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168.

The tenses of the Present System are made from the Present Stem as follows: - [1][The conjugation of a verb consists of separate formations from a root, gra[QUERY]ually grouped together, systematized, and supplemented by new formations made old lines to supply deficiencies. Some of the forms were inherited from the pare[QUERY] speech; others were developed in the course of the history of the Italic dialects or the Latin language itself.]



a. In the Present Indicative the personal endings are added directly t[QUERY] the present stem. Thus, - present stem ará-: ará-s, ará-mus, ará-tis.

b. In the Imperfect Indicative the suffix -bam, -bás, etc. (originally a complete verb) is added to the present stem: as, ará-bam, ará-bás, ará-bámus.



NOTE: The form bam was apparently an aorist of the Indo-European root BH[QUERY] (cf. fuí, futúrus, , English be, been), and meant I was. This was added to a complete word, originally a case of a verbal noun, as in I was a-seeing; hence vidé-ban[QUERY] The form probably began in the Second or Third Conjugation and was extended to [QUERY] others. The a was at first long, but was shortened in certain forms (§ 167).



c. In the Future Indicative of the First and Second Conjugations a simila[QUERY] suffix, -bó, -bis, etc., is added to the present stem: as, ará-bó, ará-bis, moné-b[QUERY]

NOTE: The form bó was probably a present tense of the root BHU, with a futu[QUERY] meaning, and was affixed to a noun-form as described in b. N.



d. In the Future Indicative of the Third and Fourth Conjugations t[QUERY] terminations -am, -és, etc. (as, teg-am, teg-és, audi-am, audi-és) are really sub[QUERY] junctive endings used in a future sense (see e). The vowel was original long throughout. For shortening, see § 167.



e. In the Present Subjunctive the personal endings were added to form of the present stem ending in é- or á-, which was shortened in certa[QUERY] forms (§ 167). Thus, ame-m, amé-s, tegá-mus, tega-nt.

NOTE 1: The vowel é (seen in the First Conjugation: as, am-é-s) is an inherit[QUERY] subjunctive mood-sign. It appears to be the thematic vowel e (§ 174. 1) lengthene[QUERY] The á of the other conjugations (mone-á-s, reg-á-s, audi-á-s) is of uncertain origin.

NOTE 2: In a few irregular verbs a Present Subjunctive in -im, -ís, etc. occur[QUERY] as, sim, sís, símus, velim, velís, etc. This is an old optative, í being a form of the Ind[QUERY] European optative mood-sign yé- (cf. siem, siés, siet, § 170. b. N.). The vowel h[QUERY] been shortened in the first and third persons singular and the third person plural.



f. In the Imperfect Subjunctive the suffix -rem, -rés, etc. is added to t[QUERY] present stem: as, amá-rem, amá-rés, moné-rem, tege-rem, audí-rem.

NOTE: The stem element -ré- is of uncertain origin and is not found outside Italic. The r is doubtless the aorist sign s (cf. es-se-m, es-sé-s) changed to r betwe[QUERY] two vowels (§ 15. 4). The é is probably the subjunctive mood-sign (see e).