2. That, with the exception of run and burst, the vowel of the present tense is either the i or e.
3. That i short changes into a for the singular, and into u for the plural forms.
4. That e changes into o in the singular forms; these being the only ones preserved.
5. That the i in bind, &c., changes into ou in the plural forms; the only ones current.
6. That the vowel before m or n is, with the single exception of run, always i.
7. That the vowel before l and r is, with the single exception of burst, always e.
8. That, where the i is sounded as in bind, the combination following is -nd.
9. That ng being considered as a modification of k (the Norse and Mœso-Gothic forms being drecka and drikjan), it may be stated that i short, in the twelfth class, precedes either a liquid or a mute of series k.
From these observations, even on the English forms only, we find thus much regularity; and from these observations, even on the English forms only, we may lay down a rule like the following: viz. that i or u, short, before the consonants m, n,
or ck, is changed into a for the singular, and into u for the plural forms; that i long, or diphthongal, becomes ou; that e before l becomes o; and that u before r remains unchanged.