classes looked like and what were their main four forms. I should mention
that besides the vowel changes in the stem, verbal forms also changed stem
consonants very often. The rule of such changes is not mentioned
practically in any books on the Old English language, though there is some.
See for yourselves this little chart where the samples of strong verb
classes are given with their four forms:
Infinitive, Past singular, Past plural, Participle II (or Past Participle)
Class I
wrítan (to write), wrát, writon, writen
snípan (to cut), snáþ, snidon, sniden
Other examples: belífan (stay), clífan (cling), ygrípan (clutch), bítan
(bite), slítan (slit), besmítan (dirty), gewítan (go), blícan (glitter),
sícan (sigh), stígan (mount), scínan (shine), árísan (arise), líþan (go).
Class II
béodan (to offer), béad, budon, boden
céosan (to choose), céas, curon, coren
Other examples: créopan (creep), cléofan (cleave), fléotan (fleet),
géotan (pour), gréotan (weep), néotan (enjoy), scéotan (shoot), léogan
(lie), bréowan (brew), dréosan (fall), fréosan (freeze), forléosan (lose).
Class III
III a) a nasal consonant
drincan (to drink), dranc, druncon, druncen
Other: swindan (vanish), onginnan (begin), sinnan (reflect), winnan
(work), gelimpan (happen), swimman (swim).
III b) l + a consonant
helpan (to help), healp, hulpon, holpen
Other: delfan (delve), swelgan (swallow), sweltan (die), bellan (bark),
melcan (milk).
III c) r, h + a consonant
steorfan (to die), stearf, sturfon, storfen
weorþan (to become), wearþ, wurdon, worden
feohtan (to fight), feaht, fuhton, fohten
More: ceorfan (carve), hweorfan (turn), weorpan (throw), beorgan
(conceal), beorcan (bark).
Class IV
stelan (to steal), stæ'l, stæ'lon, stolen
beran (to bear), bæ'r, bæ'ron, boren
More: cwelan (die), helan (conceal), teran (tear), brecan (break).
Class V
tredan (to tread), træ'd, træ'don, treden
cweþan (to say), cwæ'þ, cwæ'don, cweden
More: metan (measure), swefan (sleep), wefan (weave), sprecan (to
speak), wrecan (persecute), lesan (gather), etan (eat), wesan (be).
Class VI
faran (to go), fór, fóron, faren
More: galan (sing), grafan (dig), hladan (lade), wadan (walk), dragan
(drag), gnagan (gnaw), bacan (bake), scacan (shake), wascan (wash).
Class VII
hátan (to call), hét, héton, háten
feallan (to fall), feoll, feollon, feallen
cnéawan (to know), cnéow, cnéowon, cnáwen
More: blondan (blend), ondræ'dan (fear), lácan (jump), scadan (divide),
fealdan (fold), healdan (hold), sponnan (span), béatan (beat), blówan
(flourish), hlówan (low), spówan (flourish), máwan (mow), sáwan (sow),
ráwan (turn).
So the rule from the table above is observed carefully. The VII class was
made especially for those verbs which did not fit into any of the six
classes. In fact the verbs of the VII class are irregular and cannot be
explained by a certain exact rule, though they are quite numerous in the
language.
Examining verbs of Old English comparing to those of Modern English it
is easy to catch the point of transformation. Not only the ending -an in
the infinitive has dropped, but the stems were subject to many changes some
of which are not hard to find. For example, the long í in the stem gives i
with an open syllable in the modern language (wrítan > write, scínan >
shine). The same can be said about a, which nowadays is a in open syllables
pronounced [æ] (hladan > lade). The initial combination sc turns to sh; the
open e was transformed into ea practically everywhere (sprecan > speak,
tredan > tread, etc.). Such laws of transformation which you can gather
into a small table help to recreate the Old word from a Modern English one
in case you do not have a dictionary in hand, and therefore are important
for reconstruction of the languages.
Weak verbs in Old English (today's English regular verbs) were conjugated
in a simpler way than the strong ones, and did not use the ablaut
interchanges of the vowel stems. Weak verbs are divided into three classes
which had only slight differences though. They did have the three forms -
the infinitive, the past tense, the participle II. Here is the table.
Class I
Regular verbs
Inf. Past PP
déman (to judge), démde, démed
híeran (to hear), híerde, híered
nerian (to save), nerede, nered
styrian (to stir), styrede, styred
fremman (to commit), fremede, fremed
cnyssan (to push), cnysede, cnysed
When the suffix is preceded by a voiceless consonant the ending changes a
little bit:
cépan (to keep), cépte, cépt / céped
grétan (to greet), grétte, grét / gréted
If the verb stem ends in consonant plus d or t:
sendan (to send), sende, send / sended
restan (to rest), reste, rest / rested
Irregular
sellan (to give), sealde, seald
tellan (to tell), tealde, teald
cwellan (to kill), cwealde, cweald
tæ'can (to teach), táhte, táht
ræ'can (to reach), ráhte, ráht
bycgan (to buy), bohte, boht
sécan (to seek), sóhte, sóht
wyrcan (to work), worhte, worht
þencan (to think), þóhte, þóht
bringan (to bring), bróhte, bróht
Other examples of the I class weak verbs just for your interest: berian
(beat), derian (harm), erian (plough), ferian (go), herian (praise),
gremman (be angry), wennan (accustom), clynnan (sound), dynnan (resound),
hlynnan (roar), hrissan (tremble), sceþþan (harm), wecgean (move), féran
(go), læ'ran (teach), dræfan (drive), fýsan (hurry), drýgean (dry), híepan
(heap), métan (to meet), wýscean (wish), byldan (build), wendan (turn),
efstan (hurry). All these are regular.
Class II
macian (to make), macode, macod
lufian (to love), lufode, lufod
hopian (to hope), hopode, hopod
Tis class makes quite a small group of verbs, all of them having -o- before
the past endings. Other samples: lofian (praise), stician (pierce), eardian
(dwell), scéawian (look), weorþian (honour), wundrian (wonder), fæstnian
(fasten), mærsian (glorify).
Class III
habban (to have), hæfde, hæfd
libban (to live), lifde, lifd
secgan (to say), sægde, sægd
hycgan (to think), hogde, hogod
þréagan (to threaten), þréade, þréad
sméagan (to think), sméade, sméad
fréogan (to free), fréode, fréod
féogan (to hate), féode, féod
Old English verbs are conjugated having two tenses - the Present tense
and the Past tense, and three moods - indicative, subjunctive, and
imperative. Of these, only the subjunctive mood has disappeared in the
English language, acquiring an analytic construction instead of
inflections; and the imperative mood has coincided with the infinitive form
(to write - write!). In the Old English period they all looked different.
The common table of the verb conjugation is given below. Here you
should notice that the Present tense has the conjugation for all three
moods, while the Past tense - for only two moods (no imperative in the Past
tense, naturally). Some more explanation should be given about the stem
types.
In fact all verbal forms were generated in Old English from three verb
stems, and each verb had its own three ones: the Infinitive stem, the Past
Singular stem, the Past Plural stem. For the verb wrítan, for example,
those three stems are: wrít- (infinitive without the ending -an), wrát-
(the Past singular), writ- (the Past plural without the ending -on). The
table below explains where to use this or that stem.
[pic]
Additionally, the participles (Participle I and Participle II) are
formed by the suffix -ende to the Infinitive stem (participle I), or the
prefix ge- + the Past Plural stem + the ending -en (Participle II).
Tired of the theory? Here is the preactice. We give several examples of the
typical verbs - first strong, then weak, then irregular.
Class I strong - wrítan (to write)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imper. ¦ Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 wríte - ¦ wrát
2 wrítest wríte wrít ¦ write } wríte
3 wríteþ - ¦ wrát
Pl. wrítaþ wríten 2 wrítaþ ¦ writon writen
Infinitive Participle
wrítan I wrítende II gewriten
Class II weak - lufian (to love)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 lufie - lufode
2 lufast }lufie lufa lufodest } lufode
3 lufaþ - lufode
Pl. lufiaþ lufien 2 lufiaþ lufodon lufoden
Part.
I lufiende II gelufod
Class III strong - bindan (to bind)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 binde - ¦ band, bond
2 bindest } binde bind ¦ bunde } bunde
3 bindeþ - ¦ band, bond
Pl. bindaþ binden bindaþ ¦ bundon bunden
Inf. Part.
bindan I bindende II gebunden
Class V strong - séon (to see)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg.1 séo - seah
2 síehst } séo seoh sáwe } sáwe,
3 síehþ - seah sæge
Pl. séoþ séon 2 séoþ sawon sáwen
Participle
I séonde II gesewen, gesegen
Class VII strong - fón (to catch)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 fó - feng
2 féhst } fó fóh fenge } fenge
3 féhþ - feng
Pl. fóþ fón 2 fóþ fengon fengen
Participle
I fónde II gefangen, gefongen
Class III weak - secgan (to say)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg.1 secge - sægde
2 sægst }secge sæge sægdest }sægde
3 sægþ - sægde
Pl. secgaþ secgen 2 secgaþ sægdon sægden
Part.
I secgende II gesægd
Class III weak - libban (to live)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg.1 libbe - lifde
2 liofast }libbe liofa lifdest } lifde
3 liofaþ - lifde
Pl. libbaþ libben 2 libbaþ lifdon lifden
Part.
I libbende II gelifd
A special group is made by the so-called Present-Preterite verbs, which
are conjugated combining two varieties of the usual verb conjugation:
strong and weak. These verbs, at all not more than seven, are nowadays
called modal verbs in English.
Present-Preterite verbs have their Present tense forms generated from the
Strong Past, and the Past tense, instead, looks like the Present Tense of
the Weak verbs. The verbs we present here are the following: witan (to
know), cunnan (can), þurfan (to need), dearan (to dare), munan (to
remember), sculan (shall), magan (may).
Present of witan (= strong Past)
Ind. Subj. Imp.
Sg. 1 wát -
2 wast } wite wite
3 wát -
Pl. witon 2 witen witaþ
Past (= Weak)
Ind. Subj.
Sg.1 wisse, wiste
2 wissest, wistest } wisse, wiste
3 wisse, wiste
Pl. wisson, wiston wissen, wisten
Participles: I witende, II witen, gewiten
cunnan (can)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 cann cúþe
2 canst } cunne cúþest } cúþe
3 cann cúþe
Pl. cunnon cunnen cúþon cúþen
þurfan (need)
Sg. 1 þearf þorfte
2 þearft } þurfe þorftest } þorfte
3 þearf þorfte
Pl. þurfon þurfen þorfton þorften
magan (may)
Sg. 1 mæg meahte mihte, mihten
2 meaht } mæge meahtest
3 mæg meahte
Pl. magon mægen meahton
The main difference of verbs of this type in modern English is their
expressing modality, i.e. possibility, obligation, necessity. They do not
require the particle to before the infinitive which follows them. In Old
English in general no verb requires this particle before the infinitive. In
fact, this to before the infinitive form meant the preposition of
direction.
And now finally a few irregular verbs, which used several different stems
for their tenses. These verbs are very important in Old English and are met
very often in the texts: wesan (to be), béon (to be), gán (to go), dón (to
do), willan (will). Mind that there was no Future tense in the Old English
language, and the future action was expressed by the Present forms, just
sometimes using verbs of modality, willan (lit. "to wish to do") or sculan
(lit. "to have to do").
wesan (to be) - has got only the Present tense forms, uses the verb béon in
the Past
Present
Ind. Subj. Imp.
Sg.1 eom -
2 eart } síe, sý wes
3 is -
Pl. sind síen, sýn 2 wesaþ
béon (to be)
Present
Ind. Subj. Imp.
Sg. 1 béo -
2 bist }béo béo
3 biþ -
Pl. béoþ béon 2 béoþ
Past
Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 wæs
2 wære } wære
3 wæs
Pl. wæron wæren
Participle I is béonde (being).
gán (to go)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg.1 gá - éode
2 gæ'st } gá gá éodest } éode
3 gæ'þ - éode
Pl. gáþ 2 gán gáþ éodon éoden
Participles:
I gánde, gangende II gegán
So there were in fact two verbs meaning 'to be', and both were
colloquial. In Middle English, however, the verb wesan replaced fully the
forms of béon, and the words béo (I am), bist (thou art) fell out of use.
The Past tense forms was and were are also derivatives from wesan.
Syntactically, the language had only two main tenses - the Present and
the Past. No progressive (or Continuous) tenses were used, they were
invented only in the Early Middle English period. Such complex tenses as
modern Future in the Past, Future Perfect Continuous did not exist either.
However, some analytic construction were in use, and first of all the
perfective constructions. The example Hie geweorc geworhten hæfdon 'they
have build a fortress' shows the exact Perfect tense, but at that time it
was not the tense really, just a participle construction showing that the
action has been done. Seldom you can also find such Past constructions,
which later became the Past Perfect Tense.
Verb syntax includes a number of suffices and prefixes which can be
met in Old English texts and especially in poetry:
Suffices:
1. -s- (from substantive or adjective stems) - mæ'rsian (to announce;
from mæ're - famous)
2. -læc- - néálæcan (to approach)
3. -ett- - bliccettan (to sparkle)
Prefixes
1. á- = out of, from - árísan (arise), áwakan (awake), áberan (sustain)
2. be- = over, around, by - begán (go around), beþencan (think over),
behéafdian (behead)
3. for- = destruction or loss - fordón (destroy), forweorþan (perish)
4. mis- = negation or bad quality - mislícian (displease)
5. of- = reinfors - ofsléan (kill), oftéon (take away)
6. on- = change or separation - onbindan (unbind), onlúcan (unlock)
7. tó- = destruction - tóbrecan (break)
The Old English Auxiliary Words.
These traditionally include prepositions, conjunctions, different
particles and
interjections. All Indo-European languages have this system of auxiliary
parts of speech, though there are languages which lack some of them.
Japanese, for example, has no prepositions, and the service function in the
sentence belongs to postpositive words which have cases, the same as nouns.
Korean does not use any conjunctions, replacing them by about 50 different
kinds of verbal adverbs. As for Chinese, it simply does not make any
distinction in the sentence between basic and auxiliary words.
Most of Old English prepositions are easily recognizable:
Primary: of (of, out of), æt (to), fram (from), tó (to), wiþ (against), in,
of, mid (with), on (on, at), be (by, near, to, because of, about), þurh
(through), under, ofer (over), æfter (after), bufan (above), út (out).
Secondary: beforan (before), bútan (without), benorþan (north of), etc.
æt means 'to' and wiþ means 'against'. In Germanic all prepositions divided
into those who used nouns in dative, accusative or genitive. But in the Old
English period this distinction begins to disappear, and only some of the
prepositions use dative (mid, bútan, sometimes on, in) or genitive (fram,
út, æfter).
Conjunctions included the following:
Primary: and / ond (and) , ac (but), gif (if), or.
Secondary: ægþer ge... ge (both... and..., either ... or...), hwonne
(when), þa (when), þonne (when), þéáh (though), þætte (that), ær (before),
swá... swá... (so... as...).
And a few interjections: iá (yes), wá (woe!, wow!), hwæt (there! what!).
