Re: Strong/weak verbs

Hi!

Scotto Hlad writes:
> I've been thinking long and detailed through my German studies from many
> years ago. Weak German verbs add -te for past tense and ge- + -te for the
> past participle. Strong verbs change by ablaut. I cannot think of any verbs
> which change by ablaut and used the weak verb prefix/postfix. Is there such
> a thing? Would such a pattern exist in any other natlangs?
I checked a list of irregular verbs and found:

Almost regular ones (i.e. no stem change apart form ablaut):

   rennen   rennt    rannte   gerannt    'to run'
   brennen  brennt   brannte  gebrannt   'to burn'
   kennen   kennt    kannte   gekannt    'to know'
   nennen   nennt    nannte   genannt    'to call'
   senden   sendet   sandte   gesandt    'to send'
   wenden   wendete  wandte   gewandt    'to turn'

('senden' and 'wenden' are also used fully regular: sendete, gesendet.
'wenden' is usually regular, 'senden' is usually irregular.)

More irregular ones:

   bringen  bringt   brachte  gebracht   'to bring, to take'
   denken   denkt    dachte   gedacht    'to think'

No -t in pres.ind.act.3.sg, but otherwise past with -te and past
participle with ge-...-t:

   dürfen   darf     durfte   gedurft    'to be allowed to'
   können   kann     konnte   gekonnt    'to be able to'
   mögen    mag      mochte   gemocht    'to like'
   wissen   weiß     wußte    gewußt     'to know'

**Henrik