Part 2 — CHAPTER XX. Strong Verbs: Classes IV, V, VI, and VII. Contract Verbs.
Reading edition
[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, ǣ, o.
The present stem ends in l, r, or m, no consonant following:
l: hel-an, hæl, hǣl-on, gehol-en, to conceal.
r: ber-an, bær, bǣr-on, gebor-en, to bear.
The two following verbs are slightly irregular:
m: nim-an, cum-an, nōm (nam), c(w)ōm, nōm-on (nām-on), c(w)ōm-on, genum-en, gecum-en, to take. to come.
115.
Class V: The “Give” Conjugation.
Succession of Vowels: e (ie), æ, ǣ, e.
The present stem ends in a single consonant, never a liquid or nasal:
met-an, mæt, mǣton, gemet-en, to measure, mete.
gief-an, geaf, gēaf-on, gegief-en, to give.
Note 1.—The palatal consonants, g, c, and sc, convert a following e into ie, æ into ea, and ǣ into ēa. Hence giefan (< *gefan), geaf (< *gæf), gēafon (< *gǣfon), 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, bǣd-on, gebed-en, to ask for [bid].
licgan, læg, lǣg-on, geleg-en, to lie, extend.
sittan, sæt, sǣt-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, ō, ō, a.
scac-an, scōc, scōc-on, gescac-en, to shake.
far-an, fōr, fōr-on, gefar-en, to go [fare].
117.
Class VII: The “Fall” Conjugation.
Vowel Succession: ā ǣ , ē, ē, ā ǣ ; or ea ēa ō , ēo, ēo, ea ēa ō .
(1) hāt-an, hēt, hēt-on, gehāt-en, to call, name, command.
lǣt-an, lēt, lēt-on, gelǣt-en, to let.
(2) feall-an, fēoll, fēoll-on, gefeall-en, to fall.
heald-an, hēold, hēold-on, geheald-en, to hold.
hēaw-an, hēow, hēow-on, gehēaw-en, to hew.
grōw-an, grēow, grēow-on, gegrōw-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. λέ-λοιπα and Lat. dĕ-di). Contraction then took place between the syllabic prefix and the root, the fusion resulting in ē or ēo: *he-hat > heht > hēt.
Note 2.—A peculiar interest attaches to hātan: the forms hātte and hātton are the sole remains in O.E. of the original Germanic passive. They are used both as presents and as preterits: hātte = 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. ðēon (< *ðīhan), ðāh, ðig-on, geðig-en geðung-en , to thrive.
II. tēon (< *tēohan), tēah, tug-on, getog-en, to draw, go [tug].
V. sēon (< *sehwan), seah, sāw-on, gesew-en, to see.
VI. slēan (< *slahan), slōh, slōg-on, geslæg-en, to slay.
VII. fōn (< *fōhan), fēng, fēng-on, gefǫng-en, to seize [fang].
119.
The Present Indicative of these verbs runs as follows (see rules of i-umlaut, § 58):
Sing. 1. Ic ðēo tēo sēo slēa fō
2. ðū ðīhst tīehst siehst sliehst fēhst
3. hē ðīhð tīehð siehð sliehð fēhð
Plur. 1. wē
2. gē ðēoð tēoð sēoð slēað fōð
3. hīe
The other tenses and moods are regularly formed from the given stems.
120.
Vocabulary.
sēo ǣht, property, possession [āgan].
aweg, away [on weg].
sēo fierd, English army [faran].
sē hęre, Danish army [hęrgian].
on gehwæðre hǫnd, on both sides.
sige niman (= sige habban), to win (the) victory.
sēo sprǣc, speech, language.
tō rīce fōn, to come to the throne.1
ðæt wæl [Val-halla] sē wælsliht, slaughter, carnage.
sē weall, wall, rampart.
ðæt wildor, wild beast, reindeer.
sē wīngeard, vineyard.
ābrecan,2 ābræc, ābrǣcon, ābrocen, to break down.
cweðan, cwæð, cwǣdon, gecweden, to say [quoth].
gesēon, geseah, gesāwon, gesewen, to see.
grōwan, grēow, grēowon, gegrōwen, to grow.
ofslēan, ofslōh, ofslōgon, ofslægen, to slay.
sprecan, spræc, sprǣcon, gesprecen, to speak.
stelan, stæl, stǣlon, gestolen, to steal.
stǫndan, stōd, stōdon, gestǫnden, to stand.
weaxan, wēox, wēoxon, geweaxen, to grow, increase [wax].
121.
Exercises.
I. 1. Æfter ðǣm sōðlīce (indeed) ealle męn sprǣcon āne (one) sprǣce. 2. Ǫnd hē cwæð: “Ðis is ān folc, ǫnd ealle hīe sprecað āne sprǣce.” 3. On sumum stōwum wīngeardas grōwað. 4. Hē hēt ðā nǣdran ofslēan. 5. Ðā Ęngle ābrǣcon ðone lǫngan weall, ǫnd sige nōmon. 6. Ǫnd ðæt sǣd grēow ǫnd wēox. 7. Ic ne geseah ðone mǫn sē ðe ðæs cnapan adesan stæl. 8. Hē wæs swȳðe spēdig man on ðǣm ǣhtum ðe hiera spēda on3 bēoð, ðæt is, on wildrum. 9. Ǫnd ðǣr wearð (was) micel wælsliht on gehwæðre hǫnd. 10. Ǫnd æfter ðissum gefeohte cōm Ælfred cyning mid his fierde, ǫnd gefeaht wið ealne ðone hęre, ǫnd sige nōm. 11. Ðēos burg hātte4 Æscesdūn (Ashdown). 12. Ðǣre cwēne līc læg on ðǣm hūse. 13. Ǫnd sē dǣl ðe ðǣr aweg cōm wæs swȳðe lȳtel. 14. Ǫnd ðæs ðrēotīene dagas Æðered tō rīce fēng.
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 (sǣdon) 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 tō) 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.
