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STRONG VERBS CLASS V

The strong verbs of the 5th class have the stem vowel /e/ (which is not i-umlauted). In the preterite tense it changes into /a/ in the singular and /á/ in the plural, just like the 4th class verbs, but in the perfect participle it's /e/ in stead of /u/ or /o/.
infinitivepreteriteperfect
participle
sing.plur.
drepadrapdrápumdrepinn

like drepa:
· drepa 'kill'


These verbs originally had a single consonant that wasn't nasal or liquid after the vowel. The present tense /e/ remained unchanged, the /o/ of the singular PIE perfect turned into /a/ and the /e:/ of the plural PIE perfect into an /a:/, just like the class 4 verbs, that is. But since there was no consonant that could be syllabic in the zero grade, the perfect participle has the e-grade.
For the origin of the inflexional endings, see the "strong endings" page.

© Peter Pettersson