OUTLINES OF GRAMMAR.

XXXI

verb between the root and inflexion, heyr-ð-a (hear-d-f); the cha-
racteristic of strong verbs is the formation of the preterite by redu-
plication, which in most cases remains only in a contracted form.
There seems to be no other way of forming the preterite. In Gothic,
out of about 130 strong verbs, about 26 are still reduplicated, chiefly
belonging to the 6th class; some few of the others, e. g. taka, to take,
are reduplicated in Gothic.

4^- The classes have here been arranged simply according to the
number of words in each; they might have been arranged as fol-
lows: a. those in which the long vowel remains through both
numbers (the 4th and 6th classes). p. those in which it remains
only in one number, that one being short (the 2nd, yd, and 5th). y-
those in which it is short in both numbers (the 1st class). That in
the 5th class the long vowel originally belonged to both sing, and
plur. is shewn by eta, pret. sing, at; the short vowel in one or both
numbers of the preterite is probably a corruption, though old, as it
is so even in the Gothic. The ablaut belongs to the earliest stage of
the language, and the long vowels thus formed are far more ancient
than those caused by simple absorption ; centuries must have elapsed
between the formation, for instance, of the a in at or sat and in ass or
útta, and long afterwards there was a distinction in the pronunciation,
the former being pure long vowels, whereas the latter retained a nasal
or guttural sound from the absorbed consonant. For the nasals see
Lyngbye in Tidskrift for Philol., Copenhagen, vol. ii.

In a few cases the Icel. has a. long vowel, which is merely due to
phonetic causes: I. a, o, and u are sounded and spelt long
before the double consonants //, Ik, Im, lp. thus kalf-r, a calf; hiilf-r,
half; sjalf-r, self; salm-r, a psalm ; halm-r, balm or straiv; malm-r
(Dan. and Swed. malm), metal; iilf-r, a wolf; hjálpa, to help ; skjálfa,
to shudder; álpt, a swan; golf, a floor; tólf, twelve; álka, an auk;
bálkr, a balk; fálki, a falcon ; folk, folk; mjOlk, milk; gulgi, the
gallows; bólga, ólga, etc.; so also hals, qs. hals, a neck; frjnls, qs.
frjals,/w. The true pronunciation only remains in skalf, skulfu, not
skálf, skúlfu. This was in fact the first step towards absorption of
the / as in other languages (e. g. Kngl. auk, baiAii), but in Icel. it re-
mained incomplete. In popular Norse the old simple vowels are still
sounded (Ivar Aasen) as well as in modern Danish and Swedish, which
shews that this change is purely Icel. and must have taken place
after the separation from Norway; yet it is old, as we see from old
MSS., Ann. Reg. of the end of the I3th century, that at that time
the present pronunciation was in use ; hardly any other MSS. distin-
guish between short and long vowels. II. in ing, úng, which
are spelt and pronounced with a long vowel instead of a short, ing,
ting. In this Dictionary the long vowels a and ú are kept in the former
case (álfr, álmr, hálmr), but in the latter case always the short, ing, ung,
tunga, not túnga ; angi, not angi; as also lengi, not leingi. ^jy" Again,
in a few instances a long vowel has passed into a short, viz. in the
possessive pronoun minn þinn sinn, neuter mitt þitt sitt, which the
ancients wrote and pronounced mínn þínn sínn, mítt þítt sítt, cp. the
Goth, meins, Germ, tnein, etc.; even in MSS., as the Fb. (I4th cen-
tury latter part), we find mijtt, i. e. mitt: the word illr, evil, ill, is
usually spelt so, but is still frequently pronounced illr, illt, which is the
true form, the long vowel being due to the contraction, cp. Germ.
ubel, Engl. evil; (Icel. say mér er ilt, not illt) : drottinn, drottning, and
drottna, instead of drottinn, drottning, and dróttna ; gott for gótt;
(the Ann. Keg. spells drottning.) The distinction (by an acute) be-
tween a long and short vowel was a century ago resumed in Icel.
printed books, so as to follow the present pronunciation; and since
etymology and comparison with foreign languages support this prac-
tice, with the few exceptions now mentioned, it has been retained in
modern Editions as well as in modern writing. P. the syllable
vd is in modern usage throughout changed into vo, svá svo, tvá tvo,
vátr votr, van von, vápn vopn, etc., but the vowel change remains as
before, e. g. væta wetness, vænta to expect, etc.; hánum (him) is
changed into honum : ve sometimes changes into u or y, Sigurðr =
Sigvarðr, dögurðr and dagverðr, yrkja from verk : or into œ, Svenskr
and Scenskr, Swedish; kcemi and kvæmi, veniret; scefi and svæfi,
dormiret, etc.: this and other less important vowel changes are noticed
in the Dictionary, especially in the introduction to each letter.

Formation by ivay of Inflexions.

Words are either formed from verbs or from nouns or roots.

A. From verbs: 'I. from the ist weak conjugation
feminines are formed by adding -n to the infinitive, boða-n, announce-
ment ; skipa-n, order; hugga-n, comfort; skapa-n, creation; iðra-n,
repentance; helga-n, hallowing: vitra-n, vision ; hindra-n, hindrance;
talma-n, id.; jata-n, confession; neita-n, denial; hugsa-n, thinking ;
hegða-n, conduct; blessa-n, blessing; bolvz-n, cursing; undra-n, admir-
ation; efa-n, doubting; fjolga-n, multiplication; lifga-n, calling to life;
holdga-n, incarnation; ætla-n, opinion; predika-n, a sermon; prenta-n,

printing; menta-n, breeding; tapa-n, perdition; kalla-n, vocation;
vara-n, admonition; svala-n, refreshing; langa-n, desire; hreinsa-n,
purification; saurga-n, pollution ; byrja-n, beginning; dyrka-n, wor-
ship; betra-n, bettering; rotna-n, rotting, decomposition; visna-n and
folna-n, withering; hnigna-n, decay; una-n, charm (4th conjugation),
etc. &iy^j In mod. usage the -an is often changed into -un, thus kollun
and kalian, iðrun and iðran, byrjun and byrjan, the later form being even
the more usual. This change freq. occurs even in very old MSS., e. g.
skemton, Mork. 72, 168; etlon, devise, 10, 34; vingon, friendship,
166,178; eptir-leiton, seeking, 168 ; flimton, reviling, 28. II.
from the 2nd weak conjugation feminines are formed in -ing, which
is added to the root, dcem-ing, judgment, damnation; fylk-ing, a
rank or host; leys-ing, loosening; kenn-ing, doctrine; lííc-ing, like-
ness, parable ; virð-ing, esteem ; hegn-ing and hirt-ing, chastisement;
birt-ing, brightening, publication; þekk-ing, knowledge; læg-ing,
humiliation; melt-ing, digestion; send-ing, despatch; legg-ing, lay-
ing; freist-ing, temptation; fyll-ing, fulfilment; bygg-ing, building;
rign-ing, pouring with rain; fceo-ing, birth; lær-ing, teaching;
sœm-ing, beseeming; grœð-ing, healing; upp-frœð-ing, information;
titl-ing and ginn-ing, deception; aðgrein-ing, distinction; menn-ing,
manliness; tiring-ing, pealing; deil-ing, division; beyg-ing and
hneig-ing, inflexion; bend-ing, beckoning; lend-ing, alighting; CTIÔL-
\i\g, finishing ; gerð-ing, hedging; eld-ing, lighting; efn-ing, fulfil-
ment; þreyng-ing,/)re.si/n^"; and a great many others: a few, as kerl-
ing a curling, þrenn-ing trinity, ein-ing unity, are formed from nouns,
as are also the masculines in -ingr; Jsekn-ing, healing, from laekna,
að, is irregular or refers to a lost strong verb. $ff The feminines
in -an and -ing arc counted by hundreds. III. from the ^rd
weak conjugation and from the strong verbs, feminines are formed in
-ning :—from the 3rd weak, glað-ning, gladdening ; kvað-ning, greet-
ing; sað-ning, filling; vaf-iiing, entanglement; hrak-ning, tossing ;
vak-ning, awakening ; tal-ning, counting ; sam-ning, agreement; tam-
ning, taming; ar-ning, tilling; far-ning, passage; var-ning, ware;
hvat-ning, exhortation ; sct-ning, a position, thesis; lag-ning, laying
down; skil-ning, understanding, discerning; ruð-ning, clearing; stuð-
ning, upholding; smur-ning, smearing, anointing; spur-ning, speering,
asking; flut-ning, carrying; á-ning, baiíing (æja), etc. p. from the
strong verbs, rit-ning, writing; lot-ning, ' loi/ting,' veneration (lúta) ;
get-mng, begetting; kos-ning, election ; soð-ning, cooking; les-ning,
gleaning; ráð-ning, rebuke (ráða) ; frá-drag-ning, subtraction ; upp-
al-niiig, breeding; lúní-íck-n'mg, partaking; haf-ning, elevation (hefja);
upp-stig-ning, ascension (stiga); smi-ning, turning (smia); mi-ning,
rubbing (gnúa): bú-ningr, dress (bna), is masc.: gör-ning, a deed (gora¹),
shews that this word has had a strong inflexion : jut-ning, confession
(játa, tt), is irregular from the 3rd weak conjugation : drOtt-ning, a
mistress, a queen, is formed from drottinn, a lord. 6fjr" This n is
undoubtedly a remnant of the part. pass. In the case of the 3rd
'weak conjugation, this formation is an evidence that the participles
in -inn were of early growth ; it is curious that feminines in -ning
were formed even from verbs in which that participle is not used, e. g.
glað-ning, from gleðja, see p. xxiv. Some of the above words are
in modern usage also masculine, e. g. barning and barningr, skilning
and skilningr, gorning and gorningr ; but the feminine is older and
more correct. 2. a few masculines in -nnor are also formed
from the same verbs, e. g. þrif-naðr, thrift (brífa): snú-naðr, profit
(snua); bú-naðr, husbandry (búa); mct-nuðr, ambition (meta);
get-naor, begetting (geta) ; skap-naðr, shape (skapa): skil-naðr, de-
parting (skilja): from other verbs, her-naðr, harrying, freebooting
(herja) ; as also kost-naðr, cost (kosta); spar-naðr, saving (spara) ;
trú-naðr, trust (trúa); té-naðr, help (tceja) ; fé-naðr, cattle; dug-naor,
energy (duga) ; lif-naör, living (Ufa) : unaðr, delight (una); verk-naðr,
working (yrkja) ; fögn-uðr,_/'oy ; jöfn-uðr, equity ; hagn-aðr, comfort;
sökn-uðr, sorrow (for a lost thing) ; söfn-uðr, congregation ; vörn-uðr,
caution; í'irn-aðr, intercession ; þjóf-naðr, theft; (mán-uðr, a month, is
different.) $ar* Altogether different are the old words, höl-ðraiíwo,fröm-
uðr a promoter, grönduðr íi destroyer; mjöt-uðr, A. S. meotod —ruler ;
these words are very few, mostly poetical, and are used in an active
sense, (see Grimm's Gr.iii. 241.) IV. feminines m-sla are formed
from the 2nd weak conjugation, skir-sla, ordeal; geym-sla, keeping;
fœð-sla,/bo(/; kenn-sla,fertcizHg^r; frœð-sla,information; eyð-sla. spend-
ing; vig-sla, inauguration ; reyn-sla, experience ; gaet-sla, guarding,
keeping; greiu-sln, payment; veit-sla, banquet; hræð-sla,fright; fcer-
sla, shifting; neyt-sla, taking food; bœ:i-heyr-sla,grflw/; reið-sla, leið-
sla, herð-sla, hirð-sla, etc.; often spelt with z, veizla, etc. V.
the monosyllabic feminines in -n are chiefly formed from the roots of
verbs, not from the infinitive ; heyr-n, hearing; spur-n, speering, news;
skir-n, baptism; eig-n, owning, possession ; sög-n, a saw, saying, tale;
þög-n, silence; vcir-n,defence; stjOr-n,sway ; so\i-n, prosecution ; tys-n,
desire; auð-n, voidness; fór-n, offerings; freg-n, news; ið-n, activity ;
njOs-n, espying; \a.us-i\,freedom; raus-n, liberality; gaup-n, a gowpen ;
sjO-n and sy-n,sight; \)]a,-n, oppression; sma-n,disgrace; bae-n,begging;