[*] 21.
Latin is an
inflected language.
Inflection is a change made in the form of a word to show its grammatical
relations.
[*] a.
Inflectional changes sometimes take place in the body of a word, or at the
beginning, but oftener in its termination:—
-
vōx, a voice;
vōcis, of a voice;
vocō, I call;
vocat, he calls;
vocet, let him call;
vocāvit, he has
called;
tangit, he touches;
tetigit, he touched.
[*] b.
Terminations of inflection had originally independent meanings which are now
obscured. They correspond nearly to the use of prepositions, auxiliaries,
and personal pronouns in English.
Thus, in
vocat
, the termination is equivalent to
he or
she; in
vōcis
, to the preposition
of; and in
vocet
the change of vowel signifies a change of mood.
[*] c.
Inflectional changes in the body of a verb usually denote relations of tense
or mood, and often correspond to the use of auxiliary verbs in
English:—
-
frangit, he breaks or
is breaking;
frēgit, he
broke or has broken;
mordet, he bites;
momordit, he bit.
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