Page:The history of the Bengali language (1920).pdf/303

Rh separately, I do not discuss here, such a form as করনা = rather do.

The future system.—Some general remarks regarding the evolution of tenses seem called for, to explain some phenomena connected with the formation of future tense. I do not state a new proposition, when I say that it is the doing of an act, or the happening of an event, that is to say, the present tense of a verb that arises first in the primitive grammar; it is also but a repetition of the recognised truth that an action in the past and an expectation of a thing to happen in the future, were at first expressed differently, only, by the change of accent, and not by changing the form of the verb in the present tense. I have discussed in a previous lecture, what the probable origin of 'তি,' 'সি' and 'মি' might be; it may be observed that the past-forming suffixes 'দ,' 'স' and 'অম্' are formed by clipping the final 'ই' sound of the present-indicating suffixes and thereby shortening the accent to indicate as it were the faded away past; this is also how 'তে,' 'সে' and 'এ' were reduced to 'ত,' 'থাস্' and 'ই.' The present creating অস্মি (derived from অস + মি) and the past creating 'স্ম' also disclose the same history. This analysis will help us to ascertain the character of the future-indicating suffixes.

The fact that the present indefinite which is the real present to start with, indicates futurity in all languages, proves that a special gesture or accent was only added to the present form to signify futurity. Some remnants of old forms justify us in supposing that the final vowel sound of the present-indicating suffixes was prominently intonated to indicate futurity; I bring up for comparison the Prākṛta present form 'হোই' which is changed into 'হোহি' to indicate future tense merely by the putting of an accent on the final 'ই' sound. As the 'ই' sound to denote futurity, was prominently intonated, the sound