CHAPTER XIII

VERBS

§ 280. In the parent Indg. language the verbs were divided into two great classes: athematic and thematic. In the athematic verbs the personal endings were added to the bare root which had the strong grade form of ablaut in the singular, but the weak grade in the dual and plural. Thus, for example, the singular and plural of the verbs for ‘to be’ and ‘to go’ were: *és-mi, *és-si, *és-ti, *s-més or *s-mós, *s-té, *s-énti; *éi-mi, *éi-si, *éi-ti, *i-més or *i-mós, *i-té, *j-énti. Verbs of this class are often called mi-verbs because the first person singular ends in -mi. The Germanic languages have only preserved a few traces of the mi-conjugation (§§ 341–3). Nearly all the verbal forms, which originally belonged to this class, passed over into the ō-conjugatíon in the prim. Germanic period.

In the thematic verbs the stem-vowel, which could be either of the strong or weak grade of ablaut, remained unchanged throughout the present; in the former case 133they are called imperfect presents (as kiusan, to choose; hilpan, to help; itan, to eat; &c.), and in the latter case aorist presents (as ga-lūkan, to shut; trudan, to tread; &c.). The present was formed by means of the thematic vowels, e, o, which came between the root and the personal endings, thus the present singular and plural of the verb for ‘to bear’ was *bhérō (from *bhér-o-a), *bhér-e-si, *bhér-e-ti, *bhér-o-mes, (-mos), *bhér-e-te, *bhér-o-nti. Verbs of this class are generally called ō-verbs because the first person singular ends in -ō. The old distinction between the mi- and the ō-conjugation was fairly well preserved in Greek, as εἰμί, I am, εἶμι, I go, δίδωμι, I give; μένω, I remain, πείθω, I persuade; τρῑ́βω, I rub, τῡ́φω, I smoke.

§ 281. In treating the history of the verbal forms in Gothic it is advisable to start out partly from prim. Germanic and partly from Gothic itself. The Indg. verbal system underwent so many radical changes in prim. Germanic that it would be necessary to treat here in detail the verbal system of the non-Germanic languages such as Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin in order to account for all the changes.

In Gothic, as in the other Germanic languages, the verbs are divided into two great classes—Strong and Weak—according to the formation of the preterite tense. Besides these two great classes of strong and weak verbs, there are a few others which will be treated under the general heading Minor Groups.

§ 282. Strong verbs form their preterite by ablaut (nima, I take, nam, I took), or simply by reduplication (háita, I call, haíháit, I called), or else by ablaut and reduplication combined (tēka, I touch, taítōk, I touched). The strong verbs are sub-divided into two classes: non-reduplicated and reduplicated verbs. The non-reduplicated verbs are divided into six classes according to the first six ablaut-series 134given in §§ 122–4. The reduplicated verbs, which form their preterite by ablaut and reduplication combined, belong to the seventh ablaut-series (§ 124). Both these, and those which form their preterite by reduplication simply, are here put together and called Class VII.

§ 283. Weak verbs form their preterite by the addition of a syllable containing a dental (Goth. -da, (-ta), OE. -de, -te; OHG. -ta), and their past participle by means of a dental suffix (Goth. -þ, (-t), OE. -d, (-t), OHG. (-t), as sōkja, I seek, sōkida, I sought, sōkiþs, sought; bugja, I buy, baúhta, I bought, baúhts, bought. The weak verbs, which for the most part are derivatives, are divided into four classes according as the infinitive ends in -jan (sōkjan, to seek, pret. sōkida), -ōn (salbōn, to anoint, pret. salbōda), -an (haban, to have, pret. habáida), -nan (fullnan, to become full, pret. fullnōda).

§ 284. The Gothic verb has the following independent forms:—

Two voices: active and passive. The passive (originally middle) only occurs in the indicative and subjunctive present; the other forms are supplied by the past participle used with waírþan or wisan. See § 435.

Three numbers: singular, dual, and plural. In the passive there is no dual, and in the dual active the third person is wanting.

Three persons: The third person of the dual is wanting. In the present passive there is only one form for all three persons of the plural.

Two tenses: present and preterite.

Two complete moods: indicative and subjunctive (originally optative), besides an imperative which is only used in the present tense of the active.

A present infinitive which is an uninflected verbal substantive, a present participle with active meaning, and a past participle with passive meaning.

A. Strong Verbs.

§ 285. We are able to conjugate a strong verb in Gothic when we know the four stems, as seen (1) in the infinitive, to which belong all forms of the present, (2) the stem of the preterite singular, (3) the stem of the preterite plural, to which also belongs the whole of the preterite subjunctive, (4) the stem of the past participle.

§ 286. The conjugation of niman, to take, and háitan, to call, will serve as models for all strong verbs.

a. Active.

Present.

Preterite.

b. Passive.

Present.

The Endings of Strong Verbs.

§ 287. Pres. Indicative: The prim. Germanic forms were: Sing. *nemō (cp. Lat. fero, Gr. φέρω, I bear), *nimizi, Indg. *némesi (cp. Skr. bhárasi, thou bearest), *nimiđi, Indg. *németi (cp. Skr. bhárati); Dual *nemō-(w)iz (probably formed from the first pers. sing. + the Indg. dual ending -wes, cp. Skr. bhárā-vas), *nemađiz with -a- from the first and third pers. plural, the regular form would have been *nimiđiz = Indg. *némethes, *németes (cp. Skr. bhárathas); *nemađiz would regularly have become *nimaþs in Gothic; nimats has -ts from the pret. dual (§ 292); Pl. *nemamiz, -maz (cp. Gr. Doric φέρομες, Skr. bhárāmas, see § 175), *nimiđi, older *nemeđe (cp. Gr. φέρετε), *nemanđi (cp. Gr. Doric φέροντι).

§ 288. Pres. Subjunctive: This tense is properly an old optative. The original forms were: Sing. *nemoĩ-, *nemoĩs (cp. Gr. φέροις, Skr. bhárēš), *nemoĩt (cp. Gr. φέροι, Skr. bhárēt); Dual *nemoĩwē, *nemoĩthes, -tes; Pl. *nemoĩmē, *nemoĩte (cp. Gr. φέροιτε, Skr. bhárēta), *nemoĩnt = prim. Germanic *nemai- (it is difficult to account for nimáu unless we may suppose that it represents the first pers. sing. pres. indic. *nemō + the particle -u), *nemaiz,*nemai; *nemaiwǣ, *nemaiþs (cp. pres. indic.); *nemaimǣ, *nemaiđi, *nemain (Goth. with final -a from the first pers. pl.).

§ 289. Imperative: Sing. *nimi older *neme (cp. Gk. φέρε, Skr. bhára), *nemetō̃d (Gr. φερέτω, cp. Gr. ἔστω = O.Lat. estōd, let him be) = prim. Germanic *nemeđō̃ + particle -u (cp. Skr. bhárat-u, let him bear; bhárant-u, let them bear), which would have become in Goth. *nimidáu; nimadáu had -a- from the third pers. plural. nimats, nimam and 138nimiþ are indicative forms. *nemontō̃d (cp. Gr. Doric φερόντω) = prim. Germanic *nemanđō̃ + particle -u, which regularly became nimandáu in Gothic.

§ 290. Infinitive: The inf. was originally a nomen actionis, formed by means of various suffixes in the Indg. languages. The suffix -ono-, to which was added the nom. acc. neuter ending -m, became generalized in prim. Germanic, thus the original form of niman was *nemonom, the -onom of which regularly became -an in Goth. OE. OS. and OHG., and -a in O.Icel.

§ 291. Pres. Participle: In the parent language the stem of the pres. participle ended in -nt, as in Lat. ferent-, Gr. φέροντ-, Indg. *bhéront- = Goth. baírand-s, O.Icel. OS. berand-i, OE. berend-e, OHG. berant-i, bearing. See § 239.

§ 292. Pret. Indicative: The pret. indic. is morphologically an old perfect, which already in prim. Germanic was chiefly used to express the past tense. The prim. Germanic forms were: Sing. *nama (cp. Gr. οἶδα, Skr. vēda, I know), *namþa (cp. Gr. οἶσθα, Skr. vḗttha), *nami (cp. Gr. οἶδε, Skr. vḗda). -tha, the original ending of the second pers., would regularly have become -þ (§ 130) in Goth. O.Icel. OE. and OS., except after prim. Germanic s, f, χ where it regularly became -t (§ 128 notes, and cp. § 138), as Goth. last, thou didst gather; þarft, thou needest; slōht, thou didst slay. This -t became generalized in prim. Germanic, as Goth. O.Icel. namt. But in the West Germanic languages the old ending was only preserved in the preterite-present verbs, as Goth. O.Icel. þarft, OE. þearft, OS. tharft, OHG. darft, thou needest, but Goth. O.Icel. namt beside OE. nōme, OS. OHG. nāmi. Dual *nǣm-wi (older -we), *nǣm-điz (older -thes, -tes); Pl. *nǣm-mi (older -me), *nǣm-đi (older -te), *nǣm-un (older -nt with vocalic n). During the prim. Germanic period the u of the third pers. pl. was levelled out into all forms of the 139dual and plural, cp. pl. O.Icel. nǭm-um, -uð, -u, OE. nōm-on, OS. nām-un, OHG. nām-um, -ut, -un. Goth. nēmu from *nǣm-uwi through the intermediate stages *nǣm-uw, *nǣm-ū. The t in nēmuts is of the same origin as in namt. nēmum, nēmuþ, nēmun from older *nǣm-umi, *nǣm-udi, *nǣm-un.

§ 293. Pret. Subjunctive: The original endings were: Sing. -jēm, -jēs, -jēt (cp. O.Lat. siem, I may be, siēs, siet = Skr. syā́m, syā́s, syā́t); dual -īwē, -īthes, or -ītes; pl. -īmē, -īte, -īnt (cp. O.Lat. pl. sīmus, sītis, si-ent), consisting of the optative element -jē-, (-ī-) and the personal endings. Already during the prim. Germanic period the -ī- of the dual and plural was levelled out into the singular, so that the forms became *nǣmīn, *nǣmīz, *nǣmī(t), *nǣmīwǣ, *nǣmīđiz, *nǣmīmǣ, *nǣmīđī, *nǣmīn(t), from which the corresponding Gothic forms were regularly developed except nēmjáu, nēmeits, nēmeina. *nǣmīn would have become *nēmi, the form nēmjáu was a new formation with -áu from the pres. subjunctive, and the change of i to j (cp. sunjus from older *suniuz (§ 150 note 1); the -ts in nēmeits is of the same origin as in namt (§ 292); nēmeina with -a from nēmeima.

§ 294. Past Participle: The past participle was formed in various ways in the parent language. In prim. Germanic the suffix -éno-, -óno- became restricted to strong verbs, and the suffix -tó- to weak verbs. In the strong verbs OE. and O.Icel. generalized the form -éno-, and Goth. OS. and OHG. the form -óno-. Beside the suffix -éno-, -óno- there also existed in prim. Germanic -ini- = Indg. -éni-. But prim. Germanic -énaz, -íniz = Indg. -énos, -énis regularly fell together in -ins in Gothic, so that the isolated pp. fulgins (§ 137), hidden, can represent either form.

§ 295. Pass. Indicative: The original forms were: Sing. *nemo-mai or -ai (cp. Gr. φέρομαι, Skr. bhárē), — the first 140pers. does not exist in any of the Germanic languages; in Goth. the third pers. was used for it, *neme-sai (cp. Gr. φέρεαι from φέρεσαι, Skr. bhárasē), *neme-tai (cp. Gr. φέρεται, Skr. bháratē); pl. *nemo-ntai (cp. Gr. Doric φέρονται, Skr. bhárantē) = prim. Germanic *nimizai, *nimidai, *nemanđai. The medial -a- in the pl. was levelled out into the two other forms, whence nimaza (§ 90), nimada, nimanda.

§ 296. Pass. Subjunctive: The subjunctive passive has the same stem-form as the subjunctive active (§ 288), and the same endings as the indic, passive + the particle -u. Some scholars assume that the original forms were: *nemoĩ-so (cp. Gr. φέροιο from *φέροισο), *nemoĩ-to (cp. Gr. φέροιτο), *nemoĩ-nto (cp. Gr. φέροιντο) = prim. Germanic *nemaiza, *nemaiđa, *nemainđa; we should then have to assume that the addition of the particle -u was older than the loss of final unaccented -a, which is improbable.

§ 297. Several of the imperative and subjunctive forms end in -u, viz. nimadáu, nimandáu, nimáu, nēmjáu, nimáidáu, nimáizáu, nimáindáu. This -u did not originally form a part of the personal endings, but was a deictic particle added enclitically especially to verbal and pronominal forms to emphasize them. It also occurs in Skr. and the Slavonic languages and probably in Greek in such words as πάν-υ, altogether, at all, beside neut. πᾶν, all. Skr. id-ám-u, this, this ‘here’, cp. Lat. id-em, the same; Skr. a-sā-ú, that, yon, that ‘there’; Skr. bhárat-u, let him bear; bhárant-u, let them bear; O. Bulgarian beret-ŭ, he bears; berąt-ŭ, they bear. The same u occurs in Goth. as an interrogative particle, as skuld-u ist?, is it lawful?; ga-u-láubjats?, do ye two believe?; sa-u ist sa sunus izwar?, Gr. οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς ὑμῶν; is this your son?

1. Non-reduplicated Strong Verbs.

§ 298. In order to be able to conjugate a strong verb of the non-reduplicated class, it is necessary to know the four stems, as seen (1) in the infin., (2) 1 pers. sing. pret. indic., (3) 1 pers. pl. pret. indic., (4) the past participle. See §§ 122–5.

Class I.

§ 299.

§ 300. To this class also belong:— beitan, to bite; deigan, to knead; dreiban, to drive; greipan, to seize; hneiwan, to bow; bi-leiban, to remain; ga-leiþan, to go; ur-reisan, to arise; skeinan, to shine; dis-skreitan, to rend; ga-smeitan, to smear; speiwan, to spit; steigan, to ascend; sweiban, to cease; ga-teihan, to tell; þeihan, to thrive; þreihan, to press upon; weihan, to fight; weipan, to crown; inweitan, to worship.

Class II.

§ 301.

§ 302. To this class also belong:— biugan, to bend; driugan, to serve as a soldier; giutan, to pour; hiufan, to mourn; dis-hniupan, to break asunder; kiusan, to test; kriustan, to gnash; liudan, to grow; liugan, to lie; fraliusan, to lose; ga-lūkan, to shut; niutan, to enjoy; siukan, to be sick; af-skiuban, to push aside; sliupan, to slip; þliuhan, to flee; us-þriutan, to trouble.

Class III.

§ 303. To this class belong all strong verbs having a medial nasal or liquid + a consonant, and a few others in which the vowel is followed by two consonants other than nasal or liquid + a consonant. Cp. § 124.

§ 304. To this class also belong:— baírgan, to keep; bliggwan (§ 151), to beat; brinnan, to burn; drigkan, to drink; filhan, to hide; finþan, to find; us-gildan, to repay; du-ginnan, to begin; uf-gaírdan, to gird up; fra-hinþan, to capture; ƕaírban, to walk; af-linnan, to depart; rinnan, to run; siggwan, to sing; sigqan, to sink; fra-slindan, to swallow up; spinnan, to spin; stigqan, to thrust; af-swaírban, to wipe out; swiltan, to die; ana-trimpan, to tread on; at-þinsan, to attract; ga-þaírsan, to wither; þriskan, to thresh; waírpan, to throw; wilwan, to rob; windan, to wind; winnan, to suffer; ga-wrisqan, to bear fruit.

Class IV.

§ 305. To this class belong strong verbs whose stems end in a single nasal or liquid, and a few others. Cp. § 124.

§ 306. To this class belong also:— brikan, to break; qiman, to come; stilan, to steal; ga-taíran, to destroy; ga-timan, to suit; trudan, to tread.

Class V.

§ 307. To this class belong strong verbs having i (aí) in the infinitive, and whose stems end in a single consonant other than a liquid or a nasal. Cp. § 124.

§ 308. To this class also belong:— bidjan, to pray; diwan, to die; fitan, to travail in birth; fraíhnan, to ask; bi-gitan, to find; hlifan, to steal; itan, to eat; ligan, to lie down; lisan, to gather; ga-nisan, to be saved; niþan, to help; rikan, to heap up; sitan, to sit; ga-widan, to bind; ga-wigan, to shake down; wisan, to be, remain; wrikan, to persecute.

Class VI.

§ 310. To this class also belong:— alan, to grow; us-anan, to expire; ga-daban, to beseem; ga-draban, to hew out; ga-dragan, to heap up; af-hlaþan, to lade; malan, to grind; sakan, to rebuke; skaban, to shave; standan, to stand; swaran, to swear; þwahan, to wash; wakan, to wake.

Seven verbs of this class have j in the present; but in other respects are like faran, &c.; fraþjan, to understand; hafjan, to raise; hlahjan, to laugh; ga-raþjan, to count; ga-skapjan, to create; skaþjan, to injure; wahsjan, to grow. Cp. the similar formation of the present in verbs like Lat. capiō, faciō. These seven verbs are conjugated in the present tense like nasjan or sōkjan according to the rules given in § 316.

The n in standan (stōþ, stōþum, *staþans) belongs to the present only, cp. Engl. stand, stood, and Lat. perfects like frēgī, vīcī to presents frangō, vincō.

2. Reduplicated Strong Verbs.

Class VII.

§ 311. The perfect (cp. § 292) was formed in the parent language partly with and partly without reduplication. The reason for this difference is unknown. Examples are: Skr. va-várta, I have turned, va-várttha, va-várta = Goth. warþ, warst, warþ; pl. va-vrtimá = Goth. waúrþum; Gr. λείπω, I leave, πέμπω, I send, pf. λέ-λοιπα, πέ-πομφα; δέ-δωκα, Lat. de-di, I have given; but Skr. vḗda, Gr. οἶδα, Goth. wáit, I know, lit. I have seen. Classes I to VI of strong verbs, and the preterite-presents, belong to the type of Skr. vḗda.

The reduplicated syllable originally contained the vowel e as in Greek λέ-λοιπα. In Gothic the vowel in the reduplicated syllable would regularly be i (§ 66), except in verbs beginning with r, h, ƕ, where the aí is quite regular (§ 67), but from forms like rēdan, háitan, ƕōpan, pret. raí-rōþ, haí-háit, ƕaí-ƕōp, the aí was extended to the reduplicated syllable of all verbs of this class.

In the sing. the accent was on the stem and in the dual and plural originally on the ending with corresponding change of ablaut (cp. §§ 32, 122–5, 136). Sanskrit preserved this distinction more faithfully than any of the other Indg. languages. It was also preserved in the Germanic languages in the first five classes of strong verbs. In the sixth class the vowel of the sing. was levelled out into the dual and plural. This levelling also took place in division (b) of the seventh class in Gothic, and the stem of the present was extended to the past participle which originally had the same stem as the pret. plural, cp. bitum, bundum, pp. bitans, bundans; whereas in division (a) the stem of the present was extended to all parts of the verb.

§ 312. The reduplicated verbs in Gothic are most conveniently divided into two classes:— (a) verbs which retain the same stem-vowel through all tenses, and form their preterite simply by reduplication, as háitan, to call; haíháit, haíháitum, háitans; (b) verbs which form their preterite by reduplication and ablaut combined. These verbs have the same stem-vowel in the pret. sing. and plural, and the stem-vowel of the past participle is the same as that of the present tense.

Division (a).

§ 313. Five sub-classes are to be distinguished according as the present stem contains:— a(ā), ái, ē, ō, áu.

Division (b).

§ 314. The verbs of this division belong to the seventh ablaut-series (§ 124).

B. Weak Verbs.

§ 315. The weak verbs, which for the most part are derivative or denominative, are divided in Gothic into four classes according as the infinitives end in -jan, pret. -ida, (-ta); -ōn, pret. -ōda; -an, pret. -áida; -nan, pret. -nōda. The weak preterite is a special Germanic formation, and many points connected with its origin are still uncertain. Some scholars are inclined to regard it as a periphrastic formation which was originally confined to denominative verbs, and then at a later period became extended to primary verbs as well. The Gothic endings of the singular:— -da, -dēs, -da would thus represent an old aorist formed from the root dhē-, put, place (Gr. τί-θη-μι), which stands in ablaut relation to OE. OS. dōn, OHG. tuon, to do, as Indg. *dhṓm, (*dhḗm), *dhḗs, dhḗt, prim. Germanic *đōn, (*đǣn), *đǣs, đǣ = Goth. -da, -dēs, -da. But it is also probable that the dental in the pret. sing. stands in close relationship to the dental of the past participle, where the -þs = prim. Germanic -đás, Gr. -τός. In Gothic the old preterite (perfect) of dōn has been preserved in the pret. dual and plural, as -dēd-u, -dēd-uts; pl. -dēd-um, -dēd-uþ, -dēd-un (with the same personal endings as in the pret. of strong verbs, § 292) = OHG. tāt-um, (-un), tāt-ut, tāt-un (OS. dād-un), the pret. plural of tuon.

1. First Weak Conjugation.

§ 316. The verbs of this conjugation are sub-divided into two classes:— (1) verbs with a short stem-syllable, as nasjan, to save; or with a long open syllable, as stōjan, to judge; (2) verbs with a long closed syllable, as sōkjan, to seek; and polysyllabic verbs, as glitmunjan, to shine.

The two classes only differ in the 2 and 3 pers. sing. and the 2 pers. pl. of the pres. indic. and in the 2 pers. pl. imperative. Class (1) has -ji-, but class (2) -ei-. See §§ 153–4.

§ 317. The full conjugation of nasjan, stōjan, sōkjan will serve as models.

a. Active.

Present.

Preterite.

b. Passive

Present.

§ 318. Like nasjan are conjugated the following and many other verbs: arjan, to plough; gatamjan, to tame; hazjan, to praise; huljan, to hide; kukjan, to kiss; lagjan, to lay; matjan, to eat; natjan, to wet; satjan, to set; þragjan, to run; waljan, to choose; warjan, to forbid; wasjan, to clothe.

§ 319. Like stōjan are conjugated the following verbs which change iu, áu back to iw, aw before a following vowel (§ 150): ana-niujan, to renew; ga-qiujan, to give life to; siujan, to sew; *stráujan (pret. strawida), to strew; táujan, to do.

§ 320. Like sōkjan are conjugated the following and a great many others: and-bahtjan, to serve; áugjan, to show; dáiljan, to deal out; dáupjan, to baptize; dáuþjan, 153to put to death; dōmjan, to judge; dragkjan, to give to drink; dráibjan, to trouble; faúrhtjan, to fear; fōdjan, to feed; fra-wardjan, to destroy; ga-brannjan, to burn; ga-láubjan, to believe; ga-mōtjan, to meet; gáumjan, to perceive; glitmunjan, to shine; gōljan, to greet; háiljan, to heal; háusjan, to hear; hnáiwjan, to abase; hráinjan, to make clean; huggrjan, to hunger; láisjan, to teach; láistjan, to follow; liuhtjan, to give light; máidjan, to falsify; maúrþrjan, to murder; mēljan, to write; mērjan, to preach, proclaim; mikiljan, to magnify; namnjan, to name; ōgjan, to terrify; ráisjan, to raise; rōdjan, to speak; sipōnjan, to be a disciple; sniumjan, to hasten; swōgatjan, to sigh; þaúrsjan, to thirst; wandjan, to turn; wēnjan, to hope.

§ 321. A certain number of verbs belonging to Class I formed their pret. and past participle already in prim. Germanic without the medial vowel -i-, cp. pret. Goth. þāhta, O.Icel. þātta, OE. þōhte, OS. thāhta, OHG. dāhta; pp. Goth. þāhts, OE. geþōht, OHG. gidāht. The following Gothic verbs belong to this type except the pp. káupatiþs. See § 340.

General Remarks on the Verbs of Class I.

§ 322. The first class of weak verbs contains partly causative and partly denominative verbs as in the other Indg. languages, as Skr. bhāráyāmi (Gr. φορέω), I cause to bear; Skr. vartáyāmi (Goth. fra-wardja), I cause to turn; Goth. nasjan, to save, ráisjan, to raise, beside Skr. bhárāmi, Gr. φέρω, I bear; Skr. vártāmi, I turn, Goth. waírþa, I become; ga-nisan, to be saved; ur-reisan, to arise. Gr. δακρύω, I weep, ὀνομαίνω, I name; Goth. dáiljan, to deal out; háiljan, to heal; namnjan, to name; beside Gr. δάκρυ, tear; ὄνομα, name; Goth. dáils, portion; háils, whole; namō, name.

Irrespectively of the nature of the stems of the nouns and adjectives from which denominative verbs were formed, the two kinds of verbs had come to have the same inflexional endings already in prim. Germanic. In the parent language the endings of the pres. sing. and pl. of the causative verbs were: Sing. -éjō, -éjesi, -éjeti; -éjomes, (-mos), -éjete, -éjonti. Thus—

The -ij- = Indg. -ej- regularly became j before guttural vowels, whence Goth. nasja, sōkja; nasjam, nasjand, nasjands, nasjan, &c., see §§ 152, (3), 157. The combination -iji- regularly became -ī- after long closed stem-syllables and after unaccented syllables, but -ji- in other cases (§ 153), whence Goth. sōkeis, sōkeiþ, beside nasjis, nasjiþ. On the imperative forms nasei, sōkei, see § 154.

Apart from the forms with -ei-, -ei, and the indic. pret. sing. all forms of the finite verb have the same endings as the corresponding tenses and moods of the strong verbs (§§ 287–97). On the indic. pret. singular, see § 315. Past participle nasiþs, sōkiþs, prim. Germanic *naziđaz, *sōkiđaz, Indg. -itós.

2. Second Weak Conjugation.

§ 323.

a. Active.

Present.

Preterite.

b. Passive.

Present.

§ 324. The second class of verbs is denominative and originally belonged partly to the athematic and partly to the thematic conjugation (§ 280). The first pers. sing. of the former ended in -āmi and of the latter in -ājō. The ā became -ō in the prim. Germanic period (§ 42). In Gothic the -ō became extended to all forms of the verb. The Gothic and OHG. pres. indic. belongs to the athematic conjugation and OE. partly to the one and partly to the other. The prim. Germanic forms corresponding to the Gothic and OHG. were: Sing. *salҌō-mi, *salҌō-zi, *salҌo-đi; dual *salҌō-(w)iz, *salҌō-điz; Pl. *salҌō-miz, *salҌō-di, *salҌō-ndi; from which the corresponding Gothic forms were regularly developed except salbōts (on which see §§ 287, 292) and the first pers. singular which would have become *salbōm as in OHG. The form salbō presents difficulties. It was probably a new formation with -a from the other classes of weak verbs and then *salba became salbō with ō from the other forms of the present. The cause of the new formation was doubtless due to the fact that the first pers. sing. and pl. would otherwise have been alike.

The pres. subjunctive is an old conjunctive (not optative as in Class I) and corresponds to the pres. subjunctive forms in the OHG. Franconian dialect: salbo, salbōs(t), salbo; salbōm, salbōt, salbōn. The prim. Germanic forms were: Sing. *salҌō-m, *salҌō-z, *salҌō (Indg. -t); dual *salbō-wǣ, *salҌō-diz; Pl. *salҌō-mǣ, *salҌō-đi, *salҌō-n (Indg. -nt). In Goth. the first and third pers. sing. would regularly be *salba. The -ō in salbō was 157 due to levelling out the ō of the other forms. On salbōts see §§ 287, 292. The -a in salbōna was from the first pers. plural as in all the other classes of verbs.

The regular form of the imperative second pers. singular would be *salba (with -a from older -ō = Indg. -ǎ, cp. Gr. Doric τῑ́μᾱ, honour thou; Lat. amā, love thou), but here again the ō in the other forms was levelled out. The other forms of the imperative have the same endings as in Class I (§ 317).

The pret. indic. and subjunctive and the passive have the same endings as in Class I.

Past participle salbōþs from prim. Germanic salҌōđás, Indg. -atós (Gr. Doric -ᾱτός, Lat. -ātus).

§ 325. Like salbōn are conjugated the following and several others: áihtrōn, to beg for; áirinōn, to be a messenger; awiliudōn, to thank; dwalmōn, to be foolish; faginōn, to rejoice; fiskōn, to fish; fráujinōn, to be lord or king; frijōn, to love; gáunōn, to lament; ga-leikōn, to liken; hatizōn, to hate; hōlōn, to treat with violence; ƕrarbōn, to go about; idreigōn, to repent; karōn, to care for; káupōn, to traffic; laþōn, to invite; lustōn, to desire; mitōn, to consider; reikinōn, to rule; sidōn, to practise; skalkinōn, to serve; spillōn, to narrate; sunjōn, to justify; swiglōn, to pipe; ufar-munnōn, to forget.

3. Third Weak Conjugation

§ 326.

a. Active.

Present.

Preterite.

b. Passive.

Present.

§ 327. Most of the verbs belonging to the third class were originally primary verbs like Lat. habē-re, to have. In prim. Germanic there were at least two stem-forms of haban, viz. present *χabǣj- and pret. *χab-. In Gothic as in the other Germanic languages the different types became mixed, which gave rise to many new formations. In OHG. the stem-form of the present was extended to all parts of the verb, as pret. habēta, pp. gihabēt, but OE. hæfde, gehæfd, OS. habda, gihabd. In Gothic the stem-form of the present was extended to the preterite and pp. just as in OHG. The prim. Germanic forms of the pres. indic. were: Sing. *χaҌǣjō, *χaҌǣjizi, *χaҌǣjiđi; dual *χabæjō-(w)iz (§ 287), *χaҌǣjiđiz; Pl. *χaҌǣjamiz, *χaҌǣjiđi, *χaǣjanđi; from which with the loss of inter vocalic -j- (§§ 76, 152) were regularly developed the second and third pers. sing. habáis, habáiþ and the second pers. pl. habáiþ. The other forms of the present would have become in Gothic *habaia; *habaiōs, *habáiþs; *habaiam, *habaiand, see § 76. But the whole of the pres. indic. 159 (except the forms habáis, habáiþ), the pres. subjunctive, the imperative (except habái, habáiþ), the infinitive, the pres. participle, the passive indic. and subjunctive, were formed direct from the stem-form *χab- + the endings of the first Class of weak verbs. The imperative forms habái, habáiþ were regularly developed from prim. Germanic *χabǣj(i), *χabǣ(j)iđ(i).

§ 328. Like haban are also conjugated: áistan, to reverence; ana-silan, to be silent; and-staúrran, to murmur against; arman, to pity; bauan, to dwell; fastan, to fast, hold firm; fijan, to hate; ga-geigan, to gain; ga-kunnan, to recognize; hatan, to hate; jiukan, to contend; leikan, to please; liban, to live; liugan, to marry; maúrnan, to mourn; munan, to consider; reiran, to tremble; saúrgan, to sorrow; sifan, to rejoice; skaman (sik), to be ashamed; slawan, to be silent; trauan, to trust; swēran, to honour; þahan, to be silent; witan, to watch, observe.

4. Fourth Weak Conjugation.

§ 329.

Present.

Preterite.

§ 330. The verbs of the fourth class are partly denominative and partly deverbative, and denote the entering into a state expressed by the simplex, as fullnan, to become full; and-bundnan, to become unbound, as compared with fulls, full; and-bindan, to unbind. They correspond in meaning with the inceptive or inchoative verbs in Latin and Greek. They belonged originally to the athematic conjugation (§ 280) and contained in the pres. indic. the formative suffix -nā́- in the singular and -nǝ- in the dual and plural, as in Skr. Sing. badh-nā́-mi, I bind, badh-nā́-si, badh-nā́-ti; dual badh-nī-vás, badh-ni-thás, badh-nī-tás; Pl. badh-nī-más, badh-nī-thá, badh-n-ánti (= Indg. bhndh-n-énti with vocalic n in the stem). Such verbs had the weak grade form of the stem (like the pret. pl. and pp. of the first three classes of strong verbs) owing to the accent being on the nā́- in the singular and on the ending in the dual and plural. The -nā́-, -nǝ- became -nṓ- (§ 42), -na- (§ 41) in prim. Germanic. The prim. Germanic forms corresponding to the Skr. were: Sing. *Ҍunđnṓmi, *Ҍunđnṓsi, *Ҍunđoþi; dual *Ҍunđnawés, *Ҍunđnađés; Pl. *bunđnamés, *Ҍunđnađé, *Ҍunđnínþi; from which the first pers. pl. Goth. -bundnam is regularly developed. All the other forms of the pres. indic. were new formations formed direct from the stem-form bundn-, fulln-, &c. + the endings of strong verbs; and similarly with the pres. subjunctive, imperative, infinitive and pres. participle. The pret. was formed from the 161 original stem-form of the pres. sing. bundnō-, fullnō-, &c. + the endings of the first class of weak verbs.

§ 331. Like fullnan are conjugated the following verbs and a few others: af-dumbnan, to hold one’s peace; af-dáubnan, to become deaf; af-taúrnan, to be torn away from; and-bundnan, to be unbound; bi-áuknan, to become larger; dis-skritnan, to become torn; fra-lusnan, to perish; fraqistnan, to perish; ga-batnan, to profit; ga-blindnan, to become blind; ga-dáuþnan, to die; ga-haftnan, to be attached to; ga-háilnan, to become whole; ga-qiunan, to be made alive; ga-skáidnan, to become parted; ga-þaúrsnan, to dry up, wither away; ga-waknan, to awake; in-feinan, to be moved with compassion; mikilnan, to be magnified; tundnan, to take fire; ufar-hafnan, to be exalted; us-geisnan, to be aghast; us-gutnan, to be poured out; us-háuhnan, to be exalted; us-luknan, to become unlocked; us-mērnan, to be proclaimed; weihnan, to become holy.

C. Minor Groups.

A. Preterite-Presents.

§ 332. These verbs were originally unreduplicated perfects which acquired a pres. meaning like Skr. vḗda, Gr. οἶδα, Lat. nōvī, I know, to which a new weak preterite (see § 340), an infinitive, and a pres. participle were formed in the prim. Germanic period. They are inflected in the pres. like the preterite of strong verbs. The following verbs, most of which are very defective, belong to this class:—

I. Ablaut-series.

§ 333. wáit, I know, 2 sing. wáist (§ 138), 1 pl. witum, subj. witjáu, pret. wissa (§ 138), subj. pret. wissēdjáu, pres. part. witands, infin. *witan. láis, I know. This is the only form extant.

II. Ablaut-series.

§ 334. dáug, it is good for, profits. The only form extant.

III. Ablaut-series.

§ 335. kann, I know, 2 sing. kant (kannt), 1 pl. kunnum, pret. indic. kunþa, pret. subj. kunþēdjáu, infin. kunnan, pres. part. kunnands, pp. kunþs.

þarf, I need, 2 sing. þarft, 1 pl. þaúrbum, subj. þaúrbjáu, pret. indic. þaúrfta, infin. *þaúrban, pres. part. þaúrbands, pp. þaúrfts, necessary.

ga-dars, I dare, 1 pl. ga-daúrsum, subj. ga-dadúsjáu, pret. indic. ga-daúrsta, infin. ga-daúrsan.

IV. Ablaut-series.

§ 336. skal, I shall, owe, 2 sing. skalt, 1 pl. skulum, subj. skuljáu, pret. indic. skulda, pret. subj. skuldēdjáu, infin. *skulan, pres. part. skulands, pp. skulds, owing, lawful.

man, I think, 1 pl. munum, subj. munjáu, pret. indic. munda, infin. munan, pres. part. munands, pp. munds.

bi-nah, it is permitted or lawful; ga-nah, it suffices, pp. bi-naúhts, sufficient, infin. *-naúhan. Other forms are wanting.

V. Ablaut-series.

§ 337. mag, I can, may, 2 sing. magt for *maht, dual magu, maguts, 1 pl. magum, subj. magjáu, pret. indic. mahta, pret. subj. mahtēdjáu, infin. *magan, pres. part. magands, pp. mahts.

VI. Ablaut-series.

§ 338. ga-mōt, I find room, 1 pl. *ga-mōtum, subj. gamōtjáu, pret. indic. ga-mōsta, infin. *ga-motan. ōg, I fear, 1 pl. *ōgum, subj. ōgjáu, pret. indic. ōhta; imperative 2 sing. ōgs, from prim. Germanic *ōʒiz, is originally an injunctive form. 2 pl. ōgeiþ (properly subj.), infin. *ōgan. The pres. part. of the real old infin. still survives in unagands, fearless.

§ 339. áih, I have, probably belonged originally to the seventh class of strong verbs (§ 311), 1, 3 sing. áih (7) and áig (1), plural 1. áigum (2) and áihum (2), 2. áihuþ (1), 3. áigun (2), subj. 3 sing. áigi (2), plural 2 pers. áigeþ (1), 3. áigeina (1), pres. part. áigands (5) and áihands (1), infin. áihan (1) occurring in the compound faír-áihan, to partake of, pret. indic. 1, 3 sing. áihta, 3 pl. áihtēdun, subj. 2 sing. áihtēdeis.

§ 340. It should be noted that the ending of the past participle of all verbs belonging to the preterite presents goes back to Indg. -tós (not -itós as in the first class of weak verbs, § 322), as kunþs (§ 335 note), munds, skulds = prim. Germanic *kúnþaz, *munđás, *skulđás, Indg. *gntós, *mntós, *skltós; and similarly with the other past participles. This is no doubt the reason why the preterites do not have the medial -i- which is found in the 164 preterites and past participles of the first class of weak verbs, as nasida, sōkida, pp. nasiþs, sokiþs; and similarly with the preterites baúhta, brāhta, &c. (§ 321).

B. Verbs in -mi.

§ 341. Only scanty remains of the athematic verbs have been preserved in Gothic. These are the pres. indicative and subjunctive of the substantive verb, and the verb will.

1. The Substantive Verb.

§ 342. The substantive verb forms its present tense from the root es-. The other parts of the verb are supplied by wisan (§ 308).

Present.

Preterite.

The original forms of the pres. indic. were: Sing. *ésmi (Skr. ásmi), *ési beside *éssi (Skr. ási, Homer ἐσσί), *ésti (Skr. ásti, Gr. ἐστί); dual *swés (Skr. svás), *stés (Skr. sthás); Pl. *smés (Skr. smás), *sté (Skr. sthá), *sénti (Skr. sánti). Beside the accented there also were unaccented forms just as in the pronouns (§ 259). ésmi regularly became im through the intermediate stages *izmi, *immi, *imm. is from *isi, *izi; ist from *isti; sind from *sinđi. siju, sijum, sijuþ with sij- from the pres. subjunctive and the endings of the pret. of strong verbs (§ 292), cp. the same endings in O.Icel. erum, we are, eruþ, eru (OE. earon); OHG. bir-um, bir-ut; OE. sindon, OS. sindun.

The original forms of the pres. subjunctive were: Sing. *s(i)jḗm (Skr. syā́m), *s(i)jḗs (Skr. syā́s), *s(i)jḗt (Skr. syā́t); Pl. *simḗ, *sité, *sijént, which would have become in Gothic *sija, *sijēs, *sija; *seima (OHG. sīm), *seiþ (OHG. sīt), *sein (OHG. OS. sīn). In Gothic the original sij- of the singular was extended to the plural and then the whole tense was remodelled after the analogy of the pres. subjunctive of strong verbs (§ 288).

2. The Verb ‘will’.

§ 343. The present tense of this verb was originally an optative (subjunctive) form of a verb in -mi, which already in prim. Germanic came to be used indicatively. To this was formed in Gothic a new infinitive, present participle, and weak preterite. The endings of the present are those of the pret. subjunctive (§ 293). The existing forms are:—

Present.

Preterite.