Strong Verbs
Strong Verbs
Linguistics 220/222 /323
Strong verbs are always characterized by a change in the
stem vowel in the past tense. There may or may not be a a change of the
vowel in the non-progressive participle. The non-progressive participles
is marked by '-en', '-n', or no ending. The latter tenders to occur if the
verb stem contains a post vocalic nasal consonant, and '-n' tends to follow
a vowel. Otherwise '-en' is selected:
| present/default stem | past stem | non-progressive participle |
| write | wrote | written |
| swim | swam | swum |
| see | saw | seen |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| shear | shore | shorn |
| sing | sang | sung |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| drive | drove | driven |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| run | ran | run |
| break | broke | broken |
| rise | rose | risen |
| ring | rang | rung |
| wring | wrung | wrung |
| lie | lay (lied) | lain (lied) |
| fly | flew | flown |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| blow | blew | blown |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| win | won | won |
| come | came | come |
| take | took | taken |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| forsake | forsook | forsaken |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| tear | tore | torn |
| bear | bore | borne (born) |
| know | knew | known |
| hang | hung | hung |
| bid | bade | bidden |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | gotten |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| spin | spun | spun |
| grow | grew | grown |
| slay | slew | slain |
| thrive | throve (thrived) | thriven (thrived) |
The pattern here is that there is no affix in the past tense, and the
past tense stem vowel is always different from the present tense stem vowel.
The participle vowel may be the same as the present tense stem vowel, the
past tense stem vowel, or a different vowel altogether.
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