STRONG VERBS: CLASS I. (See § 17.)
#Syntax of Moods.#
101. Of the three hundred simple verbs belonging to the O.E. Strong
Conjugation, it is estimated[1] that seventy-eight have preserved their
strong inflections in Mn.E., that eighty-eight have become weak, and
that the remaining one hundred and thirty-four have entirely
disappeared, their places being taken in most cases by verbs of Latin
origin introduced through the Norman-French.
NOTE.--Only the simple or primitive verbs, not the compound forms,
are here taken into consideration. The proportionate loss,
therefore, is really much greater. O.E. abounded in formative
prefixes. "Thus from the Anglo-Saxon #flôwan#, _to flow_, ten new
compounds were formed by the addition of various prefixes, of
which ten, only one, #oferflôwan#, _to overflow_, survives with
us. In a similar manner, from the verb #sittan#, _to sit_,
thirteen new verbs were formed, of which not a single one is to be
found to-day." Lounsbury, _ib._ Part I, p. 107.
[Footnote 1: Lounsbury, _English Language_, Part II, § 241.]
102. #Class I: The "Drive" Conjugation.#
Vowel Succession: î, â, i, i.
INFINITIVE. PRETERIT SING. PRETERIT PLUR. PAST PART.
Drîf-an drâf drif-on gedrif-en, _to drive_.
#Indicative.# #Subjunctive.#
PRESENT. PRESENT.
_Sing._ 1. Ic drîf-e _Sing._ 1. Ic }
2. ðû drîf-st (drîf-est) 2. ðû } drîf-e
3. hê drîf-ð (drîf-eð) 3. hê }
_Plur._ 1. wê } _Plur._ 1. wê }
2. gê } (drîf-að) 2. gê } drîf-en
3. hîe } 3. hîe }
PRETERIT. PRETERIT.
_Sing._ 1. Ic drâf _Sing._ 1. Ic }
2. ðû drif-e 2. ðû } drif-e
3. hê drâf 3. hê }
_Plur._ 1. wê } _Plur._ 1. wê }
2. gê } drif-on 2. gê } drif-en
3. hîe } 3. hîe }
#Imperative.# #Infinitive.# #Present Participle.#
_Sing._ 2. drîf drîf-an drîf-ende
_Plur._ 1. drîf-an
2. drîf-að
#Gerund.# #Past Participle.#
tô drîf-anne (-enne) gedrif-en
#Tense Formation of Strong Verbs.#
103. (1) It will be seen from the conjugation of #drîfan# that the
_present stem_ in all strong verbs is used throughout the present
indicative, the present subjunctive, the imperative, the infinitive, the
gerund, and the present participle. More than half of the endings,
therefore, of the Strong Conjugation are added directly to the present
stem.
(2) That the _preterit singular stem_ is used in only two forms of the
verb, the 1st and 3d persons singular of the preterit indicative: #Ic
drâf#, #hê drâf#.
(3) That the _preterit plural stem_ is used in the preterit plural
indicative, in the second person of the preterit singular indicative,
and in the singular and plural of the preterit subjunctive.
(4) That the _stem of the past participle_ (#gedrif-#) is used for no
other form.
#Syntax of the Verb.#
104. The Indicative Mood[2] represents the predicate _as a reality_. It
is used both in independent and in dependent clauses, its function in
O.E. corresponding with its function in Mn.E.
[Footnote 2: Usage sanctions _mood_, but the better spelling
would be _mode_. It is from the Lat. _modus_, whereas _mood_ (=
_temper_) is O.E. _môd_.]
105. The Subjunctive Mood represents the predicate _as an idea_.[3] It
is of far more frequent occurrence in O.E. than in Mn.E.
1. When used in independent clauses it denotes desire, command, or
entreaty, and usually precedes its subject: #Sîe ðîn nama gehâlgod#,
_Hallowed be Thy name_; #Ne swerigen gê#, _Do not swear_.
2. In dependent clauses it denotes uncertainty, possibility, or mere
futurity.[4] (_a_) Concessive clauses (introduced by #ðêah#, _though_)
and (_b_) temporal clauses (introduced by #æ:r#, #æ:r ðæ:m ðe#,
_before_) are rarely found with any other mood than the subjunctive. The
subjunctive is also regularly used in Alfredian prose (_c_) after verbs
of saying, even when no suggestion of doubt or discredit attaches to the
narration.[5] "Whether the statement refer to a fact or not, whether the
subject-matter be vouched for by the reporter, as regards its objective
reality and truth, the subjunctive does not tell. It simply represents a
statement as reported"[6]: #ðêah man âsette twêgen fæ:tels full ealað
oððe wæteres#, _though one set two vessels full of ale or water_; #æ:r
ðæ:m ðe hit eall forhergod wæ:re#, _before it was all ravaged_; #Hê
sæ:de ðæt Norðmanna land wæ:re swy:ðe lang and swy:ðe smæl#, _He said
that the Norwegians' land was very long and very narrow_.
[Footnote 3: Gildersleeve's _Latin Grammar_, § 255.]
[Footnote 4: Thus when Alfred writes that an event took place
_before_ the founding of Rome, he uses the subjunctive: #æ:r ðæ:m
ðe Rômeburh getimbrod wæ:re# = _before Rome were founded_; but,
#æfter ðæ:m ðe Rômeburh getimbrod wæs# = _after Rome was
founded_.]
[Footnote 5: "By the time of Ælfric, however, the levelling
influence of the indicative [after verbs of saying] has made
considerable progress."--Gorrell, _Indirect Discourse in
Anglo-Saxon_ (Dissertation, 1895), p. 101.]
[Footnote 6: Hotz, _On the Use of the Subjunctive Mood in
Anglo-Saxon_ (Zürich, 1882).]
106. The Imperative is the mood of command or intercession: #Iôhannes,
cum tô mê#, _John, come to me_; #And forgyf ûs ûre gyltas#, _And forgive
us our trespasses_; #Ne drîf ûs fram ðê#, _Do not drive us from thee_.
107. (1) The Infinitive and Participles are used chiefly in verb-phrases
(§§ 138-141); but apart from this function, the Infinitive, being a
neuter noun, may serve as the subject or direct object of a verb.
#Hâtan# (_to command, bid_), #læ:tan# (_to let, permit_), and onginnan
(_to begin_) are regularly followed by the Infinitive: #Hine rîdan
lyste#, _To ride pleased him_; #Hêt ðâ bæ:re settan#, _He bade set down
the bier_;[7] #Læ:tað ðâ ly:tlingas tô mê cuman#, _Let the little ones
come to me_; #ðâ ongann hê sprecan#, _then began he to speak_.
(2) The Participles may be used independently in the dative absolute
construction (an imitation of the Latin ablative absolute), usually for
the expression of time:[8] #Him ðâ gy:t sprecendum#, _While he was yet
speaking_; #gefylledum dagum#, _the days having been fulfilled_.
[Footnote 7: Not, _He commanded the bier to be set down._ The
Mn.E. passive in such sentences is a loss both in force and
directness.]
[Footnote 8: Callaway, _The Absolute Participle in Anglo-Saxon_
(Dissertation, 1889), p. 19.]
108. The Gerund, or Gerundial Infinitive, is used:
(1) To express purpose: #Ût êode sê sâwere his sæ:d tô sâwenne#, _Out
went the sower his seed to sow_.
(2) To expand or determine the meaning of a noun or adjective: #Sy:môn,
ic hæbbe ðê tô secgenne sum ðing#, _Simon, I have something to say to
thee_; #Hit is scondlîc ymb swelc tô sprecanne#, _It is shameful to
speak about such things_.
(3) After #bêon# (#wesan#) to denote duty or necessity: #Hwæt is nû mâ
ymbe ðis tô sprecanne#, _What more is there now to say about this_?
#ðonne is tô geðencenne hwaet Crîst self cwæð#, _then it behooves to
bethink what Christ himself said_.
NOTE.--The Gerund is simply the dative case of the Infinitive
after #tô#. It began very early to supplant the simple Infinitive;
hence the use of _to_ with the Infinitive in Mn.E. As late as the
Elizabethan age the Gerund sometimes replaced the Infinitive even
after the auxiliary verbs:
"Some pagan shore,
Where these two Christian armies _might combine_
The blood of malice in a vein of league,
And not _to spend_ it so unneighbourly."
_--King John_, V, ii, 39.
When _to_ lost the meaning of purpose and came to be considered as
a merely formal prefix, _for_ was used to supplement the purpose
element: _What went ye out for to see_?[9]
[Footnote 9: This is not the place to discuss the Gerund in
Mn.E., the so-called "infinitive in _-ing_." The whole subject
has been befogged for the lack of an accepted nomenclature, one
that shall do violence neither to grammar nor to history.]