rap-t-us, and probably in Greek forms like [Greek: tuph-th-eis].

1. The Slavonic praeterite is commonly said to possess genders: in other
words, there is one form for speaking of a past action when done by a male,
and another for speaking of a past action when done by a female.

2. These forms are identical with those of the participles, masculine or
feminine, as the case may be. Indeed the praeterite is a participle. If,
instead of saying _ille amavit_, the Latins said _ille amatus_, whilst,
instead of saying _illa amavit_, they said _illa amata_, they would exactly
use the grammar of the Slavonians.

3. Hence, as one class of languages, at least, gives us the undoubted fact
of an active praeterite being identical with a passive participle, and as
the participle and praeterite in question are nearly identical, we have a
fair reason for believing that the d, in the English active praeterite, is
the d of the participle, which in its turn, is the t of the Latin passive
participle.

s. 410. The following extract gives Dr. Trithen's remarks on the Slavonic
verb in his own words:--

"A peculiarity which distinguishes the grammar of all the Slavish
languages, consists in the use of the past participle, taken in an
active sense, for the purpose of expressing the praeterite. This
participle generally ends in l; and much uncertainty prevails both as
to its origin and its relations, though the termination has been
compared by various philologists with similar affixes in the Sanscrit,
and the classical languages.

"In the Old Slavish, or the language of the church, there are three
methods of expressing the past tense: one of them consists in the union
of the verb substantive with the participle; as,

_Rek esm'_ _chital esmi'_
_Rek esi'_ _chital esi'_
_Rek est'_ _chital est'_.

"In the corresponding tense of the Slavonic dialect we have the verb
substantive placed before the participle:

_Ya sam imao_ _mi' smo imali_
_Ti si imao_ _vi' ste imali_
_On ye imao_ _omi su imali_.

"In the Polish it appears as a suffix:

_Czytalem_ _czytalismy_
_Czytales_ _czytaliscie_
_Czytal_ _czytalie_.

"And in the Servian it follows the participle:

_Igrao sam_ _igrali smo_
_Igrao si_ _igrali ste_
_Igrao ye_ _igrali su_.

"