924 UC-NRLF B 3 5MD TED :liis BERl^ l\ UM>^ EltY -RARV E;^bin OF CAUFORNW The Elements of Old English Consisting of ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR (with selections for reading) REFERENCE GRAMMAR By SAMUEL MOORE University of Michigan and THOMAS A. KNOTT University of Chicago PRICE $1.50 GEORGE WAHR, Publisher Ann Arbor, Michigan Historical Outlines of English Phonology and Middle English Grammar FOR COURSES IN CHAUCER, MIDDLE ENGLISH, AND THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE By SAMUEL MOORE Associate Professor of English in the University of Michigan GEORGE WAHR ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 1919 Copyright 1919 By Samuel Moore LOAN STACK Cjg^,^. V5?/C PRINTED AND BOUND BY GEORGE SANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY MANUFACTURING PUBLtSHERB MENASMA, WISCONSIN t PREFACE Inasmuch as this book is intended for use in three distinct courses of the English curriculum — Chaucer, Middle EngUsh, and the history of the EngUsh language — I hope I may be permitted a few words of explanation as to the purpose its various parts are intended to serve in relation to these courses. The elementary course in Chaucer is usually the student's introduc- tion both to the study of medieval literature and to the study of Middle English. There will always, probably, be difference of opinion as to the relative emphasis that should be placed on these two aspects of the course, but its content must always be to some extent linguistic. All teachers desire that their students shall learn to read Chaucer aloud with a facihty comparable to that with which they read a modern poet and with a fair degree of approximation to Chaucer's own pronunciation, and most teachers desire that they shall acquire some notion of the organic value of final e in Chaucer's language. The purpose of Part II of this book is to enable the elementary student to acquire a sound and accurate knowledge of Chaucer's language without the expenditure of art inordinate amount of time, and to arouse the student's interest in this part of his work by emphasising the principles that are illustrated in the study of Chaucer's language. The treatment of the subject is in- tended to be thoroly clear to students who have not studied Old Enghsh, and yet to give such students some degree of real understanding of the relation of Chaucer's language to Old Enghsh on the one hand and to Modern Enghsh on the other. Of all the languages taught in our universities Middle Enghsh fur- nishes the best material for the study of language in the making, for the direct observation of linguistic change; yet the pedagogical difficulties involved in emphasising adequately this aspect of the study of Middle English are such that our courses in Middle English have tended on the whole to become mere translation courses. In Part IV of this book, dealing with the historical development of Middle English inflections, I have tried to unify for the student the apparent confusion of Early Middle English forms by showing in detail how Old English developed 342 into the Middle English of Chaucer thru the action of the two great causes of change in language, sound change and analogy. The study of Part IV is prepared for by the account of the history of English sounds which is contained in Part III, and it is supplemented by the account of the Middle English dialects which is contained in Part V. Parts III, IV, and V, like Part II, are intended to be thoroly clear to students who have not studied Old English, but they are equally well adapted to the needs of the student who' has studied Old EngHsh. The course in the history of the English language is usually intended for students who have studied neither Old English nor Middle English, and for that reason it presents certain difl&culties for the teacher. The greatest difficulty is that of enabling such students to acquire anything approaching a clear and definite knowledge of the changes of pronuncia- tion that have taken place in English during the past thousand years. The best method, I believe, of meeting this difficulty is to begin the study of English phonology with the phonetic analysis of the student's own speech, this analysis being accompanied by and based upon a study of the elements of phonetics and practice in the use of a phonetic alpha- bet. If then the Old English, Middle English, and Modern English words that illustrate English sound changes are interpreted by means of the phonetic alphabet which the student has learned, he can gain from a study of them such a knowledge of the history of Enghsh sounds as he could not possibly gain from a study of the same words in their ordinary spellings. The Introduction to this book, dealing with the elements of phonetics. Part I, dealing with Modern English sounds, and Part III, dealing with the history of English sounds, furnish material for the study of English phonology according to this method. The study of the history of English inflections may be based on Part IV, which deals with the historical development of Middle English inflections, for, tho the inflections of Modern English are outside the scope of this book, it is not difficult to show the student that the Modern English forms are virtually those of Late Middle English minus the final e which was lost in the fifteenth century. The phonetic notation I have used in this book is a modification of that of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Practical considerations, however, have led me to depart from the International alphabet farther than I originally intended. For the purposes of this book it seemed clearly desh-able to use as the sign of vowel length the macron which is used by editors of Old and Middle English texts rather than the colon of the International alphabet. There seemed also to be a distinct ad- vantage in using as the s}Tnbols of "open o" and "open e" the char- acters Q and § which are used in Middle English texts rather than the International s\Tnbols. Some persons may possibly object to my use of e and 6 as symbols for the vowel sounds of Modern English they and low. My primary reason for using these symbols rather than symbols that indicate the diphthongal nature of these vowels is that the amount and kind of diphthongisation of these and other "long vowels " is by no means uniform in American Enghsh. It therefore seemed best to use e, 6, etc. as somewhat conventional s}Tnbols for these sounds and to explain their diphthongal nature at appropriate places in the footnotes. It would be impossible for me to acknowledge my indebtedness to all the sources I have used in the preparation of this book, but I know that I am under particular obhgations to Sweet's History of English Sounds, New English Grammar, First Middle English Primer, Second Middle English Primer, Sounds of English, and Primer of Spoken English ; Jes- persen's Progress in Language with Special Reference to English and Modern English Grammar, Part I {Sounds and Spellings); Wyld's His- torical Study of the Mother Tongue and Short History of English ; Grand- gent's English in America (Die Neueren Sprachen, II, 443 ff., 520 ff.); Morsbach's Mittelenglische Grammatik; Kaluza's Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache; Stratmann's Middle English Dictionary (revised by Bradley); Emerson's Middle English Reader; Child's Observations on the Language of Chaucer; Kittredge's Observations on the Language of Chaucer^ s Troilus; Ten Brink's Language and Metre of Chaucer (translated by Smith) ; Liddell's grammatical introduction to his edition of Chaucer's Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Knightes Tale, etc. ; Skeat's Comphte Works of Geofrey Chaucer (Oxford, 6 vols.); Cromie's Ryme-Index to the Ellesmere Manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; and Hempl's Chaucer's Pronunciation. I am much indebted to my colleague Prof. W. R. Humphreys for help he has given me in reading proof. I need scarcely say that I shall be grateful to those who will call my attention to any omissions or errors which they may observe in their use of this book or who can suggest any changes by which it may be better adapted to the purposes for which it is intended. S.M. CONTENTS Introduction: The Elements of Phonetics 1 Part I Modern English Sounds 6 Part II The Language of Chaucer Pronunciation 12 Inflections 25 Final e 32 Part III The History of EngHsh Sounds Pronunciation of Old EngHsh 36 Normal Development of Old EngHsh Vowels in ME and MnE 38 Special Developments in Middle EngHsh 40 Special Developments in Modern English 43 Consonant Sounds 47 Part IV Historical Development of Middle English Inflections Nouns 49 Adjectives 55 Pronouns 57 Verbs 60 Part V Middle English Dialects Distribution ; 71 Southern Dialect 71 Kentish Dialect 73 Midland Dialect 74 Non-Northern Dialect Characteristics 75 Non-Southern Dialect Characteristics 76 Northern Dialect , 77 Appendix: Middle English Spelling 79 INTRODUCTION The Elements of Phonetics 1. Organs of Speech. Speech-sounds are produced by a stream of air expelled from the lungs, which is modified in various ways by means of the larynx, containing the vocal cords; the soft palate; the hard palate; the teeth; the hps; the tongue; and the nasal passage. The hard and soft palates form the roof of the mouth, the hard palate being in front, the soft palate behind. By the varied activity of these organs, the various consonant and vowel sounds are produced. 2. Voiced and Voiceless Sounds. With reference to the activity of the vocal cords, soimds are either voiced or voiceless. All speech sounds are produced by the expulsion of a stream of air from the lungs. In the pro- duction of a voiceless or breath sound, the stream of air passes freely thru the larynx; the vocal cords are wide open, so that they offer no im- pediment to the stream of air and therefore do not vibrate. But in the production of a voiced sound, the vocal cords are drawn close together so that they are caused to vibrate by the stream of air which passes between them. This vibration can be felt by placing the first two fingers upon the larynx or "Adam's apple" while one is pronoimcing a vowel sound, or the consonant v. AlWowel sounds are voiced, but consonants may be either voiced or voiceless. It is voice that distinguishes g (as in get) from k, d from t, b from p, v from f, z from s (as in soon), and the sound of th in then from the sound of th in thin} 3. Stops and Spirants. With reference to the manner of their articula- tion, consonants are distinguished as stopped consonants (or explosives) 1 By practice one may soon learn to distinguish voiced sounds from voiceless ones. A good exercise for practice is to pronounce alternately s and z, f and v, and the two sounds of th, taking care to pronounce the consonant sound alone without the aid of a vowel. The sounds of t and d, p and b, etc., when pronounced without a vowel, will also be felt and heard to be ver>- different in character. It will also be observed that voiced sounds, whether vowels or consonants, are capable of being uttered with varia- tions of musical pitch, whereas voiceless sounds are not. Of the following sounds, distingmsh those that are voiced from those that are not: 1. m, n, r, sh. 2 THE ELEMENTS OF PHONETICS and open consonants (or spirants). In the production of stopped con- sonants, the outgo of breath from the lungs is stopped at some point by the complete closing of the mouth passage. The increasing pressure of the breath then forces open the stoppage, causing an explosive sound. In the production of open consonants or spirants, the mouth passage is not completely stopped, but the air from the lungs is made to pass thru a narrow opening with so much friction as to cause a buzzing or hissing noise. Stopped consonants are Modern English g (as in get), k, d, t, b, p; open consonants are z, s, th (as in then), th (as in thin), v, £.^ 4. The complete or partial closure required to produce stops and open consonants is made by means of the tongue or lips, and the quality of the various sounds is determined by the manner in which the closure is made. Modern English g (as in get) and k are produced by pressure of the tongue against the soft palate; y (as in yield), is made by an incomplete closure between the tongue and the hard palate; d and t are made by the pressure of the front of the tongue against the ridge above the upper front teeth; z and s are made with an incomplete closure at the same point; b and p are produced by means of a closure of the two lips; v and f are produced by an incomplete closure between the lower lip and the upper front teeth ; th as in then, and th as in thin are produced by causing air to pass between the tip of the tongue and the backs or edges of the upper front teeth. 5. According to the place of their formation, these consonants are there- fore classified as back or velar consonants (g, k); front or palatal con- sonants (y) ; dental consonants (d, t, z, s, th in then, th in thin) ; and labial consonants (b, p, v, f). 6. Nasal and Oral Consonants. With reference to the activity of the nasal passage, consonants are classified as oral or nasal. All of the con- sonants mentioned in the preceding paragraph are oral consonants. The nasal consonants are m, n, and ng (as in thing) . In the articulation of the oral consonants, the passage from the throat to the nose is closed, so that the steam of air emitted by the lungs can escape only thru the mouth. In the articulation of the nasal consonants, however, the passage from the throat to the nose is left open, so that air can escape freely thru the nose. ' Are r, sh, and y open consonants or stopped consonants? THE ELEMENTS OF PHONETICS 3 At the same time the mouth passage is completely stopped, the closure being made for m, n, and ng, precisely as for b, d, and g, respectively.^ 7. Vowels. Vowel sounds are more open than open consonant sounds. In the formation of an open consonant, a stream of air is made to pass thru an opening so narrow that the passage of the air causes friction and therefore noise. In the formation of a vowel, however, the opening is so wide that the air in passing thru the mouth causes no friction at all. 8. Open and Close Vowels. But the vowels are not all equally open in their formation. If one pronounces in order the vowel sounds of the words hat, hate, heat, he will observe that in pronouncing each of these successive sounds the tongue is closer to the roof of the mouth. When we pronounce the series, the tongue starts from a position considerably below the roof of the mouth and ends ui a position quite close to the roof of the mouth. This can be felt, and it can also be seen by pronouncing the sounds before a mirror. The same thing can be observed in regard to the vowels of the words law, low, loot. As we pronounce this series of vowels, we can feel the tongue going higher in the mouth, and we can see it indirectly by w^atching the upward movement of the lower jaw as we pronounce the three sounds before a mirror. 9. This difference in openness or height is the basis of one of the most important classifications of vowel sounds. We distinguish at least three degrees in the height of vowel sounds. If the tongue is quite close to the roof of the mouth, we call the vowel a high vowel. If the tongue occupies a low position in the mouth, we call the vowxl a low vowel. If the tongue is in a position about midway between its extreme high position and its extreme low position, we call the vowel a mid vowel. So the vowels of law and hat are low vowels, the vowels of low and hate are mid vowels, and the vowels of loot and heat are high vowels. 10. Back and Front Vowels. When we pronounce in succession the two series of vowels heard in law, low, loot, and hat, hate, heat, we can perceive that the tongue Hes differently as we utter the two series. When we pro- nounce the vowels of law, low, loot, it is the back of the tongue that is closest to the roof of the mouth. When we pronounce the vowels of ' Vowels are normally oral sounds, but they become nasalized when they are pro- nounced with the passage from the throat to the nose open. The most familiar examples of nasalized vowels are those of Modem French. 4 THE ELEMENTS OF PHONETICS hat, hate, heat, it is the front of the tongue that is closest to the roof of the mouth. This can be felt, and it can also be seen by looking into the mouth as we pronounce the two series of sounds before a mirror. We therefore call the vowels of law, low, loot, back vowels, and the vowels of hat, hate, heat front vowels. This is the second basis of the classification of vowel sounds. 11. Combining the two classifications of vowel sounds, we say that the vowel of hat is a low front vowel, that the vowel of hate is a mid front vowel, that the vowel of heat is a high front vowel, that the vowel of law is a low back vowel, that the vowel of low is a mid back vowel, and that the vowel of loot is a high back vowel.^ 12. Round and Unround Vowels. If one pronounces before a mirror the two series of vowel sounds heard in hat, hate, heat, and law, low, loot, he will see that the action of the lips in pronouncing the two series is not the same. In pronouncing the first series, the corners of the mouth are drawn apart so as to make a wide opening. But in pronouncing the latter series, the corners of the mouth are drawn together so as to make a more or less rounded opening; in fact, one finds that he cannot pronounce this series of vowels with the corners of the mouth drawn apart. We there- fore make a further distinction between round and unround vowels, and call the vowel of law a low back round vowel, the vowel of low a mid back round vowel, and the vowel of loot a high back round vowel. The vowels of hat, hate, heat, on the other hand, are unround vowels. 13. Generally speaking, back vowels tend to be round, and front vowels to be unround. But unround back vowels and round front vowels also occur. The vowel of Modern English far is a mid back unround vowel. Front round vowels may be illustrated by Modern German kuhn and milssen, in which are heard the long and short varieties of the high front round vowel. The vowel of kilhn may be produced by pronouncing the vowel of heat with the Hps rounded as if for pronouncing the vowel of loot. The vowel of miissen may be produced by pronouncing the vowel of hit with the hps rounded as if for pronouncing the vowel of pull. No front round vowels occur in Modern Enghsh, but the two sounds just described were frequent sounds in Old Enghsh. * Some vowels, for example a in English Cuba, e in German gabe, e in French je, are neither front vowels nor back vowels. They occur chiefly in unstressed syllables and are generally termed mixed vowels. THE ELEMENTS OF PHONETICS 5 14. Quantity of Vowels. The foregoing classification of vowel sounds has reference only to the quality of vowels. But vowels differ from each other not only in quaUty but also in quanitiy or length of duration. With regard to quantity, vowels are distinguished as long and short.^ In Modern English the long vowel of meet differs from the short vowel of met not only in quantity but also in quality, the former being a high front vowel and the latter a mid front vowel. Likewise, the long vowel in loot differs from the short vowel in look both in quality and in quantity; both vowels are high back round vowels, but the latter is slightly lower or more open in its formation than the former. On the other hand, the long vowel of art differs from the vowel of the first syl- lable of artistic in length or duration alone. 15. Diphthongs. A diphthong consists of two vowel sounds pro- nounced in a single syllable. In Modern EngHsh we have diphthongs in the words foil, foul, and file. ' The student must guard against the phonetically incorrect use of the terms long and short as they are appUed in modem English dictionaries. The vowel in mate is called "long a," the vowel in mat is called "short a"; but the two vowels are not the long and short varieties of one sound; they differ in quality as well as in length. PARTI Modern English Sounds 16. Phonetic Alphabet. The sounds of Modern English are ex- pressed in phonetic notation as follows: a like a in father a }} a >> artistic, o in ae }> a » hat b }) b >> be d >> d )j do e >y a )> mate e^ 5> a )) chaotic 1 5J al }) airy € » e )y met f » f » fee g » i » go » h » heed >> i >> machine )) i 5> bit )> ia >> carriage » y y> yes 5J k » kin J> I » let m >y m » meet n }) n j> net )) ng 5> sing )) >J note o« )) >> donation e jj a J> all Q« » au >> audacious p )> P >> pit r » r >> rat 8 >> s >> seat Li. »> sh >> ship • This sound occurs only in unstressed syllables and in syllables with secondary stress; it does not occur in strongly stressed syllables. MODERN ENGLISH SOUNDS u. like s in pleasure t )> t 33 tone \> )} th 33 th'n tJ )) th 33 then u )) 00 33 boot u J) u 33 push A J3 u 33 hut 5 33 u 33 urge 9« 33 a 33 about V 33 V 33 vat w 33 w 33 win z )> z 33 zest Dipththongs: ai 33 i 33 find au )3 ou 33 ou 33 u 33 accuse, mute ju^ 33 u 33 accusation QJ 33 oy 33 boy Consonant combinations: hw 33 wh in why tf 33 ch 33 chew d? 33 3 33 jaw For the representation of certain sounds which occurred in Old Eng- lish and Middle EngUsh, but which do not occur in Modern EngUsh, the following additional characters are needed: h before consonants and after vowels hke ch in German ich, nacht'' y y ce " g ' " iih ' ' North German sagen ' German kiihn 33 JJ 3 ' " miissen 33 y 3 ' " hbren 33 y 3 ' " wbrter « This sound occurs only in unstressed syllables and in syllables with secondary stress; it does not occur in strongly stressed syllables. ' The sounds of ch which occur in German ich and nacht are of course altogether different from the sound of h in heed, and are usually represented in phonetic notation by the characters € and x respectively. The character h is used in our alphabet merely for the sake of simphcity. MODERN ENGLISH SOUNDS 17. Keywords. The Modern English key-words given above are written in phonetic notation as follows: fatSar g6 not Sgn aekjuz, sekiuz" artistik hid done fan but mjut, mint* fadar m9fin 9I puf aekjuzefan haet bit gdefas hAt bgi bl kaerld^ pit 9rd5 hwai du JSS raet abaut tfu met kin sit vaet d^Q keatik l?t fip win ?ri mit plggar zgst mgt ngt ton faind fi sir) \)'m aut 18. Modern English in Phonetic Notation. The pronunciation represented in the paragraphs printed below is the natural pronunciation of the transcriber (who is a native of southeastern Pennsylvania) when speaking at a rate about midway between slow, formal speech and rapid, colloquial speech. In the transcriber's dialect the vowel [a]^^ is extremely frequent and occurs in many situations where speakers from other local- ties would use [i]. In studying the transcription the student should observe that many words, especially pronouns, prepositions, and auxil- iary verbs, have "strong" and "weak" forms. The strong forms are used when these words are strongly stressed, the weak forms are used when they are weakly stressed. For example, the strong form of who is [hu], the weak form is [hu] or [u]. The student should also observe that r, I, m, and n often form a syllable even when they are not accompanied by a vowel; they do so, for example, in [papJ9l'r],Une 7; [pipl],line 7; and [kanvarsefn], Hne 3. Syllabic r, 1, m, and n, when necessary for clear- ness, are written ['r], ['{], ['in], and ['nj. In the conventional spelling the first paragraph of the text transcribed below is as follows: In every cultivated language there are two great classes of words which, taken together, comprise the whole vocabulary. First, there are those words with which we become acquainted in ordinary conversa- tion, — which we learn, that is to say, from the members of our own family * Both pronunciations occur in American English. '* Here and elsewhere the brackets are used to indicate that the spellings they enclose are phonetic spellings. MODERN ENGLISH SOUNDS 9 and from our familiar associates, and which we should know and use even if we could not read or write. They concern the common things of life and are the stock in trade of all who speak the language. Such words may- be called "popular," since they belong to the people at large and are not the exclusive possession of a Hmited class. in gvri kAltavetad Ifijgwid^ Sgr ar tu gret klaesaz av wardz hwitf, tekn taggSar, kmpraiz Sa hoi vakaebjalari. farst, Sgr 'r Soz wardz wat5 witf wi bilovm akwentad in grdan'ri kanvarsefn — hwitf wi lam, Saet az ta se, fram Sa mgmbarz av ar on faemli an fram ar familjar aso fiats, 5 an witf wi fad no an juz ivn if wi kud nat rid an rait. Se kansarn Sa kaman ]?igz av laif, and 'r Sa stak in tred av 9I u splk Sa lerjgwidg. SAtf wardz me bi kgld "papjal'r," sins Se bal^rj ta Sa pipl at lard^ and 'r nat Si ikskluziv pazgfn av a limatad klaes. Qn Si .vSar haend, ar lfgg\\'id5 inkludz a mAltitud av wardz hwitf 10 'r kampsratavli sgldm juzd 'n ^rdanari kanvarsefn. Sgr minigz 'r non tu gvri gd^aketad parsn, bat Sar az Htl ake2;n tu implpi Sam at hom 'r an Sa markat-ples. ar farst akwentans waS Sam L\mz nat fram ar mASarz lips 'r fram Sa tgk av ar skiilmets, bat fram buks Sat wi rid, Igktfarz Sat wi hir, gr Sa mgr fgrm'l kanvarsefn av haili gd^aketad 15 spikarz, hu 'r daskAsig SAm partikjalar tapik an a stall apropriath ^lavetad abAV Si abitfual Igvl av gvride laif. SAtf wardz 'r kgl "larnad, " 'n Sa dastigkfn batwin Sgm an "papjal'r" wardz iz av gret amp^rtns tu a rait Andarstfndig av Uggwistik prases. Sa dif'rns batwin papjal'r an larnad wardz me bi izali sin 'n a 20 fju agzaemplz. wi me daskraib a garl az "laivli" gr az "vavefas. " in Sa farst kes, wi 'r juzig a netiv igghf fgrmefn fram Sa familjar naun "laif." in Se laetar, wi 'r juzig a laetn darivativ hwitf haz prasaisli Sa sem minii). jgt Si aetmasfir av Sa tu wardz az kwait dif'rnt. no WAn §vr gat Si aedgiktiv "laivli" aut av a buk. It az a part av 25 gvribadiz vakaebjalari. wi kaenat ramgmbar a taim wgn wi did nat no it, an vn fil fur Sat wi larnd at Igg bifgr wi war ebal ta rid. gn (S ASar haend, wi mAStav paest sgv'ral jirz av ar laivz bifgr larnir) Sa w5rd " vavefas. " wi me Ivn ramgmbar Sa farst taim wi sg it 'n print gr h9rd at fram SAm gronAp frgnd hu waz tgklg ovr ar tfaildif hgdz. 30 bo)) "laivli" an "vavefas" ar gud igglif wardz, bat "laivli" Iz "papjal'r" an "vavefas" az "larnad." gvri gdgaketad parsan haez at list tu wez av spikig Iz mASar tAg . 10 MODERN ENGLISH SOUNDS (59 f5rst 9Z "Saet hwitf i implQiz an iz faemli, aniAg iz familjar frgnz, 'nd gn Qrd'nari akegnz. Sa sgkand az '5aet hwitf i juzas 'n diskgrsig gn 35 mgr kampliketad sAbdgikts, 'nd an adrgsig p5rsnz wa3 hum i az l?s intamatli akwentad. it az, 'n f^rt, Sa Ifggwidg witf i implgiz wan i az "gn iz dignati," aez i puts Qn ivnig drgs waniiz goir) aut ta dain. '5a dif'rns batwin Siz tu fgrmz av Ifggwidi^ kansists, 'n gret mggar, in a dif'rns av vakaebjalari. 3a besas av familjar wardz mast bi (5a 40 sem 'n bo)?, bat Sa vakaebjalari apropriat ta Sa mgr fgrm'l ake2;n wal anklud mgni t5rmz hwitf wad bi stiltad ar afgktad an grd'nari tQk. '5ar az glso kansid'rabl dif'rns batwin familjar an dignafaid Igggwids; 'n Sa maenar av Atarans. kantraest Sa raepad Atarans av ar gvride daial^kt, ful av kantraekfnz 'n klipt fgrmz, waS Sa mQr dastirjkt 45 anAnsiefn av Sa pulpat ar (5a plaetfgrm. (5as, an kanvarsefn, wi abitfuali implgi SAtf kantraekfnz az "ail," "dont," "wont," "its," "wid," "hid," 'n Sa laik, hwitf wi fad ngvar juz 'npAbliksplkir), Anl^s ev s^t pSrpas, ta giv a markadli kalokwial tind^ ta wat wi haev ta se. (Transcribed from Greenough and Kittredge's Words and their Ways in English Speech, pp. 19, 20, 27, 28.) 19. Phonetic Classification of Modern English Sounds. The vowels of Modern EngUsh are classified phonetically, according to the principles explained above in 7-14, as follows: BACK VOWELS MIXED VOWELS FRONT VOWELS Round Unround Unround Unround High u, u i, i, J Mid 6, a, a, A 9 e, e, e Low Q, Q 9 1, ae The classification of the consonant sounds, according to the principles explained above in 1-6, is as follows: Velar Palatal Dental Labial Stops Voiced g d b Voiceless k t p Spirants Voiced j ^, z, tJ . v Voiceless f, s, J) f Nasals Voiced n n m MODERN ENGLISH SOUNDS 11 [1] is a "divided" consonant; it is produced by pressing the point of the tongue against the hard palate and allowing the air from the lungs to escape at the sides of the mouth; it is usually voiced, but sometimes voice- less, as in play. [r] is produced by turning the point of the tongue up towards the hard palate; it is usually voiced, but sometimes voiceless, as in try. [w] is a voiced, open, velar soimd made with a decided rounding of the hps. [hw] is a voiceless [w]. [h] is a breath sound made with the tongue and lips in the position, or approaching the position, which they will occupy in producing the vowel that follows. PART II THE LANGUAGE OF CHAUCER Pronunciation of Chaucer's Language 20. Pronunciation of Chaucer: Phonetic Notation. The following table shows the vowels and diphthongs of Chaucer's dialect of Middle Enghsh, expressed in the phonetic notation given above in section 16, and indicates also the spellings of those sounds which are usually found in the best manuscripts of Chaucer's works. Sound [a] [a] [e] [|] f?] [i] [i] [o] [q] [q] [fi] [u] Pronunciation like a in father fodder mate^° airy met o a ai e i i o aw au 00 u machine^" bit notei" law audacious o boot^'^ ou, ow full u, o SpelUng a, aa a ee, e ee, e e i,y i, y 00, o 00, o Examples bathed [baSad]^'' that [bat] swete [sweta] heeth [h^\>] wende [wgnda] ryde [rid a] swich [switf] roote [rota] hooly [hgli] folk [fglk] fowles [fulas] Jul [ful] ' The brackets indicate that the spellings they enclose are phonetic spellings. "The Modem English sounds given as the equivalents of Chaucer's [e], [i], [o], and [u] are only approximate equivalents, for the Modern English sounds which we have represented by the symbols [e], [i], [6], and [u] are in reality diphthongs, not simple vowels. The Modern English sounds which we have represented by [e] and [6] are more accurately represented phonetically by the symbols [§e] or [ei] and [qo] or [ou]. The Modem English sounds that we have represented by [i] and {u] may be more accurately represented by the symbols [ij] and [uw]. Chaucer's [e], [i], [6], and [u] were simple vowels, pronounced like the corresponding vowels of Modem German. [au] }) ou " out [ei] >y k] plus [i]" ku] }> [?] plus [u] [iu] }} [i] plus [u]i2 [Qi] j> oy in boy [Qu] >> [q] plus [nr [qu] 5> [q] plus u]" PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 13 [9] like a in about e sonne [sunns] au, aw Jaught [fauht] ai,ay,ei, ey day [dgi], wey [wgi] eu, ew fewe [fgua] u, eu, ew aventure [avgntiura], reule [riula] oi, oy coy [kgi] ou, ow bowe [bgua] ou, ow, o foughten [fQuhtan] 21. Pronunciation of Vowels, Diphthongs, and Consonants. The pronunciation of the first 117 lines of Chaucer's Prologue is indicated in the texts printed below on pages 14 ff . The text on the right hand pages is transcribed in the phonetic notation which has been explained above in sections 16 and 20. The text on the left hand pages is printed in the spelling of the manuscripts, but with the addition of diacritics which indicate the pronunciation of the vowels and diphthongs. The symbols which are used in the diacritical text are for the most part the same as those employed in the phonetic notation, but for greater convenience they are all given below in alphabetical order. Symbols Pronunciation Examples a, aa like a in father bathed, baar a " o " fodder that ai, ay " § plus i, approximately ey in they^^ saide, day au, aw " ou in house f aught, saw e, ee " a " mate swete, seeke §, §§ " ai " airy m^te, hggth g " e " met wgnde ei, ey " ? plus i, approximately ey in they^^ curteis, wey " A fair approximation to this sound is the a of Modem English mate, for this sound, as explained above in note 10, is in reality a diphthong, not a simple vowel. " A fairly close approximation to this sound is the u of Modem English mute. " If one cannot acquire this diphthong, he may substitute for it the simple vowel [«]. [«]. " If one cannot acquire this diphthong, he may substitute for it the simple vowel " See note 1 1 above. 14 PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE Symbols Pronunciation Examples eu, ew like i in u, approximately u in mute reule, knew €u, §w ' « " u f^we », y ' ' i in machine whil, ryde i,y ' i " bit swich, lystes 5, 00 ' ' " note d5n, roote Q,QQ ' aw " law Qpen, hQQly Q ' au " audacious fglk Q plus gh or h ' ' q plus u^" bQghte 8 ' u in full s5nne oi, oy ' oy " boy coy ou, ow ' ' 00 " boot hous, fowles QU, QW ' Q plus U^^ SQule, hqwe QU ' Q " Ul« fQughten ii ' ' i " u, approximately u in mute v^rtii u ' ' u in full ful Unaccented e, as in sSnne, saide, swete, etc., is pronounced like a in Cuba. When this final e is written but is not pronounced in reading, 22. CHAUCER IN Whan that Aprill? with his shoures soote The droghte gf March hath perced to the roote, And bathed |u?ry veyne in swich Ucour Qf which vgrtii ^ng^ndred is the flour; 5 Whan Zgphirus ggk with his swete brggth Inspired hath in |u?ry hglt and hggth The t^ndre crQppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halue cours yronne. And smale fowles maken mglodye, 10 That slepen al the nyght with gpen ye, Sq priketh hgm nature in hir corages; Thann^ l^ngen fglk to gggn gn pilgrimages, And palmgr^s fgr to seken straunge str^ndes, To fgrne halwes kowthf in sondry Igndes. " If one cannot acquire this diphthong, he may substitute for it the simple vowel [q]. " If one cannot acquire this diphthong, he may substitute for it the simple vowel [«]. '* This diphthong occurs only before gh or h; if one cannot acquire it, he may sub- stitute for it the simple vowel [q]. PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 15 it is printed as e if it is elided before a word beginning with a vowel or "weak h"; and as e if it is apocopated before a word beginning with a consonant. Unaccented e occurring between two consonants of the same word is also printed as e when it is not pronounced in reading, that is when it is syncopated. For an explanation of elision, apocopation. and syncopation see section 40 below. Chaucer's consonant sounds are in general the same as those of Mod- ern English. It should be observed, however, that gh is pronounced Uke ch in German ich, nacht; e.g., nyght [niht]; initial th is always pronounced like th in thin; e.g., that [bat]; final s is always pronounced [s], not [z]; e.g., wan [was], shoures [furas]; k, 1, and w are never silent; e.g., knyght [kniht], palmers [palmers], write [writa]; ng is pronounced like ng in finger; e.g., yonge [jugga]; r is strongly trilled with the tip of the tongue; consonants that are doubled in writing are usually pronounced double, as in Modern Enghsh pen-knife; e.g., sonne [sunna], alle [alia]. The letters u and v were interchangeable in Chaucer's time. For example in the text printed below the letter u represents the sound of [v] in euery (line 3), and the letter v represents the vowel [u] in Vnder (Hne 105). PHONETIC NOTATION" hwan ])2X april wij? is furas sota J?3 druht gf martf ha]? persad to Jja rota, and baSad gvxi vgin in switl Ukur Qf hwitf vgrtiu gnd^^ndrad is Jja flur; 5 hwan zgfirus |k wij> is sweta brgj? inspirad ha}? in |vri hglt and hfj? }?a t^ndar krgppas, and jja jugga sunna ' ha)? in ]?a ram is halva kurs irunna, and smala fulas makan mglodia, 10 \>2X slepan al |?a niht wi]? gpan la, S2 prikaj? hgm natiur in hir kurad^as; ]?an Igggan fglk to ggn gn pilgrimad^as, and palmgrs fgr to sekan straund^a strgndas, to fgrna halwas, kuS in sundri Igndas. " The text used is that of Liddell, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, etc., with some changes of pimctuation. All other passages quoted from Chaucer's works follow the text of Skeat's Student's Chaucer. -7 16 PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 15 And specially frgm |u?ry shires §nde Qf ^^ngelgnd to Caunturbury they w?nde, The hQQly bHsful martir iqv to seke That hgm hath hglpen whan that they w|r? seeke. Bifil that in that sfson qn a day, 20 In Southwgrk at the Tabard as I lay Rgdy to wgnden gn my pilgrymage To Cauntgrbury with ful deuout corage, At nyght was comf in to that hgstglrye Wei nyne and twenty in a compaignye 25 Qf sondry fglk, by augnture y-falle In felaw^shipe, and pilgrim^s wf re they alle, That toward Cauntgrbury wglden ryde. The chambres and the stables w|ren wyde, And wel we wf ren |sed atte bgste. 30 And shgrtly, whan the sonne was to rgste, Sq hadde I spoken with hgm guerychgn That I was Qf hir fglaw^shipe angn, And made fgrward ^rly fgr to ryse To t ake our? wey thgr as I yow deuyse. 35 But nathelggs, whil I hau? tyme and space, ^^r that I farther in this tale pace, Me thynketh it acgrdaunt to r|soun To tgUe yow al the CQndicioun Qf gch of hgm sQ as it semed me, 40 And which? they w^re, and gf what degree, And ggk in what array that they w^re inne; And at a Knyght than wol I first bigynne. A Knyght th^r was and that a worthy man, That iiQ the tyme that he first bigan 45 To riden out he loued chiualrle, Trguthe and hgnour, fredom and curteisie. Ful worthy was he in his lordes wgrre, And th|rt6 hadde he riden, no man f?rre, As wel in cristendom as in hfthengsse, PRONUNCIATIOX OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 17 15 and spesiali frgm f \Ti firas gnda pf gggalond to kaunturbri )7gi wgnda, Jj9 h^li blisful martir iqr to seka )?at hgm ha]7 hQlpan hwan j^at p^i wgr seka. bifil J?at in )?at sfziin on a dgi, 20 in suSw^rk at )79 tabard as i Igi r^di to wgndsn gn ml pilgrimad^a to kaunturbri wilp ful devut kurad^a, at niht was kum in to J?at ost^lrla wel nln and twgnti in a kumpginia 25 qi simdri fglk, bi avgntiur ifalls in felaufip, and pilgrims wer p^i alb, Jjat toward kaimtgrburi w^ldan rida. )?9 tfambars and Jja stabals wgran wida, and wel we wfran |z3d atta bgsta. 30 and fgrtli, hwan }>9 sunna was to rgsta, SQ had i spgkan wi)? gm gyritlgn Jjat i was gf hir felaufip angn, and mada fgrward |rli for to rlza to tak ur wgi J?|r as i ju devlza. 35 but naSalgs, hwil i av tun and spasa, |r )?at i fgrSar in jjis tale pasa, me Jjigka)? it akgrdaunt to rfzun to tglla ju al J)a kgndisiun gf |tf gf hgm sq as it semad me, 40 and hwitf J?gi wfra, and gf hwat degre, and fk in hwat arrgi )7at Jjgi wfr inna; and at a kniht )7an wul i first biginna. a kniht J?f r was and )?at a wurSi man, Jjat frg Jja tima ]3at e first bigan 45 to ridan ut he luvad tfivalria, trguS and gnur, fredom and kiu-tgizla. ful wurSi was e in is Igrdas wgrra, and Jjfrto had e ridan, uq man f^rra, as wel in kristandom as in hf Sangssa, J8 PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE SO And |v?re hpnoured fgr his wSrthyngsse. At Alisaundre he was whan it was wonne; Ful Qfte tym? he hadd? the bgrd bigonne Abouen alle nacions in Priice. In Lgttgw haddc he reysed and in Riice, 55 Nq cristen man sg qite gf his degree. In Gernade at the seege ??k haddg he be Qf Alggzir and riden in Bglmarye. At Lyeys was he and at Satalye Whan they w|re wonne, and in the Gr|te S?g. 60 At many a n^ble armee haddg he be. At mgrtal batailles hadde he been fiftene, And fgughten f qi oure feith at Tramyssene In lystes thries, and ay slayn his fgg. This ilke worthy knyght hadd§ been alsg 65 Somtyme with the l^rd of Palatye AgayTi another h|then in Turkye; And f uer^rnggr? he hadde a souereyn prys. And thgugh that he w^r§ worthy, he was wys, And gf his pgrt as meeke as is a mayde. 70 He nguere ygt ng vileyny^ ne sayde In al his lyf vnto ng mangr wight. He was a vgrray parfit, ggntil knyght. But fgr to tgllen yow gf his array. His hgrs w^r? goode, but he was nat gay; 75 Qi fustian he wgred a gypon Al bismoter^d with his habergeon, Fgr he was 1 ate y-com? f rgm his viage And wgnte fgr to doon his pilgrymage. With hym th^r was his sone, a yong Squler, 80 A louygrg and a lusty bachgler, With Igkkes crulle, as they wgre leyd in prgsse. Qf twenty yggr gf age he was, I g?sse; Qf his statiir? he was gf gu^ne Igngthe And wSnderly delyu^re and gf grggt strgngthe; PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 19 50 and |vr Qnurad fgr is wurSingssa. at alisaundr e was hwan it was wunna ; ful Qft9 tim he had Jja bgrd bigunna abuv9n alb nasiuns in priusa. in Igtgu had e rgizad and in riusa, 55 ng kristan man sg gft qi his degre. in ggrnad at ps sedz; f k had e be qi ald2;gzlr and ridan in bglmaria ; at hgis was e and at satalia hwan ]?gi w|r wun, and in jja gr|ta sj- 60 at mani a ngbal arme had e be. at mQrtal batgils had e ben fiftena, and fQuhtan fgr ur fgi)? at tramisena in hstas }?rias, and gi slgin is fo. Jjis ilka wurSi kniht had ben alsg 65 sumtlma wij? Ips Igrd gf palatia aggin anoSar hgSan in turkia ; and ^varmgr he had a suvrgin prls. and pQuh \)aX he w|r wurSi, he was wis, and qi is pgrt as mek as is a mgida. 70 he ngvar jgt ng vilgini na sgida in al is lif unto ng mangr wiht. he was a vgrrgi parfit, d^gntil kniht. but fgr to tgllan ju qi his arrgi, his hgrs wfr goda, but e was nat ggi; 75 qi fustian he wfrad a d^ipun al bismutard wi]? is hab^rd^un, fgr he was lat ikum frgm his viad^a and wgnta fgr to don is pilgrimadga. wi)? im )7|r was is sun, a jugg skwier, 80 a luvjgr and a lusti batfgler, wijj Igkkas krul, as Ip^i wgr Igid in prgssa. gf twgnti jgr gf ad;^ e was, I ggssa; gf his statiur he was gf gvna Igggfja and wundarH delivr and gf grft str§gg|ja; 20 PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 85 And he hadd? been sSmtyme in chyuachle In Flaundres, in Artoys, and Pycardie, And bgrn hym weel, as qf sg litel space, In hgp? to stgnden in his lady grace. ;^mbrouded was he, as it wgre a m??de 90 Al ful qi fr^sshe floures whyte and rggde; SyngvTige he was gr floytyngc al the day; He was as fr^ssh as is the months of May. Shgrt was his gown?, with sleues Igngg and wyde; Wei koudi" he sitte gn hgrs and faire ryde; 95 He koude sgnges make and wel gndite, luste and §gk daunce, and weel purtreye and write. Sg hggt? he loued that by nyghtertale He sleep namggr? than dooth a nyghtyngale. Curteis he was, Igw^ly and sgruysable, 100 And carf bifgrn his fader at the table. A Yeman hadde he and sgruantz namg At that tym?, fgr hym hste ride sgg. And he was clad in cgte and hood gf grene. A shggf gf pf cgk arwes, bright and kene, 105 Vnder his bglt he bar ful thriftily — Wel koude he drgsse his takel yemanly. His arwes drouped ngght with fgth? res Igwe — And in his hand he baar a myghty bgwe. A ngt hg^d hadde he, with a broun visage; 110 Qi woodecraft wel koudg he al the vsage. Vpgn his arm he baar a gay bracer And by his syde a swerd and a bok^ler, And gn that oother syde a gay daggere Harneised wel and sharp as point gf sp^re; 115 A Cristgphrg on his brest gf siluer sheene, An hgrn he bar, the bawdryk was gf grene; A forster was he soothly, as I ggsse. PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 21 85 and he had ben sumtim in tfivatfia in flaundars, in artgis, and pikardia, and bgrn im wel, as of sg htal spasa, in hgp to stgndan in is ladi grasa. gmbrudad was e, as it w|r a mfda 90 al f ul gf frgf a fluras h\\it and r|da ; sir) gig g e was or flgitigg al )7a dgi; he was as frgf as is )?a monj? gf mgi. fgrt was is gun, vn]) slevas Iggg and wida; wel kud e sit gn hgrs and f gire rida ; 95 he kuda sgggas mak and wel gndita, d^ust and ^k dauns, and wel purtrgi and wrlta. sg hot he luvad J?at bi nihtartala he siep namgr jjan do J? a nihtirjgala. kurtgis e was, Iguli and s^rvizabal, 100 and karf bifgrn is fader at Jja tabal. a jeman had e and servants namg at ]7at tun, fgr im Hsta rida sg, and he was klad in kgt and hod gf grena. a f|f gf pgkgk arwas, briht and kena, 105 undar is bglt e bar ful J?riftili — wel kud e drgs is takal jemanll, his arwas drupad nguht \np f§5ras Igua — and in is hand e bar a mihti bgua. a ngt hfd had e wij? a brun vizad^a; 110 gf wodakraft wel kud e al })a iuzad^a. upgn is arm he bar a g§i braser and bl is sId a swerd and a bukler, and gn J^at oSar sid a ggi dagera harngizad wel and farp as pgint gf spera; 115 a kristgfr gn is brest gf silvar fena, an hgm e bar, J?a baudrik was gf grena; a fgrstar was e soJjH, as i ggssa. 22 PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 23. Relation of Sounds to Spelling. The spelling of the vowels and diphthongs in the manuscripts of Chaucer's works is far from phonetic. In a phonetic system of spelling each character represents one sound, and only one. In the manuscripts of Chaucer, however, a represents [a] or [a] e ' [e], [I], or [§] ee ' [e] or [?] i ' [i] or [i] ' [o], [q], [q], [u], or [qu 00 ' [o] or [q] ou ' [u], [qu], or [qu] u ' [u] or [iu] y [I] or [i] But in spite of these ambiguities of spelling, the pronunciation of a word in Chaucer's dialect can usually be inferred from the pronunciation of the word in Modern English. a represents [a] if in MnE the vowel is [e] ; ME name, MnE [nem] a " [a] "" " " " " [ge];MEthat, MnE [Saet] ee or e " [e] or [|] " " " " " " [i]; ME swete, h§eth; MnE [swit], [hib] e " [?] "" " " " "[€];MEw€nde, MnE[wend] iory " [i] "" " " " " [ai]; ME ryde, MnE [raid] iory " [i] "" " " " " [i]; ME riden, MnE [ridan] oooro " [6] "" " " " " [u]; ME rote, MnE [rut] oooro " [q] " " " " " "[6]; ME liQQly, MnE [h5li] o " [q] " " " " " " [a]; ME Qxe, MnE [aks]^'' o " [u] " " " " " " [a]; me s5ne, MnE [sau] o " [qu] " " " " " " [q]; me thoght, MnE [bQt] ouorow " [u] "" " " " " [au]; ME hous, MnE [haus] ouorow " [qu] " " " " " " [o]; ME bQwe, MnE [bo] ou " [qu] " " " " " " [Q];MEfoughte, MnE [fQt] u " [u] "" " " " " [A];MEunder, MnE[And»r] a " [iu] " " " " " " [ju] or [u]; ME humour, rude; MnE [hjumar], [rud] " In the dialect of most parts of the United States, ME [q] has become [a], but the ME vowel (or a vowel much like it) has been retained in the speech of England and New England. PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 23 24. The basis of the statements just made is that tho the pronuncia- tion of the EngHsh vowel sounds has changed greatly since Chaucer's time, it has changed in a systematic and consistent way. Middle Eng- lish [q] has regularly developed into Modern English [6] ; [HqU] has become [holi], [bQt] has become [bot], [gpan] has become [opan], [sq] has become [so]. That is, under the same conditions, a given Middle English sound has always developed into a certain corresponding Modern English sound. But the conditions are not always the same. The development of a sound is often afifected by the influence of other sounds which precede or follow it. Thus, Middle EngUsh [u] regularly developed into Modern English [a]; [sunna] has become [sAn], [undar] has become [Andor], [luva] has become [Iav]. But when Middle Enghsh [u] was preceded by a Hp consonant (b, p, f, or w) and was followed by I, it has been preserved in Modern EngHsh; e.g., Middle EngHsh [bula], [pulla], [fid], and [wulf] are Modern English [bul], [pid], [ful], and [wulf]. Moreover, vowels change not only in quality, but also in quantity. Long vowels may become short, and short vowels may become long. For example, in a number of words Middle English [5], which has regularly become [u] in Modern EngHsh, is represented by Modern EngHsh [u]. This is not because Middle EngHsh [5] has in these words changed to [u] instead of [u], but because, after [o] had become [ii], the [u] was shortened to [u]. Thus we have Modern EngHsh [gud], [hud], and [stud] from Middle English god, hod, and stod. So also with Modern English [brgj?] from Middle EngHsh brfth; Middle English [|] regularly changed to Modern English [i], but in this case [|] was shortened to [g] before the change to [i] oc- curred. 25. The statements, therefore, that have been made with regard to the relation between Middle English sounds and Modern English sounds are not sufficient to enable us to determine the pronunciation of all Middle EngHsh words. But where the evidence of the Modern EngHsh pronunciation is not clear, it is almost always possible to determine the Middle EngHsh pronunciation of a native EngHsh word from a knowl- edge of its pronimciation in Old EngHsh.^^ '1 Likewise, the pronunciation of ME words that were borrowed from French can be deternuned from a knowledge of their pronunciation in Old French; the Modern French pronunciation of such words is often different. 24 PRONUNCIATION OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE a represents [a] if in OE the vowel was a or ae in an open syllable ;^^ OE nama, faeder; ME name, fader a " [a] if in OE the vowel was a or ae in a closed syllable;^* OE banc, \>xt; ME thank, that ee or e " [e] if in OE the vowel was e or eo; OE swete, beon; ME swete, been ee or e " [^] if in OE the vowel was ea, or e in an open syllable; OE eac, mete; ME §gk, m|te e " [g] if in OE the vowel was e or eo in a closed syllable; OEhelpan, weorc; ME hglpen, wgrk i or y " [i] if in OE the vowel was i or y; OE ridan, fyr; ME riden, fyr i or y " [i] if in OE the vowel was i or y; OE drincan, fyllan; ME drinken, fillen 00 or o " [5] if in OE the vowel was 6; OE don; ME don 00 or " [q] if in OE the vowel was a, or o in an open syllable; OE halig, stolen; ME HgQly, stglen o " [q] if in OE the vowel was o in a closed syllable; OE oxa; ME Qxe o " [u] if in OE the vowel was u; OE sunu; ME sSne on " [u] if in OE the vowel was u; OE bus; ME bous u " [u] if in OE the vowel was u; OE under; ME under By the application of the rules that have been given in this section of the grammar the student will be able to ascertain the pronunciation of the great majority of the words that occur in Chaucer's works. A more systematic and detailed account of the history of English sotlnds will be found in sections 42-45 below. ^ An open syllable is one that ends in a vowel; in words of two or more syllables a single consonant following a vowel belongs to the following syllable; so in OE nama, fsder, mete, and stolen, a, ae, e, and o were in open syllables. "^ A closed syllable is one that ends in a consonant; examples of vowels in closed syllables are a, ae, e, and o in OE Jjanc, \>xt, helpan, and oxa. Every vowel which is followed by two or more consonants is in a closed syllable. INFLECTIONS OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 25 INFLECTIONS OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 26. Declension of Nouns. The regular inflection of nouns in Chaucer, as exemplified by dom, judgment, and ende, end, is as follows : Sing. Nom., Dat., Ace. dom ende Gen. domes endes Plur. Nom., Gen., Dat., Ace. domes endes The following exceptions occur: 1. The genitive singular of proper nouns ending in s is frequently without ending; e.g., Epicurus owne sone, A 336. 2. The genitive singular of nouns of relationship ending in r is some- times without ending; e.g., my fader soule, A 781; brother sone, A 3084.23b 3. The genitive singular of nouns which belonged to the Old EngUsh "weak" declension is sometimes without ending; e.g., his lady grace, A 88; the sonne up-riste, A 105 1.^' 4. The plural sometimes ends in s instead of es; e.g., naciouns, A 53; hunters, A 17S; fees, A 317; this is particularly common in words of one syllable ending in a vowel and in words of two or more syl- lables ending in a consonant. The ending -es is often written when only s is sounded; e.g., yeddinges, A 237. 5. The plural of some nouns ends in en instead of es; e.g., eyen, A 152; children, A 1193.^^ 6. The plural of monosyllabic nouns ending in s is usually without ending; e.g., caas, A 323. " These nouns had no ending in the genitive singular in Old English. ^^ The Old English genitive singulars of Chaucer's lady and sonne were hl^efdigan and sunnan, which in early Middle English became ladie(n) and sunne(n), the n in parenthesis being a sound which was very often lost. The genitive singulars lady and Sonne in Chaucer are the early Middle English forms without n, the three syl- lables of early Middle English ladie having been contracted to two. ^' Some of these nouns, such as eyen, from Old EngKsh cage, belonged in Old EngUsh to the weak declension, which had the ending -an in the nominative and accusa- tive plural. Others, such as children, from Old English cild, plural cildru, did not belong in Old English to the weak declension but assumed the weak ending -en in Middle EngUsh from the analogy of nouns which had been weak in Old English. 26 INFLECTIONS OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 7. Some nouns which had no ending in the nominative and accusative plural in Old English have no plural ending in Chaucer; e.g., hors, A 74; swyn, A 598; yeer, A 82.26 8. The dative singular has the same form as the nominative-accusa- tive singular, but in certain phrases consisting of a preposition immediately followed by a noun the noun has the old dative ending -e; e.g., of toimie, A 566." 27. Declension of Adjecitves. In Middle English, as in Modern German, there are two declensions of the adjective, the strong and the weak. The weak declension of the adjective is used when it is preceded by the definite article the, by a demonstrative (this or that), by a pos- sessive pronoun, or by a noun in the genitive case; e.g., the yonge sonne, A 7 ; this ilke monk, A 175 ; his halfe cours, A 8 ; Epicurus ownes one, A 336 ; the weak declension is also used when the adjective precedes a noun used in direct address; e.g., f aire fresshe May, A 1511; it may also be used when the adjective precedes a proper name not used in direct address; e.g., faire Venus, A 2663. The forms of the strong and weak declensions of the adjectives good and swete are as follows: Strong Declension Singular good swete Plural goode swete Weak Declension Singular gocde swete Plural goode swete It will be observed that (1) adjectives like swete are invariable in form; (2) adjectives like good have in the strong declension the ending -e in the plural; (3) adjectives like good have in the weak declension the ending -e in both singular and plural. The following exceptions occur: 1. Plural adjectives used predicatively are often not inflected, tho such adjectives are frequently written with a final e even when the e is not sounded; e.g., whiche they weren, A 40; And of another thing they were as fayn, A 2101 . ^ These were neuter nouns in Old English. " See note 33 below. INFLECTIONS OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 27 2, Adjectives of two or more syllables ending in a consonant are usually not inflected, either in the plural or in the circumstances which call for the use of the weak inflection; e.g., mortal batailleSy A 61; He which that hath the shortest shal biginne, A 836. 3. A trace of the old genitive plural of the adjective all appears oc- casionally in the form aller, alder- (from Old English ealra, geni- tive plural of eal) ; e.g., hir aller cappe, " the cap of them all, " A 586; alderbest, "best of all," A 710. 28. Personal Pronouns The personal pronouns are inflected as follows in Chaucer; forms that are rare are placed in parentheses. 1. First and second persons: I, (ich) thou my, myn thy, thyn me the Sing. Nom. Gen. Dat., Ace. Plur. Nom. Gen. Dat., Ace. we ye 2. Third person: Dat., Ace. hym our, cure, (cure) your [jur], youre, (youre) us you [ju] Sing. Nom. he she hit, it Gen. his hir, hire, (hire) ; his her, here, (here) hir, hire, (hire); her, here, (here) hit, it Plur. Nom. they Gen. hir, hire, (hire); her, here, (here) Dat., Ace, hem 29. Demonstratives, The demonstratives this and that are in- flected as follows in Chaucer; forms that are rare are placed in paren- theses. Sing, this that Plur. this, thise, (thise) ; thes, these, (these) tho [\)q] A trace of the old dative singular of that appears in the phrase for the nones, A 379, from Old 'English for pcsm dnes (literally "for that once"); the early Middle English form of this phrase was for then ones, which by incorrect word division, came to be written in Chaucer's time for 28 INFLECTIONS OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE the nones. A survival of the old instrumental case of that appears in the adverbial the (Old English }pt)\e.g.,the more merry, A 802, literally "more merry by that." 30. Strong and Weak Verbs. In Middle Enghsh, as in Old EngHsh and all other Germanic languages, there are two conjugations of verbs, the strong and the weak. Weak verbs form their preterit by means of a suffix containing d or t. Strong verbs form their preterit by means of a change in the vowel of the stem of the verb. For example, the preterits of the weak verb loven and the strong verb riden are as follows: Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 lovede, loved rood 2 lovedest ride » 3 lovede, loved rood Plur. lovede(n)^^, loved ride(n) Weak verbs may be recognized from the fact that their preterit indicative first and third persons singular ends in -ede, -ed, -de, or -te and from the fact that their past participle ends in -ed, d, or t. Strong verbs may be recognized from the fact that their preterit indicative first and third persons singular is without ending, and from the fact that their past participle ends in -en or e. 31. Endings of Weak Verbs. There are two types of weak verbs in Middle English. Weak verbs of Type I have preterits ending in -ede or -ed and past participles ending in -ed. Weak verbs of Type II have preterits ending in -de or -te and past participles ending in -ed, d, or t. The principal parts of representative verbs are as follows: Type I Type II love(n) lovede, lovede, loved loved were(n) werede, werede, wered wered here(n) herde hered fele(n) felte feled fede(n) fedde fed seke(n) soughte sought The endings of the weak verbs, exempUfied by love(n) of Type I and here(n) of Type II, are as follows: Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 lov-e her-e 2 lov-est her-est " e(n) indicates that the ending -en interchanges with the ending -e. INFLECTIONS OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 29 Plur. Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 2 3 Plur. Pres. Subj. Sing. Plur. Pret. Subj. Sing. Plur. Imperative Sing. Plur. Infinitive Gerund Pres. Participle lov-eth lov-e(n) lov-ede, lov-ede, lov-ed lov-edest lov-ede, lov-ede, lov-ed lov-ede(n), lov-ede, lov-ed lov-e lov-e(n) lov-ede, lov-ede, lov-ed lov-ede(n), lov-ede, lov-ed lov-e lov-eth lov-e (n) to lov-e(n) lov-inge, lov-inge, lov-ing Past Participle lov-ed her-eth her-e(n) her-de her-dest her-de her-de (n) her-e her-e(n) her-de her-de (n) her her-eth her-e (n) to her-e(n) her-inge, her-Inge, her-ing her-ed 32. Endings of Strong Verbs. Strong verbs form their preterit by means of a change in the vowel of the stem of the verb. The vowel of the preterit plural is often different from that of the preterit singular, so that there are four principal parts, the infinitive, the preterit indicative first person singular, the preterit indicative plural, and the past partici- ple.^^ The principal parts of representative strong verbs are as follows : ride(n) [rid an] crepe(n) [krepan] bmde(n) [bindan] helpe(n) [hglpan] sterve(n) [stgrvan] bere(n) [b^ran] speke(n) [spgkan] rood [rgd] creep [kr§p] bond [bgnd] halp [halp] starf [starf] bar [bar] baar [bar] beer [her] spak [spak] ride(n) [ridan] crope(n) [krgpan] bounde(n) [bundan] holpe(n) [hQlpan] storve(n) [stqrvan] bere(n) [beran] bare(n) [bar an] speke(n) [spekan] spake (n) [spakan] ride(n) [ridan] crope(n) [krQpan] bounde(n) [bundan] holpe(n) [hglpan] storve(n) [stQrvan] bore(n) [bgran] spoke(n) [spgkan] '' The vowel of the infinitive occurs also in the present indicative, present sub- junctive, imperative, gerund, and present participle; the vowel of the preterit indicative first person singular occurs also in the preterit indicative third person singular; the vowel of the preterit indicative plural occurs also in the preterit indicative second person singular and in the preterit subjunctive; the vowel of the past participle occurs in that form only. io INFLECTIONS OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE shake(n) [fakan] shook [fok] shooke(n) [fokan] shake(n) [fakan] slepe(n) [slepan] sleep [slep] slepe(n) [slepan] slepe(n) [slepan] holde(n) [hQidan] heeld [held] heelde(n) [heldan] holde(n) [hQldan] The endings of the strong verbs, exempUfied by ride(n) and bere(n), are as follows: Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 rid-e ber-e 2 rid-est ber-est 3 rid-eth, rit [rit]^" ber-eth Plur. rid-e(n) ber-e(n) Fret. Ind. Sing. 1 rood bar 2 rid-e, rood ber-e, bar 3 rood bar Plur. rid-e (n) ber-e (n) Pres. Subj. Sing, rid-e ber-e Plur. rid-e (n) ber-e (n) Pret. Subj. Sing, rid-e ber-e Plur. rid-e (n) ber-e (n) Imperative Sing, rid ber Plur. rid-eth ber-eth Infinitive rid-e (n) ber-e (n) Gerund to rid-e(n) to ber-e (n) Pres. Participle rid-inge, rid-inge, rid-ing ber-inge, ber-inge, ber- ing Past Participle rid-e (n) bor-e(n) 33. Preteritive-Present Verbs. The preteritive-present (or strong- weak) verbs have present indicatives which are like the preterit indica- tives of strong verbs in that they have no ending in the first and third persons singular. The preterits of these verbs are weak. The principal forms of the more important preteritive-present verbs that occur in Chaucer are as follows: Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 can, be able, know how dar, dare 2 canst darst 3 can dar Plur. conne(n) [kunnan], can dorre(n) [durran], dar '" Contracted forms like rit are frequent in verbs whose stems end in d or t; the contraction originated in Old English. INFLECTIONS OF CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 31 Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 kouthe[kut$d], koude [kuda] dorste [dursta] Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 may, be able moot, be permitted, be under obligation 2 mayst most 3 may moot Plur. mowe(n) [muwan], may mote(n), moot Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 mighte moste Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 shal, be about to, be under wot [wQt], know obligation 2 shalt wost [wQst] 3 shal wot Plur. shulle(n), shul, shal wite(n), wot Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 sholde [fulda], [fglda]; wiste shulde 34. Anomalous Verbs. The forms of bee(n), be, are as follows: Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 am 2 art 3 is Plur. bee(n), be Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 was 2 were 3 was Plur. were(n) Pres. Subj. Sing, be Plur. bee(n), be Pret. Subj. Sing, were Plur. were(n) Imperative Sing, be Plur. beeth Infinitive bee(n), be Gerund to bee(n), to be Pres. Participle being Past Participle bee(n), be The forms of wille(n), will, are as follows: Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 wil, wol [wul] 2 wilt, wok 32 FINAL e IN CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 3 wil, wol Plur. wille(n), wolle(n), wil, wol Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 wolde [wQida], [wulda] 2 woldest 3 wolde Plur. wolde (n) Pret. Subj. Sing, wolde Plur. wolde (n) Infinitive wille(n) Past Participle wold FINAL e IN CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 35. Inflectional and Etymological Final e. Final e in Chaucer's language is either inflectional or etymological. Inflectional final e's are those which occur in some forms of a word but not in others; their occurrence or non-occurrence depending on grammatical considerations. For example, the adjective good has no final e in such an expression as A good man was ther of religioun (A 477), but it has a final e in the ex- expressions His hors were gode (A 74) and his gode name (A 3049). In A 74 gode has a final e because it is a plural adjective, in A 3049 it has a final e because it is a weak adjective (see 27 above); but in A 477 good is without final e because it is neither plural nor weak. On the other hand, the adjective lene has a final e in the expression As lene was his hors as is a rake (A 287) tho it is neither plural nor weak. The ex- planation of the final e in lene is not grammatical but etymological; the word has a final e because it ended in e in Old EngHsh, being derived from Old EngHsh hlane. Final e in goode is inflectional, final e in lene is etymological. 36. Inflectional Final e. Inflectional final e occurs in adjectives and verbs. L Adjectives (see 27 above) Final e occurs: a. In the weak form of the adjective b. In the plural form of the adjective^^ " When it modifies a plural noun the pronoun his is very commonly written hise in good manuscripts, and the final e is sometimes pronounced. This final e is from the analogy of the final e of plural adjectives. So also is the final e of these, thise, plural of thes, this (see 29 above). FINAL e IN CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 33 2. Verbs (see 31-33 above) Final e occurs: a. In the present indicative first person singular of strong and weak verbs b. In the preterit indicative first and third persons singular of weak verbs c. In the preterit indicative second person singular of strong verbs d. In the present subjunctive singular of strong and weak verbs e. In the preterit subjunctive singular of strong and weak verbs f. In the imperative singular of many weak verbs g. In the gerund of monosyllabic verbs, e.g., to done, F 334 h. In the present participle of strong and weak verbs Final e interchanging with en occurs: i. In the present indicative plural of strong and weak verbs j. In the preterit indicative plural of strong and weak verbs k. In the present subjunctive plural of strong and weak verbs 1. In the preterit subjunctive plural of strong and weak verbs m. In the infinitive and gerund of strong and weak verbs n. In the past participle of strong verbs^^ 37. Etymological Final e. Etymological final e occurs in nouns, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. 1. Nouns Final e occurs: a. In nouns derived from Old English nouns which ended in a vowel (a, e, or u); e.g., tyme, from OE tima (A 44); sonne, from OE sunne (A 7) ; tale, from OE talu (A 36) b. In nouns derived from Old English feminine nouns which ended in a consonant; e.g., reste, from OE rest, fem. (A 30) c. In some nouns derived from Old EngHsh nouns ending in -en; e.g., mayde, from OE mse^den (A 69) d. In nouns derived from Old French nouns ending in e; e.g., corage, from OFr corage (A 22) '2 For simplicity the preteritive-present verbs, are ignored in this paragraph. Their preterits are like those of weak verbs, and their present indicative plural either has the ending -e(n) or is without ending. (See 33 above.) 34 FINAL e IN CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE e. In the "petrified" dative which occurs in certain phrases consisting of a preposition immediately followed by a noun; e.g., out of towne (A 566)^^ 2. Adjectives Final e occurs: a. In adjectives derived from Old English adjectives ending in e; e.g., lene, from OE hl«ne (A 287) b. In the comparative form of a few adjectives; e.g., more, from OE mara, mare^^ c. In the "petrified" dative which occurs in certain phrases consisting of a preposition immediately followed by an adjective used as a noun; e.g., with-alle (A 127) d. In adjectives derived from Old French adjectives ending in e; e.g., straunge, from OFr estrange (A 13) 3. Pronouns Final e is usually written and occasionally pronounced in cure, from OE ure; in hire, here {her), from OE hire; and in hire, here {their) from OE hira, heora 4. Adverbs, Prepositions, and Conjunctions Final e occurs: a. In adverbs derived from adjectives; e.g., faire (A 94), from the adjective fair (A 154) b. In adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions whose originals had a final vowel in Old English; e.g., sone, from OE sona (B 1702); thanne, from OE bonne (D 2004); inne, from OE inne (A 41); whanne, from OE hwonne (F 1406) c. In adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions whose originals in Old English ended in -an; e.g., bifore, from OE beforan (A 377); with-oute, from OE wifjutan (A 343); sithe, from OE sibban •• The final e in of towne is not a genuine inflection in the English of Chaucer's time. In early Middle English the dative singular always ended in e, but in the course of time the accusative was substituted for the dative wherever the two cases differed in form. A few phrases, however, like of towne, on live, to bedde, etc., were in such constant use that they resisted change and were preserved unaltered long after the dative form had become obsolete in the language as a whole. We find there- fore that Chaucer says of towne in A 566, but of the toun in A 217. ** The usual comparative ending is -er. FINAL e IX CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE 35 38. Inorganic Final e. A few nouns and adjectives in Middle English had final e's (not inflectional) which cannot be explained upon any of the grounds stated in 37; e.g., gate (C 729), from OE geat, neut.; dale (B 4013), from OE d«l, neut.; weye (B 385), from OE weg, masc; pere (F 678), from OFr per; bare (A 683), from OE baer; harde (D 2228), from OE heard. Such final e's we call inorganic final e's. These words acquired final e in early Middle English as the result of some analogy or association which in most cases we are not able to trace with certainty. 39. Scribal e's. Occasionally even in the best and earliest manu- scripts of Chaucer, and frequently in the poorer and later manuscripts, final e's are written which were never pronounced in Aliddle English. Such e's we call scribal e's. An example is month (A 92), from OE monaj), masc; the word is written wdth final e in the EUesmere manu- script, but is never pronounced with final e in Chaucer or in the language of any other Middle English writer. 40. Elision, Apocope, and Syncope. If one pronounces in reading Chaucer's verse all the final e's that are grammatically or etymologically justifiable, the metrical structure of the verse is often seriously impaired or entirely destroyed. It is clear that Chaucer did not intend that every possible final e should be sounded. Final e is usually elided when the following word begins with a vowel or "weak h";^" e.g., in couthe (A 14) and dresse (A 106). Moreover, final e is often lost before words begin- ning wth a consonant; e.g., wiste (A 224), tyme (A 102), mete (A 136). The loss of final e before consonants is called apocope or apocopation. This is to be distinguished from syncope or syncopation, which is the loss of a vowel between two consonants of the same word; e.g., ''Cometh neer, " qtwd he, "my lady prioresse" (A 839). In using apocopated forms in his verse, however, Chaucer was not doing violence to the language of his time, as a modern writer would be doing if he omitted the final vowel of navy or china. In Chaucer's time the final e was beginning to be lost, and by the end of the fifteenth century it had entirely dis- appeared from the language. In Chaucer's time the final e was still pronounced, but not universally, so that forms both with and without final e were in use. Chaucer, therefore, tho he generally preferred the forms with final e, used the forms without final e when it suited him to do so. He always used the forms with final e in nme. ^ "Weak h" is the h in words like he, him, hem, her, hath, hadde, etc., in which the h was pronounced only when the word was strongly stressed, and the silent h in French words like honour, etc. PART III THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH SOUNDS 40. Pronunciation of Old English. The pronunciation of the Old English vowels and diphthongs is shown in the following table: OE Spelling Pronunciation Examples a [a] Stan, stone [stan] a [a] man, man [man] X [?] hse\>, heath [h^\>] X [ae] \>set, that [M] e [e] swete, sweet [swetg] e [«] helpan, help [h^lpan] i [i] ridan, ride [ridan] i [i] drincan, drink [drigkan] [o] don, do [don] [q] crop, crop [krqp] u [u] bus, house [hiis] u [u] sunu, son [sunu] y [y] iyr,fire [fyr] y [y] l^ynne, thin [bynng] ea m stream, stream [stream] ea [ae9] hearpe, harp [hfearp?] eo [eo] beon, be [beon] eo M weorc, work [wgork] ie [ia] bieran, hear [biaran] ie [ia] ieldra, elder [iaidra] The pronunciation of the Old English consonants is shown in the follow- ing table: OE Spelling Pronunciation Examples c [k] cepan, keep [kepan] c m cidan, chide [tfldan] PRONUNCIATION OF OLD ENGLISH 37 OE Spelling Pronunciation Examples eg [d?] brycg, bridge [bryd^] g [s] boga, bow [bQja] i ■ [J] iiefan, give [jiavan] ng [flg] singan, sing [siijgan] sc [f] scip, ship [fip] h before consonants and after vowels is pronounced like ch in Ger- man ich, nacht; e.g., niht, night, heah, high. i and s are pronounced like [v] and [z] when they occur between vowels, as in §iefan, give, and risan, rise; like [f] and [s] when they are initial or final, as in faeder, father, staef, staff, sunu, son, waes, was. J> and S are used without distinction for the sounds [1j] and ['5]. They are pronounced like [S] when they occur between vowels, as in cuSe, knew, like []?] when they are initial or final, as in l>aet, that, cuj?, known. r is strongly trilled with the tip of the tongue. The other Old English consonants are pronounced as in Modern English. But double consonants were pronounced double, as in Modern English pen-knife, book-case. 41. Old English in Phonetic Notation. The Old English version of the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:30-35, in the Old English spelling and accompanied by a literal translation, is as follows: Sum man ferde fram Hierusalem to Hiericho and becom on A-certain man went from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among )7a scaSan, \>a. hine bereafodon and tintregodon hine and forleton the thieves, who him robbed and tortured him and left hine samcwicne. pa gebyrede hit J^set sum sacerd ferde on him half-alive. Then happened it that a-certain priest went on J?am ilcan wege;and|?a he )?£et geseah, he hine forbeah. the same way; and when he that saw, he from-him turned-away. And eall swa se diacon, )>a he waes wiS ^a, stowe and Jjaet geseah. And all so the deacon, when he was by the place and that saw, he hine eac forbeah. J) a ferde sum Samaritanisc he from-him also turned-away. Then went a-certain Samaritan man wiS hine; ]>a. he hine '^fgeseah, 3a wearS he mid man opposite him; when he him^^saw, then became he with 38 PRONUNCIATION OF OLD ENGLISH mildheortnesse ofer hine astyred. J)a genealaehte he and wracS pity over him moved. Then approached he and bound his wunda and on ageat ele and win and hine on his nleten sette his wounds and in poured oil and wine and him on his beast set and gelsedde on his Isecehtis and hine lacnode; and brohte ojjrum and took into his hospital and him treated; and brought the-next daege twegen peningas and sealde Jjam Isece and }7us cwaeS, day two pennies and gave to-the physician and thus said, "Beglem his; and sw a hwaet sw a )?u mare to gedest, "Take-care-of him; and whatever thou more in-addition doest, ))onne id cume, ic hit forgielde J^e. " when I come, I it shall-repay thee. " Transcribed in phonetic notation the Old English passage just given is as follows: sum man ferdg fram hiaruzalgm to hiarikg and bgkom qu \>a. faSan, pa. hing bgrfavgdQn and tintrgsodgn hing and fgrletgn hing samkwikng. pa. jgbyrgdg hit )?aet sum sakgrd ferdg gn Jjam ilkan wgjg; and Ipa. he )?aet jgsaeah, he hing fgrbgah. and aeall swa se diakgn, pa he waes wij? J?a stowg and pxt jgsaeah, he hing gak fgrbgah. J?a ferdg sum samaritanif man mp hing; }7a he hing jgsaeah, )3a waear)? he mid mildhgortngssg gvgr hing astyrgd. )7a jgnfalghtg he and wrap his wunda and gn ajgat gig and win and hing gn his niatgn sgttg and jglgddg gn his Igtfghus and hing lakngdg; and brohtg oSrum daejg twejgn pgniggas and saegldg J>am l|tfg and Jjus kwsep, "bgjlam his; and swa hwaet swa )7u marg to jgdest, t)gnng itf kumg, itf hit fgrjialdg )?e." 42. Normal Development of Old English Vowels. The normal development^^ of the Old English vowel sounds in the Midland dialect of Middle English and of the Middle English sounds in Modern EngHsh is shown in the following table: ^ The normal development of a vowel is that which took place when its develop- ment was not afifected by the influence of neighboring sounds or by changes of quantity. An account of the changes that took place in the English vowel sounds as a result of these special conditions will be found below in sections 43 and 44. NORMAL DEVELOPMENT OF OLD ENGLISH VOWELS 39 Old English" Middle English Modern English a [5] Stan [stan] [q] ston [stQn] [5]39c [ston] a [a] l^anc [baok [a] thank [bagk] [«] [baegk] ae [ae] jjat [M] [a] that [hat] [«] [Siet] sb [?] IiJe|> [h§W [?] heeth [h?b] [i]39c [hib] e [e]3« sM'ete [swet^] [e]38 swete [sweta] [i]39e [swit] e k] helpan [hglpan] k] helpe(n) [helpan] [?] [help] i [i]38 ridan [ridan] [ips ride(n) [ridan] [ai] [raid] i [i] drincan [drigkan] [i] drinke(n) [drigkan ] [i] [drigk] [6]3« foda [foda] [or fode [foda] [U]39c [fsd] [q] oxa [Qksa] [q] oxe [Qksa] [a]3="^ [aks] u [u]3« hus [hus] [nV hous [hus] [au] [haus] u [u] sunu [sunu] [u] sone [suna] [a] [sAn] y [y] fyr [fyr] [i] fyr [fir] [ai] [fair] y [y] fyllan [fyllan] [i] fille(n) [fillan] [i] [fil] ea [€9] stream [stream] [|] streem [strgm] [ij39c [strim] ea [aea; eami [aearm] [a] arm [sLimr'- eo [eo] beon [beon] [6]^^=^ bee(n) [ben] [J]39c [bi] eo [€0] weorc [wgork] kr^ werk [w€rk]39b yvK ^ " The Old English sounds which are taken as the basis of this table are those of the Mercian dialect, which was that from which the Midland dialect of Middle Eng- lish was derived. The sounds of the Mercian dialect differed in certain respects from those of West-Saxon, which is the dialect in which most of the Old English literature is preserved and upon which the Old EngUsh dictionaries are based. For example, the Mercian dialect did not contain the West-Saxon diphthongs ie and ie, and it had the vowel e in many words which in West-Saxon have the vowel x; e.g., West-Saxon d«d was Mercian ded. In the Mercian dialect the vowel sb was always the result of umlaut. 38 The Modern English sounds given as the equivalents of Old and Middle English e, i, 5, and u are only approximate equivalents, for (as explained above in note 10) the Modern EngHsh sounds which we have represented by the symbols [e], [i], [6], and [u] are in reality diphthongs, not simple vowels. Old and Middle English e, i, 5, and u were simple vowels, pronounced like the corresponding vowels of Modern German. 39* It is probable that OE eo and eo first changed (at least in some locaUties) to early ME [ce] and [oe], and that [oe] and [oe] developed later into [e] and [e]. The sym- bols [ce] and [oe] represent respectively the vowels of German horen and worter. ^s*" The Modem English development of the vowel in this word is due to the that follows it; see 44, 1 below. "" The Modem English sounds which we represent by the symbols [e] [i], [o] and [u] are in reaUty, as explained above in notes 3S and 10, diphthongs, not simple vowels. 3"^ ME [q], or a vowel much like it. has been preserved in the speech of England and New England, but it has become [a] in most parts of the United States. 40 SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH The following table shows the normal development in Modern English of certain sounds which developed in Middle English as the result of certain special conditions which will be explained below in section 43. Middle EngUsh Modern Enghsh [5] name [namd] [er [nem] [au] faught [fauht] [Q] im ki] they [bei] [e]4o im [«u] fewe [fgua] [J5] [fju] [iu] humour [hiumur] , rude [riuda] [ju] or [u] [hjumar], [rud] [Qi] boy [bQi] [Qi] [bQi] [qu] bowe [bQua] [6]^« [bo] [qu] thoght [bQuht] [q] [m 43. Special Developments in Middle English. The most important special developments of the Old Enghsh vowel sounds in Middle EngUsh are as follows: 1. Changes in the quantity of vowels. a. Shortening of long vowels. Old Enghsh long vowels were shortened in early Middle English (before the end of the twelfth century) when they were followed by a double consonant or by a group of two or more consonants;"^ e.g., OE Isedde, ME ledde [l^dda]; OE lassa, ME lesse [Igssa]; OE cepte, ME kepte [kgpta]; OE wisdom, ME wisdom [wisdom]. Old Enghsh long vowels were also frequently shortened in Middle Enghsh when the second syllable of the word was [I]; e.g., OE aenig, ME eny [§ni]; OE sarig, ME sory [sQri]. *" The Modern English sounds which we represent by the symbols e and o are in reality, as explained above in notes 38 and 10, diphthongs, not simple vowels. ^' Shortening of long vowels did not take place, however, before the consonant groups (see note 42 below) which caused lengthening in late Old English. Nor did it take place before the combination st imless a third consonant followed; it is for this reason that we have MnE [kraist] from Old English Crist, but MnE [krismas] from Old English cristmaesse. SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH 41 b. Lengthening of short vowels.^^ In the thirteenth century the short vowels a, e, and o were lengthened in open syllables/^^ so that a became [a],''^'' e became [g], and q became [q]; e.g., OE nama, ME name [nama]; OE faeder, ME fader [fadar]; OE mete, ME mete [mgtaj; OE stolen, ME stolen [stQlan]. This lengthening did not take place, how- ever, when the second syllable of the word was [i]; e.g., OE hefig, ME hevy [hgvi]; OE bodig, ME body [bgdi]. And we often find short a, e, and o in open syllables when the second syllable of the word ended in 1, r, m, or n; e.g., OE sadol, ME sadel [sadal]; OE waeter, ME water [watar]; OE heofon, ME heven [hgvan]. 2. Development of new diphthongs. As may be seen from the table of sound changes given above in section 42, the Old English diphthongs ea, ea, eo, and eo became simple vowels in Middle English. In Middle English, however, there developed a new series of diphthongs: [ai], [gi], [au], [^u], [iu], [gi], [qu], and [qu]. The principal sources of these diphthongs in the Midland dialect were as follows: [ai] developed out of Old EngHsh ae followed by [j], spelled g; e.g., OE daeg [daej], ME dai; OE saegde [sfejdg], ME saide. In early Middle English this diphthong had the sound of [ai], but in late Middle English it became identical in sound with the diphthong [gi]. *- In late Old English all short vowels were lengthened when they were followed by one of the consonant combinations Id, mb, nd, ng, rd, rn, and rtJ. Many long vowels which originated in this way remained long thruout the Middle English period and have developed in Modern English like the other Middle Enghsh long vowels; e.g., OE feld, ME feeld [feld], MnE [fild]; OE findan, ME finde(n) [finden], MnE [falndj; OE grund, ME ground [grund], MnE [graund]. Modern English [5ld] is from Middle English [Qld], which developed regularly from late Old EngUsh aid, eariier aid (West- Saxon eald). But in a great many words these lengthened vowels were shortened in Middle English. Shortening always occurred when the consonant group was followed by a third consonant; e.g., OE cild, MnE [tfaild] from ME [tfild], but MnE [tfUdran] from ME [tfildran]. *' For a definition of open syllable see note 22 above. *^^ Previous to the period when short vowels were lengthened in open syllables, Old English a had become [q] in Middle EngHsh, and for a certain period, therefore, the sound [a] did not e.xist in the language. But when a was lengthened in open syllables the sound [a] was reintroduced. The [a] which originated in this way never became [q]. 42 SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH [fi] developed out of Old English e, e or se, followed by [j], spelled g; e.g., OE we^ [wgj], ME wey [wgi]; OE twegen [twejgn], ME tweie(n); OE ieg [|j], ME ei [^i]. [au] developed: (1) out of Old English a followed by w;e.g.,OE clawu [klawu], ME clawe [klaud]; (2) out of Old English a followed by [5], spelled g;'" e.g., OE dragan [drasan], IME drawe(n) [drauan]; (3) out of Old English ea followed by h; e.g., OE feaht, ME f aught [fauht]. [§u] developed out of Old English ea followed by w; e.g., OE feawe [fgawa], ME fewe [fgua]. [iu] developed out of Old English i followed by w; e.g., OE stiweard [stiwaeard], ME stiward [stiuard]. But the commonest source of [iu] in Middle EngHsh was the French vowel [y], which was written u. The sound [y] did not occur in the jMidland dialect of Middle English, and therefore French loan-words which contained this sound were pronounced with the diphthong [iu], which was the nearest English equivalent; e.g. ME nature [natiura], from Old French nature [natyra]." [Qi] occurs almost exclusively in French loan words; e.g., ME joie from Old French joie. [qu] developed: (1) out of Old English a or 6 followed by w; e.g., OE cnawan [knawan], Middle English knowe(n) [kuQusn]; OE growan [growan], ME growe(n) [grQuan]. *• This sound, the g of North German sagen, is not a stop consonant (like g in go) but an open consonant or spirant which somewhat resembles English w but is made without any rounding of the lips. *^ A diphthong spelled ew also developed out of OE eo followed by w, e.g., in ME knew from OE cneow. Some scholars are of opinion that this diphthong had the sound of [eu] or [eu]. It no doubt had this sound in very early ME, but it seems probable that in Chaucer's time it had become [iu]. This may be inferred from the fact that French loan words which had [y] in Old French are very frequently spelled in Middle English with ew instead of u, e.g., vertew, crewel, instead of vertu, cruel, and also from the fact that the [iu] which developed in INIE out of OE iw was also spelled ew or u instead of iw or iu, e.g., steward and Tuesday (from OE Tiwes dae^). SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MODERN ENGLISH 43 (2) out of Old English a followed by [5], spelled g; e.g., OE agen [ajgn], ME owe(n) [Quan]. (3) out of Old English o when it was in an open syllable followed by [jj; e.g., OE boga [bQja^, ME bowe [bgua]. [qu] developed out of Old English o, 6, or a followed by ht; e.g., OE bohte, ME boughte [bQuhta]; OE sohte, ME soghte [sQuhta]; OE ahte, ME oughte [Quht9].^« 44. Special Developments in Modern English. The normal devel- opment of the Middle English vowel sounds in Modern English has been shown above in section 42. The most important special developments that took place as the result of the influence of neighboring sounds or changes of quantity are these: 1. Special developments before r Middle English [§] followed by r often changed to [a] in late Middle English or very early Modern English and later developed into [a]; e.g., ME sterve(n) [stgrvan], early MnE [starv], MnE [starv]. Middle English [a] followed by r has become [a] in Modern English; e.g., ME hard [hard], MnE [hard]. Middle English [q] followed by r has become [q] in Modern English; e.g., ME for [iqr], MnE [fQr]. Middle English [ir] and [ur] have regularly, and Middle English [gr] has frequently, become [ar] in Modern English; e.g., ME first [first], MnE [farst]; ME curse(n) [kursan], MnE [ksrs]; ME lerned [l^rnad], MnE [larnad]. Middle English [a] and [gi] followed by r have become Modern Eng- lish [f]; ME spare(n) [sparan], MnE [sp§r];ME fair [fgir], MnE [fgr]. Middle English [?] has frequencly been preserved before r in Modern English; e.g., ME bere(n) [bfran], MnE [b§r]. Modern English [1] and [u] before r, for example in [hir] and [fur] are not the [i] and [u] of [It] and [but], but a little more open; in quahty they approximate to lengthened [i] and [u]. *' The 6 of OE sohte was shortened before ht (se; 43, la above) ; the a of OE ahte first became [q] and was then shortened to [q] before the ht. 44 SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MODERN ENGLISH Middle English [6] and [q] followed by r have become [q] in Modern Enghsh; e.g., ME swoor [swor], MnE [swQr], ME more [mQra], MnE [mgr]." 2. Special developments before I. Middle English [a] followed by I plus another consonant or final 1 was diphthongised to [au] in early Modern Enghsh; this diphthong then developed, like Middle English [au], into [q]; e.g., ME smal [smal], early MnE [smaul], MnE [sdiqI]; ME bald [bald], early MnE [bauld], MnE [hqldV Middle English [q] followed by 1 was diphthongised to [qu] in early Modern English; this diphthong then developed, like Middle Enghsh [qu], into Modern English [6]; e.g., ME folk [f^lk], early MnE [iqulk], MnE [fok]. 3. Special developments after [w]. When preceded by w Middle English [a] (including the [a] which developed from [g] before r) became [q] in the seventeenth century and has since developed into Modern English [q] or [a]; e.g., ME water [watar], MnE [wQtr]; ME warm [warm], MnE [wgrm]; ME washen [wafan], MnE [waf].^^ 4. Development of Modern English [a]. In standard British English and in the dialect of southern New Eng- land, Middle Enghsh [a] has developed with more or less regularity into [a] when followed by Im, e.g., MnE [kam M, )) " [kaf] Iv, )) " [sav] [f], final J) " [tfaf] *' Long vowels before r in Modern English are really diphthongs to a greater or less degree; e.g., starve, for, fair, hear, and sure are rather [staarv], [fQsr], [f^ar], [hiar], and [fuar] than [starv], [iqr], [f|r], [hir], and [fur]. *'But before Im, If, and Iv Middle English [a] has developed into [a] or [|]; see 44, 4 below. *' British standard English has [q] for American [a] in these words, but both in England and America there is a good deal of fluctuation between [§] and [q] or [a]. SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MODERN ENGLISH 45 m, e.g., Ml lE [fatSar] [W, j> ' [paW [ft], » [aftar] [s], final ,, ' [gias] St, » [past] sk, 5> ' [ask] sp, JJ ' [klasp] [sf], ,J ' [blasflm] mp, „ ' [§gzampl] nt, ,, [tfant] nd, ,, ' [ksmand] [ns] ,, ' [dans] [ntf], ,, [stantf] In American English the great majority of these words have the vowel [ae] or [?], e.g., [pse\>], [pl\)]; [aesk], [?sk], etc. 5. Preservation of Middle English [u] and [u]. Middle English [u] has been preserved in Modern English before lip consonants (b, p, m, f, v); e.g., ME stoupe(n) [stupan], MnE [stup]; ME toumbe [tumba], MnE [turn]. In some words this [u] before lip con- sonants was shortened to [u] and afterwards changed to [a]; e.g., ME shouve(n) [fuvan], MnE [Iav]; ME double [dubal], MnE [dAbI]; ME roum [rum], MnE [rum], also [rum]. Middle EngHsh [u] has been preserved in Modern English under the following circumstances: regularly between lip consonants and I; e.g.,, ME bole [bula], MnE [bul]; ME ful [ful], MnE [ful]; ME wolf [wulf], MnE [wulf]; and frequently between lip consonants and consonants other than 1; e.g., ME wode [wuda], MnE [wud]; ME putte(n) [puttan], MnE [put]. 6. [u] for Middle English [iu]. Middle English [iu] has become [u] under the following circumstances: regularly after r, and after 1 preceded by another consonant; e.g., ME rude [riuda], MnE [rud]; ME blew [bliu], MnE [blu]; and frequently after I, s, t, d, and n; e.g., ME lute [liuta], MnE [lutj; ME Susanne [siuzanna], MnE [suzan]; ME Tuesday [tiuasdgi], MnE (especially American^ [tuzdi]; ME due [diua], MnE (especially American) [du]; ME newe [niua]^ MnE (especially American) [nu]. 46 SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MODERN ENGLISH 7. [i] for Middle English [5]. Middle English [g] has become [i] when followed by n plus another consonant or combination of consonants (not [b] or [tf], e.g., MnE strength, bench); e.g., ME Engelond [fggdlgnd], MnE [iggbnd]. 8. Shortening of Middle English [§]. Before Middle English [§] had become [i] it was often shortened in Modern English when it was followed by d, t, or [\>]; e.g., ME deed [did], MnE [d§d]; ME swete(n) [sw^tan], MnE [swgt]; ME deeth [d§b], MnE [d€b]. 9. Shortening of [u] from Middle English [o]. After Middle English [6] had become [u], the [u] was in a great many words shortened when it was followed by d, t, or k; in some words the result of this shortening is [u], but in others the [u] has undergone the further change of [u] to [a]; e.g., ME good [god], MnE [gud]; ME blood [blod], MnE [bUd]; ME foot [fot], MnE [fut]; ME book [bok], MnE [buk]. 10. Lengthening of [i] before [h]. When [h] in the combination ht was lost, a preceding [i] was lengthened to [i] and was afterwards changed to [ai]; e.g., ME right [riht], MnE [rait]. 11. Lengthening of Middle English [q] and [a]. Middle English [q] has frequently been lengthened in Modern Eng- Ush to [q] when followed by [f], [s], or [bj; e.g., ME of [qI], MnE [qi]; ME Ids [Iqs], MnE [Iqs]; ME motthe [mgbba], MnE [mgb]- In American English, Middle English [q] has commonly been lengthened to [q] when followed by [gg]; e.g., ME long [Iggg], MnE [Iqo]; it is also often lengthened when followed by [g]; e.g., ME frogge [ffQgga], MnE [frgg], also [frag] and (in New England) [frQg]. In American English, Modern EngHsh [ae] from Middle English [a] has commonly been lengthened to [g] when followed by d, [g], m, n, ng; e.g., ME glad [glad], MnE [gl|d], ME land [land], MnE [l?nd]; ME »ang [sagg], MnE [slg]. CONSONANT SOUNDS 47 45. Vowels in Unaccented Syllables. The sound changes which have been explained in the preceding sections are those which were undergone by vowels in accented syllables. The changes which were undergone in Middle EngUsh by the Old English vowels of unaccented syllables are very much simpler in their character, and will be considered later in connection with the inflections of Middle English.^" 46. Consonant Sounds. The most important changes that have taken place in the consonant sounds of English are these : 1. Middle English changes. Old Enghsh final m in unstressed syllables became Middle English n; e.g., OE endum, ME enden. Final n was very frequently lost in unstressed syllables, so that the common inflectional ending -en was very often reduced to -e; e.g., OE singan, ME singen or singe. Old English initial hn, wl, hi, and hr became Middle English n, I, 1, and r; e.g., OE hnecca, AIE necke; OE wlispian, ME lispen; OE hlaf ME lof; OE bring, ME ring. Old EngHsh initial [j], which was an open consonant or spirant, be- came in Middle EngHsh the stop consonant [g];^^ e.g., OE god [jod], ME good [god]. But when it was preceded by a consonant and followed by a vowel. Old English [s] became [w]; e.g., OE halgian, ME balwie(n). 2. Modern Enghsh changes. Initial \\>] changed to [3] in a number of pronouns and particles which were commonly pronounced without stress, e.g., tbe, tbey, tbem, thou, tbee, tby, that, those, this, these, then, than, there. Final [f], [s], and fb] became [v], [z], and [3] if they were preceded by a vowel that was without stress or if they occurred in words that were commonly pronounced without stress in the sentence; e.g., ME actif, MnE active; ME of [qi], MnE [3y]f- ME faces [fasas], MnE [fesaz]; ME his [his], MnE [hiz]; ME with [wij)], MnE [wiS]. ^° See section 48 below. " When it was not initial but was preceded by a vowel, [5] lost its consonantal quality and united mth the vowel to form a diphthong; see section 43, 2 above. "Modem EngUsh off [Qf] is the stressed form of of; in of the [f] changed to [v] because of lack of stress, but in off the [f] remained unchanged. 48 CONSONANT SOUNDS Initial gn and kn have become n and initial wr has become r ; e.g., ME gnawe(n) [gnauan], MnE [iiq]; ME knight [kniht], MnE [nait]; ME write(n) [writan], MnE [rait]. Final mb has been reduced to m; e.g., ME domb [dumb], MnE [d.vm]. Final [gg] has been reduced to [g]; e.g., ME thing [bigg], MnE [big]. 1 has been lost before k and the lip consonants m and f when the vowel that preceded it was Middle Enghsh [a] or [q]; e.g., ME talke(n) [talkan], MnE [tgk]; ME folk [fglk], MnE [fok]; ME palm [palm], MnE [pam] ; ME half [half], MnE [haf]. [h] has been lost before consonants and after vowels; e.g., ME night [niht], MnE [nait]; ME saugh [sauh], MnE [sq].^^ Middle Enghsh double consonants have become single in Modern Enghsh; e.g., ME sonne [sunna], MnE [sAn]; ME sitte(n) [sittan], MnE [sit]. [sj] and zj] have become [f] and [z}; e.g., early MnE special [sp^sjal], MnE [sp§(l]; early MnE mission [misjon], MnE [mifan]; early MnE portion [pgrsjon], MnE [pQrfan];^^ early MnE vision [vizjon], MnE [vizan]. [tj] and [dj] have become [tf] and [d^] ; e.g., early MnE fortune [fQrtjun], MnE [fgrtfan]; early MnE cordial [kgrdjael], MnE [kgrd^l]. r in Modern Enghsh has lost its trilled sound and has become a vowel-hke sound which tends to disappear before consonants. " In some words Middle English [h] has become [f] in Modern English; e.g., ME laughe(n) [lauhan], MnE [laf]; ME tough [tuh], MnE [tAf]; in these words the vowel has also been modified in a special way; in the examples just given ME [au] has become [a] instead of [q], and ME [u] has been shortened to [a]. " The suffix- -tion is merely a Latinised spelUng of the suffix which was spelled -cioun or -cion in Middle English. PART IV HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MIDDLE ENGLISH INFLECTIONS 47. Declension of Nouns. The declension of nouns in Old English was rather complex; there were four cases, nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative; two numbers, singular and plural; and three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter, which, like those of modern German, were largely independent of sex. In the late Middle English of Chaucer, on the other hand, the declension of nouns is extremely simple. The simpUfication which took place in the inflection of nouns in Middle English was the result of two causes, sound change and analogy. 48. Sound Change in Unaccented Syllables. The Middle English sound changes that were undergone by vowels in accented syllables have been explained in sections 42 and 43, The changes undergone by vowels in unaccented syllables were very much simpler in character and may be briefly stated as follows: Old English a, e, o, and u became in unaccented syllables the vowel which was commonly written e and which probably was pronounced [a];" e.g. OE belle [beUe] ME beUe [bgUa] OE oxa [Qksa] ME oxe [qkss] OE nacod [nakgd] ME naked [naksd] OE sunu [sunu] ME sune [suna] This change in the pronunciation of vowels of unaccented syllables is the most important difference between Old English and Middle Enghsh, " This unstressed vowel was also frequently written i, particularly in the North of England; it is probable that this variation of spelling represents a variation of pro- nunciation between [a] and fil. 50 NOUNS 49. Analogy. Analogy is the regularising, simplifying tendency of the human mind manifesting itself in language. The child who says mans for men, fools iorfeet, <ind fighied iox fought is making use of analogy. In Modern English the preterits dreamed and lighted have been substituted for the older forms dreamt and lit because of the analogy of the great number of weak verbs which have the same vowel in the preterit as in the present. So in the Middle English noun declensions, many forms which were merely the Old English forms pronounced in a new way were dis- placed by different forms that were suggested by analogy. For example, in Old English and early Middle English the dative singular and the accusative singular were identical in the great majority of nouns. But in some nouns the dative singular ended in e and the accusative singular ended in a consonant. In these nouns, therefore, the analogy of the other nouns caused the old dative singular to be superseded by a form which was identical with the accusative. The Middle English forms that were developed from the Old English forms by sound change alone are called historical forms. Forms that were substituted for these his- torical forms by the process of analogy are called analogical forms. NOUNS 50. Development of the Middle English Noun Declensions. The development of the Middle English noun declensions is shown in the tables printed below. In the first column are given the Old English forms. In the second column are given the historical Middle English forms that developed from the Old English forms by the process of sound change alone. In the third column are given analogical forms that dis- placed some of the historical forms. In the fourth column are given the late Middle English forms which we find (for example) in Chaucer; in this column the historical forms are printed in Roman type and the analogical forms in italics. The words in the first column exemplify the eleven principal types of noun declension in Old English: the strong masculine nouns dom {judgment) and ende {end) ; the u-declension noun sunu {son); the strong feminine nouns lufu {love) and hwil {time); the strong neuter nouns lim (/imft), hors {horse), and wite {punishment); the weak masculine noun hunta {hunter); the weak feminine noun sunne {sun) ; and the weak neuter noun eare {ear). NOUNS 51 OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical Late forms forms ME 51. dom, masculine: Sing. Nom. dom doom doom Gen. domes doomes doomes Dat. dome doome doom doom Ace. d5m doom doom Plur. Nom., Ace. domas doomes doomes Gen. doma doome doomes doomes Dat. domum^^ doome(n)-'' doomes doomes 52. ende, masculine: Sing. Nom. ende ende ende Gen. endes endes endes Dat. ende ende ende Ace. ende ende ende Plur. Nom., Ace. endas endes endes Gen. enda ende endes endes Dat. endum ende(n) endes endes 53. sunu, masculine: Sing. Nom. sunu sune sone^ Gen. suna sune sunes sones Dat. suna sune sone Ace. sunu sune sone Plur. Nom., , Ace. suna sune sunes sones Gen. suna sune sunes sones Dat. sunum sune(n) sunes sones 5^ See 46, 1 above for change of OE final m to ME final n in unstressed syllables. " As stated above in section 46, 1 the ending -en was very frequently reduced to -e thru the loss of the final n; in these tables, therefore, the ending is printed -e(n). 5« In this column the forms are given in their late Middle English spelling; in the two former columns the forms are given in their early Middle English spsUing. 52 NOUNS OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENG LISH Historical Analogical Late forms forms ME 54. lufu, feminine: Sing. Nom. lufu luve love Gen. lufe luve luves loves Dat. lufe luve love Ace. lufe luve love Plur. Nom., Ace. lufa luve luves loves Gen. lufa luve luves loves Dat. lufum luve(n) luves loves 55. hwil, feminine: Sing. Nom. Jbwil - hwil hwile , whiUA Gen. hwile hwile kwiles whiles^ Dat. hwile hwile while Ace. hwile hwile while Plur. Nom., Ace. hwila hwile Irwiles whiles Gen. hwila hwile kwiles whiles Dat. hwilum hwile (n) hwiles whiles 56. Km, neuter: Sing. Nom. lim lim lim Gen. limes limes limes Dat. lime lime lim lim Ace. lim lim lim Plur. Nom., Ace. limu lime limes limes Gen. lima lime limes limes Dat. limum lime(n) limes limes 57. hors, neuter: Sing. Nom. hors hors hors Gen. horses horses horses Dat. horse horse hors hors Ace. hors hors hors Plur. Nom., Ace. hors hors horses horses Gen. horsa horse horses horses Dat. horsum horse (n) horses horses NOUNS S3 OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical Late forms forms ME 58. wite, neuter: Sing. Nom. wite wite wite Gen. wites wites wites Dat. wite wite wite Ace. wite wite wite Plur. Nom., Ace. witu wite ■wites wites Gen. wita wite wites wites Dat. witum wite(n) wites wites 59. hunta, weak masculine: Sing. Nom. hunta hunte hunte Gen. huntan hunte(n) huntes huntes Dat. huntan hunte (n) himtd'^ hunte Ace. huntan hunte (n) hunte'^ hunte Plur. Nom., Ace. huntan hunte (n) huntes huntes Gen. huntena huntene hmtes huntes Dat. huntum hunte (n) huntes huntes 60. sunne, weak feminine: Sing. Nom. sunne Gen. sunnan Dat. sunnan Ace. sunnan Plur. Nom., Ace. sunnan Gen. sunnena Dat. sunnum sunne Sonne sunne (n) sunnes sonnes sunne (n) sunne'^ Sonne sunne (n) sunn^^ Sonne sunne (n) sunnes sonnes sunnene sunnes sonnes sunne (n) sunnes sonnes " Inasmuch as the early Middle EngUsh ending -en was always liable to undergo reduction to -e thru loss of final n (see note 57 above), sound change was no doubt an important factor in the establishment of this form. 54 NOUNS OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical Late forms forms ME 61. eare, weak neuter: Sing. Nom. eare ere ere Gen. earan ere(n) eres eres Dat. earan ere(n) ere^^ ere Ace. eare ere ere Plur. Nom., Ace. earan ere(n) eres eres Gen. earena erene eres eres Dat. earum ere(n) eres eres 62. An analysis of the tables given above shows that the analogical changes that took place in the inflection of nouns were these: 1. The nominative singular became identical with the accusative singular in the strong feminine nouns ending in a consonant, which in Old English had different forms for the two cases. 2. The ending -es became the ending of the genitive singular of nouns which in Old English had other endings. 3. The dative singular became identical with the accusative singular in those nouns which had different forms for the two cases. 4. The accusative singular became identical with the nominative singular in the weak masculine and feminine nouns, which in Old English had different forms for the two cases. 5. The ending -es became the ending of the nominative-accusative plural of those nouns which in Old English had other endings. 6. The genitive and dative plural became identical with the nomina- tive-accusative plural. 63. Retention and Extension of the Weak Noun Inflection. One other statement is needed, however, to complete this account of the Middle English noun inflections. A few nouns that belonged to the Old EngHsh weak declension retained their weak inflection, at least in part, even in Late Middle English. The development of this type of inflec- *° Inasmuch as the early Middle English ending -en was always liable to undergo reduction to -e thru loss of final n (see note 57 above), sound change was no doubt an important factor in the establishment of this form. ADJECTIVES 55 tion, as exemplified by Old English oxa (ox), is shown in the following table: MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical Late OLD ENGLISH forms forms ME Sing. Nom. oxa oxe oxe Gen. oxan oxe(n) oxes oxes- Dat. oxan oxe(n) cx^^ oxe Ace. oxan oxe(n) oxe^^ oxe Plur. Nom., , Ace. oxan oxe(n) oxen Gen. oxena oxene oxen oxen Dat. oxum oxe(n) oxen Sometimes this type of inflection was extended to nouns that were not weak nouns in Old English; as the plural of sune we sometimes find, for example, sunen instead of sune or sunes. Likewise the weak genitive plural ending -ene was sometimes extended to nouns that were not weak in Old English; e.g., kingene king king of kings. 64. Summary. The endings, both historical and analogical, which appear (in various combinations) in the strong noun declensions are as follows: Historical Analogical Sing. Nom. — , -e -e Gen. -es, -e -es Dat. -e — Ace. — , -e Plur. Nom.. , Ace. -es, -e, — -es Gen. -e -es Dat. -e(n) -es ADJECTIVES 65. Declension of Adjectives. In Old English, as in Modern Ger- man, every adjective was inflected according to either one of two declen- sions, the strong or the weak. The weak declension was used if the adjective was preceded by a definite article, a demonstrative, or a posses- '5 Inasmuch as the early Middle English ending -en was always liable to undergo reduction to -e thru loss of final n (see note 57 above), sound change was no doubt an important factor in the establishment of this form. 56 ADJECTIVES sive, or if the adjective modified a noun used in direct address; the strong declension was used except under conditions that required the use of the weak. In Middle English the two declensions of the adjective were retained, but with much simplification of forms. As in the declension of nouns, the simplification that took place in the inflection of adjectives was the result of two causes, sound change and analogy. The historical development is shown in the tables printed below: 66. Strong Declension. OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical Late forms forms ME (Early ME) Masculine : Sing. Nom. god good good Gen. godes goodes good good Dat. godum goode(n) good good Ace. godne goodne good good Plur. Nom., Ace. gode goode goode Gen. g5dra goodre, gooder goode goode Dat. godum goode (n) goode^^ goode Femine: Sing. Nom. god good good Gen. godre goodre, gooder good good Dat. godre goodre, gooder good good Ace. gode goode good good Plur. Nom., Ace. goda goode goode Gen. godra goodre, gooder goode goode Dat. godum goode (n) goode^^ goode Neuter: Sing. Nom. god good good Gen. godes goodes good good Dat. godum goode (n) good good Ace. god good good Plur. Nom., Ace. g5de goode goode Gen. godra goodre, gooder goode goode Dat. godum goode (n) goode^^ goode •" Inasmuch as the early Middle EngUsh ending -en was always liable to undergo reduction to -e thru loss of final n (see note 57 above), sound change was no doubt an important factor in the establishment of this form. ' PRONOUNS 57 67. Weak Declension. ol; D ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Anological Late forms forms ME (Early ME) Masculine: Sing. Nom. goda goode goode Gen. godan goode(n) goode''^ goode Dat. godan goode (n) goode-^^ goode Ace. godan goode (n) goode'^ goode Plur. Nom., Ace. g5dan goode (n) goode^^ goode Gen. godena goodene goode goode Dat. godum goode (n) goode^'^ goode Feminine: Sing. Nom. gode goode goode Gen. godan goode (n) goode^^ goode Dat. godan goode (n) goode^° goode Ace. godan goode (n) goode^^ goode Plur. Nom., Ace. godan goode (n) goode^^ goode Gen. godena goodene goode goode Dat. godum goode (n) goode^^ goode Neuter: Sing. Nom. gode goode goode Gen. godan goode(n) good^^ goode Dat. g5dan goode (n) good^° goode Ace. gode goode goode Plur. Nom., Ace. godan goode (n) goode''" goode Gen. godena goodene goode goode Dat. godum goode (n) goode^" goode PRONOUNS 68. Declension of Pronouns. The development of the Middle English pronouns is more complex than that of the noun and adjective inflections. One reason is that the Old English pronouns had a good many variant forms, any one of which might become the basis of a cor- responding ^liddle English form. Another reason is that pronouns are ^•^ Inasmuch as the early Middle EiigUsh ending -en was always liable to reduction to -e thru loss of final n (see note 57 above), sound change was no doubt an important factor in the establishment of this form. 58 PRONOUNS often weakly stressed, and the sound changes that take place in weakly stressed syllables are not always the same as those that take place in strongly stressed syllables. In the following tables, as in those given above, the historical forms that developed by sound change are printed in Roman type, analogical forms in italics." > 69. First Personal Pronoun. OLD ENGLISH MI DDLE EN< GLISH Sing. Nom. ic ich m, I[i] Gen. min mi(n) Dat. me me Ace. me me Plur. Nom. we we Gen. ure ure Dat., Ace. us us [us], [us] 70. Second Personal Pronoun. Sing. Nom. tfi I>u Gen. \nn bi(n) Dat. n he Ace. he he Plur. Nom. ge 5e m Gen. eower eower [eouar], ower [guar], jur [jur] Dat., Ace. eow eow [eou], ow [qu], 5u [ju] 71. Third Personal Pronoun. OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Analogical forms Masculine SinguL ar: Nom. he he Gen. his his Dat. him him Ace. hine hine him. Feminine Singula x: Nom. heo, hi heo, he [he], ho [ho], hi [hi] Gen. hire hire here Dat. hire hire here Ace. hi, heo hi [hi]; heo, he [he], ho [ho] hire, here •' These tables do not attempt to give all the Middle English pronominal forms, but only the commoner and more characteristic ones. No account is taken of mere variations of spelling. PRONOUNS 5 Neuter Singular: Nom. hit hit Gen. his his Dat. him him hit Ace. hit hit Plural (all genders) : Nom. hi, heo hi [hi]; heo, he [he], ho [ho] Gen. hira, heora hire, here Dat. him, heom him, hem Ace. hi, heo hi [hi]; heo, he, [he], ho [ho] him, hem 72. Demonstrative Pronoun and Definite Article. OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Analogical forms Masculine Singular: Nom. se se pe, pat Gen. I^aes bes, bas pe, pat Dat. J>jem, J)am ben, ban pe, pat Ace. bone, jjaene bone, bene, \>saie pe, pat Inst. J)y, Jjon, jje bi, bon, be Feminine Singular: Nom. seo seo, se pe, pat Gen. bare bere, bare pe, pat Dat. \>xTe bere, bare pe, pat Ace. \)a bo [\>q], ba [ba] Pe, pat Neuter Singular: Nom. \>set bet, bat Pe Gen. \>ses bes, bas pe, pat Dat. \>sbm, \)am ben, ban pe, pat Ace. \>set bet, bat pe Inst. \>y, |jon, be bi, bon, be Plural (all genders) : Nom. ba bo [bg], ba [ba] Pe Gen. ^aia, \>xTa bare, bere pe,po Dat. \>sbm, \fam ben, ban pe,po Ace. \>a bo, ba Pe 59 60 VERBS VERBS 73. Weak Verbs. In Middle English, as in Old English and all other Germanic languages, there are two conjugations of verbs, the strong and the weak. Weak verbs form their preterit by means of a sufhx containing d or t followed by endings indicative of person and number. From the point of view of their development in Middle English, we may say that there were two types of weak verbs in Old English, Verbs of the first type had preterits ending in -ede or -ode and past participles ending in -ed or -od; for example, fremman (make) fremede fremed erian (plow) erede ered lufian (love) lufode lufod In Middle EngUsh the distinction between lufian, with preterit in -ode, and fremman and erian, with preterits in -ede, was done away with by the process of sound change, so that the earliest Middle English forms of these verbs were fremme(n) fremede fremed erie(n) erede ered luvie(n) luvede luved These verbs, which we shall call weak verbs of Type I, therefore had in Middle English preterits ending in -ede and past participles ending in -ed. In early Middle English the infinitive of these verbs ended in -e(n) or -ie(n), but in late Middle English, by the process of analogy, the ending -ie(n) was displaced by the commoner ending -e(n). Old English verbs of the second type had preterits ending in -de or -te and past participles ending in -ed, -d, or -t; for example: deman (judge) demde demed felan (feel) felde feled fedan (feed) fedde feded, fedd wendan (turn) wende wended, wend cepan (keep) cepte ceped metan (meet) mette meted, mett settan (set) sette seted, sett secan (seek) sohte soht l^encan (think) \>ohte J^oht VERBS 61 In Middle English these verbs developed, according to the regular laws of sound change, as follows: deme(n) [deman] demde [demda] demed [demad] £ele(n) [febn] felte [fglta] feled [felad] fede(n) [fedan] fedde [fgdda] fed [f?d] wende(n) [wgndan] wente [wgnta] went [wgnt] kepe(n) [kepan] kepte [k?pta] keped [kepad] mete(n) [metan] mette [mgtta] met [mgt] sette(n) [sgttan] sette [sgtta] set [s^t] seche(n) [setfan] soughte [sQuhta] sought [sQuht] }7enche(n) [[;gntfan] })oughte [|)Quhta] fought [bQuht] These verbs, which we shall call weak verbs of Type II, therefore had in Middle EngUsh preterits ending in -de or -te and past participles ending in -ed, d, or t. It will be observed that (in accordance with the sound law stated above in section 43, la) the long vowels of felen, feden, kepen, and meten are shortened in the preterit, where they were followed by a double consonant or a combination of consonants. 74. Strong Verbs. Strong verbs form their preterit, not by the addition of a sufiSix, but by means of a change in the vowel of the stem of the verb. This change is called "ablaut, " and the strong verbs are fre- quently-called "ablaut verbs." The preterit plural of these verbs usually has a different vowel from the preterit singular; the principal parts therefore are the infinitive, the preterit indicative first person singu- lar, the preterit indicative plural, and the past participle. In Old English there were seven classes of strong verbs; the principal parts of verbs representative of these seven classes are as follows: I. ridan {ride) rad ridon riden II. creopan (creep) creap crupon cropen III. bindan (bind) band, bond bundon bunden helpan (help) healp hulpon holpen sterfan {die) stearf sturfon storfen IV. beran (bear) bier b^ron boren V. specan (speak) spaec sp«con specen VI. scacan (shake) scoc scocon scacen VII. sl^pan (sleep) slep slepon slapen healdan (hold) heold heoldon healden 62 VERBS By the operation of the sound changes which have been explained in sec- tions 42 and 43, these Old English forms developed into the following Middle English forms r"^ I. ride(n) [ridan] 11. crepe(n) [krepan] III. binde(n) [bindan] helpe(n) [hglpan] sterve(n) [stgrvan] IV. bere(n) [bgran] V. speke(n) [sp^kan] VI. shake(n) [fakan] VII. slepe(n) [slepan] holde(n) [hgldan] rod [rQd] creep [kr|p] band [band] bond [bgnd] halp [halp] starf [starf] bar [bar] spak [spak] shook [fok] sleep [slep] heeld [held] ride(n) [ridan] crupe(n) [krupan] bunde(n) [bundan] hulpe(n) [hulpan] sturve(n) [sturvan] bere(n) [beran] speke(n) [spekan] shooke(n) [fokan] sleepe(n) [slepan] heelde(n) [heldan] ride(n) [ridan] crope(n) [krgpan] bunde(n) [bundan] holpe(n) [hglpan] storve(n) [stgrvan] bore(n) [bgran] speke(n) [spekan] shake (n) [fakan] slepe(n) [slepan] holde(n) [hQldan] 75. Analogical Forms. The forms that developed from the Old English forms by sound change are those that occur in early Middle English, but in later Middle English we meet with a good many ana- logical forms. The most important results of analogy were these: 1. Strong verbs often acquired weak preterits; e.g., crepte [krgpta], slepte [slgpta], in place of creep, sleep. 2. The vowel of the preterit plural was often substituted for the vowel of the preterit singular; e.g., beer [ber], with the vowel of the preterit plural, displaced bar. 3. The vowel of the preterit singular was often substituted for the vowel of the preterit plural; e.g., bare(n) [baran], with the vowel of the preterit singular (lengthened when it came to stand in an open syllable) ,^^ displaced bere(n) [beran]. 4. The vowel of the past participle was often substituted for the vowel of the preterit plural; e.g., crope(n) [krgpan], with the vowel of the past participle, displaced crupe(n). •*The Middle English forms here given are those of the Midland dialect; the Old English forms given above are those of the West-Saxon dialect (see note 37 above) The Mercian dialect of Old English, which was that from which the Midland dialect of Middle English was derived, had some forms which differed from those of the West-Saxon dialect. In place of b^ron, sp^con, and slepan it had beron, specon and slepan, and in place of healdan and healden it had haldan and balden. " See section 43, lb, above. VERBS 63 5. In the past participles of verbs of Class V the vowel o [q] was sub- stituted for the original vowel e, from the analogy of the past participle of verbs of Class IV; e.g., spoke(n) [spQkan], with the vowel of bore(n) [bgran], displaced speke(n) [spgkan]. 76. Endings of Weak Verbs. The historical development of the Middle English forms of the weak verb is shown in the tables printed below. Weak verbs of Type I are exemplified by Old English erian {plow) and iufian (love) ; weak verbs of Type II are exemplified by Old English deman {judge). OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 erie erie ere 2 crest erest 3 ere)? ere}? Plur. eriab erie]) erep, ere{n)^^ Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 erede erede 2 eredest eredest 3 erede erede Plur. eredon erede (n) Pres. Subj. Sing, erie erie ere Plur. erien erie(n) ere{n) Pret. Subj. Sing, erede erede Plur. ereden erede (n) Pres. Imp. Sing. 2 ere ere Plur. 2 eriaj) eriel> erep Infinitive erian erie(n) ere{n) Gerund to erienne to eriene to erene, to ere{n) Pres. Participle eriende eriende, eriinde^^ erende, erinde,^^ Past Participle ered ermge ered " The ending -e(n) in the present indicative plural is a characteristic of the Mid- land dialect; the ending -e\> is a characteristic of the Southern dialect. " The ending -inde is a characteristic of the Southern dialect, the ending -ende of the Midland dialect. 64 VERBS OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 lufie luvie, luvi luve 2 lufast luvest 3 lufab luve|> Plur. lufiab luviel? luvep, luve(ny* Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 lufode luvede 2 lufodest luvedest 3 lufode luvede Plur. lufodon luvede (n) Pres. Subj. Sing, lufie luvie, luvi luve Plur. lufien luvie (n), luvi(n) luve(n) Pret. Subj. Sing, lufode luvede Plur. lufoden luvede (n) Pres. Imp. Sing. 2 lufa luve Plur. 2 lufiab luviej) luvep Infinitive lufian luvie (n), luvi(n) luve(n) Gerund to lufienne to luviene to luvene, to luve{n) Pres. Participle lufiende luviende, luviinde^ luvende, luvinde} luvinge Past Participle lufod luved Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 deme deme 2 deme St, demst demest, demst 3 demeb, dem|j demel>, deml> Plur. demal> demeb demeinY'^ Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 demde demde 2 demdest demdest 3 demde demde Plur. demdon demde (n) Pres. Subj. Sing, deme deme Plur. demen deme(n) " The ending -e(n) in the present indicative plural is a characteristic of the Mid- land dialect; the ending -e\> is a characteristic of the Southern dialect. *^The ending -inde is a characteristic of the Southern dialect, the ending -ende of the Midland dialect. VERBS 65 OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms Pret. Subj. Sing demde demde Plur. demden demde (n) Pres. Imp. Sing. 2 dem dem deme Plur. 2 demaj) demeb Infinitive deman deme(n) Gerund to demenne to demene to deme(n) Pres. Participle demende demende, deminde*'^ demin^e Past Participle demed demed 77. Endings of Strong Verbs. The historical development of the Middle Enghsh forms of the strong verb, exemplified by Old English ridan {ride) and bindan {bind), is shown in the tables printed below. ■ OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 ride ride 2 ridest, ritst ridest, ritst 3 ridel?, ritt ridej>, rit Plur. ridaj? ridejj ride{ny^ Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 rad rood 2 ride" ride rood 3 rad rood Plur. ridon ride(n) Pres. Subj. Sing, ride ride Plur. riden ride(n) Pret. Subj. Sing, ride ride Plur. riden ride(n) Pres. Imp. Sing. 2 rid rid Plur. 2 ridah rideb ^ The ending -inde is a characteristic of the Southern dialect, the ending -ende of the Midland dialect. ^ The ending -e(n) in the present indicative plural is a characteristic of the Mid- land dialect; the ending -e\> is a characteristic of the Southern dialect. *' It should be observed that the preterit indicative 2 singular of the strong verbs has the vowel of the preterit plural. 66 VERBS OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms Infinitive ridan ride(n) Gerund to ridenne to ridene to ride{n) Pres. Participle ridende ridende, ridinde®^ ridinge Past Participle riden ride(n) Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 binde binde 2 bindest, bintst bindest, bintst 3 binde}), bint bindeb, bint Plur. binda]? bindej) hinde{n)^ Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 band, bond band, bond 2 bunde«' bunde hand, bond 3 band, bond band, bond Plur. bundon bunde (n) Pres. Subj. Sing binde binde Plur. binden binde (n) Pret. Subj. Sing, bunde bunde Plur. bunden bunde (n) Pres. Imp. Sing. 2 bind bind Plur. 2 bindaj) binde 1> Infinitive bindan binde (n) Genmd to bindenne to bindene to binde(n) Pres. Participle bindende bindende, bindinde^^ hindinge Past Participle bunden bunde (n) 78. Preteritive-Present Verbs. The preteritive-present (or strong- weak) verbs have present indicatives which are like the preterit indica- tives of strong verbs in that they have no ending in the first and third persons singular and have the ending -e(n) (from Old English -on) in "The ending -inde is a characteristic of the Southern dialect, the ending -ende of the Midland dialect. •* The ending -e(n) in the present indicative plural is a characteristic of the Mid- land dialect, the -ej» ending is that of the Southern dialect. " It should be observed that the preterit indicative 2 singular of the strong verbs has the vowel of the preterit plural. VERBS 67 the plural. The preterits of these verbs are weak. The indicative forms of Middle English shal, for example, are as follows: Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 shal 2 shah 3 shal Plur. shule(n) Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 sholde 2 sholdest 3 sholde Plur. sholde (n' The most important of the preteritive-present verbs are: owen, own, be under obligation cunnen, know, be able muwen, be able moten, be permitted, be under obligation shulen, be under obligation, be about to when, know 79. The historical development of the preteritive-present verbs is shown in the following tables: OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 ah, ag ouh [Quh], ow [qu] owe [qu9] 2 ahst ouhst [Quhst] owest [Quast] 3 ah, ag ouh [Quh], ow [qu] owep [qu3})] Plur. agon owe(n) [Quan] owep [Qual>]^* Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 ahte ouhte [Quhta] Infinitive agan owe(n) [gudn] Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 cann, conn can, con 2 canst, const canst, const 3 cann, conn can, con Plur. cunnon cunne(n) '* This form occurs only in the Southern dialect. 68 VERBS OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 cu|)e cul^e [kutJa] cude [ku( Infinitive cunnan cunne(n) Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 maeg mai, mei 2 meaht, miht maht, maiht, meiht, maist mauht, mouht, miht 3 maeg mai, mei Plur. magon, mugon*^^ mawe(n), muwe(n) Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 meahte, mihte mahte, maihte, muhle meihte, mauhte, mouhte, mihte Infinitive magan, mugan'" mawe(n), muwe(n) Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 mot mot 2 most most 3 mot mot Plur. moton mote(n) Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 moste moste Infinitive motan mote(n) Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 sceal shal, shel 2 scealt shalt, shelt 3 sceal shal, shel Plur. sculon shule(n) Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 scolde sholde Infinitive sculan shule(n) Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 wat wot 2 wast wost 3 wat wot Plur. witon wite(n) Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 wiste wiste, wuste Infinitive witan wite(n) shulde •' The form mugon is not recorded in Old English, but is inferred from the Middle English forms. '" The form mugan is not recorded in Old English, but is inferred from the Middle English forms. VERBS 69 80. Anomalous Verbs. The historical development of the Middle English verb bee(n), be, was as follows: OLD ENGLISH Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 eora, beo eam^^ 2 eart bist 3 is h\\> MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms em, am art is Plur. sindon, beol? sinde(n), be bist bib bee|> forms beest beep bee(ny* earon'-^ Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 waes 2 wiere 3 was Plur. wjeron Pres. Subj. Sing, sie Plur. sien Pret. Subj. Sing, ware Plur. wjeren Pres. Imp. Sing. 2 Plur. 2 Infinitive beo are(n)'^^ wes, was were wes, was were(n) si beon si(n) were were(n) beo beob beon be bee(n) be beeb bee(n) The historical development of the Middle English verbs don, dj, and willen, will, in the indicative was as follows: OLD ENGLISH Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 do 2 des 3 dej> Plur. dob MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms do dest (iost deb dop dob Mny^ '' earn is the Mercian form, eom the West-Saxon. '= earon is the ^lercian form, sindon was used in all the Old EngUsh dialects. '^ are(n) was not used in the Southern dialect, but only in the Midland and North. '« bee(n) is a Midland form; it was not used in the South. " do(n) is the Midland form; it was not used in the South. 70 VERBS OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH Historical Analogical forms forms Pret. Ind, Sing. 1 dyde dide, dude [dyda] 2 dydest didest, dudest 3 dyde dide, dude Plur. dydon dide(n), dude(n) Past Participle don don Pres. Ind. Sing. 1 wille wille, wulle wile, wide 2 wilt wilt, wult 3 wile wile, wule wille, wulle Plur. willal> wille}?, wullej) wille{n), wulle{ny^ Pret. Ind. Sing. 1 wolde wolde wulde 2 woldest woldest wuldest 3 wolde wolde wulde Plur. woldon wolde (n) wuldein) '• wille(n) and wulle(n) are Midland forms. PART V MIDDLE ENGLISH DIALECTS 81. Distribution of the Middle English Dialects. There were four chief dialects of Middle Enghsh, the Southern, the Kentish, the Midland, and the Northern. The Southern dialect was spoken south of the Thames, except in Kent. The Midland dialect was spoken in the dis- trict which lay (roughly) between the Thames on the south and the mouth of the Humber on the north. The Northern dialect was spoken in the district which lay (roughly) north of the mouth of the Humber; this district included Yorkshire and its adjacent counties and the low- lands of Scotland. The territory of the Midland dialect is further divided into the North and the South Midland and the East and the West Midland. 82. The Southern Dialect. The most important characteristics of the Southern dialect are the following: I. Vowel Sounds. The development of the Old English vowels and diphthongs in the Midland dialect of Middle English has been given above in 42. The development of the Old English vowel sounds in the Southern dialect was the same as in the Midland dialect except that Old Enghsh y and y, which had the sound of [y] and [y], preserved their original quality in the Southern dialect, tho the sounds were spelled in Middle Enghsh with u or ui instead of y; e.g., OE fyr. Southern ME vur, vuir; OE fyllan. Southern ME vuUen." " In many words the Southern dialect has [«] where the Midland and Northern dialects have [e]. This dialect difference originated in Old Enghsh, for West-Saxon X appears in the Anglian dialect as e unless the x. is the result of unilaut. In Southern Middle English we therefore have [d?d] from West-Saxon dfed, but in the Midland and Northern dialects we have [ded] from Anglian ded. In all three dialects, however, we have Middle Enghsh [h|l>] from West-Saxon and Anglian h£e|>. See note 37 above. The Anglian dialect of Old English included the Mercian dialect, from which the Mid- land dialect of Middle English was derived, and the Northumbrian dialect, from which the Northern dialect of Middle English was derived. 72 SOUTHERN DIALECT II. Consonant Sounds. The Old English initial voiceless spirants [f], [s], and [\)] changed to the corresponding voiced spirants [v], [z], and [tJ]; e.g., OE for, Southern ME vor; OE song, Southern ME zong; OE \>set [\>xt], Southern ME bat [Sat]J^ III. Final e. Final e was retained in pronunciation thruout the fourteenth century. IV. Inflections. 1. Nouns. (a) The historical forms of the noun declensions (see 49 ff. above) were displaced only slowly by analogical forms. Geni- tive and dative singulars in e, nominative, genitive, and accusative plurals in e, and dative plurals in e(n) are common in texts of the thirteenth century and occur occasionally in texts of the fourteenth century. (b) The distinctions of grammatical gender were maintained with a considerable degree of correctness thruout the first half of the thirteenth century, and relics of grammatical gender are found even in texts of the first half of the fourteenth century. 2. Adjectives. The historical forms of the genitive, dative, and accus- ative in the strong adjective declension (see 65 ff. above) were displaced only slowly by analogical forms; the historical forms occur frequently in texts of the first half of the thir- teenth century. 3. Pronouns. (a) The historical forms of the genitive, dative, and accusa- tive of the definite article and demonstrative \)e (se), \)af^ (see 72 above) were displaced only slowly by analogical '* The initial [v] is indicated prett}' consistenth' ia the spelling of Southern Middle English texts; the initial [z] is indicated by the spelling of one text only, for the letter z was Uttle used by the Middle English scribes. The initial [tJ] is not indicated by spelling at all, for the scribes had no way of distinguishing the sounds of [S] and [|j] in writing. " In the Southern dialect !>at is used as the definite article as well as the demon- strative; in the Midland and Northern dialects hat is used only as the demonstrative. KENTISH DIALECT 73 forms; the historical forms are common in the first half of the thirteenth centm-y and occasional until the middle of the fourteenth century. (b) The pronouns ha {he, she, they, them), hare {her, their), and ham {them) were in frequent use. 4. Verbs. (a) The ending of the present indicative plural of strong verbs was -e|); the ending of the present indicative plural of weak verbs was -e}? or -ie}>.^'^ (b) The ending of the present participle of strong verbs was -inde, later -inge; the ending of the present participle of weak verbs was -inde, later -inge, or -iinde, later -inge. (c) Weak verbs Hke erien and luvien (see 76 above) preserved their historical endings, -ie, -ie(n), etc., thruout the four- teenth century with little substitution of analogical forms. 83. The Kentish Dialect. The characteristics of the Kentish dia- lect are the same as those of the Southern dialect except with regard to vowel sounds. The development of the Old English vowels and diph- thongs in the Kentish dialect differs in the following respects from the development which these sounds underwent in the Southern and Mid- land dialects: 1. Old Enghsh^^ y and y became Kentish [e] and [§]; e.g., OE fyr, Kentish ME ver [ver]; OE fyllan, Kentish ME vellen [vgllan]. 2. Old English ea became in Kentish a sound which is spelled ea, ia, ya, yea; the pronunciation of this sound is uncertain, but it is generally supposed to have been a diphthong, not a simple vowel; e.g., OE stream, Kentish ME stream, striam, etc. 3. Old EngHsh eo became in Kentish a sound which is spelled ie, ye i, y ; the pronunciation of this sound is uncertain, but it is generally supposed to have been a diphthong; e.g., OE beon, Kentish ME bien, byen, etc. ••Likewise, bee|j is the Southern form of the present indicative plural of bee(n), *' By Old English is meant here the West-Saxon dialect of Old English (see note 37 above). The Kentish dialect of Old EngUsh already had e and e where the West- Saxon and Anglian dialects had y and y. 74 MIDLAND DIALECT 4, Old English ie^^ (which in the other Middle English dialects gener- ally became [e]) became in Kentish a sound which is spelled ie, ye ; the pronunciation of this sound is uncertain, but it is generally- supposed to have been a diphthong; e.g., OE nied, Kentish ME nied, nyed; OE diere, Kentish ME diere, dyere.**^ 84. The Midland Dialect. The most important characteristics of the Midland dialect are the following: I. Final e. Final e was to a great extent retained in pronunciation thruout the fourteenth century, but apocope of final e began before the end of the thirteenth century. II. Inflections. 1. Nouns and Adjectives. (a) The analogical changes that took place in the inflection of nouns (see 49 ff. above) and adjectives (see 65 ff.) were carried out before the end of the twelfth century. (b) The distinctions of grammatical gender were lost before the end of the twelfth century. 2. Pronouns. (a) The historical forms of the genitive, dative, and accusative of the definite article and demonstrative \)e (se), {jat (see 72 above) were displaced by analogical forms before the end of the twelfth century. (b) The historical forms of the accusative of the third personal pronoun (see 71 above) were displaced l)y dative forms before the end of the twelfth century. 3. Verbs. (a) The ending of the present indicative plural of strong and weak verbs was -e(n). *^The diphthong ie occurs only in the West-Saxon dialect of Old English; in place of ie the other dialects had e, io, or co. *'The Kentish dialect of Old English had e where the West-Saxon dialect had a; in many words, therefore, Kentish Middle English has e where Southern IMiddle English has §. , NON-NORTHERN DI.\LECT CHARACTERISTICS 75 (b) The ending of the present participle of strong and weak verbs was -ende, later -inge or -ing. (c) The historical endings (ie, ie(n), etc.) of weak verbs like erien and luA-ien (see 76 above) were for the most part dis- placed by analogical forms before the end of the twelfth cen- tury. 85. Non-Northern Dialect Characteristics. The Southern and the Midland dialects have in common certain characteristics which are not shared by the Northern dialect: I. Sounds. Old English a became [q] in Southern and Midland Mid- dle English; e.g., OE stan, Southern and Midland ME stoon.^* II. Inflections. 1. Pronouns. (a) Both the Southern and the Midland dialects employed the pronouns he, hi, ho {she, they) ; hem {them) ; and hire, here {their) }^ (b) Both the early Southern and the early Midland dialects employed the pronoun his, is {her, it, them). 2. Verbs. (a) The past participle of strong and weak verbs often had the prefix i, y, from Old Enghsh ge; e.g., icume(n), past par- ticiple of cume(n); the prefix is commoner in the Southern dialect, however, than in the Midland. (b) The difference of ablaut in the preterit singular and pre- terit plural which existed in most of the strong verbs was on the whole retained without much disturbance from analogy (see 74 above). " Old English ae is often spelled in early Southern and Midland ME with the letter e; e.g., OE seitex, early ]ME efter; in later Middle English the sound is almost uniformly spelled with a. **The Southern dialect employed these pronouns exclusively, but the Midland dialect also employed she, she; l^el; J)elr; ];eim, Jjem. See 86, II, 1 below. 76 NON-SOUTHERN DIALECT CHARACTERISTICS 86. Non-Southern Dialect Characteristics. The Midland and the Northern dialects have in common certain characteristics which are not shared by the Southern dialect: I. Sounds. Old English y and i became [i] and [i] in Midland and Northern Middle Enghsh; e.g., OE fyr, Midland and Northern ME fir; OE fyllan, Midland and Northern ME fillen.ss II. Inflections. 1. Pronouns. (a) Both the Midland and the Northern dialects employed the pronoun she, sho {she)}'' (b) Both the Midland and the Northern dialects employed the pronouns l^ei {they)\ j^eir {their); beim, I?em {them)}^ 2. Verbs. (a) Both the Midland and the Northern dialects employed are(n) as the present indicative plural of the verb bee(n).8^ (b) Both the Midland and the Northern dialects employ -es as the ending of the present indicative second and third per- sons singular of verbs.^" *• For the relation between the vowels [e] and [g] in Southern on the one hand and Midland and Northern on the other see note 77 above. *' The Northern dialect employed she, sho, exclusively as the feminine nomina- tive pronoun, but the Midland dialect employed both she and he, hi, ho (see 85, 11, 1 above). The pronoun she was on the whole commonest in the northern part of the Midland territory, the pronoun he, hi, ho was commonest in the southern part of the Midland territory. **The Northern dialect employed jjei; J)eir; l>eim, l)em exclusively as the plural pronouns of the third person, but the Midland dialect also employed he, hi, ho; hire, here; hem (see 85, II, 1 above). The pronoun J>ei, etc. was most commonly used in the northern part of the Midland territory, the pronoun he, etc. was commonest in the southern part of the Midland territory. *' The Midland dialect also employed the form bee(n) or be as the present indica- tive plural of bee(n); are(n) was commonest in the northern part of the Midland territory. '"The ending -es was the regular ending of the present indicative second and third persons singular in the Northern dialect (see 87 below) ; the Midland dialect used regularly the endings -est and -el>, and the ending -es (especially for the third person) occurs chiefly in the northern part of the Midland territory. NORTHERN DL\LECT 77 87. The Northern Dialect. The most important characteristics of the Northern dialect are the following: I. Sounds. 1. Old English a did not change to [q] but remained [a]; e.g., OE Stan, Northern ME stan, Midland and Southern ME stoon. By the end of the fourteenth century, however, the [a] seems to have become [^] or [e].^^ 2. [g] and [k] appear in many words which have [j] and [tf] in the Southern and Midland dialects; e.g.. Northern gif. Southern and Midland yif; Northern kirk(e). Southern and Midland chirche.^^ 3. Old EngHsh sc [i] became [s] in unaccented syllables and in words that were generally pronounced with Httle stress; e.g OE englisc, Northern ME inglis. Southern and Midland ME english; OE sceal. Northern ME sal. Southern and Midland ME shal; OE scolde, Northern ME solde, sulde, Southern and Midland ME sholde, shulde. 4. Old English hw was spelled in the North qu; e.g., OE hwaet, Northern ME quat, Southern and Midland ME what, wat. The sound represented by the qu was probably that of a spirant [h] followed by or combined with [w]. II. Final e and e(n). Final e was entirely lost by about the middle of the fourteenth century. Final n of the ending e(n) was lost before the beginning of the fourteenth century, except in the past participles of strong verbs. III. Inflections.^^ 1. Adjectives. With the loss of final e about the middle of the fourteenth century, all inflection of the adjective was lost. " In the North the long vowels [a], [e], and [6] were often spelled ai, ay; ei, ey; and 01, oy, particularly in the fifteenth century. '2 This might better perhaps be considered a non-Southern than a Northern characteristic, for g and k forms occur also m the Midland territor>'; they are more numerous, however, in the North. " With regard to the displacement of historical forms by analogical forms in the inflection of nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs, and with regard to the loss of grammatical gender, the Northern dialect was even less conservative than the Mid- land dialect. 78 NORTHERN DIALECT 2. Pronouns, The plural of |>is (this) is l)ir or J^er. 3. Verbs. (a) The ending of the'present indicative first person singular and of the present indicative plural was -es unless the subject of the verb was a personal pronoun whicli immediately preceded or followed the verb, in which case the verb was without ending or had the ending -e. The present indicative forms of the verb find(e), for example, were (1) Sing. 1 I find(e) 2 thou findes Plur. we, ye, they find(e) 3 he findes (2) Sing. 1 I that findes 2 thou that findes Plur. we, ye, they that findes 3 he that findes (b) The ending of the present participle was -and(e). (c) The ending of the imperative plural was -es. (d) The preterit singular and preterit plural of strong verbs had the same vowel, the difference of ablaut which had existed in most of the strong verbs (see 74 above) being done away with by analogy; in most verbs the preterit plural took the vowel of the preterit singular. Thus, with the loss of the end- ing -e(n), the preterit singular and the preterit plural became identical in form; e.g.. Northern he sang, we sang. Southern and Midland he sang, we sunge(n). (e) The ending of the past participle of strong verbs was -en (never -e). APPENDIX Middle English Spelling 88. Influence of Old English Spelling. In the beginning of the Middle English period (roughly between 1050 and 1150) there occurred a large number of changes of pronunciation, particularly in the vowel sounds. Old English ae became [a]; Old Enghsh a became [q]; the Old English diphthongs ea, ea, eo, and eo became the simple vowels [|], [a], [e] and [§]; and a number of new diphthongs — [ai], [gi], [au], etc. — devel- oped out of Old English sirnple vowels followed by g, w, h, etc.^^ While these changes were going on and for some time after they had been carried out, people continued to spell words in the way they had been spelled in Old Enghsh. For example, Old English j^aet was spelled with ae, Old Enghsh beon^^ was spelled with eo, Old English stream was spelled with ea, and Old English stan was spelled with a after the pronunciation of these words had become [\>at], [ben], [str|m], and [stqn]. But the changes that had taken place in pronunciation were so numerous that it proved to be impossible to maintain the old system of spelling. Con- fusion in spelling soon arose. Since words that were spelled with eo and with e came to have the same sound in Middle Enghsh, people re- garded the two signs as interchangeable; they would therefore spell Old English beon and weorc with e, and Old English swete and helpan with eo. Moreover, ea and eo were enough alike in appearance to be confused in use, so that [ben], from Old English beon was sometimes spelled with ea and [str|m], from Old Enghsh stream was sometimes spelled with eo. As a result, the spelling of the vowel sounds in the earliest Middle ^* For an account of these sound changes see 42, 43, 46 above. '^ The Old English manuscripts as a rule make no distinction between long and short vowels and diphthongs; been, for example, with a long diphthong, and weorc, with a short diphthong, are both spelled with eo. The marks of length are added by modern editors. Nor do the manuscripts distinguish c (i.e., [tf]) from c (i.e., [k]) or ^ (i.e., [j]) from g (i.e., [s]). The dot is added by modern editors. 80 MIDDLE ENGLISH SPELLING English texts exhibits great confusion, which gradually diminished, how- ever, as the digraphs ea and eo fell more and more into disuse and as the character ae gave place to a as a means of representing the vowel [a]. 89. Influence of Old French Spelling. There is no doubt that in the course of time the confusion of early Middle English spelling would have been done away with and that a good system of spelling Middle English would have been evolved on the basis of the Old English system if the English people had been left to themselves. But they were not left to themselves. French was the language of the superior class from 1066 to the middle of the fourteenth century. Educated people read French books and were expected to be able to write as well as speak the French language; French words were adopted into the language and kept their French spelUngs when used in writing. As a result, people began to spell certain English sounds according to the French system of spelling. The most important changes that came about were these: 1. [§], spelled in OE with ae and in early ME with ae or ea, came to be spelled with e, as in French; e.g., early ME hsd]>, later ME he]> or heeth. 2. [u], spelled in OE and early ME with u, was often spelled with o in later ME, particularly in proximity with letters like n, m, v, and w; e.g., early ME sune, later ME sone. 3. [u], spelled in OE and early ME with u, was usually spelled in late ME with ou; e.g., early ME hus, late ME hous. 4. [y] and [y], which were spelled in OE with y and had the sound of French u, were spelled in Southern ME with u, as in French; [y] was sometimes spelled ui; e.g., OE fyllan. Southern ME vulle(n); OE fyr, Southern ME vur, vuir. 5. [e], spelled in early ME with e or eo is often spelled in late ME with ie; e.g., OE spedan, early ME spede(n), late ME spede(n) or spiede(n). 6. [v], spelled in OE and in the earliest ME with f, came to be spelled with V, as in French; e.g., OE life, ME live. 7. [tf], spelled in OE with c, came to be spelled in ME with ch, as in French; e.g., OE cidan,**^ ME chide (n). 8. [kw], spelled in OE with cw, came to be spelled in ME with qu, as in French; e.g., OE cwen, ME quen or queen. •* As to c, see the preceding note. MIDDLE ENGLISH SPELLING 81 The influence of French spelUng on English spelling began soon after the Norman conquest, but the changes which it brought about were not completed until after the middle of the thirteenth century. 90. Spelling of Middle English Vowels and Diphthongs. The table given below shows the spellings which are most commonly used in Middle EngUsh manuscripts to represent the various vowels and diphthongs The first column contains the sounds as represented in phonetic notation; the second column contains the spellings by which these sounds are repre- sented in the earHer Middle Enghsh manuscripts (roughly, before 1250); the third column contains the spellings by which these same sounds are represented in the later Middle English manuscripts (roughly, after 1250). Spellings which are decidedly less frequent than the others are placed in parentheses. ME Sound Early ME Spelling Late ME Spelling a, aa a e, ee, (ie) e, ee e i, ii, y i, y O, 00 O, 00 o ou, (o) U, V, u, V, ui U, V au, aw ei, ai, ey, ay " [a] does not occur in the earliest ME, for the OE [a] became [q] in ME. The ME [a] was the result of the lengthening of [a] in open syllables; see 43, lb above and note 43b. '' The letters u and v were used interchangeably by the Middle English scribes. ^' The diphthong [ai] occurs only in early ME; in late ME it became identical in sound with [^i]. Laj^' [a] a, ae, ea [e] e, eo m se, ea, e, (eo) [€] e, eo, (ae) [i] i, (y) [i] i, (y) [o] [q] a, 0, (oa) [q] [u] u, v^s [u] U, V [y] U, V, ul [y] u, V [ai] ai, aei, ei, aj, sdf^ [au] au, aw, a5, ag, agh ki] ei, aei, e;, 263 82 ji MIDDLE ENGLISH SPELLING ME Sound ^- Early ME Spelling Late ME Spelling [€«] eu, ew eu, ew [iu] iu, iw, eu, ew, eou, eow iu, iw, eu, ew, u, ui [qu] au, aw, 35, ag, agh, ou, ow, 05, og, ou, ow [qu] ou, ow, o ou, ow, o [<flY°' oi, oy, (ui)io2 The student should remember that all diacritical marks which he finds in Middle English texts are supplied by modern editors. 91. Spelling of Middle English Consonants. The table given below shows the spellings which are most commonly used in Middle English manuscripts to represent consonant sounds, so far as the spelling of these sounds differs from that of Modern English. LME Spelling gh, h, 5, ch wh y, 5 "" The Middle English diphthongs are variously spelled in early Middle English for two reasons. First, the sounds of which they were composed were variously spelled, [q], e.g., being spelled either a or o. Second, the diphthongs themselves were of various origin (see 43, 2 above), [aul, e.g., developing out of OE a followed by w or g, or out of OE ea followed by h. Many of the early Middle English spellings of these diphthongs are etymological spellings which do not represent adequately the true nature of the sounds. See also note 104 below. "oi The diphthong [qi] occurs only rarely in early Middle EngUsh; it is therefore given only in the third column. "^The tables given in 90 and 91 are not intended to include all of the spellings that occur in Middle Enghsh manuscripts, but only those that are fairly common. No accoimt is taken of spellings that are rare or eccentric. And no account is taken of spellings that may represent differences of pronunciation; such spelUngs are dealt with in the account of Middle English dialects which is given in 81 ff. '"' That is, [h] before consonants and after vowels. >•** The character j was called 50 j [JQh], and was a slight modification of the Old English form of the letter g. The Old English g represented two sounds, that of [j], e.g., in daeg, and that of [5], e.g., in agen; this sound is a spirant like the g of North German sagen. In Middle English the sound of [j] was preserved if it occurred at the beginning of a word, as in je, from OE ge. But when it was preceded by a vowel it united with the vowel to form a diphthong, as in ME dai from OE d«g. The Old EngUsh sound [5] became [w] in early ME when it was preceded by a vowel, and then it united with the preceding vowel to form a diphthong, as in ME owen [qusoI from ME Sound EME SpeUing [hj^o' h,5/''^g [hw] hw, wh [j] 5/''^g MIDDLE ENGLISH SPELLING \ \ 83 ME Sound EME Spelling LME Spelling [f] . sc, ss, s sch, ssch, sh, ssh [W I>,i05 ^m ■ b,th [«] h« Kth [v] f, V, u V, u [w] w (initially) w [w] w, 5, g, gh (medially) 107 w OE agen. In the few words in which it was followed by a vowel and preceded by a • consonant, OE [5] became [w] in ME, e.g., in halwien, from OE halgian. OE initial [5] however, became in ME a stop consonant like the g in ]Modem English good. This stop g was then spelled with a new variety of the letter g which was very much like the modern g. The Old English form of the letter g, slightly modified, was then used to spell the sounds other than stop g which had developed out of the two Old EngUsh sounds of g. That is, it was used to represent: 1. The sound of [j], e.g., in je, from OE ^e; 2. The sound of [w], e.g., in haljien, from OE halgian; 3. The second element of the diphthongs [ai] and [gi], e.g., in daj from OE dsei and we J from OE weg; 4. The second element of the diphthongs [au] and [qu], e.g., in drajen from OE dragan and ajen or ojen from OE agen. It was also used to represent: 5. The soimd of [h] before consonants and after vowels, e.g., in nijt from OE niht. 1"* The name of the letter \> is "thorn. " *"* The name of the letter tJ is "crossed d" or "eth" [gtS]. "' [w] is spelled 3 or gh when it developed out of OE [g], e.g., in haljien, halghien from OE halgian. See note 104 above. ^^ 14 DAY USE RBTURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. 2?i'nWA''''* °1.**l* '«« date stamped below or on Che date to wh.h rene^^^^i^J^^^! rS^S SSL^l.r"'^^ '^'^ P"0' *o date due. iteaewed boola are lubjea to immediate recall. WEC'D LP npp 1 1 70 .y mz BHrma mtia 9 73 -AAMStSi • ^ °"^ WM i a g s;; - ■ECL CIL MAY 6 1961 LD21A-40m-8'72 (Qll78810)476-A-32 LD 21A-60w-7,'66' (G4427sl0)476B General Library University of California Berkeley Umversity of California Berkeley