skip to content

englesaxe

Early Middle English for today

full menu

optional grammar

There are a few grammatical features which are not found in the language description at grammar of Early Middle English, but which the user - particularly those familiar with OE, may wish to employ.

Note: the optional grammatical features outlined below, may appear in normalised versions of OE and ME texts, and in the weblog, but do not appear in Audrey and the attercop, part one of Englisc buten tæres (the first 800 words).

The optional grammar in brief:

  1. -e is added to a noun after a preposition;
  2. -u and -w- alternate at the end of the stem in a handful of nouns; -u becomes -w- in gen sg, dat sg and plural forms;
  3. -h appears at the end of a handful of nouns, in place of -e, in nom sg only;
  4. a handful of common nouns do not add -es in their possessive form;
  5. -h is dropped from the end of the stem of the infinitive as well as the 1st person and plural present tense forms in strong contracted verbs;
  6. in class 7 strong contracted verbs, the present tense stem differs significantly from the past tense stems, e.g. fón fóþ vs féng ifangen;
  7. fourteen weak verbs and two class 5 strong verbs, display stem alternation; most have a doubled consonant at the end of the stem in the infinitive, the 1st person and plural present tense forms, the subjunctive, the imperative plural and the present participle, while a single consonant appears elsewhere; in some cases <cᵹ> /dʒ/ alternates with <ᵹ> /j/, <bb> with <f> and <ri> with <r>;
  8. double consonants becomes single in the preterite forms of weak verbs with stems ending in <ll> <mm> <nn> <pp> <rr> when the penultimate <e> is dropped; double consonant + <ed> = single consonant + <d/t>;
  9. in the preterite of class 4 and class 5 strong verbs, the stem vowel of the plural and 2nd person singular differs from that of the 1st and 3rd person singular - æ vs a4;
  10. -ew is replaced at the end of a few adjectives, by -u, when strong sg, otherwise by -w;
  11. unstressed penultimate syllables are often dropped in the inflected forms of nouns and adjectives before n, r and l;
  12. án has an accusative form ænne;
  13. 1st and 2nd person pronouns have a dual form;

nouns

add an -e after a preposition

Singular nouns which normally end in a consonant, may have an -e added to the end when they follow prepositions. Thus bed, scip, fír, cíld, líf become tó bedde, tó scipe, on fíre, mid cílde and on lífe.

This -e inflection is a marker of the dative case, just as -es marks the genitive (possessive) case and the plural forms.

This gives us a slightly extended noun paradigm in the optional grammar:

ModE
sg. nom./acc./dat. town
gen. (= poss.) town's
- -
pl. (all cases) towns
eME
sg. nom./acc. tún
gen. túnes
dat. túne
pl. (all cases) túnes

Note - if -e is added to a noun after a preposition, and that noun normally ends in -en, -er or -el, the e which precedes the n/r/l may drop out; e.g. silfer/of silfre, minster/in þe minstre.

back to top »

which add or drop -w

These are nouns in which the stem ends in <w> in gen, dat and pl. The <w> becomes a <u> in nom sg if a consonant precedes (with two exceptions). Otherwise, the <w> is dropped and the preceding vowel is lengthened. Collectively these nouns are often referred to as wa-wō-stems.

Optional grammar forms compared to the corresponding core grammar forms:

  1. a handful of nouns drop the e before w; final -w then becomes -u in nom sg; nouns of this type are badu badwes, baru barwes, saru sarwes, scadu scadwes, sinu sinwes;
  2. a quartet of nouns add w before final -e(s) in gen/dat/pl; final -e is replaced by -u in nom sg; nouns of this type are balu balwes, melu melwes, smeru smerwes, teru terwes;
  3. a further trio of nouns add w before final -e(s), and also shorten the long vowel of the root, in gen/dat/pl; nouns of this type are cné cnewes, lé lewes, tré trewes12;
  4. a pair of nouns not only drop the e before w but also drop final -w in nom sg: læs læswes, mæd mædwes;
  5. one noun drops final -w and also lengthens and modifies the vowel in nom sg: stræ strawes.

These differences can be illustrated more clearly in the following table:

wa-wō-stems - optional vs core
eME optional ModE eME core
nom sg dat sg pl/gen sg sg pl nom sg pl/gen sg
drop e & final w > u
badu badwe badwes - (battle) - badew badewes
baru barwe barwes - (grove) - barew barewes
saru sarwe sarwes - (device) - sarew sarewes
scadu scadwe scadwes shadow14 shadows scadew scadewes
sinu sinwe sinwes sinew sinews sinew sinewes
add w
balu balwe balwes bale (evil, woe) bales bale bales
melu melwe melwes meal (flour) meals mele meles
smeru smerwe smerwes smear (fat) smears smere smeres
teru terwe terwes tar tars tere teres
and modify vowel
cné cnewe cnewes knee knees cné cnés
lewe lewes lee (protection) lees lés
tré trewe trewes tree trees tré trés
drop w
læs læswe læswes leasow (pasture) leasows læsew læsewes
mæd mædwe mædwes meadow14 meadows mædew mædewes
and modify vowel
stræ strawe strawes straw straws straw strawes

back to top »

which drop final -h if -e or -(e)s is added

A handful of nouns may end in -h in nom sg only. This -h is dropped when a plural or case marker - (e)s or e, is added. These nouns are1:

a-stems ending in <h> - optional vs core
eME optional ModE eME core
nom sg dat sg pl/gen sg sg pl nom sg pl/gen sg
final e > h
walh wale wales - (foreigner2) Wales wale wales
marh mare mares mare (=steed3) mares mare mares
selh sele seles seal seals sele seles
ferh fere feres - (life/spirit) - fere feres
add h
feh fés fee (= money/property) fees fés
scóh scó scós shoe shoes scó scós
drop g(e)
slóh sló slós slough (= swamp) sloughs slóh slóges
wóh wós - (wrong) - wóh wóges
farh fare fares - (piglet) - farh farges
elh ele eles elk elks elk elkes
salh sale sales sallow (= willow) sallows salh salges
halh hale hales haugh (= nook) haughs halh halges
alh ale ales - (temple) - alh alges
eh e es - (horse) - eh eges
horh hore hores - (phlegm) - horh horges

back to top »

more irregular plurals

The following irregular plurals complement the list at nouns (core grammar). Note the dual stem for lé/lén-.

eME optional ModE eME core
nom sg gen sg dat sg pl sg pl nom sg pl/gen sg
plurals in -(e)n
asce ascen ascen ascen ash ashes asce asces
wáwe wáwen wáwen wáwen misery miseries wáwe wáwes
plural -re
dohter dohter dohtre1 dohtre daughters daughter dohter dohteres
suster2 suster sustre sustre3 sisters sister suster susteres
unchanged plural
ᵹær ᵹæres ᵹære ᵹær years year ᵹær ᵹæres
þing þinges þinge þing things thing þing þinges
niht nihtes nihte niht nights night niht nihtes
plural in -(s)e
~nes ~nesse ~nesse ~nesse4 ~ness ~nesses ~nes ~nesses
plural in -nes
lénes léne lénes lion lions lion liones
  1. Lmn mid þere eldre dohtre dat
  2. also - swester with same endings
  3. LH 1225 sustre pl, 1225 Wint.Ben.Rule swustre pl, PC1 swustre pl, 1150 VH sustre pl
  4. e.g. kíndenes kíndenesse; the forms listed here mirror OE forms; Cloud of Unknowing (1380, East Midland) has kindenes (note - unchanged) which A Book of Middle English indicates as plural

back to top »

unchanged possessives

A few possessives take no ending. These are mainly nouns of relation ending in <r> - fader, móder, suster, bróþer and dohter.

So ModE my father's house becomes eME mín fader hús.

Other unchanged possessives are lafdí, herte and sáwle.

back to top »

Nouns - development from OE to eME

For detail on the differences between OE and the core and optional eME grammars in relation to nouns, together with citations from eME sources, see simplification of noun paradigms.

verbs

contracted h-stem strong verbs

In the vast majority of strong verbs, the consonant at the end of the infinitive and present tense stem is carried throughout the paradigm. So for example, in ríden s v1, the consonant <d> is found at the end of the stem in ríden inf ríde rídest rídeþ pr rád riden pt iriden p ptc.

In a group of sixteen strong verbs however, the consonant at the end of the infinitive and present tense stem in primitive Old English was <h>. In OE that <h> was usually dropped in the infinitive as well as the 1st person and plural present tense forms5. In some classes the preceding vowel was lengthened and/or modified. See OE contracted verbs for more detail.

Those contracted OE forms continued into eME, alongside new forms with stem-final <g> (or <ng>). The core grammar (at verbs) contains only four contracted verbs - flén, sén, slæn, flæn6. The optional grammar, contains a larger group based on the contracted OE Anglian forms:

  • s1 eME wríen inf, wríe wríhst wríhþ wríen pr, wráh wrigen iwrigen
    • similarly: líen, tíen, þíen
  • s2 eME tén inf, té téhst téhþ tén pr, tæh tugen itogen
    • similarly: flén
  • s5 eME sén inf, sé sehst sehþ sén pr, sah sægen isegen
    • similarly: fén, plén
  • s6 eME slæn7 inf, slæ slahst slahþ slæn pr, slóh slógen islagen/islaᵹen9
    • similarly: flæn, læn, þwæn
  • s7 eME fón inf, fó fóst8 fóþ fón pr, féng féngen ifangen
    • similarly: hón 10

Notes:

  1. sīen s1 (OE WS sēon) is not included here as sīgan covers both meanings - sink/descend and strain/filter, in Clark Hall;
  2. there is no <h> in the class 7 forms;
  3. there are some changes from the contracted verbs listed in the core grammar (at verbs): sén, slæn and flæn have an <h> in the 2nd and 3rd person forms, and the latter pair also have a changed vowel in those forms.

The following qualify as additional eME forms via principle 2a in the optional grammar:

  • <h>-less: fléþ, séþ, slæþ
  • vowel change: slán, sláþ

back to top »

stem alternation in weak verbs

The paradigms of certain weak verbs, display stem alternation. In most cases this involves gemination - a doubled consonant appears at the end of the stem in the infinitive, the 1st person and plural present tense forms, the subjunctive, the imperative plural and the present participle, while a single consonant appears elsewhere. In four of these verbs, <cᵹ> /dʒ/ alternates with <ᵹ> /j/. In another three, <bb> alternates with <f>. In the final two, <ri> alternates with <r>:

  1. fremmen fremme fremest fremeþ fremmen pr, fremme fremmen sbj, freme fremmimp, fremmende pr ptc, fremede fremeden pt ifremed p ptc
    • similarly: clinnen, linnen, sceþþen, þennen
  2. lecᵹen lecᵹe leᵹest leᵹeþ lecᵹen pr, lecᵹe lecᵹen sbj, leᵹe lecᵹimp, lecᵹende pr ptc, leᵹde leᵹden pt ileᵹd p ptc
    • similarly: þicᵹen, secᵹen (saᵹ-), bicᵹen (bohte iboht)
  3. swebben swebbe swefest swefeþ swebben pr, swebbe swebben sbj, swefe swebbimp, swebbende pr ptc, swefede swefeden pt iswefed p ptc
    • similarly: habben, libben
  4. herien herie herest hereþ herien pr, herie herien sbj, here heriimp, heriende pr ptc, herede hereden pt ihered p ptc
    • similarly: ferien

With the exception of the last pair, these verbs appear with a single consonant at the end of the stem throughout the paradigm in the core grammar. herien and ferien retain the <i> throughout the paradigm.

Note that sceþþen, secᵹen, swebben, habben and libben appear as skaþen, saᵹen, swefen, hafen and lifen in the core grammar.

back to top »

stem alternation in strong verbs

The paradigms of two class 5 strong verbs, display the same stem alternation described for weak verbs above. In both of these verbs, <cᵹ> /dʒ/ alternates with <ᵹ> /j/:

  1. licᵹen licᵹe liᵹest liᵹeþ licᵹen pr, licᵹe licᵹen sbj, liᵹe licᵹimp, licᵹende pr ptc, laᵹ lægen pt ileᵹen p ptc
    • similarly: fricᵹen

double consonant becomes single in preterite

This affects weak verbs with stems ending in ll, mm, nn, pp, rr.

The rule is double consonant + <ed> = single consonant + <d/t> in preterite forms.

Example: fillen filde ifilled

Similarly: kennen, cerren, clippen, cissen, fellen, merren, spillen, stillen, wemmen

back to top »

differentiation of preterite forms in class 4 and class 5 strong verbs

In the core grammar of englesaxe, the first three classes of strong verbs have two different stem vowels in the preterite. Classes 4 to 7 have a single stem vowel in the preterite.

In the optional grammar, class 4 and class 5 strong verbs also have two different stem vowels in the preterite4. In other words, the 2nd person singular and plural forms have a different stem vowel from that of the 1st and 3rd person singular forms - æ vs a. (In the core grammar, all preterite forms have the stem vowel a.)

When this differentiation is applied, the paradigms look like this:

  eME ModE
class infinitive past sg1/3 past pl past part. inf. past - past part.
4 stelen stal stælen istolen steal stole - stolen
5 ᵹefen ᵹaf ᵹæfen iᵹefen give gave - given

shortened stem vowel in past tense of weak verbs

The core grammar has a small number of weak verbs in which the past tense (preterite and past participle) forms have a shortened vowel: bléden - bledde, bréden - bredde, féden - fedde, spéden - spedde, læden - ledd.

The optional grammar has two more (see below). Note that in the ModE reflexes of these two verbs, the preterite and past participle are spelled with <ea> which indicates an historic long vowel:

eME infinitive eME preterite eME past participle ModE infinitive ModE preterite
ræden redde ired read read
spræden spredde ispred spread spread

back to top »

Verbs - development from OE to eME

For detail on the differences between OE and the core and optional eME grammars in relation to verbs, together with citations from eME sources, see simplification of verb paradigms.

adjectives

ending in u which changes to w when e is added

Final -u (weak) becomes -we (strong), e.g. naru narwe.

Bear in mind that the weak (or definite) form of the adjective is used after þe, a demonstrative adjective or possessive pronoun. Otherwise, adjectives take the strong (or indefinite) form.

Generally the weak form of an adjective has an <e> added at the end, unless the strong (i.e. dictionary) form of the adjective ends in <e>. Adjectives accompanying plural nouns also add <e>.

A handful of adjectives, e.g. - naru (narrow), have final -u when strong sg. This -u changes to -we when the adjective is weak or pl, e.g. án naru crib strong sg, but þat narwe stíh weak sg, and narwe stíges pl.

Most of the adjectives in the table below follow the pattern observed in naru narwe above. They are variations of adjectival forms in the core grammar which end in <-ew> in a strong sg context and <-ewe> in a weak or pl context, e.g. narew narewe. The one exception is ᵹaru ᵹarwe for which the core grammar counterpart is ᵹare ᵹare (ready).

wa-wō-stems - optional vs core
eME optional ModE eME core
strong sg weak/pl - strong sg weak/pl
-ew > -u and -ewe > -we
naru narwe narrow narew narewe
falu falwe fallow falew falewe
ᵹelu ᵹelwe yellow ᵹelew ᵹelewe
calu calwe callow calew calewe
salu salwe sallow salew salewe
maru marwe - (tender) marew marewe
kilu kilwe - (spotted) kilew kilewe
basu baswe - (purple) basew basewe
hasu haswe - (tawny) hasew hasewe
-e > -u/we
ᵹaru ᵹarwe ready ᵹare ᵹare

back to top »

Adjectives - development from OE to eME

For detail on the differences between OE and the core and optional eME grammars in relation to adjectives, together with citations from eME sources, see simplification of adjective paradigms.

nouns and adjectives

dropping of unstressed penultimate syllable in inflected forms

Unstressed penultimate syllables are often dropped in the inflected forms of nouns and adjectives before n, r and l, e.g. drihten drihtnes, micel micle. Generally this concerns words with a long vowel or a final consonant cluster in the first syllable.

The following examples do not constitute an exhaustive list of all affected words:

back to top »

indefinite article

changed form for accusative

án (a/an) becomes ænne when it is the object of a verb.13

So, for example: án cíld sehþ ᵹow but ᵹé sculen fínden ænne cíld

back to top »

pronouns

dual forms - 'we two' and 'you two'

As well as singular and plural, OE had dual pronoun forms, representing 'we two' and 'you two'. These forms continued into eME, and are found in Orm.

eME
nom acc/dat gen
1 wit unk unker
2 ᵹit ink inker
ModE
nom acc/dat gen
1 we two us two our (of us two)
2 you two you two your (of you two)
  1. for a full table with OE equivalents and examples from eME texts, see OE nouns ending in h;
  2. ModE walnut comes from late OE walhhnutu (foreign nut) > ME walnottes; the Wales were the foreigners;
  3. ModE mare has the vowel of eME marh (horse/steed) but the meaning of eME mere (mare);
  4. this option reflects the OE and Orm paradigms; the merging of preterite stems in classes 4 and 5 is found in PC2 and becomes common in later Middle English;
  5. the instability of <h> in these verbs began in OE; generally <h> was dropped in the infinitive and in the 1st person and plural present tense forms in OE, though there were exceptions; multiple instances of the retention and restoration of <h>, often as <g>, are found in the MED; for more detail, see the simplification of verb paradigms in eME
  6. sén, slæn, two of the three contracted strong verbs which appear in the core grammar, are included here due to forms not included in the core grammar: sehst, sehþ sægen; slahst slahþ, beside sést, séþ, sagen; slæst, slæþ.
  7. in class 6 strong contracted verbs, the root vowel of the infinitive and present tense forms changes to <æ> when the <h> drops; Orm has a parallel paradigm for slæn - slán slá slást sláþ of which slán sláþ qualify as additional eME forms;
  8. in class 7 contracted verbs, <h> is dropped in the 2nd and 3rd person present forms as well;
  9. class 6 contracted verbs have two past participle forms - one with <g> /ɣ/ and the other with <ᵹ> /j/ at the end of the stem, e.g. islagen/islaᵹen;
  10. hón is problematic; there is no record in the OE corpus of present tense singular forms for hōn; hangen, hangest, hangeþ all qualify as additional eME forms, through ModE hang and several pre-1250 infinitive and present tense forms - underuongen, hongi, hangest, hongeð, hongeþ, from sources which include Lmn and AW; accordingly, I would avoid forms such as *hó *hóst *hóþ.
  11. also gen; a complication inherited from Latin, via OE; in Latin the nominative case is leo, which many will know from the zodiac, while the genitive is leonis; an alternative with regular possessive and plural ending -es, is the additional eME form lion, introduced early from Anglo-Norman and found in Lmn, AW, SO and Ch;
  12. not included here is *þé þewes; þēow (with <w>) was a variant form in OE and all MED forms, including Orm & AW, have <w> (or <u>); <w> also survives in the ModE surname Thew;
  13. observed inconsistently in Orm, which has both an and ænne for the accusative, e.g. illc mann an peninng m acc ᵹæfe but ᵹe shulenn findenn ænne child nt acc; PC2 displays only an for the accusative;
  14. also - shade and mead poet.