The unchanged stem of the present indicative may always be found by dropping -an of the infinitive: feall-an, to fall; cēos-an, to choose; bīd-an, to abide.
[57.]
The personal endings are:
| Sing. 1. | -e | Plur. 1. |  | -að | |
| 2. | -est | 2. | |||
| 3. | -eð | 3. |
i-Umlaut.
[58.]
The 2d and 3d singular endings were originally not -est and -eð, but -is and -ið; and the i of these older endings has left its traces upon almost every page of Early West Saxon literature. This i, though unaccented and soon displaced, exerted a powerful back influence upon the vowel of the preceding accented syllable. This influence, a form of regressive assimilation, is known as i-umlaut (pronounced oóm-lowt). The vowel i or j (= y), being itself a palatal, succeeded in palatalizing every guttural vowel that preceded it, and in imposing still more of the i-quality upon diphthongs that were already palatal.[1] The changes produced were these:
| a | became | ę (æ): | męnn (< *mann-iz), men. |
| ā | “ | ǣ | ǣnig (< *ān-ig), any. |
| u | “ | y | wyllen (< *wull-in), woollen. |
| ū | “ | ȳ | mȳs (< *mūs-iz), mice. |
| o | “ | ę | dęhter (< *dohtr-i), to or for the daughter. |
| ō | “ | ē | fēt (< *fōt-iz), feet. |
| ea | “ | ie | wiexð (< *weax-ið), he grows (weaxan = to grow). |
| ēa | “ | īe | hīewð (< *hēaw-ið), he hews (hēawan = to hew). |
| eo | “ | ie | wiercan (< *weorc-jan), to work. |
| ēo | “ | īe | līehtan (< *lēoht-jan), to light. |