Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary

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[Transcriber's Note:

This text is intended for users whose text readers cannot use the "real" (Unicode/UTF-8) version of the file. Characters that could not be fully displayed are shown in alternative forms:

Ââ Êê Îî Ôô Ûû (circumflex in place of macron or "long" mark; the circumflex in its own right does not occur) y: Æ: æ: (long y and æ; the sequence "y:" does not occur in the Old English material, and "æ:" does not occur at all)

Characters with more than one diacritic (rare), and some less common combinations such as accented æ, are shown "top to bottom" in brackets: [´â] [´æ] (long a with accent, æ with accent). Greek words (also rare) have been transliterated and shown between +marks+; there should be no confusion between this and the + as printed.

The short vowels e and o are sometimes shown with ogonek (reversed cedilla). In the introductory section on vowel sounds, and in the overall Glossary, these are shown as [E,] [e,] [O,] [o,]. Elsewhere the ogonek was simply omitted; there are no minimal pairs (different words distinguished only by this sign).

See the Poetry section (between V and VI in Part III, Readings) for display of characters specific to that section.

Italics are shown with _lines_. Boldface is shown with #hash marks#. In the printed book, boldface was used for all Anglo-Saxon other than exercises and reading passages; it has been omitted from the e-text except when necessary for clarity.

In references to numbered Sections, "Note" may mean either an inset Note or a footnote.

In the prose reading selections (pages 99-121), page numbers and line breaks have been retained for use with the linenotes and Glossary. Page numbers are shown in [[double brackets]]. In the verse selections, line numbers in the notes have been replaced with line numbers from the original texts, printed in brackets as shown. The distinction between linenotes and numbered footnotes is in the original.

Single brackets [] and asterisks * are in the original, as are the symbols + = < >. Text in [[double brackets]] was added by the transcriber.]

Anglo-Saxon Grammar

And Exercise Book

With Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary

By

C. ALPHONSO SMITH, Ph.D., LL.D.

Late Professor of English in the United States Naval Academy

ALLYN and BACON Boston New York Chicago Atlanta San Francisco

Copyright, 1896, by C. ALPHONSO SMITH.

Iai

Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith Norwood Mass. U.S.A.

Preface.

The scope of this book is indicated in § 5. It is intended for beginners, and in writing it, these words of Sir Thomas Elyot have not been forgotten: "Grammer, beinge but an introduction to the understandinge of autors, if it be made to longe or exquisite to the lerner, it in a maner mortifieth his corage: And by that time he cometh to the most swete and pleasant redinge of olde autors, the sparkes of fervent desire of lernynge are extincte with the burdone of grammer, lyke as a lyttell fyre is sone quenched with a great heape of small stickes." --_The Governour_, Cap. X.

Only the essentials, therefore, are treated in this work, which is planned more as a foundation for the study of Modern English grammar, of historical English grammar, and of the principles of English etymology, than as a general introduction to Germanic philology.

The Exercises in translation will, it is believed, furnish all the drill necessary to enable the student to retain the forms and constructions given in the various chapters.

The Selections for Reading relate to the history and literature of King Alfred's day, and are sufficient to give the student a first-hand, though brief, acquaintance with the native style and idiom of Early West Saxon prose in its golden age. Most of the words and constructions contained in them will be already familiar to the student through their intentional employment in the Exercises.

For the inflectional portion of this grammar, recourse has been had chiefly to Sievers' _Abriss der angelsächsischen Grammatik_ (1895). Constant reference has been made also to the same author's earlier and larger _Angelsächsishe Grammatik_, translated by Cook. A more sparing use has been made of Cosijn's _Altwestsächsische Grammatik_.

For syntax and illustrative sentences, Dr. J. E. Wülfing's _Syntax in den Werken Alfreds des Grossen, Part I._ (Bonn, 1894) has proved indispensable. Advance sheets of the second part of this great work lead one to believe that when completed the three parts will constitute the most important contribution to the study of English syntax that has yet been made. Old English sentences have also been cited from Sweet's _Anglo-Saxon Reader_, Bright's _Anglo-Saxon Reader_, and Cook's _First Book in Old English_.

The short chapter on the Order of Words has been condensed from my _Order of Words in Anglo-Saxon Prose_ (Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, New Series, Vol. I, No. 2).

Though assuming sole responsibility for everything contained in this book, I take pleasure in acknowledging the kind and efficient assistance that has been so generously given me in its preparation. To none do I owe more than to Dr. J. E. Wülfing, of the University of Bonn; Prof. James A. Harrison, of the University of Virginia; Prof. W. S. Currell, of Washington and Lee University; Prof. J. Douglas Bruce, of Bryn Mawr College; and Prof. L. M. Harris, of the University of Indiana. They have each rendered material aid, not only in the tedious task of detecting typographical errors in the proof-sheets, but by the valuable criticisms and suggestions which they have made as this work was passing through the press.

C. Alphonso Smith.

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, September, 1896.

Preface To The Second Edition.

In preparing this enlarged edition, a few minor errors in the first edition have been corrected and a few sentences added. The chief difference between the two editions, however, consists in the introduction of more reading matter and the consequent exposition of Old English meter. Both changes have been made at the persistent request of teachers and students of Old English.

Uniformity of treatment has been studiously preserved in the new material and the old, the emphasis in both being placed on syntax and upon the affinities that Old English shares with Modern English.

Many obligations have been incurred in preparing this augmented edition. I have again to thank Dr. J. E. Wülfing, Prof. James A. Harrison, Prof. W. S. Currell, and Prof. J. Douglas Bruce. To the scholarly criticisms also of Prof. J. M. Hart, of Cornell; Prof. Frank Jewett Mather, Jr., of Williams College; and Prof. Frederick Tupper, Jr., of the University of Vermont, I am indebted for aid as generously given as it is genuinely appreciated.

C. Alphonso Smith.

August, 1898.

Preface To The Fourth Edition.

Among those who have kindly aided in making this edition free from error, I wish to thank especially my friend Dr. John M. McBryde, Jr., of Hollins Institute, Virginia.

C. Alphonso Smith.

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, February, 1903.

Table Of Contents.

Part I.--Introduction.

Chapters Pages

I. History (§ 1-5) 1 II. Sounds (§ 6-11) 4 III. Inflections (§ 12-19) 10 IV. Order of Words (§ 20-21) 18 V. Practical Suggestions (§ 22-24) 21

Part II.--Etymology And Syntax.

VI. The a-Declension: Masculine a-Stems (§ 25-30) 27 VII. Neuter a-Stems (§ 31-36) 30 VIII. The ô-Declension (§ 37-42) 33 IX. The i-Declension and the u-Declension (§ 43-55) 35 X. Present Indicative Endings of Strong Verbs (§ 56-62) 39 XI. The Weak or n-Declension (§ 63-66) 44 XII. Remnants of Other Consonant Declensions (§ 67-71) 47 XIII. Pronouns (§ 72-77) 50 XIV. Adjectives, Strong and Weak (§ 78-87) 53 XV. Numerals (§ 88-92) 57 XVI. Adverbs, Prepositions, and Conjunctions (§ 93-95) 60 XVII. Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs (§ 96-100) 64 XVIII. Strong Verbs: Class I, Syntax of Moods (§ 101-108) 68 XIX. Classes II and III (§ 109-113) 74 XX. Classes IV, V, VI, and VII; Contract Verbs (§ 114-121) 78 XXI. Weak Verbs (§ 122-133) 82 XXII. Remaining Verbs; Verb Phrases with #habban#, #bêon#, and #weorðan# (§ 134-143) 90

Part III.--Selections For Reading.

Prose.

Introductory 98 I. The Battle of Ashdown 99 II. A Prayer of King Alfred 101 III. The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan 102 Ohthere's First Voyage 103 Ohthere's Second Voyage 106 Wulfstan's Voyage 107 IV. The Story of Cædmon 111 V. Alfred's Preface to the Pastoral Care 116

Poetry.

Introductory 122 VI. Extracts from Beowulf 136 VII. The Wanderer 148

Glossaries.

I. Old English--Modern English 155 II. Modern English--Old English 190

* * * * * * * * *

Old English

Grammar And Exercises

* * * * * * * * *

Old English Grammar And Exercise Book.

Part I.

Introduction.

Chapter I.

History.

1. The history of the English language falls naturally into three periods; but these periods blend into one another so gradually that too much significance must not be attached to the exact dates which scholars, chiefly for convenience of treatment, have assigned as their limits. Our language, it is true, has undergone many and great changes; but its continuity has never been broken, and its individuality has never been lost.

2. The first of these periods is that of OLD ENGLISH, or ANGLO-SAXON,[1] commonly known as the period of _full inflections_. _E.g._ #stân-as#, _stones_; #car-u#, _care_; #will-a#, _will_; #bind-an#, _to bind_; #help-að# (= #ath#), _they help_.

It extends from the arrival of the English in Great Britain to about one hundred years after the Norman Conquest,--from A.D. 449 to 1150; but there are no literary remains of the earlier centuries of this period. There were four[2] distinct dialects spoken at this time. These were the Northumbrian, spoken north of the river Humber; the Mercian, spoken in the midland region between the Humber and the Thames; the West Saxon, spoken south and west of the Thames; and the Kentish, spoken in the neighborhood of Canterbury. Of these dialects, Modern English is most nearly akin to the Mercian; but the best known of them is the West Saxon. It was in the West Saxon dialect that King Alfred (849-901) wrote and spoke. His writings belong to the period of Early West Saxon as distinguished from the period of Late West Saxon, the latter being best represented in the writings of Abbot Ælfric (955?-1025?).

[Footnote 1: This unfortunate nomenclature is due to the term _Angli Saxones_, which Latin writers used as a designation for the English Saxons as distinguished from the continental or Old Saxons. But Alfred and Ælfric both use the term _Englisc_, not Anglo-Saxon. The Angles spread over Northumbria and Mercia, far outnumbering the other tribes. Thus _Englisc_ (= _Angel_ + _isc_) became the general name for the language spoken.]

[Footnote 2: As small as England is, there are six distinct dialects spoken in her borders to-day. Of these the Yorkshire dialect is, perhaps, the most peculiar. It preserves many Northumbrian survivals. See Tennyson's _Northern Farmer_.]

3. The second period is that of MIDDLE ENGLISH, or the period of _leveled inflections_, the dominant vowel of the inflections being e. _E.g._ #ston-es#, #car-e#, #will-e#, #bind-en# (or #bind-e#), #help-eth#, each being, as in the earlier period, a dissyllable.

The Middle English period extends from A.D. 1150 to 1500. Its greatest representatives are Chaucer (1340-1400) in poetry and Wiclif (1324-1384) in prose. There were three prominent dialects during this period: the Northern, corresponding to the older Northumbrian; the Midland (divided into East Midland and West Midland), corresponding to the Mercian; and the Southern, corresponding to the West Saxon and Kentish. London, situated in East Midland territory, had become the dominant speech center; and it was this East Midland dialect that both Chaucer and Wiclif employed.

NOTE.--It is a great mistake to think that Chaucer shaped our language from crude materials. His influence was conservative, not plastic. The popularity of his works tended to crystalize and thus to perpetuate the forms of the East Midland dialect, but that dialect was ready to his hand before he began to write. The speech of London was, in Chaucer's time, a mixture of Southern and Midland forms, but the Southern forms (survivals of the West Saxon dialect) had already begun to fall away; and this they continued to do, so that "Chaucer's language," as Dr. Murray says, "is more Southern than standard English eventually became." See also Morsbach, _Ueber den Ursprung der neuenglischen Schriftsprache_ (1888).

4. The last period is that of MODERN ENGLISH, or the period of _lost inflections_. _E.g._ _stones_, _care_, _will_, _bind_, _help_, each being a monosyllable. Modern English extends from A.D. 1500 to the present time. It has witnessed comparatively few grammatical changes, but the vocabulary of our language has been vastly increased by additions from the classical languages. Vowels, too, have shifted their values.

5. It is the object of this book to give an elementary knowledge of Early West Saxon, that is, the language of King Alfred. With this knowledge, it will not be difficult for the student to read Late West Saxon, or any other dialect of the Old English period. Such knowledge will also serve as the best introduction to the structure both of Middle English and of Modern English, besides laying a secure foundation for the scientific study of any other Germanic tongue.

NOTE.--The Germanic, or Teutonic, languages constitute a branch of the great Aryan, or Indo-Germanic (known also as the Indo-European) group. They are subdivided as follows:

{ North Germanic: Scandinavian, or Norse. { { { Old High German, Germanic { East Germanic: Gothic. { (to A.D. 1100,) { { { { High German { Middle High German, { { { (A.D. 1100-1500,) { { { { West Germanic { { New High German. { { (A.D. 1500-.) { { Low German { Dutch, { Old Saxon, { Frisian, { English.

Chapter II.

Sounds.

#Vowels and Diphthongs.#

6. The long vowels and diphthongs will in this book be designated by the macron (¯). Vowel length should in every case be associated by the student with each word learned: quantity alone sometimes distinguishes words meaning wholly different things: #fôr#, _he went_, #for#, _for_; #gôd#, _good_, #God#, _God_; #mân#, _crime_, #man#, _man_.

Long vowels and diphthongs:

â as in f_a_ther: #stân#, _a stone_. æ: as in m_a_n (prolonged): #slæ:pan#, _to sleep_. ê as in th_e_y: #hêr#, _here_. î as in mach_i_ne: #mîn#, _mine_. ô as in n_o_te (pure, not diphthongal): #bôc#, _book_. û as in r_u_le: #tûn#, _town_. y: as in German gr_ü_n, or English gr_ee_n (with lips rounded):[1] #bry:d#, _bride_.

The diphthongs, long and short, have the stress upon the first vowel. The second vowel is obscured, and represents approximately the sound of _er_ in _sooner_, _faster_ (= _soon-uh_, _fast-uh_). The long diphthongs (æ: is not a diphthong proper) are êo, îe, and êa. The sound of êo is approximately reproduced in _mayor_ (= _mâ-uh_); that of îe in the dissyllabic pronunciation of _fear_ (= _fê-uh_). But êa = _æ:-uh_. This diphthong is hardly to be distinguished from _ea_ in _pear_, _bear_, etc., as pronounced in the southern section of the United States (= _bæ-uh_, _pæ-uh_).

7. The short sounds are nothing more than the long vowels and diphthongs shortened; but the student must at once rid himself of the idea that Modern English _red_, for example, is the shortened form of _reed_, or that _mat_ is the shortened form of _mate_. Pronounce these long sounds with increasing rapidity, and _reed_ will approach _rid_, while _mate_ will approach _met_. The Old English short vowel sounds are:

a as in _a_rtistic: #habban#, _to have_. æ as in m_a_nkind: #dæg#, _day_. e, [e,] as in l_e_t: #stelan#, _to steal_, #s[e,]ttan#, _to set_. i as in s_i_t: #hit#, _it_. o as in br_oa_d (but shorter): #God#, _God_. [o,] as in n_o_t: #l[o,]mb#, _lamb_. u as in f_u_ll: #sunu#, _son_. y as in m_i_ller (with lips rounded)[1]: #gylden#, _golden_.

NOTE.--The symbol [e,] is known as _umlaut_-e (§ 58). It stands for Germanic _a_, while e (without the cedilla) represents Germanic _e_. The symbol [o,] is employed only before m and n. It, too, represents Germanic _a_. But Alfred writes #manig# or #monig#, _many_; #lamb# or #lomb#, _lamb_; #hand# or #hond#, _hand_, etc. The cedilla is an etymological sign added by modern grammarians.

[Transcriber's Note: The diacritic is not a cedilla (open to the left) but an ogonek (open to the right).]

[Footnote 1: Vowels are said to be round, or rounded, when the lip-opening is rounded; that is, when the lips are thrust out and puckered as if preparing to pronounce _w_. Thus _o_ and _u_ are round vowels: add _-ing_ to each, and phonetically you have added _-wing_. _E.g. go^{w}ing_, _su^{w}ing_.]

#Consonants.#

8. There is little difference between the values of Old English consonants and those of Modern English. The following distinctions, however, require notice:

The digraph #th# is represented in Old English texts by ð and þ, no consistent distinction being made between them. In the works of Alfred, ð (capital, Ð) is the more common: #ðâs#, _those_; #ðæt#, _that_; #bindeð#, _he binds_.

The consonant #c# had the hard sound of _k_, the latter symbol being rare in West Saxon: #cyning#, _king_; #cwên#, _queen_; #cûð#, _known_. When followed by a palatal vowel sound,--_e_, _i_, _æ_, _ea_, _eo_, long or short,--a vanishing _y_ sound was doubtless interposed (_cf._ dialectic _k^{y}ind_ for _kind_). In Modern English the combination has passed into _ch_: #cealc#, _chalk_; #cîdan#, _to chide_; #læ:ce#, _leech_; #cild#, _child_; #cêowan#, _to chew_. This change (_c_ > _ch_) is known as Palatalization. The letter g, pronounced as in Modern English _gun_, has also a palatal value before the palatal vowels (_cf._ dialectic _g^{y}irl_ for _girl_).

The combination #cg#, which frequently stands for #gg#, had probably the sound of _dge_ in Modern English _edge_: #ecg#, _edge_; #secgan#, _to say_; #brycg#, _bridge_. Initial #h# is sounded as in Modern English: #habban#, _to have_; #hâlga#, _saint_. When closing a syllable it has the sound of German _ch_: #slôh#, _he slew_; #hêah#, _high_; #ðurh#, _through_.

9. An important distinction is that between voiced (or sonant) and voiceless (or surd) consonants.[2] In Old English they are as follows:

Voiced. Voiceless.

g h, c d t ð, þ (as in _th_ough) ð, þ (as in _th_in) b p f (= v) f s (= z) s

It is evident, therefore, that ð (þ), f, and s have double values in Old English. If voiced, they are equivalent to _th_ (in _th_ough), _v_, and _z_. Otherwise, they are pronounced as _th_ (in _th_in), _f_ (in _f_in), and _s_ (in _s_in). The syllabic environment will usually compel the student to give these letters their proper values. When occurring between vowels, they are always voiced: #ôðer#, _other_; #ofer#, _over_; #rîsan#, _to rise_.

NOTE.--The general rule in Old English, as in Modern English, is, that voiced consonants have a special affinity for other voiced consonants, and voiceless for voiceless. This is the law of Assimilation. Thus when _de_ is added to form the preterit of a verb whose stem ends in a voiceless consonant, the d is unvoiced, or assimilated, to t: #settan#, _to set_, #sette# (but #treddan#, _to tread_, has #tredde#); #slæ:pan#, _to sleep_, #slæ:pte#; #drencan#, _to drench_, #drencte#; #cyssan#, _to kiss_, #cyste#. See § 126, Note 1.

[Footnote 2: A little practice will enable the student to see the appropriateness of calling these consonants voiced and voiceless. Try to pronounce a voiced consonant,--_d_ in _den_, for example, but without the assistance of _en_,--and there will be heard a gurgle, or _vocal_ murmur. But in _t_, of _ten_, there is no sound at all, but only a feeling of tension in the organs.]

#Syllables.#

10. A syllable is usually a vowel, either alone or in combination with consonants, uttered with a single impulse of stress; but certain consonants may form syllables: _oven_ (= _ov-n_), _battle_ (= _bæt-l_); (_cf._ also the vulgar pronunciation of _elm_).

A syllable may be (1) weak or strong, (2) open or closed, (3) long or short.

(1) A weak syllable receives a light stress. Its vowel sound is often different from that of the corresponding strong, or stressed, syllable. _Cf._ weak and strong _my_ in "I want my lárge hat" and "I want m[´y] hat."

(2) An open syllable ends in a vowel or diphthong: #dê-man#, _to deem_; #ðû#, _thou_; #sca-can#, _to shake_; #dæ-ges#, _by day_. A closed syllable ends in one or more consonants: #ðing#, _thing_; #gôd#, _good_; #glæd#, _glad_.

(3) A syllable is long (_a_) if it contains a long vowel or a long diphthong: #drî-fan#, _to drive_; #lû-can#, _to lock_; #slæ:-pan#, _to sleep_; #cêo-san#, _to choose_; (_b_) if its vowel or diphthong is followed by more than one consonant:[3] #cræft#, _strength_; #heard#, _hard_; #lib-ban#, _to live_; #feal-lan#, _to fall_. Otherwise, the syllable is short: #ðe#, _which_; #be-ran#, _to bear_; #ðæt#, _that_; #gie-fan#, _to give_.

NOTE 1.--A single consonant belongs to the following syllable: #hâ-lig#, _holy_ (not #hâl-ig#); #wrî-tan#, _to write_; #fæ-der#, _father_.

NOTE 2.--The student will notice that the syllable may be long and the vowel short; but the vowel cannot be long and the syllable short.

NOTE 3.--Old English short vowels, occurring in open syllables, have regularly become long in Modern English: #we-fan#, _to weave_; #e-tan#, _to eat_; #ma-cian#, _to make_; #na-cod#, _naked_; #a-can#, _to ache_; #o-fer#, _over_. And Old English long vowels, preceding two or more consonants, have generally been shortened: #brêost#, _breast_; #hæ:lð#, _health_; #slæ:pte#, _slept_; #læ:dde#, _led_.

[Footnote 3: Taken separately, every syllable ending in a single consonant is long. It may be said, therefore, that all closed syllables are long; but in the natural flow of language, the single final consonant of a syllable so often blends with a following initial vowel, the syllable thus becoming open and short, that such syllables are not recognized as prevailingly long. _Cf._ Modern English _at all_ (= _a-tall_).]

#Accentuation.#

11. The accent in Old English falls usually on the radical syllable, never on the inflectional ending: #bríngan#, _to bring_; #st[´â]nas#, _stones_; #bérende#, _bearing_; #[´î]delnes#, _idleness_; #fr[´ê]ondscipe#, _friendship_.

But in the case of compound nouns, adjectives, and adverbs the first member of the compound (unless it be ge- or be-) receives the stronger stress: #héofon-rîce#, _heaven-kingdom_; #ónd-giet#, _intelligence_; #sôð-fæst#, _truthful_; #gód-cund#, _divine_; #éall-unga#, _entirely_; #bl[´î]ðe-lîce#, _blithely_. But #be-h[´â]t#, _promise_; #ge-béd#, _prayer_; #ge-f[´ê]alîc#, _joyous_; #be-sóne#, _immediately_.

Compound verbs, however, have the stress on the radical syllable: #for-gíefan#, _to forgive_; #of-línnan#, _to cease_; #â-cn[´â]wan#, _to know_; #wið-stóndan#, _to withstand_; #on-sácan#, _to resist_.

NOTE.--The tendency of nouns to take the stress on the prefix, while verbs retain it on the root, is exemplified in many Modern English words: _préference_, _prefér_; _cóntract_ (noun), _contráct_ (verb); _ábstinence_, _abstaín_; _pérfume_ (noun), _perfúme_ (verb).

Chapter III.

Inflections.

#Cases.#

12. There are five cases in Old English: the nominative, the genitive, the dative, the accusative, and the instrumental.[1] Each of them, except the nominative, may be governed by prepositions. When used without prepositions, they have, in general, the following functions:

(_a_) The nominative, as in Modern English, is the case of the subject of a finite verb.

(_b_) The genitive (the possessive case of Modern English) is the case of the possessor or source. It may be called the _of_ case.

(_c_) The dative is the case of the indirect object. It may be called the _to_ or _for_ case.

(_d_) The accusative (the objective case of Modern English) is the case of the direct object.

(_e_) The instrumental, which rarely differs from the dative in form, is the case of the means or the method. It may be called the _with_ or _by_ case.

The following paradigm of #mûð#, _the mouth_, illustrates the several cases (the article being, for the present, gratuitously added in the Modern English equivalents):

_Singular._ _Plural._

_N._ mûð = _the mouth._ mûð-as = _the mouths._

_G._ mûð-es[2] = _of the mouth_ mûð-a = _of the mouths_ (= _the mouth's_). (= _the mouths'_).

_D._ mûð-e = _to_ or _for the mûð-um = _to_ or _for the mouths._ mouth._

_A._ mûð = _the mouth._ mûð-as = _the mouths._

_I._ mûðe = _with_ or _by means mûð-um = _with_ or _by means of the mouth._ of the mouths._

[Footnote 1: Most grammars add a sixth case, the vocative. But it seems best to consider the vocative as only a _function_ of the nominative _form_.]

[Footnote 2: Of course our "apostrophe and _s_" (= _'s_) comes from the Old English genitive ending -es. The _e_ is preserved in _Wednesday_ (= Old English #Wôdnes dæg#). But at a very early period it was thought that _John's book_, for example, was a shortened form of _John his book_. Thus Addison (_Spectator_, No. 135) declares _'s_ a survival of _his_. How, then, would he explain the _s_ of _his_? And how would he dispose of _Mary's book_?]

#Gender.#

13. The gender of Old English nouns, unlike that of Modern English, depends partly on meaning and partly on form, or ending. Thus #mûð#, _mouth_, is masculine; #tunge#, _tongue_, feminine; #êage#, _eye_, neuter.

No very comprehensive rules, therefore, can be given; but the gender of every noun should be learned with its meaning. Gender will be indicated in the vocabularies by the different gender forms of the definite article, #sê# for the masculine, #sêo# for the feminine, and #ðæt# for the neuter: #sê mûð#, #sêo tunge#, #ðæt êage# = _the mouth_, _the tongue_, _the eye_.

All nouns ending in #-dôm#, #-hâd#, #-scipe#, or #-ere# are masculine (_cf._ Modern English wis_dom_, child_hood_, friend_ship_, work_er_). Masculine, also, are nouns ending in -a.

Those ending in #-nes# or #-ung# are feminine (_cf._ Modern English good_ness_, and gerundial forms in _-ing_: see_ing_ is believ_ing_).

Thus #sê wîsdôm#, _wisdom_; #sê cildhâd#, _childhood_; #sê frêondscipe#, _friendship_; #sê fiscere#, _fisher(man)_; #sê hunta#, _hunter_; #sêo gelîcnes#, _likeness_; #sêo leornung#, _learning_.

#Declensions.#

14. There are two great systems of declension in Old English, the Vowel Declension and the Consonant Declension. A noun is said to belong to the Vowel Declension when the final letter of its stem is a vowel, this vowel being then known as the _stem-characteristic_; but if the stem-characteristic is a consonant, the noun belongs to the Consonant Declension. There might have been, therefore, as many subdivisions of the Vowel Declension in Old English as there were vowels, and as many subdivisions of the Consonant Declension as there were consonants. All Old English nouns, however, belonging to the Vowel Declension, ended their stems originally in a, ô, i, or u. Hence there are but four subdivisions of the Vowel Declension: a-stems, ô-stems, i-stems, and u-stems.

The Vowel Declension is commonly called the Strong Declension, and its nouns Strong Nouns.

NOTE.--The terms Strong and Weak were first used by Jacob Grimm (1785-1863) in the terminology of verbs, and thence transferred to nouns and adjectives. By a Strong Verb, Grimm meant one that could form its preterit out of its own resources; that is, without calling in the aid of an additional syllable: Modern English _run_, _ran_; _find_, _found_; but verbs of the Weak Conjugation had to borrow, as it were, an inflectional syllable: _gain_, _gained_; _help_, _helped_.

15. The stems of nouns belonging to the Consonant Declension ended, with but few exceptions, in the letter n (_cf._ Latin _homin-em_, _ration-em_, Greek +poimen-a+). They are called, therefore, n-stems, the Declension itself being known as the n-Declension, or the Weak Declension. The nouns, also, are called Weak Nouns.

16. If every Old English noun had preserved the original Germanic stem-characteristic (or final letter of the stem), there would be no difficulty in deciding at once whether any given noun is an a-stem, ô-stem, i-stem, u-stem, or n-stem; but these final letters had, for the most part, either been dropped, or fused with the case-endings, long before the period of historic Old English. It is only, therefore, by a rigid comparison of the Germanic languages with one another, and with the other Aryan languages, that scholars are able to reconstruct a single Germanic language, in which the original stem-characteristics may be seen far better than in any one historic branch of the Germanic group (§ 5, Note).

This hypothetical language, which bears the same ancestral relation to the historic Germanic dialects that Latin bears to the Romance tongues, is known simply as _Germanic_ (Gmc.), or as _Primitive Germanic_. Ability to reconstruct Germanic forms is not expected of the students of this book, but the following table should be examined as illustrating the basis of distinction among the several Old English declensions (O.E. = Old English, Mn.E. = Modern English):

{ {Gmc. _staina-z_, {(1) a-stems {O.E. #stân#, { {Mn.E. _stone_. { { {Gmc. _hallô_, {(2) ô-stems {O.E. #heall#, I. Strong or Vowel { {Mn.E. _hall_. Declensions { { {Gmc. _bôni-z_, {(3) i-stems {O.E. #bên#, { {Mn.E. _boon_. { { {Gmc. _sunu-z_, {(4) u-stems {O.E. #sunu#, { {Mn.E. _son_.

{(1) n-stems {Gmc. _tungôn-iz_, { (Weak {O.E. #tung-an#, { Declension) {Mn.E. _tongue-s_. { { { {Gmc. _fôt-iz_, { {(_a_) {O.E. #fêt#, II. Consonant {(2) Remnants { {Mn.E. _feet_. Declensions { of other { { Consonant { {Gmc. _frijônd-iz_, { Declensions {(_b_) {O.E. #frîend#, { { {Mn.E. _friend-s_. { { { { {Gmc. _brôðr-iz_, { {(_c_) {O.E. #brôðor#, { { {Mn.E. _brother-s_.

NOTE.--"It will be seen that if Old English #êage#, _eye_, is said to be an n-stem, what is meant is this, that at some former period the kernel of the word ended in -n, while, as far as the Old English language proper is concerned, all that is implied is that the word is inflected in a certain manner." (Jespersen, _Progress in Language_, § 109).

This is true of all Old English stems, whether Vowel or Consonant. The division, therefore, into a-stems, ô-stems, etc., is made in the interests of grammar as well as of philology.

#Conjugations.#

17. There are, likewise, two systems of conjugation in Old English: the Strong or Old Conjugation, and the Weak or New Conjugation.

The verbs of the Strong Conjugation (the so-called Irregular Verbs of Modern English) number about three hundred, of which not one hundred remain in Modern English (§ 101, Note). They form their preterit and frequently their past participle by changing the radical vowel of the present stem. This vowel change or modification is called _ablaut_ (pronounced _áhp-lowt_): Modern English _sing, sang, sung_; _rise, rose, risen_. As the radical vowel of the preterit plural is often different from that of the preterit singular, there are four _principal parts_ or _tense stems_ in an Old English strong verb, instead of the three of Modern English. The four principal parts in the conjugation of a strong verb are (1) the present indicative, (2) the preterit indicative singular, (3) the preterit indicative plural, and (4) the past participle.

Strong verbs fall into seven groups, illustrated in the following table:

Present. Pret. Sing. Pret. Plur. Past Participle.

I. Bîtan, _to bite_:

Ic bît-e, _I bite_ or _shall bite_.[3] Ic bât, _I bit_. Wê bit-on, _we bit_. Ic hæbbe ge[4]-biten, _I have bitten_.

II. Bêodan, _to bid_:

Ic bêod-e, _I bid_ or _shall bid_. Ic bêad, _I bade_. Wê bud-on, _we bade_. Ic hæbbe ge-boden, _I have bidden_.

III. Bindan, _to bind_:

Ic bind-e, _I bind_ or _shall bind_. Ic bond, _I bound_. Wê bund-on, _we bound_. Ic hæbbe ge-bund-en, _I have bound_.

IV. Beran, _to bear_:

Ic ber-e, _I bear_ or _shall bear_. Ic bær, _I bore_. Wê bæ:r-on, _we bore_. Ic hæbbe ge-bor-en, _I have borne_.

V. Metan, _to measure_:

Ic met-e, _I measure_ or _shall measure_. Ic mæt, _I measured_. Wê mæ:t-on, _we measured_. Ic hæbbe ge-met-en, _I have measured_.

VI. Faran, _to go_:

Ic far-e, _I go_ or _shall go_. Ic fôr, _I went_. Wê fôr-on, _we went_. Ic eom[5] ge-far-en, _I have (am) gone_.

VII. Feallan, _to fall_:

Ic feall-e, _I fall_ or _shall fall_. Ic fêoll, _I fell_. Wê fêoll-on, _we fell_. Ic eom[5] ge-feall-en, _I have (am) fallen_.

[Footnote 3: Early West Saxon had no distinctive form for the future. The present was used both as present proper and as future. _Cf._ Modern English "I go home tomorrow," or "I am going home tomorrow" for "I shall go home tomorrow."]

[Footnote 4: The prefix ge- (Middle English _y-_), cognate with Latin _co_ (_con_) and implying completeness of action, was not always used. It never occurs in the past participles of compound verbs: #oþ-feallan#, _to fall off_, past participle #oþ-feallen# (not #oþ-gefeallen#). Milton errs in prefixing it to a present participle:

"What needs my Shakespeare, for his honour'd bones, The labour of an age in piled stones? Or that his hallow'd reliques should be hid Under a star-_ypointing_ pyramid." --_Epitaph on William Shakespeare_.

And Shakespeare misuses it in "Y-ravished," a preterit (_Pericles_ III, _Prologue_ l. 35).

It survives in the archaic _y-clept_ (Old English #ge-clypod#, called). It appears as _a_ in _aware_ (Old English #ge-wær#), as _e_ in _enough_ (Old English #ge-nôh#), and as _i_ in _handiwork_ (Old English #hand-ge-weorc#).]

[Footnote 5: With intransitive verbs denoting _change of condition_, the Old English auxiliary is usually some form of _to be_ rather than _to have_. See § 139.]

18. The verbs of the Weak Conjugation (the so-called Regular Verbs of Modern English) form their preterit and past participle by adding to the present stem a suffix[6] with _d_ or _t_: Modern English _love_, _loved_; _sleep_, _slept_.

The stem of the preterit plural is never different from the stem of the preterit singular; hence these verbs have only three distinctive tense-stems, or principal parts: _viz._, (1) the present indicative, (2) the preterit indicative, and (3) the past participle.

Weak verbs fall into three groups, illustrated in the following table:

Present. Preterit. Past Participle.

I. Fremman, _to perform_:

Ic fremm-e, _I perform_ or _shall perform_. Ic frem-ede, _I performed_. Ic hæbbe ge-frem-ed, _I have performed_.

II. Bodian, _to proclaim_:

Ic bodi-e, _I proclaim_ or _shall proclaim_. Ic bod-ode, _I proclaimed_. Ic hæbbe ge-bod-od, _I have proclaimed_.

III. Habban, _to have_:

Ic hæbbe, _I have_ or _shall have_. Ic hæf-de, _I had_. Ic hæbbe ge-hæf-d, _I have had_.

[Footnote 6: The theory that _loved_, for example, is a fused form of _love-did_ has been generally given up. The dental ending was doubtless an Indo-Germanic suffix, which became completely specialized only in the Teutonic languages.]

19. There remain a few verbs (chiefly the Auxiliary Verbs of Modern English) that do not belong entirely to either of the two conjugations mentioned. The most important of them are, #Ic mæg# _I may_, #Ic mihte# _I might_; #Ic con# _I can_, #Ic cûðe# _I could_; #Ic môt# _I must_, #Ic môste# _I must_; #Ic sceal# _I shall_, #Ic sceolde# _I should_; #Ic eom# _I am_, #Ic wæs# _I was_; #Ic wille# _I will_, #Ic wolde# _I would_; #Ic dô# _I do_, #Ic dyde# _I did_; #Ic gâ# _I go_, #Ic êode# _I went_.

All but the last four of these are known as Preterit-Present Verbs. The present tense of each of them is _in origin_ a preterit, _in function_ a present. _Cf._ Modern English _ought_ (= _owed_).

Chapter IV.

Order Of Words.

20. The order of words in Old English is more like that of Modern German than of Modern English. Yet it is only the Transposed order that the student will feel to be at all un-English; and the Transposed order, even before the period of the Norman Conquest, was fast yielding place to the Normal order.

The three divisions of order are (1) Normal, (2) Inverted, and (3) Transposed.

(1) Normal order = subject + predicate. In Old English, the Normal order is found chiefly in independent clauses. The predicate is followed by its modifiers: #Sê hwæl bið micle læ:ssa þonne ôðre hwalas#, _That whale is much smaller than other whales_; #Ond hê geseah twâ scipu#, _And he saw two ships_.

(2) Inverted order = predicate + subject. This order occurs also in independent clauses, and is employed (_a_) when some modifier of the predicate precedes the predicate, the subject being thrown behind. The words most frequently causing Inversion in Old English prose are #þâ# _then_, #þonne# _then_, and #þæ:r# _there_: #Ðâ fôr hê#, _Then went he_; #Ðonne ærnað hy: ealle tôweard þæ:m fêo#, _Then gallop they all toward the property_; #ac þæ:r bið medo genôh#, _but there is mead enough_.

Inversion is employed (_b_) in interrogative sentences: #Lufast ðû mê?# _Lovest thou me?_ and (_c_) in imperative sentences: #Cume ðîn rîce#, _Thy kingdom come_.

(3) Transposed order = subject ... predicate. That is, the predicate comes last in the sentence, being preceded by its modifiers. This is the order observed in dependent clauses:[1] #Ðonne cymeð sê man sê þæt swiftoste hors hafað#, _Then comes the man that has the swiftest horse_ (literally, _that the swiftest horse has_); #Ne mêtte hê æ:r nân gebûn land, siþþan hê from his âgnum hâm fôr#, _Nor did he before find any cultivated land, after he went from his own home_ (literally, _after he from his own home went_).

[Footnote 1: But in the _Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan_, in which the style is apparently more that of oral than of written discourse, the Normal is more frequent than the Transposed order in dependent clauses. In his other writings Alfred manifests a partiality for the Transposed order in dependent clauses, except in the case of substantival clauses introduced by #þæt#. Such clauses show a marked tendency to revert to their Normal _oratio recta_ order. The norm thus set by the indirect affirmative clause seems to have proved an important factor in the ultimate disappearance of Transposition from dependent clauses. The influence of Norman French helped only to consummate forces that were already busily at work.]

21. Two other peculiarities in the order of words require a brief notice.

(1) Pronominal datives and accusatives usually precede the predicate: #Hê hine oferwann#, _He overcame him_ (literally, _He him overcame_); #Dryhten him andwyrde#, _The Lord answered him_. But substantival datives and accusatives, as in Modern English, follow the predicate. The following sentence illustrates both orders: #Hy: genâmon Ioseph, ond hine gesealdon cîpemonnum, ond hy: hine gesealdon in Êgypta lond#, _They took Joseph, and sold him to merchants, and they sold him into Egypt_ (literally, _They took Joseph, and him sold to merchants, and they him sold into Egyptians' land_).

NOTE.--The same order prevails in the case of pronominal nominatives used as predicate nouns: #Ic hit eom#, _It is I_ (literally, _I it am_); #Ðû hit eart#, _It is thou_ (literally, _Thou it art_).

(2) The attributive genitive, whatever relationship it expresses, usually precedes the noun which it qualifies: #Breoton is gârsecges îgland#, _Britain is an island of the ocean_ (literally, _ocean's island_); #Swilce hit is êac berende on wecga ôrum#, _Likewise it is also rich in ores of metals_ (literally, _metals' ores_); #Cyninga cyning#, _King of kings_ (literally, _Kings' king_); #Gê witon Godes rîces gery:ne#, _Ye know the mystery of the kingdom of God_ (literally, _Ye know God's kingdom's mystery_).

A preposition governing the word modified by the genitive, precedes the genitive:[2] #On ealdra manna sægenum#, _In old men's sayings_; #Æt ðæ:ra stræ:ta endum#, _At the ends of the streets_ (literally, _At the streets' ends_); #For ealra ðînra hâlgena lufan#, _For all thy saints' love_. See, also, § 94, (5).

[Footnote 2: The positions of the genitive are various. It frequently follows its noun: #þâ bearn þâra Aðeniensa#, _The children of the Athenians_. It may separate an adjective and a noun: #Ân ly:tel sæ:s earm#, _A little arm of (the) sea_. The genitive may here be construed as an adjective, or part of a compound = _A little sea-arm_; #Mid monegum Godes gifum#, _With many God-gifts_ = _many divine gifts_.]

Chapter V.

Practical Suggestions.

22. In the study of Old English, the student must remember that he is dealing not with a foreign or isolated language but with the earlier forms of his own mother tongue. The study will prove profitable and stimulating in proportion as close and constant comparison is made of the old with the new. The guiding principles in such a comparison are reducible chiefly to two. These are (1) the regular operation of phonetic laws, resulting especially in certain Vowel Shiftings, and (2) the alterations in form and syntax that are produced by Analogy.

(1) "The former of these is of physiological or _natural_ origin, and is perfectly and inflexibly regular throughout the same period of the same language; and even though different languages show different phonetic habits and predilections, there is a strong general resemblance between the changes induced in one language and in another; many of the particular laws are true for many languages.

(2) "The other principle is psychical, or mental, or _artificial_, introducing various more or less capricious changes that are supposed to be emendations; and its operation is, to some extent, uncertain and fitful."[1]

[Footnote 1: Skeat, _Principles of English Etymology_, Second Series, § 342. But Jespersen, with Collitz and others, stoutly contests "the theory of sound laws and analogy sufficing between them to explain everything in linguistic development."]

(1) #Vowel-Shiftings.#

23. It will prove an aid to the student in acquiring the inflections and vocabulary of Old English to note carefully the following shiftings that have taken place in the gradual growth of the Old English vowel system into that of Modern English.

(1) As stated in § 3, the Old English inflectional vowels, which were all short and unaccented, weakened in early Middle English to _e_. This _e_ in Modern English is frequently dropped:

OLD ENGLISH. MIDDLE ENGLISH. MODERN ENGLISH. stân-as ston-es stones sun-u sun-e son sun-a sun-e sons ox-an ox-en oxen swift-ra swift-er swifter swift-ost swift-est swiftest lôc-ode lok-ede looked

(2) The Old English long vowels have shifted their phonetic values with such uniform regularity that it is possible in almost every case to infer the Modern English sound; but our spelling is so chaotic that while the student may infer the modern sound, he cannot always infer the modern symbol representing the sound.

Old Modern English. English.

â _o_[2] { nâ = _no_; stân = _stone_; bân = _bone_; (as in _no_) { râd = _road_; âc = _oak_; hâl = _whole_; { hâm = _home_; sâwan = _to sow_; gâst = { _ghost_.

ê _e_ { hê = _he_; wê = _we_; ðê = _thee_; mê = (as in _he_) { _me_; gê = _ye_; hêl = _heel_; wêrig = { _weary_; gelêfan = _to believe_; gês = { _geese_.

î (y:) _i_ (_y_) { mîn = _mine_; ðîn = _thine_; wîr = _wire_; (as in _mine_) { my:s = _mice_; rîm = _rime_ (wrongly spelt { _rhyme_); ly:s = _lice_; bî = _by_; { scînan = _to shine_; stig-râp = _sty-rope_ { (shortened to _stirrup_, stîgan meaning { _to mount_).

ô _o_ { dô = _I do_; tô = _too, to_; gôs = _goose_; (as in _do_) { tôð = _tooth_; môna = _moon_; ðôm = { _doom_; môd = _mood_; wôgian = _to woo_; { slôh = _I slew_.

û _ou_ (_ow_) { ðû = _thou_; fûl = _foul_; hûs = _house_; (as in _thou_) { nû = _now_; hû = _how_; tûn = _town_; { ûre = our; ût = _out_; hlûd = _loud_; { ðûsend = _thousand_.

æ:, _ea_ { æ:: sæ: = _sea_; mæ:l = _meal_; dæ:lan = êa, (as in _sea_) { _to deal_; clæ:ne = _clean_; græ:dig = êo { _greedy_. { { êa: êare = _ear_; êast = _east_; drêam = { _dream_; gêar = _year_; bêatan = { _to beat_. { { êo: ðrêo = _three_; drêorig = _dreary_; { sêo = _she_, hrêod = _reed_; dêop = { _deep_.

[Footnote 2: But Old English â preceded by w sometimes gives Modern English _o_ as in _two_: #twâ# = _two_; #hwâ# = _who_; #hwâm# = _whom_.]

(2) #Analogy.#

24. But more important than vowel shifting is the great law of Analogy, for Analogy shapes not only words but constructions. It belongs, therefore, to Etymology and to Syntax, since it influences both form and function. By this law, minorities tend to pass over to the side of the majorities. "The greater mass of cases exerts an assimilative influence upon the smaller."[3] The effect of Analogy is to simplify and to regularize. "The main factor in getting rid of irregularities is group-influence, or Analogy--the influence exercised by the members of an association-group on one another.... Irregularity consists in partial isolation from an association-group through some formal difference."[4]

Under the influence of Analogy, entire declensions and conjugations have been swept away, leaving in Modern English not a trace of their former existence. There are in Old English, for example, five plural endings for nouns, -as, -a, -e, -u, and -an. No one could well have predicted[5] that -as (Middle English _-es_) would soon take the lead, and become the norm to which the other endings would eventually conform, for there were more an-plurals than as-plurals; but the as-plurals were doubtless more often employed in everyday speech. _Oxen_ (Old English #oxan#) is the sole pure survival of the hundreds of Old English an-plurals. No group of feminine nouns in Old English had -es as the genitive singular ending; but by the close of the Middle English period all feminines formed their genitive singular in _-es_ (or _-s_, Modern English _'s_) after the analogy of the Old English masculine and neuter nouns with es-genitives. The weak preterits in -ode have all been leveled under the ed-forms, and of the three hundred strong verbs in Old English more than two hundred have become weak.

These are not cases of derivation (as are the shifted vowels): Modern English _-s_ in _sons_, for example, could not possibly be derived from Old English -a in #suna#, or Middle English _-e_ in _sune_ (§ 23, (1)). They are cases of replacement by Analogy.

A few minor examples will quicken the student's appreciation of the nature of the influence exercised by Analogy:

(_a_) The intrusive _l_ in _could_ (Chaucer always wrote _coud_ or _coude_) is due to association with _would_ and _should_, in each of which _l_ belongs by etymological right.

(_b_) _He need not_ (for _He needs not_) is due to the assimilative influence of the auxiliaries _may_, _can_, etc., which have never added _-s_ for their third person singular (§ 137).

(_c_) _I am friends with him_, in which _friends_ is a crystalized form for _on good terms_, may be traced to the influence of such expressions as _He and I are friends_, _They are friends_, etc.

(_d_) Such errors as are seen in _runned_, _seed_, _gooses_, _badder_, _hisself_, _says I_ (usually coupled with _says he_) are all analogical formations. Though not sanctioned by good usage, it is hardly right to call these forms the products of "false analogy." The grammar involved is false, because unsupported by literary usages and traditions; but the analogy on which these forms are built is no more false than the law of gravitation is false when it makes a dress sit unconventionally.

[Footnote 3: Whitney, _Life and Growth of Language_, Chap. IV.]

[Footnote 4: Sweet, _A New English Grammar_, Part I., § 535.]

[Footnote 5: As Skeat says (§ 22, (2)), Analogy is "fitful." It enables us to explain many linguistic phenomena, but not to anticipate them. The multiplication of books tends to check its influence by perpetuating the forms already in use. Thus Chaucer employed nine _en-_plurals, and his influence served for a time to check the further encroachment of the _es-_plurals. As soon as there is an acknowledged standard in any language, the operation of Analogy is fettered.]

Part II.

Etymology And Syntax.

The Strong Or Vowel Declensions Of Nouns.

THE a-DECLENSION.

Chapter VI.

(_a_) #Masculine _a_-Stems.#

[O.E., M.E., and Mn.E. will henceforth be used for Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. Other abbreviations employed are self-explaining.]

25. The a-Declension, corresponding to the Second or _o_-Declension of Latin and Greek, contains only (_a_) masculine and (_b_) neuter nouns. To this declension belong most of the O.E. masculine and neuter nouns of the Strong Declension. At a very early period, many of the nouns belonging properly to the i- and u-Declensions began to pass over to the a-Declension. This declension may therefore be considered the _normal declension_ for all masculine and neuter nouns belonging to the Strong Declension.

26. Paradigms of #sê mûð#, _mouth_; #sê fiscere#, _fisherman_; #sê hwæl#, _whale_; #sê mearh#, _horse_; #sê finger#, _finger_:

_Sing. N.A._ mûð fiscer-e hwæl mearh finger _G._ mûð-es fiscer-es hwæl-es mêar-es fingr-es _D.I._ mûð-e fiscer-e hwæl-e mêar-e fingr-e

_Plur. N.A._ mûð-as fiscer-as hwal-as mêar-as fingr-as _G._ mûð-a fiscer-a hwal-a mêar-a fingr-a _D.I._ mûð-um fiscer-um hwal-um mêar-um fingr-um

NOTE.--For meanings of the cases, see § 12. The dative and instrumental are alike in all nouns.

27. The student will observe (1) that nouns whose nominative ends in -e (#fiscere#) drop this letter before adding the case endings; (2) that æ before a consonant (#hwæl#) changes to a in the plural;[1] (3) that h, preceded by r (#mearh#) or l (#seolh#, _seal_), is dropped before an inflectional vowel, the stem diphthong being then lengthened by way of compensation; (4) that dissyllables (#finger#) having the first syllable long, usually syncopate the vowel of the second syllable before adding the case endings.[2]

[Footnote 1: Adjectives usually retain æ in closed syllables, changing it to a in open syllables: #hwæt# (_active_), #glæd# (_glad_), #wær# (_wary_) have G. #hwates#, #glades#, #wares#; D. #hwatum#, #gladum#, #warum#; but A. #hwætne#, #glædne#, #wærne#. Nouns, however, change to a only in open syllables followed by a guttural vowel, a or u. The æ in the open syllables of the singular is doubtless due to the analogy of the N.A. singular, both being closed syllables.]

[Footnote 2: _Cf._ Mn.E. _drizz'ling_, _rememb'ring_, _abysmal_ (_abysm_ = _abiz^{u}m_), _sick'ning_, in which the principle of syncopation is precisely the same.]

28. Paradigm of the Definite Article[3] #sê#, #sêo#, #ðæt# = _the_:

_Masculine._ _Feminine._ _Neuter._

_Sing. N._ sê (se) sêo ðæt _G._ ðæs ðæ:re ðæs _D._ ðæ:m (ðâm) ðæ:re ðæ:m (ðâm) _A._ ðone ðâ ðæt _I._ ðy:, ðon ---- ðy:, ðon

_All Genders._

_Plur. N.A._ ðâ _G._ ðâra _D._ ðæ:m (ðâm)

[Footnote 3: This may mean four things: (1) _The_, (2) _That_ (demonstrative), (3) _He_, _she_, _it_, (4) _Who_, _which_, _that_ (relative pronoun). Mn.E. demonstrative _that_ is, of course, the survival of O.E. neuter #ðæt# in its demonstrative sense. Professor Victor Henry (_Comparative Grammar of English and German_, § 160, 3) sees a survival of dative plural demonstrative #ðæ:m# in such an expression as _in them days_. It seems more probable, however, that _them_ so used has followed the lead of _this_ and _these_, _that_ and _those_, in their double function of pronoun and adjective. There was doubtless some such evolution as, _I saw them. Them what? Them boys._

An unquestioned survival of the dative singular feminine of the article is seen in the _-ter_ of _Atterbury_ (= #æt ðæ:re byrig#, _at the town_); and #ðæ:m# survives in the _-ten_ of _Attenborough_, the word _borough_ having become an uninflected neuter. Skeat, _Principles_, First Series, § 185.]

29. Vocabulary.[4]

sê bôcere, _scribe_ [bôc]. sê cyning, _king_. sê dæg, _day_. sê ende, _end_. sê engel, _angel_ [angelus]. sê frêodôm, _freedom_. sê fugol (G. sometimes #fugles#), _bird_ [fowl]. sê gâr, _spear_ [gore, gar-fish]. sê heofon, _heaven_. sê hierde, _herdsman_ [shep-herd]. ond (and), _and_. sê secg, _man, warrior_. sê seolh, _seal_. sê stân, _stone_. sê wealh, _foreigner, Welshman_ [wal-nut]. sê weall, _wall_. sê wîsdôm, _wisdom_. sê wulf, _wolf_.

[Footnote 4: The brackets contain etymological hints that may help the student to discern relationships otherwise overlooked. The genitive is given only when not perfectly regular.]

30. Exercises.

I. 1. Ðâra wulfa mûðas. 2. Ðæs fisceres fingras. 3. Ðâra Wêala cyninge. 4. Ðæ:m englum ond ðæ:m hierdum. 5. Ðâra daga ende. 6. Ðæ:m bôcerum ond ðæ:m secgum ðæs cyninges. 7. Ðæ:m sêole ond ðæ:m fuglum. 8. Ðâ stânas ond ðâ gâras. 9. Hwala ond mêara. 10. Ðâra engla wîsdôm. 11. Ðæs cyninges bôceres frêodôm. 12. Ðâra hierda fuglum. 13. Ðy: stâne. 14. Ðæ:m wealle.

II. 1. For the horses and the seals. 2. For the Welshmen's freedom. 3. Of the king's birds. 4. By the wisdom of men and angels. 5. With the spear and the stone. 6. The herdsman's seal and the warriors' spears. 7. To the king of heaven. 8. By means of the scribe's wisdom. 9. The whale's mouth and the foreigner's spear. 10. For the bird belonging to (= of) the king's scribe. 11. Of that finger.

Chapter VII.

(_b_) #Neuter _a-_Stems.#

31. The neuter nouns of the a-Declension differ from the masculines only in the N.A. plural.

32. Paradigms of #ðæt hof#, _court, dwelling_; #ðaet bearn#, _child_; #ðæt bân#, _bone_; #ðæt rîce#, _kingdom_; #ðæt spere#, _spear_; #ðæt werod#, _band of men_; #ðæt tungol#, _star_:

_Sing. N.A._ hof bearn bân rîc-e _G._ hof-es bearn-es bân-es rîc-es _D.I._ hof-e bearn-e bân-e rîc-e

_Plur. N.A._ hof-u bearn bân rîc-u _G._ hof-a bearn-a bân-a rîc-a _D.I._ hof-um bearn-um bân-um rîc-um

_Sing. N.A._ sper-e werod tungol _G._ sper-es werod-es tungl-es _D.I._ sper-e werod-e tungl-e

_Plur. N.A._ sper-u werod tungl-u _G._ sper-a werod-a tungl-a _D.I._ sper-um werod-um tungl-um

33. The paradigms show (1) that monosyllables with short stems (#hof#) take -u in the N.A. plural; (2) that monosyllables with long stems (#bearn#, #bân#) do not distinguish the N.A. plural from the N.A. singular;[1] (3) that dissyllables in -e, whether the stem be long or short (#rîce#, #spere#), have -u in the N.A. plural; (4) that dissyllables ending in a consonant and having the first syllable short[2] (#werod#) do not usually distinguish the N.A. plural from the N.A. singular; (5) that dissyllables ending in a consonant and having the first syllable long (#tungol#) more frequently take -u in the N.A. plural.

NOTE.--Syncopation occurs as in the masculine a-stems. See § 27, (4).

[Footnote 1: Note the many nouns in Mn.E. that are unchanged in the plural. These are either survivals of O.E. long stems, _swine_, _sheep_, _deer_, _folk_, or analogical forms, _fish_, _trout_, _mackerel_, _salmon_, etc.]

[Footnote 2: Dissyllables whose first syllable is a prefix are, of course, excluded. They follow the declension of their last member: #gebed#, _prayer_, #gebedu#, _prayers_; #gefeoht#, _battle_, #gefeoht#, _battles_.]

34. Present and Preterit Indicative of #habban#, _to have_:

Present.

_Sing._ 1. Ic hæbbe, _I have_, or _shall have_.[3] 2. ðû hæfst (hafast), _thou hast_, or _wilt have_. 3. hê, hêo, hit hæfð (hafað), _he, she, it has_, or _will have_.

_Plur._ 1. wê habbað, _we have_, or _shall have_. 2. gê habbað, _ye have_, or _will have_. 3. hîe habbað, _they have_, or _will have_.

Preterit.

_Sing._ 1. Ic hæfde _I had_. 2. ðû hæfdest, _thou hadst_. 3. hê, hêo, hit hæfde, _he, she, it had_.

_Plur._ 1. wê hæfdon, _we had_. 2. gê hæfdon, _ye had_. 3. hîe hæfdon, _they had_.

NOTE.--The negative #ne#, _not_, which always precedes its verb, contracts with all the forms of #habban#. The negative loses its e, #habban# its h. #Ne# + #habban# = #nabban#; #Ic ne hæbbe = Ic næbbe#; #Ic ne hæfde = Ic næfde#, etc. The negative forms may be got, therefore, by simply substituting in each case n for h.

[Footnote 3: See § 17, Note 1. Note that (as in #hwæl#, § 27, (2)) æ changes to a when the following syllable contains a: #hæbbe#, but #hafast#.]

35. Vocabulary.

ðæt dæl, _dale_. ðæt dêor, _animal_ [deer[4]]. ðæt dor, _door_. ðæt fæt, _vessel_ [vat]. ðæt fy:r, _fire_. ðæt gêar, _year_. ðæt geoc, _yoke_. ðæt geset, _habitation_ [settlement]. ðæt hêafod, _head_. ðæt hûs, _house_. ðæt lîc, _body_ [lich-gate]. ðæt lim, _limb_. on (with dat.) _in_. ðæt spor, _track_. ðæt wæ:pen, _weapon_. ðæt wîf, _wife, woman_. ðæt wîte, _punishment_. ðæt word, _word_.

[Footnote 4: The old meaning survives in Shakespeare's "Rats and mice and such small deer," _King Lear_, III, iv, 144.]

36. Exercises.

I. 1. Hê hafað ðæs cyninges bearn. 2. Ðâ Wêalas habbað ðâ speru. 3. Ðâ wîf habbað ðâra secga wæ:pnu. 4. Ðû hæfst ðone fugol ond ðæt hûs ðæs hierdes. 5. Hæfð[5] hêo ðâ fatu[6]? 6. Hæfde hê ðæs wîfes lîc on ðæ:m hofe? 7. Hê næfde ðæs wîfes lîc; hê hæfde ðæs dêores hêafod. 8. Hæfð sê cyning gesetu on ðæ:m dæle? 9. Sê bôcere hæfð ðâ sêolas on ðæ:m hûse. 10. Gê habbað frêodôm.

II. 1. They have yokes and spears. 2. We have not the vessels in the house. 3. He had fire in the vessel. 4. Did the woman have (= Had the woman) the children? 5. The animal has the body of the woman's child. 6. I shall have the heads of the wolves. 7. He and she have the king's houses. 8. Have not (= #Nabbað#) the children the warrior's weapons?

[Footnote 5: See § 20, (2), (b).]

[Footnote 6: See § 27, (2).]

Chapter VIII.

THE ô-DECLENSION.

37. The ô-Declension, corresponding to the First or _â-_Declension of Latin and Greek, contains only feminine nouns. Many feminine i-stems and u-stems soon passed over to this Declension. The ô-Declension may, therefore, be considered the _normal declension_ for all strong feminine nouns.

38. Paradigms of #sêo giefu#, _gift_; #sêo wund#, _wound_; #sêo rôd#, _cross_; #sêo leornung#, _learning_; #sêo sâwol#, _soul_:

_Sing. N._ gief-u wund rôd leornung sâwol _G._ gief-e wund-e rôd-e leornung-a (e) sâwl-e _D.I._ gief-e wund-e rôd-e leornung-a (e) sâwl-e _A._ gief-e wund-e rôd-e leornung-a (e) sâwl-e

_Plur. N.A._ gief-a wund-a rôd-a leornung-a sâwl-a _G._ gief-a wund-a rôd-a leornung-a sâwl-a _D.I._ gief-um wund-um rôd-um leornung-um sâwl-um

39. Note (1) that monosyllables with short stems (#giefu#) take u in the nominative singular; (2) that monosyllables with long stems (#wund#, #rôd#) present the unchanged stem in the nominative singular; (3) that dissyllables are declined as monosyllables, except that abstract nouns in -ung prefer a to e in the singular.

NOTE.--Syncopation occurs as in masculine and neuter a-stems. See § 27, (4).

40. Present and Preterit Indicative of #bêon# (#wesan#) _to be_:

PRESENT (first form). PRESENT PRETERIT. (second form).

_Sing._ 1. Ic eom 1. Ic bêom 1. Ic wæs 2. ðû eart 2. ðû bist 2. ðû wæ:re 3. hê is 3. hê bið 3. hê wæs

_Plur._ 1. wê } 1. wê } 1. wê } 2. gê } sind(on), sint 2. gê } bêoð 2. gê } wæ:ron 3. hîe } 3. hîe } 3. hîe }

NOTE 1.--The forms #bêom#, #bist#, etc. are used chiefly as future tenses in O.E. They survive to-day only in dialects and in poetry. Farmer Dobson, for example, in Tennyson's _Promise of May_, uses _be_ for all persons of the present indicative, both singular and plural; and _there be_ is frequent in Shakespeare for _there are_. The Northern dialect employed #aron# as well as #sindon# and #sind# for the present plural; hence Mn.E. _are_.

NOTE 2.--Fusion with #ne# gives #neom#, #neart#, #nis# for the present; #næs#, #næ:re#, #næ:ron# for the preterit.

NOTE 3.--The verb _to be_ is followed by the nominative case, as in Mn.E.; but when the predicate noun is plural, and the subject a neuter pronoun in the singular, the verb agrees in number with the predicate noun. The neuter singular #ðæt# is frequently employed in this construction: #Ðaet wæ:ron eall Finnas#, _They were all Fins_; #Ðæt sind englas#, _They are angels_; #Ðæ:t wæ:ron engla gâstas#, _They were angels' spirits_.

Notice, too, that O.E. writers do not say _It is I_, _It is thou_, but _I it am_, _Thou it art_: #Ic hit eom#, #ðû hit eart#. See § 21, (1), Note 1.

41. Vocabulary.

sêo brycg, _bridge_. sêo costnung, _temptation_. sêo cwalu, _death_ [quail, quell]. sêo fôr, _journey_ [faran]. sêo frôfor, _consolation, comfort_. sêo geoguð, _youth_. sêo glôf, _glove_. sêo hâlignes[1], _holiness_. sêo heall, _hall_. hêr, _here_. hwâ, _who_? hwæ:r, _where_? sêo lufu, _love_. sêo mearc, _boundary_ [mark, marches[2]]. sêo mêd, _meed, reward_. sêo mildheortnes, _mild-heartedness, mercy_. sêo stôw, _place_ [stow away]. ðæ:r, _there_. sêo ðearf, _need_. sêo wylf, _she wolf_.

[Footnote 1: All words ending in -nes double the -s before adding the case endings.]

[Footnote 2: As in _warden of the marches_.]

42. Exercises.

I. 1. Hwæ:r is ðæ:re brycge ende? 2. Hêr sind ðâra rîca mearca. 3. Hwâ hæfð þâ glôfa? 4. Ðæ:r bið ðæ:m cyninge frôfre ðearf. 5. Sêo wund is on ðæ:re wylfe hêafde. 6. Wê habbað costnunga. 7. Hîe næ:ron on ðæ:re healle. 8. Ic hit neom. 9. Ðæt wæ:ron Wêalas. 10. Ðæt sind ðæs wîfes bearn.

II. 1. We shall have the women's gloves. 2. Where is the place? 3. He will be in the hall. 4. Those (#Ðæt#) were not the boundaries of the kingdom. 5. It was not I. 6. Ye are not the king's scribes. 7. The shepherd's words are full (#full# + gen.) of wisdom and comfort. 8. Where are the bodies of the children? 9. The gifts are not here. 10. Who has the seals and the birds?

Chapter IX.

THE i-DECLENSION AND THE u-DECLENSION.

#The _i-_Declension.# (See § 58.)

43. The i-Declension, corresponding to the group of _i-_stems in the classical Third Declension, contains chiefly (_a_) masculine and (_b_) feminine nouns. The N.A. plural of these nouns ended originally in -e (from older i).

(_a_) #Masculine _i-_Stems.#

44. These stems have almost completely gone over to the a-Declension, so that -as is more common than -e as the N.A. plural ending, whether the stem is long or short. The short stems all have -e in the N.A. singular.

45. Paradigms of #sê wyrm#, _worm_; #sê wine#, _friend_.

_Sing. N.A._ wyrm win-e _G._ wyrm-es win-es _D.I._ wyrm-e win-e

_Plur. N.A._ wyrm-as win-as (e) _G._ wyrm-a win-a _D.I._ wyrm-um win-um

#Names of Peoples.#

46. The only i-stems that regularly retain -e of the N.A. plural are certain names of tribes or peoples used only in the plural.

47. Paradigms of #ðâ Engle#, _Angles_; #ðâ Norðymbre#, _Northumbrians_; #ðâ lêode#, _people_:

_Plur. N.A._ Engle Norðymbre lêode _G._ Engla Norðymbra lêoda _D.I._ Englum Norðymbrum lêodum

(_b_) #Feminine _i-_Stems.#

48. The short stems (#frem-u#) conform entirely to the declension of short ô-stems; long stems (#cwên#, #wyrt#) differ from long ô-stems in having no ending for the A. singular. They show, also, a preference for -e rather than -a in the N.A. plural.

49. Paradigms of #sêo frem-u#, _benefit_; #sêo cwên#, _woman, queen_ [quean]; #sêo wyrt#, _root_ [wort]:

_Sing. N._ frem-u cwên wyrt _G._ frem-e cwên-e wyrt-e _D.I._ frem-e cwên-e wyrt-e _A._ frem-e cwên wyrt

_Plur. N.A._ frem-a cwên-e (a) wyrt-e (a) _G._ frem-a cwên-a wyrt-a _D.I._ frem-um cwên-um wyrt-um

#The _u-_Declension.#

50. The u-Declension, corresponding to the group of u-stems in the classical Third Declension, contains no neuters, and but few (_a_) masculines and (_b_) feminines. The short-stemmed nouns of both genders (#sun-u#, #dur-u#) retain the final u of the N.A. singular, while the long stems (#feld#, #hond#) drop it. The influence of the masculine a-stems is most clearly seen in the long-stemmed masculines of the u-Declension (#feld#, #feld-es#, etc.).

NOTE.--Note the general aversion of all O.E. long stems to final -u: _cf._ N.A. plural #hof-u#, but #bearn#, #bân#; N. singular #gief-u#, but #wund#, #rôd#; N. singular #frem-u#, but #cwên#, #wyrt#; N.A. singular #sun-u#, #dur-u#, but #feld#, #hond#.

(_a_) #Masculine _u-_Stems.#

51. Paradigms of #sê sun-u#, _son_; #sê feld#, _field_:

_Sing. N.A._ sun-u feld _G._ sun-a feld-a (es) _D.I._ sun-a feld-a (e)

_Plur. N.A._ sun-a feld-a (as) _G._ sun-a feld-a _D.I._ sun-um feld-um

(b) #Feminine _u-_Stems.#

52. Paradigms of #sêo dur-u#, _door_; #sêo hond#, _hand_:

_Sing. N.A._ dur-u hond _G._ dur-a hond-a _D.I._ dur-a hond-a

_Plur. N.A._ dur-a hond-a _G._ dur-a hond-a _D.I._ dur-um hond-um

53. Paradigm of the Third Personal Pronoun, #hê#, #hêo#, #hit# = _he_, _she_, _it_:

_Masculine._ _Feminine._ _Neuter._ _Sing. N._ hê hêo hit _G._ his hiere his _D._ him hiere him _A._ hine, hiene hîe hit

_All Genders._ _Plur. N.A._ hîe _G._ hiera _D._ him

54. Vocabulary.

(i-STEMS.)

sê cierr, _turn, time_ [char, chare, chore]. sêo dæ:d, _deed_. sê dæ:l, _part_ [a great deal]. ðâ Dene, _Danes_. sê frêondscipe, _friendship_. sêo hy:d, _skin, hide_. ðâ londlêode, _natives_. ðâ Mierce, _Mercians_. ðâ Rômware, _Romans_. ðâ Seaxe, _Saxons_. sê stede, _place_ [in-stead of].

(u-STEMS.)

sêo flôr, _floor_. sêo nosu, _nose_. sê sumor (_G._ sumeres, _D._ sumera), _summer_. sê winter (_G._ wintres, _D._ wintra), _winter_. sê wudu, _wood, forest_.

NOTE.--The numerous masculine nouns ending in -hâd,--#cildhâd# (_childhood_), #wîfhâd# (_womanhood_),--belong to the u-stems historically; but they have all passed over to the a-Declension.

55. Exercises.

I. 1. Ðâ Seaxe habbað ðæs dêores hy:d on ðæ:m wuda. 2. Hwâ hæfð ðâ giefa? 3. Ðâ Mierce hîe[1] habbað. 4. Hwæ:r is ðæs Wêales fugol? 5. Ðâ Dene hiene habbað. 6. Hwæ:r sindon hiera winas? 7. Hîe sindon on ðæs cyninges wuda. 8. Ðâ Rômware ond ðâ Seaxe hæfdon ðâ gâras ond ðâ geocu. 9. Hêo is on ðæ:m hûse on wintra, ond on ðæ:m feldum on sumera. 10. Hwæ:r is ðæs hofes duru? 11. Hêo[2] (= sêo duru) nis hêr.

II. 1. His friends have the bones of the seals and the bodies of the Danes. 2. Art thou the king's son? 3. Has she her[3] gifts in her[3] hands? 4. Here are the fields of the natives. 5. Who had the bird? 6. I had it.[2] 7. The child had the worm in his[3] fingers. 8. The Mercians were here during (the) summer (#on# + dat.).

[Footnote 1: See § 21, (1).]

[Footnote 2: Pronouns agree in gender with the nouns for which they stand. #Hit#, however, sometimes stands for inanimate things of both masculine and feminine genders. See Wülfing (_l.c._) I, § 238.]

[Footnote 3: See § 76 (last sentence).]

Chapter X.

Present Indicative Endings Of Strong Verbs.

56. The unchanged stem of the present indicative may always be found by dropping -an of the infinitive: #feall-an#, _to fall_; #cêos-an#, _to choose_; #bîd-an#, _to abide_.

57. The personal endings are:

_Sing._ 1. -e _Plur._ 1. } 2. -est 2. } -að 3. -eð 3. }

#_i-_Umlaut.#

58. The 2d and 3d singular endings were originally not -est and -eð, but -is and -ið; and the i of these older endings has left its traces upon almost every page of Early West Saxon literature. This i, though unaccented and soon displaced, exerted a powerful back influence upon the vowel of the preceding accented syllable. This influence, a form of regressive assimilation, is known as i-umlaut (pronounced _oóm-lowt_). The vowel i or j (= _y_), being itself a palatal, succeeded in palatalizing every guttural vowel that preceded it, and in imposing still more of the i-quality upon diphthongs that were already palatal.[1] The changes produced were these:

a became e (æ): menn (< *mann-iz), _men_. â " æ: æ:nig (< *ân-ig), _any_. u " y wyllen (< *wull-in), _woollen_. û " y: my:s (< *mûs-iz), _mice_. o " e dehter (< *dohtr-i), _to_ or _for the daughter_. ô " ê fêt (< *fôt-iz), _feet_. ea " ie wiexð (< *weax-ið), _he grows_ (weaxan = _to grow_). êa " îe hîewð (< *hêaw-ið), _he hews_ (hêawan = to _hew_). eo " ie wiercan (< *weorc-jan), _to work_. êo " îe lîehtan (< *lêoht-jan), _to light_.

[Footnote 1: The _palatal_ vowels and diphthongs were long or short æ, e, i, (ie), y, ea, eo; the _guttural_ vowels were long or short a, o, u.]

#The Unchanged Present Indicative.#

59. In the Northumbrian and Mercian dialects, as well as in the dialect of Late West Saxon, the 2d and 3d singular endings were usually joined to the present stem without modification either of the stem itself or of the personal endings. The complete absence of umlauted forms in the present indicative of Mn.E. is thus accounted for.

In Early West Saxon, however, such forms as the following are comparatively rare in the 2d and 3d singular:

_Sing._ 1. Ic feall-e cêos-e bîd-e (_I fall_) (_I choose_) (_I abide_) 2. ðû feall-est cêos-est bîd-est 3. hê feall-eð cêos-eð bîd-eð

_Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } feall-að cêos-að bîd-að 3. hîe }

#The Present Indicative with i-Umlaut and Contraction.#

60. The 2d and 3d persons singular are distinguished from the other forms of the present indicative in Early West Saxon by (1) i-umlaut of the vowel of the stem, (2) syncope of the vowel of the ending, giving -st and -ð for -est and -eð, and (3) contraction of -st and -ð with the final consonant or consonants of the stem.

#Contraction.#

61. The changes produced by i-umlaut have been already discussed. By these changes, therefore, the stems of the 2d and 3d singular indicative of such verbs as (1) #stondan# (= #standan#), _to stand_, (2) #cuman#, _to come_, (3) #grôwan#, _to grow_, (4) #brûcan#, _to enjoy_, (5) #blâwan#, _to blow_, (6) #feallan#, _to fall_, (7) #hêawan#, _to hew_, (8) #weorpan#, _to throw_, and (9) #cêosan#, _to choose_, become respectively (1) #stend-#,[2] (2) #cym-#, (3) #grêw-#, (4) #bry:c-#, (5) #blæ:w-#, (6) #fiell-#, (7) #hîew-#, (8) #wierp-#, and (9) #cîes-#.

If the unchanged stem contains the vowel e, this is changed in the 2d and 3d singular to i (ie): #cweðan# _to say_, stem #cwið-#; #beran# _to bear_, stem #bier-#. But this mutation[3] had taken place long before the period of O.E., and belongs to the Germanic languages in general. It is best, however, to class the change of e to i or ie with the changes due to umlaut, since it occurs consistently in the 2d and 3d singular stems of Early West Saxon, and outlasted almost all of the umlaut forms proper.

If, now, the syncopated endings -st and -ð are added directly to the umlauted stem, there will frequently result such a massing of consonants as almost to defy pronunciation: #cwið-st#, _thou sayest_; #stend-st#, _thou standest_, etc. Some sort of contraction, therefore, is demanded for the sake of euphony. The ear and eye will, by a little practice, become a sure guide in these contractions. The following rules, however, must be observed. They apply only to the 2d and 3d singular of the present indicative:

(1) If the stem ends in a double consonant, one of the consonants is dropped:

1. feall-e (_I fall_) 1. winn-e (_I fight_) 1. swimm-e (_I swim_) 2. fiel-st 2. win-st 2. swim-st 3. fiel-ð 3. win-ð 3. swim-ð

(2) If the stem ends in -ð, this is dropped:

1. cweð-e (_I say_) 1. weorð-e (_I become_) 2. cwi-st 2. wier-st 3. cwi-ð 3. wier-ð

(3) If the stem ends in -d, this is changed to -t. The -ð of the ending is then also changed to -t, and usually absorbed. Thus the stem of the 2d singular serves as stem and ending for the 3d singular:

1. stond-e (= stand-e) (_I stand_) 1. bind-e (_I bind_) 2. stent-st 2. bint-st 3. stent 3. bint

1. bîd-e (_I abide_) 1. rîd-e (_I ride_) 2. bît-st 2. rît-st 3. bît (-t) 3. rît (-t)

(4) If the stem ends already in -t, the endings are added as in (3), -ð being again changed to -t and absorbed:

1. brêot-e (_I break_) 1. feoht-e (_I fight_) 1. bît-e (_I bite_) 2. brîet-st 2. fieht-st 2. bît-st 3. brîet (-t) 3. fieht 3. bît (-t)

(5) If the stem ends in -s, this is dropped before -st (to avoid -sst), but is retained before -ð, the latter being changed to -t. Thus the 2d and 3d singulars are identical:[4]

1. cêos-e (_I choose_) 1. rîs-e (_I rise_) 2. cîe-st 2. rî-st 3. cîes-t 3. rîs-t

[Footnote 2: The more common form for stems with a is æ rather than e: #faran#, _to go_, 2d and 3d singular stem #fær-#; #sacan#, _to contend_, stem #sæc-#. Indeed, a changes to e _via_ æ (Cosijn, _Altwestsächsische Grammatik_, I, § 32).]

[Footnote 3: Umlaut is frequently called Mutation. Metaphony is still another name for the same phenomenon. The term Metaphony has the advantage of easy adjectival formation (metaphonic). It was proposed by Professor Victor Henry (_Comparative Grammar of English and German_, Paris, 1894), but has not been naturalized.]

[Footnote 4: This happens also when the infinitive stem ends in #st#:

1. berst-e (_I burst_) 2. bier-st 3. bierst.]

62. Exercises.

I. 1. Sê cyning fielð. 2. Ðâ wîf cêosað ðâ giefa. 3. Ðû stentst on ðæ:m hûse. 4. Hê wierpð ðæt wæ:pen. 5. Sê secg hîewð ðâ lîc. 6. Ðæt sæ:d grêwð ond wiexð (_Mark_ iv. 27). 7. Ic stonde hêr, ond ðû stentst ðæ:r. 8. "Ic hit eom," cwið hê. 9. Hîe berað ðæs wulfes bân. 10. Hê hîe bint, ond ic hine binde. 11. Ne rîtst ðû?

II. 1. We shall bind him. 2. Who chooses the child's gifts? 3. "He was not here," says she. 4. Wilt thou remain in the hall? 5. The wolves are biting (= bite) the fishermen. 6. He enjoys[5] the love of his children. 7. Do you enjoy (= Enjoyest thou) the consolation and friendship of the scribe? 8. Will he come? 9. I shall throw the spear, and thou wilt bear the weapons. 10. The king's son will become king. 11. The army (#werod#) is breaking the doors and walls of the house.

[Footnote 5: #Brûcan#, _to enjoy_, usually takes the genitive case, not the accusative. It means "to have joy of any thing."]

Chapter XI.

The Consonant Declensions Of Nouns.

#The Weak or _n-_Declension.#

63. The n-Declension contains almost all of the O.E. nouns belonging to the Consonant Declensions. The stem characteristic n has been preserved in the oblique cases, so that there is no difficulty in distinguishing n-stems from the preceding vowel stems.

The n-Declension includes (_a_) masculines, (_b_) feminines, and (_c_) neuters. The masculines far outnumber the feminines, and the neuters contain only #êage#, _eye_ and #êare#, _ear_. The masculines end in -a, the feminines and neuters in -e.

64. Paradigms of (_a_) #sê hunta#, _hunter_; (_b_) #sêo tunge#, _tongue_; (_c_) #ðæt êage#, _eye_:

_Sing. N._ hunt-a tung-e êag-e _G.D.I._ hunt-an tung-an êag-an _A._ hunt-an tung-an êag-e

_Plur. N.A._ hunt-an tung-an êag-an _G._ hunt-ena tung-ena êag-ena _D.I._ hunt-um tung-um êag-um

65. Vocabulary.

sê adesa, _hatchet, adze_. sê æ:metta, _leisure_ [empt-iness]. sê bona (bana), _murderer_ [bane]. sêo cirice, _church_ [Scotch kirk]. sê cnapa (later, #cnafa#), _boy_ [knave]. sê cuma, _stranger_ [comer]. ðæt êare, _ear_. sêo eorðe, _earth_. sê gefêra, _companion_ [co-farer]. sê guma, _man_ [bride-groom[1]]. sêo heorte, _heart_. sê môna, _moon_. sêo næ:dre, _adder_ [a nadder > an adder[2]]. sê oxa, _ox_. sê scêowyrhta, _shoe-maker_ [shoe-wright]. sêo sunne, _sun_. sê têona, _injury_ [teen]. biddan (with dat. of person and gen. of thing[3]), _to request, ask for_. cwelan, _to die_ [quail]. gescieppan, _to create_ [shape, land-scape, friend-ship]. giefan (with dat. of indirect object), _to give_. healdan, _to hold_. helpan (with dat.), _to help_. sceððan[4] (with dat.), _to injure_ [scathe]. wiðstondan (-standan) (with dat.), _to withstand_. wrîtan, _to write_.

[Footnote 1: The _r_ is intrusive in _-groom_, as it is in _cart-r-idge_, _part-r-idge_, _vag-r-ant_, and _hoa-r-se_.]

[Footnote 2: The _n_ has been appropriated by the article. Cf. _an apron_ (< _a napron_), _an auger_ (< _a nauger_), _an orange_ (< _a norange_), _an umpire_ (< _a numpire_).]

[Footnote 3: In Mn.E. we say "I request a favor of you"; but in O.E. it was "I request you (dative) of a favor" (genitive). Cf. _Cymbeline_, III, vi, 92: "We'll mannerly demand thee of thy story." See Franz's _Shakespeare-Grammatik_, § 361 (1900).]

[Footnote 4: #Sceððan# is conjugated through the present indicative like #fremman#. See § 129.]

66. Exercises.

I. 1. Sê scêowyrhta bry:cð his æ:mettan. 2. Ðâ guman biddað ðæ:m cnapan ðæs adesan. 3. Hwâ is sê cuma? 4. Hielpst ðû ðæ:m bonan? 5. Ic him ne helpe. 6. Ðâ bearn sceððað ðæs bonan êagum ond êarum. 7. Sê cuma cwielð on ðæ:re cirican. 8. Sê hunta wiðstent ðæ:m wulfum. 9. Ðâ oxan berað ðæs cnapan gefêran. 10. Sê môna ond ðâ tunglu sind on ðæ:m heofonum. 11. Ðâ huntan healdað ðæ:re næ:dran tungan. 12. Hê hiere giefð ðâ giefa. 13. Ðâ werod sceððað ðæs cyninges feldum.

II. 1. Who will bind the mouths of the oxen? 2. Who gives him the gifts? 3. Thou art helping him, and I am injuring him. 4. The boy's companion is dying. 5. His nephew does not enjoy his leisure. 6. The adder's tongue injures the king's companion. 7. The sun is the day's eye. 8. She asks the strangers for the spears. 9. The men's bodies are not here. 10. Is he not (#Nis hê#) the child's murderer? 11. Who creates the bodies and the souls of men? 12. Thou withstandest her. 13. He is not writing.

Chapter XII.

#Remnants of Other Consonant Declensions.#

67. The nouns belonging here are chiefly masculines and feminines. Their stem ended in a consonant other than n. The most important of them may be divided as follows: (1) The _foot_ Declension, (2) r-Stems, and (3) nd-Stems. These declensions are all characterized by the prevalence, wherever possible, of i-umlaut in certain cases, the case ending being then dropped.

68. (1) The nouns belonging to the _foot_ Declension exhibit umlaut most consistently in the N.A. plural.

_Sing. N.A._ sê fôt sê mon sê tôð sêo cû _Sing. N.A._ (_foot_) (_man_) (_tooth_) (_cow_) _Plur. N.A._ fêt men têð cy:

NOTE.--The dative singular usually has the same form as the N.A. plural. Here belong also #sêo bôc# (_book_), #sêo burg# (_borough_), #sêo gôs# (_goose_), #sêo lûs# (_louse_), and #sêo mûs# (_mouse_), all with umlauted plurals. Mn.E. preserves only six of the _foot_ Declension plurals: _feet_, _men_, _teeth_, _geese_, _lice_, and _mice_. The _c_ in the last two is an artificial spelling, intended to preserve the sound of voiceless _s_. Mn.E. _kine_ (= _cy-en_) is a double plural formed after the analogy of weak stems; Burns in _The Twa Dogs_ uses _kye_.

No umlaut is possible in #sêo niht# (_night_) and #sê mônað# (_month_), plural #niht# and #mônað# (preserved in Mn.E. _twelvemonth_ and _fortnight_).

(2) The r-Stems contain nouns expressing kinship, and exhibit umlaut of the dative singular.

_Sing. N.A._ sê fæder sê brôðor sêo môdor (_father_) (_brother_) (_mother_) _D._ fæder brêðer mêder

_Sing. N.A._ sêo dohtor (_daughter_) sêo swuster (_sister_) _D._ dehter swyster

NOTE.--The N.A. plural is usually the same as the N.A. singular. These umlaut datives are all due to the presence of a former i. Cf. Lat. dative singular _patri_, _frâtri_, _mâtri_, _sorori_ (< _*sosori_), and Greek +thugatri+.

(3) The nd-Stems show umlaut both in the N.A. plural and in the dative singular:

_Sing. N.A._ sê frêond (_friend_) sê fêond (_enemy_) _D._ frîend fîend

_Plur. N.A._ frîend fîend

NOTE.--Mn.E. _friend_ and _fiend_ are interesting analogical spellings. When s had been added by analogy to the O.E. plurals #frîend# and #fîend#, thus giving the double plurals _friends_ and _fiends_, a second singular was formed by dropping the s. Thus _friend_ and _fiend_ displaced the old singulars _frend_ and _fend_, both of which occur in the M.E. _Ormulum_, written about the year 1200.

#Summary of O.E. Declensions.#

69. A brief, working summary of the O.E. system of declensions may now be made on the basis of gender.

All O.E. nouns are (1) masculine, (2) feminine, or (3) neuter.

(1) The masculines follow the declension of #mûð# (§ 26), except those ending in -a, which are declined like #hunta# (§ 64):

_Sing. N.A._ mûð _N._ hunta _G._ mûðes _G.D.A._ huntan _D.I._ mûðe _I._ huntan

_Plur. N.A._ mûðas huntan _G._ mûða huntena _D.I._ mûðum huntum

(2) The short-stemmed neuters follow the declension of #hof# (§ 32); the long-stemmed, that of #bearn# (§ 32):

_Sing. N.A._ hof bearn _G._ hofes bearnes _D.I._ hofe bearne

_Plur. N.A._ hofu bearn _G._ hofa bearna _D.I._ hofum bearnum

(3) The feminines follow the declensions of #giefu# and #wund# (§ 38) (the only difference being in the N. singular), except those ending in -e, which follow the declension of #tunge# (§ 64):

_Sing. N._ giefu wund tunge _G._ giefe wunde tungan _D.I._ giefe wunde tungan _A._ giefe wunde tungan

_Plur. N.A._ giefa wunda tungan _G._ giefa wunda tungena _D.I._ giefum wundum tungum

70. Vocabulary.

ac, _but_. bûtan (with dat.), _except, but, without_. sê Crîst, _Christ_. sê eorl, _earl, alderman, warrior_. ðæt Englalond, _England_ [Angles' land]. faran, _to go_ [fare]. findan, _to find_. sê God, _God_. hâtan, _to call, name_. sê hlâford, _lord_ [#hlâf-weard#]. mid (with dat.), _with_. on (with acc.), _on, against, into_. tô (with dat.), _to_. uton (with infin.), _let us_.

NOTE.--O.E. #mon# (#man#) is frequently used in an indefinite sense for _one_, _people_, _they_. It thus takes the place of a passive construction proper: #And man nam þâ gebrotu þe þâr belifon, twelf cy:pan fulle#, _And there were taken up of fragments that remained there twelve baskets full_; but more literally, _And one_ (or _they_) _took the fragments_, etc.; #Ond Hæstenes wîf ond hîs suna twêgen mon brôhte tô ðæ:m cyninge#, _And Hæsten's wife and his two sons were brought to the king_.

71. Exercises.

I. 1. Môn hine hæ:t Ælfred. 2. Uton faran on ðæt scip. 3. God is cyninga cyning ond hlâforda hlâford. 4. Sê eorl ne giefð giefa his fîend. 5. Ic næs mid his frîend. 6. Sêo môdor færð mid hiere dehter on ðâ burg. 7. Fintst ðû ðæs bôceres bêc? 8. Hê bint ealle (all) ðâ dêor bûtan ðæ:m wulfum. 9. Ðû eart Crîst, Godes sunu. 10. "Uton bindan ðæs bonan fêt," cwið hê.

II. 1. Christ is the son of God. 2. Let us call him Cædmon. 3. He throws his spear against the door. 4. Thou art not the earl's brother. 5. He will go with his father to England, but I shall remain (abide) here. 6. Gifts are not given to murderers. 7. Who will find the tracks of the animals? 8. They ask their lord for his weapons (§ 65, Note 3).

Chapter XIII.

Pronouns.

(1) #Personal Pronouns.#

72. Paradigms of #ic#, _I_; #ðû#, _thou_. For #hê#, #hêo#, #hit#, see § 53.

_Sing. N._ ic ðû _G._ mîn ðîn _D._ mê ðê _A._ mê (mec) ðê (ðec)

_Dual N._ wit (_we two_) git (_ye two_) _G._ uncer (_of us two_) incer (_of you two_) _D._ unc (_to_ or _for us two_) inc (_to_ or _for you two_) _A._ unc (_us two_) inc (_you two_)

_Plur. N._ wê gê _G._ ûser (ûre) êower _D._ ûs êow _A._ ûs (ûsic) êow (êowic)

NOTE 1.--The dual number was soon absorbed by the plural. No relic of it now remains. But when two and only two are referred to, the dual is consistently used in O.E. An example occurs in the case of the two blind men (_Matthew_ ix. 27-31): #Gemiltsa unc, Davîdes sunu!# _Pity us, (thou) Son of David!_ #Sîe inc æfter incrum gelêafan#, _Be it unto you according to your faith._

NOTE 2.--Mn.E. _ye_ (< gê), the nominative proper, is fast being displaced by _you_ (< #êow#), the old objective. The distinction is preserved in the King James's version of the Bible: _Ye in me, and I in you_ (_John_ xiv. 20); but not in Shakespeare and later writers.

(2) #Demonstrative Pronouns.#

73. Paradigm of #ðês#, #ðêos#, #ðis#, _this_. For the Definite Article as a demonstrative, meaning _that_, see § 28, Note 3.

_Masculine._ _Feminine._ _Neuter._ _Sing. N._ ðês ðêos ðis _G._ ðisses ðisse ðisses _D._ ðissum ðisse ðissum _A._ ðisne ðâs ðis _I._ ðy:s ---- ðy:s

_All Genders._ _Plur. N.A._ ðâs _G._ ðissa _D._ ðissum

(3) #The Interrogative Pronoun.#

74. Paradigm of #hwâ#, #hwæt#, _who_, _what?_

_Masculine._ _Neuter._ _Sing. N._ hwâ hwæt _G._ hwæs hwæs _D._ hwæ:m hwæ:m _A._ hwone hwæt _I._ ---- hwy:

NOTE 1.--The derivative interrogatives, #hwæðer# (< #*hwâ-ðer#), _which of two?_ and #hwilc# (< #*hwâ-lîc#), _which?_ are declined as strong adjectives (§§ 79-82).

NOTE 2.--The instrumental case of #hwâ# survives in Mn.E. _why_ = _on what account_; the instrumental of the definite article is seen in the adverbial _the: The sooner, the better = by how much sooner, by so much better._

NOTE 3.--How were the Mn.E. relative pronouns, _who_ and _which_, evolved from the O.E. interrogatives? The change began in early West Saxon with #hwæt# used in indirect questions (Wülfing, _l.c._ § 310, [beta]): #Nû ic wât eall hwæt ðû woldest#, _Now I know all that thou desiredst_. The direct question was, #Hwæt woldest ðû?# But the presence of #eall# shows that in Alfred's mind #hwæt# was, in the indirect form, more relative than interrogative.

(4) #Relative Pronouns.#

75. O.E. had no relative pronoun proper. It used instead (1) the Indeclinable Particle #ðe#, _who_, _whom_, _which_, _that_, (2) the Definite Article (§ 28), (3) the Definite Article with the Indeclinable Particle, (4) the Indeclinable Particle with a Personal Pronoun.

The Definite Article agrees in gender and number with the antecedent. The case depends upon the construction. _The bird which I have_ may, therefore, be:--

(1) #Sê fugol ðe ic hæbbe#; (2) #Sê fugol ðone ic hæbbe#; (3) #Sê fugol ðone ðe# (= _the which_) #ic hæbbe#; (4) #Sê fugol ðe hine ic hæbbe#.

NOTE.--O.E. #ðe# agrees closely in construction with Mn.E. relative _that_: (1) Both are indeclinable. (2) Both refer to animate or inanimate objects. (3) Both may be used with phrasal value: #ðy: ylcan dæge ðe hî hine tô ðæ:m âde beran wyllað#, _On the same day that_ (= _on which_) _they intend to bear him to the funeral pile_. (4) Neither can be preceded by a preposition.

(5) #Possessive Pronouns.#

76. The Possessive Pronouns are #mîn#, _mine_; #ðîn#, _thine_; #ûre#, _our_; #êower#, _your_; [#sîn#, _his_, _her_, _its_]; #uncer#, _belonging to us two_; #incer#, _belonging to you two_. They are declined as strong adjectives. The genitives of the Third Personal Pronoun, #his#, _his_, #hiere#, _her_, #hiera#, _their_, are indeclinable.

(6) #Indefinite Pronouns.#

77. These are #æ:lc#, _each_, _every_; #ân#, _a_, _an_, _one_; #æ:nig# (< #ân-ig#), _any_; #næ:nig# (< #ne-æ:nig#), _none_; #ôðer#, _other_; #sum#, _one_, _a certain one_; #swilc#, _such_. They are declined as strong adjectives.

NOTE.--O.E. had three established methods of converting an interrogative pronoun into an indefinite: (1) By prefixing #ge#, (2) by prefixing #æ:g#, (3) by interposing the interrogative between #swâ ... swâ#: (1) #gehwâ#, _each_; #gehwæðer#, _either_; #gehwilc#, _each_; (2) #æ:ghwâ#, _each_; #æ:ghwæðer#, _each_; #æ:ghwilc#, _each_; (3) #swâ hwâ swâ#, _whosoever_; #swâ hwæðer swâ#, _whichsoever of two_; #swâ hwilc swâ#, _whosoever_.

Chapter XIV.

Adjectives, Strong And Weak.

78. The declension of adjectives conforms in general to the declension of nouns, though a few pronominal inflections have influenced certain cases. Adjectives belong either to (1) the Strong Declension or to (2) the Weak Declension. The Weak Declension is employed when the adjective is preceded by #sê# or #ðês#, _the_, _that_, or _this_; otherwise, the Strong Declension is employed: #ðâ gôdan cyningas#, _the good kings_; #ðês gôda cyning#, _this good king_; but #gôde cyningas#, _good kings_.

NOTE.--The Weak Declension is also frequently used when the adjective is employed in direct address, or preceded by a possessive pronoun: #Dryhten, ælmihtiga God ... ic bidde ðê for ðînre miclan mildheortnesse#, _Lord, almighty God, I pray thee, for thy great mercy_.

(1) #Strong Declension of Adjectives.#

(a) _Monosyllables._

79. The strong adjectives are chiefly monosyllabic with long stems: #gôd#, _good_; #eald#, _old_; #long#, _long_; #swift#, _swift_. They are declined as follows.

80. Paradigm of #gôd#, _good_:

_Masculine._ _Feminine._ _Neuter._

_Sing. N._ gôd gôd gôd _G._ gôdes gôdre gôdes _D._ gôdum gôdre gôdum _A._ gôdne gôde gôd _I._ gôde ---- gôde

_Plur. N.A._ gôde gôda gôd _G._ gôdra gôdra gôdra _D.I._ gôdum gôdum gôdum

81. If the stem is short, -u is retained as in #giefu# (§ 39, (1)) and #hofu# (§ 33, (1)). Thus #glæd# (§ 27, Note 1), _glad_, and #til#, _useful_, are inflected:

_Masculine._ _Feminine._ _Neuter._ _Sing. N._ { glæd gladu glæd { til tilu til

_Plur. N.A._ { glade glada gladu { tile tila tilu

(b) _Polysyllables._

82. Polysyllables follow the declension of short monosyllables. The most common terminations are #-en#, _-en_; #-fæst#, _-fast_; #-full#, _-ful_; #-lêas#, _-less_; #-lîc#, _-ly_; #-ig#, _-y_: #hæ:ð-en# (#hæ:ð# = _heath_), _heathen_; #stede-fæst# (#stede# = _place_), _steadfast_; #sorg-full# (#sorg# = _sorrow_), _sorrowful_; #cyst-lêas# (#cyst# = _worth_), _worthless_; #eorð-lîc# (#eorðe# = _earth_), _earthly_; #blôd-ig# (#blôd# = _blood_), _bloody_. The present and past participles, when inflected and not as weak adjectives, may be classed with the polysyllabic adjectives, their inflection being the same.

Syncopation occurs as in a-stems (§ 27, (4)). Thus #hâlig#, _holy_, #blîðe#, _blithe_, #berende#, _bearing_, #geboren#, _born_, are thus inflected:

_Masculine._ _Feminine._ _Neuter._ _Sing. N._ { hâlig hâlgu hâlig { blîðe blîðu blîðe { berende berendu berende { geboren geborenu geboren

_Plur. N.A._ { hâlge hâlga hâlgu { blîðe blîða blîðu { berende berenda berendu { geborene geborena geborenu

(2) #Weak Declension of Adjectives.#

83. The Weak Declension of adjectives, whether monosyllabic or polysyllabic, does not differ from the Weak Declension of nouns, except that -ena of the genitive plural is usually replaced by -ra of the strong adjectives.

_Masculine._ _Feminine._ _Neuter._ 84. _Sing. N._ gôda gôde gôde _G._ gôdan gôdan gôdan _D.I._ gôdan gôdan gôdan _A._ gôdan gôdan gôde

_All Genders._ _Plur. N.A._ gôdan _G._ gôdra (gôdena) _D.I._ gôdum

85. Rule Of Syntax.

_Adjectives agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case; but participles, when used predicatively, may remain uninflected_ (§ 139, § 140).

86. Vocabulary.

dêad, _dead_. eall, _all_. hâl,[1] _whole, hale_. heard, _hard_. ðæt hors, _horse_. lêof, _dear_ [as lief]. ly:tel, _little_. micel, _great, large_. monig, _many_. niman, _to take_ [nimble, numb]. nîwe, _new_. rîce, _rich, powerful_. sôð, _true_ [sooth-sayer]. stælwierðe,[2] _serviceable_ [stalwart]. swîðe, _very_. sê tûn, _town, village_. sê ðegn, _servant, thane, warrior_. ðæt ðing, _thing_. sê weg, _way_. wîs, _wise_. wið (with acc.), _against_, in a hostile sense [with-stand]. sê ilca, _the same_ [of that ilk].

[Footnote 1: #Hâlig#, _holy_, contains, of course, the same root. "I find," says Carlyle, "that you could not get any better definition of what 'holy' really is than 'healthy--completely healthy.'"]

[Footnote 2: This word has been much discussed. The older etymologists explained it as meaning _worth stealing_. A more improbable conjecture is that it means _worth a stall_ or _place_. It is used of ships in the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_. As applied to men, Skeat thinks it meant _good_ or _worthy at stealing_; but the etymology is still unsettled.]

87. Exercises.

I. 1. Ðâs scipu ne sind swîðe swift, ac hîe sind swîðe stælwierðu. 2. Sêo gôde cwên giefð æ:lcum ðegne moniga giefa. 3. Ðês wîsa cyning hæfð monige micele tûnas on his rîce. 4. Næ:nig mon is wîs on eallum ðingum. 5. Ðy: ilcan dæge (§ 98, (2)) mon fond (found) ðone ðegn ðe mînes wines bêc hæfde. 6. Ealle ðâ secgas ðâ ðe swift hors habbað rîdað wið ðone bonan. 7. Ðîne fîend sind mîne frîend. 8. Sê micela stân ðone ðe ic on mînum hondum hæbbe is swîðe heard. 9. Hîe sceððað ðæ:m ealdum horsum. 10. Uton niman ðâs tilan giefa ond hîe beran tô ûrum lêofum bearnum.

II. 1. These holy men are wise and good. 2. Are the little children very dear to the servants (dat. without #tô#)? 3. Gifts are not given (§ 70, Note 1) to rich men. 4. All the horses that are in the king's fields are swift. 5. These stones are very large and hard. 6. He takes the dead man's spear and fights against the large army. 7. This new house has many doors. 8. My ways are not your ways. 9. Whosoever chooses me, him I also (#êac#) choose. 10. Every man has many friends that are not wise.

Chapter XV.

Numerals.

88. Numerals are either (_a_) Cardinal, expressing pure number, _one_, _two_, _three_; or (_b_) Ordinal, expressing rank or succession, _first_, _second_, _third_.

(_a_) #Cardinals.#

89. The Cardinals fall into the three following syntactic groups:

Group I.

1. ân 2. twêgen [twain] 3. ðrîe

These numerals are inflected adjectives. #Ân#, _one_, _an_, _a_, being a long stemmed monosyllable, is declined like #gôd# (§ 80). The weak form, #âna#, means _alone_.

#Twêgen# and #ðrîe#, which have no singular, are thus declined:

_Masc._ _Fem._ _Neut._ _Masc._ _Fem._ _Neut._ _Plur. N.A._ twêgen twâ twâ (tû) ðrîe ðrêo ðrêo _G._ twêgra twêgra twêgra ðrêora ðrêora ðrêora _D._ { twæ:m twæ:m twæ:m ðrîm ðrîm ðrîm { (twâm) (twâm) (twâm)

90. Group II.

4. fêower 5. fîf 6. siex 7. seofon 8. eahta 9. nigon 10. tîen 11. endlefan 12. twelf 13. ðrêotîene 14. fêowertîene 15. fîftîene 16. siextîene 17. seofontîene 18. eahtatîene 19. nigontîene

These words are used chiefly as uninflected adjectives: #on gewitscipe ðrêora oþþe fêower bisceopa#, _on testimony of three or four bishops_; #on siex dagum#, _in six days_; #ân næ:dre ðe hæfde nigon hêafdu#, _a serpent which had nine heads_; #æðeling eahtatîene wintra#, _a prince of eighteen winters_.

91. Group III.

20. twêntig 21. ân ond twêntig 30. ðrîtig 40. fêowertig 50. fîftig 60. siextig 70. hundseofontig 80. hundeahtatig 90. hundnigontig 100. hund 200. twâ hund 1000. ðûsend 2000. twâ ðûsend

All these numbers are employed as neuter singular nouns, and are followed by the genitive plural: #Næfde hê þêah mâ ðonne twêntig hry:ðera, and twêntig scêapa, and twêntig swy:na#, _He did not have, however, more than twenty (of) cattle, and twenty (of) sheep, and twenty (of) swine_; #Hîe hæfdon hundeahtatig scipa#, _They had eighty ships_; #twâ hund mîla brâd#, _two hundred miles broad_; #ðæ:r wæ:ron seofon hund gûðfanena genumen#, _there were seven hundred standards captured_; #ân ðûsend monna#, _a thousand men_; #Hannibales folces wæs twâ ðûsend ofslagen#, _Of Hannibal's men there were two thousand slain_; #Hîe âcuron endlefan ðûsend monna#, _They chose eleven thousand men_.

NOTE 1.--Group III is rarely inflected. Almost the only inflectional endings that are added are (1) -es, a genitive singular termination for the numerals in #-tig#, and (2) -e, a dative singular for #hund#. (1) The first is confined to adjectives expressing extent of space or time, as, #eald#, _old_; #brâd#, _broad_; #hêah#, _high_; and #long#, _long_: #ðæt is ðrîtiges mîla long#, _that is thirty miles long_; #Hê wæs ðrîtiges gêara eald#, _He was thirty years old_. (2) The second is employed after #mid#: #mid twæ:m hunde scipa#, _with two hundred ships_; #mid ðrîm hunde monna#, _with three hundred men_; #Ðæ:r wearð ... Regulus gefangen mid V hunde monna#, _There was Regulus captured with five hundred men_.

The statement made in nearly all the grammars that #hunde# occurs as a nominative and accusative plural is without foundation.

NOTE 2.--Many numerals, otherwise indeclinable, are used in the genitive plural with the indefinite pronoun #sum#, which then means _one of_ a certain number. In this peculiar construction, the numeral always precedes #sum#: #fêowera sum#, _one of four_ (= _with three others_); #Hê sæ:de þæt hê syxa sum ofslôge syxtig#, _He said that he, with five others, slew sixty_ (_whales_); #Hê wæs fêowertigra sum#, _He was one of forty_.

NOTE 3.--These are the most common constructions with the Cardinals. The forms in #-tig# have only recently been investigated. A study of Wülfing's citations shows that Alfred occasionally uses the forms in #-tig# (1) as adjectives with plural inflections: #mid XXXgum cyningum#, _with thirty kings_; and (2) as nouns with plural inflections: #æfter siextigum daga#, _after sixty days_. But both constructions are rare.

(b) #Ordinals.#

92. The Ordinals, except the first two, are formed from the Cardinals. They are:

1. forma, æ:resta, fyrsta 2. ôðer, æfterra 3. ðridda 4. fêorða 5. fîfta 6. siexta 7. seofoða 8. eahtoða 9. nigoða 10. têoða 11. endlefta 12. twelfta 13. ðrêotêoða 14. fêowertêoða 15. fîftêoða etc. 20. twêntigoða 21. ân ond twêntigoða 30. ðrîtigoða etc.

NOTE.--There are no Ordinals corresponding to #hund# and #ðûsend#.

With the exception of #ôðer# (§ 77), all the Ordinals are declined as Weak Adjectives; the article, however, as in Mn.E., is frequently omitted: #Brûtus wæs sê forma consul#, _Brutus was the first consul_; #Hêr endað sêo æ:reste bôc, ond onginneð sêo ôðer#, _Here the first book ends, and the second begins_; #ðy: fîftan dæge#, _on the fifth day_; #on ðæ:m têoðan gêare hiera gewinnes#, _in the tenth year of their strife_; #Hêo wæs twelfte#, _She was twelfth_; #Sê wæs fêorða from Agusto#, _He was fourth from Augustus_.

Chapter XVI.

Adverbs, Prepositions, And Conjunctions.

#Adverbs.#

93. (1) Adverbs are formed by adding -e or #-lîce# to the corresponding adjectives: #sôð#, _true_; #sôðe# or #sôðlîce#, _truly_; #earmlîc#, _wretched_; #earmlîce#, _wretchedly_; #wîd#, _wide_; #wîde#, _widely_; #micel#, _great_; #micle# (#micele#), _greatly, much_.

(2) The terminations -e and #-lîce# are replaced in some adverbs by #-(l)unga# or #-(l)inga#: #eallunga#, _entirely_; #fæ:ringa#, _suddenly_; #grundlunga#, _from the ground, completely_.

NOTE 1.--In Mn.E. _headlong_, _darkling_, and _groveling_, originally adverbs, we have survivals of these endings.

(3) The genitive case is frequently used adverbially: #sûðeweardes#, _southwards_; #ealles#, _altogether, entirely_; #dæges#, _by day_; #nihtes#, _by night_; #ðæs#, _from that time, afterwards_. _Cf._ #hys# (= #his#) #weges# in #Ðonne rîdeð æ:lc hys weges#, _Then rides each his way_.

NOTE 2.--The adverbial genitive is abundantly preserved in Mn.E. _Always_, _crossways_, _sideways_, _needs_ (= _necessarily_), _sometimes_, etc., are not plurals, but old genitive singulars. The same construction is seen in _of course_, _of a truth_, _of an evening_, _of old_, _of late_, and similar phrases.

(4) Dative and instrumental plurals may be used as adverbs: #hwîlum#, _at times, sometimes_ [whilom]; #stundum# (#stund# = _period_), _from time to time_; #miclum#, _greatly_. Especially common is the suffix #-mæ:lum# (#mæ:l# = _time_, #measure# [meal]), preserved adverbially in Mn.E. _piecemeal_: #dropmæ:lum#, _drop by drop_; #styccemæ:lum# (#stycce# = _piece_), _piecemeal, here and there_.

(5) The suffix -an usually denotes motion from:

hêr, _here_. hider, _hither_. heonan, _hence_. ðæ:r, _there_. ðider, _thither_. ðonan, _thence_. hwæ:r, _where?_ hwider, _whither?_ hwonan, _whence?_ norðan, _from the north_. êastan, _from the east_. hindan, _from behind_. feorran, _from far_. ûtan, _from without_.

(6) The adverb #rihte# (#riht# = _right, straight_) denotes _motion toward_ in #norðrihte#, _northward, due north_; #êastrihte#, _due east_; #sûðrihte#, _due south_; #westrihte#, _due west_.

#Prepositions.#

94. The nominative is the only case in O.E. that is never governed by a preposition. Of the other cases, the dative and accusative occur most frequently with prepositions.

(1) The prepositions that are most frequently found with the dative are:

æfter, _after_. æ:t, _at_. be (bî), _by, near, about_. betwêonan (betuh), _between_. bûtan (bûton), _except_. for, _for_. from (fram), _from, by_. mid, _with_. of, _of, from_. tô, _to_. tôforan, _before_. tôweard, _toward_.

(2) The following prepositions require the accusative:

geond, _throughout_ [be-yond]. ofer, _over, upon_. oð, _until, up to_. ðurh, _through_. ymbe, _about, around_ [um-while, ember-days].

(3) The preposition #on# (rarely #in#), meaning _into_, is usually followed by the accusative; but meaning _in_, _on_, or _during_, it takes the dative or instrumental. The preposition #wið#, meaning _toward_, may be followed by the genitive, dative, or accusative; but meaning _against_, and implying _motion_ or _hostility_, the accusative is more common.

(4) The following phrases are used prepositionally with the dative:

be norðan, _north of_. be êastan, _east of_. be sûðan, _south of._ be westan, _west of_. tô êacan, _in addition to_. on emnlange (efn-lang = _evenly long_), _along_. tô emnes, _along_.

(5) Prepositions regularly precede the noun or pronoun that they introduce; but by their adverbial nature they are sometimes drawn in front of the verb: #And him wæs mycel menegu tô gegaderod#, _And there was gathered unto him a great multitude_. In relative clauses introduced by #ðe#, the preceding position is very common: #sêo scîr ... ðe hê on bûde#, _the district, ... which he dwelt in_ (= _which he in-habited_); #Hê wæs swy:ðe spêdig man on ðæ:m æ:htum ðe hiera spêda on bêoð#, _He was a very rich man in those possessions which their riches consist in_; #ny:hst ðæ:m tûne ðe sê dêada man on lîð#, _nearest the town that the dead man lies in_.

#Conjunctions.#

95. (1) The most frequently occurring conjunctions are:

#ac, _but_. æ:r, _before, ere_. bûtan (bûton), _except that, unless_. êac, _also_ [eke]. for ðæ:m, } for ðæ:m ðe, } _because_. for ðon, } for ðon ðe, } for ðy:, _therefore_. gif, _if_. hwæðer, _whether_. ond (and), _and_. oððe, _or_. ðæt, _that, so that_. ðêah, _though, however_.

(2) The correlative conjunctions are:

æ:gðer ge ... ge, _both ...... and_. æ:gðer ...... ôðer } _either .... or_. oððe ....... oððe } nê ......... nê, _neither ... nor_. sam ........ sam, _whether ... or_. swâ ........ swâ { _the ....... the_. { _as ........ as_. ðâ ......... ðâ } _when ...... then_. ðonne ...... ðonne }

Chapter XVII.

Comparison Of Adjectives And Adverbs.

#Adjectives#.

96. (1) Adjectives are regularly compared by adding -ra for the comparative, and -ost (rarely -est) for the superlative:

_Positive._ _Comparative._ _Superlative._ earm, _poor_ earmra earmost rîce, _rich_ rîcra rîcost smæl, _narrow_ smælra smalost brâd, _broad_ brâdra (bræ:dra) brâdost swift, _swift_ swiftra swiftost

(2) Forms with i-umlaut usually have superlative in -est:

_Positive._ _Comparative._ _Superlative._ eald, _old_ ieldra ieldest long, _long_ lengra lengest strong, _strong_ strengra strengest geong, _young_ giengra giengest hêah, _high_ hîerra hîehst

(3) The following adjectives are compared irregularly:

_Positive._ _Comparative._ _Superlative._ gôd, _good_ betra betst ly:tel, _little, small_ læ:ssa læ:st micel, _great, much_ mâra mæ:st yfel, _bad_ wiersa wierst

(4) The positive is sometimes supplied by an adverb:

_Positive._ _Comparative._ _Superlative._ feor, _far_ fierra fierrest nêah, _near_ nêarra nîehst æ:r, _before_ æ:rra, _former_ æ:rest, _first_

(5) The comparatives all follow the Weak Declension. The superlatives, when preceded by the definite article, are weak; but when used predicatively they are frequently strong: #sê læ:sta dæ:l#, _the least part_; #Ðonne cymeð sê man sê ðæt swiftoste hors hafað tô ðæ:m æ:restan dæ:le and tô ðæ:m mæ:stan#, _Then comes the man that has the swiftest horse to the first part and to the largest_. But, #ðæt by:ne land is êasteweard brâdost# (not #brâdoste#), _the cultivated land is broadest eastward_; #and# (#hit#) #bið ealra wyrta mæ:st#, _and it is largest of all herbs_; #Ac hyra# (= #hiera#) #âr is mæ:st on ðæ:m gafole ðe ðâ Finnas him gyldað#, _But their income is greatest in the tribute that the Fins pay them_.

(6) The comparative is usually followed by #ðonne# and the nominative case: #Sê hwæl bið micle læ:ssa ðonne ôðre hwalas#, _That whale is much smaller than other whales_; #Ðâ wunda ðæs môdes bêoð dîgelran ðonne ðâ wunda ðæs lîchaman#. _The wounds of the mind are more secret than the wounds of the body_.

But when #ðonne# is omitted, the comparative is followed by the dative: #Ûre Âlîesend, ðe mâra is ond mæ:rra eallum gesceaftum#, _Our Redeemer, who is greater and more glorious than all created things_; #nê ongeat hê nô hiene selfne betran ôðrum gôdum monnum#, _nor did he consider himself better than other good men_.

#Adverbs.#

97. (1) Adverbs are regularly compared by adding -or for the comparative and -ost (rarely -est) for the superlative:

_Positive._ _Comparative._ _Superlative._ georne, _willingly_ geornor geornost swîðe, _very, swîðor, _more_ swîðost, _most, chiefly_ severely_ æ:r, _before_ æ:ror, _formerly_ æ:rest, _first_ norð, _northwards_ norðor norðmest[1]

(2) The comparatives of a few adverbs may be found by dropping -ra of the corresponding adjective form:

_Positive._ _Comparative._ _Superlative._ longe, _long_ leng lengest micle, _much_ mâ mæ:st wel, _well_ bet betst

[Footnote 1: This is really a double superlative, m being itself an old superlative suffix. _Cf._ Latin _opti-m-us_. In Mn.E. _northmost_ and _hindmost_, _-m-est_ has been confused with _-most_, with which etymologically it has nothing to do.]

#Expressions of Time.#

98. (1) Duration of time and extent of space are usually expressed by the accusative case: #Ealle ðâ hwîle ðe ðæt lîc bið inne#, _All the time that the body is within_; #twêgen dagas#, _for two days_; #ealne weg#, _all the way, always_.

(2) Time when is more often expressed by the instrumental case when no preposition is used: #ðy: ilcan dæge#, _the same day_; #æ:lce gêare#, _each year_; #ðy: gêare#, _that year_; #æ:lce dæge#, _each day_.

(3) Time or space within which is expressed by #on# and the dative: #on sumera#, _in summer_; #on wintra#, _in winter_; #on fîf dagum#, _in five days_; #on fîf mîlum#, _in five miles_; #on ðissum gêare#, _in this year_; #on ðæ:m tîman#, _in those times_. Sometimes by the genitive without a preceding preposition: #ðæ:s gêares#, _in that year_.

99. Vocabulary.

ðæt gefylce [folc], _troop, division_. ðæt lond (land), _land_. sêo mîl, _mile_. ôðer ... ôðer, _the one ... the other_; _the former ... the latter_. sê sige, _victory_. sige[2] habban, _to win (the) victory_. sprecan, _to speak_. ðæt swîn (swy:n), _swine, hog_. wêste, _waste_.

[Footnote 2: #Sige# usually, but not invariably, precedes #habban#.]

100. Exercises.

I. 1. Hê hæfð ðrêo swîðe swift hors. 2. Ic hæbbe nigontîene scêap ond mâ ðonne twêntig swîna. 3. Sêo gôde cwên cîest twâ hund monna. 4. Uton feohtan wið ðâ Dene mid ðrîm hunde scipa. 5. Ond hîe wæ:ron on twæ:m gefylcum: on ôðrum wæs[3] Bâchsecg ond Halfdene ðâ hæ:ðnan cyningas, ond on ôðrum wæ:ron ðâ eorlas. 6. Ðû spricst sôðlîce. 7. Ðonne rît æ:lc mon his weges. 8. Æfter monigum dagum, hæfde Ælfred cyning[4] sige. 9. Ðis lond is wêste styccemæ:lum. 10. Ðês feld is fîftiges mîla brâd. 11. Ælfred cyning hæfde monige frîend, for ðæ:m ðe hê wæs æ:gðer ge wîs ge gôd. 12. Ðâ hwalas, ðe ðû ymbe spricst, sind micle læ:ssan ôðrum hwalum. 13. Hêo is ieldre ðonne hiere swuster, ac mîn brôðor is ieldra ðonne hêo. 14. Wê cumað tô ðæ:m tûne æ:lce gêare. 15. Ðâ men ðe ðâ swiftostan hors hæ:fdon wæ:ron mid ðæ:m Denum fêower dagas.

II. 1. Our army (#werod#) was in two divisions: one was large, the other was small. 2. The richest men in the kingdom have more (#mâ#) than thirty ships. 3. He was much wiser than his brother. 4. He fights against the Northumbrians with two ships. 5. After three years King Alfred gained the victory. 6. Whosoever chooses these gifts, chooses well. 7. This man's son is both wiser and better than his father. 8. When the king rides, then ride his thanes also. 9. The richest men are not always (â) the wisest men.

[Footnote 3: See p. 100, note on #gefeaht#.] [[Linenote 100.8]]

[Footnote 4: The proper noun comes first in appositive expressions: #Ælfred cyning#, #Sidroc eorl#, #Hêahmund bisceop#.]

Chapter XVIII.

STRONG VERBS: CLASS I. (See § 17.)

#Syntax of Moods.#

101. Of the three hundred simple verbs belonging to the O.E. Strong Conjugation, it is estimated[1] that seventy-eight have preserved their strong inflections in Mn.E., that eighty-eight have become weak, and that the remaining one hundred and thirty-four have entirely disappeared, their places being taken in most cases by verbs of Latin origin introduced through the Norman-French.

NOTE.--Only the simple or primitive verbs, not the compound forms, are here taken into consideration. The proportionate loss, therefore, is really much greater. O.E. abounded in formative prefixes. "Thus from the Anglo-Saxon #flôwan#, _to flow_, ten new compounds were formed by the addition of various prefixes, of which ten, only one, #oferflôwan#, _to overflow_, survives with us. In a similar manner, from the verb #sittan#, _to sit_, thirteen new verbs were formed, of which not a single one is to be found to-day." Lounsbury, _ib._ Part I, p. 107.

[Footnote 1: Lounsbury, _English Language_, Part II, § 241.]

102. #Class I: The "Drive" Conjugation.#

Vowel Succession: î, â, i, i.

Infinitive. Preterit Sing. Preterit Plur. Past Part.

Drîf-an drâf drif-on gedrif-en, _to drive_.

#Indicative.# #Subjunctive.#

Present. Present.

_Sing._ 1. Ic drîf-e _Sing._ 1. Ic } 2. ðû drîf-st (drîf-est) 2. ðû } drîf-e 3. hê drîf-ð (drîf-eð) 3. hê }

_Plur._ 1. wê } _Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } (drîf-að) 2. gê } drîf-en 3. hîe } 3. hîe }

Preterit. Preterit.

_Sing._ 1. Ic drâf _Sing._ 1. Ic } 2. ðû drif-e 2. ðû } drif-e 3. hê drâf 3. hê }

_Plur._ 1. wê } _Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } drif-on 2. gê } drif-en 3. hîe } 3. hîe }

#Imperative.# #Infinitive.# #Present Participle.#

_Sing._ 2. drîf drîf-an drîf-ende _Plur._ 1. drîf-an 2. drîf-að

#Gerund.# #Past Participle.#

tô drîf-anne (-enne) gedrif-en

#Tense Formation of Strong Verbs.#

103. (1) It will be seen from the conjugation of #drîfan# that the _present stem_ in all strong verbs is used throughout the present indicative, the present subjunctive, the imperative, the infinitive, the gerund, and the present participle. More than half of the endings, therefore, of the Strong Conjugation are added directly to the present stem.

(2) That the _preterit singular stem_ is used in only two forms of the verb, the 1st and 3d persons singular of the preterit indicative: #Ic drâf#, #hê drâf#.

(3) That the _preterit plural stem_ is used in the preterit plural indicative, in the second person of the preterit singular indicative, and in the singular and plural of the preterit subjunctive.

(4) That the _stem of the past participle_ (#gedrif-#) is used for no other form.

#Syntax of the Verb.#

104. The Indicative Mood[2] represents the predicate _as a reality_. It is used both in independent and in dependent clauses, its function in O.E. corresponding with its function in Mn.E.

[Footnote 2: Usage sanctions _mood_, but the better spelling would be _mode_. It is from the Lat. _modus_, whereas _mood_ (= _temper_) is O.E. _môd_.]

105. The Subjunctive Mood represents the predicate _as an idea_.[3] It is of far more frequent occurrence in O.E. than in Mn.E.

1. When used in independent clauses it denotes desire, command, or entreaty, and usually precedes its subject: #Sîe ðîn nama gehâlgod#, _Hallowed be Thy name_; #Ne swerigen gê#, _Do not swear_.

2. In dependent clauses it denotes uncertainty, possibility, or mere futurity.[4] (_a_) Concessive clauses (introduced by #ðêah#, _though_) and (_b_) temporal clauses (introduced by #æ:r#, #æ:r ðæ:m ðe#, _before_) are rarely found with any other mood than the subjunctive. The subjunctive is also regularly used in Alfredian prose (_c_) after verbs of saying, even when no suggestion of doubt or discredit attaches to the narration.[5] "Whether the statement refer to a fact or not, whether the subject-matter be vouched for by the reporter, as regards its objective reality and truth, the subjunctive does not tell. It simply represents a statement as reported"[6]: #ðêah man âsette twêgen fæ:tels full ealað oððe wæteres#, _though one set two vessels full of ale or water_; #æ:r ðæ:m ðe hit eall forhergod wæ:re#, _before it was all ravaged_; #Hê sæ:de ðæt Norðmanna land wæ:re swy:ðe lang and swy:ðe smæl#, _He said that the Norwegians' land was very long and very narrow_.

[Footnote 3: Gildersleeve's _Latin Grammar_, § 255.]

[Footnote 4: Thus when Alfred writes that an event took place _before_ the founding of Rome, he uses the subjunctive: #æ:r ðæ:m ðe Rômeburh getimbrod wæ:re# = _before Rome were founded_; but, #æfter ðæ:m ðe Rômeburh getimbrod wæs# = _after Rome was founded_.]

[Footnote 5: "By the time of Ælfric, however, the levelling influence of the indicative [after verbs of saying] has made considerable progress."--Gorrell, _Indirect Discourse in Anglo-Saxon_ (Dissertation, 1895), p. 101.]

[Footnote 6: Hotz, _On the Use of the Subjunctive Mood in Anglo-Saxon_ (Zürich, 1882).]

106. The Imperative is the mood of command or intercession: #Iôhannes, cum tô mê#, _John, come to me_; #And forgyf ûs ûre gyltas#, _And forgive us our trespasses_; #Ne drîf ûs fram ðê#, _Do not drive us from thee_.

107. (1) The Infinitive and Participles are used chiefly in verb-phrases (§§ 138-141); but apart from this function, the Infinitive, being a neuter noun, may serve as the subject or direct object of a verb. #Hâtan# (_to command, bid_), #læ:tan# (_to let, permit_), and onginnan (_to begin_) are regularly followed by the Infinitive: #Hine rîdan lyste#, _To ride pleased him_; #Hêt ðâ bæ:re settan#, _He bade set down the bier_;[7] #Læ:tað ðâ ly:tlingas tô mê cuman#, _Let the little ones come to me_; #ðâ ongann hê sprecan#, _then began he to speak_.

(2) The Participles may be used independently in the dative absolute construction (an imitation of the Latin ablative absolute), usually for the expression of time:[8] #Him ðâ gy:t sprecendum#, _While he was yet speaking_; #gefylledum dagum#, _the days having been fulfilled_.

[Footnote 7: Not, _He commanded the bier to be set down._ The Mn.E. passive in such sentences is a loss both in force and directness.]

[Footnote 8: Callaway, _The Absolute Participle in Anglo-Saxon_ (Dissertation, 1889), p. 19.]

108. The Gerund, or Gerundial Infinitive, is used:

(1) To express purpose: #Ût êode sê sâwere his sæ:d tô sâwenne#, _Out went the sower his seed to sow_.

(2) To expand or determine the meaning of a noun or adjective: #Sy:môn, ic hæbbe ðê tô secgenne sum ðing#, _Simon, I have something to say to thee_; #Hit is scondlîc ymb swelc tô sprecanne#, _It is shameful to speak about such things_.

(3) After #bêon# (#wesan#) to denote duty or necessity: #Hwæt is nû mâ ymbe ðis tô sprecanne#, _What more is there now to say about this_? #ðonne is tô geðencenne hwaet Crîst self cwæð#, _then it behooves to bethink what Christ himself said_.

NOTE.--The Gerund is simply the dative case of the Infinitive after #tô#. It began very early to supplant the simple Infinitive; hence the use of _to_ with the Infinitive in Mn.E. As late as the Elizabethan age the Gerund sometimes replaced the Infinitive even after the auxiliary verbs:

"Some pagan shore, Where these two Christian armies _might combine_ The blood of malice in a vein of league, And not _to spend_ it so unneighbourly." _--King John_, V, ii, 39.

When _to_ lost the meaning of purpose and came to be considered as a merely formal prefix, _for_ was used to supplement the purpose element: _What went ye out for to see_?[9]

[Footnote 9: This is not the place to discuss the Gerund in Mn.E., the so-called "infinitive in _-ing_." The whole subject has been befogged for the lack of an accepted nomenclature, one that shall do violence neither to grammar nor to history.]

Chapter XIX.

Strong Verbs: Classes II And III.

109. #Class II: The "Choose" Conjugation.#

Vowel Succession: êo, êa, u, o.

Infinitive.[1] Pret. Sing. Pret. Plur.[2] Past Part.[2]

cêos-an, cêas, cur-on gecor-en, _to choose_.

#Indicative.# #Subjunctive#.

Present. Present.

_Sing._ 1. Ic cêos-e _Sing._ 1. Ic } 2. ðû cîest (cêos-est) 2. ðû } cêos-e 3. hê cîest (cêos-eð) 3. hê }

_Plur._ 1. wê } _Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } cêos-að 2. gê } cêos-en 3. hîe } 3. hîe }

Preterit. Preterit.

_Sing._ 1. Ic cêas _Sing._ 1. Ic } 2. ðû cur-e 2. ðû } cur-e 3. hê cêas 3. hê }

_Plur._ 1. wê } _Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } cur-on 2. gê } cur-en 3. hîe } 3. hîe }

#Imperative.# #Infinitive.# #Present Participle.#

_Sing._ 2. cêos cêos-an cêos-ende _Plur._ 1. cêos-an 2. cêos-að

#Gerund.# #Past Participle.#

tô cêos-anne (-enne) gecor-en

[Footnote 1: A few verbs of Class II have û instead of êo in the infinitive:

brûcan, brêac, brucon, gebrocen, _to enjoy_ [brook]. bûgan, bêag, bugon, gebogen, _to bend, bow_.]

[Footnote 2: By a law known as Grammatical Change, final ð, s, and h of strong verbs generally become d, r, and g, respectively, in the preterit plural and past participle.]

110. #Class III: The "Bind" Conjugation.#

Vowel Succession: {i,e}, a, u, {u,o}.

The present stem ends in m, n, l, r, or h, + one or more consonants:

m: belimp-an, { belomp }, belump-on, belump-en, _to belong_. { belamp }

n: bind-an, { bond }, bund-on, gebund-en, _to bind_. { band }

l: help-an, healp, hulp-on, geholp-en, _to help_.

r: weorð-an, wearð, wurd-on, geword-en, _to become_.

h: gefeoht-an, gefeaht, gefuht-on, gefoht-en, _to fight_.

NOTE 1.--If the present stem ends in a nasal (m, n) + a consonant, the past participle retains the u of the pret. plur.; but if the present stem ends in a liquid (l, r) or h, + a consonant, the past participle has o instead of u.

NOTE 2.--Why do we not find #*halp#, #*warð#, and #*faht# in the pret. sing.? Because a before l, r, or h, + a consonant, underwent "breaking" to ea. Breaking also changes every e followed by r or h, + a consonant, to eo: #weorðan# (< #*werðan#), feohtan (< #*fehtan#).

111. #Indicative.# #Subjunctive.#

Present. Present.

_Sing._ 1. Ic bind-e _Sing._ 1. Ic } 2. ðû bintst (bind-est) 2. ðû } bind-e 3. hê bint (bind-eð) 3. hê }

_Plur._ 1. wê } _Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } bind-að 2. gê } bind-en 3. hîe } 3. hîe }

Preterit. Preterit.

_Sing._ 1. Ic bond _Sing._ 1. Ic } 2. ðû bund-e 2. ðû } bund-e 3. hê bond 3. hê }

_Plur._ 1. wê } _Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } bund-on 2. gê } bund-en 3. hîe } 3. hîe }

#Imperative.# #Infinitive.# #Present Participle.#

_Sing._ 2. bind bind-an bind-ende _Plur._ 1. bind-an 2. bind-að

#Gerund.# #Past Participle.#

tô bind-anne (-enne) gebund-en

112. Vocabulary.

ðæt gefeoht, _fight, battle_. sêo gerecednes, _narration_ [#reccan#]. ðæt gesceap, _creation_ [#scieppan#]. sêo hergung (§ 39, (3)), _harrying, plundering_ [#hergian#]. sê medu (medo) (§ 51), _mead_. sêo meolc, _milk_. sê middangeard, _world_ [middle-yard]. sê munuc, _monk_ [monachus]. sêo my:re, mare [#mearh#]. hê sæ:de, _he said_. hîe sæ:don, _they said_. sêo spêd, _riches_ [speed]. spêdig, _rich, prosperous_ [speedy]. sêo tîd, _time_ [tide]. unspêdig, _poor_. sê westanwind, _west-wind_. ðæt wîn, _wine_.

ârîsan, ârâs, ârison, ârisen, _to arise_. bîdan, bâd, bidon, gebiden, _to remain, expect_ (with gen.) drêogan,[3] drêag, drugon, gedrogen, _to endure, suffer_. drincan, dronc, druncon, gedruncen, _to drink_. findan, fond, fundon, gefunden, _to find_. geswîcan geswâc, geswicon, geswicen, _to cease, cease from_ (with gen.) iernan (yrnan), orn, urnon, geurnen, _to run_. onginnan, ongonn, ongunnon, ongunnen, _to begin_. rîdan, râd, ridon, geriden, _to ride_. singan, song, sungon, gesungen, _to sing_. wrîtan, wrât, writon, gewriten, _to write_.

[Footnote 3: _Cf._ the Scotch "to _dree_ one's weird" = _to endure one's fate_.]

113. Exercises.

I. 1. Æfter ðissum wordum, sê munuc wrât ealle ðâ gerecednesse on ânre bêc. 2. Ðâ eorlas ridon ûp æ:r ðæ:m ðe ðâ Dene ðæs gefeohtes geswicen. 3. Cædmon song æ:rest be middangeardes gesceape. 4. Sê cyning ond ðâ rîcostan men drincað my:ran meolc, ond ðâ unspêdigan drincað medu. 5. Ond hê ârâs ond sê wind geswâc. 6. Hîe sæ:don ðæt hîe ðæ:r westwindes biden. 7. Hwæt is nû mâ ymbe ðâs ðing tô sprecanne? 8. Ðâ secgas ongunnon geswîcan ðæ:re hergunga. 9. Ðâ bêag ðæt lond ðæ:r êastryhte, oððe sêo sæ: in on ðæt lond. 10. Ðâs lond belimpað tô, ðæ:m Englum. 11. Ðêah ðâ Dene ealne dæg gefuhten, gîet hæfde Ælfred cyning sige. 12. Ond ðæs (afterwards) ymbe ânne mônað gefeaht Ælfred cyning wið ealne ðone here æt Wiltûne.

II. 1. The most prosperous men drank mare's milk and wine, but the poor men drank mead. 2. I suffered many things before you began to help me (dat.). 3. About two days afterwards (#Ðæs ymbe twêgen dagas#), the plundering ceased. 4. The king said that he fought against all the army (#here#). 5. Although the Danes remained one month (§ 98, (1)), they did not begin to fight. 6. These gifts belonged to my brother. 7. The earls were glad because their lord was (indicative) with them. 8. What did you find? 9. Then wrote he about (#be#) the wise man's deeds. 10. What more is there to endure?

Chapter XX.

Strong Verbs: Classes IV, V, VI, And VII.

Contract Verbs.

[The student can now complete the conjugation for himself (§ 103). Only the principal parts will be given.]

114. #Class IV: The "Bear" Conjugation.#

Vowel Succession: e, æ, æ:, o.

The present stem ends in l, r, or m, no consonant following:

l: hel-an, hæl, hæ:l-on, gehol-en, _to conceal_. r: ber-an, bær, bæ:r-on, gebor-en, _to bear_.

The two following verbs are slightly irregular:

m: { nim-an, nôm (nam), nôm-on (nâm-on), genum-en, _to take_. { cum-an, c(w)ôm, c(w)ôm-on, gecum-en, _to come_.

115. #Class V: The "Give" Conjugation.#

Succession of Vowels: e (ie), æ, æ:, e.

The present stem ends in a single consonant, never a liquid or nasal:

met-an, mæt, mæ:ton, gemet-en, _to measure, mete_. gief-an, geaf, gêaf-on, gegief-en, _to give_.

NOTE 1.--The palatal consonants, g, c, and sc, convert a following e into ie, æ into ea, and æ: into êa. Hence #giefan# (< #*gefan#), #geaf# (< #*gæf#), #gêafon# (< #*gæ:fon#), #gegiefen# (< #*gegefen#). This change is known as Palatalization. See § 8.

NOTE 2.--The infinitives of the following important verbs are only apparently exceptional:

biddan, bæd, bæ:d-on, gebed-en, _to ask for_ [bid]. licgan, læg, læ:g-on, geleg-en, _to lie, extend_. sittan, sæt, sæ:t-on, geset-en, _to sit_.

The original e reappears in the participial stems. It was changed to i in the present stems on account of a former -jan in the infinitive (#bid-jan#, etc.). See § 61. To the same cause is due the doubling of consonants in the infinitive. All simple consonants in O.E., with the exception of r, were doubled after a short vowel, when an original j followed.

116. #Class VI: The "Shake" Conjugation.#

Succession of Vowels: a, ô, ô, a.

scac-an, scôc, scôc-on, gescac-en, _to shake_. far-an, fôr, fôr-on, gefar-en, _to go_ [fare].

117. #Class VII: The "Fall" Conjugation.#

Vowel Succession: {â,æ:}, ê, ê, {â,æ:}; or {ea,êa,ô}, êo, êo, {ea,êa,ô}.

(1) hât-an, hêt, hêt-on, gehât-en, _to call, name, command_. læ:t-an, lêt, lêt-on, gelæ:t-en, _to let_.

(2) feall-an, fêoll, fêoll-on, gefeall-en, _to fall_. heald-an, hêold, hêold-on, geheald-en, _to hold_. hêaw-an, hêow, hêow-on, gehêaw-en, _to hew_. grôw-an, grêow, grêow-on, gegrôw-en, _to grow_.

NOTE 1.--This class consists of the Reduplicating Verbs; that is, those verbs that originally formed their preterits not by internal vowel change (ablaut), but by prefixing to the present stem the initial consonant + e (_cf._ Gk. #le-loipa# and Lat. _d[)e]-di_). Contraction then took place between the syllabic prefix and the root, the fusion resulting in ê or êo: #*he-hat# > #heht# > #hêt#.

NOTE 2.--A peculiar interest attaches to #hâtan#: the forms #hâtte# and #hâtton# are the sole remains in O.E. of the original Germanic passive. They are used both as presents and as preterits: #hâtte# = _I am_ or _was called_, _he is_ or _was called_. No other verb in O.E. could have a passive sense without calling in the aid of the verb _to be_ (§ 141).

#Contract Verbs.#

118. The few Contract Verbs found in O.E. do not constitute a new class; they fall under Classes I, II, V, VI, and VII, already treated. The present stem ended originally in h. This was lost before -an of the infinitive, contraction and compensatory lengthening being the result. The following are the most important of these verbs:

Classes.

I. ðêon (< *ðîhan), ðâh, ðig-on, { geðig-en }, _to thrive_. { geðung-en } II. têon (< *têohan), têah, tug-on, getog-en, _to draw, go_ [tug]. V. sêon (< *sehwan), seah, sâw-on, gesew-en, _to see_. VI. slêan (< *slahan), slôh, slôg-on, geslæg-en, _to slay_. VII. fôn (< *fôhan), fêng, fêng-on, gefong-en, _to seize_ [fang].

119. The Present Indicative of these verbs runs as follows (see rules of i-umlaut, § 58):

_Sing._ 1. Ic ðêo têo sêo slêa fô 2. ðû ðîhst tîehst siehst sliehst fêhst 3. hê ðîhð tîehð siehð sliehð fêhð

_Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } ðêoð têoð sêoð slêað fôð 3. hîe }

The other tenses and moods are regularly formed from the given stems.

120. Vocabulary.

sêo æ:ht, _property, possession_ [#âgan#]. aweg, _away_ [#on weg#]. sêo fierd, _English army_ [#faran#]. sê here, _Danish army_ [#hergian#]. on gehwæðre hond, _on both sides_. sige niman (= sige habban), _to win (the) victory_. sêo spræ:c, _speech, language_. tô rîce fôn, _to come to the throne_.[1] ðæt wæl [Val-halla] } _slaughter, carnage_. sê wælsliht, } sê weall, _wall, rampart_. ðæt wildor, _wild beast, reindeer_. sê wîngeard, _vineyard_.

âbrecan,[2] âbræc, âbræ:con, âbrocen, _to break down_. cweðan, cwæð, cwæ:don, gecweden, _to say_ [quoth]. gesêon, geseah, gesâwon, gesewen, _to see_. grôwan, grêow, grêowon, gegrôwen, _to grow_. ofslêan, ofslôh, ofslôgon, ofslægen, _to slay_. sprecan, spræc, spræ:con, gesprecen, _to speak_. stelan, stæl, stæ:lon, gestolen, _to steal_. stondan, stôd, stôdon, gestonden, _to stand_. weaxan, wêox, wêoxon, geweaxen, _to grow, increase_ [wax].

[Footnote 1: Literally, _to take to (the) kingdom_. _Cf._ "Have you anything to take to?" (_Two Gentlemen of Verona_, IV, i, 42).]

[Footnote 2: #Brecan# belongs properly in Class V, but it has been drawn into Class IV possibly through the influence of the r in the root.]

121. Exercises.

I. 1. Æfter ðæ:m sôðlîce (indeed) ealle men spræ:con âne (one) spræ:ce. 2. Ond hê cwæð: "Ðis is ân folc, ond ealle hîe sprecað âne spræ:ce." 3. On sumum stôwum wîngeardas grôwað. 4. Hê hêt ðâ næ:dran ofslêan. 5. Ðâ Engle âbræ:con ðone longan weall, ond sige nômon. 6. Ond ðæt sæ:d grêow ond wêox. 7. Ic ne geseah ðone mon sê ðe ðæs cnapan adesan stæl. 8. Hê wæs swy:ðe spêdig man on ðæ:m æ:htum ðe hiera spêda on[3] bêoð, ðæt is, on wildrum. 9. Ond ðæ:r wearð (was) micel wælsliht on gehwæðre hond. 10. Ond æfter ðissum gefeohte côm Ælfred cyning mid his fierde, ond gefeaht wið ealne ðone here, ond sige nôm. 11. Ðêos burg hâtte[4] Æscesdûn (Ashdown). 12. Ðæ:re cwêne lîc læg on ðæ:m hûse. 13. Ond sê dæ:l ðe ðæ:r aweg côm wæs swy:ðe ly:tel. 14. Ond ðæs ðrêotîene dagas Æðered tô rîce fêng.

II. 1. The men stood in the ships and fought against the Danes. 2. Before the thanes came, the king rode away. 3. They said (#sæ:don#) that all the men spoke one language. 4. They bore the queen's body to Wilton. 5. Alfred gave many gifts to his army (dat. without #tô#) before he went away. 6. These men are called earls. 7. God sees all things. 8. The boy held the reindeer with (#mid#) his hands. 9. About six months afterwards, Alfred gained the victory, and came to the throne. 10. He said that there was very great slaughter on both sides.

[Footnote 3: See § 94, (5).]

[Footnote 4: See § 117, Note 2.]

Chapter XXI.

Weak Verbs (§ 18).

122. The verbs belonging to the Weak Conjugation are generally of more recent origin than the strong verbs, being frequently formed from the roots of strong verbs. The Weak Conjugation was the growing conjugation in O.E. as it is in Mn.E. We instinctively put our newly coined or borrowed words into this conjugation (_telegraphed_, _boycotted_); and children, by the analogy of weak verbs, say _runned_ for _ran_, _seed_ for _saw_, _teared_ for _tore_, _drawed_ for _drew_, and _growed_ for _grew_. So, for example, when Latin _dictâre_ and _breviâre_ came into O.E., they came as weak verbs, #dihtian# and #brêfian#.

#The Three Classes of Weak Verbs.#

123. There is no difficulty in telling, from the infinitive alone, to which of the three classes a weak verb belongs. Class III has been so invaded by Class II that but three important verbs remain to it: #habban#, _to have_; #libban#, _to live_; and #secgan#, _to say_. Distinction is to be made, therefore, only between Classes II and I. Class II contains the verbs with infinitive in -ian not preceded by r. Class I contains the remaining weak verbs; that is, those with infinitive in #-r-ian# and those with infinitive in -an (not -ian).

#Class I.#

124. The preterit singular and past participle of Class I end in -ede and -ed, or -de and -ed respectively.

NOTE.--The infinitives of this class ended originally in -jan (= -ian). This accounts for the prevalence of i-umlaut in these verbs, and also for the large number of short-voweled stems ending in a double consonant (§ 115, Note 2). The weak verb is frequently the causative of the corresponding strong verb. In such cases, the root of the weak verb corresponds in form to the preterit singular of the strong verb: Mn.E. _drench_ (= _to make drink_), _lay_ (= _to make lie_), _rear_ (= _to make rise_), and _set_ (= _to make sit_), are the umlauted forms of #dronc# (preterit singular of #drincan#), #læg# (preterit singular of #licgan#), #râs# (preterit singular of #rîsan#), and #sæt# (preterit singular of #sittan#).

#Preterit and Past Participle in _-ede_ and _-ed_.#

125. Verbs with infinitive in -an preceded by ri- or the double consonants mm, nn, ss, bb, cg (= gg), add -ede for the preterit, and -ed for the past participle, the double consonant being always made single:

ri: neri-an, ner-ede, gener-ed, _to save_. mm: fremm-an, frem-ede, gefrem-ed, _to perform_ [frame]. nn: ðenn-an, ðen-ede, geðen-ed, _to extend_. ss: cnyss-an, cnys-ede, gecnys-ed, _to beat_. bb: swebb-an, swef-ede, geswef-ed, _to put to sleep_. cg: wecg-an, weg-ede, geweg-ed, _to agitate_.

NOTE.--#Lecgan#, _to lay_, is the only one of these verbs that syncopates the e: #lecgan#, #legde# (#lêde#), #gelegd# (#gelêd#), instead of #legede#, #geleged#.

#Preterit and Past Participle in _-de_ and _-ed_.#

126. All the other verbs belonging to Class I. add -de for the preterit and -ed for the past participle. This division includes, therefore, all stems long by nature (§ 10, (3), (_a_)):

dæ:l-an, dæ:l-de, gedæ:l-ed, _to deal out, divide_ [dæ:l]. dêm-an, dêm-de, gedêm-ed, _to judge_ [dôm]. grêt-an, grêt-te, gegrêt-ed, _to greet_. hîer-an, hîer-de, gehîer-ed, _to hear_. læ:d-an, læ:d-de, gelæ:d-ed, _to lead_.

NOTE 1.--A preceding voiceless consonant (§ 9, Note) changes -de into -te: #*grêt-de# > #grêt-te#; #*mêt-de# > #mêt-te#; #*îec-de# > #îec-te#. Syncope and contraction are also frequent in the participles: #gegrêt-ed# > #*gegrêt-d# > #gegrêt(t)#; #gelæ:d-ed# > #gelæ:d(d)#.

NOTE 2.--#Bûan#, _to dwell, cultivate_, has an admixture of strong forms in the past participle: #bûan#, #bûde#, #gebûd# (#by:n#, #gebûn#). The present participle survives in Mn.E. _husband_ = _house-dweller_.

127. It includes, also, all stems long by position (§ 10, (3), (_b_)) except those in mm, nn, ss, bb, and cg (§ 125):

send-an, send-e, gesend-ed, _to send_. sett-an, set-te, geset-ed, _to set_ [sittan]. sigl-an, sigl-de, gesigl-ed, _to sail_. spend-an, spend-e, gespend-ed, _to spend_. tredd-an, tred-de, getred-ed, _to tread_.

NOTE.--The participles frequently undergo syncope and contraction: #gesended# > #gesend#; #geseted# > #geset(t)#; #gespended# > #gespend#; #getreded# > #getred(d)#.

#Irregular Verbs of Class I.#

128. There are about twenty verbs belonging to Class I that are irregular in having no umlaut in the preterit and past participle. The preterit ends in -de, the past participle in -d; but, through the influence of a preceding voiceless consonant (§ 9, Note), -ed is generally unvoiced to -te, and -d to -t. The most important of these verbs are as follows:

bring-an, brôh-te, gebrôh-t, _to bring_. byc-gan, boh-te, geboh-t, _to buy_. sêc-an, sôh-te, gesôh-t, _to seek_. sell-an, seal-de, geseal-d, _to give, sell_ [hand-sel]. tæ:c-an, tæ:h-te, getæ:h-t, _to teach_. tell-an, teal-de, geteal-d, _to count_ [tell]. ðenc-an, ðôh-te, geðôh-t, _to think_. ðync-an, ðûh-te, geðûh-t, _to seem_ [methinks]. wyrc-an, worh-te, geworh-t, _to work_.

NOTE.--Such of these verbs as have stems in c or g are frequently written with an inserted e: #bycgean#, #sêcean#, #tæ:cean#, etc. This e indicates that c and g have palatal value; that is, are to be followed with a vanishing y-sound. In such cases, O.E. c usually passes into Mn.E. _ch_: #tæ:c(e)an# > _to teach_; #ræ:c(e)an# > _to reach_; #strecc(e)an# > _to stretch_. #Sêc(e)an# gives _beseech_ as well as _seek_. See § 8.

#Conjugation of Class I.#

129. Paradigms of #nerian#, _to save_; #fremman#, _to perform_; #dæ:lan#, _to divide_:

#Indicative.#

Present.

_Sing._ 1. Ic nerie fremme dæ:le 2. ðû nerest fremest dæ:lst 3. hê nereð fremeð dæ:lð

_Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } neriað fremmað dæ:lað 3. hîe }

Preterit.

_Sing._ 1. Ic nerede fremede dæ:lde 2. ðû neredest fremedest dæ:ldest 3. hê nerede fremede dæ:lde

_Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } neredon fremedon dæ:ldon 3. hîe }

#Subjunctive.#

Present.

_Sing._ 1. Ic } 2. ðû } nerie fremme dæ:le 3. hê }

_Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } nerien fremmen dæ:len 3. hîe }

Preterit.

_Sing._ 1. Ic } 2. ðû } nerede fremede dæ:lde 3. hê }

_Plur._ 1. wê } 2. gê } nereden fremeden dæ:lden 3. hîe }

#Imperative.#

_Sing._ 2. nere freme dæ:l

_Plur._ 1. nerian fremman dæ:lan 2. neriað fremmað dæ:lað

#Infinitive.#

nerian fremman dæ:lan

#Gerund.#

tô nerianne (-enne) tô fremmanne (-enne) tô dæ:lanne (-enne)

#Present Participle.#

neriende fremmende dæ:lende

#Past Participle.#

genered gefremed gedæ:led

NOTE.--The endings of the preterit present no difficulties; in the 2d and 3d singular present, however, the student will observe (_a_) that double consonants in the stem are made single: #fremest#, #fremeð# (not #*freemmest#, #*freemmeð#); #ðenest#, #ðeneð#; #setest# (#setst#), #seeteð# (#sett#); #fylst#, #fylð#, from #fyllan#, _to fill_; (_b_) that syncope is the rule in stems long by nature: #dæ:lst# (< #dæ:lest#), #dæ:lð# (< #dæ:leð#); #dêmst# (< #dêmest#), #dêmð# (< #dêmeð#); #hîerst# (< #hîerest#), #hîerð# (< #hîereð#). Double consonants are also made single in the imperative 2d singular and in the past participle. Stems long by nature take no final -e in the imperative: #dæ:l#, #hîer#, #dêm#.

#Class II.#

130. The infinitive of verbs belonging to this class ends in -ian (not #-r-ian#), the preterit singular in -ode, the past participle in -od. The preterit plural usually has #-edon#, however, instead of #-odon#:

eard-ian, eard-ode, geeard-od, _to dwell_ [eorðe]. luf-ian, luf-ode, geluf-od,