Verbs 149 NOTE.—Of watan only the pres. part. masc. dat. sing. (waianđin), and the pret. 3 pers. pi. occur. The a pers. sing, pret. of saian is saísSst, with the ending -st, instead of-t, from verbs like last, where -st was regular, see § 188. B, WEAK VERBS. § 815. The weak verbs, which for the most part are derivative or denominative, are divided in Gothic into four classes according as the infinitives end in -Jan. pret. •ida, (-ta); -on, pret, -ōda; -an, pret. -áida; -nan, pret. •nōda. The weak preterite is a special Germanic formation., and many points connected with its origin are still uncertain. Some scholars are inclined to regard it as a periphrastic formation which was originally confined to denominative verbs, and then at a later period became extended to primary verbs as well. The Gothic endings of the singular:— -da, -dēs, -da would thus represent an old aorist formed from the root đhē·, put, place (Gr. τί-θη-μι), which stands in ablaut relation to OE. OS. don, OHG. tuan, to do, as Indg. *dhom, (*dhem), *dhes, dhet, prim. Germanic *đōn, (*đæn), *đæs, đæ = Goth, -da, -dēs, -da. But it is also probable that the dental in the pret. sing, stands in close relationship to the dental of the past participle, where the -þs = prim. Germanic -đás, Gr. -TO?. In Gothic the old preterite (perfect) of don has been preserved in the pret. dual and plural, as -dēd-u, -đēd-uts; pi. -dēd-um, -dēd-uþ, -dēd-un (with the same personal endings as in the pret. of strong verbs, § 292) = OHG, tāt-um, (-tin), tāt-ut, tāt-un (OS. đād-un), the pret. plural of tuon. NOTE.—Many points concerning the inflexion of weak verbs in the oldest periods of the Germanic languages have never been satisfactorily explained. For a summary and discussion of the various explanations which have been suggested by scholars, the student should consult: Brugmann's Kurze