wesan

Part of speech: verb
Verb type: irregular suppletive verb
to be, exist (also weosan)
Etymology
[← Prot-Germ *wesan; Goth wisan;O Fris wesa ; O Sax wesan; OHG wesan; O Icel vesa, vera (Mod Icel vera) ← Indo-Europ *wes-; cf Sanskr vásati “to live”; Avest vaŋhaiti “to live, sojourn”; Tochar wäs- “to live”]
Paradigm

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
2nd person singular dést
3rd person singular déþ
plural dóþ
subjunctive mood
singular
plural dón
imperative mood
2nd person singular
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.