Germanic Ablaut
Jul 2017 - Alex Alejandre

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:

  1. long vowels in bleiben, blieb, but short in beissen biss.
  2. long o in bieten, short in gießen, goß, gegossen. Saugen, saufen
  3. some i have u, finden gefunden, binden gebunden. Most e.g. helfen and beginnen have o
  4. long in stehlen, but short in sprechen
  5. also ö-o-o: schwören
  6. 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
  1. archaic subjunctive/past plural in u: vi bundo
  2. archaic subjunctive/past plural in u or å e.g. vi buro
  3. Archaically dräpa - drap - dräpen, but past pl. dråpo. Likewise kväda. Vräka’s archaic strong past was spelled vrok.
  4. archaically: häva hov, väva vov. Växa’s vox is never used, but vuxen exists as an adjective.
  5. 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

  1. some have impf. ie (bederven, helpen, sterven, werpen, zwerven)
  2. vowel length distinguished
  3. ie impf: heffen, scheppen, zweren. Jagen, fragen have weak participle.
  4. 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
    1. fly, cleave, dive, freeze, choose were in this group, but are no longer coherent
    1. many from class 5 and 6 joined this (swear, speak, tread)
    1. collapsed: eat, give, lie, see, sit, bid
    1. spelling collapsed but the pattern holds. laden, shapen, shaven are remnant participles.
    1. 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:

  1. vowel + y
  2. vowel + w
  3. vowel + consonant cluster
  4. vowel + m/n/l/r
  5. vowel + other consonant
  6. ?
  7. 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