So also: awake (pt. s. also awaked), bake, drawe (pt. s. drow), fare, forsake, gnawe (pt. s. gnow), grave, laughe (pt. s. lough), shape, shave, stande (pt. s. stood, pp. stonden), stapen (pp. stapen in MS. E., which is more correct than stopen in other MSS.), take, wake, wasshe (pt. s. wessh, wissh), waxe (pt. s. wex, pp. woxen instead of waxen). Here also belong heve (pt. s. heef, haf); sleen or slee, slay (pt. s. slow, slough, pp. slawe, slayn); swere (pt. s. swoor, pp. sworen, sworn). Also quake, originally a weak verb, of which Chaucer has the pt. s. quóók. Conversely, the pt. s. of fare is weak, viz. ferde.
7. Infin. fallen; Pt. s. fel (also fil); Pt. pl. fellen (also fillen); Pp. fallen. This conjugation originally made the pt. t. by
duplication, and the root-vowel varies. But the vowel of the pp. agrees with that of the infinitive, and the vowel of the pt. t. is the same in the singular and plural. Here belong biholde, pt. s. bihēld; holde, pt. s. heeld; honge, hange, pt. s. heeng, heng; bete, pt. s. beet; hewe; lete, late, pt. s. leet, pp. leten, laten; slepe, pt. s. sleep; blowe, pt. s. blew; crowe, pt. s. crew; growe, pt. s. grew; knowe, pt. s. knew; sowe; throwe, pt. s. threw; lepe (laepə, lèèpə), pt. s. leep (léép); wepe (wéépə), pt. s. weep (wéép).
Besides holde, biholde, we also find the curious infinitives helde, behelde.
Here belongs hote, to command, promise, pt. s. heet, hight (from A.S. hēht), pp. hoten. Closely connected with this is the form hatte (A.S. hātte, Gothic haitada), with the passive sense 'is named,' or 'is called'; variant forms being hette, highte, the latter due to some confusion with the strong pt. s. hight, mentioned above. Hence hatte, hette, highte were also used with the past sense 'was named' or 'was called.' In Chaucer's time these forms and senses were much confused, so that we actually find hight with the sense 'was named'; and conversely, highte with the sense 'promised.' And further, we find the pp. hoten with the sense 'called,' and the pp. hight with the sense 'promised.' See, in the Glossary, Hote, Bihote, Bihete, Bihighte.
Here also belongs goon, gon, go, to go; pp. goon, gon. The pt. t. is supplied by wente or yede.
[§ 91]. Formation of Weak Verbs.
In the case of weak verbs, which include a large number of verbs of Anglo-French origin, much depends upon the form and even upon the length of the stem. The standard suffix for the pt. t. is -de, and for the pp., -d; but this necessarily becomes -te (pp. -t) after a voiceless consonant and in some other cases, especially after l and gh. A third variety of form is caused by the frequent occurrence of -e- before the final -de or -d, due, usually, to the form of the infinitive mood; and, in long words especially, the form -ede is frequently reduced to -ed. This short explanation applies, practically, to all weak verbs.
Infinitives in -ien, -ie. The A.S. infin. in -ian became -ien, -ie in M.E., and was frequently reduced to -e. Ex. A.S. lufian, later lovien; in Chaucer only loven, love, though a trace of the i remains in the derived word lovyere, A 80. These are the verbs
which make the pt. t. in -e-de, the -e- being due to the formative suffix -i-, which is actually preserved in the pp. ber-i-ed, her-i-ed[[69]]. Hence Chaucer uses the pt. t. dwell-ed, short for dwell-e-de; but he also uses the syncopated form dwel-te, where d has become t after l. We can only understand these weak verbs by help of the etymology, so that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon the subject.