Re: [tied] Re: English 2s. -t (was: Slavic *-os (*-om))

At 6:10:40 AM on Friday, July 9, 2004, tgpedersen wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
> <richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

>> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen"
>> <tgpedersen@...> wrote:

>>> ... and the '-t' of Englsh 2nd sg. 'art', 'wast',
>>> 'wert', which are supposed to be documented late in the
>>> history of that language (thus coming from 'below'?).

>> 'Late' = when? All the preterite-presents in my Old
>> English grammar have -t or -st for the 2s.

> Unfortunately I forgot again where I read that (Skeat?).
> BTW 'art', 'wast', 'wert' are not preterite-presents, and
> 'art' were never even a preterite.

But <art> goes back to OE <eart>; that <-t> is ancient.
It's only <wast> and <wert> that are ME (or later)
innovations. Mossé says that <wast> is East Midlands ME; it
appears to be modelled on the preterite-presents. <Wert> is
later, I believe.

Brian