4.6 Irregular verbs
4.6.1 Irregular verbs proper
The OE verbs belonging to this category were characterized by various anomalies in their building of present and/or past tense forms.
These anomalies have different origin. Some of these irregular/anomalous verbs have common Germanic/Proto-Germanic origin, while the peculiarities of some other ones must have formed later and appear to be the phenomena from subsequent (West-Germanic or purely Anglo-Saxon) period.
(a) The verb dón (p sing dyde; p.p. dón, dén) (to do).
The interrelation of present and past tense stems of this verb is not absolutely clear. The past tense stem may be the manifestation of reduplication. Supposedly, this verb may be also associated with the dental suffix forming past tense forms of Germanic weak verbs (cf OE dydon, O Sax dâdun, dedun (they did) and, for instance, Goth nasidēdun (they saved), where the similarity between the OE and O Sax forms on the one hand and the Goth dental suffix on the other hand is strikingly evident).
Shown below is the conjugation paradigm for the v dón.
| dón (to do, make) | ||
| indicative mood | ||
| 1st person singular | dó | |
| 2nd person singular | dést | |
| 3rd person singular | déþ | |
| plural | dóþ | |
| subjunctive mood | ||
| singular | dó | |
| plural | dón | |
| imperative mood | ||
| 2nd person singular | dó | |
| 2nd person plural | dóþ | |
| present participle | ||||
| dóende, dónde | ||||
past tense
| indicative mood | ||
| 1st person singular | dyde | |
| 2nd person singular | dydest | |
| 3rd person singular | dyde | |
| plural | dydon | |
| subjunctive mood | ||
| singular | dyde | |
| plural | dyden | |
| past participle | ||||
| (ȝe)dón, (ȝe)dén | ||||
(b) The verb brenȝan (1 pers pres tense sing brenȝe, 2 pers sing brenȝ(e)st, 3 pers sing brenȝ(e)þ, brencþ, pl brenȝaþ; 1, 3 pers, p tense sing brohte, 2 pers brohtest, pl brohton; p.p. broht) (to bring) is characterized by the formation of its past tense paradigm by means of vowel interchange -e- / -o- [← *-i- / -a-] (like in strong verbs) and, simultaneously, by the use of the dental suffix -te-, -t- (like is the case with weak verbs). At the same time, in the p tense forms of this verb, the consonant [-ŋ-] is lost, while the consonant -ȝ- changes into -h- [-x-]. cf the similar in Gothic: briggan (to bring), brāhta (I brought; he brought) and brāhtedun (they brought).
(c) The intransitive verb búan (p búde, p.p. ȝebún) (to live, dwell) showed certain anomalies of its conjugation – in the pres tense: 1 pers sing búe, 2 pers búst, 3 pers býþ; p tense: sing búde and pl búdon; p.p. ȝebún or ȝebúd. It is believed that the Anglo-Saxon búan (as well as its etymological correspondence in Gothic bauan (to dwell, inhabit)) originally must have been a reduplicating verb.
(d) The verb willan (1, 3 pers, pres tense sing wille, wile, 2 pers sing wilt, pl willaþ; p tense wolde, walde; pres.p. willende) (to will, be willing). The main peculiarity of this verb is the use of the subjunctive verbal forms in the indicative mood (cf the analogous in the Goth v wiljan). This explains the absence of the ending -þ in 3 pers sing (and, accordingly, the absence of the ending -s in 3 pers sing of the Mod E v will). It is also worth mentioning that the presence of the ending -t, characteristic of the Proto-Germanic 2 pers p tense sing in the OE (and also in Mod E) form wilt (you want) associates this OE verb with preterite-present verbs.
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.
