'r 
 
 

 i 
 
A SHORT HISTORY 
 OF ENGLISH 
 
 WITH A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RECENT BOOKS 
 
 ON THE SUBJECT, AND LISTS OF 
 
 TEXTS AND EDITIONS 
 
 By henry CECIL WYLD 
 
 n 
 
 AUTHOR or ' THE HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE MOTHER TONOUX ' 
 'LANCASHIRE PLACE NAMES.' ETC. ETC. ETC. 
 
 
 LONDON 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 
 
 1914 
 
yi'/-^y/ 
 
 * <■ \ e, » 
 
 * ^ • 'S c . 
 
MAX a/ 
 PREFACE 
 
 It may seem strange that in a work entitled a History 
 of English, there should be no part dealing specifically with 
 the Vocabulary. On the other hand, it has always seemed 
 to me stranger still that in so many books published in 
 this country, this is practically the only aspect dealt with. 
 The present work was designed as a small book, and in 
 a small book something has to be left out. After carefully 
 thinking over the matter, I decided to leave out Vocabulary 
 altogether, since this has been treated at great length, and 
 very competently, in many other books — those of Dr. Henry 
 Bradley, Professor Skeat, and Professor Jespersen, to mention 
 no more. 
 
 This left me more room for a treatment of Sounds and ^ 
 Infl^ons. When I considered the text-books in use in 
 England, it seemed that, excellent as many of these are, the 
 phonology, or history of pronunciation, was in none of them 
 dealt with as fully as this rather intricate subject demands. 
 And it is just this aspect which is necessarily the backbone 
 of all serious courses of study, whether in Universities, or 
 among private students who wish to be more than amateurs. 
 In no branch of philological research have such advances 
 been made during the last forty years as in the investigation 
 of the laws of sound change. On no side of the study does 
 the untrained dabbler in Etymology show his incapacity so 
 much, as on questions which demand an exact knowledge 
 of the sound laws of the various dialects of Old and Middle 
 English. But even those who have an elementary working 
 knowledge of the sound changes of Old and Middle English, 
 are often very much at sea when it comes to following 
 the history of English sounds beyond the Middle English 
 
 S34371 
 
4 F*reface 
 
 period. Nor is this not altogether to be wondered at. Many 
 English Universities, until recently at any rate, so framed 
 their courses of study as though English had stopped changing 
 upon the death of Chaucer. Yet the problems connected 
 with *he sound changes of the Modern period are, to put it 
 mildly, no less perplexing than those of the earlier periods. 
 During the last few years, in Germany, and in Scandinavia, 
 a large literature has grown up around the history of English 
 sounds from the fifteenth century onwards. Much of this 
 is not easily accessible to the ordinary English student, and 
 the text-books, as a rule, give no hint of its existence, and the 
 young student and the amateur lack the energy or the 
 training to ferret out the facts for themselves in the volumes 
 of Ellis and of Sweet. 
 
 Closely associated with the history of sounds during the 
 Modern period, are the problems connected with the rise of 
 Literary English, and of Received Standard Spoken English. 
 These are among the most living questions which are now 
 occupying the attention of students of English, and some 
 attempt is made in the following pages to introduce the 
 reader to the principal questions at issue, and to the special 
 work, nearly all by foreigners, which has recently been pub- 
 lished upon these subjects. It is hoped that when the reader 
 of these pages passes to a deeper study of problems which are 
 but indicated here, he may at least feel that he can approach 
 them with some understanding, and with some knowledge of 
 recent results. 
 
 In the treatment here given of English inflexions, it will be 
 seen that certain parts of speech are selected, and that they 
 are dealt with at some length. Here again, it seemed better 
 to give special treatment to points which are either omitted 
 or slurred over in other books. It will be found, for instance, 
 I believe, that many of the details here given with regard to the 
 inflexions in the M.E. and Early Mod. periods are not brought 
 together in any other single book. In examination papers 
 for young persons, I have often noticed questions on such 
 points as these, which could only be answered properly after 
 a special investigation. Examiners, I note in passing, seem 
 
Preface 5 
 
 to have all sorts of knowledge up their sleeve which neither 
 they nor any one else has ever given to the world at large. 
 
 I hope this book may be useful to students of English in 
 our Universities, though I trust it is far removed from being 
 a cram-book. Perhaps the student may learn enough 
 from these pages, on a great number of points, to realize 
 that there is much more to learn concerning both them and 
 other questions which are not dealt with here. The Biblio- 
 graphy and the references in the body of the book, while 
 they make no pretence at completeness, will yet furnish 
 him with information as to where a fuller treatment can 
 be found, and in these special works he will find yet more 
 complete reference to authorities. The idea of confining 
 a young student to one, or for the matter of that, to a dozen 
 text-books, is fatal to sound education after the school stage 
 is passed. The young student ought to feel that in the higher 
 reaches of learning nothing is finally settled once and for all, 
 but that knowledge is for ever progressing. Hence it is 
 essential that he should follow, if but to a slight extent, 
 some of the scientific controversies which, at any given 
 moment, engage the minds of those who are making real 
 contributions to knowledge. He must get away from text- 
 books as soon as possible, or use them but as servants and 
 guides. If he reads some of the journals devoted to his 
 special subject, and this from an early stage in his career, 
 he is brought face to face with the clash of opinions, and 
 feels that he is to some extent in real touch with the making 
 of knowledge, often painfully beaten out, amid strife and 
 dispute. The classified lists of books and monographs in 
 the Bibliography will serve as a guide for the reader, at once 
 to the special researches upon which our present knowledge is 
 based, and to other text-books which deal with aspects of the 
 subject omitted here. 
 
 No one will expect to find in each of the three chapters 
 devoted respectively to Old, Middle, and Modern English 
 Phonology the degree of minuteness which would belong, 
 properly, to special grammars of these phases of our language. 
 The student who is particularly interested in any of these will 
 
6 Preface 
 
 naturally turn to the pages of Sievers and Biilbring, to 
 Morsbach's Mittclcnglische Gramntatik, still unfortunately 
 incomplete, to the works of Horn and Jespersen, all of which 
 are first-hand and first-rate books. 
 
 In the pages of these masters he will find, still in condensed 
 form, but exhaustively treated, fuller information than can be 
 given in such a work as the present, and there too, as well as 
 from the lectures of his own teacher, he will learn where to go 
 for the minute discussion of each problem. 
 
 A few words are necessary as to my indebtedness to other 
 writers. I have been helped more in the phonological chapters, 
 and that which deals with the rise of Literary English, than 
 in the rather long chapter on inflexions. Help on general 
 and specific points has, I hope, generally been acknowledged 
 in the text, but there are some names which I must record 
 here with special gratitude. Of these, I am bound to 
 put first that of my revered master Henry Sweet. Apart 
 from his various editions of texts which are indispensable to 
 every one, every student of English turns again and again 
 to his History of English Sounds. This book is nearly thirty 
 years old and an enormous amount of work has been done since 
 then. Yet we still feel its wonderful freshness and suggestive- 
 ness, the soundness of its plan, the permanence of its con- 
 tribution to knowledge. Coming to more recent works, I 
 must express my special obligation to Sievers and Biilbring in 
 Old English, to Morsbach, Kluge, ten Brink, and Frieshammer 
 in Middle English, to Luick, Horn, Jespersen, Victor, and 
 Zachrisson in the Modern period. I must pay a grateful 
 tribute to the fine monograph of Price on the Ablaut in 
 strong verbs in the period from Caxton to Shakespeare. 
 I owe a great deal to the group of young scholars who 
 during the last few years have supplemented Morsbach's work 
 on the London Dialect, notably Frieshammer, already men- 
 tioned, Lekebusch, DoUe, and to the very instructive mono- 
 graph of Dibelius on John Capgrave, which is really an 
 important treatise on fifteenth-century English. 
 
 The republication of a considerable number of the early 
 Grammarians in late years, has made possible a first-hand 
 
Preface 7 
 
 reference to many authorities on English Pronunciation which 
 before were chiefly accessible in the monumental work of Ellis. 
 
 The great Historische Granimatik of Luick, to which every 
 student of English has been looking forward, has just shown 
 in its first part, how brilliant and thorough a treatment we 
 may expect. This part came into my hands when all of my 
 book was written except the last chapter, that on Modern 
 English Sounds, and part of that on Inflexions. It was a 
 source of satisfaction to see that this eminent scholar takes j 
 the view which I have always taught, with regard to the • 
 fracture of West Germanic a in O.E. \ 
 
 I ought to say perhaps, in justice to myself, and to those 
 who may use this book, that it is not a mere piecing together 
 of materials gathered from older text-books. It may seem 
 ridiculous that such a statement should be necessary, but un- 
 fortunately, works on English are not wanting, whose authors 
 have simply decocted the essence of a few of the chief books, 
 including sometimes in a single paragraph of their extract 
 three or four accounts of the same thing given by different 
 writers, without seeing that some of the statements con- 
 tradicted the others, so that the first half of the pemmican 
 paragraph is at variance with the rest. It is u"nnecessary 
 to say more than that unless an authority is specifically [ 
 quoted, the statements in this book are really the result of I 
 a personal examination of sources. * 
 
 Had I had access from the start to a full collection of 
 special investigations on Middle and Early Modern English 
 texts, I should have been spared much labour in hunting 
 through these to discover whether this or that form did or did 
 not occur, and no doubt my statements would in many cases 
 have been more complete. Unfortunately I could not obtain 
 some of the monographs which I required until the work was 
 far advanced ; others I have not been able to see at all. 
 
 The Bibliography is fullest in the sections devoted to 
 Middle English and the Modern period, because it seemed 
 that here guidance was most necessary. In the Old 
 English sections, practically no special monographs are 
 recorded, except those on the texts representing the various 
 
8 Preface 
 
 Old English dialects. The reason for this is that the 
 special problems connected with Old English are rather 
 remote from a book of this kind, while full bibliographies 
 are easily accessible to advanced students in the grammars 
 of Sievers and Biilbring, though not, unfortunately, in any Old 
 English grammar written in this country. 
 
 In giving select lists of Old and Middle English texts, it 
 seemed desirable to indicate the editions, as it is not always 
 easy for a young student to discover this information. 
 
 HENRY CECIL WYLD. 
 Liverpool, 1914. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface i-8 
 
 Bibliography ii 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Introductory. Scope of the Inquiry. General Con- 
 siderations 23 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Position of English among Languages. Dialectal and 
 Chronological Divisions 39 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 The Sounds ok Speech -35 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 General Principles of the History of Language . -51 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 History of English Sounds. I. The Old English Period 61 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 History of English Sounds. II. The Middle English 
 
 Period 88 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 History of English Sounds. III. The Modern Period . 124 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions . . . .161 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Origin and Development of the English Literary 
 Language 224 
 
 Index 238 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 I. 
 
 A. Historical Grammars and Histories of the English 
 
 Language. 
 
 Bradley, H. The Making of English. London, 1904. 
 
 Emerson, O. The History of the English Language. London. 1894. 
 
 Jespersen, O. Growth and Structure of the English Language. 
 
 Kaluza, M. Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache. L (Introd., 
 Phonetics, Phonology, and Accidence of O.E.), 1900. IL (Phenol. 
 and Accidence of M.E. and Mod. Engl.), 1901. 
 
 Kluge, E. Geschichte der englischen Sprache. Strassburg, 1899 (in 
 Paul's Grundr.^, pp. 926, &c. Also published separately). 
 
 Lindelbf, U. Grundziige der Geschichte der englischen Sprache. 
 Teubner, 1912. 
 
 Luick, K. Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache. (Only the 
 first part of Vol. I has appeared (Dec. 1913). Contains valuable biblio- 
 graphical information relating to texts and monographs.) Leipzig. 
 The first 2 Vols, are to contain 10 parts ; the first part has pp. 144. 
 [Pt. 2 to p. 320 appeared March, 1914.] 
 
 Morris, R. Historical Outlines of English Accidence (Revised Kellner 
 and Bradley), 1897. 
 
 Sweet, H. A New English Grammar, Logical and Historical. Part I. 
 (Introd., Phonol., and Accidence). Oxford, 1892. Part I L (Syntax), 
 1899. 
 History of English Sounds. Oxford, 1888. 
 
 Wyld, H. C. The Historical Study of the Mother Tongue. An Intro- 
 duction to Philological Method. John Murray, 1906, &c. 
 
 Works dealing chiefly with Development of Vocabulary. 
 
 Greenough, J. B., and Kittredge, G. L. Words and their Ways in 
 
 English Speech. London, Macmillan, 1902. 
 Skeat, W. W. Principles of English Etymology. Oxford. 2 Vols. 
 Pearsall Smith, L. The English Language. Williams & Norgate. 
 To this category also belong the works of Bradley and Jespersen cited 
 
 above. 
 The New English Dictionary. Ed. Sir J. Murray, Henry Bradley, 
 
 William Craigie. Oxford. 
 
1 2 Bibliography 
 
 B. The Old English Period. 
 
 {For List of O.E. Texts and Editions see Chapter V on O.E. Sounds.) 
 
 I. Dictionaries and Glossaries. 
 
 (See also under IV below,) 
 
 Bosworth-ToHer. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Oxford, 1882-9S. 
 
 Supplement, 1908. 
 Napier, A. S. Old English Glosses. Oxford, 1900. 
 Sweet, H. A Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon. Oxford, 1897. 
 
 II. Grammars. 
 
 Biilbring, K. Altenglisches Elementarbuch. I. (Lautlehre). Heidelberg, 
 
 1902. 
 Dieter, F. Altenglisch. In Dieter's Laut- und Formenlehre d. altgerm. 
 
 Dialekte : Lautlehre, Pt. I, Chaps. 4 and 10 ; Formenlehre, Pt. II, 
 
 Chaps. 16 and 22. Leipzig, 1898-1900. 
 Sievers, E. Angelsachsische Grammatik, (3rd Edition.) Halle, 1898. 
 Sweet, H. Grammatical Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Reader. Oxford. 
 
 (Though merely a sketch, this is an original and reliable work.) 
 Wright, J. and E. M. An Old English Grammar. Oxford, 190S. 
 
 III. Grammars and Monographs of the Various 
 O.E. Dialects. 
 
 I. West Saxon. 
 Early VV.S. 
 Cosijn, P. J. Altwestsachsische Grammatik. 's Graven Haag, 1888. 
 
 (Deals with the language of Alfred's Cura Pastoralis and of the 
 
 Parker Chron.) 
 Late WtSt^ 
 Briill, H. Die altenglische Latein-Grammatik des yElfric, Berlin, 1 904. 
 Dunkhase, H. Die Sprache der Wulfstanschen Homilies. Jena, 1906. 
 Fischer, F. The Stressed Vowels of yElfric's Homilies. (Pub!, of Mod. 
 
 Lang. Assoc, of America, Vol. I.) Baltimore, 1889. 
 Schiiller, O. Lautlehre von ^Ifric's ' Lives of Saints '. 1908. 
 Trilsbach, G. Die Lautlehre der spatwestsachsischen Evangelicn. 
 
 Bonn, 1905. 
 Wilkes, J. Lautlehre zu JEAinc's Heptateuch und Buch Hiob. Bonner 
 
 Beitr. xxi. Bonn, 1905. 
 
 2. Saxon ' Patois '. 
 
 Boll, P. Die Spr. d. altenglischen Glossen in MS. Harley 3376. Bonn, 
 
 1904. 
 Hardy, A. K. Die Sprache der Blickling-Homilien. Leipzig, 1S99. 
 
The Old English Period 13 
 
 3. Kentish. 
 
 Williams, Irene. Grammatical Investigation of the Old Kentish Glosses. 
 
 (M.S. Vespas. D. VI.) Bonner Beitr. xix. Bonn, 1906. 
 Wolf, R. Untersuchung der Laute in den kentischen Urkunden* 
 
 Heidelberg, 1893. 
 
 4. Mercian. 
 
 Brown, E. M. Sprache der Rushworth Glossen (Rushw.'). 1891-1892, 
 Gdttingen. 
 
 Chadwick, H. M. Studies in Old English. (Deals with the old Glos- 
 saries.) Cambridge, 1899. 
 
 Dieter, F. Ober Sprache und Mundart d. altesten englischen Denk- 
 maler. Gottingen, 18S5. 
 
 Zeuner, R. Die Sprache d. kentischen Psalters. (Vespas. A. I.) 
 Halle, 1 88 1. (Now recognized as Mercian, long known as the 
 * so-called Kentish Ps. ' !) 
 
 5. Northumbrian. 
 
 Carpenter, H. C. A. Die Deklination in der nordhumbrischen Evange- 
 lieniibersetzung d. Lindesfarner Hs. Bonn, 1910. 
 
 Fuchsel, H. Die Spr. d. nordhumbrischen Interlinearversion z. Johannes- 
 Evangelium. (Lindisfarne.) Anglia, xxiv. 
 
 Kellum, M. D. Language of the Nthmbr. Gloss to St. Luke. Yale 
 Studies, 1906. 
 
 Kolbe, Th. Die Konjugation der LindisfarnerEvangelien, Bonn, 1912. 
 
 Lea, E. M. The Language of the Northumb. Gloss to the Gospel of 
 St. Mark, (Lindisfarne MS.) Anglia, xvi. 
 
 Lindelof, U. (i) Die Spr. d. Rituals von Durham. Helsingfors, 1890. 
 (2) Die siidnordhumbrische Mundart. (Spr. d. Glosse Rushw.*) Bonn, 
 1901. 
 
 Miiller, R. Ober die Namen des nordhumbrischen Liber Vitae. 
 
 Stolz, W. Der Vokalismus . . . d. Lindisfarn. Evangelien. Bonn, 1908. 
 
 Williams, O. T. The Dialect of the Text of the Northumbr. Genealo- 
 gies. M. L. R., iv. 1908-9. 
 
 6. Poetical Texts. 
 
 Thomas, P. G. Dialect in Beowulf. Mod. Lang. Review I. 1905-6. 
 Weightman, Jane. The Language and Dialect of the later O.E. Poetry. 
 University Press, Liverpool, 1907. (See references in this work.) 
 
 IV. Glossaries of Individual Texts. 
 
 . West Saxon. 
 
 Harris, M. A. Glossary of the West Saxon Gospels. Boston, 1899. 
 
14 Bibliography 
 
 Merc. 
 Grimm, C. Glossar z. Vesp, Psalter und Hymnen. Heidelberg, 1906. 
 Thomas, P. G., and H. C. Wyld. A Glossary of the Mercian Hymns 
 in Vespas. A. I. Otia Merseiana IV. Liverpool, 1904. 
 
 NORTHUMBR. 
 
 Lindelbf, U. (1) WSrterbuch zur Interlinearglosse d. Rituale Eccl. 
 Dunelm. (Durham Ritual.) Bonn, 1901. 
 
 (2) Glossar z. altnorthumbr. Glosse Rushw.' Helsingfors, 1897 
 Cook, A. S. AGlossary of the Old Northumbrian (Lindisfarne) Gospels. 
 
 1894. 
 Saxon 'Patois'. 
 Forster, Max. Lexikalisches z. Vercelli-Codex CXVH. (in Festgruss 
 
 an Morsbach, pp. 148, &c.). Halle, 1913. 
 Morris, R. Glossary to Blickling Homilies, in Edition of these (Pt. HI.), 
 
 E.E.T.S., 1880. 
 
 Poetical. 
 Simons, R. Cynewulfs VVortschatz. Bonner Beitr. z. Anglistik, iii. 
 Bonn, 1899. 
 General. 
 Very important are A. S. Napier's Contributions to O.E. Lexicography. 
 
 (Trans, Phil. Soc. 1906, pp. 265-358.) 
 Alaborious discussion of the Vocabulary of Dialects is found in R.Jordan's 
 Eigentiimlichkeit des anglischen Wortschatzes. Heidelberg, 1906 
 (Anglistische Forschungen, 17). 
 
 V. Foreign Loan-words in O.E. 
 
 MacGillivray, H. S. The Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary 
 
 of O.E. Pt. I. Halle, 1902. 
 Pogatscher, A. Zur Lautlehre der griechischen, lateinischen, und 
 
 romanischen Lehnworter im Altenglischen. Strassburg, 1888 (Q. und 
 
 F. 64). 
 
 VI. O.E. Writing and Runes. 
 
 Keller, W. Angelsachsische Palaeographie (II Parts). Pt. II has fac- 
 similes and transcriptions. 1906 (Palaestra XLIII. i and 2). 
 Victor, W. Die northumbrischen Runensteine. Marburg, 1905. 
 
 C. Middle English Period. 
 
 (See also under London Dialect.) 
 
 {For List of M.E. Texts and Editions, see Chap. VI on M.E. Sounds.) 
 
 I. Dictionaries. 
 
 (a) 
 Mayhew, A. L., and Skeat, W. Vv''. A Concise M.E. Dictionary. 
 Oxford, 1888. 
 
The Middle English Period 15 
 
 Stratmann, F. H., ed. H. Bradley. A Middle English Dictionary. 
 Oxford, l8gi. 
 
 (Most English Editions of M.E. Texts, in E.E.T.S., and those published by 
 Clarendon Press, are furnished with fairly exhaustive Glossaries.) 
 
 (b) 
 Dictionaries and Glossaries compiled during M.E. Period. 
 
 Catholicon Anglicum. An Eng.-Lat. Wordbook, dated 1483 (Yorks.). 
 Ed S. J. H. Herrtage. Camden Soc, 1882. 
 
 Vocabularies and Nominales (eleventh, thirteenth, fifteenth centuries) 
 in Anglo-Saxon and Old English Vocabularies. Thomas Wright, re- 
 edited by R. P. Wijlcker. London, Triibner, 1884. 2 Vols. 
 
 Promptorium Parvulorum. The First Eng.-Lat. Dictionary, 1440 
 (Norfolk). Ed. A. L. Mayhew. E.E.T.S., Oxford, 1908. 
 
 IL General M.E. Grammar. 
 
 Morsbach, L. Mittelenglische Grammatik. Halle, 1896. (First Pt. 
 only, pp. viii + 192. Deals with Sources ; Grouping and Character- 
 istics of chief M.E. Dialect Types; Quantity, and Qualitative treat- 
 ment of O.E. short vowels and part of O.E. a.) 
 
 Jordan, R. Die mittelenglischen Mundarten. Germ. -Rom. Monatschrift, 
 ii, pp. 125-134. 
 
 in. Investigations of Special Texts and Dialects. 
 
 (Useful bibliographical information in J. M. Booker's Dates, Dialects, and 
 
 Sources, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth century Monuments 
 
 and MSS. Heidelberg, Winter, 1912.) 
 
 (a) Kentish. 
 
 Danker, O. Laut- und Flexionslehre der mittelkentischen Denkmaler 
 
 (Diss.). Strassburg, 1879. 
 D6lle, R. Graphische und lautliche Untersuchung von . . . Ayenbite of 
 
 Inwyt. Bonn, 1912. 
 Heuser, W. Zum kentischen Dialekt im Mittelenglischen. Anglia, xvii, 
 
 pp. 73-90. 
 Jensen, H. Die Verbalflexion in Ayenbite (Diss.). Kiel, 1908. 
 Konrath, M. Zur Laut- und Flexionslehre d. Mittelkentischen. Archiv, 
 
 88 and 89. 
 Morris, R. Introduction to Edition of Ayenbite. E.E.T.S., 1866. 
 
 (Study of Kentish in general and of Ayenbite in particular.) 
 Philippsen, H. Deklination in den Vices und Virtues. Erlangen, 191 1. 
 
1 6 Bibliography 
 
 (b) South WesL 
 
 Breier, W. Eule und Nachtiga!!. Halle, 1910, 
 
 Heuser, W. Zur Sprache d. Legenden St. Editha und St. Etheldreda. 
 18S7. 
 
 Lucht, P. Lautlehre d. alteren Lajamonhandschrift. Palaestra, 49, 
 1905. 
 
 Mohr, F. Sprachliche Untersuchungen z. den Legenden aus Gloucester- 
 shire. 18S8. 
 
 Napier, A. S. Introduction to Holy Rood Tree. E.E.T.S., 1894. 
 
 Ostermann, H. Lautlehre d. germ. Wortschatzes d. Ancren Riwle. 
 Bonner Beitr. 19. i. 1905. 
 
 Pabst, F. Die Sprache d. mittelenglischen Reimchronik d. Robert v. 
 Gloucester. Berlin, 1889; also Anglia, 13.202, 245. 
 
 Pfefifer, R. Die Sprache d. Polychronicons John Trevisas (Diss. Bonn). 
 Diiren, 1912. 
 
 (c) East Midland. 
 
 Boerner, O. (i) Die Sprache Robert Mannyngs of Brunne. Halle, 
 1904. 
 (2} Reimuntersuchung iiber die Qualitat der betonten langen ^-Vokale 
 bei Robert of Brunne, in Festgruss fiir Morsbach, pp. 298-351. 
 Halle, 1913. 
 Hallbeck, E. S. Language of the M.E. Bestiary. Christianstad, 1905, 
 Lambertz, P. Die Sprache d. Ormulum. Marburg, 1904. 
 Meyer, H. Zur Sprache d. jiingeren Teile d. Chronik von Peterborough. 
 
 1889. 
 Morris, R. Introduction to his Edition of Genesis and Exodus. E.E.T.S. 
 
 Revised, 1873. 
 Schultz, E. Die Sprache d. English Guilds aus d. Jahre 1389. Hildes- 
 heim, 1 891. 
 
 (d) West Midland. 
 
 Hirst, T. O. Phonology of the London MS. of the Earliest Complete 
 
 English Prose Psalter. Bonn, 1907, 
 Morris, R. Preface >to his Ed. of Early English Alliterative Poems. 
 
 E.E.T.S. (2nd Ed. Revised), 1869. 
 Miihe, Th. Ober den Text MS. Cotton Titus D. XVIII. der Ancren 
 
 Riwle. 1901. 
 Rasmussen, J. K. Die Sprache John Audelay's. (Laut- und Flexions- 
 
 lehre.) Bonn, 1914. 
 Schliitter, A. Uber die Spr. und Metrik der Lieder d. MS. Harleian 
 
 3253. Archiv, 71, pp. 153, &c., and 357, &c. 
 Schiiddekopf, A. Sprache und Dialekt d. me. Gedichtes Will, of 
 
 Paleme. Erlangen, 1886. 
 
Monographs on Middle English 17 
 
 (These are the lyrics contained in Boeddeker's AltengHsche Dich- 
 
 tungen.) 
 Stodte, H. Spr. und Heimat der Katherine-Gruppe (Diss.). Gottin- 
 
 gen, 1896. 
 Williams, Irene. The Cleopatra MS. of Ancren Riwle. Anglia, 28, 
 
 p. 300, &c. 
 
 (e) Northern. 
 
 Baumann, J. Die Spr, d. Urkunden aus Yorkshire. Anglist. Forsch., 
 
 II, 1902. 
 Heuser, W. Die altesten Denkmiiler und die Dialekte d. Nordenglischen. 
 
 Anglia, 31. 276, &c. 
 Morris, R. Introduction to Prick of Conscience. E.E.T.S. 
 Perrin, L. P. Thomas von Castleford's Chronik. 1890. 
 Ullmann, J. Studien z. R. Rolle von Hampole. Engl. Studien, 7. 415. 
 Wetzlar, A. Die Sprache . . . d. nordenglischen Homiliensammlung. 
 
 1907. 
 
 (f) ScoicJi. 
 
 Curtis, F. J. The Middle Scotch Romance of Clariodus. Anglia, 17, 
 pp. 1-68 ; 125-160. 
 
 Murray, J. A. H. The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland. 
 Trans. Phil. Soc, 1873. (Deals with the early language as well as 
 with Mod. Dialect.) 
 
 Ostermann, L. Untersuchungen z. Ratis Raving. Bonner Beitr. 12, 
 pp. 41, &c. 1902. 
 
 Smith, Gregory. Introduction to Specimens of Middle Scots. Black- 
 wood, 1902. 
 
 (g) Irish English. 
 
 Heuser, W. Introduction to Die Kildare-Gedichte. (Fourteenth-cen- 
 tury poems written in Ireland.) Bonner Beitr. Bonn, 1904. 
 
 IV. Detailed Monographs, etc., on Special Problems 
 OF Middle English. 
 
 Bjorkman, E. Orms Doppelkonsonanten. Anglia, xxxvii, pp. 350- 
 
 81, and 494-6, 191 3-14. 
 Bijlbring, K. D. Geschichte d. Ablauts der st. Zeitworter innerhalb d. 
 Siidenglischen. O. imd F. 63. Strassburg, 1889. 
 Ober die Erhaltung d. ae. kurzcn und langen ^-Lautes im Mittel- 
 englischen. Bonner Beitr. z. Anglistik, 15, pp. loi, &c. Bonn, 
 1904. 
 Die Schreibung eo im Ormulum. Bonner Beitr. 17, pp. 51, &c. 
 Bonn, 1905. 
 Cornelius, H. Altenglische Diphthongierung durch Palatale im Mittel- 
 englischen. Studien z. engl. Phil. 30. Halle, 1907. 
 
 B 
 
1 8 Bibliography 
 
 Eilers, F. Dehnung vor dehnenden Consonanten. Stud. z. engl. Phil. 
 
 26. Halle, 1907. 
 Ekwall, E. Ortsnamenforschung ein Hilfsmittel fiir das engl. Sprach- 
 
 geschichte-Studium. (Deals with O.E. a and y in Lanes, in M.E.) 
 
 Germ. -Rom. Monatschrift, v, Nov. 191 3, pp. 592-608. 
 Haussen, H. Die Geschichte der starken Zeitwdrter im Nordenglischen 
 
 (Diss). Kiel, 1906. 
 Hemken. Das Aussterben alter Substantiva im Verlaufe d. engl. Sprach- 
 
 geschichte. Kiel, 1906. 
 Hackmann, G. Kurzung langer Tonvokale in einsilbigen Wortern im 
 
 Mittel- und Neuenglischen. Stud. z. engl. Phil. 10. Halle, 1908. 
 Heuser, W. Festlandische Einfliisse im Mittelenglischen. Bonner 
 
 Eeitr. 12. Bonn, 1902. 
 Horn, W. Beitrage z. Geschichte d. engl. Gutturallaute. Berlin, 1901. 
 KnopfF, P. Darstellung d. Ablautverhaltnisse in der schottischen 
 
 Schriftspr. (Diss.). Bern, 1904. 
 Luick, K. {Le7igthening of f and u in open Syllables.) 
 
 (1) Untersuchungen z. engl. Lautgeschichte, 1896, pp. 229, &c. 
 
 (2) Studien z. engl. Lautgeschichte. 1903. 
 
 {Shoj-tening of long voivels in -words of three Syllables, &c.) 
 Quantitatsveranderungen im Laufe d. englisch. Sprachentwicklung. 
 
 (Beitr. z. engl. Gr. IIL) Anglia, xx, pp. 335, &c. 1898. 
 Der Uisprung d. neuenglischen rt/-fl«-Diphthonge. E. St. 27, pp. 89- 
 100. 1900. 
 Marik, Josef. i^-Schwundim Mittel- und Friihneuenglischen. Vienna 
 
 and Leipzig, 1910. 
 Mettig. Die franzozischen Elemente im Alt- und Mittelenglischen (800- 
 
 1258). E. Studien, 41, pp. 177, &c. 
 OberdorfFer. Aussterben altengl. Adjectiva und ihr Ersatz im Verlaufe 
 
 der englisclien Sprachgesch. (Kiel. Diss.). 1908. 
 Offe. Aussterben alter Verba und ihr Ersatz, &c. (Kiel. Diss.). - 1908. 
 Teichert, F. tJber das Aussterben alter Worter im Verlaufe d. engl. 
 
 Sprachgesch. (Kiel. Diss.), Erlangen, 1912. 
 Wackerzapp, A. Geschichte d. Ablaute d. starken Zeitwdrter inner- 
 
 halb d. Nordenglischen (Diss.). Miinster, 1890. 
 Weick, Fr. Das Aussterben d. Prafixes^if- im Englischen. Darmstadt, 
 
 1911. 
 Wyld, H. C. Contributions to the Hist, of the Guttural Sounds in Engl. 
 Trans. Phil. Soc, 1899-19CO. 
 History of Initial 3- in Middle and Modern Engl. Dialects. Otia 
 
 Merseiana, II, 1901. 
 Treatment of O.E. 7 in the Dialects of the Midi, and S.E. Counties 
 in M.E. E. St. 47, pp 1-58. 1913. (Deals with PI. Ns. of 27 
 Counties, and with West Midi. Texts.) 
 O.E.^ in the Dialects ot the South and S.W. Counties in M.E. E. St. 
 47, pp. 146-66. 1914. (Deals with PJ. Ns. of 9 Sthn. Counties.) 
 
The London Dialect 19 
 
 Zachrisson, R. E. (i) Contribution to the Study of Anglo-Norman 
 Influence on English Place Names. Lund, 1909. 
 (2) Two insta,nces of Fr. Influence on Engl. PI. Ns. Utg. af nyfilo- 
 logiska Sallskapet i Stockholm. Upsala, 1914. 
 
 D. The London Dialect and Rise of the Literary 
 
 Language. 
 
 Brugger. Zur lautlichen Entwickelung d. englischen Schriftsprache im 
 
 Anfang d. 16, Jahrh. Anglia, xv, pp. 261-344. 
 Dibelius, W. John Capgrave und die englische Schriftsprache. Anglia, 
 
 vols, xxiii and xxiv. (A minute investigation of fifteenth-century 
 
 English.) 
 Dolle, E. Zur Sprache Londons vor Chaucer. Halle, 1913. 
 Delcourt, Joseph. Essai sur la langue de Sir Thomas More d'apr&s ses 
 
 ceuvres anglaises. Paris, Didier, 1914. 
 Frieshanimer, J. Die sprachliche Form der Chaucerschen Prosa. 
 
 Halle, 1910. 
 Fuhr, K. Lautuntersuchungen zu Stephen Hawes Pastime of Pleasure, 
 
 Marburg, 1S91. 
 Hoelper, F. Die englische Schriftsprache in Tottel's Miscellany. 
 
 Strassburg, 1894. 
 Hoffmann, A. Laut- und Formenlehre in Reginald Pecock's Repressor 
 
 (Diss.). Greifsvvald, 1900. 
 Lekebusch, J. Die Londoner Urkundensprache von 1430 -1500. Halle, 
 
 1906. 
 Morsbach, L. Ober den Ursprung der neuenglischen Schriftsprache. 
 
 Heilbronn, 1888. 
 Neumann, G. Die Orthographie der Paston Letters von 1422-1461. 
 
 Studien z. engl. Philologie, vii. Marburg, 1904. 
 Romstedt, H. Die englische Schriftsprache bei Caxton. Gottingen, 
 
 1891. 
 Rudolf, E. Die englische Orthographie von Caxton bis Shakespeare 
 
 (Diss.). Marburg, 1904. 
 Sv^rearingen, G. F. Die englische Schriftsprache bei Coverdale 
 
 (Berlin. Diss.). Weimar, 1904. 
 Schmidt, F. Studies in the Language of Pecock (Diss.). Upsala, 
 
 1900. 
 Siissbier, K. Die Sprache der Cely-Papers (Berlin, Diss.). 1905. 
 ten. Brink, B. Chaucers Sprache und Verskunst. (2nd Ed., F. Kluge.) 
 
 Leipzig, 1899. 
 Wille, J. Die Orthographie in Roger Ascham's Toxophilus und Schole- 
 
 master (Diss,). Marburg, 1889. 
 
 1 4 
 
20 Bibliography 
 
 E. English of the Modern Period. 
 
 (See also under London Dialect, &c.) 
 
 I. Special Monographs and Articles. 
 
 Diehl, L. Englische Schreibung und Aussprache im Zeitalter Shake- 
 
 speares (Diss.). Giessen, 1906, and Anglia, xxix. 
 Ellis, A. J. Early English Pronunciation. Pts. I-IV. 
 Horn, W. (i) Historische neuenglische Grammatik. (Ft. I, Lautlehre.) 
 Strassburg, 1908. 
 (2) Untersuchungcn zur neuenglischen Lautgeschichte. Strassburg, 
 1905 (Q. und F 98). 
 Jespersen, O. (i) John Hart's Pronunciation of English (1569 and 
 1570). Heidelberg, 1907. 
 (2) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles. Pt. I, 
 Phonology. Heidelberg, 1909 ; II, Syntax, 1914. 
 Luick, K. (i) Untersuchungen zur englischen Lautgeschichte. Strass- 
 burg, 1896. 
 
 (2) Studien zur englischen Lautgeschichte. Vienna and Leipzig, 
 1903. 
 
 (3) Beitrage zur englischen Grammatik :— Anglia, xiv, 1892, pp. 268- 
 302; xvi, 1894, pp. 451-5" ; XX (1898), pp. 335-62; XXX (1907), 
 pp. 1-55. 
 
 Miiller, E. Englische Lautlehre nach James Elphinston (1765, 1787, 
 
 1796). Heidelberg, 1914. 
 Price, H. T. History of Ablaut in the Strong Verbs from Caxton to the 
 
 end of the Elizabethan Period. Bonn, 1910. 
 Spira, T. Die englische Lautentwickelung nach franzosischen Gramma- 
 
 tiker-Zeugnissen. Giessen, 1908. 
 Victor, W. (i) Shakespeare's Pronunciation. I. Phonology and 
 Rhyme Index, 1906 ; II. Shakespeare Reader, 1907. Marburg. 
 (2) Die Aussprache d. Englischen nach den deutsch-englischen 
 Grammatiken vor 1740. Marburg, 1S86. 
 Wyld, H. C. Class Dialect and Standard English, in A Miscellany pre- 
 sented to John Macdonald Mackay, pp. 283-291. University Press, 
 Liverpool, 1 91 4. 
 Zachrisson, R. E. (i) Pronunciation of English Vowels, 1400- 1700. 
 Goteborg, 1913. 
 (2) Shakespeares Uttal (Studier i modern Sprakvetenskap). Utg. 
 af nyfilologiska Sallskapet i Stockholm v. 2. Upsala, 1914. 
 
 (See also the introductions to reprints of the early Grammarians.) 
 
 II. Dictionaries and Glossaries. 
 
 Onions, C. T. A Shakespeare Glossary. Oxford, 19x1. 
 Skeat, W. W. A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words. Edited, with 
 Additions, by A. L. Mayhew. Oxford, 19 14. 
 
21 
 
 III. 
 
 SELECTED LIST OF WORKS ON ENGLISH 
 PRONUNCIATION 
 
 Of sixteenth and seventeenth-century books, this hst includes only those 
 of which reprints exist. Many of the following have been published in a 
 bcries entitled Neudrucke friihncueitglischcr Graininatiken, under the 
 general editorship of Rudolf Brotanek, by Niemeyer, Halle. Those pub- 
 lished in this series have an asterisk in front of the author's name. 
 1530. Palsgrave, J. Lesclarcissement de la langue frangoise. (Re- 
 printed Y. Genin, Paris, 1852.) 
 1532. Du Wes, G. An Introductorie. (Reprinted in Genin's Ed. of 
 
 Palsgrave.) 
 1547. Salesbury, W. Account of English Pronunciation, (See Ellis's 
 E. E. Pronunciation, 768-87.) 
 
 1567. Salesbury, W. Account of Welsh Pronunciation. (Ellis's 
 E. E. P. 743-68.) 
 
 1568. *Smith, Sir Thomas. De Recta et Emendata Linguae Anglicae 
 Scriptione Dialogus. Ed. Deibel, Halle, I9I3. 
 
 1580. *Bellot, J. Le Maistre d'Escole Anglois. Ed. Theo. Spira, 
 Halle, 1912. (See also Zachrisson, English Pronunciation, 1400- 
 1700, pp. 9-16.) 
 
 15S0. BuUokar, W. Booke at large for the amendment of Orthogra- 
 phie for English Speech. Ed. M. Plessow, in Fabeldichtung'in 
 England. Palaestra, 52, pp. 237, &c. Berlin, 1906. 
 
 1621. Gill, A. Logonomia Anglica. Ed. J. Jiriczek, O. und F. go, 1903. 
 
 1622 and 1633. *Mason, George. Grammaire Angloise. Ed. Brotanek, 
 1905. 
 
 1634. * Butler, Charles. English Grammar. Ed. A. Eichler, 1910. 
 
 1640. *Daines, Simon. Orthoepia Anglicana. Ed. Rossler and 
 Brotanek, 190S. 
 
 16S5. *Cooper, C. Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae. Ed. J. D. Jones, 
 1912. 
 
 1701. *Jones, John. Practical Phonography. Ed. E. Ekwall, 1907. 
 
 1725. Lediard. Grammatica Anglicana Critica. (Full account in 
 Ellis, pp. 1040, iSic.) 
 
 1753. Bertram, Carl. The Royal Enghsh-Danish Grammar. Copen- 
 hagen, 1753. 
 
 1801. Walker, John. Rhetorical Grammar. (2nd Ed.) iSoi. 
 
 1809. Bachelor, T. Orthoepical Analysis of the Engl. Language. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. SCOPE OF THE INQUIRY 
 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 
 
 § I, The earliest documentary knowledge of English which 
 we possess consists in a few rather scrappy Charters of the last 
 years of the seventh century and the first few years of the 
 eighth. These Charters are in Latin, but contain English 
 Place and Personal names. (See Sweet's O.E.T., pp. 426, etc., 
 chs. i, ii, iv, and v.) 
 
 From the end of the seventh century, then, we can trace the 
 development of English, in various forms or dialects, by 
 means of documents which become increasingly numerous as 
 years go on. 
 
 § 2. During the 1200 odd years over which our knowledge 
 of English extends, changes of very considerable extent have 
 taken place. 
 
 To begin with, tjie spelling of the words is very different in 
 different ages, so much so, that at first sight it is hardly possible 
 to recognize the identity of the present-day forms with those 
 of their ancestors in bygone ages. We attribute these changes 
 in the spelling, on the whole, to an attempt, more or less 
 successful, to adapt this to the changing pronunciation of the 
 different periods. 
 
 Again, we find that the vocabulary changes. While many 
 words remain and retain their old meaning, others, which 
 in one age were in common use, disappear altogether, 
 or they alter their meaning ; new words come into use and 
 take the place of those which have dropped out of use. We 
 observe that this process of loss and gain and of change of 
 meaning is for ever going on in the English vocabulary. 
 
 Nor do grammatical forms or inflexions enjoy immunity 
 from change. Many are lost altogether and their places taken 
 by others which had originally a different function and now 
 have extra work thrown upon them. Other inflexions are 
 simply lost without anything being put in their place, and 
 
24 Introductory [chap, i 
 
 without any loss in intelligibility or dcfiniteness of expression. 
 But the ravages made in the inflexional system of English 
 often involve a new form of sentence, a new construction, a new 
 Syntax. 
 
 § 3. All these changes, in Pronunciation, in Vocabulary, in 
 Accidence and Syntax would have to be considered and 
 described in a complete account. The description of these 
 phenomena constitutes the History of English. 
 
 But the changes referred to do not take place all over the 
 country precisely at the same time, nor in the same way. 
 From the beginning of its career in these islands, English was 
 not a uniform language, but existed in several different forms, 
 or Dialects. As time went on this diversity increased, so that 
 in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the speech of no two 
 counties was exactly alike, and more or less different forms of 
 English were spoken in different parts of the same county. 
 Some of these differences find utterance in the written language. 
 
 § 4. A complete history of English would take into 
 account all the facts in the development of every form of 
 English from the earliest period till the present day. 
 
 It is obvious that such a multitude of facts could not be 
 compressed into the compass of one small volume, but would 
 fill a respectable library of large books. 
 
 § 5. Fortunately, at the present time, the great majority of 
 the English Dialects are of very little importance as representa- 
 tives of English speech,and for our present purpose we can afford 
 to let them go, except in so far as they throw light upon the 
 growth of those forms of our language which are the main 
 objects of our solicitude, namely, the language of Literature 
 and Received Standard Spoken English. 
 
 We shall have a good deal to say later concerning both 
 Literary and Standard Spoken English. It is enough here to 
 say that they are very closely related ; that the origin of both 
 is the same ; that the starting-point was in the language of 
 London as spoken by the Court and the upper ranks of Society, 
 and in the transaction of official business from the fifteenth 
 century. The problem of the history of this form of English 
 is made complex and difficult by the fact that while its features 
 are now, in the main, those of the East Midland type of English, 
 all the other great dialect types have contributed in some 
 degree to its existence. 
 
 To understand the rise of Literary and Standard Spoken 
 English, therefore, it is necessary to know something at lea.st 
 
§§ 2-8] Limitations of the Inquiry 25 
 
 of the early dialects whose elements can be traced, at the 
 present time, in the language of Literature and of polite ) 
 society. 
 
 We narrow down our inquiry, therefore, to the problem of 
 the origin and development of that form of English which is 
 now spoken by educated and well-bred people, and, what is to 
 all intents and purposes the same thing, of that form which is 
 the vehicle of literature, and which for the last four or five_ 
 centuries has also been that used in the composition of private ' 
 or public documents, no matter what the native form of speech i 
 of the writers might be. 
 
 § 6. ^ After the end of the fourteenth century, the othec, 
 ciialects, excepting always those of Lowland Scotch, gradually 
 cease to be the vehicle of literary expression, and are no 
 longer of importance to us as independent forms of English v 
 We cannot afford, however, to let them altogether out of our 
 sight, because the dialectal composition of the Standard Lan- 
 guage varies slightly ; it adopts or discards this or that element 
 or feature from time to time for reasons, no doubt mainly 
 social, which we cannot determine with exactitude 
 
 •^ 7. In this book, therefore, the modern developments of 
 the provincial English dialects are not considered unless they 
 can throw light on the history of Standard English. 
 
 And while we concentrate mainly upon the history of the 
 dominant form of English, and limit our efforts to an attempt 
 to describe the growth of this, we must further, within this 
 field, make a careful choice of material. 
 
 While we are bound to take cognizance of many particular 
 and general facts of development in the dialects of Old and 
 Middle English, we must of necessity leave unchronicled many 
 details which are of great interest and importance for the 
 special student of these early periods. We cannot attempt 
 a complete account of Old or Middle English, but must confine 
 ourselves, in the main, to such facts as are of significance for 
 our chief theme, the origin and subsequent development of the 
 dominant dialect which emerges towards the end of the M.E. 
 period. 
 
 ^8. We have already enumerated the various aspects of 
 
 ^ This depended, however, largely upon the education of the writer. 
 Thus the Life of S. Editha (Wilts., circa 1420) is written in a very rustic 
 form of English, while the Letters of John Shillingford, a native of 
 Devonshire and Mayor of Exeter, about thirty years later, betray but few 
 typically Southern deviations from London English. (See these Letters, 
 Ed. More, Camden Soc, 1871.) 
 
26 Introductory [chap, i 
 
 English which have to be considered in a complete treatment 
 — its sounds, its vocabulary, its inflexions, and its syntax. 
 Of these, it is perhaps most important to give as clear an 
 a?;count as possible of the development of the sounds and 
 inflexions. The reason of this is, first, that pronunciation and 
 accidence arc the most characteristic features of a dialect, 
 and, secondly, that the history of sounds is especially capable 
 of treatment in terms of general laws or tendencies of change. 
 A couple of examples will serve to make clear the impor- 
 tance of the history of pronunciation in determining the dialectal 
 character. In Standard English we use the form^/r [ff^z/a]. 
 This is from a M.'E. ftr and an O.l^.fyr. The modern form 
 can only be of either Northern or N, East Midland origin. It 
 can only be derived from the M.E./fr. But other types of this 
 word existed in M.E. — -fuir [fyr], the type in use in the West 
 and Central Midlands and in the South and S.West, and/t'r, 
 the Kentish and South-eastern type. Had these types 
 survived into Mod. Engl., the former would have become ^-focye 
 and the latter ^fere [fia]. Again, take the word knell. This 
 goes back to M.E. knellen and to O.E. cnellau. The type 
 shown in these three forms is S. Eastern or Kentish, The West 
 and Central Midland and Southern type was in O.E. cnyllan, 
 M.E. kmdlen, which would develop in Mod. Eng. into ^knull. 
 The corresponding N. East Midland type would result in a 
 Modern ^knill, M.E. knillen. These two illustrations are 
 enough to show the importance of pronunciation as a charac- 
 
 |teristic feature of dialect. " Furthermore, the principles, of 
 which these two words are isolated examples, can be formu- 
 lated in terms of regular laws, which apply to all words 
 containing the same original sounds. The history of sound 
 changes within the various dialects of O. and M.E., therefore, 
 and the development of the sounds through the Modern period, 
 is bound to form an important section in a book dealing with 
 
 I the history of the English Language. 
 
 § 9. The history of English Accidence is partly the history 
 of the treatment of sounds in unstressed syllables, partly also 
 the history of the substitution of one form for another through 
 the influence of the principle known as Analo gy (see § 70 
 below). 
 
 § 10. The changes in English Syntax are due partly to 
 the loss of inflexional syllables and the subsequent recasting 
 of the sentence, partly to the influence of Latin and French 
 sentence structure and idiom. 
 
§§8-Ti] The Study of Vocabulary 27 
 
 § II. Lastly, there is the question of Ycicabulary. This is 
 a side of the history of English which requires very judicious 
 handling. Although, for reasons explained in the Preface, 
 this aspect of the history of English is not dealt with here, 
 a few words may be said upon it. It cannot be supposed 
 that in a small book a detailed account of the introduction, 
 origin, and development of meaning of every individual word 
 should be attempted. This would involve, not a statement of 
 general principles, but a series of isolated and disconnected 
 articles. Such work is the business of the lexicographer pure 
 and simple. 
 
 It seems better to avoid all treatment of individual words as 
 such, in a history of a language, and in tracing in outline the 
 history of the vocabulary to subordinate everything, as far as 
 possible, to principles, citing words merely as illustrations of 
 these. 
 
 Thus it would be quite out of place to give lists of words 
 borrowed from Malay, Chinese, Hungarian, Polish, etc., with 
 any attempt at completeness, because it is far more important 
 to understand how words get from one language into another, 
 and what happens to them, as regards their form, when they 
 do get there, than to have a mechanical knowledge that a 
 particular word was borrowed from some language of which 
 we are entirely ignorant. Any one who knows, say, Greek or 
 Chinese, will have no difficulty in distinguishing the words in 
 English which have been adopted from those languages. 
 Again, it would be improper to take a (&\v hundred native 
 words, haphazard, and describe with minuteness the changes 
 in meaning, perhaps very considerable, which they have 
 undergone, unless the principles of change in meaning, so far 
 as these can be brought under a generalized statement, are 
 first explained, and the particular words cited, merely to 
 illustrate the principle. 
 
 The same view applies to the method of dealing with loan- 
 words in a short history of a language. '"It is important and 
 necessary to state what are the principal languages which have 
 contributed to the English vocabulary,vhow and when the 
 speakers of these languages came in contact with the English, 
 ywhat classes of words we acquired from the various sources, 
 vand the history of the external form of the words when once 
 they had become part and parcel of English speech. Armed 
 with these general points, each of which should have been 
 sufficiently illustrated by specific examples, the student will be 
 in a position to discover for himself the sources of many of the 
 principal foreign loan-words, and if he is in doubt, as indeed 
 
28 Introductory [chap, i 
 
 any one may be, on such a point, there are the Etymological 
 Dictionaries to settle the point for him. 
 
 § 12. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the study 
 of the history of English in such a book as this, or in a 
 hundred others, many of which may be larger and better, is 
 a barren and lifeless pursuit if divorced from the study 
 Jof the language itself as it exists in the actual documents 
 jof the different periods. If we would feel and realize the 
 drama of linguistic evolution, we must penetrate by patient 
 study into the spirit and life of the language at each period 
 — a long and slow process — and then, when we can ' look 
 before and after', we shall gradually gain a sense of growth 
 and development. No statistical and descriptive account can 
 give this vital knowledge, no amount of laws, and tables, 
 and paradigms. All that the best history of English ever 
 written can do for the student is to act as a guide to the path 
 which he must tread anew for himself. 
 
 There is a real danger at the present time for the student of 
 English in the very multiplicity which exists of grammars, 
 histories of the language, monographs on minute points of 
 phonology and syntax, and * aids to study ' of all kinds, 
 a danger that the weary pilgrim will never reach his goal — 
 namely, a first-hand knowledge of the language itself as it 
 exists in the literature. It is to be feared that the formidable 
 and ever-increasing array of books and articles about English 
 make it, in some ways, more and more difficult to get to the 
 reality. The only means of salvation lies in a constant refer- 
 ence, on the one hand, to the actual texts, and, on the other, 
 to the living spoken English of to-day, in which the great 
 impulses of change are ever at work, and where we can 
 observe history being made under our very eyes. 
 
 For we must never forget that while, from the nature of the 
 case, the past history of a language must necessarily be traced 
 by means of written records, these are to be regarded as afford- 
 ing us merely an indication of what was actually taking place 
 in the spoken language itself. Change in language implies a 
 change in the mental and physical habits of the living human 
 beings who speak the language. The drama of linguistic 
 history is enacted, not in manuscripts nor inscriptions, but in 
 the mouths and minds of men. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 POSITION OF ENGLISH AMONG LANGUAGES. DIALECTAL 
 AND CHRONOLOGICAL DIVISIONS 
 
 § 13. English was introduced into these islands in the .fifth i 
 century by Germanic tribes who came, in the first instance,' " 
 under colour of helping Vortigern, the British king, against ' 
 the Picts. But soon, seeing the ' nothingness of the Britons, 
 and the excellence of the land ', the Jutes, who were the first 
 comers, sent for their kinsmen, who, coming in large numbers, 
 murdered and pillaged their way to the possession of the best 
 part of the country, causing the Britons to flee before them 
 ' like fire ' into the mountains of the west. 
 
 In about a century, the various tribes had settled down, and 
 the thoroughness of their grip on the country may be gauged 
 from the purely English character of most names of places 
 in the South and Midlands, except of course those on the 
 borders of Wales and in Cornwall. 
 
 The principal tribes were the Jutes, the Angles, and Saxons, 
 who came respectively from Jutland, SchJeswig, and Holstein. 
 
 The Jutes settled Kent, perhaps part of Surrey, part of 
 Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight. The various tribes of 
 Saxons took possession of the rest of the South and West, 
 between the Thames and the Humber. The Angles settled 
 in the North and Midlands. 
 
 § 14. But if the Germanic invaders of Britain were in many/ - 
 respects savages, they were also noble savages, and in their \ 
 character lay the seeds of much that was worthy and | 
 admirable. 
 
 In the oldest fragments of heathen poetry, side by side with 
 the fierceness and cruelty which we expect, there are also dis- 
 played the excellent qualities of high courage, loyalty to 
 a leader or a cause, a tenderness and a love of nature which 
 spring from what ten Brink calls the 'pious soul of English 
 heathendom '. The pirate who in the fifth century put forth 
 ' through the mists of ocean ' to seek his fortune in an unknown 
 
30 Position of English among Languages [chap, i 
 
 land, and to face, undaunted, risks and dangers, first among the 
 stormy waves, and then amid strange peoples, far from * his 
 home where he was reared \ may have been bloodthirsty and 
 unscrupulous, but he was certainly neither ignoble in spirit 
 nor contemptible as a man. His descendants, turned farmers, 
 country gentlcmen,j'devotees of the chase^ peaceful rulers in 
 their district, protectors of their households, faithful servants 
 of their chief or king, had time and opportunity to cultivate 
 the gentler virtues. But their swords, meanwhile, were not 
 allowed to rust ; there was plenty of fighting during the first 
 few centuries of the English settlement. The introduction of 
 Christianity, while it gave a sanction to the innate qualities 
 of altruism, faithfulness unto death, and deep-rooted tender- 
 ness which reside in the Germanic peoples, did not destroy, 
 but merely disciplined, and gave a nobler and better controlled 
 direction to the sterner elements in the national character. 
 In Beowulf, the ideal king and warrior of Germanic heathen 
 chivalry, we find essentially the same character and virtues 
 as in Alfred, the Christian monarch and soldier, than whom 
 no nobler figure is to be found in the annals of any nation. 
 
 § 15. Throughout Old English history and literature there 
 appears the expression of a national character, in which what 
 are often regarded as chiefly heathen elements are inextricably 
 blended with the gentler and sweeter qualities that find their 
 natural incentive in Christianity. Thus it is a very superficial 
 criticism which would divide our old poetry into the National 
 (meaning thereby purely heathen) and the Christian, for there 
 is no fundamental difference of spirit between them — both are 
 equally ' national '. Different aspects of the national genius 
 are indeed emphasized in the poetry of heathen and Christian 
 periods, but all the elements and spirit of each are found in 
 both ; there is no sudden break, no new departure. As we 
 turn over the pages of the History of the Church in England, 
 we are struck with something like amazement that such an 
 engaging personality as that of St. Bede, with his serene and 
 lofty outlook upon the world, his tenderness and pathos, his 
 sound historical method, his captivating gift of narrative, his 
 profound piety, could emerge from a people separated by but 
 three generations from heathenism, and by less than three 
 centuries from the ruthless followers of Hengest. From these 
 rude ancestors were to spring, in the course of a few centuries, 
 a long ahd splendid line of kings, rulers, warriors, and 
 legislators ; of poets, mystics, and scholars ; of bishops, saints, 
 and martyrs, whom no Englishman of to-day can look back 
 
§§ I4-I6] The Dialects of Old English 31 
 
 upon without a glow of pride at the thought that he belongs to 
 the same race. 
 
 § 16. The Dialects of Old English. 
 
 The language of the Germanic invaders, which in the 
 earliest times can have been but slightly differentiated, had 
 become split up, in the age of the earliest documents, into 
 four still very similar, but nevertheless quite definitely marked 
 dialects. We distinguish the ^ Saxon dialects, the Kentish 
 dialect (that of the Jutes), and the Anglian dialects. Anglian 
 is divided into Northumbrian^ the speech of the Angles 
 North of the Humber, and Mercian, that of the Angles of the 
 Midlands. Mercian and Northumbrian, while having several 
 features in common which distinguish them from the Saxon 
 and Kentish dialects, are also characterized severally by dis- 
 tinctive marks. Thus while we can often speak of a charac- 
 teristic simply as Anglian, we have also to observe carefully 
 the points in which Mercian and Northumbrian differ. We 
 unfortunately know nothing of the early form of the East 
 Anglian dialect. 
 
 Of the Saxon dialects, the most important by far is 
 that of Wessex, which we refer to as West Saxon. This 
 form of English is much more fully represented in literature 
 than any other of the early dialects. In fact West Saxon 
 was the nearest approach to a standard literary dialect which ^ 
 existed in Old English. Its prestige gave it currency beyond 
 the bounds of a single province. This is the dialect which is 
 studied first by students of the old language, and indeed there 
 is little to read, and nothing worthy the name of literature^ 
 in prose, in any other form of Old English, except some 
 interesting homilies in a dialect which it is now the fashion 
 to refer to as a Saxon Patois. Kentish, Mercian, and 
 Northumbrian are mainly known to us in Charters, Glossaries, 
 in Glosses, or in paraphrases of the Gospels and the Psalms. 
 
 A very curious and interesting form of Old English is the 
 Saxon Patois of the Blickling Homilies, and of what are known 
 as the Harleian Glosses, which will be referred to more 
 particularly later on. The view now held is that these are 
 indeed in a Saxon dialect, which has many features in 
 common with the We.st Saxon literary language of Alfred 
 and iElfric, while it also shows well-marked deviations that 
 rather resemble Mercian in some respects. It is believed 
 that this dialect developed within the Saxon area, and that it 
 is not due to actual contamination from without. Unfortu- 
 
32 Dialectal and Chronological Divisions [chap, h 
 
 nately we do not know precisely in what part of the Saxon 
 area this Patois was spoken. 
 
 § 17. The Name of the People and their Language. 
 
 The country as a whole is called by our ancestors Englalond , 
 ' land of the Angles ' ; the people, unless some specific tribe 
 is designated, are called Angel cytin, ' Angle kin ', and the 
 language is known as Englisc. Bede uses the expression 
 Angli sivc Saxones, implying that both terms mean the same 
 thing, but he generally calls the people Angli, and their 
 language Scrmo Anglicns, as a generic term, even when 
 referring to the language of the Jutes. 
 
 The great and good Alfred, King of the West Saxons, the 
 founder of West Saxon prose, calls his own language Englisc, 
 and Ethelbert of Kent, the first English Christian King, 
 applies the \yord Angli to himself and his people. Much 
 later, the Abbot .^Ifric, who wrote pure West Saxon, speaks 
 of turning his Homilies of Ledemim gereorde to Engliscre 
 sprxce, ' from the Latin language into English speech '. 
 Lingua Saxonica, Saxonice are but rarely used, unless in 
 specific reference to the Saxon dialects. The expression 
 Anglo-Saxon seems to have been coined in the eighteenth 
 century, and is now less and less used among scholars. It is 
 better to follow ancient precedent in this matter, and to call 
 the language of the oldest periods Old English. We speak 
 of this or that dialect of Old English, and also of Old Kentish, 
 Old Mercian, etc. 
 
 § 18. Relation of the O.E. Dialects to other Languages. 
 
 I Old English belongs to the West Germanic branch of 
 Germanic speech. Parent, or Primitive Germanic, was divided 
 into three great branches : North Germanic, represented by 
 the Scandinavian languages ; East Germanic, represented 
 chiefly by Gothic ; and West Germanic. The principal 
 divisions of the latter are Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old 
 English, and the Old High German dialects. Of these, Old 
 Saxon and Old Frisian are most nearly related to English, the 
 latter indeed having so many characteristics in common with 
 O.E. that many scholars are inclined to assume an original 
 unity which they call Anglo-Frisian, and suppose to have 
 differentiated subsequently into Old English on one hand, and 
 Old Frisian on the other. This assumption, however, is open 
 to many criticisms into which we need not now enter. 
 
 The Old High German dialects underwent in the sixth 
 
§§ 16-19] Sfages of Developmeyit 
 
 
 century certain considerable changes in the original conso- 
 nantal sounds, changes which we now find reflected in Modern 
 German. On the other hand, Old High German adheres far 
 more closely to the ancestral system of vowel sounds than 
 any other West Germanic dialect, and also retains the original 
 inflexions with remarkable fidelity. 
 
 By the help of Old Saxon and Old High German, both of 
 which are in many respects nearer to the primitive West 
 Germanic type than O.E., at the time of the oldest docu- 
 ments, we are able to form a very fair idea of a form of 
 O.E. earlier than any which we find recorded, and also to 
 reconstruct West Germanic itself. If we find a feature 
 preserved only in O-H.G. among W. Gmc. dialects, but occur- 
 ring also in Gothic, and perhaps in Nth. Gmc. as well, we 
 are pretty safe in assuming that it was not only a West 
 Germanic feature, but had survived from Primitive Gmc. 
 itself. Such a feature is, for example, the survival of 
 the old diphthong ai in O.H.G. (written ai, ei) as in stein 
 ' stone ', which in Goth, is stains, and in Old Norse steinn. 
 We have no doubt that this was a West Gmc. sound, though 
 O.E., O.Sax., and O.Fris. have all lost it. 
 
 § 19. The Chronological Divisions of English. 
 
 If we bear in mind that language changes gradually, and 
 that it is perpetually changing, it will be evident that it is 
 impossible to define with precision the exact date at which 
 a language passes out of one stage and enters upon a new era 
 of its existence. The process is a continuous one, and one 
 period passes by insensible gradations into another. At any 
 given moment there exist side by side with young speakers, 
 whose language represents the 'latest thing ' in speech develop- 
 ment, an old generation who still represent an order of things 
 which has passed away except in the speech of themselves 
 and their exact contemporaries, and also an intermediate 
 generation whose speech shows some characteristics both of 
 the new and the old. 
 
 It is nevertheless the case, that round about a particular 
 period of time, we can observe certain tendencies arising, and 
 gaining ground as time goes on. We are thus able to mark 
 off the course of any language whose records cover a con- 
 siderable extent of time into more or less rough chronological 
 divisions, each of which has definite features which distinguish 
 it from what is before and after. 
 
 From this point of view, and for the sake of convenience, 
 
34 Dialectal and Chronological Divisions [chap, h 
 
 we make the following more or less rough and approximate 
 chronological divisions of English : 
 
 /Earliest O.E. End of seventh century. 
 f^ji-n /• / Early O.E. Eighth and ninth centuries. 
 uia tinglisli- L^^^ Q g^ Pj.qj^ beginning of tenth century 
 
 . to about 1050. 
 
 Early Transition English. From 1050-1150. 
 
 [Early M.E. 1 150-1250. 
 Middle EnglishX Central M.E. 1 250-1 370. 
 (Late M.E. 1370-1450. 
 
 Transition Period. 1400 or 1450- 1500. 
 
 First Modern. 1500-1600. 
 Second Modern. Seventeenth century. 
 Third Modern. Eighteenth century. 
 Present-day. From 1800- 
 
 Such divisions as these are necessarily arbitrary, and will 
 largely depend upon what features are selected as distinguish- 
 ing tests. Some will prefer to consider the Modern period as 
 beginning about 1450, and will apply the term Early Modern 
 to English as it existed between this date and the middle of 
 the following century. 
 
 A 
 
 Moderji English 
 
 %.,;. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE SOUNDS OF SPEECH 
 
 § 20. It is not proposed to give here an elaborate 
 treatise on Phonetics, but as Sounds are the realities of 
 Speech, and as much confusion of thought often prevails 
 concerning the nature and mode of formation of these, it 
 seems desirable to include a few remarks concerning them. 
 
 In the first place it is important to use a clear terminology, 
 and to use it consistently. A good phonetic terminology is 
 one which expresses briefly, and unambiguously, the facts of 
 utterance. 
 
 As experience has convinced the present writer that Sweet's 
 method of classifying and describing sounds is the most 
 exact and adequate, it will be employed throughout this 
 chapter, and generally in this book. 
 
 Note. Symbols placed in brackets, as [\>], are phonetic symbols", 
 which will be used in this work when necessary. 
 
 § 21. Voice and Breath. 
 
 A very important organ of speech is the Glottis, which 
 contains two membranes capable of vibration, and known as 
 the vocal chords. When the vocal chords are drawn across 
 the Glottis, so as to close it, the air when driven from the 
 lungs passes in a series of puffs through the chords, and 
 makes them vibrate. This vibration causes a buzzing sound, 
 which is known as Voice. Sounds which are accompanied by 
 this vibration are known as Voiced Sounds. If, on the other 
 hand, the vocal chords are not drawn tight, but lie folded 
 back against the walls of the Glottis, the air passes through 
 the throat without any hindrance, there is no vibration of the 
 chords, no Voice. Sounds produced under these conditions, 
 and without any vibration of the Chords, are called Voiceless, 
 Un-voiced, or Breath sounds. 
 
 Examples of Voiced Sounds are the consonants z as in buzs, 
 V as in vice, and the th [^] in this. Vowels, as their name 
 implies, are usually voiced in nearly all languages. 
 
 C Q, 
 
36 The Sounds of Speech [chap, m 
 
 Examples of Voiceless, or Breath Sounds, are s in sit,f\\\ 
 fat, and the th [}>] in t/wik. 
 
 § 22. Consonants and Vowels. 
 
 The fundamental difference between Consonants and Vowels 
 depends upon the degree of opening of the Motith Passage. 
 
 Thus in a Consonant the mouth passage is either completely 
 stopped for a moment, as in [p, t, k], or sufficiently closed or 
 narrowed to produce a perceptible friction, as in [f], sh [J] in 
 sJiip, or tJi [)'] in thin. 
 
 In forming vowel sounds, on the other hand, the passage is 
 never narrow enough to cause friction when the air-stream 
 passes through. This can be realized at once if we compare 
 the consonant [v] with the first vowel m father \a\. 
 
 Consonants formed by a momentary closing or stopping of 
 the air-passage, as in [p, t, k], are called Stops, or Stop- 
 consonants ; those formed by merely narrowing the passage 
 and causing friction [f, \, J] are called Open Consonants, or by 
 some writers Continuants. 
 
 § 23. Classification of Consonants. 
 
 There are three points to be observed in describing a Con- 
 sonant sound : Where is it made? How is it made? Is it 
 voiced or not ? 
 
 § 24. The Question * Where ? ' 
 
 Consonantal articulation, that is, the production either of 
 Stops, or Open Consonants, may take place in the Throat, or 
 in the Mouth Passage. Throat open consonants occur in 
 Arabic, and a Throat Stop (Glottal Stop) occurs in Danish, and, 
 in a milder form, in German, and in several forms of Scots, 
 but as a rule the consonants of the European languages are 
 formed in the mouth. This being so, it is better to discard 
 altogether the misleading term Guttural in dealing with the 
 sounds of English and other European languages. 
 
 The majority of the Consonants formed in the mouth are 
 made by different parts of the tongue ; some are made by the 
 lips, and some by the combined activities of tongue and lips. 
 In addition to these organs, the soft palate or Velum, and the 
 Uvula also function, the former functioning together with 
 the tongue in forming back consonants: stops, open, nasals, 
 etc., the latter vibrating against the tongue in the back trills. 
 
 § 25. Consonants made with the Tongue. 
 
 It is possible to form consonants with every part of the 
 upper surface of the Tongue, along its whole length from 
 
§§ 31-7] Areas of the Tongue 37 
 
 the Root to the Point or tip. It is important to map out 
 roughly the chief characteristic areas of the tongue, since 
 each of these forms a typical kind of consonant sound. Start- 
 ing at the Back and working forward, we have the following 
 areas : Back ; Front (or Middle of the tongue) ; Blade (the 
 area just behind the Point) ; the Point itself. 
 
 As a rule, a consonant is formed between the tongue and 
 that part of the roof of the mouth immediately above the 
 tongue area which is being used. 
 
 § 26. Back Consonants. 
 
 Typical sounds of this class are [k, g], back voiceless, and 
 back voiced stops respectively. This is the class often un- 
 fortunately called Gutturals, a misleading and meaningless 
 term in this connexion, because they are not formed in the 
 Throat at all, but between the Back of the tongue and the 
 Soft Palate. 
 
 Note that Back Consonafits may be made with the Root (Root Cons.) ; 
 by the part just in front of the Root (Full Back) ; or slightly further for- 
 ward (Back Advanced). The Back area is, however, perfectly definite in 
 extent, and if we try to form [k] or [g] first with the Root, and then further 
 and further forward, we shall find there is a limit which we cannot pass 
 without the resulting sound ceasing to be a typical Back [k] or [g] stop, and 
 becoming something quite different. The Full Back stop is heard in the 
 English carl, cup ; the Back Advanced in keep, kit. The reason for this 
 difference will be apparent later, when we deal with the articulation of 
 vowel sounds. 
 
 § 27. Front Consonants. 
 
 This class of sounds, made with the Middle or Front of the 
 tongue, is exceedingly important in the History of English, 
 and unfortunately its character is often misunderstood. Much 
 of the confusion of mind which prevails concerning Front 
 consonants arises from the misleading and vague term Palatal 
 which is often applied to them. The word ought to be 
 banished from the vocabulary of scientific students of language 
 because it has no meaning. If Palatal means ' formed with 
 the roof of the mouth ', then it may be said that all consonants 
 made by the tongue are formed between this and some part 
 of the roof of the mouth ; if it be argued that the term refers 
 only to the Hard Palate, then the reply is that in that case 
 it would apply also to a totally different class, the Blade 
 consonants. The important thing is to know zv hat part of the 
 tongue is being used in forming a given consonant. We there- 
 fore shall do well to get rid for ever of this unmeaning term. 
 
 We have only one Front Consonant in Modern English, 
 
3^ The Sounds of Speech [chap, m 
 
 namely the Front Open Voiced which we write y, as in you, 
 yacht. The symbol generally used for this is [j]. In German 
 not only this sound exists, as in JuJig, Jahr, but also the 
 voiceless form of it, as in ich [ij]. The student should make 
 
 a point of realizing, by practice, when he is using the Front 
 area of the tongue, and should then proceed to form a Stop 
 Consonant, both Breath and Voiced, with the same part of the 
 tongue. The Front Stops undoubtedly existed for a time 
 in Old English. The effect on the ear of a voiceless front 
 stop is that of a peculiar kind of [t], that of the voiced 
 front stop, of a peculiar kind of [dj. For this reason we 
 denote these sounds by the symbols ['t] and [d] respectively. 
 
 It should be noted that when we pronounce a Front Con- 
 sonant^ the tongue is drawn up so that the Middle is brought 
 into play, and the Point is curled round and down, so that it 
 lies in the cavity below and behind the lower front teeth. If 
 the Point is in any other position than this we may be sure 
 that we are not pronouncing a Front Consonant at all. Unless 
 the theory and practice of this class of sounds be well under- 
 stood, a great deal that is written about ' Palatalization ' is 
 entirely devoid of meaning. Students must take the trouble 
 to learn this, to most Englishmen and Germans, entirely new 
 class of Stops. Front Stops occur in Russ. mm [d«'d«] and 
 in Swedish kenna \\.ixv!\ci\ ; Front Divided in Italian voglio 
 [vD'lo] ; Front Nasal in French montagnc [mSt^n], Ital. 
 vergogna [vergJii^:]. 
 
 § 28. Blade Consonants. 
 
 To this class belong [s] and [z]. These are really the 
 only members of the group which concern us much, though 
 in Modern English it is probable that some speakers use 
 Blade Stops instead of the ordinary Point Stops, especially 
 before [J, z] in the combinations [tj] and [dz] in hitch, bridge 
 respectively. 
 
 § 29. Blade Point Consonants. 
 
 The typical Blade Point Consonants are sh [J], as in ship, 
 schdn,cher, and the initial consonant in Yrench. jamais [z], the 
 final in rouge, the medial consonant in pleasure plszs]. 
 While we have both the Voiced and Voiceless Blade Point 
 Open consonants in English and PVench, in German only the 
 voiceless [J] exists, [z] being often very difficult for German 
 speakers to acquire. 
 
 In articulating this class of sounds, the Blade is raised, the 
 
§§ 27-34] Point and Lip Consonants 39 
 
 tongue is slightly retracted, and the Point is turned upwards 
 and backwards. The air-stream has to pass over both Blade 
 and Point. 
 
 § 30. Point Consonants. 
 
 These are often loosely called ' Dentals ', a term which is 
 not applicable to English [d] and [t], in which the Point does 
 not touch the teeth, but forms a stop against the upper gums 
 or A Ivcolars ]\xsthQh.md the teeth. Thus the English Point 
 Consonants [t] and [d] may be called Point Alveolars if it is 
 desired to be very exact. As a matter of fact the difference 
 between point-teeth [t] and point-alveolar [t] is hardly per- 
 ceptible to the ear. In German and French [t] and [d] are 
 genuine Point-TeetJi consonants, or ''Dentals'. 
 
 § 31. Point-Teeth Consonants. 
 
 The only Point Consonants which are articulated against 
 the upper teeth in English are the Point-Teeth Open con- 
 sonants, [■S] as in this, and []?] as in think. The difficulty 
 which foreigners sometimes find in pronouncing these sounds 
 is largely imaginary. The way to obtain them is to pronounce 
 the P.-T. Stops, and then relax the pressure against the teeth, 
 so that the air-stream can pass through with the characteristic 
 hiss or buzz of this class of sounds. In English, some 
 speakers form [j?, ■§] merely by putting the point of the 
 tongue lightly against the upper teeth, other speakers allow 
 the point to protrude slightly between the upper and lower 
 teeth. 
 
 § 32. Lip Consonants. 
 
 These are made by the activity of both lips. The Stops 
 [b] and [p] are typical examples of this class, and need no 
 comment. 
 
 § 33. Lip-Teeth Consonants. 
 
 These are made by bringing the lower lip against the upper 
 teeth, and allowing the air-stream to pass between the narrow 
 passage thus formed. The Open consonants of this group, 
 [f] and [v], exist in most European languages. 
 
 § 34. Lip-Back Consonants. 
 
 The Lip-Back Open are the sounds which concern us. 
 These are the English [w], and [\y] or Voiceless [w] written 
 wh, as in which. These sounds are made by bringing the 
 lips fairly close together, so that a slight consonantal friction 
 is caused when the air-stream passes, and at the same time 
 
40 The Sounds of Speech [chap, m 
 
 raising the Back of the tongue. English [w] is a very 
 important sound, not merely because of its occurrence in 
 Modern English, but because it is one of the oldest sounds 
 in the language. It has remained unchanged, apparently, 
 not merely since the West Germanic and Primitive Germanic 
 periods, but even from the Primitive Aryan mother-tongue. 
 
 Voiceless [\v], or [\y] occurs invariably in those words which 
 are written with initial zvh (except who, whole, and one or two 
 more), in the pronunciation of Scotch and Irish speakers. 
 Many English people, even in the South, now use this sound, 
 but it is certainly not natural in English speech from the 
 Midlands downwards, and has been introduced comparatively 
 recently — within the last thirty or forty years — apparently 
 through Scotch and Irish influence, backed up by the spelling. 
 Many excellent speakers of Standard English never use the 
 sound at all. 
 
 § 35. Lip-Front Consonants. 
 
 These are formed, as regards their consonantal element, 
 entirely with the lips, but with the activity of the latter is 
 combined the raising of the Front of the tongue. The Voiced 
 Lip Front Open [/i] occurs in French Jiuit [/Jit], etc., and the 
 voiceless [(/)] in the same language, when ni is written, after 
 a voiceless consonant, especially an Open voiceless, as in 
 fuite [f(/)it]. 
 
 § 36. The Question ' How ? * Consonants are formed. 
 
 Besides knowing the area in the mouth at which consonants 
 are formed, it is necessary to know also how the active part 
 is being used. 
 
 We distinguish five modes of forming consonantal sounds : 
 Stops, and Open Consonants — already described, Divided 
 articulation, Nasalization, and Trilling. 
 
 |;^Some areas of the tongue, e.g. the Back and the Point, can 
 be used in all these ways. 
 
 Note. A trill is made either w'th the point of the tongue, or against 
 the back of the tongue, with the uvula. 
 
 § 37. Divided Consonants. 
 
 These are what are popularly called ' 1 '-sounds. They are 
 made by forming a complete contact between some part of 
 the tongue and the corresponding area of the palate or the 
 teeth, while at the same time the edges or sides of the tongue 
 are allowed to sink slightly, so that the air-stream can pass 
 on either side of the point of contact. Thus the English and 
 German [1] sounds are made with the Poijit of the tongue. 
 
§§ 34-9] Nasals and Trills 41 
 
 There is a complete stoppage at one place, but on either side 
 of this there is an opening through which the air-stream 
 passes. Thus the Divided Consonants have something in 
 common both with Stops and Open Consonants, since there 
 is complete contact at one point, but also there is an open 
 passage so that the sound can be prolonged. The same 
 mode is practicable with the back of the tongue. The Back 
 Divided [t] is heard in Russian, e. g. in Gbitb, In English, [1 
 is unvoiced after a voiceless consonant, as m fling, where [1 
 begins unvoiced, and is then voiced. In French souffle [sQfl 
 the [1] is unvoiced altogether. 
 
 § 38. Nasal Consonants. 
 
 Nasalization is produced by opening the passage which 
 leads from the throat to the Nose, so that the air-stream 
 passes through the latter. 
 
 Any consonant may be nasalized, that is, the nose passage 
 may be open, no matter what activities are going on in the 
 mouth passage. At the same time, in most civilized European 
 languages, the nasalization of consonants is confined to stops. 
 The chief characteristic nasals are [n] Point-nasal; [13] Back- 
 nasal, as in sing [sir)] ; Lip-nasal [mj, limb [lim]. We might 
 say with perfect accuracy that [nj was a nasalized [d]; [13] 
 a nasalized [g] ; and [ml a nasalized [b]. The student may 
 practise passing from [gjto [r)], [d] to [n], etc., by the simple 
 process of opening the nose passage, without releasing the 
 stop. 
 
 In some languages, voiceless nasals occur, but they are not 
 very common. Thus in French rhumatisvie is often pro- 
 nounced [rom^tisip] but also [r0m^tizm(a)]. 
 
 § 39. Trills. 
 
 These sounds are popularly known as the ' r '-sounds. 
 The two chief, if not the only Trills, are the Point-Trill [r], 
 and the Back-Trill [a]. The former, which is heard among 
 Scotch speakers, and probably occurred in Old and Middle 
 English generally, is made by the rapid vibration of the 
 Point of the tongue just behind the upper teeth. The latter, 
 often heard in French, is produced by retracting the tongue, 
 raising the Back of this organ, and allowing the Uvula to 
 vibrate upon the raised surface. 
 
 Modern English [r] is not really a Trill at all, but merely 
 a very weak Point Open consonant. The ^--sounds, both in 
 French and English, are unvoiced after voiceless consonants. 
 
42 
 
 The Sounds of Speech 
 
 [chap, in 
 
 § 40. The meaning of the third point to be considered in 
 describing consonants, whether they are voiced or not, has 
 already been explained (§ 21). 
 
 § 41. If we combine the three points just discussed, we 
 get the following table of consonant sounds : 
 
 
 Back. 
 
 Front. 
 
 Blade. 
 
 Blade- 
 point. 
 
 Point. 
 
 Lip. 
 
 Lip- 
 teeth 
 
 Lip- 
 back. 
 
 Lip- 
 front. 
 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 Open 
 
 X 
 
 s 
 
 J 
 
 j 
 
 s 
 
 z 
 
 J 
 
 z 
 
 )> 
 
 =s 
 
 P 
 
 b 
 
 f 
 
 V 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 w 
 
 <i> 
 
 n 
 
 Stop 
 
 k 
 
 g 
 
 ■t 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 d 
 
 P 
 
 b 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Divided 
 
 I 
 
 \ 
 
 •1 
 
 
 
 •1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nasal 
 Trill 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 h 
 
 
 
 fi 
 
 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Note. The Blade and Blade-point stops, Divideds, and Nasals are 
 omitted from this Table because they occur as a rule only in combina- 
 tion with [J, z, s, z]. Some speakers no doubt tend to assimilate [t] to 
 [J] iri [tj], but it is unnecessary for our present purposes to distinguish 
 these sounds by special symbols. 
 
 § 42. General Remarks npon the Consonants. 
 
 In order to realize the precise nature of each consonant, 
 and the organic relation of one group to another, as well as of 
 the individual sounds in each group, it is desirable to practise 
 various exercises. 
 
 The student should practise in the first place the art of 
 Voicing and Unvoicing, that is of alternately closing and 
 opening the vocal chords without altering the position of the 
 organs of the mouth. 
 
 The Open Consonants, Divided, and Nasals are the best 
 for this purpose, as they can be prolonged : [s — z, ]> — ^, J — z, 
 j — ^j], etc. Another exercise is nasalizing and de-nasalizing. 
 Thus the process of opening and closing the nose passage 
 should be practised by passing from [g] to [r)] and vice versa, 
 and the same exercise should be tried with [b — m, d — n]. 
 
 It is well to practise the consonants in organically related 
 groups; all \he. point, all the back, all ihe front consonants in 
 order. While it is highly desirable to learn to isolate sounds, 
 and to pronounce consonants by themselves, it is useful also 
 to add the vowel \a\ in pronouncing a consonant, thus — \jSa, 
 da, r\d, \d, xa\, and so on with the consonants of each group. 
 
§§ 40-4] Vozvel Formation 43 
 
 It is particularly instructive to pass from Stop to Open, from 
 Open to Stop of each group, gradually opening the Stop 
 until the Open is fully formed. Besides practising the sounds 
 in this vertical order, it is also an excellent thing to start 
 with a back consonant, and shift the place of articulation 
 gradually forward, until the point of the tongue is reached : 
 [g^, g«, d«, da\ and so on. Practise this also with the Open, 
 Divided, Nasal, and Trill, both Voiced and tm- Voiced. 
 
 These exercises are all of them important for the student 
 of the history of a language, because they illustrate the 
 various possible changes in articulation which occur from 
 time to time during the life of a language. A thorough 
 mastery of these processes makes the history of a language 
 more of a reality, and enables the student to get away from 
 graphic formulae. Thus in stating Verner's Law [see Note % 
 following § 346] it is essential to think in terms of sounds rather 
 than of symbols, and to be able to say that under such and such 
 conditions the Germanic Voiceless Open Consonants, derived 
 from the corresponding Aryan or Indo-Germanic Voiceless 
 Stops, were voiced, rather than to think of the process in 
 terms of a graphic formula and to say that /, t, k which had 
 become /, /, x, under the conditions stated by Verner then 
 became d, d, g. 
 
 \ 43. The Classification of Vowel Sounds. 
 
 There are four points which must be considered in describing 
 and classifying a Vowel Sound: the Height of tJie Tongue; 
 the Part of the Tongtce used ; the Condition of the Tongue ; 
 the Participation or non-Participation of the Lips. 
 
 § 44. The Height of the Tongue. 
 
 The Tongue can be raised or lowered in the mouth, and 
 these movements correspond to the movements of the lower 
 jaw. We distinguish three degrees of Height: High, Mid, 
 and Low. In the High position the tongue is usually raised 
 as high as is consistent with the absence of friction. Thus in 
 [i] as in beat, vicl, si, the tongue is practically as high as is 
 possible without passing into a consonantal sound. If the 
 tongue be raised but very little from the position which it 
 occupies in [i] it soon ceases to be a vowel, and becomes [j]. 
 The Mid position is that which the tongue occupies when it 
 is in the middle of the mouth. The Lotv position involves 
 a still greater lowering of the tongue and sinking of the lower 
 jaw, so that the mouth is, comparatively speaking, fairly wide 
 open. The three degrees of height are illustrated in the 
 
44 The Sounds of Speech [chap, m 
 
 three English words [b/t, bet, baet] which in the Standard 
 pronunciation arc High, Mid, and Loiv, respectively. It is 
 important to learn to realize the upward and downward 
 movements of the tongue, and the student may learn a great 
 deal at the beginning by merely deliberately moving the 
 tongue up and down silently and without attempting to utter 
 any particular sound. 
 
 § 45. The Part of the Tongue Used. 
 
 The tongue may be drawn back in the mouth, so that the 
 back part comes into play ; it may be advanced, so that 
 \he front comes into play; or it may lie practically j'fi^/ in the 
 mouth, so that its whole upper surface is used. 
 
 Vowels made with the Back of the tongue are called back 
 vowels ; those made with the Frottt are front voivels ; those 
 with the whole surface are known z.^fiat vowels. 
 
 Note. Sweet, whose classification is here used, describes the last 
 class as Mixed Vowels. The term Flat is used in this book, as less 
 likely to lead to confusion, and as being more descriptive of the facts. 
 
 Examples of back vowels arc \a\ as in father, Bahn, etc. ; 
 [d] as in English saiv. 
 
 Front vowels are heard in the English words bet, bat, 
 French si, dd, and in German Vieh, lehnen, etc. 
 
 Flat vowels do not occur in French, but a typical English 
 sound occurring in heard, worm, curl [hAd, wAm, kAl] belongs 
 to this group, as does the common unstressed vowel [9], as in 
 butter [bata], Wordsworth [wAdzwa]?]. A flat vowel is also 
 heard in German in the unstressed syllables of Vater, 
 Knabe, etc. 
 
 Note. In back vowels the tongue slopes down from back io front', in 
 fro7it vowels, ixanx front to back. These two classes are sometimes called 
 sloped vowels. In the fat vowels there is no slope, hence the name. 
 
 § 46. The Condition of the Tongue. 
 
 The condition referred to is the muscular condition, which 
 may be one of Tenseness, in which the tongue is braced and 
 hard, or, on the other hand, one of Slackness, in which the 
 tongue is relatively soft and slack. Vowels uttered with the 
 tongue tense have a clearer, shriller sound, and a higher pitch, 
 than those uttered with the tongue slack. We call the former 
 tense vowels, the latter, slack vowels. 
 
 Note. Sweet uses the term Narrow for tense vowels, and JVlde for 
 slack. Tense and Slack are used here, after the example of many phone- 
 ticians, as being more definitely descriptive of the facts, and less likely to 
 give rise to misapprehensions. 
 

 §§ 44-7] Tenseness and Height in Vowels 45 
 
 The essential and characteristic difference between iense 
 and slack vowels may be heard by contrasting the mid-front- 
 tense [e], as in French dc, or German WeJi, with the mid- 
 front-slack vowel [e], as in English head, pen, or German 
 fett, helly etc. The student should also attempt to distinguish 
 between the different muscular sensations felt in pronouncing 
 alternately [e] and [e]. 
 
 § 47. It is rather important to warn students against 
 confusing Tenseness with Height, as is done by the ambiguous 
 terminology too frequently used. Thus when a writer talks 
 of an 'Open Vowel', and a ' Close Vowel', it is never quite 
 clear what he means. For some writers call [s] ' open e ' 
 (German 'offenes e'), as distinct from [e] which they call 
 'close e\ Here the real distinction \s purely one of Tenseness^ 
 and not oi Height at all. But the same writers also refer to 
 [5], as in English saw, as ' open o ', as distinct from [o] in 
 French beau or German Lohn. Here the distinction is 
 definitely one of Height ; [o] being mid-back-te7ise, and [o] 
 low-back-tense. 
 
 There is no necessary connexion between Height and 
 Tenseness. There are two distinct series of vowels, one made 
 with a tense tongue, the other with a slack, but differing in 
 no other particular. Thus, if we take the Front vowels, we 
 can pronounce High, Mid, and Lozv Tense, and also vowels in 
 the same three positions Slack. It is a mistake to suppose, 
 as some writers appear to suggest, that in passing from the 
 High Tense to the Lotv Tense, it is necessary to pass through 
 several slack stages. If, for instance, the tongue be slightly 
 lowered from the High Tense, we do not get a Slack vowel, 
 but merely a lowered Tense vowel, unless, of course, the 
 tongue be deliberately slackened, which is not at all necessary. 
 A i)iid-te?ise vowel is not higher than a mid-slack in the sense 
 that the whole tongue is raised. It is true, however, that 
 when the tongue is made taut, the upper surface, or part of it, 
 stands up rather more than when the tongue is slack and soft. 
 In the same way we can raise our arm to a certain position, 
 and while neither raising it nor lowering it, we can either 
 make the muscles stand out in lumps, or allow them to lie 
 soft and unstrained. But unless we deliberately choose to do 
 so, we do not raise the arm when we stiffen the muscles. 
 
 All this, like any other fact in phonetics, the student must 
 bring to the test of his own experience. 
 
46 The Sounds of Speech [chap, m 
 
 § 48. The Activity of the Lips. 
 
 In pronouncing a vowel sound the lips may either be passive, 
 or, in some cases, drawn right back from the teeth (spreading), 
 or they may be slightly protruded, so that they take part in . 
 the articulation, and modify the sound uttered. Vowels in 
 whose formation the lips take part are cBXlcd Roitiided vov^&ls; 
 those in whose formation the lips take no part are called Un- 
 rojmded. In describing a vowel of the latter sort, the term 
 Unrounded need not be used, as it is assumed that if no 
 mention is made of Rounding this is absent. Examples of 
 Ronnded vowels are : [y] as in French bnt [byt], which is high- 
 froni-tense-ronnd\ [ej as in German schdn — niid-front-tense- 
 round; [u] as in English boot [but] — high-back-tense-round \ 
 [o] as in German BoJme [bone] or French bemi [bo] — mid- 
 back-tense-round, and so on. 
 
 It should be realized that as the movements of the lips 
 are quite independent of those of the tongue. Rounding may 
 be combined with any Position, or Height, or Condition of the 
 tongue. 
 
 The student should therefore practise combining Rounding 
 with every possible tongue position, and also, starting with 
 familiar Roiind vowels, he should learn to unround these, 
 without altering the tongue position. 
 
 § 49. Degrees of Rounding : Different Kinds of Rounding. 
 
 Some vowels have more Rounding than others. Normally, 
 this depends upon the Height of the tongue ; the higher 
 the tongue, the greater the degree of Rounding. Some 
 languages have abnormally rounded vowels, that is, vowels 
 with greater or less rounding than normally belongs to that 
 degree of height with which they are uttered. Vowels 
 which have more than normal roundhig are known as over- 
 rounded, those which have less, as tmder-rounded. Over- 
 rounding occurs in the German il in BiiJine, where a mid- 
 front-tense has the degree of rounding which belongs to a Jiigh 
 vowel, so that the il here is really [e] with increased rounding. 
 Again, the Swedish god 'good ' is a mid-back-tense with over- 
 rotinding. 
 
 The effect upon the ear of an over-rounded vowel is that of 
 the next higher round vowel, so that the vowel in Buhne 
 suggests [y] and that in Sw.god [u]. 
 
 In Back-round vozvels the shape of the lip-opening is 
 roughly o, in Front-round voivels, roughly 0. 
 
§§ 48-52] 
 
 Vowel Pitch 
 
 47 
 
 § 50. Table of Vowel Sounds. 
 
 Utirotmded Voivels. 
 
 Front. 
 
 High 
 
 Mid 
 
 Low 
 
 Tense. 
 I i he^ Sie 
 
 r e de, sehr 
 
 Slack. 
 Jl / Fisch 
 
 I £ bell, 
 Germ. B^'tt 
 
 "[ as hat 
 (Engl.) 
 
 Ba 
 Tense. 
 1 
 
 ck. 
 
 Slack. 
 1 
 
 ] a \)Ut 
 (Engl.) 
 
 [j a fother, 
 Mann 
 
 japre 
 
 J 
 
 Flat. 
 
 Tense. 
 
 I i Russ. 
 cbipt 
 
 1^ e gut^ 
 
 I A b/rd 
 
 Slack. 
 
 I i bit 
 (Engl.) 
 
 |3fath£'r, a 
 
 Rounded Vowels. 
 
 Front. 
 
 High 
 
 Mid 
 
 Low 
 
 1 ense. 
 f y lune 
 
 {id\e, 
 
 G^^the 
 
 Slack. 
 
 f t^tto 
 (Finn.) 
 
 I 
 
 :j o beurre, 
 Gotter 
 
 Back. 
 
 Tense. 
 
 \ u wh«?, 
 shi^ft; rz/h 
 
 } o beau 
 
 : h«ll 
 
 Slack. 
 
 3" tf Germ. 
 Gott 
 
 J^ hot 
 (Engl.) 
 
 Flat. 
 Tense. I Slack. 
 
 Jii Swed. ;T 
 fru 
 
 \ 
 
 '^ bt;nne 
 
 § 51. Pitch of Vowels. 
 
 Every vowel sound has an inherent musical pitch, or note, 
 which depends upon the shape of the mouth passage, the 
 condition of the tongue, and the position of the lips. This 
 inherent pitch is drowned in ordinary speech by the powerful 
 vibration of the vocal chords, and is best heard by Whispering 
 the vowel. 
 
 By Whisper phoneticians mean a definite contraction of 
 the Glottis, which causes a slight friction of the air-stream 
 against the walls of this organ. 
 
 The factors which determine pitch have been briefly 
 mentioned, but it may make it clearer if it be said th2it front 
 vowels are higher in pitch than back vowels ; high are vowels 
 higher in pitch than mid, mid higher in pitch than low ; tense 
 vowels have a higher pitch than slack \ tmroiindcd vowels 
 are higher than rounded vowels. 
 
 ^ 52. Quantity or Vowel Length. 
 
 The length or duration of a vowel sound is relative to 
 other vowels in the language. In English our so-called short 
 
48 The Sounds of Speech [chap, m 
 
 vowels are often of considerable length, as long as, or even 
 longer, than what are considered long in other languages. 
 
 Although there is no necessary connexion between Length 
 and Tenseness, many languages tend to make most of their 
 long vowels tense and their sJiort ones slack. In English and 
 German long [i] and [u] arc always te^ise, the same sounds 
 when sJiort always slack. This same is not true of French, 
 however, where [i] and [u] are always tense, and generally 
 short, except before r. 
 
 § 53. Nasal Vowels. 
 
 All vowel sounds may be pronounced with the nose passage 
 open, and vowels so uttered are called nasal or nasalized 
 vowels. Such vowels, though frequent in French and in 
 Polish, are unknown in Standard English and in German. 
 They certainly existed, however, in prehistoric O.E., as well 
 as in West Germanic and Primitive Germanic. We express 
 them by placing [~] over the ordinary vowel symbol, thus 
 [b3] = French bon. 
 
 § 54. Intermediate Degrees of Height. 
 
 Although we only distinguish three characteristic degrees 
 of Height, intermediate degrees occur in many languages and 
 dialects. Thus in many forms of Provincial English a pure 
 mid-front- slack is unknown, the sound being replaced by 
 a mid vowel so much lowered in the direction of the low-front 
 [se] that to unaccustomed ears it is barely distinguishable 
 from that sound. In Modern Dutch the high-front-slack 
 seems to be lowered to the mid-front^ while in words where 
 this must once have existed the sound is lowered to the lozv- 
 front. Thus /zV ' lamp-wick' sounds like [pet], and veldt 
 like [vaelt]. 
 
 In Danish [e] is raised almost to [i]. These facts are 
 instructive in tracing the history of pronunciation in a language. 
 For instance, when we find that in English an earlier [hed] 
 'heed' has become [hid], there can be little doubt that we 
 have here the result of a process of gradual raising, and that 
 at one time our ancestors must have pronounced a raised 
 form of [e], not yet [i] but gradually tending towards it. 
 
 § 55. Diphthongs. 
 
 A diphthong is a combination of two distinct vowel sounds, 
 one of which only is stressed or accentuated. Only the 
 stressed element in a true diphthong is syllabic, the other 
 element being too much lacking in sonority, compared with 
 the strong element, to function as a separate syllable. 
 
§§ 52-8] Nature of Syllable 49 
 
 § 56. The Syllable. 
 
 The simplest account of what constitutes a syllable is to 
 say that anything which maintains a unity of utterance 
 produces the impression of a single syllable ; anything which 
 tends to break up or destroy that unity produces the im- 
 pression of more than one syllable. 
 
 The syllable is the unit of utterance, and may consist of 
 a single vowel \a, a\\ of a single consonant [1, v, b, p], etc. ; 
 of a vowel + consonant \aX^ a\\ ; of two vowels dominated 
 by one stress [«V, id\ etc. ; of a group of consonants uttered 
 with a single impulse of stress [pst]. 
 
 The factors which break up the unity of an utterance are 
 differences of Stress and differences of Sonority. 
 
 § 57. Stress. 
 
 If \a\ be uttered with gradually diminishing Stress or 
 Loudness, the sense of unity remains, and the same is true 
 of a long vowel uttered with equal loudness throughout its 
 whole duration. 
 
 If, on the other hand, a long vowel be uttered with strong 
 or loud beginning, then sudden diminution of stress, then 
 sudden increase, and again a diminution, the result is not one 
 long, but a series of short syllables \dadada\. This series 
 would consist of six syllables, three strong and three weak. 
 
 § 58. Sonority. 
 
 Such combinations as [«!, «d, a\, at] consist of a sonorous 
 element followed by one less sonorous. The reduction in 
 sonority is gradual, and does not break the sense of unity. 
 On the other hand, if the sonority be reduced and then 
 increased again, the effect is at once that of two syllables. 
 Thus [a\a, a\>a, aia\ cannot be other than two syllables. 
 Here the sonority is reduced by [1, ]?, t] respectively. [a\ 
 being a vowel is more sonorous than [1, ]?] ; much more so 
 than the latter, which is not only a consonant, but voiceless. 
 \d\ is more sonorous than [z'J because, although the latter is 
 a vowel, it is a high-vowel, and therefore has a narrower air- 
 passage than the former, which is a mid-vowel. 
 
 Sonority then may be reduced in various ways : (i) by 
 a pause, as in [«]/[^] ; (2) by a Stop placed between 
 vowels, which interrupts the sound altogether for a moment, 
 if voiceless, and almost so, if voiced — [aha, «p«] ; (3) by an 
 open consonant, which requires a narrower air-passage, and is 
 therefore less sonorous than the highest vowel uttered with 
 equal force [rtf«, a\a, asa, aza], etc. ; (4) by a less sonorous 
 
 D 
 
50 The Sounds of Speech [chap, m 
 
 (higher) vowel, between two more sonorous (lower) vowels 
 \a7ia, aia\. 
 
 In combinations such as [aepl] we have the requisite 
 conditions for the existence of two syllables — Sonorous sound 
 + complete momentary cessation of sound in [p], followed 
 by great increase of sonority in [1]. The last sound here 
 becomes syllabic by contrast with the un-sonorous [p]. In 
 [pkit] there is only one syllable, because there is a gradual 
 increase of sonority from the beginning of the word until the 
 first element of the diphthong, and then a gradual reduction. 
 [1] here is not syllabic because its sonority is drowned by the 
 greater sonority of the vowel which follows. 
 
 § 59. Limits of the Syllable. 
 
 The question, at what point one syllable ends and the 
 next begins, is largely one of the incidence of fresh stress or 
 impulse of breath. 
 
 The point of lowest stress constitutes the close of the 
 syllable, and the next begins at the moment at which the new 
 impulse is given. In anigh [a/naz], the nasal consonant 
 begins with the breath impulse, and it therefore belongs to 
 the second syllable. In an eye, in careful speech [an ai\ the 
 reduction goes on until the end of [n], and the new impulse 
 begins with \ai\ ; in this case, therefore, [n] belongs to the first 
 syllable. 
 
 In rapid, unstudied speech, the syllable-division in a7i eye 
 tends to be precisely the same as in anigh, namely [a/nrtz]. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE HISTORY OF LANGUAGE 
 
 § 60. It has already been pointed out, in the Introductory- 
 Chapter, that the drama of the development of Language 
 takes place, so to speak, upon the lips and in the minds of 
 living human beings, and not in books or written documents. 
 In other words, language changes by being spoken. 
 
 We are therefore concerned to understand, so far as may 
 be, how the activities of the speakers are related to the 
 changes which these make in their language. ~^^ 
 
 We must consider that if a nation gradually alters its 
 language it is the individual speakers who are each and all 
 responsible for what is happening. What is true of the 
 individuals will be true also for the community as a whole, 
 for this consists of a number of individuals. 
 
 § 61. We can, then, begin by considering the behaviour of 
 the individual as a speaker, that is, as a channel and transmitter 
 of language. Why should he change his speech ? Having 
 learnt to speak, as his fathers have taught him, why should he 
 not preserve his language unaltered and hand it on in his turn, 
 unaltered, to the younger generations? 
 
 § 62. The answer to this may be briefly summarized by 
 saying that language is the expression of the thoughts and 
 emotions of the human mind, by means of sounds, produced 
 by certain movements of human bodily organs — the organs of 
 speech. 
 
 This being so, there is a prima facie probability that 
 language will not remain unchanged as it passes from genera- 
 tion to generation, for it is clear that the thoughts and feelings 
 of humanity, even of such a portion of it as we call a single 
 race, tribe, nation, are not at all times the same, but are capable 
 of enrichment, expansion, and modification in a hundred ways, 
 with the advance of civilization or the fortunes of its history. 
 More than this, what can be more subject to alteration than 
 
 D 2 
 
52 General Historical Principles [chap, iv 
 
 the way in which a series of bodily movements are performed 
 by human beings ? If we remember that a slight change in the 
 way of moving the organs of speech may cause a very con- 
 siderable alteration in the sound which results, it does not 
 surprise us that pronunciation should change. 
 
 § 63. Now the individual, having acquired the sounds of 
 his mother tongue, having, that is to say, mastered the various 
 series of movements of the vocal organs necessary to the 
 production of the different sounds, does not carry out these 
 movements always in precisely the same way. He varies 
 slightly, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another. 
 According to his personal habits he will tend to vary more 
 commonly in one particular way, and thus he forms a new 
 habit. From this new habit of using his organs of speech, the 
 individual necessarily produces a slightly different sound from 
 that with which he started. It must be noted that both the 
 new way of using the speech organs, and the sound which results 
 from this, deviate so slightly from the old that the speaker is 
 quite unaware of the fact that anything is being changed. 
 If he were by chance to diverge to an appreciable and 
 recognizable extent from the pictures of sound and movement 
 which exist in his mind he would at once feel that he had 
 made a 'slip of the tongue ', for his muscular sensations and 
 his ear would tell him that he was ' wrong ', and he would 
 'correct' himself. Thus no new habit could be started by 
 a sudden, considerable, and appreciable divergence from the 
 sound at which the speaker is unconsciously aiming. New 
 departures in pronunciation, therefore, are necessarily uncon- 
 scious, and sound cha^ige is gradual. 
 
 The tendency to variation is continuous, so that when the 
 individual has formed a new habit he does not stick to it, but 
 proceeds to diverge again from this fresh starting-point. 
 
 § 64. But what is true of a single speaker is true also of all 
 his companion speakers, of all the members of the community. 
 They all tend to change their pronunciation, and they agree, 
 on the whole, in the particular direction in which their tendency 
 runs. This agreement in the direction of change is brought 
 about by social intercourse, whereby speakers tend to assimi- 
 late their speech to that of the other persons among whom 
 they live and with whom they consort most frequently and 
 intimately. The closer the bond of union between the 
 members of a group of speakers, the more closely the speech 
 of all will agree. But no two individuals, however much they 
 may resemble each other, are precisely alike in all respects. 
 
§§62-5] Isolative and Combinative Changes 53 
 
 It is therefore inconceivable that all the members of a large 
 community should agree exactly in their tendencies. We 
 have to distinguish {a) tendencies which are shared by the 
 whole community, and {b) tendencies which are not common 
 to the whole but belong only to a comparatively few 
 individuals. The groups of tendencies which come under {b) 
 are got rid of, and eliminated by the wear and tear of social 
 intercourse, while the groups {a) pervade the whole community 
 and become the universal tendency of the community. Thus 
 it is possible to state as a general principle, that at a given 
 time, in a particular community, a given sound will tend to be 
 pronounced in the same way, and also, what is pretty much 
 the same thing, will tend to change in the same direction. 
 This remains true of all the words in which the sound occurs 
 tinder the same conditions. 
 
 § 65. The last expression needs some explanation. We 
 distinguish two kinds of sound change, Isolative and Combina- 
 tive. By Isolative sound change is meant change which occurs 
 in a sound without any influence being exerted upon it by 
 other sounds in the word or sentence. By Combinative sound 
 "^"ange is meant a change in pronunciation brought about by 
 "the influence of other sounds in the same word or sentence. 
 "Thus the change of Primitive O.E. x \.o e \xi the Anglian and 
 Kentish Dialects is an Isolative change. Whenever this sound 
 % occurs it is raised to e: ivxron becomes wrr^?;/, r^<^ becomes 
 red, scxp becomes seep, and so on. On the other hand, the 
 change of original c [k] to c [t] in O.E. is purely a Combina- 
 tive change, since it only occurs before Primitive O.E. front 
 vowels, or, when final, after front vowels : teas ' chose ', earlier 
 ^kxtcs, cin ' chin ', earlier ^kin, cetel ' kettle ', earlier ^kxtil, and 
 so on. 
 
 Thus we must qualify the statement that the same sound 
 always changes in the same way, by the addition of the words 
 — jmder the same conditions. It sometimes happens that it 
 takes a long time to discover the precise conditions which 
 determine a sound change. Thus it took forty years after 
 Grimm had formulated his Law of the changes of Indo- 
 Germanic p, t, k in Germanic, before the conditions were 
 discovered which determined the changes, apparently excep- 
 tional, of these sounds which appeared in certain words. 
 Then, In 1877, Verner was able to supplement the original 
 statement by supplying the conditions under which, instead of 
 appearing in the Germanic Languages as the corresponding 
 Voiceless Open consonants, the above sounds were voiced. 
 
54 
 
 General Historical Principles [chap, iv 
 
 This time it turned out that the ' exceptional ' voicing which 
 had puzzled Grimm, his contemporaries, and immediate 
 successors, was due to the place of the Accent. (See § 346.) 
 
 We proceed, then, with our investigations into the history of 
 a language on the assumption of the principle that Sound 
 Laivs admit of no exceptions i subject to the limitations of time, 
 dialect, and phonetic conditions just referred to. 
 
 If apparent exceptions appear, they may be capable of 
 explanation : {a) by the discovery of the Combinative Factors 
 at work ; {b) by the 'exceptional' form being borrowed from 
 another dialect where the sound changes followed different 
 lines ; {c) by the principle of Analogy, which will be discussed 
 later on. 
 
 § 66. The Rise of Dialects. 
 
 We have so far considered sound change only as occurring 
 regularly and uniformly throughout a single speech com- 
 munity. Outside the narrow limits of our community the 
 same original sound may be treated in very different ways. 
 This brings us to the question of the. rise of Dialects, or 
 varieties of speech, from what was once a uniform, homogeneous 
 language. 
 
 The very conception of a Family of Languages, with a 
 common ancestor, from which all the related languages have 
 sprung, implies this Differentiation of Dialect ^z.?, we call it. 
 
 The existence of differences in speech, whether in modern 
 England or ancient Germany, means that we have not a single 
 community but many, not one Dialect but many. 
 
 § 67. If we define Speech Coinimmity as a group of human 
 beings between whom social intercourse is so intimate that 
 their speech is practically homogeneous, then whenever we 
 find appreciable speech differences we must assume as many 
 communities, and it will follow that there will be as many 
 Dialects as communities. Thus, any factors that split up one 
 community into two or more are also factors of differentiation 
 of dialect. The main factors which divide one group of 
 human beings from another are: (i) Geographical and 
 Physical — seas, rivers, mountain ranges, distance, any features 
 of the country which actually separate communities by inter- 
 posing barriers between them ; (2) Occupational — differences 
 of employment, which lead, in modern society, to distinctions 
 of Class ; (3) Political, or divisions which depend not on 
 physical boundaries but on arbitrary lines of demarcation, 
 drawn for purposes of government — e.g. county, or even 
 parish boundaries, or frontiers between countries. 
 
§§65-9] Causes of Dialect Variety 55 
 
 The ideal condition of a community with a ring-fence round 
 it, shutting it ofif from all other communities and their influence, 
 is only realizable in districts remote from large centres of 
 population, and where high mountains, deep valleys, broad 
 rivers, moors, or deserts form natural means of isolation. 
 Similarly, a community in the ideal sense, one in which 
 there are no factors that divide the people up into more or less 
 distinct groups, so that every individual has free and frequent 
 social intercourse with every other, is hardly a conceivable 
 phenomenon except under the most primitive conditions and 
 when the population is small. 
 
 § 68. What result does the division of one community into 
 several exert upon the language ? Why should it give rise 
 to dialectal variety ? Because when one part of a community 
 is isolated from the rest, the balance of tendencies and of 
 checks is altered. Individual tendencies, which under the old 
 conditions were shared only by a small minority and therefore 
 eliminated, exist in a different proportion under the new 
 conditions, and survive unchecked by social intercourse as it 
 now exists. In a word, different tendencies to variation 
 flourish in the various parts of what was originally a single, 
 undivided community. The result is that the speech changes 
 in different directions, and on different lines, in each of the 
 newly-formed communities. Such is the beginning of Dia- 
 lectal divergence, which if it continues for a long period of time 
 produces differences of the kind and extent that we can witness 
 in comparing the various Germanic languages with each other, 
 and further, the far greater distinctions that are seen in com- 
 paring Germanic speech with Italic, or Celtic, and so on. 
 
 § 69. The difference between a Dialect and a Language is 
 one of degree and not of kind. If one form of speech is a mere 
 variant of another, and shows but a slight divergence from it, 
 one which only affects certain features, and these, perhaps, to 
 a comparatively slight extent, so that the speakers of the two 
 varieties are mutually intelligible, we should apply to such 
 differences the term Dialect. When, however, the differences 
 become so considerable, after a long independent development, 
 that one set of speakers must acquire deliberately the mode of 
 speech of the other before communication between them is 
 possible, then we should say that here we have two separate 
 languages. But even this terminology is rather popular than 
 scientific, and philologists often employ the word Dialect where 
 in popular phraseology Language would be used. 
 
56 General Historical Principles [chap, iv 
 
 § 70. Analogy. 
 
 By the side of sound change the other great factor in the 
 development of language i.s Analogy. This principle has long 
 been recognized among students of language, but a distinction 
 was formerly made by Grammarians between ' true ' and 
 * false ' Analogy. The former was supposed to be a legitimate 
 and natural process, the latter a corrupt and erroneous 
 one. This distinction can no longer be maintained, and what- 
 ever the results may be, whether conservative and in accordance 
 with past habits in the language, or whether, on the other 
 hand, they lead to new departures, and, historically speaking, 
 ' incorrect ' forms, the process of Analogy is now recognized 
 as being a perfectly natural one, of the same essential nature 
 in all cases, and one which at every period of every language 
 is necessarily in operation. 
 
 Briefly, analogy is the process whereby, in the first instance, 
 words are associated in the mind in groups, whether it be 
 according to meaning^ graimnatical function, resemblance of 
 sound, to a combination of two of these, or even of all three. 
 When once words have become associated together in the mind 
 there is a tendency to connect them still more intimately and 
 treat them as far as possible in the same way. 
 
 It is by virtue of the process of Analogy that we are able 
 to conjugate the verbs, decline the nouns, form adverbs from 
 adjectives, and so on, in any language which we know. As 
 a rule, especially if the language be our native tongue, we 
 arrive at the same results as the majority of speakers of our 
 age and class. This means that, on the whole, our association- 
 groups are the same as theirs. Thus we associate the PI. 
 of cat with thousands of other Pis. and unhesitatingly form 
 [kaets] from the Sing, [kaet] ; we do not find any difKiculty 
 in forming the adverb cunningly, etc., from cunning, etc., even 
 if it should happen that we do not remember to have heard 
 the particular adverb before. We have plenty of analogous 
 forms to serve as a pattern. Similarly, we should not hesitate 
 to form the Pret. jeered [dziad] from the Vb. jeer, on the 
 analogy of cleared^ etc. All these happen to be in accordance 
 with the habits of Standard English at the present time, and 
 therefore the results are what the older school would call 
 ' true ' Analogy. But supposing that on the Analogy of to clear, 
 to fear, to jeer ^ we formed the Pret. of to hear ' heared^ [hiad]. 
 This would be a perfectly natural process, and, indeed, identical 
 with that whereby in the other cases we had arrived at 
 ' correct ' results, but the form in this case would not be in 
 accordance with the habits of educated speech. It so happens 
 
f 
 
 
 § vo] Ejffects of Analogy 57 
 
 that in Standard English hear, as regards its Pret., is an 
 isolated word which has to be learnt specially. If we have 
 never noticed the form [hAd] and do not know it, we cannot 
 invent it ; the ordinary Analogies do not work here. The old 
 school would call this ' false ' Analogy. It is as if in German, 
 on the Analogy of tragen, Pret. trug [trux], we made a Pret. sug 
 [sux] for sagcn. As a matter of fact, the Vx^\..frug instead of 
 fragte irom fragen is often used, and it is clearly due to ' false ' 
 Analogy. It would be perfectly natural to use sug if we use 
 y>';/^, especially as sagen ^x\6.fi'agen are associated in meaning 
 as well as by sound. That this kind of thing continually 
 happens in the history of a language, no one who has studied 
 the subject doubts, and such ' false ' Analogies constantly 
 become the received and ' correct ' forms. 
 
 This simply means that from age to age the association- 
 groups of a community change their content. As it is, we find 
 at the present day different association-groups among persons 
 of different education and social class. This is well illustrated 
 if we compare the standard language with the various popular 
 dialects. 
 
 It often happens that in the declension of a noun, or the 
 conjugation of a verbal tense, two quite distinct types or 
 forms of the base or root arise, and that in the course of time 
 the differences between the two forms becomes extreme, so 
 that it is difficult to associate them together as merely Sing, 
 and PI. of the same noun or whatever it may be. Thus 
 the OE. Sing, type of dxg ' day ' in M.E. is dei, or dai, 
 whereas the PI., which in O.E. is dagas^ daga, dagum, becomes 
 in M.E. ddwes, &c. In Present-day English this difference 
 would result in Sing, [dei], PI. [d5z]. As a matter of fact, 
 already in M.E. one or other type is usually eliminated in 
 such a case as this, and the dialect settles down either upon 
 the day-ty^Q. or the ^fliw-type, and uses this for both numbers. 
 No doubt, had there been a fair number of common words, 
 sufficient to form an association-group of -ei or -ai as a Sing, 
 form, and -aiv as a PI. form, the distinction might have been 
 preserved longer, but as it is there was nothing to support 
 a vowel change of this nature, combined with the addition of 
 the PI. suffix, so the PI. type of the root disappeared. Those 
 words which we call mutation-plurals — teeth, geese, men, etc., 
 had in O.E. the mutated vowel in the Dat. Sing, as well as in 
 the Nom. and Ace. PI., whereas the un-mutated vowel 
 occurred also in the Gen. and Dat. PI. What happened was 
 that in those few words which preserved mutation, the whole 
 Sing, was formed on the type of the Nom. and Ace. Sing. 
 
58 General Historical Principles [chap, iv 
 
 without mutation, and the whole PI. on the type of the Nom. 
 and Ace. PI. with mutation. The case-sense, as we may call 
 it, did not survive long in M.li. and, apart from the Possessive 
 or Gen. case, a word was felt merely to be in the Nom. or 
 case of the Subject, or else in the Ace. or case of the Object — 
 the Dat. case relation being no longer felt. 
 
 Enough has been said to enable the student to understand 
 what is meant by Analogy, and to guard him against surprise 
 when he finds the far-reaching effects of the process in ' 
 making new departures from the historically ' correct ' usage. 
 
 § 71. Foreign Contact. 
 
 When two communities, speaking different languages, or 
 even different forms or dialects of the same language, come 
 into close social contact, it generally happens that the speech 
 of each is influenced by the other. 
 
 If the members of the two communities become so inti- 
 mately intermingled that they intermarry, and gradually fuse 
 into a single community, there is generally a period of 
 bilingualism, during which all members of the community 
 speak both tongues. 
 
 Then one or other of the two languages gradually ceases to 
 be spoken and the other survives as the sole language. 
 
 Such conditions as these inevitably result in modification 
 of the pronunciation of one or both languages, and in mutual 
 exchanges in vocabulary. This actual physical contact 
 between two groups of speakers brings about what we call 
 Direct influence of one language upon the other. 
 
 The result of this intimate association upon pronunciation 
 is that one language is spoken with a ' foreign accent ',so that 
 many or all the characteristic sounds of a language are given 
 up in favour of those in the other which most closely resemble 
 them. In many districts of Wales, where English has been 
 spoken for generations alongside of Welsh, the English pro- 
 nunciation is as foreign as that of a German or a Frenchman, 
 and although there is extraordinary fluency and volubility, 
 and even considerable ' correctness ' in Grammar and Syntax, 
 the sentence stress, the intonation, and all the sounds are 
 purely Welsh and un-English. 
 
 I Some such fate as this probably overtook Norman French 
 ' as spoken in this country, some time before it died out. 
 
 The effect of bilingualism upon vocabulary is that speakers 
 to whom two languages are equally familiar frequently intro- 
 duce words from one language into their discourse when they 
 are speaking the other. 
 
 i 
 
§§ 70-3] Foreign Influence on Vocabulary 59 
 
 The first words thus introduced will naturally be such as 
 denote objects or ideas which are new to the people into 
 whose language they are introduced, for which therefore there 
 are no corresponding terms. But the process is soon extended 
 to words for which native terms do exist. Thus the familiar 
 words skin, sky, they, their were introduced from Scandinavian 
 into English, as it might be said, without any adequate reason. 
 Again, if the two languages thus brought into contact are 
 closely related to start with, many words, though differing 
 slightly in form in each tongue, are perfectly intelligible to 
 all, in either form. This was the case for Old English and Old 
 Norse, and there is no doubt that English speakers often used 
 the English and Norse forms indiscriminately. This fact 
 probably accounts for our present forms give and get, to 
 mention no more, which certainly cannot be derived from the 
 original pure English forms. 
 
 When at last one language dies out, and the other becomes 
 the only form of speech, the survivor will have acquired, in the 
 way just described, a more or less considerable number of loaji- 
 luords from the language which has perished, and many of 
 these will remain as permanent elements, used, sometimes, 
 instead of native words, which they have ousted, sometimes, 
 by the side of these, to express an identical object or idea, or 
 with a slight differentiation of meaning. 
 
 Words borrowed in this direct way usually have the nearest 
 approximate pronunciation to the original which the borrowers 
 can manage. The subsequent history of the pronunciation 
 of these words is identical with that which the sounds which 
 they contain undergo in native words in the language into 
 which they have passed. 
 
 § 72. The chief foreign linguistic influences which have been 
 exerted directly upon English are those of the language of the 
 Scandinavian invaders and settlers of England, and of Norman! 
 French. We must, however, include the early Latin loan- 
 \yords acquired in Britain from Celtic speakers of Latin, and 
 a great deal of the Latin which came in through the influence 
 of the early Church, for many Latin terms used in connexion 
 with religion, and learnt directly from public services, became 
 familiar household words. 
 
 § 73. "^Y Indirect influeace, we mean that exerted through 
 literature. Words from ancient and modern languages are 
 acquired by English writers from the authors they study, and 
 are introduced by them into their own writings. Many of 
 these remain purely literary words, or never gain currency at 
 
6o General Historical Principles [chap, iv 
 
 all ; others pass from literature into everyday speech. 
 Modern scientific conceptions, new substances, and processes 
 the result of scientific investigation, are commonly designated 
 by Greek terms, often taken straight out of the dictionary. 
 
 The distinction between popular and learned words is 
 an important one, though not always easy to draw. The 
 character of a word from this point of view depends not upon 
 its origin, but its usage. Phonograph is made up of two 
 Greek words, and is therefore of learned origin, but with the 
 spread of the machine among the people, the name has passed 
 into popular usage. On the other hand, such words as 
 eftsoons, welkin, whilom, and many more of the same kind, 
 are pure English in origin, yet are in no sense popular, but 
 rather, so far as they can be said to exist at all, at the present 
 day, belong exclusively to learned, or literary language. 
 
 § 74. We must not omit to mention the influence of one 
 dialect, or variety, of the same language upon another. This 
 has been of great importance in the history of English. The 
 existence of various dialectal elements in Standard English 
 has been determined by political, economic, and social causes. 
 These may take the shape of spreading a particular sound 
 change far beyond its original regional limits, or they may 
 produce the wholesale importation of a particular dialectal 
 type of certain words into a Regional, or Class Dialect to which 
 this was formerly quite alien. 
 
 The most typical features of dialect, it should be remembered, 
 are pronunciation, and grammatical forms. It is a far more 
 difificult thing to localize vocabulary, and track it down to its 
 original source. Most Standard English speakers use a certain 
 number of ' Dialect ' words, sometimes deliberately, knowing 
 them to be such, sometimes without realizing the fact. This 
 is particularly the case with terms relating to agriculture and 
 sport. No Standard English speaker, except as a joke, would 
 say, ' us kep on tellin he not to hurt u?t ' [as kep on telin i not 
 tu A^'t an], or talk about [r^in, b^il, baj", uk, kum, i] for [rein, 
 boil, buj, huk, kam, hi] rain, boil, bush, hook, come, he. On the 
 other hand, any one who turns over the pages of a Dialect 
 Dictionary cannot fail to come across dozens of words with 
 which he has been familiar all his life. This means, either that 
 the reader is a ' Dialect speaker ' without knowing it, or that 
 the dictionary-maker has been unable to distinguish between 
 ' Dialect ' and Standard English. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLISH SOUNDS 
 
 I. The Old English Period 
 
 § 75. Sources of our Knowledge of O.E. 
 
 From the point of view of the student of English Literature 
 or Culture, everything which survives in the documents of the 
 O.E. period is of more or less interest. In particular, the 
 more imaginative poetical literature would claim our attention 
 from these points of view ; the philosophical and religious 
 treatises which exist in the form of Homilies ; the Laws, and 
 the books on Medicine and the use of herbs, and charms, — all 
 have their claims on our consideration for various reasons. 
 Again, the Lexicographer, and the student of O.E. as a mode 
 of expression, would cast their net as widely as possible, and, 
 to them, the precise dialect in which the literature was written- 
 would not be of prime concern. 
 
 In the present instance, however, our aim is to get a clear 
 idea of the phonological peculiarities of each of the O.E. 
 dialects, and for this purpose, we must base our investigation 
 upon those texts whose place, or area of origin is pretty 
 definitely known. Our list of sources, then, is a comparatively 
 narrow one, and we are guided in our selection of the texts, 
 not by their literary merits, but simply by their fitness to 
 illustrate, in a reliable manner, particular dialects at a parti- 
 cular time. Apart from the texts mentioned below as 
 definitely belonging to other dialects, most of the important 
 O.E. documents which survive are written in a form in which 
 the W.S. elements greatly predominate, but they often show 
 a mixture of dialectal elements from other sources. This, as 
 in the case of the poetry, is generally the result of the texts 
 having been done into W. Saxon, from another dialect, in 
 which process some of the original features have been allowed 
 to remain unaltered. Poetical texts not infrequently bear 
 traces of having passed through several dialects, all of which 
 have left their mark, as in Beowulf, in the form we possess. 
 
62 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 Pure examples of the various dialectal types are found in 
 the following works : 
 
 § 76. A. Northumbrian. 
 
 1, Earliest Texts. 
 
 Fragments (poetical) in Sweet's Oldest English Texts 
 
 (O.E.T.), pp. 149, etc. circa 737. 
 Liber Vitx (Personal Names), O.E.T., pp. 153, etc. 
 
 Northern Area. 
 
 Genealogies. O.E.T., p. 167, etc. 
 
 Place and Personal Navies in Moore MS. of Bede's 
 Eccl. Hist., O.E.T., p. 131, etc. circa 737. 
 
 Ruthwell Cross Inscription, O.E.T., pp. 135, 126. 
 [There are no ninth-century Northumbrian Texts.] 
 
 2. Late Texts. 
 
 Northern Area. 
 
 Dnrham Rit?ial: Surtees Soc, vol. iv, 1H49 (collated by 
 
 Skeat, Trans. Phil. Soc, 1879). 
 Durham Book, also called Lindisfarne Gospels. Ed. 
 
 Skeat, Gospels in Anglo-Saxon, 1871-1887. 
 
 Southern Area. 
 
 Interlinear version of the Gospels of SS. Mark, Luke^ 
 John, in Rushworth MS., known as RnsJnvortJi^. Ed. 
 Skeat in Gospels cited above. 
 
 § 77. B. Mercian. 
 
 1. Earliest Texts. 
 
 Epinal Glossary {zxxQ.^ 700) \ ^^^^ in O E T pp q6-io7 
 Corpus Glossary (circa 750) j ' *' ^^' ^ ' 
 
 Eighth- Ceninry Charters [in Latin; containing O.E. 
 words and names], O.E.T., pp. 429, etc. 
 
 2. Ninth-Century Texts. 
 
 Vespasian Psalter and Hymns, O.E.T., pp. 183, etc. 
 
 3. Late Texts. 
 
 Interlifiear Gloss to St. Matthetv (Rushworth^, second 
 half of tenth century), Skeat's Gospels in Anglo- 
 Saxon. 
 
 Royal Glosses (fr. MS. Royal 2 A. 20). Ed. Zupitza, 
 in Zeitschr. f. d. A., Bd. xxxiii, pp. 47, etc. circa 1000. 
 
§§ 75-9] Old English Texts 63 
 
 § 78. C. West Saxon. 
 
 Earliest Texts. 
 
 Charters: i. (69:^ or 693); a. (693-731); 3. (778). 
 O.E.T., pp. 426-427. 
 
 Works of King Alfred: 
 
 Ninth-Century Texts. 
 
 Cur a Pastor alts. Sweet, E.E.T.S. , 
 
 1871. 
 Orosms, Sweet, E.E.T.S., 1880. 
 Auglo-Saxou Chronicle: Parker MS. to 891, Plummer, 
 Oxford. 2 vols. 1 892-1 900. 
 
 Late Texts. 
 
 j^lfrics Grammar and Glossary (circa 1000). Ed. 
 
 Zupitza, 1880. 
 j^lfric's Homilies. Editions by Thorpe, and Skeat. 
 West SaxoJi Gospels (in C.C.C.C. MS.). Ed. Skeat, 
 
 Gospels in Anglo-Saxon. 
 
 D. Saxon Patois. 
 Late O.E. 
 
 Blickling Homilies (dated 979). Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 
 
 1880. 
 Harleian Gloss (MS. Harl. 3376), printed in Wright- 
 
 Wulker's Glossaries, vol. i. 192, etc. 
 
 § 79. E. Kentish Texts. 
 
 Earliest Texts. 
 
 Charters (seventh and eighth centuries), O.E.T., pp. 
 427, etc. 
 
 Ninth Century. 
 
 Charters, in O.E.T., pp. 441, etc. ; three of these also in 
 
 Sweet's A.-S. Reader^ pp. 189, etc. 
 Bede Glosses (MS. Cotton C. II, circa 900), O.E.T., 
 
 pp. 179, etc. 
 
 Late Texts. 
 
 KentisJi Glosses, Zupitza, in Zeitschr. f. d. A., xxi, 
 pp. I, etc., and xxii, pp. 223, etc.; also in Wright- 
 WUlker's Vocabularies, ^^, etc. 
 
 Ketitish Hymn, in Kluge's Ags. Lesebuch, and Sweet's 
 A.-S. Reader. 
 
 Kentish Psalm (Ps. 1.), in Kluge's Lesebnch. 
 
64 
 
 History of English Sotmds [chap, v 
 
 § 80. Mode of Writing Old English. 
 
 The l^nglish, like all the Germanic tribes of Germany and 
 Scandinavia, used at a very early period certain angular 
 letters, which they graved upon horn, stone, wood, or metal. 
 These letters, known as Runes, were chiefly used in charms, 
 and inscriptions commemorating the dead or the illustrious 
 upon monuments. Some of these inscriptions still exist in 
 England, and upon the Continent, but they are, for the most 
 part, of no very great antiquity, not older indeed than the 
 earliest manuscripts. 
 
 The ordinary mode of writing, which the English acquired 
 after embracing Christianity, was a form of the Latin alphabet, 
 which had come through an Irish source. Modern Irish is 
 still written and printed in characters which closely resemble 
 those of the O.E. MSS. 
 
 In writing and printing O.E. at the present day we use the 
 ordinary alphabet ; except that we borrow the signs 3e,p, and 3. 
 The first had the value of the loiv-fro7it-slack vowel, which we 
 also denote in this way in phonetic transcription ; the two 
 others appear to have been used indifferently for the point- 
 teeth-open, whether Voiced, or Ujtvoiced. Some editors also 
 print p for w, and 5 or 5 for g, but this habit is very largely 
 discarded now. p and j> were taken over from the Runic 
 alphabet. 
 
 Note. The names and forms of the various O.E. Runes are recorded 
 in the Runic Poem, the text of which is given in Bibl. d. ags. Poesie (vol. 
 containing Beowulf, etc.), 1883, p. 331, the text also by Bodkine, with 
 a French translation, La Chansoii des Rtmes, Havre, 1879. B. does not 
 give the runes themselves. A table of all the known Germanic Runes, 
 and an account of these, is given by Sievers in the section Schriftkunde 
 in Paul's Gnmdriss. See also Bibliography above, B. vi. 
 
 § 81. Pronunciation of O.E. 
 
 So far as we can discover, the following were the O.E. 
 sounds: 
 
 Simple Vowels. 
 Un- Rounded. 
 
 Rounded. 
 
 High 
 
 Mid 
 
 Low 
 
 Front. 
 
 Back. 
 
 Front. 
 
 H. y,y 
 
 Back, 
 u, u 
 
 e, e 
 
 a, a 
 
 M. oe, oe 
 
 0, 6 
 
 ce., -x. 
 
 
 L. 
 
 
§§ So-3] Old English Vowel Sotmds 
 
 65 
 
 §82. 
 
 Diphthongs. 
 
 eo, eo 
 io, To 
 
 ea, ea 
 
 ie, le 
 
 The diphthongs were pronounced pretty much as written ; 
 it should be noted, however, that whereas in eo, to, the first 
 element was probably tense, and definitely mzd, and /itg/z 
 respectwely, in ea the first element was probably s/ack, and 
 loic. te occurs only in W. Saxon, and at an early period was 
 apparently levelled under z in pronunciation, in part of the 
 Saxon area. Elsewhere, in Late W.S. te was monophthongized 
 and rounded to [y]. 
 
 There were, in O.E., probably, both varieties of diphthongs 
 —falling, and rising diphthongs, e.g. eo, eo, etc. 
 
 In the latter, the first element was, originally, merely 
 a glide-sound. This class of diphthongs are of later develop- 
 ment than the other diphthongs which were developed in 
 O.E. itself. 
 
 § 83. Examples of the occurrence of O.E. Vowels. 
 
 O.E. 
 Symbol, 
 
 OS 
 2i 
 
 o 
 6 
 
 u 
 
 y 
 y 
 
 Analysis of Sotctid. 
 
 mid-back, as in Germ. 
 
 Mann. 
 mid-back long, as in 
 
 Gerni. VVahti. 
 mid-front, as in Fr. 
 
 ete. 
 mid-front, as in Engl. 
 
 hen. 
 mid-front long, as 
 
 Germ, le/inen. 
 high-front, as in Germ. 
 
 Biss. 
 ibid, long, as in Germ. 
 
 Biene. 
 low-front, as in Engl. 
 
 hat, etc. 
 ibid. long, 
 mid-back round, as in 
 
 Germ. Stock. 
 mid-back- tense- round, 
 
 as in Germ. Hohti. 
 high-back-round, as in 
 
 Engl. p2it. 
 high-back-tense-round, 
 
 Germ. Stnbe. 
 high-front-round, Germ. 
 
 kiissen. 
 ibid, long, French 
 
 pure. 
 
 O.E. Words. 
 
 assa ' ass ', dagas * days ', faran * to 
 
 go'. 
 ha7n ' home ', stan ' stone ', hldf 
 
 •loaf. 
 beran ' to bear ', {ge)seten * set ' (p.p.), 
 
 helan ' hide '. 
 menn ' men ', secgan ' to say ', sendan 
 
 ' send '. 
 fedan ' to feed ', ges ' geese ', metan 
 
 ' to meet ', her ' here ', we ' we '. 
 sittan * to sit ', scip ' ship '. 
 
 sip ' journey, time ', 'writa7i * to 
 
 write '. 
 sded 'sated, weary', crdeft 'skill, 
 
 trade '. 
 s§ed ' seed ', grxdig ' greedy '. 
 hopu ' hope ', horn ' horn ', brocen 
 
 * broken '. 
 bot ' help, remedy ', boc ' book, 
 
 charter ', blod ' blood '. 
 sunn * son ', pull ' full '. 
 
 /a'ls ' house ', ri7n ' whisper, mystery '. 
 
 cynn 'race', bycgan 'to buy', ivyrm 
 
 ' worm '. 
 fylan ' defile ', bryd ' bride ', hyp 
 
 ' landing-place, harbour ' (Jiithe). 
 E 
 
66 
 
 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 § 84. Diphthongs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 O.E. Symbol. 
 
 O.E. Words. 
 
 ea 
 ea 
 eo 
 eo 
 ie 
 le 
 
 ceaf^ chaff', hleahtor ' laughter '. 
 
 ceas ' chose ', read ' red ', leas ' false '. 
 
 eorpe ' earth ', heofoi ' heaven ', feohtan ' to fight '. 
 
 cebsan ' to choose ', hleopor ' sound, melody '. 
 
 hierde ' shepherd ', Scieppejid ' Creator '. 
 
 hieran ' to hear ', cTesp ' he chooses '. 
 
 § 85. The O.E. Consonants. 
 
 
 Back. 
 
 Front. 
 
 Blade. 
 
 Blde.-Pnt. 
 
 Point. 
 
 Lip. 
 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 Open 
 
 Stop 
 
 Nasal 
 
 Divided 
 
 Trill 
 
 — 
 
 g 
 
 h 
 
 or 
 
 eg 
 
 H 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 
 sc 
 
 d 
 n 
 
 t 
 hn 
 
 b 
 
 b 
 m 
 
 P 
 
 cr 
 to 
 
 c 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 ng 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 r 
 
 hi 
 hr 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lip-Back. 
 
 Lip-Teeth. 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 V. 
 
 B. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Of 
 
 >en. 
 
 
 w 
 
 hw 
 
 f 
 
 f 
 
 
 Note. The symbols used in this table are not ' phonetic symbols ' in 
 the strict sense, but are those usually employed in writing and printing 
 O.E. As they are fairly consistently employed to express the same 
 sounds, they are, in a sense, ' phonetic '. The e.xceptions vi^ill be dis- 
 cussed directly. 
 
 § 86. The chief inconsistencies in the use of O.E. graphic 
 symbols are found in that of g and c. The former is used 
 to express both a Front, and a Back Open consonant, and, 
 probably by the tenth century, also a Back Stop. The com- 
 bination eg nearly always expresses a Front Stop, g^ and eg 
 nearly always express Voiced sounds. 
 
 g, no matter what its origin, when it occurs initially^ in 
 a word, or syllable, before front vowels was the symbol of 
 a front-open-voiced consonant [j] — gedr^ giefajt, heriges, etc. 
 In grammatical works it is usually printed g, to distinguish 
 it from the back consonant. Initially, before back vowels, 
 and medially, in the same circumstances, it was in the earliest 
 O.E., unquestionably, a back-open-voiced consonant (5). 
 
§§ ''^4-9] . Old English Consonants 67 
 
 In this position, however, it probably became the present stop 
 sovnid, during the O.E. period, though it is impossible to say- 
 precisely when. Most authorities agree that, at any rate by the 
 year 1000, god 'good', gdn 'to go', etc., were pronounced 
 with a back stop. In the middle of words, between original 
 back vowels, the sound certainly remained an open consonant 
 during the whole O.E. period. Thus agan ' ov^n\ folgian 
 (from ^fiilgojan) ' follow ', sagn ' saw, saying ', etc., must 
 always be pronounced with a back-open-voiced consonant. 
 Any other pronunciation is ridiculous in the light of the 
 subsequent history of the sound in words. A back-stop-voiced 
 was a very rare, and probably a late development, medially, 
 in O.E. as it certainly was initially. The medial consonant in 
 frocga ' frog ' is probably an example of this sound. 
 
 § 87. There is the same ambiguity in the use of the symbol 
 c in O.E. It expresses, always indeed, a voiceless stop sound, 
 but sometimes a back^ and sometimes a front voiceless stop. 
 Before original back vowels c stands for [k], as in cot 
 ' dwelling ', catt ' cat ', col '' cool ', etc. In the later MSS. k is 
 sometimes written for this sound, but it is never consistently 
 used, and c is by far the most usual symbol. 
 
 Before original O.E. front vowels, c, written c and c in 
 grammatical works, is to be pronounced as a front stop — 
 ciele ' chill ', clld^ ' child ', ceaf ' chaff'. The same rule applies- 
 when c occurs medially before -i—rUe ' kingdom ', from ^rlki. 
 Finally, dSx^x front vowels c was also a front consonant — lie 
 ' form^ body ', psec ' roof '. The reason for the fronted c in 
 secafi, pencan will appear in the discussion of the principal 
 O.E. sound changes (§ 104). 
 
 O.E. sc was probably [st], that is, s followed by a voiceless 
 front stop. It may have become [j] before the end of the 
 O.E. period. 
 
 § 88. s and / were pronounced as voiceless consonants 
 [s, f] when final : tvdes ' was ', xs ' food, meat ', ]ildf ' loaf, etc. ; 
 initially, in the W. Saxon dialect, they were apparently voiced 
 before vowels, as in Somersetshire and the South-West 
 dialects at the present day {s was perhaps voiced initially in 
 Kentish also) : singan, ' sing \fxt ' vessel, vat ', etc. ; medially, 
 between vowels they were always voiced : Infn, ' love ', 7'tsan 
 ' rise ', etc., except when s was doubled as in cyssan ' kiss ', etc. 
 
 § 89. b was originally a pure lip-open-voiced consonant [b]. 
 In early MSS. it is often written instead of the later/, between 
 wo\y&\s—hebttc later hafoc, heafoc 'hawk'. Initially, it was 
 
 E 3 
 
68 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 probably pronounced as a stop in the historical period. The 
 lip-stflp-voice does not occur medially in O.E. except when 
 doubled — Jiebban ' lift up ', etc. [For the origin of this doubling 
 
 cf. § 93-] 
 
 § go. //, originally a back-open-voiceless consonant [x], was 
 fronted later before and after front vowels, gesrht ' sight ', etc. 
 Initially before vowels h was apparently a mere aspirate as 
 at the present day, in the historical period. Medially, and 
 finally before and after back vowels, h retained the pro- 
 nunciation [x]. 
 
 § 91. The combinations, hi, Jin, lir, hiv, are to be pro- 
 nounced probably with voiceless /, n. and r respectively : 
 hleaJilor ' laughter ' ; linxgan ' neigh ' ; firing ' ring ' ; h^vset 
 ' what ', etc. 
 
 § 92. d and / are. used for the point-teeth-open, both voice 
 and breath, indiscriminately. Initially and finally the sound 
 was probably voiceless everywhere at first ; medially between 
 vowels/ and ^ were voiced, and should be so pronounced. 
 
 § 93. Doubled consonants should be pronounced long, 
 with a fresh impulse in the middle of the sound. The chief 
 sources of double consonants in O.E. are : {a) lengthening 
 before -j-, e. g. sittan, earlier ^sittjan, from ^setjan ; sibb 
 ' relationship ' from ^sidjo ; reccan from ^rakjan ' narrate ', etc., 
 etc. After a long vowel or a diphthong the double consonant 
 is simplified, e. g. txcan ' teach ' from ^tdkjan, W. Gmc. 
 ^taikjan, earlier ^taikkjan. {b) The combination -In- becomes 
 -//- in Gmc, e.g. Idg. ^plno-, Gmc. /?///-, O.E. full; O.E. 
 W7dle ' wool ', earlier ^ivulnd ; cp. Lat. Imia from ^zvlana. 
 
 Note. As we always mark the vowel quantities, and indicate whether 
 c and ^ are fronted or not, the spelling of O.E. as it occurs in books for 
 students, is practically a phonetic transcription, apart from the slight 
 inconsistencies just noted. It is not usually necessary to mark the fronted 
 form of //, 'h = [j]. 
 
 § 94. Accentuation or Stress. 
 
 In O.E. as in other Germanic languages, the principal 
 stress fell on the first, or ' root '-syllable of the word — goda 
 ' good ', Mofon ' heaven ', iernendc ' running '. 
 
 Prefixes, such as bi-, on-, ge-, are always unstressed. 
 
 § 95. Plan of Treatment. 
 
 It may make the following account of the history of the 
 O.E. vowels clearer, if we give at once some hint of the plan 
 and arrangement of the subject which is here attempted. 
 
§§ 89-97] Germanic Vowels in O.E. 69 
 
 It may be well to point out that in tracing the development 
 of the W. Gmc. vowels in O.E. we are dealing with 
 changes which for the most part took place in this country, 
 and therefore, although many of them occurred in the period 
 before written documents, they are, in fact, a part of the 
 ' History of English '. Some knowledge of the origin of 
 the O.E. sounds is necessary to the proper understanding 
 of their subsequent development. The subject is divided as 
 follows : 
 
 (1) We first give an account of the principal sound changes, 
 both Isolative and Combinative, which affected all the O.E. 
 dialects. 
 
 (2) We then pass to changes which are specifically W. 
 Saxon to the exclusion of other dialects. 
 
 (3) Peculiarities common to all dialects except W. Saxon. 
 
 (4) Features shared by the Anglian Dialects, but not by 
 W. Saxon or Kentish. 
 
 (5) Features peculiar {a) to Mercian, {b) to Northumbrian. 
 
 (6) Kentish characteristics. 
 
 (7) Summary of points of agreement and disagreement 
 between the various dialects. 
 
 § 96. The O.E. Vowel Sounds compared with those of 
 West Germanic. 
 
 By comparing the forms of words in the other W. Gmc. 
 languages, and in Gothic, we arrive at a view as to the 
 original nature of Primitive O.E. sounds. The sounds, 
 especially the vowels of the earliest historical period, are then 
 seen to have undergone very considerable changes, both 
 Isolative and Combinative (§ 6^). 
 
 J.. J ,■ ■■ '.- f 
 § 97. Isolative Vowel Changes. Changes common to all 
 Dialects of O.E. 
 
 (i) W. Gmc. a becomes O.E. x: daeg 'day', O.H.G. tag; 
 fxder ' father ', O.H.G. fatar, O. Sax. fadar ; wxgn ' wagon ', 
 O.H.G. waga7i. 
 
 Note i. For subsequent treatment of de in Kt. and Mercian see§§ 129, 
 137. In W.S. 36 is written throughout the O.E. period, but the fact that 
 the symbol de is used very frequently in ^Ifric to express the 6^-sound 
 rather points to the raising of de to (f in L.W.S. 
 
 Note 2. For retention ofW. Gmc. ci in O.E. before a back vowel in 
 following syllable, see § 107, Note. 
 
70 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 (2) W. Gmc. a becomes O.E. x: slxpaii, 'sleep', O. Sax. 
 sldpan, O.H.G. sldfan. 
 
 (3) W. Gmc. an becomes in O.E. *a?«, *^t7, ^sea, ed : edge 
 *eye', O.H.G. oiiga^ Goth, mtgo \ edre 'ear', Goth, auso. 
 
 Note. This ea was monophthongized to se in late O.E. Cp. for 
 instance the occasional spellings : ddiid ' death ', geldefa ' faith ', aediga 
 ' blessed ', for dea^, geleafa, eadig. 
 
 (4) W. Gmc. ai becomes O.E. a : Jidl ' whole ' (adj.), Goth. 
 Jiails^ O.H.G. heil\ dp ' oath ', Goth, aips, O.H.G. eid. 
 
 (5) W. Gmc. en becomes O.E. ed \ pedd 'nation, people', 
 Goth, piuda, O. Sax. tJiioda. 
 
 Combinative Vowel Changes common to all O.E. Dialects. 
 
 § 98. (i) W. Gmc. a becomes O.E. d. The nasalized a of 
 Gmc. and W. Gmc. undergoes first a process of rounding — to 
 o, and then a lengthened vowel is substituted for the short, 
 nasalized vowel : brdhte ' brought ' from '^^hi-ayyja, *brd)(ta^ 
 ^broyja ; fdn ' take, seize ' from ^'fayxan, '^fdxan^ ^fohan, etc. 
 
 § 99. (2) (a) W. Gmc. d, which as stated in § 97 (2) is fronted 
 to X in Pr. O.E. by an isolative change, does not undergo 
 this fronting if followed by 71 or in, but is rounded, and 
 appears in the earliest historical period as o : — vidua ' moon ' 
 from W. Gmc. ^uidnau-, cp. O.H.G. mduo, Goth, mcna ; ndnion 
 Pret. PI. of niinan ' to take ' from ^'ndvinm, cp. O.H.G. ndnmni, 
 Goth. ncm?iin,e.\.c. (h) W. Gmc. d before zv, or g, followed by 
 a back vowel, remains in O.E. : — sdzuon,/dgon,W.Gmc.^sd'wum, 
 ^Idgwn. 
 
 § 100. (3) Pr. O.E. a becomes o. 
 
 W. Gmc. an- (or «;//-), when it stood before the voiceless 
 open consonants, s,f^P, appears in the oldest English simply 
 as o. The n first nasalized a to a, then this was rounded to 
 o, and as in the preceding case, nasalization was replaced by 
 length, giving o: 0.¥.. gos 'goose' from ^gos from ^gds from 
 ^^gans, cp. Germ, and Dutch gans; O.E. top 'tooth' from 
 original ^/anp, cp. O.H.G. £;and, O. Sax. tand\ O.E. softe 
 'soft', O.H.G. samfto. 
 
 Note. This process, as regards the rounding, and substitution of 
 length for nasalization, is identical with the preceding (§ 98 (l)), only 
 whereas the nasal was lost before [x]. already in Pr. Gmc. and is thus 
 absent in all Gmc. tongues, the loss of the consonant n, 111 before s,f,p, 
 is an O.E. process. It is impossible to say at what period the various 
 languages lost the nasalization of a. 
 
 It will be seen later that n was always lost in O.E. before s, f, p, just as 
 it is lost in Gmc. before x- The other vowels are merely lengthened after 
 losin J- their nasalization, but undergo no qualitative change comparable 
 to that from a- to 0, o (§ 113). 
 
§§9;-io3] Combinative Vowel Changes 71 
 
 § loi. (4) Original an becomes on. 
 
 W. Gmc. a before nasal consonants which remain in O.E., 
 is generally rounded to in the period of Alfred : lond, Jiond, 
 monn instead of earlier laiid, hand, inann. In later O.E. land, 
 hand, etc., again predominate. In no period are either the 
 an or on forms used with perfect consistency in any of 
 the texts. " n. y 
 
 § I02. (5) Fracture of Vowels before certain consonant 
 combinations. 
 
 Fracture is the term applied to the diphthongization of 
 front vowels before rr, and r+ another consonant; //, or /+ 
 another consonant; h, hh, or /^ + another consonant. Ex- 
 amples : Fracture of e : O.E. steorra, O.H.G. sterro ; eorpe 
 'earth', O.H.G. erda\ scolh 'seal', O.H.G. selaJi >^selh\ 
 feoh ' money, property ', O. Sax. fehu ; feohtan ' to fight ', 
 O.Yi.Qi. feJitan. Fracture of ae : earnt 'poor', Q.YiG. arin\ 
 call 'air, O.H.G. all; eald 'old', O.H.G. alt\ eahta 'eight', 
 O. Sax. O.H.G. ahto. Fracture of Pr. O.E. «: neah from 
 ^nxh, Goth. ne/v. 
 
 Note i. It is pretty certain that already in the late O.E. period, 
 ea was monophthongized to de and perhaps also raised to [s]. Cp. § 97 
 Note, 120 Note. Such spellings as swaelt for swealt, swdertum for 
 sweartion, andwderdttin for andweardiim, nidercode for inearcode, all in 
 ^Ifric, taken in connexion with the M,E. development, seem to establish 
 the monophthong in these cases. 
 
 Note 2. The process of ^Fracture' consists in the development of 
 a glide sound between the front vowel and the following h, II, rr, I, r, or 
 h + consonant. The cause of the development of this glide, which was 
 originally of the nature of [w] or [u], lies in the nature of the following 
 consonant, h was a back open consonant, a sound which easily tends to 
 be lip-modified. / when doubled, or followed by another consonant, 
 must have been pronounced with the fore part of the tongue hollowed. 
 This gives a dull, 'guttural' effect to the sound, as is heard in many 
 English and Scotch dialects at the present day. r when doubled, or 
 followed by another consonant, was probably ' inverted ', i. e. uttered with 
 the point of the tongue turned upwards and backwards, without trilling. 
 This sound is now pronounced in many Southern English dialects. Each 
 of these articulations involves a considerable glide, after a front vowel. A 
 very similar effect to Ft-actiire is heard in such Cockney pronunciations 
 as [p<?///(l)], etc., ior pale. Note that e undergoes no Fracture before the 
 /-combinations, except Ih, Ic. The Fracture of i is indistinguishable from 
 that of <?, except in Northumbrian (§ 132). 
 
 § 103. Mutation or * Umlaut '. 
 
 There are two kinds oi MntationmO.^.: one, A. which affects 
 back vowels, is caused by a following ior j and results in front- 
 ing of the vowel ; the other, B. which affects front vowels, is 
 
72 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 caused chiefly by 7(, or v, in some dialects also by a. The 
 result of the latter process is to develop a vowel glide [ti], 
 which combines with the preceding front vowel to produce a 
 diphthong. The former process is known as /- or /-mutation, 
 the latter //-mutation, or o/a-muta.t\on, according to the vowel 
 which causes it. 
 
 2-mutation is by far the more universal of these two 
 processes in O.E.; it affects all dialects, and is less liable than 
 //-mutation to be upset by Analogy. ^/-mutation, or its 
 result, on the other hand, is distributed, in different dialects, 
 in varying degrees of frequency. W. Saxon, apart from certain 
 conditions (see § no), tends to eliminate the diphthongized 
 forms due to //-mutation, in favour of those with simple 
 vowels, which may occur in certain cases of nouns, or persons 
 of verbs. Since i- or /-mutation is a fronting process, and 
 u, o/a Mutation one which depends largely on the develop- 
 ment of a back element after front vowels, we may call the 
 former Front-Mutation, and the latter Back-Mutation. 
 
 § 104. A. (6) i- or j-Mutation in O.E. 
 
 The law may be simply stated as follows: all original 
 back vowels when followed in the next syllable of a word by 
 -/'- or -j-, are fronted, to the corresponding front vowels. 
 Further O.E. x, derived by isolative change from earlier 
 a (§ 97 (i)) under the same conditions, is raised from a low, to 
 the mid vowel c. The process of /-, /-mutation was fully 
 completed before the period of the earliest O.E. documents, 
 that is, before the end of the seventh century. It may there- 
 fore have begun a century earlier. It certainly was carried 
 out in England, because it affects loan-words which the 
 English only learnt after their invasion of these islands. 
 
 The process of fronting the vowel was due to the front- 
 modification of the intervening consonant by the following 
 -/'- or /-. This front-modified sound then influenced, and 
 fronted the preceding vowel. When the consonant was back, 
 c, or g, it became a pure front c, g, or, if g was followed by/, 
 eg; thus ^l3egij> becomes in the first instance ^Isegip 'lays'; 
 ^sokja ' I seek ' becomes ^sdci ; ^bruggjo ' bridge ' becomes 
 ^brucg, the phonetic values being [j, "t, 'd]. 
 
 § 105. i- or /-mutation of 0. Primitive O.E. o, no matter 
 what its origin, becomes first \e], written oe, which in all 
 dialects except W. Sax. survives nearly to the end of the O.E. 
 period. In W.S. oc {mid-frotit-round) is unrounded to c before 
 the period of King Alfred, in whose works there are however 
 some slight traces of the spelling oe : 
 
[§§103-9] Front-Mutation of Back Vozvels in O.E. 73 
 
 bcc Dat. Sing, and Nom. and Ace. PI. of bdc ' book ', from 
 *bdki- ; sedan ' to seek ', O. Sax. sokian, Goth, sokjan ; cp. O.E. 
 Pret. sohtc from ^sdk-da ; fedan ' to feed ' from "^fod-jan, cp. 
 O.'E. foda 'food'; cwm 'queen', Pr. O.E. ^cwoni, W. Gmc. 
 ^kwdni^ Gmc. "^kwxni (cp. § 99). 
 
 §106. Pr. O.E. a (earlier ai) becomes x'. — dxlan from 
 "^ddljan 'divide', cp. O.E. un-mutated <^^/ ' portion ', O.H.G. 
 teil, Goth, dails. O.E. dxl ' part ' = "^ddli also exists, and 
 is commoner than ddl. txcan ' teach ' from ^tdkjan^ cp. Pret. 
 tdhte. 
 
 Ixstaji 'follow, carry out' from ^Idstjan, cp. O.H.G. leistan, 
 O. Sax. lestian, Goth, laistjan. O.E. has also the un-mutated 
 noun Idst ' track ', etc. 
 
 § 107. /-, /-Mutation of O.E. a and x : Pr. O.E. a becomes 
 x: hxbban ' have ' from ^^Jiabbjan; slxgeii ' slain ' from '^slagin. 
 
 Note. W. Gmc. a normally becomes as by an Isolative change in 
 O.E. (§ 97 (i)), and on the Mutation of this see § 107 below; but a 
 remains, or is restored, if a back vowel follows, hence dagas N. and A. PI. 
 of dseg, slagen, one form of P.P. of slean fr. ^slagan. It happens some- 
 times, though comparatively rarely, that an O.E. a which had originally a 
 back vowel after it, is preserved as such till after the isolative tendency 
 which changed Pr. a to as has passed away. If syllables containing such 
 a sounds receive a suffix with i or j later on, but before the period of 
 i- or -y- Mutation, the a undergoes fronting to de. This is the case with 
 the forms haebban, sldegcn, above. 
 
 Pr. O.E. .-^becomes e by i- or /-mutation : settan 'to place ', 
 from ^sxttjau, cp. Goth, satjan; mete 'food', from '^nixti, cp. 
 Goth, mats, O.H.G. mas, O. Sax. ineti (with mutation) ; here 
 'army' from "^hxri-, O.H.G. hari, Goth, harjis ; slegcn, P.P. of 
 sledn, from ^slxgin. 
 
 § 108. Pr. O.E. u becomes y : mys PI. of mus ' mouse ', 
 from musi\ bryd 'bride', Goth, brilp-s, stem '^brupi-\ cypan 
 ' make known', Goth, kunpjan, Pr. O.E. ^kupjan. 
 
 § 109. Pr. O.E, u becomes y : fyllan ' to fill ' fr. ^fulljan, 
 cp. O.E. full, Goth, and O.'R.G. fnlljan; pytt 'pit, hole', 
 O.Yi.G. pftizzi, Early W. Gmc. loan-word from Latin piUeiis^ 
 W. Gmc. form "^puitja, Pr. O.E. '^piittL 
 
 Note. An original Gmc. u became o in W. Gmc. if <?, a, or a followed 
 in the next syllable, but remained when followed by -/- or -j-. There are 
 many ' roots ' which occur both with or a suffixes, and also with suffixes 
 containing -/- or -j-. In the former case we g6t in the 'root' in 
 O.E., in the latter i(. This u, later on, when the z-mutation period 
 arrived, became j'. Thus —gold ' gold ' from *git.lda-, but gylden ' golden ' 
 from "guldin- ; god ' god ' from *guda-, but gydeii ' goddess ' from 
 *gtidin- ; for from */u/isa, but fyxen ' vixen ' from *fuhsin-. In these 
 and similar cases, y is therefore the mutation of it and not of 0. 
 
74 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 Normally, o cannot occur before -i- or -j-, {a) because o in 
 native words is not an original sound, but was developed 
 in W. Gmc. out of li, under the conditions just mentioned, 
 and {b) because in those early loan-words where it occurred, 
 it became n before -i- or -;-. 
 
 Thus if the sequence o with -i- or •;;;'- in the next syllable 
 passed into W. Gmc. from Latin, as it sometimes did, it nor- 
 mally became tt, and this naturally was mutated to y later 
 on, e.g. Latin vioncta became ^'inonlt-, whence ^mtmit, whence 
 O.K. inyiici ' coin '. 
 
 Therefore e as the mutation of o is very rare, and when it 
 is found, needs special explanation. For instance, oxa ' ox ' 
 has a PI. ocxen, cxen by the side of commoner oxaii. Original 
 *7ihsa- normally becomes oxa in O.E. If a form like ^mlisin- 
 existed it would naturally become '^yxen, so that exen can 
 only be explained by assuming that just before the period of 
 mutation, but after the period at which o followed by -i- 
 became n, a new formation ^ohsin- was made, on the analogy 
 of ^ohsa ; this new form ^ohsin- then became cexen, exen in 
 the mutation period. A similar explanation must be sought 
 for ele ' oil ' from Latin oleum^ W. Gmc. "^olja, ^idja, and for 
 the Dat. Sing, dehter of dohter ' daughter '. 
 
 Note. In pencan, sendtm, blendan the e probably does represent the 
 mutation of Pr. O.E. o from a before a nasal (§ loi) — *J?ankja?i<*J?otjkjan, 
 etc. 
 
 For the effects of /-mutation on the Pr. O.E. Diphthongs, 
 see§§ 117, 118, 119, 134, 132, 139, which deal with the peculiar 
 special developments of the various dialects. 
 
 § no. B. (7) Back-, or u-Mutation. 
 
 All the O.E. dialects are to some extent subject to this 
 change, which consists in diphthonging i, e, and in Mercian 
 ^, when ?/, or (from earlier -an) followed in the next syllable, 
 e.g. '^Jiehtn becomes heofon. The process is excellently 
 described by Bulbring [Elenientarbiich, § 239}. What 
 happened was that the u first * lip-modified ' the preceding 
 consonant, which in its turn produced a lip- or rounded glide 
 between itself and the preceding front vowel : ^witum became 
 ^wif^um and then ^wi^'^f'^tiin, whence wmtiun^ and later 
 zviotum, later still weotum. 
 
 In W. Saxon this mutation takes place only {a) when the 
 word begins with w, or any consonant followed by w, sw, etc., 
 in which case it occurs no matter what consonant intervenes 
 between the i or e and the following n ; or, {b) when the 
 

 §§109-11] Back-Mutation 75 
 
 intervening consonant is /, r, or a lip consonant — p, m,f. In 
 words in which the n only occurs in certain cases — N. and 
 Ace. PI. Neuter, or Dat. PL, Standard W. Saxon tends to 
 give up the diphthongization, even in these cases^ on the 
 analogy of the undiphthongized forms of the other cases ; 
 thus scipit (N. and Ace. PI.) and scipiim (Dat. PI.) 'ships', 
 instead of sciopu [sceopn), etc., on the pattern of Sing, scip, 
 etc. The result is that this mutation is a far less prominent 
 feature in W.S. than in any of the other dialects where no 
 such tendency exists. 
 
 The in and en of this origin become io, and eo, and in West 
 Saxon are both levelled under eo as a rule. 
 
 X never undergoes the process in pure W.S., except in the 
 word ealn ' ale ', which is the Common O.E. form (from ^alup-) ; 
 never in Northumbrian, and only sporadically in a few forms, 
 in one or two early Kentish charters, where it is probably due 
 to Mercian influence. In Mercian the w-mutation of x [a) to 
 ea is a typical feature of the dialect (§ 138). 
 
 Examples in IV. Saxon : — cweocn fr. cwiocn, earlier cwincn 
 from ciuicn ' living ' ; ofor ' wild boar ' from "^efnr ; Jieorot ' hart ', 
 from ^'hcrnt, cp. O.W.G. hirna; seolfor 'silver', earlier ^silndr; 
 sweostor ' sister ', cp. O.H.G. swester. 
 
 Note. The combination ivlic becomes ivu, the iv being lost after 
 a consonant before 11, so that we get c{w')iiai ; wiidtc from widit <.unudu, 
 ivuton <.*iviui7ii/!, etc., in all dialects except Kentish (§ 143). The type 
 civic-, on the analogy of cwice, occurs also in the form civicu. This type 
 not being diphthongized, does not change further, so that we find cwicii, 
 cucu, and by a further cross analogy, also cuce, etc., at one and the same 
 time. 
 
 § III. (8) ' Palatal Mutation '. 
 
 This term was suggested by Bulbring to denote primarily 
 the loss in Anglian of the second element of the diphthong 
 ea (which thus appears merely as c) before the consonant- 
 groups Ju, hs, Jip, when followed by a front vowel, or when 
 linal. 
 
 A very similar, though later process, afTects also eo, io, in 
 W. Sax., where we find cniht or cnic-Jit ' boy ', ' servant ', instead 
 of the normal, cncoJit (as we might expect) from ^cneht with 
 Fracture (§ 102). Here eo is fronted, and the first element 
 raised to i. This only happens when the -hi is final, as in 
 Nom.-Acc. Sing., or when a front vowel follows, as in Gen. 
 and Dat. Sing. cni{e)htcs, cni{e)hte ; in the PI. where back 
 vowels occur in the sufifixes, eo remains — cneoJitas^ cneohta, 
 cueohinm ; PiJitisc ' Pictish ' but Peohtas ' Picts '. 
 
76 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 Note. This is an important difference for the subsequent development 
 of the language, since Mod. Engl, knight can only be derived from the 
 O.E. oiiht type, and not from cneoht-. 
 
 § 112. (9) Loss of h, between vowels and contraction of 
 vowel groups. 
 
 Early in the historical period It disappears between vowels ; 
 thus ^fdha ' seize ' becomes */"J«, ^sleaha ' I strike ' becomes 
 *sleaa, *feohes (Gen. Sing, oi fcoli) ' property ' becomes *feocs, 
 etc. These combinations of vowels are simplified by the loss 
 of the unstressed vowel, but the remaining vowel or diphthong 
 is lengthened, if short, thus: ^^'foa becomes/"^; ^'sleaa becomes 
 slea; ^feoes becomesy(?^j',etc.; '^filhan 'thrive ' becomes ^ploJian, 
 whence ^pioan, plon. 
 
 Vowel Lengthening in O.E. 
 § 113. (a) Lengthening replaces Nasalization. 
 
 We have seen (§ 100) that when the combinations an-, am- 
 stand before s, f, or /, the nasal consonant is lost, having 
 previously nasalized the a, which is then rounded, and 
 subsequently lengthened in compensation for the later loss of 
 nasalization. Precisely the same nasalization, loss of nasal 
 consonant, and gradual replacing of the vowel nasalization by 
 vowel length, takes place when i or u stand before /^, or 
 in, followed by a voiceless open consonant. Nasalized I and u 
 before k, inherited from Germanic (cp. «, §§ 98 and 100, Note), 
 are lengthened in the same way. Examples : sip ' time, 
 journey ', fr. ^sip fr. ^sinfi, Goth. si7iPs ; gesip ' companion ', 
 O.H.G. gisindi\ fif, fr. ^Jiinf, cp. Goih..Jimf, O.H.G. fimf, 
 O.Sax. fif; fis 'us', O.H.G. nns ; cupe 'could', cp. Goth. 
 kimpa. 
 
 Examples of th^ uJl : O.E. Peon ' thrive ', fr. ^^piyy^an — 
 ^pixan^ Pr. O.E. piJian, pTohan^ etc. (§113); O.E. pukte 
 ' seemed ', fr. ^piiyyja — ^pu\ta^ Pret. oi pyncan, fr. ^piiyk-jaii. 
 
 § 114. {b) Short vowels were lengthened before the com- 
 binations nd, inb, i^^S' ^)> ^d, rd\ flndau, lamb, singan (?), 
 clld, word, all of which had, originally, short vowels. The 
 lengthening which took place, probably, early in the ninth 
 century is of importance for the later history of the language, 
 for Mod. [f«md, tjaz'ld, koum], etc., can only be explained by 
 assuming that the O.E. forms had long vowels. On the 
 numerous cases such as end, friend, zvind, where the Mod. 
 forms presuppose short forms, at any rate in M.E.,see § 175 (7), 
 below. 
 
§§ III-I6] Characteristics of West Saxon 77 
 
 Sound Changes which occur only in West Saxon. 
 
 § 115. (i) Diphthonging after initial Front Consonants. 
 
 After the Front Consonmits c, g (whether earlier g, or /) 
 and the combination sc the Pr. O.E. vowels se, se, e are diph- 
 thongized, in the earliest period, to ea, ea, ie respectively. 
 
 {a) After c : W. Saxon ceaste}' ' city ', etc. non-W. Sax. 
 cxsUr ; c^^/ ' chaff ', non-W.S. csef\ ceace from '^cxce^ cp. Dutch 
 kaak. There are no examples of ce-. 
 
 {b) After g{=g) : gcat ' gate ', non-W.S. /^^ ; geaf, non-W.S. 
 g3ef\ geafon ' gave ', Pret. PL, Pr. O.'K.gdefon ; gielp ' boast ', cp. 
 O.H.G. gc/f, non-W.S. gelp ; forgieldan ' to pay for ', non-W.S. 
 -geldan : g =j — gear ' year ', O.H.G. jar, Pr. O.E. gxr. 
 
 (c) After sc: sceal ^ sh2ill' , earlier sca^l, Goth, skal; sceap 
 * sheep ', earlier scxp, cp. O.H.G. scdf\ scieran ' cut ', cp. O.H.G. 
 sceraii. 
 
 Note i. In Late W.S. mis frequently monophthongized to 6^ after front 
 cons,, so that we get cef, gef, ger, seep, etc. This does not take place 
 before a following back vowel, so geara, geartini, etc., remain. 
 
 Note 2. The W.S. form ceaster shows that the processes of fronting 
 c before front vowels, and the subsequent diphthongization of this vowel 
 after a front cons., were still in operation, if they did not actually begin 
 after the English came to Britain, since ceaster is a Latin loan-word first 
 acquired from Latin-speaking people in this country. 
 
 Note 3. The above process of diphthongization is later than that 
 caused by Fracture, as may be seen from O.E. ceoji ' churl ' from earlier 
 cerl. The eo, which occurs in all the dialects, is the result of Fracture. 
 Had *tV;7 remained unaltered until the period of diphthongization after 
 front cons, this must have become *cierl in W.S. 
 
 § 116. (a) i-, j-Mutation of the Pr. O.E. Diphthongs ea, io. 
 
 In W.S. alone, of all the O.E. dialects, ea and to when 
 followed by -i- or -j-, are mutated to z? : («) I. of ea from au : 
 hieran ' hear ', from ^hedrjan, cp. Goth, hausjan ; gelTefan ' to 
 believe', cp. O.E. geledfa 'faith', Goth, galaubjan; lede adv. 
 ' easily', from ^'■eddi, cp. O.E. adj. eddc 'easy ' ; H. of ea from 
 Ee (W.Gmc. a) after front consonant : — cuse ' cheese ' from 
 '"^ceasi, from ^csesi, W.Gmc. ^kdsjo. 
 
 Note. The W.S. form ctese shows that /-mutation was a later process 
 than that of diphthonging after front cons. (§ 115). Had the former pro- 
 cess taken place earlier than the latter, Pr. O.E. ^cxsi would have 
 remained unchanged by it, since de suffers no i-mutation. caesi then would 
 have become *ceasi in W.S. The short diphthong ie in cietel, etc., below 
 (§ 117) tells the same story. 
 
 {b) Mutation of w : — cies^ ' chooses ' 3rd Sing. Pres. of 
 ceosan, from ciosip ; flies ' fleece ' from *flJnsz ; geU'uive ' faith- 
 ful ', cp. O. Sax. gitriuwi. 
 
78 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 § 117. (3) -i-Mutation of the Short Diphthongs. 
 
 The short diphthongs, ea, w, no matter what their origin, 
 become ie in W. Sax. through the influence of a following -i- 
 or -J-. 
 
 [a) Mutation of ea : I. of e"a, the result of Fracture (§ 102) : 
 iervipn 'poverty, wretchedness', from '^earinipii,&z.x\\&x^'dennipii, 
 cp. O.H.G. armida ; fiellan * cause to fall, cast down ', from 
 ^fcalljan, cp. feallan ' to fall ' ; nieht ' night ', from ^jieahti, 
 earlier '^nxhti, cp. Goth, nahts, stem ^nahti- ; II. of ea from 
 ae after front consonants (§ 115) : cietel ' kettle', from '^ceatil, 
 earlier ^csetil, cp. Goth, katils ; ciele ' cold, chill ', from ^ceali, 
 from "^'cxli, cp. O.E. ceal-d ' cold ' ; giest ' stranger ', from 
 ^geasti, earlier gsesti, cp. Goth, gasts, stem gasti- ; scicppan 
 ' create ', from ^sccappjan^ cp. Goth, skapjaii ; sciell ' shell ', 
 from ^sccallj-. 
 
 § 118. {b) Mutation of To (iu), the result of Fracture : 
 
 wierp * becomes ', from '^zviorpip 3rd Sing. Pres. of zveorpan ; 
 hierde ' shepherd ', from ^hiurdi, ^^hiordi, earlier ^hirdi, O.H.G. 
 hirii ; gesiehp ' sight ', from -^siohiptt from -^sihipo. 
 
 § 119. Later treatment of W.S. le. 
 
 Already in Alfred's time, / is often written for u, no matter 
 what the origin of this : iiiht, cniht, sillan (earlier siellan, from 
 sellaii), etc., and ie for original i, thus wietau, etc., for witan. 
 This points to the conclusion that, at any rate in part of the 
 W. Sax. area, i and ie had both been levelled under the one 
 sound i. On the other hand, after and before r, i often appears 
 as J, so that for instance ryJit ' right ' from rikt > rieht > 
 reoht is the regular Early W. Sax. form of this word. 
 
 In other parts of the W. Sax. area, on the other hand, fe is 
 not levelled under I but kept distinct, until in Late W.S. it 
 is rounded to y, which does not happen to original i. Thus 
 in those Late W.S. texts which we possess, j is the typical 
 spelling, on the whole, for the earlier u in all words of the 
 classes illustrated in § 117. 3, above. Furthermore as in M.E. 
 the [j/] sounds are still preserved in these words, in the Saxon 
 area, we must assume that the change of zl to j was typical 
 of this area generally, although Alfred's forms do not in all 
 cases appear to be consistent with this assumption. In Alfred's 
 dialect, apparently, there was a tendency, already noted, of 
 levelling fe under t, which was not characteristic of the whole 
 Saxon speech area. 
 
 Note, le and le are typical E. W.S. sounds, and occur in no other 
 
§§117-22] Charactensttcs of West Saxon 79 
 
 dialect. Further, that y representing earlier te, or anything else than 
 the z'-Mutation oiv, occurs in W.S. alone. 
 
 § 120. Pr. O.E. se in W.Sax. 
 
 With regard to this sound, it is perhaps desirable to record 
 the negative fact that it undergoes no alteration in the Saxon 
 area, during the whole O.E. period, and indeed remains as 
 a characteristic Southern English (with the exclusion of 
 Kentish) in the M.E. period (§§ i6i, 162). The other dialects 
 have raised this % (in dxd 'deed', sxtori, pret. pi. of sitta?t, 
 etc.) to e before the period of the earliest documents. This 
 non-W. Sax. e was tense, cp. § 123. 
 
 Note. It is probable, however, that while the sound remained slack, 
 it was raised to the mid [s] in Late W. Sax. JEUxlc veiy often writes 
 de for original c, dderia^ ' injures ', hdefe ' weight ', Sd&rgius for Sergius, 
 etc. He even writes as for e occasionally, ^^roe/^, gecwde7nde, and I have 
 noted gefret-cuodo7i for gcfrxtwodon. 
 
 § 121. Late West Saxon Treatment of weo-. 
 
 It IS typical of L.W.S. that the combination tveo-, whether 
 the diphthong be the result of Fracture, or ti-Mtttation, 
 becomes wti- : iviirpan fr. -weorpan, swtird fr. szveord, szuttstor 
 fr. sweostor^ c{iv)iiat fr, civeocn. A few cases of wo- occur in 
 Alfred. 
 
 § 122. Unrounding of O.E. y (i-mutation of u) in Late W.^. 
 
 In some L.W.S. texts, a tendency to unround O.E.^ to i 
 before front consonants and n is observable. This is found 
 more particularly in ^Ifric's Grammar and in the Old 
 Testament, though in the latter the 2-forms are not quite 
 universal. The unrounded forms are less numerous in the 
 W.S. Gospels, and still less so in Wulfstan's Homilies. The 
 Patois texts, Blickling Homilies and Harleian Gloss, generally 
 preserve the rounded vowel before front consonants. The 
 words cyning, cy7in, and drighten appear fairly consistently, 
 however, as cinn^ cining, drihten. 
 
 It is clear that the unrounding tendency did not obtain 
 over the whole W.S. area in the Late O.E. period, and this is 
 confirmed by the M.E. forms. In this period, brtigge, rttgge, 
 etc., often appear in Sthn. texts, but the /-forms seem to be 
 universal in drihten, king, cyiig, etc. 
 
 Note, u in M.E. brttgge, etc., is a Norm.-Fr. symbol for the [y] 
 sound (§§ 152, 158 [c], below). 
 
So History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 Points in which all the non-W. Sax. dialects agree. 
 § 123. (i) Raising of Pr. O.E. se to e. 
 
 As just noted in § 120, Northumbrian, Mercian, and Kentish 
 all raise x to e. Thus all have seton^ W. Sax. sxton, ' they sat ' ; 
 ;r^ ' council ', W.S. rxd; seep, med, stret, etc., ger from gxr, 
 W.S. gear (§ 1 15 {b)) ; ded ' deed ', W.S. dxd ; gredig ' greedy ', 
 V^ .S. gi-xdig etc., etc. This change can be traced in Kentish 
 at the end of the seventh century. 
 
 § 124. (2) i-, j-Mutation of Pr. O.E. ea. 
 
 Here again, all dialects except W.S. have e: heran 'hear', 
 W.S. liieran ; gelefan, ' believe ', W.S. gelufan ; teman ' to teem, 
 to bring forth', W.S. iuman., from '^teamjan, cp. O.E. team 
 ' progeny '. 
 
 Note. The process whereby we have e in non-W.S. instead of 
 a diphthong is not clear. Was there a stage ie as in W.S., which was 
 subsequently monophthongized ? Or is it possible that the original diph- 
 thong when followed by -i- or -J- was monophthongized before the period 
 of Mutation? 
 
 § 125. (3) Frequency of Back-Mutation of e and i. (See 
 §110 above.) 
 
 All the non-W.S. dialects show a tendency to diphthongize 
 i and e when followed by a back vowel, especially n, to an 
 extent which is unknown in the literary dialect of Wessex. 
 The results of the process are most fully developed in Kentish 
 (see § 141), but the Anglian dialects also have them with 
 great frequency, limited indeed only by smoothing (§ 127), 
 which eliminates the second element of the diphthong. The 
 non-W.S. dialects, unlike W.S., do not get rid of the diphthong- 
 ized forms of words in favour of those without mutation, which 
 may occur in particular cases of nouns, or parts of verbs. On 
 the contrary, they tend rather to generalize the diphthongized 
 forms as much as possible. 
 
 W.S. eliminates such a form as geofu 'gift', which is 
 perfectly normal, in favour of giefii formed on the analogy of 
 giefe, whereas Kentish tends to have the diphthongized forms 
 everywhere: e.g. begeotan, seondan, siondan 'are', agiaban 'to 
 give', weada 'woods', sioddan 'after', jzV?^ (analogy of Dat. 
 PI. seolfnm, etc.) 'self, etc., etc. All these are from Kentish 
 Charters in the first half of the ninth century. 
 
 The so-called Saxon Patois of the Blickling Homilies also 
 has the diphthongized forms to a far greater extent than the 
 Court dialect of Alfred. 
 
§§ 12 3-8] NortJmmbnan and Mercian 8i 
 
 The Anglian Dialects, 
 
 Features commcn to both Northumtrian and Mercian. 
 
 § 126. (i) Abserce of Fracture of ae, which appears as a, 
 before 11 and 1 + consonant. 
 
 Anglian cdld'zo\d.\ W.S. ceald\ hdldau 'hold', W.S. healdan; 
 ivall ' wall ', W.S. iveall\ bald ' bold ', W.S. beald, etc. 
 
 [Fracture of as before the ;--combinations is not found so consistently 
 in Anglian as in W.S. Before h, etc., Fracture takes place originally, 
 but the diphthong is simplified again (see § 127 below). 
 
 The /-, y-mutation of a before // or /+cons. in Anglian, is se — 
 fdellan, W.S. .fiellan (§ 117). Nthmb. ivde7-ma 'to warm ' is probably to 
 be regarded as = *warmjan, with mutation of ^^ to ae.] 
 
 § 127. (2) Smoothing. 
 
 This is the name given by Sweet to the monophthongization 
 of all diphthongs, both long and short, which took place in 
 Primitive Anglian before back, ?Lr\dfro7tt consonants, eu, m 
 become I, i\ instead of ea, before back and front consonants, 
 we get first x and later e. O.E. ea was developed out of 
 earlier aiL (§ 97 (3)) through the stages seic, xo, xa,a.nd the short 
 ea had a similar development. These diphthongs appear to 
 have been overtaken by the Smoothing process while they 
 were at the xo stage. The x which results from the smooth- 
 ing of the long diphthong is still found as a rule in eighth- 
 century texts, but is later raised to e. Thus the earliest 
 (Moore) MS. of Bede has Ixck, whereas the later MSS. have 
 Icck in the same passage ; the Epinal Glossary has forms like 
 laec 'vegetable', W.S. /eac; aec' also', W.S. eac ; hercbaecon 
 ' military standard ', W.S. bcdcen, while the ninth-century 
 Leiden Riddle has JieJi- 'high', W.S. heah', svxdek 'however', 
 W.S. -deah. In the late Mercian Psalter and Hymns, e is the 
 commoner spelling — JieJi, gecc7iad ' increases *, bilec ' locked ', 
 W.S. beleac, etc. The Lindisfarne Gospels have keh, becon, 
 ecan, ec, etc., but the more archaic spelling xc for the last 
 word is far commoner. 
 
 The short x, smoothing from ca, is usually not raised to e, 
 cp. dxgas, PI. fr. '^deagas by back-mutation from ^dxgas 
 (§ lie), in the Mercian Hymns, and middilsxxwn in an 
 eighth-century Merc. Charter. Pr. O.E. x remains in 
 Nthumb. but becomes e in Merc. ; cp. § 137 below. 
 
 § 128. (3) Retention of oe. 
 
 The 2-mutation of d, originally oe in all dialects (§ 105, above) 
 remains in the spelling, and probably in the pronunciation, of 
 
 F 
 
82 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 the Anglian dialects throughout the O.E. period — boec^ W.S. 
 bee ' books ', soccan, W.S. secan ' to seek '. 
 (On 06 in Kentish see § 144.) 
 
 Features which distinguish Northumbrian from Mercian. 
 § 129. (i) Retention of Pr. O.E. se as in W.S. (§ 97 above), 
 whereas the Mercian dialect of Vespas. Ps. agrees with Kentish 
 in raising this to e (§ 137 below). 
 
 § 130. (2) Traces of late Diphthonging after front con- 
 sonants. This is unknown in Mercian and Kentish, but char- 
 acteristic of W.S. , where, however, it is a primitive process. The 
 Northumbrian process has been discussed with some minute- 
 ness by Bulbring, y4;/^/z(?, Beibl. ix, and ElevientarbiicJi, §§ 154, 
 
 155. 294-6, 302. 
 
 In Rushvv.^ sceal 'shall', as in W.S., is found, and sclp 'sheep' 
 which according to Bulbring, § 154, is from ^sciep with diph- 
 thongization of the Angl. seep, Pr. O.E. scxp. 
 
 Note. This is surely later than the W.S. process, since it is later than 
 the Angl. rais'ing of de to e, though doubtless, as Bulbring says, much 
 earlier than the Nthnib. diphthonging of back vowels after sc. 
 
 The clearest cases of the diphthonging of back vowels in 
 (Nthn.) Nthmb. are found after sc, and must be very late, 
 indicating a rising diphthong, i. e. one stressed on second ele- 
 ment, if we take them seriously as diphthongal forms — scedn 
 ' shone ', earlier sean, pret. sing, of sehian, sceacea ' to shake ', 
 seed/i * shoe ', etc. The e in all these forms may be merely a 
 graphic device to indicate that se is front. 
 
 § 131. (3) Absence of back-Mutation of ae (found in Mercian, 
 
 § 132. (4) Distinction preserved between eo and 10. 
 
 In W. Sax. the old diphthong to (Pr. O.E. m) which 
 only arose in W. Gmc. when -/- or -j- followed, became te 
 in the Mutation period unless there was a change of suffix 
 (§ 118). In Anglian, no alteration was effected in the sound 
 by the following -z- and the diphthong is preserved as to in 
 O. Nthmb. and remains distinct from eo from Pr. eii, whereas 
 in Mercian to is levelled under eo : Nthmb. dtostro ' darkness ', 
 W.S. diestrn, O. Sax. tJimstri\ gestrwna ' gain, beget children ', 
 W.S. gestrtenan. 
 
 The same distinction is preserved in Nthmbr. between the 
 short diphthongs to, eo : ivhirpit in Bede's Death Song, W.S. 
 wierp from ^wiurpip from ^wiipip by Fracture ; hiorde ' shep- 
 herd', W.S. hierde; iorre 'angry ',W.S. ierre\ giornede ' desired ', 
 
§§ 128-36] Northumbrian and Mercian 8 
 
 J 
 
 W.S. giernde. (On the W.S. le^ later j/, in these forms, see 
 §§ 118, 119, above.) 
 
 § ^33- (5) Influence of initial w upon following vowels. 
 
 The following changes are characteristic of late Nthmb. : 
 
 {a) TC'^f?- (Fracture) becomes wo-: w^;-(^rt; 'become' from earlier 
 tveordan, zvorpa ' throw ' from wcorpan, sivord * sword ' from 
 szveord. 
 
 {b) In Nthn. Nthmb. zveo-, the result of 0- or ?/-Mutation, 
 also becomes tvo- : wortdd from iveoruld from zveriild ' world ', 
 wosa 'to be ' from zveosan from wesan. [According to Biil- 
 bring, § 267, in Sthn. Nthmb. ivosa is the only form with 
 from eo as a result of ^-Mutation ; otherwise iveo- remains — 
 zveontld, etc.] 
 
 This change is quite unknown in Mercian and Kentish. In 
 late W.S. a somewhat similar change, that of tvco- to zvit-, 
 occurs (§ 121). 
 
 {c) Initial ive- becomes ww- through rounding of the 
 vowel : zvccg ' way ' from tve^-, czvada ' speak ' from czvedan 
 (but civeodan becomes cwoda (cp. [b) above), was ' be ' Imperat. 
 from xves. [Not quite unknown in Mercian, where such forms 
 as czvoedap, zvoesteime ' solitudine ', occur sporadically.] 
 
 {d) In Late Nthn. Nthmb. zve- (Anglian form of Pr. O.E. 
 wx-) becomes zvaj- : wcepen ' weapon ', W.S. wxpen, wag 
 ' wave ', W.S. ivxg. 
 
 [This change is unknown in Mercian.] 
 
 § 134. (6) In Southern Northumbrian, W. Gmc. an (W. Sax. 
 ea) appears generally as eo, being apparently arrested at the 
 xo stage: deop ' death', W.S. deap ; deof ' deaf, W.S. deaf\ 
 kedftcd, W.S. heafod\ eore ' ear', W.S. eare, etc. 
 
 Nthn. Nthmb. more commonly writes ea, as in all other 
 dialects. 
 
 § 135- (7) Northern Nthmb. writes ea more frequently for 
 Fracture of ^ before rr and r + consonant than eo -. hearte 
 ' heart ', W.S. Jieorte ; eardjc 'earth'. In the Sthn. Nthmb. texts, 
 eo is more frequent. 
 
 [Mercian also shows some traces oi ea, but eo is general.] 
 
 § 136. (8) Southern Nthmb. of the later period, on the other 
 hand, generally writes co instead of ea for the Fracture of x: 
 eorm ' arm ', hiueo)-/' turned, wandered ', W.S. Jnvcarf. 
 
 [In Mercian, as in Kentish, eo sometimes occurs for ea, but rarely.] 
 
 F 3 
 
84 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 Characteristic Mercian Features. 
 
 y' §137- (i) Raising of ae to e. 1^' '^ 
 
 In distinction to Northumbrian and W.S., which retain x 
 throughout the O.E. period, but in agreement with Kentish, 
 in part of the Mercian area this vowel is raised to e by an 
 isolative change. This is most consistently shown in the 
 ninth-century Vespasian Psalter and Hymns, and in the later 
 Glosses in MS. Royal. The Mercian Matthew (Rushworth^), 
 however, writes iv far more commonly. Examples (from 
 Vesp. Ps. and Hymns) are: hwet 'what?', deges (Gen. Sing, 
 of deg- 'day', degiun (Dat. PL on analogy of Sing.), efter 
 ' after ', zvcter ' water ', ives ' was '. 
 
 The forms dsegas, dxga, czvxcti7ig in Vesp. Hymns are 
 examples of Anglian smoothing from "^deaga, etc. See § 138 
 below. 
 
 §138. (2) Back-Mutation of Fr. O.E. ae. WF-tr.*^- ^ 7 ^o- 
 
 gedeafeiiad ' befits ', ic fearii 'I go ', feaditr ' father ' (Gen. 
 Sing.), gehleadap ' they load ', steadelas ' foundations '. 
 
 This mutation took place, in the dialect of the Vesp. Ps., 
 also when g, or c was the intervening consonant, but such 
 forms as ^deagas, ^ctueacitng ' shaking ' were smoothed to 
 dsegas, etc. This smoothing of ea is the chief source of x in 
 this text. 
 
 § 139' (3) Levelling of iu, later w, under eo. 
 
 Vesp. Ps. has xvcotap (Imperat. PI.) ' know ye ' from zviutap, 
 cweopap ' they speak ', cleophi ' I call ' from ^clipdpi, whence 
 *cli7tp5jn, ceosep ' chooses ' from ^'closip. 
 
 The same levelling occurs in the case of to the result of 
 Fracture oii: corsian 'become angry', eorre'' angry', Jieorde, 
 W.S. hierde ' shepherd '. 
 
 Note. Such forms as 7vreocende, sfireocende in Vesp. (Back-mutation 
 Qii e), where we should expect Smoothing, must be due to the analogy of 
 other verbs in the same class, where the diphthong normally remained un- 
 smoothed, e.g. beoran 'bear', etc. Stebgun 'climbed', from stigun 
 (Pret. PI.), may be explained on the analogy of ivreotun 'they wrote' ; 
 but see also § 140 (2) below. 
 
 Typical Kentish Features. 
 § 140. (i) £6, the i-Mutation of Pr. O.E. a raised to e. 
 
 Kentish is the only O.E. dialect which does not preserve 
 this X (in clxne, etc.) unaltered during the whole O.E. period. 
 Already in the Kentish Charters of the ninth century, we 
 get forms such as clenra, ejiig, mist, gememim (Dat. PI.) 
 
§§137-42] Typical Kentish Features 85 
 
 ' common ', cp. Goth, gamabii-, and in the Surrey Charter of 
 871-89 gcdclc, W.S. gedxlan ' divide', Goth, gadailjan ; lestcn 
 'perform ', Go\\\. galaistjau ; Jnvetc-, W.S. hivxte- 'wheat', from 
 ^/nvaiti-, Pr. O.E. *hivdti. This change can be shown to be 
 distinctly later than the raising of Pr. O.E. x (§ 123 above) to e 
 which is common to all non-W.S. dialects. The later Kentish 
 Psalm and Hymn write x for both sounds, but owing to the 
 early disappearance of the sounds {x} in Kentish, the symbols 
 X and c are used indifferently for the mid-front sound. That 
 X is indeed used for a mid-front vowel is shown by the spelling 
 hxr for her ' here' in a Kt. Ch. of 831. In this word no one 
 supposes that any old dialect ever had other than a mid-front 
 vowel. The same confusion is shown in the spelling szvxstar 
 for sivestoy ' sister ', where the short mid-front is certain. 
 
 [On preservation of this e in M.E. see § 161 below.] 
 
 § 141. (2) Typical Kentish Back-Mutation. 
 
 We may consider such forms as reogolzveard ' guardian of 
 a (religious) rule ', and foj-espreoca ' advocate ', brcogo ' prince ', 
 as typically Kentish, since W.S. does not admit of this muta- 
 tion before a back consonant, and, although it no doubt 
 occurred under these conditions in early Anglian, it would 
 be reduced by smoothing in the Anglian dialects (§ 127 
 above). Kentish influence may partly explain the forms in 
 Vesp, Ps. discussed in § 138, note, above. 
 
 § 142. (3) O.E. y (i-Mutation of u), unrounded, and lowered 
 to e. 
 
 In the Late Kentish Psalm, we find sennum ' sins ' (Dat. PI.), 
 W.S. syfuiuni ; gelta ' guilt ', W.S.gylt ; graimnlicgdig ' cruel ', 
 W.S. -hygdig; snetera 'wise', W.S. snytcr, etc. In Early 
 Kentish such spellings do not occur in stressed syllables, 
 though the proper name Heregcp^ W.S. -gyp is found, but the 
 change, even in stressed syllables, is assured for the early 
 period by the spelling yfter 'after' in a Ch. of 831, to 
 represent Kt. efter^ W.S. xfter. This spelling would be im- 
 possible unless Kt. scribes had already pronounced O.E. y as 
 e in words where they still adhered to the traditional spelling 
 {y). If they pronounced e whenever they saw or wrote j', of 
 course y might come to be regarded as a symbol for the 
 ^-sound. 
 
 I, for original y\ continues to be one of the chief marks of 
 Kentish dialect, or Kentish influence during the M.E. period 
 (§158 {b)), and we have in Standard English to-day, words like 
 
S6 History of English Sounds [chap, v 
 
 knell, O.E. cnyllan^ outside the Kentish dialect, which we know 
 must be of Kentish or S. Eastern origin (§ 253, Note 3 below). 
 
 Note. This feature of Kentish extends in M.E. beyond the old Kentish 
 area, and is found, in varying degrees, in Essex, Suffolk, and Sussex. 
 
 § 143. (4) The group wiu. 
 
 In Kentish, the otherwise usual change to ivil does not 
 occur, so that we get tveada^ ivcoUim, instead of witdu, zvutinn. 
 Wtidnni is found, however, in Bd. Gl. 
 
 The diphthongs fu, co are not clearly and consistently dis- 
 tinguished in Kt. to is commoner in this dialect than eo for 
 earlier en. For short eb and lo we find often m, io by the side 
 of CO '. thus seondan, sioiuion, zvcadtt, gezvnota, sioddan, nio- 
 iiianiie ; hiabanlic, begeoian, agiabaji, -geeweodii, etc. 
 
 § 144. Treatment of oe (i-mutation of 5) in Kentish. 
 
 The ninth-century Charters consistently write oe for the 
 2-mutation of o of every origin — -foe ' take ', bdec, doed, goes 
 ' geese ', soecende, gerocfa ' reeve ', etc. The only exception 
 seems to be blcdsiing. Surrey Charter (879-89) has oe once, 
 but usually writci' eo — -fed, gcfcoriivi * companions ' (W.S. 
 gefenim), seolest ' best ', relitmcodrencynn. In later Kentish e 
 is the usual spelling — geniete, gebctie, seceude, etc. (Psalm). 
 The spelling seocau, however, occurs once in this text. The 
 Late Kt. Glosses always write c. 
 
 The spelling eo, occurring already in the latter half of the 
 ninth century, seems to show that the traditional spelling oe 
 was no longer felt as satisfactory, and may imply that the 
 vowel was already but slightly rounded. It is curious that 
 eo should crop up again in Late Kt. We can hardly take it 
 to represent a rounded vowel, in the face of the far more 
 numerous ^-spellings. The spelling boem ' both ' Dat. PI., 
 which occurs in a Ch. of 831, compared with bxin in 805, 
 shows clearly that even at this date oe could represent an 
 unrounded vowel, and the spelling hxr for her ' here ' shows 
 that x could represent the mid-front vowel. It seems pro- 
 bable that by the year 831, the old vowel oe had already 
 been unrounded in Kt. A form with slight rounding may 
 have survived longer in Surrey. 
 
 § 145. Summary of Chief Dialectal Characteristics in O.E. 
 
 It will be convenient to summarize briefly the principal 
 features which distinguish the O.E. dialects. The following 
 list includes only those which are of importance for the 
 
§§ 142-5] Chief Dialectal Characteristics in O.E. 87 
 
 subsequent history of the language. A few examples are 
 added to make the statement concrete. 
 
 (i) Diphthonging after front consonants : sceal, giefan, 
 cief^geat, etc. (§ 115). In L.VV.S. the ea are monopthongized 
 to e : see/, ccf, etc. 
 
 [This process of diphthonging is confined to W. Saxon.] 
 
 (2) i- or j-Mutation of Diphthongs ea, eo to le [only in 
 W.S.] : ieriHpti, hierde ' heard ' ; ciesp ' chooses ', wierp ' be- 
 comes'. In late W.S. these fe hQcome y : yrmpu, hyrde,e\.c. 
 (§§ 116-19). 
 
 (3) Survival of Primitive O.E. ee (W.Gmc. a) [survives 
 only in W.S.]: sxton, strxt, dxd, etc., etc. (§ lao). 
 
 (4) Survival of Primitive O.E. se [W.S. and Northumbrian, 
 and part of Mercian area] : glaed, daeg, zvxs, etc., etc. (§§ 97, 
 1^9, 137). 
 
 (5) Change of y (i-Mutation of u) to e [Kentish only] : 
 sewi, W.S. synn ; fer 'fire', W.S./y7% etc., etc. (§ 142). 
 
 (6) Absence of Fracture of ae (a) before 11 or 1 + another 
 consonant [typically Anglian]: alt, W.S. eatt; did 'old', 
 W.S. eald\ cdld 'cold', W.S. ceald, etc., etc. (§ 136). 
 
 (7) Smoothing of all Diphthongs before c, c, g, g, h 
 
 [typically Anglian] : Jixh, W.S. Jiedh ; leht 'light', W.S. leoht 
 (§ 127). 
 
 (8) Diphthonging of O.E. se to ea, by u-Mutation [Mercian 
 only] : feadiir, stcaoelas from ^'stadulas (§ 138). 
 
 (9) Raising of Primitive se (W.Gmc. a) to e [all dialects 
 except W.S.] : scion, strct, dcd (§ 123). 
 
 (10) Raising of se (i-Mutation of Pr. O.E. a) to e [found 
 only in Kentish] : detail, W.S. dxtaii (§ 140). 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLISH SOUNDS 
 
 II. The Middle English Period 
 
 § 146. The number of literary works composed and written 
 down during the M.E. period, that is, between, roughly, 1100 
 and 1450, is extremely large, and many of the individual 
 works are of great length. M.E. literature is of the most 
 varied character. Every kind of composition, in prose and 
 verse, is represented ; the religious treatise, the legal docu- 
 ment^ the lyric, the romance, history, serious narrative, satire, 
 comedy, the sublime, the ridiculous, the grave, the gay ; every 
 note in the lyre of human passion is struck^ every phase of 
 human experience is portrayed. Almost every area, from 
 Aberdeen to Sussex, except perhaps the Central Midlands, is 
 represented by one or more works written in the local form of 
 English. 
 
 Materials therefore are not lacking for the adequate study 
 of our language, in all its forms, during the 350 years which 
 begin within half a century of the Norman Conquest, and end 
 fifty years after the death of Chaucer. 
 
 § 147. The Norman Conquest. 
 
 This great event, while it undoubtedly marks a new 
 departure in many ways in our social and political history, 
 is by no means such a revolutionary factor in the history of 
 our language as some writers would lead one to believe. Its 
 main effects are seen in our vocabulary. While the M.E. 
 period is characterized by far-reaching sound changes, which 
 we think of as beginning soon after the Norman Conquest, there 
 is every reason for believing that the germ of the tendencies 
 which first find graphic expression at this time existed already 
 long before, and that the linguistic phenomena which become 
 noticeable in the texts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries 
 are the natural heritage of the past. In fact, there is no 
 ground for assuming that the history of English sounds would 
 have been other than we know it, had the Norman Conquest 
 
§§ 14^-8] Loss of O.E. Literary Tradition 89 
 
 never taken place. The external form and the internal 
 structure of English have undergone continuous, but gradual 
 change, from the earliest times to the present day. The 
 Norman Conquest did not sever the continuity and begin 
 a new era. We are to consider the changes in sounds and 
 inflexions which we associate with the M.E. period, not as 
 due in any way to the great historical cataclysm which befell 
 in 1066, but as the natural outcome of forces that were at 
 work long before Duke William was born, which can be 
 traced to some extent in the texts of the late O.E. period. 
 
 § 148. Apparent increased rate of change in Early Transi- 
 tion English. 
 
 If we examine the language of the latter parts of the 
 Peterborough Chronicle which were written down about 
 seventy to ninety years after the coming of the Normans, 
 and compare it with that of the Charters written in the reign 
 of Edward the Confessor (1043-66) or of William's English 
 Charters, we are struck by certain obvious differences. The 
 Charters are, to all intents and purposes, good Old English, 
 showing to a superficial view but little difference from the 
 language of Alfred, still less from that of ^Elfric. The 
 language of the Chronicle, during the last eighty or ninety 
 years of the record, is something very different. Not only has 
 the conventional O.E. spelling been largely given up in favour 
 of what appear tentative efforts to express quite a different 
 pronunciation, but the inflexions are greatly impaired ; for 
 instance, we get the indeclinable definite article, in such con- 
 structions as of pe king^ we find a new personal pronoun scde, 
 the ancestor of the modern she, instead of heo, and the 
 structure of the sentence is often very different from the old 
 usage. As we note all the dift'erences, we might be inclined 
 to ask whether these considerable changes in the language, 
 which have come about with such apparent suddenness, must 
 not be attributed to some great event such as the Norman 
 Conquest, which has upset society from top to bottom, and 
 reacted upon the language. Why, it might reasonably be 
 asked, has English suddenly changed more, in less than a 
 hundred years, than it did during the three hundred and fifty 
 years before 1066 ? 
 
 The answer is not far to seek. The Norman Conquest did , 
 not, indeed, produce a sudden change in the language itself,, 
 but it did cause the death, or nearly so, of literary tradition.l 
 The spoken language, we must suppose, had outgrown and 
 gone beyond the written forms that we find in iElfric and in 
 
90 History of English Sounds: II. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 the late charters. But the scribes were strongly conservative, 
 and adhered to the old methods of spelling which represented 
 approximately the facts of the language as pronounced, 
 perhaps, a hundred years earlier, but had long ceased to give 
 a true picture of contemporary speech. In the same way, the 
 style and structure of the sentence, in literary works, was 
 based upon the older models found in writings, and not upon 
 that of the colloquial language. We may assume, perhaps, that 
 in the latter respect, the same kind of difference, only on a more 
 extensive scale, existed between the style of the written and 
 spoken language, in late O.E., as is seen at the present time, 
 when we write is it not, will I not^ ivere it not for that, the 
 Misses Smith, whereas in ordinary colloquial speech we say 
 [z'znt it, wount a\, if it w:?znt fa baet, ^3 mis smips] and so on. 
 But soon after the Conquest, English learning sank to a very 
 low ebb. The great prelates, the Bishops and Abbots, were 
 Normans ; the language and literature of the English, regarded 
 as belonging to a rude and boorish race, were no longer objects 
 of solicitude for the learned. The art of writing, no doubt, 
 was hardly practised by Englishmen, or only by the more 
 aristocratic who had the opportunity of acquiring the language 
 of the dominant race. Documents were but rarely written 
 in English. The continuity of literary English prose style 
 was broken. When Englishmen again took up the pen, after 
 more than half a century of neglect, and attempted to set 
 down their thoughts on parchment, they had to create afresh 
 an English prose style. What models had they ? The docu- 
 ments of the age which was gone, of the time when English 
 letters still flourished, were now hopelessly antiquated in style, 
 and too far removed from actual facts to serve as models. 
 The old traditional spelling, much behind the time even in 
 the days of ^Ifric, was still less adapted to the requirements 
 of twelfth-century English. The only thing to do was to put 
 the thoughts, as far as possible, into the form of sentence used 
 in the ordinary spoken language, and to adapt, in some way 
 or other, what remained of a traditional mode of rendering 
 sounds to the changed conditions of pronunciation. 
 
 Such considerations as these enable us to understand that 
 the apparent gulf between pre-Conquest English, and that of 
 the period immediately following that event, is not a reality, 
 but that the appearance is a natural result of the conditions 
 inseparable from the graphic representation in the latter 
 period of a language whose literary cultivation had long been 
 neglected. It is perhaps worth while to point out here that 
 the documents of the Early Transition period probably 
 
§§ 148-50] Variety of Dialectal Types in M.E. 91 
 
 present a far more faithful picture of the spoken language of 
 the time, than do the writings of an age of highly developed 
 literary activity, based on a powerful tradition. 
 
 § 149. Variety of Dialectal Types in M.E. 
 
 It is constantly pointed out, and indeed it strikes at 
 once every student who makes the most superficial survey of 
 M.E. documents, that compared with the four or five well- 
 marked types of English which appear in the pre-Conquest 
 sources, there is an extraordinary richness of dialect types 
 preserved in M.E. It would be very wrong to draw the 
 i nference from this fact, that the process of dialectal differen- 
 tiation was more active after, than before the Conquest, and» 
 that a host of new varieties of English came into being in the 
 later periods. 
 
 The comparative uniformity of O.E. as we know it in the 
 written documents must be explained by the strength of 
 W. Saxon scribal tradition, which levelled many slightly 
 differing forms of speech under a single type for literary 
 purposes. No such check existed, for a long time, in the 
 M.E. period. Every writer was largely a law unto himself, 
 and while he no doubt owed something to the gradually 
 hardening tradition of spelling, he felt free to try experiments 
 of his own. The spelling of Orm (fi. 1200) is an example 
 of highly developed individualism, for which the whole of Old 
 and Middle English offers no parallel. The M.E. scribes do 
 full justice to the variety of regional dialects which undoubtedly 
 existed, and they also, by the individualism of their methods, 
 probably suggest a variety greater than really existed. We 
 do not often find complete consistency in the spelling of a 
 single text, therefore when we compare that of several writers 
 of the same period, we may mistake for variety of dialect 
 what is really an experimental groping after the best way of 
 writino- the same sound. 
 
 't> 
 
 § 150. Difficulties in the Investigation of M.E. Texts. 
 
 It is highly important for the study of M.E. to be sure of 
 the precise or approximate date of the text we are dealing 
 with, and also of the dialect which it represents. There are 
 two possibilities which may occur to give a wrong impression 
 of the language of a given time, or of a particular area, 
 (i) A MS. may be a copy of another and much earlier text. 
 In this case, the scribe sometimes follows his model with 
 exactitude, and reproduces accurately the forms of a bygone 
 age, but he sometimes also forgets to do this, and writes 
 
92 History of English Sounds : II. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 down the forms of his own day. Or such a text may be 
 written mainly according to the usage of the scribe's own time 
 with only an occasional lapse into the archaism of the text 
 which he is copying. It is clearly necessary to decide, in 
 such cases, which forms really belong to the period of the 
 MS. itself, and which to that of the original. 
 
 (2) A text may be copied by a scribe whose native or 
 habitual dialect is different from that in which the text is 
 written. In this case, the scribe sometimes follows his text, 
 and sometimes introduces his own, perhaps quite different 
 forms. The result is a mixture of dialect forms which may 
 be quite incongruous. It is quite possible for modern students 
 to be misled, in such cases, into taking for an example of 
 a genuine dialect with a mixture of elements, what is in reality 
 a mixture produced under the conditions just described. 
 
 In forming our view of what the speech of a particular area 
 was like, at a particular period, it is desirable, in the first 
 instance, to eschew texts of these two classes as much as 
 possible, and to confine our inquiries to such texts whose 
 date and place of origin are definitely known. Only with the 
 experience gained in this way, shall we be in a position 
 to distinguish chronological and regional discrepancies in 
 documents. 
 
 § 151. M.E. Spelling and M.E. Sounds. 
 
 It is essential to consider separately the actual sounds of M.E. 
 and the various methods of expressing these graphically. A 
 change in spelling does not necessarily imply a change in pro- 
 nunciation, though of course it often does, and the retention 
 of an older spelling unaltered does not necessarily prove that the 
 sound remains the same. The history of English spelling is 
 one thing, and the history of English pronunciation is quite 
 another. From the point of view of the former it is of 
 importance to record that O.E. u in such words as hus, luus, 
 etc., is written in M.E., owing to the habits of French scribes, 
 on. But this fact is of no importance for the history of the 
 sound, since this remained the same [u] for centuries after 
 the new spelling was introduced; and when, in the fifteenth 
 century, this sound was diphthongized, no further change was 
 made in the mode of representing it. On the other hand, in 
 tracing the history of sounds it is vital to state that the O.E. 
 diphthong ea in words like deap, heap ' crowd ', etc., became 
 [S] before the end of the O.E. period (§ 97. 3, Note), although 
 the spelling was often retained in the Early Transition and 
 later periods. 
 
 f 
 
§§ 150-3] Consonantal Spellings in M.E. 93 
 
 Charges in Spelling which are purely Graphic. 
 
 § 152. A. Vowels. 
 
 O.E. y. The O.E. high-front-tense-round, so far as it 
 survived in M.E. (cp. § 158 {c)), is never written y after the 
 twelfth century, e.g. H. Rd. Tree, but with the French symbol 
 11. When long, it is frequently expressed by id: e.g. S7{nn, 
 'sin', O.E. syjin ; mucJiel 'great', O.E. myccl; hniren vb. 
 ' hear ', Late O.E. Jiyran ; ////;- ' fire ', O.'E.fyr. 
 
 O.E. ??. In order to distinguish this from old y, now often 
 spelt II, it is written habitually on by French scribes, and 
 later, by every one: e.g. /loiis, O.E. /ins; hour 'dwelling', 
 O.E. bur. 
 
 O.E, H. In the neighbourhood of v, ?/, w, 71, m, this sound, 
 which remained unchanged, is often written o, purely for the 
 sake of distinctness to the eye, e.g. sone, 'son', O.^. siniii \ 
 comen P.P. 'come', O.E. cumen. In N.Fr. old -on had 
 become [un] in pronunciation. 
 
 § 153. B. The Consonants. 
 
 O.E. c — back voiceless stop, generally preserved initially, 
 before back vowels : cot, comen 'come', but written k before 
 front vowels : king, kepen ' keep '. Doomsday Book, entirely 
 the work of foreign scribes, constantly writes cJi for initial c 
 (k) in English names, e.g. Clienulueslei, O.E. Cenwulfesledh 
 ' Knowsley '. ' ch in D.B. always stands for the back voiceless 
 stop. 
 
 Medially, and finally, this sound is written k, ck, c. 
 
 The O.E. combination civ is written with the French symbol 
 q-'t-n, hence queen, O.E. czvcn, etc. ku, cu, etc., are also 
 written. 
 
 O.E. c. As early as the twelfth century, some Sthn. texts 
 write ch for this sound, in all positions — chald 'cold' ; sechen 
 ' seek ', O.E. sedan ; ich ' I ', O.E. id. The earliest Transition 
 texts still write c. In later M.E. cch and tch are written 
 medially — wrctche, lacchen * catch '. 
 
 O.E. 3 or J. These are the only forms of the letter used in 
 O.E., but the latter part of the Peterborough Chronicle, 
 written in the twelfth century, uses what is known as the Con- 
 tinental form of the letter, which is approximately that of our 
 g. The Chronicle, and some other early Transition texts, 
 e. g. Genesis and Exodus, use this symbol g exclusively for 
 O.E. J whether it expresses a back or front consonant, stop or 
 open — so that we get even gwig for O.Y.. geong. 
 
 Later on, the more careful scribes use g and a modified 
 
94 History of English Sounds : II. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 form of O.E. j, 5, and distinguish systematically between back 
 and front sounds. The following are the typical M.E. ways 
 of expressing the various sounds expressed by O.E. j, and eg: 
 
 (i) Back-open-voiced consonant (O.E. ?) is written gh, 
 and ^h : biirg/i, O.Y.. burg ; lagJic ' law ', O.E. /apt, etc. 
 
 [This symbol (gA), as well as h, M, is used also for the voiceless sound.] 
 
 (2) Back Stop (O.E. j) is written g : god, god * good ', 
 ' God ', etc. 
 
 Orm, whowas a mediaeval spelling reformer, invented a special 
 symbol rj for the stop, and uses it in words such as the above. 
 
 (3) Front Stop (O.E. eg). This only occurred medially 
 and finally in O.E. words. In M.E. it is written gg by Orm 
 and most other scribes, though sometimes g alone is written : 
 scggen 'say ', O.E. sccgaii ; riigg^ O.E. hrycg'' back '. In French 
 words the sound occurred initially in such words as jiige 
 'judge', and in these words the spelling/ is generally retained, 
 though g is occasionally written. When the sound occurs 
 medially it was, in late M.E., not infrequently written dg as at 
 the present day : bridge, etc. 
 
 (4) Front-open-voiced consonant (O.E. j). The modified 
 form 3 of the O.E. symbol is used in a large number of texts 
 quite systematically for this sound: ^er, O.E. ger 'year'; 
 ^eiien^ O.E. gefaii 'give', etc. Later M.E. texts use y — 
 yc7'e, etc. 
 
 O.E. f written v or u. This, as a systematic habit, was an 
 innovation of the French scribes, though there are traces in 
 some O.E. texts of it to express a voiced sound between 
 vowels. In the Southern area of M.E. the O.E. /was voiced 
 initially, and we consequently find such spellings as vox, iiox 
 ' fox ', vjiir ' fire ', O.E. fyj-, with fair consistency. Medially, 
 between vowels, the sound was voiced in all dialects, and we 
 find therefore uvel, ivel, etc., O.E. yfel ' evil' ; oner, O.E. ofer 
 ' over ', etc. Since the forms of 11 and v were often confused, 
 we constantly find such spellings as vuel'&vW = [yvel] instead 
 of 7wel. 
 
 O.E. s written c. This is habitual in French words, and 
 the usage is applied also to English words: seldeene, O.E. 
 seldsene ' rare ' ; alee, O.E. alsiva. 
 
 O.E. voiced s written z. Spelling with initial z is typical 
 of Kentish texts, in which dialect O.E. s must have been 
 voiced in this position : .-^ayP ' says ', O.E. seg{e)p ; zope ' true ', 
 O.E. sop, etc. 
 
§§ 153-4] M.E. Northern Texts 95 
 
 O.E. sc is written sch, ss, sh : schal, schenchen ' grant \ 
 ssolde ' should ', issote ' shot ', shxivcitn, etc. 
 
 The subject of M.E. spelling will be further dealt with later 
 on in dealing specifically with the sounds themselves and 
 their changes. 
 
 § 154. Illustrative Middle English Texts. 
 
 The following select list of M.E. texts will be found fairly- 
 representative of the various dialects and periods. Most of 
 them are referred to in the account given below of the develop- 
 ment of Sounds and Accidence in M.E. A useful illustrative 
 selection of texts, dating from 1150 to 1390, is contained in 
 Morris and Skeat's Specimens of Early English, Parts I and 
 II, and others in MacLean's Old and Middle English Reader, 
 Macmillan, 1893. Scotch texts, though mainly of the Early 
 Modern Period, are well illustrated in Gregory Smith's Speci- 
 mens of Middle Scots, Blackwood, 1902. Valuable examples 
 of Late M.E. and early Mod. texts (1384-1579) are to be 
 found in Skeat's Specimens of English Liter aUire. 
 
 Most of the texts enumerated below are published by the 
 Early English Text Society ; when this is not the case, it will 
 be indicated. When selections occur in any of the above 
 collections, this is also indicated. Several very important 
 Early M.E. texts are contained in An Old English Miscellany, 
 ed. R. Morris, E.E.T.S., 1873 ; and the chief groups of Early 
 M.E. Homilies are to be found in two vols, known as Old 
 English Homilies, ist and and Series, E.E.T.S., 1868 and 
 1873 respectively, by the same editor. The presence of a text 
 in either of these collections is indicated by the words O.E. 
 Homs., or O.E. Misc. placed after the name in the list. 
 
 A. M.E. Northern Texts. 
 
 Northern Legends. 1275. Ed. Horstmann, 1881. 
 
 Nthn. Metrical Psalter. Before 1300. Surtees Society, 
 
 1843-47. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Cursor Mundi. 1300. Extracts in Specimens, and Mac- 
 Lean's Reader. 
 
 Nthn. Metrical Homilies. 1330. Ed. Small, Edinburgh, 
 1862. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Richd. Rolle de Hampoles Pricke of Conscience. Before 
 1349. Ed. R. Morris, 1 863. Extracts in Specimens. Maetz- 
 ner's ae. Sprachproben. 
 
 Minot's Songs. 1339-52. Ed. SchoUe, Quellen und 
 
96 History of English Sounds : II. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 Forschungen, Hi, 1884, and Hall, Oxford. Extracts in 
 Specimens. 
 
 B. Scotch Texts. 
 
 Barbour s Bruce. 1375. Ed. Skeat, E.E.T.S., 1870. Ex- 
 tracts in Specimens, and MacLean. (The oldest MS., G. 23, 
 St. John's Coll., Cambridge, was not written till 1487.) 
 
 Ratis Raving. First half of fifteenth century. Ed. Lumby, 
 E.E.T.S., 1870. 
 
 T/ie Taill of Raitf Coilyear. T456-81, Ed. S. J. H. Herr- 
 tage, E.E.T.S., 1882. 
 
 C. East Midland Texts. 
 
 Peterboro2igh Chronicle. 11 21-54. (Laud MS.) Plummer, 
 Two A.-S. Chronicles. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Ormulum. 1200. Ed. White, 1852, 2 vols., and Holt, 1878, 
 2 vols. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Bestiary. Circa 1250. In O.E. Misc. Extracts in Speci- 
 mens. 
 
 Genesis and Exodus. Circa 1250. Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S. 
 Revised 1873. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Harrowing of Hell. Circa 1280- 1300. Ed. E. Mall, Bres- 
 lau, 1871. 
 
 Robt. of Bnmne^ s Handlyng Synne. 1300-30. Ed. Furnivall, 
 Roxburghe Club, 1862. Re-edited, Pt. I, 1901, Ft. H, 1903. 
 Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Havelok the Dane. 1300. Ed. Holthausen, Heidelberg, 
 1901 ; Skeat, Oxford, 1902. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Norfolk Guilds. 1839. In English Guilds, ed. Lucy Toul- 
 min Smith, E.E.T.S., 1870. 
 
 Osbern Bokenam's Lives of Saints. Fl. 1370-1450. Ed. 
 Horstmann, Heilbronn, 1883. 
 
 D. London Dialect. 
 
 Charter of London^ by the King William the Conqueror 
 (1066). In Liebermann, Gesetze d. Angelsachsen, i. 486. 
 
 Proclamation of Henry III. 1258. In Ellis' Early Engl. 
 Pronunciation, Pt. II, pp. 501, etc. 
 
 Adam Davie s Five Dreams. Circa 1307-27. Ed. Furni- 
 vall, E.E.T.S., 1878. 
 
 Londoii Charters and Documents (i). From T384-(circa 
 
§ 154] M.E. Scotch and Midland Texts 97 
 
 1450). See account given in Morsbach, EngHsche Schrift- 
 sprache, 188S. 
 
 Lo7idon Charters and Dociiiiicnis {%). From 1430- 1500. See 
 account in Lekebusch, Londoner Urkunden-Sprache, 1906. 
 
 E. Literary English. 
 
 Chaucer s Works. 
 
 Cowers Confessio Ainantis. Ed. Macaulay, in Complete 
 Works, Oxford ; and Selections from C. A., Oxford, 1903. 
 
 Sir John Mandeville's Voiage and Travaile, 1356. Ed. 
 Haliwell, 1839. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Hoccleve. 1400. Minor Poems, ed. F. Furnivall, E.E.T.S., 
 1893 ; Regent of Princes, Furnivall, E.E.T.S., 1899. Short 
 Extracts in Skeat's Specimens of Engl. Lit. 
 
 Lydgate, Circa 1430. Troy Book, ed. Bergen, E.E.T.S., 
 I and II, 1906; 111,1908 ; IV, V, 1910; Temple of Glass, ed. 
 J. Schick, E.E.T.S., 1891 ; London Lyckpenny, and Extracts 
 from Storie of Thebes in Skeat's Specimens. 
 
 JoJin Capgraves Chronicle. Ed. F. C. Hingeston, Rolls 
 Series, 1858. 
 
 Caxion, Historyes of Troye. Extracts in Skeat's Specimens. 
 
 F. West Midland Texts. 
 
 Earliest Complete Engl. Prose Psalter. I350- Ed. Bul- 
 bring, E.E.T.S., 1891. 
 
 Catherine Group. (Legends of St. Juliana, ed. Cockayne, 
 E.E.T.S., 1872 ; St. Margaret, ed. Cockayne, E.E.T.S., 1866 ; 
 and St. Catherine, ed. E. Einenkel, E.E.T.S., 1884.) First 
 half of thirteenth century. 
 
 Alliterative Poems. 1350. Ed. Morris (and ed.), 1869. 
 
 William of Palerme. 1355-61. Ed. Skeat, E.E.T.S., 1867. 
 
 Joseph of Arimathea. 1350. Ed. Skeat, E.E.T.S., 1871. 
 
 John Audelays Poems. 1436. Percy Society, vol. xiv, 
 J 844. 
 
 Myrcs Instructions for Parish Priests. Circa i45o. Ed. 
 Peacock, E.E.T.S. (Revised), 1903. 
 
 Note. The dialect of Ancrett Rhvle in MS. Nero A. xiv, printed by 
 Morton, Camden Soc, 1853, is practically identical with that of the 
 Catherine Group, now widely held to be South W. Midland. A. R. was 
 long considered as Sthrn., chiefly, probably, on account of u for O.E. y 
 (u-i). This feature is now known to be also West and Central Midland. 
 Cp. § 1 58 {c) below. 
 
 G 
 
98 History of English Sounds: II. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 G. Southern Texts. 
 
 History of Holy Rood Tree. 1170. Ed. Napier, E.E.T.S., 
 1894. 
 
 Lambeth Homilies. Before 1200. Old English Homilies, 
 
 I. 1-182. Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 1868. Extracts in Speci- 
 mens I. 
 
 Trinity (Cambridge) Homilies. Before 1200. O.E. Homs. 
 
 II. Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 1873. Extracts in Specimens i. 
 Moral Ode or Poema Morale. Before 1200 (Trinity MS.) ; 
 
 1250 (Jesus MS.). Both these in O.E. Misc. and Specimens. 
 The Egerton MS., c. 1200, printed in MacLean, and O.E. 
 Homs. I. Critical Text by Lewin, Halle, 1881. 
 
 Wooijig of our Lord. 1210. O.E. Homs. I. Extracts in 
 Specimens. 
 
 God Ureisitn. 1210. O.E. Homs. I. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Soides Ward. 1210. O.E. Homs. I. 
 
 Owl and Nightingale. 1246-50. O.E. Misc. Extracts in 
 Specimens. 
 
 Proverbs of Alfred. 1250. O.E. Misc., 102-38. Extracts 
 in Specimens. 
 
 Robert of Gloucester. (Metrical Chronicle.) 1298. Ed. 
 Wright, Rolls Series, 1887. 2 Vols. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 St. Jtdiana. (Metrical.) 1300. Ed. Cockayne, E.E.T.S. 
 51, 1872. 
 
 Trevisa. (Translation of Higden's Polychronicon) 1387. 
 Ed. Babington (vols, i and ii), and Lumby (vols, iii-ix). 
 Rolls Series, 1865-86. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 St. EditJia. 1420. Wiltshire Dialect. Ed. Horstmann, 
 Heilbronn, 1883. 
 
 H. Kentish Texts. 
 
 Kentish Gospels. 11 50. In Skeat's Gospels in Anglo- 
 Saxon. 
 
 Kentish Homilies. 1150. (MS. Vespasian A. 22.) O.E. 
 Homs. I. 217-43. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 Kentish Sermons. Before 1250, (MS. Laud 471.) O.E. 
 Misc. 20-36. 
 
 William of Shorehains Poems. 1307. Ed. Conrath, 
 E.E.T.S., 1902. Extracts in Specimens. 
 
 A^enbi/e of Inwyt. 1340. Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 1866. 
 Extracts in Specimens. 
 
§§ 154-6] Rounding of O.E. a 99 
 
 § 155. The Treatment of O.E. Sounds in M.E. 
 
 The changes which befell the old vowel sounds in M.E. 
 fall under the two main heads — Qtiantitative, and Qtialitative. 
 The former class of changes involves the lengthening of 
 original short vowels, and the shortening of vowels originally 
 long, under conditions which it will be our business to describe. 
 The latter category of changes involves an alteration of the 
 actual nature and quality of the vowel sound without any 
 change of quantity. 
 
 The Qjiantitative changes are far more numerous than the 
 Qualitative, and their results for the subsequent history of 
 English are far-reaching. 
 
 Our ideas concerning the nature and quality of M.E. sounds 
 are based (i) upon the spelling in the various texts; (2) upon 
 comparison {a) with O.E., {b) with Mod. Engl., {c) with other 
 forms of Germanic speech ; (3) upon the character of Rhymes 
 in M.E. ; (4) upon the contemporary descriptions of the >, 
 pronunciation of English in the sixteenth century, when many 
 M.E. sounds still remained unaltered. The spelling adopted 
 by Orm throws great light on M.E. quantity. Orm syste- 
 matically writes a consonant single after a long vowel, and 
 doubles it after a ^oxt—cJiild, chilldrc^ etc. He also sometimes 
 marks short vowels— ^<?<^, etc. 
 
 § 156. Qualitative Vowel Changes in M.E. Simple Vowels. 
 (1) The Rounding of O.E. a to 5. 
 
 This change is shown by the spellings o and occasionally 
 oa, later on, to have taken place in some dialects at least as 
 early as the middle of the twelfth century, since there are two 
 examples of spellings already in the Peterborough Chronicle. ' 
 The rounding of a ultimately involved all the dialects of the ; 
 South and Midlands^ but it is pretty certain that it did not 
 begin everywhere at the same time. 
 
 Since the Norman-French loan-words in M.E. retain thdr 
 long a unchanged, e. g. dame, fame, grave, it is clear that the ' 
 O.E. a in ham, stdn, ///^/'loaf, etc., etc., must have under- 
 gone some slight rounding before these foreign words got into ' 
 the language ; otherwise, had the process begun later, it must 
 have involved them as well. 
 
 The Peterborough Chronicle (Midland 1154) has the form 
 more ; the Kt. Homilies (Vesp. A. 22) before 1150 have a few 
 o forms, d^e, and d^en, but a enormously preponderates. The 
 Holy Rood Tree (1170), Trinity Homilies (before 1200), 
 
 G 2 
 
loo History of English Soimds: II.M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 Lambeth Homilies (before 1200), Prose Life of St. Juliana 
 (1210), Wooing of our Lord (1210), all Southern texts, have 
 no ^-spellings. Other Southern texts of about the same date 
 have 0, either occasionally or exclusively. Poema Morale y 
 (Egerton MS. before 1200) — oj^c 'grace', O.K. dr\ lore, more^ 
 wot ' knows ', O.K. wdt, etc., but also many ^-spellings — are, 
 ware, zvdt, etc. ; God Urcisun of urc lauerd {iiio)—/idlie, one ; 
 Ancren Riwle (1225), Metrical Life of St. Juliana (1300) have 
 o throughout. 
 
 Of the other earliest Midland texts, the East Midland 
 Ormulum (1200) has a throughout, while the W. Midland 
 La5amon has even in the early MS. (1200) occasional o, while 
 the later (1250) has generally o; Genesis and Exodus and 
 Bestiary (E. Midi. 1250) both have regularly 0. 
 
 These statistics show that the change must have begun at 
 least well before the middle of the twelfth century, though its 
 results were not consistently nor universally expressed by the 
 spelling before the first quarter of the thirteenth century. The 
 two forms in the Chronicle can hardly be accidental, but it is 
 rather remarkable that the later E. Midi. Ormulum, so careful 
 in its spelling, should give no indications of it. The Southern 
 texts mentioned, except the Vespasian Homilies, which are 
 Kentish, are all from the South-West, and they appear to be 
 slightly behind the former in writing o. It may perhaps be 
 argued that the rounding began slightly earlier in the Sth.- 
 East than elsewhere. 
 
 Under the rounding of O.E. a we must include that of a in 
 the Anglian combination -did, in did, cdld, Jidldan, bdld. The 
 forms did, cold, holden, bold, appear in Midland and even in 
 some Sthn. texts in the middle of the twelfth century. They 
 soon oust the typical native forms in the Sth.-Western dialects 
 and even gain a footing in Kentish. (See §§ 165-6.) 
 
 157. (2) O.E. a in the Northern Dialects. 
 
 / In the Northern Dialects of England, and in Scotch English, 
 no rounding takes place. Many texts preserve the symbol a 
 unaltered in the M.E. period — hai)i, stan, etc. ; others, especially 
 in the fourteenth century, write ai in words of this class. As 
 regards the sound, this must have been advanced, and fronted 
 to [ffi] pretty early, and this was subsequently raised to [§ 
 and [e]. Modern North English and Scotch dialects have [e 
 or [l] as a representative of O.E. d. 
 
 It is impossible to say with anything like certainty when 
 the fronting process began. For one thing our Northern 
 texts only begin with the end of the thirteenth century or 
 
§§ 156-8] O.E. d in the Northern Dialects loi 
 
 the beginning of the fourteenth. The rhymes of the fourteenth- 
 century Scotch texts, however, make it certain that by that 
 period the fronting was complete, and probable that the 
 vowel had already been raised to a mid-front. It further is 
 apparent from the earliest M.E. Northern texts that O.E. a 
 and Norman-French a, and O.E. a in open syllables were 
 levelled under the same sound. The Scotch texts from Bar- 
 bour onwards constantly write at, ay, e. g. fayis ' foes ', tais 
 ' toes ', raid, O.E. rdd ' rode '. 
 
 (a) Rhymes of O.E. a with O.E. lengthened a : Metr. Ps., 
 13C0: 1/iare — oner f are \ Sunday Homilies in Verse, 1300: 
 scJidthe — IdtJie ; Hampole, 1340: ivdte (pi. vb.) — late; bare (adj.) 
 — sdre ; Barbour's Bruce (1375): hale 'whole' rhymes with 
 donglasdale, braid ' broad ' rhymes with waid ' made '. 
 
 {b) Rhymes of O.E. d with Fr. d : Bruce rhymes bldnie with 
 schanie (O.E. a-) and the latter with Jiaine ' home '. 
 
 {c) Rhymes which show the fronting of O.E. d : Hampole : 
 vidre — ivare, O.E. were ' were ' subj. ; Bruce : gais ' goes ' — 
 zves ' was'; viair, O.E. indr — thair, O.E./m 
 
 § 158. (3) The Treatment of O.E. y (i-Mutation of u, §§ 108-9). 
 
 {a) In the North, including Yorks., and in the East Mid- 
 lands, including Lincoln, Hunts., Norf., and part of Suff., O.E. 
 y is unrounded, probably in the late O.E. period. M.E. texts 
 from these areas write i, or y, for the original [y] sound, e.g. 
 Orm, and Gen. and Ex. 
 
 (b) In theO.E. period, O.E.jp had become I in Kent. (cf. § 14a). 
 In Kentish texts of the M.E. period these sounds continue, and 
 are written in the old way. The evidence of PI. Ns., however, 
 of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, shows 
 that by this time the ^-forms had spread from Kent and are 
 found also in varying degrees of frequency in Sussex, Essex, 
 and Suffolk, and to some slight extent in Cambridgeshire also. 
 
 {c) In by far the greater part of England, that is to say in 
 the whole of the West Midlands, and Central Midlands, south 
 of Yorkshire, and in all the Southern Counties apart from 
 those mentioned under {b) above, and with the qualification 
 stated below, O.E. y remains with, approximately, its original 
 sound, at any rate well into the fifteenth century. From a 
 very early period, at least as early as 11 70 or so, the French 
 spelling u is written for the old sound, and later this with 
 occasional becomes the exclusive mode of representing it 
 when short. When long it is frequently written tti, uy. 
 
I02 History of English Sounds: II.M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 {d) From the forms of PI. Ns. containing such elements as 
 O.E. hyll, byrig,pytt, lytel, etc., etc., it would seem that there 
 was also an area in the extreme South-West, starting probably 
 in Devon, where isolative unrounding of O.E. y took place in 
 the M.E. period, if not before. 
 
 {e) The London Dialect seems, originally, to have preserved 
 the j-sound, but by the fourteenth century the ?-forms pre- 
 dominate, as they do in Standard English to-day. Along- 
 side of the i- and ?^-forms, others with c are found in the 
 London Dialect, whither they penetrated from Kt. and Essex 
 (cp. Dolle, pp. 26, 27). The z-forms are hard to account for, 
 since there is no /-area in immediate contact with London or 
 with Middlesex. They were probably introduced by traders 
 from some /-area, perhaps by merchants frorn Norwich. 
 
 {f) The process of unrounding y before front consonants 
 {c, eg, sc), which took place in O.E. (cp. § 122 above), can be 
 clearly traced in M.E., especially in PI. N. forms. From these 
 sources it is possible to localize the process more definitely 
 than was possible in O.E. texts. The words myccl, brycg, 
 rysc, etc., appear as inichel, brigge, rissche, etc., with the greatest 
 frequency, especially in the ?^-areas of the S.-West, Devon- 
 shire, Dorset, Wilts. ; with less frequency in Hants, and hardly 
 at all in Glos. and Surrey. In the latter areas, inuchcl, brtigge, 
 etc., are the prevailing forms, and this is true also of the 
 ?/-areas in the Midlands. 
 
 Note i. The above statement differs in nearly all respects from the 
 hitherto received views as to the distribution of «- and /-forms in M.E., 
 and also as regards the extension of ^-forms. Cp., however, on these 
 points E. St., vol. 47, pp. I, etc^ and 145, etc. (This re-statement is now 
 endorsed by Luick, Hist. Gr., § 1 83, Anm. 2. 287.) 
 
 Note 2. The view of Kluge (Paul's Grundr. i^, p. 1046) that at a certain 
 period, in an area not clearly defined, O.E. j was retracted before front 
 cons, [tj, dz, f] to the corresponding back vowel, should be mentioned. In 
 this way Kluge explains the mod. forms cudgel, rush, etc., which, accord- 
 ing to hitherto received views, should be *kidgel, *rish, etc. He calls 
 the process * Rilckumlatit '. 
 
 § 159- (4) Treatment of O.E. ae. 
 
 In O.E.. it will be remembered that 3e remains in spelling, 
 and perhaps to a great extent also in pronunciation, in W.S. 
 and Northumbrian consistently, also in part of the Mercian 
 area, while it is raised to e already in Early Kentish, and in 
 the Mercian dialect represented by the Vesp. Ps. (cp. § 137)- 
 The Early Transition texts of the Sth.-West, on the whole, 
 preserve a front vowel, variously written e, ae, and (occasionally) ' 
 ea. [Cp. §§ 97, Note, and 120, Note, concerning probable 
 
§§ 158-60] Treatment of O.E. se 103 
 
 raising of x in L. W.S.] The Midland texts of the same date 
 invariably have a, showing that x was retracted to a back 
 vowel. The E. Midi. Peterb. Chron. writes x^ but is still much 
 influenced by the earlier spelling; Orm, however, and the E.Midi. 
 Bestiary, and Gen. and Ex. have a throughout. The early 
 thirteenth-century Wooing of our Lord (Sthn.)has « throughout, 
 and this feature has presumably come in from the Midi. type. 
 After the beginning of the fourteenth century, pure Sthn. texts 
 have rt, which can hardly be a true phonetic development from 
 e, but must indicate that the Midland type has spread over 
 the Sthn. area as well, to the extinction of the true Sthn. type. 
 A few statistics of the spellings of the Sthn. texts are desirable. 
 H. Rd. Tree (circa 1170) generally writes x, occasionally e, 
 and once ^rt; : <5^rt:^, O.E. ^a?^, and, after w, ^: watery Lambeth 
 Homilies (circa 1190), £•: efter^ zves, fcder, cwed, O.E. xfter, 
 zvxs,fxder, cwx3', etc. ; God Ureisun (i 210), e : ^led, e/ter, etc. ; 
 Poema Morale (Egerton MS. circa 1200), e: wetere, kedde, 
 O.E. /ixfdc, hzvei, also xfter ; Ancren Riwle (1225), generally 
 e : eftcr, feder ' father ', et ' at ', pet, cpple ' apple ', etc., but 
 also bide, bac, hzvat, etc. The Metrical Version of the Life of 
 St. Juliana (1300) has a throughout : wat, qiiap, ^af, zuas, 
 glade, etc. ; Trevisa (1387) almost always writes a', pat, blak, 
 gladlych, sehal, etc., but creftes; St. Editha (1400) has 
 always a. 
 
 The Catherine Group, S.W. Midi., have e frequently. 
 
 The earliest London Charters and Proclamations preserve x 
 which is so written. Davie, however (early fourteenth century) 
 has a. 
 
 § 160. We may sum up the history of O.E. x in M.E. as 
 follows. It was retracted to a in the Midlands and North 
 quite early, perhaps in Late O.E. itself. In the Sthn. dialects, 
 other than Kentish, where the raising took place in the 
 ninth century, x was raised to c (mid-front-slack) in Early 
 Transition English, or before, and remained, in this speech- 
 area, until it gave place to the Midland a late in the thirteenth 
 century. 
 
 In Kentish the O.E. t"-type survives longer, though even 
 here we find a few d-{ovms in the middle of the twelfth 
 century : thus fader, Jnvat, pat, alongside of more frequent 
 r-forms : pet, zves, efter, etc., in Kt. Hom., Vesp. A. 22 (1150). 
 The Laud. Sermons (before 1250) have more a- than r- forms, 
 but still retain pet, efter, wet, etc. ; in ABenbite (1340) the >^' 
 ^-forms are more frequent : eppel, gled, gles, ssel * shall ', wcter, 
 - etc., but occasional a in smak, uader. W. of Shoreham (1307) 
 seems to have only c. 
 
I04 History of English Sounds: ll.M.E. [chap.vi 
 
 The Midland and Northern <?-type becomes the pre- 
 dominant, and finally the sole type, in the Standard Dialect, 
 and apparently throughout the whole country, as is shown by 
 the testimony of the Modern Dialects. 
 
 § l6l. (5) O.E. ffi in M.E. 
 
 It will be convenient to distinguish the two origins of this 
 sound as ^^ and ^^. The former represents Prim. O.E. x, 
 W. Gmc. a, as in W.S. dxd ' dead ', sxd ' seed ', sp{r)xce, etc., 
 the latter, the result of the z-mutation of O.E. a, W.Gmc. ai, 
 as in ^a'/'part', hxhi 'health', etc., /^tr^;/ ' teach ', etc. It 
 will be remembered that in all the non-W.Sax. dialects x^ 
 was raised to c early in the O.E. period (§ 123), while x"^ 
 remained everywhere, except in Kentish (§ 140). W.S. there- 
 fore had X in words of both classes, Kentish had e in both, the 
 Anglian dialects had c for x'^, and retained x'^. 
 
 It seems probable that in Late O.E. or Early Transition, 
 O.E. X wherever it existed, and no matter what its origin, 
 was raised to [s] mid-front-slack. Since Kt. had not this 
 sound (O.E. x) at all, we may dismiss this dialect at once. 
 
 Midland and Northern dialects distinguish 'x'^= [e] tense, 
 from x'^= [§] slack during the whole M.E. period, as is shown 
 by the rhymes in careful poets, and by the descriptions of 
 the two sounds by sixteenth-century writers on pronunciation. 
 
 The dialects of the W.Sax. area, and some dialects north of 
 the Thames, preserve the equivalent of x"^ and ^^ as [i], and 
 careful scribes often distinguish this sound in the spelling from 
 the tense e in deniatt^grene, etc., from O.E. e (/-mutation of <?). 
 The least satisfactory spelling is e, ee^ the most unambiguous 
 are x, ea. x is found comparatively rarely after the thirteenth 
 century, and probably not at all after the beginning of the 
 fourteenth. 
 
 It should be noted that Orm's spellings with x iox x^ are 
 remarkable, for though he occasionally writes e, the former is 
 his favourite symbol. It is hardly conceivable that an E. Midi, 
 dialect can really have pronounced the slack sound here, and 
 the occurrence of the «^-spellings must probably be attributed 
 to the domination and persistence of the classical W.Sax. mode 
 of writing among learned persons like Orm. It is difficult 
 otherwise to account for his forms spxche, spxken (pret. pi.), 
 xrest, for^xfe. even7t, O.E. xfen, 1. 1 105, is normal to his 
 dialect as we should suppose. 
 
 Examples of O.E. x in Southern texts are: (i) x'^ : Rd. 
 Tree — spxce and spece, nefre (x predominates for both ^-sounds 
 in this text, with some ^-spellings, and a few ed) ; P. M., e 
 
§§ i6o-2] O.E. X in M.E. 105 
 
 chiefly — were, dreden ; God Ur. — viisdeden, greden ; Lambeth 
 Horn. — neddreii,weren \ A. R. — wcadcn, O.E. gewxde ; read, 
 O.E. rxd; meal, O.E. mxl ' time ' ; hcren ' hairs ' ; Metr. St. 
 Jul. — strete, brep, sprede ; Trevisa — wcete (sb.) ' wet '. 
 
 (2) x'^-'\ Rd. Tree — del, deales, aleaden {x predominates); 
 P. M. — sxlpe, selpe, unhelpe, pxre, xuerich, Ixden (vb.) ; God 
 Ur. — cleajte, todeakn, heah\ leafdi, but techen ; Lambeth Hom. 
 — sea ' the sea ', clenesse ; A. R. — leafdi, dealen, and delen 
 ' parts ', geat ' goats ', leared ' teaches ', heale, arearen ; Metr. 
 St. Jul. — se ' sea ', bride, leiiedi. 
 
 It appears from these statistics that ea is written with far 
 greater consistency for x"^ than for ^", but the identity of the 
 sounds is proved by the fact that e, ea, x are written indifferently 
 for both, and further from such rhymes as pxre — ivere, dreden 
 — Ixden (P. M., Egerton MS.), bride— sprede — dede ' dead ' 
 (St. Jul.). The Kentish type with [e] in this class of words 
 certainly survived in M.E. The Kentishman Gower writes 
 cliene, diel, O.E. (Kt.) dene, del. G. habitually writes ie for 
 the tense vowel. 
 
 § 162. The precise geographical extent of the ^^-area is 
 very difficult to establish. Was it co-extensive with the W. Sax. 
 sphere of speech influence, and if so, how far did this extend ? 
 Some authorities believe that the ^-area was considerable in 
 extent. See the important article by Pogatscher in Anglia, 
 xxiii, and ' Mittelenglische Mundarten ' by Jordan, G.R.M., 
 ii, p. 124, etc. 
 
 The London dialect was originally within the area. The 
 earliest London Charters and Davie have [e], and even in 
 Chaucer, who often uses the Anglian (f-forms, as is shown by 
 his rhymes, the W.S. [ij-type still predominates in the poetry. 
 It is practically impossible to trace the survival of the W.S. 
 iE-type beyond the fourteenth century. It was apparently 
 ousted by the increasing predominance of the non-W. Sax. 
 form. The most certain test of a M.E. slack [s] in a word 
 containing originally O.E. x'^, is the survival of the sound as 
 a mid-front in Early Mod. Engl. In the fifteenth or early 
 sixteenth century all M.E. tense i^-sounds were raised to [e] ; 
 cp. § 329 below. 
 
 Note. Pogatscher, in the article mentioned, on the evidence of the 
 forms PI. Names beginning with strat- (O.E. slrxt-, shortened to strx,t-, 
 and retracted to strdl-) tries to show that the as-area included the follow- 
 ing counties : Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Wilts., Hants, Gloucester- 
 shire, Oxfordshire, southern part of Northants which borders on Bucks., 
 Bucks, itself, Bedfordshire, Middlesex, SutTolk, Norfolk. In Essex and 
 Warwickshire both stret- (= O.E. stret-, non-W. Sax.) and stmt- occur. 
 
io6 History of English Sounds: ILM.E. [chap, vi 
 
 The rest of England belonged to the ^-area. These results are, however, 
 somewhat dubious, as Pogatscher relies only upon the Modern forms of 
 the names. Cp. the criticism by O. Ritter in Anglia, N. F. xxv, p. 269, etc. 
 
 § 163. (6) Treatment of O.E. 6 in M.E. 
 
 O.E. o was a mid-back-tense vowel, and in the South and 
 Midlands, and in Kent was preserved as such in Early Transi- 
 tion and Middle English. During the M.E. period, this 
 sound, and both in English and Norse words as well as in 
 those of French origin, gradually underwent a process oi over- 
 ronnding (see § 47 above) and was subsequently raised to 
 a high-back-tense [u], to which stage it had reached in Late 
 Middle English ; cp. Note below. There is nothing, however, 
 in normal M.E. spelling to indicate that this process was 
 going on, but it is clear from the rhymes that original d was 
 quite distinct in sound from the other o which developed 
 during the M.E. period and was a long slack vowel. See 
 §§ 156, 173 C^) below. 
 
 In the North of England, on the other hand, and in Scot- 
 land, original long o underwent an entirely different develop- 
 ment, evidence of which is afforded by the spelling, by rhymes, 
 and by the pronunciation in the Mod. dialects of these areas. 
 In Scotland, at any rate, it was gradually advanced to a sound 
 which, in the fourteenth century, was identified with Fr. ?^ = [y]. 
 Cursor Mundi (1320) and Nthn. Homilies (13.^0) still appear 
 to write only o—tok, bok.god, mod, do, etc. ; Hampole (1340) 
 writes a, but also 11 —hikes, gudes. It should be remembered 
 that u at this period generally stands for [y], [u] being usually 
 written ott — hotis, etc. The approximation of O.E. o to [y] 
 in sound is made certain by the fact that it rhymes with this ; 
 thus Hampole has sone rhyming to fortone. The symbol o is 
 used indifferently with n for the French sound. Minot (1352) 
 has siitJi, O.E. sop ' true \ fliide, gude, but also loke, stode, etc. 
 Barbour's Bruce (1375), written in Scotland in a language still 
 undistinguishable from that of Nth. Engl., writes and u, also 
 oy — soyne ' soon ', doyne ' done ', and rhymes O.E. o and Fr. u 
 [y]: aventiire — forftirc, O.E. -for 'departed'. The later Sc. 
 Schir W. Wallace rhymes bind — rude,fnde, blude,gud all with 
 conclnd, and so on. 
 
 Gavin Douglas (c. 1525) commonly writes ui as bulk, fluid, 
 etc., and this remained as the conventional Scots spelling for 
 this sound. 
 
 Note. As regards the South and Midland English change of to [u], 
 this will be dealt with later (cp. §§ 236, 237 below) under Mod. Engl, sound 
 changes, but although the early sixteenth century is usually held to be 
 
§§ 1 6 2-5 J Disappearance of O.E. Diphthongs 107 
 
 the period at which the [u] sound had fully developed, occasional spellings 
 like Boiidond (O.E. boc-), Lollebrouk (O.E. broc), Ciiryfoule {O.E.pol 
 ' pool '), Caresbrouk, Cokepoulc, which occur in Dorsetshire, Somerset- 
 shire, and Hampshire documents (Feudal Aids, vol. ii) of the fourteenth 
 century, and the form ^t?Wrt'^ 'good', St. Editha, line 1472 (Wilts., c 1420), 
 rather point to the fact that in the South-West, at any rate, the [u] sound 
 may have developed earlier than elsewhere, and earlier than is generally 
 supposed, ou, OTuare the regular M.E. ways of expressing [u]. See § 152 
 above. 
 
 § 164. Disappearance of the O.E. Diphthongs in M.E. 
 
 O.E.ea. We have already seen (§ 97. 3, Note) that in Late 
 O.E. there are many examples of ^-spellings for ea. Although 
 ea is often written in M.E. in words where it would normally 
 occur in O.E., there is no doubt that it represents the sound 
 [I] and not a diphthong. From the moment that the old ea 
 was simplified to [^], later [I], it was natural that ea should 
 be used to represent these sounds, since the symbol x gradually 
 fell into disuetude, and e was ambiguous. The commonest 
 source of ea in L. O.E. was Fracture (§ 102). In W.S. the 
 e'a which resulted from x preceded by a front consonant 
 was monophthongized in L. O.E. itself, and became e — cef, etc. 
 That from Fracture was also simplified, as is shown by JElhlcs 
 sivdelt, sivxrt, etc. (§ 102, Note i). 
 
 Before the /-combinations Anglian had no fracture — cdld, 
 etc., and in W.S. eall, ceald, healf, etc., must have become xll,- 
 cxld, hxlf in the late period. This form, or the development 
 of it with [e], is found in the South, generally written ea, 
 sometimes x, and e, in Early Transition : e. g. heald, anivealde, 
 but hxldan in H. Rd. Tree; wealdes, in Wohunge ; eald, 
 fealde, hcalden, wealden, but wxlde in Poema Morale. We 
 may assume that ea here represents the mid-front-slack vowel, 
 and that, before -Id, this was lengthened to [e] (§ 114 above). 
 
 § 165. Ousting of W.S. type before -11, -Id, etc. 
 
 It is remarkable that the W.S. ^-type was, quite early, com- 
 pletely ousted by the Anglian type — all, did, instead of eall or 
 xll= [sll, ild], etc. We find this beginning in the late twelfth 
 century in H. Rd. Tree, which Napier says has all fifty times ; 
 Wohunge has such forms as halde, balde, caldliche; Soules 
 Warde has halden; A. R. has old, tolde, ihdlden,cdld\ Prov. of 
 Alfr. (Jesus MS., 1246-50) has also the Anglian cdld,hdlde, aire, 
 but preserves the Sax. type in the solitary forms ivelde ' wield ', 
 weldcst. 
 
 Thus the native Southern type is early — one might almost 
 say, suddenly — superseded and ousted by alien forms, in the 
 Saxon area, both in words with lengthening such as cdld, 
 
io8 History of English Sounds: II.M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 instead of the normal descendant che{a)ld, of W.S. ceald^ 
 L. W.S. cxld, and in words without lengthening such as «//, 
 half^ etc. 
 
 Such forms as Jioldc, did, cold from Anglian hdldan, did, etc. 
 fall of course under the ordinary rounding of O.E. a, § 156. 
 
 § 166. O.E. ceald, half, etc., in Kentish. 
 
 It seems probable that in Kt. the O.E. diphthongs survived 
 in some forms as diphthongs into the M.E. period, O.E. ^a 
 probably becoming a ' rising diphthong ' and passing through 
 \ed, id] to []d] or [jse, je]. The A3enbite (1340) exhibits the 
 characteristic Kt. state of affairs more consistently, in the 
 spelling, than the earlier texts in the same dialect. Thus 
 A3enbite writes yalde, ealde ' old ' ; ofhyealde, yhycalde p. p. 
 O.E. ge-healden ; by-wenlde, chealde, chald, and held, O.E. beald. 
 These attempts probably indicate such a pronunciation as 
 [tj^ld, tjeld, ihjaelde, ihjslde] or something of the kind. We 
 should probably not regard such spellings as liald ' holds ', 
 chald 'cold ', in this text as Anglian forms, since these would 
 have J, but as attempts to express [jae] or [js]. No doubt 
 after cJi [t|] the [j] -sound was lost. Of earlier Kt. texts, the 
 Vespas. Homilies write inanifeald, but also manifald, tm-itald; 
 the Laud. Homilies have the Kt. spelling ihialde, the am- 
 biguous chald, the apparently Saxon elde ' age ', the Anglian 
 i-told, and the hybrid chdld. All Kt. texts in M.E. have such 
 forms as alle, falle, half, which we must regard as Anglian 
 importations, which here, as in the Sth.-West, have ousted the 
 native forms. 
 
 The earliest London Charters, etc., have eallra, forstcalles, 
 &\.c.,gehealde, bihalde, etc. ; but fourteenth-century Davie has 
 bifalle (Dolle, p. ^'^. Chaucer still preserves a few cases of 
 the Sthn. or Kt. type — heldc, bihelde (inf.), helde (Pres. PL), 
 Wilde (inf.). These examples occur in rhymes. (Frieshammer, 
 
 P- 34.) 
 
 Note. In Mod. English, weald n. and wield vh. seem to be the sole 
 survivors of the old ea, M.E. *, [s]-type, and even here the noun has the 
 alternative Anglian form wold. 
 
 § 167. O.E. e^a followed by r-f- consonant. 
 
 O.E. hearm, eart, earni 'arm' (L. O.E. hxrm, etc.) are 
 written herni, ert, erm in thirteenth-century texts in the 
 South-West. The combination -er- seems generally to become 
 -ar- later. In the Midlands and Nth., harm, art, etc., are the 
 prevailing types already in Early Transition (in Midi.), and 
 appear to go back to an O.E. type without Fracture. 
 
§§ 165-9] Fracture Diphthongs 109 
 
 § 168. O.E. eo. 
 
 Most of the twelfth and thirteenth-century texts in dialects 
 of the South and Midlands still write eo, though not with 
 perfect consistency, in words where this diphthong, whether 
 long or short, is found in O.E. Thus we find eorfie, leave, etc. 
 In many cases this spelling may have been purely traditional, 
 and have implied no diphthongal sound, but rather that of I; 
 in other cases (see below, § 169) it probably stood for the 
 sound \f\ ; lastly, in Kentish texts, when eo is found along 
 with ie,ye, etc., a diphthong may have been preserved, though 
 it had probably become a rising diphthong = [je], etc. 
 
 The earliest London Charters, etc., write eorl, weorp, peof, 
 bed, etc., etc., but in the fourteenth century this dialect writes 
 I: — thus Davie has siverd, herte,fer, etc., ben, Iciie (O.E. leof), 
 and Chaucer has self, herte, erthe ; been, theef, leef, etc., etc. 
 These are the ancestors of the Mod. Standard forms. 
 
 The late Kentish A3enbite (1340) still writes ye, ie fairly 
 consistently for O.E. eo: — pyef, dyeuel, byep, dyep, etc., O.E. 
 piof, deofol, beop, deop, but e is more common for O.E. eb : 
 erpe, heiiene, herte, etc. ; yerpe * earth ' is found. In earlier texts, 
 e.g. Vesp. A. 23 (1150), and Kt. Sermons (Laud MS), before 
 1200, eo, and e are both written for the short eb, while the 
 former writes bien,piode, chiesen (O.E. ceosaii), etc., regularly. 
 This looks as though the long diphthong was preserved later 
 than the short, though there are indications in the early Mod. 
 period that the Kt. yerth persisted (cp. § 228). 
 
 § 169. O.E. eo becomes M.E. \f\. 
 
 Many dialects, especially from the South-West, but perhaps 
 also the London Dialect and West Midlands, appear to have 
 made the long and short O.E. eo into a front rounded vowel, 
 still written in the thirteenth century, but later often written 
 u (= [y]) in W. Midi, documents. The precise area in which 
 this sound \f\ existed is not yet fully established. In some 
 areas it seems to have represented not only the old diphthongs, 
 but also the O.E. sound \f\ (cp. § 105) from d-\. 
 
 In most areas this [#], no matter what its origin, was un- 
 rounded to e in the thirteenth century, so that it has no signi- 
 ficance for the subsequent history of English. In the Nth., 
 the East Midi., and the Sth.-East, O.E. eo seems to have been 
 smoothed to e in the earliest M.E. period without passing 
 through the [^]-stage. 
 
 In W. Midi, we often find iirpe, O.E. eorpe ; btirn, O.E. beorn 
 ' man' ; Uid, O.E. leod, etc. 
 
 The French penple appears as people, pjiple, peple. The 
 
no History of English Sounds: II.M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 Mod. spelling probably represents the M.E. spelling of the 
 front-round vowel. Cp. also § 192 on [#] in French words. 
 
 Note. The possibility of the existence of an [^^]-stage in some areas, 
 and of the so-called ' diphthongs ' in Kt., hardly affects the history of 
 Standard English ; these are largely curiosities which interest chiefly the 
 special student of M.E. For further information see Biilbring's articles, 
 cited above in Bibliography, C. iv. 
 
 § 170. O.E. le (y) in M.E. 
 
 Since fe is purely W. Sax. its representative is only found 
 in the Saxon area in M.E. Already in O.E. in one part of 
 the area Te was apparently levelled under f, which sound sur- 
 vives unaltered in M.E. In another part this diphthong 
 whether long or short became y in L. W.S. (cp. § 119 above). 
 This is preserved in M.E., but always written 11, or (when 
 long) also id, uy — hurde ' shepherd ', Juiiren ' hear ', etc. 
 
 Unlike the other O.E. y (from «-z, cp, § iO(S) which was 
 universal in O.E., and which survived widely in M.E. (§ 158), 
 the sound we are considering is confined to part of the South. 
 
 The original Southern character of the London Dialect is 
 shown by the occurrence of I, j in the earliest Charters and 
 Procl. ; after the beginning of the fourteenth century, however, 
 non-Saxon t~-formsare alone found — yr/uume, alyscdncssc, etc., 
 but Davie — here ' hear ', stcl ' steel '. 
 
 § 171. Development of New Diphthongs in M.E. 
 
 Numerous diphthongs arose in M.E. through the develop- 
 ment of glide-sounds between vowels and the following [j], [h], 
 [h] and [5]. The glide took the form, in the former cases, of 
 the vowel z, in the latter, of ti. The diphthongs are written 
 ai, ay, ei, ey, an, aw, on, ow, etc. 
 
 (i) M.E. ai — O.E. xg becomes M.E. gei, ai; O.E. daeg, M.E. 
 dxi, dai. 
 
 (2) M.E. ei — {a) O.E. <?^ becomes M.E. ei; O.E. weg, M.E. 
 wei; O.E. legde, ME. leide. 
 
 (b) Late O.E. xJl from eah becomes M.E. ei : xhta ' eight ', 
 M.E. elite, ei/itc, etc. 
 
 (3) M.E. ei — (a) O.E. xg becomes M.E. ei: O.E. xg ' egg\ 
 M.E. ei. 
 
 {b) Late O.E. x from ea +g, which is subsequently fronted, 
 becomes M.E. ei : O.E. eage, later xge ' eye ', M.E. eye. This 
 is subsequently raised in Lit. M.I'], to lye, the origin of Mod. 
 \ai] eye, though the spelling represents another type. Chaucer 
 has both ye and ey'e ; O.E. heah, hx/l, heli, M.E. Iieili, Ju{Ji)e. 
 
 (4) M.E. en — O.E. and M.E. ^- -f- consonant becomes ew in 
 Late M.E. : O.E. efete, ev{e)te, ewte ' newt '. 
 
§§169-72] Neiv Diphthongs in M.E. in 
 
 (5) M.E. eti — O.E. eaw,xiv become M.E. ^: O.K. deazv 
 ' dew ', M.E. deu ; O.E. sceaivian, M.E. scheiven ' show '. 
 
 (6) M.E. ??7— O.E. elnv becomes M.E. ai : O.E. tj^eowe, 
 M.E. ireuc * true ' ; O.E. bleow ' blew ', M.E. bleu. 
 
 (7) M.E. att has several origins — {a) O.E. ag- followed by a 
 back vowel : O.E. sagtc, M.E. satve ; O.E. slagcn, M.E. sldiven. 
 
 {b) af- followed by a vowel becomes av, azv, an : O.E. 
 /la/oc ' hawk ', M.E. havek^ haivek, hank. 
 
 {c) O.Fr. an : faiite ' fault '. 
 
 {d) O.Fr. nasalized a followed by ;/ : M.E. dannten 
 ' daunt '. 
 
 (8) M.E. ^//— O.E. dw becomes M.E. on, ow : O.E. aidzi/an, 
 M.E. know c 71. 
 
 O.E. dg- becomes dzv between vowels: O.E. dgan, M.E. 
 oiven. 
 
 O.E. o in an open syllable followed by^ in the next is 
 lengthened ; g becomes iv and O.E. boga ' bow ', M.E. bdue, 
 bdzve. 
 
 Note. It is rather doubtful whether on, ow in these words is really to 
 be regarded as a diphthong at all. The subsequent history of the sound 
 is that of ordinary M.E. o \p\. See §§ 156 above, and 173 {c) below. 
 
 (9) M.E. on. O.E. dg, oh, M.E. 0^, oh, seem first of all to 
 have been diphthongized to oniv, onwh, and then the assimi- 
 lates to the second element of the diphthong which disappears 
 so that ilw, ah result: O.JL. ploh, M.K. pl5nh,plfih; O.M.gendh, 
 M.E. inonh, inuh. The inflected cases of these words have in 
 O.E. {g&n.)pldges, V[.'K.ploTnves,pluzves \ genoges. M.E. inonwes, 
 innwes, etc. 
 
 Note. The combinations \al, rtntj, rtnd2] in some dialects (Sth.- 
 Western ?) often become diphthongal in M.E. aisschen 'ask', chayngc. 
 
 The O.E. combination -enct becomes -ei?it, chiefly in S.W.: O.'^.drencte, 
 M.E. dreinte ; O.E. blencte, M.E. bleinte, etc. 
 
 § 17a. Monophthongizing of M.E. Diphthongs in -u. 
 
 {a) Diphthongs whose second element is -n lose this element 
 in M.E. and lengthen the first element before lip-consonants : 
 chdmber from cJianinber ; save, sdfe fn;m sanve, sanfe ; M.E. 
 rcme (Trevisa) by side of rczvme 'kingdom'; Mod. Engl. 
 jeopardy [dzepad/], in spite of its spelling, implies M.K. jipardi. 
 people, feoff [pipl, flf] are also probably examples of this 
 influence of the lip- consonant. The name Bcanmont, now 
 usually [boumant], owes its pronunciation to French influ- 
 ence, but the variant Beanwnt [bimant] is a case in point (cp. 
 Luick, Anglia^ xvi, pp. 485, 499, 500, 503). Luick rightly 
 
112 History of English Sounds: II. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 conjectures the existence of [bimant] Bemnont, although he is 
 unacquainted with it. Further, the name Belvoir [blva] from 
 Bcuvcir < *Beveir (also Belveire), and Bevis [bivz's] from 
 Beufitz are good examples. Beaufort, now [bo^z-fat], is no 
 doubt to be explained like Beaumont. The spelling Buforde 
 (Duke of) in the Wentivorth Papers {\']\o) points to [bju-] and 
 must be due to association with the first syll. of bea7i\\.{w\. 
 On the other hand, Bcatdicu = [bjub] is normal. Cp. §§ 198, 
 265. 
 
 (d) The second element of -u diphthongs is also lost in M.E. 
 before [J, tf, dz] and the first element lengthened. Examples : 
 M.E. d^e from ai/ge; dnge from attnge\ chivachie from ckivau- 
 chie \ Beauchamp [bitjam], M.E. ^Bechavip (Luick, Anglia, 
 xvi, pp. 503, etc.). 
 
 Quantitative Changes in M.E. 
 
 [See very full treatment of the quantity of M.E. vowels in 
 Morsbach's M.E. Gr., pp. 65-117, and the article of Luick 
 cited below.] 
 
 § 173. Lengthening of O.E. Short Vowels. 
 
 (1) Already in Late O.E. short vowels were lengthened 
 before the consonantal combinations iid, mb. Id, ng ; cp. § 1 14 
 above, 
 
 (2) The vowels a, e, in Ope7i Syllables (that is, one where 
 no consonant followed), in two-syllabled words, during the 
 thirteenth century. 
 
 {a) O.E. fxder, M.E. fader ; O.E. mdcian, M.E. indken ; 
 O.E. sdcu ' dispute', etc., M.E. sdke ' crime ', etc. ; O.E. Adra 
 ' hare ', M.E. /idre. 
 
 (b) O.E. beran, M.E. bereu ' bear ' ; O.E. mete * food ', M.E. 
 Mete ; O.E. mere ' lake ', M.E. mere ; O.E. stHan ' steal ', M.E. 
 stelen. 
 
 {c) O.E. {ge)boren ' born ', M.E. boren ; O.E. smoca ' smoke ', 
 M.E. smoke; O.E. hopu 'hope ', M.E. hope. 
 
 Note i. The <? and due to lengthening of old short vowels in open 
 syllables are slack vowels [e, o\ respectively. 
 
 Note 2. Many words in O.E., which in the Norn. Sing, ended in a conso- 
 nant, appear in M.E. with a vowel ending in all cases. Such words undergo 
 lengthening : O.E. hoi ' hole ', ' cave', M.E. hole, from an inflected form. 
 In fact the forms of nouns in M.E., and still more in Mod. Engl., very 
 commonly point to their derivation from an O.E. or M.E. oblique case with 
 an inflexion. On the other hand, doublets often arise in M.E. — a form 
 with a long vowel from an inflected case, and one with a short vowel from 
 an uninflected case : O.E. bl^ec adj. ' black', with inflected forms blaca, 
 etc., gives two M.E. forms, blak from blxc, and blake from bldca. In 
 
§§172-5] Vowel Lengthening in M.E. 113 
 
 Mod. Enc,'l. one or both forms may survive, in different dialects, or in the 
 same dialect with specialized meaning : Mod. black, beside the Family 
 Name Blake, 
 
 Note 3. It is easy to see how a final -e came later to be considered as 
 a sign of length. The stressed vowels in L. M.E. iJij-ote, hope, bldke, etc., 
 were necessarily long, and when later the -e ceased to be pronounced as 
 a separate syllable, the preceding vowel of course kept its length, and the 
 traditional -e in the spelling was associated with this, in distinction from 
 hop, bldk, etc. 
 
 § 174. Lergthening of 1 and u in Open Syllables in M.E. 
 
 It is now pretty generally accepted that, as stated by Luick 
 {UntersucJumgen z. engl. Laiitgesch., i(S96; Studien z. engl. 
 Lmifgesch., 1903), i and ii in open syllables were lengthened, 
 lowered, and made tense, before the beginning of the fourteenth 
 century, so that z in this situation became e, and ii became 0. 
 The examples in Mod. Standard English are not very fre- 
 quent, as in various cases analogies of doublets without 
 lengthening have preserved the short forms with i and ti. In 
 M.E. the examples are more numerous. 
 
 O.E. zuiac 'week', M.E. weke; O.Y..bitul, M.E. betel \ O.E. 
 wifol, M.E. w<?z'£'/ ' weevil ' ; M.E. euel is explained by Luick 
 as due to earlier M.E. iuel from OJK. yfel. 
 
 O.E. W7idu, M.E. wode ' wood ' ; O.E. dani^ ' door ', M.E. 
 ddre ; O.E. hi/ti 'love', M.E. /ove; O.E. sunnt, etc., M.E. 
 sdme * some '. • ■ 
 
 Note. Nearly all the forms in M.E. and Mod. Engl., explained by 
 Luick by his law of lengthening i and n, may be, and often still are, 
 explained in other ways. Thus betel, it is said, may represent an O.E. 
 (non-W.S.) beotul, eo becoming e and being lengthened in the open 
 syllable ; 'iueke, it is said, may be Early M.E. weke, O.E. 'wect{, with 
 Anglian Smoothing from ^weocu (cp. § 127). 
 
 euel may merely have Kentish e for y, with lengthening in an open 
 syllable. Against this it is alleged that the e from the above sources 
 was slack [e] in M.E., whereas the e in these words must have been tense 
 since it was raised to [1] among the first changes of Early Mod. Engl, 
 (cp. § 229, Note i). 
 
 The o in M.E. love, etc., is said by some to represent a short vowel 
 and that ii, the o being merely graphic before v, v. In this case the word 
 in M.E. was [luve]. This lengthening is established from the evidence 
 of spellings and rhymes in M.E., and from the Mod. Dial, forms, for the 
 North. The exact area over which it obtained is uncertain. The forms 
 in Standard Engl, may be importations from another dialect. 
 
 § 175. Shortening of O.E. Long Vowels in M.E. 
 {a) Effect of Consonant Groups. 
 
 Before certain groups of two consonants, other than Id, nd, 
 etc., and before long consonants, long vowels are shortened, 
 
 H 
 
114 History of English Sounds: 11. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 The shortening takes place also before Id, etc., when a third 
 consonant follows. 
 
 (i) Before lojig or double stops : O.E. hydde (pret. of hydan 
 'hide'), M.E. Jnddc ; O.E. Ixdde'XQA ', M.E. ledde. 
 
 (2) Before stop -^^ stop: O.E. cepte (pret. oi cepan), M.E. 
 kiptc ; M.E. wi^pte, pret. of wepen ' weep '. 
 
 (3) Before open consonant -^^ stop : tvtsdoin, cp. wis; ftftene, 
 c^.five ; O.E. softe, M.E. softe. 
 
 (4) Before stop + open consonant : dept/ie, cp. depe ' deep ' ; 
 Edzvard, O.E. Radzveard = L. O.E. Aidward. 
 
 (5) Before open consonant + in, I: O.E. ivlfman, M.E. wz;;/- 
 7;/^?// ; M.E. gosling, cp. ^(jj- ; M.E. devles, PI. of ^<?z/^/. 
 
 (6) Before open consonant + open consonant: O.E. huswife 
 M.E. hiisiv^f. 
 
 (7) Before Id, etc. + another consonant : O.E. «/^, PI. cTldrn, 
 M.E. c///7<^, childre ; O.E. Idmbrn, PI. of /«;;z(5', M.E. /i^wz^, 
 land)re (Orm, chilldre, lammhre) \ O.E. freondscipe, M.E. 
 frcndscJiip. 
 
 Note. The shortenings very commonly occur in compounds, as seen 
 above, among which PI. Ns. often exhibit good instances. Cp. such 
 names as Bradley, where the first element is O.E. brad ' broad ', Depford, 
 where the first element is O.E. debp, M.E. depe, etc. 
 
 (8) Shortening before st and sch seems to have been normal. 
 Mod. Engl, has, it is true, mostly long forms before -st: ghost, 
 O.E. gdst, M.K.gost; Christ, M.E. Crist \ priest, M.E. prist. 
 The M.E. long vowels in this position may be explained from 
 the inflected forms : prestes. gostes (syllable division pre-stes, 
 go-stes), etc. Before scJi [J] : wischen, side by side with O.E. 
 ivyscan ; Jlesch, O.E. flxsc, we get also flxsch, flesch, which 
 must be explained on the analogy of the inflected ^(f-i-^/z^i-, etc. 
 
 § 176. ib) Shortening of Long Vowels in Words of Three 
 Syllables. 
 
 In three-syllabled words, the vowel of the first syllable, if 
 long, is shortened ; if short, is not lengthened, even though it 
 stand in an open syllable (Luick, Anglia, xx). 
 
 The.se three-syllabled words occur chiefly in compounds 
 such as PL Names, and otherwise as the inflected forms of 
 words of two syllables. 
 
 M.E. holi 'ho\y', but holiday ; Whitaker, PI. N. in Lanes., 
 etc.. of which first element is O.E. Jiwlt ' white '. Mod. utter, 
 O.E. Titer r a, shows this shortening. 
 
 Note. In M.E. there are many doublets, due to different conditions 
 as to the number of syllables, in inflecfed and uninflected forms of Nouns 
 
§§175-9] Vowel Shortening in M.E. 115 
 
 and Adjectives. In Nouns which end in -er, el, en, the inflected forms 
 often lose the syllable before the r, I, n, thus /art',?;-, \)W\. fddres, etc., sadel 
 'saddle', but sddles, etc. In these forms the shortening, or absence 
 of lengthening, is due to the combinations -dr-, -dl-, etc. 
 
 On the other hand, in forms without syncope, such as faderes, etc., 
 according to the principle formulated by Luick, the first syllable would 
 remain short, although in an open syllable. Thus we may say \.\\?L\.fdder and 
 many other M.E. words normally had a long vowel in the Nom. and Ace. 
 Sing., but a short vowel in the other cases. The result was, as a rule, 
 that either a long or a short vowel was generalized, for all cases. Sing, and 
 PI. Thus we get two X.y^&s,— fader and fade?'. The form in Mod. 
 Standard Engl, is derived from \he fdderiy^e, the Dialectal [fe^3(r)] from 
 MiE. fader (see §§ 220, 225 Note, below). 
 
 § 177. Shortening of Long Vowels in Unstressed Syllables. 
 
 Long vowels, whether in prefixes such as O.E. a-, or, as is 
 more frequent, in final syllables of compounds, are shortened 
 in M.E. Thus O.E. drisan is M.E. arisen. So too O.E. an, 
 when used as an indefinite article, and therefore unstressed in 
 the sentence, is shortened to an, a, whereas when it stands 
 for the numeral it remains long, as appears, e. g., in Chaucer, 
 either as o, or dn{e). 
 
 Most of these shortenings, however, occur in the second 
 elements of compounds, in which the secondary stress of O.E. 
 was further reduced in M.E. 
 
 O.E. cyngestun ' Kingston ', M.E. Kingestun ; M.E. hns{zv)if, 
 O.E. wz/"; the Mod. Engl. Family Name Wodehonse — [w^das] 
 shows this shortening of O.E. hus in the second element ; 
 M.E. stirop ' stirrup ', in which the second element is O.E. 
 rap ' rope '. 
 
 § 178. Treatment of Vowels in Scandinavian Loan-words 
 in M.E. 
 
 This whole subject has been elaborately treated by Bjork- 
 man, ScandtJiavian Loan-words in Middle English, Pt. I, 
 1900 ; Pt. II. 
 
 We are obliged here to state the main facts as simply and 
 briefly as possible. 
 
 Scandinavian vowels were not on the whole very different 
 from those of O.E., and in M.E. the majority of them undergo 
 the same changes as those in native words. Scandinavian a, 
 e, f , y, u, o are treated in the same way as the same vowels in 
 native English words. 
 
 The chief sounds deserving notice are the diphthongs ai, ei, 
 and au, which did not occur in O.E. in native words. 
 
 § 179. O. Scand. ai in some cases was Englished to a (the 
 historically equivalent sound) in O.E. itself: O.E. kdmsocn 
 'attacking an enemy in his house ', O.Sc. heim-. 
 
 H 2 
 
ii6 History of English Sounds: II. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 In O. West Scand. ai was preserved much longer than in 
 East Scand.. in fact it still survives in some Swed. Dialects at 
 the present time. 
 
 In O. Danish, ai became ei which was simplified to e in the 
 pre-literary period. 
 
 Both ai, ei, and e are found in M.E. loan-words : haitc ' bait, 
 food',d/a)'kc 'pale' (cp. the native M.E. form d/oke from O.E. 
 bide), wayhe 'weak' (O.E. ^vac, M.E. woke), Jicil 'hale, 
 healthy ', reisen ' raisfe ' (cp. O.E. rseran ' rear '), pei, peir ' they, 
 their ', etc. 
 
 The Danish type probably occurs in M.E. weke ' weak '. 
 
 § l8o. O. Scand. an. This diphthong appears in M.E. in 
 the three forms aii^ on, o. M.E. gajik, gotvk, goke ' cuckoo ', 
 ' fool ', also as a man's name, cp. Lane. GaiviJiorpe, M.E. 
 GanhctJiorp ; M.E. windage ' window', O.West Scand. vindauga ; 
 M.E. coiipe 'pay for, buy', O.W. Scand. kattpa-, also in M.E. 
 Lanes. PI. N, Conpmonesivra, Mod. Capermvray. 
 
 In Old Scandinavian an before h was early monophthongized 
 to o, hence M..Y^. Poh, pogh, pongh, etc. * though' is from Scand. 
 Poh, earlier ^panh, compared with O.E. Peak which gives M.E. 
 peih, etc. 
 
 Note. M.E.pme/i probably represents O.E./^ea/t, later pae/i, shortened 
 topa/i, in unstressed positions, and retracted to a, whence an develops 
 before /i. Cp. § 171. 
 
 The Treatment of Vowels in French Loan-words. 
 
 (See Jespersen, Mod. Engl. Gr.. pp. 130-45, etc., etc. ; Kaluza, 
 Hist. Gr. d. engl. Spr., ii, pp. 45-72.) 
 
 § 181. Norman-French, or as they are also called, Anglo- 
 Norman, words passed into English speech for the most part 
 with approximately the same sounds which they already had. 
 We may say that very few new vowel sounds were added to 
 the language from this source. The nasalized vowels which 
 stood before n, in, lost their nasalization, with the exception 
 of a, which retained its quality, at any rate, in the speech of 
 the upper classes. On the peculiar development of N. Fr. a, 
 .see below, §§ 183, 184. Another new sound was the diphthong 
 oi ; see § 200. 
 
 § 182. N. F. a (i) remains : balle ' ball ', part, charti'e, 
 cacchen ' catch '. 
 
 (2) Is lengthened in open syllables in the same way as 
 O.E. a, § 173. a {a) : place, edge, rdge, cor age, fame, dble, etc. 
 
 (3) Lengthened before st : chaste, haste, etc. J 
 
§§179-87] The French Element 117 
 
 (4) Lengthened before a final single consonant : estate dcbat 
 cds, etc. 
 
 § 183. N. F. an, dm. The nasalization is kept in the first 
 instance, and the combinations an, dm develop a diphthong 
 ati from the nasal vowel : chanvibre, channticleer, grannten, 
 chaunce, channge, danncCy auncient, exanmple, aunt, etc. 
 
 § 184. By the side of the a/<!-spellings, we frequently find 
 rt«, am in M.E. The diphthongized forms have another 
 development in Mod. Engl, from those without a diphthong : 
 thus M.E. haimien yields Mod. [h5nt], whereas hanten 
 yields [h^nt] ; cp. § 359 below. These double types are very 
 common in Mod. Engl, and prove the existence of the un- 
 diphthongized forms in M.E. if we were inclined to believe that 
 the distinction was merely a matter of spelling. Jespersen 
 {Mod. Engl. 6^r., pp. no, in) explains the undiphthongized 
 forms as due to the influence of Continental French, where the 
 diphthongization did not occur, in the M.E. period. 
 
 This would hardly account for all the forms, as we cannot 
 suppose a widespread or universal knowledge of Continental 
 French, whereas the words in question, having come in from 
 Norman French, were well established in the language. I am 
 inclined to suggest that the distinction is due to social causes. 
 The upper classes, in the Early M.E. period, knew and spoke 
 Norman French, and the sound of the nasal vowel was natural 
 to them. It was different with the lower sort of people, who 
 did not speak French from the cradle. They would hardly 
 pronounce loan-words with a sound that was quite unknown 
 in their own English speech. Thus it seems probable that 
 apart from Court circles ddncen, dnt ' aunt ' were pronounced 
 simply ddncen, dnt, etc., and these forms underwent no 
 diphthongization. Both types got into popular use, and 
 appear to have been equally current in Early Modern. 
 
 Note. Before -ge a seems to have been lengthened in M.E. in the 
 undiphthongized forms ; the form straange (Trevisa) may be the direct 
 ancestor of the Mod. form. Cp, § 225 below. See §§ 171 (9), Note, 
 and 1 73 {b) above for chaytige, etc. 
 
 § 185. N. F. e is preserved in M.E. in close syllables : dette, 
 lettre, serchen ; lengthened before -st : fest, best ' beast '. 
 
 § 186. N. F. e, M.E. e : degree, pouertee, deintee ' dignity, 
 value \profete, clereyfrere ' brother '. 
 
 § 187. N. F. i (i in open syllable), M.E. I : mercu,folu, vice, 
 lie, sire, blbel. 
 
ii8 History of English Sounds: II. M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 § l88. N. F. e, e from O.Fr. ie, M.E. e. In close syllables : 
 alcggcn. cergc ' candle '. Lengthened in open syllables : greiien 
 ' grieve ',/iYr ' piece ', scgc^ manage, cJicrc ' face, appearance ' ; 
 also before a single final consonant : greef, breef, squicr. This 
 e is often written ie\ see § i6i, p. 102 above. 
 
 § 189. N. F. 6 preserved in close syllables : propre, cofre, 
 force, etc. Lengthened in open syllables = [5] : coic ' coat ', 
 supposen, noble, rose ; also before st : Jiost, rost. 
 
 § igo. N. F. u, u = [u] remains or becomes short in M.E. 
 before several consonants : court, purse, tiirnen. 
 
 u in open syllables and before a single final consonant 
 becomes u in N.F. and remains as such in M.E. : voil ' vow ', 
 goute, spouse, flotir ' flower ', laboitr, culour. 
 
 § 191. N.F. ii = M.E. u\ mount, eroune, otmee, countre. 
 
 \ 192. N.F. [o] eo, ue, from O.Fr. ue. Variously written 
 oe, ue, e as in pocplc, people, peple, preef ' proof, boef, beef, etc. 
 It seems likely that these words had the sound [ef] (§ 169), 
 which either survived as a rounded vowel, or, in other dialects, 
 was unrounded to [e]. This would explain the variations in 
 spelling peple, people, eo no doubt represented [0]. ^We have 
 retained this spelling in the last word and in jeopardy, which 
 is also wx'iiXerx Juparti,jt{perdi in M.E. where u — [y]. 
 
 § 193. N.F. u, u = [y] in M.E. This sound remains in 
 M.E. and the great majority of words containing it are of Fr. 
 origin. How far it differed, or in what way, from the O.E. y 
 (§§ 108, 109, 119), also written ti in M.E., it is difficult to 
 determine. Since, however, the sound in Fr. words does not 
 undergo the fluctuations in time and place which characterize 
 the sound in Native words, it is fair to suppose that there was 
 some difference between them. Possibly the Fr. [y] was tenser 
 and higher than the English sound. 
 
 Examples of short u [y] in M.E.: just, juge, sepulcre, etc. 
 Lengthened in stressed open syllables : pursuen, rude, sure, 
 nature, creature, vertue, vertew. 
 
 § 194. N.F. iii [yi] becomes simply [y], generally written 
 tii, uy, in M.E. : fruit, nuisance. 
 
 § 195. N. F. Diphthongs in M.E. 
 
 N.F. ai remains in M.E. : gai,deldi, trditre, grain, chapelain, 
 batdile, vitdiles. 
 
§§ i88-2oi] Vowels in French Loan-words 119 
 
 N. F. at, when it does not bear the chief accent, is generally 
 monophthongized to e in M.E. : resoun, sesSun^ tresoun ; but 
 raisoun, etc., also occur. 
 
 § 196. N.F. au remains in M.E. : fatite, cause ^ baiime^ sauf 
 * safe ', anter ' altar ', sativdge, laundcre from lavendere * washer- 
 woman '. 
 
 Note. Before lip-consonants au becomes a already in M.E. in some 
 cases: saaf {^^c\^. Cp. § 172(a). 
 
 § 197. N.F. ei remains in M.E. : palefrei^ inon^ie,feip,faip 
 ' faith ', /ei * law ', streit ' narrow ', biirgcis. 
 
 In Central Fr., O.Fr. ci becomes oi^ and M.E. exploit^ cot 
 are from this source. 
 
 § 198. N.F. eau from earlier ^^/+ consonant becomes etc in 
 M.E. : beutde, beau tee. 
 
 § 199. N.F. eu, ieu remains as eu in M.E. : — Jew, retile. 
 [The last word may also represent O.E. regol^ M.E. reivel^ 
 
 § 200. N.F. oi remains in M.E. : joie, eloistre, vois, chois, 
 destroien^ pointy boilen. 
 
 \ 201. Table of Late M.E. Vowels, and their Sources. 
 
 M.E. a, O.E. a, x, as in cat, bak^ §§ 159, 160. 
 
 /O.E. ^, as in bed, setten. 
 M.E. e \ O.E. e^o, as in herte, erpe, etc., § 168. 
 \ O.E. ea^ as in herm, etc., § 167. 
 
 C O.E. t, as in sitten, childre, etc. 
 M.E. 1 O.E. y (in Nth., E. Midi, and in S.W. before front 
 ^ consonant), as in hill, pit, brigge, § 158 (/). 
 
 O.E. 6, as mjldk, Godd, etc. 
 
 O.E. J shortened, as in gosling, blosme, etc., § 175 (5). 
 M.E. u, O.E. u, as in su7ie {sone). 
 
 M.E. y (written li), O.E. y : hidl, rtigge (in W. and Central 
 Midlands and Sth.-West), § 158 {c) ; O. Fr. il, as mjuge, etc., 
 
 / O.E. a in open syllables, as in mdken, fader, etc., 
 M.E. a j § 173 (a). 
 
 ^ O.Fr. a, as in fame, dame, etc., § 192 (a). 
 ( O.E. (?, as in swete, he, her en, etc. 
 O.E. e from ii^ (non-W.S.), as in did 
 
 'deed', weren, etc., § 161. 
 O.E. eo, as mfecnd, held, § 169. 
 O.E. I'vcv open syllables, as in weke, § 174. 
 O.E. ^ (Kentish), earlier j^, § 158 {b). 
 O.E. e (Kentish) from ^-z, § 161. 
 
 M.E. 6 
 
 M.E. e (i) = [e] 
 
120 History of English Sounds: II.M.E. [chap, vi 
 
 M.E. e (2) = [e] 
 
 { 
 
 M.E. 6 (i) = [6^] 
 
 M.E. (2) = [5] - 
 
 ( O.E. x^i as in delen, dene, etc., § 161. 
 O.E. x^ (only in Sthn. forms), as in dede^ 
 
 strete, etc., §§ i6r, 162. 
 O.E. ed, as in rede (reade) 'red', depe 
 
 (deape), etc., § 164. 
 O.E. e in open syllables, as in mete, 
 
 beren, etc., § 173 {b) and Notes. 
 O.E. e (Kt. fr. j) in open sylls. as in euel^ 
 
 § 174, Note. 
 
 M.E. i, O.E. J, as in wine, wife, child, etc. ; Earlier M.E. eg, 
 eh : yc ' eye ', hie ' high ', nlh ' nigh '. 
 
 O.E. 0, as in gode, col, § 163. 
 
 O.E. u in open syllables, as in wode 
 
 'wood ', etc., § 174. 
 O.Fr. o, as \wfdle ' fool '. 
 
 O.E. a, as in horn, stdn, cold, etc., § 156. 
 O.E. b in open syllables, as in bdren, 
 
 hope, etc., § 173 {c) and Notes. 
 O.Fr. o in open syllables, as in cdte 
 
 'coat', § 189. 
 
 I'O.E. il^ as in house, foul, nou, 
 young, etc., § 152. 
 O.E. o^, oh, as in plou, inou, 
 
 etc., § 171 (9). 
 O.Fr. u, as m flour e, doute, courte, 
 §190. 
 
 O.E. y (in W. and Central Midi, and 
 S.W.), as in Jiuthe ' landing-place ', 
 bruiseji, huiren 'hear', §§ 158 {c), 170. 
 
 O.E. eo (in W. Midi, and S.W.), as in 
 /2^(^' people ', dure ' dear ', hidden pret. 
 pi. 'held', § 169. 
 
 O.Fr. ii, as m fruit, suit, etc. 
 
 Diphthongs. 
 
 M.E. ai, O.E. xg, as in dai, § 171 (i). 
 M.E. ei, O.E. eg, as in wci, leidc, § 171 (2). 
 M.E. oi, O.Fr. oi, as mjoie, oystre, § 200. 
 
 / O.E. -dg-, as in drawen, lawe, § 171 (7 «). 
 M.E. au \ O.Fr. au, as mfaute, § 196. 
 
 i O.Fr. an, as in haunten, daunten, § 183. 
 
 M.E. 6u, O.E. -og-, Sh, as in dSuhier. 
 
 M E ei i ^••^- ^' ^i ^" ^^ ' *^^^ '' § 171 (3 «)• 
 
 I O.E. (?<2^ (^^), as in eye ' eye ', § 171 (3 <5). 
 
 M.E. u (written t7«, etc.) - 
 
 M.E. [y] 
 
 (written u, ni) 
 
§§ 20I-3] Sources of M.E. Vowels 121 
 
 / O.E. eaw, as in deu, sckewen, § 171 (5). 
 M.E. eu \ O.E. edw, as in bleiv, treiie, § 171 (6). 
 y O.Fr. eau, as in bmtee, § 198. 
 
 M.E. 6u, O.E. -oga, as in boiiive, O.E. boga ' bow', § 171 (8). 
 
 Summary of the chief characteristics of the M.E. Dialect 
 
 Groups. 
 
 § 202. Kentish 
 
 A. Sounds. 
 
 (i) e written for O.E. a? ; this is later displaced by Midi, a : 
 O.E. eald, Late O.E. ^/^ appears as eld. 
 
 (2) ye, ie for O.E. eo \ yerfie, chiese, chyese, etc. 
 
 (3) y^^ ^^ fo'' O.E. ea: hyalde, dyap. 
 
 (4) {a) e = [e] for O.E. x from a — i: del, clene ; {b) [<?] for 
 Pr. O.E. 36 : dcd (as in Nthmb. and Merc). 
 
 (5) I for O.E. y from u — i (I in Lt. O.Kt.) : velle ' fill ', 
 hep 'landing-place', tier 'fire '. 
 
 (6) z- for s- : ^^^//^ ' seek '. 
 
 (7) //-, ■y- for/"- : uless ' flesh ', twx ' fox '. 
 
 B. Accidence. 
 
 (8) Retention oiy- in P. P. \ 
 
 (9) Dropping of -7i in P. P. and Inf. 
 
 (10) Pres. Part, in -mde. 
 
 (11) 3rd P. Pres. Sing. 
 
 (12) PI. Pres. - in -ep. 
 
 (13) PI. Imperat. i / 
 
 (14) s/ie, etc., unknown in Fern. Pers. Pron. ; usual form M. 
 
 (15) t/zeir, them, they, unknown ; only Jiere, hem, hi, etc. 
 
 (16) The curious form his Ace. PI. 3rd Pers. 
 
 § 203. South-West 
 
 A. Sounds. 
 
 (i) O.E. X (W. Gmc. a) becomes e [i] : ded = [did]. (Also 
 in early London Dialect.) 
 
 (2) u [y] for O.E. y, except before front consonant. (As in 
 W. and Central Midi, except that unrounding before front 
 consonant less systematic here than in Sthn.) 
 
 (3) O.E. x remains as e [e] in Early texts ; this type, how- 
 ever, replaced by Angl. a earlier than in Kentish. 
 
 V As in S.W. 
 
122 History of English Sounds: ILM.E. [chap, vi 
 
 (4) O.E. a becomes [5], written o, oa, etc. (as in Kent and 
 Midi.). 
 
 (5) W.S. te (z-mutation of 7a), Late W.S. y, retained, and 
 written ?/, or often ui when long. 
 
 (6) O.E. initial/- written u, v (as in Kentish). 
 
 B. Accidence. 
 
 The principal features are the same as those noted for 
 Kentish. 
 
 The forms of Fern. Pers. Pron. Nom. are heo, he, hue, ha. 
 The Pret. of Str. Vbs. formed according to P. P. type. 
 
 Midland 
 
 § 204. East and West Midi, have in common : 
 
 O.E. a becomes o (as in Sth.) ; Late O.E. (Angl.) a + 1(1 
 appears as old. 
 
 O.E. x (/-mutation of a) appears as [e], written e (as in Sth. 
 and Nth.). 
 
 O.E. X (Pr. O.E. X, non-W.S. e) remains as [e], as in 
 Kentish. 
 
 O.E. X becomes «, or, in open syllables, a. 
 
 O.E. e (/-mutation of ea) remains as e as in Kentish 
 and Nth. 
 
 -n is generally preserved, except after -ng-, -nd, etc. 
 
 Pres. Sing, -e, -est, -ep. (See under E. and W. Midi.) 
 
 Pres. PI. in -en. 
 
 Pres. Part, in -e7ide. 
 
 pey, thei, etc., in Nom. PL, occurs earlier than in Sth. 
 
 § 205. E. Midi. Features : 
 
 O.E. y, generally I, as in North ; in Suffolk also I. 
 
 O.E. eo, generally = e. 
 
 Unstressed vowels in suffixes appear as e : -es, -ed, -en. 
 
 3rd Pers, Pres. Sing, pei, peiin, peiv occur (sporadically) ; 
 Nom. earlier than in W. Midi. (Already in Orm, Hav. and 
 Brunne, pey, but hem ; Bokenham, thci, and them by side 
 of hem) 
 
 Fem. Pron. sex, sche, scho (by side of ^-forms) appear 
 earlier than in W. Midi. (Laud. Chr., Best., Gen. and Ex., Hav.). 
 
 § 206. West Midland Features 
 
 A. Sounds. 
 
 O.E. y retained to a great extent ; written ti, ny, ui. 
 O.E. « before nasal consonant, frequently : con, loud, etc. 
 
§§ 203-7] Summary of Dialectal Features 123 
 
 Unstressed, flexional syllables often have u : us, -ud, etc, 
 O.E. eo becomes a rounded vowel, later often written // = [y]. 
 
 B. Accidence. 
 
 2nd and 3rd P. Sing. Pres. often has -j, -es, -us (Allit. P. 
 and W. of Pal.) as in North. 
 
 Pres. Part, often ends in -and as in North. 
 
 pcy, later than in E. Midi. (Allit. P.) ; h-ioxva survives in 
 J. of Ar. 
 
 Pcim,peir do not occur in W. Midi, texts. 
 
 sche, etc., appears much later than in E. Midi. Typical 
 forms ho and Jiuc preserved instead of, or alongside of sche, etc. 
 
 § 207. Northern 
 
 A. Sounds. 
 
 (i) O.E. a not rounded as in Midi, and Sth. but fronted to 
 [se], etc. The spelling a remains, but later the fronted vowel 
 is often written ai. 
 
 (2) O.E.^ unrounded to I. (As in E.Midi.) 
 
 (3) O.E. o becomes a sound identical with that of Fr. ii, 
 with which it rhymes : e. g. sone—fortone. This Nthn. sound 
 is written 0, oi, oy, u, ui. 
 
 B. Accidence. 
 
 2nd and 3rd Pers. Pres. Sing. -s. 
 
 PI. Pres. ends in -s. 
 
 Pres. Part, ends in -mid. 
 
 Pret. PI. of Strong Vbs. formed on type of Sing. 
 
 Fern. Pers. Pron. scJio, etc. 
 
 Pron. of 3rd Pers. PL : pai, pair,paim, etc. ; no ^-forms. 
 
 Loss of suffix syllable of Inf. 
 
 Note. The chief peculiarities of the Accidence of the various texts 
 are dealt with in Chapter VIII below. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLISH SOUNDS 
 
 III. The Modern Period 
 
 § 208. The changes which overtook the English vowel 
 system during the late M.E. and the Early Modern periods 
 were remarkable and thorough. Through the agency of 
 forces at work perhaps from 1400 onwards, English vowel 
 sounds, which had hitherto preserved, comparatively speaking, 
 unaltered, their original, or as it is sometimes called, their 
 Continental shape, gradually passed into those sounds which 
 exist at the present day. We know, approximately, the M.E. 
 complexions of the vouel sounds ; we know what they have 
 become. The problems are to determine what path of change 
 each sound pursued, between M.E. and present-day English,and 
 further, when the several changes started, and at what approxi- 
 mate date or period the various stages, in the different series 
 of changes, were reached. 
 
 Light upon these problems is cast from two main sources : 
 the Grammarians, English and foreign, who, to the best of 
 their ability, discuss English pronunciation as it existed in 
 their own day, and the scattered phonetic spellings which 
 occur, generally in familiar writings, letters, etc., of the late 
 fifteenth and early sixteenth century. The writers of these 
 documents (the Paston Letters, the Cely Papers, etc.) are often 
 rather illiterate persons, and they depart, from time to time, 
 from the traditional spelling, in favour of one which is more 
 phonetic. These ' mistakes ' in spelling may often afford 
 most valuable information regarding a pronunciation which 
 has already come into vogue, although the professed writers 
 on pronunciation may not condescend to notice it till con- 
 siderably later. 
 
 The question of the history of English pronunciation from 
 the Early Modern period onwards is one that of late years 
 has greatly occupied the attention of English scholars. It 
 may be well to enumerate some of the chief names associated 
 with this branch of study. 
 
§ 2o8] Early IVrtters on English Pronnnciation 125 
 
 The study was initiated by the late A. J. Ellis in his monu- 
 mental work on Early English Pro7iimciation, and continued 
 by Sweet in his History of English Soimds. During the last 
 fifteen years or so, further discussion of the problems, to a great 
 extent in the light of a better knowledge of the sounds of 
 present-day English Dialects, has been carried on by Luick, 
 Jespersen, Victor, Horn, and Zachrisson, to mention no more. 
 
 The various books of Luick, Jesperson, and Horn, marked 
 a new departure in our knowledge of the facts and in their 
 interpretation. Quite recently, the appearance of Zachrisson's 
 remarkable work on \k^& Projuinciation of English Vowels from 
 1400 to 1700 has, it must be allowed, to a great extent put 
 the whole matter on a new footing. 
 
 The work of Luick has emphasized the importance of taking 
 the phenomena exhibited by the Modern English Dialects into 
 consideration when dealing with the problem of the develop- 
 ment of Standard English Pronunciation, both because these 
 not infrequently represent actually stages of growth through 
 which the Standard language has passed, and also because 
 some of the apparent abnormalities in the development of 
 Standard English may be accounted for by assuming that 
 forms have been borrowed, during the Modern period, from 
 this or that popular dialect. It should also be said that 
 during the period since Ellis and Sweet fresh evidence as to 
 the sounds of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth 
 centuries has been collected from authors whose works they 
 had not investigated, and that the whole evidence has been 
 reviewed afresh by recent writers, who have re-examined, and 
 checked one with the other, the statements of the old 
 Grammarians. Many of the latter, too, have been made 
 accessible to students in reprints. 
 
 The new points in Zachrisson's methods are that he 
 approaches the question with an open mind and does not 
 allow the interpretations put hitherto by recent writers upon 
 the Grammarians' statements to bias his mind, nor prevent 
 him from reaching new conclusions which seem justified by all 
 the evidence. Again, he puts together the statements made 
 by French Grammarians on one hand, and by the English on 
 the other, and examines each independently. Lastly, he gives 
 exhaustive critical lists of phonetic spellings of all the vowel 
 sounds, drawn from late fifteenth and early sixteenth-century 
 collections of letters and such documents. All this evidence 
 is subjected by Zachrisson to the closest and most critical 
 scrutiny. The general result of this investigation is, that the 
 author comes to the conclusion that the sound changes to 
 
126 History of English Sounds: I II. Modern [chap.vh 
 
 which the present-day pronunciation of Standard English 
 owes its characteristic features had begun as early as the 
 fifteenth century, and further that, ^broadly speakings the present 
 pronunciation was established towards the end of the seven- 
 teenth century'. 
 
 With regard to the testimony of the Grammarians concerning 
 their own pronunciation, Zachrisson thinks that they were often 
 much influenced by the traditional spelling of words, and that 
 they ' recommended, in their works, theoretical forms of pro- 
 nunciation which were not sanctioned by common usage '. 
 Now it is, on the whole, a new view to place the beginnings 
 of the ' great vowel shift ', as Jespersen calls it, as far back as 
 the fifteenth century, and it is new to consider the Gram- 
 marians as so far behind their age as Zachrisson evidently 
 does. There is much also in his work that differs in detail 
 from commonly received opinions. 
 
 Putting detail aside, I am inclined to agree in the main 
 with Zachrisson's opinion of the early Grammarians, though 
 I would not go quite so far as he does in this respect ; I agree 
 that many of the sound changes began at least as early as the 
 fifteenth century (cf. § 163, Note, above, on u from M.E. o) ; I 
 think we are not yet justified in holding that the present pro- 
 nunciation was practically arrived at as early as the end 
 of the seventeenth century. 
 
 There are, of course, many points of detail upon which 
 opinions will long continue to differ. 
 
 It will not be possible, as a rule, from lack of space, to give 
 the actual statements of the early writers on pronunciation in 
 the following account, and for the same reason it will not be 
 possible either to discuss the conflicting views of the present 
 day as to what the Grammarians meant, except in a few 
 cases where it seems absolutely necessary to do so. It must 
 be said, however, that in points of detail views differ consider- 
 ably, and a full treatment of the subject at the present time is 
 apt to become both tedious and obscure from the fact that as 
 much time is usually taken up by enumerating and discussing 
 the views of differing authorities, as is required for a proper 
 setting forth of the material upon which the discrepant inter- 
 pretations are based. Again, scholars disagree, not only as to 
 what the early writers mean, and upon the value to be 
 attached to this or that man's statement, but also as to the 
 actual path of change followed by the sounds. 
 
 § 209. The early Grammarians spring from various social 
 classes ; they bring to their task various degrees of aptitude 
 
§§2o8-ir] Early Modern Spelling 127 
 
 and preparedness ; they differ therefore in the opportunities 
 for knowing the habits of the best speakers of their time, and 
 in their ability to inform us regarding these. Some are 
 pedantic, hide-bound, impatient of, and hostile to, new 
 tendencies ; others are sensible, free from prejudice, and 
 honestly anxious to tell the truth and conceal nothing. The 
 methods they employ consist, on the one hand, in describing 
 a sound by telling us that it is like, or identical with, a sound 
 in one or more foreign languages, and on the other, by giving 
 an account of the position of the tongue and lips in pronouncing 
 the sound. Some of these writers employ a phonetic notation 
 of their own devising, which has the advantage of letting us 
 know, at least, in which words the same sound occurred in 
 their day. They all give lists, sometimes rather meagre, which 
 serve this purpose. Writers of the same period do not 
 appear, in all cases, to give the same account of the same 
 original sound ; the grouping of words pronounced alike does 
 not invariably agree either among contemporaries, or with 
 our present-day usage. 
 
 § 210. Luick, and I agree with him, ascribes some of these 
 variants to social distinctions, and dialectal influence. (See 
 Luick, Anglia, xiv. 271, xvi. 468-9 ; and Untersuchimgeu z. engl. 
 Lautgeschichte, p. 313 ; and Wyld, Class Dialect and Standard 
 English, in Mackay Misc., p. 2H3). When Luick speaks of 
 the speech of the lower classes, he is thinking chiefly of their 
 influence as speakers of Regional Dialect, whereas, while 
 not denying this factor, I urge in addition the importance of 
 Class Dialects. Jespersen, however, in his Modern English 
 Gr., I, Preface, p. vi, denies the influence of the Dialects in 
 the development of Standard English. Zachrisson, again, is 
 of the opinion that more than one type of pronunciation cannot 
 be proved from the early Grammarians [English Vozaels, 
 p. 23.5). This only shows how ambiguous these worthies are, 
 and how differently their statements may be interpreted 
 to-day by different scholars. 
 
 Modern English Spelling. 
 
 § 211. The discrepancy which exists at the present time 
 between sound and symbol in English is due to the fact that 
 the spelling was practically fixed, in all its essential features, 
 by Caxton and the early printers, in the last quarter of the 
 fifteenth century. Caxton's spelling is virtually that of late 
 M.E. He introduces no new spellings to indicate the sound /I 
 changes which had already come about since the typical ' I 
 
1 28 History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap.vii 
 
 Central M.E. period. And yet, as we shall see, many important 
 changes in vowel sounds must have been well established in 
 Caxton's time : e. g. the fronting of M.E. a, the raising of 
 i', the raising and over-rounding of old tense d to [u]. 
 Sec §§ 225, 236.^ 
 
 It seems that it takes men a long time to realize that a sound 
 change has really taken place, and that the old symbol is no 
 longer adequate. Just as people nowadays talk cheerfully of 
 ' the ^-sound in /iaH\ or ' the /-/-sound in b7tt' [ju-s«?md in bat], 
 so no doubt people in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries 
 spoke of ' the <?-sound in moon ' [tSi o-s^wnd in mun]. Caxton 
 was evidently not in favour of a phonetic spelling, and there 
 is little or nothing in his orthography to indicate that important 
 changes had occurred in English since the hey-day of Chaucer. 
 It is left for more or less illiterate persons, as a rule, to betray 
 what has happened by spellings like feke for ^ake, or Jlo?/d for 
 j^ood. In any case, Caxton stuck to the traditional M.E. 
 spelling of the vowel sounds, and although these sounds have 
 gone on changing ever since, in many cases we still adhere, 
 in the main, to the example which he set. Had the intro- 
 duction of printing been delayed another hundred years, it is 
 hardly conceivable that the new sounds should not have found 
 graphic expression. Even Caxton lapses into the phonetic 
 spelling /lyre = [hir] 'hear' for M.E. /leren. This, however, 
 may represent not the Anglian type, but the Sthn. type with 
 O.E. ze, later J (§ 170). 
 
 § 212. The most systematic distinction made in the spelling 
 of vowels is the writing of ee, ie, or ei, especially the first, for 
 old tense e, deed, etc., which had become [l] by Caxton's day, 
 and of ea for the old slack e, read, etc., which had not yet 
 been raised to the high position. Other distinctions, though 
 by no means so systematically made, are oa or ^-l-cons. + ^ for 
 old slack o as in throat, rose (Pret.), etc., and 00 for old tense o 
 in good, etc., which in Caxton's time had already become [u]. 
 We still preserve 00 pretty generally for this old tense o, so 
 much so that ' double o ' for many people simply means 
 either [u] as in moon, or [u] as in look. 
 
 We preserve also ie in thieve, and ee in deed for old tense e. 
 This habit becomes more and more fixed during the sixteenth 
 century, and in the seventeenth by 'the (?^-sound ' [l] is always 
 meant. Similarly ea as bead, etc., generally represents now, 
 as in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, old slack e, 
 which has now become [l] like the old tense e. see, O.E. seon, 
 M.E. se{n), [e], compared with sea, O.E. sx, M.E. see, [i], 
 are an instructive pair of words in this respect. 
 
§§211-15] Modern English spelling 129 
 
 § 213. Another feature, now fixed in our spelling, which 
 must be regarded as a phonetic device, is the final -c in hope, 
 etc., as a mark of length. The reason for this in a number of 
 words is explained above, § 173, Note 3. When -e ceased to be 
 pronounced as a separate syllable, which happened during the 
 fifteenth century, it was retained in spelling for the above 
 purpose in words where it belonged historically, and was also 
 added in a number of others, such as bone, where it had no 
 historical sanction. Final -e came to be regarded as such an 
 indubitable mark of length in the preceding vowel that we 
 find later writers speaking of it as having the ' power ' of 
 lengthening this ! 
 
 § 214. Other changes made in the habitual M.E. spelling 
 have no phonetic object. Some are due to a desire to show 
 the connexion of English words with Latin or French. Of 
 these may be mentioned debt, doubt, perfect, aucthor, isle,faidt,_ 
 for M.E. dette, doute, parfit, alitor. He, fautc. The b in debt, 
 doubt never affected the pronunciation, nor the s of isle, but 
 [pAfikt, 5|?a, f51t] owe their present form to the spelling. Isle 
 is an imitation of Middle French isle, where the s is an etymo- 
 logical fancy introduced to show connexion with Lat. hisida, 
 long after the sound had vanished. As a matter of fact this 
 word was also connected by the would-be etymologists with 
 M.E. iland, with the result that an s was written here too. 
 M.E. f or fj is from O.'^.ige ' island ', a pure native word. The old 
 ending -tiozm, -cioun, e. g. in M.E. nacioim, has been altered 
 after the Latin model to -tion, so that the connexion with the 
 M.E. spelling is lost without any phonetic gain. 
 
 As printed books became more widespread, it was natural 
 that spelling should crystallize, both for the convenience of the 
 printer, and from the increased familiarity of the reader with 
 his system. The vagaries of the sixteenth and early seven- 
 teenth-century spelling represent experiments in search of the 
 most convenient method. After the middle of the seventeenth 
 century, the changes and varieties are but trifling, and English 
 spelling may be said to have been fixed finally by Dr. John- 
 son's Dictionary (1755). Since then nothing more serious 
 than the habit of universally writing public, etc., instead of 
 publick, etc., has come about. 
 
 § 215. Another change of pure convenience is the definite 
 use of v,j for consonants, and ti, i for vowels. As late as the 
 seventeenth century usage was quite unsettled in this respect, 
 the symbols v, n being often used indifferently in both 
 functions. 
 
 I 
 
I30 History of English Sounds: ///.Modern [chap.vh 
 
 § 216. The numerous sixteenth and seventeenth-century 
 attempts at reforming English spelling on a phonetic basis 
 came to nothing, just as those in our own day have been 
 hitherto shipwrecked, by the total lack of general interest in 
 the question. 
 
 Probably no one really wants English Spelling ' reformed ' 
 for ordinary purposes, except a handful of faddists, and most 
 of these have systems of their own which they are anxious to 
 float. 
 
 For scientific purposes it is a different matter ; here a 
 systematic use of phonetic symbols to express the sounds we 
 are discussing is absolutely essential. From a phonetic point 
 of view, English spelling is almost the worst imaginable, but 
 the chances of its being altered now seem very remote. 
 Many persons who used to talk with light hearts of reforming 
 English Spelling have been seriously frightened and rendered 
 hostile to any change by the proposals of the Simplified 
 Spelling Society. To them it appears that the well-intentioned 
 efforts of these enthusiasts merely substitute fresh difficulties 
 for those already familiar. Experiment alone can show 
 whether children would take more kindly and readily to this 
 system, than to that over which their ancestors^ in their youth, 
 have groaned so long. 
 
 The Vowels in Detail 
 Isolative Treatment. 
 
 § 217. M.E. a (cp. §§ 159, 160) is fronted to [ae]. 
 
 So far as the testimony of the Grammarians goes, the old 
 back sound remained in the ' best English ' throughout the 
 sixteenth century. Early in the next century, however, there 
 are indications of fronting in their descriptions, but it is not 
 till 1685 that we have a definite description of a low front. It 
 is certain, however, that the sound had developed long before 
 this. Already in the sixteenth century Palgrave indeed hints, 
 with disapproval, at the existence of another sound than [a]. 
 A front pronunciation is pretty certain from Shakespeare's 
 rhymes scratch — wretch (Victor, Sh. Pr.^ p. 208), neck — bach 
 (Horn, § 40), both from Venus and Adonis, The spellings 
 begen ' began ', zastyrday ' yesterday ', which occur in Paston 
 Letters (Norfolk), are said by Neumann, pp. 16, 31, to show 
 that a had already become [aj] in the fifteenth century. 
 Zachrisson, p. 58, also gives 7inderste7id—fend ' found ', M.E. 
 fand) rensackyd from the same documents, but does not draw 
 
§§ 216-19] Development of M.E. a 131 
 
 from such forms the inference that a had been fronted. Indeed, 
 nearly all the spellings of this kind adduced are capable of 
 other explanation (Zachrisson, pp. 59-61). Diehl {Engl. 
 Schreibwig jind Ansspr., p. 9) gives the spelling beck ' back ' 
 from documents of 1485, at stren * at strand ' 1554, ^ctes ' acts' 
 1598, etc. 
 
 In some parts of the country, then, the fronting may have 
 begun in the fifteenth century and been completed by the end 
 of that century ; in the Standard language it seems to have 
 been going on perhaps from early in the sixteenth century, 
 and to have been fully developed universally by the end of 
 it. It took the Grammarians some time longer to recognize, 
 and to find means for describing the new sound. Once 
 established, [ae] has remained unchanged. 
 
 Combinative developments of M.E. a in the Modern Period. 
 
 § 218. The combination al becomes S^mi\\. 
 
 This process is very similar to that described in §§ 171. 7 {a), 
 196, 183 above, of the O.E. Fracture. It takes place primarily 
 in stressed syllables, when -al is final, as in all^ small, fall, etc., 
 also when al is followed by another consonant — salt, malt, talk, 
 bald, half, calf. When a vowel follows the /, no diphthongization 
 occurs — hallow, fallow, valley, etc. 
 
 The diphthong is fully established at least as early as the 
 third quarter of the fifteenth century, as is shown by the 
 spellings in the Cely Papers (1475-88) (cf. Sussbier, p. 25), 
 e. g. hawlfe,fawllyn, hazvltyd, catdhiys ' calves ', etc. (the vowel 
 of the PI. suffix was already lost in pronunciation, but in any 
 case the an here could be explained from the Sing, catdf). 
 The early Grammarians all describe a diphthong in these and 
 other similar words. This \aii\ like the older M.E. a7i 
 (§§171. 7 {a), 196, 183) subsequently became [5] except before 
 lip-cons. Its history will, however, be discussed under M.E. 
 au. See § 260 below. 
 
 The pronunciation [51] at the present day always implies 
 an earlier [az/l]. 
 
 Note. Shall = [Jcel] is derived from Early Mod. sMl without diph- 
 thongization. This is the unstressed form. .S/za/ would also occur in the 
 breath-group shall. On the other hand, the strong form shanl is recorded 
 by the early Grammarians, and its descendant [J5l] is heard to-day in 
 some dialects. 
 
 § 219. M.E. a before [s, f, ]?]. 
 
 In M.E. words like dske,grds, passen, etc. ; cJidf,stdf, craft, 
 dftcr, etc. ; bap, pdp, etc., the vowel was first fronted in the 
 
 I 2 
 
132 History of English Sounds : III. Modern [chap, vii 
 
 usual way, giving [tja,'f, grais, pae]'] and so on, and then 
 lengthened to [tJSf, grais, pae]>], etc. This [je] was again 
 retracted to \a\ giving the present-day [tj^f, gr^s, p«|']. The 
 early Grammarians appear to differ in their pronunciation of 
 these groups of words, just as we differ to some extent nowa- 
 days. The lengthening is certainly late seventeenth or early 
 eighteenth century, and the retraction, among some speakers, 
 took place before the close of the latter. On the other hand 
 [gr^s], etc. appear to have existed already in the third quarter 
 of the seventeenth century, according to some Grammarians, 
 but [se] is unmistakably described still by late eighteenth- 
 century writers. Almost all stages \a, je, £e, a\ exist to-day 
 in different Regional and Class Dialects. In spite of 
 Zachrisson's disbelief in variant developments, I cannot escape 
 the conviction that they are recorded by the early Gram- 
 marians in the above as in other classes of words, and I 
 attribute them largely to Class Dialect. 
 
 Note i. Jespersen, Mod. E. G., i, pp. 304-310, rejects the ordinary 
 view of the development of [a] in present-day English, and believes that 
 it is of L.M.E. or Early Mod. origin, and has been retained unaltered. 
 The difificulty of believing in the application of his complicated theory of 
 * preservative analogy ' here appears very great. 
 
 Note 2. Present-day [h£e|), hrest] instead of [hrt|>,hrtst] are due to the 
 analogy of [h^v], q. v., § 225, Note. 
 
 § 220. The words father, rather fall under the above state- 
 ment. They are developed out of the M.E. short forms 
 father., rather (cp. § 176, Note), the series being [f«"Ser< fae'S3r< 
 fae"S3r<f<2(S3r]. Provincial [g^Sar] has had the same 
 development. 
 
 § 221. If, as seems probable, undiphthongized forms of 
 calf, half., laugh also existed, and we might assume E. Mod. 
 [k«(l)f, h«(l)f, \d(\ by the side of [krtu(l)f, hrtu(l)f, \aux, l^uf], 
 then the former group would belong entirely to other af~ 
 words, and the development would be [l^f<laef < laef<l^f]. 
 To laffc occurs in 1563 in a letter of Barnabe Googe ; cp. 
 Arber's Reprint, p. 12. This probably represents [l«f]. 
 For the orthodox explanation of the derivation of the \a\ in 
 these words from [«u], see § 260 below. 
 
 § 222. The M.E. combination -ar. 
 
 M.E. dr became [Sr] and this was lengthened to [ser] in 
 the first instance before another consonant — [hserd, psert], but 
 still [aer, faer], etc. (Sweet, H. E. S., § 780). This is seventeenth 
 century, but before the end of the century the lengthening 
 seems to have involved those words also in which no con- 
 
§§219-23] History of Present-day [a]-Somid 133 
 
 sonant followed the r. This [se] developed to [a] like that 
 in § 219. 
 
 Such is the origin of our present-day [a\ in car, arc, card, 
 heart, hard, etc., etc. In fact [a\ in present-day English always 
 goes back to M.E. and Early Mod. ^ with subsequent fronting 
 and lengthening as described above. 
 
 Are \a\ is not from the M.E. dre{n) type, which produced 
 the now obsolete [sr, ear] that used to be written ' air ' by 
 comic writers, but from the M.E. variant are which occurred 
 in unstressed positions. 
 
 Present-day clerk, Berks., Bertie, Berkley, hearth^ Derby 
 [klak, haks, hdtt, h^|>, b^kli, d^bi], in spite of the spelling, 
 are derived from a M.E. dark, Bdrks{chire), Ddrbi, Bdrklei, etc. 
 
 Concerning the history of M.E. -er, the type represented 
 by the spelling in above forms, see § 238. 
 
 Note. The \ar\ type of original ^r-words was very usual in eighteenth- 
 century Received Standard. Lady Wentworth regularly writes sarve, 
 sarvents, Jarniaiiy, sartainly, hard ' hea.rd \ parson 'person ', etc., etc. 
 Cp. Wentw. Papers, passim. Vardy ' verdict, opinion ', occurs in Swift's 
 Polite Conversatio7is. 
 
 § 223. M.E. wa-, qua-. 
 
 These combinations appear in present-day English with 
 a rounded vowel : wash, wan, szvallow, swan, watch, wasp, 
 quality, quantity, sqnash, etc. [w:'/, w:'n, sw:?lo", sw.?n, w:?tj, 
 kw.?ntztz, w:7sp, kw.?h'tz, skw.?J], etc. The early Grammarians do 
 not describe a rounded vowel here until 1685, but the evidence 
 of occasional spellings shows that the rounding had taken place 
 more than a century earlier. Thus Diehl, p. 14, cites wosse 
 'wash' (1560), and Zachrisson, p. 62, gives rezvord, VVolsyng- 
 liain, Volnntyne, wos, etc. = ' rezvard, Walsingham, Valentine, 
 %vas ', from the Paston Letters. The form szvolwe-bridde 
 occurs already in the Earliest Engl. Prose Psalter (circa 1350), 
 Psalmus Ezeech., verse 7, p. 180. 
 
 There seem to have been two periods of this rounding in 
 different speech communities, one before, and one after the 
 fronting of old a. Thus the above early spellings seem to 
 show that L. M.E. zva became zvo direct. On the other hand, 
 the Grammarians give forms like [wsez, swaen, kwseliti], which 
 show that w did not hinder the fronting, and that [w^] did 
 become [wae]. In this case, the series must have been [svV(^n, 
 swaen, sw^n, sw^n], etc. 
 
 In the dialect of some classes, the rounding did not involve 
 all words, for [kwaeliti, kwaentiti] were well-used eighteenth- 
 century forms, and have been heard in the last century by old 
 people still living. 
 
134 History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap.vh 
 
 The form szvain [swa^m] instead of [sw<7m] may be explained 
 from the analogy of ran, began, etc. 
 
 Before back consonants the rounding did not as a rule take 
 place among standard speakers ; cp. wag, quack, wax, etc. 
 On the other hand, [kw<7g] instead of [kwaeg] in quagmire 
 may be occasionally heard. 
 
 § 224. When r follows, whether as a final sound, or suc- 
 ceeded by another consonant, the rounded vowel just described 
 is lengthened, and appears now as [5], thus war, warm, warp, 
 warn, szvarm, etc. = [w5, w5m, w5p, w5n, sw5m]. The history 
 of dr, § 222 above, shows that this lengthening is due to the r 
 itself, and not to the modern loss of this sound. 
 
 The lengthening did not take place when the r was followed 
 by a vowel — warrior, warren, quarrel = [wmia, w^rin, 
 kwc^ral]. 
 
 It may be noted that certain groups of young speakers at 
 the present time show a tendency to lose intervocalic -r-, and 
 in this case, the preceding vowel does appear to be lengthened ; 
 either [w^ja, kw^al], etc., or [w5J3, kwoal]. 
 
 M.E. a. 
 
 § 225. Independent Development. 
 
 d fronted to [se] which is raised to [§] and then made 
 tense: [e]. 
 
 In spite of the fact that Gill (1621) asserts that he pro- 
 nounced the old sound {a\ in name and capon, and ridicules 
 the pronunciation [nem, kepn], no one now takes him quite 
 seriously. He at least recognizes the existence of a fronted 
 pronunciation while he condemns it. His own pronunciation 
 may have been [se] (cp. Zachrisson, p. 190). 
 
 As a matter of fact, a front vowel in the place of M.E. a is 
 recognized by French writers as early as 1528, and occasional 
 spellings from written documents, such as tekc ^td\fie\fcder, 
 'M.'E, fader (Paston Letters), ceme ' came' (Cely Papers), etc., 
 etc., show that the fronting (probably to [se]) was as early as 
 the fifteenth century (Zachrisson, p. 56). 
 
 Probably the [i] stage was reached early in the sixteenth 
 century, and [e] by the end of that century. There must 
 have been some individual speakers, or perhaps social classes, 
 who were somewhat behind the latest developments, as Gill's 
 remarks show. See also Luick, Anglia, xiv, p. 271. The 
 fronting of a was considerably ahead of that of a, according to 
 the testimony of the Grammarians. See § 217. 
 
 Examples are : ale, dame, cape, flake, gate, lane, behave, 
 etc., etc. 
 
§§2 23-8] Fronting of M.E. [a\ 135 
 
 The words danger^ grange, safe (§§171 (9), Note, 184, Note, 
 196), in so far as they go back to M.E.^ and not to ai, belong 
 to this group. 
 
 The present-day diphthong [ez] in [ne/m], etc., is nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 Note. The provincial [re/¥3r, fez'^ar] are from M.E. rd^er, fader. 
 This type is probably indicated by Lady Went worth's speUing rether 
 (1708). Cf. Wejitiv. Papers, p. 64. Have [haev], as distinct from [bzhezv], 
 goes back to M.E. hdv with shortening, or absence of lengthening, in 
 an unstressed position (§ 177). For [haest, hae|>], see § 219, Note 2. 
 
 M.E. a + r. 
 
 § 226. In the combination dr, M.E. a developed, according 
 to § 235, to [ae, i] and remained at this stage. Then a parasitic 
 [9] developed between the vowel and the -r, and the latter 
 was lost, in Standard English, early in nineteenth century. 
 
 Thus M.E. hare ' hare ' had the following series of changes : 
 [h^r<hSr<hir<hl3r<h£3] and so with the words, care, 
 dare, bare, snare, etc. It will be seen that in the [er] stage 
 original dr was completely levelled under M.E. e^r (§ i'^'^-> 
 and M.E. air, eir (§ 269). 
 
 M.E. e. 
 § 227. Independent Treatment. 
 
 M.E. e remains as [s] : set, read (Pret. M.E. redde), men, 
 tell, well (adv.), kept, get, help, etc., etc. 
 
 The vowel in fledge, left (hand), knell is M.E. and O.E. e 
 from earlier y, according to the ' Kentish' type. See §§ 142, 
 158 {b). 
 
 M.E. er-. 
 
 § 228. Combinative Treatment. 
 
 In so far as this combination did not become ar in 
 M.E., it remained till the Early Mod. period, and was then 
 apparently made into a flat vowel [9]. With the weakening 
 of the [r], this vowel was lengthened, and lowered, and made 
 tense, becoming present-day [a]. Examples : earth, earn, 
 churl, heard (Late M.E. herde),fern, learn, servant, etc. 
 
 The vowel in kernel is the ' Kentish ' form of O.E. y, W.S., 
 etc., cyrnel (§ 142). 
 
 Herd, in shep//^r^, hcrds^ax'ssi, etc., is from the O.E. Merc. 
 heorde, M.E. heorde, herde, W.S. hierde (§§ 117, 119, 139). 
 
 In sixteenth-century literary English the ty\)e yearth ' earth ' 
 is much used, e.g. in Edw. VI's First Prayer Book. This is 
 probably from the M.E. Kentish type ycrpe as found in 
 Ajenbite (§ 168). 
 
 Clerk, Berks., etc., whose spelling shows that they represent 
 
136 History of English Sounds : I I I. Modern [chap.vh 
 
 M.E. cr, are yet pronounced according to the M.E. «r-type 
 (§ 22a). 
 
 For other sources of [a] see §§ 238, 252, 255. 
 
 Note. When a vowel follows -er- [e] remains : verity, etc. 
 
 M.E. e^ (tense ; see sources under § 201). 
 
 § 229. Independent Development [e < 1]. 
 
 Old tense c was raised to [l] at least by the end of the first 
 third of the sixteenth century. This is proved by the state- 
 ments of the Grammarians. There is no conclusive evidence 
 for this earlier, either from occasional spellings or otherwise. 
 Caxton's hyj'c ' hear ' may be an exception to this, but 
 cp. § 211. This [1] has so far remained in Standard English. 
 Examples of the various groups are : seek, siJlfeet, feet, green ; 
 {jbeliciie, steel, steeple', he, we, me ; shield, whld, field '^_da^d, 
 seed \ifreeze, bee, deep, see ,Cbectle, evil, zveevil. Norman-French 
 wofds : \beef, chief, grief, pieee. 
 
 Note i. Evil, O.E. {y\[.S.) yfel, was formerly explained as a Kentish 
 form, but as Luick has pointed out {Untersiichtatgen, p. 281), M.E. e 
 lengthened from c in an open syllable was slack, whereas the tenseness of e 
 in the ancestor of evil is proved by the sixteenth-century Grammarians 
 recording this word with [1]. It must therefore be explained together 
 with beetle and weevil, according to § 1 74. 
 
 Note 2. The fact that deed is recorded as containing [1] already in 
 the sixteenth century, as well as the spelling of this word, and of seed, 
 shows that these forms are derived from the non-W.S. ded, etc., which of 
 course had [e] in M.E. Chaucer often uses the Anglian forms of these 
 words in his rhymes, but has a preponderance of rhymes with undoubted 
 M.E. [§](§§ 162, 371). ..x^\ 
 
 § 230. M.E. e^ before -r. 
 
 Before -r a parasitic vowel developed after M.E. e, Mod. [l]: 
 Jiere, hear, dear, etc. = [hz'o, dzb]. The diphthong [zaj is 
 heard at4,he present time, both when final r is lost as in the 
 above words, and when it has been retained before a vowel as 
 in [h/ar/r)], etc. 
 
 Note. Hear from Anglian herim, § 124 ; fear from Anglian y?r, § 124 ; 
 andj^rtr from Anglian ^t'r, § 123 (but cp. § 115, Note), are all normal in 
 having [ia]. For the [sa] in the?-e, were, hair, cp. § 233. 
 
 § 231. Shortening of Mod. [l] from M.E. e\ 
 
 Shortening, comparable to that of [s] (§ 235), has taken place 
 in breeches [brztj/zj, {\\2iy)riek — [rik] survives in the dialects — 
 riddle, O.E. (Anglian) redels ; sick, silly, etc. 
 
§§228-33] Raising of M.E. Tense [^] to \l\ 137 
 
 M.E. e^ (slack [e], § 201, p. 116). 
 
 § 232. Independent Treatment. 
 
 This sound was kept quite distinct from M.E. [e] far into 
 the Modern period. On the spelling ea, see § 3i2. All our 
 evidence points to the original sound being retained at least 
 as a mid vowel throughout the sixteenth century. It may, 
 however, have become [e] in some circles before the end. Gill 
 (1621) mentions with contempt the pronunciations [mit, llv] 
 which might imply either a tense and raised pronunciation of 
 [e], verging on [l], or this actual sound itself A man who 
 said [met] and who did not use [e] at all, might possibly 
 mistake the latter for a high vowel. Towards the end of the 
 century, the statements of the Grammarians point, in some 
 cases, to [1] in weak, sea, meat, etc., but this pronunciation was 
 not general, nor indeed did it become universal till late in the 
 eighteenth century, as is shown both by Grammarians' state- 
 ments and poets' rhymes. 
 
 Among the words included under [l] by some authorities 
 in the eighteenth century are break, great, steak, where we 
 still have the [e] type. (For our present forms of these see 
 note below.) It seems pretty certain that it is not a question, 
 after the middle of the seventeenth century, of a new sound 
 change from [e] to [l] but merely of a particular type of pro- 
 nunciation (Class Dialect) becoming general. The mid vowel 
 is retained to-day in most of the old [s] words in Irish English, 
 and in some words also in the dialects of the S.W. of England. 
 Examples of words containing M.E. [s] are : beam, dream, 
 beat, east, leap ; clean, deal (vb. and n.), heat, heath, teach ; 
 breathe, eat, speak, steal ; French words : beast, feast, veal. 
 
 Note. Present-day [grezt], M.E. grete, may be due to a doublet in 
 M.E. form on the analogy of the Comp. grettre, which survived in Caxton's 
 English. If this survived after [grgt] had become [gret], a form [gret], 
 whence later [gret], might arise again with the vowel quality of the Comp., 
 but the quantity of the Positive. See Jespersen, p. 338, who, however, 
 explains the form rather differently by his principle of ' preservative 
 analogy '. Steak and break may owe their vowel to a S.W. dialect type, 
 and this explanation would of course account lor great also. 
 
 M.E. [er]. 
 
 § 233. It appears that in Standard English the vowel in 
 this group did not normally undergo raising to [l] as in the 
 independent position, and as the group M.E. [er] did (§ 230). 
 
 Examples are : bear v b., and the name of the animal, 
 swear, wear, ere. Thex£, where, were, hair must contain M.E. 
 
138 History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap.vh 
 
 [e] from O.E. (Saxon) type x. Cp., on the other hand, fear, 
 § 230, Note. 
 
 § 234. There is, however, another group of words which 
 have [/a] at the present day, and where the pronunciation [ir] 
 is recorded in Early Mod. : ear, spear, rear (vb.), beard, shear, 
 smear, tear (from the eye). Ear may possibly owe its vowel 
 to association with hear, but the others must come from a 
 dialect where the change to [ir] was normal. It is to be noted 
 that nearly all words of both groups occur both with [er] and 
 with [ir] in the Grammarians. 
 
 Note. Beard =\bi^^'\ presupposes earlier [bird], but another pro- 
 nunciation [bsrd], which develops into [bArd], is also recorded. Walker 
 states that this persisted on the stage in late eighteenth century, and it 
 may still be heard in Ireland. 
 
 § 235. Shortening of M.E. [e] in Modern Period. 
 
 In a number of words [i] was shortened, apparently during 
 the seventeenth century, before it was raised to [l], perhaps 
 before it had become tense. The conditions of this shortening 
 are not satisfactorily explained (Jespersen, pp. 234 and '243). 
 Examples are : bread, breath, dead, death, head, lest, pleasure, 
 re{a)d, sweat, etc. Both long and short forms of these are to 
 be found among the eighteenth-century writers on pronuncia- 
 tion. 
 
 Do these short forms represent the habits of a Class 
 Dialect ? Cf. the long forms bead, knead, etc. In the dialects 
 long forms are often found where Standard has short and 
 vice versa. Any one who has lived in Ireland knows that 
 there we speak of a horse being able to [Isp] well = 'jump '. 
 
 With the shortening of [s] compare that of [e], § 231. 
 
 M.E. 6^ (tense). — Independent Treatment. 
 
 § 236. M.E. 5^ (tense) becomes [ia]. 
 
 All careful poets in M.E. distinguish in their rhymes between 
 tense and slack 0. The former, as we have seen (§ 263, Note), 
 probably became [u] as early as the fourteenth century in the 
 dialects of the S.W. of England. We have no means of 
 knowing exactly how early this change took place in Standard 
 English, but the earliest sixteenth-century Grammarians all 
 describe an [G] sound in words which had tense in M.E., 
 and such spellings as umst (about 1400, Lond. Records, 
 Horn, p. 89) ; gnd (1419, Morsbach, Schriftspr., p. 48), gtid, 
 gowde (frequently) ; tuk (Cely Papers, Siissbier, p. 43), etc., 
 leave no doubt that the [ii] was established at least by the 
 beginning of the fifteenth century. The spellings giid, goude, 
 
§§233-7] M.E. Tense 139 
 
 siotid, etc., occur also in the Paston Letters (Zachrisson, p. 77), 
 which show that the sound was pretty general. The process 
 consisted in the gradual raising and over-rounding of o, till 
 the high position of the tongue, and full rounding were 
 attained. 
 
 Caxton occasionally uses the symbol oti for old o, and even 
 in Edward VI's First Prayer Book such spellings as stotid, 
 Jlotid occur. 
 
 This L. M.E. [u] has three possible developments in Stan- 
 dard English, which are seen in different groups of words. 
 
 (i) [u] remains down to the present time : [mun, spun, rud, 
 sun, tu]?, stul, fud, gus, huf], etc., etc. ; moon, spoon, rood, soon, 
 tooth, stool, food, goose, hoof. 
 
 (a) [u] remains down to late eighteenth or early nineteenth 
 century, and is then shortened and made slack : [g/?d, h«d, 
 s//t, iiiX., k/zk, r?^k, \uV, st?M], etc., etc. ; good, hood, soot, foot, 
 cook, rook, look, stood. 
 
 (si \y^ *s shortened early in the sixteenth century, or 
 perhaps before. The new [u] is levelled under M.E. short ii 
 and is unrounded in the late sixteenth century ; see § 250. The 
 sound resulting from this unrounding has produced present- 
 day [a]. Words of this group are : [blad, flad, glav, dan, 
 man)?, mast, ma'Sa], etc., etc. ; blood, flood, glove, done, month, 
 must (vb.), mother. 
 
 § 237. The distribution of these three types is quite fixed 
 now in Received Standard, but varies considerably among 
 the various Modified Standards, and in the Regional Dialects, 
 [sat] ' soot ' is now a vulgarism. 
 
 In the Regional Dialects and the Modified Standard of the 
 North Midlands [u] is still heard in all words before k, [tuk, 
 luk], etc. The differences among the sixteenth-century Gram- 
 marians in the distribution of [ul and [u], and among the 
 seventeenth-century ones, in that of [u] and [u, a], may be partly 
 due to differences of age, the pronunciation being further 
 developed in some than in others, but it must also be due to 
 influences of Class and Regional character, just as at the 
 present day. 
 
 Note i. If we accept Luick's interpretation of M.E. wode 'wood', 
 above, love, § 174, we must assume Late M.E. [wud, abuv, luvl, and they 
 will fall under § 236, group (2) with hood, etc., or under (3) with blood. 
 
 Note 2. M.E. gold, with lengthening before Id (§ 114), normally 
 became [guld], and this was the fashionable Received Standard form well 
 into the nineteenth century. By the side of M.E. gold, however, £old 
 also existed, due probably to the analogy of the a.d}. g-oldene, g^oldne (§f I7S 
 
140 History of English Sounds: I I I. Modern [chap.vh 
 
 (7), 176), and this later became [gold] long after the old long form had 
 become [guld]. (See § 242 for ^V + cons.) This late form has completely 
 ousted the old [guldj, which survives, however, in the family name Gould 
 by the side of Gold. 
 
 § 238. Combinative Treatment of M.E. 5^ + r. 
 
 In M.'E.Jidr, swor, mdr,pdre, hore ' floor ', ' swore ', ' moor ', 
 ' poor ', ' whore ' ; in M.E. dort^ ' door ' (§ 174) ; in dord ' board ', 
 hard {^ 114), etc., d was not raised to [u], but seems to have 
 become [5] in part of Early Standard. Some early writers, 
 however, have [miir, pur, bijrd], etc. At the present time 
 both types survive among different speakers, in some words. 
 Thus [puo, p5, mu3, m5]. As a rule, in Received Standard, 
 apart from poo7', inoor^ boor, only [5] obtains in words contain- 
 ing M.E. dr. In the dialects, however, we may hear [busrd, 
 fluor, huor], etc. 
 
 (Cp. Luick, Aiiglia, xvi, p. 461, who assumes the series [5r, 
 Or, 5r, 5r].) 
 
 Mutschmann, Bcibl. z. Aiiglia, June, 1908, suggests the in- 
 fluence of the preceding lip-consonants to account for [puo, 
 muo, buo, mu9n]. 
 
 § 239. Word, worthy, which now have [a], may have had 
 0^ in M.E. In this case, they had [u] in Early Mod., a view 
 supported by such spellings as zvoord, woortJiie in Ediv. VI 
 First P. B. The development from Early Mod. would be 
 [wurd, wurd, ward, wlrd, wAd], etc. 
 
 M.E. 52 (slack). 
 
 § 240. Independent Development. 
 
 M.E. <?^ whatever its origin (§ 301, p. 117), was probably 
 a long mid-back-slack-round \o\ This sound seems to have 
 remained until well into the sixteenth century and then to 
 have been made tense [6]. The latter sound was diphthongized 
 to the present \oii\. 
 
 Examples : stone, bone, loaf, only, a.\'07ie, etc. ; /lope, t/iroat ; 
 coat, rose, pole. 
 
 Note i. Broad\br^&\ instead of [broz^d], 7m^ groat, now [groz^t] from 
 the spelling, but formerly [gr5t, gr^t] have been explained as derived from 
 a dialectal type in the S.-West of England, where this development is 
 normal. Sweet's explanation (//. E. S., § 841) that the lowering is due to 
 the influence of r can hardly hold good in the face of grove, grope ; see 
 Horn, Hist. tie. Gr., p. 84. 
 
 Note 2. Present-day 07ie [wan] shows a different vowel development 
 from on-\y, aX-one, which have a normal sound from O.E. an, M.E. on. 
 [wan] seems to presuppose an earlier [wun], like [wats] ' oats ', earlier 
 [wuts], now dialectal or vulgar. So many widely separated dialects now 
 
§§237-44] Tense and Slack o 141 
 
 have [lists, wats ; lian, wan] that it is difificult to decide from which area 
 this type passed into Standard English. The spelling iuo7ilychc occurs 
 as early as 1421 {St. Editha, 3529). A few scattered examples of this 
 spelling are found in the sixteenth century: Such a ivfl7ie (Latimer's 
 Sermons, 1540). WJiome ' home ' is used by Tyndale (1528), and whoale 
 ' whole ', li'holy for holy, forms similar to wotie occur, the latter several 
 times, in Rcdc mc and be 7ioi luroihe (1528); ivholy in Sir T. More, by 
 side oi holy and hole. Several of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century 
 Grammarians recognize [wun, wan], etc., and as late as 1695 the Writing 
 Scholnt^s Co})ipanio7i notes [wun] as vulgar (Horn, Hist.ne. G7-., p. 83). It 
 seems evident from the spelling that in Early Standard one had the same 
 vowel as on-\y, al-one, etc., and that the other type gradually got a footing 
 later from a lower Class Dialect. It is suggested by some that old [on] 
 survives in 'i(7i — a good 'ten, a 'W7-07ig '//«, etc. ; but this may equally 
 well represent [wan] with loss of initial [w] in an unstressed syllable. 
 The process was [<7n-, (73n-, oan, lian-, uan, wan] or something of the sort. 
 
 Note 3. A similar tendency to develop [w] may be noted before old 
 tense which had become [u]. The spelling luother ' other ' occurs on 
 p. 117 of the Shilli7igford Letters (1447-50, Camden Soc, 1871). 
 
 Combinative Treatment of IM.E. 6^. 
 § 241. M.E. 52 + r. 
 
 Before r ]V[.E. slacl-c o seems to have become tense, as else- 
 where, and then to have been made slaclc again, and lowered 
 to [5] : roar., boar, born, iorlorn, glory, hoarse, sore, etc. All 
 these from earlier [r5r, bor, glori], etc. The tense [5] or 
 sometimes [59, o?/3] still survives in the Northern and North 
 IVlidland Dialects, and is heard also in the various forms of 
 Vulgar IVIodified Standard in Liverpool. 
 
 §242. M.E. 52 -1-1. 
 
 It seems certain from the statements of the Grammarians, 
 and from occasional spellings, some of which survived pretty 
 late, that in the above combination a parasitic [u] developed, 
 at least as early as the late fifteenth century — owld, could, etc., 
 ' old, cold,' etc. This diphthong was subsequently contracted 
 to [o] and had the same history as independent <?^ (§ 240). 
 
 § 243. Shortening of M.E. 5^ 
 
 This occurs in hot, O.E. hat, M.'E.hot, E. IVlod. spelt hoate 
 [hot] by side of hottc ; cp. the similar shortening of M.E. e^ 
 and i:^, §§ 231, 335. 
 
 M.E. 6. 
 § 244. Independent Treatment. 
 
 M.E. o remains unaltered, so far as we can tell, far into the 
 Modern Period. It was probably inid-back-slack-round [o]. 
 It cannot be determined precisely when it was lowered to its 
 present sound [5]. Examples : cot, rot, ox, long, etc., etc. 
 
142 History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap.vh 
 
 Note. In many Dialects, M.E. o shows unrounded forms in [a, «] in a 
 large number of words at the present time (cf. Wright, E. D. G?:, §§ 82-4, Zj). 
 This tendency evidently penetrated into Standard English during the 
 seventeenth century (cp. Marston's rhyme oi daughter [daftar] with afier, 
 § 264, and was current, to some extent, in fashionable circles, as we see 
 from Lord Foppington's (Vanbrugh's Relapse) ship ' stop ', Tavi ' Tom ', 
 Gad ' God ', pasitively ' positively ', /tarse ' horse ', p/ats ' plots ', dax 
 'box', etc., etc. Lady Wentworth's Attsloiu for Onslow (1708) (cp. 
 Wentw. Papers, p. 67), and beyatid {\j\o) (ibid., p. 127) are examples of the 
 same habit. Some few forms of this class survive : strap and strop, 
 Gad, Egad. The unrounding apparently took place before the fronting 
 of [a\, or [<e] in these words may be due to sound substitution, at a time 
 when [a] no longer existed in Standard English. 
 
 § 245. Lengthening of 6. 
 
 Before [s, f, Y\ M.E. o appears in Present-day English, 
 though not among all speakers, as [5] as in cost, soft, froth. 
 This is due probably to a late lengthening. Cp. the parallel 
 lengthening of [ae], § 219. 
 
 M.E. u. 
 § 246. Independent Treatment : u becomes [aul. 
 
 We have no precise knowledge from direct sources of the 
 approximate date of the beginnings of this diphthongization. 
 O.E. u, as we know (§ 152), was commonly written ott in M.E., 
 and this spelling remained long after the sound had changed, 
 indeed it is the regular spelling at the present time in the old 
 ??-words. The occasional aji, azv spellings of the late fifteenth 
 century, such as catve 'cow' {Paston Letters', Zachrisson, 
 p. 79), no doubt indicate a diphthong, but not necessarily \au\. 
 We have seen (§§ 163, Note, and 236) that the old tense o had 
 become [u], probably in the fourteenth century, in the S. West, 
 and it is evident that old [u] must have moved on to something 
 else before this new [u] arose, otherwise the two sounds would 
 have been levelled under a single sound. This would put the 
 beginnings of diphthongization very far back for the S.W. 
 dialects, but it does not follow that this occurred everywhere 
 at the same time. At any rate, all the sixteenth-century 
 Grammarians describe a diphthong, apparently [o?^], in the old 
 u-yjords. The process was similar in nature to that whereby 
 old [l] became a diphthong ; that is, the long vowel was broken 
 up into two parts, and further differentiated, [u], then, first 
 became [u"] and then the first element was lowered, giving 
 \oti\, and this again was unrounded to [au]. This appears to 
 be the stage reached in the seventeenth century. The present 
 diphthong generally has a low-flat vowel in the first element. 
 
 Examples are : how, house, motise, bow (vb.), mouth, foul, 
 ground, plough ; crown, power, flower, count, etc. Drought 
 {dxau\) is from M.E. druht<dru{Ji)t. 
 
§§ 2 44-5°] Diphthongization of M.E. u 143 
 
 Note i. Incoimtry, plum, roKgh, southern, thumb, n was shortened 
 to ii before the diphlhon^ization began, and the vowel shares the history 
 of other M.E. 7^-words (§§ 236 (3), 250). 
 
 Note 2. Youth [ju))] may be a Northern loan {u remains in the 
 North), or it might owe its vowel to association with a short y\..Y.. young 
 (juqg], giving an early [juj)], which later underwent lengthening. Cp. 
 similar lengthenings in §§ 219, 245. It is possible there may have been an 
 O.E. mutated *gygf}, since [jy^] seems to have existed in Early Mod. 
 (Luick, Anglia, xiv, p. 291, cit. Horn, p. 92). Uncouth [ankii))] must be 
 a Northern form. 
 
 Note 3. Modern [kjukamba] is a spelling pronunciation for cu- from 
 earlier [ku-], which gives normally [krtz/kamba], now obsolete or vulgar. 
 
 Combinative Treatment. 
 
 § 247. M.E. ii before r + consonant is not diphthongized. 
 
 Examples : cow't, source, course, etc. [ij] is still recorded in 
 these words in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In 
 the eighteenth century the vowel was lowered to [6], whence 
 by further lowering we get the present [5] in these words 
 (Luick, Anglia, xvi, pp. 455-61 ; cp. also remarks in § 341 
 above on the slackening of [6] in eighteenth century). 
 
 § 248. M.E. u before lip- consonants, not diphthongized. 
 
 In this position the sound of M.E. u remained unaltered. 
 (See Luick, Anglia, xvi, p. 501.) 
 
 Examples : droop, loop, stoop, room, tomb, Cowper [kupg], etc. 
 
 § 249. M.E. wti- remains. 
 
 The vowel in zvowid (subst.), to wound, M.E. zvwid, %vund{en), 
 has been preserved owing to the influence of %v-. The pro- 
 nunciation [w«?md], which formerly existed, is probably in- 
 fluenced by the spelling. The pret. of to wind is still [w^zmd], 
 and this may be explained by the analogy oi found, which 
 belongs to the same class. 
 
 M.E. and Early Modern ii. 
 
 § 250. Independent Treatment : ii becomes [a]. 
 
 The earliest English Grammarians, hide-bound as they are 
 by the spelling, leave it doubtful whether they are aware of 
 any other sound than [u] in words hick, citt, but, etc. Most 
 of them down to the middle of the seventeenth century are 
 evidently describing the old [ii] pure and simple. Hodges, 
 in 1644, is the first English writer to make it clear that the 
 new sound is in use, and that most old short 7/-words have 
 this sound in his pronunciation (Zachrisson, p. 311). On the 
 
144 History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap.vii 
 
 other hand, the Frenchman Bellot in 1580, while stating that 
 B?ick and Book are both pronounced with French on {= [li]), 
 says that the sound of French o is heard in the first syllable 
 of upon (Spira, EngliscJie Lautcnizvickclnng, p. 52). Mason 
 (a French merchant), 1622, says that French is heard in Jipoji 
 and Jiungrie (Spira, p. 67). A work called AlpJiabet anglois, 
 1625, describes o as occurring in up, butter^ sunder^ cnrsc, etc. 
 This identification of the sound of English n with French o is 
 significant when we remember such Modern French spellings 
 and pronunciations as that of tSb, English tub. Zachrisson, 
 p. 81, thinks that in such sixteenth-century spellings as 
 farniture = furnitwe (cf. Diehl, pp. 154, i j8), a must be 
 interpreted as an attempt to render the new sound, and even 
 mentions, though with hesitation, gannes ' guns ' from Paston 
 Letters, as pointing to the existence of the sound in the 
 fifteenth century. Without relying too much on this rather 
 slender evidence, we shall probably be right in asserting that 
 [ij] was altered from its original sound well before the end of 
 the sixteenth century, though the new pronunciation did not 
 yet affect all words with old short n, nor did it occur among 
 all speakers, even of Standard English. As to the process 
 itself, if we take the Frenchmen's evidence literally, we shall 
 conceive that [u] high-back-tense-round was first lowered, 
 with rather more than sufficient unrounding for a mid 
 vowel, and then completely unrounded. The Lancashire 
 vowel in bush, bnll, etc., which is mid-back-tense, slightly 
 rounded, might easily sound as a kind of [6] to unaccustomed 
 ears, and it may well represent the stage reached by the last 
 quarter of the sixteenth century, and lasting beyond the first 
 quarter of the century following. 
 
 This unrounding process involved all the words containing 
 [u] no matter what the origin, the main groups being : {a) O.E. 
 and M.E, u as in riin^ cut, bnd, honey, nut, rust, son, summer, 
 won, woitder, etc., etc. [ran, kat, bad, hani, nat], etc. ; {b) 
 O.E. and M.E. o. Early Mod. [u] with early shortening, 
 as in blood, flood, etc. [blad, flad], cp. § 236. 3 ; {c) words with 
 Early Mod. ti from earlier [y], as in cudgel, drudge, rush, etc. 
 [kadzal, dradz, raj]. (See § 253, M.E. ii, for the sound in 
 this group of words.) 
 
 Combinative Treatment of M.E. u. 
 
 § 251. Influence of Initial Lip-consonant : [u] restored. 
 
 The sound in put, bull, bush, full, pull, wolf, wool, which 
 goes back to earlier u, was apparently unrounded to start 
 
§§ 250-3] Unrounding of M.E. u 145 
 
 with, but later, the influence of the initial lip-consonant re- 
 stored [u]. It looks as if this tendency existed only among 
 certain classes of speakers, and as if the above were survivals 
 of their dialect, while on the other hand in niitd^ bud, but, fun, 
 etc., we have forms from another type of speech, in which the 
 later rounding did not take place. 
 
 Note. Modern come [kam] apparently represents M.E. cumeti (often 
 written covien) and not M.E. comen with lengthening of fi {§ 174), to judge 
 by such spellings in E. Mod. as cuinmeih, etc., Edw. VJ's First P. B. 
 
 § 252. M.E. u before r or r + consonant : becomes [a], w^hich 
 becomes [a]. 
 
 The vowel in burn^ cur, imtrder, purse, zvorvi became [a], 
 giving [barn,kar,mard9r, pars, warm], etc., as in Modern Scotch; 
 as the [r] sound weakened the vowel was lengthened, and ulti- 
 mately made into a flat vowel, fully lengthened, giving present- 
 day [a]. For other sources of this sound see §§ 328, 338, 2^^. 
 
 Note. When a vowel follows the combination -tir-, it becomes [a], 
 and the [r] being retained, no lengthening or other change of the vowel 
 occurs : flourish, nourish, Surrey, &c.= [flarij, narij, sari], etc. 
 
 M.E. u = O.E. y ; O.Fr. u. 
 
 § 253. (See § 158 for O.E. y in M.E.) 
 
 The \y\ sound, whether of English or French origin, was 
 simply retracted to the corresponding high-back vowel [ii] (in 
 Late M.E.?], and this sound underwent the subsequent lowering 
 and unrounding which overtook the other [u] sounds no 
 matter what their origin, and developed into present-day [a]. 
 See § 351. 
 
 Examples : {a) English words : btindle, blush, thrush, much, 
 such, drudge, clutch, cudgel, rush (the plant) ; ip) French words : 
 jtist, judge, humble, study, public. 
 
 Note i. Bicsy, now [bz'zz] (§ 158 (a, e)), and Bury [ber/] (vb. and n.] 
 represent the M.E. w-type in spelling, but the former shows the unrounded 
 M.E, type, the latter the so-called Kentish type, in pronunciation. The 
 survival in pronunciation of the old [y]-type in bury is recorded in the 
 seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The spelling buiryed (1710, 
 Wentw. Papers, p. 122) almost certainly implies [bjQred]. (See also 
 E. St. 47, pp. 165-6.) 
 
 Note 2. In a large number of words of English origin, O.E. j/ occurs 
 in Standard Engl, with the M.E. z-type— /«7/, wish, sin, fill, thin, etc., 
 and these words therefore fall under M.E. i (§ 255). 
 
 Note 3. In a certain number of words, the O. and M.E. ' Kentish ' 
 ^-type survives in Standard Engl., e. g. fledge, kernel, tnerry, knell, &c. 
 These, therefore, fall under M.E. e (§§ 227, 228). 
 
 K 
 
146 History of English Sounds: I I I. Modern [chap.vh 
 
 Note 4. Church, O.E. cyrce, circe, is found in M.E. spelt with it, i, e. 
 Its origin is, however, doubtful. The initial ch- cannot easily be accounted 
 for if we assume original y (from u-i, § 108) ; the e and /^-spellings are 
 difficult, if we assume that the vowel was originally /. 
 
 § 254. M.E. i becomes [ai]. 
 
 Under this sound we may include original O.E. z in write, 
 etc., French f, and the z which developed before [x] in light, 
 etc., probably in the late M.E. period in some dialects, 
 [x] seems to have lingered on into the seventeenth century 
 among some speakers (§ 276). The preceding vowel may 
 have been lengthened just before the total disappearance of 
 the front consonant. 
 
 The diphthongizing process probably began by a slackening 
 of the latter part of f, thus \l< z^]. The first portion was then 
 further differentiated to [e]. This mid-front vowel was 
 then made into a flat vowel, and then retracted to [a], giving 
 [ai]. When once the diphthongization starts, by the differen- 
 tiation of the first and latter part of [J] it is possible to suggest 
 various paths of development, none of which can be proved 
 beyond a doubt to be the one followed. The above series, 
 however, seems to square with what is known. From [ai] the 
 development to the present [«?'] is simple and is mtreXy 
 a question of slackening. 
 
 There is little doubt that the [ei] stage was reached pretty 
 early in the fifteenth centur3^ if the fairly frequent spelling ey 
 in St. Editha (1421) means anything : bley^id, myeld, feyr, 
 'blind, mild, fire', etc. The beginnings may have been in the 
 preceding century (Dibelius, Anglia, xxiii, pp. 349, "^fSl). 
 The question as to what the precise stages were, and when they 
 were reached, is very difficult. See on these points Zachrisson, 
 pp. 73-6. The development was not uniform all over the 
 country. Some of the sixteenth-century English Grammarians 
 still insist on a pronunciation [j], but this is probably due to 
 the domination of the spelling (Zachrisson, p. 205). It seems 
 probable that the [az] stage was reached by the end of the 
 sixteenth century. At this point old \l\ is levelled under oi. 
 The rhyme tryall — disloyal occurs in Marston's Insatiate 
 Countess, iv (1613). Cp. also the spelling voiolencc, Wentw, 
 Papers, p. 280 (1712). [See § 270 for the history of this diph- 
 thong.) Many dialects still remain approximately at this stage, 
 the best known being Irish English, whose sound is usually 
 rendered oi by popular writers of to-day. 
 
 Examples of present-day \az\ from earlier [l] are : life, ride, 
 my, I, bite, blind, etc., knight, night, light, etc. Eye, high, 
 nigh of course go back to M.E. f-forms, for which see § 171 {b). 
 
§§253-6] Diphthongizaiion of M.E. i 147 
 
 Note. The pronunciation [6blldz] was usual in the eighteenth century, 
 as is shown by definite statements and poets' rhymes, e. g. Pope's : 
 
 Fearing e'en fools, by flatterers besieged, 
 And so obliging, that he ne'er obliged. 
 
 This was a fashionable pronunciation due to French influence. It went 
 out, however, apparently, in the best society, before the end of the century, 
 owing, it is said, to Lord Chesterfield's strictures. It survived, however, 
 in some circles until quite lately, VVilkie Collins, it is said, being the last 
 to use this form (Jespersen, p. 240). 
 
 [1] is preserved in words of late French origin, machine, invalid, etc. 
 In unstressed positions [/"] or [a] is normal, the shortening being far earlier 
 than the diphthongization, e. g. /tousewife = [hazzf], Berkshire — [bakja], 
 the artificial [-J^/a] in the names of counties being due to the spelling or 
 the influence of the stressed shire. Walker (1801) recommends [mi] in 
 unstressed positions, but the strong [mat] is largely used now in such 
 phrases as [aiv lost vaai wez], etc. The otherwise obsolete [mm] may 
 sometimes be heard on the stage— I have heard Mr. Benson say [ou mi 
 profst/k s^7^1, m/ naqkl]. 
 
 M.E. 1. 
 
 § 255. Independent Treatment. 
 
 This sound remains unchanged, so far as can be discovered : 
 bid, spring, sit, ship, dish, etc., etc. 
 
 Ridge, bridge, thin, hill, midge, fist, etc., are from the M.E. 
 z'-type from O.E. jy (§ 15H {a) and {e), 253 (I^ote 2)). This form 
 is typical of the London dialect from the fourteenth century 
 at least. 
 
 Note. Chill, O.E. (W.S.) cielu, is one of the few words of definitely 
 W. Sax. type in Mod. Standard English. The non-W.S. form was O.E. 
 celu, M.E. chele, which would have given Mod. *cheel [tjTl]. 
 
 Combinative Treatment. 
 
 § 256. i + r, or r + consonant. 
 
 In such words as sir, bird, first, etc., i seems to have been 
 considerably modified^ perhaps during sixteenth century. 
 The first stage may have been a raising of the back of the 
 tongue, thus giving a high-flat vowel. This then became 
 a pure back vowel, through the abandonment of the front 
 action of the tongue. The high-back thus produced was 
 levelled under the same sound from old ii (§ 251) and became 
 [a], [bard, farst], etc. survive in Scotch. In English, the 
 vowel was gradually lengthened as [r] was weakened, and 
 finally lowered to a low-flat vowel [a]. See history of nr in 
 § 252. The combination ir is therefore a fruitful source of 
 Modern [a]. See also §§ 228, 239, and 252. 
 
 K 2 
 
148 History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap, vn 
 
 § 257. When -ir- is followed by a vowel, it remains un- 
 altered : spirit, stirrup, squirrel, etc. 
 
 § 258. The i in England [ii]glond], singe, hinge, wing is 
 M.E. / from earlier c, before [i], ndz]. 
 
 M.E. and Early Modern au. 
 
 § 259. Independent development— [«u] < [5]. 
 
 This diphthong occurred in a large number of words in 
 M.E. (cp. § 171 (^)),and their number was still further increased 
 in Early Modern by the development of al to [«?/l] (cp. § 218). 
 
 The early Grammarians (sixteenth century) describe a 
 diphthong as still existing in words spelt with ait and aiv, but 
 already in the fifteenth century (Cely Papers) such a spelling 
 as awffer ' offer ' (Zachrisson, p. 82) seems to show that the^ 
 old an had been monophthongized to [5]. We cannot always 
 trust our Grammarians to distinguish a real diphthong, but if 
 such still existed for old au in the sixteenth century or later, 
 it was probably [ou]. The changes from [au] to the present [5] 
 were probably [au — ou — w — 5], that is to say the first element 
 was first rounded and lowered, and then the second element 
 was weakened and finally lost, the first become long and 
 tense. The present sound was probably reached early in the 
 seventeenth century. 
 
 Examples of M.E. au, present-day [5], are : elaw, draw, law, 
 haivk; naught, slaughter, taught; ea^ise, faidt; fifteenth 
 century au (§ 218) occurred in call, malt, chalk, etc., etc. (On 
 the loss of / in chalk, etc., cp. § 278.) 
 
 Further, from M.E. aun in French words we have daunt, 
 haunt, launch, laundress, taunt, etc., in so far as these have the 
 pronunciation [d5nt], etc. 
 
 Note. As regards the pronunciation \a\ which exists also in these 
 words, as well as exclusively in atmt, the least unsatisfactory explanation 
 seems to be that it goes back to a M.E. variant with a. The same 
 applies to branch, chance, dance, chant, grant, etc., whose vowel inter- 
 changes with [£e]. The difficulty is to account for the lengthening to 
 eighteenth-century [^] in [Snt], etc., which form is a necessary precursor 
 of the present one. Branch, etc., have [5] forms recorded by the early 
 writers, and these also exist in the Mod. Dialects. 
 
 Combinative treatment of au. 
 
 Note. The following account of the combinative treatment of au in 
 Mod. Engl, follows the ingenious and plausible article of Luick, Anglia, 
 xvi, pp. 462-97. These views are very widely accepted, and appear to 
 settle many difficulties. On the other hand, they raise others. The 
 whole question cannot be regarded as finally settled. 
 
§§ 257-6o] Treatment of {ail] 149 
 
 § 260. au before lip-consonants becomes [<^], 
 
 The words calf, calvc^ half, halve, balm, salve, laugh, etc., 
 are shown both by occasional early spellings, and by the 
 accounts of Grammarians, to have had au at one time (cf. 
 § 318). They now have \a\ in Standard English. It is 
 suggested that shortly after at in these words became [aiiX], 
 the ic was lost before the following lip-consonant, and the d 
 underwent compensatory lengthening to \a\. This a was then 
 fronted to [^] at the same time that short {a\ was fronted. 
 This [ae] then became \a] again in the late eighteenth century. 
 Thus the career of the vowel in calf -was, after a certain point, 
 identical with that in chaf^, thus : 
 
 [tjrtf— tjffif— tjSf— tjaf 
 kau(\}( — kd( — ksef — k^f] 
 
 and so on with the other words of this group. Luick admits 
 that the [k^f] stage, which he has to assume for Early Modern, 
 is not vouched for by any of the writers. He assumes that 
 this development took place in the speech of the lower orders 
 which did not come within the Grammarians' province. 
 
 As regards laugh, laiigJUcr, draught, where the au developed 
 in M.E. before a back consonant which subsequently became 
 f (§ 275), Luick assumes the series \\.a\X)(^'' <\a\xi<\di<\^i 
 <\d{\ etc. > 
 
 Note. The disappearance of the u in Imigh depends upon the develop- 
 ment of the old [x^] into [f]. In dialects where \-x\ remained, the diph- 
 thong also remained and became [5] ; cp. [I5hl in Scotch. Luick rightly 
 says, p. 496, that there were two different developments in M.E., which 
 led, one to [f], the other to \x\. 
 
 The starting-point is a back open cons. [;^] with lip-modification. In 
 one type of speech the lip element is increased and the back weakened, 
 and this ultimately results in [f] as in [lafta]. In the other, the lip 
 element is weak and the back element strong, and no [f] arises, but [x] 
 remains, and is subsequently lost as in [slota]. The weak point in Luick's 
 scheme, it seems to me, is the assumption of the form \\.aui\ at all. There 
 is, so far as I know, no evidence that it ever existed, [li^m;^], which gave 
 [I5x], vve are certain of. It seems much simpler to assume that the type 
 which developed [f] was never diphthongized at all, but passed from 
 [l^X^] to [Lif] in E. Modern. Cp. the 1563 spelling A?^ cit. § 221. If we 
 take the two words slaughter and laughter we can compare and contrast 
 the development [slaxter< €iau-x\.&x<. slo«xter< slf/^t3r< sbz^t3r< sl5t9r ; 
 Ia;^"'t3r<lrtft3r<lceft9r<l^ft3r< Uiftar]. Luick's scheme necessitates 
 [lax^t3r<la«X"'t3r<Lz«ft3r<Lzft3r<lseft3r], etc. It is ingenious, but as- 
 sumes too much, besides being, as it appears, unnecessary. Again, as 
 regards the suggested history of present-day [k^zf], it is not proved that 
 diphthongization before / was universal. Luick's theory assumes that the 
 form [k^i/^lf], whence [ka«f], arose only to be monophthongized the next 
 moment to the dubious early [kcjfj. The evidence of the Modern Dialects, 
 
150 History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap, vn 
 
 among which [ai, a, 5] forms are found for all the -al- words, seems to 
 point to there being two types in E. Mod. — [al-], which became [(^^(1)], 
 and [(iul], which became [5(1)]. 
 
 § 261. Prcscnt-day safe, save, ehaniber [seif, seiv, tjeimba] 
 presuppose a M.E. a (§ 225). Although these woi-ds occur 
 with an in IVT.E.j they are also found written saaf^ etc. (§ 196). 
 This monophthongization of an earlier an is due to the 
 following hp-consonant, and took place, in some dialects, as 
 early as the thirteenth century (Luick, Anglia, xvi. 503). 
 
 § 262. au before [dz, ndz]. 
 
 Before these sounds, an loses the second element and 
 becomes a, whence Present-day [ei] : gage ox gauge ^ M.E. gage 
 and gauge, danger earlier daungcr, angel earlier annge{l), 
 strange earlier strannge, cliange earlier chaunge, etc. 
 
 We have seen (§ 185) that in IM.E. an and aim spellings 
 both occur in these and other French words, and also that 
 there is M.E. evidence for a in such words. This will account 
 for the present pronunciation. We assume therefore M.E. 
 strannge < strange , etc. 
 
 § 263. Another tendency in M.E. (§171, final Note) is the 
 diphthongization of a to ai before [dz, t|, J], and the sixteenth- 
 century Grammarians give some evidence of the existence of 
 this. It is therefore possible to explain danger, etc., either 
 from M.E. daunger < danger, or from M.E. dainger. 
 
 See on these points Luick, Anglia, xvi. 485. 
 
 § 264. M.E. ou. 
 
 This diphthong went through the stages \oti, 0^, 5] and was 
 therefore levelled under old au (§ 259). Examples : daughter, 
 brought, sought, wrought, M.E. donhter, brouhte, etc. 
 
 Note. Undiphthongized forms, in which old \x\ had become [f], are 
 also recorded in Standard Engl, as late as eighteenth century — [br^ft, 
 d^ftar] (cp. Horn, Hist. ne. Gr., p. 195), and such pronunciations sur- 
 vive in the Mod. Dialects (cp. Wright, E. D. Gr., § 359). In Early 
 Standard the two types must have coexisted — douhter, dofter, and the 
 former won the place. The rhyme after — daughter [daftar] occurs in 
 Marston's Eastward Hoe, v. i (1605). On the unrounding of M.E. o cp. 
 § 244, Note. 
 
 § 265. M.E. eu, iu, ii [eu, iu, y]. 
 
 There are several classes of words included here, some of 
 native English, some of N. French origin : Tuesday, steward, 
 true, knciv, breiv ; nde, Jew \ due, sure ; rude, use, pure, Ltike ; 
 
§§ 26o-6] M.E. eii, iUy u in Modern Period \^i 
 
 fruit, suit, pew, tune, etc., etc. It is quite simple to state that 
 all these words, whether they had [eu, lu, or y] in M.E., now 
 have either [ju], as [nyu, dju], etc., or [u] after [r, dz, tj] and 
 sometimes after [1], as [bru, rul, tju, dzu, luk], etc. 
 
 The difficulty begins when we ask, what were the intervening 
 stages, and at what point the old diphthongs were levelled 
 under old [y]. Opinions are not agreed at all on this point, 
 and authorities differ as to the meaning of the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth century Grammarians' statements. Thus Ellis, 
 E.E,P.\ Sweet, H.E.S., pp. 247-56; Luick, Anglia, xiv, 
 p. 287; Victor, Sh. Pr., pp. 28-34; Horn, Hist. ne. Gr., 
 pp. 102, etc., all believe that [y] existed in Early Modern, at 
 least among some speakers. It is indeed difficult to deny, 
 that a large number of Grammarians, both English and 
 foreign, definitely describe this vowel, side by side, in some 
 words, with [iu]. If the Grammarians cannot be trusted on 
 this subject, in spite of the most categorical statements, con- 
 fused and unsatisfactory though these often are, we may ask 
 how they can be trusted at all, and whether the whole edifice 
 of theory based upon their remarks does not crumble. 
 
 At the same time it must be admitted that there appear to 
 be inconsistencies and contradictions in their accounts of the 
 sound of the above words. Yet these do not disappear if we 
 assume with Jespersen, Hart's Proti., pp. 44-59 \ N.E. Gr., 
 pp. 102-5, ^^ with Zachrisson, pp. 217-20, that the sound they 
 intended to describe was in all cases [iu]. The following is 
 a possible series of changes undergone by these sounds : 
 
 M.E. i6th c. 17th 
 
 f<iU|^^iy<^._l u.ju 
 y • y-y<u] 
 
 eu 
 
 y < y 
 
 Note. I interpret the statements of the sixteenth and seventeenth- 
 century Grammarians to mean (i) that fy] certainly existed, and (2) that 
 it was pronounced by some speakers as [y] alone, but by others was pro- 
 nounced as a diphthong [iy]. The next development of these types was 
 to [u] and [ju] respectively. 
 
 § 266. M.E. [eu]. 
 
 This diphthong was levelled under old [eu], and like this, 
 developed to [jii]. It seems probable that this levelling took 
 place after [y, eu] had passed the [iy, jy] stage. 
 
 Examples: deiv<M..'E. deu, O.E. deazv] fetv, M.^. fczve, 
 O.^.feaw. 
 
152 History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap, vn 
 
 § 267. M.E. n [y] in Native English Words. 
 
 The only word in which the M.E. rounded type survives is 
 bruise, and it is disputed whether this really represents O.E. 
 brj'san, or rather an Old French brznscr. Build preserves in 
 its spelling the old //-type from O.E. byldau, but not in pro- 
 nunciation ; the pronunciation [byld] is, however, recorded in 
 the seventeenth century. 
 
 We have seen that O.E. y became e in the O.E. period in 
 Kent and part of the E. Midland (§ i5cS {b)). This O. and 
 M.E. c regularly becomes [z] ; see § 229 {b). 
 
 In an area of the North, and E. Midi., O.E. j was unrounded 
 
 to [l] in Early M.E. ; see § 158 {a). This type is found in bride, 
 
 fire, hide, mice, lice, kine, M.E. brld, fir, hiden, mis, lis, kiiie, 
 
 O.E. bryd, etc. They have the normal development of M.E. I 
 
 (§ 254). 
 
 Note. The so-called Kentish type, with Mod. [1] from O.E. c, earlier 
 y, occurs in some Modern Dialects [mis, lis], etc., in Kt. and E. Midi. 
 Similar forms in the South and S. West cannot, as sometimes stated, be 
 so explained, but must be from M.E. unrounded forms mis, Ian ' kine ', 
 etc., which were lowered to ken,e\.c. in L. M.E. and then normally became 
 [mis, kin], etc. in Mod. Engl. The West Country -beere, etc., in PI. Ns. 
 is of this origin and represents M.E. (^/r, O.E. byre 'byre'. See Wyld, 
 E. St. 47, p. 166. The form hecj-ed ' hired ', IVentw. Papers, p. 65 (1708) 
 = O.E. hyrati, may represent the * Kentish ' type. 
 
 M.E. ai and ei. 
 §268. Independent Treatment : [«i<aii<ae<£<e<ei]. 
 
 The old dipl[ithongs ai, ei, were levelled under one sound 
 {ai'] in the M.E. period (Chaucer), though the traditional 
 distinction survived in the spelling. As early as the end of 
 the fifteenth century this [ai] had been monophthongized to 
 [a] or [ae], at least among certain sections of the population, 
 as seems assured from such spellings as daly 'daily', agan 
 'again', /r« 'pray', etc., collected by Zachrisson (p. 64). 
 
 On the other hand, while some of the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth century Grammarians refer to a monophthongic pro- 
 nunciation, they generally do so with disapproval, as very 
 affected, or finicky, and prefer a diphthongal pronunciation. 
 They even go so far as to distinguish between old ei, and ai. 
 It is pretty generally agreed now, that in the latter point they 
 have simply been misled by the spelling. On the other 
 hand, although the early writers are mostly very shaky in 
 notions of what a diphthong is, it seems probable that [aei] 
 still survived, perhaps as an artificial spelling-pronunciation, 
 well into the seventeenth century. The new monophthong 
 was levelled under the sound of M.E. «, and the subsequent 
 
§§ 267-70] M.E. at, ei in Modern Period 153 
 
 history of the sound, as we have seen (§ 225), is as indicated 
 above. A fresh diphthonf^ization occurred in the nineteenth 
 century, and in the East Midland and Cockney dialects this 
 has become \ai\ In many rural dialects at the present day, 
 e,g. Oxfordshire and Berkshire, the full M.E. \ai'\ remains, 
 and these dialects distinguish absolutely between this and the 
 sound in old a words — name, pale, etc., which remains as [s] 
 or [e]. It cannot be established with certainty, at what stage 
 ai and a were levelled ; probably not till after the fronting — 
 [pei, S], possibly in the \p, s] stage. See on this point Luick, 
 Angiia, xiv, p. 273, etc. ; Victor, Shakespeare's Prommciation, 
 §42. 
 
 On the other hand, it is argued by Jespersen, Hart's Pro- 
 nunciation of English, pp. 33-42 ; New Engl. Gr., pp. 323-8, 
 that the old diphthongs were never monophthongized at all 
 in Standard English, and consequently that the levelling of 
 these with M.E. a did not take place till the [e] which arose 
 from this was diphthongized. Zachrisson (pp. 196, etc.) 
 thinks that ' much speaks in favour of Jespersen's theory '. 
 These different views depend upon the interpretation of the 
 statements of the early Grammarians. The most careful 
 survey and weighing of these frequently leads to very different 
 conclusions in different minds. 
 
 Examples: clay, day, %vay, eiglit^ rain, pray, sail; vein^ 
 pain, reign, dainty, saint, etc. 
 
 Note. Key [kl] is abnormal, and probably owes its form to rural 
 dialect. 
 
 Combinative Treatment of M.E. ai. 
 
 § 269. M.E. ai + r becomes [ea]. 
 
 Just as M.E. dr did not pass beyond the [sr] stage, so 
 M.E. air remained at this point of development : fair became 
 [faeir, fser, fer, fsa]. The M.E. pronunciation [f^/r] still sur- 
 vives in Oxfordshire. 
 
 Other examples are : chair, heir, prayer (French) ; stair, 
 lair; their (Scandinavian). 
 
 § 270. M.E. oi. 
 
 This sound appears at the present time as \oi\ but there is 
 no doubt that this pronunciation is due to the spelling. In 
 the sixteenth century the sound in toil, point, coil and other 
 oi words, is described as [ui]. The [u] in this diphthong was 
 then unrounded at the time that the other short [u] sounds 
 underwent this change giving [ai], as is clearly described by 
 seventeenth-century writers. At this point oi was levelled 
 
154 History of English Sounds : I I I. Modern [chap, vn 
 
 under old / ('^ 253), and the normal development of course 
 was \(ii\. The rhyme try all— Disloyal (Marston's Insatiate 
 Countess, 1613) shows that levelling of the two sounds had taken 
 place. But a pronunciation [oi] also existed in seventeenth 
 century. Frequent rhymes such as line— join show that [dz^in], 
 etc., were in polite use in the eighteenth century. Kenrick 
 (1773), cit. Ellis, p. 1053, and Jespersen, New Engl. Gr., p. 329, 
 declares that it is an affectation to pronounce boil, join, other- 
 wise than as bile, jine, and yet it is 'a vicious custom in 
 common conversation ' to use this sound in oil, toil, which 
 thereby ' are frequently pronounced exactly like isle, tile '. 
 This shows that the new pronunciation [oi] had not yet been 
 extended to all words. At the present time [ai] in any of 
 the oi-words is provincial and vulgar. In many genuine 
 Regional Dialects the [ai] pronunciation is still used in oi- and 
 2-words alike. 
 
 The series [oi, ui, ai, ai] is postulated by Sweet, H.E.G., 
 
 § n?>- 
 
 The chronological usage may be summed up as follows : 
 
 sixteenth century : [oi, and ui] ; seventeenth century : [ui, ai] 
 and already [^i] was restored ; eighteenth century : [ai, a\\ and 
 a greater use of restored [<?/]. (See Zachrisson, p. 221.) Luick, 
 Anglia, xiv, pp. 294, etc., says that the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth century [ui, ai] goes back to M.E. ni, and the [oi] of 
 these centuries to M.E. oi, but this seems very doubtful. 
 
 Note. Injoisi, boil (on the body), groifi, which go back to forms with 
 I, the [oi] was hitherto explained as due to the artificial restoring tendency 
 too far, by including some of the wrong words. Jespersen, New Engl. 
 Gr., p. 320, objects to this on the ground that oi spellings of some of these 
 words occur very early — boyle 1529, joyst 1494, groin Shakespeare's 
 Ven. and Ad. rhyming with swine. J. suggests that [oi] m groin may be 
 due to the influence of loifz, but offers no suggestions for the other words. 
 
 § 271. Table showing the M.E. origin of Modern English 
 
 Preseni-day 
 Examples, 
 name 
 day, way 
 wife 
 night 
 
 joy 
 
 house 
 
 bone, throat 
 
 bow (noun) §§ 171 (8), 242 
 
 fear § 230 
 
 bare § 226 
 
 fair § 269 
 
 I (3) Ir bear § 22)1 
 
 Vowel Sounds. 
 
 Preseni-day 
 Sound. 
 
 M.E. Vowel. 
 
 [ti] 
 
 j(i) a 
 \ (2) ai, ei 
 
 [ai] 
 
 1(2) ih 
 
 [oi] 
 
 01 
 
 au] 
 
 f( 
 
 [ou] 
 
 ((I) 0^ 
 1(2) oil 
 
 [ia] 
 
 er 
 
 
 f(i) ar 
 
 ■ (2) atr 
 
 [£3] 
 
§§ 270-2] M.E. Sources of Mod. English Vowels 155 
 
 Present-day 
 Sound. 
 
 
 i [^] - 
 
 (2 
 
 U. [u] 
 
 (I 
 
 1(2 
 (2 
 
 U3 
 
 ^ \<i\ 
 
 (2 
 
 (3 
 
 1(4 
 
 [5] 
 
 (3 
 
 (3 
 
 1(4 
 
 r(i 
 
 f [A] 
 
 I2 
 
 (3^ 
 
 A [a] 
 
 i(4] 
 (I] 
 
 (2] 
 
 U [u] 
 
 (2j 
 
 dC [^] - 
 
 (i; 
 (2. 
 
 \p\ 
 
 ^(ij 
 (2] 
 
 1(3) 
 
 ^ [£] 
 
 (I; 
 (2. 
 
 z [^1 
 
 (2) 
 
 e. [9] 
 
 (3J 
 
 il/.^". Vowel. 
 
 e^ 
 
 c" 
 
 oj- 
 
 u_ 
 
 ii 
 
 eu 
 
 eu 
 
 dr 
 
 atif 
 
 as 
 
 dp 
 
 all 
 
 aul 
 
 or 
 
 op, of, OS 
 
 ur 
 
 or 
 
 er 
 
 ir 
 
 ii 
 
 * (with Early Mod. shorten- 
 ing of [u] to [«]) 
 
 li after lip cons. 
 
 o^ (with late shortening of 
 Early Mod. [u]) 
 
 d 
 
 d from 
 
 o 
 
 o "^ (with Mod. shortening) 
 
 wa, qua 
 
 e 
 
 e ^ (with late shortening) 
 
 i 
 
 eng, en^, etc. 
 
 c'^ (Early Mod. shortening) 
 
 Back vowels in unstressed 
 sylls. 
 
 Piesent-day 
 Examples. 
 
 see 
 sea 
 moon 
 brute 
 tune 
 blew 
 dew 
 hard 
 half 
 pass 
 path 
 cause 
 all 
 cord 
 
 frothy lost, off 
 curse 
 word 
 earth 
 bird 
 nut 
 blood 
 
 §§ 
 
 Reference 
 to\ 
 
 § 229 
 I 232 
 § 236 
 §265 
 § 265 
 §265 
 §265 
 {^ 222 
 218,221,260 
 §219 
 § 219 
 §259 
 § 218 
 § 241 
 § 245 
 
 252 
 
 put 
 
 good 
 
 §239 
 §228 
 § 256 
 §250 
 § 236 (3) 
 
 § 251 
 
 § 236 (2) 
 
 back § 217 
 
 strap § 244, Note 
 
 cot § 244 
 
 Jiot \ 243 
 
 wan, quantity ^223 
 well ^ 227 
 
 breath $ 235 
 
 sit § 255 
 
 England, hinge § 258 
 breeches § 231 
 
 § 272 
 
 § 272. Vowels in Unstressed Syllables. 
 
 At the present time, the general rule is that in unstressed 
 syllables, back vowels are reduced to [a], and front vowels to 
 [i] : bullock, callous, human, breakfast, etc. = [bubk, kaebs, 
 hjuman, brekfast], etc., while cottage, hostess, wretched, palace, 
 houses, etc. = [kotzdz, houstz's, retjzd, pael/s, \\auziz\, etc. 
 
 Of the diphthongs, [ou] remains in Present-day Standard : 
 
 follow, yellow, etc., but becomes [a] in vulgar speech ; \oi\ 
 
 becomes [a] in porpoise, tortoise, remains in avoirdupois [aeva- 
 
 dapoiz], and has a bogus semi-French pronunciation in chamois 
 
 [JaemwD] as distinct from [JaemilscSa]. The spelling /^r/zV^ in 
 
1 56 History 0/ English Sounds: III. Modern [chap, vn 
 
 Marston's Eastward Hoc (1605) shows the same treatment of 
 oi as in [Jremz]. The front diphthong [ez] is [z] in Tuesday, 
 Sunday, yesterday, holiday^ etc, [tjuzd/, sandz, jsstodz, h^'lzde] 
 in good natural speech, though these words have [dez] in 
 affected, vulgar, and provincial speech. 
 
 The influence of the spelling often restores full vowels, 
 however, and these restored forms may become permanent : 
 [edjuke/t, k«;/ntopem, o?^bez'], etc. ; or analogy with a closely 
 related word may bring about the sounding of a full vowel : 
 [k:'ntr^st], which owes its \a\ to the verb [lontr^st]. Again, 
 in compounds, the second or unstressed element of which is 
 still identified in the consciousness with the independent 
 word, the full vowel is kept : [dostsp, naepsaek, dambsl, spun- 
 f//l] in which the independent step, sack, bell, full, prevent the 
 reduction to [stop, sok, bl, fi]. 
 
 § 273. -el, il, in, en. 
 
 Front vowels before [1] tend to disappear, and in this case 
 the final consonant becomes syllabic. Thus [sivl, devl, Ivl, 
 revl], etc. The pronunciations [sml, dsv/1, ivz'l] are often 
 heard, especially among the clergy. The restoration is due 
 to the spelling, but has now become traditional among many 
 speakers of Received Standard. 
 
 In some words the spelling has been changed, showing that 
 the reduction is pretty old : cockle, M.E. cokille, subtle, M.E. 
 sotil (Jespersen, Mod. Engl. Gr., p. 267). 
 
 Before n, i sometimes remains, sometimes disappears leaving 
 syllabic [n]. Thus cousin, basin, raisin, are more often [kazn, 
 be/sn, rezzn],but [m] is frequently restored, especially in cousin. 
 Latin and coffin are now universally [laetm, k:'fm] in Received 
 Standard, but in m.any forms of Modified Standard the old- 
 fashioned [leetn, k:?fn] are heard. The same is true of the 
 second syllable of cJiicken, mountain, fountain, kitchen, etc. 
 In these words, by the side of the Received Standard [-zn], in 
 Modified Standard two forms are heard — [tj/kon, tj/kn ; \x\aux\- 
 t9n, m<a;«ntn], etc. Final [kn] may become [ki]], so that we 
 have a third provincial form of chicken — [tj/ki]]. 
 
 § 274. M.E. [y] in Unstressed Syllables. 
 
 This shows two developments — [z] as in biscuit, minute (of 
 time), lettuce = \hiskit, minit, Istz's], and the other [ju] which 
 usually became [js], as in fortune, nature, regulate, etc. \i'eg']u- 
 leit, nez'tjs, fStjsnJ. For change of [tj] to [tj] see § 280. 
 
 It seems probable that the pronunciation [z] goes back to 
 [y], whereas the [ju] forms are derived from the diphthongized 
 
§§ 272-5] Vowels in Unstressed Syllables 157 
 
 [iy] which later became [jy, ]?i\. (See § 265 and Note on the 
 existence of the diphthongized and undiphthongized types in 
 E. Mod.) Thus there were presumably in E. Mod. both [nsetyr, 
 nnetz'yr ; forty n, fort/yn], etc. These give respectively the now 
 usual [ncit|9, Btjon], earlier [neitjur, fortjun], etc., and on the 
 other hand the now vulgar [ne/ta, fotzn]. Similarly [m/n/t] is 
 from [m/nyt],but the Irish English [mz'njat] is from [m/nz'yt]. 
 
 It is pretty certain that these differences are associated 
 with the different types of accentuation in M.E. Ndti'ir gives 
 E. Mod. [nStzyr] whence [nez'tja, nez'tja], whereas M.E. natur 
 gives the now vulgar [nez'tar]. So [f-?rtz'n] is from M.E. for- 
 tune, but [fotjan] is from M.^. fortune. The spellings ereetiirs, 
 picttirs, torter 'torture' occur (1708) in Lady Wentworth's 
 letters. See IVentzv. Papers, pp. 63 and 64. 
 
 It is impossible to say precisely how old our present habit 
 of reducing unstressed vowels to [9, {\ is. It probably is 
 the natural development of the M.E. tendency to shorten 
 long vowels in this position, and to level 0, «, 11, under e. 
 Caxton shows an uneasiness in spelling unstressed vowels, e. g. 
 London, -en, inyllar, scoter, murderare, fotisshe, shreivessh, 
 comynly, -enty, -only, agayn, aageyne, emonge, etc. See Rom- 
 stedt, 27, 2H. Edward V/'s First P. B. also has amonge, 
 emonge, devil, devet, deuided, diuision, etc. 
 
 For a fuller and more systematic treatment of the vowels in 
 unstressed syllables, the reader is referred to Horn, Hist. ne. 
 Gr., pp. 120-30, and to the remarkable account of them given 
 by Jespersen, Mod. Engl. Gr., chap, ix, pp. 248-84. 
 
 § 275. Changes in Consonantal Sounds in Modern Period. 
 
 M.E. [x], written h,gk, had two developments, as indicated 
 in § 260, Note. The one type had considerable lip-action, and 
 may be expressed [x^], the others very little or none. Type [x^] 
 increased the lip-action, and diminished the action of the back 
 of the tongue, and from this type already in the M.E. period 
 [f] developed through intermediate [\y]. We may infer M.E. 
 [f J in words like bought from occasional spellings such as boft. 
 Though in Standard English we find no [ft] forms, except 
 lajightcr and draft, there are several in the dialects. Laughter, 
 which does not betray its type by its spelling, may owe its [f] 
 before t to the form taugh. In any case it would seem as 
 though the [f] types were introduced comparatively late into 
 the Standard form of English, since they are expressed in the 
 received spelling nowhere except in draft by the side of 
 draught. In Early Mod., several of the Grammarians record 
 
158 History of English Sounds : III. Modern [chap, vn 
 
 the pronunciation [l^ux. brou^t], etc., as well as [l<^f]. Cp. 
 also the rhyme v[\2.ns laughter — laughter, in Roister Doister 
 ^'^^S'^- It is not to be supposed that these forms developed 
 into [l^f, d^fta] ' daughter ', but that in certain cases the [f] 
 replaced the [xj types. With regard to the latter, the [x] seems 
 to have been slightly sounded into the seventeenth century, 
 and then to have disappeared. 
 
 Finally, Standard English has always the [f ] type, but before 
 /, the vanishing [x] type in nearly all cases. In the South, and 
 S. West Midland broiite is found already in the thirteenth 
 century (La^amon) ; jiavt ^naught', Hali Meidenhed (1335); 
 dowter ' daughter ', Songs and Carols (1400). More convincing 
 is perhaps the spelling foghte = foot in W. of Shoreham. 
 See my ' Contributions to Hist, of Engl. Gutturals ', Trans. Phil. 
 Soc, 1900, p. 159. 
 
 § 276. M.E. ht [jt]. 
 
 In such words as night, sight, fight, etc., the i, in M.E. 
 iiiht, etc., must have been lengthened before the diphthonging 
 of old I, since we now have [n^z't], etc. This diphthonging 
 began, in the South, and in the London dialect, at latest in 
 the fifteenth century (§ 354). It does not follow, however, 
 that the consonant had disappeared before the lengthening 
 was complete. It may simply have been voiced, giving [nijt] 
 with a half-long vowel, and the pronunciations [nljt] and 
 then [neijt] may have persisted in certain sections of the 
 community, and in certain districts for a long time. On 
 the one hand we have pretty clear evidence from such spellings 
 as delight, spright, spight, quight (quite), ivhight (colour), 
 waight (to wait) in Surrey, Wyatt, Tusser, and Spenser — 
 earlier -ite, that by their time, and in the Standard Dialect, 
 -gh- was no more than a symbol of length, while on the other, 
 some Grammarians claim that -gh- is heard in the seventeenth 
 century. If it lingered so long, it must have had but a very 
 slight sound, and that probably confined to the language of 
 the lower classes. At the present day [j] is still heard in 
 night, etc., in Scotland, where the word is usually [nijt], such 
 a pronunciation as [n^ijt] being probably a blending with the 
 Standard form of the° word, [nit], etc., in some Northern 
 English Dialects, shows that the vowel was only fully lengthened 
 and the consonant lost, after the period of diphthongization. 
 
 § 277. M.E. gn-, kn.. 
 
 The initial zor^mdi'ixon gn,'\x\ gnaiv, gnat, etc., had certainly 
 disappeared by the middle of the seventeenth century, kn 
 
§§275-9] Consonant Changes in the Modern Period 159 
 
 seems to have first become [tn], then the nasal was unvoiced, 
 the [t] lost, and finally [n] was voiced again. Thus knife 
 had some such development as [kn^if, inaii, tnaif, naif, n^zT]. 
 The first assimilation to [tn] had taken place in the seven- 
 teenth century, but voiceless [n] lingered, apparently, well into 
 the eighteenth. In the middle of words, [kn] remained in the 
 [tn] stage much longer, and Pope and other contemporary 
 writers have TwittenJiam for Twickenham. See on this 
 subject, Horn, Beiir. z. Gesch. d. cngl. Giittnrallante, pp. 1, 
 etc. ; Wyld, Mod. Lang. Qrti'ly., v, p. 20 ; and Jespersen, Mod. 
 Engl Or., pp. 351, 352. 
 
 § 278. Loss of 1 before consonants. 
 
 The rules for the retention or loss of [1] have been simply 
 formulated by Luick, Anglia, xvi, p. 465 : / is retained initially, 
 and medially before vowels, and before point (and blade-point) 
 consonants; it is lost before back- and Hp-consonants. Thus 
 lamb, follow, etc., salt, malt, alder, etc. = [s5lt, molt, 5lda], but 
 yolk, stalk, talk, walk, etc. = [jouk, st5k, t5k, w5k], etc., and 
 balm, half, calf, Holborn, etc. = [b«m, h^f, k^f, ho^/ban], etc. 
 
 § 279. Loss of [r]. 
 
 In Standard English, at the present time, [r] is lost after a 
 vowel, before consonants : hard, bird, harl, etc. [h«d, bAd, 
 hd\\ ; at the end of a word in a sentence, when the next word 
 begins with a consonant : Sir JoJm, poor dog, etc. [sa d/Jn, 
 pua (or p5) d:7g] ; at the end of a single word when nothing 
 follows : ivar, dear, fair, etc. [w5, d/a, fsa]. It is, however, 
 retained in a word between vowels : sorrow, hurry \s:?voti, har/] ; 
 and at the end of a word in a series when the next word 
 begins with a vowel, and when there is no pause between 
 them : dear Arthur, for ever, there it is [d/ar^j^a, far sva, "Ssar? 
 t/z]. The disappearance, under these conditions, is noted by 
 Grammarians quite early in the eighteenth century, and already 
 in 1708 Lady Wentworth writes Oath for Garth, and Operer 
 ( IVentw. Papers, pp. 6^, 66), while Peter Wentworth writes 
 AutJier for ArtJnir, ibid. p. 77; in 1775 Walker transcribes 
 bar, bard, card, regard, as baa, baad, etc. See Jespersen, Mod. 
 Engl. Gr., p. 361. 
 
 It is typical of many Regional and Class Dialects to-day, 
 that they retain [r] when Received Standard omits it. 
 
 Among the younger generation at the present time, there is 
 a tendency to omit JLr] between vowels at the end of one word 
 and the beginning of the next, so that we often hear such 
 pronunciations as [jd awez, fa sva, "Sea zt/z], etc., and even in 
 
i6o History of English Sounds: III. Modern [chap.vii 
 
 the middle of words between vowels [v/ktDJo, hae-z, vs-/, msa-z] 
 Victoria, Harry, very, Mary. See on this tendency my 
 Growth of English, ^^. 77 and 78, 
 
 § 280. [sj, zj] become [J, z] ; [dj, tj] become [dz, tj]. 
 
 This change is universal in some words, and in others is the 
 rule, except in very careful and affected speech, or where the 
 spelling has reintroduced the older pronunciation. 
 
 sugar, sure, fiss7ire, literature ; pleasure, leisure, azure, 
 seizjirc, etc. = [J«g3, \u^~\ (or [J5]), [fzja, h'tratjg, pkza, Iszg, aeza, 
 sIzd]. We have now restored [sj] or [sz], etc. in a number of 
 words such as issue, tissue, presume, suit [z'sju, tz'sju, pr/zjum, 
 sjut]. 
 
 This is especially the case in the combination -di- : odious, 
 hideous, Indiaii, now [oz^dz'as, hz'dzbs, z'nd/on], when as late as 
 the beginning of the nineteenth century Walker recommends 
 [c?^dzz3s, mdz/on], etc. On the other hand, [r«ztJ9s] is as 
 common as [rrt:/tz9s] even in liturgical use. 
 
 In words ending in -tttre, -tune, -sitre, nattire, creature, 
 featJLre, fortune, etc., the [tJ] presupposes an old [iu], earlier 
 [y] (§ 356), [neitiur < neitjur < neitj9r], etc. [aezaj goes back 
 to [sezjur < aezjz/r < jEZ9r], etc. 
 
 These tendencies are as old as the seventeenth century, and 
 are still active. Thus in rapid speech we say [G:?d \Az\u, 
 ai\\ dzsmz'J?/, ai'c^ glaeda?" mstjw, hz ha^dz?/ "Sso, ai Vax\t prezzz/, 
 hi tslz ]u £vr/]7zr)], and so on, where the change takes place in 
 the final sound of one word, before the initial sound of that 
 which follows. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ENGLISH INFLEXIONS 
 
 Definite Article and Demonstrative Pronouns 
 
 § 281. The O.E. Demonstrative Pronoun meaning ' that ', 
 but also used merely as a definite article, has the following 
 forms : 
 
 
 
 Sing. 
 
 
 PI. — all Genders. 
 
 
 M. 
 
 F. 
 
 N. 
 
 
 N. 
 
 se 
 
 seo 
 
 pdet 
 
 pa 
 
 A. 
 
 pone 
 
 pa 
 
 pdet 
 
 Pa 
 
 G. 
 
 pdes 
 
 pdere 
 
 pdes 
 
 para, pdera 
 
 D. 
 
 pdevi, pCim 
 
 pxre 
 
 pxm, pain 
 
 pxiii, j)dm 
 
 I. 
 
 py,pon 
 
 
 
 
 § 282. The O.E. Demonstrative Pronoun meaning ' this ' 
 is as follows : 
 
 
 
 Sing. 
 
 
 PI— all Genders, 
 
 
 M. 
 
 F. 
 
 N. 
 
 
 N. 
 
 pes 
 
 peos 
 
 pis 
 
 pas 
 
 A. 
 
 pisnc 
 
 pas 
 
 Pis 
 
 pas 
 
 G. 
 
 pisses 
 
 pisse 
 
 pisses 
 
 pissa 
 
 D. 
 
 pis sum 
 
 pissifHh^ 
 
 pissuin 
 
 pissum, peosum 
 
 I. 
 
 pys 
 
 
 
 
 The Definite Article in M.E. 
 
 § 283. The M.E. development, in all dialects, is in the 
 direction of a gradual loss of all distinctions of Number, Gen- 
 der, and Case, and the use of a single form which is indeclinable. 
 The process of loss went on very rapidly in the North and 
 Midlands, comparatively slowly in the South-West, and in 
 Kentish. The first thing that happens is that for the Nom. 
 Sing, se^ seo, is substituted a form pe, which owes its / to the 
 analogy of the initial in the forms of all the other cases, Sing, 
 and PL This indeclinable form is found to some extent, even 
 in the South, in the earliest texts, alongside of the inflected 
 forms. 
 
1 6 2 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vin 
 
 § 284. The South, and S. West Dialects. 
 
 Twelfth Century. H. Rd. Tree (11 70), which is copied 
 from an O.E. text, preserves the O.E. forms of the Def, Art. 
 to a ^^reat extent, though the distinctions of Gender and Case 
 are ah-eady weakening. 
 
 The uniiiflected/^ occurs once as an Ace. Sing. M., and once 
 as a F. Sing. The Nom. se only occurs once, peo is once 
 used as Ace. S. Fern, instead oi pa. The regular Ace. S. Masc. 
 is pone ; Pcne occurs, but rarel3\ The Dat. S. Fem. is pare. 
 The Neuter/^/ is used uninflected as in of pxt zvaetere. pet 
 is used three times with a Fem. Noun. The Gen. PI. is 
 pare, Parse. 
 
 [I owe these statistics to Prof. Napier's Introduction to the text.] 
 
 Lambeth Homilies (before 1200) has the indecl./^ for both 
 Sing, and PI. In addition, however, it has full forms of the 
 M. Sing. : N. /^ ; Ace. Pen, pene, Penne ; Dat. pon, pan. In 
 the Fem. Sing, only the Dat. per survives, and in the Neut. 
 Pet, and Pat (Nom.). The PI. pd is used without inflexions 
 for all cases, but the T)^X. pan occurs. 
 
 Trinity Homilies (before 1 300) seems to have only the un- 
 inflected pe. 
 
 Thirteenth Century. Ancren Riivle (1210) uses the indecl. 
 Pe very commonly, but also preserves the Ace. Pene, Gen. pes, 
 Dat. Pen, in the Masc. Sing, pet is used as an Article as well 
 as demonstratively, without distinction of Gender. The Fem. 
 Per is found in Gen. and Dat. In the PI. peo is used, unde- 
 clined, and Pen survives in the Dat. 
 
 Moral Ode, and Oivl and Nightiiigale (circa 1350) \\av& pe 
 indecl. regularly established ; the former has also se, and the 
 latter uses the indecl. YX. peo, 
 
 Robt. of Glos. (1398) uses chiefly the indeclinable pe, but 
 occasionally Pen after a preposition — porozv pen eye, and the 
 ^e.vi\.. pet, pat, as a genuine Article. 
 
 Fourteenth Century. Trevisa (1387) haspe exclusively. 
 
 Fifteenth Century. St. Editha (1420), apart from such 
 survivals oi pet aspe tdne,pe toper, has only/^ for all Genders, 
 Cases, and both Numbers. 
 
 We see that by the end of the twelfth century already, the 
 feeling for Gender and Case is much weakened, though the 
 forms survive ; that during the next two centuries, the inde- 
 clinable pe gains ground, the other forms being used more and 
 more rarely, until by the end of the fourteenth century or the 
 
§§ 284-6] Midland and Kentish 163 
 
 beginning of the fifteenth,/*? is the exclusive form apart from 
 a few fossilized phrases. 
 
 The Definite Article in the Midland Texts. 
 
 § 285. The East Midland. 
 
 Twelfth Century. In the second continuation of the A.-S. 
 Chron. (MS. Laud) written between T122 and 1137, we find 
 the indeclinable/^ already in frequent use, and by its side the 
 more archaic se^ and sometimes pa. On the other hand, the 
 inflected forms Sing. Masc, Ace. and Dat. pone. Gen. pes ; 
 Fern. N, and D. pa ; Neut. Gen. pes, N. and Ace. pet, also 
 occur. Feeling for Gender is dying out. The usual PI. form 
 is/<^, undeclined. 
 
 In the third continuation, between 1132 and 1154, the inde- 
 clinable/^ is fully established for all Genders and Cases and 
 both Numbers, but pa is often used undeclined in the PI. 
 Seo xrcebiscop occurs, which shows how the feeling for Gender 
 was fading. 
 
 Thirteenth Century. Orm. (1200) distinguishes only between 
 Sing, and PI., pe in the former, pa in the latter, and the same 
 is true of Gen. and Ex. (1250), except that this text writes/^ 
 for the PI. form. Bestiary (1250) has pe only, for both 
 numbers. 
 
 We occasionally find pat in these texts, used rather as a 
 Demonstrative than as a pure Art. We get also survivals 
 like/c' tone, and G. and E. sometimes uses /J as a Dat. Sing. 
 
 § 286. The Definite Article in Kentish Texts. 
 
 Twelfth Century. The earliest M.E. Kt. text, a collection 
 of Homilies (MS. Vesp. A. 22) (1150), has already the inde- 
 clinable pe, but uses also se in the Nom. Masc. Otherwise, 
 the O.E. forms, or their representatives, are pretty well pre- 
 served, which may be accounted for by the fact that this text 
 is based upon an O.E. original. 
 
 We have in the Masc, a Gen./^j, and a Dat./«« and/«;« ; 
 in the Fem., a Nom. si, Ace. pd,pd, TidX.pare and Per. In the 
 PI. /«, and Dat. Pan. 
 
 Thirteenth Century. Kentish Sermons (1250) has se, and/^ 
 and po (indecl.) in Sing. Masc, Gen, pes., Dat. pan. Ace. pane, 
 and a Fem. N. si, Neut./^/. The PI. has pe , pa, po (indecl.). 
 
 Fourteenth Century. Wil. of Shoreham (1307-27) and 
 A^enbite (1340) show the fully developed use of the unin- 
 flected pe irrespective of Number, Gender, and Case, pet is 
 
 L 2 
 
1 64 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap.vih 
 
 used, but appears to be chiefly demonstrative. Both texts Jl 
 make an occasional Ace. Masc. /<7//^. * 
 
 The Definite Article in the London and Literary Dialect. 
 
 § 287. The London Dialect of Hen. Ill's Proclamation 
 (1258) has an Indecl. Sing. /^, Indecl. PI. /J, but also Ace. 
 Sing, pane, Dat. pan, a Neut. Sing, paet, and the form pxre 
 used as a Gen. Sing, before -ricJie * kingdom ', that is an old 
 Gen. Fem. of the Art. before a Neuter word. Davie has only 
 pc, indeclinable. 
 
 Chaucer, Gower, and Wyclifife use the indeclinable pe, the 
 both for Sing, and PI. and retain no distinctions of Case or 
 Gender. The earlier/^, which survives as the PI. form, occurs 
 in Gower, only as the PI. Demonstrative. It is, however, 
 preserved by Mandeville (1356) as the PI. Art., side by side 
 with the. 
 
 The London official documents of the fourteenth and early 
 fifteenth centuries have practically the same usage. The un- 
 inflected pe, the is the commonest form for all Genders and 
 Cases, S. and V\.pet oon^pet oper occur, and the specifically 
 PI. /J is actually found as late as 1427, in the Parliamentary 
 Records. We must suppose that by that time it was an 
 archaism as the PL of the article. The later fifteenth-century 
 London Charters also occasionally use tho, thoo, but with 
 a more definitely demonstrative force (Lekebusch, p. 111), 
 and a few examples of it are also recorded as occurring in 
 Caxton (Romstedt, p. 41), and, as a rarity, in Coverdale 
 (Swearingen, p. 17). 
 
 The Definite Article in Modern English. 
 
 § 288. By the end of the M.E. period all forms of the 
 article except pc, the had practically vanished, pat had be- 
 come a pure Demonstrative, and its subsequent history falls 
 under that head. Even the old distinction between Sing, and 
 PI. which survived in the literary usage of the late fourteenth 
 century had disappeared from common use. 
 
 All that remains, in the Mod. period, of the once varied 
 declension of the Definite Art. must be sought in a few set 
 phrases, and words which preserve, here and there, the fossil of 
 a case ending. 
 
 For the nonce contains the old Masc. or Neut. Dat. pen, 
 O.E. Pxm. The name Atterbiiry preserves an old Dat. 
 Fem. — M.E. atter, or at per, biiri, O.E. set pxre byrig. Such 
 names as Nash, Nalder, and Noakcs are all that is left of 
 M.E. at pen asche, at pen aldre, at pen okes. 
 
§§ 286-90] 
 
 This and That 
 
 165 
 
 Demonstrative Pronouns This and That 
 
 § 289. We have seen that^at, the old Neuter N. and Ace. 
 of Demonstrative Pron. and Article, is used with less and less 
 of the c^eneral sense of the latter, and more and more with 
 the more specific demonstrative sense, after the twelfth century. 
 The old PL ^d, later ^o, except in the North, serves at first 
 both as PI. Art, and as that of the demonstrative 'that'. 
 This is gradually displaced by ^ds, pos, the old PI. meaning 
 * these '. pos is of course the ancestor of the Mod. those, Po 
 being retained almost exclusively as the PI. of the Def. Art. 
 pe. Tho in the sense of ' those ' occurs, however, at least as 
 late as 1469, in Malory. 
 
 ' This ' is expressed by pis, pes^ peos, with gradual loss of 
 distinction of Gender, until //i-, the old Neuter form, becomes 
 the prevailing one in the Sing. 
 
 A new V\. pcdse,pese is formed on the type of the Nom. 
 Fem. Sing., or Dat. PL, and this is the ancestor of these. In 
 the Nth. pir, and occasionally per, is found in the sense of 
 ' these ' ; more rarely pir means ' those '. 
 
 Moral Ode (MS. Jesus 1250) has a Nom. Y\. peo 'those'. 
 
 In the South, the Ace. Sing. M.2i.^z. pesne occurs in the early 
 thirteenth century {God Ureiswi). An inflected form pise is 
 often used in the oblique cases in the Sth., in Kt. and MidL 
 
 In twelfth-century Kentish (Vesp. A. 22) we find the 
 inflected iox^xi^ pesses, pescs^ Gen. PL 
 
 Po as the PL oi pis is found in Kt. Sermons (1250), Lam- 
 beth Homilies, and in Allit. P. 
 
 Morsbach's London documents have/w, thys, PL thise, but 
 also pecs, tJiees, these, etc. ; pat, that, PL po, poo, tho, thoo, etc. 
 This is also Chaucer's usage. Caxton has tJiis, PL thise, this, 
 and these. 
 
 Thoos (PL of tJiai) occurs, but only sporadically (Romstedt, 
 p. 41). In the later fifteenth-century London Charters, thes, 
 these are the usual forms for the PL of this, but those, etc., is 
 found fairly often (Lekebusch, pp. iii, 112). 
 
 The Personal Pronouns. 
 § 290. The O.K. forms are the following : 
 
 
 1st 
 
 
 2nd 
 
 
 3rd Sing 
 
 
 PI., all 
 
 
 Sing. PI. 
 
 Sing. 
 
 PL 
 
 M. 
 
 F. 
 
 N. 
 
 Genders. 
 
 N. 
 
 ic ive 
 
 pa 
 
 ^<^ 
 
 he 
 
 hed 
 
 hit hie, hi, etc. 
 
 A. 
 
 inec, me fis 
 
 pe 
 
 eoiv 
 
 hifie 
 
 hie, hi 
 
 hit hie,hi,eic. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 hira 
 
 G. 
 
 mm lire 
 
 pm 
 
 Tower 
 
 his 
 
 hire 
 
 his 
 
 hiera 
 heora 
 
 D. 
 
 me its 
 
 pe 
 
 low 
 
 hwi 
 
 hire 
 
 him h 
 
 im, heom 
 
1 66 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Dual. 
 1st Pers. 2nd Pers. 
 
 N. wit ' we two ' N. git ' ye two ' 
 
 A. uncit, Hftc A. incit, inc 
 
 G. uncer G. incer 
 
 D. unc D. inc 
 
 § 291. Compared with the inflexions of Nouns and Ad- 
 jectives, those of the Pers. Pron. have been wonderfully well 
 preserved in English. 
 
 The chief points to notice in the history of their usage are : 
 (i) the generalizing of the Ace. Dat, edw — yoti for the whole 
 PI. with the loss of the Nom. ye ; (2) the loss of the Ace. 
 June ; (3) the loss of the strong, aspirated Jiit ; (4) the develop- 
 ment of the form she for the old JiFo in the Fern. ; (5) the 
 substitution of tlicy^ tJicir, tliein^ the Scandinavian forms, for 
 the English ; (6) the loss by the old Genitives imn, pin, his, 
 etc., of the real Genitive force, and the reduction of them to 
 mere possessive Adjectives ; (7) the loss of the old Dual 
 forms. 
 
 The Pers. Pronouns in M.E. 
 
 § 292. The First Person. There is little change and variety 
 to record here. Practically all the early texts have : N. ic, 
 ich, but i is found in Laud Oiron. (1137) ; Ace. Dat. me, and 
 in the PI. N. we, Ace. Dat. tis, oiis. The Sthn. texts usually 
 write ich, the earliest (down to thirteenth century) having also 
 ic. The E. Midi. Orvi. has ice. Northern texts have ik, and /. 
 The form /, the only form now surviving, except in a small 
 district in the S.-West, where itch [utj] (M.E. iich, ich) still 
 lingers, comes into frequent use in all dialects, apparently, in 
 the fourteenth century. Chaucer has /, but still uses ich. 
 / no doubt arose originally in unstressed positions. Ich con- 
 tinues in common use in the S. and S.-West during the whole 
 M.E. period. St. EditJia (1420), however, usually has /, but 
 still joins ich on to auxiliary verbs — ichaue ; icJinlle ' I will ' ; 
 ichain. The author of Piers Plozvman has /and icJi, whereas 
 Mandeville, Gower {Confessio Amantis), and WyclifTe use / 
 as the only form. 
 
 Davie's poems in the London dialect of the early fourteenth 
 century have both ich and /, the former being roughly five 
 times as frequent as the latter. 
 
 The weak i had of course a short vowel. After the loss 
 of ich, etc., i was used in stressed as well as in unstressed 
 positions. In the former it was lengthened to t, thus becoming X 
 a new strong form, distinguished by quantity from the un- 
 
§§290-4] Pronoun of the Second Person . 167 
 
 stressed form. It is from M.E. J that the Mod. / \ai\ developed, 
 and this is now used in unstressed as well as in stressed 
 positions. 
 
 § 293. Dual of First Pers. 
 
 Traces of this are found in Owl and Nightingale (c. 1250). 
 The Possessive or Gen. unker ' of us two ', and the Dat. wik. 
 
 The Pronoun of the Second Person. 
 § 294. The usual M.E. forms are: 
 
 Sing. PI. 
 
 N. Jm,poi(, thou, etc. ie,ye, etc. 
 
 A. D. pe, i/iee, etc. low, jote, itiw^yott, etc. • 
 
 The PI. ye, you are already used, as in Mod. Engl., by- 
 Chaucer and other M.E. writers in polite and respectful 
 address, applied to a single person. Davie (1307-27) uses 
 both J)ee^ Dat. S., and ^ee, Nom., in addressing our Lord ; 
 also ^07i, Dat. PI, in addressing Edward II. The Angel 
 speaking to Davie says Po?i, pee. In a general way the dis- 
 tinction between Sing, and PI. was maintained during the 
 whole M.E. period. The Sing, thou, thee, were used late into 
 Mod. English, in addressing inferiors, and in affectionate, 
 intimate relations. In Present-day Standard English, the 
 Singular forms are never used except in addressing the Deity. 
 According to E. D. Gr., the Pron. of 2nd Pers. is in use in 
 nearly all the dialects of England ' to express familiarity or 
 contempt '. It has disappeared from use in S. Scotl., and is 
 very rarely heard in other parts of the country. Among the 
 Society of Friends, thee still lingers as a Nom. 
 
 Confusion of ye and you. 
 
 The Mod. yoti is of course the old Dat. Caxton still uses 
 ye for the Nom. and you only in oblique case. The sixteenth- 
 century language of the Prayer Book, and the seventeenth- 
 century language of the Authorized Version of the Bible, 
 preserve the old distinction— e.g. ' Ye have not chosen me, 
 but I have chosen you '. This seems to be the polite usage, 
 as noted by Hoelper, p. 48, with regard to TotteVs Miscellany, 
 
 Otherwise confusion exists among sixteenth and seventeenth 
 century writers, ye and you being used indiscriminately as 
 Nom. or Obj. Apart from liturgical use, ye only survives in 
 Stand. Engl, in a few phrases: [h«^/d/du], where [i], with loss of 
 [j], is due to its unstressed position, [J73er)k!] and [l?/kl], now 
 old-fashioned, and obsolescent. In the form {!] it survives in 
 
1 68 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 many rustic dialects, chiefly, I believe, in unstressed positions 
 [kam JAr wz'l i ; d/dnt ai tel i ?]. 
 
 The use of thee as a Nom. among the Friends is doubtless 
 due to the analogy of the other Nom. forms with the sound 
 [l] — Jie, she, zve, and further to the PI. yc. 
 
 The use oi ye as an Obj. case is probably due to the analogy 
 of the normal Early Mod. thee in the Sing., and the other 
 Ace. Dat. form me. 
 
 The use of yoii as a Nom. may have been influenced by the 
 Sing. tho7i, though certainly the two forms had not the same 
 vowel. 
 
 There is no doubt that the various forms of the Pers. 
 Pronouns have influenced each other in this way. In different 
 periods, and among different divisions of the Community, there 
 have been different starting-points — either [i] as expressing an 
 Obj. Sing, on the pattern of me, thee ; a Nom. PI. on the 
 model oiye, we ; or Nom. Sing, on the lines of ^^, she. 
 
 Pronouns of the 3rd Person in M.E. 
 
 § 295. Masculine Singular. 
 
 The usual forms are, like the O.E., Nom. he^ Dat. him. 
 
 The old Ace. hine is not very common in M.E., the Dat. 
 him is used indifferently even in early texts for both Ace. and 
 Dat. Even those texts which preserve hine, hyne, or hin use 
 him also for the Ace. The old Ace. is found in Lambeth 
 Homilies, Owl and Nightingale, and Moral Ode (Trinity MS.) ; 
 in Robt. of Glos. (once after mid), the Kentish Sermons, 
 and Shoreham's Poems. These texts, however, and the other 
 Sthn. texts use him also. The earliest London sources have 
 only him, hym. All the earliest E. Midi, texts use him 
 indiscriminately for Dat. and Ace, though Gen. a7id Ex. has 
 Jiin twice, once after of, and hine once. 
 
 The unstressed Dat. form im without the aspirate occurs in 
 this text joined to the preceding verb — madim ' made for him ', 
 and in the same text the weak e occurs — ' And spac uneSes, so 
 e gret, "Sat alle hise wlite wurS teres wet.' 
 
 Seeing how common the modern descendant of hine [an] is 
 in the rural dialects chiefly of the South and S.-West (cf. 
 Wright, Dial. Gr., § 405 b), it is surprising that it is not to be 
 found oftener in M.E. literature, where it survives only till the 
 early fourteenth century (Shoreham), and only in scattered 
 examples. The form [an] is always unstressed and used chiefly 
 of inanimate objects, so far as my experience goes (in Oxford- 
 shire and Berks.), and though sometimes applied to men, it is 
 
§§ 294-6] The Feminine Pronoun She 169 
 
 never used of women. In Oxfordshire at any rate, the 
 stressed form of the Ace. Pron. Masc. is now generally [l], not 
 [z'm] and never [in]. 
 
 § 296. Feminine Singular. 
 
 The origin of the mysterious Nom. form she, which has 
 been the only form in literary English at any rate since the 
 middle of the fourteenth century, is a puzzle that has never 
 been satisfactorily solved. It may be a kind of blend between 
 the old Fem. Art. and Demonstr. seo, M.E. [sjo] and the old 
 
 Fem. Pers. Pron. hed, M.E. [hj5], but this is pure conjecture. 
 
 It will be well to give first an account of the earliest 
 appearance, and the distribution of those forms of the Fem. 
 Pron. which are either the ancestors or close relations of Mod. 
 shCy and then an account of the numerous other forms used 
 in early M.E. with the same meaning. 
 
 The earliest appearance of any pronoun at all like she is in 
 E. Midi, in the latter part of the Land Ch'07i. (middle of 
 twelfth century), where scse is fairly frequent. Orm., fifty years 
 later, does not know the form at all, nor does the Bestiary of 
 1350. Gen. and Ex., however, of approximately the same 
 date, has she, and sge = [sje], together with other forms to be 
 considered below. She and sho appear in Havelok (1300) but 
 not in King Horn, about the same date. 
 
 It appears from this, since these are all E. Midi, texts, that 
 the new form was established, on the whole, pretty firmly in 
 the East Midlands, at any rate from the middle of the 
 thirteenth century. The W. Midi, texts show sche, etc., 
 coming in by the middle of the fourteenth century. Thus 
 Will, of Pal. (1350) has sche, she, but also^/;^ and line; A Hit. 
 P. has not the she-iorm at all, only ho ; the author of Piers 
 Plowman has scJie but also Jieo. Audelay (1430) has generally 
 heo, but che and she occur a few times each ; sheo occurs 
 twice (Rasmussen, p. 78). Myrc, however (c. 1430), has no 
 instance of such a form as sche. 
 
 The more polished fourteenth-century writers of the Mid- 
 lands, Mandeville, Chaucer, Wyclifife, and Gower, all \i2M&sche 
 or she only, which coincides with the prevailing usage in the 
 London dialect of this period. The London documents 
 (Morsbach), however, still have a few examples oi }he. The 
 later London Charters have she, sche only (Lekebusch, p. 107). 
 Northern Engl, and Scots texts have s{c)ho, scho. 
 
 Any form such as sche, sex, etc., appears to be unknown 
 during the whole M.E. period in any pure Southern text, 
 
170 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 whether Kentish or Saxon in dialect, apart from the quite 
 exceptional shcc which occurs once or twice in Trevisa 
 instead of his usual hco, hue ; cp. Morris's hitrod. to A^en- 
 bite^ p. i. 
 
 We may say, then, that sJie, whether it actually arose in the 
 Nth., or the E. Midi., or in both independently, must have 
 penetrated into Literary and Standard Engl, from the E. Midi, 
 dialect. 
 
 Other forms of the Pron. of 3rd Person Fem. 
 
 § 297. Perhaps the commonest form (Nom.) in the South 
 is heo, probably originally = [ho]. This was later unrounded 
 to he^ which we find, together with Jii, in St. Ed. Hi also 
 appears in Kentish [A^ejibite). The form hi is used occa- 
 sionally as an Ace, though the Dat. hire, hir already in 
 Laud Chr. has come into use for that purpose. The incon- 
 venience of hi, which was also, as we shall see, a common form 
 for the N. and Ace. PI., and of Jieb^ or he, which was identical 
 with the Masc. Pron., is obvious. 
 
 What appears to be an unstressed form, ha, occurs by the 
 side of hed in A.R. Late Sthn. (Trevisa) has, besides hed, 
 a form hue which may = [hy], and be due either to the 
 analogy of the Gen. htir, huj'e (O.E. hyre), or to a special 
 treatment of [0] from eo (cp. § 169 above). In the latter case 
 hue would simply be a late form of hed. St. Ed. (1420) has 
 hee, he, as the only forms. 
 
 Turning to the Midlands, we find a fair variety of forms 
 besides sche, etc., already discussed. Or7n. has )ho which 
 probably = [hjo] from hed ; Bestiary has^^, probably = [hje], 
 
 also from heo with unrounding of [0] or monophthonging of 
 eo ; Ge7t. and Ex. besides she, sge, has ge and ghe, which 
 mean no doubt the same thing and correspond to the form 
 in Bestiary ; King Horn still writes heo. The W. Midi. Wil. 
 of Pal. has htie, and Allit. P. ho, which presumably is due to 
 a late O.E. ^h{e)d; Jos. of Ar. heo; My re has generally heo, 
 but also occasionally ho and he. This form is probably the 
 ancestor of the Mod. dial, [hu] used in Derbyshire and 
 Cheshire. 
 
 § 298. Had the M.E. distribution of the forms of this 
 pronoun remained undisturbed, we should apparently have 
 had she [Ji], in Standard Eng., in the E. Midi, and in the 
 North generally ; we should have had [hi] in the Southern 
 Area, including Kent, together with a weak form [a], while in 
 
§§296-300] Oblique Cases of Feminine Pronoun 171 
 
 the West, and perhaps the Central Midlands, we should have 
 [hu]. 
 
 § 299. The M.E. Dat. Fern, of the pronoun of the 3rd 
 Pers. is regularly hire, hir, or here, her, and these forms are 
 found in all dialects, though careful authors, or scribes (e.g. 
 Gower), sometimes distinguish between hir, hire, on the one 
 hand, which they keep for the Fern. Sing., and here, etc., 
 which is the Possessive PL, on the other. The majority of 
 texts, however, write hire, here, indifferently. This is the case 
 in some Chaucer MSS., though others use hire in the Fem. 
 Sing., and Jiere in the Possessive PI. ; others again reverse this. 
 The London official documents of the fourteenth century use 
 here, her for the Fem. Sing. D. Mandeville and Wycl. have 
 hir, hire. 
 
 Parallel to the M.E. levelling of the Sing. Ace. Masc. pro- 
 noun under the Dat. form, is the use of the Dat. Fem. for the 
 Ace. also, which is universal in all dialects. The Ace. hi, 
 referring to a grammatically Fem. Noun, used in O. and N. and 
 in Shoreham, is exceptional. Modern usage has fixed on her as 
 the Ace. Dat. Sing. Fem. The weakened form of this, with- 
 out the aspirate, must have been in use in M.E., though it is 
 not so commonly recorded as the weakened form of hit (cp. 
 § 300). St. Editha has Jioselder and aneled herre, ' communi- 
 cated her and gave her extreme unction '. 
 
 [On the distribution oihir and her in M.E. see § 305, under Possessive 
 Pronouns.] 
 
 The Neuter Pronoun of the 3rd Pers. 
 
 § 300. The usual Nom. and Ace. form in M.E. is hit in 
 all dialects, and the other cases are identical with those of the 
 Masc. Pron. 
 
 Weakening to it. 
 
 This is noticeable in E. Midi, texts of an early date : Land 
 Chron., Orm., Bestiary, Gen. and Ex. all have the weakened 
 form. The W. Midi, have both hit and it. The earliest 
 Sthn. and Kentish texts have hit, hyt, but the late thirteenth- 
 century Robt. of Glos. has it as well as hit. This appears to 
 be exceptional in the South, where hit, hyt are the typical 
 forms. 
 
 The earliest London sources have hit only. Davie (1327) 
 has hit and it. 
 
 The form a used by Trevisa as an impersonal pronoun 
 should be noted. The same writer uses this form also as a 
 
1 72 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 weak (unstressed) form of the Masc. (or Neut.?) Pron. It 
 refers to the agate stone in the phrase a ys blak as gemmes 
 bup, . . . a broinep yn tvatcr. 
 
 Of the fourteenth-century London documents the Charters 
 generally have either kit or it ; only once, according to Mors- 
 bach {Schriftspr., pp. 121-3), do both forms occur in the same 
 document ; the Wills and State Records have both forms. 
 
 Gower generally has it, seldom hit ; Chaucer has both, hit 
 being commoner. 
 
 Caxton {Troye) still retains hit, hyi, though it is commoner. 
 (Cp. also Romstedt, p. 40.) 
 
 The late fifteenth-century Charters have both forms, it being 
 the more common (Lekebusch, p. 107). 
 
 The Plural Forms of the 3rd Person (Nom., Ace, Dat.). 
 
 § 301. The normal M.E. continuations of the O.E. hie 
 Nom. and Ace, heoin Dat., and heora, hira Gen., are hi, hem, 
 here, hire, respectively, or variants of these. (The Gen. forms 
 will be considered below, § 306, under Possessive Pronouns.) 
 The point of interest in the history of the PI. forms is the 
 gradual introduction and substitution for the native forms of 
 the forms pei, pcini, pcir, and their variants, which are of 
 Scandinavian origin. 
 
 It v/ould appear that no ptire Southern or Kentish text has 
 any of these /-forms before the fifteenth century. The form 
 Pai ' they ' occurs, strangely enough, in the Wooing of our Lord 
 (c. 1 210), but this must be due to Midi, influence. The fol- 
 lowing table shows the N., A., and D. forms in the principal 
 Sth. and Kt. texts down to the middle of the fourteenth 
 century : 
 
 .S". and S. IV. 
 
 Lambeth Moral Ancren Soules God o "tN ^•'^^ Tre- 
 Homs. Ode. Riwle. Warde. Ureisun. ' ' Glos. visa. 
 
 N. heo,ha hi, hy heo,ha ha heo hi,heo hii,hihy,hi,a 
 
 A. ha?fi heo hajn horn horn ham 
 
 D. heom, ham heom, him ham haju heofn, hem, hafu 
 
 horn horn 
 
 Kentish. 
 
 Vesp. A. 22. Kt. Sermons. Shoreham. Ajenbite. 
 
 N. hi hi hi, hy hi 
 
 A. hi, hii ham hise, his (very frequent) 
 
 D. hajfi ham hem ham 
 
 The fifteenth-century St. Editha seems to be the first Sthn. 
 text which has pey,pai in the N. PI., and these are the only 
 
§§ 300-1] Use of They and Them in M.E. 17^ 
 
 o 
 
 forms, but the native forms hem Ace. and Dat., and hure, etc. 
 (cp. § 306 below) are retained. 
 
 The E. Midi, texts tell a very different story, and we find 
 the Scandinavian forms coming in quite early, but even in this 
 area the Nom. is earlier than the other cases. 
 
 Laud 
 Chron. 
 
 1200. 1250. 1250. 1300. 1300, 1300-30. 1370-1450. 
 
 r^ T)-, *• r- (? 17 Have- King Robt. of Boken- 
 
 Orm. Bestiary. Gen. & Ex. ^^^^ ^^^^l g^.^^^^_ ^,^_ 
 
 hi peii he he pet, he hi, he pey they,pei 
 
 heom heinin hem hevi hem hem hem pern, hem 
 
 heom, him hemm,pejj}n hein hem hem hem 
 
 West Midland. 
 
 1350. 1350. 1350. 1426. 1450' 
 
 E. E. Pr. Ps' Allit. P. Jos. of An Audelay. Myrc. 
 
 N. hii, hij pai ]:>ei, heo thai pey 
 
 A. hem hefii, hom hem ) , j j hem 
 
 D. hein hem, hom hem, heom ) ' ' ^ hem 
 
 The London official dialect of the thirteenth century, as 
 shown in Henry Ill's Proclamation (1258), has only hco for 
 Nom. PL, and heom in Ace. and Dat. ; Davie (1327) has still 
 only hij in N. PL 
 
 AH the London official documents of the fourteenth century 
 \i2iVQpei,pey, they, etc., in the Nom. In the earliest Lond. Ch., 
 for the other cases, Jiem alone is found, and even in the later 
 documents where payin, thaim, pain, etc., appear, Jiein pre- 
 ponderates largely (Morsbach, Schriftspr., pp. 122, 123). 
 
 The language of Mandeville, Chaucer, Gower, and Wycliffe 
 agrees in this respect with the fourteenth-century London 
 documents; these writers all have tJici^pei, they., etc., in the 
 Nom., but the Scand. forms are unknown in the other cases : 
 Ace. Dat. hem. Hoccleve and Lydgate (1420) have pei, they 
 in Nom. but Jiein in the oblique cases; Malory (1469) has 
 they in Nom., theyin, them in Ace, hem in Dat. ; Caxton 
 {Troyc, 1471) they, but hem more usually in Dat. Ace, though 
 I note also hem in Ace. Nut-brown Maid (1500) and Skelton 
 (1522) have the th-iovms throughout. I have noted the form 
 ^hem as late as 1605, several times in Marston's Easttvard Hoc. 
 
 All the Present-day dialects have they or some variant of 
 it ; the old hi, etc., has completely vanished. In the oblique 
 cases, however, [am], the descendant of hem, survives to this 
 day in the dialects and even in Standard English. This is 
 the form written 'em, as though it were reduced from them. 
 Down to and during the eighteenth century, this form was 
 
174 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap.vih 
 
 a recognized form even in serious, if somewhat colloquial 
 writing. 
 
 In good colloquial Spoken English [am] is frequent, though 
 perhaps becoming obsolescent among some classes of society. 
 The loss of the initial Jl parallel to that in it, and the reduction 
 of the vowel, are of course due to the unstressed position, in 
 which alone [om] can be used. 
 
 We may summarize the results of the above account of the 
 Pers. Pronouns in M.E. in the following table : 
 
 First Person. Second Person. 
 
 N. ic, ice, ich, I,y pil, thou, pou 
 
 Ace. Dat. me pe, thee, pee 
 
 Third Person. 
 
 Masc. Fern. Neuter. 
 
 N. he, ha, a heo,hi,htie,ho,ie,}he,)ho, N.A.h/t,tt,a 
 
 scde,, schee, sche, she, sclio, 
 etc. 
 A. hine, hyne, hin, him, hi, here, her, hire, hir, er 
 
 hy»i 
 D. him, hyin hire, here, etc., hurre him 
 
 Plural. 
 
 N. hie, hi, hij, heo,pei, pai, /?ejj, they, thai, etc. 
 
 A. hi, heoifi, hem, ham, hise, his, paim, peim, pern, thaim, them, 
 
 theytn, etc. 
 D. heom, hem, hemm, ham, hom, paim, peim, etc. 
 
 Possessive Pronouns 
 
 § 302. The O.E. Genitives, viJn, pin, his, etc., were used 
 both as real Genitives, and as purely possessive adjectives. In 
 the former case they were often used after verbs and adjectives 
 which in O.E. govern the Gen., e.g. id eom his gepafa 'I con- 
 sent to it (his) ' ; or God helpe mln ' God help me ', etc. 
 
 In the second case, some of these words {inin,pin, eoiver, 
 lire) were declined in full like ordinary adjectives, agreeing 
 in Number, Gender, and Case with the nouns before which 
 they stood — mid miimvi edgiim (Dat. PI.) ' with my eyes '. 
 
 In M.E. the purely Genitive force is very early lost, though 
 there are some examples of a survival of this in early texts : 
 e.g.Pe Jmile he niei his wealden ' so long as he has power over 
 it', where his is the Gen. of the Neuter hit, governed by 
 •wealden ' rule, have power over, etc' {Oivl ajtd Nightingale, 
 Egerton MS., 1. ^^) ; further, ffog ic is Jiaiie drogen in wo, Gen. 
 and Ex. 2403, ' though I have borne it (is) in misery '. 
 
§§301-5] Possessive Pronouns 175 
 
 A^enbite has God his aiwckep, p. 70, ' God will punish it ' ; 
 bote he his ne knawc, ' unless he know it not ', ibid. 
 
 The Genitives of the Pers. Prons., then, become mere 
 Possessives, and are usually uninflected, though occasionally 
 ■^ey take a suffix -e, probably on the analogy of Jiire^ Jiere 
 ' her', 'their', which preserved the e from O.E. ^, and a. 
 
 The typical M.E. forms of the possessives are as follows, 
 though it seems unnecessary to give an exhaustive list of 
 every possible variant : 
 
 
 
 
 3rd 
 
 
 
 2nd 
 
 M. 
 
 ^ 
 
 _ 
 
 1st 
 
 F. 
 
 ~~N. 
 
 niin 
 
 bin 
 
 his 
 
 hire, here 
 
 his 
 
 mi 
 
 Pi 
 
 hise 
 
 his, her 
 
 
 ure 
 
 jttre 
 
 here 
 
 
 
 07ire 
 
 yonre 
 oure, etc. 
 
 heore 
 hare 
 hor, hure, 
 
 etc. 
 
 
 Sing. 
 PI. 
 
 § 303. The First Person. 
 
 M.E. texts often — one might say generally — distinguish 
 between vtln used before words beginning with vowels, and 
 ml before those beginning with consonants. 
 
 In the Sth., God Ureisim, Soides Warde, Ozvl and Nightin- 
 gale, and in the Kt. Homilies, Vesp. A. 22, the form mire 
 occurs, probably formed from mi- on the analogy of hi-i'-e 
 (Fem.). 
 
 § 304. The Second Person. 
 
 The same distinction between /Jw and// is made as between 
 viln and ml. Ozvl and Nightingale and God Ur. have a form 
 ptrc (also Dat. Fem.) which may be explained on the same 
 analogy as imre, § 303 above. Or the analogy may be the 
 PI. ^ou-re, ou-re. 
 
 Note. Parallel to mire, plre. Owl and Nightingale and Moral Ode 
 have ore Dat. Sing. Fem. of 5 'one'. The O.E. forms are an, dnre. 
 Ore is probably a new formation from M.E. Nom. o (before cons.), which 
 was often used by Chaucer as a kind of emphatic Indef. Art., ' a single 
 
 The Possessive Pronoun of 3rd Person Feminine. 
 
 § 305. The O.E. form Jiire survives in M.E. as hire, hyre, 
 in nearly all texts, and is far the commonest form. We find 
 here but rarely in early texts. St. Editha, however, favours 
 herre, but also has htirre and Imr. The forms with c probably 
 owe this vowel to the analogy of such a Nom. Fem. as lie. 
 
1 76 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Hnrre probably represents an older heore, where the diphthong 
 may be due either to the Norn, heo, or to the diphthongized 
 forms of the PI. : heovi, heora, etc. Of course M.E. forms 
 with u may also represent an O.E. hyre. 
 
 The use of her{e) is of interest, since it is the ancestor of the 
 Standard English form. In the West Midi. Wil. of PaL here 
 occurs, though Jiire is the commonest form, and Jmre occurs 
 once according to Skeat (Glossary of W. of Pal.). Allit. P. 
 seems generally to have her as Possess., though hyr otherwise ; 
 Myrc has hyrc. 
 
 Turning to the London and Literary Dialect, the London 
 Records have hcr{e) far more frequently than hir (Morsbach, 
 p. 136); Gower and Chaucer have only hir{e) ; Capgrave 
 (1394- 1 460), hire, here being rare (Dibelius, Anglia, xxiv. 
 220) ; Lydgate (1420), usually her as Possess., hir in the 
 other cases; Pecock (1449), her; the rather illiterate Cely 
 Papers which give a good picture of Middle Class speech 
 (1475-88) have here, hyr, and occasionally har (Sussbier, 
 p. ']']) ; Caxton has both hej'e and hir ; Coverdale generally 
 has hir, but her occasionally (Swearingen, p. 37) ; Skelton 
 (1522) only ^ler; Edw. V/'s 1st P.B. (1547) her ov\y ; TotteVs 
 Misc. (1557) still has hir as usual form, with occasional her 
 (Hoelper, p. 48), and I have noted the former in Eiiphiies 
 
 (i5«i)- 
 
 It appears, then, that the introduction oiher was very gradual, 
 
 and its exclusive use comparatively late. In the later period, 
 
 it may have developed from Jiir by a lowering of i in unstressed 
 
 positions. It is not easy to ascribe the form to any particular 
 
 dialect area, since it appears in various districts sporadically ; 
 
 quite early in Kent ( Wil. of Shoreham), in the S. West, in 
 
 W. Midi., and in the non-dialectal Pecock who is supposed 
 
 to represent the Oxford type of literary English. It may be 
 
 noted that liir was a useful distinctive form for the P'em. 
 
 Sing., so long as her was in use as the Possess. PI. With the 
 
 introduction and general use of tJieir, etc., however, her could 
 
 be used in the Sing, without ambiguity. 
 
 The Possessive Plural of the Third Person. 
 
 § 306. The displacement of the English forms here, etc., 
 by the Scandinavian /(?i>, etc., was like that of the O.E. Dat. 
 hem, etc., of the Pers. Pron., a slow process in the Midlands 
 and South. The earliest M.E. Northern texts, on the other 
 hand, know only the /-, ^/^-forms of the Possessive PL In 
 E. Midi., however, Onnulum is the only early M.E. text which 
 has the /-forms, though it still preserves the English forms as 
 
§§ 305-6] TJic Possessives Here and Their 
 
 177 
 
 well. None of the Sthn. or Kentish texts, none of the 
 W. Midi., and none of the great fourteenth-century writers, 
 Chaucer, WycHffe, Mandeville or Gower, have any trace of 
 peir, Pair, etc. The London Proclamation of Hen. Ill (1258) 
 has a Gen. /ler, and this is also Davie's form. The London 
 documents of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries 
 utilized by Morsbach are the first texts, other than the 
 Northern, and Orimihim, which make any considerable use of 
 the //^-forms, and they preserve here, etc., as well. The 
 fifteenth-century Hoccleve and Lydgate use her, but Malory 
 and Caxton have ther, their ; the latter also her, Mr a few 
 times (Romstedt, p. 41). The later fifteenth-century London 
 Charters have here comparatively rarely ; their, etc., is the 
 predominating form, and becomes more and more so with 
 every decade (Lekebusch, p. no). Henceforth these forms 
 seem practically the only ones, but Nat-brown Maid (c. 1500) 
 has her as well. As late as i557) TotteVs Misc. has her 
 a few times. 
 
 The following are the chief forms of the 3rd Pers. Possess. 
 PI. in the principal dialectal texts : 
 
 God Ur. 
 
 Southern. ^ 
 
 Lambeth Moral Ancr. 
 
 Horns. Ode. Riw. 
 
 Jiore hare,heore heora, hore, 
 
 heore hare 
 
 Owl& Robt.of Tre- 
 Night. Glos. visa. 
 eore hor, here 
 
 here 
 
 St. Ed. 
 
 hure'^ 
 htcrre 
 
 Kentish. 
 Vesp. A. 22. 
 hare 
 
 E. MiDL. 
 
 Laud Chron. Orm. 
 
 heore. 
 
 Kt. Sermons. 
 here, hire 
 
 Shoreham. 
 hare 
 
 A5enbite. 
 hare, hire 
 
 heore, here, 
 hire 
 
 pejjre 
 
 Gen. «& Ex. Havelok. 
 
 here, her, here 
 
 hure 
 
 Robt. of 
 
 Brunne. 
 
 here 
 
 Bokenam. 
 
 hyr, here, 
 ther 
 
 W. MiDL. 
 E. Engl. Pr. Ps. Jos. of Ar. Allit. P. W. of Pal. Myrc. Audelay. 
 her heore, here her, hor, here here 
 
 here 
 
 Northern. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ends. Cursor. 
 
 N. Psalter. 
 
 Metr. Homs. 
 
 Minot. 
 
 Bruce. 
 
 pair 
 bar 
 
 pair 
 
 thair 
 
 paire 
 
 thair 
 
 It seems evident from these statistics that their comes into 
 Literary English through East Midland, from the North. 
 
 M 
 
I yS Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Declension of Nouns. 
 
 § 307. Gender. English makes no distinctions of gram- 
 matical gender in nouns, but only recognizes the natural dis- 
 tinctions of sex. The confusion of genders which is observable 
 in Early Transition texts (see account, §§ 284-7 above, 
 of forms of article) was partly due to the working of analogy 
 which levelled out distinctions in declensional types, partly to 
 the weakening of vowels in unstressed syllables to -e which 
 took place during the last quarter of the eleventh and the 
 first quarter of the twelfth century, thus wiping out formal 
 distinctions to a very great extent. 
 
 § 308. Case. In Modern English the only case, in Nouns, 
 distinguishable from the Nom., is the Genitive or Possessive. 
 Of this case, only one type, that with the suffix -s, survives, 
 and is used both in Sing, and PI. This suffix is written -s: 
 dog's tail, kings crozvn, etc. It should be noticed that 
 although the spelling is fixed, the actual form of the suffix, as 
 pronounced, varies according to the character of the final 
 sound of the Noun. After voiceless consonants the suffix is 
 [-s] as in [ksets, Jz'psl, etc. After voiced consonants, and 
 vowels, the suffix is [-z] as in [dogz te/1, le/dz'z fez's], etc. After 
 the open consonants [z, J, z, s] the suffix is [-iz] in Standard 
 English, but often [-9z] in Provincial and Vulgar English, as 
 in [h5sz'z hed, f/Jzz fzn, brz'dzzz end], etc. 
 
 The origin of this suffix is the O.E. -es, a typical Genitive 
 Singular suffix for Masc. and Neuter Nouns: fixs cyninges 
 stum, sweordes ccg ' the King's son, sword's edge '. This 
 suffix in O.E. and Early M.E. was confined to Masc. and 
 Neuter Nouns of the Strong Declensions. It was very early 
 extended to all Genders, and to original Weak Nouns as well : 
 pxre corpan sceat ' the bosom of the earth ', becoming first */^r 
 erpen schet and then/^- erpes bdsme\ Mod. Engl, earth's, etc. 
 
 In O.E. there were other types of strong declension, both 
 
 Masc. and Fem. Thus a fairly large class are the so-called 
 
 o-stems like giefu ' gift ' (fem.), which in the Sing, is declined 
 
 as follows : at ■ • /• 
 
 N. gtefu 
 
 A. giefe 
 
 G. D. giefe 
 
 Another is that of ?/-stems which include words of all 
 genders. The following is an example : 
 
 
 S. 
 
 N. 
 
 SU91U * son ' 
 
 A. 
 
 sitnti, -a 
 
 G. 
 
 suna, etc. 
 
§§ 307-10] Possessive Case of Nouns 179 
 
 Note. We should expect the Possess, of wife, caIf\.o be [w^/vz, kavz] 
 instead of the actual [wi^/Zfs, krtfs], which are new formations on analogy 
 of Nom. We still say [kf^Fvzhed] however, and \\vaivz\ survived in 
 seventeenth century, cp. spelling luives in Marston's Eastward Hoe. 
 
 The Possessive Singular in M.E. 
 
 § 309. These types, whose cases are not very clearly 
 distinguished, even in O.E., suffer in M.E. the further levelling 
 of their suffixes to -e, so that there is nothing to distinguish 
 one type from another. They are, however, distinguishable 
 from the commonest type, in that they have -e in the Gen. 
 Sing, instead of -es. 
 
 Sporadic examples of words with -e in the Gen. Sing, 
 occur throughout the M.E. period. 
 
 The Sth. and Kt. texts have such forms of Gen. Sing, as 
 sune, his wide detk, in the Masc. and in the Fem. hiierte loue 
 * heart's love ', soiile fode ' soul's food ', senne slepe ' sleep of 
 sin ', ihovene month ' the oven's mouth ', oiire leuedi soster 
 ' our Lady's sister ', etc. 
 
 In the E. Midi., Gen. and Ex. has helle nigt ' the night of 
 hell ', steore name * star's name ', but as a rule the -es suffix is 
 used for Fem. nouns as well as Masc. St. Katherine (W. Midi.) 
 uses -es [-is) in Gen. S. for nouns of all genders — lefdis ' lady's ', 
 etc. Allit.P. generally has -es in Fem. as well as Masc, but 
 writes honde iny^t once. 
 
 In fourteenth-century London documents, Morsbach finds 
 a few cases in which the suffix -es is omitted, or replaced by 
 -e in Fem. words : sotde hele ' soul's welfare ', seint Katerine 
 day ' St. Katherine's day ', onre lady chapell * our Lady's 
 Chapel', etc. The last is the origin of the Modern Lady 
 Chapel. Chaucer generally has -es for all genders, but omits 
 s occasionally in old Fem. words: herte (also hertes), widive, 
 cherche, lady, and once in the old Masc. ?^-stem snne. Caxton 
 has a few survivals like oure lady matins, atte brydge foote, etc. 
 He also often omits -s after words ending in -s — Kinge Mene- 
 laus ^vyf, sir Patryse dethe, etc. This practice is followed 
 also by Coverdale — Moses wife, righteous sake, and is found 
 later in the Authorized Version. 
 
 For the adverbial use of the Gen., see below under 
 Adverbs, §325(3). 
 
 The Plural of Nouns. 
 
 § 310. In Mod. Engl, the only question we need ask con- 
 cerning the declension of a Noun is, * How does it form its 
 Plural?' 
 
 M a 
 
i8o Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Apart from foreign words like seraph — seraphim, stigma — 
 stigmata, rhiiioccrus — rhifwceri, etc., which take Hebrew, 
 Greek, and Latin PKirals respectively, whose use must be con- 
 fined to the learned, the types of Plural formation in English 
 are very few. They are the following : 
 
 A. -s-Plurals : cat— cats, etc. ; B. Weak Plurals : ox — 
 oxen ; C. Mutation Pis. : tooth — teeth, etc. ; D. Invariables : 
 sheep, deer ; E. Irregular, Double Pis. : children, etc. 
 
 § 311. A. -s-Plurals. 
 
 These include nearly all Nouns in the language; indeed 
 the number of each of the other types is so small that, 
 although they include some very important words, many 
 grammarians who deal only with English as it is consider 
 them as ' irregular '. 
 
 The -j-'Sufifix varies in pronunciation according to the same 
 conditions which determine the form of the Possessive (§ 308, 
 above) : [kiets, dogz, leidiz, h5s/z, hridziz], etc., etc. 
 
 There is also a class of words ending in f in the Nom. 
 Sing., which take the suffix [z] and voice the [f] to [v] ; e. g. 
 toaf — loaves [lo7/f — lo?/vz, kaf- — k«vz], etc. The explanation 
 of this is that in O.K./, though voiceless finally, was voiced 
 between vowels, so that the forms were hlaf — hlafas,/ in the 
 PI. being pronounced [v]. In M.E. the PI. was loves, and 
 later, when the vowel of the suffix was lost, the combination 
 [vs] naturally became [vz]. Thus the 2^-spelling in Mod. 
 English indicates a phonetic change which took place in O.E. 
 
 The O.E. forms of the Masc. type are : 
 
 Sing. PI. 
 
 N. A. Mm ' home ' JidDias 
 
 G. hdmes hama 
 
 D. hd7ne hdinum 
 
 § 312. B. Weak Plurals. 
 
 The only surviving word of this type in common use in 
 Standard English is ox, PI. oxen. {Brethren and children will 
 be considered under E, below.) 
 
 A few others survive in the Dialects, and a few such as 
 shoon, een, are occasionally found in rather artificial literary 
 usage. 
 
 The Weak Class was originally a very large one. In O.E. 
 it included Masculine, Fem., and Neuter words. Examples 
 are : Masc. — giima ' man ', hana ' cock ', ne/a ' nephew ', steorra 
 ' star ', hnnta ' hunter ', nama ' name ', mona ' moon ', etc., etc. ; 
 Fem. — eorde,folde 'earth', heorte 'heart', sjinne 'sun', swealwe 
 
§§310-12] Extension of Weak Declension in M.E. i8i 
 
 ' swallow ', bed ' bee ', id ' toe ', clife ' cliff', pise * pea ', cwhie 
 ' woman ' ; Neuter — eage ' eye ', edre ' ear '. 
 The O.E. Weak Declensions run as follows : 
 
 Masc. Fem. Neuter. 
 
 
 S. 
 
 PI. 
 
 S. 
 
 PI. 
 
 S. 
 
 PI. 
 
 N. 
 
 mona 
 
 monan 
 
 heorte 
 
 heortan 
 
 eage 
 
 eagan 
 
 A. 
 
 Dionan 
 
 mojian 
 
 heortan 
 
 heortan 
 
 eagen 
 
 eagan 
 
 G. 
 
 monan 
 
 indne7ia 
 
 heortan 
 
 heortefia 
 
 eagan 
 
 eagena 
 
 D. 
 
 monan 
 
 inoniim 
 
 heortan 
 
 heoriuin 
 
 eagan 
 
 lagum 
 
 In M.E. this form of declension is largely extended in the 
 Sthn. and Kentish texts, so that many originally strong words 
 are included, and we find Pis. like applen, bischopen, sustren, 
 bruggen 'bridges', dazven 'days', deden 'deeds', Jieveden 
 ' heads ', honden ' hands ', wingen ' wings ', etc. Original Wk. 
 nouns preserve their ending : chiirchcn, Jmnten ' hunters ', 
 peseii ' peas(e) ', herteji ' hearts ', ton ' toes ', eyen ' eyes ', etc. 
 
 Many Latin and N. Fr. Loan-words also take -en in PL : 
 develen, diaknen ' deacons ', mylen ' miles ', chambren ' cham- 
 bers \joyen ' joys ', etc. 
 
 The texts of the Sthn. and Kent, are very fond of a Wk. 
 Gen. PI. in -ejie, O.E. -ena, which is used even with words 
 originally strong, and which the Sthn. texts themselves other- 
 wise regard as such. Thus king. Gen. S. kirtges, D. kinge, 
 N. Ace. PI. kinges, Dat. kingen (O.E. cyn{in)guvi), but Gen. 
 hingene. 
 
 The apparent spread of the Wk. type in the Sth. may have 
 been due to the analogy of the Dat. PI., O.E. -rtni, M.E. -en. 
 The latter would be indistinguishable from the M.E. repre- 
 sentative of the O.E. wk. suffix -a7i. The Gen. PI. ending 
 -ena was also common in O.E. in the so-called <?-stem words 
 (Fem.), which are of course a strong class — e. g. g{i)efu ' gift ', 
 Gen. PI. g{i)efena. This suffix, M.E. -e7ie, occurring here as 
 well as in the regular Wk. declension, could easily be further 
 extended. In the same way the M.E. N. and Ace. PI. -en 
 occurred already in a large number of words, and the same 
 suffix resulted from every Dat. PI. in the language. Hence it 
 was natural to use it to express the PI. generally. 
 
 In the Midlands, the use of the -en Pis. was very restricted. 
 Thus in Gen. and Ex. the usual PI. is -es, but a few -en forms 
 occur, and some are new formations: goren 'spears', O.E. 
 gdras ; sunen ' sons ', wedeti ' garments ', and the old wk. 
 nouns wunen ' laws ', fo/i * foes ', feren ' companions ', etc. 
 
 In W. Midi., Allit.P. has y^en ' eyes ', tmmpen ' trumpets ', 
 and the Gen. Pis. besten 'beasts', blonken 'horses', as the 
 
1 82 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 only forms of this class. St. Katherine^ now generally con- 
 sidered to be W. Midi., confines the use of -en to Fern, nouns. 
 The pre-Chaucerian London writer Davie (1307-27) has 
 the shattered remains of the wk. Pi. in creii, haleivc7i, fon, 
 hondcn (Dolle, p. 63). 
 
 The fourteenth-century London documents dealt with by 
 Morsbach have an overwhelmingly large proportion of -cs 
 Pis., the -en forms being only hosyn ' hose ', alle Hahven ' All 
 Hallows ' {ScJiriftspr., p. 1 14). Chaucer, who has more purely 
 Southern characteristics, has a greatly preponderating number 
 of -cs Pis. but also oxen, foon ' {oq.s\ pese7i, asshen 'ashes', 
 hosen, been (and bees) ' bees ', toon * toes ', yen ' eyes ', fleen 
 ' flies ', snstren, donghtren (and donghtres). Caxton's only 
 -en Pis. are sJioon ' shoes ' (also sJiois)^ eyen ' eyes ', oxen, /wsyn. 
 His usual form of the PI. ends in -es, or -is (Romstedt). 
 
 Some of the Mod. Dials, use the Pis. /wusen, primrosen. 
 Chicken is sometimes felt as a Wk. PI. and used collectively : 
 to keep chicken. Possibly the form cJiick is felt to be the 
 Sing, of this word. 
 
 § 313. C. Mutation Plurals. 
 
 A certain number of nouns in O.E., principally Masc. and 
 Fem., have in their N. and Ace. PL a change of vowel. 
 This change is always in the nature of fronting, and is due to 
 the original presence of an -/-suffix (cp. §§ 104-9 above, on i~ 
 Mutation). The change occurs also in the Dat. Sing. This 
 suffix is no longer preserved after long sylls. in O.K., though 
 the results remain. The following are the principal words of 
 this class : 
 
 Masctdine. fot—fet ' foot ', top — tep ' tooth ', mann or 
 ino7in — inenn ' man ' ; freond — -friend ' friend '. 
 
 Feminine. hnntn—Jmyte 'nut', hoc — bee 'book', ^^/ — gxt 
 * goat ', gos — ges ' goose ', im7s — inys ' mouse ', tils — lys ' louse ', 
 cii — ey ' cow ', burg, or bnrh — byrig ' city '. 
 
 Neuter, scrud — scryd ' clothing ' (cp. Mod. shroud). 
 
 These are declined as follows : 
 
 S. PI. S. PI. 
 
 N.A. 
 
 fit 
 
 fit 
 
 boc 
 
 bee 
 
 G. 
 
 fotes 
 
 fita 
 
 bee and boce 
 
 boca 
 
 D. 
 
 fit 
 
 fittim 
 
 bee 
 
 bocum 
 
 Rather more than half of these mutated Pis. are preserved 
 in Mod. Standard English ; friend, cow, nut, borough, book, 
 goat, and shi'oud have, however, succumbed to the influence of 
 the vast class of -.f-Pls. 
 
§§312-14] Mutated and Invariable Plurals 183 
 
 Note. The Dative Singular does not directly concern us here, but we 
 may note that the mutated forms hardly survive beyond Early M.E., with 
 the exception oi hyrig (see §316 below). I have noted the old Dat. S. of 
 boc twice in the Kt. Gospels, as bdech^ bech. 
 
 The {orva fryjidcs in Morsbach's fourteenth-century London 
 documents is probably the O.E. /rzV«^ with the additional -es 
 suffix {Schriftspr.^ p. 114). 
 
 The mutated PI. kye^ etc., is found in M.E. in Midi, and 
 Nthn. texts, and in W. Midi. Allit. P. kuy (see § 315). It 
 survives as kye [k«i] in the Mod. Dial, of the North, Nth. and 
 E. and Central Midlands, and in W. Somers. and Devon 
 {E. D. 6^n,§38i). 
 
 The form geet, etc., is fairly common, in all dialects down 
 to and during the fourteenth century, by the side of gootes, 
 etc. It is found as late as Caxton with the spelling gheet (C. 
 also uses gootes). Caxton has kyen 'cows', and the Kentish 
 kene (Romstedt, p. 38). 
 
 On the whole, M.E. and Early Mod. agree with present-day 
 Engl, in the group of words which have mutated Pis. 
 
 § 314. D. Unchanged or Invariable Pis. 
 
 In O.E. there is a group of Neuter Nouns which take no 
 suffix in the N. and Ace. PI. These are words of one syllable 
 which has either a long vowel, or two consonants at the end ; 
 deor ' beast ', sceap, seep ' sheep ', swlu ' swine ', fyr ' fire ', 
 word ' word ', dearu ' child '. The short-syllabled words of 
 the same class take -a in the N. and Ace. PI. This -n is lost 
 after a long syllable in Early O.E., hence the uninflected form 
 of deor, etc. 
 
 These invariables survive to some extent in M.E., and 
 while many pass into the common -es PI. type, there are some 
 additions, some of which are collective nouns, and others 
 expressive of measure, or number, etc. 
 
 Examples : schep * sheep ', deor ' deer, beast ', folc, yeer, 
 thing, hors (Chaucer), etc. 
 
 Caxton uses myle ' mile ' in PI. when preceded by a numeral, 
 also couple, and pound. 
 
 The forms yeres, tldnges are found by the side of the un- 
 inflected Pis. 
 
 In present-day English sheep and deer are always invariable, 
 while such phrases as jive mile long, two foot high, three stone 
 ten, are common though perhaps rather archaic. The words 
 dozen, couple, score when preceded by a numeral are never 
 inflected. Note also such phrases as a three-year-old, five- 
 pound 7iote. 
 
184 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Sivinc IS now only used collectively — a herd of swiue, 
 except colloquially, as a term of abuse. Chaucer still uses 
 s^ivyn as an ordinary PI. No doubt the analogy of km ' cows ' 
 may have helped to retain this form. 
 
 § 315. E. Irregular Plurals. 
 
 In present-day English, the forms children, brethren, and 
 the Provincial, or poetical form kine require some ex- 
 planation. 
 
 Children. In O.E. the word clld (neuter) is generally 
 declined like zvord (see § 314 above) and has an invariable N. 
 and Ace. PI. clld, but the form cildrii is also found. In M.E. 
 there are two chief types of PI.: one chtldre, derived from 
 cildrn, found in Orm, and Gen. and Ex. {childere), Allit. P. 
 childer ; and the other childrefi, found in the Sth. and Kt., used 
 by Chaucer and Caxton, and in present-day English. This 
 form is of course a double PI., since the -r- is itself a PI. 
 suffix, and to this is added the Wk. suffix -en, Coverdale has 
 a PI. Gen. childers, otherwise children. Edward V/'s First 
 Prayer Bk. has both forms of the PI. in the phrase — childers 
 children (Marriage Service). 
 
 Brethren. This shows mutation of the vowel as well as 
 the addition of -en. 
 
 In O.E. the usual W.S. PI. is bropor and broprn, but it is 
 worth noting that the Dat. Sing, is breper. Rushworth^ 
 (Mercian) has N. and A. PI. brccdre, by the side of broder and 
 brodre, and Lindisfarne (Northumbr.) has also mutated forms. 
 The declension of bropor is remarkable, as it belongs to 
 a small class of words all expressing family relationships : 
 O.E. f seder ' father', mddor ' mother', dohtor ' daughter', and 
 sweostor ' sister '. Mddor and dohtor have Dat. Sing, meder, 
 dehter, but no mutation in the PI. in O.E. 
 
 In Early M.E., in the Sth. and Kt. this whole group of 
 words take the Wk. -^/^-suffix in the PI.: brotheren and 
 br ether en, snstren, modren, don^treji, etc.; Gen. and Ex. also 
 has brethere\ W.Midi. {Allit. P), brether, defter; Chaucer, 
 bretheren, doughtren (and donghtres), snstren. Caxton has 
 brethren, bredern, bretherne, brothern. The association of 
 broper on the one hand with the mutation Pis. was effected 
 through the Dat. Sing., since most words which had a mutated 
 Dat. Sing, had also mutation in N. and Ace. PI. 
 
 The association with the -en Pis. could be effected if any 
 one member of the group acquired this suffix. Sustren may 
 well have been the starting-point, as it is the most consistently 
 
§§314-16] Group of Plurals in -ren 185 
 
 used form in the Sth. As has been pointed out before, the 
 origin of -en in M.E. need not in all cases have been O.E. -<a:«, 
 but it might arise from a generalization of the M.E. weakening 
 of the Dat. PI. suffix -tnn. When once -en arose in the Dat., 
 the tendency to extend it to the other cases of the PI. would 
 be very strong, owing to the large group of words which 
 already had the suffix from another source. 
 
 Apart from the group of relationship words which were 
 associated by meaning, there were several other word — sold 
 neuters, like cildru, which had -rii in the PL in O.E., and in 
 M.E. -re, and -ren. When once bretheren and the rest were 
 established, it would be natural to regard -ren as a PI, suffix 
 and to extend it to the words which normally had -re. These 
 were, among others: O.E. xg 'egg', PI. segrn, M.E. ei, PI. 
 eire{n) ; O.E. lamb — lanibru, M.E. lainbre, lambren ; O.E. 
 calf 'calf — calfru, M.E. calfre and calvren. Here again the 
 Dat. PL children, eiren, calf ren helped in the process. In 
 this way, a considerable group of Pis. in -ren was formed. 
 
 Kine. This form is of course another example of a double 
 PL, showing mutation : O.E. cy, etc., + the weak -n suffix. 
 The three types knyn, km, keii are all found fairly frequently 
 in M.E. Chaucer has kin, Caxton kyen, and kene. The ktn- 
 type may have been assured permanence by a natural associa- 
 tion with the collective swln, which was invariable (§ 314). 
 In Standard and Literary English, kine is archaic, and poetical. 
 In the Mod. Dials, it is used in the W. of Scotland, the Nth. 
 of England, Kt., and Devon {E. D. Gr., § 383). 
 
 Other dialectal double Pis. of the same kind are [gizn, 
 mizn, fitn]. 
 
 § 316. Survivals of old Datives in English. 
 
 Meadow is an old Dat., O.E. mxdwe, mxdewe, etc., from 
 Nom. Fem. inxd. This word, and Lcasozve (Chesh. PL N.), 
 leasozv (Mod. Dial.) 'meadow' from O.E. Ixs, Dat. Ixswe, 
 belonged to the so-called -zf^^-stems, a group of Fem. words 
 which originally took the suffix -wd- after the ' root '. In the 
 O.E. Nom. all trace of this has disappeared in long-syllabled 
 words, but the iv survives in the oblique cases. 
 
 In M.E. the forms medwe, medoue, leseo, lesone, etc., occur, 
 generally used indifferently as Nom. or oblique case. The 
 forms mead, and lease are descended from the old Nominatives. 
 
 Bury in PL Ns. is from the O.E. Dat. Sing, byrig from 
 Nom. bnrh. The usual pronunciation at present, when the 
 element is stressed, is [bsr/] representing O.E. (Kentish) berig, 
 but the spelling represents a M.E. type pronounced [y]. The 
 
1 86 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 word borough is descended from the old Nom. btiriih, with 
 a parasitic // in the second syllable. 
 
 The Adjectives 
 
 Declension. 
 
 § 317. Old English. 
 
 The Adjective in O.E. has two modes of declension — the 
 Strong and the Weak, which correspond, on the whole, to the 
 Strong and Weak Declensions of Nouns. Nearly all adjectives 
 can be declined in both ways. The Strong Declension is 
 used when adjectives occur predicatively, or attributively, 
 without the Definite Article. The Weak Declension of Ad- 
 jectives is used after the Definite Article. 
 
 O.E. adjectives distinguish Gender, and Number. 
 
 
 Strong Declension. 
 
 
 Weak Declension. 
 
 
 
 Singular. 
 
 
 
 Singular. 
 
 
 
 M. 
 
 F. 
 
 N. 
 
 
 M. F. 
 
 N. 
 
 N. 
 A. 
 G. 
 D. 
 Instr. 
 
 god 
 
 god-ne 
 god-es 
 god-um 
 gode 
 
 god, bldecu 
 gode 
 gdd-7'e 
 godre 
 
 PI. 
 
 god 
 
 gdd\ 
 
 god-es 
 
 god-um 
 
 gode 
 
 N. 
 A. 
 G. 
 D. 
 
 god- a god-e 
 god-an — 
 
 M.F.N. PI. 
 
 god-e 
 god-an 
 
 N.A. 
 G. 
 D. 
 
 gode 
 
 god-e 
 
 god-ra 
 
 god-um 
 
 god, blacu 
 
 
 N. go dan 
 
 G. god-ena, -ra 
 
 D. god-um 
 
 
 Note. The forms of blsec ' black ' have been given in the two cases, 
 N. Fern. S. and N.A. Fern. PI., in which short-syllabled words retain the 
 suffix -ti, lost after long monosyllables. 
 
 The cases which differ in their suffix from those of nouns are : Sing. 
 Ace, M., Dat. M. ; G. and D. Fern. ; Dat. Neuter ; in the PI. — N.and A. 
 Masc, G. of all Genders. The suffixes -ne, -ra, -j-e are formed on the 
 analogy of the Pronouns : hi-ne, hi-ra, hi-re, hz-e. 
 
 § 318. M.E. Adjectives. 
 
 The declension of Adjectives undergoes considerable modi- 
 fications in M.E. by the natural process of levelling all the 
 vowels of the endings under -e. 
 
 Further, since -a7i and -nm are both levelled under -e7i, it is 
 impossible to tell which suffix it represents; e.g. to pe guoden 
 ' to the good ' Dat. PI., A^enb., p. 72. 
 
 The Early Transition texts of the South preserve some of 
 the strong adjectival endings, and distinguish to some extent 
 between Strong and Weak endings. 
 
§§ 3i6-2o] M.E. Inflexion of Adjectives 187 
 
 Thus Holy Rd. Tree has D. Sing. Fern, ludre, dinre, but 
 often drops the r of the suffix ; an Ace. Masc. inucelne ; whereas 
 the Dat. PI. still preserves -7ivi occasionally, by the side of 
 -on, -an, -a, -e. The Weak forms often drop the -n, and 
 a strong Gen. PL haligrse occurs where we should expect -ena. 
 (See on this text Napier's admirable Introduction, p. liv.) 
 
 The Weak suffix -e7t is disappearing from the language, 
 perhaps by weakening and losing the -n, so that it is indis- 
 tinguishable from the Strong ending -e. At any rate the -en 
 suffix appears not to survive the close of the twelfth century, 
 except in Adj. used as Nouns. 
 
 The Strong endings remain, here and there, considerably 
 later. Godne is found in La^ainon, 13X8 ; alnewan in A^en- 
 bite; A.R. (Morton's text) has^^^^r^, Dat. Sing., p. 428, and 
 to godre heale, p. 194. Orm has allre nest, 1054. Chaucer 
 still has a few Gen. Pis. in -r in his poetry — yotire aller cost, 
 onre aller cok, and the fossils alderbest, alderwerst (ten Brink, 
 Chancers Spr., § 355). A belated allennast occurs in St. 
 Editha. 
 
 For the Central M.E. period the ordinary suffix for attri- 
 butive Adj., used without distinction of Gender, Number, and 
 Case, is -e ; cp. Chaucer's ' smak foules maken melodic '. This 
 -e remains in poetry until, together with all other unstressed 
 -^'s, it is lost towards the close of the fifteenth century. It is 
 often omitted in prose much earlier, especially after long 
 vowels. It was probably archaic and disused in the spoken 
 language considerably earlier. 
 
 § 319. French Adjectives in M.E. 
 
 French Pis. in -s occur in Chaucer oftener in his prose than 
 in his verse (ten Brink, Chancers Spr., § 243). These forms 
 occur chiefly when the Adjective is used attributively and 
 stands after the Noun : places delitables, iveyes espiritnels, 
 goodes iemporeles. But -s is found also when the Adj. pre- 
 cedes the Noun : in the sovereyns devynes snbstannces ; and 
 occasionally when the Adj. is used predicatively : romances 
 that ben royales (rhymes with tales), Sir Thopas, 137. 
 
 § 320. Comparison of Adjectives. 
 
 In O.E. the ordinary suffixes of comparison are — Comp. 
 -ra ; Superl. -ost, more rarely -ast, -nst, and still more rarely 
 -est. There were in Gmc. two types of suffix : -oza-, -ost- ; -iza-, 
 -ist-. The latter occur in O.E. only in a few words, which 
 are known by having z-mutation in the Comp. and Superl. 
 It is not otherwise possible to distinguish the two types in 
 
W.S. ieldra 
 
 {eldest 
 
 non-W.S. eldra 
 
 eldest 
 
 yN .S. grieira 
 
 
 gingra, 
 
 Merc, gungra 
 
 gingest 
 gungest 
 lengest 
 
 
 strengest 
 
 brxdra (generally 
 
 brad-) 
 W.S. hierra 
 
 W.S. hTehst 
 
 non-W.S. herra 
 
 non-W.S. hehst 
 
 1 88 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 O.E., as -ost, -est, etc., may occur in the same word without 
 mutation. 
 
 Examples of unmutated type : 
 
 heard — heardra, heardost 
 fxger—fdegerra, fdegrost 
 
 This is the normal type, and in M.E. occurs as hardre, 
 hardest. 
 
 § 321. Examples of type with i- mutation. 
 There are comparatively few of these : 
 
 eald 'old ' 
 
 great 
 
 geong 
 
 long 
 
 strong 
 
 brad 
 
 hedh 
 
 Comparatives are inflected weak, Superlatives nearly always 
 weak, except in forms ending in -ost, -est (N. A.V. Neut.). 
 
 Note. In O.E. the Comp. either iak^s potine 'than' after it, with the 
 thing compared in the same case as that of the thing with which it is 
 compared : Se wdes betera pomie ic (Beow. 469), or om\\.% p07t7ie, and takes 
 the Dat. of thing compared : 7ie ongeat he no hietie selfne bettran o'drutn 
 gddu7n monnicm, Ctcra Past., p. 114. 23, cit. Wiilfing, Sytttax, p. 75. 
 
 In M.E. more of the mutated forms survive than in the 
 Mod. period. Chaucer has strenger — strengest, ie?iger — 
 lengest. At the present day we retain only elder — eldest, and 
 these with a specialized meaning, defining usually the place 
 or order in a family : the elder of the two brotJiers, the eldest 
 son. Eldest was still used with the old force in seventeenth 
 century. Eldest as an ordinary comp. of old occurs in 
 Eiiphnes Efigland, Arber's Reprint, p. 258. Stre^iger, le?tger, 
 are used by Sir T. Elyot (1531). 
 
 Note. The Comp. of great is generally grettre, gretier in M.E. 
 (Chaucer, Caxton), with vowel shortening. Shakespeare rhymes _^^//^r — 
 better (Victor, Shakesp. 167). On the possible influence of this Comp. on 
 the form [gre/t], see § 232, Note. 
 
 § 322. Irregular Comparison. 
 
 Certain words form their Comp. and Superl. from a base 
 other than that of the Positive. 
 
§§ 320-3] 
 
 Irregular Comparison 
 
 189 
 
 ■ good 
 
 'bad' 
 
 'big' 
 ' little ' 
 
 
 O.E. 
 
 
 M.E. (Chaucer) 
 
 
 god 
 
 f betera 
 [bettra 
 
 betst 
 
 good bettre 
 
 best 
 
 
 
 
 werse 
 
 werst 
 
 yjei 
 
 wyrsa 
 
 wyrsta 
 
 evil 
 
 badder 
 
 
 my eel 
 micel 
 
 mdra 
 
 7/!dest 
 
 muchel 
 moche 
 
 more 
 
 moost 
 
 lytel 
 
 Idessa 
 
 Idest 
 
 litel 
 
 
 Idsse 
 
 lecst 
 
 No comment is required on these words, as we have retained 
 the irregularities. We generally use smaller, smallest^ as the 
 Comp. and Superl. oi little. Less and least are generally adverbs 
 at the present time, and we usually employ a Comp. lesser 
 adjectivally. 
 
 § 323. Certain Adjectives derived from Adverbs and 
 Prepositions are used with Comp. and Superl. forms in O.E. 
 
 'far' 
 ' near ' 
 
 feor 
 neah 
 
 j fierra 
 \ ferra 
 
 nearra 
 
 ferrest 
 ferrest 
 j niehsta 
 \ nehsta 
 
 ' earlier, former ' 
 
 aer 
 
 derra 
 
 derrest 
 
 ' forward ' 
 
 fore 
 
 ur^ra 
 
 fyrrest ' first ' 
 
 Far represents O.E. feor, M.E. fer, far. Chaucer's ferre 
 is the Comp. of this and represents the above O.E. form. 
 We now use further or farther for this, the former being 
 really the Comp. formed from O.E. ford, used, as we see 
 above, as Comp. oifore. Farther is on the analogy oi further, 
 but owes its vowel to far. 
 
 Near is an old Comp. of neah, and is derived from O.E. 
 nearra ; it is still used, in the form neer, as a Comp. in 
 Chaucer. We now feel near as a Positive, and have formed 
 new Comp. and Superl. with -er, -est. The real historical 
 Positive is nigh, corresponding to, though not identical with 
 Chaucer's ney, from O.E. neh (cp. § 171 (3 ^) for Mod. [n^z]). 
 Our word next, the old Superl., is quite isolated from nigh, 
 near in form and meaning. 
 
 Erst. This is the old Superl. of ser, represented by our ere 
 (Adv.). Erst is obsolete except in deliberate literary usage. 
 
 First. Now and in O.E. used as an Ordinal. The base is 
 ^fur-, of which it is a normal Superl, with ^-ist. From the 
 same base is O.E. fore, earlier ^fura-. The O.E. comp. 
 furdra is from base/br^-. 
 
1 90 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 § 324. Superlatives in -most. 
 
 Tlie words foremost^ utmost^ inmost^ etc., require some ex- 
 planation. There is an old superlative suffix -ma which 
 survives in O.E. \\\for-ina 'first' (cp. Lat. pri-vms) and other 
 words indicating for the most part position or direction. 
 For7na means literally ' most forward '. 
 
 In O.E. already a form fynncst existed, which is a double 
 superlative, having both suffixes, -ni- + -ist. A large number 
 of other words with the double formation exist in O.K., e.g. 
 sidemest ' last ', lastcincsi ' last, latest ', innemcst ' inmost ', nord- 
 inest, etc. The suffix -incst was identified with O.E. inxst, 
 Didst ' most ', and forms with -inxst, rarely -mast, are found. 
 In M.E. this latter normally became -most, the association 
 with most preventing shortening. To all appearances, there- 
 fore, we get superlatives with mdst used as a suffix, though 
 historically they are nothing of the kind. 
 
 The old superlative (used as an Ordinal in O.E.) forma, 
 where no longer felt as such, received the normal Comp. suffix 
 -er and appears a.s /or7ncr, while fj/rmest was altered to fore- 
 most, the first syllable being associated with former, the 
 second with Didst, as we have seen. 
 
 Utmost ^X.?ind.^ for E. M.E. utDidst, with shortening of ut- to 
 ut- before -m-. Outmost is a new formation on the same 
 model, from out. 
 
 Other new formations of the kind are topmost, hindmost. 
 
 Uppermost, uttermost, outermost have the supposed super- 
 lative suffix added to a Comp. ending -er. The O.E. Comp. 
 of ut was yterra, and uterra. The latter becomes utter 
 (§ 176). 
 
 Adverbs 
 
 § 325. There are three main ways of forming Adverbs 
 in O.E. 
 
 (i) By the suffix -e added to Adjectives: wide 'widely', 
 sode ' truly '. 
 
 (2) By the addition of an adverbial suffix — [ci) -lice 'like' = 
 Mod. -ly : sodllce, freondlice ' friendly wise ' ; or {b) unga, inga : 
 ierringa ' angrily ', eallunga ' altogether ' ; or {c) -lunga, linga : 
 grundlunga, -linga 'from the foundations'; {d) -mxlum: 
 styccemxlum ' piecemeal ' ; {e) -rddum : fioccrddum ' in troops ', 
 etc. 
 
 (3) By the addition of the Genitive or Dative case ending 
 to an adj. or noun: ealles 'completely', dxges 'by day', and 
 
§§324-7] Adverbs. — Verbs 191 
 
 by association with this, nihtes ' by night ', dearuum * secretly ', 
 mice him ' much, very '. 
 
 § 326. The Adverbs in -e are very common in O.E. and 
 equally so in M.E. ; cp. Chaucer's We/ coiide he sitte on kors 
 and faire ryde. With the disappearance of unstressed -e in 
 the fifteenth century these adverbs become indistinguishable 
 from adjectives, e.g. to run fast, to sleep soH?id, to work 
 hard, etc., etc. 
 
 The -liiiga type survives in a few more or less obsolete 
 words — darkling, and formerly noseling 'on the nose\ Jlatling 
 'with the flat of the sword', and others were used; lunga 
 survives in headlong, sidelong. Piecemeal has already figured 
 above. Old Dat. Pis. survive in seldom, and the archaic 
 whilom. 
 
 Genitives occur in needs ' he must needs do it ', now-a-days 
 (= nu on ddege) with an -s suffix as well as the old preposition, 
 and similarly d nights (= on nihte), alzvays, once, etc., etc. 
 Twice and tJirice are M.E. formations — twies, pries on the 
 analogy of dnes. The O.E. forms are tivizva, driwa. 
 
 Once = O.E. dnes (see § 240, Note (2) for explanation of 
 [wans]). Chaucer has the phrase for the nones 'for the nonce' 
 •=^for de7i ones, where the adverbial ones is used as a noun. 
 
 Verbs 
 
 § 327. The inflexions of verbs in English express dis- 
 tinctions of Person, Tense, and Mood. 
 
 The inflexions of Person are chiefly confined to the Pres. 
 Indie, and the 2nd P. Past Sing., there being no distinction 
 made between the persons of the PI. 
 
 The Tense endings distinguish between the Present, used 
 also in a Future sense, the Preterite, or Past Tense. The 
 Indie, and Subj. Moods are distinguished by different personal 
 endings. 
 
 The most important formal distinction of verbs into classes 
 is that made according to the mode of forming the Past Tense 
 and Past Participle. 
 
 Those verbs which, like Mod. 'Engl, follow^folloived, laugh 
 — laugJied, weld — welded, form their Past by the addition of 
 the suffix -ed [d, t, /d] are known as Weak, and those which, 
 like ride — rode, sing — sang, express the difference between 
 Past and Present by a change in the vowel, without the 
 addition of a suffix, as Strong verbs. This vowel change is 
 known as Gradatioti. Its origins lie in the remote past, before 
 English, or even Primitive Germanic, in the Aryan period. 
 
192 Historical SketcJi of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 The history of the forms of F^nghsh verbs is partly merely 
 that of ordinary sound change, as in O.E. wrltan, Pret. xvrdt. 
 Present-day zurite — ivrote^ which is covered by the general 
 statement that O.E. [l, a\ become Modern \at, ott\. On the 
 other hand, the principle of Analogy has fashioned the forms 
 of Modern English Strong verbs, in some cases, to a degree 
 which is probably in excess of its influence in other parts of 
 speech, though, as we have seen. Analogy has indeed been 
 active among the Pronouns and Nouns. 
 
 § 328. Personal and other Endings in O.E. Verbs (cp. 
 Sievers, ac. Gr., § 352 and following sections). 
 
 Indicative. 
 PI. 
 
 Present Tense. 
 
 Subjunctive. 
 
 Sing. 
 
 I. 
 
 2. 
 
 3- ) 
 
 PI. 
 -eti^ -on, -an 
 
 Imperative. 
 
 2. Sing. — ; -e 
 
 1. PI. -an 
 
 2. PI. -a/? 
 
 Infinitive. 
 -an 
 
 Participle. 
 
 -ende 
 
 Sing. 
 
 Preterite. 
 
 Indicative. Subjunctive. 
 
 PI. Sing. PI. 
 
 Strong. Weak. Strong. Weak. Str. & Wk. Str. & Wk. 
 
 1. — -e 
 
 2. -e -est 
 
 3. — -e 
 
 -un, -on,- an -on 
 
 Past Participle. 
 
 -en {on, an wk.) 
 
 Strong. 
 
 -en 
 
 Weak. 
 -ed, -od 
 
 Note i. In W.S. texts syncope of the vowel usually takes place in 
 the endings of the 2nd and 3rd pers. Sing. This produces the various 
 combinations of consonants with -st and -p, and certain changes in the 
 consonants result : winst, winp from winttist, ivinnip ; bitst for *bidst 
 from ^bidist ; bit for '^bitp from "^bidp from *bidlp ; £ret for gretp for 
 *gret!p ; clest for cTes[i)st, also for cTes{i)p, etc., etc. In non-W.S. we get 
 full forms ceosep, etc. 
 
 Note 2. Already in O.E. the 3rd Sing. Pres. Indie, appears as -es in 
 Nthmb., by the side oi-ep, and the PI. as -as by' the side of older -dep. 
 The other dialects preserve the old endings. These early Nth. forms are 
 important in the light of later developments. 
 
 Note 3. When the order of pronoun and verb is inverted, as often 
 happens in O.E., instead of the endings -ap, or -on in the PI., the ending 
 is -e : Pres. we bindap, but binde we ; Pret. we bimdon, but bunde we. 
 
Sthn. & Kt. 
 
 E. Midi. 
 
 W. Midi. 
 
 E. Midi. 
 
 Sing. PI. 
 
 Sing. 
 
 Sing. 
 
 PI. 
 
 I. -e \ 
 
 -e 
 
 -e 
 
 ] ^ 
 
 2. -est \ch 
 
 -est 
 
 -es, -est 
 
 \ -en, -es 
 
 3. -eP J 
 
 -ep, es 
 
 -es 
 
 J ^ 
 
 
 -e 
 
 \ 
 
 -es. -en 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 -es 
 
 •es, 
 
 -US, 'Un 
 
 
 -es 
 
 
 §§327-9] Present Indicative Singjilar 193 
 
 Verbal Inflexional Endings in M.E. 
 
 § 329. Present Indicative. 
 
 The main features are preserved, allowing for the loss of 
 distinction between -ap, -ep, -on, -an, -en which arises from the 
 levelling of these under -cP, -en. 
 
 There arise, however, certain characteristic modes of distri- 
 bution of the endings of the Pres. Indie, in the various dialects. 
 On the whole, these are as follows : 
 
 W. Midi. Nth. 
 
 PI. Sing. Pi. 
 
 -is 
 
 Taken together with other features, and allowing for variety 
 of usage within a given dialect group, the forms of the 2nd 
 and 3rd Pers. Sing., and those of the PL, are useful tests of 
 dialect. 
 
 The Present Indicative. A. The Singular. 
 
 The Southern dialects generally retain the old endings in 
 the Sing, The E. Midi, on the whole agrees with this, but 
 the N.E. Midi. {Rob. of Brunne, 1303) by the side of the 
 usual -eP in 3rd Sing, has also -s, especially in rhymes, e.g. : 
 
 )>e holy man tellep vs and seys 
 ]?at |7e lofe made euen peys. 
 
 The W. Midi., owing no doubt to Nthn. influence, frequently 
 has -s in 2nd and 3rd. In the Nth. -s is universal in 2nd and 
 3rd Sing. 
 
 Note. Wil. of Pal. has -es, -us and -ep, -up in 3rd S. about equally 
 (Schiiddekopf, p. 74). The late Audelay has -is, -ys, -s most frequently, 
 but also a fair number of examples of -eth, -yth, -uth (Rasmussen, p. 82). 
 
 In the London Dialect, and Literary English the -s type 
 gained ground but slowly. The earliest London documents 
 to first quarter of fourteenth century have only -ep (Dolle, 
 p. 72) ; the later fourteenth-century documents have only -ip, 
 -ith, -ep, -eth, except for one Nth. -s form (Morsbach, 
 Schriftspr., pp. 134, 136, 137); Chaucer with one exception 
 in rhyme, telles — elles, has only -eth, -ith, in Verse and in 
 Prose (ten Brink, § 185 ; Frieshammer, p. 95) ; the fifteenth- 
 century London Charters, etc., have an enormous preponder- 
 ance of -////-forms, but about three examples of -es (Leke- 
 
 N 
 
194 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 busch, pp. 121 and 123); Caxton has only -eih^ or -ith 
 (Romstedt, p. 45). 
 
 The Oxford writers, Wycliffe and Pccock, employ only 
 -///, but Lydgate has frequent -es forms, while Capgrave has 
 only one (Dibelius, Angiia, xxiv, p. 247). In the sixteenth 
 century the -^j-forms become gradually more common, 
 especially in poetry. Down to 1580 or so, -th is almost 
 exclusively used in Prose, and the -es forms seem to have 
 come into the literary language, largely through the poets, 
 who use them for the convenience of rhyme, and to have 
 passed thence into prose (Hoelpcr, pp. 54-7). These Nthn. 
 forms probably came into literary English from E. Midi. 
 They are fairly frequent in the Paston Letters, and as we 
 have seen, in Lydgate (Dibelius, loc. cit.). In W. Midi., how- 
 ever, they are common much earlier, and occurred also, 
 occasionally, early in fourteenth century in E. Midi. 
 
 The Present Indicative. B. The Plural. 
 
 The Sthn. dialects preserve the O.E. -ap, in the weakened 
 form -ep. While the typical Midland ending is -e7i, from the 
 Subj., later weakened to -c, W. Midi, texts, by the side of this 
 ending, and the typical -lai, very frequently use the Nthn. 
 -s {-es, us). Nthn. dialects have regularly -s, which as we saw 
 in § 328, Note 2, is found already in O. Northumb. 
 
 It is interesting to observe the encroachment of the Midi, 
 type in the London dialect, and the gradual elimination of 
 the Sthn. -ep form. The earliest Charters have -ap, -ep, but 
 Henry Ill's Procl. (1258), while still retaining -ep in hahbep, 
 beop, shows already a preponderance of the Midi, -en forms : 
 willen^ Jioateji, senden, beon (twice). Davie (1327) has only one 
 example of -ep. In Morsbach's fourteenth-century documents, 
 Sthn. -eih still lingers occasionally, but Midi, -en, or -e are 
 very much commoner {Schriftspr.,"^^. 134,136,137) ; Chaucer's 
 Prose has -eji oftener than -e. In rhymes, -e is nearly universal, 
 -en rare. Frieshammer (p. 96) mentions only four examples 
 of -th Pis. Pecock and Caxton have -en. The late London 
 Charters, etc., have most often -en, or, after a vowel, -;/ ; by 
 the side of this, but considerably less often, -e ; -etk is found 
 rather more than twenty times, and once -ith ; -es occurs 
 twice. A certain number of forms without any ending are 
 used, but these are not very frequent (Lekebusch, p. 124). 
 
 Shakespeare has ' and wax^;^ in their mirth ' (cit. Morris's 
 Hist. Outlines, ed. Kellner-Bradley, p. 257), where the suffix 
 is obviously used for the sake of the metre. Ben Jonson, 
 writing 1640, says that the suffix -en was used in the PI, 
 
§§329-31] Personal Endings of Preterite 195 
 
 'till about the reign of Henry VIII', but adds that 'now it 
 hath quite grown out of use' (cit. Kellner-Bradley, p. 257, 
 footnote). Professor H. R. Case has been good enough to 
 supply me with fairly numerous examples of the Northern -s 
 Plurals in the literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries. These seem to be more frequent, though of course 
 scattered, in the seventeenth than in the preceding century, 
 and must be due to the Scottish influence of the Court. 
 Professor Case gave instances of these forms both from Prose 
 and Poetry, in the works of Churchill, Marston, Davenant, and 
 other writers. 
 
 § 330. The Preterite. 
 
 In O.E., whereas the 2nd Person Sing, of Weak Verbs had 
 the sufhx -est, like the Present, Strong Vbs., on the other 
 hand, had only -e in this Pers. The vowel of the base is 
 different from that of the ist and 3rd Pers. in O.E. and M.E. 
 So long as this distinction was preserved by the Strong Vbs. 
 the ending remains unchanged, but later, when the vowel of 
 the 2nd Pers. is levelled under that of the other Sing, forms, 
 this Pers. takes -est on the analogy of the Present. 
 
 Chaucer preserves the old distinction of vowel in the 2nd 
 Sing. Pret. only in verbs of the si)ig,find-ty^Qy and not always 
 here. He often has such forms as thoji founde. He also has 
 forms without -est in vbs. whose vowel in 2nd Pret. has been 
 levelled under that of ist and 2nd Pers. — tho7i drank. On the 
 other hand, forms like begonnest are also found (ten Brink, 
 
 § 193)- 
 
 Caxton habitually inflects the 2nd Pret. Sing, with -est, -tst, 
 
 both in Wk. and Strong Vbs., but exceptionally has thott 
 
 took, had, fond, gate, saive, knewe (Romstedt, p. 37 ; Price, 
 
 p. 188). In Wyclifife, Bokenam, Pecock, and Capgrave, the 
 
 -est forms greatly predominate, though the old forms are also 
 
 found (Dibelius, Anglia, xxiv, p. l^d). Price, p. 188, gives 
 
 examples of the uninflected forms from Shakespeare and 
 
 Hey wood. 
 
 § 331. The Present Participle in M.E. and afterwards. 
 
 In a general way, the form of the Pres. Part, is a useful 
 indication of dialect in M.E., but it must not be relied upon 
 absolutely, without considering the other dialectal features of 
 a text. The Sthn. and Kentish texts have -ifide, the Midland 
 generally -ende, and the Nthn. always -and. The more 
 Northerly portions of E. Midi, dialect, however, e.g. as seen in 
 R. of Brimne (Lincolnshire), have -and after the Nthn. use, 
 
 N 2 
 
196 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 and the Sthn. Midi, has -vide according to the Sthn. dialect. 
 The West Midi, texts have very commonly -ajid., except Jos. 
 of Ar., which has habitually -hide. 
 
 By the side of these forms, a new type of Pres. Part, comes 
 into use, first in the Sth. during the M.E. period, one in -inge. 
 The origin of this is uncertain. It is first used in the Sth., 
 and is the ancestor of the Present-day form. 
 
 Kellner-Bradley, p. l6'>^^ mention ridhige in La^amoji, used 
 in the same sentence with the older and more usual goinde. 
 Handlyng Synne has already a fair number of forms in -yng, 
 but otherwise the Nthn. type -a7idy especially in rhymes. 
 The Sthn. Trevisa, according to Morris, Introd. to A^enbite^ 
 p. Ixiv, has always -inge, -ing, never -inde. The Kentish 
 A^enbite has only -indc, -ynde. In W. Midi., Earliest Engl. 
 Pr. Ps. has generally -and, but also iji keping hem ; Jos. of 
 Ar. several forms in -inge, by the side of -inde\ A Hit. 
 P. -atide ; Wil. of Pal. -and thirteen times, Midi, -end 
 twelve, and -ing ten times (Schliddekopf, p. 75) ; Andelay has 
 almost exclusively -ing, twice -a7id in rhyme, and once -a7id 
 in the middle of a line (Rasmussen, p. 83). 
 
 The earliest London documents have -inde in Procl., but 
 Davie only -ing (Dolle, p. 73) ; Chaucer's Prose -i7ig{e), rarely 
 -e7ige (Frieshammer, p. 97) ; Morsbach's Charters, etc., only 
 -y7ig{e) {ScJiriftspr., pp. 175, etc.); the later Charters have 
 only -y7ig, -i7ig, or -e7ig (Lekebusch, pp. 122, 123, 125). 
 
 It is worth noting that Chaucer's contemporary Gower very 
 rarely uses the -i7ig{e) form, but almost invariably -ende, with 
 the accent upon this suffix (Macaulay's Introd. to the small 
 ed. Conf. Amant.^ p. xliv). 
 
 The Weak Verbs 
 
 § 332. It should be noted that the distinguishing feature 
 of a weak verb is that it has the ending -ed, -t in the Past 
 Tense. Some weak verbs show a change of vowel, as teach — 
 taught, O.K. txca7i — tdhte, where one form has z'-mutation, 
 and the other has not (§ 106) ; others show a change of vowel 
 due to gradation, bri7tg — brought. 
 
 Classes of Weak Verbs. 
 There are originally three classes of Weak Verbs : 
 
 (i) Those in ~^jan which have z-mutation whenever the 
 original vowel is a back. 
 
 {a) When the original vowel of the base is short, the 
 following consonant, other than r, is doubled in the Inf., ir\ 
 
§§33^-2] 
 
 Weak Verbs 
 
 197 
 
 all forms of the Present except the and and 3rd Pers. Sing, 
 and the 2nd Imperat. 
 
 Examples : 
 
 Inf. 
 
 Pret. 
 
 P.P. 
 
 
 nerian ' save ' 
 iemman ' tame ' 
 cnyssan ' strike ' 
 settan ' set ' 
 
 nerede 
 temede 
 cnyssede 
 sette 
 
 (ge)-nered 
 {ge)-temed 
 {ge)-cnyssed 
 \ge)-seted 
 
 from ^nazjan, etc 
 from *tammjan 
 from *knussjan 
 from *sattjan 
 
 {b) When the vowel, or syllable of the base is long, no 
 doubling of the consonant takes place. The Pret. ending is 
 usually -de, earlier -ida, the -i- having been syncopated, except 
 after -r, and often /. 
 
 Examples : 
 
 Inf. Pret. P.P. 
 
 deman ' )\xdg&* demde {ge)-demed 
 
 y>-^ra« * comfort ' frefrede {ge)-/refred 
 
 ddelan ' divide ' dxlde {ge)-ddeled 
 
 (W.S.) /iJeran 'hear' hJerde {ge)-htered 
 
 from *ddmjati 
 from *fro/rJan 
 from *daljan 
 from *hedrjan 
 
 (2) -dJanW&rhs. This suffix appears in O.E. as -/««, having 
 passed through -cjan, tjan, and then being shortened to -ian. 
 The bases of these verbs have no mutation. The Pres. Indie. 
 Sing, normally runs lodge, locast, locap. The Pret. ends in 
 -ode, and the P.P. in -od. 
 
 Examples : 
 
 Inf. 
 
 locian 
 hdlgian 
 
 pancian ' thank ' 
 "wilnian ' desire ' 
 
 Pret. 
 
 locode 
 halgode 
 pancode 
 wilnode 
 
 P.P. 
 
 {ge)-ldcod 
 ( ge)-halgod 
 {ge)-pancod 
 ( ge)-iuilnod 
 
 from *ldkdjan 
 from *hdl{a)gdjan 
 from *pankdjan 
 from *'wilndjan 
 
 (3) So-called -e- Verbs. 
 
 These verbs, whose formation offers some difficulties, are 
 those in which the suffix -ja- interchanges with Gmc. -ai-, or 
 -X- in the various forms. The Inf. and Pres. Indie, ist Pers. 
 Sing., and the Pres. Indie. PI. have doubling of the consonant, 
 and y-mutation of preceding vowel in these forms ; the 
 suffix of the Pret. is added to the base directly, without any 
 intervening vowel. 
 
lqS Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Examples : 
 Inf. 
 
 hdebban ' have ' 
 
 hdebbe 
 
 hafast 
 
 hdefsf 
 
 hiifiij) 
 
 haefp 
 
 habbap 
 
 libba7i [lifiati) 
 
 libbc {lifige) 
 
 Icofast (liofcisf) 
 
 leofaj) {liofap) 
 
 libbaii {leofap, lio/ap) 
 
 secgan ' tell, say ' 
 saga si [sdegst W.S.) 
 sagaj? {sdcgp W.S.) 
 secg{e)ap 
 
 Pret. 
 
 hae/de 
 
 P.P. 
 {ge)-hxfd 
 
 lifde (also leaf ode like -djan vb.) gelifd 
 
 sdegde 
 
 {ge)-sdegd) 
 
 I St 
 
 2nd 
 
 3rd 
 PI. 
 
 1st 
 2nd 
 3rd 
 PI. 
 
 1st 
 2nd 
 3rd 
 PI. 
 
 Note i. The difference between ietnman from *ia)>imjan and iemede 
 from *ta7nida is due to the interchange of -ja- and -i- in the suffix. Before 
 -_;■- a consonant is doubled, but not before -/-. 
 
 Note 2. In dxlan from *ddljan the double consonant has been 
 simplified after a long vowel. 
 
 Note 3. The bb in hdebban is from *-tj-. The se in this form and in 
 hdebbe is the^-mutation oi a. * Hatjan<* hdebbjan, which would become 
 *hebban. Hdebban is a new formation *habbjajt, on the analogy of *ha5-as, 
 *hatap 2nd and 3rd Pers. Sing. Cp. also | 107 Note. 
 
 Irregular Weak Verbs. 
 
 § 333' There is a certain number of verbs which have -ja- 
 in the Inf. and Pres. (all except bringan), but which have often 
 lost the -i- of the stem, before the suffix -de in the Pret. and 
 P.P. Many of these survive to the present time. The com- 
 bination of the Pret. suffix with the final consonant of the 
 base often brings about considerable changes in the latter. 
 
 Inf. 
 
 sellan ' give, sell ' 
 tellan ' tell, count' 
 settan ' set, place ' 
 lecg{e)an ' lay ' 
 bycgan ' buy ' 
 recc{e)an ' narrate ' 
 strecc{e)an ' stretch ' 
 pecc{e)an ' cover ' 
 ldec{e)an ' seize ' 
 
 raec{e)an ' reach ' 
 txc{e)an * teach ' 
 
 Pret. 
 
 scalde (Angl, 
 tealde (Angl, 
 sette 
 legde 
 bo/ite 
 reahie 
 streahte 
 peahte 
 Idehte 
 rxhte 
 rahte 
 tdehte 
 idhte 
 
 P.P. 
 
 salde) geseald (Angl. said) 
 
 tdlde) geteald (Angl. tdld) 
 
 geset{t) 
 
 gelegd 
 
 geboht 
 
 gereaht 
 
 gestreaht 
 
 gepeaht 
 
 geldeht 
 
 gefdeht 
 getxht, getdht 
 
§§332-4] Irregular Weak Verbs 199 
 
 p.p. 
 
 Infin. 
 
 Pret. 
 
 recc{e)an * reck ' 
 
 rohte 
 
 sec{e)an ' seek ' 
 
 sohtc 
 
 penc[e)an ' think' 
 
 pohte 
 
 J>ync{e)an ' seem ' 
 
 piihtc 
 
 •u>yrc[e)an ' work ' 
 
 worhtc 
 
 brinf^an 
 
 brohte 
 
 gesoht 
 gepoht 
 gepuJit 
 
 geivorht 
 gebroht 
 
 Notes i. sdlan, tellan have mutation of ae (§ 107), but Fracture of as 
 in Pret. (§ 102). The Sthn. and Kt. representative of i'^rti/^/^ in M.E. is 
 selde. solde and Mod. sold are from Anglian sdlde (§§ 126, 164, 165). 
 
 2. sette is from '■satda, *satta, and owes its e to the Pres. ; legde is also 
 an analogous form. 
 
 3. bycgan is from *bug-jan (§ 109) ; bohte from *bux-ia, with change 
 of u to before a in next syllable. 
 
 4. reccan — reahte and all the verbs which have cc or c in Inf. and Pres. 
 and -ht- in Pret. illustrate the Gmc. and O.E. change of kt to Jit : *rdkjaft 
 <recca)i ; *rakda<*rakta<*rahta<*rdehtde<rea/ite. This form, as well 
 as streahie, pea/tte, has Fracture (§ 102). 
 
 5. The normal Prets. of taecan, rdecan, are td/ite, rdhie, from *tatkta, 
 etc. There is nothing to cause mutation here, and the by-forms idehte, 
 rxhte owe their vowel to the analogy of the Pres. and Inf. 
 
 6. On the changes in sedan, pencan,pyncan^ wyrcmi and their Prets., 
 cp. §§ 105, 109 and Note, 108, 113. 
 
 7. bringati — brohte show a gradational change *briijj — *b)'at}x-, 
 comparable to sing — sang, but *braijx- instead of *braijj- is rather a puzzle. 
 We must assume a primitive *<5rrt5^;^-, otherwise the suffix -te in O.E., and 
 in O.H.G. brdhta, cannot be accounted for. Perhaps the analogy of 
 *payjx-ta (O.E. pohte) may have produced brayx-ta, or again the exis- 
 tence of the pairs *fay)3 — -f<^^X'i *ha^i *hajjx- (cp. § 98) may have 
 
 helped to form *bratjx- by the side of *bra^i-. The latter survives in 
 O.E. brengan from *braijj-jan. 
 
 Weak Verbs in M.E. 
 
 § 334. The points to be considered are the treatment of the 
 Inf., the Pret., and the Past Part. 
 
 In the Nth. and Midlands the -jan vbs. with long first sylls. 
 and -an classes, are practically both levelled under one class, 
 in -e{n). Thus O.E. deman — demde becomes demeiii) — demde ; 
 have{n) — Jiavde or hadde. 
 
 The -djan class, on the other hand, while losing, except in 
 the Sth. and Kent, the -i- in Inf., and Pres. Indie, ist S., 
 retains the vowel e before the ending of the Pret. Thus O.E. 
 Idcian — locode becomes ldkc{n) — ldked{c). The -Jan vbs. with 
 short first sylls., whether of the O.E. iverian, or teniman type, 
 appear in M.E. as %vere{ii), tcviina{ii) respectively, but retain 
 the -e- before the -de in Pret. — tvered{c), teined{e), being thus 
 levelled under the lociaii type, since -ode^ -ede both appear as 
 -ed{e) in M.E. 
 
200 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Thus from the point of view of the Pret. there are two 
 classes, one which has the suffix -de, or -te added to the base 
 direct, and the other which has -e- between the base, and 
 the -de suffix. The Inf. and Pres. Indie, however, show only- 
 one type : Jiaiic, lake, make, were, here, dcme, etc. 
 
 § 335* ^ further confusion involving the Pret. also arises 
 in later M.PL P'orms like axede, wcrede, ivimede, Invede 
 lose the final -c and appear as ivered, luved, axed, etc., though 
 often written full, the loss being proved by the metre in 
 poetry. This gives two types of Pret. — dcmde, herde, but Itived, 
 axed, etc. Now a cross analogy works between the two 
 types, so that we get denied on the analogy of liived, but also 
 Itivde, on the analogy of demde. The result is that poets 
 often use both forms of Pret. for the same word, luved{e) or 
 luv{e)de, ery{e)de, or cryed{e), cleped or clepte, etc., etc. In 
 a general way, however, one or other of these forms must be 
 used — either eleped with loss of final -e, or clepte with loss of 
 medial -e-. Such a form as clepede (three sylls.), if it occur, 
 must be regarded as a new formation from a blending of both 
 types. In the PI. the forms which do not syncopate the 
 medial vowel lose the suffix -en, such forms as yelleden, 
 stremeden being rare, and of course, like similar forms in the 
 Sing., the result of blending (cp. ten Brink, Ch. Spr., § 194). 
 
 The O.E. -ian Vbs. in Sthn. and Kentish in M.E. 
 
 § 336. This type is very common indeed in the Sth. and 
 Kt., and originally obtained in the London dialect, though it 
 disappears through the encroachment of the Midi, tendencies 
 in the fourteenth century. Before this, such Infinitives as 
 gepaiiia7i, werien, makien, tholie are found (Dolle, pp. 72 and 
 73). In fourteenth-century Kentish [Ajenbite) the typical 
 ending is -ie, -ye, or -y : louie, Imiye, loiiy ; mdki, mdky ' make ' ; 
 hdtye, hdtie 'hate'; polic,polye 'suffer'; loki, loky ''\oq\C \ ponki^ 
 Ponky ' thank ', etc. Many foreign verbs also have this ending : 
 trotibli, exctisi, stoncJii ' to staunch ', etc., etc. 
 
 Strong Verbs 
 Old English Period. 
 
 § 337* These are divided into six classes, according to the 
 vowel series represented in the forms. The forms which 
 show the various gradation vowels are (i) Inf, (2) Pret S., 
 (3) Pret. PI., (4) P.P. The type of the Inf occurs also in 
 
§§ 334-40] Strong Verbs in O.E. 201 
 
 Pres. Indie, Imperat., and Subj. The vowel of the Pret. 
 Sing, occurs in ist and 3rd Pers. of that; that of Pret. PI. 
 occurs also in 2nd Pers. of Pret. Sing., and in Pret. Subj. S. 
 and PI. The vowel of P.P. sometimes agrees with that of 
 Pret. PI., but in other classes is an independent vowel, not 
 found in any other form of the verb. 
 
 338. Class I. 
 
 
 
 
 Inf. 
 
 Pret. S, 
 
 Pret. PI. 
 
 P.P. 
 
 bitan ' bite ' 
 drifan ' drive ' 
 gewitan ' depart ' 
 ridan ' ride ' 
 
 bat 
 drdf 
 gewdt 
 rdd 
 
 biton 
 drifon 
 gewiton 
 7-idon 
 
 {ge)'biten 
 drifejt 
 gewiten 
 riden 
 
 So also slidan ' slide ', snlpan ' cut ', bidan ' wait, bide ', and 
 several others. 
 
 § 339. Class II. 
 
 
 
 
 beodan ' announce ' 
 seopan ' boil ' 
 geotan ' pour ' 
 Jledgan ' flee ' 
 
 bead 
 
 sedp 
 
 geat 
 
 Jieah 
 
 budon 
 sudon 
 guton 
 jflugon 
 
 boden 
 soden 
 goten 
 Jlogen 
 
 So also ceosan ' choose ', hreozvan ' have pity, rue ', cleofau 
 ' cleave, split ', sceotan ' shoot ', etc. 
 
 Note, dafan ' dive ', sciifan ' thrust ', brilcan ' enjoy, use ', /uaifi 
 
 * lock ', belong to this Class. The ii may go back to Idg. eu. 
 
 § 340. Class III. The original series in this class was 
 Gmc. £•, a, n, u. In West Gmc. and O.E. various combinative 
 changes affect these vowels, according to the consonants 
 which follow. 
 
 Group (a). Verbs whose base ends in nasal + another 
 consonant : 
 
 bindan ' bind ' I /^'^'^ // [ bundon bunden 
 
 findan fand fundon funden, etc. 
 
 So also cringan ' double up, fall', grindan 'grind ', ivindan 
 
 * wind ', gelimpan ' happen ', cliviban ' climb '. 
 
 Group ip). Verbs whose base ends in 1 + consonant : 
 
 Inf. Pret. S. Pret. PI. P.P. 
 
 helpan healp hulpon holpcfi 
 
 i>ieltan mealt juulton molten 
 
 So also sweltan ' die ', delfan ' delve, dig ', swelgan ' swallow ', 
 etc. 
 
brdegd 
 bderst 
 
 brugdon 
 burston 
 
 brogden 
 borsten 
 
 frdegn 
 spearn 
 
 friigno7i 
 spurnon 
 
 frugnen 
 spornen 
 
 20 2 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Group {c). Verbs whose base ends in r, or h + consonant : 
 
 Inf. Pret. S. Pret. PI. P.P. 
 
 lueorpan ' hurl ' ivearp wurpon worpen 
 
 ceorfan ' carve ' cear/ curfon corf en 
 
 Also wcorpan ' become ', Jnvcorfan ' turn, go ', steorfan 
 * starve ', in sense of ' die ', bcorgmt ' protect ', beorcan ' bark '. 
 
 feohtan ' fight ' feaht fuhton fohteti 
 
 Group {d). The following verbs either show the vowel series 
 unchanged, or slightly modified by Fracture, or early change 
 of iito 0: 
 
 bregdan * draw, brandish ' a sword 
 berstan 'burst' 
 frignan ' ask, find out ' 
 spurnan 
 
 Note. Spurnan owes its vowel perhaps to the Pret. PI. Frignan may 
 owe its i to the analogy oifrtcg{e)a?i * ask ', from same base = frigjan. 
 
 § 341. Class IV. 
 
 Inf. Pret. S. Pret. PI. P.P. 
 
 bera7i ' bear ' b3er bderon boren 
 
 brecatt ' break ' brSec brxcon brocen 
 
 stelan * steal ' stxl staelon stolen 
 
 Also cwelan ' kill ', /ictan ' conceal '. 
 
 Note i. JVtman * take ', nom, nomon, numen, and aanan, c{w)dm, 
 c{7i>)dmon, cumen are only irregular in appearance. Nivi- instead of 
 *ftem- is due to the influence of in. Ciint-, man- in P.P. are also due to 
 change of to ti before m. The type aim- of ist Pers. Pres. Indie, and 
 Inf. is from earlier ^cwuntan from *c'weoinan from civvnan. Cp. Goth. 
 giman, and §110 and Note. Nd?n, c{ui)dni, instead of nam, etc., are due 
 to the analogy of the PI. where d is regular before a nasal (§ 99). We 
 also get PI. ndmon and Sing, nam (W.S. and Kt.). 
 
 Note 2. In non-W.S. these vbs. have of course e in Pret. PI. (§ 123). 
 
 § 342. Class V. 
 
 Inf. Pret. S. Pret. PI. P.P. 
 
 cwepan * speak, say ' cwdep cwdedon civeden 
 
 sprecan sprdec spraecon sprecen (Late O.E. spec-, etc.) 
 
 tredan trded traedoft treden 
 
 W.S. giefan * give ', on-, be-, -gietan ' perceive, obtain ', etc., 
 have the forms : 
 
 giefan £^^f S^f^^^ giefen 
 
 gietatt geat geaion gieten 
 
 The non-W.S. dialects have no diphthongization, and there- 
 
§§ 340-4] Reduplicating Verbs hi O.E. 203 
 
 fore gcfan, gxf, gefon, gefen, etc. (§§ 115, lao, 123). The 
 
 following belong to this class : 
 
 Inf. Pret. S. Pret. PI. P.P. 
 
 seon ' see ' sea/t sdwon sewen and sdwen 
 
 gefeon ' rejoice ' gefeah gefxgon — 
 
 seon from ^schwan (§§ 102, 112), scah from ^sxh, sdivofi 
 from ^sxwttm (cp. § 99 {b) ; sdivcn formed on the analogy of 
 Pret. PI. 
 
 bidden ' pray ', sittaii ' sit ', licgean ' lie down ', are peculiar 
 as forming the Inf. and 1st Pers. Pres. Indie, with a -ja- stem. 
 This is responsible for i instead of c (W. Gmc. change) and 
 also for the double consonants and eg: biddan from '^bcddjan, 
 sittan from ^settjan, licgan from ^legjan. Gothic has bidjan 
 where i for ^ is a characteristic isolative change. In other 
 respects these verbs are quite regular : sittan^ sxt, sxlon, seten. 
 
 § 343. Class VI. 
 
 faran ' go ' for foroji faren 
 
 bacati ' bake ' boc bdco7i bacen 
 
 So also luascan ' wash ', galan ' sing ', hladan ' lade ', wadan 
 
 ' go, pierce ', etc., etc. 
 
 jj^rt^<2« ' shake ' sc{e)dc sc{e)ocon sceacen 
 
 owes its diphthong to a late tendency which affected back 
 
 vowels. 
 
 standan stod stodoft standen 
 
 j/^«* strike' slog slogan slagen, slegen{cp.^ 107 on p.p. oislean) 
 pwean ' wash ' p%vdg pivogon 
 
 These verbs have Fracture, loss of h and contraction in 
 Inf. (§112). 
 
 A certain number of verbs of this class form Inf. and Pres. 
 with -j-: sceppan 'injure' from ^shappjan, swerian 'swear', 
 steppan 'proceed ', hliehhan 'laugh ', etc. 
 
 These have mutated vowels and double consonants in the 
 forms mentioned, but are otherwise normal : 
 
 steppan stop stopon stapen, etc. 
 
 Reduplicating Verbs 
 
 § 344. A few verbs in O.E. retain signs of reduplication in 
 Pret. The reduplicated forms are chiefly used in poetry, 
 though heht occurs by the side of hct in prose. 
 
 hiitan ' order ' heht cp. Goth, haihdit 
 
 rxdan ' advise ' reord „ rairop 
 
 Idcan * play ' leolc „ lalldik 
 
 Ixtan ' let ' leort „ lailot 
 
204 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 § 345, The following verbs have assimilated the redupli- 
 cated syllables : 
 
 Inf. Pret. S. Pret. PI. P.P. 
 
 /on ' catch, take ' /^"S^ fengon fangen 
 
 hon ' hang ' hcm^ hcngon hangen 
 
 feallafi ' fall ' febll feollon feallen 
 
 hleapan ' leaf JWebp ]i[edpon hleapen 
 
 Note. For explanation oi hd?t,fdn, axidijehp, etc., cp. §§ 98, 112, 105, 
 346. 
 
 Mutation of 2nd and 3rd Pers. Sing, in Strong Verbs. 
 
 § 346. As the usual suffixes of these Pers. are -is{t), -ip, 
 the preceding vowel if back, or a diphthong, is fronted : ceose 
 — ctesp, cHinc — cymp, fo—feJip ; \{ e \X. is raised to i : cwcpe — 
 civip^ helpe — Jiilp{e)p, giefc—gifP, etc. 
 
 Notes on Points connected with the Verb in O.E. 
 
 (i) The prefix ge- (unstressed), generally used in the P.P. 
 in O.E., without modification of meaning, is found in Gothic 
 in the form ga- and in O.H.G. as gi-. It becomes je- and 
 simply i- in Transition and Early Middle English. It dis- 
 appears altogether in the Nth. in M.E., and to a great extent 
 in Midland, but survives longer in the South. 
 
 The survival of i- in the fourteenth-century dialect of 
 London (Davie and Chaucer) must be regarded as one of the 
 Southern features of that dialect. The prefix gc- is also used 
 in O.E. with all parts of Verbs with the function of making 
 intransitive verbs transitive, e.g. sittan 'sit', but gesittan 
 'occupy, take possession of, etc.; gdn 'go, walk', h\xt gegdn, 
 'overrun, take' (a country, etc.). 
 
 Verner's La^v. 
 
 (2) An interchange between h and^,/ and d, often appears 
 in O.E. Strong Verbs. This has primarily nothing to do 
 with verbs as such, but is merely an illustration of a general 
 principle of Sound Change which was active in Primitive 
 Germanic, and it may appear in any class of words where the 
 necessary conditions are present. It should be remembered 
 that g and d stand for sounds which were originally voiced 
 open consonants [3, S] and not stops. The change therefore of 
 h to g, p to d is simply one of voicing to start with, the 
 original sounds being [x, Y\. These represent Aryan k, /, 
 which by the so-called Second Sound Shift are merely 
 opened in Gmc. In positions other than initially (where Xj \y 
 
§§ 345-9] Simplificatwii of Strong Verbs in M.E. 205 
 
 always remain), these sounds are voiced in Gmc. tvhen the 
 accent in Aryan and Early Gmc. fell on any other syllable 
 than that immediately preceding the x or /. Thus O.E. 
 tveorpan from *we}'J!>an from Aryan ^iv^rt-, but O.E. ivurdon, 
 Gmc. ^ivnrdum, KxydiXK ^wrtihn. Similarly O.^.fxder, Gmc. 
 ^fad<fr,Ary7).n */^/(?r, which used to be regarded as an' exception 
 to Grimm's Law ', is satisfactorily explained from the position 
 of the primitive accent which still survives in Gk. iraTrip. 
 This far-reaching law is called after the name of its discoverer, 
 Karl Verner, who formulated it in 1877 in Kuhn's Zeitschri/t, 
 vol. xxiii, pp. 97-130. Under the same conditions primitive 
 s was voiced to s which usually appears in W.Gmc. as r — O.E. 
 zvies but wxron, ceos-an but cnr-on, etc. 
 
 The Strong Verbs in M.E. and Later Periods 
 
 § 347. The changes in the forms of Strong Verbs since the 
 O.E. period have been determined partly by normal sound 
 change, partly by the action of analogy working in various 
 ways. The results of the latter factor have been {a) the 
 levelling out of what proved to be an unnecessary variety of 
 forms, and the reduction under fewer gradation-types ; {b) the 
 transference of verbs from one class to another. 
 
 These points may be briefly illustrated. 
 
 Normal Sound Change since O.E. Period. 
 
 § 348. The series of vowels found in CI. I in O.E. f, a, /, 
 i : ridan — rdd — ridofi — ride?i, etc., became in M.E. z, o, t, i by 
 the change of ^ to ^ which took place in the Sth. and Midlands. 
 In the Mod. Period a further set of changes made the series 
 \wX.Q>\ai,oti,t\ giving the Present-day [r^z'd — xondi. — rz'dn]. Again, 
 CI. IV, which in O.E. had short vowels in all forms except the 
 Pret. PI.: brccan — brxc-, brxcon — ^r^<:^«, developed in M.E. 
 — apart from other changes — long vowels in all forms except 
 the Pret. Sing., through the M.E. process of lengthening 
 which affected the short vowels of open syllables, thus giving 
 breken — brak (also brdk) — breken (also brdken) — broken. 
 
 Levelling of Pret. PI. under type of Singular 
 (Northern Preterite). 
 
 § 349. This mode of levelling is an early characteristic of 
 the Northern dialects, and in the Nthn. Homilies, and Cursor 
 Mu?idi, etc., we find Pret. Pis. such as faajid, dranc, bigan^ 
 rade (O.E^. rad), sagh (O.E. sxh 'saw'), etc. This type of 
 
2o6 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap.viii 
 
 Prct. spread later to the London literary dialect, and to it we 
 owe our forms sa>ig, drank, forbade — [-ba^d], etc. 
 
 In M.E. this mode of reduction is an important sign of 
 Northern origin, or at least Nthn. influence, when found in 
 a doubtful text. It is referred to by German writers as 
 ndrdlicJicr Ausglcich, and we may call such Frets. Northern 
 Preterites. 
 
 Levelling of Preterite under type of Past Participle 
 (Western Preterite). 
 
 § 350. While the dialects of the Sth. and Midlands pre- 
 serve, on the whole, the distinction between the Singular and 
 Plural of the Pret., where this existed in O.E., with fair 
 completeness during the whole M.E. and into the Modern 
 Period, a tendency exists, especially among writers of the 
 South-West, and the Southerly West Midlands, to use the P.P. 
 type in the Pret. as well. Gtm, bygtm^ flow, f ought, bounde, 
 which occur severally in La^amoji, S. Marharete, Rob. of 
 Glos., Trevisa, and Wycliffe, as Pret. Sing., cannot be derived 
 from O.E. -gaii, fleow, feaht, band, which normally produce 
 M.E. -gan, flciv,faii]it, bond. The vowels in the form mentioned, 
 or their ancestors, do however occur both in the Pret. PI. and 
 the P.P. (except in the case oi fongJit) — O.E. giinnon, gnn- 
 7ien ; floivon, flowen ; fihton ; biindon, biindcn. The new 
 M.E. forms might therefore at first sight be derived from the 
 Pret. PI. type, and some writers explain them in this way, 
 but as Bulbring points out {Abl.d. starken Zettzv., pp. 116-17), 
 the Pret. PL type is the least permanent of the various forms 
 of the Strong Verbs, and never survives in Mod. Engl, unless 
 it be the type also of the Past Participle. While therefore 
 the PI. may have helped to fix its type in the Pret. Sing., it 
 seems probable that the main influence was exerted by the 
 P.P. The form fought in M.E. is ambiguous. While it 
 cannot represent the old Pret. Sing., it may represent either 
 fuht with oil, for u, in which case it might be derived from the 
 Pret. PL, or the oti may stand for a diphthong, in which case 
 it would represent the type of the old V.Y.fohten. 
 
 The Mod. form [f5t] cannot be descended from fiiht which 
 would give [f«z/t], but can perfectly well represent the old 
 P.P. type, just as O.E. dohtcr, M.E. douhter {oit = diphthong) 
 has become [dota]. The spelling of the Present-day form 
 points to the P.P. and not to the Pret. Sing, type fauht, which 
 though it would also become [Bt] would be spth fanght. 
 
 This mode of levelling is known as the Western type 
 (German, we§tlicher /iusgkich). 
 
§§ 349-52] Strong Vei'bs in M.E. and Mod. Period 207 
 
 Transference of Verbs from one Class to another. 
 
 § 351. The verb speken^ O.E. sprecan, belonged originally 
 to Class V, and ran sprccan, spraec, sprsecon, sprccen^ but in 
 M.E. a P.P. spoken^ from which, of course, our form is derived, 
 is found. It is clear that this form with o is on the analogy 
 of the P.P. of CI. IV, e.g. broken. This class differs from V 
 only in having in the P.P. Other verbs in M.E. undergo 
 the same transference, such z.?, ^eucn 'give', for which a P.P. 
 gotten is often found, though this form can also be explained 
 by assuming Scandinavian influence (see Price, p. 100, and 
 references there given), and the Preterites slew, drew (O.E. 
 slog, drag) which show the influence of the reduplicating verbs 
 groivan, greoiv, M.E. Pret. S.greza. The contact must have 
 arisen from the existence of a form (Inf.) slo, which would be 
 parallel to grow-, blow, etc. Slo actually occurs in Shake- 
 speare, and may be from Scand. sld, or slew, drew may both 
 be explained as loan -forms from the Nth., where ^sld{weit)^ 
 ^drd{zve?i) would be parallel to bldtven — blew, prdwen — 
 Prctv, etc. 
 
 Note. Owing to the very large number of questions, many of them 
 of great interest, which arise in the history of the English Strong Vbs., it 
 is utterly impossible, within the limits of a small book, to attempt to deal 
 with the subject in any but the most superficial manner. A full treatment 
 would mean to a great extent the discussion of each individual verb, the 
 enumeration of all its forms at every period, and an account of how each 
 form arose, in so far as it was not the normal representative of the O.E. 
 form. Most of the vagaries fall, as a matter of fact, under one or other 
 of the principles mentioned above. It is the details of the application of 
 Analogy between one class and another which cause most difficulty. We 
 can only deal here with a few outstanding verbs under each class. For 
 a thorough treatment of the problems, and an enumeration of the chief 
 facts, the student must refer to the works of Biilbring, Dibelius, and 
 above all to the illuminating book of Price, with its copious collection of 
 the forms of each verb found among writers from Caxton to Elizabeth. 
 The following account is chiefly based on Price's work. 1 have had to 
 resist the temptation to enter into many an alluring discussion, and have 
 necessarily restricted the treatment mainly to the elucidation of the forms 
 of Present-day Literary and Standard English. 
 
 The Classes of Strong Verbs in M.E. and Mod. English. 
 
 § 352. Class I (O.E. I — a — i — i). Type : write, wrote^ 
 writ te 71. 
 
 This class preserved its integrity to a great extent in M.E., 
 and added the French estriver, M.E. strive, stroof, striveti. 
 The ^-forms in P.P., wreien, smeten, etc., found in M.E. and 
 down to the seventeenth century, may be explained according 
 to Luick's principle (§ 1 74) or fron) the non-W.S. wreoten, etc. 
 
2 o8 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [c h a p. vi 1 1 
 
 Bite preserves the old Pret. bote as late as 1557. The 
 form is found in Caxton and Coverdale. 
 
 Chide, originally a Weak Verb (O.E. Pret. cldde), passed 
 into this class in fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Coverdale 
 and Authorized Version of the Bible have chode, and P.P. cliid 
 and chidden appear in Shakespeare. 
 
 Slide retains slode in Caxton, and Ben Jonson allows it. 
 Present-day slid may be explained from the P.P., but also 
 may be due to hide, hid. 
 
 Note. Hide, an old weak verb, like chide, has been drawn partly into 
 this class, the Pret. M.E. /iidde suggesting the Pret. PI. and P.P. type 
 of CI. I. The suffix -en in the P.P. shows that it is felt as a Strong Verb. 
 When once hidden had arisen, comparable to slidden, it was natural for 
 the latter verb to develop a Pret. Sing. slid. 
 
 Strike in M.E. had the normal Pret. strok, O.E. strdc. 
 This became Early Mod. stroke. In early seventeenth century 
 stj'ook, struck began to take its place. By the side of M.E. 
 strok there existed also a form strake, and a P.P. strokefi, on 
 analogy of brake, broken, helped by sate, sitten, parallel to 
 strake, stricken. Struck may be due to analogy of stuck. 
 Stick, earlier steken, had forms stake, s token parallel to strake, 
 strdken, and it seems possible the latter may also have had an 
 Inf. strick, when the analogy would be complete. Stuck 
 itself may owe its vowel to the sting, stung Class. 
 
 The regular Verbs of this class in Present-day Engl, are 
 write, ride, stride (P.P. doubtful), smite, rise^ drive. 
 
 Bide, abide, shine retain the old Pret. but have lost the 
 P.P., the latter being either Weak, or having the vowel of 
 the Pret. Shone is now pronounced both as [Jon] and [Joun]. 
 
 § 353« Class II (O.E. eo — ed — n — 0). Types : freeze, 
 froze, frozen; choose, chose, chosen. 
 
 In this class the interchange of s — r, d — d, etc., has been 
 eliminated. 
 
 Freeze. In O.E. -freosan, -freds, -frnron, -froren. The 
 Present-day Inf. is normally derived from the O.E. form. 
 The Old Pret. Sing, and PI. have disappeared, and their place 
 has been taken by the P.P. type, with z from the Inf. Caxton 
 still has a Pret. frore with no alteration of the medial con- 
 sonant. Frore is found in 1494, and froze first in Shakespeare. 
 Milton's ' parching air burns JV^r^ ' is the old P.P. 
 
 Flee, fly. The O.E. v txhs fieon 2i\\dfledgan differed only 
 in the Inf. The former meant flee, the latter fly. Flee is 
 descended (vom fleon, M..E.flee{n); fly from the type seen in 
 
§§352-3] Strong Verbs: Fly, Choose 209 
 
 and and 3rd Pers. Sing. Pres. O.E. Jlichst, flicJip, which 
 
 produce a new M.E. li\^.JlTe?i,JIyc{n), the latter being found 
 
 in Chaucer, etc. Chaucer uses the Pret. S\r\g.JIeih,Jiey (O.E. 
 
 fii'h from fleah) indifferently in the senses ' flew ' and ' fled ', 
 
 and indeed the Infinitives are also confused during the whole 
 
 M.E. and well into the Mod. Period. The new Pret. Jieii is 
 
 found in Rob. of Glos., and is the ancestor of our Jlew. It 
 
 is due to the analogy of the Reduplicating Verbs bldwan, 
 
 bleozv, M.E. bleu, etc., and was encouraged by the form of the 
 
 P.P. flowen (O.E. flogcn) parallel to blowcn, etc. Our P.P. 
 
 flown is of course descended from the O.E. and M.E. forms. 
 
 It is possible that a further association with O.Y..flediv from 
 
 flowan 'flow' may have existed. Chaucer has also a Pret. 
 
 S\r\g.flo7tgh 'didst fly', and a Pret. Y\. flowen in the sense of 
 
 ' fled '. The former is from the old P.P. type flog-, M.E. 
 
 flonJi-; the latter is probably also from this type. In Early 
 
 Mod. the new weak Pret. {ox flee comes in, and Tyndale has 
 
 ^(f^^ which may simply be a new formation from flee-\-d, or, 
 
 if ee represents a short vowel, it may be derived, as has been 
 
 suggested, from O.'E.fleelan ' flow' {c^. fldd),Yx€i. fledde, M.E. 
 
 fledde. This would be the ancestor oi our fled. 
 
 Choose. The O.E. ceosan — ceas — cnron — coren is normally 
 represented in Chaucer, so far as the Inf. and Pret. Sing, 
 types are concerned, by cheesen [e], and chees [s]. The Pret. 
 PI. and P.P. are both chosen, which show the O.E. P.P. type 
 as regards the vowel, the s [z] introduced from Inf. as in 
 frozen, and ch generalized from the Inf. Pres. and Pret. Sing. 
 The chese (Pret.) type is last found in the second quarter of 
 the sixteenth century. Chose occurs in Pecock, and in Caxton, 
 but the latter also has Chaucer's form, and a form chase, the 
 explanation of which is doubtful. 
 
 It is of course the 'Western' penetration of the P.P. type 
 into the Pret. 
 
 It remains to explain the form choose [tjuz]. This may be 
 derived from O.E. ceosan by a shifting of stress, giving M.E. 
 chosefi instead of chesen from O.E. ceosan. This type of Infin. 
 is found before 1530. As early as 1300 chiise occurs in 
 6". Marharete (W. Midi.), and in 15 10 the spelling cheivse is 
 found, and this rhymes with refuse. This type, spelt chuse, 
 continues side by side with choose, etc., during the sixteenth, 
 seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. It is not infrequent in 
 first quarter of the nineteenth century. The cJnise-\.y^Q., as 
 seems to emerge from the rhyme, had the sound of [y], and 
 this would point to an origin from O.E. eo, which was written 
 71 in M.E. in the Sth.-West, and W. Midi. We may derive 
 
 O 
 
2IO Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 this type, then, from a Western form of O.E. cedsan. Chiise 
 [tjyz] and choose [tjuz] would later be levelled under the 
 latter pronunciation. See § 265 on Early Mod. [y]. 
 
 Lose. O.E. leosan — leas — Itu'on — loj'eii. This has now 
 been merged in the Wk. Verb. It owes its spelt form to O.E. 
 losian, and its vowel sound possibly to association with loose, 
 or as suggested in the case of choose, by a stress-shifting in 
 O.E., that is, a form leosan, M.E. Idsc7i. The normal descendant 
 of the O.E. Inf. is M.E. lescfi, which occurs as late as 
 Shakespeare, and the Authorized Version. In Sth. M.E., 
 Pret. Sing. -Ics, PI. -biren are found. Early Mod. has the 
 Wk. lost. The old P.P. lorn, and forlorn are often used in 
 sixteenth century, and a case is recorded as late as the 
 eighteenth. The Adj. forlorn with an independent meaning 
 is now quite dissociated from its original connexions. It is 
 used as an Adj. as early as the middle of the twelfth century. 
 
 § 354. Class III (O.I^. /;/ — an — nn — nn). Types : sing, 
 sang, sung ; find, fonnd, found ; {el — {c)al — nl — ol) : swell, 
 sivollen. 
 
 Most of the old verbs with nasals have preserved the 
 original forms. In find, etc., the lengthening of the vowels 
 before -nd has produced the interchange \ai — aii\. 
 
 Cling, sing, spin, begin, spring, ring, swim, drink, stink, 
 sink preserve the three types of the old Inf. and Pres., the 
 Pret. Sing., and the P.P. Swing, win, slitik, sting, sling, fling, 
 on the other hand, have levelled the Pret. under the P.P. type. 
 Wa7i, spati are still found in sixteenth century, clang in 
 fifteenth, wrajig in Shakespeare, wroong, wrong in Spenser, 
 flang in Ascham,^^?/^ in Kyd. 
 
 Of the verbs with e — Jielp, delve, melt, sivell, and yield — the 
 form swollen is still used, but more as an adj. than a P.P., 
 the ordinary form of which would be sivelled, while the Pret. 
 is always weak ; molten is purely adjectival, ^r/z'^ is practically 
 obsolete except in mannered speech or writing, and is always 
 weak ; holpen survives in the public mind simply on account 
 of its occurrence in the Magnificat. Yield is now a Wk. Verb. 
 The old Pret. yold{c) from O.E. geald, or perhaps from the 
 O.E. P.P. type golden, is found in Caxton, and in Spenser. 
 P.P. yolden is found as late as Gascoigne (died 1577). 
 
 Turning to the yz/^rt'-group — Late O .^. findan, fdnd, fnndon, 
 
 funden — we find this preserved in Chaucer as finden, fond, 
 
 foiindcn,fotmdcn, and the/iw^-type in Pret. survives in Caxton 
 
 and his contemporaries, and into the sixteenth century. But 
 
 Caxton and other fifteenth-century writers also use the P.P. 
 
§§353-5] Run, Bear, Break 211 
 
 ty^Q fonnde, and this is the exclusive form in the principal 
 sixteenth-century writers. 
 
 The verbs bind, grind, ivind have very much the same 
 history ?isfind. 
 
 Run demands a few words to itself. The O.E, forms were : 
 iriian, iernan, yrnan, cor nan (Merc), am, nrnon ; rinnan^ 
 rann, rnnjion, riinncn. The M.E. Inf. and Pres. type is 
 usually rcnn- which is probably Scandinavian. The earliest 
 example of run as Pres. type is about 1325 [Metr. Horn.), and 
 this form in a Northern dialect is difficult to explain. It is 
 hardly the ancestor of our form, unless indeed it be a borrow- 
 ing from the Sth. or Midlands. The old 'ixkm. yrnan would 
 become M.E. iirnen, which with metathesis would give riinnen 
 and Mod. rnn. On the other hand, this might be derived 
 from Merc, eornan, which would also hecomQ urne?i in W.Midi, 
 (j from a:). 
 
 § 355. Class IV (O.E. e — a^ — x — 0). Types : dear, bare 
 {bore), born ; break, brake {broke), broken. 
 
 Bear. In non-W.S. the Pret. PI. was beron, etc., in O.E., 
 and in Kentish, and part of the Merc, area, the Pret. Sing, 
 was ber. In M.E. we find ber — beren in the Sth. The 
 lengthening may be a natural process in syllables ending in 
 a single consonant (though this is doubtful), but it may also 
 be explained from the analogy of the other forms of the verb, 
 which all had long vowel — bcren, here, boren, with lengthening 
 in open sylls., in Pres., Inf., and P.P., and bere7i with an 
 original long vowel in Pret. PI. Those dialects which retained 
 O.E. de, retracted this to a in M.E., and here we get a Pret. 
 Sing, bar and bdr{e), where the lengthening may be explained 
 like that in ber. This M.E. bar was the ancestor of bare, so 
 common in fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. 
 
 In Gen. and Ex. we already find a Pret. Sing, bore which 
 need not be due entirely to the P.P. type of the same 
 verb, but partly also to the analogy of sivor. The two 
 verbs would then run szveren — szvor — szvoren; beren — bor — 
 boren. In this case the in the Pret. would be tense, that in 
 the P.P. bd7'en slack, unless the two verbs were completely 
 levelled under one type, probably that of szueren, with tense 
 in Pret. and P.P. The only form changed then would be 
 bd7'en. 
 
 Modern bore in Literary and Standard Engl, is clearly the 
 P.P. type. This Pret. begins to come into use in the sixteenth 
 century. 
 
 O 2 
 
2 12 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Break, shear, tear, wear, steal. The M.\l. forms of these 
 verbs are parallel to those of beran. Both bnlk and brdk{c) 
 existed in Pret. Sing., as is seen from the rhymes. The latter 
 gave the Biblical and general sixteenth and seventeenth- 
 century brake. Broke of course comes from the P.P., and the 
 same is true of sJiore, tore^ wore, stole. The Pret. stale, as 
 well as brake, tare, tvare, all occur in the Authorized Version, 
 the first and last being much less common than the others. 
 
 Come. O.K. cnmaji, cwom, com, cwomon, comon, C7imen. 
 This verb is quite irregular already in O.E., the normal vowel 
 sequence being seen in the verb niinan, nam, nomon, numeti 
 (cp. Gothic qiman — qam — qemum — gtcmans). The Present- 
 day Inf. may be the normal descendant of M.E. cumen (written 
 come7i), or, as Luick believes, it may be from M.E. comen, 
 with lengthening and lowering of n to o in cu-ine. Our 
 Pret. came presupposes a M.E. cam, which certainly existed 
 by the side of cam. This latter may be either a survival of 
 a normal O.E. cam or cwain unrecorded, or it may be a M.E. 
 formation on the analogy of Jtei7n, a comparatively common 
 word in M.E. It is clear that no other verbs of this Class 
 could have influenced the forms of come, as they are quite 
 differentiated from it by various combinative changes. The 
 a in cam can be accounted for by the influence of the quantity 
 of the Pret. PI. comen. Caxton and the Latest London 
 Charters (Lekebusch) have came, but other sixteenth-century 
 writers still use the old come, written sometimes coome, and 
 (in Cely Papers) cwn = [kiam]. Chaucer has catn — cdmen, 
 and coomen in the Pret. 
 
 § 356. Class V (O.E. e—x — x — e). 
 
 None of the verbs of this class are in all respects the 
 absolute representatives of the O.E. forms. Speak has passed 
 completely into Class IV; bid from O.E. biddan has become 
 blended with O.E. beodan ; sit has abandoned its P.P. type 
 altogether ; fret has become quite isolated from eat, and is 
 weak ; eat itself alone among these verbs preserves the old P.P. 
 type, but has lost its old Pret. Give and get have undergone 
 changes of various kinds not only in the vowels of all the 
 types, but also in the initial consonants. It will be seen that 
 most verbs of this class developed, at one time or another, 
 P.P.'s in o, which vowel penetrated to the Pret. as well. Mod. 
 Engl, has in some cases got rid of the ^-forms. 
 
 Speak needs no particular comment. Its history is very 
 similar to that of break. Spoken is found in Pret. PI. in 
 E. M.E., and it must have got there presumably from the 
 
§§ 355-6] Tread, Bid, Eat, Get 2 1 3 
 
 P.P., which had been formed from broken by the complete 
 association of the two verbs in their other forms. The usual 
 M.E. form in the Pret., however, is spak, and Chaucer has 
 a Pret. PI. spake n [§]. Spoke does not become the usual Pret. 
 form till after i6co. 
 
 Tread. Parallel to spake, etc., Caxton has Pret. trad, trade. 
 Sixteenth-century writers have also Pret. troad, P.P. troaden. 
 Other writers in this and the following century have both 
 trod, trode, trodden, iroden. 
 
 Bid, forbid. O.E. biddan, bxd, bxdon, beden ' pray'. P'rom 
 this we can explain our Pres. and Inf. type, and the Pret. 
 forms [bsed] and [beid] from M.E. type bade. The P.P. bidden, 
 found already in M.E. and common in the Elizabethan period, 
 is less easy to explain. It is difficult to establish an associa- 
 tion between this verb and the ridden group of P.P.'s except 
 through the Pret. bode which may have existed in the six- 
 teenth century. The spelling is often found, but Price finds 
 it difficult to settle the length of the vowel. If long it could 
 be explained from a P.P. bdden, and this in the same way as 
 troden, spoken. Having formed a Pret. bode like rdde, it 
 would be easy and natural to form a new P.P. bidden like 
 ridden. On the other hand, it seems certain that short forms 
 bod, bdden also existed, and these can be explained as due to 
 M.E. bod{e)n, a by- form of bo-den. The short bod in the Pret. 
 may be due to this type of P.P. 
 
 By the side of bid in the Pres. and Inf., M.E. and Early 
 Mod. (Chaucer and Caxton) have bede, and also beden in the 
 P.P. The latter is the normal descendant of the O.E. form. 
 The former may be explained from confusion with O.E. 
 beodan, M.E. beden 'to command'. The P.P. of this verb 
 would be bdden or boden (from bod{c)n), and the short type 
 would account for a Pret. bod. 
 
 Eat has now usually the Pret. [st], though in Ireland people 
 often say [It] from the P.P. type. The short type of Pret. is 
 found already in the fourteenth century, and is probably due 
 to the analogy of the weak Prets. led, M.E. ledde from lead, 
 E. Mod. and M.E. bet from beat, etc. The archaic Pret. ate, 
 presei'ved to some extent in the spelling, but rarely in speech, 
 presupposes a M.E. ate, dindfrate from O.E. fretan is found. 
 The explanation of these forms is the same as that of bade, 
 spake, etc. The P.P. eaten is quite normal, and the Scotch 
 [etn] is due to M.E. etn. 
 
 Get, beget, forget. O.E. -gietan (non-W.S. £e tan, -geotan), 
 -geat (non-W.S. -gxt, -get), -geaton (non-VV.S. geton), -geten, is 
 
2 14 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 always compounded with on-, bi-, for-. The use of uncom- 
 pounded gct^ the short vowel, and its initial consonant are 
 alike due to Scandinavian influence (O.N. gcta). The M.E. 
 native forms of the Inf. and Pres. 2ire ^etcn,yctC7i, yuten, etc. 
 The M.E. Pret. Sino-. was ^at, yat from gset, and jf^ from get. 
 The Pret. PI. was either ydtcn, etc., by the side of Sing, ydt, 
 ydt, or the normal yeicji from the non-W.S. gcton. By the 
 side of these, forms with initial g- are also found, and Chaucer 
 has gctc, gat, gctcn. The existence of gate (Pret. Sing.) is 
 also established by rhymes for M.E. and Pearly Mod. 
 
 Caxton has Tret, gat, gatte, and gate, and usually -yeten, 
 -yete in P.P. He has, however, the o-(orms /o7'- and be-gotcn, 
 and these arc common in the Latest London Ch. (Lekebusch). 
 The ^-forms, according to Price, are not established till near 
 the end of the sixteenth century. While forgotten has re- 
 mained in Standard English, the uncompounded gotten was 
 rarer than got after 1600, except in the Authorized Version 
 and two other writers cited by Price. 
 
 As might have been expected, long forms such as gdtc 
 (rhyming with ivrote) occur in sixteenth-century English. 
 Price sums up this question by saying, ' It looks as if at the 
 beginning of the period (E. Mod.) there were in the Inf. 
 alternative forms with long and short e, in the P.P. with long 
 and short o^ in the Pret. two sets, with long and short a and 
 with long and short o ; that the long forms in Inf. and with o 
 were already obsolescent, while the long a lasted through the 
 whole period '. 
 
 Give. O.E. (W.S.) gicfan, geaf, gedfon, giefcn ; non-W.S. 
 gcfan, geofan — gxf, gcf — gefoji, gefen, geofen. It may be said 
 at once that the two chief problems are the initial consonant 
 and the vowel, in Mod. give. It is quite certain that O.E. 
 g- could not become [g-] and we may put this down to 
 Scandinavian influence. As regards the vowel in give, this 
 has been variously explained as due to the analogy of the 2nd 
 and 3rd Pers. Pres. gifst, gifp (from ^gedis-, gedif), or from 
 a W.S. form gifan, P.P. gifen (hom gief-). Another possibility 
 is the analogy of begin through gan parallel to gaf yaf. The 
 normal M.E. forms from non-W.S. axe yenen, yeif,ydnc {yef), 
 yduen, yenen. By the side of these, giue, gaf geven, given, 
 etc, are also found in M.E., which are a blend between the 
 O.N. and the English types. Again, a Pret. yone, gone also 
 occurs. The latter may be either pure Scand. (O.N. ggfoin 
 Pret. PI.) or derived from the W.S. Pi. geaf on with a shifting 
 of stress to the second element of the diphthong. The form 
 dfen from Land Chron. may conceivably be the ancestor of 
 
§ 356] Give and Geve ; See 2 1 5 
 
 youc, etc., but this is very doubtful. Since P.P. forms yoitcn, 
 govyn are found in the fifteenth century, these may be due to 
 the same analogy as the other o P.P.'s in this class, and the 
 type then extended to the Pret. 
 
 The jY7/r-forms in Inf., etc., are very usual in the London 
 dialect of fifteenth century, though Caxton besides this form 
 has also gciic^ but more often gyiic In the London Charters 
 (Lekebusch) yeiie is most frequent, but gciic is also common, 
 and giuc, gync, etc., are much rarer. During the sixteenth 
 century jjrtr practically dies out, but gcuc still predominates 
 over gytic, gyi'c, give, etc. There is reason for thinking that 
 the spelling ^zw, etc., often stands for the pronunciation [giv], 
 so that the geve-ty^o. is really commoner than appears at first 
 sight. It may be noted that the final consonant appears 
 both as V (or n) and/. The latter is due to generalizing the 
 final sound of the Pret. Sing., the former to the other 
 inflected forms. 
 
 The^m'-forms are fixed by seventeenth century. 
 
 In the Pret. the y- dies out during the sixteenth century. 
 Sir T. Smith refers to yaf and ya%!e as antiquated. Hence- 
 forth the struggle is between the short gdf and the long gave, 
 and the latter becomes the only form in most of the principal 
 writers before the end of the century. In the P.P. the y- 
 forms die out by the end of the fifteenth century, but the two 
 forms geven, given (in various spellings) remain during the 
 whole sixteenth century, geven becoming gradually less and 
 less frequent, until, after the first quarter of the seventeenth 
 century, it apparently disappears from Literature altogether. 
 
 At least two examples oi geven [givan] occur, however, in 
 the Wentworth Papers in 1706. 
 
 See. O.E. seon — scah, saeh — sdwon (also, poetical), sxgon — 
 seiuen, sawen. The adj., W.S. gesTene 'visible', non-W.S. 
 gesene, is also used as a P.P. already in O.E. in Anglian. 
 This form spreads, and becomes the usual one in M.E., e.g. 
 Chaucer, etc., yseene. Present-day seen. 
 
 The M.E. forms of the Pret. are : sank, whence sangh and 
 saiv, from Angl. sseli through saJi ; seiJi which may represent 
 a Sth. sell, with diphthonging before a fronted Jl\ sy =■ si, also 
 sih from the O.E. PI. type sxgon, sxk, seh, slh (cp. i ' eye ' 
 from eJi). 
 
 The Jrtw-type appears to be Anglian in origin ; it does not 
 occur early in the South. The -iv is presumably due to the 
 influence of the PI. It is possible that sei, etc., may sometimes 
 be due to the PI. sx^en, M.E. se)en, seyen. 
 
 In Early Mod. the London dialect seems generally to have 
 
2 1 6 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 used the ancestors of our present forms, though such P.P. 
 forms as sayn^ scync, etc., still survive, from earlier -se^en. 
 
 Sit. O.K. sitian — sxt — sxton (non-W.S. scion) — setcn. 
 The only noteworthy point about this verb in Present-day 
 English is the disappearance of the old P.P., which has been 
 replaced by the Pret. type. In Early Mod. set was often used, 
 generally with the auxiliary be — ' I am, was set' etc., which 
 may be either a survival of the old P.P. or that of the wk. 
 settaii. In Early Mod. a P.P. sittcti is sometimes used, and 
 also sat and sate. 
 
 Bequeath, quoth. The former of these two is now always 
 weak and seems to have been so during the whole Mod. 
 period. The uncompounded verb appears only in Pret. during 
 Mod. period, sometimes as qnod^ sometimes as quoth. The 
 £?-forms are found both in the Pret. and P.P. during E. M.E. 
 — quod,quoden, etc., as well as the normal quap, qtidden, qiieden. 
 Various explanations have been suggested to account for 
 quoth, but since it is found in the P.P. as well as in the Pret., 
 it is difficult to see why it should not be due, like the ^-forms 
 of so many verbs in this class, to the analogy of the P.P. of 
 Class IV. We know that spoke — spoken existed, and the 
 association in meaning between spoke and quoth or qtiod is 
 surely close enough. In the now antiquated, and half jocular 
 expression quotha, we have qtcoth + a, the Sthn. form of the 
 Pers. Pron. which we saw already in Trevisa (§ 300). Against 
 the above explanation of quoth, it must be recorded that this 
 form occurs in early texts where spdk, etc., are the usual Pret. 
 forms. It may, as Bulbring suggests, be due to the influence 
 of w, and that perhaps chiefly in unstressed positions? In 
 this case it is from qudp and is short. 
 
 Lie. O^.licgan — Iseg — Ixgon — legen. The direct descendant 
 of the old Inf. and Pres. is M.E. liggen (lidzsn). As with so 
 many verbs of this type, a new Inf. and ist Pers. Pres. are 
 formed from the analogy of the and and 3rd Pers., O.E. 
 lig{e)st, lig{e)p, which give in M.K. lijest, liyep, whence the new 
 forms, ich /z^r, or lye, Inf. lyen, etc. N.E.D. records ligge 
 (probably = [lig] a Nthn. type) as late as 1590. The Mod. 
 forms lay, lain are normal descendants of the O.E. forms. 
 After 1400 a type of P.P. lyen^ on the analogy of Inf. lye, is 
 common. This form still remains in the Prayer Bk. version 
 of the Psalms — tliougJi yc have lien among the pots. 
 
 Weave is like speak in having c- forms in Pret. wore, and 
 P.P. ivoven. 
 
§§ 356-7] Verbs of the ' Shake ' Class 2 1 7 
 
 § 357* Class VI (O.E. a — 0—0 — a ; also, with /-mutation 
 in Inf. type, c — o — o — a). 
 
 This class has had a varied fate. Some verbs have pre- 
 served the old forms, or their Mod. equivalents, like shake; 
 others have passed into the group of Reduplicating Verbs 
 like slay, but more have become wholly weak, or preserve 
 a strong form, constantly, or occasionally. 
 
 Shake, take (of Scand. origin), forsake, awake, wake, all 
 have now the gradation [ei, u, ei — (an)], though ivakc and 
 aivakc have also weak forms. 
 
 Stand (understand) has lost its old P.P. standcu and uses 
 the Pret. type, just as sit does. This form of P.P. was intro- 
 duced in the fifteenth century and gradually won, though 
 standc, stonde are also in use during the fifteenth and sixteenth 
 centuries. By the side of these a weak -standed is common 
 in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in the P.P., but not, 
 apparently, in the Pret. 
 
 Swear has [5] in the Pret. before r, instead of [u] (§ 238). 
 The P.P. sivorc occurs already in the fourteenth century. It 
 may easily be accounted for on the analogy of bdrc{n). The 
 Biblical Pret. sware also shows the influence of CI. IV. 
 
 Draw, slay, with their Prets. from the Reduplicating group, 
 have already been discussed above, § 351. Gnaw also shows 
 some instances of a Pret. gneiv in sixteenth century. The 
 P.P. gnaivcii is less rare, in fact it may be heard to-day. 
 Already in the fourteenth century the weak Pret. was in use, 
 and this is found in Auth. Vers, and other sixteenth and 
 seventeenth century texts. The verb is often spelt knaw 
 from fifteenth to eighteenth century. 
 
 Bake has long been a weak verb. O.E. hoc was replaced 
 by a weak Pret. in the fifteenth century, but the P.P. baken is 
 found in the sixteenth century. 
 
 Wash already in E. M.E. formed a Pret. wceshc, iveoshe 
 after the model of the Reduplicating Verbs. This is still in 
 use in Caxton's works, but the wk. Pret. is found in Coverdale. 
 The strong P.P. still survives in the adj. umvashcn. 
 
 Wax. Tottel and Spenser still have the old Pret. wox, 
 but a commoner form, in Caxton and later, is zvcx, the ancestor 
 of which is found already in O.E. iveox. Here we have the 
 influence of the Reduplicating Verbs. The P.P. ivaxcn is still 
 found in Shakespeare, and the Auth. Vers. 
 
 Shape. The Pret. sJiopc is still found in Surrey, Coverdale, 
 and Spenser. The strong P.P. is found in Caxton, and in 
 
2 1 8 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 Coverdalc. The compounds with mis-, 7in-, ill-, which are 
 of course Adjectives from the old P.P., still survive. 
 
 Shave has now only shaven, and this is an Adjective, but 
 this was used as a P.P. during the whole Elizabethan period. 
 The old strong Pret. shove occurs in Caxton and Coverdale. 
 
 Heave is now usually weak throughout, but the strong 
 Pret. Jiovc is still in colloquial use. 
 
 Laugh. The Pret. lougJi, normally descended from O.E. 
 hloJi, was frequent down to the end of the fifteenth century, 
 but is not found often after 1500. See § 260 and Note on 
 relation of our [l^f] to the form recorded by the spelling. 
 
 § 358. Reduplicating Verbs 
 
 A. Beat. This is the only survivor of the class. But for 
 the P.p. in -eu we should probably feel this verb as weak. 
 The O.E. forms were beatan — bedt — beoton — beaten. Though 
 now levelled, the Inf. and Pret. must in Late M.E. have been 
 [bit — bet] respectively. The Early Mod. forms collected by 
 Price do not show any distinction made in the spelling. 
 
 B. BloAv-Class. Blow, blezv, blown represent O.E. bldivan, 
 bleoiv, bledzvon, blazven. To this class belong also crow (also 
 weak), knozv, mow (also weak), throw. 
 
 Sow still retains strong P.P. but has weak Pret. and often 
 a weak P.P. 
 
 FloAv is now only weak, though its old strong P.P. may 
 have helped to fvyijloivn as P.P. oijly. 
 
 Hew, now generally weak, has also a strong P.P., especially 
 in passive — Jieivn down, Adj. rongh-hezvn, iinhczvn, etc. 
 
 Snow has long lost its old Pret. snew and P.P. snow{e)n^ 
 but these survived in literary English in the sixteenth century, 
 and the grammarian Charles Butler (1632) still recognizes 
 them. 
 
 C. Fall-Class. O.E. feallau — jedll—feollon — -feallen. Our 
 fell and fallen are normal representatives of the old forms. 
 The common M.E. fill (Chaucer) has not been satisfactorily 
 explained. 
 
 Hold is from the Angl. Jidldan. The Sthn. and Kt, Jicldcn 
 ^ still survives, though rarely in Chaucer (§ 166). A {q.\n cases 
 of Jield as an Inf. are found in M.E. Nthn. texts. Here they 
 must be either loan-forms from Sth. or new formations from 
 Pret. A few scattered forms are found in the sixteenth- 
 century Acts of Parliament, and Price explains these from the 
 
§§357-9] O. and M.E. Forms of Be, etc. 
 
 219 
 
 Pret. This is certainly right, for seeing how rare the non- 
 Angh'an forms are in M.E. these can hardly be survivals of 
 the old Sthn. form. 
 
 The old P.P. Jioldcn survives still in official language— '^^ 
 a meeting /widen on such and such a day '. The compound 
 beholden, now rather archaic, is still used. Price's /lolden-forms 
 seem to occur mostly in official sources. The Pret. /leld is 
 shortened from M.E. /leld. 
 
 Irregular Verbs 
 
 § 359- To be. 
 
 O.E. Pres. Indie. 
 * am '-type. 
 
 W.S. 
 
 Pres. Subj. 
 
 Merc. Nthmb. 
 
 Sinjr. 
 
 PI. 
 
 sindofi 
 sint 
 
 earn 
 
 eard 
 
 is 
 
 earun 
 
 sind 
 
 stndon 
 
 am 
 
 ard 
 
 is 
 
 aron 
 
 sint 
 
 sinden 
 
 W.S. & Merc. 
 sTe, Si 
 
 sJen 
 
 Nthmb. 
 
 S. and PI. 
 ste, se 
 
 * be '-type. Pres. Indie. Pres. Subj. 
 
 W.S. Merc. Nthmb. W.S. & Nthmb. 
 
 Merc. 
 
 ( bed bib in bioni 
 
 Sing, \bist bis{i) bist bib \ but 
 
 \biS bicf bf^ bed \ bie 
 
 bciw biod biodiin belm 
 biod biad btbn 
 
 PI 
 
 Inf. beon., beon. 
 Part. Pres. bebnde 
 
 Imperat. bed, PI. beop 
 
 Preterite Indie. 
 PI. 
 
 I wxron (non-W.S. iveron) 
 Pret. Subj. S. wxre ; PI. wxren Itnperat. wes ; PI. ivesd^ 
 
 Sing. 
 
 ic,pe wdes 
 pu wd&re 
 he wd&s 
 
 Inf. wcsnn 
 
 Part. Pres. wesende 
 
 M.E. J St Pcrs. S. All dialects agree in having am {xm, 
 ham), as the usual form ; bed is also found in E. Midi. 
 
 2nd Pers. S. Nth. has e$ ; E. and W. Midi, art ; Southern 
 and Kt. bep, art. 
 
 •^rd Pers. S. Nth. es ; Midi, is, ys, W. Midi, also bedp and 
 blip ; Sthn. beop, hep, is ; Kt. bibp, biep, byep. 
 
 PL {all Pers.). Nth. ar, are, er, ere, bes {ben) ; W. Midi. 
 ben, am, beop, bZp {P. Plowm.) ; E. Midi, aren, ben {Orm. has 
 also sinndenn) ; Sthn. beop, be) ; Kt. biop, bup. 
 
220 Historical Sketch of English Inflexions :ciiap. vm 
 
 The London sources before Chaucer have is ; PI. beop, beon, 
 ben ; bco, be Subj. Pres. ; Prct. wxs^ tvcs, ivas ; PL zvcrcn, were ; 
 Inf. beon, be (Dolle, p. 76). 
 
 Chaucer has ani^ art, is, PI. been, bee^ rarely am (ten Brink, 
 § 197). The fourteenth-century London documents agree on 
 the whole with this, but occasionally have the Sth. PI. bep 
 (Morsbach, Sehriftspr., p. 149). Caxton's usage agrees with 
 that of to-day in Sing. In PI. he has ar, but also ben, be 
 (Romstedt, p. 50). 
 
 The later London Documents show some variety in the PI. : 
 London C\\3^v\.&r& been, ben; State Records ^rr ; Parliamentary 
 Records usually been, ben, occasionally byn, bnth twice ; ar, 
 arne, am not infrequently (Lekebusch, pp. 136, 127, 13H). 
 
 The other parts of this verb in M.E. are : Inf. been, be, Kt. 
 bi\ Imperat. Nth. be\ Midi, be, PI. bep; Sth. be, bep; Subj. 
 Pres. bed, PI. beon, etc., beop. 
 
 Pret. was, wes (zvast 2nd Sing. L. M.E. -/ on analogy of 
 ar-t), zveren, tverc; Subj. Pret were. 
 
 Pres. Part. (Chaucer) being; Past Part. {i)-ben, {i)-be. 
 
 Be in the Pres. Indie, survives in many Regional Dialects, 
 used both as S. and PI. In Standard and Literary it is 
 extinct, except as a poetical archaism in the PI. and in the 
 Subj. Are, originally Nth. and Nth. Midland, penetrated 
 early into the London Dialect, probably from E. Midi., but was 
 not exclusively used even in the literary language till the 
 seventeenth century. 
 
 Preterite Present and other Anomalous Verbs 
 
 § 360. Pret.-Pres. Verbs have, with the function of a 
 Present Tense, one which is a strong Pret. in form. They 
 form new Pret. forms with the weak sufifix -de, -te. 
 
 Can. 
 
 O.E. Inf. ciinnan ' to be able, to know '. 
 
 Past Part, cup ' known ', cp. nn-cup ' unknown ', formally 
 identical with ujieonth. 
 
 Pres. Indie. S. can, canst, can (also con, etc.) ; PI. cnnnon. 
 
 Pret. S. cupe ' knew, could', cupest, cnpe; PI. cupon. (O.E. 
 ciipe, Goth, kicnpa have never been satisfactorily explained.) 
 
 Pres. Subj. S. ctinne ; PI. citnnon. 
 
 Pret. Subj. S. cupe ; PI. cupon. 
 
 M.E. (Chaucer's forms), cp. ten Brink, § 198. 
 
 Inf. connen ; P.P. kouth. 
 
§§359-62] Dare, May, Shall 221 
 
 Pres. Ind. S. ca7i, canst^ can ; PI. conne{ii) [kiinen]. 
 
 Pret. hoiithe, koiidc. 
 
 The London Documents preserve distinction between S. can, 
 PI. connc in 1425, and in Pret. condc, konde (Morsbach, pp. 148, 
 150, 151) ; Pecock (1449) has Pres. PL kiinncn, and coupist in 
 Pret. 
 
 Caxton still appears to distinguish the PI. coime from Sing. 
 can occasionally (Romstedt, p. 48). 
 
 Coverdale (1535) has Pret. cojide, and also the new spelling 
 collide, on analogy of tuould, should (Swearingen, p. 43). 
 
 § 361. Dare. 
 
 O.E. Pres. Ind. S. dca]'{r), dearst, dcar{r) ; PI. dnrron. 
 Pret. dorste ; PI. dors ion. 
 Subj. dyrrc, dm-rc. 
 
 M.E. (Chaucer). Pres. S. dar, darst, dar; PI. dor. 
 
 Pret. dorste. 
 
 In Mod. Engl, there is a tendency to inflect dare like an 
 ordinary Pres. — he dares not do it, by the side of the more 
 historical daren't. Similarly a new Pret. dared has been 
 formed, used both intransitively and transitively — / dared 
 him to do it. Durst is now felt to be old-fashioned, and is 
 becoming- obsolete. 
 
 'fc. 
 
 § 362. May. 
 
 O.E. Inf. viagan ; Part. Pres. magende. 
 
 Pres. Ind. S. mseg, meaht (and miht), mxg', PI. mdgon (and 
 tnxgofi). 
 
 Pret. meahte, mehte (Late W.S. mihte). 
 
 Subj. vixge (L. W.S. mage); PI. mxgen (L. W.S. magoii). 
 Latest O.E. viuge. 
 
 M.E. (Early). Sth. S. mei, Kt. mai; Midi, ma^^ (Orm), 
 may, mayst ; PI. Sth. maheit, mo^e, muwe?i ; Kt. mit^e, viozve ; 
 E. Midi. vi7()heim {Orm). 
 
 Inf. (W. Midi.) mow. 
 
 Pret. Kt., E, Midi, mihte, inichte, mipe, mighte ; Sth. mahte. 
 Pi. E. Midi, mihten. mithteii. 
 
 Chaucer has S. may, might {mayest) may ; PL motven, 
 mowe, mow, may ; Pret. mighte. 
 
 The London Documents and Caxton agree with Chaucer, 
 except that Caxton has, as in Present-day English, may in 
 the PL instead of the older moive (Romstedt, p. 49). 
 
22 2 Historical Sketch of EngRsh Inflexions [chap, vm 
 
 § 363. Shall. 
 
 O.E. Inf. sculan, sccolaji. 
 
 Pres. Indie. S. sccal (non-W.S. scxl, seal); Late W.S. seel, 
 sccalt, scxlt, sccal, scxl, etc.; PI. sciilon, sceolon, Late W.S. 
 scylon. 
 
 Pret. Indie. S. sccold, scoldc ; PI. sccoldojt. 
 
 Subj. (W.S.) sciclc, scylc, scilc. 
 
 M.E. Pres. Indie. S., Sthn. seal, sc/ial\ V\. scJmloi, s sullen \ 
 Kt. seel, sceol, sscl, ssclt, ssalt ; PI. scidc, ssollcn ; E. Midi. 
 shall, schal, sal, salt, schalt, shall ; PI. scJmllcn, sJmlenn, snlett, 
 seJnillc, sJnd; W.Midi. seJial, shall, schalt; Y\. scJiul, scJnilte ; 
 Allit. P. has also the curious forms schin, scJiyn ' shall ', once 
 each in Cleanness ; Nth. sal S. and PI. {salle). 
 
 Pret., Sth. sceolde ; PI. sccoldcn, seholde, seJiulde ; Kt. sceoldc, 
 sccoldcn, ssoldc {A^enb. has and S. ssoldcst) ; E. Midi, schollde, 
 shollde, sJioldcn, siilde, siddcn, seholde, shuld ; W. Midi, sehnlde ; 
 Nth. suld. 
 
 London Dialect. Earliest London sources shal ; Pr. schidlen, 
 shnllen; Pret. sholde, shiUd (Dolle, p. 76). Chaucer: sJial, 
 shalt, shal ; PI. sJinllen, sJml (shold) ; Pret. sholde. Later 
 Official Lond. Documents: shall] PI. shnllen, shid, shallc, 
 shal; Pret. sholde, shold, shulde, sJiuld. Pecock distinguishes 
 between the S. and PI. types, schol, sehullcji. Caxton still 
 sometimes distinguishes PI. shtd, sJmlle from Sing. shal{l), but 
 more usually levels both under the type of the Sing. (Rom- 
 stedt, 48). 
 
 § 364- Ought. 
 
 This word is the descendant of the old Pret. dhte of O.E. 
 dga7i ' possess, own ', a Pret. Pres. verb. In its present force 
 expressing moral obligation, it occurs in Pres. as well as Pret. 
 as early as the middle of the twelfth and beginning of the 
 thirteenth century. Thus, bename him al det he ahte to hanen 
 ' deprived him of all that he ought to have ', Land CJir. Ann. 
 1140 ; We a)cn pcne sunncdei sivipelichc we I to tvierpieji ' we 
 ought to honour Sunday exceedingly', Lambeth Horns., 
 Morris and Skeat, I, p. 30. 
 
 § 365- Owe 
 
 is the normal descendant of dgan 'possess*. M.E. owen 
 * possess obligations, to be bound, obliged '. In M.E. therefore 
 not isolated in meaning from the Pret. d^te, oughte. Rob. of 
 Glos. has pe treupe ich on to pe, and Wycliffe ^eld pat pou 
 ozvist (Kellner-Bradley, p. 272). The word gradually loses 
 
§§363-7] Wtll—Wol 223 
 
 the sense of possess and means ' owe an obligation ', and 
 finally * owe money ', etc. 
 
 § 366. Own 
 
 is from O.E. dgtiian 'own, possess', and has entirely taken 
 the place of the O.E. dgan in meaning. 
 
 § 367- Will. 
 
 O.E. Inf. willan ; Pres. Part, ivillandc. 
 
 Pres. Indie. S. %vilc, wilty wile ; PI. willap. 
 
 Pret. ivolde ; PI. %voldcn. 
 
 Ne willc, etc., becomes nylle, the w first rounding / and 
 then being lost. 
 
 M.E. The forms are wile, wille, wulle, zviile, wol{e). Of 
 these the zc////t'-type is from wille, with rounding of the vowel 
 after w. VVol, on the other hand, is a new formation, derived 
 by Analogy from the Pret. wol-de. 
 
 The following shows the distribution of the types : 
 
 Wille ] Kt. Vesp. A. 23, Shoreh., Ajeu5., Trin. Horns. ^ 
 Wile \0. and N., P.M., Orjn., Gen. and Ex., Havelok, 
 Horn, Bokenam. 
 
 -.y J \ Lambeth Horns., La^., A.R., Horn. 
 
 Wol{e) P.M., La^., Robt. of Glos., Hendyng, Havelok, Horn, 
 Wil. of Pal. (only form). 
 
 Wol appears to become more common after the beginning 
 of the fourteenth century ; it is found both in the E. and W. 
 Midi., chiefly in the latter, and to some extent in Sthn. It 
 appears to be absent from Kt. texts, and does not occur in 
 Morris's Glossary to A^cnbite. It does not occur in the 
 earliest London sources (Dolle, p. 76). In Gower it is very 
 common, and is in fact the only form in Macaulay's Glossary 
 to Selections. Chaucer has wil, but more often %vol, especially 
 in his prose. In the London Documents wil, zville (S. and PI.) 
 appears to occur in Morsbach's references about fifteen times, 
 as against wol about thirty-five times {ScJwiftspr., pp. 149, 
 151, 152). Caxton, according to Romstedt (p. 49), has only 
 ivil{le) in ist and 3rd Sing,, but zvolt as well as ivilt, and ivoll 
 as well as ivil{le) in PI. The later London Documents have 
 both will, and zuol; in the Lond. Ch. will predominates; in 
 State Records and Parliamentary Records both forms seem 
 equally frequent (Lekebusch, pp. 126, 127, 128). 
 
 Coverdale has only %oil, zvyl (Swearingen, p. 42), and the 
 same is true of Edward VI's First P. B. (1549). 
 
 The wol-iy^Q survives in woiit, from wol not. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH 
 LITERARY LANGUAGE 
 
 § 368. Recent research has confirmed more and more the 
 view ah'eady expressed by Morsbach {Neucnglischc ScJirift- 
 sprachc), that London is the home of the Enghsh Literary 
 Dialect. The investigations of Dolle {Zur Sprache Lo7idons 
 vor CJiauccr) have also abundantly established Morsbach's 
 assertion that London speech was originally chiefly Southern 
 in type, but that in the course of time the purely Southern 
 peculiarities of the dialect retreat before the advance of more 
 characteristically Midland elements, and, more particularly, 
 of East Midland elements. Thus the earliest documents 
 written in the London dialect, which begij> in the time of the 
 Conqueror, in the shape of Charters and Proclamations, and 
 extend to beyond the middle of the thirteenth century, are un- 
 mistakably Southern in character, and are indeed written in 
 a language that represents very fairly the normal develop- 
 ments of West Saxon. It is what we should expect Late 
 W. Saxon to turn into during this period, but a distinct 
 influence from the S. East (Kent, etc.) is visible. At the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century we have the poems of 
 Adam Davie, which are still largely Southern in character, but 
 contain a more definite trace of non-Saxon elements. The 
 Anglian element gains in intensity throughout the fourteenth 
 century, until in the later Charters and documents examined 
 by Morsbach in his famous monograph, and in the language 
 of Chaucer, the purely Southern or Saxon elements have been 
 reduced to a very much smaller proportion. Passing on three- 
 quarters of a century to the fifteenth-century Lond. Charters 
 and Caxton, we find the Southern features still further 
 reduced, and there remains only slightly more of these than 
 in Present-day Literary, and Received Standard English. 
 
 It is hardly necessary here to labour the point, so often 
 made, that it is natural that the language of the capital should 
 have obtained this pre-eminent position among the various 
 
§368] The Literary Dialect of Wessex 225 
 
 dialects of English, London being the seat and centre of 
 Government, of the Royal Court, of the Law, of Commerce. 
 
 The question we have briefly to discuss is, what were the 
 dialectal elements of London speech, and why were they what 
 they were ? 
 
 The original Southern or Saxon character, with a definite 
 admixture of S.E. or Kentish features, was determined partly 
 by historical and political factors, partly also by geographical 
 situation. 
 
 If we consider the facts of the O.K. period, we shall note 
 that almost everything we possess in the language before the 
 Norman period, everything at any rate deserving the name of 
 Literature, practically everything that is not a mere gloss or 
 a Charter has come down to us either in W. Saxon pure and 
 simple, or in a dialect of this. In some cases we have what 
 Bulbring calls the ' Saxon Patois ', a definite type it is true, 
 but one which is closer to W. Saxon than to any other form of 
 English. If we think of the great bulk of O.E. poetry, while 
 in most cases non-W.S. forms occur with more or less fre- 
 quency, the prevailing type on the whole is W. Saxon, and 
 the other elements either singly or collectively are relatively 
 unimportant. It is open to question in some cases whether 
 the mixed dialect exhibited by the texts is to be put down 
 chiefly to the scribes mingling their own dialect with that 
 which they copied, or whether in some areas a mixed dialect 
 was not actually spoken, or at least used for literary purposes 
 (see on this point Max Forster, Festschrift fiir Morsbach, 
 pp. 33-5). The point of all this is that from the time of 
 Alfred, throughout the O.E. period, owing to the political 
 supremacy of Wessex, a type of English which is virtually 
 West Saxon was used, in documents, far and wide in the 
 South and Midlands, East and West. Alfred, while he ex- 
 tended his political sway over England, gave the country also 
 a new culture which had its centre and starting-point in his 
 own kingdom. It was natural that the good king's own 
 dialect should be the vehicle of that culture which his own 
 writings promoted. Thus there really was an O.E. literary 
 Koivt] or general form of English, and this form was used in 
 London, no less than in Winchester. It is impossible in the 
 present state of our knowledge to say how wide was the 
 territory over which this dialect was actually spoken, but we 
 cannot doubt that it included London which Alfred himself 
 subdued. 
 
 After the Conquest, the literary tradition was lost, and 
 therefore the dialects reappear once more in literature. It is 
 
 P 
 
2 26 Origin and Grozvth of Literary English [chap, ix 
 
 probably safe to conclude that if, in the Transition, and Early 
 M.E. period, we find a written form of English which is 
 approximately a continuation of the W.S. type, then this 
 form was also actually spoken in the area from which the 
 work which exhibits it emanates. There is a striking con- 
 tinuity in the dialectal type of the series of documents written 
 in London, which extends over a period of 300 years, from 
 the Conqueror's Charters to Davie's Poems, and it is hardly 
 possible to avoid the conclusion that all these documents 
 really represent the spoken language of the capital. 
 
 To show the Southern, or as we are inclined to say, West 
 Saxon character of the London dialect down to the first 
 quarter of the fourteenth century, we may enumerate a few 
 characteristics shown by the sources in question. The reader 
 should refer in each case to the sections in this book dealing 
 with the various M.E. peculiarities enumerated. (See also 
 the summary given by Dolle, pp. 8a-8, from which the 
 following table is taken.) 
 
 § 369. Purely Southern Features in Early London Docu- 
 ments. 
 
 (i) {a) O.E. X preserved, first as x then as e: pxt, fxder^ 
 ives, hebbe. {a after middle of fourteenth century.) 
 
 {b) W.S. x>d preserved: wxran, mxges, rxderman\ 
 Davie rhymes x with O.E. ea, showing [e] sound. 
 
 (3) O.E. ^«//-, !?«/+ consonant : ealle^gehealde, bihelde. 
 
 (3) O.E. diphthongs ea, ie, after front consonant : ageafy 
 forgifan,gitin\ shilde (W.S. scield) occurs as late as Davy. 
 
 (4) O.E. ed-i (W.S. Te, y) : yr/-, gyrde ; alysednesse. 
 
 (5) O.E. iu-i (W.S. te,y) : wurde {wierde)\ scytt {>scTett). 
 
 (6) Pres. Part, in -inde : ilestinde. 
 
 (7) Pres. PI. in -ep : habbep, willap, willep, beop. (The 
 Midi, -en predominates from 1250 onwards.) 
 
 The facts establish the survival of the original Southern 
 character of the London dialect, down to the middle of the 
 fourteenth century, beyond controversy. 
 
 Of the features in the Pre-Chaucerian London Dialect 
 which are departures from Sthn., or at least from S.W. usage, 
 some are clearly S.E. or Kentish elements ; others might 
 be either Anglian or Kentish, and some can only be considered 
 definitely Midland or Anglian. 
 
 § 370. Specifically S.E. or Kentish Features. 
 
 (i) I for O.E. _y: berig\ kepe. 
 
§§368-73] The Early London Dialect 227 
 
 (a) ~xn- for -en- : xjiglisc ; frsencisc. 
 
 (3) -ia, ie, -io for ed\ piofcs; tkiafes; bton, buji (Davie). 
 
 § 371. Features which may be either Kentish or Midland. 
 
 (i) c for W.S. x^. The M.E. representative of this sound 
 [e] is written x in the earliest sources, and as late as the 
 Proclamation (1358). After this c is written, which in itself 
 leaves the sound uncertain. Davie's rhymes generally point 
 to the W.S. [sj-type, but in one case he appears to rhyme 
 drede with mede ' meed, mood ' (Dolle, p. 30). 
 
 This is the beginning of the introduction, on a large scale, 
 of the non-W.S. [e]-type. Chaucer has both types in a large 
 number of words, as is shown by the rhymes ; in many others 
 only [s], and in a few only [e]. 
 
 (2) e as z'-mutation of O.E. ed (W.S. Te, I, y) : this is found 
 first in fourteenth-century here * hear ', stel ' steel ' ; both in 
 Davie. 
 
 (3) Absence of diphthonging after front consonant : W.S. 
 giefan, gieldan appear in M.E. 2,s ^iuen, etc. ; non-W.S. gefan, 
 geldan as ^eiien, ^elden. For examples of former see above, 
 §369, no. (3). The latter type is found as early as twelfth 
 century and also in Davie. These forms might be either 
 Kentish, or from the famous ' Saxon Patois ' ; they are there- 
 fore not necessarily Anglian. 
 
 § 372. Specifically Midland Features. 
 
 (i) a for O.E. se (see § 159). Apart from habbe which 
 occurs already in O.E., we find ^ or ^ down to the beginning 
 of fourteenth century, when a comes in pat, after, was, 
 what, etc. 
 
 (s) instead oi ea or e before -Id, etc. Dolle gives no 
 examples of this even from Davie, but in the next generation, 
 Morsbach's Charters, etc., and Chaucer, did, hdlden, O.E. 
 (Angl.) did, hdldan, etc., are the only forms in Chaucer, 
 except welden ' to wield ' (W.S. wedldan), a form which we still 
 retain, helden 'hold' (twice), and to behelde 'behold'. These 
 three forms only occur in the poetry (cp. Frieshammer, p. 34). 
 
 (3) Ending -en in Pres. Indie. PI. By the side of Sthn. 
 -ep, -en predominates from the middle of thirteenth century. 
 
 § 373- The Early London Sources compared with Chaucer 
 and with Later London Charters. 
 
 These differences and agreements are briefly but clearly 
 summarized by Dolle, ch. v. 
 
 We may note the following points showing progressive 
 Midland or other non-Sthn. influence : 
 
 P 3 
 
228 Origin and Growth of LUei'aiy English [chap, ix 
 
 (i) Tense [e] for O.E. x, W.Gmc. a, far commoner in Chaucer 
 than in the early sources. 
 
 (2) O.E. did (Angl.) type practically universal in Chaucer 
 (cp. § 166), and entirely so in Morsbach's documents. 
 
 (3) O.E. hie ' they ' preserved in all the Early Lond. texts ; 
 Chaucer only they. 
 
 The oblique case always heo77i in the Early texts, hem in 
 Chaucer ; in the later Records hem by the side of frequent 
 them, etc. (§ 301). 
 
 (4) Pres. Indie. PI. -cp, preserved by the side of Midi, -en, 
 -c in the early and late London Ch. and Records. Chaucer 
 generally has -e7i {-e) both in prose and verse, but occasionally 
 -eth. This ending is, however, rare (Frieshammer, p. 96). 
 
 § 374. There are certain differences between the language 
 of Chaucer's Poetry and that of his Prose. The former is 
 rather more archaic, and shows more Kentish and purely 
 Southern elements (Frieshammer, pp. 126-7). 
 
 The Prose of Chaucer is closer to the language of the later 
 London Records (Morsbach). These are rather later than 
 Chaucer, and most of the differences may be put down to 
 this fact. It may be noted that O.E. y (n-t) is almost 
 exclusively i or y in Chaucer's Prose, whereas in the Records 
 ^ and 7i are comparatively frequent (Frieshammer, pp. 127-8). 
 
 We may take it that Chaucer spoke and wrote the best 
 type of London English of his time, that spoken at Court, and 
 that this form of speech is best represented in his prose. In 
 his poetry he uses a more archaic type, which is therefore 
 richer in purely Southern and Kentish elements. These 
 elements were also useful to fall back upon for the purposes 
 of his rhymes. 
 
 § 375- The Spread of the London Type in the Fifteenth 
 Century. 
 
 As we have seen in the Chapter on M.E. sounds, and in that 
 on Inflexions, there was throughout the M.E. period, a 
 
 greet diversitee 
 In English and in wryting of onr tonge. 
 
 In the written documents of the fifteenth century, however, 
 especially in private and public official documents, this 
 ' diversitee ' becomes gradually less apparent. It must not be 
 supposed that this implies that the language was becoming 
 more uniform. Not a whit. The diversity persisted in common 
 Speech, but more and more the London type came into use 
 over an ever increasing area. We have it on Caxton's own 
 
§§ 373-6] Caxton*s Dilemma 229 
 
 authority, that in his day a common standard of Spoken 
 EngHsh did not exist, and that people still spoke their own 
 dialects (see Morsbach, ScJwiftspr., pp. 169, 170). He tells 
 us that he was puzzled what form to adopt in his translations. 
 He received conflicting suggestions as to what he ought to do. 
 ' And som honest and grete clerkes haue ben wyth me, and 
 desired me to wryte the most curyous termes that I coude 
 fynde.' Again, there were 'some gentylmen whiche late 
 blamed me, sayeng y* in my translacyons I had ouer curyous 
 termes, which coud not be understonde of comyn peple, and 
 desired me to use olde and homely termes in my translacyons '. 
 By ' olde and homely termes ' Caxton apparently means the 
 forms of some rustic dialect, which was foreign to him. 
 ' That comyn englysshe that is spoken in one shyre varyeth 
 from a nother.' Thus it was of no use to employ a Regional 
 Dialect which would be strange to all living outside the area 
 where it was spoken. It is not quite clear what is meant by 
 ' ouer curyous termes ', unless he refers to learned words which 
 were not current anywhere in colloquial speech. He goes on 
 to say — 'and thus betwene playne, and rude and curyous 
 termes, I stand abasshed ; but in my Judgemente, the comyn 
 termes that be dayli vesd ben lyghter to be vnderstonde than 
 the olde an auncyent englysshe '. This Morsbach takes to 
 mean, and the explanation is evidently right, that Caxton 
 avoided deliberately words and forms peculiar to any given 
 Regional Dialect, or rather, he chose the only dialect which 
 was at least known in its written form over a wide area, that 
 of London, a form of English which, as he says, ' had already 
 become the common property of many '. Caxton makes the 
 interesting statement : ' And certeynly the langage now vsed 
 varyeth ferre from that whiche was vsed and spoken whan 
 I was borne '. These words may record more than a change 
 come about in the ordinary course of evolution in language ; 
 they may refer to the shifting of the type in London speech, 
 away from Southern towards the Midland form — the elimina- 
 tion more and more of the former, and adoption proportionally 
 of elements from the latter. 
 
 It is certain that the Standard was very far from fixed in 
 Caxton's time, and we can observe an ebb and flow in the 
 dialect of literary works for more than a hundred years after 
 his time. 
 
 § 376. Dialect Constituents of Caxton's English. 
 
 Specially Kentish or S.E. 
 
 Of these there appear to be none apart from the forms in e 
 
230 Origin and Growth of Literary English [chap, ix 
 
 and r representing O.E. j {71 — i). There is a certain number 
 of these, which is not surprising as Caxton was a Kentishman ; 
 there are fewer than in Chaucer's Poetry, though more than in 
 his Prose, where i is almost universal (cp. Romstedt, pp. 13, 
 14, 20; Frieshammer, pp. 30, 31; ten Brink, pp. 12, 18). 
 Caxton has only kenc ' cows ', representing the long e of this 
 origin, but a not inconsiderable list of words with e, some of 
 which have now [i] in Standard Engl. : kechyn, besy, pelow. 
 Enyl ' evil ' is to be differently explained according to Luick 
 (§ 229, Note). 
 
 Southern features in Caxton. 
 
 This element is on the wane in Caxton (Romstedt, p. 52). 
 A few cases of Pres. Indie, and Imperat. PI. in -eth still 
 survive. The prefix y- still used occasionally. 
 
 Midland features. 
 
 (i) The old distinction between S. and PI. in the Pret. of 
 Strong Verbs of Classes i, 3, 4, 5 survived longer in the Sth. 
 than in the Nth. In the latter, the vowel of the Sing, is used 
 also in the PI. The originally Nth. habit invades the Midi, 
 also and is found commonly in Caxton. 
 
 (2) The use of their, them {theiin), more commonly than 
 the old native forms her, hem. 
 
 (3) The Pres. PI. Indie, has most commonly the Midi, 
 ending -en {-e), rather than the rarer Sthn. -eth. 
 
 (4) Ar commoner than ben in Pres. Indie. PI. of Substantive 
 Verb. Chaucer has usually been in Prose and Verse, and very 
 rarely ar{e)n. 
 
 § 377« The Literary Language in the Fifteenth Century. 
 
 In considering the development and fixing of a particular 
 type of English as the single vehicle of literature, two aspects 
 of the question have to be borne in mind. On the one hand 
 there is the actual development of the London Dialect itself, 
 in its literary form. We have seen that this contains various 
 dialectal elements, and that the relative proportion of these is 
 not constant. The tendency during the fifteenth century is 
 towards unification. The double forms of the same word, 
 belonging now to this dialectal type, now to that, so character- 
 istic of the earlier London documents, of Davie, and of Chaucer, 
 are less frequent in the fifteenth-century Charters and in 
 Caxton. The language is slowly settling down to a definite 
 type, more or less fixed so far as the nature of its dialectal 
 constituents is concerned. 
 
§§376-7] The 'Oxford Type' 231 
 
 On the other hand, we must remember the spread of the 
 London Dialect beyond the original area. In Bokenam, 
 Lydgate, Hoccleve, Capgrave, we find a more definitely 
 E. Midi, character than in the language of Chaucer — Bokenam 
 indeed clearly states that he writes in the Suffolk dialect. 
 Again, in Wycliffe, and more than half a century later, in 
 Pecock, a slightly different type still is exhibited. The 
 question arises whether this, the 'Oxford type', has not in its 
 turn influenced the literary language of London as found in 
 Caxton. This was answered in the affirmative by Dibelius, 
 Ajiglia, xxiv, pp. 302-7 and elsewhere, who claims to have 
 found marked traces of Oxford influence in Caxton, and certain 
 features in the Standard English of to-day (e. g. [z'z] etc. in 
 unstressed syllables — [hauzzz], etc. ; fought, foimd {VxoX.) with 
 vowel of P.P.), which cannot be explained except by assuming 
 this influence. This view has, however, been rejected by sub- 
 sequent investigators of the origin of Literary English — 
 Lekebusch, Frieshammer, and quite recently by Luick, Hist. 
 Gr., p. S3- 
 
 The so-called ' Oxford ' features are shown to belong to 
 London English as found in the Prose of Chaucer and in the 
 later London Charters, and this type has therefore not con- 
 tributed to the development of Literary English. Lekebusch 
 (p. 144) asks with some point how exactly Caxton underwent 
 Oxford influence, since he never set foot in that city. It can 
 hardly be supposed that he procured Oxford MSS. and used 
 them as models. 
 
 In spite of the varieties which undoubtedly do exist in the 
 language displayed by the English writers of the fifteenth, 
 and even, to some extent, throughout the sixteenth century, 
 it is fair to say that on the whole there is a definite 
 attempt at conformity with a single type ; the differences are, 
 for the most part, in scattered forms, and do not involve 
 whole classes of words, or grammatical categories. The 
 differences that we remark between the English of to-day and 
 that of Hoccleve and Lydgate, of Pecock and Caxton, of 
 Skelton and Lord Berners, of Tyndale and Sir Thomas More, 
 of Surrey, Wyatt, and Elyot, of Udall, Sackville, Ascham, 
 Latimer, Lyly, and their contemporaries, are very largely 
 differences of structure and phrase, quaintnesses and archaisms 
 of word and expression rather than vital disparities of dialect. 
 The language of Caxton and his immediate followers is, to all 
 intents and purposes, the ancestor of our present English, apart 
 from the scattered and isolated differences to which reference 
 has been made. 
 
232 Origin and Groivth of Literary English [chap.ix 
 
 § 378. Occasional Dialectal Lapses in Sixteenth- Century 
 English. 
 
 It may be worth while to illustrate these from a few of the 
 better known writers. It may be noted that in some cases the 
 writer hesitates between two forms, using sometimes that 
 which is the ancestor of our Present-day type, sometimes 
 another form ; in other cases the type systematically used is 
 different from that which subsequently became fixed. 
 
 I begin with Lord Berners's Froissart (1523). We may 
 read whole pages of this remarkable work without feeling 
 more than a slight archaism of expression. It is essentially 
 Modern English, simple, dignified, stately, and yet effective 
 and expressive. We find : than, zvhan ' then, when ', cam 
 ' came ', jiat ' not ', remciied ' removed ', tog^iydcr ' together ', 
 lese ' lose ', strake ' struck ', themselfe (from -selfen), thyder 
 'thither', wolle 'will', eyen 'eyes', yerthe 'earth', tno adv. 
 ' more ', thenglysshmcn. This list shows the most noteworthy 
 divergences from present-day usage in about 9^ pp. given by 
 Skeat, Specimens, vol. iii. 
 
 Tyndale (1528), from the Obedience of a Christian Man, 
 Skeat, iii, pp. 167-79. Redles 'riddles' (cp, § 231, on vowel 
 of riddle), steke ' stick ', childerne ; geve ' give ' inf., geven 
 p.p., vto, vnderstonde {0 instead of a), awnc ' own ' adj., tJien 
 ' than ', sherch ' search ', deades ' deeds ' (apparently Saxon x- 
 type, and not the Kt. or Anglian^, §§ 161 and 162), fettethe 
 'fetches', O.'R. fetian; anctor 'author', enches 'inches', all 
 maner doctonrs, instead of ' all manner of, zvhome ' home ' adv. 
 (cp. § 240, Note 2, on wone for one [wan]), Devinite 'divinity', 
 also dyvinite. Apart from these few exceptions, the whole 
 passage reads like present-day English. 
 
 Sir Thomas Mere's Dialogue concerning Hereseyes (1528), 
 Skeat's Specimens, iii, pp. 181-93. Foimden p.p., euery 
 (used as noun) ' oute of euery of those tonges ', lyen ' lain ' 
 p.p., whan ^ -when', fnrth 'forth', thaji ' then', for doden ' (or- 
 bidden ', degonne ' begun ', sprongen p.p., expotvned^ expounded ', 
 forbare 'forbore' pret., hablc 'able', christen 'Christian', 
 prent ' print ' noun, geue ' give ' inf., hole and zvhole ' whole ' 
 (two distinct types, as in Tyndale's whome compared with our 
 home, cp. § 240, Note 2), forgene, ' forgive ', pistle ' epistle '. — 
 From Sir T. More's Confutacion of Tyndale s ajtswer (1532). 
 The tone, the tot her, giue, but sc&geiie above. More distinguishes 
 between nay and 7io, the former being used in answer to a 
 question framed in the affirmative, the latter to one in the nega- 
 tive. He makes a similar distinction between jr(«) and_;'^j-. 
 
§ 378] Unsettled State of Early Modern 
 
 
 From Sir Thomas Elyot's Goticrnour (153 1), Skeat's 
 Specimens, iii, pp. 195-204. Wrastlyng 'wrestling', strenger 
 ' stronger', Iciigcr ' longer' (cp. § 331), moitght ' might ', warke 
 ' work ' noun, rennc ' run ' inf., rcnnyng participle, rcnncr ' run- 
 ner ', fcrre ' far, distant ', tlie ryiier of Tyber, afcrdc ' afraid ', 
 adv. whan^faiigJitc pret. 'fought' (from O.^.fxht, M.E.fa/ii, 
 fajiht, not the ancestor of our fought which is from p.p. type, 
 O.K. foht-cn, M.E. foicht), luarse ' worse ', domagc ' damage ', 
 harborowe vb. * harbour ', gyue inf., gyiien p.p. (cp. getie above 
 and below, in contemporary writings), sens ' since ', disporte of 
 hanking ' sport . . .', kepcth Pres. Indie. PI. 
 
 Edward VI's First Prayer Book (1549). We should expect, 
 in such a work, to find the purest, and most authoritative form 
 of English, but even here, in spite of the great beauties of the 
 style, there are a certain number of words which exhibit 
 dialectal types that have quite disappeared from the language 
 of literature. This book, so important and interesting in 
 a dozen ways, has not yet received the attention it deserves 
 from the linguistic point of view. I can only give here a few 
 of the most marked peculiarities in which it differs from 
 the English of to-day. Gene, forgeue, geue?i (very frequent, the 
 only forms; ntver gine, etc.), yer ' ere \ year tk 'earth' (ten 
 examples counted, apparently the only form), weomen PL of 
 woman (this form shows the change in first syll. which we 
 make in speech, but do not express in spelling), brejit sacrifice, 
 sprong pret. of spring (also sprang), oner coined p.p., wines, 
 Possess. Sing., Present-day [\va\is\,childers chiidren ' children's 
 children '. 
 
 Bp. Latimer's Sermons (1549). I follow Arber's Reprint 
 of all the Sermons. 
 
 Gene inf., genen p.p. (very frequent, gi^ce less frequently) ; 
 the 3rd Sing. Pres. Indie, generally ends in -cth, also in -es ; 
 sometimes both forms occur in the same sentence, e.g. 'he 
 roves and goth about ' ; furder ' further ' ; ' great reformations 
 is to be had'; 'they that kepr//^' (Sthn. PI.), mo adv., sence 
 ' since ', whomlye ' homely ', also ^vone ' one ', then ' than ', stack 
 vb., pret. of stick, thether ' thither ', ye diuel ' the devil ', 
 whirry ' wherry ', fetteth ' fetches ', byles noun ' boils ', ' what- 
 soever ye shall axe in my name '. These discourses make no 
 pretensions to high literary polish. They are colloquial in 
 style, vigorous and racy, and perhaps, even by some of those 
 who heard them, were felt to be too homely and lacking in 
 dignity of style for the discourses of a bishop who was 
 addressing his king. Latimer may not be responsible for all 
 
234 Origin and Growth of Literary English [chap, ix 
 
 the curiosities of phrase and form in the version which has 
 come down to us. Such expressions as knockes hym on the 
 head, cocke sure, vpskippes ' upstarts ', the diuel and at, tost from 
 post to piller, and many others of the same kind are clearly 
 taken from the familiar speech of everyday life. 
 
 Turning to Lily's Euphues (15H1) we come to a very different 
 style. The effort throughout is evidently to produce some- 
 thing of very high quality. Every phrase is carefully wrought, 
 polished, and balanced ; there is a painful striving for what 
 later writers would call the mot juste, though the choice is 
 perhaps often determined more by the exigencies of allitera- 
 tion than by any very nice and fastidious feeling for shades 
 of meaning. 
 
 The book strikes us now as rather intolerable by reason 
 of its sententiousness, and artificiality of style, but it was 
 thought a model of elegance and wisdom in its day ; it set 
 a fashion and founded a school. We may therefore be sure 
 that there is no negligence on the part of the writer, and that 
 where double forms are found, or forms which belong to 
 a dialectal type now discarded, these arise from the still 
 unsettled state of Literary English at the time. I follow 
 Arber's Reprint, and the following list represents most of the 
 chief points of the kind we are considering throughout both 
 parts of the work. To striek ' strike ', elder as comp. of old, 
 anyes (Possessive case, used as a noun), scrich ' shriek', / writ 
 pret., doth as PI. — ' pleasaunt sirroppes doth chiefliest infecte 
 a delicate taste ' ; retchles ' reckless ', dronken (Note artificial 
 learned spellings such as accompted, co7itcmpned) ; watt pret. 
 Sing. ' won ', hether ' hither ', chekin ' chicken ' ; ' the Rauen 
 cherisheth hir byrdes\ where the last word is used in old 
 sense of O.E. briddas ' young birds '; Pres. PL in -en — loaden ; 
 stroken p.p. of strike, here equivalent to 'stricken', dinells, 
 leese 'lose', /^«r<^ ' heard ' pret., hoate (unshortened form, cp. 
 § 243 above) ' hot '. 
 
 These examples from some of the great sixteenth-century 
 writers are enough to illustrate the point from which we started, 
 that even in the most impressive and solemn form of literature 
 authors could still hesitate and vary their use in the choice of 
 forms. The work of unification was not complete ; the 
 Regional, or Class Dialect of the individual still found occa- 
 sional utterance in his literary style, just as it does at the 
 present day in the Spoken Language. As spelling was not 
 yet so rigidly fixed as at present, the sixteenth-century writer 
 might even betray a dialect pronunciation that was a com- 
 paratively slight variant, by his orthography. Of this, 
 
§§ 378-9] Influence of Regional Dialects 235 
 
 Tyndale's deades is probably an example. At the present 
 time, many persons whose style is unimpeachable, and who 
 naturally follow the received spelling, may nevertheless 
 habitually exhibit in their speech all the stigmata of a Scotch, 
 Yorkshire, or Lancashire accent, or the worst features of 
 Cockneyism, and yet never betray themselves in their writings. 
 But apart from the temptation of the sixteenth-century writer 
 to lapse into provincialisms, and to express these in his spelling, 
 there was the fact that he had less than a century of printing 
 behind him. The eyes of reader and writer alike were still ac- 
 customed to a certain variety, even in the printed book, and men 
 were not yet trained to think of words as of unvarying groups of 
 letters. Thus any type of form which could be heard among 
 educated persons in conversation might also be represented 
 in the written word. The common sixteenth-century spelling 
 geue merely expresses what was still the more habitual form. 
 Give was coming in, and no doubt would call forth no com- 
 ment, hut gezr, to judge by the writers of this period, was the 
 usual form. The Orthoepists of the sixteenth century indicate 
 the pronunciation [giv]. 
 
 § 379* Later Dialectal Influence upon Standard English. 
 
 This problem belongs rather to the history of the Spoken 
 Language than that of the Literary form. Reference has 
 been already made to this in the chapter on English Pro- 
 nunciation in the Modern Period. 
 
 There is an inconsiderable number of words in Present- 
 day English, whose pronunciation presents certain difficulties, 
 judged from the standpoint of the usual sound changes of 
 Received Standard. Luick {Unters. z. engl. Lajitgesch.^ 
 pp. 312, etc.) enumerates the forms of this kind which have 
 come in since the middle of the seventeenth century. They 
 do not amount to very much when all is said and done. 
 Broad, bought, bro7ight are supposed to owe their vowel [5] to 
 the dialects of the South-West. The forms of one, once 
 [wan, wans] are supposed to come from the same area. (See 
 § 242, Note 2, on the slow introduction of these forms into polite 
 English.) Key with [l] appears in the second half of the 
 seventeenth century, and comes, it is said, from W. Midi, 
 area. The vowel in break, steak, yea, [e] instead of [l], came 
 into Received Standard in the first half of the eighteenth 
 century, from the South-West. 
 
 Coming down to our own times, various changes in isolated 
 words have come in during the last century— one type has 
 been given up, and another adopted as the Received form. 
 
236 Origin and Grozvth of Literary English [chap, ix 
 
 A few examples of these must suffice, [kwael/tz, kwaent/t/, 
 guld, A'"b] etc., have been replaced by [kvv:'lztz, kw^ritzt/, gould, 
 hAb], and there are many other instances of the same kind of 
 thing. The termination -ing is now very commonly pro- 
 nounced \ixi\ instead of the old-fashioned [m]. 
 
 Other more recent examples still of an alteration in pro- 
 nunciation, not due to ordinary Sound Change, but to substitu- 
 tion of one type for another, are given in my article, ' Class 
 Dialect and Standard English,' Mackay Misc., pp. 283-91, and 
 it is there suggested that we have here the result of social con- 
 ditions, which have brought into prominence and importance 
 sections of the population who at an earlier period were 
 unable to affect Standard English. It is suggested further, 
 that many alterations in English during the last hundred years 
 show the influence, not of Regional or Local Dialect, but of 
 Class Dialect, that is, the influence of Modified Standard upon 
 Received Standard. This whole question has hardly been 
 discussed at present, but it is not too much to say that the 
 variants of Standard English which now exist, and have long 
 existed among different social divisions, must, with the 
 changing social conditions of the present day, profoundly 
 affect the future of Received Standard. It is further urged 
 that the same thing has happened in the past, and that 
 possibly some of the seventeenth and eighteenth century 
 varieties, mentioned by the writers on pronunciation of that 
 time, may be accounted for by assuming that the variants 
 represented the forms used in various Class Dialects, rather 
 than in Regional Dialects. 
 
 The terms Received Standard for the ' best ' type of Spoken 
 English, usually known hitherto as Standard English, and 
 Modified Standard for the various vulgar forms of this heard 
 among the inferior ranks of the population, were proposed by 
 me in ' Standard English and its Varieties,' Mod. Lang. 
 Teaching, Dec, 191 3, pp. 1-16. 
 
 It seems probable that the influence of Modified Standard, 
 that is, of forms of English differentiated out of Received 
 Standard by factors of social isolation, will have to be 
 admitted and studied in the future, more than has hitherto 
 been the case, if we are to understand the tendencies which 
 arise in Spoken English, at different periods, affecting now 
 whole classes of words, now only individual words. These 
 alterations in speech habit appear to be often of the nature of 
 fashion, but they have deeper causes which spring from the 
 complex and stereoscopic conditions of modern society. 
 
 The problem of the rise of the Literary Dialect, and of 
 
§379] Future Investigations — Conclusion 237 
 
 Received Standard Spoken English, is one which now bulks 
 large in the minds of students. Much yet remains to be done. 
 We want a more minute knowledge than we at present possess 
 of the dialectal conditions in M.E., and one which perhaps 
 will hardly be attained primarily from the texts of that period, 
 whose place of origin is often largely conjectural. New light 
 will probably come from the systematic study of the phono- 
 logy of the M.E. forms of Place Names. Next we want a far 
 minuter and more exhaustive knowledge of the language of all 
 the fifteenth and sixteenth-century non-dialectal writers. This 
 work has been splendidly begun by Dibelius, in particular, and 
 by other writers mentioned in the course of this book. Then 
 we want many monographs upon Present-day Spoken English ; 
 on the one hand of the rapidly disappearing Regional Dialects, 
 and on the other of the ever increasing number of types of 
 Modified Standard, or Class Dialects. The latter study is 
 hardly begun. It should be carried out both in respect of 
 certain well-marked social boundaries, and also within these, 
 with a view to geographical diffusion, and possible new 
 differentiation. As regards the study of Regional Dialects, 
 the real foundations have yet to be laid. At present we can 
 hardly connect any features of these forms of English with 
 their predecessors in the M.E. period. We often do not know 
 the historical relation, if such exists, between apparently 
 identical developments in widely separated dialects. Many of 
 these apparent connexions are illusory, but we know so little 
 of the past of the living dialects, that we are unable in many 
 cases to identify the genuine Regional elements from other 
 features which may have come, at no very remote date, from 
 some form of Standard English. 
 
 The field of investigation for the future student of English 
 is a vast and fruitful one. Much of it is still absolutely un- 
 broken. It must be said, in common fairness, that German 
 and Scandinavian scholars have hitherto done most of the 
 work. A glance at the Bibliography at the beginning of this 
 book shows how much we owe in the way of special investiga- 
 tions to our foreign friends. It may sound paradoxical, but 
 it is true that the first and most necessary preparation for the 
 modern study of the history of the English Language is a know- 
 ledge of German. As a fitting close to this little text-book, 
 I venture to express the modest hope that in the near future 
 a larger number of Englishmen may be willing to add some- 
 thing to our knowledge of the history of the English Language, 
 
INDEX 
 
 ( The numbers refer to the §§ unless it is otherwise stated^ 
 
 Adjectives, 317-24. 
 
 Adverbs, 325, 326. 
 
 Analogy, 70. 
 
 Anglian Dialects, characteristics 
 of, 126-39. See also under Mer- 
 cian and Northumbrian. 
 
 Article, Definite, 283, etc. 
 
 Cases of Nouns, 308-9. 
 
 Caxton, adheres on the whole to 
 M.E. spelling, 211; unstressed 
 syllables in, 274 ; his difficulty in 
 choice of type of English to be 
 used in his works, 375 ; dialectal 
 features of his language, 376. 
 
 Cely Papers, value of as indicating 
 sound changes, 208, 218, 225, 
 236, 254, etc. 
 
 Chaucer's language, compared with 
 earliest and later London docu- 
 ments, 373 ; differences between 
 language of his Prose and Poetry, 
 
 374. 
 
 Class Dialect, 210, 379. See Re- 
 ceived and Modified Standard. 
 
 Comparative of Adjectives with 
 and without y^<?««(S in O.E., 321, 
 Note. 
 
 Comparison of Adjectives, 320-4. 
 
 Datives, old (of nouns), survivals 
 
 of, 316. 
 Dejnonstrative Pronouns, 289, 290. 
 Dialect, influence of upon Standard 
 
 Language, 74, 378, 379 ; variety 
 
 of in Middle English, 149. See 
 
 Class and Regional Dialect. 
 Dialects, origin of, 66-9 ; O.E. 
 
 dialects, see W.S., Merc, etc. 
 Diphthongs, z'-mutation of in West 
 
 Saxon, 116-18. 
 Diphthongs, O.E., loss of in M.E., 
 
 164, etc. ; development of new 
 
 d.'s in M.E., 171 ; M.E. d.'s in -u 
 monophthongized, 172. 
 Dual of Pronouns, survival of in 
 M.E., 293. 
 
 Foppington, Lord, 244, Note. 
 
 Fracture in O.E., 102. 
 
 French Adjectives, inflexion of in 
 
 M.E., 319. 
 French Loan-words, vowels of, 
 
 181-200. 
 Front Consonants, 27 ; diphthong- 
 
 ing after in West Saxon, 115. 
 
 Gender, Confusion of, in M.E., 
 
 284-7. 
 Genitives, still governed by verbs 
 
 in M.E., 302 ; used adverbially, 
 
 325, 326. 
 Googe, Barnabe (1563), writes to 
 
 laffe, 221. 
 Gower, writes ie for M.E. tense e, 
 
 161, p. 105. 
 Grammarians, early, value of their 
 
 account of Engl. Pronunciation, 
 
 208, 209, 
 
 He, him, etc., history of, 295. 
 Her (Possessive), 305. 
 hi7te, Old Ace. Sing, of 3rd Pers., 
 survives in Early M.E., 295. 
 
 / (pronoun), history of, 292. 
 z-Mutation in O.E., 103-9. 
 Invariable Plurals, 314. 
 Irregular Phcrals, 315. 
 It, 300. 
 
 Kefitish Dialect of O.E,, character- 
 istics of, 140-4 ; M.E. features, 
 202 ; survivals of in Mod. Engl., 
 227, 228, 267 Note ; traces of in 
 
Index 
 
 239 
 
 Early London documents, 370, 
 371- 
 
 Lengthening of Vo7uels in O.E., 
 113, 114'; in M.E., 173, 174. 
 
 Linguistic Contact, 71. 
 
 Literary English. See Lotidon 
 Dialect. Type of not yet defi- 
 nitely fixed in fifteenth century, 
 377 ; still unsettled in sixteenth 
 century, 378 ; influenced by 
 Class and Regional Dialect, 379. 
 
 Lofidon Dialect, originally within 
 the se-area, 162 ; the origin of 
 Literary Engl., 368 ; character- 
 istics of in M.E., 369-73 ; spread 
 of in Early Mod., 375. See also 
 under the various vowels in the 
 chapter on M.E. and the different 
 parts of Speech in the chapter on 
 Inflexions. Southern features of, 
 369 ; Kentish features of, 370, 
 371; Midi, features of, 371, 372. 
 See also Literary English, Re- 
 ceived Standard. 
 
 Mercian, characteristics of, 1 37-9. 
 
 Middle English Pronunciatioti, how 
 arrived at, 155. 
 
 Modified Standard English, mean- 
 ing of term, 379. 
 
 Mutation Plurals, 313. 
 
 My, etc., 303. 
 
 Nasalisation replaced by length in 
 
 O.E., 113. 
 Northumbrian, characteristics of, 
 
 129-36. 
 Nouns, Declension of, 308-16. 
 
 o, Old English, becomes [u] in 
 M.E., 163, Note. 
 
 Old English, sources of know- 
 ledge of, 75 ; representative 
 texts in, 76-9; mode of writing, 
 80 ; pronunciation of, 81-94. 
 
 One, early examples of spelling with 
 •W-, 240, Note 2. 
 
 Orm, his individualism as spelling 
 reformer, 149 ; his new symbol 
 for back stop, 153, p. 94; bis 
 method of indicating vowel quan- 
 tity, 155. 
 
 ' Oxford type ' as distinct from 
 
 ordinary fifteenth-century Stand- 
 ard English a mare's nest, 377. 
 
 Palatal Mtttation, in. 
 
 Paston Letters, spelling of, p. 124, 
 §§217, 223,225,236, 246, etc. 
 
 Persotial Pro7touns, in O.E., 290 ; 
 later history, 291-306. See also 
 under the several pronouns. 
 
 Plural of Nouns, 310-15. 
 
 Plurals in -s, 311. 
 
 Possessive of Fern. Nouns without 
 -s, often used in M.E., survive 
 to-day in Lady Chapel, 309. 
 
 Possessive Pronouns, 302-6. 
 
 Possessive Singular, in Nouns, 309. 
 
 Present Indicative, introduction of 
 3rd Sing, in -es in the Literary 
 Language, pp. 193, 194; Plural, 
 various types of in Early Mod., 
 pp. 194, 195. 
 
 Preterites of Strong Verbs, influ- 
 enced in M.E. and Mod. Engl, by 
 Analogyof P.P., 350 ; PI. levelled 
 under type of Sing., 349 ; modi- 
 fied by confusion of Class, 351. 
 
 Pronunciation of O.E., 81-94. 
 
 Received Standard English, mean- 
 ing of term, 379. 
 
 Regional Dialect, influence of on 
 Standard English, 210, 379 ; 
 scientific historical study of, only 
 just beginning, p. 237 ; influences 
 literary style, p. 234. 
 
 Roister Doister (1553), rhymes 
 manslaughter — laughter, 276. 
 
 R-sound, lost medially before vowels, 
 and finally, in Mod. period, 279. 
 
 Rtcnes, 80. 
 
 ' Saxon Patois ', 16 ; 36S, p. 225. 
 Scandinavian Loan-words, vowels 
 
 of, 178-80. 
 Shakespeare's Rhymes, 217. 
 She, etc., history of, 296-9. 
 Shorteni?tg of Vowels in M.E., 
 
 before cons, groups, 175 ; in 
 
 first syllable of words of three 
 
 syllables, 176 ; in unstressed 
 
 syllables, 177. 
 Spellings O.E., 86, etc. ; in M.E., 
 
 151-3; in Mod. Engl., 211-16; 
 
 final -e as mark of length, 213 ; 
 
 reform of English spelling, 216. 
 
240 
 
 Index 
 
 See Orm, Gower, Caxton, Cely 
 Papers, Paston Letters. 
 Standard Spoken EnglisJi. See 
 Class Dialect, Modified Standard, 
 Received Standard. 
 
 Their, etc., 306. 
 They, etc., history of, 301. 
 ThoH and Ye, history of, 294. 
 Thy, etc., 304. 
 
 7^-Mutation, no. 
 
 Unchanged or Invariable Plurals, 
 
 314. 
 Unrotmding oi O.Y..y in Late W.S., 
 112. 
 
 Verbs, 327, etc. ; Personal Endings 
 of, O.E., 328 ; in M.E., 329 ; 
 Endings in Pres. Indie. Sing. 
 and PL, 329 ; Preterite, 330 ; 
 Pres. Part., 331 ; Weak Vbs. 
 (O.E.), 332 ; Irregular Wk. Vbs. 
 in O.E., 333 ; Wk. Vbs. in M.E., 
 334; Strong Vbs. in O.E,,337-43; 
 
 Reduplicating Vbs., 344 ; Strong 
 Vbs. in M.E. and later, 347-57 ; 
 Reduplicating Vbs., 358; Irre- 
 gular Vbs., 359 ; Prct. Pres. Vbs., 
 360. 
 
 Ve?yier's Laiv, 65, 346. 
 
 Vowels, isolative changes of in O.E., 
 97; combinative changes in O.E., 
 98-114 ; lengthening of in O.E., 
 113, 114. 
 
 Weak Plurals, 312. 
 
 Wefitworth Papers, '' Jarmany ', 
 
 etc., 222, Note ; rether, 225, 
 
 Note; beyand, etc., 244, Note; 
 
 buiryed, 253, Note I ; voiolence, 
 
 254 ; heered 'hired', 267, Note ; 
 
 creetiirs, to?-ter, etc., 274 ; Operer, 
 
 279 ; geven, p. 215. 
 West Saxon, characteristics of, 
 
 115-22; predominance of in O.E. 
 
 literature, 16, 368, p. 225, 369. 
 
 Ye, you, used to a single person as 
 mark of respect in M.E., 294. 
 
 Oxford : Horace Hart Printer to the University 
 
.^- i^ 
 
 '^:i. «iik 
 
 ^^^^^Hf 
 
 
 RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 
 
 TO— ^ 202 Main Library 
 
 \ 
 
 LOAN PERIOD 1 
 HOME USE 
 
 2 3 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 5 6 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 ■'/ 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405 
 
 6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation Desk 
 
 Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due dote 
 
 !( 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 '/! 
 
 FEB 2R 1QP1 
 
 
 
 .4 
 
 WT'D FEB 1 I 191 
 
 \2 
 
 
 ■it' 
 
 
 
 
 li 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 i: 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 ,f! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY [ 
 FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 3/80 BERKELEY, CA 94720 
 
U C BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 CD^35D73t.7 
 
 'Mu 
 
 m 
 
 '4 
 
 "&