In Germanic languages, few verbs are truly irregular. Instead, they are “strong”. Strong verbs decline by changing the vowel (sing sang sung) instead of adding a dental (t/d) sound at the end (breathe breathed).
German
| Number | Infinitive | Imperfect | Participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ei | i(e) | i(e) |
| 2 | ie/au | o | o |
| 3 | e/i | a | o/u |
| 4 | e | a | o |
| 5 | e/i | a | e |
| 6 | a | u | a |
| 7 | a | ie | a |
In detail:
- long vowels in bleiben, blieb, but short in beissen biss.
- long o in bieten, short in gießen, goß, gegossen. Saugen, saufen
- some i have u, finden gefunden, binden gebunden. Most e.g. helfen and beginnen have o
- long in stehlen, but short in sprechen
- also ö-o-o: schwören
- also u-ie-u: riefen, o-ie-o: stoßen, au-ie-au: hauen, laufen
Jessia Nowak notes the 2nd pattern has spread to others by analogy (heben-hob-gehoben, Dutch binden-bond-gebonden.)
Swedish
| Number | Infinitive | Imperfect | Participle | Examples: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | i | e | i | skriva, driva, kliva, vina |
| 2 | y/u | ö | u | flyga, sluta, stryka, suga |
| 3 | i/ä | a | u | binda, finna, vinna, singa, svälta |
| 4 | ä | a | u | bära, komma, skära, svära |
| 5a | e/i | a/å | e/i | ge, bise |
| 5b | ä | a/å | ä | se, säga |
| 6 | a/å | o | a | fara, stå, slå, ta, slå, dra |
| 7a | å | ä | å | hålla, gråta, låta |
| 7b | a/å | ö | a/å | falla |
- archaic subjunctive/past plural in u: vi bundo
- archaic subjunctive/past plural in u or å e.g. vi buro
- Archaically dräpa - drap - dräpen, but past pl. dråpo. Likewise kväda. Vräka’s archaic strong past was spelled vrok.
- archaically: häva hov, väva vov. Växa’s vox is never used, but vuxen exists as an adjective.
- archaically löpa lopp (gr. laufen)
Dutch
1 ij ee e - grijpen 2 ie/ui oo o - sluiten, bedriegen 3 i/e o o - bergen, helpen, beginnen 4 e a o - breken, nemen, stelen 5 e/i a e - geven, bidden, eten, lezen, treden 6 a oe a - graven, dragen, slaan, varen 7 o/a ie o/a - lopen, blazen, laten, roepen, slapen, hangen
- some have impf. ie (bederven, helpen, sterven, werpen, zwerven)
- vowel length distinguished
- ie impf: heffen, scheppen, zweren. Jagen, fragen have weak participle.
- vowel length loenliep, hangen hing, houden hield (note l)
English
This largely collapsed in modern English. (81 verbs became weak and the groupings combined.) We still preserve:
| Number | Infinitive | Imperfect | Participle | Examples: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | i | o(u) | i | ride, write, shine, drive, dive, fight, bind |
| 3 | i | a | u | swim, ring, sing, stink, drink, shrink |
| 4 | e(a) | o | o | break, bear, shear, speak, steal, tear, wake |
| 6 | a | oo | a/oo | shake, stand, draw, slay, take |
| 7 | ow | ew | own | throw, know, grow, blow, hew |
| ? | ee | e | e | bleed, breed, meet, feed |
- fly, cleave, dive, freeze, choose were in this group, but are no longer coherent
- many from class 5 and 6 joined this (swear, speak, tread)
- collapsed: eat, give, lie, see, sit, bid
- spelling collapsed but the pattern holds. laden, shapen, shaven are remnant participles.
- otherwise collapsed: hold, hang, fall, beat (slit?)
- ?) these form nouns with oo (blood, food)
N.b note reduplication logic: tip top, flip flop
Origins
Originally, the patterns had this logic:
- vowel + y
- vowel + w
- vowel + consonant cluster
- vowel + m/n/l/r
- vowel + other consonant
- ?
- past reduplicated
Reading:
- The Ablaut in English - Benjamin Wells: Discusses how OE verbs developed into todays
- On the Emergence of an Eighth Ablaut Class in German and Dutch - Jessia Nowak