grammar Flashcards
irregular verb be
Indicative - preterite (plural)
were(n)
weak adjectives
- only with monosyllabic adjectives derived from OE ending in consonant
- when adjective is modified by determiner
- when adjective modifies proper noun
- when it forms part of a vocative
- singular/plural = <e></e>
third person singular - dative
masculine = hym, hir
feminine = hir(e), hyr(e)
neutral = it, hit
plural all genders - genetive
hir(e)(s)
plural all genders - dative
hem
plural all genders - nominative
they
plural all genders - accusative
hem
strong verbs
- stem vowel change in preterite/past participle
- singular = <e></e>
- plural = <e>/<en></en></e>
third person singular - accusative
masculine = hym, hir
feminine = hir(e), hyr(e)
neutral = it, hit
third person singular - nominative
masculine = he
feminine = she
neutral = it, hit
third person singular - genetive
masculine = his
feminine = hir(e)(s)
neutral = his
second person - accusative
singular = thee
plural = you/yow
second person - dative
singular = thee
plural = you/yow
second person - nominative
singular = thou/thow
plural = ye
first person - accusative
singular = me
plural = us
first person - dative
singular = me
plural = us
irregular verb be - imperative (present)
singular = be
plural = beth
irregular verb be - participles
present = beyng(e)
preterite = been
irregular verb be - subjunctive preterite (singular)
1st person = were
2nd person = were
3rd person = were
irregular verb be - subjunctive preterite (plural)
were(n)
irregular verb be - subjunctive present (singular)
1st person = be
2nd person = be
3rd person = be
irregular verb be - subjunctive present (plural)
are(n)
irregular verb be - indicative preterite (singular)
1st person = was
2nd person = were
3rd person = was
irregular verb be - indicative present (singular)
1st person = am
2nd person = art
3rd person = is
irregular verb be - indicative present (plural)
be(e)(n)/ar(e)(n)
present tense - singular
2nd person = <st>
3rd person = <th></st>
present tense - plural
<(n)>
long closed e
when it’s spelt with <ee> or <e> in PDE
--> speche = speech</e></ee>
long open e
when it’s spelt with <ea> in PDE
--> teche = teach</ea>
long closed o
when it doesnt have the goat diphthong in PDE
–> good = good
long open o
when it has the goat diphthong in PDE pronunciation
–> hooly = holy
nominative function
subject of a sentence
- plural = <es></es>
plural noun inflexions - suffixes
<es> <z> <is> <ys> <en>
</en></ys></is></z></es>
dative function
- indirect object/prepositions
- singular = <e></e>
- plural = <es></es>
accusative function
- direct object
- plural = <es></es>
‘thou’ - explain
- informal
- singular form
- top to bottom relation –> can be an expression of disrespect
- when talking to God
‘ye’ - explain
- formal
- plural form
- bottom to top relation –> show respect, keep distance
genetive function
- used to mark possessions
- plural/singular = <es></es>
weak verbs
If they have a dental suffix (d/t) in preterite/past participle
- dental suffix > stem vowel change
- singular = <e>/<est> after dental suffix
- plural = <e>/<en> after dental suffix</en></e></est></e>
strong adjectives
when it’s none of the weak paradigm
–> except for indefinite a/an
plural = <e></e>
present participle - suffix
<ynge>
</ynge>
subjunctive mood
- speaker is uncertain, desire, hypothetical situation
- if or though –> conditional sentences
- wish/desire –> optative sentence
- hope, trowe, thynke –> after verb expressing uncertainty
- present (plural) = <n></n>
- preterite (singular) = <e></e>
- preterite (plural) = <e>/<en></en></e>
finite verbs
finite verbs agree with the subject
–> express the mood, tense, number, person
past participle - suffix
<ed>
</ed>
determiner
A modifying word that determines the kind of reference a noun or noun group has
- a/an (indefinite article/words beginning with <h>)
- the (definite article)
- that, tho, this, thise (demonstratives)
- ilke/thilke (= the same, that)
- yon (= yonder)
- hym (= that)</h>
first person - nominative
singular = I (Ich, Ik)
plural = we
first person - genetive
singular = my(n)(e)
plural = our(e)(s)
second person - genetive
singular = thyn(e)
plural = your(e)(s)
indicative
full facts
2nd singular present = <(e)st>
3rd singular present = <th>
relative pronouns
- connects main clause with relative sentence
- no distinction between (non)- human
- ‘who’ is only used for interogative/questions
–> whos and whom can be used as well - takes an <e> inflexion to show agreement
--> which that hightE</e>
adverbs
<ly> or <e> or <lich(e)>
some do not add a suffix, they are an adverb on their own
</e></ly>
infinitive
<e(n)> used for metrical purpose
may be accompanied by prepositions = to/for to
impersonal verbs
pronoun is object of verb rather than subject
–> me thynketh
–> me semed
phrasal verbs
consists of two elements (stand up, go up)
more colloquial usage –> synonyms exist for formal use
imperative
- used when expressing comand
- not exclusively based on numbers
–> also used for deference or formality when addressing individuals (distinction not consistently maintained) - plural = <th>
negations
- double or triple negatives are used to emphasize
- emphasize can be made by replacing nat/noght with: noon, namoore, nothyng, nevere
- happens infront of everything that can be negated
- ME doesn’t require ‘do’ support
- no fixed position
sentence structure
- most common word order: subject - verb - object
- subject - object - verb (SOV) –> inversion
- split more complex verb phrases –> verb split from the auxiliary for rhyming purpose
- VSO –> followed by an adverbial
- VSO –> no adverbial = question
–> 2nd person pronoun (thou/thow) + verb
–> no ‘do’ support in ME
negations - examples
ne + am = nam
ne + was = nas
ne + wiste = nyste
ne + wolde = nolde
non-finite verbs
non-finite verbs do not agree with the subject
–> can be used in the present participle, past participle or infinite forms to perform different functions in a sentence
