Ri-verbs
Encyclopedia
Ri-sagnir are four verb
s in the Icelandic language
which have the special status of being the only verbs in the language ending with -ri in the past tense
, as well as being the only verbs in Icelandic which inflect with the mixed conjugation (is) except for the preterite-present verbs.
in the second principal part (first person
singular
past
indicative mood), even though they are pronounced as being spelled with an é
; according to the Icelandic Ministry of Education.
The principal parts of the ri-verbs are as following:
The Dictionary of the University of Iceland and the Icelandic dictionary for schools and offices still mention "snéri" as another orthography of "sneri".
, which was the only class of verbs in Germanic that had retained the reduplication inherited from the Proto-Indo-European
perfect aspect. In Old Norse, the verb sá ("to sow") also belonged to this group, but it has become weak in Icelandic. The past tense of these three verbs from Proto-Germanic was as follows:
Originally, all class 7 verbs showed this reduplication. In most verbs containing -ē- in the stem, this changed to -ō- through ablaut
, which was common to all strong verbs. The change from s- to z- was a form of Grammatischer Wechsel
and was due to Verner's law
, since the reduplicating prefix was originally unaccented. In Old Norse, this -z- was rhotacized to -r-, creating the following Old Norse forms:
The forms with ø were older and resulted from u-umlaut caused by word-final -ō, which became -u in Old Norse before disappearing just as it did in feminine nouns. Following this, the verbs adopted the endings of weak verbs in the past tense, with -a, -ir, -i in the first, second and third person singular past, and later the original vowel e was restored. The verbs gróa and gnúa (núa in modern Icelandic) were adapted to the forms of róa and snúa by analogy, although they did not begin with s- or r- (their past tenses in Germanic were *gegrō and presumably *gegnō).
In modern Icelandic, the first person singular ending was replaced by -i in all weak verbs, and the ri-verbs followed suit. The verb sá then eventually became weak, reducing the number of ri-verbs to the current four.
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s in the Icelandic language
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
which have the special status of being the only verbs in the language ending with -ri in the past tense
Past tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future...
, as well as being the only verbs in Icelandic which inflect with the mixed conjugation (is) except for the preterite-present verbs.
Overview
The verbs are gróa ("to heal, to grow"), núa ("to rub, to wipe"), róa ("to row") and snúa ("to turn"). Another peculiar thing about the ri-verbs is that they are written with an eE
E is the fifth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used letter in the Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Latin, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish languages.-History:...
in the second principal part (first person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
singular
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
past
Past tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future...
indicative mood), even though they are pronounced as being spelled with an é
Icelandic orthography
Icelandic orthography is the way in which Icelandic words are spelt and how their spelling corresponds with their pronunciation.-Function of symbols:...
; according to the Icelandic Ministry of Education.
The principal parts of the ri-verbs are as following:
| First principal part | Second principal part | Third principal part |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive Infinitive In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives... |
First person Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... singular Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions .... past tense Past tense The past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future... indicative mood |
Past participle Participle In linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier... |
| Að snúa ("to turn") | Ég sneri ("I turned") | Ég hef snúið ("I have turned") |
| Að gróa ("to heal") | Ég greri ("I healed") | Ég hef gróið ("I have healed") |
| Að núa ("to rub") | Ég neri ("I rubbed") | Ég hef núið ("I have rubbed") |
| Að róa ("to row") | Ég reri ("I rowed") | Ég hef róið ("I have rowed") |
The Dictionary of the University of Iceland and the Icelandic dictionary for schools and offices still mention "snéri" as another orthography of "sneri".
Origin
Historically, róa and snúa belonged to the seventh class of strong verbsGermanic strong verb
In the Germanic languages, a strong verb is one which marks its past tense by means of ablaut. In English, these are verbs like sing, sang, sung...
, which was the only class of verbs in Germanic that had retained the reduplication inherited from the Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European may refer to:*Proto-Indo-European language, the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages.*Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language....
perfect aspect. In Old Norse, the verb sá ("to sow") also belonged to this group, but it has become weak in Icelandic. The past tense of these three verbs from Proto-Germanic was as follows:
- *rōaną ("to row") - *rerō ("I rowed")
- *snōaną ("to turn") - *seznō ("I turned")
- *sēaną ("to sow") - *sezō ("I sowed")
Originally, all class 7 verbs showed this reduplication. In most verbs containing -ē- in the stem, this changed to -ō- through ablaut
Indo-European ablaut
In linguistics, ablaut is a system of apophony in Proto-Indo-European and its far-reaching consequences in all of the modern Indo-European languages...
, which was common to all strong verbs. The change from s- to z- was a form of Grammatischer Wechsel
Grammatischer Wechsel
In historical linguistics, the German term Grammatischer Wechsel refers to the effects of Verner's law when viewed synchronically within the paradigm of a Germanic verb.-Overview:...
and was due to Verner's law
Verner's law
Verner's law, stated by Karl Verner in 1875, describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language whereby voiceless fricatives *f, *þ, *s, *h, *hʷ, when immediately following an unstressed syllable in the same word, underwent voicing and became respectively the fricatives *b, *d, *z,...
, since the reduplicating prefix was originally unaccented. In Old Norse, this -z- was rhotacized to -r-, creating the following Old Norse forms:
- róa ("to row") - røra, rera ("I rowed")
- snúa ("to turn") - snøra, snera ("I turned")
- sá ("to sow" < *sáa) - søra, sera ("I sowed")
The forms with ø were older and resulted from u-umlaut caused by word-final -ō, which became -u in Old Norse before disappearing just as it did in feminine nouns. Following this, the verbs adopted the endings of weak verbs in the past tense, with -a, -ir, -i in the first, second and third person singular past, and later the original vowel e was restored. The verbs gróa and gnúa (núa in modern Icelandic) were adapted to the forms of róa and snúa by analogy, although they did not begin with s- or r- (their past tenses in Germanic were *gegrō and presumably *gegnō).
In modern Icelandic, the first person singular ending was replaced by -i in all weak verbs, and the ri-verbs followed suit. The verb sá then eventually became weak, reducing the number of ri-verbs to the current four.
External links
- Ri-Sagnir í Íslensku máli ("Ri-verbs in the Icelandic language") an article in the MorgunblaðiðMorgunblaðiðMorgunblaðið is a newspaper published in Iceland, founded by Vilhjálmur Finsen & Olaf Björnsson, brother to the first president. The first issue, only eight pages long, was published on 2 November 1913. Six years later, in 1919, the corporation Árvakur bought out the company...
from the year 1990 - Ri-Sagnir í Íslensku máli ("Ri-verbs in the Icelandic language") an article in the MorgunblaðiðMorgunblaðiðMorgunblaðið is a newspaper published in Iceland, founded by Vilhjálmur Finsen & Olaf Björnsson, brother to the first president. The first issue, only eight pages long, was published on 2 November 1913. Six years later, in 1919, the corporation Árvakur bought out the company...
from the year 1990