Re: [Swedish] Some questions about Swedish language

On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:11:13 +0200, Arne Dehli Halvorsen
<arne.d.h@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
<news:35SdncKyco-QGLzaRVnzvQA@xxxxxxxx> in sci.lang:

[...]

By the way, what is the story behind English "durst"
(archaic past of "dare") - where did the "s" or "st"
come from?

OE <durran>, 3 sg. pres. <dearr>, pl. pres. <durron>, 3 sg.
pret. <dorste>. (It's a preterite-present verb, originally
of strong Class III.) <Durst> is therefore the regular
development; according to the OED, <dared> appeared in the
16th century. <Dares> in the 3 sg. pres. is also a 16th
century innovation; in ME it was typically <he dar> 'he
dares' (and from the 15th century <he dare> 'he dares').

Brian
.