Re: Adjectives, Particles, and This ( etc ), and Conjunctions...

Lars Mathiesen wrote:

> > They only look like they have something in common here because you used the
> > verb "going" in two different senses in each sentence. In the first one,
> > this is a genuine verb of movement, but in the second it functions more as
> > a tense. We can see that "to" does not have a prepositional meaning from
> > the following sentences.
> >
> > I have to empty the trash.
> > I want to fly like an eagle.
> > Not knowing how to waltz, Cinderella looked like a fool at the ball.
> > To be or not to be, that is the question.
>
>However, historically the infinitive marker and the preposition are
>the same. Back when the current infinitive was more a sort of verbal
>noun, it got construed with different prepositions in various contexts
>--- but very commonly with to after verbs like want or intend, and
>from there it got extended to all contexts except after modal verbs.
Absolutely. But the origins of a word often has nothing to do with
contemporary usage. The English infinitive marker is not a preposition
anymore, nor does it behave like one.

>And not only in English. The North Germanic infinitive marker (Danish
>at, Norwegian å) also comes from a preposition. (Danish ad, now
>meaning something like along, cognate with English at).
Don't forget German _zu_.



Marcus Smith

"Sit down before fact as a little child,
be prepared to give up every preconceived notion,
follow humbly wherever and to whatsoever abysses Nature leads,
or you shall learn nothing."
                -- Thomas Huxley