*Ek wrait
The reconstructive elegance of Germanic strong verbs
by C Ryan Moniz
original research· spring 2020
updated & published· winter 2022
A feature which appears to have existed in Proto-Indo-European, but that eroded out of many of the daughter languages, is the verbal ablaut system. Sporadic relics of a robust ablaut system remain in some of the early recorded language, such as in different aspectual variants of Greek verbs, or in some irregular perfects of Latin. However, the ablaut system of early Germanic strong verbs is much more internally predictable, and highly retentive of the ablaut patterns in Proto-Indo-European.
There are 7 strong verb classes reconstructed for Proto-Germanic and the early attested Germanic languages. Strong verb classes 1-5 are actually reflective of the same ablaut alternation in Proto-Indo-European:
active *e :: stativesingular *o :: stativeplural ∅ (zero grade)
In Germanic, these forms were reinterpreted as present tense, preterite tense singular, & preterite tense plural, respectively. The differences between classes 1-5 are in the final consonants of the root. Classes 1 strong verbs are reflexes of verbs in with a *i or *u (which were semivowel consonant phonemes in Proto-Indo-European) after the ablauting vowel. For example:
- PIE: *uréid-oh₂ :: uróid-h₂e :: urid-mé
- PGm: *(ek) wrīt-ō :: (ek) wrait :: (wīz) writ-um
- OE: ic wríte :: ic wrát :: wé writon
- MnE: I write :: I wrote :: we wrote
- PIE: *préus-oh₂ :: próus-h₂e :: prus-mé
- PGm: *(ek) freus-ō :: (ek) fraus :: (wīz) fruz-um
- OE: ic fréose :: ic fréas :: wé fruron
- MnE: I freeze :: I froze :: we froze
| Summary | ||
|---|---|---|
| PIE | PGm | Class |
| éi | ī | 1 active → present |
| ói | ai | 1 stativeSG → preteriteSG |
| i | 1 stativePL → preteritePL | |
| éu | eu | 2 active → present |
| óu | au | 2 stativeSG → preteriteSG |
| u | 2 stativePL → preteritePL | |
references
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