Personal Pronouns

Number/ Person	Singular	Dual	Plural
First	īc	wit	wē
Second	þū	Zit	Zē
Third	hē, hēo, hit	-	hī (hīe, hy)

The first and the second persons were represented in the dual number (both of us, both of you); īc belongs to the general IE root: L. ego, OHG ich, OSL. aZ. The paradigm of the first person is suppletive, the oblique cases have “m” in the root:

Russ.	Я	меня
L.	ego,	mei
OE	ic,	mīn

The pronoun of the second person singular belongs to IE forms: L. tu, Russ. вы, OE þū. The pronouns wē and Zē are particularly Germanic forms. As to the personal pronouns of the third person in any IE language they are derived from demonstrative pronouns.

E.g. Goth. himma daga (on that day)

Russ. оный

Table 5

Declension of Personal Pronouns

Person Case		First	Second	Third
				M	F	N
Singular	Nominative	īc	þū	hē	hēo	hit
	Genitive	mīn	þīn	his	hire	his
	Dative	mē	þē	him	hire	him
	Accusative	mē	þē	hine	hīe	hit
Plural	Nominative	wē	Zē	hīe	hī	hy
	Genitive	ūre	ēower	hiera	hira	hyra
	Dative	ūs	ēow		him
	Accusative	ūs	ēow	hīe	hī	hy

Demonstrative pronouns had three genders, two numbers, five cases (+Instrumental). They were subdivided into:

• those with full demonstrative power;

• those with weakened demonstrative power.

Modern demonstrative this, these, those originate from OE pronouns with full demonstrative power. M. þes, F. þēos, N. þis. As to “that” it comes from OE þxt – Neuter for sē.

OE pronouns with weakened demonstrative power were widely used before nouns, their demonstrative meaning approaching that of the definite article.

Table 6

Case	Singular			Plural
	M	N	F	M, N, F
Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Instrumental	sē þxs þæm þone þy	þxt þxs þæm þxt þy	sēo þxre þære þa –	þā þāra, þæra þxm, þām þā –

Many linguists consider them to have been definite articles in OE, Cf. Bulg. та, то; Russ. dial. воду-ту брала.

The Instrumental form þy has come up to Modern English: e.g. the more the better.

As to other groups of pronouns, the Genitive case of the personal pronouns was used with a possessive meaning before nouns: mīn, þīn, hīs, hire, ūre.

Interrogative pronouns	Noninative	hwā	hwxt
	Genitive	hwxs
	Dative	hwæm
	Accusative	hwone	hwxt

were used only in the Singular. The interrogative pronoun hwilc / hwylc (which) declined as a strong adjective.

There were Indefinite pronouns sum and xniZ (some and any); Negative pronouns nān and mxniZ (none and no).

The Adjective.

The adjective had a very developed system of inflections that marked: three genders, two numbers, four or five cases.

Adjectives were declined by two declensions:

The strong (pronominal) declension. Most of them had a-stem endings in the Masculine and the Neuter, o-stem endings in the Feminine.

Table 7

	Case	M.	N.	F.
Singular	Nominative	blxc	blxc	blacu
	Genitive	blaces	blaces	blxcre
	Dative	blacum	blacum	blxcre
	Accusative	blxcne	blxc	blace
	Instrumental	blace	blace	--
Plural	Nom. Accus.	blace	blacu	blaca
	Genitive	blacra	blacra	blacra
	Dative	blacum	blacum	blacum

The weak declension coincides with that of n-stem nouns.

Table 8

		M.	N.	F.
Singular	Nominative	blaca	blace	blace
	Genitive	blacan	blacan	blacan
	Dative	blacan	blacan	blacan
	Accusative	blacan	blacan	blacan
	Instrumental	blacan	blace	blacan
Plural	Nom. Accus.	blacan
	Genitive	blacra (ena)
	Dative	blacum

An adjective declined by the weak type if it was preceded by a demonstrative pronoun.

Degrees of comparison. Gothic flexions -oza/-iza and -ost/-ist of the comparative and superlative degrees, respectively, were represented in OE by -ra and -est/-ost, where z became r due to Verner’s law, e.g.:

soft - softra - softost;

blxc - blxcra - blacost.

In some cases i-mutation takes place:

long	- lengra	- lengest
	*longira	- *longist
eald	- ieldra	- ieldest
	*ealdira	- *ealdist

where forms with asterisk are reconstructed from the prewriting period. Some adjectives have suppletive degrees of comparison, e.g.:

gōd	betera	betst	“good”
yfel	wiersa	wierest	“bad”
micel	māra	mxst	“big”
lytel	lxssa	lxst	“little”

Forms of the comparative and superlative degrees were declined by the weak declension.

VERBS

1. Verbal categories.

2. Strong verbs.

3. Weak verbs

4. Suppletive verbs. Anomalous verbs. Preterite-present verbs.

5. The problem of aspect, voice and analytical forms.