# Icelandic: að valda



## Alxmrphi

Sæl aftur,

Þetta er síðastaliðna spurninguna mín fyrir í dag 
Það er sagnorð á íslensku sem þý­ðir *cause* / *create* á ensku (meðal annarra þýðinga).
Í orðabók IcelandicOnline, sögn er þar ekki, svo ég veit ekki beygingu fyrir hana. Hún er í orðabók 'Orðabók.is' en er ekki beyging þar. Ég fann hana á beygingarlýsing síðu en þar voru tvær beygingar:

Þetta og þetta.

Fyrsta er *Group-1 weak*, og hin er... ég veit það nákvæmlega en er ábyggilega sterk.
Spurningin mín er: Hver er beyging sem sögn '_að valda (enska: create/cause)_' er tengd með/við ?


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## kepulauan

Never heard the first one. However the second one is often confused við _vella_.


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## Alxmrphi

So, like in another example I posted today...

Gosdrykkir geta valdið.....
Gosdryikkir ollu

Fizzy drinks can cause....
Fizzy drinks caused...
_
Right? _
*
Að valda*: - past participle: valdið
...........: - preterite plural: ollu (3rd person)

There is a note in that page about the correct one that says:



> *Athugið: * Orðmyndunum ullum, ulluð, ullu bregður fyrir í framsöguhætti þátíðar í textum.
> Í  Málfarsbanka Stofnunar Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum segir svo:
> Lyfin ollu honum óþægindum en ekki lyfin ullu honum óþægindum.


Which describes something about this verb.
Can you tell me what that says because for the life of me I can't work it out.


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## sindridah

*Að valda* is a very dodgy verb. But anyway I really have no idea what you were talking about, But anyway for fun I'm gonna show you principal parts of this verb.

present tense: (að) Valda
past tense singular: (ég) Olli
past tense prural: (Við) ollum/ullum
Past participle: (ég hef) valdið


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## Alxmrphi

sindridah said:


> *Að valda* is a very dodgy verb. But anyway I really have no idea what you were talking about, But anyway for fun I'm gonna show you principal parts of this verb.
> 
> present tense: (að) Valda
> past tense singular: (ég) Olli
> past tense prural: (Við) ollum/ullum
> Past participle: (ég hef) valdið



Are there other verbs that behave like this or is this verb unique in its declensions?
There is a group that I call "Strong 6" which contains verbs that don't really behave like other verbs, they're all fairly irregular with verbs like _hlaupa_, _láta_, _þvo_, _heita _and _éta_. 

I think _*valda*_ will fit perfectly into this group


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## Magb

I've seen _valda_ cited as "the only truly irregular Icelandic verb" somewhere, though I can't remember where. The reason the v disappears in some forms is because of an old sound change in which /v/ was deleted before /o/ and /u/, which also explains Icelandic/English cognates like "ormur" vs. "worm", "orð" vs. "word", "orka" vs. "work", "ull" vs. "wool", etc. There are other things about the conjugation of the verb that's harder to explain though. Why does the -d disappear in the past forms for instance?

The note on the bin.arnastofnun page says that in the written language, ullum, ulluð and ullu appear occasionally ("bregða fyrir") for the past indicative plural forms, instead of ollum, olluð and ollu. Then it points to some other dictionary which says that you shouldn't use the u- forms.



Alxmrphi said:


> Are there other verbs that behave like this or is this verb unique in its declensions?
> There is a group that I call "Strong 6" which contains verbs that don't really behave like other verbs, they're all fairly irregular with verbs like _hlaupa_, _láta_, _þvo_, _heita _and _éta_.
> 
> I think _*valda*_ will fit perfectly into this group


_Heita_ should at least belong to the same group as _leika_.


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## Alxmrphi

> _Heita_ should at least belong to the same group as _leika_.



Ahh!
I always thought* leika* was a weak verb that took -t endings in the past.
Thanks for pointing that out!

The -v- deletion is ringing a bell and I remember writing up a load of observations on a certain category of verbs and I just can't find it anywhere. There was a regularity to the o/u thing just like what you were talking about, but it's been about 1/2 years since I wrote it I can't remember the details.


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## Donnerstag

pollodia said:


> Never heard the first one. However the second one is often confused við _vella_.



Haha, I stumbled upon this thread and saw the first verb and thought - just like you - what the devil is this! "Ég valda, þú valdar" ? That makes no sense.

Then a few seconds later I realized what verb it was. Let's say you are playing a chess game, you would often _þurfa að valda peðin þín_


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## Alxmrphi

What does "_þurfa að valda peðin þín"_ mean?


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## sindridah

hehehe leyfðu mér valdi!

"Need to" guard your pawns, Chess thing


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## Cobold

I think I have new information:

Stefán Einarsson prófessor mentions in his "Icelandic Grammar, Text and Glossary" from 1949 (!) the following verbs as having "irregular preterites": (in Section In. VII, 3, 4 according to his numbering system)


> _olla _cause, olli, olli, (ylli), ollað; also _valda_, veld, olli, valdið
> _skolla_ hang loosely, skolli, skolli, (o), skollað
> _skrolla_ hang looseley, skrolli, skrolli, (o), skrollað.


I find no mention of the word olla anywhere else, but if this is to be beleived, then "valda" is a suppletive verb that took the past tense from a different verb with similar meaning (like English go - went). Does anybody have access to more resources and can check this?


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## Kadabrium

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.23...&uid=5909240&uid=67&uid=62&sid=21102544216701


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## Hjalti

sindridah said:


> hehehe leyfðu mér valdi!
> 
> "Need to" guard your pawns, Chess thing


IIRC in English they speak about "protecting the pawns" (I'm a chess player  ). I'm not sure if "valda" is used anywhere outside of chess or board games. E.g. something like: "Ég valda börnin mín." "I protect/guard my children." is nonsense.


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