Note 137 — Chapter V · THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROOTS.

For instance, we find M. A. Vinet (Essais de Philos. Morale, p. 323) speaking of the verb as the word which founds, or, so to speak, creates an ideal world side by side with the real world, and of which the real world is either the expression or the type. The word “verb” has often been dwelt on as showing the importance attached to this part of speech; the German “zeitwort” is more to the purpose. The Chinese call it ho-tseu, or the living word (Silvestre de Sacy, Principes de Gram. Gén. i. ch. 1.)