Chapter VIII: The ô-Declension

37. The ô-Declension, corresponding to the First or _â-_Declension of Latin and Greek, contains only feminine nouns. Many feminine i-stems and u-stems soon passed over to this Declension. The ô-Declension may, therefore, be considered the _normal declension_ for all strong feminine nouns.

38. Paradigms of #sêo giefu#, _gift_; #sêo wund#, _wound_; #sêo rôd#, _cross_; #sêo leornung#, _learning_; #sêo sâwol#, _soul_:

_Sing. N._ gief-u wund rôd leornung sâwol
_G._ gief-e wund-e rôd-e leornung-a (e) sâwl-e
_D.I._ gief-e wund-e rôd-e leornung-a (e) sâwl-e
_A._ gief-e wund-e rôd-e leornung-a (e) sâwl-e

_Plur. N.A._ gief-a wund-a rôd-a leornung-a sâwl-a
_G._ gief-a wund-a rôd-a leornung-a sâwl-a
_D.I._ gief-um wund-um rôd-um leornung-um sâwl-um

39. Note (1) that monosyllables with short stems (#giefu#) take u in the nominative singular; (2) that monosyllables with long stems (#wund#, #rôd#) present the unchanged stem in the nominative singular; (3) that dissyllables are declined as monosyllables, except that abstract nouns in -ung prefer a to e in the singular.

NOTE.--Syncopation occurs as in masculine and neuter a-stems. See
§ 27, (4).

40. Present and Preterit Indicative of #bêon# (#wesan#) _to be_:

PRESENT (first form). PRESENT PRETERIT.
(second form).

_Sing._ 1. Ic eom 1. Ic bêom 1. Ic wæs
2. ðû eart 2. ðû bist 2. ðû wæ:re
3. hê is 3. hê bið 3. hê wæs

_Plur._ 1. wê } 1. wê } 1. wê }
2. gê } sind(on), sint 2. gê } bêoð 2. gê } wæ:ron
3. hîe } 3. hîe } 3. hîe }

NOTE 1.--The forms #bêom#, #bist#, etc. are used chiefly as future
tenses in O.E. They survive to-day only in dialects and in poetry.
Farmer Dobson, for example, in Tennyson's _Promise of May_, uses
_be_ for all persons of the present indicative, both singular and
plural; and _there be_ is frequent in Shakespeare for _there are_.
The Northern dialect employed #aron# as well as #sindon# and
#sind# for the present plural; hence Mn.E. _are_.

NOTE 2.--Fusion with #ne# gives #neom#, #neart#, #nis# for the
present; #næs#, #næ:re#, #næ:ron# for the preterit.

NOTE 3.--The verb _to be_ is followed by the nominative case, as
in Mn.E.; but when the predicate noun is plural, and the subject a
neuter pronoun in the singular, the verb agrees in number with the
predicate noun. The neuter singular #ðæt# is frequently employed
in this construction: #Ðaet wæ:ron eall Finnas#, _They were all
Fins_; #Ðæt sind englas#, _They are angels_; #Ðæ:t wæ:ron engla
gâstas#, _They were angels' spirits_.

Notice, too, that O.E. writers do not say _It is I_, _It is thou_,
but _I it am_, _Thou it art_: #Ic hit eom#, #ðû hit eart#. See
§ 21, (1), Note 1.

41. VOCABULARY.

sêo brycg, _bridge_.
sêo costnung, _temptation_.
sêo cwalu, _death_ [quail, quell].
sêo fôr, _journey_ [faran].
sêo frôfor, _consolation, comfort_.
sêo geoguð, _youth_.
sêo glôf, _glove_.
sêo hâlignes[1], _holiness_.
sêo heall, _hall_.
hêr, _here_.
hwâ, _who_?
hwæ:r, _where_?
sêo lufu, _love_.
sêo mearc, _boundary_ [mark, marches[2]].
sêo mêd, _meed, reward_.
sêo mildheortnes, _mild-heartedness, mercy_.
sêo stôw, _place_ [stow away].
ðæ:r, _there_.
sêo ðearf, _need_.
sêo wylf, _she wolf_.

[Footnote 1: All words ending in -nes double the -s before
adding the case endings.]

[Footnote 2: As in _warden of the marches_.]

42. EXERCISES.

I. 1. Hwæ:r is ðæ:re brycge ende? 2. Hêr sind ðâra rîca mearca. 3. Hwâ hæfð þâ glôfa? 4. Ðæ:r bið ðæ:m cyninge frôfre ðearf. 5. Sêo wund is on ðæ:re wylfe hêafde. 6. Wê habbað costnunga. 7. Hîe næ:ron on ðæ:re healle. 8. Ic hit neom. 9. Ðæt wæ:ron Wêalas. 10. Ðæt sind ðæs wîfes bearn.

II. 1. We shall have the women's gloves. 2. Where is the place? 3. He will be in the hall. 4. Those (#Ðæt#) were not the boundaries of the kingdom. 5. It was not I. 6. Ye are not the king's scribes. 7. The shepherd's words are full (#full# + gen.) of wisdom and comfort. 8. Where are the bodies of the children? 9. The gifts are not here. 10. Who has the seals and the birds?