Henry Sweet

“ The preterite subjunctive is often expressed by should and would with an infinitive, as in Modern English.
Scolde is used after verbs of desiring, requesting and commanding:—biddende þone Ælmihtigan þæt hē him ārian scolde (praying the Almighty to have mercy on him) . In the following example the verb of commanding is understood from the noun ǣrende:—hē sęnde tō þæm cyninge bēotlic ǣrende, þæt hē ā·būgan scolde tō his mannrǣdenne, ġif hē his fēores rōhte (he sent to the king an arrogant message, that he was to turn to his allegiance, if he cared about his life) . ”

“ When þæt or þis is connected with a plural predicate by means of the verb 'to be,' the verb is put in the plural:—þæt wǣron þā ǣrestan sċipu Dęniscra manna þe Angel-cynnes land ġe·sōhton (those were the first ships of Danish men which came to the land of the English race) .
Impersonal verbs take an accusative of the person, sometimes also with a genitive of the thing.
Others, such as þynċan (appear) , take a dative of the person:—wæs him ġe·þūht þæt hīe be·hȳdden þæt hēafod (they thought they (the Danes) had hidden the head) . ”

“ For the plural bindaþ, both indicative and imperative, binde is used when the personal pronoun follows immediately after {23}the verb:—wē bindaþ (we bind) , but binde wē (let us bind) ; so also gāþ! (go plur.) , but gā ġē! (go ye) .
The present participle may be declined like an adjective. Its declension when used as a noun is given above, p. 10.
The past participle generally prefixes ġe-, as in ġe·bunden, ġe·numen from niman (take) , unless the other parts of the verbs have it already, as in ġe·hīeran (hear) , ġe·hīered. It is sometimes prefixed to other parts of the verb as well. ”

“ Hence also se wīf-mann (woman) is masculine.
The gender of most words can be learnt only by practice, and the student should learn each noun with its proper definite article.
Strong and Weak. Weak nouns are those which form their inflections with n, such as se mōna, plural mōnan; sēo sunne, genitive sing. þǣre sunnan. All the others, such as se dæġ, pl. dagas, þæt hūs (house) , gen. sing. þæs hūses, are strong.
Cases. There are four cases, nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. The acc. is the same as the nom. in all plurals, in the sing. ”

“ Note that ōþer always keeps the strong form: þā ōþru dēor (the other wild beasts) . So also do the possessive pronouns: {44}þās mīn word (these my words) . Ān in the sense of 'one' keeps the strong form to distinguish it from the weak āna = 'alone': þæt ān dēorwierþe męregrot (the one precious pearl) .
ARTICLES.
The definite article is omitted as in Modern English before names such as God, and also before Dryhten (the Lord) , Dēofol (the Devil) , although se Dēofol also occurs, and names of nations:—Bretta cyning (king of the Britons) . ”

“ In such expressions as 'the island of Britain,' the second noun is not put in the genitive, but the two are simply put in {43}apposition, both being declined separately:—Breten īeġland, on Bretene (þǣm) īeġlande. In 'king Alfred,' &c., the proper name is put first in the same way:—Ælfred æþeling (prince Alfred) ; on Æþelredes cyninges dæġe (in the days of king Æþelred) .
There is a similar apposition with the adjective sum followed by a noun or pronoun, as in sume þā męnn (some of the men) ; þā þā hē sēow, sumu hīe fēollon wiþ weġ (while he sowed, some of them [the seeds] fell by the road) . ”

“ Other demonstratives, which are used both as nouns and as adjectives, are se ilca (same) , which is always weak, swelc (such) , which is always strong.
RELATIVE.
The regular relative is the indeclinable þe, as in ǣlc þāra þe þās mīn word ġe·hīerþ (each of those who hears these my words) . It is often combined with sē, which is declined:—sē þe = who, masc., sēo þe, fem., &c. Sē alone is also used as a relative:—hēr is mīn cnapa, þone ic ġe·ċēas (here is my servant, whom I have chosen) ; sometimes in the sense of 'he who':—hēr þū hæfst þæt þīn is (here thou hast that which is thine) . ”

“ It also signifies time when:—þrim ġēarum ǣr þǣm þe hē forþ·fērde (three years before he died) , which is also expressed by the instrumental itself:—sēo wolde ęfsian ǣlce ġēare þone sanct (she used to cut the saint's hair every year) ; þȳ fēorþan ġēare his rīċes (in the fourth year of his reign) . A past participle with a noun in the instrumental dative is used like the ablative absolute in Latin: Hubba be·lāf on Norþhymbra-lande, ġe·wunnenum siġe mid wælhrēownesse (H. remained in Northumbria, victory having been won with cruelty) .
Genitive. ”

“ Sometimes the negation must be gathered from the context, as in se hālga is mǣrra þonne męnn mæġen ā·smēan (the saint is more illustrious than men can conceive = the saint is so illustrious that no men can conceive it) .
(8) In other cases, to express uncertainty, futurity, &c.: þīn rīċe ġe·wītt fram þē, oþ þæt þū wite þæt God ġe·wielt manna rīċa (thy kingdom shall depart from thee, till thou knowest that God rules the kingdoms of men) ; uton {50}weorþian ūrne naman, ǣr þǣm þe wē sīen tō·dǣlde ġeond ealle eorþan! (let us make our name famous, before we are dispersed over the earth) . ”

“ Another kind of apposition occurs in instances like the following, where we have an adjective agreeing with a following noun, and denoting a part of it:—hīe ġe·sǣton sūþanwearde Bretene ǣrest (they occupied the south of Britain first) ; sūþanweard hit (= þæt land) hæfdon Peohtas (the Picts had the south part of it) .
ADJECTIVES.
The weak forms are used:
(1) after the definite article:—se æþela cyning (the noble king) ; þæs æþelan cyninges, þæt gōde męregrot, þā gōdan męregrotu. ”

“ Thus the first paragraph consists mainly of examples of the nominative singular of nouns and adjectives, the second of accusative singulars, and so on.
The spelling has been made rigorously uniform throughout on an early West-Saxon basis. Injurious as normalizing is to the advanced student, it is an absolute necessity for the beginner, who wants to have the definite results of scholarship laid before him, not the confused and fluctuating spellings which he cannot yet interpret intelligently. ”

“ Ǣlċ (each) , ǣniġ (any) , nǣniġ (no, none) , are declined like other adjectives.
Ōþer (other) is always strong:—þā ōþre męnn.
Man, another form of mann, is often used in the indefinite sense of 'one,' French on:—his brōþor Horsan man of·slōg (they killed his brother Horsa) .
VERBS.
There are two classes of verbs in O.E., strong and weak. The conjugation of strong verbs is effected mainly by means of vowel-gradation, that of weak verbs by the addition of d (-ode, -ede, -de) to the root-syllable. ”

“ Even for purely scientific purposes we require a standard of comparison and classification, as in the arrangement of words in a dictionary, where we have to decide, for instance, whether to put the original of hear under ē, īe, ī or ȳ. ”

“ Note especially the following idiom: hīe ġe·sōhton Bretene Brettum tō fultume (they came to Britain as a help to the Britains—to help them) ; hē clipode Crīst him tō fultume (he called Christ to his help) .
The dative is also used with adjectives of nearness, likeness, &c.:—Ēadmund cyning clipode ānne biscop þe him ġe·hęndost wæs (King Edmund summoned a bishop who was nearest at hand to him) ; heofona rīċe is ġe·līc þǣm mangere þe sōhte þæt gōde męregrot (the kingdom of the heavens is like the merchant who sought the good pearl) . ”

“ As regards the use and meaning of the prepositions, it must be noticed that in is very seldom used, its place being supplied by on, the meaning 'on' being in its turn often expressed by ofer, as in the passage just quoted.
When a thing is referred to, þǣr is substituted for hit, the preposition being joined on to the þǣr, so that, for instance, þǣr-tō corresponds to tō him; hīe lǣddon þone cyning tō ānum trēowe, and tīeġdon hine þǣr-tō (they led the king to a tree, and tied him to it) . ”

“ When masculine and feminine beings are referred to by the same adjective or pronoun, the adjective or pronoun is put in the neuter:—hīe ġe·samnodon hīe, ealle þā hēafod-męnn, and ēac swelce wīf-menn ... and þā hīe blīþost wǣron ... ”

“ Dative. The dative in Old E. is of two kinds, (1) the dative proper, and (2) the instrumental dative, interchanging with the regular instrumental. It is not always easy to separate the two.
(1) The dative proper usually designates personal relations, and is frequently used with verbs, together with an accusative (generally of the thing) . The dative is also used with adjectives. It is used not only with verbs of giving, &c., as in hē sealde ǣlcum ānne pęning (he gave each a penny) ; addressing, as in ic ēow sęċġe (I say to you) , hē þancode his Dryhtne (he thanked his Lord) ”

“ STRONG VERBS.
In the strong verbs the plural of the pret. indic. generally has a different vowel from that of the sing. (ic band, wē bundon) . The 2nd sing. pret. indic. and the whole pret. subj. always have the vowel of the preterite plural indicative (þū bunde, ic bunde, wē bunden.)
The 2nd and 3rd persons sing. of the pres. indic. often mutate the root-vowel, thus:—
{24}
The full ending of the 3rd pers. sing. pres. indic. is -eþ, which is generally contracted, with the following consonant-changes:—
Double consonants become single, as in hē fielþ from feallan. ”

“ God hielt Ēadmund hālne his līchaman oþ þone miċlan dæġ, þēah þe hē on moldan cōme (God will keep Edmund {49}with his body whole until the great day, although he has come to earth—been buried) . Sometimes the idea of 'if' must be got from the context:—clipiaþ tō þissum ġieftum swā hwelce swā ġē ġe·mēten (summon to this wedding whomsoever ye meet, = if ye meet any one) ; hīe be·hēton hiere sċeattas wiþ þǣm þe hēo be·swice Samson (they promised her money in consideration of her betraying Samson, = if she would...) ”

“ The superlative is formed by adding -ost, and may be either weak or strong:—lēofost (dearest) .
The following form their comparisons with mutation, with superlative in -est (the forms in parentheses are adverbs) :—
The following show different roots:—
{17}
The following are defective as well as irregular, being formed from adverbs:—
NUMERALS.
Ān is declined like other adjectives.
Twā is declined thus:—
So also bēġen (both) , bā, bǣm, bēġra.
Þrēo is declined thus:—
The others up to twęntiġ are generally indeclinable. ”

“ To express purpose:—þȳ lǣs ġē þone hwǣte ā·wyrtwalien (lest ye root up the wheat) ;—Dryhten ās·tāg niþer, tō bǣm þæt hē ġe·sāwe þā burg (the Lord descended, in order that he might see the city) .
(4) To express result:—þū næfst þā mihte þæt þū mæġe him wiþ·standan (thou hast not the power that thou canst withstand him) .
(5) To express hypothetical comparison (as if) :—se wulf folgode forþ mid þǣm hēafde, swelce hē tam wǣre (the wolf followed on with the head, as if he were tame) ”

“ Native names of persons are declined like other nouns:—Ælfred, gen. Ælfredes, dat. Ælfrede; Ēad-burg (fem.) , gen. Ēadburge, &c.
Foreign names of persons sometimes follow the analogy of native names, thus Crīst, Salomon have gen. Crīstes, Salomones, dat. Crīste, Salomone. Sometimes they are declined as in Latin, especially those in -us, but often with a mixture of English endings, and the Latin endings are used {14}somewhat loosely, the accus. ending being often extended to the other oblique cases; thus we find nom. ”

“ It is omitted in many prepositional combinations, not only in those where it is omitted in Modern English also, as in siġefæst on sǣ and on lande (victorious on sea and on land) , but also in many others: ġewęnde tō wuda on·ġēan (went back to the wood) ; se flothęre fērde eft tō sċipe (the army of pirates went back to their ships) ; hē fēng tō rīċe (he took the government—came to the throne) . ”

“ We see here how out of the active 'in order to burn it' may be developed the passive 'in order that it may be burnt,' as in the modern E. 'a house to let.' Compare Gr. 50. 4, (1) .
l. 52. on hiera fatu. Compare l. 137.
l. 60. ġewordenre ġecwidrǣenne þǣm wyrhtum. A very stiff adaptation of the ablative absolute of the original, 'conventione autem facta cum operariis.' þǣm wyrhtum is to be taken as a dative of the person affected (Gr. 41) .
l. 67. dyde þǣm swā ġelīce. The Latin has simply 'fecit similiter.' The sense is 'did like to it' (like his former proceeding) , the swā being pleonastic. ”

“ It is possible that ġ in ġe-boren (born) and other unaccented syllables was already pronounced j. ċġ = ġġ: sęċġan (say) , hryċġ (back) .
f had the sound of v everywhere where it was possible:—faran (go) , of (of) , ofer (over) ; not, of course, in oft (often) , or when doubled, as in offrian (offer) . {4}
h initially, as in hē (he) , had the same sound as now. Everywhere else it had that of Scotch and German ch in loch:—hēah (high) , Wealh (Welshman) , riht (right) . hw, as in hwæt (what) , hwīl (while) , had the sound of our wh ”

“ The indefinite article is often not expressed at all:—þæt dyde unhold mann (an enemy did that) ; hē be·stealcode on land swā swā wulf (he stole to land like a wolf) . Or it is expressed by sum: on þǣm lande wæs sum mann, Lēofrīċ ġe·hāten (in that country was a man called L.) . Or by ān, as in Modern English:—ān wulf wearþ ā·sęnd tō be·węrienne þæt hēafod wiþ þā ōþru dēor (a wolf was sent to protect the head against the other wild beasts) .
PRONOUNS.
Hwæt is used interrogatively of persons where we should use 'who':—hē nyste hwæt hīe wǣron (he did not know who they were) . {45}
VERBS.
Number. ”