1. Skal Skulu Skulum. 2. Skalt Skuluts Skuluþ. 3. Skall Skuluts Skulun. _Icelandic._ _Singular._ _Plural._ 1. Skall Skulum. 2. Skalt Skuluð. 3. Skal Skulu. § 287. _Thou spakest_, _thou brakest_, _thou sungest_.[53]-- In these forms there is a slight though natural anomaly. They belong to the class of verbs which form their præterite by changing the vowel of the present; as _sing_, _sang_, &c. Now, all words of this sort in Anglo-Saxon formed their second singular præterite, not in -st, but in -e; as _þú funde_ = _thou foundest_, _þú sunge_ = _thou sungest_. The English termination is derived from the present. Observe that this applies only to the præterites formed by changing the vowel. _Thou loved'st_ is Anglo-Saxon as well as English, viz., _þú lufodest_. § 288. In the northern dialects of the Anglo-Saxon the -ð of plurals like _lufiað_ = _we love_ becomes -s. In the Scottish this change was still more prevalent: The Scottes come that to this day _Havys_ and Scotland haldyn ay.--Wintoun, 11, 9, 73. James I. of England ends nearly all his plurals in -s. * * * * * CHAPTER XX. ON THE NUMBERS OF VERBS. § 289. As compared with the present plural forms, _we love_, _ye love_, _they love_, the Anglo-Saxons had the truly plural forms, _we lufiað_, _ge lufiað_, _hi lufiað_. The Old English also had a true plural inflection _we loven_, _ye loven_, _they loven_. The present English wants both the form in -en, and the form in -að. In other words, the Anglo-Saxon and the Old English have a plural _personal_ characteristic, whilst the Modern English has nothing to correspond with it. § 290. In the forms _luf-iað_, and _lov-en_, the change from singular to plural is made by adding a syllable; but there is no reason against the inflection running thus--_I love_, _thou lovest_, _he loves_; _we lave_, _ye lave_, _they lave_; in other words, there is no reason against the _vowel_ of the root being changed, just as is the case with the form _speak, spoke_; _fall, fell_. Now, in Anglo-Saxon, with a great number of verbs such a plural inflection not only actually takes place, but takes place most regularly. It takes place, however, in the past tense only. And this is the case in all the Gothic languages as well as in Anglo-Saxon. Amongst the rest, in-- _Mœso-Gothic._ Skáin, _I shone_; skinum, _we shone_. Smáit, _I smote_; smitum, _we smote_. Káus, _I chose_; kusum, _we chose_. Láug, _I lied_; lugum, _we lied_. Gab, _I gave_; gêbum, _we gave_. At, _I ete_; étum, _we ete_. Stal, _I stole_; stélum, _we stole_. Qvam, _I came_; qyêmum, _we came_. _Anglo-Saxon._