4.6.2 Irregular suppletive verbs
In the Anglo-Saxon, like practically in any other language, there are suppletive verbs, or verbs, whose paradigms combine the forms of different stems (like e.g. (to) go, went or (to) be, is, are, were forms in the Mod E).
Shown below are the most important OE suppletive verbs.
(a) The meanings of the two historically independent verbs wesan and béon (to be, exist) became almost completely merged in the Anglo-Saxon and they were practically included in the same conjugation paradigm.
It is worth mentioning that the Anglo-Saxon is the only Germanic language which had the complete paradigm of the verbal root *beu-, *beo- in the present tense. Other Germanic languages have only some forms of this root in their present-tense paradigms of the verb to be (cf Mod G bin (I am), bist (2 pers sing ) (thou art, you are), but ist (is), seid (2 pers pl) (you are), sind (they are)).
present tense
| wesan | béon | |
| (to be, exist) | ||
| indicative mood | ||
| 1st person singular | eom, am | béo, bíom |
| 2nd person singular | eart | bist, bis |
| 3rd person singular | istd | bið |
| plural | sint, sindon earon, aron |
béoð |
| subjunctive mood | ||
| singular | sý, sí | béo |
| plural | sýn, sín | béon |
| imperative mood | ||
| 2nd person singular | wes | béo |
| 2nd person plural | wesaþ | béoþ |
| present participle | ||||
| wesende | béonde | |||
past tense
| indicative mood | ||
| 1st person singular | wæs | - |
| 2nd person singular | wǽre | - |
| 3rd person singular | wæs | - |
| plural | wǽron | - |
| subjunctive mood | ||
| singular | wǽre | - |
| plural | wǽren | - |
(b)The Anglo-Saxon verb ȝán (p éode, p.p. (ȝe)ȝan) (to go, walk) builds its past tense forms suppletively.
cf the analogous phenomenon in Gothic: gaggan (to go), gaggiþ (goes), iddja (he went).
Shown below is the conjugation paradigm for the v ȝán.
present tense
| ȝán (to go, walk) | ||
| indicative mood | ||
| 1st person singular | ȝá | |
| 2nd person singular | ȝǽst | |
| 3rd person singular | ȝǽþ | |
| plural | ȝáþ | |
| subjunctive mood | ||
| singular | ȝá | |
| plural | ȝán | |
| imperative mood | ||
| 2nd person singular | ȝá | |
| 2nd person plural | ȝáþ | |
past tense
| indicative mood | ||
| 1st person singular | éode | |
| 2nd person singular | éodest | |
| 3rd person singular | éode | |
| plural | éodon | |
| subjunctive mood | ||
| singular | éode | |
| plural | éoden | |
| past participle |
| (ȝe)ȝán |
The verb (to) go remains suppletive also in Mod E, the only difference being the fact that p tense is formed by means of root wend-: I, you, he, she, etc went.
