The strong verbs are those which do not take a dental ending, and which may undergo ablaut in some of the principle parts. In most germanic languages, the strong verb paradigms are gradually being replaced by weak ones, although in Northeadish the opposite seems to be happening, and many weak verbs are becoming strong by assimilation. Classes I - V are really just variations on a single theme; Class VI contains a completely separate ablaut pattern; Class VII verbs have reduplication in the preterite and may or may not contain ablaut.
The first five classes are based on verbs with IE e in the root. In Class I, e is followed by i/j, becomes o in the preterite singular, and becomes Ø (zero) in the preterite plural and past participle; i.e. the four principle parts are: -ei- -oi- -i- -i-. This
translates into proto-germanic as -ei- -ai- -i- -i- and then
northeadish as -ī- -ǣ- -e- -e-.
There is a subgroup of Class I verbs in which the primary vowel is followed by a w or a labiovelar consonant in which the long vowels are shortened due to the Long Diphthong Shortening Before Glides rule, and hence he paradigm becomes leveled out as -e- -æ- -u- -e-.
In Class II, e is followed by u/w, becomes o in the preterite singular, and becomes Ø (zero) in the preterite plural and past participle; i.e. the four principle parts are: -eu- -ou- -u- -u-. This
translates into proto-germanic as -eu- -au- -u- -u- and then
northeadish as -ȳ- -ō- -u- -u-.
There is a subgroup of Class II verbs which contain a w or a
labiovelar consonant and the verb is reinterpreted in the manner of a Class III verb, and hence the paradigm
becomes leveled out as -e- -æ- -u- -e-.
In Class III, e stand alone with a sonorant and a consonant (i.e. e is preceded or followed by a sonorant and is followed by a consonant), becomes o in the preterite singular, and becomes Ø (zero) in the preterite plural and past participle; i.e. the four principal parts are: -e- -o- -Ø- -Ø-. This translates into proto-germanic as -e- -a- -u- -u- and then remains in northeadish as -e- -a- -u- -u-.
In Class IV, e stand alone followed by a single sonorant,
becomes o in the preterite singular, becomes ē in the
preterite plural, and Ø (zero) in the past participle; i.e. the four principal parts are: -e- -o- -ē- -Ø-. This translates
into proto-germanic as -e- -a- -ē- -u- and then remains in northeadish
as -e- -a- -ā- -u-.
In Class V, e stands alone followed by a single obstruent, becomes o in the preterite singular, becomes ē in the preterite plural, and back to e in the past participle; i.e. the four principal parts are: -e- -o- -ē- -e-. This translates
into proto-germanic as -e- -a- -ē- -e- and then remains in northeadish
as -e- -a- -ā- -e-.
Class VI is an entireley different paradigm based on an ablaut of o as the root vowel. It becomes ō (or ā?) in the preterite, and returns to a in the past participle; i.e. the four principal parts are: -o- -ō- -ō- -o- or -o- -ā- -ā- -o-. This translates
into proto-germanic as -a- -ō- -ō- -a- and then remains in northeadish
as -a- -ō- -ō- -a-.
Class VII may or may follow any of the above or other ablaut patterns, or none at all, but is distinguished by the presence of reduplication; that is, the first letter or letters are repeated to form the preterite. Class VII verbs fall mainly into five distinct categories: those with their primary vowel in a, ai, au, ē, and ō. Some of these have subgroups that also undergo ablaut of the primary verb. In northeadish, reduplication eventually disappears, au and ō collapse into one category (via the au-to-ō rule), and all but three of the verbs in a are assimilated into class VI, leaving four distinct groups: (a) -a- -æ- -æ- -a-, (ai) -ǣ- -ī- -ī- -ǣ-, (ē) -ā- -ew- -ew- -ā-, and (au/ō) -ō- -ew- -ew- -ō-. In most germanic languages, the verb gangan developed a long and short form (gangan and gēn), though in northeadish it developed three: gaŋɴ, gāhɴ, and gān. The class VII verbs fanhan (fāhɴ) and hanhan (hāhɴ) then followed the example of gāhɴ by assimilation, held together by the magic of Verner’s Law. All other class VII verbs in a later became weak and/or assimilated into class VI. Please note that the paradigm of gāhɴ (see) contains additional paradigms that are not to be found in fāhɴ or hāhɴ.
Verbs in ai eventually developed the following paradigm:
Verbs in ē, after the ē > ā change, developed the following paradigm:
Finally, verbs in au and ō developed as follows:
The so-called aorist-present verbs may fall into any of the above classes, but contain Ø-grade in the present. Most of these have been assimilated into their respective classes (such as deigʰonom > dØigʰonom > dØigan > dīgɴ, not degɴ); others have become weak. (Compare assimilated brȳcɴ < brØūkan < bʰrØukʰonom < bʰreukʰonom, versus weak brūcɴ.)
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