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I have a question for my final exam, need badly your help!!! What do the following words have in common?  What has happened to them in Modern English? wilt, hast, thine, artPlease please please help

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

An easy question, but aren't you supposed to know the answer yourself? If you have the Internet at your disposal and can't find the right answer even there, I don't think you deserve to pass your final exam.

CB

Hazeleyedgirl · Answer

VERY FUNNY

I simply don't have time, I have 2 other exams in 3 days time, have to work, take care of my newly born baby. If your intention are to make someone depressed nice try but not with me ;p

best

M

Kooyeen · Answer

ROTFL! Funny thread.
Anyway, as for your question, what do those words have in common? They are all swear words and are among the worst ones. They are part of those words you can't say on television or on the radio. I wonder why your post hasn't been censored. I am afraid I'll need to ban you.

Naaah! Just kidding!

That wasn't true at all, LOL. The real answer should be something like "They are all word that were used in old English and are not used anymore in modern English, but are still seen in classic books like the Bible for example". If I am not mistaken.

Hazeleyedgirl · Answer

thanks for your help in the topic of OE and making me laugh

best
M

Tanit · Answer

KooyeenThe real answer should be something like "They are all word that were used in old English and are not used anymore in modern English, but are still seen in classic books like the Bible for example". If I am not mistaken.

Yeah, but did you notice that they all have a "t" and none of their modern counterparts has one?

Hazeleyedgirl · Answer

yes but they lost the final -st in early ModEnglish

Cool Breeze · Answer

hazeleyedgirl
What do the following words have in common?
What has happened to them in Modern English?
wilt, hast, thine, art

You all fail! Any fool can tell that the words are old. Of course they are old in an exam based on Old English!

What do the following words have in common? - They are all grammatically restricted to the second person singular; in modern English: you will, you have, yours, [you] are.
What has happened to them in Modern English?

There was no future tense in Old English even though the predecessor of will was sometimes used to indicate future action. Its meaning was "to want, to desire" and will has mostly lost this meaning. It is still present in some contexts, for example when will is used with if: You may come if you will (= if you want to).
So, the meaning of wilt/will has changed and the inflected form is no longer used.
As there was no perfect tense in Old English, hast/have has acquired a new use. In addition to the Old English use, which remains in Modern English, it is now used as a present perfect auxiliary. The perfect tense was developing in Old English and sentences corresponding to modern I have written it were sometimes uttered but the speaker understood the have as a present tense verb and the past perfect written indicated the state in which "it" was. In other words, written was adjectival in character.
Have has acquired lots of new uses since the early days, for example "to have something done": I had my hair cut yesterday.
Thine is related to thou and thee, and all three may occur in archaic texts end religious contexts even today. I think most Americans know the songs A Closer Walk With Thee and How Great Thou Art.
CB

Hazeleyedgirl · Answer

Oh My, Cool Breeze rules

))))

Thank you sooooo much for the information

you are big

Hazel

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