현대영어동사 변화의 통시적 관찰

Abstract

Some strong verbs still become weak verbs in Modern EnglishCho, Doo SangThis paper tries to find out whether the tendency for strong verb to have become weak in Old and Middle English still continues in Modern English or not.Through out the history of the English verbs, many strong verbs had become weak verbs such as help, fold, which were originally strong verbs in Old English. This tendency of strong verbs becoming weak verbs was at its height by the fourteenth century in Middle English. After this period, the movement had been slow down in some reasons. Fewer change had continued in subsequent periods.The examined 129 verbs chosen from the irregular verb list of English Dictionary in this paper have double or variant forms of past tense and past participle. It seems to me that these verbs are changing to strong verbs or weak verbs.The results of having examined the chosen verbs are as follow.These double or variant forms of past and past participle of irregular verbs were produced partly by the effects of analogy of other verbs and some were derived from past participles.It is found out that there is also the tendency for the weak verb to become strong in Modern English but the number of the strong verb becoming weak is more than that of the weak verb becoming strong.Thus the tendency for strong verb becoming weak continues in Modern English.