Old English Verbs: Survival Kit P . S. Langeslag Present-Day - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Old English Verbs: Survival Kit

P . S. Langeslag

Present-Day English Tense Formation

Table 1: A selection of English verbs in their distinctive forms

Infinitive Past Past Participle wish wished wished believe believed believed ride rode ridden sing sang sung may might — can could — shall should — be was been

Present-Day German Tense Formation

Table 2: A selection of German verbs in their distinctive forms

Infinitive Past Past Participle wünschen wünschte gewünscht glauben glaubte geglaubt reiten ritt geritten singen sang gesungen mögen mochte gemocht können konnte gekonnt sollen sollte gesollt sein war gewesen

Present-Day English Verb Classes

Table 3: A selection of English verbs in their distinctive forms

Infinitive Past Past Participle Classification wish wished wished weak believe believed believed weak ride rode ridden strong sing sang sung strong may might — preterite-present can could — preterite-present shall should — preterite-present be was been mixed

The Largest Classes

Weak

Form their preterite and past participle by the addition of a dental suffix /d~t/.

Table 4: Weak verbs

say said said spend spent spent walk walked walked ban banned banned

Strong

Form their preterite and past participle by changing their stem vowel.

Table 5: Strong verbs

write wrote written swim swam swum bear bore borne shake shook shaken NB past participle typically ends in -n.

What Else Is There But Weak and Strong?

Preterite-Present

▶ Presents share an origin with strong preterites; ▶ Preterites superficially like weak preterites.

Table 6: Preterite-present verbs

can could — will would — may might — shall should —

Mixed/Anomalous

Be contains three stems: ▶ am~is (German ist, sind, sei, seien) ▶ be (German bin, bist) ▶ was~were (German war, warst, waren, gewesen)

What Else Is There But Weak and Strong?

Preterite-Present

▶ Presents share an origin with strong preterites; ▶ Preterites superficially like weak preterites.

Table 6: Preterite-present verbs

can could — will would — may might — shall should —

Mixed/Anomalous

Be contains three stems: ▶ am~is (German ist, sind, sei, seien) ▶ be (German bin, bist) ▶ was~were (German war, warst, waren, gewesen)

Weak Verbs: Class 1

Old English

Table 7: OE lǣran (“teach”)

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic lǣre wē lǣraþ 2 þū lǣrest gē lǣraþ 3 hēo lǣreþ hīe lǣraþ Preterite 1 ic lǣrde wē lǣrdon 2 þū lǣrdest gē lǣrdon 3 hēo lǣrde hīe lǣrdon

German

Table 8: German lehren

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ich lehre wir lehren 2 du lehrst ihr lehrt 3 sie lehrt sie lehren Preterite 1 ich lehrte wir lehrten 2 du lehrtest ihr lehrtet 3 sie lehrte sie lehrten

Weak Verbs: Class 1

Old English

Table 7: OE lǣran (“teach”)

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic lǣre wē lǣraþ 2 þū lǣrest gē lǣraþ 3 hēo lǣreþ hīe lǣraþ Preterite 1 ic lǣrde wē lǣrdon 2 þū lǣrdest gē lǣrdon 3 hēo lǣrde hīe lǣrdon

German

Table 8: German lehren

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ich lehre wir lehren 2 du lehrst ihr lehrt 3 sie lehrt sie lehren Preterite 1 ich lehrte wir lehrten 2 du lehrtest ihr lehrtet 3 sie lehrte sie lehrten

Weak Verb Endings

Old English

Table 9: Weak OE personal endings

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1

• e
• aþ

2

• (e)st
• aþ

3

• (e)þ
• aþ

Preterite 1

• de
• don

2

• dest
• don

3

• de
• don

German

Table 10: Weak German personal endings

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1

• e
• en

2

• st
• t

3

• t
• en

Preterite 1

• te
• ten

2

• test
• tet

3

• te
• ten

Weak Verb Endings on Class 2 Thematic Vowels

Old English

Table 11: OE class 2 thematic and endings

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1

• ige
• iaþ

2

• (e)st
• iaþ

3

• aþ
• iaþ

Preterite 1

• ode
• odon

2

• odest
• odon

3

• ode
• odon

German

Table 12: German class 2 thematic and endings

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1

• e
• en

2

• est
• et

3

• et
• en

Preterite 1

• ete
• eten

2

• etest
• etet

3

• ete
• eten

Weak Verbs: Class 2

Old English

Table 13: OE smiþian (“fashion, forge”)

Tense # Singulara Plural Present 1 ic smiþige wē smiþiaþ 2 þū smiþast gē smiþiaþ 3 hēo smiþaþ hīe smiþiaþ Preterite 1 ic smiþode wē smiþodon 2 þū smiþodest gē smiþodon 3 hēo smiþode hīe smiþodon

German

Table 14: German schmieden

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ich schmiede wir schmieden 2 du schmiedest ihr schmiedet 3 sie schmiedet sie schmieden Preterite 1 ich schmiedete wir schmiedeten 2 du schmiedetest ihr schmiedetet 3 sie schmiedete sie schmiedeten

Strong Verbs: Class IV

Old English

Table 15: OE niman (“take”)

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic nime wē nimaþ 2 þū nim(e)st gē nimaþ 3 hēo nim(e)þ hīe nimaþ Preterite 1 ic nōm wē nōmon 2 þū nōme gē nōmon 3 hēo nōm hīe nōmon

German

Table 16: German nehmen

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ich nehme wir nehmen 2 du nimmst ihr nehmt 3 sie nimmt sie nehmen Preterite 1 ich nahm wir nahmen 2 du nahmst ihr nahmt 3 sie nahm sie nahmen

Verb Endings Compared

Weak

Table 17: Weak OE personal endings

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1

• e
• aþ

2

• (e)st
• aþ

3

• (e)þ
• aþ

Preterite 1

• de
• don

2

• dest
• don

3

• de
• don

Strong

Table 18: Strong OE personal endings

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1

• e
• aþ

2

• (e)st
• aþ

3

• (e)þ
• aþ

Preterite 1

• ∅
• on

2

• e
• on

3

• ∅
• on

Figure 1: Front mutation

i-Mutation and Fortition

Old English

Table 19: OE tredan (“step, trample”)

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic trede wē tredaþ 2 þū tritst gē tredaþ 3 hēo tritt hīe tredaþ Preterite 1 ic træd wē trǣdon 2 þū trǣde gē trǣdon 3 hēo træd hīe trǣdon

German

Table 20: German treten

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ich trete wir treten 2 du trittst ihr tretet 3 sie tritt sie treten Preterite 1 ich trat wir traten 2 du tratest ihr tratet 3 sie trat sie traten

Seven Strong Verb Classes: Today

English

Table 21: English strong preterite formation

# Infinitive Past Participle I ride rode ridden II fseeze fsoze fsozen III swim swam swum IV steal stole stolen V give gave given VI swear swore sworn VII fall fell fallen

German

Table 22: German strong preterite formation

# Infinitive Past Participle I reiten ritt geritten II fsieren fsor gefsoren III schwimmen schwamm geschwommen IV stehlen stahl gestohlen V geben gab gegeben VI schwören schwor geschworen VII fallen fiel gefallen

The Strong Verb Classes in Old English

Table 23: Old English illustration of the strong verb classes

# Infinitive 3sg Pres.

• Pret. Sg.
• Pret. Pl.

Participle I rīdan rītt rād ridon riden II fsēosan fsȳst fsēas fsuron fsoren III swimman swimþ swamm swummon swommen IV stelan stilþ stæl stǣlon stolen V gyfan gyfÿ geaf gēafon gyfen VI swerian swereþ swōr swōron sworen VII feallan fielþ fēoll fēollon feallen

Strong Verb Gradation Patterns in Old English

Table 24: Vowel gradation across the four principal parts of OE strong verbs

# First Fronted Second Third Fourth I ī ā i i II ēo īe > ȳ ēa u

• III

eCC iCC æCC uCC

• CC

IV e i æ ǣ e V e i æ ǣ e VI a æ ō ō a VII X X-fsonted Y Y X (C = consonant; X = ā/a/ēa/ea/ō/ē/ǣ/æ; Y = ē/ēo/eo)

Preterite-Present Verbs

Compare:

Preterite-Present Present

Table 25: Presents of preterite-present verbs

English German Old English can kann can may mag mæg

Strong Preterite

Table 26: Preterites of classes III, V

English German Old English ran rann rann lay lag læg

Preterite-Present Conjugation

Table 27: witan (“know”)

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic wāt wē witon 2 þū wāst gē witon 3 hēo wāt hīe witon Preterite 1 ic wiste wē wiston 2 þū wistest gē wiston 3 hēo wiste hīe wiston

Table 28: mōtan (“be allowed; must”)

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic mōt wē mōton 2 þū mōst gē mōton 3 hēo mōt hīe mōton Preterite 1 ic mōste wē mōston 2 þū mōstest gē mōston 3 hēo mōste hīe mōston

Index of Preterite-Present Verbs

Table 29: The twelve preterite-presents of Old English

Infinitive Present Preterite Sense āgan āh āhte

• wn; be obligated

cunnan can cūþe know (how to), be able durran dearr dorste dare dugan dēah dohte avail magan mæg meahte may mōtan mōt mōste may, be able; must gemunan geman gemunde remember genugan geneah genohte suffice sculan sceal sceolde must þurfan þearf þorfue need unnan ann ūþe grant witan wāt wiste know

Sense Developments in Germanic Modals

Table 30: Sense differences between cognate modal auxiliaries

OE Sense PDE Sense German Sense cunnan know (how to), be able can be able können know (how to), be able mōtan may; be able; must must must müssen must sculan must shall shall sollen

• ught

willan want will shall wollen want

Overview of Verb Categories and Classes

Strong

• I. wrītan, wrāt (“write”)
• II. crēopan, crēap (“creep”)
• III. fsignan, fsægn (“ask”)
• IV. stelan, stæl (“steal”)
• V. specan, spæc (“speak”)
• VI. hladan, hlōd (“load”)
• VII. wealdan, wēold (“govern”)

Preterite-Present

e.g. ▶ cunnan, can, cūþe (“be able”) ▶ mōtan, mōt, mōste (“may”) ▶ sculan, sceal, sceolde (“must”)

Weak

• 1. fsemman, fsemede (“do”)
• 2. sparian, sparode (“spare”)

3.

▶ habban, hæfde (“have”) ▶ hycgan, hogde (“think”) ▶ libban, lifde (“live”) ▶ secgan, sægde (“say”)

Mixed/Anomalous

▶ bēon, wæs (“be”) ▶ dōn, dyde (“do”) ▶ gān, ēode (“go”) ▶ willan, wolde (“want”)

Frequency of Verb Categories

▶ wiktionary.org has

▶ 1554 entries under weak verbs ▶ 1004 entries under strong verbs ▶ 22 entries under preterite-present verbs ▶ 3 entries under “suppletive” (i.e. mixed) verbs

But it lists every verb containing a “w” twice, and these figures include many compounds. The number of weak verbs is suspiciously low, that of strong verbs suspiciously high. ▶ Mailhammer counts 492 “Germanic” strong verbs. ▶ For comparison: Fritzner documents c. 3,000 weak verbs for Old Norse, and c. 250 strong verbs are attested or can be reconstructed.

How to Identifz a Strong Preterite Singular as a Verb

Table 31: Vowel gradation across the four principal parts of OE strong verbs

# First Fronted Second Third Fourth I ī ā i i II ēo īe > ȳ ēa u

• III

eCC iCC æCC uCC

• CC

IV e i æ ǣ e V e i æ ǣ e VI a æ ō ō a VII X X-fsonted Y Y X ▶ Ends in a consonant or is adjacent to þū ▶ Usually has a stem vowel ā/ēa/æ/ō/ē/ēo/eo ▶ Ofuen the second word in the clause (“V2”) ▶ Ofuen has a subject and/or object nearby ▶ May resemble a German/PDE verb

Tense: Just the Two?

Present-Day English

▶ PDE “future” is a resolved tense, not an inflectional tense ▶ PDE perfect constructions express aspect, not tense, and are periphrastic constructions

Old English

▶ Could form perfect constructions as well, but did so more rarely ▶ The full aspectual range is expressed using just present and preterite → Infer fsom context!

Mood: The Subjunctive (Weak Illustration)

Indicative

Table 32: OE lǣran (“teach”): indicative

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic lǣre wē lǣraþ 2 þū lǣrest gē lǣraþ 3 hēo lǣreþ hīe lǣraþ Preterite 1 ic lǣrde wē lǣrdon 2 þū lǣrdest gē lǣrdon 3 hēo lǣrde hīe lǣrdon

Subjunctive

Table 33: OE lǣran (“teach”): subjunctive

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic lǣre wē lǣren 2 þū lǣre gē lǣren 3 hēo lǣre hīe lǣren Preterite 1 ic lǣrde wē lǣrden 2 þū lǣrde gē lǣrden 3 hēo lǣrde hīe lǣrden

Mood: The Subjunctive (Strong Illustration)

Indicative

Table 34: OE niman (“take”): indicative

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic nime wē nimaþ 2 þū nim(e)st gē nimaþ 3 hēo nim(e)þ hīe nimaþ Preterite 1 ic nōm wē nōmon 2 þū nōme gē nōmon 3 hēo nōm hīe nōmon

Subjunctive

Table 35: OE niman (“take”): subjunctive

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic nime wē nimen 2 þū nime gē nimen 3 hēo nime hīe nimen Preterite 1 ic nōme wē nōmen 2 þū nōme gē nōmen 3 hēo nōme hīe nōmen

Where Does the Subjunctive Occur?

Headclauses

▶ Hortatory: “Let us…” ▶ Optative: expressing a wish ▶ Jussive: indirect commands

Subclauses

▶ Purpose clause: “in order that” ▶ Result clause: “so that” ▶ If-clause ▶ Concessive clause: “although” ▶ Object clause: “that” ▶ Reported opinion/speech ▶ Whether/or-clauses See the examples on my handout.

Mood: The Imperative

Weak

Table 36: The imperative forms of lǣran (“teach”)

Singular Plural lǣr lǣraþ

Strong

Table 37: The imperative forms of lǣran (“teach”)

Singular Plural nim nimaþ ▶ Old English only has second-person imperatives ▶ The singular form is identical to the verb stem (sometimes with a thematic, see habban) ▶ The plural form is identical to the present indicative plural

Bēon/wesan (“be”; mixed/anomalous)

Table 38: OE bēon/wesan (“be”): indicative

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic eom/bēo wē sindon/bēoþ 2 þū eart/bist gē sindon/bēoþ 3 hēo is/biþ hīe sindon/bēoþ Preterite 1 ic wæs wē wǣron 2 þū wǣre gē wǣron 3 hēo wæs hīe wǣron

Table 39: OE bēon/wesan (“be”): subjunctive

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic sīe/bēo wē sīen/bēon 2 þū sīe/bēo gē sīen/bēon 3 hēo sīe/bēo hīe sīen/bēon Preterite 1 ic wǣre wē wǣren 2 þū wǣre gē wǣren 3 hēo wǣre hīe wǣren

Table 40: OE bēon/wesan (“be”): participles and imperative

Present Participle Past Participle Imperative Singular Imperative Plural bēonde/wesende bēon bēo/wes bēoþ/wesaþ

Habban (“have”; class 3 weak)

Table 41: OE habban (“have”): indicative

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic hæbbe wē habbaþ 2 þū hæfst gē habbaþ 3 hēo hæfÿ hīe habbaþ Preterite 1 ic hæfde wē hæfdon 2 þū hæfdest gē hæfdon 3 hēo hæfde hīe hæfdon

Table 42: OE habban (“have”): subjunctive

Tense # Singular Plural Present 1 ic hæbbe wē hæbben 2 þū hæbbe gē hæbben 3 hēo hæbbe hīe hæbben Preterite 1 ic hæfde wē hæfden 2 þū hæfde gē hæfden 3 hēo hæfde hīe hæfden

Table 43: OE habban (“have”): participles and imperative

Present Participle Past Participle Imperative Singular Imperative Plural hæbbende hæfd hafa habbaþ

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Further Reading

Campbell, Alistair. Old English Grammar. Oxford: Clarendon, 1959.