San Saba County news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1874-19??, 1893-11-03
educational.

predicate must consist of a verl
The logical or modified predicat
is the predicate with its modifers
In the sentence, THE rose i
white" is rhite, is the logica
predicate; IS, is the grammatical
predicate: tohite is the attribut,
compliment. Now, if is, Is a copu
la as you say, please tell me wha
be is in the following: Look like
the innocent flower but be the
serpent under it.--Macbeth. Ii
be, a mere copula? Seems, madam
nay it is.-Hamlet. Is the en-
phatic is mere capula, or does ii
assert existence? We claim that
''to be- is an assertive verb which
may have the same kind of COM
plement as other neuter verbs.
In the sentence, Horses are an
imals, what is asserted? Animals
or being animals? John lives in
San Saba. What is asserted of
John? Living in San Saba. John
is in town. What is asserted?
Being in town. The being in the
second is asserted as strongly as
liring in the first. In grammati-
cal character there is no difference
whatever between HreS and is.
He grows growing wise. He
is wise-being wise, The rose
grows white-growing white. The
rose is Withholding white. She
looks pale-looking pale. She is
pale-being pale. He stands there
He stood there. A change in the
form of the verb (stand and stood)
expresses a change IN the time of
standing there. He is there. He
was there. If the verb be, is moth
ing but copula, what is it that is
past in, He was there? He, does
not denote something past, Meth
does there. If lras is nothing but
a copula then there is nothing rep
resented as past.
l am in haste. Is, in haste, the
predicate, or am? In what sense
can, in haste, be used as the gram
NAUTICAL predicate? SO far as the
relation is concerned
[ am is as complete as, l run, 1
Jump, fly, etc.
Verbs are the only words that
assert, every predicate must be
verb or contain verd. See Reed
L Kellogg pages - and IS, But
Ter revised page lat, Holbrook,
Richard Grant White,
Lockwood, Brown, Waggener and
others too numerous to mention as
on this subject.
University of Texas, Austin.
oct O9-J 1909
Prof J W Merchant, San Saba TX.
1 agree with you in saying that
white in the sentence, "The rose is
white, is an attribute complement.
That is to say, white completes
he verb is and at the same time
modifes the nominative rose.
Respectfully Leslie Waggener,
Chairman of Faculty,
Now, L hope you Will give us
some standard grammarians in
stead of quoting Webster, Worces-
.er, and an Encyclopedia, Latin,
and Greek. If 1 were to 90 to a
awyer to get advice on some point
If law and he were to get down |
Bouvier's law dictionary to find |
he law L would feel like bidding
hin good day, aud if an English
grammatical discussion comes up
md grammarian takes his die
ionary, encyclopedia, Latin and
Greek to find his argument, l eth
,r think he is trying to dodge the
question or has no English au-
hors to sustain him. Richard
fraut White is regarded as the
lblest grammarian in this country.
Leslie Waggener A NJ of our state
University, has taught nothing
Else but English grammar and
literature in university since
1851. Respectfully,
j. W. MERCHANT.
My DEAR PROF.-In my first
.nswer and i'm my second and now