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5. throw; threw; thrown. Anglosaxon prâvan; preóv; prâven. OldEnglish thrawen, throwen; threw; throwen, throw.

6. know; knew; known. Anglosaxon cnâvan; cneóv; cnâven. OldEnglish knawen, knowen; knew, knowen, know, beknawe.

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7. crow; crew; crown, crowed. In Anglosaxon the corresponding word does not occur, but is to be inferred: crâvan; creóv; crâven. Old-English crawen; crew, creew (MAUNDEV.); crowen; crowe. 8. grow; grew; grown. Anglosaxon grôvan; greóv; grôven. Old-English growen; grew; growen, grofen (HALLIWELL s. v.).

Among the verbs in ow, inclining to the formation of a weak preterite, is grow in the olden time: It growed to a gret tree (MAUNDEV. p. 117.). Though nevere green growed (PIERS PLOUGHм. p. 275.); for which also groved stands, for instance ToWNEL. MYST. p. 12. The employment of the weak forms blowed, throwed, drawed (COBBETT) &c. is therefore uot new. In the seventeenth century blow'd, throw'd, crow'd, draw'd &c. passed among grammarians as preterites and participles with a warrant equal to that of the strong forms.

The following verbs have in Modern-English exchanged their strong preterite with the weak one:

9. hew; hewed; hewn and hewed. Anglosaxon heávan; heóv; heaven. Old-English hewen; hew; hewen. Anglosaxon also has a weak verb heávjan.

Anglosaxon mâvan; meóv; mâmowen. The preterite mew is

10. mow; mowed; mown and mowed.
ven. Old-English moven; mew;
still in use in Northern and East-Anglian dialects.

11. sow; sowed; sown and sowed. Anglosaxon sâvan; seóv; sâven. Old-English sowen; sew; sowen, sow. The preterite sew is found in several dialects, as in Lincolnshire.

The two following verbs have weak forms in Anglosaxon, but seem to have been early assimilated to the preceding ones in the participle:

12. show, shew; showed, shewed; shown. Anglosaxon scavjan, sceavjan; -ôde; -ôd, aspicere. Old-English, and commonly, shewen; shewed (sheud HALLIWELL S. v.); shewed; but in Old-Scottish schaw; participle schawin. Dialectically even the preterite shew shews itself in Essex.

13. strew, strow, even *straw still in Northern dialects; strewed, strowed; strewn, strown, strowed, strewed. Anglosaxon strevjan, streȧvjan, streóvjan; -ôde, -ôd. Old-England strewen; strewed; strewed (TOWNEL. MYST. p. 180.).

There have passed over out of the fourth class on account of their final guttural sound:

14. draw; drew; drawn. Anglosaxon dragan; drôg; dragen. OldEnglish drawen, dray (TowNEL. MYST. p. 49.); dro3, drow3, drogh, drough, drow, drw (drew); drawen, drawe, drayne (HALLIWELL S. v.).

15. slay; slew; slain. Anglosaxon slahan, sleahan, slagan, contracted slean, slân; shlóh, plur. slôgon; slagen, slägen, slegen. Old-English

sleen, slee, sle, sla, slone, sloo, slo (DAME SIRIZ p. 7.); slowgh, slough, slou (ROB. OF GLOUCESTER pl. slowe), slow, slew; slawen, yslawe, slawe, sloon (HALLIW. s. v.), slain.

Both verbs are treated analogously in Old-English, yet the contracted Anglosaxon forms of the latter had preponderant influence; the entrance of the ew in the preterite is more modern than that of other forms. 16. fly; flew; flown. Anglosaxon fleógan; sing. fleáh, plur. flugon; flogen, volare, which mingled with fleóhan, fleón; sing. fleáh, plur. flugon; flogen, fugere, although English has partly distributed the meaning between flee (see above) and fly. In Old-English they are still less to be separated than in Modern-English. Old-English fleen, flee, fle, flene, flyne, fley; fleghe, fleigh, fleih, flaugh, flew; yflowe (ROB. OF GLOUCESTER), fleyne (ID.), flaine.

Some verbs of this class, which Old-English still exhibits alongside of others which have passed over into others are: wepen, see above to weep p. 342. - falden, folden; feld; folden, fold (unfolden), Anglosaxon fealdan, whence the participle folden reaches into Modern-English. ModernEnglish to fold. walken; welke (PERCEVAL 209.), ivit; walke, wolke. Anglosaxon vealcan; veóle; vealcen. Modern-English to walk. From the fourth class there passes over occasionally gnawen; gnew (thus still in Suffolk) alongside of gnoghe, gnowe; gnawen. Anglosaxon gnagan; gnog gnagen. Modern-English to gnaw. See above p. 367. dawen; dewe (HALLIWELL S. v.) points to an Anglosaxon dagan; dôg; dagen which cannot be shewn. Modern-English to dawn. The dialectical snew, snown, from snawen, is perhaps only an unjustified imitation; Anglosaxon knows only snivan, sing. snåv, plur. snivon; sniven, and the verb to snow seems denominative. From the sixth class the preterite brew (PIERS PLOUGHM. p. 90.) belongs here, although the plural of the preterite browe occurs in Rob. of Gloucester and the participle browen elsewhere. Anglosaxon breóvan; sing. breáv, plur. bruvon; broven. Modern-English to brew.

Eighth Class. This second class of originally reduplicated verbs has no longer a verb to exhibit in Modern-English, the verb hang, which belonged here, having passed over into the first strong conjugation. In Anglosaxon the present has a, a, a, the preterite sing. and plur. , the perfect participle a, a, . Old-English gave e to the preterite and preserved to the participle the vowel of the present.

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Old-English verbs of the class are: hangen, hongen, mostly transitive, yet also intransitive; henge, hinge; hangen, hongen, honge. Anglosaxon hangan; hêng; hangen. Modern-English hang; hung; hung. Yet the intransitive is early in use hangen, hongen; hanged; hanged &c. Anglosaxon hangjan; -ôde; -ôd, pendere, mingled with the strong verb. fangen, fongen; feng, aveng (ROB. OF GLOUCESTER); fangen, fongen, capere accipere. Anglosaxon fangan, fon; fêng; fangen, yet here o early presses into the preterite: fong and even the weak form: underfonged (PIERS PLOUGHM.). gangen see irregular verb go. greten; grete; greten, grete, also igroten. Anglosaxon grætan; grêt; græten, whence still greit, preterite grat in Northern dialects and Scotland, with the participle grutten

See

Others have passed over into the weak conjugation, as haten hight p. 352. laten, see p. 350. slepen, see p. 342. Even in Old-English dreden, adreden has degenerated, participle drad, adrad, but also adred (RITSOs). Modern-English adread. Anglosaxon â-drædan; -drêdi

-dræden.

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are

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Irregular Verbs.

Under this name we comprehend a number of verbs whose anomalies are not explained by the linguistic processes hitherto discussed. Here belong:

a) The verb be, springing from several verbal stems. Anglosaxon beón.

S. 1.

Present Indicative.

3. Pl. 1. 2. 3. S. 1. 2. 3. Pl. 1. 2.3.

be

sind (sindon,sint) sie(sig,si,seó) sîen (sîn)

Conjunctive.

libe

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beód

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'aren (arn)

bist, byste bep

bep, beth, beyth be

ben (be)

(beys, bez

and ben, be

bep)

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(sinden ORMUL.)

Preterite Indicative.

S. 1.
was

Angl. väs

2. 3. Pl. 1.2.3. S. 1. 2. 3.

Old-Engl. wes (D. were
SIR.) was

Infinitive

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be

Angl. León

vësan

Old-Engl.beon,ben (bene) be

vës

vësað vesende
beth

Perf. Part.

"been

Conjunctive.

Pl. 1.2.3.

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(were)

--

gevësen

yben, ben,be,abyn (HALL. S. v.)

Modern-English has in general use given up a number of forms, still possessed by Old-English. Moreover the forms from be have not been given up in poetry, where beest also occurs for the conjunctive. Bee, beest, bee, plur. bee, are given by J. Wallis as regular forms for the conjunctive, yet also for the indicative: If thou beest Stephano, touch me (SHAKSP. Temp.). If thou beest he (MILTON P. L I. 84.); particularly in the plural: There be some sports are painful (SHAKSP. Temp.). Those be rubies (ID. Mids. N. Dr.). And who be they (L. BYRON). There be more things to greet the heart and eyes (ID.). Bez instead of beth in the singular in Longtoft's Chron. p. 244. Bees as 3. pers. sing. and 1. 2. 3. pers. plur. is frequent in the Towneley Mysteries. Thou beys Skelton still has, as he also still employs be for the second person plural: Ye be an apte man (I. 36.), whereas it was subsequently frequently used for the third person. The plural beth: We beth bretheren (PIERS PLOUGHMAN p. 391., is still found in Skelton as beyth. Be for the first person, as well as for all others of the singular and plural of the indicative, not merely of the present, is peculiar to many dialects. Bin, which proceeds from the plural ben, stands dialectically for are, were and is; it is also found for is in ancient dramatists. Chalmers quotes out of Shakspeare:

With every thing that pretty bin, and Lord Byron writes: There bin another pious reason. Be instead of been is still familiar to the sixteenth century: THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE p. 95. For is, es sometimes occurs in Old-English (HALLIWELL V. fame 2.). In the preterite wast and wert are subsequent formations; although the latter at present passes for the conjunctive, yet even now as well as formerly it still stands as the indicative form: Wert thou alone? (CONGREVE). Thou wert godlike E'en then (ID.). Thou wert the throne and grave of empires (L. BYRON). When all were changing thou alone wert true (ID.). I turned to thee, for thou wert near (BRYANT). Instead of wast, was formerly occurs: Sithene was thou straynede one the crosse (Mss. in HALLIWELL V. straine); waste in Skelton I. 260. The genuine verbal form thou were is still in Shakspeare (K. Lear.). Was as 2. pers. plur. often occurs: I'll pepper you better than ever you was peppered (FIELDING). It is here and there regarded as the regular form. The employment of am, as well as of be, for all persons: he'm, we'm, you'm &c. in Northampton, Bedford, Somerset &c., is dialectical, as also are occurs for the singular: I are, he are &c. The rejection of the initial vowels of the verb has pressed from the popular into the written language: I'm in love (LONGFELLOW). Thou 'rt gone (BRYANT). You 're a child (L. BYRON). She's in Madrid (LONGFELLOW). How 's this? (ID.), as n'as instead of no was, was not are found. b) The verb do. Anglosaxon don.

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Modern-English Grammar no longer cites the older forms of the conjunctive; the indicative forms, where varying from these, are used for them. The forms dost and doest are now understood to be so distinct, that doest is to be used in a pregnant sense, dost as a periphrastic verbal form (auxiliary verb). The elision of the o in do is familiar to rapid speech in few contexts: So soon returned!" old Dobson cries. soon d'ye call it?" Death replies (Mss. THRALE). Hence the popular verbs don, dout, dup, instead of do on, out, up, the two former of which occur in Shakspeare. Compare also: I would don my hose of homespun gray (LONGFELLOW). The spelling doe for do occurs even in the seventeenth century.

So

c) The verb go, which completes its preterite by another verbal stem, Anglosaxon gangan, gân, see p. 375.

Present Indicative.

Conjunctive.

2. goest

3.

goes

pl. 1. 2. 3. s. 1. 2. 3. pl. 1. 2. 3. go

s. 1.

go

go

go

Angl. gange (gâ) gæst gæs gangad (gâd) gange(gâ) gangen (gân) Old-Engl. go, go goest gooth, gooth, goth go, ga gon, gange

goth

Preterite Indicative.

(HALL.V.gang)

Conjunctive.

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go

go

Angl. gangan, gân

Imperative. Part. Pres.

going

gang (gâ), gâd gangende Old-Engl. gangen, gongen, go, goth ganging

gange, gonge, go, gaa, ga.

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The fuller forms from gangen do not frequently occur in Old-English. For the preterite belonging to it there is frequently substituted, even in Anglosaxon, a weak verb of another stem: eode; the forms yede, yeade &c. still occur in Spenser, and even now yewd and yod are said to be in use in the North of England. The verb wend, which also occur in the present: If, maiden thou wouldst wend with me To leave both tower and town (W. Scorr), underwent even in Old-English the transformation of the de into t. See above p. 348. In ago the old abbreviated participial form is still preserved: My sparowe is go (SKELTON I. 54.).

d) Finally there belong here a number of the so-called preteritopresentia, or past-presents, that is, those verbs in which an originally strong preterite enters as a present and receives a new preterite of the weak conjugation, which in Anglosaxon was formed after the first weak conjugation. They have been mostly incompletely preserved in Modern-English.

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Angl. cann (can) canst (cunne) cann (can) cunnon
Old-Engl. kan, canst

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