PRETERIT, OLD CONDITIONAL, AND IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE.

171. These parts are all formed from the same stem, that of the Latin perfect: cf. § 141, (2). Ex.: cantęi, cantęra, cantęs; vendęi, vendęra, vendęs; partí, partíra, partís; vi, vira, vis; dẹc, dẹgra, deguẹs.

Preterit.

172. Preterits which stress the ending throughout are called weak; those which do not stress the ending throughout are called strong: partí, partíst, partí, partím, partítz, partíron is weak; saup, saubíst, saup, saubém, saubétz, sáubron is strong. Verbs of the first and fourth conjugations regularly have weak preterits (amęi, finí). Verbs of the second and third, with very few exceptions, originally had strong preterits (placuī ＞ plac, fēcī ＞ fis): many of them, however, developed weak preterits either in Vulgar Latin or in Provençal (irasquęi, nasquęi, tessęi tesquęi, visquęi); some assumed a weak form in -í in the 1st pers. sg. (dis dissí, pris prenguí, remas remanguí, trais traguí: cf. §§ 173, 177); quęrre, on the other hand, substituted a strong preterit (quis, etc.) for a weak one.

173. (1) Final -ī, in the first pers. sg., doubtless remained through the earlier stages of Provençal (habuī ＞ águi, dīxī ＞ díssi): cf. § 51, (2). Before it fell, it changed an accented ẹ in the preceding syllable to i (vēnī ✱vēnuī ＞ ✱vẹngui vinc): cf. § 27; occasionally, however, the ẹ was kept, through the analogy of the other persons (pris prẹs). Sometimes, instead of falling, the -i took the accent (following the analogy of the fourth conjugation) and remained: águi ＞ ac or aguí, díssi ＞ dis or dissí (cf. § 177).

When the -i was immediately preceded by an accented vowel, it regularly formed a diphthong with that vowel, and did not fall (fuī ＞ füi): cf. § 51, (3); but -íi was simplified to -i (partīvī partīī ＞ partí).

Before enclitic l, -ei -iei were often reduced to -e -ie: cantiel.

(2) In the 2d pers. sg., -stī became -st, a preceding ẹ being changed to i (§ 27): partīstī ＞ partíst, debuĭstī ＞ deguíst; sometimes, through the analogy of the 2d pers. pl., ẹ remains (venguẹst: cf. § 27, 2). Occasionally the final -t disappears: anięst anięs, fezíst fezís.

(3) The -t of the 3d pers. sg. was lost in strong preterits: placuit ＞ plac, vīdit ＞ vi. In weak preterits, it was retained by most dialects after é, and by many after í: donęt donę, vendęt vendę; partí partít. Cf. § 82, T.

(4) In the 1st pers. pl., -mus -mu’ (see § 167) was reduced to -m: vīdĭmu’ ＞ vim.

(5) The -stis of the 2d pers. pl. regularly became -tz (§ 78, 2), later in many dialects -s (§ 64): debuĭstis ＞ deguẹtz deguẹs.

(6) The -runt of the 3d pers. pl. regularly gave -ron or -ro (§ 83, Nt): partīrunt ＞ partíron partíro, vīdĕrunt ＞ viron viro. In some dialects -en is substituted for -on: fŭĕrunt ＞ fọron fọren (cf. § 169).

The e before -runt, which in classic Latin was usually long, was always short in Vulgar Latin when it was preserved at all: amavĕrunt ＞ amārunt, fēcĕrunt.

Weak Preterits.

174. (1) In the first and fourth conjugations we find in Latin the following endings:—

The popular speech preferred in every case the shortened form, and generally reduced -āvĭmus, -īvĭmus to -āmus, -īmus (in southern Gaul -āmu’, -īmu’: § 167), on the analogy of the 2d pers. sg. and pl.

(2) In the second conjugation a few verbs (delēre, flēre, nēre, -olēre, -plēre, viēre) had similar endings (delēvī, etc.), which were doubtless contracted in like fashion in so far as these words were in common use. Most verbs of this conjugation, however, had strong preterits (tacēre, tacuī; vidēre, vīdī; etc.).

(3) The third conjugation had in classic Latin no weak endings corresponding to those of the first, second, and fourth; but the vulgar speech developed a set in the following manner. Compounds of dare formed their perfect in -dĭdī (perdĭdī); this -dĭdī, in accordance with the principle set forth in § 16, 3, came to be pronounced -dę́dị (condédi); and -dędị, probably through dissimilation[124], was shortened to -dęi (✱credéi). With this form as a starting-point, a weak preterit was created on the analogy of those of the other conjugations, the endings being something like -ęi, -ęstị, -ęt, -ęmus -ęmu’, -ęstis, -ęrunt. This inflection was probably extended to some verbs outside the -dĕre class (✱battéi, etc.?).

175. (1) In Provençal the weak inflection disappeared from the second conjugation, delēre and -plēre passing into the fourth, and the other weak verbs going out of use.

(2) Verbs of the fourth conjugation (except venir) all took the weak endings -í, -íst, -í, -ím, -ítz, -íron: partí, partíst, partí, partím, partítz, partíron. Irregular verbs either disappeared or became regular (sensī = sentí), with the exception of venīre ＞ venir (vinc).[125]

(3) The new weak endings of the third conjugation developed into -ęi, -ęst, -ęt, -ém, -ętz, -ęron: vendęi, vendęst, vendęt, vendém, vendętz, vendęron. In the 1st pers. sg. the ę often broke (vendięi), and the diphthong was sometimes carried into the 2d pers. sg. (vendięst). These endings were considerably extended in Provençal (cazęt, etc.), and were occasionally attached to a strong preterit stem (nasquęt, tesquęt, venquęt, visquęt). Most verbs, however, kept their strong preterit (mis, conọc). The -īvī perfect disappeared from the third conjugation: quæsīvit ＞ ✱quæsit ＞ quẹs.

(4) The first conjugation discarded its own weak endings, and substituted those of the third: cantęi cantięi, cantęst cantięst, cantęt, cantém, cantętz, cantęron. This strange phenomenon seems to have originated as follows: dare, dĕdī ＞ dar, dęi; from dar the ending -ęi was readily extended to estar (estęi); and from these two very common verbs it spread to the whole first conjugation.

Irregular verbs (except dare, stare) either disappeared or became regular.

176. A final -c, which developed in the strong -ui preterits (§ 184), often became attached to the 3d pers. sg. of weak preterits of the fourth conjugation: floríc, fugíc, iauzíc, partíc.[126] It was sometimes extended to other weak preterits: chantęc, entendęc, nasquęc,[127] paręc.[128] We find also a 3d pers. pl. cazęgron, etc., and even a 1st pers. sg. ameguí, etc. In some western dialects the final -c was adopted by the whole first conjugation: donęc, portęc, etc.

177. Some strong preterits occasionally assumed weak endings:—

(1) In the 1st pers. sg. several verbs in -s sometimes either added an -í or shifted the stress to an originally unaccented final -i (cf. §§ 172, 173): dis dissí, pris presí, quis quesí, respos respozí. A few verbs in -c did the same: aic aiguí, bẹc beguí, conọc conoguí, saup saubí, vinc venguí, vǫlc volguí. An ending -guí being thus established, this syllable was sometimes added to preterits not of the -c class: costrenguí, destrenguí, prenguí, remanguí, restrenguí, traguí.

(2) In the 3d pers. sg. weak endings are rare: ac aguęt, vẹnc venguęt.

(3) In the 3d pers. pl. the weak ending is not uncommon in -s preterits: diron dissęron, düistrent düissęron, mẹsdren mezęron, prẹson presęron, remastrent remazęron, traissęron. We probably have to deal here, as in (1), with a shift of accent—dīxĕrunt ＞ ✱dísseron ＞ dissęron, etc.: see § 49, (2). The same thing may be true of such a form as aguęron, beside ágron, from ✱áβwerunt = habuĕrunt; such a form as visquęron, on the other hand, is doubtless imitative.

Strong Preterits.

178. (1) The reduplicative perfects were discarded in Vulgar Latin, with the exception of dĕdi (and its compounds) and stĕti, whose reduplicative character was no longer apparent. Cecĭdī became ✱cadui or ✱cadéi; the rest either disappeared or passed into the -sī class: cucŭrrī ＞ ✱cŭrsī, momŏrdī ＞ ✱mŏrsī, pepĕndī ＞ ✱pē(n)sī, pupŭgī ＞ ✱punxī, tetĕndī ＞ ✱tē(n)sī, tetĕgī ＞ ✱taxī ✱tanxī.

(2) The -i perfects were greatly reduced in number in Vulgar Latin. Some disappeared (ēgī), some became weak (fūgī ＞ ✱fugīī ＞ fügí); others passed into the -sī or the -uī class: prehĕndī ＞ ✱prē(n)sī ＞ pris; bĭbit ＞ ✱bĭbuit ＞ bẹc, vēnit ＞ ✱vēnuit ＞ vẹnc. In Provençal only three -ī verbs remained: fēcī ＞ fis, fuī ＞ füi, vīdī ＞ vi.

(3) Of the -sī class (including -ssī and -xī) over twenty verbs were preserved in Vulgar Latin (dīxī, excŭssī, mīsī, traxī, etc.), and about the same number passed into this class from others (absco(n)sī, ✱fraxī ✱sŭrsī, etc.): cf. (1) and (2) above. In Provençal nearly half the verbs of the second and third conjugations have -sī preterits: rema(n)sī ＞ remas, ✱respō(n)sī ＞ respọs[129].

(4) The -uī class held its own very well in Vulgar Latin (placuī, etc.) and received some additions (natus sum ＞ ✱nacuī, sustŭlī ＞ ✱tŏluī, vēnī ＞ ✱vēnuī, vīcī ＞ ✱vĭncuī, vīxī ＞ ✱vīscuī, etc.)[130]. To this class belonged, in Vulgar Latin (and, according to Meyer-Lübke[131], in classic Latin also), all perfects in -vī, this ending being pronounced -wŭī, later -wwị or -βwị: cognōvī ＞ ✱conōvuī ＞ conọc, crēvit ＞ ✱crēvuit ＞ crẹc, mōvī ＞ ✱mŏvuī ＞ mǫc. Cf. § 148. In Provençal not far from half the verbs of the second and third conjugations have -uī preterits. For a combination of a -c ＜ -uī stem with a weak ending, see § 175, (3). For the extension of -c ＜ -uī to other conjugations, see § 176.

179. In the 1st pers. pl. the accent was shifted to the ending, to make this form correspond to the 2d pers. sg. and pl.: fēcĭmus ＞ ✱fēcĭ́mu’ ＞ fezẹm (cf. fecĭstī ＞ fezist, fecĭstis ＞ fezẹtz), ✱prē(n)sĭmus ＞ ✱presĭ́mu’ ＞ prezẹm, debŭĭmus ＞ deβwĭ́mu’ ＞ deguẹm. Exceptions are fŭĭmus ＞ fọm, vīdĭmus ＞ vim; in these verbs the 2d pers. forms also are monosyllabic (füst, fọtz; vist, vitz).

180. We find in some verbs an irregular 3d pers. pl. without -r-, made by adding -on or -en to the 3d pers. sg., the final consonant of which is voiced in all verbs in which it is voiced in the other persons of the plural: (aucire) aucis, aucíson; (plánher) plais, pláisson; (prenre) prẹs, prẹson; (remanre) remas, remáson; (venir) vẹnc, vẹnguen; (volẹr) vǫlc, vǫlgon.

181. (1) Through the change of -e- to -i- by the influence of a final -ī, as described in § 173, (1), a distinction was established between the first and the third person singular of some preterits: crēvī ＞ cric, crēvit ＞ crẹc; fēcī ＞ fis, fēcit ＞ fẹs; ✱prē(n)sī ＞ pris, ✱prē(n)sit ＞ prẹs; tĕnuī ✱tēnuī[132] ＞ tinc, tĕnuit ✱tēnuit ＞ tẹnc; vēnī ✱vēnuī[132] ＞ vinc, vēnit ✱vēnuit ＞ vẹnc. Mẹtre, also, has mis, mẹs, which may come from ✱mĭssī ✱mĭssit (cf. mĭssum) = mīsī, mīsit; or perhaps mis comes from mīsī and mẹs is analogical. Through the analogy of such forms, quęrre has quis, quẹs. In the preterit of podẹr, both pŏtuī and pŏtuit would regularly have given pǫc puǫc puęc (§ 37), but pǫc was kept for the 3d person, and puǫc puęc was used for the 1st. The preterit of volẹr differentiates the two persons similarly—vuęlc, vǫlc; here the diphthong (perhaps under the influence of puęc) is borrowed from the present, where we have ✱vŏleo ＞ vuęlh, ✱vŏlet ＞ vǫl (§ 37). Avẹr, likewise, borrows a distinction from the present: aic, ac reproduce the vowels of ai, a; aic + aguí ＞ aiguí.

(2) For -í as a characteristic of the first person, see § 177, (1).

(3) For -c as a distinctive mark of the third person, see § 176.

182. The three -ī perfects developed in Provençal as follows:—

(2) Esse (＞ ✱ĕssĕre ＞ ęsser ęstre) had originally a long u in the perfect. In literary Latin the u was shortened, but the popular speech seems to have kept ū beside ŭ. The Provençal 1st and 2d pers. sg. apparently come from fūī, ✱fūstī = fuĭstī (although Pr. füi might be taken from fŭī), while the other forms presuppose ŭ:

(3) Vidēre ＞ vezẹr has:

183. In the -sī perfect the 3d pers. pl. presented difficulties. If the -e- of the penult fell, an s or z and an r were brought together. Most dialects apparently preserved the -e-, and shifted the accent to it (aucizęron, condüissęron, dissęron, prezęron, remazęron, traissęron), or else borrowed outright the weak ending (respondęron): cf. § 49, (2), and § 177, (3). Dialects which lost the -e- too early to follow this method, generally suppressed the sibilant (aucíron, diron, mẹron from mẹtre, remáron), or omitted the -r- and formed the 3d pers. pl. directly from the 3d pers. sg. (aucízon, pláisson, prẹzon, remázon: § 180), or else imitated a preterit of another class (mairon from manẹr, prẹiron from prenre, doubtless patterned after fẹiron ＜ fēcĕrunt); some borderland dialects kept the sibilant and the r, and developed a dental between them (düystrent ＜ dūxĕrunt, mẹsdren ＜ mīsĕrunt + ✱mĭssĕrunt: § 70, Sr, Zr).

As examples of the -sī perfect we may take the preterit of dire ＜ dīcĕre and penre prenre ＜ pr(eh)ĕndĕre:—

(1)

(2)

(3) Escriure ＜ scrībĕre has, beside escris ＜ scrīpsī, a preterit escrius (cf. p. p. escriut escrit escrich), in which the u is probably due to the influence of the infinitive.

(4) For dissí, presí, quesí, respozí, see § 177, (1). For pris prẹs, etc., see § 173, (1).

184. In the -uī perfect the development depends somewhat upon the consonant preceding the u. The treatment of the various cons. + w groups, which was discussed in § 72, may be illustrated by habuit ＞ ac[133], crēvit ✱crēvuit ＞ crẹc[134]; nŏcuit ＞ nǫc[135]; sēdit ✱sĕduit ＞ sęc, pŏtuit ＞ pǫc; valuit ＞ valc[136], tĕnuit ✱tēnuit ＞ tẹnc[137], mĕruit ＞ męrc; sapuit ＞ saup[138]: the noteworthy features are the change of u to -c (through w, gw, g), the absorption of the preceding consonant unless it be a liquid, a nasal, or a p, the preservation of the liquid or nasal, and the metathesis of the p.

Avẹr ＜ habēre, podẹr ＜ ✱pŏtēre pŏsse, volẹr ＜ ✱vŏlēre vĕlle, sabẹr ＜ ✱sapēre sapĕre will serve as examples (for the accentuation of the 3d pers. pl., see § 16, 2):—

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Old Conditional.

185. The old conditional came from the Latin pluperfect indicative, which had been supplanted in its pluperfect sense by a compound form, and was gradually restricted in its use to the functions of a preterit, a perfect conditional, and a simple conditional: see § 141, (2). In Provençal it had only the conditional meaning; and as the new conditional rendered it superfluous, it fell into disuse (with the exception of ágra and fọra) in the 13th and 14th centuries: see § 142, (2).

186. In the fourth conjugation the old conditional comes from the contracted form of the pluperfect (audīram ＜ audīvĕram). Weak verbs of the third conjugation constructed a similar form (✱vendęram). First conjugation verbs started with the contracted pluperfect (amāram ＜ amāvĕram), but in Provençal substituted ę for á, as in the preterit: § 175, (4). The Provençal types of the old conditional of weak verbs are, therefore, represented by: amęra, vendęra, auzíra. The inflection is as follows:—

187. Strong verbs of the -ī and the -uī classes regularly took their old conditional directly from the Latin pluperfect: fēcĕram ＞ fẹira, fŭĕram ＞ fọra, vīdĕram ＞ vira; habŭĕram ✱áβwĕram (§ 16, 2) ＞ ágra, pŏtŭĕram ＞ pǫgra, vŏlŭĕram ＞ vǫlgra, sapŭĕram ＞ sáubra sáupra (§ 65, P, 3). Of course the Latin pluperfect, and therefore the Provençal conditional, followed the shift of the perfect if it changed from one class to another: vēnī ＞ ✱vēnuī, hence ✱vēnŭĕram ＞ vẹngra. The inflection is as follows:—

188. Strong verbs of the -sī class regularly form their old conditional on the same plan as the 3d pers. pl. of the preterit (§ 183): (dīxĕram) díra, cf. díron; (✱prēsĕram) prẹira, cf. prẹiron; (arsĕram) arsęra, cf. arsęron.

189. It will be noted that in all verbs, weak and strong, the old conditional may be constructed from the 3d pers. pl. of the preterit by changing -on to -a.

190. The Provençal imperfect subjunctive came from the Latin pluperfect subjunctive, which in Vulgar Latin assumed the functions of the imperfect and generally displaced it, its own place having been taken by a compound form: see § 141, (2).

191. For weak verbs the basis was the contracted form of the first and fourth conjugations (amāssem ＜ amāvĭssem, audīssem ＜ audīvĭssem); weak verbs of third conjugation had a similar analogical form (✱vēndęssem). First conjugation verbs substituted ę for á, as in the perfect and the old conditional: § 175, (4); § 186. The Provençal types are: amęs, vendęs, auzís. The inflection is:

192. Strong verbs regularly made their imperfect directly from the Vulgar Latin form of the pluperfect: fecĭssem ＞ fezẹs, fŭĭssem ✱fŭssem ＞ fọs, vidĭssem ＞ vezẹs, venĭssem ✱venuĭssem ＞ venguẹs; dixĭssem ＞ dissẹs, ✱pre(n)sĭssem ＞ prezẹs; habuĭssem ＞ aguẹs, potuĭssem ＞ poguẹs, voluĭssem ＞ volguẹs, sapuĭssem ＞ saubẹs saupẹs (§ 65, P, 3). The inflection is:—

193. Some dialects have an ending -a, -as, -a, -ám, -átz, an, borrowed from the present subjunctive and the old conditional, but added to the stem of the imperfect subjunctive: chantęssa, vendęssa, floríssa; fọssa.

FOOTNOTES