----

CHAPTER V.
Practical Suggestions.

22.

In the study of Old English, the student must remember that he is dealing not with a foreign or isolated language but with the earlier forms of his own mother tongue. The study will prove profitable and stimulating in proportion as close and constant comparison is made of the old with the new. The guiding principles in such a comparison are reducible chiefly to two. These are (1) the regular operation of phonetic laws, resulting especially in certain Vowel Shiftings, and (2) the alterations in form and syntax that are produced by Analogy.

(1) “The former of these is of physiological or natural origin, and is perfectly and inflexibly regular throughout the same period of the same language; and even though different languages show different phonetic habits and predilections, there is a strong general resemblance between the changes induced in one language and in another; many of the particular laws are true for many languages.

(2) “The other principle is psychical, or mental, or artificial, introducing various more or less capricious changes that are supposed to be emendations; and its operation is, to some extent, uncertain and fitful.”1

(1) Vowel-Shiftings.

23.

It will prove an aid to the student in acquiring the inflections and vocabulary of Old English to note carefully the following shiftings that have taken place in the gradual growth of the Old English vowel system into that of Modern English.

(1) As stated in § 3, the Old English inflectional vowels, which were all short and unaccented, weakened in early Middle English to e. This e in Modern English is frequently dropped:

Old English.	Middle English.	Modern English.
stān-as	ston-es	stones
sun-u	sun-e	son
sun-a	sun-e	sons
ox-an	ox-en	oxen
swift-ra	swift-er	swifter
swift-ost	swift-est	swiftest
lōc-ode	lok-ede	looked

(2) The Old English long vowels have shifted their phonetic values with such uniform regularity that it is possible in almost every case to infer the Modern English sound; but our spelling is so chaotic that while the student may infer the modern sound, he cannot always infer the modern symbol representing the sound.

Old English.	Modern English.
ā	o (as in no)2	{	nā = no; stān = stone; bān = bone; rād = road; āc = oak; hāl = whole; hām = home; sāwan = to sow; gāst = ghost.
ē	e (as in he)	{	hē = he; wē = we; ðē = thee; mē = me; gē = ye; hēl = heel; wērig = weary; gelēfan = to believe; gēs = geese.
ī (ȳ)	i (y) (as in mine)	{	mīn = mine; ðīn = thine; wīr = wire; mȳs = mice; rīm = rime (wrongly spelt rhyme); lȳs = lice; bī = by; scīnan = to shine; stig-rāp = sty-rope (shortened to stirrup, stīgan meaning to mount).
ō	o (as in do)	{	dō = I do; tō = too, to; gōs = goose; tōð = tooth; mōna = moon; ðōm = doom; mōd = mood; wōgian = to woo; slōh = I slew.
ū	ou (ow) (as in thou)	{	ðū = thou; fūl = foul; hūs = house; nū = now; hū = how; tūn = town; ūre = our; ūt = out; hlūd = loud; ðūsend = thousand.
ǣ, ēa, ēo	ea (as in sea)	{	ǣ: sǣ = sea; mǣl = meal; dǣlan = to deal; clǣne = clean; grǣdig = greedy. ēa: ēare = ear; ēast = east; drēam = dream; gēar = year; bēatan = to beat. ēo: ðrēo = three; drēorig = dreary; sēo = she, hrēod = reed; dēop = deep.

(2) Analogy.

24.

But more important than vowel shifting is the great law of Analogy, for Analogy shapes not only words but constructions. It belongs, therefore, to Etymology and to Syntax, since it influences both form and function. By this law, minorities tend to pass over to the side of the majorities. “The greater mass of cases exerts an assimilative influence upon the smaller.”3 The effect of Analogy is to simplify and to regularize. “The main factor in getting rid of irregularities is group-influence, or Analogy—the influence exercised by the members of an association-group on one another.... Irregularity consists in partial isolation from an association-group through some formal difference.”4

Under the influence of Analogy, entire declensions and conjugations have been swept away, leaving in Modern English not a trace of their former existence. There are in Old English, for example, five plural endings for nouns, -as, -a, -e, -u, and -an. No one could well have predicted5 that -as (Middle English -es) would soon take the lead, and become the norm to which the other endings would eventually conform, for there were more an-plurals than as-plurals; but the as-plurals were doubtless more often employed in everyday speech. Oxen (Old English oxan) is the sole pure survival of the hundreds of Old English an-plurals. No group of feminine nouns in Old English had -es as the genitive singular ending; but by the close of the Middle English period all feminines formed their genitive singular in -es (or -s, Modern English ’s) after the analogy of the Old English masculine and neuter nouns with es-genitives. The weak preterits in -ode have all been leveled under the ed-forms, and of the three hundred strong verbs in Old English more than two hundred have become weak.

These are not cases of derivation (as are the shifted vowels): Modern English -s in sons, for example, could not possibly be derived from Old English -a in suna, or Middle English -e in sune (§ 23, (1)). They are cases of replacement by Analogy.

A few minor examples will quicken the student’s appreciation of the nature of the influence exercised by Analogy:

(a) The intrusive l in could (Chaucer always wrote coud or coude) is due to association with would and should, in each of which l belongs by etymological right.

(b) He need not (for He needs not) is due to the assimilative influence of the auxiliaries may, can, etc., which have never added -s for their third person singular (§ 137).

(c) I am friends with him, in which friends is a crystalized form for on good terms, may be traced to the influence of such expressions as He and I are friends, They are friends, etc.

(d) Such errors as are seen in runned, seed, gooses, badder, hisself, says I (usually coupled with says he) are all analogical formations. Though not sanctioned by good usage, it is hardly right to call these forms the products of “false analogy.” The grammar involved is false, because unsupported by literary usages and traditions; but the analogy on which these forms are built is no more false than the law of gravitation is false when it makes a dress sit unconventionally.

PART II.
----
ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX.
----

The Strong or Vowel Declensions of Nouns.
The a-Declension.

----

CHAPTER VI.

(a) Masculine a-Stems.

[O.E., M.E., and Mn.E. will henceforth be used for Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. Other abbreviations employed are self-explaining.]

25.

The a-Declension, corresponding to the Second or o-Declension of Latin and Greek, contains only (a) masculine and (b) neuter nouns. To this declension belong most of the O.E. masculine and neuter nouns of the Strong Declension. At a very early period, many of the nouns belonging properly to the i- and u-Declensions began to pass over to the a-Declension. This declension may therefore be considered the normal declension for all masculine and neuter nouns belonging to the Strong Declension.

26.

Paradigms of sē mūð, mouth; sē fiscere, fisherman; sē hwæl, whale; sē mearh, horse; sē finger, finger:

Sing. N.A.	mūð	fiscer-e	hwæl	mearh	finger
G.	mūð-es	fiscer-es	hwæl-es	mēar-es	fingr-es
D.I.	mūð-e	fiscer-e	hwæl-e	mēar-e	fingr-e
Plur N.A.	mūð-as	fiscer-as	hwal-as	mēar-as	fingr-as
G.	mūð-a	fiscer-a	hwal-a	mēar-a	fingr-a
D.I.	mūð-um	fiscer-um	hwal-um	mēar-um	fingr-um

Note.—For meanings of the cases, see § 12. The dative and instrumental are alike in all nouns.

27.

The student will observe (1) that nouns whose nominative ends in -e (fiscere) drop this letter before adding the case endings; (2) that æ before a consonant (hwæl) changes to a in the plural;1 (3) that h, preceded by r (mearh) or l (seolh, seal), is dropped before an inflectional vowel, the stem diphthong being then lengthened by way of compensation; (4) that dissyllables (finger) having the first syllable long, usually syncopate the vowel of the second syllable before adding the case endings.2

28.

Paradigm of the Definite Article3 sē, sēo, ðæt = the:

	Masculine.	Feminine.	Neuter.
Sing. N.	sē (se)	sēo	ðæt
G.	ðæs	ðǣre	ðæs
D.	ðǣm (ðām)	ðǣre	ðǣm (ðām)
A.	ðone	ðā	ðæt
I.	ðȳ, ðon	——	ðȳ, ðon
All Genders.
Plur. N.A.		ðā
G.		ðāra
D.		ðǣm (ðām)

29.

Vocabulary.4

30.

Exercises.

I. 1. Ðāra wulfa mūðas. 2. Ðæs fisceres fingras. 3. Ðāra Wēala cyninge. 4. Ðǣm ęnglum ǫnd ðǣm hierdum. 5. Ðāra daga ęnde. 6. Ðǣm bōcerum ǫnd ðǣm sęcgum ðæs cyninges. 7. Ðǣm sēole ǫnd ðǣm fuglum. 8. Ðā stānas ǫnd ðā gāras. 9. Hwala ǫnd mēara. 10. Ðāra ęngla wīsdōm. 11. Ðæs cyninges bōceres frēodōm. 12. Ðāra hierda fuglum. 13. Ðȳ stāne. 14. Ðǣm wealle.

II. 1. For the horses and the seals. 2. For the Welshmen’s freedom. 3. Of the king’s birds. 4. By the wisdom of men and angels. 5. With the spear and the stone. 6. The herdsman’s seal and the warriors’ spears. 7. To the king of heaven. 8. By means of the scribe’s wisdom. 9. The whale’s mouth and the foreigner’s spear. 10. For the bird belonging to (= of) the king’s scribe. 11. Of that finger.

----

CHAPTER VII.

(b) Neuter a-Stems.

31.

The neuter nouns of the a-Declension differ from the masculines only in the N.A. plural.

32.

Paradigms of ðæt hof, court, dwelling; ðaet bearn, child; ðæt bān, bone; ðæt rīce, kingdom; ðæt spere, spear; ðæt werod, band of men; ðæt tungol, star:

Sing. N.A.	hof	bearn	bān	rīc-e	sper-e	werod	tungol
G.	hof-es	bearn-es	bān-es	rīc-es	sper-es	werod-es	tungl-es
D.I.	hof-e	bearn-e	bān-e	rīc-e	sper-e	werod-e	tungl-e
Plur N.A.	hof-u	bearn	bān	rīc-u	sper-u	werod	tungl-u
G.	hof-a	bearn-a	bān-a	rīc-a	sper-a	werod-a	tungl-a
D.I.	hof-um	bearn-um	bān-um	rīc-um	sper-um	werod-um	tungl-um

33.

The paradigms show (1) that monosyllables with short stems (hof) take -u in the N.A. plural; (2) that monosyllables with long stems (bearn, bān) do not distinguish the N.A. plural from the N.A. singular;1 (3) that dissyllables in -e, whether the stem be long or short (rīce, spere), have -u in the N.A. plural; (4) that dissyllables ending in a consonant and having the first syllable short2 (werod) do not usually distinguish the N.A. plural from the N.A. singular; (5) that dissyllables ending in a consonant and having the first syllable long (tungol) more frequently take -u in the N.A. plural.

Note.—Syncopation occurs as in the masculine a-stems. See § 27, (4).

34.

Present and Preterit Indicative of habban, to have:

Present.
Sing. 1.	Ic hæbbe, I have, or shall have.3
2.	ðū hæfst (hafast), thou hast, or wilt have.
3.	hē, hēo, hit hæfð (hafað), he, she, it has, or will have.
Plur. 1.	wē habbað, we have, or shall have.
2.	gē habbað, ye have, or will have.
3.	hīe habbað, they have, or will have.
Preterit.
Sing. 1.	Ic hæfde I had.
2.	ðū hæfdest, thou hadst.
3.	hē, hēo, hit hæfde, he, she, it had.
Plur. 1.	wē hæfdon, we had.
2.	gē hæfdon, ye had.
3.	hīe hæfdon, they had.

Note.—The negative ne, not, which always precedes its verb, contracts with all the forms of habban. The negative loses its e, habban its h. Ne + habban = nabban; Ic ne hæbbe = Ic næbbe; Ic ne hæfde = Ic næfde, etc. The negative forms may be got, therefore, by simply substituting in each case n for h.

35.

Vocabulary.

36.

Exercises.

I. 1. Hē hafað ðæs cyninges bearn. 2. Ðā Wēalas habbað ðā speru. 3. Ðā wīf habbað ðāra sęcga wǣpnu. 4. Ðū hæfst ðone fugol ǫnd ðæt hūs ðæs hierdes. 5. Hæfð5 hēo ðā fatu6? 6. Hæfde hē ðæs wīfes līc on ðǣm hofe? 7. Hē næfde ðæs wīfes līc; hē hæfde ðæs dēores hēafod. 8. Hæfð sē cyning gesetu on ðǣm dæle? 9. Sē bōcere hæfð ðā sēolas on ðǣm hūse. 10. Gē habbað frēodōm.

II. 1. They have yokes and spears. 2. We have not the vessels in the house. 3. He had fire in the vessel. 4. Did the woman have (= Had the woman) the children? 5. The animal has the body of the woman’s child. 6. I shall have the heads of the wolves. 7. He and she have the king’s houses. 8. Have not (= Nabbað) the children the warrior’s weapons?

----

CHAPTER VIII.
The ō-Declension.

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.

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?

----

CHAPTER IX.
The i-Declension and the u-Declension.

The i-Declension. (See § 58.)

43.

The i-Declension, corresponding to the group of i-stems in the classical Third Declension, contains chiefly (a) masculine and (b) feminine nouns. The N.A. plural of these nouns ended originally in -e (from older i).

(a) Masculine i-Stems.

44.

These stems have almost completely gone over to the a-Declension, so that -as is more common than -e as the N.A. plural ending, whether the stem is long or short. The short stems all have -e in the N.A. singular.

45.

Paradigms of sē wyrm, worm; sē wine, friend.

Sing. N.A.	wyrm	win-e
G.	wyrm-es	win-es
D.I.	wyrm-e	win-e
Plur N.A.	wyrm-as	win-as (e)
G.	wyrm-a	win-a
D.I.	wyrm-um	win-um

Names of Peoples.

46.

The only i-stems that regularly retain -e of the N.A. plural are certain names of tribes or peoples used only in the plural.

47.

Paradigms of ðā Ęngle, Angles; ðā Norðymbre, Northumbrians; ðā lēode, people:

Plur. N.A.	Ęngle	Norðymbre	lēode
G.	Ęngla	Norðymbra	lēoda
D.I.	Ęnglum	Norðymbrum	lēodum

(b) Feminine i-Stems.

48.

The short stems (fręm-u) conform entirely to the declension of short ō-stems; long stems (cwēn, wyrt) differ from long ō-stems in having no ending for the A. singular. They show, also, a preference for -e rather than -a in the N.A. plural.

49.

Paradigms of sēo fręm-u, benefit; sēo cwēn, woman, queen [quean]; sēo wyrt, root [wort]:

Sing. N.	fręm-u	cwēn	wyrt
G.	fręm-e	cwēn-e	wyrt-e
D.I.	fręm-e	cwēn-e	wyrt-e
A.	fręm-e	cwēn	wyrt
Plur N.A.	fręm-a	cwēn-e (a)	wyrt-e (a)
G.	fręm-a	cwēn-a	wyrt-a
D.I.	fręm-um	cwēn-um	wyrt-um

The u-Declension.

50.

The u-Declension, corresponding to the group of u-stems in the classical Third Declension, contains no neuters, and but few (a) masculines and (b) feminines. The short-stemmed nouns of both genders (sun-u, dur-u) retain the final u of the N.A. singular, while the long stems (feld, hǫnd) drop it. The influence of the masculine a-stems is most clearly seen in the long-stemmed masculines of the u-Declension (feld, feld-es, etc.).

Note.—Note the general aversion of all O.E. long stems to final -u: cf. N.A. plural hof-u, but bearn, bān; N. singular gief-u, but wund, rōd; N. singular fręm-u, but cwēn, wyrt; N.A. singular sun-u, dur-u, but feld, hǫnd.

(a) Masculine u-Stems.

51.

Paradigms of sē sun-u, son; sē feld, field:

Sing. N.A.	sun-u	feld
G.	sun-a	feld-a (es)
D.I.	sun-a	feld-a (e)
Plur N.A.	sun-a	feld-a (as)
G.	sun-a	feld-a
D.I.	sun-um	feld-um

(b) Feminine u-Stems.

52.

Paradigms of sēo dur-u, door; sēo hǫnd, hand:

Sing. N.A.	dur-u	hǫnd
G.	dur-a	hǫnd-a
D.I.	dur-a	hǫnd-a
Plur N.A.	dur-a	hǫnd-a
G.	dur-a	hǫnd-a
D.I.	dur-um	hǫnd-um

53.

Paradigm of the Third Personal Pronoun, hē, hēo, hit = he, she, it:

Masculine.		Feminine.	Neuter.
Sing. N.	hē	hēo	hit
G.	his	hiere	his
D.	him	hiere	him
A.	hine, hiene	hīe	hit
All Genders.
Plur. N.A.		hīe
G.		hiera
D.		him

54.

Vocabulary.