proposition either true or false, and this the noun
proper always does, under these conditions. Take the words ‘of
Philo is’ or ‘of or ‘of Philo is not’; these words do not, as they
stand, form either a true or a false proposition.
3
A verb is that which, in addition to its proper meaning, carries
with it the notion of time. No part of it has any independent
meaning, and it is a sign of something said of something else.
I will explain what I mean by saying that it carries with it the
notion of time. ‘Health’ is a noun, but ‘is healthy’ is a verb; for
besides its proper meaning it indicates the present existence of
the state in question.
Moreover, a verb is always a sign of something said of something
else, i.e. of something either predicable of or present in some
other thing.
Such expressions as ‘is not-healthy’, ‘is not, ill’, I do not
describe as verbs; for though they carry the additional note of
time, and always form a predicate, there is no specified name for
this variety; but let them be called indefinite verbs, since they
apply equally well to that which exists and to that which does
not.
Similarly ‘he was healthy’, ‘he will be healthy’, are not verbs,
but tenses of a verb; the difference lies in the fact that the verb
indicates present time, while the tenses of the verb indicate those
times which lie outside the present.
Verbs in and by themselves are substantival and have
significance, for he who uses such expressions arrests the hearer’s
mind, and fixes his attention; but they do not, as they stand,
express any judgement, either positive or negative. For neither are
‘to be’ and ‘not to be’ the participle ‘being’ significant of any
fact, unless something is added; for they do not themselves
indicate anything, but imply a copulation, of which we cannot form
a conception apart from the things coupled.
4
A sentence is a significant portion of speech, some parts of
which have an independent meaning, that is to say, as an utterance,
though not as the expression of any positive judgement. Let me
explain. The word ‘human’ has meaning, but does not constitute a
proposition, either positive or negative. It is only when other
words are added that the whole will form an affirmation or denial.
But if we separate one syllable of the word ‘human’ from the other,
it has no meaning; similarly in the word ‘mouse’, the part ‘ouse’
has no meaning in itself, but is merely a sound. In composite
words, indeed, the parts contribute to the meaning of the whole;
yet, as has been pointed out, they have not an independent
meaning.
Every sentence has meaning, not as being the natural means by
which a physical faculty is realized, but, as we have said, by
convention. Yet every sentence is not a proposition; only such are
propositions as have in them either truth or falsity. Thus a prayer
is a sentence, but is neither true nor false.
Let us therefore dismiss all other types of sentence but the
proposition, for this last concerns our present inquiry, whereas
the investigation of the others belongs rather to the study of
rhetoric or of poetry.
5
The first class of simple propositions is the simple
affirmation, the next, the simple denial; all others are only one
by conjunction.
Every proposition must contain a verb or the tense of a verb.
The phrase which defines the species ‘man’, if no verb in present,
past, or future time be added, is not a proposition. It may be
asked how the expression ‘a footed animal with two feet’ can be
called single; for it is not the circumstance that the words follow
in unbroken succession that effects the unity. This inquiry,
however, finds its place in an investigation foreign to that before
us.
We call those propositions single which indicate a single fact,
or the conjunction of the parts of which results in unity: those
propositions, on the other hand, are separate and many in number,
which indicate many facts, or whose parts have no
proper always does, under these conditions. Take the words ‘of
Philo is’ or ‘of or ‘of Philo is not’; these words do not, as they
stand, form either a true or a false proposition.
3
A verb is that which, in addition to its proper meaning, carries
with it the notion of time. No part of it has any independent
meaning, and it is a sign of something said of something else.
I will explain what I mean by saying that it carries with it the
notion of time. ‘Health’ is a noun, but ‘is healthy’ is a verb; for
besides its proper meaning it indicates the present existence of
the state in question.
Moreover, a verb is always a sign of something said of something
else, i.e. of something either predicable of or present in some
other thing.
Such expressions as ‘is not-healthy’, ‘is not, ill’, I do not
describe as verbs; for though they carry the additional note of
time, and always form a predicate, there is no specified name for
this variety; but let them be called indefinite verbs, since they
apply equally well to that which exists and to that which does
not.
Similarly ‘he was healthy’, ‘he will be healthy’, are not verbs,
but tenses of a verb; the difference lies in the fact that the verb
indicates present time, while the tenses of the verb indicate those
times which lie outside the present.
Verbs in and by themselves are substantival and have
significance, for he who uses such expressions arrests the hearer’s
mind, and fixes his attention; but they do not, as they stand,
express any judgement, either positive or negative. For neither are
‘to be’ and ‘not to be’ the participle ‘being’ significant of any
fact, unless something is added; for they do not themselves
indicate anything, but imply a copulation, of which we cannot form
a conception apart from the things coupled.
4
A sentence is a significant portion of speech, some parts of
which have an independent meaning, that is to say, as an utterance,
though not as the expression of any positive judgement. Let me
explain. The word ‘human’ has meaning, but does not constitute a
proposition, either positive or negative. It is only when other
words are added that the whole will form an affirmation or denial.
But if we separate one syllable of the word ‘human’ from the other,
it has no meaning; similarly in the word ‘mouse’, the part ‘ouse’
has no meaning in itself, but is merely a sound. In composite
words, indeed, the parts contribute to the meaning of the whole;
yet, as has been pointed out, they have not an independent
meaning.
Every sentence has meaning, not as being the natural means by
which a physical faculty is realized, but, as we have said, by
convention. Yet every sentence is not a proposition; only such are
propositions as have in them either truth or falsity. Thus a prayer
is a sentence, but is neither true nor false.
Let us therefore dismiss all other types of sentence but the
proposition, for this last concerns our present inquiry, whereas
the investigation of the others belongs rather to the study of
rhetoric or of poetry.
5
The first class of simple propositions is the simple
affirmation, the next, the simple denial; all others are only one
by conjunction.
Every proposition must contain a verb or the tense of a verb.
The phrase which defines the species ‘man’, if no verb in present,
past, or future time be added, is not a proposition. It may be
asked how the expression ‘a footed animal with two feet’ can be
called single; for it is not the circumstance that the words follow
in unbroken succession that effects the unity. This inquiry,
however, finds its place in an investigation foreign to that before
us.
We call those propositions single which indicate a single fact,
or the conjunction of the parts of which results in unity: those
propositions, on the other hand, are separate and many in number,
which indicate many facts, or whose parts have no
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