classes, are sometimes collectively given under the general title 'Irregular Verbs,' which means only that they are not inflected like the New Verbs 'praise' and 'call.' Old Verbs thus given as Irregular' are, moreover, mixed with contracted and other forms of the New Conjugation—such as 'say,''pay,' 'tell,' and 'hear.'

A glance at the Old Verbs in the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 7th classes suffices to show that they cannot be truly described as 'Irregular' in E.I., and, in a later section, we shall see that in M.E. Old Verbs of the classes numbered 1st, 4th, 5th, and 7th still retain a considerable likeness to their original forms in E.I. The forms of E.II. may be generally described as transitional, and, in several verbs, are made perplexing by their great variety; for writers of E.II. maintained, with respect to spelling, unbounded freedom. Signs and abbreviations found in the appended tables have the following

uses:

...

Past (1st

Pr. = Present (1st Person Singular) Indicative. P. = Person S.) Indicative. P.Pl. Past Plural Indicative. P.P. = Perfect Participle. The dash (—) after the Past S. indicates that no vowel-change takes place in the Past Pl. The sign indicates that a verb, or a form, is not found in E.I., or in E.II. For example, the verbs 'fling,' 'thrive,' and 'crow are not found in E.I. The abbreviation etc. indicates that several variations are found in E.II., or that some variation exists in E.I. For the pronunciation of some E.I. letters see § 2. The final short e of the Present (1st Person Singular) may be sounded as e in the word 'mět.'

Old Conjugation, E.I. and E.II.-1st CLASS.

[This verb has still old forms in the Scottish dialect.]

dongen

|ding (=

[ beat)