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Grammar

21 Distributive and Negative Pronouns and Adjectives

21.1 Distributives

As already mentioned, the pronoun hverj- in the sense 'which (of many)' is distinct from hvár- 'which of two'. hverj- declines as in Section 18.2, while hvár- follows the normal declension of regular strong adjectives, e.g. masc. N sg. hvárr, pl. hvárir; fem. N sg. hvár, pl. hvárar; neut. N sg. hvárt, pl. hvár.

hvár(r)tveggja 'each of two' is clearly a collocation involving hvár- mentioned above and tveggja, G pl. of tveir 'two'. As such, the first element is always declined like hvárr. The second element is usually left unchanged, but sometimes takes the endings of the feminine weak adjective.

hverj- 'each, every' is declined like a regular strong adjective, except for the contracted masc. A sg. hvern. Thus masc. N sg. hverr, pl. hverir; fem. N sg. hver, pl. hverjar; neut. N sg. hvert, pl. hver.

báð- 'both' occurs only in the plural. Note the peculiar neuter forms, and the G pl. form, in the following paradigm.

		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
N Pl.		báðir		báðar		bæði
A		báða		báðar		bæði
G		beggja		beggja		beggja
D		báðum		báðum		báðum

21.2 Negatives

Old Norse has a number of negative pronouns and adjectives, many of which are compounds of an indefinite pronoun or adjective with some particle or word conveying negative force. Only two are particularly common, nein- and engi-, and of these engi- is by far the most prevalent.

nein- 'none, not any' is declined like ein-, so that all of its forms follow the regular strong adjective declension, except the neut. N and A sg. forms neitt (instead of *neint). It also has plural forms which follow regular strong adjective declension.

engi- 'no, none' is a combination of ein 'one' and the particle gi. The coalescence of the two leads to several irregular forms.

		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
N Sg.		engi		engi		ekki
A		engan, engi		enga		ekki
G		einskis, engis		engrar		einskis, engis
D		engum		engri		engu
N Pl.		engir		engar		engi
A		enga		engar		engi
G		engra		engra		engra
D		engum		engum		engum

Other less common forms have the stem eing- or øng-. Sometimes -v- is present before endings beginning with an a, e.g. fem. N / A pl. øngvar, engvar; and before the masc. N pl. ending -ir, e.g. øngvir, engvir.

22 Numerals

22.1 Cardinals and Ordinals

Below is a list of the cardinal and ordinal numerals in Old Norse.

Number		Cardinal		Ordinal
1		einn		fyrstr
2		tveir		annarr
3		þrír		þriði
4		fjórir		fjórði
5		fimm		fimmti
6		sex		sétti
7		sjau		sjaundi
8		átta		átti, áttandi
9		níu		níundi
10		tíu		tíundi
11		ellifu		ellifti
12		tólf		tólfti
13		þrettán		þrettándi
14		fjórtán		fjórtándi
15		fimmtán		fimmtándi
16		sextán		sextándi
17		sjaután		sjautándi
18		átján		átjándi
19		nítján		nítjándi
20		tuttugu		tuttugandi
21		tuttugu ok einn		tuttugandi ok fyrstr
		einn ok tuttugu		fyrstr ok tuttugandi
22		tuttugu ok tveir		tuttugandi ok annarr
30		þrír tigir		þrítugandi
31		þrír tigir ok einn		þrítugandi ok fyrstr
40		fjórir tigir		fertugandi
50		fimm tigir		fimmtugandi
60		sex tigir		sextugandi
70		sjau tigir		sjautugandi
80		átta tigir		áttatugandi
90		níu tigir		nítugandi
100		tíu tigir		(títugandi)
110		ellifu tigir		(ellifutugandi)
120		hundrað		(hundraðasti)
200		hundrað ok átta tigir		(hundraðasti ok áttatugandi)
240		tvau hundrað
960		átta hundrað
1200		þúsund		(þúsandasti)

The ordinals in parentheses are not recorded in ON texts. The forms given are supplied from Modern Icelandic. The ending -andi is often written -undi in ON texts.

Although the above list shows the most common usage, hundrað and þúsund are occasionally used as in Modern English, i.e. hundrað = 100 and þúsand = 1000. One must determine from context which meaning is intended. Often the exact numerical value of such large numbers was rather unimportant to the writer or speaker.

The form tigir which appears in the cardinal decades is the nominative plural of the masculine noun tigr 'group of ten, decade' (also written tegr, tugr, tøgr, stem tig-u-). hundrað is a neuter noun, þúsund feminine.

22.2 Numeral Declension

The cardinal numbers one through four are declined as adjectives, agreeing with the modified noun in gender, number, and case. ein- occurs in the singular and plural. In the plural the meaning is akin to 'only, alone'. The cardinals 2, 3, 4 occur only in the plural. The declensions are given below.

ein- 'one'		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
N Sg.		einn		ein		eitt
A		einn		eina		eitt
G		eins		einnar		eins
D		einum		einni		einu
N Pl.		einir		einar		ein
A		eina		einar		ein
G		einna		einna		einna
D		einum		einum		einum

tveir 'two'		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
N Pl.		tveir		tvær		tvau
A		tvá		tvær		tvau
G		tveggja		tveggja		tveggja
D		tveim(r)		tveim(r)		tveim(r)

þrí- 'three'		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
N Pl.		þrír		þrjár		þrjú
A		þrjá		þrjár		þrjú
G		þriggja		þriggja		þriggja
D		þrim(r)		þrim(r)		þrim(r)

fjór- 'four'		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
N Pl.		fjórir		fjórar		fjǫgur
A		fjóra		fjórar		fjǫgur
G		fjǫgurra		fjǫgurra		fjǫgurra
D		fjórum		fjórum		fjórum

The cardinal numbers 5 through 20 are uninflected. As mentioned in the preceding section, tigr is declined as a strong masculine noun, hundrað as a strong neuter, and þúsund as a strong feminine.

The ordinal numbers one through four are also declined as adjectives. fyrst- 'first' declines as both strong and weak adjective, all genders, singular and plural. For example, masc. N sg. fyrsti (weak), fyrstr (strong); masc. N pl. fyrstu (weak), fyrstir (strong). The cardinal annar- 'second' is declined exactly as the pronoun 'other'. þriðj- 'third' is only declined as a weak adjective. For example, N sg. masc. þriði, fem./neut. þriðja; N pl. all genders þriðju. fjórð- 'fourth' is also declined only as a weak adjective: N sg. masc. fjórði, fem./neut. fjórða; N pl. all genders fjórðu.

The remaining ordinals, such as fimmti, sétti, ..., tuttugandi, ..., all declined as weak adjectives, matching the referent in gender, case, and number.

23 The First Strong Conjugation

Each strong verb conjugation in ON is characterized by a specific ablaut pattern, which is the remnant of historical sound changes that affected a group of verbs in a similar fashion. The first strong conjugation is characterized by the following pattern:

		í -- ei -- i,e from Proto-Germanic ī -- ai -- i.

The first vowel is characteristic of present forms, the second of past singular forms, the third of past plural forms. These vowels are subject to further change depending on the environment in which they occur within the verbal paradigm (see Lesson 1 for a more detailed discussion of ablaut and the principal parts of strong verbs).

Verbs of Class I whose stem ends with g sometimes show variant forms for the 1st and 3rd person singular of the past tense. The g often drops and the vowel changes, e.g. stíga 'step' gives steig or sté, hníga 'fall' gives either hneig or hné. The verb bíða 'abide' has past participle beðinn instead of the expected biðinn.

The verb bíta 'bite', with prinicpal parts bíta -- bítr -- beit -- bitu -- biti -- bitinn, serves to illustrate the forms of the first conjugation. The active forms are as follows.

Class I		Indicative		Subjunctive		Imperative
Present
1 Sg.		bít		bíta
2		bítr		bítir		bít
3		bítr		bíti
1 Pl.		bítum		bítim		bítum
2		bítið		bítið		bítið
3		bíta		bíti
Past
1 Sg.		beit		bita
2		beizt		bitir
3		beit		biti
1 Pl.		bitum		bitim
2		bituð		bitið
3		bitu		biti
Infinitive		bíta
Pres. Ptc.		bítandi
Past Ptc.		bitinn

The middle forms are listed below.

Class I		Indicative		Subjunctive		Imperative
Present
1 Sg.		bítumk		bítumk
2		bízk		bítisk		bízk
3		bízk		bítisk
1 Pl.		bítumsk		bítimsk		bítumsk
2		bítizk		bítizk		bítizk
3		bítask		bítisk
Past
1 Sg.		bitumk		bitumk
2		beizk		bitisk
3		beizk		bitisk
1 Pl.		bitumsk		bitimsk
2		bituzk		bitizk
3		bitusk		bitisk
Infinitive		bítask
Pres. Ptc.		bítandisk
Past Ptc.		bitizk

Note the appearance of the form beizt. In general, strong verbs with stems ending in -t take the second person singular active ending -st rather than the simple -t. The resulting combination -t-st simplifies to -zt.

24 The Second Strong Conjugation

The second strong conjugation comprises verbs whose present system often shows the diphthong jú. The ablaut series is as follows.

		jú, jó -- au -- u, o; ú from Proto-Germanic eu -- au -- u, ū.

When the consonant following the root vowel is a dental (ð, d, s, t), jú is realized as jó. For example, brjóta 'break', ljósta 'smite', skjóta 'shoot', bjóða 'offer', þrjóta 'come to an end', kjósa 'choose'. As with all strong verbs, the root vowel is fronted in the present tense singular; for Class II verbs in particular, this means jú, jó becomes ý.

As in Class I, stem-final g may be dropped in verbs of Class II. For example, fljúga 'fly', with stem fljúg- has alternate stems fló- and flaug- in the past tense singular. Similarly, smjúg- 'creep' has smó- and smaug-. Thus ek fló or ek flaug, þú flótt or þú flaugt. The alternation apparently arises from stem variation at an earlier period, in which the final consonant was h in past singular. A similar alternation between the phonemes /s/ and /z/ led to variant forms in verbs ending in sibilants. For example frjósa 'freeze', with stem frjús-, has the variant stem frør- in the past singular; similarly kjósa 'choose' (stem kjús-) has variant kór-.

Three verbs of Class II -- lúka 'finish', súpa 'sip', lúta 'bow' -- show no j in the present system.

The verb skjóta 'shoot', with principal parts skjóta -- skýtr -- skaut -- skutu -- skyti -- skotinn, illustrates the conjugation. The active forms are as follows.

Class II		Indicative		Subjunctive		Imperative
Present
1 Sg.		skýt		skjóta
2		skýtr		skjótir		skjót
3		skýtr		skjóti
1 Pl.		skjótum		skjótim		skjótum
2		skjótið		skjótið		skjótið
3		skjóta		skjóti
Past
1 Sg.		skaut		skyta
2		skauzt		skytir
3		skaut		skyti
1 Pl.		skutum		skytim
2		skutuð		skytið
3		skutu		skyti
Infinitive		skjóta
Pres. Ptc.		skjótandi
Past Ptc.		skotinn

The middle forms are listed below.

Class II		Indicative		Subjunctive		Imperative
Present
1 Sg.		skýtumk		skjótumk
2		skýzk		skjótisk		skjózk
3		skýzk		skjótisk
1 Pl.		skjótumsk		skjótimsk		skjótumsk
2		skjótizk		skjótizk		skjótizk
3		skjótask		skjótisk
Past
1 Sg.		skutumk		skytumk
2		skauzk		skytisk
3		skauzk		skytisk
1 Pl.		skutumsk		skytimsk
2		skutuzk		skytizk
3		skutusk		skytisk
Infinitive		skjótask
Pres. Ptc.		skjótandisk
Past Ptc.		skotizk

Note again the ending -st in the second person singular active and the accompanying sound change resulting in -zt.

25 Adverbs

25.1 General

Old Norse employs a few different mechanisms for deriving adverbs. The most common are listed below.

Neuter accusative singular. The neuter accusative singular of adjectives is used in an adverbial role. For example, mikit 'much, greatly'; lágt 'low, softly'; sárt 'sorely'; allt 'all the way'; hátt 'loudly, out loud'.

Suffix -a. The suffix -a is used to form adverbs from adjectives, e.g. illa 'badly'. This is commonly used with adjectives derived by means of the suffix -lig-, e.g. ferliga 'hideously', harðliga 'fiercely', varliga 'scarcely'. Such forms are often shortened, e.g. harðla, varla.

Other cases. Other cases of nouns and adjectives are occasionally used in an adverbial sense.

• Accusative: megin 'side(s)' < vegr 'way';
• Genitive: alls 'of all, at all'; stundar 'very, quite';
• Dative: miklu 'much, by far'; stórum 'hugely'; næstum 'the last time'; stundum 'sometimes'.

25.2 Negation and Affirmation

Adverbs corresponding to Modern English yes and no are ON já and nei. The intensive particle -gi often forms a negative, e.g. eigi 'not'; engi 'no, not any'; hvergi 'nowhere, not at all'; aldri 'never' < aldregi. eigi and ekki correspond to Modern English 'not' used with verbs. Poetry frequently employs -a, -at, and -gi as enclitic negative suffixes, e.g. vas-k-a = var ek -a 'I was not'. né is occasionally used in conjunction with these enclitics: sofa né má-k-at 'I cannot sleep'.

25.3 Local

A few suffixes are used to denote specific types or directions of motion. These are listed below.

Suffix -i. Used to denote stationary location. Thus inn 'into' vs. inni 'inside, within'.

Suffix -an. Used to denote motion from a place. Thus innan 'from within'.

Suffix -gat. Used to denote motion toward a place, e.g. hingat 'to here' < hinn veg at, þangat 'to there'.

Suffix -nig. Used to denote motion toward a place, e.g. hinnig 'to here'.

The adverb fyrir 'before, in front' is commonly used in the following type of construction:

		fyrir + (adv.)-an + acc. 'off, along, near', e.g. fyrir austan land 'along the east coast'.

Adverbs such as austan are often used with the genitive to denote 'east of', and the like.

25.4 Comparison

Comparative and superlative adverbs are often formed in a regular way from the corresponding adjectives. The neuter accusative may be used, so that optar and optast are comparative and superlative of opt 'often'. The suffix -a is also common, so that hvassara and hvassast are comparative and superlative of hvast 'keenly'. The procedure also applies to adjectives employing the comparative suffix -r and superlative -st, with fronting of the root vowel: langt/lengi 'long', comp. lengr(a), sup. lengst. As with adjectives, some adverbs have a suppletive system of comparison. The most common forms are listed below.

Positive		Comparative		Superlative
lítt 'little'		minnr, miðr		minst
mjǫk 'much'		meir(r)		mest
vel 'well'		betr		bezt
illa 'badly'		verr		verst
gjarna 'willingly'		heldr		helzt

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