Part 2 — CHAPTER XIV. Adjectives, Strong and Weak.
Reading edition
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 sē or ðēs, the, that, or this; otherwise, the Strong Declension is employed: ðā gōdan cyningas, the good kings; ðēs gōda cyning, this good king; but gōde 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 ðē for ðīnre 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: gōd, good; eald, old; lǫng, long; swift, swift. They are declined as follows.
80.
Paradigm of gōd, good:
Masculine. Feminine. Neuter.
Sing. N. gōd gōd gōd
G. gōdes gōdre gōdes
D. gōdum gōdre gōdum
A. gōdne gōde gōd
I. gōde —— gōde
Plur N.A. gōde gōda gōd
G. gōdra gōdra gōdra
D.I. gōdum gōdum gōdum
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 til gladu tilu glæd til
Plur N.A. glade tile glada tila gladu tilu
(b) Polysyllables.
82.
Polysyllables follow the declension of short monosyllables. The most common terminations are -en, -en; -fæst, -fast; -full, -ful; -lēas, -less; -līc, -ly; -ig, -y: hǣð-en (hǣð = heath), heathen; stęde-fæst (stęde = place), steadfast; sorg-full (sorg = sorrow), sorrowful; cyst-lēas (cyst = worth), worthless; eorð-līc (eorðe = earth), earthly; blōd-ig (blōd = 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 hālig, holy, blīðe, blithe, berende, bearing, geboren, born, are thus inflected:
Masculine. Feminine. Neuter.
Sing. N. hālig blīðe berende geboren hālgu blīðu berende geborenu hālig blīðe berende geboren
Plur N.A. hālge blīðe berende geborene hālga blīða berenda geborena hālgu blīðu berendu 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.
84.
Masculine. Feminine. Neuter.
Sing. N. gōda gōde gōde
G. gōdan gōdan gōdan
D.I. gōdan gōdan gōdan
A. gōdan gōdan gōde
All Genders.
Plur. N.A. gōdan
G. gōdra (gōdena)
D.I. gōdum
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.
dēad, dead.
eall, all.
hāl,1 whole, hale.
heard, hard.
ðæt hors, horse.
lēof, dear [as lief].
lȳtel, little.
micel, great, large.
mǫnig, many.
niman, to take [nimble, numb].
nīwe, new.
rīce, rich, powerful.
sōð, true [sooth-sayer].
stælwierðe,2 serviceable [stalwart].
swīðe, very.
sē tūn, town, village.
sē ðegn, servant, thane, warrior.
ðæt ðing, thing.
sē weg, way.
wīs, wise.
wið (with acc.), against, in a hostile sense [with-stand].
sē ilca, the same [of that ilk].
87.
Exercises.
I. 1. Ðās scipu ne sind swīðe swift, ac hīe sind swīðe stælwierðu. 2. Sēo gōde cwēn giefð ǣlcum ðegne mǫniga giefa. 3. Ðēs wīsa cyning hæfð mǫnige micele tūnas on his rīce. 4. Nǣnig mǫn is wīs on eallum ðingum. 5. Ðȳ ilcan dæge (§ 98, (2)) mǫn fǫnd (found) ðone ðegn ðe mīnes wines bēc hæfde. 6. Ealle ðā sęcgas ðā ðe swift hors habbað rīdað wið ðone bǫnan. 7. Ðīne fīend sind mīne frīend. 8. Sē micela stān ðone ðe ic on mīnum hǫndum hæbbe is swīðe heard. 9. Hīe scęððað ðǣm ealdum horsum. 10. Uton niman ðās tilan giefa ǫnd hīe beran tō ūrum lēofum bearnum.
II. 1. These holy men are wise and good. 2. Are the little children very dear to the servants (dat. without tō)? 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 (ēac) choose. 10. Every man has many friends that are not wise.
