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 taeres (the first 800 words).
The optional grammar in brief:
- -e is added to a noun after a preposition;
- -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;
- -h appears at the end of a handful of nouns, in place of -e, in nom sg only;
- a handful of common nouns do not add -es in their possessive form;
- -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;
- in class 7 strong contracted verbs, the present tense stem differs significantly from the past tense stems, e.g. fo__n fo__t` vs fe__ng ifangen;
- 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 <cy%> /dZ`/ alternates with <y%> /j/, <bb> with <f> and <ri> with <r>;
- 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>;
- 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 - ae vs a4;
- -ew is replaced at the end of a few adjectives, by -u, when strong sg, otherwise by -w;
- unstressed penultimate syllables are often dropped in the inflected forms of nouns and adjectives before n, r and l;
- a__n has an accusative form aenne;
- 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, fi__r, ci__ld, li__f become to__ bedde, to__ scipe, on fi__re, mid ci__lde and on li__fe.
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:
| sg. | nom./acc./dat. | town |
|---|---|---|
| gen. (= poss.) | town's | |
| - | - | |
| pl. | (all cases) | towns |
| sg. | nom./acc. | tu__n |
|---|---|---|
| gen. | tu__nes | |
| dat. | tu__ne | |
| pl. | (all cases) | tu__nes |
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 t`e minstre.
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-wo_-stems.
Optional grammar forms compared to the corresponding core grammar forms:
- 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;
- 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;
- 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 cne__ cnewes, le__ lewes, tre__ trewes12;
- a pair of nouns not only drop the e before w but also drop final -w in nom sg: laes laeswes, maed maedwes;
- one noun drops final -w and also lengthens and modifies the vowel in nom sg: strae strawes.
These differences can be illustrated more clearly in the following table:
| 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 | ||||||
| cne__ | cnewe | cnewes | knee | knees | cne__ | cne__s |
| le__ | lewe | lewes | lee (protection) | lees | le__ | le__s |
| tre__ | trewe | trewes | tree | trees | tre__ | tre__s |
| drop w | ||||||
| laes | laeswe | laeswes | leasow (pasture) | leasows | laesew | laesewes |
| maed | maedwe | maedwes | meadow14 | meadows | maedew | maedewes |
| and modify vowel | ||||||
| strae | strawe | strawes | straw | straws | straw | strawes |
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:
| 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 | fe__ | fe__s | fee (= money/property) | fees | fe__ | fe__s |
| sco__h | sco__ | sco__s | shoe | shoes | sco__ | sco__s |
| drop g(e) | ||||||
| slo__h | slo__ | slo__s | slough (= swamp) | sloughs | slo__h | slo__ges |
| wo__h | wo__ | wo__s | - (wrong) | - | wo__h | wo__ges |
| 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 |
more irregular plurals
The following irregular plurals complement the list at nouns (core grammar). Note the dual stem for le__/le__n-.
| 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 |
| wa__we | wa__wen | wa__wen | wa__wen | misery | miseries | wa__we | wa__wes |
| plural -re | |||||||
| dohter | dohter | dohtre1 | dohtre | daughters | daughter | dohter | dohteres |
| suster2 | suster | sustre | sustre3 | sisters | sister | suster | susteres |
| unchanged plural | |||||||
| y%aer | y%aeres | y%aere | y%aer | years | year | y%aer | y%aeres |
| t`ing | t`inges | t`inge | t`ing | things | thing | t`ing | t`inges |
| niht | nihtes | nihte | niht | nights | night | niht | nihtes |
| plural in -(s)e | |||||||
| ~nes | ~nesse | ~nesse | ~nesse4 | ~ness | ~nesses | ~nes | ~nesses |
| plural in -nes | |||||||
| le__ | le__nes | le__ne | le__nes | lion | lions | lion | liones |
- Lmn mid t`ere eldre dohtre dat
- also - swester with same endings
- LH 1225 sustre pl, 1225 Wint.Ben.Rule swustre pl, PC1 swustre pl, 1150 VH sustre pl
- e.g. ki__ndenes ki__ndenesse; 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
unchanged possessives
A few possessives take no ending. These are mainly nouns of relation ending in <r> - fader, mo__der, suster, bro__t`er and dohter.
So ModE my father's house becomes eME mi__n fader hu__s.
Other unchanged possessives are lafdi__, herte and sa__wle.
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 ri__den s v1, the consonant <d> is found at the end of the stem in ri__den inf ri__de ri__dest ri__det` pr ra__d 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 - fle__n, se__n, slaen, flaen6. The optional grammar, contains a larger group based on the contracted OE Anglian forms:
- s1 eME wri__en inf, wri__e wri__hst wri__ht` wri__en pr, wra__h wrigen iwrigen
- similarly: li__en, ti__en, t`i__en
- s2 eME te__n inf, te__ te__hst te__ht` te__n pr, taeh tugen itogen
- similarly: fle__n
- s5 eME se__n inf, se__ sehst seht` se__n pr, sah saegen isegen
- similarly: fe__n, ple__n
- s6 eME slaen7 inf, slae slahst slaht` slaen pr, slo__h slo__gen islagen/islay%en9
- similarly: flaen, laen, t`waen
- s7 eME fo__n inf, fo__ fo__st8 fo__t` fo__n pr, fe__ng fe__ngen ifangen
- similarly: ho__n 10
Note the lack of <h> in the class 7 forms. Note also some changes from the contracted verbs listed in the core grammar (at verbs) - se__n, slaen and flaen have an <h> in the 2nd and 3rd person forms. 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: fle__t`, se__t`, slaet`
- vowel change: sla__n, sla__t`
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, <cy%> /dZ`/ alternates with <y%> /j/. In another three, <bb> alternates with <f>. In the final two, <ri> alternates with <r>:
- fremmen fremme fremest fremet` fremmen pr, fremme fremmen sbj, freme fremmet` imp, fremmende pr ptc, fremede fremeden pt ifremed p ptc
- similarly: clinnen, linnen, scet`t`en, t`ennen
- lecy%en lecy%e ley%est ley%et` lecy%en pr, lecy%e lecy%en sbj, ley%e lecy%et` imp, lecy%ende pr ptc, ley%de ley%den pt iley%d p ptc
- similarly: t`icy%en, secy%en (say%-), bicy%en (bohte iboht)
- swebben swebbe swefest swefet` swebben pr, swebbe swebben sbj, swefe swebbet` imp, swebbende pr ptc, swefede swefeden pt iswefed p ptc
- similarly: habben, libben
- herien herie herest heret` herien pr, herie herien sbj, here heriet` imp, 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 scet`t`en, secy%en, swebben, habben and libben appear as skat`en, say%en, swefen, hafen and lifen in the core grammar.
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, <cy%> /dZ`/ alternates with <y%> /j/:
- licy%en licy%e liy%est liy%et` licy%en pr, licy%e licy%en sbj, liy%e licy%et` imp, licy%ende pr ptc, lay% laegen pt iley%en p ptc
- similarly: fricy%en
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
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 - ae 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 | staelen | istolen | steal | stole | - | stolen |
| 5 | y%efen | y%af | y%aefen | iy%efen | 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: ble__den - bledde, bre__den - bredde, fe__den - fedde, spe__den - spedde, laeden - 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| raeden | redde | ired | read | read |
| spraeden | spredde | ispred | spread | spread |
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 t`e, 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. a__n naru crib strong sg, but t`at narwe sti__h weak sg, and narwe sti__ges 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 y%aru y%arwe for which the core grammar counterpart is y%are y%are (ready).
| 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 |
| y%elu | y%elwe | yellow | y%elew | y%elewe |
| 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 | ||||
| y%aru | y%arwe | ready | y%are | y%are |
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:
- Nouns: castel castles, de__fel de__fles, drihten drihtnes, fugel fugles, y%i__sel y%i__sles, hefen hefnes, minster minstre, silfer silfre
- Adjectives: micel micle, o__t`er o__t`re
indefinite article
changed form for accusative
a__n (a/an) becomes aenne when it is the object of a verb.13
So, for example: a__n ci__ld seht` y%ow but y%e__ sculen fi__nden aenne ci__ld
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.
| nom | acc/dat | gen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | wit | unk | unker |
| 2 | y%it | ink | inker |
| nom | acc/dat | gen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | we two | us two | our (of us two) |
| 2 | you two | you two | your (of you two) |
- for a full table with OE equivalents and examples from eME texts, see OE nouns ending in h;
- ModE walnut comes from late OE walhhnutu (foreign nut) > ME walnottes; the Wales were the foreigners;
- ModE mare has the vowel of eME marh (horse/steed) but the meaning of eME mere (mare);
- 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;
- 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
- se__n, slaen, 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, seht` saegen; slahst slaht`, beside se__st, se__t`, sagen; slaest, slaet`.
- in class 6 strong contracted verbs, the root vowel of the infinitive and present tense forms changes to <ae> when the <h> drops; Orm has a parallel paradigm for slaen - sla__n sla__ sla__st sla__t` of which sla__n sla__t` qualify as additional eME forms;
- in class 7 contracted verbs, <h> is dropped in the 2nd and 3rd person present forms as well;
- class 6 contracted verbs have two past participle forms - one with <g> /G``/ and the other with <y%> /j/ at the end of the stem, e.g. islagen/islay%en;
- ho__n is problematic; there is no record in the OE corpus of present tense singular forms for ho_n; hangen, hangest, hanget` all qualify as additional eME forms, through ModE hang and several pre-1250 infinitive and present tense forms - underuongen, hongi, hangest, honged`, honget`, from sources which include Lmn and AW; accordingly, I would avoid forms such as *ho__ *ho__st *ho__t`.
- 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;
- not included here is *t`e__ t`ewes; t`e_ow (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;
- observed inconsistently in Orm, which has both an and aenne for the accusative, e.g. illc mann an peninng m acc y%aefe but y%e shulenn findenn aenne child nt acc; PC2 displays only an for the accusative;
- also - shade and mead poet.