De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, Book III (De arte grammatica), part 4 of 4 (about §§ 309-326)
The rules of the noun having been run through, it is fitting to speak of what follows, and the canons of verbs. There are five kinds of verbs: active, passive, neuter, common, deponent. The active is that which ends in O and has the signification of doing, as lego, scribo. The passive ends in R and shows the signification of suffering, as scribor, caedor. The neuter ends in O and has the full signification neither of agent nor of patient, as sudo, dormio; for you cannot tell whether one acts or suffers. The common and deponent end in R, but they differ in this, that in the common there are two significations, of agent and of patient. For when we say osculor, you do not know whether I kiss you or am kissed by you. In the deponent, however, the effect is either that of an agent, as luctor, or of a patient, as morior. There is also the impersonal, as sudatur, curritur, which is so called because, while it contains all persons, it has none certain.
The moods of verbs are five, but some have said six, others seven, others eight, others nine, a few ten. Those who say five name these: indicative, imperative, optative, conjunctive, infinitive, which we also call perpetual. Those who give six add the promissive; those who give seven, the impersonal; those who give eight, the interrogative; those who give nine, the subjunctive, and separate it from the conjunctive; those who give ten ascribe also the hortative. But reason does not admit these as superfluously added. The conjugations, which the Greeks call syzygiai, are undoubtedly three, and are shown in active or neuter verbs in the second person of the present tense. For whenever the final syllable ends in -AS, it is the first; in -ES, the second; in -IS, the third: as cantas, vides, audis—if this third be lengthened; for if it be shortened it is curris. The verbs of all these conjugations in the first position admit before the last letter only three vowels, E, I, V, as sedeo, lanio, irruo, and all consonants except F, K and Q, as libo, vaco, cado, lego, traho, impello, amo, cano, scalpo, curro, lasso, peto, nexo. To these are added I and V placed in the position of consonants, as aio, adiuvo. But they do not exclude F either, since we say triumfo, although it comes from the Greek and is rather written with P and H. Besides, from what we say, faris and fatur, they would have the first person of the verb be for. And about the letter Q there is doubt. For we say eliquo and aequo, and in verbs of this kind the letter V can hold neither the place of a vowel, as in irruo, nor of a consonant, as in adiuvo.
In declining all these conjugations there are thirty-six forms, excluding defectives, impersonals and inchoatives. The verbs of the first conjugation, which are ended either by the letter O with no other vowel preceding, or with any vowel preceding, have four forms. The verbs of the second conjugation have six forms. The verbs of the third conjugation, shortened, have twenty forms thus: whatever verbs end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letters -IO have six forms, those in -VO have two forms, those which end in the letter O with no vowel preceding have twelve forms. The verbs of the third conjugation, lengthened, which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letters -IO have five forms. Whatever verbs of whatever conjugation end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letter O, either with no vowel preceding or with any other, their declension is contained in this number of forms, of each of which I shall speak.
The verbs of the first conjugation end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, either in the letter O with no other vowel preceding, as amo, canto, or in -EO, as commeo, calceo, or in -IO, as lanio, satio, or in -VO, as aestuo, continuo. The verbs of the first conjugation end in the imperative mood, present tense, in the second person, in a lengthened letter A, as amo, ama, canto, canta. In the infinitive mood, from the imperative, they end in the syllable -re, the lengthening remaining, as ama, amare, canta, cantare. Likewise the first conjugation: in the indicative mood, past tense, the perfect form, the syllable -vi is added to the imperative, the lengthening remaining, as commeo, commea, commeavi, lanio, lania, laniavi, satio, satia, satiavi; in the same mood and tense, in the inchoative form, the syllable -bam is added to the imperative, as commea, commeabam, lania, laniabam, aestua, aestuabam. The first conjugation in the same mood [and tense], in the recollective form, takes the syllables -veram added to the imperative, as commea, commeaveram, lania, laniaveram, aestua, aestuaveram. In the first conjugation, in the same mood, in the future tense, the syllable -BO is added to the imperative, as commea, commeabo, lania, laniabo, aestua, aestuabo. Those which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letter O with no other vowel preceding are brought out in the past tense, in the perfect and pluperfect forms, in four ways. The first has a rule like those which in the indicative present first person have a vowel in the penultimate, as amo, ama, amavi, amabam, amaveram, amabo, amare. The second is that which changes O to I and lengthens the penultimate in the perfect, and the third from the last in the pluperfect [V], as adiuvo, adiuvi, adiuveram. The third has indeed a rule like the first mode, but with the letter A removed it separates: seco, secui, secabam, secabo, secare. For it makes in the perfect form secui and in the pluperfect secueram. The fourth is that which is brought forth by reduplication of the syllable, as sto, sta, steti, steteram, stabo, stare. Like this is do, da, dedi, dabam, dederam, dabo, dare, in which the letter A is shortened, against the rule, in dabam, dabo, dare.
The verbs of the second conjugation end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letters -EO, as video, vides, moneo, mones. The verbs of the second conjugation end in the imperative mood, present tense, second person, in a lengthened E, as video, vide, moneo, mone. The verbs of the second conjugation in the infinitive mood end in the syllable -re added to the imperative, the lengthening remaining, as vide, videre, mone, monere. The verbs of the second conjugation in the indicative mood, past tense, in the perfect and pluperfect forms, are declined in seven ways. The first keeps the form of the rule. For this is the form when a verb of the second conjugation in the indicative mood, past perfect, ends in the syllable -vi added to the imperative, the lengthening remaining, as deleo, delevi, and in the pluperfect in the syllables -VERAM added to the imperative, as dele, deleveram. The second is when the first person of the indicative mood ends in -ERAM (ui and ueram). The third is when E and O are changed into V and I, as caleo, calui, moneo, monui, calueram, monueram. The fourth is when E and O are changed into I and the preceding consonant into S, as mulgeo, mulsi, mulseram. The fifth is when E and O are changed into I, but the preceding consonant is changed into X, as luceo and lugeo, luxi, luxeram. The sixth is that which is brought forth by doubling the syllable, as spondeo, spopondi, spoponderam. The seventh is that which resolves into the form of passives, as audeo, ausus sum, es, est, ausus eram, eras, erat. The verbs of the second conjugation in the indicative mood, in the inchoative form, end in the syllable -bam added to the imperative, the lengthening remaining, as vide, videbam, mone, monebam. The verbs of the second conjugation in the indicative mood, future tense, end in the syllable -BO added to the imperative, the lengthening remaining, as vide, videbo, mone, monebo. The verbs of the third conjugation, shortened, end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, either in the letter O with no other vowel preceding, as lego, legis, peto, petis; or in -IO, as rapio, rapis, facio, facis; or in -VO, as induo, irruo. The verbs of the third conjugation, shortened, which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letter O with no other vowel preceding, end in the imperative mood, present tense, second person, in a shortened E, with a consonant of the first position preceding, as lego, lege, peto, pete; those in V and O keep V and E in the imperative, as induo, indue, irruo, irrue. The verbs of the third conjugation, shortened, in the infinitive mood end in the syllable -re added to the imperative, the shortening remaining, as lege, legere, pete, petere. The verbs of the third conjugation which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letters -IO, bring forth the past perfect and pluperfect in six ways. The first follows the whole regular form: this is the one that turns the rule of the imperative mood into lengthening and takes in the perfect the syllable -vi and in the pluperfect -veram, as cupio, cupivi, cupiveram. The same, however, sometimes with the letter V removed and I doubled in the perfect form, and in the pluperfect shortened, are pronounced cupii, cupieram. The second way is that which in the verb of the first position lays aside a letter and lengthens the preceding syllable, whether with the vowel changed or persevering: facio, feci, fugio, fugi; in the pluperfect form, I being laid aside and changed to E, it takes the syllable -RAM, as feceram, fugeram. The third way is when I and O are turned into V and I, as elicio, elicui, elicueram. The fourth, with I and O laid aside and the preceding consonant, is pronounced with a double S, as percutio, percussi, percusseram. The fifth is the one through X, as aspicio, aspexi, aspexeram. The sixth is the one pronounced by doubling the syllable, as pario, peperi, pepereram. The verbs of the third conjugation, shortened, which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letters -VO, are pronounced in the perfect and pluperfect in two ways. The first is when the verbs of the first position change O into I, as induo, indui, indueram; the second is the one pronounced through X, as instruo, instruxi, instruxeram. The verbs of the third conjugation, shortened, which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letter O with no other vowel preceding, are declined in the indicative mood, past tense, perfect and pluperfect, in twelve ways. The first is the one that follows the whole form of the third conjugation, lengthened, as we showed above in those verbs which in the third conjugation, shortened, end in the letters -IO in the indicative present first person. For as there is cupio, cupivi, cupiveram, so peto, petivi, petiveram. These also sometimes take away the letter V and double I, as petii, petieram. The second is when O is turned into I, which changes the letter O of the verb of the first position into I and lengthens the preceding syllable, whether with the vowel changed or persevering, laying aside also the consonant if it is the middle one, in which the first vowel ends, as ago, egi, egeram, lego, legi, legeram; of those that end in a consonant, these are examples: frango, fregi, fregeram, _fundo_, _fudi_, _fuderam_. [The third is wanting in the Latin text.] The fourth is that which lays aside the middle consonant and shortens the preceding vowel, as findo, fidi, fideram, scindo, scidi, scideram. The fifth, a letter being laid aside, takes V and I, as molo, molui, _molueram_, colo, colui, colueram. The sixth is that which, S being laid aside, takes I, as carpo, carpsi, carpseram, scribo, scripsi, scripseram. The seventh, the consonant going before, is pronounced with a double S, as meto, messui, messueram. The eighth is that which is declined with a like shortening through a single S, the preceding vowel lengthened, as trudo, trusi, truseram. The ninth is that which is announced through X, as expungo, expunxi, expunxeram, ungo, unxi, unxeram. The tenth is that which is brought forth by doubling the first syllable, as pungo, pupugi, pupugeram, curro, cucurri, cucurreram. The eleventh is that which doubles the last syllable of compound verbs, as trado, tradidi, tradideram, reddo, reddidi, reddideram. The twelfth is that which resolves into the form of passives, as fido, fisus sum, es, est, fisus eram, eras, erat. All these verbs of the third conjugation, shortened, in the indicative mood, past tense, in the inchoative form, with the syllable -bam added to the imperative, the consonant of the first position preceding, end in a lengthened E added, as lege, legebam, pete, petebam, except those which have I before O in the first position. For these, with the letter I added to the imperative and the syllable -bam added, end in a lengthened E, as rapio, rape, rapiebam. The verbs of the third conjugation, shortened, in the indicative mood, future tense, with the letter E taken away and the syllable -am added, end thus: lege, legam, pete, petam, indue, induam, except those which have I before O in the first position. For these change E into I and, taking the syllable -am, make the future, as rapio, rape, rapiam, facio, face, faciam. The verbs of the third conjugation, lengthened, in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, end either in the letters -EO, as adeo, adis, prodeo, prodis; or in -IO, as audio, audis, nutrio, nutris. The verbs of the third conjugation, lengthened, in the imperative mood, present tense, in the second person, end in a lengthened I, as adeo, adi, prodeo, prodi, audio, audi, nutrio, nutri. These in the infinitive mood end in the syllable -re added to the imperative, the lengthening remaining, as adi, adire, prodi, prodire. The verbs of the third conjugation which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letters -EO, end in the indicative mood, past tense, perfect form, in the syllable -vi added to the imperative, as adeo, adivi, and in the pluperfect in -RAM, as adiveram; but custom, often seeking brevity, takes away the letter V and doubles I in the perfect, as adii, prodii, adieram, prodieram. In the inchoative form too they end in the syllable -bam added to the imperative, as adibam, prodibam. Those, however, which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letters -IO, are brought out in the past tense, in the forms perfect and pluperfect, in five ways. The first way is like the above, as nutrio, nutrivi, nutriveram, nutrii, nutrieram and audii, audieram, as in Virgil: “you had heard, and there was rumor.” They differ only in the inchoative form. For all verbs of the third conjugation, lengthened, which end in the indicative mood, present tense, first person, in the letters -IO, add -BAM to the last syllable in the same mood, past tense, inchoative form, the E remaining lengthened, as audiebam, veniebam, operiebam; although the ancients pronounced these without the letter E, as Virgil: “Tyrrhus the father fed them, to whom the royal herds are subject.” The second way is when, O being lost, the preceding syllable is lengthened, as venio, veni, veneram. The third, when I and O change into V and I, as operio, operui, operueram. The fourth, which with I and O laid aside turns the preceding consonant into S, as sarcio, sarsi, sarseram. The fifth is the one pronounced through X, as vincio, vinxi, vinxeram. The verbs of the third conjugation, lengthened, which end in the indicative mood, present tense, in the letters -EO, end in the future tense, in the same mood, in the syllable -BO added to the imperative, as adeo, adi, adibo, prodeo, prodi, prodibo; those in -IO, in the syllable -AM added to the imperative, as audio, audi, audiam, nutrio, nutri, nutriam, although Terence has put it with -BO. From this it appears that the pronunciation is twofold. For he said: “now I shall know where he may be.” In the indicative mood, present tense, of those which end in the letters -EO, there are verbs which have a perfect like another from a different present, as luceo and lugeo, for it makes luxi. Likewise cernit and crescit make crevit. There are others which hold two conjugations in one position of the verb, as pando, mando: for they make pandas and pandis, mandas and mandis. Verbs are joined to cases sometimes singly thus: with the genitive, as misereor tui; with the dative, as suadeo tibi; with the accusative, as moneo te; with the ablative, as utor illo; sometimes to two, as the ablative and accusative, as fungor hanc rem and illa re. Let it suffice to have said so much as examples of analogy. For what is seen not to be held by these forms must be judged for certain to be anomalous. These I shall mention briefly and in small measure, that we may discover that usage has seized something even against reason, or has even failed against the rule.
“Since _reus_ and _deus_ are similar in the nominative singular, why in the plural are hi rei said, and usage says hi di against the rule, when only dei ought to be said, especially since the genitive ought not to be found longer than its nominative by two syllables, which will happen here if we say deorum? Why, when Thoas and Aeas are similar, do they make Thoantis and Aeantis, yet Aeneas does not make Aeneantis but Aeneae? Why, when we say hic biceps and triceps, does the genitive increase by two syllables against the rule, and we say bicipitis or tricipitis, not bicipis or tricipis? Whence comes it that aliger, frugifer, accipiter have all the cases, while Iuppiter has two? Since sanctus, pius, bonus are similar, why do we say sanctior and not say pior? Then sanctior, sanctissimus: shall we not say bonior, bonissimus? Since Virgil says “of what may be spoken and not spoken,” and from nefandus we say nefarius, why is farius not said from fandus? Why, with the preposition lost, is seiunctus said iunctus, while securus and sedulus with the same loss cannot be mentioned? Since we say singuli viri, singulae mulieres, singula scrinia, why do we not say singulus vir, singula mulier, singulum scrinium? Since venor, piscor, aucupor are similar, why is venator and piscator said and aucupator not said, but auceps? Why has volo no imperative? Why has fare no first person of the verb? Why has soleo no perfect past? Since canta and lava are similar, why does the one make cantavi and the other not make lavavi? Likewise corusca and tona: it makes coruscui, yet tonavi it does not make? What of the fact that ego receives a single case? Since calciatus, armatus, togatus, penulatus seem alike, why do we say calceo and armo, while toga and penulo are not admitted? The nominative singular ending in -VS in all positives has a lengthened E in adverbs, as doctus, docte, avarus, avare, parcus, parce: why does it shorten the E in the adverb of bonus and malus, bene and male? Since we say habilis, habiliter, why do we not say facilis, faciliter? Likewise, since we say difficulter, why can faculter not be said? Since audax gives audacter, why do we not say veracter of verax, but vere? Why do we say singulatim and not say binatim and ternatim? And other things of this kind, which I could mention without number if I were not hastening to the rest.”
When Grammar had said this, as if about to begin a late exordium afresh, Minerva, because of the weariness of the heavenly senate and of Jove, intervened with these words: “Unless I am mistaken, you are arranging to set forth the eight parts of speech, as though going back to the cradle,” adding the causes of solecisms and barbarous forms, then other faults of speaking, which, much practised among renowned poets, you call now tropes, now metaplasms, now schemes [figures], and all the faults flowing from the same, as it were from a fountain of ornament, which attest either the error of ignorance or an affected elegance for the more learned. If you lead these from the schoolroom’s beginnings into the senate of the heavenly ones, you will strip the grace of the finished skill. For if you take up anything rhythmic and metrical, as you dare among the curled boys, you will certainly be torn to pieces by the onset of Music, whose office you are anticipating. You will therefore complete the form of the aforesaid teaching if, having mentioned the chief matters, you free yourself from the meanness of common beginnings.” To these words the sister gods, with the bridegroom, the Delian god assented, and they compelled Grammar to pass over to the service of the maiden. And then the Clarian god brought in another of the women, to be bestowed with an equal gift of betrothal.