The Classification of Words

§ 192. Before discussing the grammatical categories we
shall consider some general classifications of verbs based on
their formal, semantical and functional properties, viz. the
division of verbs into standard and non-standard, notional
and semi-notional, subjective and objective, terminative and
non-term inative. j
Though not based on grammatical meanings and catego­ries, these classifications and the terms they involve will come in useful when we discuss the categories themselves and the functioning of verb grammemes in speech.
§ 193. Write, writes, wrote, writing, written are all the synthetic forms the lexeme contains (see § 19). For short, we shall call them the forms of the 'infinitive', 'present', 'past', 'participle Г and 'participle 1Г respectively. The form of the stem coincides with the form of the 'infinitive' /rait-/. The form of the 'past' is related with that of the stem by vowel change ai ]> ou . The form of 'participle II' is related with the form of the stem by vo\\el change /ai ^> i' and af­fixation /-n/.
The lexeme ask, asks, asked, asking, etc. contains only four synthetic forms The forms of the 'past' and 'participle 1Г coincide (asked) and are correlated with the form of the stem b\ affixation alone, the suffix being /-t/.
The overwhelming majority of English verbs resemble the verb ask and are therefore called standard or regular. The form of the suffix may be /-t/, /-d/ or /-id depending on the final sound of the stern.
Some two hundred verbs deviate from the standard verbs and are called non-standard or irregular They do not pres­ent a uniform group Some of them resemble the verb write (speak, drive, eat, etc.). Others form the 'past' and 'parti­ciple II' without affixation (cut, put, shed, etc.). Still others
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use both vowel and consonant change and affixation to form the 'past' (teach, buy). Some make use of suppletivity (go, be) \
As we see, the difference between the standard and the non-standard verbs is purely formal. We should therefore call this classification formal rather than morphological as the tradition goes.