The English Language Part 8

_Gen_. G.o.dan G.o.dan G.o.dan. _Gen_. Haga Haga Hogu.

_Plural_.

_Hogu_ is the Plural form for all _Nom_. G.o.dan G.o.dan G.o.dan. the Cases and all the Genders.

_Acc_. G.o.dan G.o.dan G.o.dan.

_Abl_. G.o.dum G.o.dum G.o.dum.

_Dat_. G.o.dum G.o.dum G.o.dum.

_Gen_. G.o.dena G.o.dena G.o.dena.

_Indefinite_. _Indefinite_.

_Singular_. _Singular_.

_Neut_. _Masc_. _Fem_. _Neut_. _Masc_. _Fem_.

_Nom_. G.o.d G.o.d G.o.d. _Nom_. Hagt Hagr Hog.

_Acc_. G.o.d G.o.dne G.o.de. _Acc_. Hagt Hagan Hog.

_Abl_. G.o.de G.o.de G.o.dre. _Abl_. Hogu Hogum Hagri.

_Dat_. G.o.dum G.o.dum G.o.dre. _Dat_. Hogu Hogum Hagri.

_Gen_. G.o.des G.o.des G.o.dre. _Gen_. Hags Hags Hagrar.

_Plural_. _Plural_.

_Nom_. G.o.de G.o.de G.o.de. _Nom_. Hog Hagir Hagar.

_Acc_. G.o.de G.o.de G.o.de. _Acc_. Hog Haga Hagar.

_Abl_. G.o.dum G.o.dum G.o.dum. _Abl_. Hogum Hogum Hogum.

_Dat_. G.o.dum G.o.dum G.o.dum. _Dat_. Hogum Hogum Hogum.

_Gen_. G.o.dra G.o.dra G.o.dra. _Gen_. Hagra Hagra Hagra.

-- 86. Observe in the Icelandic forms the absence of the termination _-an_.

Observe also the neuter termination _-t_, as _hagr_, _hagt_. Throughout the modern forms of the Icelandic (_viz._ the Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian languages) this termination is still preserved: e.g., _en G.o.d Hest_, a good horse; _et G.o.dt Hjaert_, a good heart; _en skon Pige_, a beautiful damsel; _et skarpt Svoerd_, a sharp sword.

{43}

-- 87. Amongst the p.r.o.nouns the following differences present themselves.

The Saxon forms are, for the p.r.o.noun of the second person, _u_ (thou), _git_ (ye _two_), _ge_ (ye); whilst in Icelandic they are _u_, _i_, _per_, respectively. Again, in Saxon there is no reflective p.r.o.noun corresponding with the Latin _se_. In Icelandic we have _sik_, _ser_, _sin_, corresponding to the Latin _se_, _sibi_, _suus_. Besides this, the word _sin_ is declined, so that like the Latin _suus_ it becomes adjectival.

_Sing. Nom._ Sitt Sinn Sin.

_Acc._ Sitt Sinn Sina.

_Dat._ Sinu Sinum Sinni.

_Gen._ Sins Sins Sinnar.

_Plur. Nom._ Sin Sinir Sinar.

_Acc._ Sin Sina Sinar.

_Dat._ Sinum Sinum Sinum.

_Gen._ Sinna Sinna Sinna.

In Saxon there is of course no such an adjectival form. _There_ the Possessives of the Third Person correspond not with the Latin _suus_, _sua_, _suum_; but with the Latin _ejus_ and _eorum_. The English words _his_ and _her_ are _genitive_ cases, not _adjectives_.

Further remarks upon the presence of the Reflective p.r.o.noun _sik_ in Icelandic, and its absence in Saxon, will appear in the sequel.

THE NUMERALS.

_Saxon._ _Icelandic._ 1. an Eitt, einn, ein.

2. Twa Tvo, tveir.

3. reo rju, rir.

4. Feower Fjogur, fjorir.

5. Fif Fimm.

6. Six s.e.x.

7. Seofon Sjo.

8. Eahta atta.

9. Nigon Niu.

10. Tyn Tiu.

Of the Icelandic verbs the infinitives end in _-a_; as _kalla_, to call; _elska_, to love; whereas the Saxon termination is _-an_; as _lufian_, to love; _wyrcan_, to work. {44}

-- 88. The persons are as follows:--

_Saxon._ _Icelandic._

_Pres. Sing._ 1. Baerne Brenni.

2. Baernst Brennir.

3. Baern Brennir.

_Plur._ 1. Baerna Brennum.

2. Baerna Brenni.

3. Baerna Brenna.

-- 89. The characteristic, however, of the Icelandic (indeed, of all the Scandinavian languages) is the possession of a _pa.s.sive_ form, or a _pa.s.sive_ voice, ending in _-st_:--_Ek_, _u_, _hann brennist_=_I_, _thou_, _he is burnt_; _Ver brennumst_=_We are burnt_; _er brennizt_=_ye are burnt_; _eir brennast_=_they are burnt_. Past tense, _Ek_, _u_, _hann brendist_; _ver brendumst_, _er brenduzt_, _eir brendust_. Imperat.: _brenstu_=_be thou burnt_. Infinit.: _brennast_=_to be burnt_.

In the modern Danish and Swedish, the pa.s.sive is still preserved, but without the final _t_. In the _older_ stages of Icelandic, on the other hand, the termination was not _-st_ but _-sc_; which _-sc_ grew out of the reflective p.r.o.noun _sik_. With these phenomena the Scandinavian languages give us the evolution and development of a pa.s.sive voice; wherein we have the following series of changes:--1st. the reflective p.r.o.noun coalesces with the verb, whilst the sense changes from that of a reflective to that of a middle verb; 2nd. the _c_ changes to _t_, whilst the middle sense pa.s.ses into a pa.s.sive one; 3rd. _t_ is dropped from the end of the word, and the expression that was once reflective then becomes strictly pa.s.sive.

Now the Saxons have no pa.s.sive voice at all. That they should have one _originating_ like that of the Scandinavians was impossible. Having no reflective p.r.o.noun, they had nothing to evolve it from.

_The Auxiliary Verb._

_Saxon._ _Icelandic._

_Indicative. Present._

_Sing._ 1. Eom (_I am_) Em.

2. Eart. Ert.

3. Is. Er.

{45} _Plur._ 1. Synd (Syndon) Erum.

2. Synd (Syndon) Eru.

3. Synd (Syndon) Eru.

_Indicative. Past._ _Sing._ 1. W['ae]s Var.

2. W['ae]re Vart.

3. W['ae]s Var.

_Plur._ 1. W['ae]ron Vorum.

2. W['ae]ron Voru.

3. W['ae]ron Voru.