A PARTICIPLE is a word derived from a verb, and partakes of the nature
of a verb, and also of an adjective.
Verbs have three participles, the present or imperfect, the perfect, and
the compound.
The _present_ or _imperfect_ participle denotes action or being
continued, but not perfected. It always ends in _ing_; as, _ruling,
being_: "I am _writing_ a letter."
The _perfect_ participle denotes action or being perfected or finished.
When derived from a regular verb, it ends in _ed_, and corresponds with
the imperfect tense; as, _ruled, smiled:_ "The letter is _written_."
The _compound_ participle implies action or being completed before the
time referred to. It is formed by placing _having_ before the perfect
participle; as, _having ruled, having been ruled: "Having written_ the
letter, he mailed it."
The term _Participle_ comes from the Latin word _participio_, which
signifies to _partake_: and this name is given to this part of speech,
because it _partakes_ of the nature of the verb and of the adjective.
By many writers, the participle is classed with the verb, and treated as
a part of it; but, as it has no nominative, partakes of the nature of an
adjective, requires many syntactical rules which apply not to the verb,
and, in some other respects, has properties peculiar to itself, it is
believed that its character is sufficiently distinct from the verb, to
entitle it to the rank of a separate part of speech. It is, in fact, the
connecting link between, not only the adjective and the verb, but also
the noun and the verb.
All participles are compound in their meaning and office. Like verbs,
they express action and being, and denote time; and, like adjectives,
they describe the nouns of which they denote the action or being. In the
sentences, The boatman is _crossing_ the river; I see a man _laboring_
in the field; Charles is _standing_; you perceive that the participles
_crossing_ and _laboring_ express the actions of the boatman and the
man, and _standing_ the state of being of Charles. In these respects,
then, they partake of the nature of verbs. You also notice, that they
_describe_ the several nouns associated with them, like describing
adjectives; and that, in this respect, they participate the properties
of adjectives. And, furthermore, you observe they denote actions which
are still going on; that is, _incomplete_ or _unfinished_ actions; for
which reason we call them _imperfect_ participles.
Perhaps I can illustrate their character more clearly. When the
imperfect or present and perfect participles are placed before nouns,
they become defining or describing adjectives, and are denominated
_participial adjectives_; as, A _loving_ companion; The _rippling_
stream; _Roaring_ winds; A _wilted_ leaf; An _accomplished_ scholar.
Here the words _loving, rippling, roaring, wilted_, and _accomplished_,
describe or define the nouns with which they are associated. And where
the participles are placed after their nouns, they have, also, this
descriptive quality. If I say, I see the moon _rising_; The horse is
_running_ a race; The dog is _beaten_; I describe the several objects,
as a _rising_ moon, a _running_ horse, and a _beaten_ dog, as well as
when I place these participles before the nouns. The same word is a
participle or a participial adjective, according to its manner of
meaning. The preceding illustration, however, shows that this
distinction is founded on a very slight shade of difference in the
meaning of the two. The following examples will enable you to
distinguish the one from the other.
_Participles. Participial adjectives_.
See the sun _setting_. See the _setting_ sun.
See the moon _rising_. See the _rising_ moon.
The wind is _roaring_. Hear the _roaring_ wind.
The twig is _broken_. The _broken_ twig fell.
The vessel _anchored_ in the The _anchored_ vessel spreads
bay, lost her mast. her sail.
The _present_ or _imperfect_ participle is known by its ending in _ing_;
as, float_ing_, rid_ing_, hear_ing_, see_ing_. These are derived from
the verbs, _float, ride, hear_, and _see_. But some words ending in
_ing_ are not participles; such as _evening, morning, hireling, sapling,
uninteresting, unbelieving, uncontrolling_. When you parse a word ending
in _ing_, you should always consider whether it comes from a verb or
not. There is such a verb as _interest_, hence you know that the word
_interesting_ is a participle; but there is no such verb as
_un_interest, consequently, _un_interesting can _not_ be a participle:
but it is an adjective; as, an _uninteresting_ story. You will be able
very easily to distinguish the participle from the other parts of
speech, when you shall have acquired a more extensive knowledge of the
verb.
Speak the participles from each of these verbs, learn, walk, shun,
smile, sail, conquer, manage, reduce, relate, discover, overrate,
disengage. Thus, Pres. _learning_, Perf. _learned_, Comp. _having
learned_. Pres. _walking_, Perf. _walked_, Compound, _having walked_,
and so on.
You may now commit the _order_ of parsing a participle, and then proceed
with me.