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The Syntactical Effects of 
Compounding Verbs with 
Prepositions
1914
by Mary A. Grant
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Submitted to the Department of Latin and the
Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in 
partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts.
THE SYNTACTICAL EFFECTS OF 
COMPOUNDING A VERB WITH A PREPOSITION. 
A thesis submitted to the Department of Latin 
and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas 
in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts. 
y 
Mary A. Grant, A. B. 1913 
May 15, 1914. 
OUTLINE 
Introduction 
I • Reasons for investigation. 
a. Importance of subject. 
b. Lack of investigation on subject. 
II. Material examined. 
III. Definition of Terms. 
a. Prefixes included. 
b. Verbs included. 
c. The term "prepositional compound11 
d. Transitive and intransitive. 
IV. Reference books. 
V. Points to be discussed. 
discussion 
I. Summary of grammar treatment and special invest-
igations. 
a. Grammar treatment of accusative case. 
b. Grammar treatment of dative case. 
c. Grammar treatment of ablative case. 
d. Articles of Lease and Allen. 
II. Discussion of examples, 
a. Accusative Case. 
1. Syntactical results of composition. 
(a) New power of taking acc. (intr. 
verb) 
(b) More permanent tr. or intr. use. 
(c) Loss of power of taking acc. 
(d) New power of taking acc. (tr.verb) 
(e) No effect of composition. 
2. Changes in meaning as results of comp-
osition. 
3. Sense connection between noun and pre-
fix. 
4. Alternate Constructions. 
5. Summary of Accusative Case, 
b. Dative Case. 
1. Syntactical results of composition. 
(a) Dative only. 
(1) New power of taking dative. 
(2) More regular use of dative. 
(b) Dative and Accusatives. 
(1) New power of taking dative. 
(2) More regular use of dative 
(3) No change. 
(4) LOS3 of power. 
(c) Combination of (a) and (b). 
2. changes in meaning due to composition. 
3. Sense connection between noun and prefic 
4. Alternate Constructions. 
5. Summary of Dative. 
c. Ablative Case. 
1. Syntactical results of composition. 
21 Changes in meaning. 
3. Sinnmary of Ablative Case. 
, III. Tables and Explanation. 
C. Conclusion. 
1 
THE SYNTACTICAL EFFECTS OF COMPOUNDING A VERB WITH A 
PREPOSITION 
A. Introduction. 
I. a. The phenomenon of compound verbs is one appear-
ing in most languages, but a study of these verbs is most 
interesting and profitable in highly inflected languages 
like Greek and Latin, since with a variety of case forms 
the results of combination are more numerous and apparent. 
In the field of Latin syntax these verbs have sometimes bean 
used in discussions as to whether the dative was original-
ly a grammatical or a localistic case, and the additional 
fact that the construction is widespread, makes it an im-
portant one for investigation. 
b. All this was enough to create interest in com-
pound verbs, but actual stimulus for investigation came on 
examination of the material on the subject as found in 
the ordinary school grammars, and in reports of special 
investigators. There was found to be a lack of accurate 
knowledge of the subjectv-the treatment of the grammars 
was incomplete and contradictory, and the results of the 
investigations of Bernard M. Allen (Classical ^eekly"., 
Apr}l 13, * 12) and Emory B. Lease (Classical Journal, Oct. 
2 
'12) challenged the validity of the rule for the dative witi 
compound verbs—the case that is especially emphasized by 
the grammars in their treatment of these verbs. Specific 
criticism of the grammar treatment of compound verbs under 
the accusative, dative, and ablative cases, as well as a 
review of the articles by Lease and Allen will be found on 
PP* 
II. The examples, 2157, in number were collected from 
consecutive reading in Cicero's Orations. Cat. I-IV; Verr. 
I, II. 1. 
III. a. Verbs compounded with the following preposi-
tions were collected: ab, ante, ad, circum, con, de, ex, 
in, inter, ob, per, post, prae, praeter, pro, sub, super, 
subter, trans. One example of a verb compounded with intro 
was counted with those verbs compounded with inter. Hone 
with post were found. Such prefixes as dis, re, se, satis, 
and male were not taken into consideration because they i 
do not occur in independent use as prepositions governing 
cases. 
b. Verbs which are apparent compounds of the prep-
ositions listed above, but whose simple forms are not found 
were collected, but were kept in a separate list at the 
end of the tables (p.73~7s) 
3 
c. Here, perhaps it may well "be said that the ex-
pression "a verb combined with a preposition11 is an incor-
rect and unscientific one, for the compounds were not cons-
ciously formed, and in the majority of cases, at least, 
the compound was not thought of as consisting of two dis-
tinct elements, but as representing a single verbal idea 
as well as any simple verb. Then, too, strictly speaking, 
the prefix of a compound verb is not a preposition, but an 
adverb, as the compounds were probably formed before prep-
ositions, as we known them, had developed from adverbs and 
had acquired distinct uses with cases. We can only prop-
erly say that the idea or meaning in the verb prefix is the 
same or similar to that of the prepositional form it re-
sembles, but for the sake of convenience, the term "prep-
ositional prefix" v/ill be used in this paper with the res-
ervations stated above. 
d. The question of transitive and intransitive of 
course presents itself in any treatment of verbs, and in 
this subject where a possible result of combination is the 
making of an intransitive verb transitive, it becomes a 
matter of importance. Though perhaps no verb occurs as in-
variably intransitive or transitive, it seems fair to spea3c 
4 
of a verb as intransitive or transitive which in the maj-
ority of cases is so. This will he the attitude taken in 
this paper, and cases outside the ordinary usage will he 
considered as exceptions. 
Decision was more difficult when it came to the ques-
tion of considering degrees of transitivity. Does the fact 
that a verb takes a cognate object, or that it appears as 
active only in the perfect participle entitle it to be cal-
led transitive? Or should such a verb be called only part-
ially transitive? Certainly a distinction should be made 
between verbs of these types and such verbs as are ordin-
arily called transitive. Perfect passive participles were 
therefore kept separate from the other passive forms. When 
there was any doubt as to whether an accusative was a real 
object or not, special mention was made of the fact, though 
such cases were rare. Object clauses, infinitives and ac-
cusatives in indirect discourse, and complementary infin-
itives were kept separate from the accusatives. 
IV. Harperfs Lexicon was used to supplement the tab-
les for regular constructions with both compound verbs and 
their simple forms. In all cases of doubtful etymology 
Walde's Etymologisches Worterbuch was consulted. 
V. It is at once evident that so large a subject as 
5 
the whole question of compound verbs cannot "be treated ad-
equately in a discussion of this kind. And necessarily 
when examination is restricted to any one period as the 
Ciceronian,such questions of theory as whether the dative 
was originally a localistic or grammatical case, cannot he 
entered upon;yet, although it is obviously impossible to 
do justice to many interesting points, an attempt will be 
made to discuss the following points with some complete-
ness: a. A summary of the grammar treatment of each case; 
b. The different syntactical results of composition; c. 
changes in meaning as a result of composition (a brief dis-
cussion in each case) d. sense connection between prefix 
and noun. e. summary for each case. 
B. Discussion". 
I. Discussion of Grammar Treatment, etc. 
a. Treatment of Accusative Case. 
The treatment of the accusative case as regards com-
pound verbs in the grammars is very unsatisfactory because 
of its lack of fullness, clearness, and perhaps exactness, 
(l) The rule for intransitive verbs made transitive by comp-
osition in its briefest and most unsatisfactory form is 
such as it is found in Harkness1 Grammar: 406); "Many 
6 
compounds of intransitive verbs will, prepositions, especial-
ly compounds of verbs of motion with circum, per, praeter, 
trans, and super take the accusative." Most of the other 
grammars limit the statement Mmany intransitive verbs" as 
Harkness does, by saying "several verbs of motion," or "Pa* 
ticularly verbs of motion." 
(2) The lists of prefixes given in the grammars vary 
widely in respect to number and kind. Of eight grammars 
examined, (Hale, Lane, Harkness, Allen and Greenough, Ben-
nett, Gildersleeve, Kuhner, Draeger )• Draeger has the most 
complete list, including fourteen prepositions: ad, ante, 
circum, con, in ob, inter, per, prae, praeder, sub, subter, 
super, trans. Hale and Gildersleeve each have one less, 
Hale omitting inter, Gildersleeve prae. All the grammars 
agree in giving circum, per, praeter and trans. Of the 
five grammars, Lane, Harkness, Allen and Greenough, Bennett 
Kuhner, all give "ad" and "in"; all but Lane and Harkness 
give "sub" but Saxkrretre and Lane; Lane and Kuhner alone 
give "ab"; Lane alone gives "ex" and "prae"; Harkness alone 
"super". None of them include "ante" "con" or "subter" in 
their lists. 
(3) Several of the grammars have indeed attempted to 
7 
class the prefixes in the order of their importance, and 
thus somewhat limit the extent of the rule's application. 
Kuhner has a rudimentary classification. He mentions com-
pounds of circum, praeter and trans first, and then adds, 
"less frequently those with ad, in per, and sub". Bennett a 
and Allen and Greenough repeat this list. Gildersleeve 
is the most satisfactory in this respect. After giving 
his list of prefixes he classifies them thus: All with 
circum, per, prae'ter, trans and subter, (become transitive) 
Many with ad, in and super; some with ante, con, inter, 
ob, and sub. It will be noticed that Gildersleeve includes 
"per" in his prefixes that always influence the construc-
tions-Bennett and the other two grammars among those that 
less frequently do so. 
(4) A few of the grammars, Hale, Gildersleeve, Kuh-
ner, and Draeger give lists of verbs to supplement their 
statements, yet in these lists they have not always been 
consistent. They are supposedly lists of verbs originally 
intransitive, which have been made transitive by composi-
tion, yet here we find such verbs as f,erumpow "Inrumpo", 
"Circumdo,n "Circumsisto.w 
(5) No reference is made in most of these grammars to 
the fact that compounds of intransitive verbs may take con-
8 
structions other than the accusative. A few (Hale, Draeger 
Allen ana Greenough) give cross references to their treat-
ment of the dative, "but most of them are content with the 
statement of the rule as it concerns the accusative alone. 
Several of the grammars call attention to the person-
al passives of these verbs as proof that they have been 
really made transitive. Gildersleeve suggests that some-
times a difference of signification is caused by the use 
of a prepositional phrase, while Harkness has noted the 
fact that intransitive verbs may become transitive by be-
ing compounded with prepositions not takf$ing the accusative* 
Secondary Accusative. 
In regard to the treatment of the secondary accusative 
with compounds, we find similar confusion as regards pre-
fixes and alternate constructions. Most of the grammars 
give the correct idea that this accusative is rare and is 
found with very few compounds, but Gildersleeve gives a 
very misleading statement. In a footnote under his treat-
ment of compounds of intransitive verbs taking the accus-
ative he says "If the simple verb is transitive, it can 
take two accusatives."—a statement which is far too sweep-
ing when we consider the limited lists of prefixes given 
by the other grammars. Most of the grammars make state-
9 
merits that the secondary accusative is dependent on the 
prefix of the verb. (Bennett, Burton, Hale) As no ex-
amples of this accusative occurred in the Latin text stud-
ied by me, it will be unnecessary to go into further detail. 
b. Treatment of Dative Case, 
The grammar treatment of the dative case with com-
pound verbs is on the whole fuller than that of the accus-
ative, but there is the same confusion in the lists of pre-
fixes. The German grammars give very complete lists, "ad, 
ante, con, circum, de, ex, in, inter, ob, prae, post, sub, 
super," The eight other grammars, Gildersleeve, Hale, 
Burton, Harkness, Bennett, Lane, Allen and Greenough, Mad-
vig, agree in naming the following prepositions, ad, ante, 
con, in inter, ob, post, prae, sub. Super is given by all 
but Madvig; Harkness and Allen and Greenough include cir-
cum in their supplementary list; Gildersleeve does not 
mention it at all. Pro is mentioned by only three of the 
grammars. Verbs compounded with ab, de and ex are treated 
by several of the grammars under the special head--the 
Dative of Separation, and hence these prefixes are not in-
cluded in their rule for the dative with compounds. Kuhner 
however, includes them in his list of prefixes for the dat-
ite with compounds; Madvig includes both de and ex, and 
10 
Harkness de. Roby does not state the rule at all. 
With most of the grammars the lists are supposedly e-
qually valid for both simple dative, and dative and accus-
ative constructions. Lane, however, and the two German 
grammars treat transitive and intransitive verbs with the 
dative separately, and their lists of prefixes for the 
two vary slightly. pOr transitive compounds Lane adds the 
prefixes circum, de, ex and post to his list for the simp-
le dative; Draeger adds circum, de, post ;and omits super, 
Kuhner adds ab, ante, prae, circum, de , ex, post and omits 
sub and super. 
Most of the grammars make mention of some of the alt-
ernate constructions with these compounds, but they do not 
give much of an idea as to what extent these constructions 
are used. Bui" four of the grammars make any note of the 
verbs which may take either a dative or accusative, and 
only five give cross-references to their treatment of the 
accusative. 
All but Harkness make some mention of the use of prep-
ositional phrases instead of the dative, and attempt to dis-
tinguish between the two usages. The distinction is in all 
cases practically the samee: In a local sense the preposi-
tion should be employed; in a transferred sense the dative. 
11 
Or, to be more exact, "When place, literal or figurative 
is to be distinctly expressed, the prepositional phrase is 
used." 
There is also disagreement among the grammars as to a 
point in theory: whether the dative is to be regarded as 
dependent on the prepositional prefix^or rather on the mean-
ing of the verb as a whole. Allen and Greenough object 
strongly to a statement of the first kind and Bennett in 
his "Latin Language11 (sec. 315) does the same. The other 
grammars refer to the connection of the noun and proposi-
tion or do not mention the matter at all. Burton says that 
the dative with most compounds is due to the preposition; 
with others to the meaning of the simple verb. 
c. Treatment of Ablative Case. 
There is no formal treatment of the ablative case with 
compounds in the grammars, yet nearly all of them mention 
these verbs in their treatment of the Ablative of Separa-
tion. Most of the grammars state a rule something like 
Halefs: "The preposition is freely omitted with verbs of 
literal separation if themselves containing a separative 
preposition. Otherwise a prepositional phrase is regular" 
It is evident that only with verbs of literal separation 
any effect cf combination is noticeable, since with verbs 
of figurative separation, the simple ablative is regularly 
12 
used. Harkness, however, makes no such distinction between 
literal and figurative. He says, "The Ablative of Separa-
tion is generally used with a preposition when it represent 
a person or is used with a verb compounded with ab, de and 
ex" a statement which contradicts the rule of Hale given 
above. 
The lists of Kuhner and Draeger show how great the 
proportion of compound verbs used with the Ablative of Sep-
aration is in comparison with the simple verbs so used. Evei 
in figurative use we cannot be sure but that the fact of 
composition influenced the use of the simple ablative in-
stead of a prepositional phrase. 
d. Articles of Allen and Lease. 
This inconsistency and lack of agreement among the 
grammars has been due to lack of thorough investigation 
of the subject, and it has not been until lately that such 
investigation has been made. Emory B. Lease in the Class-
ical Journal for Oct. fl2, and Bernard M. Allen in the ApraL 
number of the Classical Weekly for the same year made in-
vestigations covering practically the same ground—the field 
of high school Latin. Both covered Caesar I-IV, Cicero, 
Cat. I-IV., Manilian Law, and the Archias; Allen took, in 
addition, the Lives of NeposJ Lease, Vergil I-IV and for 
13 
the first year of college Latin, Livy I, XXI, XXII and Cic-
ero Cato Maior and Laelius. They were investigating part-
icularly in regard to the rule for the dative with com-
pounds, and "both arrived at the same conclusion: That only 
one compound verb in ten was found occurring with the dat-
ive. According to Lease, the rule for the dative in High 
School Latin is worth only 15.7$ and in the first year of 
college only 14.8$. 
(l) This, then, is Leasis chief criticism of the 
rule--that it will not work. (2) He also expresses his con-
viction that the mere statement of the rule gives the pupil 
a wrong idea of the relationship existing between the dat-
ive and the verb. This point requires some discussion. 
In the grammar treatment above, p. I! it will be not-
iced that the grammars are divided into two classes; those 
that regard the dative as closely connected with the prep-
osition; and those that expressly warn against such a con-
ception and state that that the dative is dependent on the 
meaning of the verb as a whole. Lease accepts this last 
view unconditionally. He mentions however, only those 
grammars that support his view and does not state fairly 
the other side of the case. "Most of the grammars" he 
says, "cite such compounds as 1consulo1 and 1confido1 and 
14 
and with these they say that the particular case used de-
pends on the particular meaning of the compound.11 WHat is 
true of these verbs is, Lease maintains, true of all, and 
if the meaning necessary to explain the dative is not found 
in the existing rules, their scope must be enlarged. He 
suggests such explanations with two verbs, appropinquo and 
occurro . 
(3) Lease questions the pedagogical advisability of 
teaching the rule. There is danger, he says, that the pup-
il will obtain an exaggerated idea of its importance and 
will use the dative with any compound verb without stopping 
to think. If the rule is abandoned, the pupil will be 
forced to stop and think before he can explain the dative. 
He adds that he himself has been successful in disregarding 
the rule in the classroom. 
(l) Allen comes to the same conclusion as Lease, as 
regards the inefficiency of the rule. (2) He takes a dif-
ferent view on the question of theory, however. He first 
outlines the two sides of the question as presented in the 
grammars and then points out the inconsistency of those 
grammars which while strenuously objecting to the statement 
that the dative is dependent on the preposition, in their 
treatment of the secondary accusative with compounds make 
15 
similar statements regarding the second accusative. Though 
Allen admits that the use of the word "depend11 is object-
ionable, he says "we cannot get away from the fact that 
with most of the compounds that take the dative, the dat-
ive and the preposition are connected in sense as clearly 
as any independent preposition with its noun." He has made 
a distinction of this kind the basis of his tables, finding 
that of 66 verbs occurring with the dative where the simple 
verb did not take it, all but five had a dative connected . 
in sense with the preposition. "By stating that with these 
compounds the noun connected in sense with the preposition 
is put in the dative, we at once rid ourselves" he says "Of 
all those cases where there is no noun thus connected, and 
the ratio of exceptions will be reduced from ten to one to * 
tw.' to one. 
(3) He holds that to say that the dative is dependent 
on the meaning of the verb as a whole, and that it is con-
nected in sense with the prefix are not contradictory state-
ments but for pedagogical reasons he prefers the latter as 
being more easily understood. 
Pie then suggests a complete treatment of compound 
verbs in one place in the grammaras the time and place c 
16 
constructions are treated in Allen and Greenough, and gives 
a rule for compound verbs suitable for a grammar or a be-
ginner 1 s book. 
II. Discussion of examples. 
a. Accusative Case (The tables of examples will 
be found on pp.Jl~T2.). 
The constructions taken into account in this treat-
ment of the accusative will be found in the columns marked 
<A *» 
accusative and dative, "Accusative only" "accusative and 
ablative" "accusative and prepositional phrase," "two ac-
cusatives". Reference will be made to the other columns 
occasionally for purposes of comparison. 
The treatment of the accusative case with compound 
verbs is in a way simpler than the treatment of the other 
cases, for it involves a phenomenon easily recognized—the 
rendering of a verb transitive or intransitive by composi-
tion. A complete treatment, however, involves the whole 
question of compound verbs, in as much as to estimate the 
effect of composition in making intransitive verbs trans-
itive, we must take into account the number of times it 
has enabled a verb to take the dative or ablative, and 
the number of times it has had no effect. 
I? 
1. The syntactical effects of compounding a verb 
with a preposition which have to do with the accusative 
case are four (a) an intransitive verb may acquire a new 
power of taking an accusative (b) a verb used both trans-
itively and intransitively in its simple form may by comb-
ination acquire a permanent transitive or intransitive 
use (d) a transitive verb may acquire a new power of tak-
ing a second accusative;fc) a transitive verb may be made 
intransitive by combination. 
There are 293 verbs in the tables occurring with an 
accusative; 50 verbs are found in the passive only; 9 have 
causes only as objects. Of the total 352, the number of 
those affected by composition is not great. 18 have ac-
quired a new power of taking the simple accusative, 33 
take it more or less frequently than the simple verb; 5 
appear with a predicate accusative; 19 transitive verbs 
have been made intransitive. The rest are not affected 
by composition, in a syntactical way at least. Each of 
these effects will be discussed in turn. 
(a) The eighteen verbs that have acquired a new power 
of taking the accusative are as follows: adeo, convenio, 
circumvenio, circumsedeo, circumsto, expugno, ingredior, 
18 
invenio, ineo, invado, incendo, obsideo, oppugno, obeo, 
cccurro, praesto, praetereo, and subeo. Many of these 
verbs are not invariably transitive; occurro is found us-
ually with the dative. 
Of these ferbs the following appear in the passive 
as well as the active: convenio, circumvenio, circumsedeo, 
expugno, invenio, ineo, incendo, obsideo, obeo, oppugno, 
invenio, ineo, incendo, obsideo, obeo, oppugno and prae-
tereo. Obsideo occurs three times in the passive with 
two of these occurrences in the perfect participle; circum-
sedeo has 8 passive occurrences with six of these past part-
iciples. With these two verbs the tendency seems to be 
toward use in the passive participle, but as they are 
found in the active as well (circumsedeo once, and obsedeo 
once) we cannot conclude that this use with the past part-
iciple is the rule with these verbs. 
We at once notice the relatively small number of this 
group of verbs as compared to the total number of verbs 
taking the accusative about 6 and realize that the gram-
mar statements "many11 intransitive verbs gives an exagger-
ated idea of the importance of the group. The next point 
that many of the grammars make is that the class of intran-
19 
sitive verbs thus made transitive is chiefly made up of 
verbs of motion. Such verbs comprise about 61$ of the 
verbs in the list with about the same $ of occurrences as 
compared to the total number, so perhaps the use of the 
word "chiefly" is justified. But though these verbs appear 
to be motion verbs, with most of them this idea has become 
subordinated to new transferred meanings, so that it seems 
inexact to refer to them as verbs of motion. In the case 
of only one verb obeo, literal motion was expressed, while 
with the 75 occurrences of verbs of motion followed by 
prepositional phrases (column prep, phrases) 43 expressed 
literal motion. It would seem then, as if a prepositional 
phrase were the usual way to express literal motion and 
not the accusative, and that to designate the verbs in this 
list as verbs of motion would give a wrong idea of the us-
ual way of expressing motion. 
The following table gives the number of intransitive 
verbs compounded with the various prefixes and the number 
of these verbs made transitive by composition, 
ab 5 verbs 0 made transitive 
ad 12 " 1 " " 8.3$ 
con 10 " 1 10$ 
20 
con 10 verbs 1 made transitive 10 fo 
circum 3 n 3 it ii 100fo 
ex 15 rt 1 it ti 6 f 
in 14 it 5 it II 35 f 
ob 7 it ft it It 57 f 
per 5 it 0 it II 0fo 
prae 4 tt 1 it It 25 f 
praeter 1 tf 1 it It 100fo 
sub 3 it 1 it It zzfo 
trans 1 
80 
it 0 
18 
it It 0 fo 
The list of prefixes then as we haave found them, ar-
ranged in order of their importance is as follows: circum, 
praeter, ob, in, sub, prae, con, ad, ex. 
Gildersleeve in his list of prefixes (cf. p f>) includes 
per among tke i^refixes that always influence the construc-
tion. With 5 verbs in our tables it does not have this ef-
fect. His including trans among those that always influence 
the construction is not invalidated by our results, however 
as the trans idea in the prefix of transeo was not carried 
out in the prepositional phrase following, so that we can 
not know how such an idea would have been expressed. "Sup-
er and "subter" do not o,ccur in our examples." Among these 
21 
verbs that are made transitive by composition, there are 
none which before composition took the dative. If true of 
all compounds of intransitive verbs, this is a curious fact, 
for it would seem natural that a verb taking the dative be-
fore combination should receive the additional power of 
taking an accusative. Such verbs would appear under the 
column "dative and accusative" but none of them does sol 
(b) There are 33 compound verbs whose simple forms 
are both transitive and intransitive• Composition affects 
these differently• (1$ There are three compound verbs which 
are more regularly transitive than their simple forms, 
commuto, converto, deploro. (2). 16 have become completely 
transitive; averto, confluo, everto, eludo, exoro, explore, 
excogito, infiteor, inflammo, implorp, immuto, obruo, per-
horresco, perofiro, profiteer, subterfugio. Of these the fol-
lowing occur only in the passive in the tables, exoro, ex-
plore, immuto, obru^o, peroro, though on reference to the 
lexicon it was found that they were used regularly in the 
active as well. (3) Ten of these verbs whose simplforms 
are either transitive or intransitive show no change after 
combination; admiror, cogito, convinco, conqueror, confido, 
concedo, confiteor, deminuo, effugio, persuadeo. Of these, 
22 
persuadeo can take the same type of an object that suadeo 
can; and confido is followed by indirect discourse as fido 
is. (4) The four verbs whose power of taking the accus-
ative has diminished are confugio, despero, obtempero, 
transcendo. 
(c) Compounding a verb with a preposition may have 
a complete negative effect —verbs regularly transitive 
may be reduced to intransitive by composition. The examp-
les under the columns "dative11 "prepositional phrase" "ab-
lative" "no construction" were examined. Reference was 
made in each case to the lexicon to supplement the examp-
les in the tables, as it is evident that the mere fact that 
a verb occurs under one of these columns is not a sure in-
dex that it is regularly intransitive. The following is 
a list of the verbs made intransitive by composition; assifh 
to, confligo, consisto, contingo, contendo, consentio, de-
ficio, erumpo, exsisto, emergo, invideo, impendeo, ignosco, 
obsisto, obtingo, pertineo, surgo, prospicio, provideo. 
Many of these verbs have transitive uses too,and with none 
of the verbs can we say that the change has been absolute-
ly complete, but a general tendency to intransitive use 
is certainly evident. The fact that transitive verbs be-
come intransitive has I think been noticed by none of the 
23 
of the school grammars as it properly comes under no case 
treatment, hut at least such verbs should not be mentioned 
in their lists of intransitive verbs made transitive by 
composition as several of them have done. (cf. p n, )• 
(d) The verbs appearing with two accusatives are 
defero, deporto, evoco, prosequor, all with the names of 
cities as the second accusative (cf. p.4-1) adu£vo with 
nihil as object—a construction which could have been taken 
by the simple verb; interrogo, whose simple form might 
take a double accusative; and praebeo, appello, praesto, 
existimo and invenio. The simple verb habeo, may take 
two accusatives though praebeo is used in a slightly dif-
ferent sense. The last four verbs named have received the 
power of taking a predicate accusative. 
No example of the secondary accusative occasionally 
found with compounds occurred. 
(e) 296 of the 352 verbs taking the accusative have 
not been affected syntactically by composition. They are 
obviously all compounds of transitive verbs. 
.2. Besides effects that are as easily noticeable 
as those we have been observing there are more delicate 
effects due to composition—changes brought about by the 
24 
altered meaning of the verb as a whole. They involve, as 
far as I have been able to determine, changes in the kind 
of object rather than changes from transitive to intrans-
itive or vice versa. Such changes-are as follows: (l) cha-
nge from a nonpersonal to a personal object, as seen in so3-
vo and absolvo, cludo and excludo, facio, adficio, and int-
erficio. (2) change from an;accusative of effect to one 
of affect, scribo and ascribo, dico and indico. Such ex-
amples as these show how closely any syntactical study is 
connected with the study of meanings of words, for it is 
evident that a change in the meaning of a verb, whether 
by composition or in any other way, has in it possibilit-
ies of modifying or completely changing the construction. 
In the examples lfadeo urbemM and "adeo ad urbemw we cannot 
say that the meaning of "adeo" in the first case is differ-
ent from that in the second. Yet in the first case there 
is a clear syntactical effect of composition. With these 
examples syntactical effect and change in meaning are dis-
tinct. Yet in many cases they overlap and in some cases 
the change of meaning entirely dominates the construction. 
3. The question of the relation of the prefix to 
the object is one that has been raised in regard to the 
25 
dative -case rather than to the'accusative, yet it is e-
qually applicable here. It may he stated as follows: to 
what extent may we say the accusative is connected in sense 
with (1) the prepositional part of the compound (2) the 
verbal part of the compound (3) the meaning of the verb 
as a whole. There is of course room for disagreement in 
any such investigation as personal judgment is largely in 
volved. The groups of verbs treated under 1 will be taken 
up in turn and discussed. 
(a) Of the eighteen verbs receiving a new power of 
taking an accusative (p H ), the accusatives with sixteen 
were connected in sense with the prefix. The accusatives 
with the two verbs expugno and praesto were not, though in 
its original meaning the prae of praesto might clearly be 
connected in sense with an object. 
(b) Of the 33 verbs next discussed (p&j ) only four 
had an object clearly connected in sense with the prefix, 
peroro, obruo, admiror, transcendo. With the other verbs 
the meaning has in some cases been totally changed, as 
with eludo; and it cannot be said that the object is con-
nected with either the prepositional or verbal part of 
the compound. With other verbs as exoro, immuto and con-
26 
cedo the construction of the verb is slightly changed and 
the object is connected, not with the preposition, but 
with the verbal part of the compound. 
(d) Of the transitive verbs appearing with a predic-
ate accusative (pa.3 ). the changed meaning of the verb was 
entirely responsible for the change in construction and 
there is no connection between the prfifix and the new ob-
ject. 
With most of the verbs taking the simple accusative w. 
where no syntactical effect has been produced the object 
is connected in sense with the verbal part of the compound— 
which is in all of these cases a transitive verb form. In 
the example "educite milites" it is clear that "miHtes" is 
connected with "ducere11 and not with "e" and is as much 
its object in sense as if the "e" were not there. The wew 
merely serves to give precision to the verbal idea. The 
English translation may either be fflead the soldiers outn or 
lflead out . the soldier^ yet these are both identical in 
meaning, for we cannot say in the last instance that the 
word "soldier^1 is connected with the "out*1. 
When the prefix adds this extra adverbial idea to the 
transitive verb, it suggests and determines to some degree 
the following construction. Thus in the expression "educ-
27 
ite milites,f the use of the "e" at once suggests the use 
of some prepositional phrase as we castr^1. In the case 
of other verbs the prefix ma;/- suggest or render a dative 
construction more likely as with "impono". Or with some 
compounds of trans and a few other prefixes, the use of a 
secondary accusative may be suggested. The prefix may not 
direct the action of the verb toward other objects, but it 
may reflect back..on the subject of the verb as with occipi<? 
adhibeo "take to one^self11. Or it may be simply intensive 
as with concupio, confringo, efficio, perficio. The pre-
fixes act differently in these respects and the various 
combinations of types of prefixes with types of verbs 
would be an interesting study in itself. "Con" is perhaps 
the most colorless of the prefixes, prefixes like 'ex", which 
usually have separative force, when combined with verbs 
like pugno which have no idea of motion, may have simply 
intensive meaning. 
With the following verbs the object is connected in 
sense with the prefix, contrary to the usual custom of com-
pounds of transitive verbs: adspicio, assequor, attineo, 
afflo, attendo, intueor, intendo, perspicio, incido, sus-
tineo, praetermitto. In many of these cases, as with ad-
28 
spicio, attinec, afflo, intuer, the prefix merely emphasises 
an idea that was in the verb "before* The transitive "spec-
iew itself means to look at, as does "tueor" and the "ad11 
and "in" merely emphasize this meaning. 
In such examples as assequor, perspicio, sustineo, 
incido, the object is connected in sense with the prefix 
by virtue of the fact that the simple part of the verb is 
used in an intransitive sense and does not require an 
object. In English we may say lfread a book through11 in 
which case "read" is transitive with book as its object, 
or we may say, read through a book, where 'read1 is intran-
sitive and '"book11 dependent on "through." The verbs men-
tioned above resemble this last example. Verbs like atten-
dc and intendo probably show an ellipsis of some object as 
^animum" The words formerly connected in sense with the ad 
or in have taken the place of the animum as direct object. 
In the vert "animadverto", "animum" the object cf "verto" 
has been retained and the word connected in sense with the 
"ad" is used as a secondary accusative. Similar ellipses 
cf objects as with intendo and attendo cited above, may 
account for intransitive uses of compounds of transitive 
verbs as abstineo ab; The phrase "abstinere manus ab" is 
found in our examples and the ellipsis of "manus" would be 
an easy one. 
29 
We may make the general statement then with regard to 
the accusative case, that with those verbs made transitive 
hy composition, the object is usually connected with the 
prefix. With the transitive verbs unaffected by combina-
tion the object is usually connected in sense with the verb-
al part of the compound. 
4. Among the verbs that appear with the accusative 
case there are some that appear with a prepositional phrase 
as well and an attempt will be made to distinguish between 
the two uses. The verbs are as follows: adspieio, adeo, at-
tineo, detraho, intueor, ingredior, intendo, contendo, con-
venio. 
With some of these verbs the meaning in the two con-
structions is different. "Contendo cum" means to "contend 
with", "contendo" with the accusative "to compare." "Des-
pero honores" and "despero de ordine" have two slightly 
different uses. "Convenio" has different meanings in trans-
itive and intransitive use. 
Some of these verbs have an occasional intransitive 
use vrfnere there may be ellipsis of an object; detraho, in-
tendo . 
Aspicio takes the accusative in three cases with the 
objects "templum" "ora" "eum". It occurs once with the 
30 
phrase "inter se", possibly for the reason that there is no 
single word to express the double reflexive. 
"Attiixeo" has an exceptional accusative with "nihil." 
With the verbs "adeo" "intue&o" and "ingredior" the 
test of literal and figurative use may be applied. 
Acc. Prep. 
Lit. Pig* Lit. pig 
ade o 2 1 
ingredior 1 2 
intueor 1 1 
Uo general statement can be made however from so few 
examples. For cases where the same verb takes either the 
accusative or dative see pU-^ -
5. Summary. 
a. The results of the above discussion have 
shown that the grammars have given an exaggerated idea of 
the number of intransitive verbs affected by combination; 
that they improperly refer to them as verbs of motion; that 
they fail to name or distinguish between alternate construc-
tions with compounds of intransitives. Here the incomplet-
eness of our examples did not permit the formulation of 
any rule. 
b. Various syntactical effects of composition have 
31 
been noticed; composition may make an intransitive verb 
transitive, or a transitive verb intransitive. With verbs 
either transitive or intransitive in their simple forms, 
the usage generally settles dovm regularly to either the 
one or the other construction. The number of verbs aff-
ected in any way by composition is small; the great major-
ity of compound verbs, are compounds of transitive verbs 
which have not been affected by composition as far as the 
accusative case is concerned." 
c. Composition brings about various changes of mean-
ing which may have no apparent syntactical effect but which 
have the possibilities of completely changing a construc-
tion • 
d. When an intransitive verb has been made trans-
itive by composition the object is regularly connected in 
sense with the preposition. When a transitive verb is com-
pounded the noun is usually connected with the verbal part 
of the compound. 
e • From the results of the investigation taken in 
connection with some of the grammar statements a rule some-
what like the following might be formulated. A few intrant 
itive verbs become transitive when compounded with the pre-
fixes ad, ant<5 con, circum, ex, in, ob, per, prae, praeter, 
32 
sub, trans. All compounded with circum, praeter, and trans;-
many with oh, in, sub and per; a few with ad, ante, con, 
prae and ex. 
h. Dative Case. 
The datives treated in the following discussion will 
he found under the columns marked "dative" and "dative and 
accusative." 
In this treatment of the dative case it has seemed 
"best to keep the datives occuring with intransitive com-
pounds separate from those occurring with transitive com-
pounds in order to note any possible differences between 
the two. Several of the grammars, it has been noticed, 
have made such a distinction, and their lists of prefixes 
for the two vary slightly. After these two divisions have 
been examined separately, however, the results will be com-
bined in order to present a unified view of the case. 
The syntactical effects of composition in the case 
of the dative are similar in kind to those produced in the 
case of the accusative, involving corresponding extensions 
and limitations in the power of the compound verb as con-
trasted with that of the simple verb. The effects are as 
follows: (l) A verb whether transitive or intransitive may 
acquire a new power of taking a dative (2) a verb occas-
ionally taking the dative may after combination more reg-
33 
ularly do so (3) Simple verbs taking a dative may continue 
to do so after combination (4) verbs which in their simple 
form took the dative may after combination be unable to 
do so . 
(1) Of the total number of verbs taking the simple 
dative 28, 23 have acquired a new power of taking the dat-
ive. These are accido, desum, inhio, impendeo, intersum, 
occurro, obsum, praecurro, praesideo, praesum, prosum, suc-
curro, suppeto, supersum; contingo, ignosco, impero, in-
video, obsisto, obtingo, permitto, prospicio, provideo. 
The last nine of these verbs were transitive in their simple 
forms (cf. P2.2.) 
(2) The remaining 5 verbs of the total 28 are com-
pounds of verbs which in their simple form took either the 
dative or another construction, but whose usage after com-
bination has settled down more regularly to the dative. 
These verbs are accedo, concedo, confido, obtempero, sue-
cedo. 
Two examples of the impersonal passive with these 
28 verbs were found, one with ignosco and one with obsisto. 
The following prefixes are found with these verbs; ad, 
con, de, in inter, ob, prae, per, pro, sub, and super. 
Of the total number of verbs taking the dative and 
34 
accusative, 53 in number, 24 have acquired a new power of 
taking the dative; 14 take it more frequently than the 
simple verb, while 7 are verbs which in their simple form 
took the dative of the indirect object regularly along with 
their direct objects. The verb "persuadeo" followed by a 
clause occurs also in the total 53, though perhaps this 
is not fairly onsidered a transitive use. 
It was uncertain whether the datives occurring with 
the following seven verbs, conflo, constituo, comparo, de-
cerno, praestituo, praecido, prorogo, were indirect obg&etc 
or datives of reference. If they were clearly indirect 
objects it could be said that the verbs had received the 
new power of taking the dative. 
(1) The 24. verbs which have acquired a new power of 
taking the dative are afflo, allino, adimo, antepono, con-
firmo, debeo, dependo, eripio, e*torqueo, expendo, ex-pono, 
impertio, impono, iniuro, impero, instituo, inicio, oppono, 
obicio, polliceor, propono, praecipio, praebeo, subicio. 
(2) The 14 verbs taking a dative more frequently 
than their simple forms are aufero, affero, apporto, adiu-
ingo, committo, concedo, conaono, defero, infero, ostendo, 
offero, permitto, praescribo, praefero. These verbs are 
chiefly verbs implying motion, compounds of fero, mitto, 
35 
and iungo. ^he simple verbs fero, porto, mitto, scribo, 
are noted by some of the grammars in their treatment of 
the dative case as verbs which vary in construction between 
the datilve of the indirect object and the accusative of end 
of motion with "ad" or "in*. The grammars usually differ-
entiate between these two constructions on the ground that 
the prepositional phrase is used when the idea of motion 
prevailsT the dative when some other idea predominates. 
With the compound verbs there is a greater tendency to use 
the dative. 
The simple "tendo" takes the dative occasionally, "os-
tendo" frequently. "Concedo" takes the dative a little more 
frequently than wcedon. "Condono" represents a verb of 
another type, the simple form "dono" taking either of two 
constructions, the accusative of the thing and dative of 
the person, or the accusative of the person and the abla-
tive of the thing. With "condono" the first construction 
is the more common. 
(3) The seven verbs whose simple forms regularly take 
the dative are addico, attribuo, commendo, circumdo, den-
untio, indico, trado. 
A passive construction appears with 28 of the verbs 
taking the accusative and dative construction. 
The prefixes occurring with the group accusative and 
36 
dative are as follows: ad, ante, circum, con, de, ex, in, 
ob, per, prae, pro, sub, trans. 
This list of prefixes differs from that with the 
simple dative p by the addition of ante, circum, ex, 
trans; the prefixes inter, and super occurring with verbs 
taking the simple dative do not occur with these verbs tak-
ing the dative and accusative. 
Combining the two divisions of verbs occurring with 
the dative, we have a total of 51 verbs occurring with the 
dative; 47 of these have acquired a new power of taking a 
dative; 19 take it more regularly than before, while #ith 
7 no effect has been noticed. 
Out of the total number of verbs compounded with each 
of the prefixes, the following number appear with the dat-
iye. 
ab 18 verbs 1 dative (5.5^) 
ad 52 " 10 » (18 fo) 
con 73 w 10 » (iZfo) 
circum 7 n 1 M (14 fo) 
de 53 " 6 " (11 f) 
ex 66 w 3 tt (4.5 f) 
in 48 n 11 M (22 f) 
ob 27 " 9 (33 fo) 
37 
per 32 verbs 3 with dative (9 f) 
Pro 22 « 5 n (22 f) 
prae 14 " 9 » (64 f) 
sub 21 M 4 n (14 f) 
trans 5 n 1 w (20 f) 
super 1 w 1 " (100 f) 
(4) The following verbs have lost their power of 
taking the dative; »mitto, abdico, abido, adscribo, admin-
istro, condo, cons^ribo, describo, edico, emit to, exscribo, 
effero, omitto, perdo, perfero, perfero, perscribo, praedo, 
3uffero.. 
As in the ca.se of the accusative with all these verbs 
talcing the dative there are changes of meaning accompanying 
composition which have in them possibilities of completely 
altering the construction. This is especially time in the 
case of those verbs whose prefixes are not connected in 
sense with the dative. (Cf. p. ). "Capio" does not take 
a dative; "praecipio" does, though it is not easy to see 
how the mere addition of the prae necessitates this dative. 
But "praecipio" means to instruct, or teach, and in this 
sense requires an indirect object. The loss of the dative 
in the group last discussed (4) is also due to semantic 
changes. "Condo" does not retain the meaning of the simple 
38 
"do11 11 "to give"—but has acquired a meaning which requires 
only the accusative to complete it. 
3. By comparing the total of 71 verbs occurring with 
the dative with the total number of compound verbs, 452, 
it is evident that the statement of the rule in the gram-
mars gives an exaggerated idea of its importance numerical-
ly. But simply because the scope of a rule is limited, 
it does not follow that it should be abandoned as Lease 
suggests. If it states the facts accurately for only a few 
verbs, it has value. No one has as yet proposed doing away 
with the rule for the accusative on the ground that few 
verbs are made transitive by composition. Before condemniig 
the rule entirely we should examine the verbs with the dat-
ive to see whether or not the dative is connected in sens© 
with the preposition. If they are so connected the rule 
may be modified as Allen suggests to limit the number of 
exceptions. 
Of the 47 werbs acquiring a new power of taking the 
dative 36 had datives closely connected with the prefix: 
accido, afflo, allino, antepono, desum, deteo, eripio, ex-
torqueo, inhio, impendeo, impero, (with dative), invideo, 
impono, inicio, iniuro, impero, (with accusative and dative) 
instituo, impertio, intersum, obsum, occurro, obsisto, ob-
39 
tingo, oppono, obicio, praecurro, prae sum, prae s idee, pros — 
picio, provideo, prosum, propono, succurro, suppeto, sub-
icio, supersum. 11 were affected rather by the meaning of 
the verb as a whole: ademo, contingo, confirmo, dependo, 
expendo, expono, ignos&o, permitto, pollliceor, praecipio, 
praebeo. 
Of the 19 verbs taking the dative more regularly than 
before, 12 had datives connected in sense with the prefix: 
aufero, apporto, adiungo^ accedo, affero, defero, infero, 
ostendo, offero, obtempero, praefero, succedo. The re-
maining 7 were affected by the meaning of the verb as a 
whole: concedo (dat) concedo (dat. & acc.) confido, con-
dono, committo, permitto, praescribo. 
The seven verbs taking the dative in their simple form 
have datives connected in sense as follows: attribuo, ad-
dico, circumdo, indico; those not connected in sense are 
commendo, denuntio, trado. 
Total resul^L: of 74 verbs appearing with the dative 51 
were connected in sense with the preposition. 
According to Allen's examples, the per cent of verbs 
with datives connected in sense with the prefix was a lit-
tle larger than our examples show, but in any case, there 
is an advantage in thus modifying the rule as Allen sug-
40 
gests. If, on the other hand, we abandon the rtilfc alto-
gether, we will Be forced to explain the datives with these 
verbs in other ways, as Lease has advised. The rule for 
the dative with special intransitives in Allen and Green-
ough1 s grammar includes some fourteen or more English words 
whose Latin equivalents the pu^il is to use with the datr 
ive. Of the 23 verbs in our examples acquiring a new power 
of taking a dative, 9 come under the rule for the dative 
with special intransitives; desum, ignosco, impero, invid-
So, obsum, obsisto, prosum, succurro, suppeto. If we a-
bandon the rule for the dative with compounds, the remain-
ing 14 of the 23 verbs must be added to the rule for the 
dative with special intransitives making it twice as clum-
sy as before. On the other hand many of the verbs usually 
given under the rule for special intransitives are compound 
verbs and might well be included under the rule for com-
pounds. Of Lodge's list of 60 verbs of special meanings 
with the dative, 29 are prepositional compounds. 
4. Most of the grammars mention the fact that the 
dative is used with compounds when figurative motion only 
is expressed; to express literal motion a prepositional 
phrase is used. Several of our verbs appear in both con-
structions . 
41 
Dative Brep. Phrase. 
Lit. Fig. Lit. Fig. 
accedo 2 3 5 
aufero 1 7 4 
detraho 1 1 1 
4 11 10 
With the last two examples, however, there is a dis-
tinction between personal and nonpersonal objects. With 
all verbs of separation the dative) when used,is used chief-
ly of personal objects, rarely for reference to things so 
these verbs do not constitute fair tests for literal and 
figurative motion. Though the test with individual verbs 
is the ideal test, the columns dative, dative and accusati 
ive, prepositional phrase, and accusative and prepositional 
phrase may be compared as to literal and figurative motion 
Lit Pig. Lit. Fig. 
Simple Dative Prep, phrase 
1 % 53 f 28 f 21 f 
Dative and Acc. Acc. and Prep. 
17 f 51 f 34 fo 45 f 
We might fairly conclude from this general comparison 
that as the grammars state, the dative is rarely used to 
express literal motion. 
42 
There are only three examples of the same verb taking 
both the dative and the accusative constructions, concedo, 
impero, and permitto. With "concedo" the meaning of the 
two constructions differs as with the simple "cedoy"to yte-
yield to" with the dative; "to yield something" with the 
accusative. With impero taking the dative, there is a 
probable ellipsis of an object clause. "Permitto" in the 
expression "permittebat dolors" is used in a rare intrans-
itive sense. 
5. Summary. Though it has been shown that there is 
a difference in the list of prefixes for the dative and 
dative and accusative, it does not seem practicable on 
this ground alone to treat the two constructions separate-
ly. a rule for a combined treatment might be stated as 
follows: Verbs, both transitive and intransitive when com-
pounded with the prefixes ad, ante, in, inter, ob, per, 
prae, pro, and sub, may take a dative connected in sense w-
with the preposition. Transitive verbs may take the dative 
when compounded with circum, and ab, de, and ex; intrans-
itive verbs when compounded with super. 
The grammar statements are correct as far as our ex-
amples have been able to check them, in saying that literal 
motion is not regularly expressed by the dative case. 
43 
c. Ablative Case. 
The ablatives treated in this discussion will be found 
under the columns marked "ablative" and "accusative and 
ablative". 
The ablative case is perhaps the least important case 
in the treatment of compound verbs. This is due to the 
fact that as a case it is not so closely connected with the 
verb as the dative and accusative are, and consequently, 
composition does not have so great an effect. HOT do these 
effects correspond closely to those in the other two cases 
£or verbs do not regularly "take" the ablative case as 
they do the dative and accusative. There are, of course, 
the five verbs utcr, fruor, fungor, potior and vescor, oc-
curring regularly with the ablative, but the ablatives are 
usually explained as instrumental. 
1. As these verbs invariably appear with this ab-
lative, however, any change or lack of chane in their com-
pounds will be noted. The second effect noticeable is 
that certain verbs Compounded with ab, de, and ex may take 
the simple ablative of separation, instead of the preposi-
tional phrase taken by a simple verb. There are also var-
ious changes of meaning due to composition which may en-
able a verb to take an ablative of a different type than 
44 
before. These effects will he discussed in turn. 
Compounds of two of the five verbs occurring regular-
ly with the ablative, abut or and perfruor are found with 
the ablative in our examples so there is evidently no re-
sult of composition. And if the ablative with the simple 
verbs is an instrumental, the ablative with the compounds 
can be explained in the same way. A statement in Hale's 
Grammar, sec. 429, includes all compounds of these verbs 
under the rule for the five simple verbs. 
The second effect merely illustrates economy of speech 
the prefix of the verb sufficiently defining the meaning 
to render the prepositional phrase unnecessary. This is 
true only of separative prefixes. There are, of course, 
prepositional phrases of agent introduced by "ab" and 
phrases of manner introduced by Vum," but none of these can 
be expressed by the simple ablative simply because the 
verb they depend on is compounded with "ab" or "cum." Of 
the verbs occurring under the head "accusative and abla-
tive" there are only 7 verbs with 12 occurrences that are 
followed by a separative ablative. All but one, suffero, 
are compounds of ab, de or ex. The other verbs are, auf-
ero, abdico, absolvo, deicio, eripio, everto. In the case 
of two examples of aufero and the one with suffero the 
45 
the name of a town or small island is used in the ablative — 
a construction the simple verb might take. In the case of 
the other verbs we can say that the fact of combination 
probably influenced the use of the simple ablative, though 
in no case literal motion is expressed. 
Of the verbs occurring with the simple ablative in 
addition to abut or and perfruor, but two, profugio and dec-
edo have the separative idea, and with both of these the 
names of cities are used so no result of combination can 
be observed. The other examples with the ablative are 
either ablatives of means or of manner which could be used 
without a preposition with the simple verb. There is one 
example of Hintersumtf whose ablative waft be explained by an-
alogy to the ablative with "refert.11 
In all the cases where any effect has been noticed 
the ablative is connected in sense with the preposition 
and the opposite is true in all cases where no effect is 
noticed. 
2. The meanings of several of these verbs with the 
ablative have been so changed that they may take ablatives 
of a type different from that of the simple verb. "Adficio" 
takes an ablative of a different kind from that taken by 
wf aciow --wdef endo,f from that taken by wfendo,f Many verbs 
made transitive by composition are enabled to take an ab-
46 
lative of means, obsideo, obruo, expugno. Such changes 
are almost limitless and it is beyond the scope of this 
paper to discuss them at any length. 
3. Summary. 
A general statement of the fact that with compounds 
of ab, de and ex literal separation can be expressed by 
the simple ablative would be an adequate treatment of com— 
pound verbs under the ablative case. 
C. Conclusion. 
The different results of the investigation have been 
summed up under the different case treatments. While with 
a general investigation of this kind only general results 
have been obtained, at least the necessary foundation for 
more detailed treatment has been laid. A collection of 
compound verbs occurring with the dative has been suggested 
in order to secure more satisfactory lists of prefixes for 
both dative and dative and accusative constructions, and 
a similar collection of compounds of intransitive verbs 
would make more accurate statement of the rule for the ac-
cusative possible. An historical treatment of these verbs 
would be an interesting study as there is evidence that 
the usage changes in the different periods. Any theory 
as to the grammatical or localistic origin of the dative 
case could be supported only by such historical treatment, 
47 
but it is doubtful whether the earliest literature carries 
us back far enough. A study of semantic changes due to 
composition would also be interesting, though the results 
of such a study are not very tangible, and the investiga-
tion would consist in examination of individual words rath-
er than groups of words, and consequently it would be dif-
ficult to draw any general conclusions. There are also 
possibilities of a profitable comparison of poetic and 
prose usage with these verbs. 
48 
Explanation of Tables. 
The verbs were arranged under the columns in the tab-
les according to their actual occurrence in the reading. 
Only constructions that were thought to have some bearing 
on the subject and were closely connected with the verb, 
were retained with the verb. Tor instance, datives of ref-
erence which can be added to almost any verb, and which de-
pend on the whole sentence rather than the verb alone, were 
not noted, and the verb is consequently found elsewhere thai 
in the columns containing the dative. The same is true of 
prepositional phrases, though the great majority of these 
were kept for possible future use. The datives occurring 
with transitive compounds of ab, de, and ex, treated by 
many of the grammars under the separate head of "Dative 
of Separation" and regarded by them as Datives of Refer-
ence, have been considered as indirect objects in this pap-
er. It seemed illogical to separate these compounds from 
other compounds taking the dative. 
The active and passive forms of the verbs are kept sep-
arate. Those to the left of the column are the active oc-
currences—those to the right of the + sign are passives. 
When the object is not directly expressed with the 
compound verb, but is clearly understood from the object 
49 
of some adjoining verb, the example is given in parenthesis 
after the actual occurrence. Uames of cities in the ac-
cusative and ablative cases are in brackets, as they form 
exceptions to the usual rules for "limit of motion" and 
"place from which." 
Verbs which are apparent compounds, but whose simple 
forms are not in use, are given in a group at the end of 
the tables. They have not been treated in the main dis-
cussion, as necessarily a great part of the discussion 
deals with the meaning and construction of the compound 
verb as contrasted with that of the simple. 
Column "Dative" 
Under this column have been included: (l) One examp-
le of confido where the dependent noun may be in either 
the dative or ablative case; (2) Three examples of the form 
obstiti, which may be the perfect of either obsto or ob-
sisto--probably the latter, as obsto is not found else-
where; (3) One example of obtingo in impersonal use. 
Colun "Accusative-Dative". 
Five of the verbs under this column--adimo, confirmo, 
expono, impero, persuadeo—have an object clause in place 
of an accusative. The nouns with adimo, eripio, and au-
50 
fero, could be ablatives in form, but as they were for the 
most part personal objects, they were considered as dat-
ives. The nouns with three verbs, eripio, dependo, and com-
paro, might be either dative? or £ genitive^ depending on 
the direct object. 
Column "Clause". 
Under the column "Clause" have been included substan-
tive objective clauses, as ut clauses; indirect questions, 
infinitives and accusatives in indirect discourse, and 
complementary infinitives. 
Column "Accusative and Prepositional Phrase." 
Under the column "Accusative and Prepositional Phrase" 
occurs one example of an "ut" object clause with "efflag-
ito"; one example of an adverb of place with intendo, (quo) 
considered as equivalent to a prepositional phrase; and 
one example of "nihil" as an object to "pertineo." 
Column "Prepositional Phrase." 
Under the column "Prepositional Phrase" occurfc one 
example of an adverb of place (hue) with "incido" and one 
example of "quo" with "intendo." 
Column "No Construction." 
Under the column "No Construction" have been included 
all active forms of the verb occurring with no dependent 
51 
case or prepositional phrase. Impersonal verbs are also 
included. 
Column "Two Constructions" 
Six verbs appearing with two constructions, and there-
fore impossible of classification in either of two columns, 
are placed in the column "Two Constructions." They are: 
Two examples of "defero" the first with both a "de" and 
an "ad" phrase, the second with an "in" phrase and a dat-
ive; "intersum" with an "in" phrase and a dative; "trado" 
with an "in" phrase and a dative, "eripio" with a "de" 
phrase and a dative; two examples of "transfero" both with 
"ab" and "ad" phrases; two examples of "extorqueo" both 
with "ex" phrases and datives. 
51a. 
In the following table the letters will be used at the head 
of the eollumns with meanings as follows: a = dative; b = dative 
and accusative; c = accusative only; d = passive; e = clause; 
f = accusative and ablative; g = accusative and preposition; h = 
prepositional phrase; i = ablative; j = no construction; k - two 
constructions; 1 = two accusatives. 
a b c d e f g h i j k : 
abdico 3 
abduco 1 1 
abdo +1 
abeo 2 1 
abhorreo 2 
abigo 1 
abicio 2 1 -V3 
abiudico 1 1 
abripio 1 
atbscondo 2 
absolvo 1 10 + 2 
abstineo 2 
absum ^ ® 
o 
abutor 
amitto 2 2 1 + 1 
aufero 1 5 2 + $ [2] 6+5 
1 
a 
Aufugio 
avarto 
antepono 
antepono 
accedo 1 
accelero 
accerso 
accido 5 
accipio 
accomodo 
accurro 
addico 
addo 
adduco 
adeo 
adhibeo 
adimo 
adipiscor 
adiuvo 
adiungo 
administro 
admiror 
u 
-u 
d 
i i 4-
0 
g h J 
1 
52 
t i i 
l+i 
-1+4-
1 
1 
11 3 
1+2 
3 
2 
1 
1 
5 
3 
1 
4+ $ a. 
2 
2+1 1 
3 
1 
-t-3 2+7 
f i i | t I 1 Lj M t ? ? J j a b c d e f g h 
adraitto 1 i 
admoneo 1 
adorn o 
adpropinquo 2 
adquiro 1 
adscribo 1 i 
adsedeo ^ 
adservo 1 
adspiro 1 
adspicio 1 
adsum 1 1 17 
ad ve^ b-o 1 
advesperasco 1 
affero 7+1 1 1 
afficio 3+2 
affligo 1 2 
afflo 1 
agnosco 1 
allego 1 & 1 
allino 1 
appareo 1 
apparo 1 
appello 2 2 1 2 3+1 
appono 1 2 1+1 
apporto 
ascendo 
ascisco 
assequor 
assisto 
attendo 
attineo 
attingo 
attritouo 
concupic 
concurso 
condemno 
condo 
condcno 
confero 
conficio 
confido 1 
confingo 
conf irino 
confiteor 
conflagro 
b 
1 
G 
1 
d 
1 
e f 
V $ a 
4 
6 + fi. 
2+(3) 
1+2 
1 1 
4 15 
3 3 
+ 1 
2+ 1 
2+ $ 3 
1 
1+3 1 
l+(3) 
3 
1 
9+4 
1 + 1 +1 1 
1 
confligo 
conflo 
confringo 
confugio 
conicio 
coniungo 
conqueror 
conauiesco 
conscribo 
consecro 
consentio 
consequor 
conservo 
coerceo A 
cogito 
cognosco 
cogo 
colligo 
colloco 
colluceo 
commemoro 
commendo 
4* 
a 
18 
1 
g h 
3 
1 
1+2 
2+4 
1 
3+ (3) 
3 12 
2 
5 3 
23-$ 8 
4 1 
1 1 
4 
6 
5 
7 
2 
+ 1 
1 
+1 
5 
4 1 
1+1 
4+2 
5 
2 
10 3 2 
2 1 
committo 
commoneo 
commoveo 
commoror 
commuto 
comparo 
compello 
compilo 
compono 
comprehendo 
comprimo 
concedo 1 
concido 
concurro 
concipio 
concito 
consido 
consisto 
consolor 
conspicio 
consto 
constituo 
*b 
5 
c 
1 
1 
9 
oL ^ 
d e 
5 4 
•v 
a 
f 
o 
g 
l 
+-1 
2+5 3 
1+3 2+'j) 6 
1 
1 
2 
3 
1 
ES 
3 
1 
1 1 
5 2 
1 
-fl 
1 
+ 2 
- M 
1+1 
1 
1 
+1 
1 
2 
1 
1+2 
IS 5+5 
« f 
3 0 
1 
d 
c d e f g h 
consumo 2 
contemno 6 1 
contendo I i 1 4 
conticeo 
contineo 1 1+5 1+1 
contingo 2 
contraho 1 1 
convenio 1+ 8 
converto 1 4+2 
convinco JL -f-3 
convoco 1 1 1 
coorior 
corrigo 3 1 
corripio 1 
corroboro 1 -V* 1 
corrumpo 1 4 1 
corruo 
circumdo 1 2 1 
circumcludo 2 
circumsedeo 1 6 
circumscribo 1 
a b c d e f g 
circumspicio 1 
circumsto 3 
circumvenio I I + 1 1 
dealbo 3 
debeo + 3 15 
decedo 
decerno 4 1 3 1+1 1+3 
decido 1 
declaro 1 1 
deduco 2 1 2+5 
defetiscor 1 
dafendo 13 b 4+1 2 
defero 3 1 7*4 
defetigc 1 
deficio 
defigc 2 
definio 1 
deflagro 1 
deicio 2 1 1+1 
delecto 5 1 
delegc 
deligo 1+3 
<x ^r <L i J 
delibero - 1 " ^ f ^ f 
deminuo + 2 
demigro 2 
demonstro 3 2 4 
demo^ fffc o 1 
denuntio 2+1 1 
depello 4 1+5 
dependo 1 
ec depulor 3 
deprecor 2 
deprehendo 5 1 
deploro 2 
depono 0j) 2 1 
deporto 2 
deposco 4 & ] 
derelinquo 1 
derideo 1 
derive 1 
describe 1 1 +1 
desero 8 1 
desino 
designo 9 1 
desisto 1 1 
destituo 1 
a b c d e f g h 
despero 1 2 1 1 
despicio l 
desum 7 
detestor 1 
deterreo (l) 2 1 
detraho 1 2 1+1 l 
deverto 
i 
devoro 1 
deyersor 2 
devito 1 (l) 
devoveo -/- 1 
1± 
l J J 
edico 6 1 1 
edo 3 
edoceo 1 
educo 5 1 3 
effero 1 3 
efficio 3 1 
efflagito 1 
effligo 1 
effreno 1 
effugio 3<3) 
egredior 3 + Q 
emano 
emorior 
erigo 2 
eripio 1+9 5 
erumpo 
eveho 
evenio 
everto 
evoco 1 
evado 
evolo 
evomo 1 
exaggero 
exardeo 
exaudio 2 
Y 
J 
r * 
61 
a b c d e f g h 
eicio 4 5 1 5+4 
elabor ' * 
elaboro 1 1 
eligo 1 1 + 1 
eludo 1 1 
emergo 
emit to 3 1+1 
1 
1 1 
-1-1 
2 2+1 
1 
j J 
M 
1 
3 1 
exeo 
excedo 
exerceo 
exhaurie 
exigo 
existimo 
exoro 
exorno 
expello 
expendo 
expio 
exploro 
expono 
exporto 
expecto 
explico 
extermino 
extorqueo 
1 f i < T ! 1 i t % I £ & g h i 0 k 1 
4 11 
1 
excido 2 
excito 1 2 1 l+l 
excipio 2 
excludo 3 1 1 
excogicjft 3 
excurro 1 
1 1 
8 6 2+1 
2 8 1 + 1 1 3+5 
1 
1 
1 
1+5 2 3 + 1 4+7 
2 
17 3 1 2 
3 + $ 1 
1 
ignosco 
imbibo 
immitto 
exsto 
exuro 1 
e^tinguo 2 2 
eructo 1 
1 1+1 
immuto 1 
impendeo 5 
impello 
impertio +1 
impero 1 
impetro 
impleo 1 
imploro 4 
impono 1 
inattdio 
in^crepuo 
1+2 3 2 
l+(3) 2 
a b c d e f g h i j k 
expromo -+X 
expugno 1 1 1 
exscribo 2 
exsisto 1 5 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
j 
a 
incTdo 
o 
incido 
incipio 
incendo 
incolo 
includo 
indico 
indueo 
ineo 
infero 
inficio 
infiteor 
inflamno 
ingravesco 
ingredior 
inhio 1 
inicio 
iniuro 
inlustro 
inquiro 
inscribe 
insiwlo 
inspecto 
c 
1 
a- S 3 3 t H I J j 
d e f g h i j k 1 
3 
1 
2+1 3 
1 
2 
3+<i) 
1 
2 
2 
2 
4-2 
1 * 
+ 2 
1+1 
1 
1+2 1 
4 -t-i 
+-l 
+-i 
1 
CL C 
instituo i 2 I 
instruo V I 
insusuro 
intendo 
intueor 1 
invado 1 
inveterasco 
investigo 3 
invideo 1 
irruo 
invenio 1 14 
intercedo 
intercludo 1 
intereo 
interficio 4 15 
interimo 1 
intellego 7 2 
interpello 
interpono 3 4 
interrogo 3 1 
intersum 
introduco 1 3 
+1 
30 
f i 1 I i j i *' £ - t 4 +1 2 
1 
+ 1 
1 1 
1 
+-2 
1 
1 
2 
1 1 
1 5 1 
66 
obeo 3 1 
obicio 1 
oblino + 1 
obligo 1 \Z 
obruo +1 
observo 1 
obsideo 1 2 +2 1 
obsigno l+(3) 1 + 1 + 1 
obsisto 2+3 
obsum 1 
obstringo 1 
obstux>esco 1 
obtineo 4 1 
obtempero 1 1 
obtingo 3 1 
occido 3 
occludo 1 
occupo 2 
occurro 1 
offendo 1 1 
offero 1+3 
omit to 4 2 
10 1 
I U I i [ ! M i a b c d e f g h i i k l 
d e f g h i j 
oppeto 1 
oppono i 
opprimo 3 7 + 4 ± 
oppugno i+ ^  3 
ostendo 5-$ 3 12 1 T +2 
percipio (1) 2 
percrebesco 
percutio 1 
perdo (2) 1 
perdueo 2+1 
pereo 2 2 4 
perfero 5 1 
perficio 5 1 1 
perfruor 2 
perfundo +1 
perfringo 1 1 
pergo 1 
perhorresco 2 
permaneo 1 3 
permitto 1 + 1 1 $ $ 
permiseeo (l) 
"i 2 8 1 
a b c d e f g h 
permcveo 2 -fi 
pernego 
peroro 1 
perpetior 1 
perrumpo 1 
perscribo 2 2 
persequor 5 1 1 
perspicio 6 1 1 
persuadeo 1 1 
perterreo +2 
pertimeo 1 
pertineo 1 12 
perturbo 1 1 1 
pervado 1 
pervenio jl] 
polliceor 2 1 1 
prodeo 
prodo (3) 2 1 
producc 
profero 7+0) 8 
proficio 2 
11 
2 
3+C} 3 1 1 
1 1+1 
1 5 
f < 8 I 
a ^ 
a "b c d e f 
profiteor 3 
prof ligo jl^ 
profmgio 
69 
s d 
profundo 2 
progredicr 3* ^ 
prohibeo 2 1 2 
proicio 1 
pronuntio 2 1 
propello 1+1 
propono 3+1 2+(1J 
prorogo 1 
proscribo 5 
prosequor 3 1 
prospicio 2 1 1 1 2 
prosterno 1$ 
prosum 2 
.,rovideo 4+ (1 5 8 1+1 2 
praebec 
praecido 
praecipio 
praecurro 
a 
praedico 
praedo 
praefero 
praemitto 
praemoveo 
praescribo 
praesidio 1 
praestituo 
praesto 
praeaum 4 
prafctermitto 
praetereo 
g^ Jtboo 
subeo 
aubicio 
subigo 
subiungo 
sublevo 
subscribo 
subsortior 
-d 
c 
2 
0 t 
e f 
-+1 
# 3 
+ 2 
» 
7 3 1 
5 4 
2 
1 
2 
41 
1+1