4.1 Strong and weak verb conjugations

Old English verbs come in two flavors: strong and weak. Strong verbs change their vowels to show past tense, while weak verbs add a suffix. This distinction is key to understanding how Old English worked and how it evolved.

Strong verbs are older, dating back to Proto-Germanic. Weak verbs came later, offering a simpler way to conjugate. Over time, many strong verbs became weak, showing how language tends to simplify and regularize over time.

Strong and Weak Verbs in Old English

Features of Old English verbs

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• Strong verbs
  • Formed the past tense by ablaut involves vowel gradation in the verb stem
  • No suffix added to the verb stem in the past tense relies solely on vowel change
  • Derived from Proto-Germanic representing an older layer of the language
• Weak verbs
  • Formed the past tense by adding a dental suffix (-d, -t, or -ed) to the verb stem
  • No change in the verb stem vowel remains consistent throughout conjugation
  • Developed later in the history of Germanic languages as a newer verb class

Conjugation of regular verbs

• Strong verb conjugation ("drifan" - to drive)
  • Present tense: drīfe (I/we drive), drīfst (you drive), drīfþ (he/she/it drives), drīfaþ (they drive)
  • Past tense: drāf (I/he/she/it drove), drife (you drove), drifon (we/they drove)
• Weak verb conjugation ("dēman" - to judge)
  • Present tense: dēme (I/we judge), dēmst (you judge), dēmþ (he/she/it judges), dēmaþ (they judge)
  • Past tense: dēmde (I/he/she/it judged), dēmdest (you judged), dēmde (we judged), dēmdon (they judged)

Patterns of ablaut

• Seven classes of strong verbs based on the pattern of vowel gradation
  • Class I: ī - ā - i - i ("wrītan" - to write)
    • Infinitive: wrītan, Past Sg.: wrāt, Past Pl.: writon, Past Participle: writen
  • Class II: ēo - ēa - u - o ("bēodan" - to offer)
    • Infinitive: bēodan, Past Sg.: bēad, Past Pl.: budon, Past Participle: boden
  • Class III: e/i - a - u - u ("helpan" - to help)
    • Infinitive: helpan, Past Sg.: healp, Past Pl.: hulpon, Past Participle: holpen
  • Class IV: e - æ - ǣ - o ("beran" - to bear)
    • Infinitive: beran, Past Sg.: bær, Past Pl.: bǣron, Past Participle: boren
  • Class V: e - æ - ǣ - e ("metan" - to measure)
    • Infinitive: metan, Past Sg.: mæt, Past Pl.: mǣton, Past Participle: meten
  • Class VI: a - ō - ō - a ("faran" - to go)
    • Infinitive: faran, Past Sg.: fōr, Past Pl.: fōron, Past Participle: faren
  • Class VII: various patterns ("cnāwan" - to know)
    • Infinitive: cnāwan, Past Sg.: cnēow, Past Pl.: cnēowon, Past Participle: cnāwen

Historical Development of Strong and Weak Verbs

Origins of verb systems

• Strong verbs
  • Inherited from Proto-Germanic representing the oldest layer of Germanic verbs
  • Ablaut system developed from the Indo-European perfect tense used to express completed actions
  • Gradual reduction in the number of strong verbs over time as many shifted to weak conjugation
• Weak verbs
  • Developed later in Germanic languages as a new, regularized verb class
  • Formed using a dental suffix derived from the Proto-Germanic verb "*dōną" meaning "to do"
  • Became more prevalent as the language evolved with many new verbs entering this class
  • Many strong verbs eventually shifted to the weak conjugation due to regularization pressures