CHAPTER VIII.

THE ō-DECLENSION.

37. The ō-Declension, corresponding to the First or _ā-_Declension of Latin and Greek, contains only feminine nouns. Many feminine i-stems and u-stems soon passed over to this Declension. The ō-Declension may, therefore, be considered the _normal declension_ for all strong feminine nouns.

38. Paradigms of #sēo giefu#, _gift_; #sēo wund#, _wound_; #sēo rōd#, _cross_; #sēo leornung#, _learning_; #sēo sāwol#, _soul_:

_Sing. N._ gief-u wund rōd leornung sāwol _G._ gief-e wund-e rōd-e leornung-a (e) sāwl-e _D.I._ gief-e wund-e rōd-e leornung-a (e) sāwl-e _A._ gief-e wund-e rōd-e leornung-a (e) sāwl-e

_Plur. N.A._ gief-a wund-a rōd-a leornung-a sāwl-a _G._ gief-a wund-a rōd-a leornung-a sāwl-a _D.I._ gief-um wund-um rōd-um leornung-um sāwl-um

39. Note (1) that monosyllables with short stems (#giefu#) take u in the nominative singular; (2) that monosyllables with long stems (#wund#, #rōd#) present the unchanged stem in the nominative singular; (3) that dissyllables are declined as monosyllables, except that abstract nouns in -ung prefer a to e in the singular.

NOTE.--Syncopation occurs as in masculine and neuter a-stems. See § 27, (4).

40. Present and Preterit Indicative of #bēon# (#wesan#) _to be_:

PRESENT (first form). PRESENT PRETERIT. (second form).

_Sing._ 1. Ic eom 1. Ic bēom 1. Ic wæs 2. ðū eart 2. ðū bist 2. ðū wǣre 3. hē is 3. hē bið 3. hē wæs

_Plur._ 1. wē } 1. wē } 1. wē } 2. gē } sind(on), sint 2. gē } bēoð 2. gē } wǣron 3. hīe } 3. hīe } 3. hīe }

NOTE 1.--The forms #bēom#, #bist#, etc. are used chiefly as future tenses in O.E. They survive to-day only in dialects and in poetry. Farmer Dobson, for example, in Tennyson’s _Promise of May_, uses _be_ for all persons of the present indicative, both singular and plural; and _there be_ is frequent in Shakespeare for _there are_. The Northern dialect employed #aron# as well as #sindon# and #sind# for the present plural; hence Mn.E. _are_.

NOTE 2.--Fusion with #ne# gives #neom#, #neart#, #nis# for the present; #næs#, #nǣre#, #nǣron# for the preterit.

NOTE 3.--The verb _to be_ is followed by the nominative case, as in Mn.E.; but when the predicate noun is plural, and the subject a neuter pronoun in the singular, the verb agrees in number with the predicate noun. The neuter singular #ðæt# is frequently employed in this construction: #Ðaet wǣron eall Finnas#, _They were all Fins_; #Ðæt sind ęnglas#, _They are angels_; #Ðǣt wǣron ęngla gāstas#, _They were angels’ spirits_.

Notice, too, that O.E. writers do not say _It is I_, _It is thou_, but _I it am_, _Thou it art_: #Ic hit eom#, #ðū hit eart#. See § 21, (1), Note 1.

41. VOCABULARY.

sēo brycg, _bridge_. sēo costnung, _temptation_. sēo cwalu, _death_ [quail, quell]. sēo fōr, _journey_ [faran]. sēo frōfor, _consolation, comfort_. sēo geoguð, _youth_. sēo glōf, _glove_. sēo hālignes[1], _holiness_. sēo heall, _hall_. hēr, _here_. hwā, _who_? hwǣr, _where_? sēo lufu, _love_. sēo mearc, _boundary_ [mark, marches[2]]. sēo mēd, _meed, reward_. sēo mildheortnes, _mild-heartedness, mercy_. sēo stōw, _place_ [stow away]. ðǣr, _there_. sēo ðearf, _need_. sēo wylf, _she wolf_.

[Footnote 1: All words ending in -nes double the -s before adding the case endings.]

[Footnote 2: As in _warden of the marches_.]

42. EXERCISES.

I. 1. Hwǣr is ðǣre brycge ęnde? 2. Hēr sind ðāra rīca mearca. 3. Hwā hæfð þā glōfa? 4. Ðǣr bið ðǣm cyninge frōfre ðearf. 5. Sēo wund is on ðǣre wylfe hēafde. 6. Wē habbað costnunga. 7. Hīe nǣron on ðǣre healle. 8. Ic hit neom. 9. Ðæt wǣron Wēalas. 10. Ðæt sind ðæs wīfes bearn.

II. 1. We shall have the women’s gloves. 2. Where is the place? 3. He will be in the hall. 4. Those (#Ðæt#) were not the boundaries of the kingdom. 5. It was not I. 6. Ye are not the king’s scribes. 7. The shepherd’s words are full (#full# + gen.) of wisdom and comfort. 8. Where are the bodies of the children? 9. The gifts are not here. 10. Who has the seals and the birds?