Present tense Indicative Past tense Indicative
Wē
Зē } wrītað } wrīton
Hīe
Number
The grammatical category of number was built up by the opposition of two number forms – singular and Plural
Ic wrīte (singular)
Wē wrītað (plural)
Tense
The grammatical category of tense was represented by two forms: Present tense and Past tense, for example:
Present Past
Indicative Ic wrīte Ic wrāt
Oblique ic wrīte Ic write
There was no Future tense in Old English, future events were expressed with the help of a present tense verb+ an adverb denoting futurity or a combination of a modal verb (generally) sculan (shall) or willan (will)+ an Infinitive, for example:
Wille ic āsecзan mǽrum þeodne ǽrende.
(I want to tell the glorious prince my mission)
Mood
There were three mood forms in Old English: Indicative, Imperative and Oblique, for example:
Indicative Imperative Oblique
Þu cepst cēp cēpe
The Indicative Mood and the Imperative Mood were used in cases similar to those in which they are used now but the Oblique mood in Old English differed greatly from the corresponding mood in New English. There was only one mood form in Old English that was used both to express events that are thought of as unreal or as problematic – today there are two mood forms to denote those two different kinds of events, conventionally called the Subjunctive and the Conjunctive.
The forms of the Oblique Mood were also sometimes used in contexts for which now the Indicative Mood would be more suitable – to present events in the so-called “Indirect speech”:
Hē sǽde þæt land sie swiþe lanз.
(He said that that land is very long/large).
Morphological classification of verbs
LECTURE 6
CHANGES IN THE PHONETIC SYSTEM IN MIDDLE ENGLISH AND NEW ENGLISH
1. Changes in the phonetic system in Middle English
Vowels in the unstressed position
Vowels under stress
Qualitative changes
Quantitative changes
Consonants
2. Changes in the phonetic system in New English
Vowels in the unstressed position
Vowels under stress
Qualitative change
Quantitative changes
Consonants
3. Changes in alphabet and spelling in Middle and New English
Literature
1. R.V. Reznik, T.C. Sorokina, I.V. Reznik A History of the English language. M., 2003.
2. T.A. Rastorguyeva History of English. M., 1983.
3. А.И. Смирницкий Лекции по истории английского языка. М., 2000.
4. К. Бруннер История английского языка. Т.2 М., 2001.
5. И. Чахоян, Л. Иванова, Т. Беляева. История английского языка. СПб., 1998.
6. А.И. Смирницкий Древнеанглийский язык. М., 1955.
Changes in the Phonetic System in Middle English
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