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Old English
by Wikibooks Contributors

Developed on Wikibooks
The open-content textbooks collection
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© Copyright 2003–2006, Wikibooks contributors. Permission is granted to copy,

distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free
Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover
Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation
License". Images are either licensed under the GFDL or released into the public domain.
Creators of GFDL images are listed in image captions.

The current version of this Wikibook may be found at:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Old_English
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Contents

Lessons

01 - Roadmap to learning Old English……………………………………………………………3

02 - Fōresprǣc (Introduction)..................................................................................6
03 - Grammar………………………………………………………………………………………………7
04 - Orthography…….………………………………………………………………………………….13
05 - I-Mutation…………………………………………………………………………………………..14
06 - Nouns………………..…………………………………………………………………………….…16
07 - Pronouns…………………………………………………………………………………………….22
08 - Articles………………………..……………………………………………………………………..28
09 - Adjectives…………………………………..……………………………………………………….30
10 - Numbers……….………………………………………………………………………………….…35
11 - Verbs………………….……………………………………………………………………………….39
12 - Participles…………………..……………………………………………………………………….62
13 - Adverbs……………………………………………………………………………………………….64
14 - Conjunctions….……………………………………………………………………………………65
15 - Prepositions…………………………………..………………………………………….…………67
16 - Interjections.……………………………………………………………………………………….70
17 - Appositives…………………………………………………………………………………………..71
18 - Word Formation……………………………………………………………………….…………72
19 - Punctutation……………………………………………………………………………………..…77
20 - Syntax…….……………………………………………………………………………………….…79

Additional Old English Resources

Authentic Old English Phrasing………………………………………………………………..…80

Old English Phrasebook………………………….……………………………………………….…84
Titles and Nicknames…………………………………………………………………………………112

Vocablulary

35 Keywords……………..………………………………………………………………………………113
Nouns…………………………….……………………………………………………………………..…115
Verbs……………………………………………………………………………………………….………118

About the Book

GNU Free Documentation License.......................................................................120

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1 - Roadmap to learning Old English

Okay, so, you are interested in learning Old English. But, it's a dead language, so
how do you even do that?

It won't be very easy!

People who learn Old English usually either:

only care about reading Old English (this is true of most academics) - it is not
necessary to develop the skills to be good at writing and speaking Old English, only
reading and understanding it
are interested also in speaking Old English (this is mostly true of enthusiasts) -
this is a harder goal to achieve, but this Old English Wikibook PDF should (eventually)
be in a condition to help you achieve this
This Old English Wikibook PDF overall should eventually be sufficient to get a
person a significant way down the path of speaking Old English, and therefore also
reading it. It is currently under work, and therefore you may find as your learning
advances, that there have been some mistakes in this Wikibook PDF. If you spot any
clear mistakes yourself, feel free to correct them, or notify someone who is active in
writing this Wikibook PDF.
However, your own approach also matters. Because Old English is a dead
language, and almost all of the resources for Old English are technically focussed, with
no focus on developing speaking skills, you yourself will have to make special,
well-considered efforts, to achieve even an intermediate level of speaking ability in Old
English. This page offers advice on how to achieve an intermediate level of speaking. If
you make it that far, you will be as well qualified as anyone else to figure out how to
achieve an advanced level of speaking.

Contents

1. Fulk’s Grammar

2. Old English Discord Server

3. General Advice

4. Detailed Roadmap
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Fulk’s Grammar

Robert Fulk has kindly made his modern, reputable, basic scholarly introduction to Old
English freely available under the public domain. It can be used to follow this learning
road map for Old English, and can be found in a book called “Introductory Grammar of
Old English with an Anthology of Readings”

This book is a high-quality resource. If you are unclear on grammar jargon, you may
wish to look at the grammar page, which explains some fundamental grammar concepts.

Old English Discord Server

As of 2021, there is a very active Old English Discord server, with several advanced
learners of Old English present, and a number of intermediate learners. This is one of
the few places you will be able to practice Old English with other people, and can expect
some degree of reliable corrective feedback. You can also practice speaking Old English,
and you can also ask specific questions, which can greatly accelerate your learning.
(Code is QFGmmpkckK)

General Advice

● Be careful not to assume that cognate ("cousin words", like "Eis" in German, "ice"
in Modern English, and "īs" in Old English) words in Old English had the same
meaning as in Modern English. The primary meaning of "mann" in Old English is
"person" or "human", not "male adult human".
● Don't assume that because you can put words together in a particular way in
Modern English, or any modern language, you can also do that in Old English -
Old English was its own language with its own standards. Modern German has
many similarities, but they are not identical.
● It may be helpful to learn Modern German or Modern Icelandic before you learn
Old English. They are grammatically similar, and benefit from being living
languages - you can find people who can correct your errors.
● As you become more advanced, after you have mastered the basics, put
increasing effort into avoiding making errors. Over time, with care and attention,
you should make fewer and fewer errors, as you become aware of more and more
facets of Old English.
● There are 3 aspects of "correctness" when you speak a language: correct sense of
meaning of words, correct grammar, and suitable style/phrasing. The first two
 5

points are what you should focus on when you are first getting started in Old
English, but after you have mastered the basics, you should start paying attention
to how things are written in authentic, historical Old English texts - take notes,
and remember those phrases.
● Don't sweat learning something perfectly before you move on to the next topic; so
long as you have learned most of the topic, you can move on. You can always
revisit old lessons if you need a reminder.
● Most modern Old English content which you find on the internet is poor quality,
even much of that written by academics (note: with regards to academics, this is
only applicable to their modern Old English content, which is barely ever viewed
as an important part of academic Old English studies, not their content about Old
English). Modern Old English should never be considered as a primary learning
source. You should always prioritize authentic, historical texts as the
authoritative examples of Old English. Academics, generally speaking, despite
often not being able themselves to use advanced Old English with reliable
correctness and proficiency, nevertheless provide the most in-depth, reliable
analyses and descriptions of historical Old English, and are the main providers of
reliable resources which can be used to learn Old English. Pouring over a text to
analyse a technical point, or even reading such a text to understand its contents,
are very different activities to speaking a language in a social context, or writing a
text in that language.
● To learn how to write and speak Old English, you have to practice. You cannot
learn how to write and speak Old English well only by reading. You should,
however, also be exposing yourself to historical Old English texts, and comparing
it with your own writings, and correcting yourself by comparing what you write to
authentic texts.
● Learning is a mentally creative and proactive process. You need to take active
notice of things. Although repetition is necessary to first memorize something,
that alone will not help you master Old English. Repetition of noun, adjective,
verb paradigms only helps you remember their forms - you also have to try to use
those forms, to get good at it.
● At the start, your Old English will be very bad. Don't be discouraged - this is
normal. You will get better over time as you keep at it.
● Because it is a dead language and there are few people who can reliably correct
you, or who you can practice speaking with, your progress in Old English will
likely be slower than for living languages.
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2- Fōrespeǣc (Introduction)
Alphabet and Pronunciation

The Old English alphabet has a few differences from that of Modern English. It did not
have the letters q, z, j and v (k and x are used but rarely). It also had four letters not used
in Modern English: Æ/æ (named "Æsh" (Ash)), Þ/þ (named "Þorn" (Thorn)), Ð/ð
(named "Ðæt"/"Eð" (Eth)), Ƿ/ƿ (named "Ƿynn"(Wynn)).

Pronunciation
Because the language has been dead for 900 years, we cannot be completely sure how
Old English was pronounced. However, we can make good educated guesses at how Old
English was pronounced because the Anglo-Saxons almost certainly wrote quite
phonetically (that is, they wrote words how they sounded); we can compare it with
Middle English, various Modern English dialects, and other closely related Germanic
languages; we can look at phonetic poetic strategies used in Old English poems; and we
can look at spelling variations and clues within Old English texts themselves.

For the vowels, the short "e", "i", "o", "u", and "y" are all pronounced slightly more
"laxed" or open than when they are long.

Example of Old English Pronunciation (Lines 1-11 of Beowulf)

[1] Hƿæt! Ƿē Gārdena in geārdagum

[2] þēodcyninga þrym gefrūnon,
[3] hū þā æðelingas ellen fremedon.
[4] Oft Sċyld Sċēfing sċeaðena þrēatum,
[5] monegum mǣgðum meodosetla oftēah.
[6] Egsode eorl, syððan ǣrest ƿearð
[7] fēasċeaft funden; hē þæs frōfre gebād:
[8] Ƿēox under ƿolcnum, ƿeorðmyndum ðāh,
[9] ōð þæt him ǣghƿylċ þāra ymbsittendra
[10] ofer hronrāde hȳran sċolde,
[11] Gomban gyldan: þæt ƿæs gōd cyning!
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3 - Grammar
Grammar is the rules that govern how you make sentences, clauses, and words in a
language. To have a good understanding of a language, it is important to know and have
a good feel for the grammar. Many things about Old English grammar are different to
Modern English grammar, so you'll need to learn the differences. Read on!

Old English

Old English was a Germanic language, which means it is also an Indo-European

language. Because it is a Germanic language, it is closely related to the other ancient
Germanic languages of Gothic, Old Norse, Old Frisian, Old High German, Old Saxon,
and Old Dutch; and because it is Indo-European, it is more distantly related to Latin,
Greek, many Indian and Central Asian languages (including Hittite and Sanskrit), the
Balto-Slavic languages, and more.

Like them, it is quite declension and conjugation-heavy - to a similar degree to Modern

Icelandic and Modern German (and much more so than Modern English or even
Modern Dutch). This can seem frightening, but it is quite possible to learn. It requires
some effort, memorization, and practice.

Nouns

Nouns are words used to name something, like "John", "Sarah", "ice", "monster", and
"sword" in Modern English. They are part of a larger category of words called
substantives, which also includes pronouns and adjectives which are used like nouns.

In Modern English, we usually change a noun to show that it is plural - we add "-s" to
the end of it usually, for example "friend" (one friend) but then "friends" (more than one
friend). We also usually add "-'s" to the end of a noun to show that it is possessive - that
the thing being named owns something, as in "Sam's toys".

In Old English, however, they changed nouns a lot more than that. For more
information, read the "Declensions" section on this page.
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Declensiona

A declension is when you change a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective, a bit (e.g. by adding
as suffix to it) to add some extra meaning to it, like when we add "-s" to the end of a
noun in Modern English to show that there is more than one of something. For example,
"toy" means "one toy", but "toys" means "more than one toy".

There was much more declension done in Old English than Modern English. Nouns,
pronouns, and adjectives were all obligatorily declined - if you didn't decline them
correctly in a given context, it would be wrong. In Old English, all nouns, pronouns, and
adjectives, were always declined according to number, case, and grammatical gender,
unless that particular word was one of the few indeclinable words. The different
numbers in Old English were:
● singular (for just one thing or person)
● or plural (for more than one)
● dual (only applies to first person (we two) and second person (you two) pronouns
- for just two)
They were also declined according to case. Cases show a little bit of extra meaning about
a word, like whether something is the subject of a sentence, or the direct object of a verb,
or the owner of something. Cases can often be used alone instead of prepositions. In Old
English, the cases were:
● nominative (the subject of a sentence, or the doer of an action "he" in "he is cool"
or "she" in "she sings a song")
● accusative (the direct object of a verb - the thing that is having something done to
it)
● dative (the benefactor of a verb - the thing that is being given something or is
having something done for them)
● genitive (the owner of something else)
● instrumental (the instrument by which an action is achieved) (very rare - usually
exactly like the dative)
Specific different cases were also used after different prepositions. For example, "for" -
"because of", was followed by the dative case; but "ƿið" - "against", was usually followed
by the accusative case. Sometimes, if you used a different case after the same
preposition, it would change the meaning. For example, if "on" is followed by the dative
case, it usually means "in"/"on"/"at", but if it is followed by the accusative case, it means
"into" or "onto". And then there were genders, just like in Modern French or Modern German.
Modern English doesn't have different grammatical genders, but Old English had three:
● masculine
● feminine
● neuter
 9

In grammar, "gender" doesn't necessarily have anything to do with social or natural

gender - for example an Old English word for "woman" - ƿīf is actually of the neuter
grammatical gender. Different genders are simply different categories of nouns, which
are partially arbitrary in Old English.

Often, you can know what the gender of a word in Old English is, just by characteristics
of the word itself, but not always. So it's best to memorize the gender of each new noun
that you learn along with the noun itself. You can do this by memorizing the unique
singular article (word for "the") of that gender with the noun ("sē" for masculine, "þæt"
for neuter, "sēo" for feminine). Different genders had different declensions, which you
can see in the "Nouns" page.

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that are used to add extra meaning to or modify a noun or a
pronoun, like Modern English "good" or "funny" as in "the good man" or "the funny
man".

Like in Modern English, adjectives in Old English were put before the noun, for example
dƿǣs mann - "stupid person", unless they were used in a statement like "I am cool",
where they came after the noun and the verb, like in Modern English. Also like in
Modern English, adjectives had comparative and superlative forms (like "much" -
"more" - "most" or "good" - "better" - "best").

Unlike in Modern English, adjectives were declined with the case, gender, and number
of the noun or pronoun that they modified. In addition, there were two different ways
you could decline adjectives: weak or strong. It's not too hard to learn when to use each
declension.

In Old English, adjectives could be used alone without modifying any noun or pronoun,
as a substansive (see the "Nouns" section above), to mean something like "the
(adjective) one", as in se ealda - "the old one, the old man".

Verbs

Verbs are used to show action, like Modern English "do" or "make" or "sing"; or to show
an event, like Modern English "happen"; or to show a state, like Modern English "be",
"become", and "seem".
 10

In Modern English, verbs are conjugated. Conjugation is similar to declension - it's

when you change a verb a bit to add some extra meaning to it. In Modern English, we
conjugate verbs when we add "-s" to a third person (he/she/it/the person) singular verb:
"I kick" but then "she kicks"; we also conjugate when we change the vowel of some verbs
to show that it happened in that past: "I am singing" but "I sang"; or when we add "-ed"
to other verbs to show that they happened in the past: "she kicked".

Verbs in Old English were also conjugated, but much more so than in Modern English.
They were conjugated according to tense (the time when the verb happens, like Modern
English "sing" (now) and "sang" (in the past)), person (who is doing the verb - you
(second person), me (first person), or John (third person)?), number (how many are
doing the verb: just one (singular) or more than one (plural)?), and mood (mood reflects
different circumstances pertaining to the action of the verb - are you simply asserting
something, or just speculating, or wishing, or giving a command, etc. - "He did come" is
an assertion (indicative mood) but then "Maybe he came" (subjunctive mood); "Come
now!" is a command (imperative mood)).

Pronouns

Pronouns are a lot like nouns - indeed, one could simply say that they are very flexible,
general nouns. They can take the place for many other nouns, for example the Modern
English word "he" is a personal pronoun - it can replace all the nouns "the man", "the
bicyclist", "John", "the Pope", "the child", and many more. They are used to avoid
repeating a noun too often, for example:
● "John said that he was coming" not "John said that John was coming"
● "Sarah says her cat died when it was run over by a car" not "Sarah says Sarah's cat
died when Sarah's cat was run over by a car"
Other examples of pronouns in Modern English are the words "that", "this", "what", and
"who".
Like Old English nouns, Old English pronouns were declined according to case, usually
number, and in some cases gender; but you need to remember each pronoun's special
declension, because they weren't usually predictable using the same declensions as
nouns or adjectives.

Adverbs

Adverbs are a broad, general category of words. They are any word that modifies:
● adjectives
● verbs
 11

● other adverbs
● prepositions
But not all adverbs can modify all of these types of words. For example, in Modern
English, the word "very" is an adverb because it can be used to modify an adjective (as in
"the very tall man") and some other adverbs but it cannot be used to modify a verb or a
preposition (for example, one cannot say "I ran very into the wall" or "I very danced").

In Old English, like in Modern English, most adverbs are formed from adjectives. But
also nouns used in the accusative, genitive, dative, or instrumental case can often or
usually be used as adverbs, and prepositional phrases (phrases that include a
preposition) can also take the place of an adverb (for example, in Modern English, we
could say either "I went homeward" with "homeward" as an adverb, or "I went towards
home" with "towards home" as a prepositional phrase).

Like in Modern English, adverbs formed off adjectives in Old English could be
comparative or superlative (that means like "more" and "most", or "better" and "best").
Many adverbs, though (like the ones formed by simply declining a noun) could not be
used comparatively or superlatively.

Prepositions

Prepositions are words that show different relations between substansives and
substansives (substansive is a general word for nouns and pronouns), verbs and
substansives, and adjectives and substansives; and they can sometimes be modified by
adverbs. In Modern English, words like "to", "in", "under", "of", and "from" are all
prepositions. Here are examples of the different uses of prepositions:
● The roof of the house (shows relation between two substansives - "roof" and
"house")
● I went to the party (shows relation between a verb and a substansive - the verb
"went" and the noun "party")
● I look similar to him (shows relation between an adjective and a substansive - the
adjective "similar" and the pronoun "him")
● The frog hopped away from the hungry fish (the preposition "from" is modified
by the adverb "away")
You will notice that all the examples of prepositions are followed by substansives -
prepositions must always occur as part of a prepositional phrase (a phrase that has at
least a preposition and a substansive) along with a substansive. Sometimes words that
are prepositions can also be used as adverbs, or another part of speech. When being
 12

used as another part of speech, prepositions do not have to occur in a prepositional

phrase.

In Old English, prepositions were followed by different cases - always a case other than
the nominative. Some prepositions could be followed by any of several different cases,
and sometimes the meaning of the preposition would change a little depending on
which case followed it. For example, in Old English, if the word "in" was followed by the
dative case, it would mean "in" or "inside of", but when followed by the accusative case,
it would mean "into".

Many Old English prepositions were very similar to their Modern English descendants,
so they should be mostly easy to learn.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases, or sentences, like Modern English
"and", "but", "because", "if", "though", and many more.

There were three types of conjunction in Old English:

● coordinating conjunctions - link two sentences of equal "weight", both of which
could be standalone, such as "I am John, but she is Sarah" or "These keys are
mine, and that hat is mine"
● conjunctions introducing dependent clauses - conjunctions that attach a less
important clause (a "dependent clause") to a main clause, such as "I came
because I heard your call", where "I came" is the main clause, and "because"
simply introduces the reason for coming; another example: "Even if I fail, I will
try again" where "even if" introduces the dependent clause, and "I will try again"
is the main clause
● correlative conjunctions - similar to coordinating conjunctions because they
introduce clauses of equal weight, but you use several conjunctions together, for
example: "Neither Sam nor Fred were strong enough to lift it" and "Both the dog
and the cat were savage creatures"
 13

4 - Orthography
How to Write Old English correctly

Technically speaking, Old English was historically written with laxer standards than in
Modern English - the same word could often be written in several different ways; and
spelling was heavily influenced by pronunciation. But, for the modern reader, who is
accustomed to a uniform writing for his words (one word, one spelling), we will thus use
a standard orthography here based on Early West Saxon (an early standard for Old
English).

Consonants

There were 19 consonants in the Old English language: b c d f g h k l m n p r s t v ƿ x þ ð.

Sometimes, you will see q and z in foreign words.
Vowels

There were 7 (sometimes 8) vowels in Old English: a æ, e, i, o, u, y, and sometimes œ

(Northumbrian).
Sounds of Old English

The inventory of surface sounds (whether allophones or phonemes) of Old English is as

shown below.
Bilabial Labiodrntal Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Stop PB TD KG

Affricate tʃ (dʒ)

Nasal M N (ŋ)

Fricative f (v) θ (ð) s (z) ʃ (ç) (x)(ɣ) h

Approx r j w

Lat Approx l
 14

Monophthongs Short Back

Front Back Front Back

Close I Y U I: Y: U:

Mid E O E: O:

Open Æ A Æ: A:

Diphthongs Short Long

First element is close iy i:y

Both elements are mid eo e:o

Both elements are open æa æ:a

Dialects

There were four main dialects in Old English: West Saxon, Anglian (consisting of
Mercian and Northumbrian), and Kentish. West Saxon has the most documented
evidence, which is why it is used here. But the other three dialects show some
differences in spelling, grammar, and vocabulary which will be explored in the chapter
on dialects.

5 - I-Mutation
What is I-Mutation

I-mutation is a regular change in the vowel stems of words under certain circumstances,
surviving in modern English is such word-pairs as "full" and "fill", "blood" and "bleed",
"mouse" and "mice".

In general, we may say that i-mutation of a vowel changes it to a vowel which is

articulated further forward or higher up in the mouth than the original. The exact
relationship between the original vowel and its mutant form is summarized in the table
below.
 15

Origional I-Mutants

A, Ā Æ, Ǣ

AM, AN EM, EN

Æ E

E I

O, Ō E, Ē

U, Ū Y, Ȳ

EA, ĒA IE. ĪE

EO, ĒO IE, ĪE

Some things to note:

● Vowels not on the list undergo no changes.
● I-mutation never changes the length of a vowel or diphthong.
● æ and e only change when they are short.
● The behavior of a depends on whether or not it precedes a nasal consonant (m or
n).
To make this easier to understand and to memorize, we can observe a few rules:
● The back vowels (o/u/a and their long versions) become their fronted equivalents
(e/y/æ).
● The front vowels (a, e) all become more closed, i.e., they move closer to i/y,
except ǣ and ē do not mutate.
● All diphthongs (io (early)/eo/ea) mutate into ie/īe (short diphthongs to the
former, long diphthongs to the latter).

Some Uses of I-Mutation

I-mutation can be seen in the following places, among others. It is not necessary for you
to learn all of these instances now, as you can study them when they come up in articles
on verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc; however, it will be useful for you to read through this
section and familiarize yourself with the concepts in it.
● Stem changes of certain nouns.
This survives in such Modern English nouns as "man"/"men", "tooth", "teeth",
"mouse"/"mice", from the Old English "mann"/"menn", "tōþ"/"tēþ", "mūs"/"mȳs".
 16

Old English also exhibited this feature in nouns which are now regular in English, such
as "bōc"/"bēċ" (Modern English "book"/"books").
● Nouns converted from adjectives by addition of þ.
A number of such nouns are still used in English: for example from "strong" we get
"strength": compare Old English "strang"/"strengþ". Other examples where the effects
of i-mutation are visible include the adjective "hāl" ("whole", "hale") forming the noun
"hǣlþ" ("health"); and the word "fūl" ("foul") forming the noun "fȳlþ" ("filth").
● 2nd and 3rd person singulars of strong verbs.
Compare, for example "iċ ċeorfe" ("I cut") with "þū ċierfst" ("thou cuttest"/"you (sg)
cut") and "hē ċierfþ" ("he cuts"). Or again, from the verb "dūfan" ("to dive") we have "iċ
dūfe", but "þū dȳfst" and "hē dȳfþ".
● Formation of class 1 weak verbs from nouns and adjectives.
Why is it that you feed people food, and that you make things full by filling them? By
now you should be able to recognize these as instances of i-mutation. In the first
instance, the verb "fēdan" has been formed from the noun "fōda"; in the second
instance, the verb "fyllan" has been formed from the adjective "full".
● Some adjectives in the comparative and superlative.
For example, from the adjective "lang" ("long") we get the comparative "lengra"
("longer") and the superlative "lenġest" ("longest"). Note however that most adjectives
do not work like this.

In Modern English this feature survives only in the existence of the words "elder",
"eldest" as alternatives to "older", "oldest", from Old English "eald", "ieldra", "ieldest".

6 - Nouns
Nouns are words which indicate a person, place, animal, thing, or idea, like "thing",
"rabbit", "Samuel", and "Buddhism" in Modern English.

In Old English they have 3 genders (masculine, neuter, feminine), 2 numbers (singular,
plural), and 5 cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental). Note that
the so-called "genders" were purely grammatical genders - they very often did not
correspond to natural gender. For example the word ƿīf - "woman" is actually of the
neuter (grammatical) gender, not the feminine (natural gender).

In Old English, nouns were inflected (they changed how they were written and spoken)
to add little bits of extra information to communicate their function within the sentence
and the number of the noun (whether singular or plural). Although learning a language
 17

with three different genders might seem hard, it isn't really very hard - it can easily be
done if you just make sure to memorize nouns along with their definitive articles,
because the definitive articles for each grammatical gender are unique. For example,
don't just remember the word "ġiefu" - remember "sēo ġiefu", so you'll always know it's
a feminine noun - you can easily just not say the article if you don't need to; on the other
hand, if you don't know the gender of a noun, it might be annoying.

Nouns were the essential element to a noun phrase (either a noun or a pronoun had to
be in a noun phrase), which is an important part of most sentences. Also in the noun
phrase you could put noun modifiers, like numbers, adjectives (words that describe, like
"cool" or "special"), articles ("the" or "a/an), and demonstratives ("this" and "that"). All
those other words within a noun phrase had to have the same number, grammatical
gender, and case as the noun that they were modifying. In addition, most adjectives (but
not most numerals) could either be declined strong or weak depending on what other
words were used with them. For more information on adjective declension, please see
the page about Old English adjectives.

Noun Declensions

Nouns are divided into two main categories of declension in Old English: the so called
"Strong" and "Weak" nouns. There are other minor declension groups, as well; but most
nouns fall into these two classifications. If a noun belongs to a particular declension
group, it can usually only be declined that way. Occasionally, you can decline an Old
English noun one of several ways. Whether or not a noun is weak or strong does not
affect whether or not the modifiers (adjectives) used with it are declined weak or strong.

Which declension a noun takes must be memorized along with the noun itself. Often,
the noun itself may give clues as to which declension it takes, but not always.

Strong Nouns
The strong noun paradigm declines for case, gender and singular/plural.
We should
consider a
few
different
word stem
patterns
which affect
how a noun
is declined:
 18

● The -e in feminine plural is only found in late Old English

● The -an in dative plural is a late Old English feature
● -u was often written as -o in Anglian dialects
● If a word ends in a long vowel, it usually "swallows" up the short vowel of any
declensional suffix, except the u of -um, which remains intact. For example: rā
(roebuck) becomes rān in genitive singular, instead of rāan. However, you would
still have rāum in dative plural.
● If word has one syllable, and the first stressed syllable of a word (almost always
the first syllable excluding most short prefixes) has a short vowel, and ends in the
consonant, then the word may take all expected declensional suffixes in a
straightforward manner. Note that this type of strong neuter nouns also take -u
in the nominative and accusative plural. E.g. you say "sċipu" for "ships".
Likewise, this kind of strong feminine noun takes -u in the nominative singular,
e.g. you say "ġiefu" for "gift". Note that such a syllable, which has a short vowel
and ends in a single consonant, is called a light syllable.
● If the word has one syllable, and either has a long vowel and ends with a
consonant, or ends in two consonants, the word is declined in a straightforward
manner, and takes the expected declensional suffixes, except that such strong
neuter and strong feminine words do not take the -u in nominative and
accusative plural, and nominative singular, respectively. For example, you should
not write "þingu" to mean "things" - instead omit the declensional -u suffix, and
write "þing". Likewise, do not write "strǣtu" to mean "street" (strong feminine
noun) - write instead "strǣt" in the nominative singular. Note that a syllable
which either contains a long vowel, or ends in two consonants, is called a "heavy"
syllable.
● If the word has two syllables, and the first syllable is heavy, and the second
syllable is light, then the vowel of the second syllable is omitted before any
declensional suffixes, and the suffix is added as expected, including the -u for
neuter and feminine nouns.
● If the word has two syllables, and the final syllable is heavy, then the declensional
suffix is added, but -u is not added to neuter and feminine nouns. For example,
one writes "ƿoruld" - "world", instead of "ƿoruldu" (which would be incorrect).
Likewise, one writes "hēorēdes" - "a household's", instead of "hēordes" - which
would be wrong. NOTE HOWEVER, that the second vowel had become short or
altogether omitted in Late West Saxon, and one does find, "hīrd" and derived
forms.
● If the word has two syllables, and the first syllable is light, and the second syllable
is light, then -u suffix of strong neuter and feminine declensions might be added,
or might not be added, according to dialect (potentially, the usage of -u in such
situations may be associated with Anglian dialects). However, the second short
 19

vowel of the word, would not be omitted. For example, both "ƿæteru" and "ƿæter"
("waters") are present in historical Old English.
● NOTE: Many feminine nouns with any length end in -u or -þu. This was often a
productive noun suffix (e.g. it could be used to create nouns), instead of a
grammatical declensional suffix, so the comments made above about the strong
neuter and feminine -u declensional suffix, do not apply. The -þu/-u noun
suffixes were usually treated as indeclinable (e.g. you would find -u as the ending
in all cases and numbers of the word), but was by some writers declined
according to the strong feminine declension (in which case, the -u suffix was
conflated with the declensional -u suffix, and was replaced by -e in the same
instances).
Here are the strong neuter and feminine declensions:
Example declensions of stān - "stone" (masc.); sċip - "ship" (neut. short
stem); þing - "thing" (neut. long stem); ġiefu - "gift" (fem. short stem); and
sorg - "sorrow" (fem. long stem)

U-nouns
Some masculine and some feminine nouns belong to the u-declension. They were either
light and two-syllabled (like "sunu"), or heady and one-syllabled (like "hand").

They had the same endings for both genders, but slightly different endings depending
on stem structure (see the explanation for strong neuter and feminine nouns in strong
nouns). Here are two examples of this declension:

Example declensions of hand - "hand" (fem. long-stem) and ƿudu - "wood",

"forest" (masc. short-stem)

Other nouns in this category

are feld - field (masc.), ƿeald -
forest, wood (masc.), and sunu
- son (masc.)
 20

W/Ƿ nouns
Nouns whose stem ended in -u or -o (the two were interchangeable) would turn this
-u/o to a -ƿ- before a vowel of a grammatical suffix. For example:

Note that this applied to the other genders, as

well. There are quite a few nouns like this, and
it is fairly easy to remember that their stem
ends with -u/o, so I won't list them here. But
do make sure you don't confuse nouns like this
with u-nouns (see above) or strong feminine
nouns with the grammatical ending -u.

I-Mutation Nouns
A small handful of nouns in Old English take the i-mutation in parts of their declension.
This is for historical reasons, which are not delved into here. Some of these nouns
actually have survived into Modern English with their i-mutation in the plural, for
example "goose" and "geese", "mouse" and "mice", "louse" and "lice", and "man" and
"men". All i-mutation nouns in Old English are either masculine or feminine. Here is an
example of the declension:
Example declensions of mann - "human", "person" (masculine); bōc -
"book" (long-stem feminine); hnutu - "nut" (short-stem feminine)

As you can see, the

i-mutation affects the
stem vowels in
singular dative and
genitive, and plural
nominative and
accusative. Other
masculine i-mutation
nouns with their
i-mutated forms are:
● frēond (frīend) - "friend"
● fēond (fīend) - "fiend", "enemy"
● fōt (fēt) - "foot"
● tōþ (tēþ) - "tooth"
Other feminine i-mutation nous with their i-mutated forms are:
● mūs (mȳs) - "mouse"
 21

● lūs (lȳs) - "louse"

● burg (byriġ) - "city"
● āc (ǣċ) - "oak tree"
● gāt (gǣt) - "goat"
● gōs (gēs) - goose
Note that sometimes these usually i-mutated nouns were declined just like other strong
nouns.

Weak Declension
The weak paradigm is more simplified and has less variation between the genders and
cases.
Note that the plural weak
declension is the same for all
genders.

Example declension of nama - "name", ēage - "eye", and tunge - "tongue"

There are very many other weak masculine and feminine nouns, so they aren't listed
here; but there is only one other weak neuter noun, and that is ēare - "ear".

Make sure not to confuse weak feminine nouns with some strong masculine or neuter
nouns that end with -e.

Indeclinable nouns
Some nouns are indeclinable, or can optionally be treated as indeclinable. This means
that they do not change at all according to case or number, but words that modify them,
such as adjectives, still do; and verbs that they are used with also still change according
to number.
 22

One large category of such nouns are feminine nouns ending in -o/-u, such as lengu -
"length" and strengu - "strength". Sometimes these nouns had weak feminine
equivalents that were otherwise identical. Also, country names borrowed from Latin,
often ending in "-a", could usually optionally be treated as indeclinable. There are a few
more indeclinable nouns, which should be memorized as you go.

Appositives

In Old English, as in Modern English, nouns could sometimes be used similarly to an

adjective to modify another noun. These are called appositives. One example of
appositives in Modern English is in titles: "Queen Elizabeth", "Brother John", "General
Schwartzkopf", where "Queen", "Brother", and "General" are all nouns used to modify
other nouns.

To get a better understanding of how appositives were used in Old English, see the
appositives page.

7 - Pronouns
Pronouns are used to substitute for nouns in most speech. They are words like "I",
"you", "he", "they", "anybody", "who", and many more. They are not a requirement of a
sentence, and it is possible for them never to be used in sentences. However, they are
useful because they help avoid repeating the same noun over and over again; and they
make it easier for a sentence to be understood. For an example without using any
pronouns, see this sentence:
● Alistair is doing what Alistair thinks is best for Alistair's rights as a human being.
Because it repeats "Alistair" so much it seems strange and tedious. A more usual way to
say the above, using pronouns, would be:
● Alistair is doing what he thinks is best for his rights as a human being.
There are different types of pronouns:
● Personal pronouns - usually refer to specific persons or objects
● Interrogative pronouns - used to ask questions of identity like Modern English
"who", "what", and "which one"
● Relative pronouns - used after another substansive to add additional information,
like Modern English "whom" in "John is the person whom I like"
● Demonstrative pronouns - words used often when pointing to something, with
with a sense of location, as in Modern English "this" or "that"
 23

● Indefinite pronouns - used to talk about nobody in particular, or about everyone

in general, like Modern English "anybody" and "everybody". Also includes
negative pronouns - pronouns used to talk about "nobody" or "nothing".
Like nouns and adjectives, pronouns are declined according to case, gender (only
sometimes), and number.

Personal Pronouns

The simple personal pronouns are declined like this:

First Person

First person pronouns are pronouns that refer to the speaker (in singular), or the speaker and
other people (in dual and plural), like Modern English "I" and "we".

Notice that there is a dual number; it means

"both" or "two" as in "we both" or "we two". The
separate dual number is exceptional and rare. If
used with an adjective or a verb, it should take the
same declensions and conjugations as plural.
Since there is a dual number for each set of
pronouns, the plural form should only be used for
three or more.

In Anglian dialects, in the accusative, "mec" was

used instead of "mē"; "uncit" was used instead of "unc"; and "ūsiċ" was used instead of "ūs". Also
in Anglian dialects, "ūser" was sometimes used instead of "ūre".

Second Person

Second person pronouns are for the person who is being spoken to, like Modern English "you"
(and “thou” and “ye” in dialects).

In Anglian dialects, "þec", "inċit" and "ēoƿiċ" were

used in the accusative instead of "þē", "inc", and
"ēoƿ" respectively.
 24

Third Person

Third person pronouns refer to another person not involved in a conversation, like Modern
English "he", "she", "it", and "they".

In Anglian dialects,
"hēo" was used for
feminine and plural
nominative and
accusative. In earlier
Old English, both in
West Saxon and
Anglian dialects,
"hīo" was used
instead of "hēo".

Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are pronouns used to ask questions of identity, such as Modern
English "who" and "what" as in "Who are you?" and "What is that animal?" The
following are Old English interrogative pronouns:

Note that "hƿæt" was used when a person had been identified, and that was the person
who was being enquired about. "Hƿā" was used when no person had been identified.
Consider, "Hƿæt is hē?" - "Who is he?", where "hē" shows that we are aware of which
person the question applies to. But "Hƿā ǣt mīnne hlāf?" - "Who ate my bread?", where
no one is indicated.

The instrumental form of "hƿæt" (hƿȳ) is used to mean "why". Also used for "why" is for
hƿȳ.
 25

In Old English, they had a word meaning "which of two" as might be used in "Which of
the two children went with you?", declined the same as the strong adjective declension.

Like hƿæðer is āhƿæðer "some one, something; any one; anything", ǣġhƿæðer "of two"
"either, both, each"; "of many" "every one, each", nāhƿæðer "neither", sƿæðer
"whichever of two, whosoever of two".

The following word is also used as an interrogative adjective, like Modern English
"which" as in "Which fruit did you eat?" Used standalone as a pronoun, though, it means
"which one". Because it is an adjective, it also simply takes the strong adjective
declension.

Like hƿilċ is sƿilċ "such", ġehƿilċ "each/every one", ǣġhƿilċ "each one, every one",
nāthƿilċ "someone I know not", samhƿilċ "some".
 26

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are pronouns that are used to refer to an earlier substansive, called
an antecedent, and give additional information, as the "who" in the following examples:

● "It was John who did that" - Hit ƿæs Iohannes se þe dyde þæt
● "I like men who know what they're doing" - Mē līciaþ menn þā þe ƿiton þæt hīe
dōþ
And the "that" in the following examples:
● "The thing that I hate most about it, is the stupidity of it all" - Þæt þing þæt iċ þæs
mǣst hatġe, is his dƿola
● "All the trees that I cut down had green leaves" - Eall þā treoƿ þā iċ fylede hæfdon
grēnu lēaf
And the "which" in the following examples:
● "The squirrel, which was red, ran away" - Þæt ācƿeorna þæt þe rēad ƿæs, earn
aƿeġ
● "The house which I live in is old" - Þæt hūs in þǣm þe iċ ƿuniġe is eald
In Old English, the relative pronoun was the same as the definitive article, but it could
be followed in addition by þe. You could also use just þe by itself.

Note that because se by itself could also mean "that (one", alongside this relative
pronoun meaning; and þe alone could be a relative pronoun, se þe could actually be just
a relative pronoun, or a relative pronoun and an indicative pronoun combined, e.g. "that
which" or "he who".

A kind of word which in Modern English could be confused with a relative pronoun, is
an indirect interrogative. The bold words in the following examples are indirect
interrogatives:
● "I asked him what he was doing"
● "Do you know who they are?"
 27

As in Modern English, the indirect interrogative pronouns in Old English were the same
as the normal interrogative pronouns, for which see the "Interrogative pronouns"
section of this page.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are the kind of pronoun you might use while pointing at
something, often having also a sense of location, as in Modern English "this" and "that",
where "this" has a meaning like "the one here" and that has a meaning like "the one
there".

The plural of þes

(þās) has the
meaning of "these".

It is obvious to see
that the Modern
English word "that"
came from the neuter
form of this word -
þæt. This word was
also the definitive
article (like Modern
English "the") in Old
English, so if it was
used to modify a
noun, it might either
mean "the" or "that",
depending on context.
 28

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are pronouns which don't refer to anything specific. They can have
the sense of "any" or "every". They also include negative pronouns - pronouns that mean
"nothing" or "nobody".
● Ġehƿā - "anybody" or "everybody"; declined just like the interrogative pronoun
hƿā.
● Ġehƿilċ - "anything/anyone" or "everything/everyone"; declined just like the
interrogative pronoun hƿilċ.
● Ġehƿæt - "anything" or "everything"; declined just the interrogative pronoun
hƿæt.
●
Negative Pronouns

Negative indefinite pronouns, or simply negative pronouns, are pronouns which refer to
a lack of someone or something, like "nothing" in Modern English.

Note that nā(ƿi)ht is actually a

compound of nā - "not" and ƿiht -
"something". The declension is simply
the strong singular neuter noun
declension.

"Nobody" is in Old English nān mann,

which is actually just the negative
article (which is declined like a strong
adjective) and the noun mann -
"human", "person".

8 - Articles
Articles are actually just a special kind of adjective. They are adjectives which show the
definiteness of the noun being referred to. In Modern English, we have several articles:
● The definite article (in Modern English "the") shows that a substantive is a
particular noun that the listener should recognize
● The indefinite (in Modern English "a","an", or "some" for plural) shows that a
substantive is not a specific noun that the listener shoulder recognize
 29

● The negative article (in Modern English "no") shows that there is none of the
substantive
In Old English, their definite article was also used as a demonstrative adjective and as a
demonstrative pronoun, equivalent to Modern English "that" or "that one". You can see
it on the pronouns page.

Definitive Articles and Demonstratives

Old English had two main determiners: se, which could function as both 'the' or 'that',
and þes for 'this'.

Modern English 'that' descends from the

neuter nominative/accusative form, and
'the' from the masculine nominative
form, with 's' replaced analogously by the
'th' of the other forms.

Also, in Old English they generally had no

indefinite article (although occasionally their
word for "one" - ān could be translated into
Modern English as "a" or "an"). So in
speaking Old English, a noun with no article
at all would often be the equivalent to a noun
with an indefinite article in Modern English, for example hūs - "a house", and dēor - "an
animal".

There were several words that could be used to translate the negative article "no" in Old
English:

● nān - "none" (used in West Saxon)

● nǣniġ - "none" (used in Anglian dialects)
They both followed the normal strong adjectival declension (for which see here) and
agreed with the nouns they modified.

Articles were declined in agreement with whatever noun they modified, just like
adjectives. For example, to say "the people", you would have to use the plural form of
both "person" (mann) and "the" (sē): þā menn. To say "this woman's house", you would
 30

need to use genitive of "woman" (ƿīf) and the neuter singular definite article: þæs ƿīfes
hūs.

9 - Adjectives
What are adjectives? They are words used to describe either nouns or pronouns. Like
nouns and pronouns, they are declined according to number, gender, and case; and
their number, gender, and case must always agree with the noun or pronoun that they
are modifying. In addition, adjectives are also declined in either of two ways: strong or
weak. This is governed by certain factors, for which see the section on the question
"Strong or Weak?" below.

Strong Declension

Adjectives in Old English agree with the noun they describe in case, gender, and number. There are
several variations on the general declension, but overall, adjectives decline thus:

Notice that the genitive, dative, and

instrumental feminine are all -re, the
masculine and neuter genetive are both
"-es", and masculine and neuter dative
are both "-um", and masculine and
neuter instrumental are both "-e". Also,
the neuter adjective adds no ending in
the nominative/accusative case, just
like neuter nouns themselves. Basically,
you can see that the adjective ending
will roughly correspond to the article ending (þæs and -es, þǣm and -um, þǣre and -re',
etc.). In the plural, we find:

Notice that genitive and

dative are the same in
all genders,
respectively, in the
plural. Note also the
 31

instrumental is exactly the same as the dative. Note that -a is found in the nominative
and accusative plural for the feminine declension in a few early texts, but -e was present
for most of the idiomatic Old English corpus. -an is often found instead of -um in late
Old English. In late Old English, the declension had become uniform across genders,
including neuter, taking -e in nominative and accusative.

Adjectives with æ in the stem

If an adjective has a monosyllabic stem and has æ for its vowel, and the æ is followed by
a single consonant, as in the words "glæd" ("glad") and "blæc" ("black), then an extra
rule comes into play: the æ changes to an a whenever the adjective acquires a suffix
which begins with a vowel. For example, here is the strong declension of "glæd".

There is no need to
supply the weak
declension, since in the
weak declension every
suffix begins with a
vowel, hence all forms
take the "glad-"
version.

Adjectives with -ƿ

We shall give ġearu ("ready") as an example of this type of adjective. Here is the strong
declension:
 32

This again can be explained in terms of a few simple rules:

● Where the ordinary strong declension has no suffix, -ƿ adjectives end in -u. In
these words, this is an inherent part of the stem, and not a declensional suffix.
● Where the ordinary strong declension has a suffix beginning with a consonant, -ƿ
adjectives have an o followed by the appropriate suffix.
● Where the ordinary strong declension has a suffix beginning with a vowel, -ƿ
adjectives have a ƿ followed by the appropriate suffix.
● -ƿ words do not take an additional -u in feminine singular nominative, and neuter
plural nominative and accusative
There is no need to give the weak declension, since in the weak declension every number
and case has a suffix beginning with a vowel; -ƿ adjectives will therefore uniformly
precede this suffix with a ƿ.

Adjectives with -e

Adjectives such as sƿēte ("sweet") follow a very simple rule: the e at the end is displaced
by any suffix, but stays where it is if there is no suffix. Hence the strong declension looks
like this:

Again,
there is
no real
need to
give the
weak

declension. You can easily predict it based on the stated rule.

Weak Declension

Here's the singular weak declension:

 33

Notice that the weak declension is

much more uniform and simple than the strong declension. Notice also that it is exactly
the same as the weak noun declension.

Here's the plural weak declension:

Notice again that: It is simpler than the strong

declension; it is exactly the same as the weak noun
declension; and it is exactly the same for all genders.

Strong or Weak?

You can tell when to use the strong or weak

declension of adjectives.

An adjective would be declined weak if:

● That particular adjective was always declined weak (like most ordinal numbers
("forma" ("first"), "þridda" ("third"), and so forth), and all comparative
adjectives: "betera" - "better", "lengra" - "longer", "māra" - "larger, more"
● It was preceded by the definitive article ("sē/sēo/þæt" and all its declined forms),
either of the demonstratives ("sē/sēo/þæt" and all its declined forms and
"þes/þis/þēos" and all its declined forms), or any possessive personal pronoun
(mīn, þīn, sīn) - unless the adjective was one of the few adjectives that were
always declined strong, like ōðer - "second"
● It was used in a nickname and came after the personal name it modified (for
more info see: Old English/Titles and Nicknames
● It was used in direct address, for example, "lēofan menn" - "(O,) dear people"
 34

In all other cases, the adjective was declined strong, including if it came after a linking
verb:

● Iċ eom miċel - "I am great"

● Þā ƿihta ƿǣron fǣtte - "The creatures were fat").

Comparatives and Superlatives

The comparative and superlative forms are like Modern English "more" and "most", as
is "more intelligent" and "most intelligent" or "better" and "best".

In Old English, all comparative adjectives were declined according to the weak
declension - no matter what. The comparative degree was usually formed with the suffix
"-ra" (the "a" being the weak masculine singular ending - so it should be replaced by
other grammatical endings when it is declined). The superlative degree ("most") was
usually formed by adding the suffix "-ost/-est" to an adjective; but like the normal
positive degree, it was sometimes declined weak and sometimes declined strong (see the
Strong or Weak? section above for more information). For example:
● ƿīs ("wise") - ƿīsra ("wiser") - ƿīsost ("wisest")
● cræftiġ ("crafty, skilled") - cræftiġra ("craftier, more skilled") - cræftigost
("craftiest, most skilled")
● hefiġ ("heavy, important") - hefiġra (""heavier, more important") - hefigost
("heaviest, most important")
The superlative adjective mostly take the weak declension however for the nominative,
accusative and the neuter case can take the strong.

Some common adjectives undergo i-mutation in the comparative and superlative, and
have -est instead of -ost as the superlative suffix. Examples are:
● eald ("old") - ieldra ("older") - ieldest ("oldest") (Note the same mutation in
archaic Modern English "elder"/"eldest".)
● ġeong ("young") - ġingra ("younger") - ġingrest ("youngest")
● hēah ("high") - hīerra ("higher") - hīehst ("highest")
● strang ("strong") - strengra ("stronger") - strengest ("strongest")
● lang ("long") - lengra ("longer") - lengest ("longest")
Some adjectives formed their comparative and superlative degrees irregularly, and need
to be memorized:
● gōd ("good") - betera ("better") - betst ("best")
● yfel ("bad, evil") - ƿirsa ("worse") - ƿirst ("worst")
● lytel ("little, small") - læssa ("smaller, less") - læst
● miċel ("much, great") - māra ("more, greater") - mǣst ("most, greatest")
 35

Adjectives and Cases

Sometimes adjectives in Old English can govern cases, like prepositions. We do a similar
thing in Modern English, but we usually use prepositions instead of cases; for example,
the adjective "full" can be followed by the preposition "of", plus whatever something is
"full of" - "The swimming pool was full of slime".

Adjectives Governing the Dative

● Ġelīċ - like, similar to
○ Hē þūhte ġelīċ hunde - "He seemed similar to a dog"
● Midsprecende - speaking on behalf of
○ þū þe ƿǣre midsprecende þǣm Hǣlende - "you who were speaking on
behalf of the Lord"
Adjectives Governing the Genitive
● Full - full (of)
○ Þæt fæt ƿæs full ƿæteres - "The container was full of water"

10 - Numbers
In Old English, numbers (ġetalu) are almost all recognizably related to those of Modern
English, so they shouldn't be too hard to learn for a Modern English speaker.

Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers (hēafodġetalu) are used to count and enumerate things, like "one",
"two", and "three".

Number One
Ān (“one”) was declined exactly like an ordinary strong adjective:

Note that ān could be declined

weakly and follow the noun, and
when that happened, it had the
meaning of "only", "alone", "no
other than".
 36

Two
The declension of “two” was quite irregular:

As can be seen from the table above,

the neuter nominative/accusative
could be either tƿā or tū. In poetry,
neuter nouns were usually used with
tū. However, in prose, they often
occurred with tƿā instead, especially
in Late West Saxon prose, where tū
was almost completely absent.

Three

Note that the form þrī was only

used in the West Saxon dialect.
In the other dialects, þrēo was
the nominative/accusative form
for all three genders.

Four to Nineteen
The numbers from four (fēoƿer) onwards usually weren't declined at all: Þā fēoƿer tīda
sind ƿinter, lengten, sumer, and hærfest (“The four seasons are winter, spring, summer,
and fall”), Ealle cattas sƿulton eahta sīðum (“All cats have died eight times”). When they
were declined, they followed the inflection of plural i-stem nouns:
nominative/accusative -e, genitive -a, dative -um. This had a tendency to happen only
when they did not immediately precede the quantified noun: On þām mynstre ƿǣron fīf
ġebrōðru oþþe sixe (“In the monastery were five [uninflected] monks or six [inflected]”).

● fēoƿer - four
● fīf - five
● siex - six
● seofon - seven
 37

● eahta - eight
● nigon - nine
● tīen - ten
● endleofan - eleven
● tƿelf - twelve
● þrēotīne - thirteen
● fēoƿertīne - fourteen
● fīftīne - fifteen
● siextīne - sixteen
● seofontīne - seventeen
● eahtatīne - eighteen
● nigontīne - nineteen

Multiples of Ten

The tens from 20 onwards were formed by combining a smaller numeral with -tiġ:
“twenty” is tƿēntiġ (think tƿēġen-tiġ), “thirty” is þrītiġ (*þrī-tiġ), “forty” is fēoƿertiġ
(*fēoƿer-tiġ), and so on, as if modern English had twoty, threety, fourty, fivety, etc.

However, that's where the morphology of these numbers stops being intuitive. The
prefix hund- is attached to the tens seventy and above, so that “sixty, seventy, eighty” is
sixtiġ, hundseofontiġ, hundeahtatiġ. No one knows why this prefix starts with seventy,
or why it's even there. Oddly, the tens run past 100 and all the way up to 120, as if
modern English had "tenty, eleventy, twelvety." Hence “100, 110, 120” in Old English
was hundtēontiġ, hundendleftiġ, hundtƿelftiġ.

From 21 to 129, non-round numbers were formed with the phrase "[smaller number]
and [larger number]." So twenty-two was tƿā and tƿēntiġ, literally “two and twenty,”
while sixty-nine was nigon and sixtiġ, literally “nine and sixty.” This structure is the
same as in many modern, sister languages to English such as German.

Numbers 20 and above usually have nouns in genitive case: "fifty feral hogs" is fīftiġ
ƿildra sƿīna, literally "fifty of wild hogs."

One Hundred
Old English had three words for “hundred”: hund, hundred, and hundtēontiġ. Hund and
hundred were mainly used as multiplicands, as in tƿā hund / tƿā hundred (“two
 38

hundred”). There was apparently no discernible distinction between hund and hundred
or when they were used, except that hund occurs seven times as often as hundred.
Meanwhile, hundtēontiġ was mainly used as an augend, as in fēoƿer and hundtēontiġ (“a
hundred and four”) or hundtēontiġ and seofon and þrītiġ (“a hundred and
thirty-seven”). Hundtēontiġ was also the default expression for exactly one hundred and
was used in the counting sequence: ...nigon and hundnigontiġ, hundtēontiġ, ān and
hundtēontiġ... (“...ninety-nine, a hundred, a hundred and one...”).

While the default order was "[smaller number] and [larger number]" for the tens from
twenty onwards, numerical word order was otherwise very much like modern English,
with hundreds coming before tens. Hence 153 was hundtēontiġ and þrēo and fīftiġ (“a
hundred and three-and-fifty”) and 1,153 was þūsend and hundtēontiġ and þrēo and
fīftiġ, literally “a thousand and one hundred and three-and-fifty.”

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers (endebyrdlīcu ġetalu) are used to rank things in a particular order, like
"first", "second", and "third". All ordinal number forms followed weak declension,
except for "ōðer ("second"), which was always strong.

In Modern English, for most numbers, we just add the suffix "-th" to the cardinal form
of the number to form an ordinal, as in "nine" - "ninth". Similarly, in Old English, the
normal basic suffix to form ordinal forms from cardinal numbers was "-þa", but
sometimes it varied slightly.

The ordinals for the numbers 1 to 3 were formed unpredictably. They were:
● forma - first
● ōðer - second (compare Modern English "other")
● þridda - third
The ordinals for some of the rest of the "under-twenties" are not always fully
predictable. They are:
● fēorða - fourth
● fīfta - fifth
● sixta - sixth
● seofoþa - seventh (note that "n" disappeared before the "-þa" suffix)
● eahtoþa - eighth
● nigoþa - ninth (same thing happens as with "seofoþa")
● tēoða - tenth (whence the Modern English word "tithe" - also, same thing as with
"seofoþa")
● endlefta - eleventh
 39

● tƿelfta - twelfth
● þrēotēoða - thirteenth (the word "þrēo" plus the word "tēoða")
● fēoƿertēoða - fourteenth
● fīftēoða - fifteenth
● sixtēoða - sixteenth
● seofontēoða - seventeenth
● eahtatēoða - eighteenth
● nigontēoða - nineteenth
The ordinals for the decades are easily formed just by adding the suffix "-oþa" to the
normal cardinal form, always. Like this:
● tƿēntigoþa - twentieth
● þrītigoþa - thirtieth
● fēoƿertigoþa - fortieth
● fiftigoþa - fiftieth
● sixtigoþa - sixtieth
● hundseofontigoþa - seventieth
● hundeahtatigoþa - eightieth
● hundnigontigoþa - ninetieth
● hundteontigoþa - hundred/teentieth
● hundendleftigoþa - hundred and ten/eleventieth
● hundtƿelftigoþa - hundred and twenty/twelftieth

11 - Verbs
What is a verb? Verbs are a class of words. Verbs tell you what a person is doing in a
sentence, or what they are. They are either action verbs (like Modern English "do" or
"make" as in "I do this" or "He makes cars") or stative verbs (like Modern English "be"
or "become" as in "I will be a dog" and "You become angry").

Verb Agreement

Verbs have to agree with the subject of the sentence in number (singular when the
subject of the verb is just one, and plural when the subject of the verb is more than one),
and person (I, you, he/she/it). This is sometimes the case even in Modern English, but
more so for Old English. An example of how verbs change to agree for number and
person in Modern English is when we add "-s" to third person singular verb, as in "He
sings well"; but we don't add "-s" for anything else, including third person plural, for
example "They sing well".
 40

Look at this example of how an Old English changed depending on the person and
number it is used with, compared with how it is done to a lesser extent in Modern
English:

You can see that there are four different ways the word "gān" is changed for different
people and numbers in Old English:
1. First person singular (iċ gā - I go)
2. Second person singular (þū gǣst - you alone go)
3. Third person singular (hē/hēo/hit gǣþ - he/she/it goes)
4. Plural (which is the same for all people) (ƿē/ġē/hīe gāþ - we/you all/they go).
Compare to Modern English, which is simpler and only has two forms:
1. "Goes" (third person singular)
2. "Go" (for everything else)

Examples of a Verb

Here is an example of the various parts of one Old English verb singan, "to sing".
 41

Not every verb

is conjugated
exactly like
this: this, as it
happens, is a
Class III strong
verb, and verbs
are conjugated
differently
according to
their class.
More details of
how verbs are conjugated will be supplied later. First, we should look at what the various
parts of the verb are for.
You may realize there is no present-continuous tense, this is because there was no
present-continuous tense in Old English, instead they would have used the
simple-present tense which on the graph is the Present-Indicative.

The Infinitive

What is the infinitive form? Recall how in Modern English, we add -s to a verb when we
are talking about he, she, or it: "he loves", "she sings", "it brings". This form ending in -s
in Modern English, is limited, or finite to third person singular (he, she, it, particular
people, places, things, etc). The infinitive form of the verb, is not specific to any person
(so to speak, it is "infinite" - "not finitely limited to any particular person"); however, it
is only used in specific situations. Just as in Modern English, where "be" is the infinitive
form of "be", you cannot just say "he be", you must say "he is". You only say "be" in
specific circumstances, such as when it follows a helping verb like "should": "he should
be". Likewise in Old English, the infinitive is only used in specific circumstances; but
when it is used, it may be used for any person.

In Modern English, we really have two infinitives, as exemplified by the phrases: "I can
sing" and "I want to sing". The choice of which to use is dictated by the role that the
infinitive plays in the sentence.

In the same way, Old English has two infinitives for each verb: in the case of "to sing"
they would be singan and tō singenne. The choice of which to use essentially follows the
same rules as in Modern English. The plain infinitive is used after modal verbs such as
"can" or "may" or "shall". The "tō" infinitive is used:
 42

● After verbs which require an infinitive but which are not modal, as in hīe ƿilniaþ
tō singenne ("They want to sing").
● After an adjective, as in ic eom gearu tō singenne ("I am ready to sing").
● To indicate purpose, as in þū ārist tō singenne ("You got up to sing").

The Present Participle

he present participle form (in our example singende) is the equivalent of the Modern
English present participle (in this case, "singing") It could be used as an adjective to
show that someone was doing something, or usually did something, for example se
singenda man - "the singing man". However, it was only rarely used to show a
continuous or currently happening action, for example, iċ eom singende þone sang ("I
am singing the song"); it would be much more normal for an Anglo-Saxon to simply say
iċ singe þone sang, using the present indicative.

The present and past indicative

Old English really only has two tenses: the present and the past (or preterite). Each of
these tenses therefore has to play several roles.

So a statement using the present tense, such as “ iċ singe'' can mean: "I sing", or "I am
singing", or "I will sing", or "I will be singing". (The use of the present for the future is
still acceptable in Modern English: for example, it is perfectly OK to say: "I take my
driving test on Tuesday.")

Meanwhile a statement using the preterite, such as “iċ sang”, can mean "I sang" or "I
was singing" or "I have sung".

You might, then, consider the Old English language as being primitive and inexpressive
by contrast with Modern English. However, this is not really the case. After all, in almost
every other respect Old English has more grammar than Modern English, and yet we
seem to get by: for example, in Modern English we have no grammatical distinction
between the second person singular and plural, and yet this never seems to cause any
confusion, because context is almost always sufficient to resolve any confusion that
might arise, by using other words with the pronoun (and some dialects, particularly in
Northern England, still use "thou" and its forms).

The imperative
 43

The imperative in Old English is just like that in Modern English: it is used for giving
commands, so sing in Old English means the same as "sing!" in Modern English. The
only difference is that as with the other parts of the verb, the imperative in Old English
is inflected according to number, so that if you wanted to tell more than one person to
sing, you would say singaþ. Unlike in some other languages, the imperative form can be
negated directly, by prefixing it with ne as you would to negate any other verb: ne
singaþ! "don't sing!"

The first-person plural imperative is usually formed with uton and the infinitive: uton
singan! "Let's sing!"

The subjunctive

Old English has present and past subjunctives. The subjunctive is used in Old English to
describe hypothetical or counter-factual situations.

The true Old English subjunctive does not occur often in Modern English; but it is
sometimes used where no other phrase will do. For example, the National Enquirer, not
noted for the excessive formality of its grammar, has this to say in an item of gossip
about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie:
But the 48-year-old “Moneyball” star finally snapped when Angie, 37, insisted
that he go to rehab to conquer his demons, insiders say.
There is really no substitute for "that he go". If we tried to substitute: "that he goes",
then Ms. Jolie would be insisting that he does presently go to rehab, which he doesn't. If
we tried to substitute: "that he went", then she'd be insisting that he used to go into
rehab, which he didn't. If we substituted: "that he ought to go" or "that he should go",
then this would say that she was insisting that this was the right thing for him to do, but
not that she was insisting that he do it. Only the subjunctive form "that he go" properly
expresses what Ms. Jolie was insisting; that she was presenting him with an ultimatum.

In Old English the usage is rather broader: it would include "that he ought to go", and
"that he should go".

Here's another example of the true subjunctive in Modern English, in an article

discussing the movie The Fly:
When David Cronenberg was hired as director, one condition was that he be
able to extensively rewrite the script.
In this case, "that he was" would also be perfectly good Modern English.
 44

We can see more uses of the subjunctive if we go back a few centuries, and look at
Shakespeare or the King James Bible. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet
exclaims:
If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed.
Again, Juliet is discussing a hypothetical situation, so she uses the subjunctive.
Nowadays, any English speaker would write: "If he is married".

In Modern English, then, we tend to use the subjunctive as the last resort. In Old
English, however, the subjunctive is frequently used, and often mandatory. For
example, consider the sentence:
Ġif messe-preost his āġen līf rīhtliċe fadie, þonne is rīht þæt his ƿurþscipe ƿexe."
If we translate this into Modern English, keeping the subjunctive mood, that would
come out as:
"If a priest govern his own life rightly, it is right that his honor grow."
This seems strange and stilted in Modern English, and we would be more likely to drop
all indication of the subjunctive and translate it into Modern English as follows:
"If a priest governs his own life rightly, it is right that his honor grows."
But if we tried to drop the subjunctive in the Old English, and rewrite the passage in the
indicative, as:
Ġif messe-preost his āġen līf rīhtliċe fadaþ, þonne is rīht þæt his ƿurþscipe
ƿexeþ."
... then this would not really be grammatical. We would use the indicative and say
"fadaþ" and "ƿexeþ" if we wanted to assert of a particular priest that he is arranging his
own life well, and that as a result his honor is growing. But instead the author wished to
assert of a general and hypothetical priest that if he arranges his own life well, then his
honor ought to grow as a consequence; therefore he had to use the subjunctive.
So we find, for example, subjunctive forms such as:
Ūs dafenaþ þæt ƿē ƿaċien.
This might be translated as "It is fitting that we be wakeful". We couldn't keep this
meaning if we put it into the indicative and wrote:
Ūs dafenaþ þæt ƿē ƿaċiaþ.
... because if that was grammatical at all, it would mean "It is fitting that we are awake",
which has a different meaning.

Past Participle

The past participle works like the Modern English past participle, so that ġesungen just
means "sung". As with the Modern English past participle, it can be used as an adjective,
and it can also be used with the verb "to have" to form a perfect tense, as in Modern
English "I have sung the song". However, in Old English the position of the past
 45

participle was flexible: it could go directly after the helping verb "habban" like in
Modern English ("Iċ hæbbe ġesungen þā ƿord" - "I have sung the words"), or it could go
right at the end of the clause like in Modern German ("Iċ hæbbe þā ƿord ġesungen" -
literally "I have the words sung", more correctly "I have sung the words"). Placing the
past participle right at the end of the clause, might be a way to draw attention to it, to
emphasize it.

Verb Classes

There are several types of verbs in Old English, more than in Modern English, which has
many weak (love/loved/loved), some strong (sing/sang/sung), and a few irregular verbs
(be/was/been). Old English has four types of weak verbs, typically called Class 1a, Class
1b, Class 2, and Class 3. Strong verbs are typically arranged in seven classes, according
to their vowel-changes (ablaut). All verbs do have the following in common: the
infinitive ends in -an for nearly all verbs (a smaller portion end in -ian and -rian), the
present participle ends in -ende (a smaller portion end in -iende), the present plural is
always -aþ, and the inflected infinitive ends in -enne.

Weak Verbs

Class 1 weak verbs are traditionally divided into two subclasses.

In class 1a there are:

● Verbs like fremman, where the stem has a short vowel followed by (in the
infinitive) two consonants.
● Verbs like nerian, where the stem has a short vowel followed by an r followed by
(in the infinitive) an i.
In class 1b are verbs where the stem consists either of a long vowel followed by a single
consonant, or a short vowel followed by two different consonants; both of these behave
just the same.

In the table below, we give the complete conjugations of fremman and nerian, which are
Class 1a verbs, and of hīeran, a Class 1b verb.
 46

There is a clear pattern here. The suffixes of the same parts of the different verbs are
very similar across all the verbs. What is more, we can observe that where forms of
fremman have a double m, forms of nerian have an i, and forms of hīeran have a suffix
beginning with a vowel. Conversely, with one exception, where forms of fremman have a
single m, forms of nerian have no i, and the suffix of the corresponding form of hīeran is
like the suffix for fremman and nerian except for lacking the first e in the suffix. The one
exception is the past participle, where this rule fails more often than not.

In Class 1b verbs, where the -d- in the suffix in the past tense is jammed right up against
the final consonant of the stem, certain changes occur to make the resulting word easier
to pronounce. After an unvoiced consonant (c, f, h, p, s, t) the d will become a t;
 47

moreover, if the unvoiced consonant is a c, it will become an h; so we get iċ tǣċe ("I

teach") but iċ tǣhte ("I taught").

Another rule is that when the formation of the past tense of a Class 1b verb would put a
double d or a double t after another consonant, it contracts to a single d or t. So with the
verb myntan ("to intend ''), "I intended" is not iċ myntde, nor yet iċ myntte, but rather iċ
mynte.

Irregular Class 1 verbs

There are some common verbs which inflect like Class 1 weak verbs; indeed, they are,
technically, Class 1 weak verbs. However, there are changes in the stem between the
present tense, infinitive, and present participle forms on the one hand, and the stem in
the past and past participle forms on the other.

Some of these verbs survive into Modern English; for example "sell"/"sold" and
"buy"/"bought". Some verbs adopted more regular endings later in English
development, such as "work"/"worked" where the archaic participle "wrought" is used
only in specific contexts as an adjective (as it "wrought iron"; "wright", as in
"shipwright" is also related to this word). However, other participles were simply
utilized as a new verb outright. For instance, "stretch"/"straighte" becomes
"stretch"/"stretched" and "straighten"/"straightened" (with "straight" becoming an
adjective).

Since these are still Class 1 weak verbs, it is sufficient to give only two forms of the verb;
the rest can be figured out with reference to the table showing the Class 1 conjugation.
In the table we given the infinitive and 1st person singular past indicative.

These verbs can be divided into three categories:

1. Verbs ending in -ellan, whose preterite becomes -ealde. For example, sellan →
sealde.
2. Verbs ending in -eċċan, whose preterite becomes -eahte. For example, streċċan →
streahte.
3. Other verbs ending in -ċan or -ngan. These are less predictable, but the vowel
usually changes to o, which is followed by ht: sēċan → sōhte. The vowel in the
preterite stem is the same length as in the present stem, except in the verbs
þyncan, and bringan, where the n disappears and lengthens the preceding vowel:
þūhte, brōhte. Ƿyrċan is another oddity, with the preterite form ƿorhte (also
found as ƿrohte, as in modern English wrought).
 48

Weak Class 2 Verbs

Class II weak verbs have an infinitive ending in -ian, with the exception of almost all
verbs which end in -rian, which conjugate like the Class 1 weak verb nerian as discussed
above.

Here is the complete conjugation of the Class 2 weak verb lufian, "to love".
 49

This is very like the way Class 1 weak verbs work. Note that lufian loses its i in just those
cases where fremman loses one of its ms, nerian loses its i, and hīeran has no e at the
start of its suffix.

There are differences, though. In the second and third person singular present
indicative the vowel in the suffix is an a, not an e. This means that the third person
singular present indicative ends in -aþ, an ending which in every other conjugation is
associated with the plural present indicative.

Note also the use of an o instead of an e in forming the past tense and past participle.
 50

Weak Class 3 Verbs

The third class of weak verbs contains only four verbs, but they are very common ones:
habban, "to have"; libban, "to live"; seċġan, "to say"; and hyċġan, "to think". Each class 3
weak verb behaves oddly in its own particular way, and so it is probably best just to give
each part of each verb.

For habban we can see that its first vowel is always æ except when the second vowel is a,
in which case the first vowel will also be a.

Strong Verbs

In strong verbs, the vowel in the stem of the verb changes according to person, tense,
and mood; this change is known as ablaut or gradation. Relics of this system survive in
Modern English in such variations as "sing", "sang", "sung" or "write", "wrote",
"written".
 51

Although strong verbs are fewer in number than weak verbs, they include some very
common verbs, and so you will come across them often.

Examples of a strong verb

Below is an example of all the parts of the strong verb "dūfan" ("to dive").

Gradation provides us with

four variations on the
vowel in the stem:

● The infinitive vowel

ū is used in the infinitives,
present participle, present
tense, and imperative.
● The first preterite
vowel ēa is used in the first
and third person singular
of the preterite.
● The second preterite
vowel u is used in all the
other forms of the
preterite: second person
singular, plural, and
subjunctive.
● The past participle
vowel o is used only in the
past participle.

But the reader will notice

that there are in fact five
vowels appearing in the
stem of the verb in this
table: in the second and
third person present
indicative we have the
vowel ȳ. This is not,
technically, gradation, it is i-mutation: these parts of strong verbs undergo i-mutation
whenever the vowel is one of the kind of vowel that undergoes i-mutation; this change is
perfectly regular.
 52

The seven classes of strong verbs

Strong verbs can be divided into classes according to the vowels in their ablaut systems.
We can see relics of the classes in Modern English: write/wrote/written goes like
drive/drove/driven; whereas sing/sang/sung goes like ring/rang/rung. These seven
classes are standardized and come from Proto-Germanic; we divide a few of them
further into subclasses for our own purposes.

In the table below we show the gradation series of the seven classes of strong verbs,
using an example verb for each pattern. For each verb we give the infinitive, the
third-person singular present, the first-person singular preterite, the plural preterite,
and the past participle. Using these forms, all the other forms of the verb can be
predicted.
 53

The vowel in the infinitive and past participle of class VII verbs is highly variable; the
subclasses are distinguished by their preterite forms. However, the vowel in the past
participle will almost always be the same as the vowel in the infinitive for class VII verbs
(ƿēpan being a notable exception, with its past participle (ġe)ƿōpen).

Some of these verbs exhibit consonant changes as well as vowel changes—notice, for
instance, how the "n" in standan disappears in the preterite—but the vowel changes are
what define the verb classes. Some of these consonant changes are discussed below.

Some strong verbs are irregular. For example, cuman is classified as a class IV verb,
because it was a regular class IV verb in Proto-Germanic (*kwemaną), but it became
irregular in Old English: cume, cymþ, c(ƿ)ōm, c(ƿ)ōmon, (ġe)cumen. Aside from the
different vowels, however, it conjugates like any other strong verb. There are also a
handful of verbs with contracted forms, with infinitives ending in -ēan, -ēon, or -ōn;
more on those later.

What happened to Class III?

Class III verbs would originally have all conjugated the same way. However, the vowels
in their stems then underwent changes according to the consonants adjacent to them.

Class IIIa represents the unaltered form of the verb.

In Class IIIb verbs, the vowel was followed by an h or r, and so underwent breaking to a
diphthong in the infinitive and first preterite forms.

In Class IIIc verbs, breaking is caused in the first preterite by an l following the vowel.

In Class IIId, the vowel is preceded by ċ, ġ, or sċ, and undergoes what is known as
palatal diphthongization.

In Class IIIe, the quality of the vowel was changed by being followed by a nasal
consonant, that is m or n.

A further complication is that there are some Class IIIa verbs in which the vowel is
followed by an r, and yet have not turned into Class IIIb verbs. An example is the verb
berstan, meaning "to burst". What has happened here is that the word was originally
brestan, then the sound changes occurred that produced class IIIb verbs, and then the
word brestan underwent what is known as metathesis of r to produce berstan.
 54

Stems ending in G

In the 2nd and 3rd person present singular indicative, the same cases in which
i-mutation takes place, if the verb stem ends in g, this usually becomes an h. So for
example in the verb belgan ("to be angry'') we have þū bilhst and hē bilhþ.

Stems ending in s, t, or d

Also in the 2nd and 3rd person present singular indicative, certain changes take place to
prevent awkwardness when the dental consonants in the suffix are stuck onto dental
consonants at the end of the stem.

● If the stem of the verb ends in s, then instead of the 2nd person ending in -sst,
this becomes -st; and instead of the 3rd person ending in -sþ, this becomes -st.
● If the stem of the verb ends in t, then instead of the 3rd person ending in -tþ, this
becomes -tt.
● If the stem of the verb ends in d, then instead of the 3rd person ending in -dþ,
this becomes -tt, and instead of the 2nd person ending in -dst, this becomes -tst

Verner's law

There are certain consonants occurring at the end of the stem which change along with
the vowel in gradation, having one consonant to go with the indicative and 1st preterite
vowels, and another to go with the 2nd preterite and past participle vowels.

So for example the table below shows the conjugation of the Class II verb sēoþan ("to
boil"). Note that apart from this change in the consonant, it is a perfectly ordinary Class
II verb.
 55

Contracted verbs

Where a verb stem originally ended in an h, various things happened. First, the h caused
breaking, turning the vowel into a diphthong; then when the h came between two
vowels, it disappeared, lengthening the vowel it comes after, and then the second vowel
disappeared.

So, for example, the Class VI verb lēan ("to blame") would originally have been lahan.
Breaking turned this into leahan; loss of h and lengthening of the vowel would give us
lēaan, and loss of the vowel that came after the h gives us lēan. By contrast, in the 3rd
 56

person singular present indicative, there is no vowel after the h, so only the breaking will
occur, and we get hē liehþ.

Such verbs will also undergo the Verner's Law variation of the consonant, so the h will
only appear with the infinitive vowel and the 1st pret. vowel.

Putting all this together, here is the complete conjugation of the verb lēan.
 57

Preterite-present verbs

In a preterite-present verb, the past (preterite) tense has taken on a present-tense

meaning, and the verb has then acquired a weak past tense.

As an example, consider the verb ƿitan (to know). It is derived from what was once a
perfectly ordinary verb meaning "to see" (cognate, as it happens, with the Latin verb
"videre"). It is not hard to understand how the past tense could have taken on a
present-tense meaning; if you saw something in the past, then you know about it in the
present.

Hence we have forms such as iċ ƿāt ("I know") and ƿē ƿiton ("we know") which look like
the past tense of a strong verb, specifically a class I strong verb, but which have a
present-tense meaning. Then a weak past tense is formed with a dental suffix.

While the verb ƿitan has not survived into Modern English, a number of
preterite-present verbs have, such as "can" and "shall"; it is because they are
preterite-present verbs that the 3rd person present indicative is "he can" and "he shall"
rather than "he cans" and "he shalls".

Preterite-present
verbs can be learned
with five principal
parts; the rest of the
forms can be
predicted based on
these. Old English
has twelve of them,
not counting
compound forms:
 58

● To form the long infinitive, take the infinitive and replace the -an with -enne: tō
āgenne
● To form the indicative plural, take the infinitive and replace the -an with -on:
āgon
● As always, to form the subjunctive plural, add -n to the subjunctive singular: āgen
● The preterite is conjugated as follows: iċ āhte, þū āhtest, hē āhte, ƿē āhton.
● The past subjunctive uses the preterite stem and is conjugated as follows:
iċ/þū/hē āhte, ƿē āhten.
● The singular imperative is the same as the singular subjunctive: āge
● For the plural imperative, take the singular imperative and replace the -e with
-aþ: āgaþ
● To form the past participle, take the infinitive and replace the -an with -en: āgen.
The prefix ġe- may optionally be added as well, except in the case of ġemunan
and ġenugan, which already have it.

Full conjugations for the preterite-present verbs are shown in the tables below. The only
reason there are three tables is so that they fit on the page; there is no particular
significance to a verb being in one table rather than another.
59
 60

Some of the entries in the table are not actually attested in manuscripts, but are
reconstructions of how the verb forms probably would have looked if they were.

Irregular Verbs

This class consists of four verbs which have little in common except that they are very
difficult to classify. It is usual in any language that the most irregular verbs are also
among the most common, and these are a case in point.

Bēon and ƿesan

There are two verbs in Old English for "to be", ƿesan, which is normally present or past
tense, and bēon, which is normally future tense. The past tense uses forms from ƿesan,
conjugating it as a Class V strong verb.

The verb bēon is also used to

state timeless truths. For
example, the poem known as
Resignation ends with the lines:

Giet biþ þæt selast, þonne mon

him sylf ne mæg
ƿyrd onƿendan, þæt he þonne
ƿel þoliġe.
("Yet it is best, if a man cannot
change his fate, that he bear it
well.") Clearly the poet thinks
that this is a general statement
about the human condition, and
so used biþ rather than is.
 61

Dōn and gān

The verbs dōn ("to do") and gān (to go) don't inflect exactly the same, but there are
certain similarities that justify putting them in the same table.
 62

Ƿillan

Finally, the verb ƿillan, meaning "to want" or "to wish".

12 - Participles
There were two participles in Old English: The present and past. The present participle
was approximately equivalent to the Modern English "-ing" form of a verb (as in "The
 63

singing person") and the past participle was the form used an a adjective or in a passive
verbal construction to show what had happened to someone, like in Modern English "I
was killed" or "The song was sung.

Present Participle

In the case of class 1 and 3 weak verbs, all strong verbs, and most or all irregular verbs,
the suffix "-ende" was added to the stem of the verb to form the present participle, for
example: "singan" - "singende" (in such strong verbs as had a long diphthong in the
stem, and the "n" but not the "a" of the infinitive suffix, only "-nde" was added to the
stem, for example "sēon" - "sēonde"). In class 2 weak verbs, the suffix "-ende" was added
to the stem plus the "i" (or "iġ") of the infinitive suffix, for example: "macian" -
"maciġende". The present participle could be used as an adjective to show that someone
was doing something, or usually did something; and as an adjective, it was declined like
other adjectives, for example "se singenda mann" - "the singing man". It was also only
rarely used to show a continuous or currently happening action, for example, "Iċ eom
singende þone sang" - "I am singing the song". Note that when used like this it was not
declined as an adjective.

Past Participle

The past participle was formed using a dental suffix for class 1 and 3 weak verbs ("-ed",
"-t", or "-d", depending on the verb), and "-od" for class 2 weak verbs. Strong verbs took
the suffix "-en" and the appropriate stem vowel change for their strong verb class, for
example "singan" - "sungen". As earlier mentioned, the participle of a strong verb could
be used as an adjective as in Modern English, to show that something had happened to a
person (and when used like that, it was declined), or as part of the passive verb
construction "ƿesan/ƿeorðan (past participle" or the active perfect tense "habban
(participle)" (note that for non-transitive verbs, it was sometimes "ƿesan (past
participle" instead of "habban (past participle)". When used in the perfect construction,
it could either be declined or not. If you wanted to decline it, use appropriate number
form of the strong accusative adjectival form of the past participle, for example, you
could say both "Iċ hæbbe þone mann ġeslæġen" (I have the man slain) and "Iċ hæbbe
þone mann ġeslæġenne".
 64

"-able" adjectives

Both the past and present participles could have the adjectival suffix "-līċ" added to
them, with the resulting word having a meaning like "(verb)-able", as in "ġeseƿenlīċ" -
"visible".

13 - Adverbs
Adverbs are a large category of words that includes:
● words that modify adjectives - "He is really tall"
● words that modify verbs - "I run quickly"
● words that modify other adverbs - "The dog whined very loudly"
Although we call all of these kinds of words adverbs, not all adverbs can be used in all of
these ways. For example, in Modern English "very" is an adverb that can be used to
modify only other adverbs and adjectives, not verbs. For example, one does not say, "I
very will kick you" (because "very" cannot modify the verb "will" or "kick"); but one can
say "I am very angry" (where "very" modifies the adjective "angry"). Likewise in Old
English, not all adverbs can be used in all of the above ways.

Adverb formation in Old English

Most adverbs form themselves from adjectives with one of two suffixes:
● -līċe (whence we get the Modern English "-ly" ending) (for example, ƿundor-līċe -
"wondrously")
● -e (for example, ƿrāþ-e - "fiercely")
There are also some other suffixes sometimes used less commonly:
● -unga (for example, eall-unga - "entirely, completely")
Note that the dative, accusative, and genitive cases of most nouns or adjectives of time
and length can be used as adverbs, e.g.:
● hƿīlum - "sometimes"
● þrēo ġeardas - "(for) three yards" (as in: "He ran for three yards and then
stopped" - Hē earn aƿeġ þrēo geardas and stōd)
● tū ġēar - "(for) two years" (as in: "The baby lived for only two years" - Þæt ċild
lifode efne tū ġēar)
These "adverbs" formed by declining a noun or an adjective do not have the comparative
or superlative degrees.
 65

In addition, many words are in and of themselves adverbs, without the need for any
derivation from other kinds of words, for example:
● nū - now
● þā - then
● þær - there
● hider - hither
● þider - thither
● hēr - here
● heonan - hence
● sōna - soon/directly
● oft - often
● eft - back/again
● sƿā - so
● þus - thus, in this way

Comparative and superlative degrees

Adverbs form their comparative (e.g. "better" or "more") and superlative (e.g. "best" or
"most") degrees using suffixes similar to those used for adjectives (for which see here),
but adverbs are never declined according to case, number, gender, or in any way.

Adverbs usually take the -or ending for comparative and the -ost ending for the
superlative. Here is an example:
● oft ("often") - oftor ("more often") - oftost ("most often")
There are some adverbs which are affected by i-mutation in the comparative and
superlative degrees; these usually take no comparative ending, and "-est" instead of
"-ost" for superlative:
● lange ("long, for a long time") - leng ("longer") - lenġest ("longest")
There are also some adverbs which are irregular in the comparative and superlative
degrees:
● (well) ƿel - bet - betst

14 - Conjunctions
A conjunction (abbreviated here cnj.) is a type of word that connects two words,
sentences, phrases or clauses together, and shows something about their relationship to
each other.
 66

There are three groups of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions, correlative

conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions join two or
more items of equal importance together, like the Modern English words "and", "or",
"but", and others. Correlative conjunctions are like coordinating conjunctions in that
they also join two or more equal items, but they work in groups, like the Modern English
words "either... or...", "neither... nor...", "both... and...", and more. Subordinating
conjunctions are conjunctions that join items of unequal importance, for example
Modern English "because", "although", "unless", and more.

Coordinating conjunctions

Here are some important Old English coordinating conjunctions:

● and - and
● ac - but
● ne - nor
● oþþe - or
Examples of these conjunctions in usage:
● Hē ƿæs grēat and hēo ƿæs strang - He was big and she was strong
● Iohannes cƿōm hraðe, ac hē ne cūðe þone yfelan hund findan - John came
quickly, but he couldn't find the bad dog
● Ƿit noldon þæt dōn, ne ƿoldon hīe - We two didn't want to do that, nor did they
want to
● Þonne þæt mōd ymbe hƿæt tƿēonode, oðþe hit hƿæs ƿilnode tō ƿitanne... - When
the mind doubted that, or it wanted to know something...

Conjunctions that introduce dependent clauses

And here are some that introduce dependent clauses:

● for þȳ þe/for þȳ/for þǣm þe/for þǣm - because
● sƿā þæt - so that
● þæt, þe, þætte - that (in indirect speech, like "He said that she said"; also to show
desired or intended effect, as in "I desired that you would come")
● þonne - than (used with comparative)
● þēah (þe) - although
Examples of these conjunctions in usage:
● Hē ƿolde cƿelan for þȳ þe hē ƿæs sƿīðe earm - He wanted to die because he was so
miserable
● Ic dyde þæt sƿā þæt þū ne ƿēpe - I did it so that you wouldn't cry
 67

● Þās hādas sægdon þætte þis land is heora - These people say that this land is
theirs
● Iohannes is māra þonne Æðelƿeard - John is greater than Athelward
● Se cniht nolde feohtan þēah þe hē ƿel strang ƿæs - The youth didn't want to fight
even though he was quite strong

Correlative Conjunctions

Here are some that acted as correlative conjunctions:

● ġif(... þonne....) - if(... then...)
● ne... ne... - neither... nor...
● oþþe... oþþe... - either... or...
Examples of these correlative conjunctions:
● Ġif þū cume, þonne ic þec ofslēa - If you come, I'll kill you
● Ne þæt ƿīf ne hire cild ƿǣron gladu - Neither the woman nor her child were glad
● Oþþe hē oþþe se hund bite þisne pleġan - Either he or the dog bit this toy

Note

Note that even the most scholarly Old English writers had no qualms about writing
"and" at the beginning of a sentence (Ƿulfstān did so very often in "Sermo Lupi ad
Anglos") - so that is totally fine. (It also means that, in spite of some insisting that it is
bad practice or bad grammar in Modern English, the practice is over a thousand years
old).

15 - Prepositions
Old English has many prepositions, and like German, they require certain cases of noun
to come after them to complete their meaning. Old English has 4 cases other than
nominative (subject) case which can be objects of prepositions. The genitive, dative,
instrumental, and accusative cases can all be objects of prepositions. Prepositions are
used to make a sentence more descriptive.
 68

Common Prepositions

Mid
● This preposition means 'with', as in:
○ I went with him - ic ēode mid him.
○ I traveled along with her - ic fōr mid hire.
Tō
● This means 'to,' as in:
○ I spoke to him - ic spræc tō him.
○ I go to the door - ic gā tō þǣre dura.
Þurh
● This means 'through,' as in:
○ I go through the gate - ic gā þurh þæt geat.

This preposition governs the accusative case.

Now, there are a great deal of prepositions in Old English, so going through them by
case governed will be helpful.

Genitive Prepositions

Genitive prepositions that only take the genitive case are rare, and there is only one true
such preposition, andlang.

andlang, andlanges
1. alongside, along, on length, by the side of
a. I go alongside the street - ic gā andlang(es) þǣre strǣte.
b. I go by the side of the way - ic gā andlang(es) þæs ƿeges.

There are several prepositions which do take genitive objects in addition to other cases:
● betƿēonan (dative/accusative too)
● innan (dative/accusative too) - within, from within
● þurh (mainly accusative)
 69

Dative Prepositions

Tōgeagnes
1. where there is motion towards the object governed by the word
a. without the idea of hostility, towards, so as to meet
b. with idea of hostility, against, to meet
2. where there is motion of the object governed by the word
a. without idea of opposition, in the way of, to meet the approach of, in
readiness for, against the coming of
b. with the idea of opposition, against, for the purpose of resisting
3. marking the object towards or against which an action is directed
a. of reciprocal action, again, in return
4. marking time, on the approach of, towards
5. marking comparison or contrast

Accusative Prepositions

There are several pure accusative prepositions, among the most common are geond,
geondan, oþ, þurh, underneoðan, ƿiþgeondan, ymb, ymbūtan. Some of these
prepositions can take other cases, but only rarely. There are also some less common
prepositions, which will be listed below with the others.

Geond
1. throughout, during
Geondan
1. Beyond
Oþ
1. to, up to, as far as
Þurh
1. through, during
Þurhūt
1. right through, throughout
a. hē ēode þurhūt Ēoforƿīc - he went throughout York
Underneoðan
1. underneath, below
Ƿiþgeondan
1. Beyond
Ymb
1. around, about, at
 70

Ymbūtan
1. around, about

Dative/Accusative Prepositions

Ābūtan
1. on, about, around, around about, on the outside
(variant of onbūtan)
Innan
1. dative - in
a. rest in, within - innan healle within a hall
b. motion in, within - hé éode innan þǽm mynstre he went within the
monastery
c. time within the limits of a period, in; híe ƿendon innan þǽre
middanƿintres tíde they went within the limits of midwinter time
2. accusative - into
Onbūtan
1. About
a. Place
b. Time

Dative/Instrumental Prepositions

Mid
Dative
1. with, in conjunction with, in company with, together with
Instrumental
1. through, by means of

16 -Interjections
Interjections are words used to express an emotion. The most common Old English
interjections were:
● Ēa - oh
● Ēalā - lo, oh (also said when seeing someone - like an acknowledgement)
● Hƿæt - what!
 71

● Lā （frequently used in combination with other words or interjections - see "ēalā"

above) - lo
● Ƿā - misery! woe!
● Ƿel, ƿel - well, well
Of particular interest is the interjection "lā", which could be used in the middle of a
sentence to emphasize almost anything being said, including statements, questions,
requests, and commands. For example:
● Cum lā! - Come on!
● Ġief mē þā bōc lā - Please give me the book
● Saga lā þætte þū þenċest - Do say what you're thinking
● Hƿæt lā is þæt? - Whatever is that?
● He is lā ƿel grēat - He is indeed tall
They didn't really have exact equivalents for short words for "please" and "sorry" in Old
English, but "lā" could at a pinch be used in a request for "please" (see above). Also, one
could use the interjection "ƿālā" or "ƿālāƿā" to express sorrow or regret - approximately
equivalent of "sorry".

17 - Appositives
Appositives are a grammatical construction where two elements, often noun phrases,
are placed beside each other, with one modifying the other (like an adjective). For
example in Modern English: "This is Johnny my son", where "Johnny" and "my son" are
appositives that modify each other. The main use of appositives in Old English was for
people's titles or nicknames, as in ""Carl cyning" - "King Charles"; but they were also
used for other things.

In Old English, in the case of titles and nicknames, the title or nickname came after the
other half of the appositive (usually a personal noun) when it had no article,
demonstrative, or possessive pronoun modifying it, like this: "Alfrēd cyning" - "King
Alfred". When one half of the appositive was modified with a possessive pronoun, an
article, or a demonstrative, then that half could come either before or after the other
half, for example: ...Thomas his diācon..." - "...Thomas his deacon..." (where the half
modified by the possessive pronoun "his" comes after the other half) and "...se cyning
Æðelrēd..." - "...the king Æthelred..." (where the half modified by the article "se" comes
before the other half). You could also divide the two halves of the appositive with other
words between them, like this: "Hēr Aldhelm beƿestan Seleƿuda bisċeop forþfērde" -
"On this date Aldhelm bishop to the west of Selwood died."
 72

Both halves of the appositive always agreed with each other in case in Old English,
unlike in Modern English were only the latter half of an appositive gets declined in the
genitive, for example: "King John's..." (in Modern English rather than "King's John's..."
(which would be more like how it is done in OE).

In the genitive (possessive), it was the normal practice to separate the two halves of the
appositive with whatever was being possessed, for example: "...Osƿies sunu ðæs
cyninges" - "a son of King Oswy". However, they could be kept together, for example:
"...be Ælfrēdes cyninges geƿitnesse and lēafe." - "with the knowledge and permission of
King Alfred." and "...Ecfriþes faðu ðæs cyninges..." - "...the paternal aunt of King
Ecgfrith...".

18 - Word Formation
The Old English language provides many ways to produce new words from old, either by
compounding existing words together or by altering the meaning of existing words with
prefixes or suffixes, some of which will be familiar to you from their Modern English
forms.

Nouns formed with suffixes

-aþ forms nouns such as folgaþ, "retinue", from folgian, "to follow"; or huntaþ,
"hunting", from huntian, "to hunt". These nouns are always masculine.

-dōm (= MnE "-dom", as in "wisdom", "kingdom") forms nouns such as hlāforddōm,

"dominion, lordship", from hlāford, "lord"; or hāliġdōm, "holiness", from hāliġ, "holy".
Nouns ending in -dōm are all masculine.

-end forms nouns from verbs; an X-end is one who does X: for example feohtend,
"fighter, warrior", from feohtan, "to fight"; or lufiend, "lover", from lufian, "to love".
Such nouns are masculine.

-ere (= MnE "-er") forms nouns from verbs in the same way as -end, e.g. dēmere,
"judge" from dēman, "to judge"; or lēogere, "liar", from lēogan, "to lie". Such nouns are
always masculine.
 73

-estre is the female equivalent of ere; for example lufestre, "(female) lover"; or
hearpestre, "(female) harpist". Such nouns are grammatically feminine as they are in
meaning.

-hād (= MnE "-hood" as in "childhood"). X-hād is the state or condition of being X: for
example prēosthād, "priesthood", from prēost, "priest"; or druncenhād, "drunkenness",
from druncen, "drunk". Nouns ending in -hād are all masculine.

-nes (= MnE "-ness") forms nouns from adjectives, e.g. beorhtnes, "brightness", from
beorht, "bright"; or glædnes, "gladness", from glæd, "glad". Nouns ending in -nes are
always feminine.

-oþ is similar to -aþ, for example fiscoþ, "fishing", from fiscian, "to fish". Nouns ending
in -oþ are masculine.

-scipe (= MnE "ship", as in "friendship") is similar to -dōm and -hād; for example
ƿinescipe, "friendship", from ƿine, "friend"; or snotorscipe, "prudence, sagacity", from
snotor, "wise". Nouns ending in -scipe are all masculine.

-ung (= MnE "-ing") forms nouns from verbs, e.g. huntung, "hunting", from huntian, "to
hunt"; or cēapung, "business, trade", from cēapian, "to buy, to trade". Nouns ending in
-ung are always feminine.

Nouns formed with prefixes

mis- (= MnE "mis-", as in "misdeed") gives a pejorative sense to a noun, as in misƿeorc,

"evil deed", from ƿeorc, "deed".

un- (= MnE "un-") can either give a negative sense to a noun, as in unfriþ, "hostility",
from friþ, "peace"; or it can give a pejorative sense to a noun, as in ungild, "an unjust or
excessive tax" from gild, "tax, payment"; or unrǣd, "bad advice, folly", from rǣd,
"advice".

Adjectives formed with suffixes

-en (= MnE "-en" as in "golden") together with i-mutation of the stem, forms an
adjective from a noun denoting a material, for example the adjective ǣcen, "made of
oak", from the noun āc, "oak".
 74

-feald (= MnE "-fold") creates an adjective from a quantity, e.g. seofonfeald, "sevenfold";
maniġfeald, "manifold".

-full (= MnE "-ful") e.g. foreþancfull, "prudent", from foreþanc, "forethought"; or

eġefull, "terrifying" from eġe, "fear".

-iġ (= MnE "-y") forms adjectives from nouns, as in grǣdiġ, "greedy, from grǣd, "greed";
or ƿlitiġ, "beautiful", from ƿlit, "appearance, shape, form".

-iht, applied to a noun X produces an adjective meaning "having the quality of X", for
example sandiht, "sandy", from sand; or þorniht, "thorny", from þorn.

-isc (= MnE "-ish") produces an adjective from a location or nationality , for example
Rōmānisc, "Roman"; or Fresisc, "Fresian".

-lēas (= MnE "-less") forms a privative adjective from a noun, e.g. drēamlēas, "sad",
from drēam, "joy"; or ellenlēas, "cowardly, courageless", from ellen, "courage".

-liċ (= MnE -"ly") forms adjectives either from nouns, e.g. fēondliċ, "hostile", from
fēond, "enemy"; or from adjectives, as in cūþliċ, "certain, evident", from cūþ, "known".

-ol forms adjectives from verbs, e.g. sƿicol, "deceitful", from sƿician, "to deceive"; or
hatol, "odious, hated, hateful" from hatian, "to hate".

-sum (= MnE "-some" as in "troublesome") forms adjectives from nouns, as in friþsum,

"peaceful", from friþ, "peace"; or ƿynsum, "pleasant, delightful", from ƿyn, "joy".

-ƿeardes (= MnE "-ward", as in "downward") forms an adjective from a direction, as in

norþƿeard, "northward".

Adjectives formed with prefixes

æl- (= MnE "al(l)-") intensifies an adjective: for example ælcræftiġ, "omnipotent,

almighty", from cræftiġ, "powerful, skillful".

or- forms privative adjectives from nouns, for example: ordǣle, "having no part in a
thing", from dǣl, "share or part"; or orgilde, "unpaid for", from gild, "payment".

un- (= MnE "un-") reverses the meaning of an adjective, as in undēop, "shallow" from
dēop, "deep"; or unmōdiġ, "cowardly", from mōdiġ, "brave, noble".
 75

Adverbs formed with suffixes

-e forms adverbs from adjectives, as in balde, "boldly", from bald, "bold"; or frōde,
"wisely, prudently", from frōd, "wise".

-līċe forms adverbs from adjectives, as in blīþelīċe, "gladly", from blīþe, "happy"; or from
nouns, as in ȝēarlíce, "yearly", from ȝēar, "year".

-unga also forms adverbs from adjectives, as in nīƿunga, "anew", from nīƿe, "new".

Verbs formed with prefixes

ā- somtimes has the sense of "forth, away", as in ā-drīfan, "to drive away", from drīfan,
to drive; or ā-faran, "to depart" from faran, "to go". Very often, however, this prefix
seems to have no particular meaning, and does not change the meaning of the verb it's
attached to.

be- often seems to have no particular meaning. Sometimes it can imply removal or
deprivation, as in beceorfan, "to cut off", from ceorfan, "to cut", or bedǣlan, "deprive",
from dǣlan, "to divide". Sometimes it has the sense of "around, about", as in befaran, "to
go around, to surround" from faran, "to go"; or beflēogan, "to fly about".

for- prefixed to a verb often gives it the sense of "to destruction", as in fordōn, "to
destroy", from dōn, "to do"; or forfaran, "to perish", from faran, "to go". Where the verb
already has this sense, it intensifies it, as in forbeornan, "to be destroyed by burning",
from beornan, "to burn up". Sometimes it can give a verb a general bad sense, as in
forhycgan, "despise", from hycgan, "to think".

on- can have a negative sense, as in ondōn, "to undo, open", from dōn, "to do"; or
onbindan, "to untie", from bindan, "to tie". Often, however, it seems to do nothing to the
verb at all.

ȝe- can give a verb the sense of success or completion: for example ȝeƿinnan, "to win, to
achieve victory over" from ƿinnan, "to fight"; or ȝeacsian, "to find out by asking", from
acsian, "to ask". It is because of this perfective sense that ȝe- is so often prefixed to past
participles. However, sometimes when it is prefixed to a verb it hardly makes any
difference to its meaning.
 76

tō- as a prefix to a verb usually gives it a sense of separation, as in tōdōn, "to separate,
divide", from dōn, "to do"; or tōfaran, "to go off in different directions", from faran, "to
go".

ƿiþ- has the sense of "against", and so forms verbs such as ƿiþdrīfan, "to repel", from
drīfan, "to drive"; or ƿiþsprecan, "to speak against, denounce, revile", from sprecan, "to
speak".

ymb- has the sense of "around"; so we get verbs such as ymbscīnan, "to surround with
light", from scīnan, "to shine"; or ymbbindan, "to bind around", from bindan, "to bind".

Compound nouns

Compound nouns can be formed:

● By compounding two nouns, as in gūþdēaþ, "death in battle", literally
"war-death".
● By compounding an adjective and a noun, as in nēahbūend, "neighbour", from
nēah, "nigh", and būend, "dweller".
● By compounding an adverb and a noun, as in ūtgang, "exit", from ūt, "out", and
gang, "going, journey".
Note that it is important to remove declensional suffixes before using them non-finally
in a compound noun. For example, if used alone, the word "nama" - "name", ends in the
"-a" declensional suffix. However, compounds such as "nambōc" - "name book", must
strip the declensional suffix before using that component.

Compound nouns 'could not' be formed using merely a naked verb stem. Verb stems
must have productive suffixes, such as -ung, applied to them, to convert them into a
noun, before they could be incorporated in nouns. Incidentally, agent nouns formed
productively from verbs using the "-a" suffix (same meaning as Modern English "-er"
suffix), would then be stripped of the "-a" when used in non-final compound
components, for example "cumlīðness" - "hospitality, comer-kindness". This stripped
form looks exactly like the naked verb stem, but it has the meaning of an agent, rather
than merely the meaning of the verb stem.

Compound adjectives

Compound adjectives can be formed:

● By compounding a noun and an adjective, as in lofȝeorn, "eager for praise",
literally "praise-eager".
 77

● By compounding an adjective with another adjective, as in ƿīdbrād, "widespread,

ample", from ƿīd, "wide" and brād, "broad".
● By compounding an adverb with an adjective, for example forþġeorn, "eager to go
forth", literally "forth-eager".
● By compounding an adjective with a noun, as in forhtmōd, "frightened", from
forht, "fearful" and mōd, "mind, spirit".

19 - Punctutation
It should be noted that Modern English punctuation standards did not exist in Old
English, so any modern-type punctuation you see in Old English texts has been added in
recently by an editor.

Most Old English writers either did not really punctuate or only punctuated lightly. One
of the more popular punctuation marks was the 'Interpunct' ("·"), which could be used
for many kinds of pauses, including those sometimes represented in Modern English by
commas, periods, colons, and semi-colons. Another method was to use a low,
period-like punctuation to represent a short pause, a middle-height dot to represent a
slightly longer pause, and a high dot to represent a long pause. However, this could
sometimes be difficult to read - it was not always easy to distinguish between
middle-height and high dots.

Capitalization was often or normally used at the beginning of a sentence, but not usually
for anything else. Occasionally it was used when referring to God.

Most Old English writers spaced their words reasonably well (not necessarily absolutely
consistently), but some wrote many together with no spaces.

There were a variety of abbreviations used in Old English writing, some including:
● A letter G with a macron above it, was used for the common syllable "ge-"
● A vowel with a macron above it was used instead of writing out a nasal consonant
that would later follow the vowel (e.g. "ū" instead of "-um-" or "-un-")
● A symbol that was like the letter thorn ("þ") but with a slash through the upper
half, was used represent the common word "þæt", that letter looked like this
("ꝥ")
● A symbol that looked like the number "7" was used to represent the common
word "and"
● Runes were rarely used instead of the entire word that they were named after
 78

20 - Syntax
The most common word order for simple statements in Old English was as follows:

subject-verb-object

Here is a sentence which shows it:

God ġesēah hine

God saw him

Variations of word order are commonly more varied than in Modern English, but it is
not totally flexible - there is such a thing as a wrong word order, and changes in order
often change the emphasis of a sentence.

Putting the object at the start of the sentence emphasized the object:

Hine iċ cƿealde
I killed him
Þā ofet aƿearp sē mann
The person threw away the fruit
NOTE: If the subject is a pronoun, in object-emphasizing sentences, it comes before the
verb. If it is a noun, it comes after the verb (as shown above).

Question syntax

To ask yes-no questions, place the verb before the subject. If there is an auxillary verb in
the sentence ("can", "should", etc), then it is the one which goes at the start, and the
infinitive verb may occupy any of its usual positions later in the sentence:

Dyde hē þæt?
Did he do that?
Hoppodest þū?
Did you dance?
Ƿilt þū cuman mid mē?
Do you want to come with me?
 79

In "wh-" questions, the questions word usually starts the sentence, and the verb is
second. Then, the subject goes before any objects.

Hƿæt eart þū?

Who are you?
Hƿone ācƿealde hē?
Who did he kill?
Hƿylċe ġife ƿilt þū him ġifan?
Which gift do you want to give to him?

Pronoun syntax

Syntax rules and norms for nouns and pronouns differ somewhat in Old English.

Pronouns, when subjects, almost always come before the verb. Some scenarios where
they follow the verb are:
● yes-no questions, the pronoun must follow the verb (as with nouns): "dyde hē
þæt?" - "did he do that?"
● following quotations: '"Gā āƿeġ," cƿæð Iōhannes' - '"Go away", said John'
● following ne, þonne, þā, nū, sƿā: "ne dyde iċ þæt" - "I did not do that"
● in subjunctive constructions: "sȳ hē ahangen" - "may he be hanged"
Direct object pronouns go before indirect object pronouns:

Iċ ġeaf þæt him

I gave that to him
Þā hyssas dydon hit mē
The young men did it for me
Pronoun objects can go before verbs:

Se ƿer hine lufode

The man loved him
Þæt fisċ him folgode
The fish followed him
 80

Additional Old English Resources

Authentic Old English Phrasing

Conversational

Aren't you just doing well for yourself!

"Hū færst þū lā!" - "How you are getting along indeed!" (literal)/"Aren't you just doing
well for yourself!" (more idiomatic)

Hello
The best-attested positive colloquial greeting on encountering someone in OE, is:

"Ƿes hāl" - "Be well"[1]

There are a number of other attestations of the same or very similar phrases.

Note that in Late West Saxon, imperative forms of "bēon" came to be preferred over
"ƿesan".

"Bēo gesund"[2] - "Be well" (to one person; it is given as a translation of Latin ave and
salve)

From this we can easily deduce in West Saxon Old English:

"Bēoð hāle/ġesunde." - "Be well/hello" (to more than one person)

And in Anglian Old English and perhaps also in earlier West Saxon Old English:

"Ƿesað hāle." - "Be well/hello" (to more than one person)

Note that in Beowulf line 2418[3], we find:

 81

"Gesæt ða on næsse niðheard cyning, þenden hælo abead heorðgeneatum, goldƿine

Geata."

English: "The adversity-hardened king, treasure-friend of the Geats, then sat on the
headland, while be bade health to his hearth-companions."

This is suggestive that this greeting, and other similar greetings, was a normal greeting
in Old English (as well, it is glossed, as explained above, for a common Latin greeting -
evidently, Ælfric thought it was the right translation for such a normal greeting).
Although, exactly what weight it had, is not fully clear. It may not necessarily have been
said just as frequently as "hello" in Modern English. It may have embodied literal
well-wishes for someone's health, and felt more "meaningful" than the Modern English
"hello". It is notably absent from Ælfric's Colloquoy on Occupations, which might
suggest that it was only reserved for meaningful greetings of well-being; or might it
reflect that it is not a thoroughly authentic portrayal of Old English social norms.

How are you?

Method 1
"Hū mæġ hē?"[4] - "How is he?"

The answer, in the same text on the same page, is:

"Hi cƿædon þæt he ƿel mihte"[4] - "They said that he was well."

Taking these as a precedent, you could also say:

"Hū meaht þū?" - "How are you?" to one person.

"Hū magon ġit"?" - "How are you?" to two people.

"Hū magon ġē?" - "How are you?" to 3 or more people.

"Iċ mæġ ƿel." - "I am well."

"Hē mæġ ƿel." - "He is well."

"Ƿē magon yfle." - "We are poorly."

And so forth.
 82

Note that "magan" can mean "have strength". So, there may be an implication that it is
asking about someone's physical health, or overall health, rather than more trivial
niceties.

There is no evidence that this was used a trivial conversational question in Old English
as in Modern English, but it is an authentic phrase, and it has the correct meaning.

Method 2
"Hū eart þū nū?"[5] - "How are you now?"

Which is answered in the same text by:

"He him andsƿarode & cƿæð: oð ðis ic ƿæs sƿiðe yfle, ac nu ic eom sƿiðe ƿel, forþon þe
todæg ic onfeng þam gemanan, þe ic ær fram asceaden ƿæs." - "He answered him and
said: until now I was very poorly, but now I am very well, because today I joined the
fellowship which I was previously excluded from."

The nature of the answer shows clearly that this question applied to fluctuating
conditions which could change from day to day, and applied to emotional state as well as
physical health.

Note that the word of condition (ƿel, yfle) is an adverb, not an adjective.

From this we can derive the following phrasings:

"Hū eart þū?" - "How are you?" (to one person)

"Hū ƿǣron ġit?" - "How were you two?"

"Ƿē ƿǣron yfle." - "We were poorly."

"Iċ eom ƿel." - "I am well."

And so forth.

There is no evidence this was used as a trivial conversational question in Old English,
but it has the correct meaning, and it is an authentic phrase.

How old are you?

Method 1
"Hū eald eart þū?" - "How old are you?"
 83

"Ic eom tyn geara eald." - "I am ten years old."

Method 2
"Hū fela ƿintra hafast/āhst þū (on yldo)?" - "How many winters do you have (in age)?"

"Ic āh/hæbbe sixtȳn ƿintra (on yldo)." - "I have sixteen winters (in age)."

Note that this method likely specifies exact number of winters a person has lived
through. Winters were a notable method of measuring age, because winter was a harsh
time of year - children, sick, and elderly would be more likely to die during the hardship
of winter.

It could easily be adapted to the more popular modern metric of "years", simply by
replacing "ƿintra" - "winters/of winters (quantitative)", with "ġēara" - "years/of years
(quantitative)".

I'm hungry
Method 1
"Mē/Mec hyngreð" - "I'm hungry" (literally, "I'm hungering" or "It's making me
hungry.")

Note that "mec" would be used in early Anglian dialects; but "mē" would be used in
West Saxon (and possibly later Anglian dialects).

Method 2
"Iċ hyngriġe" - "I'm hungry" (literally, "I'm hungering").

Method 3
"Iċ eom hungriġ/hungrigu" - "I'm hungry"

Note that "hungriġ" would be said by a man, "hungrigu" by a woman.

What's the matter?/What is it?

"Hƿæt is þē, mīn hlāford?"[6] - "What's the matter, my lord?"

Note that all usage examples suggest a context of consternation, more or less similar to
"What's the matter?" However, the literal meaning of the phrase, "What do you have?",
is very neutral, and so is suggestive that the question could probably be used to inquire
about any particular circumstance or object of attention that is relevant to someone. For
example, if someone seemed unusually happy, it would likely also be fine to say "Hƿæt is
 84

þē?" - "What's up with you?" However, the context of consternation would be one
prominent use case.

This seems to be a literal translation of Latin "Quid tibi est?", and as such, it may well
not reflect colloquial Old English. However, it is grammatically correct; and there are
various other Old English phrasings which are similar and related in meaning. In the
worst case, it was not colloquial, but nevertheless most likely did not sound too strange
to Old English ears.

We can easily derive:

"Hƿæt is inc?" - "What's the matter?/What's up with you?" (to 2 people)

"Hƿæt is ēoƿ?" - "What's the matter?/What's up with you?" (to 3 or more people)

What's your name?/What are you called?

Method 1
"Hƿæt hāttest þū?" - "What are you called?"

"Iċ hātte Iōhannes." - "I am called John."

Note that the verb in "þū hāttest" - "you are called" and "iċ hātte" - "I am called" and
"hēo/hē hātte" - "she/he is called", is a special, archaic passive form integral to the
world, which is only applicable to the verb "hātan" - "to call". The active form of the
verb, e.g. "þū hātest", means "you call" rather than "you are called". This unique archaic
passive form could also be in the past tense. Other verbs use the gerund "ƿesan" - "to be"
or the verb "ƿeorðan" - "to become", with the past participle, to express the passive.

Method 2
"Hƿæt is þīn nama?" - "What is your name?"

"Mīn nama is Mǣðhilde" - "My name is Matilda."

Old English Phrasebook

Meeting and Greeting - Mētung and Grētungƿord

Greetings -Grētungƿord
 85

Ēalā, lā - yo, hey (used to catch someone's attention)

Ƿes hāl - hello; goodbye (to one person)
Far ġesund - farewell (to a single person who is leaving)
Ƿesaþ hāle - hello; goodbye (to more than one person)
Farað ġesunde - farewell (to more than one person who is leaving)
Notice all the different forms for "hello"? It's because Old English often uses different
forms of the same word for different genders. Also, notice that there are different forms
for "you" for one person and "you" for more than one person. It used to be like this in
Modern English - Shakespeare used "thou" and "thee" for one person The phrases for
"hello" and "goodbye" are the same in Old English. It literally means "be well" -
appropriate for a greeting, right?

Hū eart þū?/Hū meaht þū? - How are you? (to one person)
Hū sindon ġit?/Hū magon ġē? - How are you? (to two people)
Hū sindon ġē?/Hū magon ġē - How are you? (to more than two people)
Iċ eom ġesund/Iċ mæġ ƿel - I'm well
Ƿit sindon ġesunde/Ƿit magon ƿel - We're both well
Ƿē sindon ġesunde/Ƿē magon ƿel - We're well (for more than two people)

Letters - Bōcstafas
In formal letters, people would write both the recipient and the sender in the one
opening sentence:

Iōhannes grēt Hrōþgār - John greets Roger

Note that a superior would usually write "x grēt y frēondliċe" - "x greets y
amicably/kindly". A person of lower status would usually say "x grēt y ēadmōdliċe" - "x
greets y humbly". Relevant titles were usually included, hence, "x cyning grēt y munuc
frēondliċe" - "King x greets the monk y amicably".

There likely no or very few informal letters extant in OE, however, a modern informal
style which imitates spoken speech could easily be developed:

Iōhannes, hū eart þū? Of Hrōðgāre ġesended. - John, how are you? (Sent) by Hrothgar

Forms of address and titles - Hādas and titulas

In Old English, people didn't have last names - not in the modern, formal, legal sense,
anyway. However, often they would have an extra part that would be added to their
name, which was like a surname, or a nickname, and helped specify people:

Sċyld (proper name) Sċēfinġ (patronymic, "the Sheafite/son of Sheaf")

Titles were used in Old English, and were usually put after the name:
 86

Ælfrēd Cyninġ - King Alfred

Ælfrīċ Munuc - Alfric the Monk
There is no record of an equivalent to "Mr." or "Mrs." being commonly used, but a
respectful form of address was "lēof", which could also be put in front of a name.
"Hlǣfdiġe" was a title of respect of noble women. If you insisted on using a Mr./Mrs.
title (not authentic historical practice), you could use the words "ƿer" (man) and "ƿīf" as
titles, hence "Mr. Jones" - "Jones ƿer" - "Jones the man", and "Mrs. Grey" - "Grǣġ ƿīf" -
"Grey the woman". Otherwise, you could simply use the modern titles "Mr." and "Mrs."

Some documented OE titles are:

Bisċeop - bishop
Brōðor - (used by itself by older monks for younger monks)
Cyninġ - king
Ealdormann - mayor, or same as "eorl"
Eorl - lord, high ranking person
Hlǣfdiġe - lady, queen
Lēof - sir, dear (used to show respect)
Munuc - monk
Non - (used by itself by younger monks for older monks)

Places - Stōƿa

Where is...? - Hƿǣr is...?

a hospital - lǣċehūs
a hotel - gæsthūs; cumena inn
an accommodation - ƿunung
a toilet - nīedhūs; gangsetl; gangstol; gangpytt
the city centre; downtown - þǣre byriġ sē middel
the market - sēo ċēapstōƿ
the police station - þæt burhƿeardhūs
Is there... near here? - Is... nēah?

I'm... - iċ eom...

at home - æt hāme
away - āƿeġ
inside - on innanhealfe
 87

outside - on ūtanhealfe
I'm going to... - Iċ gā tō...(dative noun)

my friend's house - mīnes frēondes/frīend hūse

your house - þīnum hūse
Other words:

(the) building - (þæt) bold; (se) timber

(the) city - (sēo) burg
(the) country - (þæt) ūppland
(the) forest - (sē) ƿeald
(the) hill - (sē) hyll
(the) house - (þæt) hūs
(the) mountain - (sē) beorg, (sē) munt
(the) ocean - (sē) gārseċġ
(the) sea - (sē/sēo) sǣ

Family - Cynn

I have... - Iċ hæbbe...

a brother; two/three/four/five/six brothers - brōðor; tƿeġen/þrīe/fēoƿer/fīf/seox

ġebrōðru
a child; two/three/four/five/six children - ċild; tū/þrēo/fēoƿer/fīf/seox ċildru
a daughter; two/three/four/five/six daughters - dōhtor; tƿā/þrēo/fēoƿer/fīf/seox dōhtra
a sibling; two/three/four/five/six siblings - sibbling; tƿeġen/þrīe/fēoƿer/fīf/seox
sibblingas
a sister; two/three/four/five/six sisters - sƿeostor; tƿā/þrēo/fēoƿer/fīf/seox sƿeostora
a son; two/three/four/five/six sons - sunu; tƿeġen/þrīe/fēoƿer/fīf/seox suna
I don't have... - Iċ næbbe...

any children - nǣngu ċildru

any siblings - nǣnġe sibblingas
a husband - ƿer
a wife - ƿīf
... is dead - ... is dēad

My father - Mīn fæder

My grandfather - Mīn ealdorfæder
My grandmother - Mīn ealdormōdor
 88

My mother - Mīn mōdor

My grandparents are dead - Mīn ealdorfæder and mīn ealdormōdor sind dēad

My parents are dead - Mīne ieldran sind dēade

Food - Fōda

I'm hungry - Mē hyngreð

I'm thirsty - Mē þyrsteð

I'd like to eat... - Iċ ƿille... etan

a cake - ċeacan
a meal - ġereord
a muffin - cēċil
an egg - æġ
a scone - bannuc
a vegetable - ƿyrte
bacon - spiċ
beef - hrīðer
bread - hlāf
breakfast - fæstenbriċe, morgenmete, undernġereord, undernmete, undernsƿǣsendu
chicken - hāmhæne
dinner - ǣfenġereord
food - fōdan, ǣt
fruit - ofet
hare - haran
lamb - lamm
lunch - sƿǣsendu, dæġmete, middæġes ġereord
meat - flǣsċmete
mutton - sċǣp
I'd like to drink... - Iċ ƿille... drincan

a drink - drincan
a fizzy drink - ƿapuldrincan
a hot chocolate - ārbēandrenċ
an alcoholic beverage - līþ
ale - ealu
beer - bēor
 89

coffee - deorcdrenċ
fruit juice - ofetes sēaƿ
goat's milk - gǣt meolce
(herbal) tea - ƿyrtdrenċ
juice - sēaƿ
mead - meodu
milk - meolce
vodka - ƿæterlīþ
water - ƿæter
wine - ƿīn
Where is...? - Hƿǣr is...?

a cafe - deorcdrenċærn
a fast food restaurant - arodǣtærn
a market street - ċēapstrǣt
an eatery - ǣtærn
a restaurant - ǣthūs
a shop - ċēapærn
a supermarket - miċel ǣtċēaphūs
a vege shop - ƿyrtċēaphūs
the market - sēo ċēapstōƿ
Could you please... that? - ... þū þæt lā.

bake - Bac
boil - Sēoð
cook - Ġecōcsa
fry - Abrǣd
not cook - Ne ġecōcsa
roast - Ahierst

Religion - Þēodsċipe

I'm... - Iċ eom...

a Buddhist - Budden (new term)

a Catholic - Rēmisċ Crīsten (new term)
a Christian - Crīsten
a Confucianist - leornungmann (m) Conges Þēodsċipes þæs Lārēoƿes (new term),
Conginġ (m) (new term)
a Germanic Pagan - Germanisċ Hǣðen (new term)
 90

a Hindu - Indiaþēodsċipen (new term), Hindu (m) (new term)

a Jew - Ġudan (new term)
a Muslim - Allahdōminġ (m) (new term), Musslim (m) (new term)
a neo-pagan - nīƿhǣðen (new term)
a New Ager - Nīƿyldmann (m) (new term)
an Orthodox Christian - Ǣfæst Crīsten (m) (new term)
a pagan - hǣðen
a Protestant - Edhiƿodre Ċiriċre Crīsten (m) (new term)
a spiritualist - gǣstedōmmann (new term)
a Taoist - Ānfealdƿeġmann (new term), Taƿinġ (m) (new term)
an atheist - godlēas (new term)
a Wiccan - Nīƿƿiċċa (m) (for men) (new term), Nīƿƿiċċe (f) (for women) (new term)
a witch - ƿiċċa (m) (for men), ƿiċċe (f) (for women)
I'm a deist - Iċ ġelīefe þætte God nū on Middanġearde ne ƿyrce

I'm agnostic - Iċ nāt ġif God sīe

I'm hard agnostic (I do not believe that you can know if God exists) - Iċ ġelīefe þætte
mann ne cunne ƿitan ġif God sīe

I believe in... - Iċ ġelīefe on...

astrology - steorƿiġlunge
fate - ƿyrde
God - Gode
luck - ƿēasġelimpe
magic - drēocræfte
spirits - gǣstum
spirituality - gǣstedōme
the gods - þǣm godum
the zodiac - ċirculcræfte
Other words:

Buddhism - Buddendōm (m) (new term)

Catholicism - sēo Rēmisċe Ċiriċe (f) (new term)
Christianity - Crīstendōm (m)
Confucianism - Conges Þēodsċipe þæs Lārēoƿes (m) (new term)
Germanic Paganism - Germanisċ Hǣðerdōm (m) (new term)
Hinduism - Indiaþēodsċipe (m) (new term)
Islam - Allahdōm (m) (new term)
Judaism - Ġudandōm (m) (new tem)
 91

Neo-paganism - nīƿe hǣðendōm (m) (new term)

New Ageism - Nīƿylddōm (m) (new term)
Christian Orthodoxy - Ǣfæst Crīstendōm (m) (new term)
Protestantism - sēo Edhiƿode Ċiriċe (f) (new term)
Taoism - se Ānfealdƿeġ (m) (new term)
Wicca - Nīƿƿiċċung (f) (new term)
witchcraft - ƿiċċung (f)

Transport - Oferferung

I need to go somewhere - Iċ þearf gān ahƿider

I need to go... - Iċ þearf gān...

I want to go... - Iċ ƿille gān...

east - ēast
into the city - in þā burh
north - norþ
south - sūþ
to the airport - tō þǣre lyfthæfene
to the beach - tō þǣm strande
to the city - tō þǣre byriġ
to the hospital - tō þǣm lǣcehūse
to the market - tō þǣre ċēapstōƿe
to the port - tō þǣm porte
west - ƿest
Turn... - Ƿend...

here - þider
into that driveway - in þone hūsƿeġ (new term)
into this driveway - in þisne hūsƿeġ (new term)
left - tō þǣre ƿystran healfe
now - nū
right - tō þǣre sƿīðran healfe
up this street... - in þās strǣte... ..
on the right - on sƿīðran healfe
on the left - on ƿynstran healfe
Go straight ahead - Gā rihte forþ
 92

Stop! - Stand!

Please drive fast, I'm in a hurry - Bidde þætte þū fare sƿifte, iċ eom on hrædinġe

Where is...? - Hƿǣr is...?

a bus stop - folcƿæġnsteall (new word)

a train station - rōdƿæġnsteall (new word)
the airport - sēo lyfthæfen
the beach - strand
the port - se port
I travel... - Iċ fare...(accusative noun)

by aeroplane - on lyftƿæġne (new term)

by boat - on bāte
by bicycle - on tƿihƿēole (new term)
by camel - on olfende
by cart - on cræte
by chariot - on crætƿæġne, on sċride, on sċridƿæġne
by car - on ƿæġne (new usage), on searuƿæġne (new term)
by go-cart - on searucræte (new term)
by horse - on horse
by motorbike - on searutƿihƿǣle (new term)
by plain - on lyftƿæġne (new term)
by ship - on sċipe
by wagon - on ƿæġne, on sċride
I like to... - Iċ... ġeorne

hurry - sċynde
run - ierne
sprint - rǣse
walk - fēðe
Other words:

aeroplane - lyftƿæġn (m) (new term), flyhtsċrid (n) (new term)

car - ƿæġn (m) (new usage)
come (to) - cuman (cymþ, cƿōm, cƿōmon, cumen)
fly (to) - flēogan (flēogeþ, flēah, flugon, flogen)
go (to) - gān (iċ gā, þū gǣst, hē gǣþ, ƿē gāþ, ēode, gān)
helicopter - ƿendfeðercræft (m) (new word), þƿera (m) (new word)
transport (to) - oferferian (od)
 93

travel (to) - faran (færþ, fōr, fōron, faren)

Education - Leornung

I'm studying... - Iċ leorniġe...

I teach... - Iċ tǣċe...

Classical Greek - Eald Crēacisċ (new term)

engineering - searucræft
Gothic - Gotisċ (new term)
history - stǣr
languages - sprǣca
Latin - Lǣden
linguistics - sprǣċcræft (new term)
literature - bōccræft
mathematics - rīmcræft
mechanics - ġetinġcræft, ƿeorccræft, orþancsċipe, ƿoruldƿeorces cræft, searucræft
medicine - lǣċecræft
Modern English - Nīƿe Englisċ
Modern French - Nīƿe Frenċisċ
Modern German - Nīƿe Hēahalamannisċ (new term)
Modern Russian - Nīƿe Russisċ (new term)

science - ƿitenacræft (new term)

technology - searucræft
How do you study? - Hū leornast þū?

I go to.. - Iċ leorniġe...

a course - be lārrine (new term)

school - be scole
university - be ēormengylde (new term)
I study by correspondence - Iċ leorniġe þurh ǣrend

I have... - Iċ hæbbe...

a Bachelor's degree - hagostealdcartan (new term)

a degree - lārcartan (new term)
 94

a diploma - lēafcartan (new term)

a Doctor of Philosophy - ȳþƿitcartan (new term)
a Master's degree - mæġistercartan (new term)
a qualification - costnungcartan (new term)

Health - Hǣlo

How do you feel? - Hƿæt ġefrēdest þū?

I feel... - Iċ ġefrēde...

dizzy - sƿīman
ill - sēocnesse
nausea - ƿlǣtunge
tired - ateorunge
well - hǣlo
I'm allergic to... - Mīn līċ ne cann... adrēogan

egg - æġ
gluten - līmtimber (new term)
lactose - meolcsƿētunge (new term)
milk - meolce
pollen - bēobrēad
sugar - sƿētunge (new term)
wheat - hƿǣt
Do you have any health problems? - Eart þū mid unhǣlo?

I... - Iċ...

am fine - eom ġesund

am poisoned - eom ġeǣttrod am sick - eom sēoc am wounded - eom ġeƿundod have a
broken bone - eom mid ġebrocodum bāne

have a broken bone - eom mid ġebrocodum bāne

have a broken arm - eom mid ġebrodocum earme
have a broken finger - eom mid ġebrocodum fingre
have a broken leg - eom mid ġebrodocum sċeancan
have a broken rib - eom mid ġrbrocodum ribbum
have a broken toe - eom mid ġebrocodre tān
have a cold - eom mid ġepose
 95

have a cough - eom mid hƿōstan

have a cut - eom ġeƿundod mid snide
have a fever - hriðiġe
have a graze - eom ġesċrepen
have a headache - eom mid hēafodæċe
have a migraine - eom mid healfes hēafdes æċe
have an abscess - eom mid tōborstennesse
have an ulcer - eom mid pocce
have a tumour - eom mid heardum ġesƿelle
have a virus - eom mid clēofangunde (new term)
have blisters from poison - eom mid āttorġeblǣdum
have cancer - eom mid cancerādle, eom mid bīte
have chest pain - eom mid brēostƿræċe
have diarrhea - eom mid ūtsihte
have stomach ache - eom mid magan ƿræċe

Communication - Sprǣċ

Do you speak...? - Spreċest þū...?

I speak... - Iċ spreċe...

Arabic - Arabisċ
Chinese - Ċīnisċ (new term), Midrīċisċ (new term)
Classical Latin - Bōclǣden
Danish - Denisċ
Dutch - Niðerlendisċ (new term), Holtlendisċ (new term)
French - Frenċisċ
Frisian - Frēsisċ
Gaelic - Īrisċ, Sċyttisċ
German - Alamannisċ (new term), Sƿǣfisċ (new term)
Gothic - Gotisċ
Greek - Crēacisċ
Hebrew - Ebrēisċ
Icelandic - Īslendisċ (new term), Thīlisċ (new term)
Latin - Lǣden
Low German - Seaxisċ
Modern English - Nīƿe Englisċ
Old English - Englisċ
Norwegian - Norren
 96

Old Norse - Eald Norren (new term)

Pihtisċ - Pictish
Russian - Russisċ (new term)
Spanish - Spēonisċ
Swedish - Sƿēosprǣċe (new term)
Welsh - Ƿēalisċ, Brytisċ

What is your address? - Hƿǣr is þīn ƿunung?

What is your postal code? - Hƿæt hāteþ þīn ǣrendġetæl (new term)?

What is your phone number? - Hƿæt hāteþ þīn feorrsprecendġetæl (new term)?

My phone number is... - Mīn feorrsprecendġetæl (new term) hāteþ...

Do you have email? - Hafast þū speorcǣrend (new term)?

What is your email address? - Hƿæt hāteþ þīn speorcǣrendnama (new term)?

My email address is... - Mīn speorcǣrendnama (new term) hāteþ...

What is your cellphone number? - Hƿæt hāteþ þīn handsprecendġetæl (new term)?

My cellphone number is... - Mīn handsprecendġetæl (new term) hāteþ...

Entertainment - Gamen

What do you like? - Hƿæt lysteþ þec? What do you like doing? -Hƿæt lysteþ þeċ dōn?

I like... - Meċ lysteþ...

music - drēam
to dance - sealtian, frician
to listen to music - hīeran drēam
to meet new people - mētan nīƿe hādas
to paint - mētan
to play American football - pleġan Ġeānedrīċisċne fōtþōðer (new term)
to play Aussie rules - pleġan Sūþlendisċne fōtþōðer (new term)
to play on the computer - mid þǣm spearctellende (new term) pleġan
to play rugby - pleġan hrōcburhpleġan (new term)
 97

to play sports - pleġan pleġan

to read - rǣdan
to socialize - sibbian
to sing - singan
to write - ƿrītan
I admire/am a fan of... - Iċ aƿundriġe...

art - list
movies - scēaƿspell (new term)
music - drēam
the theater - ƿæfernessa

Science - Ƿitenacræft

I am interested in... - Iċ carie ymbe...

art - liste
astronomy - tungolcræft
foreign languages - fremda sprǣca
geography - eardlandlāre (new term)
geology - landcræft (new term)
geometry - eorþġemet, eorþcræft
grammar - stæfcræft, grammatisċcræft
history - stǣr
jurisprudence - ǣcræft
liberal arts - bōccræft
linguistics - sprǣċcræft (new term)
logic - flītcræft
magic - drȳcræft
mathematics - rīmcræft
medicine - lǣċecræft
military science - beadocræft, gūþcræft, ƿīġcræft
musical theory - drēamcræft
poetry - lēoþcræft
psychology - mōdlāre (new term)
science - ƿitenacræft (new term)
technology - searucræft

Time and Date - Stund and Tælmearc

 98

What day is it? - Hƿelċ dæġ is hit tōdæġ?

It's... - Hit is... tōdæġ.

Monday - Mōnandæġ
Tuesday - Tīƿesdæġ
Wednesday - Ƿōdnesdæġ
Thursday - Þunresdæġ
Friday - Friġedæġ
Saturday - Sæternesdæġ
Sunday - Sunnandæġ
What's the date today? - Hƿelċ tælmearc is hit tōdæġ?

It's... – Hit is... tōdæġ.

the third of January - se þridda dæġ þæs Ǣrran Ġēolan

the first of the second two thousand and twelve - se forma dæġ þæs ōðres mōnaðes þæs
tƿā þūsendoðan and tƿelftan ġēares
What month is it? - Hƿelc mōnaþ is þes mōnaþ?

It's... - Þes mōnaþ is...

January - se Æfterra Ġēola, Ianuarius

February - Solmōnaþ, Februarius
March - Hlȳda, Hrēþmōnaþ, Martius
April - Ēasterōnaþ, Aprēlis
May - Þrīmilċe, Maius
June - se Ǣrra Līða, Searmōnaþ, Iunius
July - se Æfterra Līða, Mǣdmōnaþ, Iulius
August - Ƿēodmōnaþ, Augustus
September - Hāliġmōnaþ, Hærfestmōnaþ, September
October - Ƿinterfylleþ, October
November - Blōtmōnaþ, November
December - se Ǣrra Ġēola, December
What's the time? - Hƿelċ tīd is hit nū?

It's... - Hit is... nū.

one AM - sēo forme tīd þæs morgenes

two AM - sēo ōðer tīd þæs morgenes
three AM - sēo þridde tīd þæs morgenes
 99

four AM - sēo fēorðe tīd þæs morgenes

daybreak - dæġrēd
five AM - sēo fīfte tīd þæs morgenes
six AM - sēo sixte tīd þæs morgenes
seven AM - sēo seofoðe tīd ̈þæs morgenes
eight AM - sēo eahotðe tīd þæs morgenes
the morning - morgen
nine AM - undern, sēo niġeðe tīd þæs morgenes
ten AM - sēo tēoðe tīd þæs morgenes
eleven AM - sēo endleofoðe tīd þæs morgenes
midday - middæġ
one PM - sēo forme tīd æfter middæġe
two PM - sēo ōðer tīd æfter middæġe
three PM - nōn, sēo þridde æfter middæġe
the afternoon - ofernōn
four PM - sēo fēorðe tīd æfter middæġe
five PM - sēo fīfte tīd æfter middæġe
six PM - sēo sixte tīd æfter middæġe
evening - ǣfen
seven PM - sēo seofoðe tīd æfter middæġe
eight PM - sēo eahtoðe tīd æfter middæġe
nine PM - fōranniht, sēo nigoðe tīd æfter middæġe
ten PM - sēo tēoðe tīd æfter middæġe
eleven PM - sēo endleofoðe tīd æfter middæġe
midnight - tō midre nihte
It's... - Hit is... nū.

five past one - fīf tīdincla (new term) æfter þǣre forman tīde
quarter past one - prican æfter þǣre forman tīde
half past one - healfre tīde æfter þǣre forman tīde
quarter to two - prican fōre þǣre ōðerre tīde

Countries - Land

I am... - Iċ eom...

Abkhazian - Apslendisċ (new term), Abhasisċ (new term)

 100

Afghan - Affganisċ (new term)

African - Affricisċ
Albanian - Albanisċ (new term)
Algerian - Alġerisċ (new term)
American (of the United States) - Ġeānedrīċisċ (new term); (of the Americas) Ƿīnlendisċ
Andorran - Andorrisċ (new term)
Angolisċ (new term)
Antiguan - Gamolīġisċ (new term), Antigƿisċ (new term)
Arabian - Arabisċ
Argentine - Seolforlendisċ (new term), Argentinisċ (new term)
Armenian - Armenisċ
Asian - Asisċ (new term)
Austrian - Ēastrīċisċ (new term)
Australian - Sūþlendisċ (new term), Aƿstralisċ (new term)
Azerbaijani - Aturpatlendisċ (new term), Aserbæġċġanisċ (new term)
Bahamian - Undēopīġisċ (new term), Bahamisċ (new term)
Bahraini - Tƿisǣīġisċ (new term), Bahræġnisċ (new term)
Bangladeshi - Bangladesċisċ (new term)
Barbadian - Sūþbeardīġisċ (new term), Barbadisċ (new term)
Barbudan - Norþbeardīġisċ (new term), Barbudisċ (new term)
Basotho - Soþþolendisċ (new term)
Basque - Bascisċ (new term)
Batswana - Ċiƿanisċ (new term)
Belarusian - Hƿītrussisċ (new term)
Belgian - Belgicisċ (new term)
Belizean - Belisisċ (new term)
Beninese - Beninisċ (new term)
Berber - Æðellibisċ (new term), Amasigisċ (new term), Masyisċ (new term), Berberisċ
(new term)
Bhutanese - Þūrƿyrmlendisċ (new term), Druciulisċ (new term), Butanisċ (new term)
Bissau-Guinean - Norþgynēisċ (new term), Bissaƿgynēisċ (new term)
Bolivian - Bolifisċ (new term)
Bosnian - Bosnisċ
Brazilian - Brasilisċ (new term)
British (United Kingdom) - Ġeānedcynerīċisċ (new term)
British (Welsh) - Brytisċ, Ƿēalisċ
Bruneian - Bruneġisċ (new term)
Bulgarian - Bulgarisċ (new term)
Burkinabé - Ārlendisċ (new term), Burcinaffassƿisċ (new term)
Burmese - Burmisċ (new term)
Cambodian - Cambodisċ (new term)
 101

Cameroonian - Sċrimmlendisċ (new term), Camerōnisċ (new term)

Canadian - Canatisċ (new term), Canadisċ (new term), Þorplendisċ (new term)
Chadian - Ċædisċ (new term), Laglendisċ (new term)
Chilean - Ċilisċ (new term)
Chinese - Ċīnisċ (new term), Midrīċisċ (new term)
Colombian - Colombisċ (new term), Culfrlendisċ (new term)
Comoran - Mōnīġisċ (new term)m Comorisċ (new term)
Congolese - Congƿisċ (new term)
Congolese-Brazzaville - Norþcongƿisċ (new term)
Congolese-Kinshasa - Sūþcongƿisċ (new term)
(a) Cook Islander - Cōcīġisċ (new term)
Cornish - Cornƿilisċ (new term)
Croatian - Croƿātaland (n) (new term)
Cuban - Cubisċ (new term)
Cypriot - Cyprisċ (new term)
(a) Czech - Ċekisċ (new term)
Danish - Denisċ
Djibouti - Ċibutisċ (new term)
Dominican (Dominica) - Sunndæġlendisċ (new term), Dominikisċ (new term)
Dominican (Dominican Republic) - Dryhtenlendisċ (new term), Dominikisċ (new term)
Dutch - Niðerlendisċ (new term), Holtlendisċ (new term)
East Timorese - Ēastēastīġisċ (new term), Ēasttimorisċ (new term)
Ecuadorean - Midmearclendisċ (new term), Ecƿadorisċ (new term)
Egyptian - Ægyptisċ
Emirati - Eorlarabisċ (new term), Ġeānedarabeorldōmisċ (new term), Emiratisċ
English - Englisċ
Equatorial Guinean - Midmearcgyēnisċ (new term)
Eritrean - Rēadsǣlendisċ (new term), Eritrēisċ (new term)
Estonian - Ēstisċ (new term)
Ethiopian - Siġelhearƿen
European - Europisċ (new term)
Fijian - Fiċġīġisċ (new term)
Finnish - Finnisċ (new term)
French - Frenċisċ
Gabonese - Hedenlendisċ (new term), Gabonisċ (new term)
Gambian - Cābƿisċ (new term)
Georgian - Cartlendisċ (new term), Georgisċ (new term)
German - Alamannisċ (new term)
Ghanaian - Gūþcynglendisċ (new term), Ganisċ (new term)
Greek - Crēacisċ
(a) Greendlander - Grēnlendisċ (new term)
 102

Grenadian - Grenadisċ (new term)

Guatemalan - Ƿealdlendisċ (new term), Gƿatemalisċ (new term)
Guinean - Gynēisċ (new term)
Guyanese - Felaƿæterlendisċ (new term), Guianisċ (new term)
Haiti - Beorglendisċ (new term), Haġitisċ (new term)
Herzegovinian - Heretoglendisċ (new term)
Honduran - Dēoplendisċ (new term), Hondurisċ (new term)
Hungarian - Ungerlendisċ (new term), Ungerisċ (new term)
(an) Icelander - Īslendisċ (new term), Thīlisċ (new term)
I-Kiribati - Ġīsilbeorhtīġisċ (new term)
Indian - Indisċ
Indonesian - Indīġisċ (new term)
Iranian - Persisċ
Iraqi - Irācisċ (new term)
Irish - Īrisc
Israeli - Israhēlisċ (new term)
Italian - Italisċ (new term), Ēotolisċ (new term)
Ivorian - Elpenbānstrandisċ (new term)
Jamaican - Ƿealdƿæterlendisċ (new term), Hæġmacisċ (new term)
Japanese - Sunnlendisċ (new term), Iapanisċ (new term)
Jewish - Iudēisċ
Jordanian - Iordanisċ (new term)
(a) Kazakh - Ċeorllendisċ (new term), Kasahstǣnisċ (new term)
Kenyan - Hƿītbeorglendisċ (new term), Keniġisċ (new term)
(a) Khmer - Cmerisċ (new term)
Kittian - Crīstophorusisċ (new term), Crīstophorusīġisċ (new term),
Sanctecrīstophorusīġisċ (new term)
Korean - Corēisċ (new term)
Kosovan - Ōslfeldisċ (new term), Cosofƿisċ
Kuwaiti - Ƿæterbyrġisċ (new term), Cuƿæġtisċ (new term)
Kyrgyzstani - Fēoƿertiġþēodisċ (new term), Cyrgysisċ (new term)
Laotian - Laƿsisċ (new term)
Latvian - Latfisċ (new term)
Lebanese - Hƿītstōƿisċ (new term)
Liberian - Frēolendisċ (new term), Liberisċ (new term)
Libian - Libisċ (new term)
(a) Liechtensteiner - Lēohtenstǣnisċ (new term)
Lithuanian - Liþþƿanisċ (new term)
(a) Luxembourger - Luxemburgisċ (new term)
Macedonian - Mæcedonisċ
Malawian - Bryneƿæterlendisċ (new term), Malaƿisċ (new term)
 103

Malaysian - Malæġisċ (new term)

Malaysian (ethnic) - Malæġþēodisc (new term)
Maldivian - Reċedīġisċ (new term), Maldifisċ (new term)
Malian - Malisċ (new term)
Maltese - Huniġlendisċ (new term), Matlisċ (new term)
Maori - Māƿrisċ (new term)
Marshallese - Mearhsċealcīġisċ (new term), Mærsċallisċ (new term)
Mauritanian - Maƿrlendisċ (new term), Maƿritanisċ (new term)
Mexican - Mexicƿisċ (new term)
Micronesian - Lytelīġisċ (new term), Micronesisċ (new term)
Moldovan - Moldofisċ (new term)
Monegasque - Ānbotlisċ (new term), Monacƿisċ (new term)
Mongolian - Mongolisċ (new term)
Montenegrin - Blæċbeorgisċ (new term)
Moroccan - Ƿestrīċisċ (new term), Moroccisċ (new term), Godlendisċ (new term)
Mozambican - Mosambikisċ (new term)
Nagorno-Karabakhan - Nagornocarabahisċ (new term)
Namibian - Sūþƿestaffricisċ (new term), Namiblendisċ (new term), Nāƿihtlendisċ (new
term), Namibisċ (new term)
Nepalese - Cūhirdlendisċ (new term), Nepalisċ (new term)
Nevisian - Snāƿƿolcenīġisċ (new term), Nefisċ (new term)
(a) New Zealander - Nīƿsǣlendisċ (new term)
Nicaraguan - Nicaroƿæterlendisċ (new term), Nacaragƿisċ (new term)
Nigerian - Sūþgirlendisċ (new term), Nigerianisċ (new term)
Nigerien - Norþgirlendisċ (new term), Nigerisċ (new term)
Niuean - Niƿēisċ (new term)
North Korean - Norþcorēisċ (new term)
Northern Cypriot - Norþcyprisċ (new term)
Norwegian - Norren
Omani - Omanisċ (new term)
Pakistani - Clǣnlendisċ (new term), Pacistǣnisċ (new term)
Palauan - Belaƿisċ (new term)
Palestinian - Palestīnisċ (new term)
Panamanian - Panamisċ (new term)
Papua New Guinean - Nīƿgynēisċ (new term), Papƿisċ (new term), Ēastpapƿisċ (new
term), Papƿanīƿgynēisċ (new term)
Paraguayan - Paragƿæġisċ (new term)
Peruvian - Perƿisċ (new term)
Philippine - Philipusīġisċ (new term), Æðelīġisċ (new term), Ēabūendlendisċ (new term)
Polish - Ƿīslelendisċ (new term), Polisċ (new ter,)
Portuguese - Portugalisċ (new term)
 104

Puerto Rican - Rīcportisċ (new term), Pƿertorikisċ (new term)

Qatari - Catarisċ (new term)
Quebecois - Kebekisċ (new term)
Romanian - Datisċ (new term), Rūmanisċ (new term)
Russian - Russisiċ (new term)
Rwandan - Ruƿandisċ (new term)
Sahrawi - Norþƿestæffricƿēstisċ (new term), Sahrāƿisċ (new term)
Saint Lucian - Sanctaluciaīġisċ (new term)
Salvadorian - Hǣlendlendisċ (new term), Salfadorisċ (new term)
Sammarinese - Sanctemarniusīġisċ (new term)
Samoan - Samƿisċ (new term)
Santomean - Thomasisċ (new term), Thomasīġisċ (new term), Sanctethomasīġisċ (new
term)
Saudi Arabian - Saƿdarabisċ (new term)
Scottish - Sċyttisċ
Seychellois - Seġċellisċ (new term)
Senegalese - Senagisċ (new term), Senegalisċ (new term)
Serbian - Serbisċ (new term)
Siberian - Siberisċ (new term)
Sierra Leonean - Lēobeorġisċ (new term)
Singaporean - Lēobyrġisċ (new term), Singaporisċ (new term)
Slovakian - Norþslafisċ (new term), Slofacisċ (new term)
Slovenian - Slaflendisċ (new term)
(a) Solomon Islander - Salomonīġisċ (new term), Salomonisċ (new term)
Somali - Somalisċ (new term)
(a) Somalilander - Norþsomalisċ (new term)
South African - Sūþaffricisċ (new term)
South Korean - Sūþcorēisċ (new term)
South Ossetian - Sūþossetisċ (new term)
South Sudanese - Sūþblæclendisċ (new term), Sūþsudanisċ (new term)
Sri Lankan - Deprobanisċ (new term)
Spanish - Spēonisċ, Ispānisċ
Sudanese - Blæċlendisċ (new term), Sudanisċ (new term)
Surinamese - Surinisċ (new term)
Swazi - Sƿatisċ (new term), Sƿatilendisċ (new term)
Swedish - Sƿēoþēodisċ (new term)
Swiss - Sƿitsisċ (new term)
Syrian - Syrisċ
Taiwanese - Tæġƿanisċ (new term)
Tajikistani - Tasikisċ (new term), Tasikalendisċ (new term), Tasikistǣnisċ (new term)
Tanzanian - Tanganiġicablæċstrandisċ (new term), Tansanisċ (new term)
 105

Thai - Tæġisċ (new term)

Tibetan - Tibetisċ (new term)
Tobagonian - Rēocƿēodīġisċ (new term), Tobagisċ (new term)
Togolese - Stæþlendisċ (new term), Togƿisċ (new term)
Tongan - Tongisċ (new term)
Transnistrian - Deniestrlendisċ (new term)
Trinidadian - Þrȳnessīġisċ (new term), Trinidadisċ (new term)
Tunisian - Tunisisċ (new term), Tunislendisċ (new term)
Turkish - Turcisċ (new term)
Turkmenistani - Turclīċ, Turclīċlendisċ (new term), Turcmenilendisċ (new term),
Turcmenisċ (new term), Turcmenistǣnisċ (new term)
Tuvaluan - Eahtaīġisċ (new term), Tufalƿisċ (new term)
Ukrainian - Ucræġnisċ (new term)
Ugandan - Godsibblendisċ (new term), Godsibbisċ (new term), Gandisċ (new term)
Uruguayan - Sċilfisċflōdisċ (new term), Urugæġisċ (new term)
Uzbekistan - Frēomanlendisċ (new term), Usbecalendisċ (new term), Usbekistǣnisċ
(new term)
Vanuatuan - Fanƿatƿisċ (new term)
Venezuelan - Fenesƿelisċ (new term)
Vietnamese - Sūtfietisċ (new term), Fietnamisċ (new term)
Vincentian - Santefincentiusīġisċ (new term), Fincentisċ (new term)
Welsh - Ƿilisċ, Brytisċ
Yemeni - Ġemenisċ (new term)
Yugoslavian - Sūþslafisċ (new term), Iugoslafisċ (new term)
Zambian - Sambesisċ (new term), Sambeselendisċ (new term)
Zimbabwean - Stānhoflendisċ (new term), Simbabƿisċ (new term)
Place name names:

Abkhazia - Apsland (n) (new term), Abhasia (f indec) (new term)

Afghanistan - Affganland (n) (new term), Affganistān (m) (new term)
Africa - Affrica (f indeclinable), Affircaland (n)
Albania - Albania (f indec) (new term)
Algeria - Algerland (n) (new term), Algeria (f indec) (new term)
America (United States) - Ġeāndu Rīcu Ƿīnlandes (n pl) (new term)
Andorra - Andorra (f indec) (new term)
Angolia - Angolland (n) (new term), Angolia (f indec) (new term)
Antiguan - Gamolīġa (f pl) (new term), Antigƿa (f indec) (new term)
Arabian - Arabia (f indec)
Argentine - Seolforland (n) (new term), Argentina (f indec) (new term)
Armenian - Armenia (f indec)
Asia - Asia (f indec)
 106

Austria - Ēastrīċe (n) (new term)

Australia - Sūþland (n) (new term), Aƿstralia (f indec) (new term)
Azerbaijan - Aturpatland (n) (new term), Aserbæġċġan (n) (new term)
Bahamas - Undēopīġa (f pl) (new term), Bahamaīġa (f pl) (new term)
Bahrain - Tƿisǣīġ (f) (new term), Bahræġn (n) (new term)
Bangladesh - Bangladesċ (n) (new term)
Barbadin - Sūþbeardīġ (f) (new term), Barbadīġ (f) (new term)
Barbuda - Norþbeardīġ (f) (new term), Barbudīġ (f) (new term)
Basque country - Bascland (n) (new term)
Belarus - Hƿītrussland (n) (new term)
Belgium - Belgica (f indec)
Belizean - Belise (n) (new term)
Beninese - Benin (n) (new term)
Bhutan - Þūrƿyrmland (n) (new term), Druciul (n) (new term), Butan (n) (new term)
Bissau-Guinean - Norþgynisċ (new term), Bissaƿgynisċ (new term)
Bolivia - Bolifarland (n) (new term), Bolifia (f indec) (new term)
Bosnian - Bosnaland (n) (new term), Bosnia (f indec) (new term)
Botswana - Ċiƿanland (n) (new term)
Brazil - Brasil (n) (new term)
Britain - Bretland (n), Breoton (f)
Bruneian - Bruneġ (n) (new term)
Bulgaria - Bulgarland (n) (new term)
Burkina Faso - Ārland (n) (new term), Burcinaffasso (n) (new term)
Burma - Burma (f indec) (new term)
Cambodia - Cambodia (f indec) (new term)
Cameroon - Sċrimmland (n) (new term), Camerōn (n) (new term)
Canada - Canata (f indec) (new term), Canada (f indec) (new term), Þorpland (n) (new
term)
Chad - Ċæd (n) (new term), Lagland (n) (new term)
Chile - Ċile (n) (new term)
China - Ċīna (f indec) (new term), Midrīċe (n) (new term)
Colombia - Colombia (f indec) (new term), Culfrland (n) (new term)
Comoran - Mōnīġisċ (new term), Comorisċ (new term)
Congo - Congo (n) (new term)
Congolese-Brazzaville - Norþcongƿisċ (new term)
Congolese-Kinshasa - Sūþcongƿisċ (new term)
Cook Islands - Cōcīġa (f pl) (new term)
Cornwall - Cornƿeal (m)
Croatia - Croƿātaland (n) (new term)
Cuba - Cuba (f indec) (new term)
Cyprus - Cyprus (m indec) (new term)
 107

Czech Republic - Ċekland (n) (new term)

Denmark - Denemearc (f)
Djibouti - Ċibute (n) (new term)
Dominica - Sunndæġland (n) (new term), Dominica (f indec) (new term)
Dominican Republic - Dryhtenland (n) (new term), Dominikisċ Cyneƿīse (f) (new term)
East Timor - Ēastēastīġ (f) (new term), Ēasttimor (n) (new term)
Ecuadorean - Midmearcland (n) (new term), Ecƿador (n) (new term)
Egyptian - Ægypte (m nat pl)
England - Englaland (n), Engle (m nat pl)
Equatorial Guinea - Midmearcgynēa (f indec)
Eritrea - Rēadsǣland (n) (new term), Eritrēa (f indec) (new term)
Estonian - Ēste (m nat pl)
Ethiopian - Siġelhearƿenarīċe (n), Ethiopia (f indec), Ethiopialand (n)
European - Europe (f indec)
Fiji - Fiċġīġā (f pl) (new term)
Finland - Finnland (n) (new term), Finnas (m pl)
France - Francencarīċe (n), Galliarīċe (n), Francland (n)
Gabon - Hedenlendisċ (new term), Gabonisċ (new term)
Gambia - Cābuland (n) (new term)
Georgia - Cartland (n) (new term), Georgia (f indec) (new term)
German - Alamanne (m nat pl)
Ghanaian - Gūþcynġland (n) (new term), Gania (f indec) (new term)
Greece - Grēcland (n)
Greendland - Grēnland (n) (new term)
Grenadia - Grenada (f indec) (new term)
Guatemala - Ƿealdland (n) (new term), Gƿatemala (f indec) (new term)
Guinea - Gynēa (f indec) (new term)
Guyana - Felaƿæterland (n) (new term), Guiana (f indec) (new term)
Haiti - Beorgland (n) (new term), Haġite (n) (new term)
Herzegovina - Heretogland (n) (new term)
Honduras - Dēopland (n) (new term), Honduras (n) (new term)
Hungarian - Ungerland (n)
Iceland - Īsland (n) (new term), Thīla (f indec), Tȳle (f indec)
India - India (f indec), Indialand (n)
Indonesia - Indīġā (f indec) (new term)
Iran - Persia (f indec), Perse (m nat pl), Persēas (m nat pl), Persida (f indec), Persēarīċe
(n)
Iraq - Irāc (n) (new term)
Ireland - Īrland (n0
Israel - Israhēlas (m pl)
Italian - Itala (f indec), Ēotolƿaru (f)
 108

Ivory Coast - Elpenbānstrand (m) (new term)

Jamaica - Ƿealdƿæterland (n) (new term), Hæġmaca (f indec) (new term)
Japanese - Sunnland (n) (new term), Iapan (n) (new term)
Jordan - Iordanland (n) (new term)
Kazakhstan - Ċeorlland (n) (new term), Kasahstān (m) (new term)
Kenya - Hƿītbeorgland (n) (new term), Kenia (f indec) (new term)
Kiribati - Ġīsilbeorhtīġa (f pl)
Korea - Corēa (f indec) (new term)
Kosovo - Ōslfeld (m u-stem) (new term), Cosofo (n) (new term)
Kuwait - Ƿæterburh (f i-mut) (new term), Cuƿæġt (n) (new term)
Kyrgyzstani - Fēoƿertiġþēodland (n) (new term), Cyrgysstān (m) (new term)
Laotian - Laƿs (n) (new term)
Latvia - Latfimearc (f), Latfia (f indec)
Lebanon - Hƿītstōƿ (f)
Lesotho - Soþþoland (n) (new term)
Liberian - Frēoland (n) (new term), Liberia (f indec) (new term)
Libian - Libia (f indec)
Liechtenstein - Lēohtenstān (m) (new term)
Lithuania - Liþþƿaland (n) (new term), Liþþƿania (f indec) (new term)
Luxembourg - Luxemburg (f i-mut) (new term)
Macedonia - Mæcedonia (f indec)
Malawi - Bryneƿæterland (n) (new term), Malaƿe (n) (new term)
Malaysia - Malæġaland (n) (new term)
Maldivian - Reċedīġa (f pl) (new term), Maldifīġa (f pl) (new term)
Malian - Male (n) (new term)
Maltese - Huniġland (n) (new term), Malta (f indec) (new term)
Marshallese - Mearhsċealcīġā (f pl_ (new term), Mærsċallīġa (f indec) (new term)
Mauritanian - Maƿrland (n) (new term), Maƿritania (f indec) (new term)
Mexican - Mexico (n) (new term)
Micronesian - Lytelīġa (f pl) (new term), Micronesia (f indec) (new term)
Moldova - Moldofaland (n) (new term), Moldofa (f indec) (new term)
Monaco - Ānbotlland (n) (new term), Monaco (n) (new term)
Mongolia - Mongolaland (n) (new term), Mongolia (f indec)
Montenegrin - Blæċbeorg (m) (new term)
Morocco - Ƿestrīċe (n) (new term), Morocco (n) (new term), Godland (n) (new term)
Mozambican - Mosambik (n) (new term)
Nagorno-Karabakh - Nagornocarabahland (n) (new term)
Namibia - Sūþƿestaffrica (f indec) (new term), Namibland (n) (new term), Nāƿihtland
(n) (new term), Namibia (f indec) (new term)
Nepal - Cūhirdland (n) (new term), Nepal (n) (new term)
New Zealand - Nīƿe Sǣland (n) (new term)
 109

Nicaraguan - Nicaroƿæterland (n) (new term), Nacaragƿa (f indec) (new term)

Nigeria - Sūþgirland (n) (new term), Nigeria (f indec) (new term)
Niger - Norþgirland (n) (new term), Niger (n) (new term)
Niue - Niƿe (n) (new term)
North Korea - Norþcorēa (f indec) (new term)
Northern Cyprus - Norþcyprus (m indec) (new term)
Norway - Norƿeġ (m)
St Kitts and Nevis - Crīstophorīġ (f) and Snāƿƿolcenland (n) (new term), Crīstophorīġ (f)
and Nefis (n) (new term)

Old - Modern English

ādl (f) – disease

Affric (ad) – African
Affrica (f indeclinable/irregular sf/wm) – Africa
Affricanisċ (ad) – African
Affricisċ (ad) – African
Asia (f indeclinable/w) - Asia
Asianisċ (ad) (new term) - Asian
Asisċ (ad) (new term) - Asian
æġ (n; plural forms have "-r-" between the stem and grammatical ending) – egg
bān (m) – bone
bāt (m) – boat
bēobrēad (n) – pollen
bīte (m) – bite; cancer
blōma (m) - metal
Budden (ad) (new term) - Buddhist
Buddendōm (m) (new term) - Buddhism
burg (f) (possessive singular and nominative plural: byriġ)
cachūs (n) - toilet
cancer (m) - cancer
cancerādl (f) - cancer
ċeace (f) - cake
clēofangund (n) (new term) - virus
Crīsten (ad) - Christian
Crīstendōm (m) - Christianity
Crīstenmann (m) (genitive singular and nominative plural: -menn)
cēċil (m) - cake
cȳċel (m) - cake
dēad (ad) - dead
 110

deorcdrenċ (m) (new term) - coffee

deorcdrenċbēan (f) - coffee bean
deorcdrenċhūs (n) (new term) - cafe
earm (m) - arm
ēast - towards the east, east
Europe (f indeclinable) - Europe
Europeanisċ (ad) - European
Europisċ (ad) (new term) - European
Europeland (n) - Europe
finġer (m)- finger
flyhtsċrid (n) (new term) - aeroplane
gāst (m) - spirit
gǣstedōm (m) - spirituality
ġelīefan (ed) - to believe
ġelīefan on (+dative) - to believe in, to believe on
ġereord (n) - food; meal
ġeƿos (n) - common cold, head cold
God (m) - God
god (n) - god
gōd (ad) (betera, betst) - good
gold (n) - gold (metal)
gylden (ad) - made of gold
hǣðen (ad) - heather, pagan
hēafodæċe (m) - headache
healfes hēafdes æċe (m) - migraine
heard ġesƿell (n) - tumour
hēr (av) - here
hors (n) - horse
hungriġ (ad) - hungry
hūs (n) - house; building
hƿǣr (av) - where?
hƿǣte (m) - wheat
hƿōsta (m) - cough
iċ (pronoun) (accusative: meċ, mē; dative: mē; genitive: mīn) - I
Indiaþēodsċipe (m) (new term) Hinduism
īs (n) - ice
īsen (n) - iron; an implement made of iron
lǣċa (m) - doctor
lǣċedōm (m) - medicine
lǣċehūs (n) - hospital
leorniġan (od) - to learn
 111

lyfthæfen (f) (new term) - airport

lyftƿæġn (m) (new term) - aeroplane
magan ƿræċ (m) - stomach ache
mann (m) (genitive singular and nominative plural: menn) - man; human; person
mē - (see "iċ)
meċ - (see "iċ)
medu (m) - mead
mennisċ (ad) - human
meolc (f) - milk
norþ - towards the north, north
Norþƿīnland (n) (new term) - North America
nū (av) - now
olfend (m) - camel
port (m) - port
ribb (n) - rib
sċeanca (m) - leg
sċip (n) - ship
snāƿ (m) - snow
snide (m) - cut
standan (stōd; standen) - to stand; to come to a stop, to stop
stēl (n) - steel
tōborstenness (f) - abscess
þǣr (av) - there
þǣr is/sind - there is/are
þider (av) - there, to there
þurstiġ (ad) - thirsty
unhǣlo (f indeclinable) - health problem, bad health
ūtsiht (f) - diarrhea
pocc (m) - ulcer
rīmcræft (m) - mathematics, arithmetic
sċolu (f) - school; group of people
searutƿihƿēol (m) (new term) - motorbike
sēocness (f) - sickness
seolfor (n) - silver (metal)
seolfren (ad) - made of silver
strand (m) - beach; shore
sūþ - towards the south, south
Sūþland (n) (new usage) - Australia
Sūþlendisċ (ad) (new term) - Australian
Sūþƿīnland (n) (new term) - South America
tƿihƿēol (m) (new term) - bicycle
 112

ƿæter (n) - water

ƿēasġelimp (n) - luck, chance
ƿest (av) - towards the west, west
ƿiċċa (wm) - (male) witch
ƿiċċe (wf) - (female) witch
ƿīn (n) - wine
Ƿīnland (n) (new term) - all of America, the Americas
Ƿīnlendisċ (ad) - American, pertaining to the Americas
ƿyrd (f) - fate
yfel (ad) (ƿirsa, ƿirst) - bad

Titles and Nicknames

In Old English, title nouns usually came directly after the noun. For example: Ēadƿeard
Cyning, Ælfrīc Munuc, Ƿēlund Ċild. You could also do the equivalent of the Modern
English "John the King" or "Fred the Assassin", for example: se cyning Iohannes, se
morðorƿyrhta Hrōþgār.

Nickname adjectives like in "John the Short" and "Richard the Great" in Old English
would come directly after the noun, minus the word for "the" (unlike in Modern
English), would take the weak declension, and would agree in case, gender, and number
with the noun they were modifying. For example: Carl Fǣtta - Charles the Fat, Offa
Lytela - Offa the Little; but in genetive: Carles Fǣttan (sƿeord) - Charles the Fat's
(sword), Offan Lytelan (tæfl) - Offa the Little's (board game). Since regnal numbers (like
the "II" in "Elizabeth II") don't seem to have been used in Old English, but since regnal
numbers are ordinal in sense, and ordinals were grammatically adjectives in Old
English, and adjectives were allowed to follow the noun (as has just been explained
earlier in this paragraph), one could excuse something like "Elisabeþ II" as allowable in
OE grammar.

Proper nouns, including personal nouns, could also be used with the definitive article
and/or an adjective, like in Modern English "No - I don't mean that Sarah. I mean the
other Sarah." For example, "se ōðer Iohannes" - "the other John (not that one)" or "John
the Second". Such adjectives followed normal adjectival agreement rules.

Family names weren't really present in Anglo-Saxon culture, but one could think of
them as "titles" and use the same constructions in grammar as for titles.
 113

Vocabulary

35 Keywords

Abbreviations

Abbreviations used here: 1st per. - first person; 2nd per. - second person; 3rd per. - 3rd
person; acc. - accusative; art. - article; av. - adverb; conj. - conjunction; dat. - dative;
dem. - demonstrative; fem. - feminine; gen. - gentive; hv. - helping verb; imp. -
imperative; ind. - indicative; lv. - linking verb; masc. - masculine; neut. - neuter; nom. -
nominative; pl. - plural; prep. - prepositionl; pres. - present; pron. - pronoun; pt. -
participle; sg. - singular; subj. - subjunctive; vi. - intransitive verb; vt. - transitive verb.

List

Note that the numbers of this numbered list do not signify any kind of priority over
other words in the list; rather they help to keep track of how many words there are and
make sure there are only 35.
1. cuman sIV - to come
2. dōn (pres. ind.: 1st per. dō; 2nd per. dēst; 3rd per. dēþ; pl. dōþ; pres. sub.: sg. dō;
pl. dōn; past ind.: sg. dyde; pl. dydon; past subj. formed off past ind. pl.; past pt.:
dōn; pres. pt.: dōnde; imp.: sg. dō; pl. dōþ) - vt. to do, to make
3. for prep. +dat. - for, for the benefit of; because of
4. fram prep. +dat - out of, from; away from; by (person/agent)
5. gān (pres. ind.: 1st per. gā; 2nd per. gǣst; 3rd per. gǣþ; pl. gāþ; pres. sub.: sg. gā;
pl. gān; past ind.: sg. ēode; pl. ēodon; past subj. formed off past ind. pl.; past pt.:
gān; pres. pt.: gānde; imp.: sg. gā; pl. gāþ) - to go, to travel
6. ġē (acc. ēoƿiċ, ēoƿ; dat. ēoƿ; gen. ēoƿer) - you (plural), you guys, you all
7. ġit (acc. inċit, inċ; dat. inċ; gen. inċer) - you two, you both
8. hē (acc. hine; dat. him; gen. his) - he
9. hēo (acc. hīe; dat. and gen. hire) - she
10. hēr - av. here, at this place
 114

11. hider - av. here, hither, to this place

12. hit (acc. hit; dat. him; gen. his) - it
13. hƿā (acc. hƿone; dat. hƿǣm, hƿām; gen. hƿæs) - who?
14. hƿæt (acc. hƿæt; dat. hƿǣm, hƿām; gen. hƿæs) - what?
15. hƿider - av. where?, whither?, to what place?
16. iċ (acc. meċ, mē; dat. mē; gen. mīn) - I
17. macian w2 - to make
18. man pron. (used usually only in nominative) - one, "you", someone (as in
"one/you might say")
19. nāht pron. (acc. nāht; dat. nāhte; gen. nāhtes) - nothing
20.nā/nō av. - never, (emphatic) not (when used with verbs); not (when used with
adjectives)
21. ne av. - not (used with verbs only) (comes before the verb in Old English, unlike
in Modern English - so "Iċ ne cume" - "I am not coming", and not "Iċ cume ne")
22. oþ prep. +acc. - up to, until, so far as (of time or space)
23. se (masc.: nom. se; acc. þone; dat. þǣm, þām; gen. þæs; neuter: nom and acc.
þæt; dat. þǣm, þām; gen. þæs; feminine: nom. sēo; acc. þā: gen. and dat. þǣre;
plural all genders: nom. and acc. þā; dat. þǣm, þām; gen. þāra) - art. the; dem.
that; pron. that (one)
24. seċġan (pres. ind.: 1st per. seċġe; 2nd per. sæġst, sagast; 3rd per. sæġþ, sagaþ; pl.
seċġaþ; pres. sub.: sg. seċġe; pl. seċġen; past ind.: sg. sæġde, sagode; pl. sæġdon,
sagodon; past subj. formed off past ind. pl.; past pt.: sæġd; pres. pt.: seċġende;
imp.: sg. saga; pl. sagaþ) w3 - vt. to say, to tell
25. tō prep. +dat. - to, towards
26. þanne/þonne - av. then, at that time, during that time; conj. when, during which
time; than (in comparative clauses)
27. þǣr - av. there, at that place; then, at that time; conj. when, at which time
28.þider - av. - there, thither, to that place
29. þes (masculine: nom.. þes; acc. þisne; dat. þissum; gen. þisses; neut.: nom. and
acc. þis; dat. þissum; gen. þisses; fem.: nom. þēos; acc. þās; dat. and gen. þisre,
þisse; pl. all genders: nom. and acc. þās; dat. þissum; gen. þisra) - dem. this;
pron. this (one)
30.þū (acc. þeċ, þē; dat. þē; gen. þīn) - you (talking to only one person), thou
31. ƿē (acc. ūsiċ, ūs; dat. ūs; gen. ūre) - we
32. ƿeorðan sIIIc - lv. to become, to turn into
33. ƿesan/bēon (pres. ind.: 1st per. eom, bēo, bēom; 2nd per. eart, bist; 3rd per. is,
biþ; pl. sind, sindon, bēoþ; pres. sub.: sg. sīe, bēo; pl. sīen, bēon; past ind.: sg.
ƿæs; pl. ƿǣron; past subj. formed off past ind. pl.; past pt.: bēon (only ever used
once - use usually instead past pt. of "ƿeorðan" or simple past of "ƿesan"); pres.
pt.: ƿesende, bēonde; imp.: sg. ƿes, bēo; pl. ƿesaþ, bēoþ) (note that the "bēon"
forms can actually have an explicitly future sense) - lv. to be; vi. to exist
 115

34. ƿillan (pres. ind.: 1st per. ƿille; 2nd per. ƿilt; 3rd per. ƿile; pl. ƿillaþ; pres. sub.: sg.
ƿille; pl. ƿillen; past ind.: sg. ƿolde; pl. ƿoldon; past subj. formed off past ind. pl.;
past pt. not recorded to have existed; pres. ƿillende; imp. forms not recorded to
have existed) - hv. to want, to desire (note that this verb never takes a nominal
object)
35. ƿit (acc. uncit, unc; dat. unc; gen. uncer) - we two, we both

Nouns
Colours

● Black: Blæc, sƿeart

● Blue: blāƿ,hǣƿen
● Colour: (þæt) Blēo
● Golden: Gylden
● Grey: Græg
● Green: Grēne
● Orange: Ġeolurēad
● Purple: (sēo) Purpure, (adj.) Purpuren, (adj.) Ƿeolocbasu
● Red: Rēad
● Silvern: Seolfern
● White: Hƿīt
● Yellow: Ġeolu
To indicate various shades you should use these affixes for colour adjectives:

● bright - sċīr- (bright purple: sċīrbasu）

● dark - ƿann- (dark blue: ƿannhǣƿe)
● pale - -hƿīt (pale yellow: ġeolohƿīt)
 116

Animals

● Hound: Se hund
● Cat: Se Catt
● Pig: Þæt sƿīn
● Horse: Þæt Hors
● Cow: Sēo Cū
● Bird: Se fugol, se fugel
● Rat: Se Rætt
● Mouse: Seo mūs
● Hare: Se hara
● Snake: Se snaca
● Owl: Seo ūle
● Fox: Se fox
● Wolf: Se ƿulf
● Deer: Se heorot

Food

● sē fōda: food
● sēo hnutu: the nut
● sē mete: the meat
● þæt ealu: the ale
● þæt bēor: the beer
● þæt huniġ: the honey
● þæt brēad: the bread
● sēo meolc: the milk
● sē lēac: the leak
● þæt ƿæter: the water

Body

● þæt līc - the body

● þæt bān - the bone
● þæt hēafod - the head
● þæt hǣr - the hair
 117

● sēo ansȳn - the face

● þæt ēage - the eye
● se brǣƿ - the eyelid
● þæt ēare - the ear
● þæt ƿang - the cheek
● sēo ċin - the chin
● sēo nosu - the nose
● þæt nosþyrel - the nostril
● se lippa - the lip
● se mūþ - the mouth
● se tōþ - the tooth
● sēo tunge - the tounge
● se hnecca - the neck
● sēo ċeole - the throat
● sēo eaxel - the shoulder
● se hrycg - the back
● se earm - the arm
● sēo fȳst - the fist
● sēo folm - the palm
● sēo hand - the hand
● se finger - the finger
● se þūma - the thumb
● se næġel - the nail
● þæt brēost - the breast
● sēo heorte - the heart
● se būc - the stomach
● þæt lungen - the lung
● se hype - the hip
● þæt þēoh - the thigh
● þæt cnēo - the knee
● se scanca - the leg
● þæt lim - the limb
● sēo tā - the toe
● se hēla - the heel
● se anclēoƿ - the anckle
● se fōt - the foot
 118

Places

● Sē tūn: the town

● Sēo luh: the lake
● Sē mor: the swamp
● þǣt ƿesten: the desert
● þǣt ƿuduland: the forest
● Sēo sǣ: the sea

People

● þā lēode: the people (from a nation)

● Sē fæder: the father
● Sēo mōdor: the mother
● Sē sunu: the son
● Sēo dohtor: the daughter
● Sē brōþor: the brother
● þæt sƿeostor/sƿeoster: the sister
● Sē cyning: the king
● Sēo cƿēn: the queen
● Sē hæleþ: the man, hero, warrior
● Sē æþeling: the prince
● þæt cynn, þæt folc: the people (in general)
● Sēo cƿene: the woman, female serf
● Sēo hōre: the whore

Verbs
Movement

● come - cuman
● go - gān
● wander - ƿandrian, sƿīcan
● do - dōn
 119

● travel, journey - Faran, Sīþian

● step - stēppan
Weak Verbs

● Fremman - do, accomplish

● Tǣċan - teach
● Nerian - save
● Hīeran - hear
● Aƿyrcan - do, effect
● Merian - purify, refine
● Myntan - intend

Other Verbs

● remember - Gemunan
● enjoy, make use of - brucan
● take - niman
● save, defend, shelter, guard - beorgan
● compose, write, edit - ādihtan
● arrange, set in order, regulate, direct - dihtian
● owe, to be obliged, must, should (auxiliary) - sculan
● cover / cover (up), put a cover over - ƿreon
● prepare, supply, make ready - ġearcian
● offend, scandalize - ǣsƿīcian
● marry, wed - ǣƿnian
● hate; persecute - fēoġan, feogean
● expect, await - bāsnian
● breach, break through - brēcan
 120

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Texts in the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of
Back-Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one
entity. If the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover,
 125

previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are
acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old one,
on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added the old one.
The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give
permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply endorsement
of any Modified Version.

5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
You may combine the Document with other documents released under this
License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions,
provided that you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of
the original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of
your combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their
Warranty Disclaimers.
The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple
identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are
multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the
title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the
name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a unique
number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of Invariant
Sections in the license notice of the combined work.
In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled "History" in the
various original documents, forming one section Entitled "History"; likewise
combine any sections Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled
"Dedications". You must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements."

6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents
released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License in
the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection,
provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of
the documents in all other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it
individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License into
the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects regarding
verbatim copying of that document.

7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and
independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution
 126

medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the compilation

is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the
individual works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this
License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not
themselves derivative works of the Document.
If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the Document,
then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate, the
Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document
within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in
electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket the
whole aggregate.

8. TRANSLATION
Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute
translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant
Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright
holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in
addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a
translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and any
Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English version
of this License and the original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case
of a disagreement between the translation and the original version of this
License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will prevail.
If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements", "Dedications",
or "History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will
typically require changing the actual title.

9. TERMINATION
You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as
expressly provided for under this License. Any other attempt to copy, modify,
sublicense or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate
your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or
rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so
long as such parties remain in full compliance.

10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU
Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar
in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems
or concerns. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.
 127

Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the

Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any
later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and
conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has been
published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document does
not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published
(not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation.