Christa Lajoi wrote:

>i just joined up too... havent really gotten down to studying yet but im a
>pretty quick learner. thanks for making this class up! i tried reading "An
>Introduction to Old Norse" and got bogged down fast. i'll do better with
>this, it being so much more interactive.
>
>-'ta

Not bad!
Don't worry if you got "bogged down". It seems we all do.
Very few people learn linerarly. Personally, I pretty soon end
up reading the last chapter first, and have a great time!

Concerning dativ verbs: here are some remarks -- and perhaps a question:

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We learned that some verbs take the dativ,
and that these verbs usually express some kind of motion.
Hence the rule: If a verb expresses a motion of some kind,
it might be a dativ verb.

The example we had run into, was the weak werb "kasta" (=to throw [something]).
We found out that this verb belongs to the group of verbs that
follow the so-called "o-conjugation". This designation means
that in "urnordisk" (= the language that preceded Old Norse),
the verbs belonging to this particular class of weak verbs
used to have infinitive forms ending in -o. But in the transition
to Old Norse this -o ending changed to an -a ending. Thus we
have ON kasta, but Urnordisk kaston. (I am just putting
this in as a side remark, since it is a good idea always to know
what class a verb that is being discussed, belongs to.) Another
important verb that belongs to the o-conjugation, is kalla (=to call).

What we learned then, was the following example (thank you Oskar):

Ek kasta steininum - I throw the stone
Þú kastar steininum - You throw the stone
Hann kastar steininum - He throws the stone
etc for vér, þér, þeir (=we, you, they)

Here you can see that the noun steinn Has been put in the dativ,
because it says stein-i. And the -i ending is a usually a sure
sign of dativ.

In contrast, I think the following sentence is correct German:

Ich werfe den stein
Du werfst den stein
Er werft den stein
etc

Note that the definite article "den" here indicates that it is the accusative
that has been used. Hence we can say that although "to throw" rules the dativ
in Old Norse, in German it rules the accusative.

Any way, the key idea is that verbs that express motion
rule the dativ case in Old Norse.

Kasta ekki á brottu þessum lykli!

As you see, I have here (hopefully correctly) put "the key"
in the dativ case, which can be easily spotted due to the characteristic
-i ending. Furthermore, the pronoun "this" (=þessi) has been put in
the masculine dativ form as "þessum". "Kasta" is then the 2nd singular
imperative. (don't throw! i.e. you mustn't throw, said as a command)

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I'll now proceed to the next example: ausa.
This verb means "to scoop" or "to bail" or something like that.
I was struck by the example "ausa barn vatni"(=to pour water over a child,
the heathen analogue of baptism). Here "water" (vatni < vatn n.) is
clearly an example of dativ (note the -i ending). Hence I conclude that
ausa is another verb that rules the dativ. When you think about it, it is
not so strange either; for moving water from one place to another is
clearly an example of motion. Also note that it is possible to substitute
ausa --> kasta: Aus ekki vatni á mik --> Kasta ekki vatni á mik!


I don't know what kind of dictionary everyone is using,
but in my dictionary the code e-u has been added after the reference
to ausa. If you are not used to it, this code may seem rather
cryptic. But once you recognize it as the dativ marker, it
is rather useful. "e-u" is an abbreviation that is used for
the ON word "einhverju" and which is used in many dictionaries
as a dativ marker for objects (i.e. not for persons).
That is the neuter singular dativ of "einhverr", where the
neuter is used for objects or things ("it"). I suppose the
meaning of einnhverr must be rendered in English as somebody
or something. But it seems that the male forms are used for persons
and the neuter forms for things (a thing as an "it" = the typical
neuter, also in English). Perhaps Haukur or Oskar will write
a concise summary and give some further examples.

Personally, I have one more example: "ausa skip upp" (= to scoop
[the water] out [of a] ship). Here skip (n.) is in the accusative
case. That is logical, for it is the water that is being moved
and not the ship. Perhaps the sentence "Ek eys vatni ór skipi"
would be a correct example of the insertion of the word "water"
into the foregoing sentence. Since it is the water that is being
moved out of the ship, water ought to be rendered in the dativ case,
hence "vatni". Also "ór" is a preposition that also rules the dativ
case, hence "skipi".

Finally, what kind of a verb is ausa? The answer is that it
is a strong verb (kasta and kalla were examples of weak verbs),
of a special kind called "reduplication verbs". This is (at
least to me) a seemingly difficult concept, and I recall being
rather impressed by those students who effortlessly conversed
about reduplication verbs as if it was the most natural thing
on earth! Well, I guess we shouldn't go into that now. Let me
only mention that if I say "smuref!" it means "I smurfed you
now!" But if I say "smurfsmurf", then that is an example of
reduplication, but only God knows what it means!

Best regards
Keth