- •Theme 5. Old English Grammar
- •Introduction
- •The noun
- •The pronoun and the article
- •The pronoun
- •Personal Pronouns
- •Declension of Personal Pronouns
- •The Demonstrative Pronouns
- •The adjective, the numeral, and the adverb
- •The verb
- •Grammatical Types and Classes of Verbs in Old English and Their Subsequent Evolution
- •I a u u
- •Conjugation of Old English Strong Verbs
- •Conjugation of Old English Weak Verbs
- •The Non-Finate Forms
- •Indicative Subjunktive
Conjugation of Old English Strong Verbs
Indicative Subjunctive Imperative
Present ic drīfe ic drīfe --
Þū drīfest Þū drīfe drīf
hē/o drīf(e)Þ hē/o drīfe
wē, gē, hīe drīfaÞ drifen gē drīfaÞ
Past ic drāf ic drife
Þū drife Þū drife
hē/o drāf hē/o drife
wē, gē, hīe drifon drifen
Past Participle (ge)drīfen
Conjugation of Old English Weak Verbs
Present Indicative Subjunctive Imperative
ic fremme “do” ic fremme
Þū fremme Þū fremme freme
hē/o, hit frem(e)Þ hē/o, hit fremme
wē, gē, hīe fremmaÞ fremmen fremmaÞ
Past ic fremede ic fremede
Þū fremedest Þū fremede
hē/o, hit fremede hē/o, hit fremede
wē, gē, hīe fremedon fremeden
Past Participle (ge)fremed
The Non-Finate Forms
The non finite forms are: the Infinitive and the two Participles.
The non-finite forms in OE are more loosely connected with the finite system than in Modern English for two reasons: 1) there are no analytic forms in OE, although their prototypes exist as various combinations of link-verb and predicative;
2) the non-finite forms themselves posses fewer verbal features. Their subsequent development binds them more closely with the finite verb.
1. The Infinitive. There are two infinitive forms; one of them is called the Dative
Infinitive (the Indo-European infinitive had been a declinable noun). This infinitive is preceded by tō and has the ending –anne; it is used in independent syntactic positions, mainly as adverbial modifier of purpose, but also as subject and predicative. The infinitive with the ending –an functions, as a rule, in combination with preterite-present verbs and in other verbal collocations.
1.bindan dēman baÞian
2. tō bindanne tō dēmanne tō baÞianne
2. Participle I. Participle I has the ending –ende and is declined as a weak adjective.
It is used attributively (in pre- and post-position) and predicatively:
masc., neut. bindend-e, fem. –u;
masc., neut. dēmend-e, fem. –u;
masc., neut. baÞiend-e, fem. –u
3. Participle II. Participle II has the ending –n or –ed, -od, according to the type of verb (strong or weak). It is declined as adjective (according both to the strong and the weak pattern) and is used mainly as attribute and predicative.
Preterite-Present Verbs
The so-called preterite-present verbs are small group of verbs (12) which have vowel-gradation in their present-tense form, corresponding to vowel-gradation in the preterit of strong verbs. Their preterite is formed on the weak pattern. The infinitive has, as a rule, the 3rd (zero) grade. These verbs have a marked modal meaning; most of them exist in MnE as modal vebs.
Present
1st class witan wāt
2nd class dugan deag
3rd class cunnan cann
unnan ann
durran dearr
þurfan þearf
4th class sculan sceal
munan man
5th class magan mæg
6th class mōt
7th class āgan āge
Preterite Participle II
1st class witon wiste
2nd class dugon dohte
3rd class cunnon cūðe cūð
unnon ūðe
durron dorste
þurfon þorfte
4th class sculon scelde, scolde
munon munde, gemunden
5th class magon meahte, mihte
6th class mōton mōste
7th class āgon āhte
The Substantive Verb
The substantive verb (i. e. the verb with the meaning of “to be, to exist”) is represented in OE by three roots; only two of them have infinitives.
No infinitive
Present
Indicative Subjunctive
1.eom
Sing. 2. eart Sing. sŷ, siē
3. is
Plur. sind, sindon Plur. sŷn, siēn
bēon
Present