Note.—The numerous masculine nouns ending in -hād,—cildhād (childhood), wīfhād (womanhood),—belong to the u-stems historically; but they have all passed over to the a-Declension.

55.

Exercises.

I. 1. Ðā Seaxe habbað ðæs dēores hȳd on ðǣm wuda. 2. Hwā hæfð ðā giefa? 3. Ðā Mierce hīe1 habbað. 4. Hwǣr is ðæs Wēales fugol? 5. Ðā Dęne hiene habbað. 6. Hwǣr sindon hiera winas? 7. Hīe sindon on ðæs cyninges wuda. 8. Ðā Rōmware ǫnd ðā Seaxe hæfdon ðā gāras ǫnd ðā geocu. 9. Hēo is on ðǣm hūse on wintra, ǫnd on ðǣm feldum on sumera. 10. Hwǣr is ðæs hofes duru? 11. Hēo2 (= sēo duru) nis hēr.

II. 1. His friends have the bones of the seals and the bodies of the Danes. 2. Art thou the king’s son? 3. Has she her3 gifts in her3 hands? 4. Here are the fields of the natives. 5. Who had the bird? 6. I had it.2 7. The child had the worm in his3 fingers. 8. The Mercians were here during (the) summer (on + dat.).

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CHAPTER X.
Present Indicative Endings of Strong Verbs.

56.

The unchanged stem of the present indicative may always be found by dropping -an of the infinitive: feall-an, to fall; cēos-an, to choose; bīd-an, to abide.

57.

The personal endings are:

Sing. 1.	-e		Plur. 1.	}	-að
2.	-est		2.
3.	-eð		3.

i-Umlaut.

58.

The 2d and 3d singular endings were originally not -est and -eð, but -is and -ið; and the i of these older endings has left its traces upon almost every page of Early West Saxon literature. This i, though unaccented and soon displaced, exerted a powerful back influence upon the vowel of the preceding accented syllable. This influence, a form of regressive assimilation, is known as i-umlaut (pronounced oóm-lowt). The vowel i or j (= y), being itself a palatal, succeeded in palatalizing every guttural vowel that preceded it, and in imposing still more of the i-quality upon diphthongs that were already palatal.1 The changes produced were these:

a	became	ę (æ):	męnn (< *mann-iz), men.
ā	“	ǣ	ǣnig (< *ān-ig), any.
u	“	y	wyllen (< *wull-in), woollen.
ū	“	ȳ	mȳs (< *mūs-iz), mice.
o	“	ę	dęhter (< *dohtr-i), to or for the daughter.
ō	“	ē	fēt (< *fōt-iz), feet.
ea	“	ie	wiexð (< *weax-ið), he grows (weaxan = to grow).
ēa	“	īe	hīewð (< *hēaw-ið), he hews (hēawan = to hew).
eo	“	ie	wiercan (< *weorc-jan), to work.
ēo	“	īe	līehtan (< *lēoht-jan), to light.

The Unchanged Present Indicative.

59.

In the Northumbrian and Mercian dialects, as well as in the dialect of Late West Saxon, the 2d and 3d singular endings were usually joined to the present stem without modification either of the stem itself or of the personal endings. The complete absence of umlauted forms in the present indicative of Mn.E. is thus accounted for.

In Early West Saxon, however, such forms as the following are comparatively rare in the 2d and 3d singular:

Sing. 1.	Ic feall-e (I fall)			cēos-e (I choose)	bīd-e (I abide)
2.	ðū feall-est			cēos-est	bīd-est
3.	hē feall-eð			cēos-eð	bīd-eð
Plur. 1.	wē	}
2.	gē		feall-að	cēos-að	bīd-að
3.	hīe

The Present Indicative with i-Umlaut and Contraction.

60.

The 2d and 3d persons singular are distinguished from the other forms of the present indicative in Early West Saxon by (1) i-umlaut of the vowel of the stem, (2) syncope of the vowel of the ending, giving -st and -ð for -est and -eð, and (3) contraction of -st and -ð with the final consonant or consonants of the stem.

Contraction.

61.

The changes produced by i-umlaut have been already discussed. By these changes, therefore, the stems of the 2d and 3d singular indicative of such verbs as (1) stǫndan (= standan), to stand, (2) cuman, to come, (3) grōwan, to grow, (4) brūcan, to enjoy, (5) blāwan, to blow, (6) feallan, to fall, (7) hēawan, to hew, (8) weorpan, to throw, and (9) cēosan, to choose, become respectively (1) stęnd-,2 (2) cym-, (3) grēw-, (4) brȳc-, (5) blǣw-, (6) fiell-, (7) hīew-, (8) wierp-, and (9) cīes-.

If the unchanged stem contains the vowel e, this is changed in the 2d and 3d singular to i (ie): cweðan to say, stem cwið-; beran to bear, stem bier-. But this mutation3 had taken place long before the period of O.E., and belongs to the Germanic languages in general. It is best, however, to class the change of e to i or ie with the changes due to umlaut, since it occurs consistently in the 2d and 3d singular stems of Early West Saxon, and outlasted almost all of the umlaut forms proper.

If, now, the syncopated endings -st and -ð are added directly to the umlauted stem, there will frequently result such a massing of consonants as almost to defy pronunciation: cwið-st, thou sayest; stęnd-st, thou standest, etc. Some sort of contraction, therefore, is demanded for the sake of euphony. The ear and eye will, by a little practice, become a sure guide in these contractions. The following rules, however, must be observed. They apply only to the 2d and 3d singular of the present indicative:

(1) If the stem ends in a double consonant, one of the consonants is dropped:

1.	feall-e (I fall)	1.	winn-e (I fight)	1.	swimm-e (I swim)
2.	fiel-st	2.	win-st	2.	swim-st
3.	fiel-ð	3.	win-ð	3.	swim-ð

(2) If the stem ends in -ð, this is dropped:

1.	cweð-e (I say)	1.	weorð-e (I become)
2.	cwi-st	2.	wier-st
3.	cwi-ð	3.	wier-ð

(3) If the stem ends in -d, this is changed to -t. The -ð of the ending is then also changed to -t, and usually absorbed. Thus the stem of the 2d singular serves as stem and ending for the 3d singular:

1.	stǫnd-e (= stand-e) (I stand)	1.	bind-e (I bind)	1.	bīd-e (I abide)	1.	rīd-e (I ride)
2.	stęnt-st	2.	bint-st	2.	bīt-st	2.	rīt-st
3.	stęnt	3.	bint	3.	bīt (-t)	3.	rīt (-t)

(4) If the stem ends already in -t, the endings are added as in (3), -ð being again changed to -t and absorbed:

1.	brēot-e (I break)	1.	feoht-e (I fight)	1.	bīt-e (I bite)
2.	brīet-st	2.	fieht-st	2.	bīt-st
3.	brīet (-t)	3.	fieht	3.	bīt (-t)

(5) If the stem ends in -s, this is dropped before -st (to avoid -sst), but is retained before -ð, the latter being changed to -t. Thus the 2d and 3d singulars are identical:4

1.	cēos-e (I choose)	1.	rīs-e (I rise)
2.	cīe-st	2.	rī-st
3.	cīes-t	3.	rīs-t

62.

Exercises.

I. 1. Sē cyning fielð. 2. Ðā wīf cēosað ðā giefa. 3. Ðū stęntst on ðǣm hūse. 4. Hē wierpð ðæt wǣpen. 5. Sē sęcg hīewð ðā līc. 6. Ðæt sǣd grēwð ǫnd wiexð (Mark iv. 27). 7. Ic stǫnde hēr, ǫnd ðū stęntst ðǣr. 8. “Ic hit eom,” cwið hē. 9. Hīe berað ðæs wulfes bān. 10. Hē hīe bint, ǫnd ic hine binde. 11. Ne rītst ðū?

II. 1. We shall bind him. 2. Who chooses the child’s gifts? 3. “He was not here,” says she. 4. Wilt thou remain in the hall? 5. The wolves are biting (= bite) the fishermen. 6. He enjoys5 the love of his children. 7. Do you enjoy (= Enjoyest thou) the consolation and friendship of the scribe? 8. Will he come? 9. I shall throw the spear, and thou wilt bear the weapons. 10. The king’s son will become king. 11. The army (werod) is breaking the doors and walls of the house.

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CHAPTER XI.
The Consonant Declensions of Nouns.

The Weak or n-Declension.

63.

The n-Declension contains almost all of the O.E. nouns belonging to the Consonant Declensions. The stem characteristic n has been preserved in the oblique cases, so that there is no difficulty in distinguishing n-stems from the preceding vowel stems.

The n-Declension includes (a) masculines, (b) feminines, and (c) neuters. The masculines far outnumber the feminines, and the neuters contain only ēage, eye and ēare, ear. The masculines end in -a, the feminines and neuters in -e.

64.

Paradigms of (a) sē hunta, hunter; (b) sēo tunge, tongue; (c) ðæt ēage, eye:

Sing. N.	hunt-a	tung-e	ēag-e
G.D.I.	hunt-an	tung-an	ēag-an
A.	hunt-an	tung-an	ēag-e
Plur N.A.	hunt-an	tung-an	ēag-an
G.	hunt-ena	tung-ena	ēag-ena
D.I.	hunt-um	tung-um	ēag-um

65.

Vocabulary.

66.

Exercises.

I. 1. Sē scēowyrhta brȳcð his ǣmettan. 2. Ðā guman biddað ðǣm cnapan ðæs adesan. 3. Hwā is sē cuma? 4. Hielpst ðū ðǣm bǫnan? 5. Ic him ne helpe. 6. Ðā bearn scęððað ðæs bǫnan ēagum ǫnd ēarum. 7. Sē cuma cwielð on ðǣre cirican. 8. Sē hunta wiðstęnt ðǣm wulfum. 9. Ðā oxan berað ðæs cnapan gefēran. 10. Sē mōna ǫnd ðā tunglu sind on ðǣm heofonum. 11. Ðā huntan healdað ðǣre nǣdran tungan. 12. Hē hiere giefð ðā giefa. 13. Ðā werod scęððað ðæs cyninges feldum.

II. 1. Who will bind the mouths of the oxen? 2. Who gives him the gifts? 3. Thou art helping him, and I am injuring him. 4. The boy’s companion is dying. 5. His nephew does not enjoy his leisure. 6. The adder’s tongue injures the king’s companion. 7. The sun is the day’s eye. 8. She asks the strangers for the spears. 9. The men’s bodies are not here. 10. Is he not (Nis hē) the child’s murderer? 11. Who creates the bodies and the souls of men? 12. Thou withstandest her. 13. He is not writing.

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CHAPTER XII.

Remnants of Other Consonant Declensions.

67.

The nouns belonging here are chiefly masculines and feminines. Their stem ended in a consonant other than n. The most important of them may be divided as follows: (1) The foot Declension, (2) r-Stems, and (3) nd-Stems. These declensions are all characterized by the prevalence, wherever possible, of i-umlaut in certain cases, the case ending being then dropped.

68.

(1) The nouns belonging to the foot Declension exhibit umlaut most consistently in the N.A. plural.

Sing. N.A.	sē fōt (foot)	sē mǫn (man)	sē tōð (tooth)	sēo cū (cow)
Plur N.A.	fēt	męn	tēð	cȳ

Note.—The dative singular usually has the same form as the N.A. plural. Here belong also sēo bōc (book), sēo burg (borough), sēo gōs (goose), sēo lūs (louse), and sēo mūs (mouse), all with umlauted plurals. Mn.E. preserves only six of the foot Declension plurals: feet, men, teeth, geese, lice, and mice. The c in the last two is an artificial spelling, intended to preserve the sound of voiceless s. Mn.E. kine (= cy-en) is a double plural formed after the analogy of weak stems; Burns in The Twa Dogs uses kye.

No umlaut is possible in sēo niht (night) and sē mōnað (month), plural niht and mōnað (preserved in Mn.E. twelvemonth and fortnight).

(2) The r-Stems contain nouns expressing kinship, and exhibit umlaut of the dative singular.

Sing. N.A.	sē fæder (father)	sē brōðor (brother)	sēo mōdor (mother)	sēo dohtor (daughter)	sēo swuster (sister)
D.	fæder	brēðer	mēder	dęhter	swyster

Note.—The N.A. plural is usually the same as the N.A. singular. These umlaut datives are all due to the presence of a former i. Cf. Lat. dative singular patri, frātri, mātri, sorori (< *sosori), and Greek θυγατρί.

(3) The nd-Stems show umlaut both in the N.A. plural and in the dative singular:

Sing. N.A.	sē frēond (friend)	sē fēond (enemy)
D.	frīend	fīend
Plur. N.A.	frīend	fīend

Note.—Mn.E. friend and fiend are interesting analogical spellings. When s had been added by analogy to the O.E. plurals frīend and fīend, thus giving the double plurals friends and fiends, a second singular was formed by dropping the s. Thus friend and fiend displaced the old singulars frend and fend, both of which occur in the M.E. Ormulum, written about the year 1200.

Summary of O.E. Declensions.

69.

A brief, working summary of the O.E. system of declensions may now be made on the basis of gender.

All O.E. nouns are (1) masculine, (2) feminine, or (3) neuter.

(1) The masculines follow the declension of mūð (§ 26), except those ending in -a, which are declined like hunta (§ 64):

Sing. N.A.	mūð	N.	hunta
G.	mūðes	G.D.A.	huntan
D.I.	mūðe	I.	huntan
Plur N.A.	mūðas		huntan
G.	mūða		huntena
D.I.	mūðum		huntum

(2) The short-stemmed neuters follow the declension of hof (§ 32); the long-stemmed, that of bearn (§ 32):

Sing. N.A.	hof	bearn
G.	hofes	bearnes
D.I.	hofe	bearne
Plur N.A.	hofu	bearn
G.	hofa	bearna
D.I.	hofum	bearnum

(3) The feminines follow the declensions of giefu and wund (§ 38) (the only difference being in the N. singular), except those ending in -e, which follow the declension of tunge (§ 64):

Sing. N.	giefu	wund	tunge
G.	giefe	wunde	tungan
D.I.	giefe	wunde	tungan
A.	giefe	wunde	tungan
Plur N.A.	giefa	wunda	tungan
G.	giefa	wunda	tungena
D.I.	giefum	wundum	tungum

70.

Vocabulary.

Note.—O.E. mǫn (man) is frequently used in an indefinite sense for one, people, they. It thus takes the place of a passive construction proper: And man nam þā gebrotu þe þār belifon, twęlf cȳpan fulle, And there were taken up of fragments that remained there twelve baskets full; but more literally, And one (or they) took the fragments, etc.; Ǫnd Hæstenes wīf ǫnd hīs suna twēgen mǫn brōhte tō ðǣm cyninge, And Hæsten’s wife and his two sons were brought to the king.

71.

Exercises.

I. 1. Mōn hine hǣt Ælfred. 2. Uton faran on ðæt scip. 3. God is cyninga cyning ǫnd hlāforda hlāford. 4. Sē eorl ne giefð giefa his fīend. 5. Ic næs mid his frīend. 6. Sēo mōdor færð mid hiere dęhter on ðā burg. 7. Fintst ðū ðæs bōceres bēc? 8. Hē bint ealle (all) ðā dēor būtan ðǣm wulfum. 9. Ðū eart Crīst, Godes sunu. 10. “Uton bindan ðæs bǫnan fēt,” cwið hē.

II. 1. Christ is the son of God. 2. Let us call him Cædmon. 3. He throws his spear against the door. 4. Thou art not the earl’s brother. 5. He will go with his father to England, but I shall remain (abide) here. 6. Gifts are not given to murderers. 7. Who will find the tracks of the animals? 8. They ask their lord for his weapons (§ 65, Note 3).

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CHAPTER XIII.
Pronouns.

(1) Personal Pronouns.

72.

Paradigms of ic, I; ðū, thou. For hē, hēo, hit, see § 53.

Sing. N.	ic	ðū
G.	mīn	ðīn
D.	mē	ðē
A.	mē (mec)	ðē (ðec)
Dual N.	wit (we two)	git (ye two)
G.	uncer (of us two)	incer (of you two)
D.	unc (to or for us two)	inc (to or for you two)
A.	unc (us two)	inc (you two)
Plur N.	wē	gē
G.	ūser (ūre)	ēower
D.	ūs	ēow
A.	ūs (ūsic)	ēow (ēowic)

Note 1.—The dual number was soon absorbed by the plural. No relic of it now remains. But when two and only two are referred to, the dual is consistently used in O.E. An example occurs in the case of the two blind men (Matthew ix. 27-31): Gemiltsa unc, Davīdes sunu! Pity us, (thou) Son of David! Sīe inc æfter incrum gelēafan, Be it unto you according to your faith.

Note 2.—Mn.E. ye (< gē), the nominative proper, is fast being displaced by you (< ēow), the old objective. The distinction is preserved in the King James’s version of the Bible: Ye in me, and I in you (John xiv. 20); but not in Shakespeare and later writers.

(2) Demonstrative Pronouns.

73.

Paradigm of ðēs, ðēos, ðis, this. For the Definite Article as a demonstrative, meaning that, see § 28, Note 3.

Masculine.		Feminine.	Neuter.
Sing. N.	ðēs	ðēos	ðis
G.	ðisses	ðisse	ðisses
D.	ðissum	ðisse	ðissum
A.	ðisne	ðās	ðis
I.	ðȳs	——	ðȳs
All Genders.
Plur. N.A.		ðās
G.		ðissa
D.		ðissum

(3) The Interrogative Pronoun.

74.

Paradigm of hwā, hwæt, who, what?

Masculine.		Neuter.
Sing. N.	hwā	hwæt
G.	hwæs	hwæs
D.	hwǣm	hwǣm
A.	hwone	hwæt
I.	——	hwȳ

Note 1.—The derivative interrogatives, hwæðer (< *hwā-ðer), which of two? and hwilc (< *hwā-līc), which? are declined as strong adjectives (§§ 79-82).

Note 2.—The instrumental case of hwā survives in Mn.E. why = on what account; the instrumental of the definite article is seen in the adverbial the: The sooner, the better = by how much sooner, by so much better.

Note 3.—How were the Mn.E. relative pronouns, who and which, evolved from the O.E. interrogatives? The change began in early West Saxon with hwæt used in indirect questions (Wülfing, l.c. § 310, β): Nū ic wāt eall hwæt ðū woldest, Now I know all that thou desiredst. The direct question was, Hwæt woldest ðū? But the presence of eall shows that in Alfred’s mind hwæt was, in the indirect form, more relative than interrogative.

(4) Relative Pronouns.

75.

O.E. had no relative pronoun proper. It used instead (1) the Indeclinable Particle ðe, who, whom, which, that, (2) the Definite Article (§ 28), (3) the Definite Article with the Indeclinable Particle, (4) the Indeclinable Particle with a Personal Pronoun.

The Definite Article agrees in gender and number with the antecedent. The case depends upon the construction. The bird which I have may, therefore, be:—

Note.—O.E. ðe agrees closely in construction with Mn.E. relative that: (1) Both are indeclinable. (2) Both refer to animate or inanimate objects. (3) Both may be used with phrasal value: ðȳ ylcan dæge ðe hī hine tō ðǣm āde beran wyllað, On the same day that (= on which) they intend to bear him to the funeral pile. (4) Neither can be preceded by a preposition.

(5) Possessive Pronouns.

76.

The Possessive Pronouns are mīn, mine; ðīn, thine; ūre, our; ēower, your; [sīn, his, her, its]; uncer, belonging to us two; incer, belonging to you two. They are declined as strong adjectives. The genitives of the Third Personal Pronoun, his, his, hiere, her, hiera, their, are indeclinable.

(6) Indefinite Pronouns.

77.

These are ǣlc, each, every; ān, a, an, one; ǣnig (< ān-ig), any; nǣnig (< ne-ǣnig), none; ōðer, other; sum, one, a certain one; swilc, such. They are declined as strong adjectives.

Note.—O.E. had three established methods of converting an interrogative pronoun into an indefinite: (1) By prefixing ge, (2) by prefixing ǣg, (3) by interposing the interrogative between swā ... swā: (1) gehwā, each; gehwæðer, either; gehwilc, each; (2) ǣghwā, each; ǣghwæðer, each; ǣghwilc, each; (3) swā hwā swā, whosoever; swā hwæðer swā, whichsoever of two; swā hwilc swā, whosoever.

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CHAPTER XIV.
Adjectives, Strong and Weak.

78.

The declension of adjectives conforms in general to the declension of nouns, though a few pronominal inflections have influenced certain cases. Adjectives belong either to (1) the Strong Declension or to (2) the Weak Declension. The Weak Declension is employed when the adjective is preceded by sē or ðēs, the, that, or this; otherwise, the Strong Declension is employed: ðā gōdan cyningas, the good kings; ðēs gōda cyning, this good king; but gōde cyningas, good kings.

Note.—The Weak Declension is also frequently used when the adjective is employed in direct address, or preceded by a possessive pronoun: Dryhten, ælmihtiga God ... ic bidde ðē for ðīnre miclan mildheortnesse, Lord, almighty God, I pray thee, for thy great mercy.

(1) Strong Declension of Adjectives.
(a) Monosyllables.

79.

The strong adjectives are chiefly monosyllabic with long stems: gōd, good; eald, old; lǫng, long; swift, swift. They are declined as follows.

80.

Paradigm of gōd, good:

Masculine.		Feminine.	Neuter.
Sing. N.	gōd	gōd	gōd
G.	gōdes	gōdre	gōdes
D.	gōdum	gōdre	gōdum
A.	gōdne	gōde	gōd
I.	gōde	——	gōde
Plur N.A.	gōde	gōda	gōd
G.	gōdra	gōdra	gōdra
D.I.	gōdum	gōdum	gōdum

81.

If the stem is short, -u is retained as in giefu (§ 39, (1)) and hofu (§ 33, (1)). Thus glæd (§ 27, Note 1), glad, and til, useful, are inflected:

Masculine.			Feminine.	Neuter.
Sing. N.	{	glæd til	gladu tilu	glæd til
Plur N.A.	{	glade tile	glada tila	gladu tilu

(b) Polysyllables.

82.

Polysyllables follow the declension of short monosyllables. The most common terminations are -en, -en; -fæst, -fast; -full, -ful; -lēas, -less; -līc, -ly; -ig, -y: hǣð-en (hǣð = heath), heathen; stęde-fæst (stęde = place), steadfast; sorg-full (sorg = sorrow), sorrowful; cyst-lēas (cyst = worth), worthless; eorð-līc (eorðe = earth), earthly; blōd-ig (blōd = blood), bloody. The present and past participles, when inflected and not as weak adjectives, may be classed with the polysyllabic adjectives, their inflection being the same.

Syncopation occurs as in a-stems (§ 27, (4)). Thus hālig, holy, blīðe, blithe, berende, bearing, geboren, born, are thus inflected:

Masculine.			Feminine.	Neuter.
Sing. N.	{	hālig blīðe berende geboren	hālgu blīðu berende geborenu	hālig blīðe berende geboren
Plur N.A.	{	hālge blīðe berende geborene	hālga blīða berenda geborena	hālgu blīðu berendu geborenu

(2) Weak Declension of Adjectives.

83.

The Weak Declension of adjectives, whether monosyllabic or polysyllabic, does not differ from the Weak Declension of nouns, except that -ena of the genitive plural is usually replaced by -ra of the strong adjectives.

84.

Masculine.		Feminine.	Neuter.
Sing. N.	gōda	gōde	gōde
G.	gōdan	gōdan	gōdan
D.I.	gōdan	gōdan	gōdan
A.	gōdan	gōdan	gōde
All Genders.
Plur. N.A.		gōdan
G.		gōdra (gōdena)
D.I.		gōdum

85.

Rule of Syntax.

Adjectives agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case; but participles, when used predicatively, may remain uninflected (§ 139, § 140).

86.

Vocabulary.