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.
