Alfred Mollin and Robert Williamson

“The Greek terms whose meanings the term "progressive" is meant to cover are 'ateles' and 'paratatikos'. 'Ateles' is formed from alpha-privative and 'telos', meaning "end" or "fulfillment". In light of 'ateles' we might have termed this aspect the "unfulfilled" or "incomplete" aspect. 'Paratatikos' is derived from the preposition 'para' ("alongside") and the verb 'teino' ("to stretch") and denotes an action as continuing or extending.”

“Lacking a verb, a nominal sentence has no built-in reference to the speaker or the occasion of speaking. Accordingly, nominal sentences are best suited to the impersonal and timeless character of maxims or folk-sayings (compare 'Finders keepers, losers weepers', with which children attempt to justify sudden appropriations through an appeal to ageless custom).”

“The neuter nominative and accusative endings are the same in the singular and the plural. This is true of all neuter nouns, adjectives and pronouns. It might be more accurate to say that the neuter noun "borrows" its nominative forms from the accusative. In contrast to animate (male or female) beings which can be agents, inanimate "things" were regarded not so much as agents as objects of action. Thus, the terms for small children ('teknon', 'paidion') have the neuter gender, inasmuch as they have not yet acquired the full powers of agents.”

“We have followed the general practice in referring to the nominative form as a "case" among four other cases. However, some modern grammarians have developed an account which goes back to Aristotle and according to which the term "noun" ('onoma') should be reserved for the nominative form, which names ('onomazein') simply, with no indication of a relation to other elements in the sentence. From its base (or "upright" or "straight" -- 'orthe', 'eutheia') form and function, a noun may undergo a "fall" ('ptosis', Latin 'casus', whence English 'case') or "inclination" ('klisis', from 'klino') towards other elements within the sentence. The roster of such fallings off is called a 'declension'. Although it is convenient to include the nominative form among the "cases," we shall occasionally refer to the other four as the 'oblique' cases.”

“What the commands of mathematicians, God, and playwrights have in common seems to be this, that the mere act of speaking suffices to bring about the truth of what is said.”