The English Language Part 60

_Third Cla.s.s._

-- 366. Here an _o_ before _w_, in the present, becomes _e_ before _w_ in the praeterite; as

_Present._ _Praeterite._ Blow. Blew.

Crow. Crew.

Throw. Threw.

Know. Knew.

Grow. Grew.

_Fourth Cla.s.s._

-- 367. Contains the single word _let_, where a short _e_ in the {309} present remains unchanged in the praeterite. In the Anglo-Saxon the present form was _Ic laete_, the praeterite _Ic let_.

_Fifth Cla.s.s._

-- 368. Contains the single word _beat_, where a long _e_ remains unchanged.

In Anglo-Saxon the forms were _Ic beate_, _Ic beot_.

_Sixth Cla.s.s._

-- 369. Present _come_, praeterite _came_, participle _come_. In Anglo-Saxon, _c.u.me_, _com_, _c.u.men_.

_Seventh Cla.s.s._

-- 370. In this cla.s.s we have the sounds of the _ee_, in _feet_, and of the _a_ in _fate_ (spelt _ea_ or _a_), changed into _o_ or _oo_. As several words in this cla.s.s have a second form in _a_, the praeterite in _o_ or _oo_ will be called the primary, the praeterite in _a_ the secondary form.

_Present._ _Primary Praeterite._ _Secondary Praeterite._

Heave [48]Hove -- Cleave Clove [48]Clave.

Weave Wove -- Freeze Froze -- Steal Stole [48]Stale.

Speak Spoke Spake.

Swear Swore Sware.

Bear Bore Bare.

Tear Tore [48]Tare.

Shear [48]Sh.o.r.e -- Wear Wore [48]Ware.

Break Broke Brake.

Shake Shook -- Take Took -- Forsake Forsook -- Stand Stood -- -- Quoth -- Get Got [48]Gat.

The praeterite of _stand_ was originally long. This we collect {310} from the spelling, and from the Anglo-Saxon form _stod_. The process that ejects the _nd_ is the same process that, in Greek, converts [Greek: odont-os]

into [Greek: odous].

All the words with secondary forms will appear again in the eighth cla.s.s.

_Eighth Cla.s.s._

-- 371. In this cla.s.s the sound of the _ee_ in _feet_, and the _a_ in _fate_ (spelt _ea_), is changed into a. Several words of this cla.s.s have secondary forms. Further details may be seen in the remarks that come after the following list of verbs.

_Present._ _Primary Praeterite._ _Secondary Praeterite._

Speak Spake Spoke.

Break Brake Broke.

Cleave [49]Clave Clove.

Steal [49]Stale Stole.

Eat Ate -- Seethe -- [49]Sod.

Tread [49]Trad Trod.

Bear Bare Bore.

Tear Tare Tore.

Swear Sware Swore.

Wear [49]Ware Wore.

Bid Bade Bid.

Sit Sate -- Give Gave -- Lie Lay -- Get [49]Gat Got.

Here observe,--1. That in _speak_, _cleave_, _steal_, the _ea_ has the same power with the _ee_ in _freeze_ and _seethe_; so that it may be dealt with as the long (or independent) sound of the _i_ in _bid_, _sit_, _give_.

2. That the same view may be taken of the _ea_ in _break_, although the word by some persons is p.r.o.nounced _brake_. _Gabrika_, _gabrak_, Moeso-Gothic; _briku_, _brak_, Old Saxon; _brece_, _brac_, Anglo-Saxon.

Also of _bear_, _tear_, _swear_, _wear_. In the provincial dialects these words are even now p.r.o.nounced _beer_, _teer_, _sweer_. The forms in the allied languages are, in {311} respect to these last-mentioned words, less confirmatory; Moeso-Gothic, _svara_, _baira_; Old High German, _sverju_, _piru_.

3. That the _ea_ in _tread_ was originally long; Anglo-Saxon, _tredan_, _trede_, _tr['ae]d_, _treden_.

4. _Lie._--Here the sound is diphthongal, having grown out of the Anglo-Saxon forms _licgan_, _l['ae]g_, _legen_.

5. _Sat._--The original praeterite was long. This we collect from the spelling _sate_, and from the Anglo-Saxon _s['ae]t_.

_Ninth Cla.s.s._

-- 372. _A_, as in _fate_, is changed either into the _o_ in _note_, or the _oo_ in _book_. Here it should be noticed that, unlike _break_ and _swear_, &c., there is no tendency to sound the _a_ of the present as _ee_, neither is there, as was the case with _clove_ and _spoke_, any tendency to secondary forms in a. A partial reason for this lies in the original nature of the vowel. The original vowel in _speak_ was e. If this was the _e ferme_ of the French, it was a sound from which the _a_ in _fate_ and the _ee_ in _feet_ might equally have been evolved. The vowel sound of the verbs of the present cla.s.s was that of _a_ for the present and that of _o_ for the praeterite forms; as _wace_, _woc_, _grafe_, _grof_. Now of these two sounds it may be said that the _a_ has no tendency to become the _ee_ in _feet_, and that the _o_ has no tendency to become the _a_ in _fate_.

The sounds that are evolved from the accentuated _o_, are the _o_ in _note_ and the _oo_ in _book_.

_Present._ _Praeterite._

Awake Awoke.

Wake Woke.

Lade [50]Lode.

Grave [50]Grove.

Take Took.

Shake Shook.

Forsake Forsook.

Shape [50]Shope.

_Tenth Cla.s.s._

-- 373. Containing the single word _strike_, _struck_, _stricken_. It is only in the Middle High German, the Middle Dutch, the New High German, the Modern Dutch, and the English, that {312} this word is found in its praeterite forms. These are, in Middle High German, _streich_; New High German, _strich_; Middle Dutch, _strec_; Modern Dutch, _strik_. Originally it must have been referable to the ninth cla.s.s.

_Eleventh Cla.s.s._

-- 374. In this cla.s.s we first find the secondary forms accounted for by the difference of form between the singular and plural numbers. The change is from the _i_ in _bite_ to the _o_ in _note_, and the _i_ in _pit_.

Sometimes it is from the _i_ in _bit_ to the _a_ in _bat_. The Anglo-Saxon conjugation (A) may be compared with the present English (B).