An Icelandic Primer | Page 8

3. gÄf-usk gæf-isk
Impers. sg. 2 gef-sk; pl. 1 gef-umk, 2 gef-izk. Partic. pres. gef-andisk;
pret. gef-izk neut. Infin. gef-ask.
Strong Verbs
132. In the strong verbs the plur. of the pret. indic. generally has a
different vowel from that of the sing. The 1 sg. pret. of the middle
voice always has the vowel of the pl. pret.: gÄfumk. The pret. subj. has
the vowel of the pret. indic. plur. mutated: skaut (he shot), skutu (they
shot), skyti (he might shoot). But there is no mutation in verbs of the
first conj.: hljÅpi, inf. hlaupa (leap).
133. The pres. indic. sing. mutates the root-vowel in all three persons:
ek skȳt, þū skȳtr, hann skȳtr, infin. skjÅta (shoot). e however is
not mutated: ek gef, þū gefr. The inflectional r is liable to the same
modifications as the r of nouns (§ 32): skīnn, vęx, infin. skīna
(shine), vaxa (grow).
134. Verbs in ld change the d into t in the 1, 3 sg. pret. indic. and in the
imper. sg.: helt (held), halt (hold!), infin. halda. nd becomes tt, and ng
becomes kk under the same conditions: binda (bind), ganga (go), pret.
batt, gekk
, imper. bitt, gakk.
135. The t of the 2 sg. pret. indic. is doubled after a long accented
vowel: þū sÄtt (thou sawest). If the 1 sg. pret. indic. ends in t or ð,
the 2 sg. ends in zt: lēt (I let), þū lēzt, bauð (I offered) þū
bauzt.
136. There are seven conjugations of strong verbs, distinguished

mainly by the characteristic vowels of their preterites.
137.
I. 'Fall'-conjugation
INFIN. THIRD PRES. PRT. SING. PRT. PL. PTC. PRT.
falla (fall) fÄ™llr fell fellu fallinn lÄta (let) lætr lÄ“t lÄ“tu lÄtinn
rÄða (advise) ræðr rēð rēðu rÄðinn heita (call) heitr hÄ“t
hētu heitinn halda (hold) hęldr helt heldu haldinn ganga (go)
gÄ™ngr gekk gengu gÄ™nginn fÄ (get) fær fekk fengu fÄ™nginn
----------------- auka (increase) eykr jÅk jÅku aukinn bÅ«a (dwell) bȳr
bjŠbjoggu būinn hǫggva (hew) hǫggr hjŠhjoggu hǫggvinn
hlaupa (leap) hleypr hljÅp hljÅpu hlaupinn
138. The following have weak preterites in r:
grÅa (grow) grÅ“r gröri gröru grÅinn rÅa (row) rÅ“r röri röru
rÅinn snÅ«a (twist) snȳr snöri snöru snÅ«inn
139. heita in the passive sense of 'to be named, called' has a weak
present: ek heiti, þū heitir.
140.
II. 'Shake'-conjugation
INFIN. THIRD PRES. PRT. SING. PRT. PL. PTC. PRT.
fara (go) fÄ™rr fÅr fÅru farinn grafa (dig) grÄ™fr grÅf grÅfu grafinn
hlaða (load) hlęðr hlÅð hlÅðu hlaðinn vaxa (grow) vÄ™x
Åx Åxu vaxinn standa (stand) stÄ™ndr stÅð stÅðu staðinn aka
(drive) Ä™kr Åk Åku Ä™kinn taka (take) tÄ™kr tÅk tÅku tÄ™kinn
draga (draw) drÄ™gr drÅ drÅgu drÄ™ginn flÄ (flay) flær flÅ flÅgu
flÄ™ginn slÄ (strike) slær slÅ slÅgu slÄ™ginn
141. The following have weak presents:

hÄ™fja (lift) hÄ™fr hÅf hÅfu hafinn deyja (die) deyr dÅ dÅ dÄinn
hlæja (laugh) hlær hlÅ hlÅgu hlÄ™ginn
142.
III. 'Bind'-conjugation
INFIN. THIRD PRES. PRT. SING. PRT. PL. PTC. PRT.
bresta (burst) brestr brast brustu brostinn hverfa (turn) hverfr hvarf
hurfu horfinn svelga (swallow) svelgr svalg sulgu sÅlginn verða
(become) verðr varð urðu orðinn skjÄlfa (shake) skelfr skalf
skulfu skolfinn drekka (drink) drekkr drakk drukku drukkinn finna
(find) finnr fann fundu fundinn vinna (win) vinnr vann unnu unninn
binda (bind) bindr batt bundu bundinn springa (spring) springr sprakk
sprungu sprunginn stinga (pierce) stingr stakk stungu stunginn bregða
(pull) bregðr brÄ brugðu brugðinn sökkva (sink) sökkr sÇ«kk
sukku sokkinn stökkva (spring) stökkr stǫkk stukku stokkinn
143. The following have weak presents (which makes however no
difference in their conjugation):
bręnna (burn) bręnnr brann brunnu brunninn ręnna (run)
ręnnr rann runnu runninn
144.
IV. 'Bear'-conjugation
INFIN. THIRD PRES. PRT. SING. PRT. PL. PTC. PRT.
bera (carry) berr bar bÄru borinn nema (take) nemr nam nÄmu numinn
fela (hide) felr fal fÄlu fÅlginn koma (come) kömr kom kvÄmu
kominn sofa (sleep) söfr svaf svÄfu sofinn
145.
V. 'Give'-conjugation

INFIN. THIRD PRES. PRT. SING. PRT. PL. PTC. PRT.
drepa (kill) drepr drap drÄpu drepinn gefa (give) gefr gaf gÄfu gefinn
kveða (say) kveðr kvað kvÄðu kveðinn meta (estimate) metr
mat mÄtu metinn reka (drive) rekr rak rÄku rekinn eta (eat) etr Ät Ätu
etinn sjÄ (see) sÄ“r[6] sÄ sÄ[7] sÄ“nn
[Footnote 6: sÄ“, sÄ“r, sÄ“r; sjÄm, sēð, sjÄ. Subj. sÄ“, sÄ“r, sÄ“;
sēm, sēð, sē.]
[Footnote 7: sÄm, sÄið, sÄ.]
146. The following have weak presents:--
biðja (ash) biðr bað bÄðu beðinn sitja (sit) sitr sat sÄtu setinn
liggja (lie) liggr lÄ lÄgum leginn þiggja (receive) þiggr þÄ
þÄgu þeginn
147.
VI. 'Shine'-conjugation
INFIN. THIRD PRES. PRT. SING. PRT. PL. PTC. PRT.
bīta (bite) bītr beit bitu bitinn drīfa (drive) drīfr dreif drifu
drifinn grīpa (grasp) grīpr greip gripu gripinn līða (go) līðr
leið liðu liðinn līta (look) lītr leit litu litinn rīða (ride)
rīðr reið riðu riðinn sīga (sink) sīgr seig sigu