Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used in the complement of a clause or sentence to refer to the same thing as the subject. OE commonly uses the word self or the accusative or dative of a personal pronoun (mē меня, þē тебя, ūs нас).

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are derived from the genitive case of the personal pronouns of all persons and numbers. The possessive pronouns are min мой, þin твой, ūre наш, ēōwer ваш, hiera их.

Numerals

Numerals name either the number of the things or their place in the order of things, so we call them cardinal and ordinal. Numerals from 1 to 3 are declined. Numerals from 4 to 19 are usually invariable. Numbers consisting of tens and units are denoted in the following way: 22 twā and twentig.

The ordinal numerals with the exception of ōþer second are declined as weak adjectives.

Lecture 6. Old English Verbal Morphology.

Contents:

1. Forms, types and classes of the verbs in OE.

2. Conjugation of the verbs in OE. Grammatical categories.

The verb is a part of speech which denotes an action, a process, a state, a modal attitude to the action, form of existence. Every verb in OE is characterised by 4 basic forms: the infinitive, the past singular tense-form, the past plural tense-form and the past participle: findan – fond – fondon – gefondon. In MnE these forms except the past plural tense-form are preserved: find – found – found, although they are modified in spelling.

There are 4 main types of the verbs, called strong, weak, preterit-present and irregular. The difference between these types lies principally in the formation of the preterit tense-forms.

Strong and weak verbs

Past tense-form of the strong and weak verbs are different. Past tense-form of the strong verbs is made by changing the vowel of the root syllable according to the vowel gradation (so called ablaut): findan – fond – fondon – gefondon to find.

Past tense-form of the weak verbs is made by adding to the root syllable a suffix containing -d (its variants are: -ede, -ode, -de), sometimes the suffix is changed to -t by assimilation to the preceding consonant: lōcian – lōcode – lōcodon – gelōcod to look, mētan – mētte – metton – gemēted to meet.

Classes of strong and weak verbs

There are 7 classes of the strong verbs, distinguished mainly by the different formation of their main forms. The main forms are made with different vowels:

I infinitive – past sg – past pl – past participle

ī ā i i

wrītan wrāt writon writen

IIa ēo ēa u o

cēosan cēas curon coren

IIb ū ēa u o

būgan bēag bugon bogen

IIIa i a/o u u

findan fand/fond fundon funden

IIb e ea u o

helpan healp hulpon holpen

IV e æ æ o

beran bær bæron boren

V e/i æ æ e

sittan sæt sæton seten

VI a ō ō a

scacan scōc scōcon scacen

VIIa ā ē ē ā

hātan hēt hēton hāten

VIIb ō ēo ēo ō

grōwan grēow grēwon grōwen

There are 3 classes of the weak verbs the forms being different in the suffixes:

infinitive past sg past participle

I an/ian de/ede/te ed/d/t/þ

dēman dēmde dēmed

II ian ode od

lōcian lōcode lōcod

III an de d

habban hæfde hæfd