Date:  Fri, 18 Jul 1997 14:13:12 -0400
From:  Gregory {Greg} Downing <downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU>
Subject: more for bade

At 01:31 PM 7/18/97, you (Terry Lynn Irons t.irons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]morehead-st.edu) wrote:
>Some one else may look up the history more specifically, but I can report
>that the preterit form "bade" is the correct AS conjugation for past
>indicative second singular and past subjunctive 1-3 singular. "Bad" is
>1,3 singular, "badon" 1-3 plural. Somehow the second person form=
 apparently
>replaced the others.
>

OED2 on the long-term development; on bade, see the preterit of II, the
second of the two originally distinct verbs (in what follows, _ represents a
- in the OED):

bid, v. Pa. tense bad, bade, (b=E6d), bid. Pa. pple. bidden, bid. Here there
are combined two originally distinct verbs; viz.
I. b=E9odan; beden, bede. Forms... [deleted here in order to save space and=
 in
the interests of fair use].
II. biddan; bidden, bidde; bid. Forms: 1 biddan, 2_5 bidden, (2_3 biden, 3
bedden), 3_6 bidde, 4_6 bydde, (4 bedde, bide), 4_5 bidd, 4_6 byd, (5 byde),
4_ bid. pa. tense sing. 1 b=E6d, 2_9 bad, 3_5 badd, 4 baad, 4_6 badde, (6=
 Sc.
bald), 4_ bade; also 3_6 bed, 4 bedd, 5 bede, Sc. baide; also 6 bidde, bydd,
7_9 bid. pl. 1 b=E6don, 2_3 beden, 3_5 bede; also 3 badden, 4_5 baden, 4_9
bad, bade; also 6_9 bid. pa. pple. 1_5 beden, 3_5 -in, -yn, (y)bede, 4_5
bedun, 4 bedd; 3_ bidden, (4 -in, 5 bed, byden, 6 bad), 7_9 bid.

But why do 20C speakers tend to pronounce "bade" as rhyming with the
phonetically parallel past-tense "made"? Is it possible that in addition to
assimiliating "bade" to the more common spelling/pronunciation
correspondence seen in made/fade/trade/etc., people simply have no sense of
hearing "bade" used in speech, and find it offputting that such a rare word
should sound like another, common word -- and a different part of speech at
that (the adjective "bad"). Homophones are less confusing when both words
are pretty well known. "She b=E6d me go"? or "She bade me go"?

Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu