The history of Old English and its development

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!).

Ñòðàíèöû: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5



Ðåêëàìà
 ñîöñåòÿõ
ðåôåðàòû ñêà÷àòü ðåôåðàòû ñêà÷àòü ðåôåðàòû ñêà÷àòü ðåôåðàòû ñêà÷àòü ðåôåðàòû ñêà÷àòü ðåôåðàòû ñêà÷àòü ðåôåðàòû ñêà÷àòü