Future.
(Sjögren:
Gebrauch des Futurums in Altlateinischen.
Upsala, 1906.) The substitution of the Present for the Future
of
eo and its Compounds has just been treated
(11). The competition
of the Present Subjunctive (especially in 1 Singular) with the Future Indicative in
Old Latin is discussed below,
26 e.g.
Bacch. 1058 “
taceam nunciam”.
It has left its mark on the language in the 3rd Conjugation 1 Singular, e.g.
dicam, the only form in use in Plautus' time, as later, and in the
4th Conjugation 1 Singular, e.g.
audiam, which competed with
audibo in
Plautus' time. There is apparently no rule which determines
Plautus' use of
audibo and
audiam,
scibo and
sciam.
The love of Latin for Auxiliary Verbs is seen in the three periphrastic forms
of the Future in Plautine Latin,
(for other examples, see below,
42 and on the use of (1) and (3) to form Future Infinitive Active and
Future Infinitive Passive, see
40,
41).
In Colloquial Latin, early and later, the Future often has the
peculiar sense shown in these examples from Plautus:
(cf. Ter.
Heaut. 1014). It looks like the use of the Future in general
statements such as
Most. 289 “
pulcra mulier nuda erit quam purpurata
pulcrior”, and may be compared with the Future in this type
of Conditional sentences,
Most. 1041 “
qui homo timidus erit, …
nauci non erit”. Or it may be explained like the Epistolary Imperfect,
which is due to the writer's putting himself in the place of the man
to whom he is writing, and so regarding the time from another's
point of view.
