The Syntax of the Nominal Forms of the Verb in Livy Book XXXI

Graduation Date

Summer 1939

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Document Form

Print

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Degree Granting Institution

Catholic University of America

Program Name

Humanities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to exhibit the use which Livy makes of the nominal forms of the verb, i.e., the infinitive, the gerund and gerundive, the supine, and the participle, in the thirty-first book of his history, and furthermore to determine the extent to which he adheres to, or diverges from, the classical usage of these forms. Accordingly, an historical treatment has been adopted, showing the usage of the nominal forms by Latin authors before the time of Livy, as well as that of contemporary and later writers. These historical accounts are based on Stolz- Schmalz, Lateinische Grammatik, 5th edition, revised by Leumann and Hofmann, Munich, 1928.

The examples from Livy, Book 31, have been given with considerable fullness in most instances. In the case of usages of regular and frequent recurrence, as the employment of the perfect passive participle in the ablative absolute, chiefly references are given. No statistics have been recorded of very common usages, such as the circumstantial employment of the perfect passive participle. No consideration has been given to the use of the gerundive and the future active participle in the periphrastic conjugation, |as being outside the scope of this dissertation.

In the summaries at the end of each chapter ivy’s usage in Book 31 has been compared, so far as possible, with that of previous writers, while a final summing up of all the points discussed is made in a brief conclusion

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