Morphological classification of Old English verbs
Лекція № 4 THE OLD ENGLISH VERB
The system of the Old English verbs was less developed than it is now. It had fewer forms, and its categories were somewhat different from the similar categories in present-day English. Some of them were ambiguous . The grammatical nature of the others is not recognized by scholars. Still, its paradigm fairly complicated. As all the verbs fell into numerous morphological classes and employed a variety of form building means. The form-building devices were gradation (vowel interchange), the use of suffixes, inflections, and suppletion. Inflections were also present when other ways were employed, so we can say that the ways of forming paradigmatic forms were – inflections, combined with vowel interchange or suppletion, or pure inflections.
All the paradigmatic forms of the verbs were synthetic. There were also lexical structures with non-finite forms of the verb rendering some grammatical meanings.
Categories
The verb in Old English has the following categories: person, number, tense and mood.
Number is not a specifically verbal category but rather a way of agreement of the predicate with a subject represented by the opposition of the singular and the plural. The choice of singular or plural form depends on the number of the noun/pronoun subject of the sentence.
The category of person is represented by all the three persons. Present Tense Singular has all the forms , whereas in plural the category is not shown. Past Tense Singular had only one form of the 1-st and the 3-rd person, and in the Imperative and Subjunctive mood the category of person is absent.
The category of Tense was represented by opposition past/nonpast (Present)
The category of mood was represented by the opposition of three moods – Indicative – Subjunctive – Imperative.
The Indicative mood represents the action as a real fact
On ðǣm æftran zēare com Swezen cyninz… (on the next year came king Sweyn)
The Imperative expresses order, or request to a second person. It may be used in he singular or in the plural.
Sinz mē hwæt-hwuzu (sing me something).
Subjunctive is always a relative not the absolute mood. This is the mood that renders the general meaning of unreality or supposition.
Zif ðū wǣre her, nǣre mīn brōðor dēad (if he were here, my brother wouldn’t be dead)
Morphological classification of Old English verbs
The system of the Old English verbs was less developed than it is now. It had fewer forms, and its categories were somewhat different from the similar categories in present-day English. Some of them were ambiguous . The grammatical nature of the others is not recognized by scholars. Still, its paradigm fairly complicated. As all the verbs fell into numerous morphological classes and employed a variety of form building means. The form-building devices were gradation (vowel interchange), the use of suffixes, inflections, and suppletion. Inflections were also present when other ways were employed, so we can say that the ways of forming paradigmatic forms were – inflections, combined with vowel interchange or suppletion, or pure inflections.
All the paradigmatic forms of the verbs were synthetic. There were also lexical structures with non-finite forms of the verb rendering some grammatical meanings.
The above table of conjugation of verbs shows that the means of building grammatical forms in Old English for different groups of verbs. Most forms were made by means of vowel interchange or grammatical suffixes accompanied (or not) by inflections.
The majority of OE verbs fell into two divisions : the strong verbs and the weak verbs. The main difference between these groups lies in the way they form the principal forms; besides there were a few other differences in conjugation.
Accordingly, the verbs may be divided into the following groups:
- strong
- weak
- preterite-present
suppletive
Strong verbs
They formed their stems by means of vowel gradation and by adding certain inflections and suffixes. There were 4 basic forms (stems) of the strong verbs, and the use of the stems was as follows:
I – in the infinitive, the present indicative and subjunctive, the imperative mood and participle I;
II – in the past tense singular, the 1-st and the 3-rd person;
III – in the past tense plural, 2-nd person singular and Past Subjunctive;
IV – in the form of the participle two.
There were about three hundred strong verbs in Old English. They are divided into seven classes.
In Germanic languages the classes of the strong verbs had the following vowels in four basic forms:
Old English gradation seems somewhat different. It is natural development of the former Germanic system, but spontaneous and assimilative vowel changes transformed it into the following:
Class I
Gradation formula ī – ā – i – i
wrītain –wrāt – writon – writen (to write)
rīsan – rās – rison – risen (rise)
Other verbs of this class are: drīfan (to drive), bītan (to bite), strīdan (to stride), scīnan (to shine) etc.
As the 3-rd and the 4-th forms had stress on the final syllable, if the verbs had voiceless fricatives in the second syllable, these turned into voiced stops:
lī ðan – lā ð – lidon – liden (to go)
snī ðan – snā ð – snidon – sniden (to cut)
Class II
Gradation formula ēo – ēa – u – o
The four basic forms of this class are:
bēodan – bēad – budon – boden (to offer)
clēofan – clēaf – clufon – clofen (to cleave)
Other verbs of his class are: cēosan (to choose), scēonan (to shoot), drēosan (to fall), frēosan (to freeze) etc.
The verbs which have s after root vowel had the change of it into r:
cēosan – cēas – curon – coren
Some class II verbs have the vowel ū instead of the usual ēo:
lūcan – lēac- lucon – locen (to lock)
They are: brūcan (to need), dūfan (to dive), slūpan (to slip), sūpan (to try).
Class III
In this class of the strong verbs a short vowel was followed by two consonants. There are several variations of root vowels in this class of verbs:
a) If nasal sound + another consonant followed the root vowel the graduation formula was: i – a(o) – u – u
drincan – dranc – druncon – druncen (to drinc)
Other verbs are: findan (to find), windan (to wind), winnan (to work), swimman (to swim) etc.
b) If l + another consonant followed the root vowel the formula was: i/e – ea – u – o
helpan – healp – hulpon – holpen (to help)
The other verbs: sweltan (to die), bellan (to bark), melcan (to milk) etc.
c) If + consonant or h + consonant followed the root vowels then braking in the first two forms change the formula into
eo – ea – u – o
steorfan – stearf – sturfon – storfen (to die)
weorðan – wearð – wurdon – worden (to become)
Here also belong ceorfan (to carve), beorcan (to bark), hweorpan (to turn) etc.
Other variations:
The verbs beginning with palatal z had ie in the first form as a result of diphthongization of eo after palatal consonants:
ie – ea – u – o
zieldan – zeald – zuldon – zolden (to pay)
There are also some phonetic anomalies belonging to this class:
friznan – fræzn – fruznon (frunon) –frunzen (to ask)
iernan – orn – urnon – urnen (to run)
biernan – born – burnon – burnen (to burn)
Class IV
The verb of this class have only one consonant after the short root vowel, and it is a sonorant – r or l, in rare cases – m or n. The scheme of gradation is e – æ - ǣ̄ - o
stelan – stæl - stǣlon – stolen (to steal)
Also beran (to bear), cwelan (to die), helan (to conceal).
Though different from the others in phonetic form but still belonging to this class are two very frequently used with a nasal sound after the root vowel:
niman – nam (nom) – namon (nomon) – numen (to take)
cuman – cwom (com) – comon (cwomon) –cumen (to come)
Class V
This verbs also have a short root vowel followed by only one consonant r, l or n. The basic vowels are: e – æ - ǣ - e
sprecan – spræc – sprǣcon – sprecen (to speak)
Also metan (to measure), etan (to eat), wesan (to be)
When the first sound was z, then diphthongization of e is observed and the form of such verbs are:
ziefan – zeaf – zēāfon – ziefen (to give)
zietan – zeat – zēāton – zieten (to get)
If in the verbs the first short sound had palatal mutation, the consonant after it in the infinitive was doubled:
sittan – sæt - sǣton – seten (to sit)
Classes VI and VII of the strong verbs are specifically Germanic. They have no counterparts in other Indo-European languages. They are characterized by the fact that the vowel of the infinitive was repeated in the form of the Participle II, and the vowel in the past tense forms was the same for both the singular and the plural.
Class VI
Gradation formula a – ō – ō– a
faran – fōr – fōron – faren (to go)
Also verbs: zalan (to sing), wadan (to walk), bacan (to bake), sceacan (to shake), wascan (to wash).
Some verbs had fractures or mutations of the first vowel in the infinitive
swerian – swōr – swōron – sworen (to swear)
stæppan – stōp – stōpon – stapen (to step)
The verb standan (to stand) loses the sound –n- in the past tense forms
standan – stōd – stōdon - standen
Class VII
The most common are the following patterns:
ā – ē – ē – ā
hātan – hēt – hēt – hāten (to call)
æ - ē – ē – æ
lætan – lēt – lēton – læten (to let)
ā – ēo – ēo – ā
cnāwan – cnēow – cnēowon – cnāwen (to know)
ea – eo – eo – ea
healdan – heold – heoldon – healden (to hold)
ēa – ēo – ēo – ēa
bēatan – bēot – bēoton – bēaten (to beat)
A significant number of the verbs belonging to the seven classes of the strong conjugation have changed into the weak ones; many others disappeared and semantically have been replaced by other verbs, borrowed from other languages (Latin, French)
Weak verbs
There are three classes of Old English weak verbs as contrasted to their four in Gothic. They had three basic forms, their past tense and Participle II were made by adding the dental suffix –t- or –d- to the root morpheme.
They are divided into three classes depending on the ending of the infinitive, the sonority of the suffix and the sounds presiding the suffix.
New verbs derived from nouns, adjectives and partly adverbs were conjugated weak:
hors n (horse) horsian w v 2 (to supply with horses)
Another group of weak verbs were causative verbs derived from strong intransitive verbs:
sittan s v V (sit) settan w v 1 (to set)
This is a further reflected in the existence in the language of pairs of verbs, one of which is irregular, and another is regular:
drincan sv 3 drencean w v 1 (to drink – to make someone drink, to give drink)
lī ðan sv 1 lǣ dan w v 1 (to go – to make someone go, to lead)
faran sv 7 ferian w v 1 (to go – to carry)
Borrowed verbs were also weak:
Lat. signare seznian w v 2 (to mark with a sign)
Class I
The verbs of this class ended in –an (or –ian after r). This class of verbs is subdivided into regular and irregular.
Regular class I verbs have mutation of their root vowel, and three basic forms of the verb end in:
-an/-ian – -de/ede/te – ed/-t-d
(domian ) dēman – dēmde – dēmed (to judge)
(nasjan ) nerian – nerede – nered (to save)
When the suffix was preceded by a voiceless consonant, the suffix -d- changed into –t-:
cēpan – cēpte – cēpt, cēped (to keep)
Verbs ended in two consonants, the second being d or t, Participle II of such verbs can have variant endings – in –d, -t or –ded, -ted:
sendan – sende – send, sended (to send)
restan – reste – rest, rested (to rest)
Irregular verbs of this class had mutated vowel only in the infinitive. In the past tense and in the Participle II it remained unchanged:
(salian ) sellan – sealde – seald (to give)
(talian ) tellan – tealde – teald (to tell)
The sound a in the root of the second and the third forms is changed through breaking into ea, but it is not mutated.
tǣ̄̄can – tāhte – tāht (to teach)
byczean – bōhte – bōht (to buy)
ðenc(e)an – ðōhte – ðōht (to think)
wyrcean – worhte – worht (to work)
Other verbs of class I of the weak verbs are: leornian (to learn), lyhtan (to light), nemnan (to name) etc.
Class II
This verbs have the suffix –oia in the infinitive; the root vowel is the same in the all three forms. The suffix gave the vowel –o- in the past tense and in the infinitive.
The pattern of the three basic forms has the following endings:
-ian –ode –od
macian – macode – macod (to make)
lufian – lufode – lufod (to love)
hopian – hopode – hopod (to hope)
Other verbs of this class are: andswarian (to answer), earnian (to earn), lōcian (to look), sēowian (to sew) etc.
Class III
The class is not numerous (there are about eight verbs). Some of the verbs changed into the first and the second classes.
Some verbs in this class have doubled consonants in the infinitive and the mutative vowels, which are accounted for by the presence of the element –i-/-j- in some forms in OE.
The pattern of forms of the most frequent class III verbs forms is:
-an –de –d
habban – hæfde – hæfd (to have)
libban – lifde – lifd (tolive)
Other verbs are: fēozean (to hate), ðrēazean (to threaten), smēazean (to think) etc.
Preterite-Present of Old EnglishVerbs
They occupy a specific place within the verbal system of Old English verbs. They combine the qualities of the strong verbs as well as the weak ones.
The origin of these verbs will be clearer if we consider the peculiarity of their semantic.
Their present tense is formed according to the rules of formation of the past tense of the strong verbs, that is by gradation (vowel interchange) whereas their past tense has all the peculiarities of the weak verbs, e.g. wītan – wāt, but wisse – wiste; participle II meanwhile retains the suffix –en of the strong verbs.
Analogous development of these verb may be found in other languages. E.g. Latin: memini (I have remember – I remember); novi (I have come to know – I know).
Most preterite-present verbs are classified according to the classes of gradation to which their present tense belong.
Irregular verbs
There are four verbs in Old English listed as irregular
bēon / wesan (be)
3an (go)
dōn (do)
willan (will)
The first two differ from all other verbs in that their forms are derived from different roots, that is their system is based on suppletivity.
Bēon / wesan
This verb forms its paradigmatic forms from the three roots – wes-, es- and be-. The verb belongs to the most ancient in Indo-European languages, and is suppletive in other languages as well. The forms of this verb are:
The infinitive – bēon/wesan (to be)
Present tense Indicative Singular
Plural
(all persons) sindon, sint, bēoð
Present tense Subjunctive
Singular (all persons) sīe, sī, sy, bēo
Plural (all persons) sīen, syn, sīn, bēon
Imperative
Singular wes, bēo
Plural wesað, bēoð
Participle I wesende, bēonde
There is no strict rule in the use of variant forms in the present tense; still there might be some differences in their functioning. Some observations suggested that bēon is limited to future and sentences with abstract meaning, while wesan is used only in concrete.
Zan (to go)
This verb of motion had reduplication in Gothic, which is lost in Old English. Besides suppletivity for the past tense, the peculiarity of its conjugation is that it has mutation in the 2-nd and 3-rd person singular present indicative:
The Infinitive – zān
Present tense Indicative Singular
Plural
(all persons) zāð
Present tense Subjunctive
Singular (all persons) zā
Plural (all persons) zān
Imperative
Singular zā
Plural zāð Participle I zānzende
Dōn (to do)
This verb has mutation in the 2-nd and 3-rd person present indicative.
The infinitive – dōn
Present tense Indicative Singular
Plural
(all persons) dōð
Present tense Subjunctive
Singular (all persons) dō
Plural (all persons) dōn
Imperative
Singular dō
Plural dōð
Participle I dōnde
Willan
The verb does not take the ending –ð in the present indicative.
The Infinitive - willan
Present tense Indicative Singular
Plural
(all persons) willað
Present tense Subjunctive
Singular (all persons) wille
Plural (all persons) willen
Imperative
Singular ---
Plural ---
Participle I willende
The forms of this verb may also be found in the negative variant: ne wille – nylle, nelle; ne wolde – nolde…