Part 2 — CHAPTER VIII. The ō-Declension.
Reading edition
37.
The ō-Declension, corresponding to the First or ā-Declension of Latin and Greek, contains only feminine nouns. Many feminine i-stems and u-stems soon passed over to this Declension. The ō-Declension may, therefore, be considered the normal declension for all strong feminine nouns.
38.
Paradigms of sēo giefu, gift; sēo wund, wound; sēo rōd, cross; sēo leornung, learning; sēo sāwol, soul:
Sing. N. gief-u wund rōd leornung sāwol
G. gief-e wund-e rōd-e leornung-a (e) sāwl-e
D.I. gief-e wund-e rōd-e leornung-a (e) sāwl-e
A. gief-e wund-e rōd-e leornung-a (e) sāwl-e
Plur. N.A. gief-a wund-a rōd-a leornung-a sāwl-a
G. gief-a wund-a rōd-a leornung-a sāwl-a
D.I. gief-um wund-um rōd-um leornung-um sāwl-um
39.
Note (1) that monosyllables with short stems (giefu) take u in the nominative singular; (2) that monosyllables with long stems (wund, rōd) present the unchanged stem in the nominative singular; (3) that dissyllables are declined as monosyllables, except that abstract nouns in -ung prefer a to e in the singular.
Note.—Syncopation occurs as in masculine and neuter a-stems. See § 27, (4).
40.
Present and Preterit Indicative of bēon (wesan) to be:
Present (first form). Present (second form). Preterit.
Sing. 1. Ic eom 1. Ic bēom 1. Ic wæs
2. ðū eart 2. ðū bist 2. ðū wǣre
3. hē is 3. hē bið 3. hē wæs
Plur. 1. wē 1. wē 1. wē
2. gē sind(on), sint 2. gē bēoð 2. gē wǣron
3. hīe 3. hīe 3. hīe
Note 1.—The forms bēom, bist, etc. are used chiefly as future tenses in O.E. They survive to-day only in dialects and in poetry. Farmer Dobson, for example, in Tennyson’s Promise of May, uses be for all persons of the present indicative, both singular and plural; and there be is frequent in Shakespeare for there are. The Northern dialect employed aron as well as sindon and sind for the present plural; hence Mn.E. are.
Note 2.—Fusion with ne gives neom, neart, nis for the present; næs, nǣre, nǣron for the preterit.
Note 3.—The verb to be is followed by the nominative case, as in Mn.E.; but when the predicate noun is plural, and the subject a neuter pronoun in the singular, the verb agrees in number with the predicate noun. The neuter singular ðæt is frequently employed in this construction: Ðaet wǣron eall Finnas, They were all Fins; Ðæt sind ęnglas, They are angels; Ðǣt wǣron ęngla gāstas, They were angels’ spirits.
Notice, too, that O.E. writers do not say It is I, It is thou, but I it am, Thou it art: Ic hit eom, ðū hit eart. See § 21, (1), Note 1.
41.
Vocabulary.
sēo brycg, bridge.
sēo costnung, temptation.
sēo cwalu, death [quail, quell].
sēo fōr, journey [faran].
sēo frōfor, consolation, comfort.
sēo geoguð, youth.
sēo glōf, glove.
sēo hālignes1, holiness.
sēo heall, hall.
hēr, here.
hwā, who?
hwǣr, where?
sēo lufu, love.
sēo mearc, boundary [mark, marches2].
sēo mēd, meed, reward.
sēo mildheortnes, mild-heartedness, mercy.
sēo stōw, place [stow away].
ðǣr, there.
sēo ðearf, need.
sēo wylf, she wolf.
42.
Exercises.
I. 1. Hwǣr is ðǣre brycge ęnde? 2. Hēr sind ðāra rīca mearca. 3. Hwā hæfð þā glōfa? 4. Ðǣr bið ðǣm cyninge frōfre ðearf. 5. Sēo wund is on ðǣre wylfe hēafde. 6. Wē habbað costnunga. 7. Hīe nǣron on ðǣre healle. 8. Ic hit neom. 9. Ðæt wǣron Wēalas. 10. Ðæt sind ðæs wīfes bearn.
II. 1. We shall have the women’s gloves. 2. Where is the place? 3. He will be in the hall. 4. Those (Ðæt) were not the boundaries of the kingdom. 5. It was not I. 6. Ye are not the king’s scribes. 7. The shepherd’s words are full (full + gen.) of wisdom and comfort. 8. Where are the bodies of the children? 9. The gifts are not here. 10. Who has the seals and the birds?
