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the Verbs fignifying; except in be or been, which is ufed to denote being or fuffering, i, e. to be done.

WE

CHA P. XIV.

Of the Irregular VERBS.

E fhall now give you an Account of the Irregular Verbs of our Tongue: Where are two things to be taken notice of.

Q. Wherein does the Irregularity of the English Verbs confift?

A. 1. The Irregularity relates only to the Formation of the Preter Tenfe and the Palive Participle. For in our Irregular Verbs, we have nothing clfe Irregular.

2. This Irregularity does not relate to foreign Words, but only to the Native Words of our Tongue.

By foreign Words, I mean thofe that we have borrowed from the Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, or Welch, of which there are a great number: But I call thofe native Words, which take their Origi. nal from the old Teutonick or Saxon Language; all which are Words of one Syllable, or derived from Verbs of one Syllable.

The first Irregularity, and that which is the most general, took its rife from our Quickness of Pronunciation, by changing the Contonant d into t, (the Vowel e in the regular Ending ed, being cut off) that the Pronunciation might be made more eafy and free. And it feems indeed to be rather a Contraction than an Irregularity.

For c, ch, Jh, f, k, p, x, and the Confonants J, th, pronounced hard, and fometimes l, m, n, r, (when a thort Vowel goes before) more cafily

F 2

take

taket after them than d. As plac't for plac'd or placed, fnatch't for fnatch'd or fnatched, fi't for fifb'd or filled, flufft for fluff'd or stuffed, clapt for clap'd or clapped, mixt for mix'd or mixed, wak't for wak'd or waked, dwelt for dwell'd or dwelled, fmel't for fmell'd or finelled, from the Verbs, to place, to fnatch, &c.

But fometimes when a long Vowel goes before, it is either fhortened, or changed into a fhort cne, for the fake of quicker Pronunciation; as kept, flept, wept, crept, fwept, lept, from the Verbs to keep, to fleep, to weep, to creep, to sweep, to leap.

But d remains after the Confonants b, g, , w, z, and f, th, when they are foftly pronounced; and d likewife remains after l, m, n, r, when a long Vowel goes before; for they more eafily unite and join together with d than with t, by reafon of the like Direction of the Breath to the Noftrils. So, liv'd, fmil'd, raz'd, believ'd, from live, finile, raze, believe.

Except when the long Vowel is fhortened before l, m, n, r; or when b and v are changed into por f, and the fofter Sound of the Letters f, th, paffes into their harder Sound: As, felt from feel, dealt from deal, dreamt from dream, meant from mean, left from leave, bereft from bereave, &c.

But in fome Words whofe prefent Tenfe ends in dort, the Preter Tenfe is the fame as the Prefent Tense; as in the Prefent read, Preter read; in the Prefent caft, fo in the Preter caft: But it is very probable they are Contractions of ed, and fhould be writ with a double dd or tt.

Verbs ending in y, either take a d with an Apoftrophe; as, marry, marry'd, or elfe change y into ied; as married, tarried, carried, &c.

There is another common Irregularity, but which relates only to the Paffive Participle; for

the

the Paffive Participle was formerly often formed in en, in Imitation of the Saxons: And we have a great many of this fort, efpecially when the Preter Time fuffers any remarkable Irregularity. But this Ending may be reckoned as another Formation of the Participle; as, been, given, taken, flay'n, know'n, from the Verbs to be, to give, to take, to flay, to know.

We do alfo ufe, written, bitten, eaten, beaten, hotten, rotten, chofen, broken, as well as writ, bit, eat, beat, hot, rot, chofe, broke, &c. in the Paffive Participle, though not in the Preter Teufe; from the Verbs, to write, to bite, to eat, to beat, &c. For Example, we fay, I eat, but not I eaten, but we fay, I have eaten, or eat.

So likewife we fay, fow'n or fow'd, fewn or fhew'd, hew'n or hew'd, mow'n or mow'd, loaden or loaded, laden or laded, from the Verbs to fow, to fhew, to her, to mow, to load or lade.

But the Irregularities of the Verbs will beft appear, if we put them alphabetically; first thofe that alter the Prefent Tenfe, the Paffive Participle being the fame with it; and then thofe that have a Paffive Participle different from the Preter Tenfe.

Thofe that have this Mark (*) before them, are not proper or ufual.

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TABLE I.

Pref. Tenfe. Pret. Tenfe | Pref. Tenfe Pret. Tenfe

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Gird

and Partic. Girt and

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+ And did dare, when net is added; as, He did not

dare.

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