melcan

Old English

Alternative forms

• meolcan

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *melkan, from Proto-Germanic *melkaną. Related to Old Frisian melka, Old Saxon *melkan, Old Dutch *melkan, Old High German melkan. Note that this is the original form, as *e and *i before *l did not break unless *h followed^[1]: thus the alternative form meolcan has its diphthong by analogy with the noun meolc, which has its diphthong from back umlaut.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmel.kɑn/, [ˈmeɫ.kɑn]

Verb

melcan

1. to milk

Conjugation

infinitive	melcan	melcenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	melce	mealc
second person singular	milcst	mulce
third person singular	milcþ	mealc
plural	melcaþ	mulcon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	melce	mulce
plural	melcen	mulcen
imperative
singular	melc
plural	melcaþ
participle	present	past
	melcende	(ġe)molcen

Conjugation of melcan (strong class 3)

Related terms

• meolc
• meolcian

Descendants

• Middle English: mylken, milke, melke, mulke
  • English: milk
  • Yola: mulke

References

1. Ringe, Donald, Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 186