Page:Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar (1910 Kautzsch-Cowley edition).djvu/392

 according to q, mostly take an intensifying attribute. On the other hand, they must not be regarded as adverbial (instrumental) accusatives, nor are they to be classed with the second (neuter) subjects treated below in.

Examples of the accusative following the verb are, i.e. with a loud voice, , (after the proper object, , );  they have spoken unto me , i.e. with a lying tongue;  he becometh poor , i.e. who dealeth with a slack hand; cf. the German eine schöne Stimme singen, to sing a fine voice, eine tüchtige Klinge schlagen, to smite a trusty sword, Schlittschuhe laufen, to run skates (i.e. to skate), and our to write a good hand, to play ball, &c.—Examples of the accusative preceding are with joyful lips, ; cf. , where a casus instrumenti with follows the accusative.

4. Many verbs originally intransitive (sometimes even in form; see a, note 2 may be used also as transitives, in consequence of a certain modification of their original meaning, which has gradually become established by usage; cf. e.g., but also with an accusative causam alicuius agere (so even in , &c.; elsewhere with of the person for whom one strives);  absolutely to be able, with an accusative to prevail over any one;  and  (usually with ), with an accusative to wish for some one or something; , then in the sense of concumbere, originally joined with , but quite early also with the accusative, equivalent to comprimere (feminam), &c. So in , &c., unless in all or some of the passages the preposition  is intended, e.g.  for ; in the earlier passages  is the more usual.

Rem. 1. It is certainly difficult to decide whether some verbs, which were afterwards used absolutely or joined with prepositions, were not nevertheless originally transitive, and consequently it is only the supposed original meaning, usually assigned to them in English, which causes them to appear intransitive. In that case there is of course no syntactical peculiarity to be considered, and a list of such verbs would at the most be requisite only for practical purposes. Moreover, it is also possible that certain verbs were originally in use at the same time both as transitive and intransitive, e.g. perhaps along with  (a garment). Finally the analogy of certain transitives in constant use may have led to intransitives of kindred meaning being also united directly with the accusative, so that, in other words, whole classes of verbs came to be regarded in a particular aspect as transitives. See below, y.