§ 71. An Acategorematic word is one which can neither form, nor help to form, a term [Footnote: Comparatively few of the parts of speech are categorematic. Nouns, whether substantive or adjective, including of course pronouns and participles, are so, but only in their nominative cases, except when an oblique case is so used as to be equivalent to an attributive. Verbs also are categorematic, but only in three of their moods, the Indicative, the Infinitive, and the Potential. The Imperative and Optative moods clearly do not convey assertions at all, while the Subjunctive can only figure as a subordinate member of some assertion. We may notice, too, that the relative pronoun, unlike the rest, is necessarily syncategorematic, for the same reason as the subjunctive mood. Of the remaining parts of speech the article, adverb, preposition, and conjunction can never be anything but syncategorematic, while the interjection is acategorematic, like the vocative case of nouns and the imperative and optative moods of verbs, which do not enter at all into the form of sentence known as the proposition.]. § 72. Categorematic literally means 'predicable.' 'Horse,' 'swift,' 'galloping' are categorematic. Thus we can say, 'The horse is swift,' or 'The horse is galloping.' Each of these words forms a term by itself, but 'over' and 'swiftly' can only help to form a term, as in the proposition, 'The horse is galloping swiftly over the plain.' § 73. A term then may be said to be a categorematic word or collection of words, that is to say, one which can be used by itself as a predicate. § 74. To entitle a word or collection of words to be called a term, it is not necessary that it should be capable of standing by itself as a subject. Many terms which can be used as predicates are incapable of being used as subjects: but every term which can be used as a subject (with the doubtful exception of proper names) can be used also as a predicate. The attributives 'swift' and 'galloping' are terms, quite as much as the subject 'horse,' but they cannot themselves be used as subjects. § 75. When an attributive appears to be used as a subject, it is owing to a grammatical ellipse. Thus in Latin we say 'Boni sapientes sunt,' and in English 'The good are wise,' because it is sufficiently declared by the inflexional form in the one case, and by the usage of the language in the other, that men are signified. It is an accident of language how far adjectives can be used as subjects. They cease to be logical attributives the moment they are so used. § 76. There is a sense in which every word may become categorematic, namely, when it is used simply as a word, to the neglect of its proper meaning. Thus we can say--'"Swiftly" is an adverb.' 'Swiftly' in this sense is really no more than the proper name for a particular word. This sense is technically known as the 'suppositio materialis' of a word. CHAPTER II. _Of the Division of Things._