Origin of modern irregular verbs

In Old English most verbs were regular, although there were a number of irregular ones. In Middle English not only the few Old English irregular verbs were preserved, but also new irregular verbs appeared. This was due, first of all, to the disappearance of the division of verbs into strong and weak, most strong verbs losing their regular pattern of conjugation and thus becoming irregular.

Another source of irregular verbs was the 1^st class of weak verbs the irregularity of which was due to several reasons. In addition to the examples given above we can show three groups of verbs originally belonging to the 1^st class of weak verbs, which later became irregular:

a) verbs with a long root vowel, the root ending in -t or -d:

Old English mētan – mētte – mētt

Middle English meten – mette – mett

New English meet – met – met

In Middle English the root vowel of the second and the third forms is shortened due to the rhythmic tendency of the language requiring the shortening of all vowels if followed by two consonants. The vowel interchange in Middle English is quantitative only.

In New English the long root vowel in the first form due to the Great Vowel Shift is changed qualitatively, so now we have both quantitative and qualitative vowel interchange in the verb.

b) verbs with a long root vowel, the root ending in a consonant other than -t or -d:

Old English cēpan – cēpte – cēpt

Middle English kepen – kepte – kept

New English keep – kept – kept

In Middle English the dental suffixation of the 2^nd and 3^rd forms is supplemented with a quantitative vowel interchange similar to that explained above, and in New English we have both vowel interchange (quantitative and qualitative) and suffixation as form-building means.

c) verbs with a short vowel, the root ending in -t or -d:

Old English settan – sette – sett

Middle English setten – sette – sett

New English set – set – set

No changes took place in the root vowel, the ending disappeared due to the final reduction of unstressed vowels, and now the verb forms its forms without any material manifestation.

Even in the 2^nd class of weak verb examples of irregularity can be found. One of them is the verb to make.

Old English macian – macode – macod

Middle English maken – makede – maked

New English made – made – made

The middle syllable of the 2^nd and the 3^rd forms was lost, making the verb irregular.

Still another source of irregular verbs may be found in some loan words borrowed into the language in Middle and New English. Although most borrowed verbs formed their forms in accordance with the weak verbs of the 2^nd class, some of them are irregular. Here it is possible to mention Scandinavian strong verb borrowings which preserve their original vowel interchange and thus are nowadays irregular, as:

give – gave – given

take – took – taken

get – got – gotten

Another irregular loan word is the French borrowing to catch (caught, caught) which is irregular, forming its forms on analogy with the verb to teach (taught, taught).

Thus, among New English regular verbs there may be encountered either native words (almost all Old English weak verbs of the 2^nd class and some Old English strong verbs having lost their irregularity and forming their forms on analogy with the weak verbs of the 2^nd class, such as to help, to bake, etc.) or borrowings (almost all loan verbs).