ings which it has in the examples. We begin with the preposition κατά. == The primary meaning of kará is down. Now, all downward motion has a natural and fixed point, where it terminates; namely, the surface of the earth. Here the falling stone and the falling flakes of snow stop; and here, when it has found the lowest possible point, the running brook ceases to flow. As, therefore, all downward motion has in nature a fixed point of termination, it follows, conversely, first, that all actions which are contemplated purely with regard to their termination in space may naturally be denoted by the preposition that signifies down. Hence, Katanλéw = to sail to land, because that is the natural point where the voyage terminates; катаπéμж∞ = to send from the inland to the sea-coast, because there the journey must end; karakλeiw to shut, as a door, because the door-post is the fixed point where the motion ceases ; καταπορεύομαι to come back, that is, to the point which is regarded as the person's restingplace; karáλaμis a reflection, because the light has met an object and illuminated it. Secondly, actions contemplated merely with regard to their termination, though not in space, are naturally expressed by aid of this preposition. Hence καтαтéμvoto cut in pieces, that is, till the cutting is done; kareσbiw= to eat up, consume, that is, until the action ceases because there is nothing left to eat; Karapeúyw = to take refuge, to escape, that is, to flee (peúyo), until the action comes to its natural end, which may either be by reaching some place where the pursuer cannot follow, and then it means to take refuge; or, it may be, by distancing the pursuer, and then it means to escape. = From the foregoing analysis it is seen why κará, more than any other preposition, gives an intensive, and often a transitive force to the verbs with which it is connected. Other prepositions, as ní, πpós, point to an object in connection with the verb, but they denote some more specific relation than Kará, and consequently do not so often give objective force to the verb. In this connection, we recognize the ground of If it is said that κará here means down, then the lexicon is wrong in saying that Kareσliw means to eat up. The two expressions are perfectly distinct. The preposition up, here, has reference to the consumption of the object, the preposition down to some implied effort on the part of the agent. the usage of kará signifying according to, in conformity with, as κατὰ φύσιν, κατὰ τύχην. As down is the natural direction of things in space, every action that is done naturally, fitly, in its own sphere, may properly have this quality signified by the preposition down; thus κατὰ τὸ ἀληθές, κατὰ τὸ δίκαιον, and other like expressions. This analysis will rescue from the frigid interpretation that is sometimes given them a class of words in which Kará conveys the idea of disparagement, disapproval, condemnation ; as κατακρίνω = to condemn; KaradoKew to think against one. It has been said that, in this class of words, Kará has its primitive meaning, down. This is, at least, an unnatural interpretation, and entirely gratuitous. We have seen, that even in regard to actions which happen in space, kará often loses its primary, and bears a derived, meaning. In actions purely moral, then, we should much more naturally expect to find this derived signification. The word katakpívw signifies, strictly, to make one the object of a discriminating judgment; and this comes to be equivalent to condemn, by a well known mental law; namely, that acts of judgment are called forth not by what is in harmony with ourselves, but by what in some way offends us. It is not the innocent whose conduct is marked for special notice, but the guilty; hence, an act of judgment is, in general, an act of blame. If with these brief indications of a logical treatment of the preposition, we open the lexicon, and examine the mass of explanations arrayed under the word, we shall see at once the want of a better method, and shall find more or less that is erroneous, and calculated only to mislead the student. The following is an instance of this : “ τοξεύειν κατά τινος, κατὰ σкоTоÙ, etc., to shoot at, because the arrow falls down upon its mark." Nothing can be worse for the student's mind than such pretended explanations as this. They cheat him of the knowledge they ought to impart, and what is worse, they substitute an absurdity in the guise of knowledge in its place. The notion of down has not the least share in the interpretation of the phrase in question. Grant that the arrow does descend somewhat before it reaches the mark, still this descent is so inconsiderable that it could form no appreciable part of the picture to the observer's eye; consequently, it could never have suggested the necessity of employing a word to describe it. The true interpretation has already been suggested; Kará is employed because the mark is the point at which the action is to terminate; and the genitive case is used, because the designed, and not the actual, termination is asserted. We proceed now to examine the uses of the preposition ává in connection with its primary signification as applied to things in space. The original meaning of ává is up. All upward motion has a natural and fixed point of departure; namely, the surface of the earth. From this as its starting-point it extends into space without any definite limit, or point of termination. All upward motion, then, has a definite beginning, and no definite termination; it follows, therefore, first, that actions in space which start from a fixed and known point, and pass into indefinite regions, may naturally be expressed by the aid of this preposition; as avanλéw = to sail from port to sea, from a fixed and known point of departure into an indefinite region; ávaßaivo to go from the coast into the interior of a country, applied especially to an army landing, and making its progress into an unknown region; avoiyw to open, as a door. Secondly, actions contemplated as commencing will naturally be described by the aid of ȧvá; as ȧvakaiw to kindle, to rouse; ȧvodúpoμai to break out into wailing; ȧvaxopeú∞ = to begin a choral dance. Thirdly, as the natural motion of things is downward, an action which opposes a thing in its natural motion may be denoted by this preposition; as dva*povw to check, as a horse by drawing the reins, or as a . ship by reversing the motion of the oars. By extending this idea, we come naturally to the notion of repeated action; for if the opposing force be sufficiently increased, it will stop the motion of the thing it opposes, and reverse it, causing it to retrace its former course; hence, in the fourth place, dvá gives the idea of repeated action; as ȧvaμerpéw = to measure again; ávaμáxopauto renew the fight; avaxwpéw to go back. In the case of both these prepositions we have taken no notice of instances in which they have their primary signifi cation, these being too obvious to require remark. ἀνοδύρομαι ἀναμάχομαι = In some words, the force of ȧvá and xará in composition seems at first view to be nearly the same; but here a close examination will show that each has its peculiar force. Thus, avaipé and kabaιpéw may both mean to destroy; but the former means to destroy by displacing, the latter by deVOL. LXIV. No. 135. 33 molishing. Consequently, whenever the existence of a thing depends solely on its position and relations, its annihilation may be expressed by avaipéw; for in that case, to remove is to annihilate ; thus, δημοκράτειαν αναιρεῖν, not καθαιρεῖν. 50, 100, κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, and ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν, may both mean through the city; but the former expression would have reference to the completion of the action, while the latter would refer to its progress from the starting-point; the former would naturally be used if the persons were acquainted with the city, the latter, if they were strangers; the former with the aorist tense, the latter with the imperfect. These are only indications, in a single instance, of those nice distinctions in language which meet the observant scholar at every step of his progress. They suggest to us, if we may so call it, the intense vitality of language, that it is organized and living to its minutest fibres; and dictionaries and grammars, after the most elaborate classification, can give us only the lifeless parts, instead of the breathing whole. Without pursuing the subject before us at length, we will add a few examples, showing the importance, in the treatment of the prepositions, of a rigorous deduction from the primitive signification. The prepositions Tepi and irép both govern the genitive, and both mean for; as, repì dógns, for glory; vèp Nevepias, for freedom; but each word retains here the traces of its original meaning. As Tepi signifies about, it describes our action for a thing to which we have no special or exclusive right, just as our position in space about a thing does not prevent others from holding a similar position. But nép is exclusive; it describes action for that to which we have a special right, for what is rightfully our own, as standing over a thing is a natural indication that it is ours. Thus, Demosthenes says the war, at its beginning, was περὶ τοῦ τιμωρήσασθαι Φίλιππον ; but at the close, it was ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ παθεῖν αὐτοὺς κακῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Φιλίππου, because the latter was in its nature a thing for themselves to do exclusively of all other persons; the former, others might do as well as they. When these prepositions have other significations than for, they still show on analysis distinct traces of their original meaning. Thus, in speaking of the judges of Socrates, Xenophon says, "In whatever things it was not manifest how he thought, — οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν, ὑπὲρ τούτων περὶ αὐτοῦ παραγνῶναι, -it is no wonder that on these points they misjudged about him." As that on, or over, which (inép) a man stands is essential to his position, the preposition nép is here used to mark the permanent relation between Socrates and certain points of duty and belief, which relation made up his character; while the transient relation of his judges to him is denoted by Epi. The prepositions dó and napá, both with the genitive case, signify from; but as napá, originally signifying beside of, denotes a more intimate relation than aπó, it is used when a thing is naturally resident in the person from whom it proceeds, as an inheritance from a father, commands from a sovereign; while aró, meaning off from, denotes a merely superficial relation, and is used when one thing comes accidentally, as it were, from another. The prepositions úró and pós may both, with the genitive case, point to the remote agent, the person who causes the action; but ió merely denotes that the action takes place under the person's power; pós brings the remote and immediate agent face to face, and pictures the latter as receiving the command from the mouth of the other. Hence, the whole sad picture presented in the πρὸς ἄλλης ἱστὸν ὑφαίνοις of Homer ; where the captive Andromache must stand before the face of her mistress, take her commands, and go and do her bidding. The preceding are but a few instances, which a full discussion of the subject would multiply, showing the importance of a strict logical method in treating of this part of the language. When we say, that this method is essential in order to make sure that the ordinary definitions of words shall be given correctly in the lexicon, it may seem that we assume too No amount much; the position, however, is strictly true. of toil and care will save the lexicographer from palpable mistakes, unless he has the light of guiding principles. If he starts with an indefinite notion of a preposition, and does not, by logical forecast, keep the field of inquiry narrow before him, his lexicon will show confusion through the whole Nowhere circle of words into which the preposition enters. more than here should the inquirer remember, that prudens quæstio dimidium est scientiæ. The verb to weep We have an illustration of this in hand. avakλaíw is defined in the larger lexicon before us, aloud, to burst into tears; also, with the accusative, to weep for, bewail, both in Herod. 3. 14." Now the natural question suggested by the analysis of the preposition is, Is the -- |
