From: Rick McCallister
Message: 52201
Date: 2008-02-03
> On 2008-02-03 01:52, Rick McCallister wrote:____________________________________________________________________________________
>
> > bring, brang, brung
> > How did it arise?
>
> The analogical attraction of a particularly robust
> subtype of strong
> verb. OE had at least the following Class IIIa
> STRONG verbs (in this
> case "strong" is no misnomer!):
>
> <clingan>, <cringan> 'yield', <gringan> 'sink down',
> <singan>,
> <slingan>, <springan>, <stingan>, <swingan>,
> <twingan> 'press', <þingan>
> 'determine', <þringan> 'crowd', <wringan>
>
> (not to mention the similar series of <drincan>,
> <stincan>, etc.).
>
> On the other hand, there were just two weak verbs
> with /C(C)ing-/ roots,
> <bringan/bro:hte> and <hringan/hringde> (at least I
> can't recall any
> other examples). <hringan> (later <ringen>) shows
> analogical "strong"
> forms (rang ~ rong/i-rungen) already in Early Middle
> English; the older
> dental preterite was no longer used in Late ME and
> ring/rang/rung
> paradigm became solidly established. Only <bring>
> was then left as the
> solitary odd man out, so little wonder that in
> Modern English times
> there have been attempts to press it into the
> sing/sang/sung pattern. As
> new speakers learn how to conjugate the "-ing
> verbs", they are likely to
> overgeneralise in favour of the majority pattern.
>
> Piotr
>
>