Gothic/2/Conjugation

Introduction to Gothic Verbs

Gothic has the most complex verbal system of all attested Germanic languages. There exist two voices: active and passive; three numbers: singular, dual, and plural; two tenses: present and past; and finally two moods: indicative and subjunctive (also called optative). In Gothic, as in other Germanic languages, there is a distinction between strong and weak verbs. The difference between the two depends on the formation of the preterite, or past tense. The section will deal with weak verbs.

How to Conjugate Gothic Verbs

In the present tense all verbs follow a similar conjugation. All infinitives end in a combination similar to -an. To conjugate a verb, one must isolate the verb stem by removing the -an ending of the infinitive, then add the desired endings. Using the verb siggwan "to sing" as an example, we can see its -an ending. If we remove the -an ending, we are left with siggw-; this is the verb stem. To this we add the endings: -a, -is, -iþ, etc. We use this formula to conjugate all Gothic verbs in the present tense. Some verbs take a different conjugation in the 3rd person singular and 2nd person plural, namely the class I and class III of weak verbs. The average Gothic verb is conjugated thus:

Gothic	English
ik siggwa	I sing
þu siggwis	you (thou) sing
is siggwiþ	he sings
wit siggwōs	we two sing
jut siggwats	you two sing
weis siggwam	we sing
jus siggwiþ	you all sing
eis siggwand	they sing

Weak verbs form their past tense by means of a dental suffix. Weak verbs are divided into four classes according to the ending of the infinitive. The following table shows the possible infinitive endings of a weak verb, each representing a class. On the right is their preterite ending.

Class	Infinitive Ending	Preterite
Class I	-jan	-ida
Class II	-on	-oda
Class III	-an	-aida
Class IV	-nan	-noda

Class I Weak Verbs

Class I weak verbs end in -jan. Verbs within this class are subdivided into two subgroups: (1) verbs with a short stem-syllable, such as nasjan "to save", or verbs with a long open syllable, such as stōjan "to judge"; (2) verbs with a long closed syllable, such as sōkjan "to seek". Verbs with a polysyllabic root behave like sōkjan regardless of the nature of the last syllable of the root; hence, glitmunjan "to shine" behaves like sōkjan. These two subgroups only differ slightly in their conjugation; namely in the 2nd person and 3rd person singular, in the 2nd person plural of the present indicative, and in the second person plural imperative.

Present Tense

Notice sōkeis instead of *sōkjis

	Indicative
	Active
Present	1st sing	nasja	stōja	sōkja
	2nd sing	nasjis	stōjis	sōkeis
	3rd sing	nasjiþ	stōjiþ	sōkeiþ
	1st dual	nasjōs	stōjōs	sōkjōs
	2nd dual	nasjats	stōjats	sōkjats
	1st plur	nasjam	stōjam	sōkjam
	2nd plur	nasjiþ	stōjiþ	sōkeiþ
	3rd plur	nasjand	stōjand	sōkjand

Past Tense

All class I weak verbs follow the same conjugation in the past tense regardless of which subgroup they belong to.

	Indicative
	Preterite
Past	1st sing	nasida	stauida	sōkida
	2nd sing	nasidēs	stauidēs	sōkidēs
	3rd sing	nasida	stauida	sōkida
	1st dual	nasidēdu	stauidēdu	sōkidēdu
	2nd dual	nasidēduts	stauidēduts	sōkidēduts
	1st plur	nasidēdum	stauidēdum	sōkidēdum
	2nd plur	nasidēduþ	stauidēduþ	sōkidēduþ
	3rd plur	nasidēdun	stauidēdun	sōkidēdun

Some class I verbs have an irregular past.

Class II Weak Verbs

Class II weak verbs end in -ōn. The verb salbōn (to anoint) will serve as a model for class II weak verbs.

Present Tense

	Indicative
	Active
salbōn	1st sing	salbō
	2nd sing	salbōs
	3rd sing	salbōþ
	1st dual	salbōs
	2nd dual	salbōts
	1st plur	salbōm
	2nd plur	salbōþ
	3rd plur	salbōnd

Past Tense

Their past tense ends similarly to class I weak verbs, but with /ō instead of /i.

	Indicative
	Preterite
salbōn	1st sing	salbōda
	2nd sing	salbōdēs
	3rd sing	salbōda
	1st dual	salbōdēdu
	2nd dual	salbōdēduts
	1st plur	salbōdēdum
	2nd plur	salbōdēduþ
	3rd plur	salbōdēdun

Class III Weak Verbs

Verbs in this class have infinitives that end in -an. Verbs in this class have /ai/ in the 2nd person singular, 3rd person singular, and 2nd person singular. All persons have /ai/ in the past tense. The verb haban will serve as a model for class III weak verbs.

Present Tense

	Indicative
	Active
Haban	1st sing	haba
	2nd sing	habais
	3rd sing	habaiþ
	1st dual	habōs
	2nd dual	habāts
	1st plur	habām
	2nd plur	habaiþ
	3rd plur	haband

Past Tense

	Indicative
	Preterite
Haban	1st sing	habaida
	2nd sing	habaidēs
	3rd sing	habaida
	1st dual	habaidēdu
	2nd dual	habaidēduts
	1st plur	habaidēdum
	2nd plur	habaidēduþ
	3rd plur	habaidēdun

Class IV Weak Verbs

Verbs in this class have infinitives that end in -nan, which becomes -noda in the past tense. Verbs of this class denote entering into a state. Example: fullnan "to become full"; andbundnan "to become unbound", compare with fulls "full" and andbindan "to unbind". The verb fullnan will serve as a model for class IV weak verbs.

Present Tense

	Indicative
	Active
Present	1st sing	fullna
	2nd sing	fullnis
	3rd sing	fullniþ
	1st dual	fullnōs
	2nd dual	fullnats
	1st plur	fullnam
	2nd plur	fullniþ
	3rd plur	fullnand

Past Tense

	Indicative
	Preterite
Past	1st sing	fullnōda
	2nd sing	fullnōdēs
	3rd sing	fullnōda
	1st dual	fullnōdēdu
	2nd dual	fullnōdēduts
	1st plur	fullnōdēdum
	2nd plur	fullnōdēduþ
	3rd plur	fullnōdēdun