As all our Regular Verbs are subject to some kind of Contraction, so the first Class of Irregulars is of those that become so from the same cause.
I.
Irregulars by Contraction.
Some Verbs ending in d or t have the Present, the Past Time, and the Participle Perfect and Passive, all alike, without any variation: as, Beat, burst[27], cast, cost, cut, hit, hurt, knit, let, lift[28], put, read[29], rent, rid, set, shed, shred, shut, slit, spread, thrust, wet[28].
These are Contractions from beated, bursted, casted, &c; because of the disagreeable sound of the syllable ed after d or t[30].
Others in the Past Time, and Participle Perfect and Passive, vary a little from the Present by shortening the diphthong, or changing the d into t: as, Lead, led; sweat, swet; meet, met; bleed, bled; breed, bred; feed, fed; speed, sped; bend, bent[28]; lend, lent; rend, rent; send, sent; spend, spent; build, built[28]; geld, gelt[28]; gild, gilt[28]; gird, girt[28].
Others not ending in d or t are formed by Contraction; have, had, for haved; make, made, for maked; flee, fled, for flee-ed.
The following beside the Contraction change also the Vowel; Sell, sold; tell, told; clothe, clad[28].
Stand, stood; and dare, durst, (which in the Participle hath regularly dared;) are directly from the Saxon, standan, stod; dyrran, dorste.