A Middle High German Primer / Third Edition

§ 63. Ein follows the strong declension, when used as a numeral. The dat. einme is generally contracted to eime (§ 9, 3). When ein is used in the sense of alone, it follows the weak declension. On the inflexion of ander, second, see § 55. Zwei and drī are declined as follows:—

	Masc.	Neut.	Fem.
Nom. Acc.	zwēne	zwei	zwō, zwuo, zwā
Gen.	zwei(g)er (§ 35)	zwei(g)er	zwei(g)er
Dat.	zwein, zweien	zwein, zweien	zwein, zweien
Nom. Acc.	drī, dr[i]e	driu	drī, drīe
Gen.	drī(g)er (§ 35)	drī(g)er	drī(g)er
Dat.	drī̆n, drīen	drī̆n, drī̆en	drī̆n, drīen

§ 64. The other cardinals up to twelve are sometimes inflected; when such is the case the endings are:—

Masc. and Fem.		Neut.
Nom. Acc.	-e	-iu
Gen.	-er	-er
Dat.	-en	-en

hundert and tūsent are neuter nouns.

CHAPTER V

PRONOUNS

§ 65.

1. Personal.

	Sing.
Nom.	ich, I	du, dū, thou
Acc.	mich	dich
Gen.	mīn	dīn
Dat.	mir	dir
	Plur.
Nom.	wir	ir
Acc.	unsich, uns	iuch
Gen.	unser	iuwer
Dat.	uns	iu

		Sing.
	Masc.	Neut.	Fem.
Nom.	ër, he	ëȥ, it, there	si, sī, siu, sie, she
Acc.	in	ëȥ	sie, si, sī
Gen.	(ës)	ës	ir(e)
Dat.	im(e)	im(e)	ir(e)
		Plur.
Nom. Acc.		si, sī, sie (Neut. also siu), they
Gen.		ir(e)
Dat.		in

Note.—1. The gen. ir is often used as a possessive pronoun. For ëȥ the form iȥ sometimes appears.

2. For the acc. pl. unsich the dat. uns is mostly used. iu is often used for iuch, and vice versa. im, ir are more usual than ime, ire.

3. The unstressed forms of personal pronouns are often attached to other words, as ichȥ, iȥ = ich ëȥ; ichne, ine, ichn = ich ne (not); tuostu = tuost du; dune, dun = du ne (not); tuoȥ = tuo ëȥ; eist, ēst = ëȥ ist; deiȥ = daȥ ëȥ; mohter = mohte ër; baten = bat in; wirȥ = wir ëȥ, &c.

§ 66.

2. Reflexive.

	Sing.	Plur.
Acc.	sich	sich
Gen.	sīn (fem. ir)	ir
Dat.	im, ir	in

§ 67.

3. Possessive.

mīn, my; dīn, thy; sīn, his; ir, her; unser, our; iuwer, your; ir, their.

They are declined like the strong adjective michel, great (§ 55). The dat. sing. forms dīnme, sīnme are generally contracted to dīme, sīme, see § 9, 3.

§ 68.

4. Demonstrative.

		Sing.
	Masc.	Neut.	Fem.
Nom.	dër, the	daȥ	diu
Acc.	dën	daȥ	die
Gen.	dës	dës	dër(e)
Dat.	dëm(e)	dëm(e)	dër(e)
Instr.		diu
		Plur.
	Masc.	Neut.	Fem.
Nom.	die	diu	die
Acc.	die	diu	die
Gen.	dër(e)	dër(e)	dër(e)
Dat.	dën	dën	dën

Like dër is also declined jener, that, except that the Nom., Acc. sg. neut. ends in -eȥ. dër, &c., is used both as definite article and relative pronoun.

Note.—1. For the fem. nom. sing. and the neut. nom. acc. pl. diu, the form die was sometimes used; and conversely diu for die in the fem. acc. singular. diu and die were sometimes weakened to de, and to d’ before words beginning with a vowel. daȥ was sometimes weakened to deȥ, and still further to ȥ which was then attached to a preceding word, as lātȥ kind = lāt daȥ kint; anȥ, inȥ = an, in daȥ. dēst, deis, dēs = daȥ ist.

2. The various cases were often fused into one word with prepositions, as anme, ame, am = an dëme; zëme, zëm = ze dëme; ūfme = ūf dëme; zër = ze dër (fem.); übern = über dën; ūfën = ūf dën; zën = ze dën.

		Sing.
	Masc.	Neut.	Fem.
Nom.	dirre (diser, dise), this	ditze, diz, diȥ	disiu
Acc.	disen	ditze, diz, diȥ	dise
Gen.	dises	dises	dirre
Dat.	disem(e)	disem(e)	dirre
		Plur.
Nom.	dise	disiu	dise
Acc.	dise	disiu	dise
Gen.	dirre	dirre	dirre
Dat.	disen	disen	disen

5. Relative.

§ 69. A relative pronoun proper did not exist in the oldest periods of the Germanic languages, and accordingly the separate languages expressed it in various ways. In MHG. the following pronouns and adverbial particles were used to express it:—

1. dër, daȥ (also used as a conjunction), diu, also in combination with the particles dar der dā. 2. sō, alsō (alse, als), as; sam (alsam), as. 3. dā(r), where, dar, thither, whither, darinne, therein, dannen, wherefrom, darumbe, therefore, dō, when, as. 4. Indefinite relatives, as swër (from sō wër), whoever, swelch, each who, swëder, who of two; swā, swar, wherever, swannen, swanne (swenne), whenever, swie, however, howsoever. 5. The conjunction unde, and.

6. Interrogative.

§ 70. The MHG. simple interrogative pronoun has no independent form for the feminine, and is declined in the singular only.

	Masc. Fem.	Neut.
Nom.	wër, who	waȥ
Acc.	wën	waȥ
Gen.	wës	wës
Dat.	wëm(e)	wëm(e)
Instr.		wiu

In the same manner are declined the compounds:

swër (from sō wër), whoever, etewër, eteswër, anyone, neiȥwër (= ne weiȥ wër, I do not know who), anyone.

wëder, who of two, is declined like a strong adjective; welīch (welch), which, is also declined like a strong adjective, but the nom. singular remains uninflected.

7. Indefinite.

§ 71. ander, other; dechein, dehein, dekein, no, none; dewëder, neither; ein, one, some one: when ein is used with the meaning alone it follows the weak declension; etelīch, etlīch, eteslīch, etslīch, anyone, many a, pl. = some; etewër, eteswër, anyone; etewaȥ, anything; iegelīch, ieslīch, iegeslīch, each; ieman, iemen, someone, somebody; iewëder, ietwëder, each; iewelīch, iewelich, each; iewiht, iht, anything; kein, no; man, one; manec, many a, declined maneger, manegeȥ, manegiu, &c.; nehein, no, none; niht, nothing; solch, such, declined like manec; sum, any one at all, pl. some; sumelīch, sumlīch, many a; swelch, each who; swër, whoever; wëder, which of two; welīch (welch), which, declined like manec.

CHAPTER VI

VERBS

§ 72. The MHG. verb has the following independent forms:—one voice (active), two numbers, three persons, two tenses (present and preterite), two complete moods (indicative and subjunctive, the latter originally the optative), besides an imperative which is only used in the present tense; two verbal nouns (the present infinitive, and the gerund, generally called the inflected infinitive), a present participle with active meaning, and one verbal adjective (the past participle).

The MHG. verbs are divided into two great classes:—Strong and Weak. The strong verbs form their preterite (originally the perfect) and past participle by means of ablaut (§ 12). The weak verbs form their preterite by the addition of the syllable -te, and their past participle by means of a t-suffix. The strong verbs were originally further sub-divided into reduplicated and non-reduplicated verbs. The reduplication had, however, entirely disappeared in the oldest period of the language. The non-reduplicated verbs are divided into six classes according to the six ablaut-series (§ 12). The originally reduplicated verbs are put together here and called Class VII. Besides these two great classes of strong and weak verbs, there are a few others which will be treated under the general heading Minor Groups.

A. Strong Verbs.

§ 73. We are able to conjugate a MHG. strong verb when we know the four stems, as seen in (1) the infinitive or first pers. sing. of the present indicative, (2) the first or third pers. sing. of the preterite indicative, (3) the first pers. plural of the preterite indicative, (4) the past participle. The pret. subjunctive and the second pers. pret. indicative have the same stem-vowel as the pret. plural indicative.

§ 74. The conjugation of nëmen, OHG. nëman, to take, will serve as a model for all strong verbs.

Present.
	Indic.		Subj.
	MHG.	OHG.	MHG.	OHG.
Sing.	1. nime	nimu	nëme	nëme
	2. nimes(t)	nimis(t)	nëmes(t)	nëmēs(t)
	3. nimet	nimit	nëme	nëme
Plur.	1. nëmen	nëmemēs, -ēm	nëmen	nëmēm
	2. nëmet	nëmet	nëmet	nëmēt
	3. nëment	nëmant	nëmen	nëmēn
	Imper.		Infin.
	MHG.	OHG.	MHG.	OHG.
Sing.	2. nim	nim	nëmen	nëman
Plur.	1. nëmen	nëmemēs, -ēm
	2. nëmet, (-ent)	nëmet
			Gerund.
			MHG.	OHG.
		Gen.	nëmen(n)es	nëmannes
		Dat.	nëmen(n)e	nëmanne
			Present Participle.
			nëmende	nëmanti

Preterite.
	Indic.		Subj.
	MHG.	OHG.	MHG.	OHG.
Sing.	1. nam	nam	næme	nāmi
	2. næme	nāmi	næmes(t)	nāmīst
	3. nam	nam	næme	nāmi
Plur.	1. nāmen	nāmum	næmen	nāmīm
	2. nāmet	nāmut	næmet	nāmīt
	3. nāmen	nāmun	næmen	nāmīn
	Past Participle.
	MHG.		OHG.
	genomen		ginoman

Note.— The e in the endings is regularly lost according to the rule given in § 9, 1, as sing. stil, stilst, stilt, inf. stëln, to steal; sing. var, verst, vert, inf. varn, to go. It was also frequently lost in the third pers. sing. pres. indicative of other verbs, as vint = vindet, siht = sihet, see § 9, 4 note. The n in the first pers. plural was sometimes dropped when the pronoun came after the verb, as nëme wir = nëmen wir.

The imperative singular sometimes has -e after the analogy of weak verbs (§ 90).

The OHG. forms given above show in what forms umlaut regularly took place, viz. in the second and third pers. singular of the pres. indicative, when possible, in the second pers. singular of the pret. indicative, and in the pret. subjunctive. The second pers. singular of the pret. indicative always has the same stem-vowel as the pret. subjunctive. On the absence of umlaut in the pret. subjunctive of certain types of verbs, see § 10, note. Forms without and with umlaut are found in the second and third pers. singular of the present in verbs belonging to Class VII, as slāfes(t), slāfet beside slæfes(t), slæfet.

Concerning the changes between i, ë; u, o; iu, ie; ei, ē; ou, ō in the various classes of strong verbs, see §§ 14-17.

The Classification of the Strong Verbs.

§ 75. We shall only give in each class a few verbs to illustrate the gradation of vowels and consonant changes. All other verbs occurring in the texts will be found in the Glossary referred to their proper class.

Class I.

§ 76. The verbs of this class belong to the first ablaut-series (§ 12) and therefore have ī in all forms of the present; ei in the first and third pers. sing. of the preterite, but ē before ch (= Germanic h, § 23), and finally (§ 17); and i in the preterite plural and past participle, thus:—

bīten, to wait	beit	biten	gebiten
swīgen, to be silent	sweic	swigen	geswigen
trīben, to drive	treip	triben	getriben

And similarly belīben, to remain, bīȥen, to bite, rīben, to rub, rīten, to ride, schīnen, to shine, schrīben, to write, sīgen, to sink, strīten, to quarrel.

snīden, to cut	sneit	sniten	gesniten
dīhen, to thrive	dēch	digen	gedigen
rīsen, to fall	reis	rirn (risen)	gerirn (gerisen)

And similarly līden, to suffer, mīden, to avoid, nīden, to envy, līhen, to lend, zīhen, to accuse. See § 30.

§ 77. The following two verbs which are also used as weak verbs have mixed forms in the preterite and past participle:—

schrīen, to scream	schrē	schriuwen	geschriuwen
	schrei	schrūwen	geschrūwen
		schrirn	geschrirn
spīwen, to vomit	spē	spiwen	gespiwen
	spei	spiuwen	gespiuwen
		spūwen	gespūwen
		spirn	gespirn

Class II.

§ 78. The verbs of this class belong to the second ablaut-series (§ 12) and therefore have ie in the present, but iu in the present singular (§ 16); ou in the first and third pers. sing. of the preterite, but ō before t, ȥ, s and ch (= Germanic h), § 18; u in the pret. plural; and o in the past participle, thus:—

biegen, to bend	biuge	bouc	bugen	gebogen
triefen, to drop	triufe	trouf	truffen	getroffen
bieten, to offer	biute	bōt	buten	geboten
schieȥen, to shoot	schiuȥe	schōȥ	schuȥȥen	geschoȥȥen

And similarly klieben, to cleave, kriechen, to creep, liegen, to lie, riechen, to smell, schieben, to shove, vliegen, to fly; dieȥen, to roar, gieȥen, to pour, vlieȥen, to flow.

sieden, to seethe	siude	sōt	suten gesoten
ziehen, to draw	ziuhe	zōch	zugen gezogen
kiesen, to choose	kius	kōs	kurn	gekorn

And similarly vliehen, to flee, niesen, to sneeze, verliesen, to lose, vriesen, to freeze. See § 30.

§ 79. On the stem-vowels in the following verbs, see § 16, note and § 36:—

bliuwen, to strike	bliuwe	blou	blūwen
			bliuwen	gebliuwen
			blouwen	geblouwen

And similarly briuwen, to brew, kiuwen, to chew, riuwen, to pain.

§ 80. To this class also belong the three aorist presents:—

lūchen, to shut	liuche (lūche)	louch	luchen	gelochen
sūfen, to gulp down	sūfe	souf	suffen	gesoffen
sūgen, to suck	sūge	souc	sugen	gesogen

Class III.

§ 81. The verbs of this class belong to the third ablaut-series (§ 12), and include the strong verbs having a medial nasal or a liquid + consonant. Those with nasal + consonant have i throughout the present tense and u in the past participle; the others have i in the present singular, ë in the plural, and o in the past participle (see §§ 14, 15), thus:—

binden, to bind	binde	bant	bunden	gebunden
rinnen, to run	rinne	ran	runnen	gerunnen
singen, to sing	singe	sanc	sungen	gesungen

And similarly brinnen, to burn, dringen, to press, entrinnen, to escape, gelingen, to succeed, gewinnen, to gain, schrinden, to split, sinken, to sink, sinnen, to reflect, spinnen, to spin, swimmen, to swim, trinken, to drink, vinden (p.p. vunden), to find, winden, to wind. beginnen, to begin, pret. sing. began beside begunde, begonde, pl. begunden, p.p. begunnen.

bërgen, to hide	birge	bare	burgen	geborgen
hëlfen, to help	hilfe	half	hulfen	geholfen
stërben, to die	stirbe	starp	sturben	gestorben

And similarly bevëlhen, to order, emphëlhen, enphëlhen, to recommend, gëlten, to pay, mëlken, to milk, schëlten, to revile, swëllen, to swell, verdërben, to destroy, wërfen, to throw, wërren, to confuse, wërden, to become, pret. pl. wurten, wurden, p.p. worten, (ge)worden, see § 30.

Class IV.

§ 82. The verbs of this class belong to the fourth ablaut-series (§ 12). They include those strong verbs which have a liquid or a nasal before or after the stem-vowel, and a few others, thus:—

ë	i	a	ā	o
nëmen, to take	nime	nam	nāmen	genomen
bërn, to bear	bir (§ 9, 1)	bar	bāren	geborn
stëln, to steal	stil (§ 9, 1)	stal	stālen	gestoln
brëchen, to break	briche	brach	brāchen	gebrochen
vëhten, to fight	vihte	vaht	vāhten	gevohten

And similarly schërn, to shear, schrëcken, to frighten, sprëchen, to speak, vlëhten, to plait, zëmen (p.p. also gezëmen), to be befitting, stëchen, to prick, trëffen (p.p. troffen), to hit; dreschen, to thrash, leschen, to be extinguished, see § 11, 1. komen (OHG. quëman), to come, kume, quam, quāmen, komen; on other forms of this verb, see § 36.

Class V.

§ 83. The verbs of this class belong to the fifth ablaut-series (§ 12). They include the strong verbs containing a medial consonant other than a nasal or liquid, thus:—

ë	i	a	ā	ë
gëben, to give	gibe	gap	gāben	gegëben
jëhen, to say	gihe (§ 35)	jach	jāhen	gejëhen
sëhen, to see	sihe	sach	sāhen	gesëhen
wëgen, to move	wige	wac	wāgen	gewëgen

And similarly geschëhen, to happen, knëten, to knead, mëȥȥen, to measure, pflëgen, to be accustomed, trëten, to tread, vergëȥȥen, to forget, wëben, to weave.

wësen, to be

wise

was

wāren

gewësen

And similarly genësen (pret. pl. also genāsen), to recover, jësen, to ferment, lësen (pret. pl. also lāsen), to gather, read. See § 30.

ëȥȥen, to eat	iȥȥe	āȥ(aȥ)	āȥen	gëȥȥen (§ 9, 7)
vrëȥȥen, to devour	vriȥȥe	vrāȥ	vrāȥen	vrëȥȥen

These verbs had a long vowel in the pret. singular in the oldest period of all the Germanic languages, cp. also Lat. ēdī.

§ 84. To this class also belong the three verbs:—

bit(t)en, to beg	bite	bat	bāten	gebëten
ligen, to lie down	lige	lac	lāgen	gelëgen
sitzen, to sit	sitze	saȥ	sāȥen	gesëȥȥen

bit(t)en, OHG. bitten from *bidjan; ligen, OHG. liggen from *ligjan; sitzen, OHG. sitzen from *sitjan, see §§ 14, 31, 3. The inf. ligen is sometimes contracted to līn, see § 37.

Class VI.

§ 85. The verbs of this class belong to the sixth ablaut-series (§ 12), and accordingly have a in the present; uo in the pret. singular and plural; and a in the past participle. They have umlaut in the second and third pers. singular, as grebes(t), grebet; verst, vert. See § 10.

graben, to dig	gruop	gruoben	gegraben
tragen, to carry	truoc	truogen	getragen
maln, to grind	muol	muolen	gemaln
varn, to go	vuor	vuoren	gevarn

And similarly laden, to load, nagen, to gnaw, schaffen, to create, spanen, to entice, waschen, to wash, wahsen, to grow, waten, to wade.

slahen, to strike	sluoc	sluogen	geslagen
twahen, to wash	twuoc	twuogen	getwagen

See § 30. The pret. sing. sluoc, twuoc for *sluoch, *twuoch were formed after the analogy of the pret. plural.

§ 86. To this class also belong:—

stān, stēn (§ 96), to stand	stuont	stuonden	gestanden
entseben (older entseven), to perceive	entsuop	entsuoben	entsaben
gewähenen, to mention	gewuoc	gewuogen	gewagen
heben (older heven), to raise	huop	huoben	gehaben
swern (see § 35), to swear	swuor	swuoren	geswarn gesworn

The pret. singular stuont, entsuop, gewuoc, huop for *stuot (cp. Engl. stood), *entsuof, *gewuoch, *huof were formed after the analogy of the pret. plural. On the b, g in the pret. plural, see § 30. The last four verbs in the list originally had a j in the present, which accounts for the umlaut, cp. OHG. heffen, Goth. hafjan, to raise. heben had its b from forms where it was regular.

Class VII.

§ 87. To this class belong the verbs which originally had reduplicated preterites. The present and past participle have the same stem-vowel; and the preterite singular and plural have ie. In OHG. the verbs which had a, ā or ei in the present had ia (older ea, ē) in the preterite; and those which had ou (ō), uo in the present had io (older eo) in the preterite. But in MHG. the ia and io regularly fell together in ie (§ 11, 3), so that all the preterites had ie.

bannen, to banish	bien	bienen	gebannen
halten, to hold	hielt	hielten	gehalten
slāfen, to sleep	slief	sliefen	geslāfen
heiȥen, to call	hieȥ	hieȥen	geheiȥn
loufen, to run	lief	liefen	geloufen
ruofen, to call	rief	riefen	geruofen

And similarly halsen, to embrace, salzen, to salt, spalten, to split, spannen, to span, vallen, to fall, valten, to fold, wallen, to bubble; bāgen, to quarrel, blāsen, to blow, brāten, to roast, lāȥen (see also § 99), to let, leave, rāten, to advise; meiȥen, to cut, scheiden, to separate, sweifen, to rove; bōȥen, to strike, stōȥen, to push, houwen (pret. hiu and hie, pl. hiuwen, hiewen), to hew, wuofen, to bewail.

gān, gēn, to go		gienc (gie)	giengen	(ge)gangen
hāhen (§ 29) hān (§ 38)	, to hang	hienc (hie)	hiengen	gehangen
vāhen (§ 29) vān (§ 38)	, to catch	vienc (vie)	viengen	gevangen
erren, ern, to plough		ier	ieren	gearn

On the interchange between h and ng, see § 30; erren, ern from older *arjan.

B. Weak Verbs.

§ 88. The OHG. weak verbs were divided into three great classes according as the infinitive ended in -en from older *-jan, -on, or -ēn.

Inflectional tables in this section have been reformatted for greater readability. A representative screen shot of the original format is shown at the end of the text.

The characteristic endings of the three OHG. classes were:—

	Present.
	Class I.	Class II.	Class III.
Indic. sing.	-u	-ōn	-ēn
	-is(t)	-ōs(t)	-ēs(t)
	-it	-ōt	-ēt
„plur.	-ēn	-ōn	-ēn
	-et	-ōt	-ēt
	-ent	-ōnt	-ēnt
Subj. sing.	-e	-o	-e
	-ēs(t)	-ōs(t)	-ēs(t)
	-e	-o	-e
„plur.	-ēn	-ōn	-ēn
	-ēt	-ōt	-ēt
	-ēn	-ōn	-ēn
Imper. sing.	-i	-o	-e
„plur.	-ēn	-ōn	-ēn
	-et	-ōt	-ēt
	Preterite.
	Class I.	Class II.	Class III.
Indic. sing.	-ta, -ita	-ōta	-ēta
	-tōs(t), -itōs(t)	-ōtōs(t)	-ētōs(t)
	-ta, -ita	-ōta	-ēta
„plur.	-tun, -itun	-ōtun	-ētun
	-tut, -itut	-ōtut	-ētut
	-tun, -itun	-ōtun	-ētun
Subj. sing.	-ti, -iti	-ōti	-ēti
	-tīs(t), -itīs(t)	-ōtīs(t)	-ētīs(t)
	-ti, -iti	-ōti	-ēti
„plur.	-tīn, -itīn	-ōtīn	-ētīn
	-tīt, -itīt	-ōtīt	-ētīt
	-tīn, -itīn	-ōtīn	-ētīn
	Past Participle.
Uninfl. form	-it	-ōt	-ēt
Infl.„	-tēr, -itēr	-ōtēr	-ētēr
	Infinitive.
	-en	-ōn	-ēn

In OHG. the verbs of Class I were divided into two sub-divisions: (a) polysyllabic verbs and those containing an old long stem-syllable; (b) those which originally had a short stem-syllable (cp. § 31, 3). The former formed their preterite in -ta, and the latter in -ita; and similarly in the inflected form of the past participle. In MHG. all the unaccented vowels i, e, a, o, u, ī, ē, ō regularly fell together in e (§ 7), so that the old distinction between the endings of the three classes of verbs was to a great extent obliterated. The OHG. verbs with a short stem-syllable belonging to Classes II and III came in MHG. to be inflected entirely like sub-division (b) of Class I; and those with a long stem-syllable mostly came to be inflected like sub-division (a) of Class I, see §§ 9, 2, 92.

Owing to all the OHG. unaccented vowels being weakened to e the MHG. endings are:—

	Sing.	Plur.
Pres. Indic.:	-e	-en
	-es(t)	-et
	-et	-ent
„Subj.:	-e	-en
	-es(t)	-et
	-e	-en
Pret. Indic. and Subj.:	-te, -ete	-ten, -eten
	-tes(t), -etes(t)	-tet, -etet
	-te, -ete	-ten, -eten
Imper.		-en
	-e	-et
P.P. Uninfl. form	-et
P.P. Infl.„	-ter, -eter
Infin.	-en.

Final -n in the first pers. sing. of the pres. indicative of the old Classes II and III remained in early MHG., but during the MHG. period the first person was remodelled after the analogy of Class I.

Note.— Old forms with ō̆ (u) for later e occasionally occur in verbs originally belonging to the OHG. Class II; and in like manner ī̆ for e in the pret. subjunctive.

§ 89. The MHG. weak verbs are divided into two classes, according as the preterite is formed in -te or -ete (see however § 40). The inflexion of the present is the same in both classes.

Class I.

§ 90. To this class belong (1) verbs which have old long stem-syllables. Those having a mutated vowel in the present have the corresponding unmutated vowel in the preterite. The i which would have caused umlaut in the preterite disappeared in the prehistoric period of the language. The past participle generally has two forms: one with a mutated vowel, and the other without it, properly from the old inflected form which did not have umlaut. (2) Verbs having a short stem-vowel followed by a single consonant (l, r), and trisyllabic verbs containing an l, n, or r in the second syllable, as zeln, older zellen (§ 31, 3), to count, pret. zelte beside zalte, p.p. gezelt beside gezalt; nern, to rescue, pret. nerte (OHG. nerita), p.p. genert; and similarly doln (OHG. dolōn), to tolerate, seln, to hand over, spiln, to play, weln, to choose; wern, to defend; wandeln (OHG. wantalōn), to change, pret. wandelte; vordern (OHG. fordarōn), to further, pret. vorderte; sëgenen (OHG. sëganōn), to bless, pret. sëgente. See §§ 9, 1, 2, 92.

Present.
	Indic.	Subj.	Imper.
Sing.	1. kenne	kenne
	2. kennes(t)	kennes(t)	kenne
	3. kennet	kenne
Plur.	1. kennen	kennen	kennen
	2. kennet	kennet	kennet, (-ent)
	3. kennent	kennen
Preterite.
Sing.	1. kante	kante
	2. kantes(t)	kantes(t)
	3. kante	kante
Plur.	1. kanten	kanten
	2. kantet	kantet
	3. kanten	kanten

Infin. kennen, to know; Pres. Part. kennende; Past Part. gekennet, gekant.

And similarly with a large number of verbs, as blüemen, to bloom, brennen, to burn, füllen, to fill, grüeȥen, to greet, hœren, to hear, küssen, to kiss, lœsen, to loose, nennen, to name, rennen, to run, senden (pret. sante), to send, senken, to sink, setzen (pret. satte, sazte, p.p. gesat, gesazt, gesetzt), to set, stellen, to place, süeȥen, to sweeten, vellen, to fell, wǣnen, to fancy, wünschen, to wish; gelouben, to believe, kēren, to turn, koufen, to buy, leiten (pret. leite), to lead, ougen, to show, suochen, to seek. The verba pura have double forms in the present and preterite, as dræjen, dræn (§ 35), to turn, pret. drāte beside the new formation dræjete, dræte, and similarly blüejen, to bloom, müejen, to trouble, rüejen, to row, sæjen, to sow, wæjen, to blow. Verbs with medial ck have double preterites, as decken, to cover, pret. dacte beside dahte, and similarly drücken, drucken, to press, smecken, to taste, wecken, to awake. See also § 92.

§ 91. The following are irregular:—

Infin.	Pret.	P.P.
denken, to think	dāhte	gedāht (§§ 28, 29)
dunken, dünken, to seem	dūhte	gedūh (§§ 28, 29)
furhten, fürhten, to fear	vorhte	gevorht
wurken, würken, to work	worhte	geworht
bringen, to bring	brāhte	gebrāht (§§ 28, 29)

Note.— The second pers. sing. of brāhte is bræhte or brāhtes(t), pret. subj. bræhte; and similarly with dāhte; the subj. of dūhte is dūhte or diuhte.

Class II.

§ 92. The verbs belonging to this class form their preterite in -ete and their past participle in -et. In other respects Class II has the same endings as Class I.

It includes: (a) The dissyllabic verbs, having a short stem-vowel followed by a single consonant other than l, r, which in OHG. belonged to Classes II and III, as loben (OHG. lobōn), to praise, pret. lobete, p.p. gelobet; lëben (OHG. lëbēn), to live, pret. lëbete, p.p. gelëbet (see § 88). (b) The dissyllabic verbs of OHG. Class I with a short stem-vowel followed by double consonants other than ll (see § 31, 3), as legen, older leggen (OHG. leggen), to lay, pret. legete or leite (§ 37), p.p. geleget or geleit; denen, older dennen (OHG. dennen), to stretch, pret. denete, p.p. gedenet.

Other examples belonging to Class II are: bëten, to pray, dagen, to be silent, klagen, to complain, klëben, to stick, laden, to invite, namen, to name, sagen, to say, pret. sagete and seite (§ 37).

The verbs with a long stem-syllable, which belonged to OHG. Classes II and III, went over in MHG. either into Class I (1), see § 90, or had preterites in -te beside -ete, as danken, to thank, pret. dancte beside dankete, p.p. gedanct beside gedanket; vrāgen, to ask, pret. vrāgte beside vrāgete, p.p. gevrāgt beside gevrāget, and similarly ahten, to observe, minnen, to love, trahten, to strive, &c., see §§ 9, 2, 90; dienen, to serve, pret. diende (§ 40), &c.

C. Minor Groups.

1. Preterite-Presents.

§ 93. These have strong preterites with a present meaning, from which new weak preterites have been formed. The 2nd pers. sg. ends in -t, and has the same stem-vowel as the 1st and 3rd pers. sg. The following verbs belong to this class:—

weiȥ, I know, 2nd pers. sg. weist; pl. wiȥȥen; inf. wiȥȥen; pres. p. wiȥȥende; pret. wisse, wesse, wiste or weste; p.p. gewist or gewest.

touc, I am of use, inf. and pl. tugen or tügen; pret. tohte; subj. töhte.

gan, I grant, 2nd pers. sg. ganst; inf. and pl. gunnen or günnen; pret. gunde; subj. gunde or günde; p.p. gegunnen, gegunnet, or gegunst.

kan, I know, 2nd pers. sg. kanst; inf. and pl. kunnen or künnen; pret. kunde (konde); subj. kunde or künde.

darf, I need, 2nd pers. sg. darft; pl. durfen or dürfen; pret. dorfte; subj. dörfte; infin. and p.p. only in bedürfen, bedorft.

tar, I dare, venture, 2nd pers. sg. tarst; inf. and pl. turren or türren; pret. torste; subj. törste.

sol, I shall, 2nd pers. sg. solt; inf. and pl. suln or süln; pret. solde or solte.

mac, I can, 2nd pers. sg. maht; pl. magen, megen, mugen, or mügen; pret. mahte or mohte; subj. mehte (mahte) or möhte.

muoȥ, I must, 2nd pers. sg. muost; pl. müeȥen; pret. muoste or muose; subj. müeste or müese.

2. Anomalous Verbs.

§ 94.

(1) tuon, to do.

Present.
	Indic.		Subj.
Sing.	tuon (tuo)		tuo
	tuos(t)		tuos(t)
	tuot		tuo
Plur.	tuon		tuon
	tuot (tuont)		tuot
	tuont		tuon
	Infin.	tuon
	Imper.	tuo
	Pres. P.	tuonde
Preterite.
Sing.	tëte (tët)		tæte (tëte)
	tæte		tætes(t)
	tëte (tët)		tæte
Plur.	tāten, (tæten, tëten)		tæten
P.P. getān

§ 95.

(2) gān, to go.

Present.
	Indic.		Subj.
Sing.	gān, gēn		gē (gā, gange)
	gās(t), gēs(t)		gēs(t) (gās(t), ganges(t))
	gāt, gēt		gē (gā, gange)
Plur.	gān, gēn		gēn (gān, gangen)
	Infin.	gān, gēn
	Imper.	ganc, genc, ginc (gā, gē)
	Pres. P.	gānde, gēnde
Preterite.
	Sing.	gienc or gie
	Plur.	giengen
	P.P.	(ge)gangen or gegān

§ 96.

(3) stān, to stand.

Present.
	Indic.		Subj.
Sing.	stān, stēn, stā, stē		stā, stē (stande), &c.
	stās(t), stēs(t)
	stāt, stēt
Plur.	stān, stēn
	Infin.	stān, stēn
	Imper.	stā, stē, stant
Preterite.
		stuont
	P.P.	gestanden or gestān

§ 97.

(4) sīn, wësen, to be.

Present.
	Indic.		Subj.
Sing.	bin		sī (sīge, sīe)
	bis(t)		sīs(t) (sīges(t), sīes(t))
	ist		sī (sīge, sīe)
Plur.	birn, sīn		sīn (sīgen, sīen)
	birt, sīt		sīt (sīget, sīet)
	sint		sīn (sīgen, sīen)
	Infin.	sīn, wësen.
Indic. Pret. Sing.		was;	pl. wāren (§ 30)
Subj.„„		wære;	pl. wæren
	P.P.	gewësen (gewëset)

§ 98.

(5) wellen, to will.

Present.
	Indic.	Subj.
Sing.	1. wil	welle
	2. wil, wilt	welles(t)
	3. wil	welle
Plur.	1. wellen, weln	wellen
	2. wellet, welt	wellet
	3. wellen, weln	wellen
Pret.	wolte or wolde (§ 40)	wolte or wölte
Infin.	wellen.