Stem Changers

Verbs with a change from a to ä

The first type of vowel change, a to ä, includes the change from au to äu; one such verb in this category is laufen: er läuft.

Verbs with a change from e to i or ie

The second type of change, however, is a bit more complicated in that the change cannot be predicted based on any criteria; the change simply has to be memorized on a case-by-case basis.

Stem-changing verbs in Old English

How, then, does Old English even fit into the pattern? Old English, unlike Modern English, had these types of verbs and, moreover, the two basic changes found in German are also found in Old English.

a → æ

The "æ" is the vowel sound in "cat" and is similar phonetically to the German ä.

In the following charts only the third person singular present tense form is given to illustrate the vowel change. The second person singular present tense form simply has the ending st in place of the German t or the Old English þ.

¹The form backt, without the stem change, is also possible.

²This form is not recorded anywhere. The form that occurs is hladeþ, strikingly with no vowel change (Mitchell and Robinson 157, footnote 3).

³There is no known cognate in German.

e → i or ie

The second major type of vowel change in Old English is like its German counterpart in that it cannot be predicted but has to be memorized.

⁴The first form is the regular form, with þ absorbed into the preceding t for ease of pronunciation. The second form has also been recorded but is less frequent.

(Old English forms from Mitchell and Robinson 152-158)

Exercises and Activities