Unit 19 Strong Verbs

Strong verbs form their preterite tense (and past participle) by means of a change of the root vowel, inherited from Proto-Indo-European, which is called vowel-gradation or ablaut. Thus for example, ‘ic fare’ meant ‘I go’, ‘ic fōr’ ‘I went’, ‘wē fōron’ ‘we went’. Since however there are often two different vowels in the preterite (‘ic healp’ ‘I helped’ and ‘wē hulpon’ ‘we helped’), with strong verbs it is necessary to distinguish four (instead of three as it is with the weak verbs) principal forms:

1. the Infinitive, or Present Indicative, Ist person, sg.

2. the Preterite Indicative 1st (or 3rd) Singular,

3. the Preterite Indicative Plural,

4. the Past Participle.

Strong verbs are divided into seven classes, each having a distinct set or pattern of the root vowels in its principal parts, different from any other class. Each of these may be further subdivided into one or two sub-classes as the result of additional sound changes.

Class I:	ī–ā– i –i	drīvan	drāf	drifon	drifen
Class II:	ēo–ēa– u – o	crēopan būgan	crēap bēag	crupon bugon	cropen bogen
Class III:	eo – ea – u – o e – ea(æ) –u–o i – a(o) –u – u	feohtan helpan bregdan findan	feaht healp brægd fand	fuhton hulpon brugdon fundon	fohten holpen brogden funden
Class IV:	e – æ –ǣ– o	brecan	bræc	brǣcon	brocen
Class V:	e/i – æ – ǣ – e	sprecan sittan	spræc sæt	sprǣcon sǣton	sprecen seten
Class VI:	a – ō – ō – a	faran	fōr	fōron	faren

Class VII comprised old reduplicated verbs which in historical times formed their Preterite with the vocalism -ē- or -ēo-, and the Past Participle of which had the vocalism of the Present Tense.

hātan	hēt	hēton	hāten	(call)
cnāwan	cnēow	cnēowon	cnāwen	(know)
grōwan	grēow	grēowon	grōwen	(grow)
fēallan	fēoll	fēollon	fēallen	(fall)

The Present Indicative was formed by means of the following set of ending:

	Sg.	Pl.
1.	- e	↘
2.	- (e)st	→ aþ
3.	- (e)þ	↗

In addition to that, in the 2nd and 3rd person sg., the root vowel would undergo the following changes (i-umlaut/mutation);

ĕo/ēo > ĭe/īe	crēopan	crīepst	crīepþ	(creep)
ĕa/ēa > ĭe/īe	feallan	fielst	fielþ	(fall)
ǔ/ū > y/ӯ	cuman	cymst	cymþ	(come)
ă/ā > æ/ǣ	cnāwan	cnǣwst	cnæwþ	(know)
ō > ē	grōwan	grēwst	grēwþ	(grow)
e > i	helpan	hilpst	hilpþ	(help)

Note: But i/ī, ē and ǣ would remain unchanged.

The Present Indicative of the verbs drīfan (drive), crēopan (creep), helpan (help), faran (go) is then as follows:

Singular
(ic)	drīfe	crēope	helpe	fare
(þu)	drīfst	crīepst	hilpst	fær(e)st
(hē)	drīfþ	crīepþ	hilpþ	fær(e)þ
Plural
1 – 3 (wē, gē, hīe)	drīfaþ	crēopaþ	helpaþ	faraþ

The Preterite Indicative is formed by means of the following set of ending:

	Sg.	Pl.
1.	-	↘
2.	- e	→ on
3.	-	↗

The paradigm:

Singular
1.	drāf	crēap	healp	fōr
2.	drife	crupe	hulpe	fōre
3.	drāf	crēap	healp	fōr
Plural
1 – 3	drifon	crupon	hulpon	fōron

Note: In Preterite, 1st and 3rd person sg. were always identical; the root vowel of the 2nd person sg. was always that of the plural.