When is it the first time in English to attach 's' to a main verb?

Question

Please explain me.When is it the first time in English to attach 's' to the main verb?or Is it adapted rule from other languages?

Philip · Accepted Answer

You might find this site interesting and informative.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_English

Tntenglishmaster · Answer

Thanks
but there is no answer there!

Philip · Answer

Let's see if Cool Breeze finds this thread.  An expert on the history of the English Language.

Blue Jay · Answer

If you are talking about the third person singular of regular verbs, -s generally replaced -eth in the seventeenth century, though it was used in some dialects earlier.

Cool Breeze · Answer

PhilipLet's see if Cool Breeze finds this thread. An expert on the history of the English Language.

Thanks, Philip! Unfortunately it's not true. I never was an expert, and I have actually forgotten most of what I learned about the history of English in my younger days at Helsinki University.

But, as an answer to the OP's questions, I can verify what has already been said: the 3rd person singular s was first used in the northern dialects, from which it spread southward. However, there has been a sibilant at the end of some English verbs from day one in the history of the language. Day one is approximately 448 AD when the Angles, Saxons and Jutes began migrating to Britain. The language of the early centuries up to about 1050 AD is now called Old English or Anglo-Saxon.

The Latin alphabet wasn't even used in the early days, so there couldn't be an s at the end of a verb. There was something quite similar, though, but the pronunciation was different, about the same as that of th in many modern words: warmth, length etc.

Not all verbs had this ending in the third person singular, though. Since the Saxons came to Britain from an area where Hamburg is today, it isn't surprising that many Old English verbs had the same third person ending that modern German has, just a plain t.

As you can see, the s has not been borrowed from anywhere. As far as we know, it — or at least its predecessor — has been there ever since English began to be called English. The Angles gave the name to the country and its language. England used to be called Angla land, the land of the Angles, or the Angles' land.

CB

Philip · Answer

Sounds pretty close to "expert" for my money.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/5.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/5.gif' alt='Emotion: wink'/>

When is it the first time in English to attach 's' to a main verb?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions