verbs: WEAK CLASS 2

verbs: WEAK CLASS 2

The weak verbs of the 2nd class form their preterite and perfect forms with the dental suffix -ð-, which has the variants -t- and -d-, depending on the phonological surroundings. The present tense forms are all i-umlauted, the preterite tense forms are not.
The endings have no vowel in the singular present tense, and therefore they look like the strong endings. All endings beginning with an /a/ or /u/ are preceeded by a /j/. indicative subjunctive/ optative
sing. 1 spyr- 1 spyr-ja
2 spyr-r 2 spyr-ir
3 spyr-r 3 spyr-i

plur. 1 spyr-jum 1 spyr-im
2 spyr-ið 2 spyr-ið
3 spyr-ja 3 spyr-i

indicative subjunctive/ optative
with -ð-: with -t-:
· hyggja 'think' ; perf. part. hugat
· skilja 'understand'
· spyrja 'ask; find out'
· setta 'place' ; i-umlaut in pret.! - setti

with -d-:
· ryðja 'clear land' ; (pret. ruddi)
· selja 'sell' ; i-umlaut in pret.! - seldi
· vilja 'want' ; perf. part. viljat

sing. 1 spurð-a 1 spurð-a
2 spurð-ir 2 spurð-ir
3 spurð-i 3 spurð-i

plur. 1 spurð-um 1 spurð-im
2 spurð-uð 2 spurð-ið
3 spurð-u 3 spurð-i

The present participle is inflected like an adjective in the comparative grade; the perfect participle like a regular adjective.

present participle perfect participle
spyrjandi spurðr

The verbs of this class are (like those of class 3) either denominative or causative. The denominatives are derived from a- and ô-stem nouns and adjectives using the suffix -je/jo- (hygg-ja 'think' < hug-jan derived from hugr 'mind' < hug-az); the causatives from strong verbs using the suffix -eie/eio- (set-ja 'put' < sat-jan < sod-eio-nom derived from sit-ja 'sit' < sit-jan < sed-jo-nom).