Nevertheless, Anglo-Saxon differs so far in externals from modern English, that it is now necessary to learn it systematically with grammar and dictionary, in somewhat the same manner as one would learn a foreign tongue.  Most of the words, indeed, are more or less familiar, at least so far as their roots are concerned; but the inflexions of the nouns and verbs are far more complicated than those now in use:  and many obsolete forms occur even in the vocabulary.  On the other hand the idioms closely resemble those still in use; and even where a root has now dropped out of use, its meaning is often immediately suggested by the cognate High German word, or by some archaic form preserved for us in Chaucer, Shakespeare, or Milton, as well as by occasional survival in the Lowland Scotch and other local dialects.

English in its early form was an inflexional language; that is to say, the mutual relations of nouns and of verbs were chiefly expressed, not by means of particles, such as of, to, by, and so forth, but by means of modifications either in the termination or in the body of the root itself.  The nouns were declined much as in Greek and Latin; the verbs were conjugated in somewhat the same way as in modern French.  Every noun had gender expressed in its form.

The following examples will give a sufficient idea of the commoner forms of declension in the classical West Saxon of the time of AElfred.  The pronunciation has already been briefly explained in the preface.

         SING.  PLUR.

(1.) Nom. stan (a stone). Nom. stanas.
     Gen. stanes. Gen. stana.
     Dat. stane. Dat. stanum.
     Acc. stan. Acc. stanas.

This is the commonest declension for masculine nouns, and it has fixed the normal plural for the modern English.

SING.  PLUR.

(2.) Nom. fot (a foot). Nom. fet.
     Gen. fotes. Gen. fota.
     Dat. fet. Dat. fotum.
     Acc. fot. Acc. fet.

Hence our modified plurals, such as feet, teeth, and men.

SING.  PLUR.

(3.) Nom. wudu (a wood). Nom. wuda.
     Gen. wuda. Gen. wuda.
     Dat. wuda. Dat. wudum.
     Acc. wudu. Acc. wuda.

All these are for masculine nouns.

The commonest feminine declension is as follows:—­

SING.  PLUR.

(4.) Nom. gifu (a gift). Nom. gifa.
     Gen. gife. Gen. gifena.
     Dat. gife. Dat. gifum.
     Acc. gife. Acc. gifa.