification increases as we go back to earlier times and find such constructions, as, 'Blessed are they that hunger and thirst righteousness,' Wycliffe. 'He tempted the boy [gen. in O.E.].' 'He kept the book [gen. in O.E.].' 'He needed help [gen. in O.E.].' 'He served God [dat. in O.E.].' 'He pleased the king [dat. in O.E.].' 51. A direct object and a cognate object sometimes occur after the same verb. This phenomenon is known in classical grammars as the "Double Accusative." In modern English this double object is found for instance after the verbs strike and teach, as He struck the horse [dir.] a blow [cog.]. |