AN O UT LIN E HISTORY OF THE

E NGLISH LAN GUAGE

 N OUTLINE HISTORY

OF THE

E N G L ISH LA N G UA G E

OL IVER FAR RAR E ME R SON, PH I) .

O E SSO R OF R HRTO RIO AND ENG LIS H PHI LO LOGY IN W E STERN RE S ERVE
PR F
NI E S I H O R “THE H IS TO RY O F T HE ENG L IS H
”“
U V R TY ; UT
A o r

L ANG U A G E A B R IE F H IST O R Y o r T H R ENG L IS H

L N U
A G
,

A G
, E ” “ A H IDD LR E NG LIS H R E A D E R ”

Nam32 0th fl
TH E MA CMILL A N CO MPA N Y
LONDON : MACMILLAN CO . LT D .

1 906

A ll r ights f an n ed
 PRE FA CE

T H E re ception of th e write r s large r b ooks on

’

th e history of E n glish has s ugg e st e d o n e with

stil l few e r de tails than th e B rief H istory In this
.

O utline an att empt has b een mad e to chronicl e

th e g e n e ral facts of our lang u ag e d e v elopm e nt the ,

special influe nc e s of diff e r ent periods and th e more

,

important chan ge s in th e forms of words Espe .

c ia ll
y it e mphasi z e s d e v e lopm e nt b y natu ral proc

e ss e s. It thu s e xplains mu ch that ha s often b ee n

se t dow n in dogmatic stat e m e nt o nl y or som e tim e s
,

in a manne r at varianc e with historic facts It .

should th ere fore b e u s e ful in conn e ction with th e

stu dy of English grammar and English u sag e .

In th e accoun t of th e mod e rn p e riod sp e cial

atte ntion has b e e n give n to th e growing ling u istic
conscio usn e ss to th e b eginnings of what w e call
,

p urism and th e atte mpts to promot e what is known

,

as correctne ss in lang uag e To this are add e d in

.
,

variou s plac e s th e historical r e asons for pr es ent

,

u se. Th e directions of chang e in th e pa s t are also,

5
6 PR EFACE
pointe d out While it is not intend e d to e m ph a
.

siz e rh e torical nice tie s this O u tline should b e

,

helpful to those who wo ul d st ee r a safe cou rse

be twe e n pu ris m on th e o n e side and too gr e at
loos ene ss of mann e r on th e oth er Th e re is no
.

saf e r guide against e xtr em e s in e ither dir ection

than th e history of past u sage .

Th e g en e ral r e ad e r cannot b e e xpecte d to tak e

m u ch intere st in philological d e tails Y e t h e may .

b e assu m e d to wish som e acq u aintanc e with th e

d e ve lopment of his mothe r tongu e This O u tline .

is inte nde d to mak e cle ar such facts and r elations

as any intellig ent r e ad e r may conside r it his b usi
n e ss or pl e asure to know .

0 F E . . .

C LE V E L A ND , O .
,

M ay 12 , 1906 .
 C ON T E NT S

T HE B E G I NN IN G S A N D T H E D EVE LOPM E N T
O F A S T A N D A RD L A NG UA G E
C H ER
APT

I . T HE NG L ISH PE R I O D
OLD E

II M I DD L E E N G LISH
.

III T HE MO D E RN L A N G U A G E
.

II
C H ANG E S I N T H E FO RM S O F W O R DS
E NG L ISH S PE LL I N G
T HE A CC E N T O F E NG L ISH W OR DS
PH O N E T I C C H A N G E

AN A L O G Y

III
T HE E NGL IS H VOCAB UL ARY

O LD E NG L ISH
T HE V O C A U L A R O F M I DD L E E N G L ISH
B Y

T HE M O D E RN E N G L ISH W O R D S O C K
-
T
8 CONTENT S

IV

S IMPL IFI CA TI O N O F E NGL IS H INFL ECTIO N S

INFL E C TI ONA L L EV E L I N G
T HE N O UN
T HE ADJE C IV E
T

PR O N O U N S

THE V E RR

M N O R PA R S O F SPEE C H
I T , S UM M A R Y

IN DEX
 I

TH E B E G INN IN G S A ND T H E D E V E L O PM E N T
O F A ST A N D A RD LA N G UA G E

C HAPT E R I
THE OLD E NGL ISH PER IOD

TH E story of th e English langu ag e b e gins wh e n

English m e n first cam e to Britain Th e se E n g
.

lish m en w e re m e m b e rs of th e T eu tonic rac e ,

and English is th e r e fore n e are st akin to th e

othe r T e utonic langu ag e s Th e s e a re th e e xtinct
.

G othic th e S candinavian lang uage s and th e L ow

, ,

and H igh German tongu e s S till r emote r rela

.

tive s of En glish a re th e principal lan gu ag e s of

E urop e and Asia . English is the re fore a siste r
tong ue of Gre ek L atin Celtic B alto Slavic and
, , ,
-
,

Indo Iranian
-
. Bu t th e re lation of English to
th e s e do e s not conc e rn u s h e re It will b e eno ugh
.

for u s to trac e o u r lan gu ag e history sinc e our

T e utonic fore fath e rs came to Britain .

9
10 O UTL INE HI S TO R Y OF THE EN GL I SH L AN GUA G E

Th e T e utons came to B ritain in th e first half

of th e fifth c e ntu ry Th e re th ey fo und th e Celts
.
,

who had form e rly poss e ss e d th e e ntire island Th e s e .

Ce lts had b e e n conqu e re d b y th e Romans u nd e r

Juliu s Cae sar in th e first c entu ry and th e Romans ,

had h eld th e island for more than thr ee ce nturie s .

Wh e n th e y withdr ew at th e b e ginning of th e fifth

,

c entu ry th e Celts w e r e again masters b u t w e re

, ,

not lon g ab l e to r e tain th e ir pow e r E ve n d urin g .

Roman occu pation th e T e u tons h a d fr e qu e ntly a t

tack e d th e isl an d Wh e n th e Romans withdr ew
.
,

th e T e u tonic invad e rs fou nd th e Ce lts no s e rio u s

b ar to s e ttl e m e nt or p e rhaps as tradition says
, , ,

th ey w e re call e d in to a ssist a British king in his

wars .

Th e T e u ton s who first cam e to Brita in w e re

Ju te s from what is mod e rn J u tland
, Th ey s ettle d .

th e so u th e ast of England and th e Isl e of Wi ght ,

b u t w e r e to play no promin ent part in English

history Next cam e th e S axons from th e coast of
.

north Ge rmany and s e ttl ed sou th of th e Thame s

,

and on th e north b ank of th e low e r Tham e s .

L ast cam e th e Angl e s fr om what is n ow An geln in

,

S chl e swig H olste in and occupi e d th e e aste rn part

-
,

of th e island from th e Tham e s almost to S cotland .

 T HE OLD ENGLIS H PE R IO D

Th e traditional date s of th e s e se ttl e m ents cove r th e

c e ntury from 4 4 9 to 54 7 W e may safe ly say .

that b y th e middl e of th e sixth c entury all th e

, ,

so u th and e ast parts of B ritain w e r e poss e ss e d b y

o ur English anc e stors .

H e re on th e thr e shold we m ay rightly inquire

what mak e s up th e history of a langu age It is .

cl e arly not a record of cou ncils which de cid ed c er

tain chang e s It u s ually do e s not imply consciou s
.

chan g e at all It is rath er a r ecord of th e un con

.

sciou s chang e s b y which sp eech as a means of com ,

m u n ication conforms to th e varying nee ds of a

,
,

pe opl e These may b e tre ated und e r variou s h e ads

. .

First th e gradu al d ev elopm e nt of a national or

, ,

standard langu age ou t of th e dive r s e u sage of dif

, ,

f e ren t districts S e cond , th e change s in th e forms

.

and featu re s of words in dif fe rent periods Third .

,

th e his tory of th e infl u enc e s affecting th e word

stock or vocab ulary Fourth th e chan ge s in th e
,
.
,

in flection al forms which show th e r elationships

of words in th e s ent ence .

Th e chronological d ivisions u nd e r which e ach of

th e s e sub j e cts is b e st consid e r e d are thre e From .

th e earlie st tim e s to ab ou t 11 00 th e langu a ge is

called O ld English or Anglo S axon From 1 100
,
-
.
12 OUTL INE HIS TO R Y OF T HE EN GL ISH L AN G UA G E

to ab ou t 1 500 is th e Middl e English pe riod .

From 1 500 to th e pre se nt tim e W e re ckon

Mode rn English . S uch date s of cou rs e m ark
, ,

no viole nt change s Y e t th e langu age of e ach

.

pe riod can b e se e n to b e consid e rab ly diff e rent

from that of an e arli e r or late r tim e S u ch .

divisions a re thu s conve nie nt stage s in th e j our

n ey from th e lan gu a ge of th e B ritish T e u tons

to that of English sp e aking pe opl e s to day

- -
.

Our T e u tonic ance stors w ere hardy sea rov e rs

of an adv e ntu rou s rac e Th ey had alr e ady d e v el
.

Ope d a high type of individ ual free dom The y .

had a hi gh conce ption of woman Th eir religion .

re cogniz e d th e divin e ru lershi p of this world

and also personal immortality Th e y had s e ttled
.

forms of administe rin g j us tic e and som e ide a of

e l e ctive kin gship . Th e y alre ady h ad th e ir songs
of h e rois m in b attl e and possib ly also th eir song
,

mak e rs as a s eparate class Th ey had com e into

.

slight contact with th e Romans on th e contin e nt

and had adopte d a f e w L atin words Th ey b rou ght .

with th e m th e common alphab e t of th e T eutons ,

th e run e s and u s e d th e m in divination and in scrip

,

tions O f oth e r writte n r e cords w e know nothing

.
,

and prob ab ly th e re w e re none at this e arly tim e .

 T HE OLD EN GLISH P E R IO D 13

Th e lan guage of this p e opl e had all th e char

acte ristic s of T eu tonic It had its o wn laws of
.

acc ent It had a distinctive pron unciation of cer

.

tain consonants Its in fle ction al system tho u gh l e ss

.
,

e lab orat e than that of L atin was mor e so than that

,

of modern Ge rman Its vocab ulary was mainly u n

.

aff e cte d b y for e ign influ ence s Its sp e cial fe atu r e s

.

w e re a doub l e infl e ction of adj e ctive s and a past

""

t e ns e of most v e rb s with su ch a d ental su x as 1

th e ed ( d or t) of pre s e nt English .

Th e d ifie ren t trib e s s e ttlin g in Britain spok e

~

som ewhat di eren t forms of th e common langu age .

Th e Ju t e s in th e so u th e ast corn e r of th e island

, ,

spok e what w e call Ke ntish Th e S axons gav e .

the ir nam e to th e dial e ct which th ey u s e d Th e s e .

two are som e time s call e d S ou th e rn English Th e .

langu age of th e Angl e s owing to political divi

,

sions of th e pe opl e b e cam e two dial e cts : M ercian

,

b e twee n th e Tham e s and th e H u m b e r rive rs and .

,

N orth u mb rian b eyond th e H umb er At this time .

,

the re fore th e re was no Single form of sp ee ch which

,

was thou ght of as standard in o ur s ens e This .

was natu ral sinc e th e re was a s yet no national , as

'

distinct from trib al e xistenc e

A part of th e history of English concern s th ew
,
.
14 OUTLINE HI STO R Y OF T HE EN GL ISH LAN GUA G E
i n flu ence of oth e r langu age s at variou s tim e s Th e .

fir st of the s e to a ff e ct En glish aft e r th e s e ttle m e nt

,

of B ritain was th e Celtic Many Ce ltic nam e s of

,
.

plac e s w ere adopte d b y th e English as of riv e rs , ,

mo untains e ve n towns and vill age s O f common

,
.

words only a f e w w e re tak en ov er no doub t la rgely ,

b e ca us e th e Ce lts had b e com e a sub j e ct rac e littl e ,

r e gard e d b y th e ir conqu erors E ve n th e plac e .

nam e s are most common in th e w e st and north ,

which w e re not con qu ere d u ntil th e English had

fully s ettl e d th e sou th and e ast .

O wing to th e previou s Roman occ upation of

Britain som e f ew L atin words w e re also cau ght u p
from th e Celts Th e more important L atin in flu
.

e nc e b e gan with th e conv e rsion of th e Englis h to

Ch ristianity . In 57 0 th e Ke ntish king ZEth elb ert

married th e Fre nch princ e ss B e rtha who b ro ught ,

to En gland a Christian b ishop In 59 6 Au gu stin e .

and a b and of monks from Rom e r e ache d th e island .

The y had b ee n s ent b y Pope G r egory I who y ears ,

b e for e had s ee n som e fair haire d English slav e s in

-

th e Roman mark e t and had re solv e d on th e ir con

ve rsion .
1
A little late r th e N o rth um b rian king
Eadwin e marrie d th e Christian daughte r of a
1 See th
e ac c o unt i G n Sh rt H i t y f th E glis h P p l
’
re e n s o s or o e n eo e .
 T HE OLD ENGLI SH P E RIO D 15

Kentish king and r ec e iv ed with h er a Christian

,

prie st Th e final conv ersion of th e Anglian kin g

.

doms howev e r was made b y S cotch missionarie s

, ,

from th e Irish monast ery of Iona .

It is nee dle ss to say that L atin neve r b ecam e

th e langu ag e of th e p e opl e as in G aul and S pain .

It always re maine d a l e arne d langu ag e us e d am ong ,

scholars and in scholarly b ooks Whil e it was also .

u s e d in th e En glish ch u rch s e rvice th e only a p ,

proach to th e peopl e p e rsonally was throu gh th eir

own tongu e Th e Roman or Irish missionary was
.

thu s comp e ll e d to l e arn English T his led to trans .

lation s into th e native sp e ech and to a writte n i .

langu age But with su ch constant use of L atin by

.
i
scholars and pri e sts it is not strange that some
,

L atin words shou ld have b e com e a part of th e folk

Sp ee ch S till more w e r e u s e d in English lite ratu r e
.
,

b u t n e ve r b ecam e a part of th e spok e n langu ag e .

Th e g e n e ral form and stru cture of English was

W holly un afie cted by L atin .

Th e Christian missionarie s b rou ght with th e m

a n ew form of th e alphab et Th e y w ere accus .

tom e d to th e Roman character as u s e d in Ire

land and introdu c e d this to th e exclu sion of all
,

b ut two of th e run e s thos e for w and ih

,
Th e .
16 O UTL INE HIS TO RY OF THE EN GLISH L AN G UA G E

Irish Roman
-
form thu s e stab lish e d b e cam e g en eral
in th e nativ e literatur e This was a distinct
.

advanta ge since th e run e s w e re littl e adapte d to

,

an e asy and rapid u se in man u scripts Y et th e .

run e s w e re still occasionally e mploye d for in scrip

tions in charms and riddl e s and h ere and th ere
, ,

for a word or nam e in lite rature .

Th e first writte n lite ratu r e of O ld English b e

longs to th e An glian kingdoms It is conn e cte d .

wi th th e political su pr emacy of N orthu mbr ia in th e

s e venth centu ry H e re po e tical tradition t e lls of
.

th e cowh e rd Cae dmon ( d who b ecam e in sp ir e d

.

to paraphras e parts of th e Bibl e To him is attrib .

u te d th e po e m call e d Genes is ; and tw o oth e rs ,

E xo d us and D a n iel b elong to th e sam e e poch

, To .

th e sam e g e n e ral tim e b e long c e rtain po e ms of l e ss

Christian stamp S u ch are W id sith or th e Far
.
,

Tra veler th e Charm s and the gre at e pic B eowulf

, , .

A prose translation of part of th e Bib le was alSo

mad e by th e l earned B e de ( d though n ow
.

e ntirely lost .

To N orthu mb ria or possib ly to th e n e xt impor

,

tant kingdom of Me rcia b elongs th e gre at figu r e

,

of this north e rn b lossoming O f o u r e arl y literatu re .

This is Cynewu lf, who live d in th e last of th e

18 OUTL INE HI S TO R Y OF T HE ENGL I SH L AN GUA G E

Yet literary English in this e arly period h i d

no u ninterru pte d history It flou rish e d in O n e
.

division of th e co u ntry or anoth e r as o n e or a ,

h

oth e r was politically powe rf ul Th e gre atn e ss i f

.

Northumb ria was ch ecke d b y th e rising pow e r r f

M e rcia This kingdom gaine d its gr e ate st in flu
.

e nc e u nd e r O f fa ( 7 57 and h e r e l e arnin g
flou rish e d for a tim e Th e n th e Anglian lite ratur e
.

gav e way b e for e anoth e r form of English With .

the b e ginnin g of th e ninth c e ntu ry b oth N ort h

u m b ria a n d M e rcia wan e d b e for e th e growin g S
'

p re m a c
y of th e W e st S axon kingdom This n e w .

powe r was e stab lish e d by E gb e rt ( 802 an i

maintain ed b y his sons e specially Alfr e d th e G rea t

,

( 87 1 — 9 00
)
With th e ris e of this sou th e rn kingdom S axon
English gain e d lit erary prominenc e Winch e ste r .

was th e n th e capital of th e country and th ,

r

lan guag e of th e cou rt and of cou rt scrib es wou ld

'

thus b e W e st S axon Y e t th e lan guag e of th s

.

district was alre ady call e d English a name stric t,

'
b elonging to th e An glian r e gion English was t
.

’
nam e us ed in th e Chron icle b egu n at Alfre d s co u t
d b y Alfr e d hims elf in his writings Th e n am . i

S axon e v e n in this r egion of S axon su pr em at y

, ,
 T HE OLD EN GL I SH PE R IO D 19

had give n way to that which has e v e r Sinc e h eld

its plac e .

Th e stimul u s to literatur e cam e fr om Alfr e d

hims elf H e b rou ght ab ou t a gre at re f orm i n the
.

schools and a gre at lit e rary r e vival To him w e

,
.

o we th e translation of G r e gory s P as tora l Care

’
.

To his e nco uragem e nt if n ot to his h and a re d u e

, ,

th e English r e nd e ring of O rosiu s s H is tory of the

’

W o rld B oe th iu s s Con s o la tion of Philosop hy and

’

, ,

B e d e s E cclesia stica l H is tory of E n gla n d

’
Tho ugh .

littl e known n o w th e s e w e re gr e at works for th e

,

p eriod . Th e first compl e te Chro n icle was also

writte n in Alfr e d s r e ign thou gh no doub t b as e d
’

on e arlie r re cords Th e s e a re all pros e works and

.
,

th e revival u nd e r Alfre d was mainly a pros e re

v iv al
. This was p erhaps fortunate for th e lan
g u age which n o w b e came a m e diu m of e xpr e ssion
,

in th e Simple r forms of sp e e ch its elf At th e sam e .

time th e Old e r An glian po e try was Oopie d b y S axon

scri be s and in th e forms of S axon sp ee ch it is
,

mainly pre s erve d to d ay -

.

’
Aft er Alfre d s d e ath th e re was a d e clin e of
S axon lite rat ur e b ut it again r eviv e d in th e last
,

half of th e t enth c e ntury Th e n B ishop Dunstan .

of Worc e st er ( d 9 88) stim ulat e d l e arnin g among

.
20 OUTL INE HISTO R Y OF T HE EN GLISH L AN GUA G E

th e cl e rgy and Bishop ZEth elwold of Winch e ste r

,

( d 9 84) fo unde d English schools Th e most im

. .

portant writer was th e prie st E lf ric H e trans .

late d parts O f th e Old Tes tam en t wrote a s erie s of ,

H omilies or s e rmons for th e chu rch ye ar and

, ,

compos e d L ives of the Sa in ts U nde r ZElf r ic

.
,

S axon Engl ish r e ach e d its hi gh e st lite rary d e v el

O p m en t O th er important prose works of th e time
.

a re th e B licklin
g H o m ilies a translation ,
of th e

Gosp els and th e monastic R u le of Sa in t B ened ic t

,
.

Po e try also appe ars in th e stirring b attl e pi e c e s ,

B ru n a n burh and M a ld o n and th e l e ss e xcell e nt

,

po etic dialo gue Salom on a n d Sa turn

,
.

B e for e th e S axon Su pr e macy English was again

infl u e nc e d from withou t This was d ue to s e ttle
.

m ent in England of th e Dan e s or p e opl e from ,

S candinavia and Denm ar k AS e arly as 7 87 th ey .

h ad first att acked N orth u m b ria In 87 0 th ey set

.

tle d in East An glia Within a qu arte r of a cen

.

tu ry the y had poss e ssed N orthu mb ria and Me rcia ,

and w e re vi gorou sly attacking W ess e x D rive n .

from We ss e x b y Alfre d th e y stil l h eld th e Dan e

,

law or e aste rn En gland from th e Tham es to th e

,

T ees Th e S axon powe r its e lf de clin e d in th e last

.

of th e te nth c e ntu ry and D anish attac ks w e r e

,
 TH E OLD EN GL I SH P E R IO D 21

r e n ew e d Finally in 1 01 6 a D anish king won th e

.
, ,

thron e and a D anish dyn asty ru le d England for a

,

qu arte r of a c entu ry .

Ho w exten s1ve w e re th e original Danish s e ttl e

m ents or h ow many D an es cam e with th e n e w
,

dyn asty cannot b e known Y e t th e many place

,
.

nam e s within th e Old Dan elaw th e many p ersonal ,

name s of D anish origin and th e nu mb e r of words

,

finally app e aring in th e lan gu ag e indicate a con

sid era b le D anish infl u e nc e S u ch infl u ence h o w
.
,

e ve r
,
was larg er in th e north and in th e East
Midlands than in th e s o u th For this r eason f e w.

Danish words app e ar in S axon lit eratu r e T h ey .

b e com e more fr e qu e nt in Middl e En glish tim e s ,

wh e n literatu r e again sprang up in th e An glian

r e gion.

Anoth e r foreign in fl u enc e indire ctly r e su lte d

from th e coming of th e Dan e s Th e English king .

ZE th elre d d e pose d in 1 013 took re fu g e in N or

, ,

mandy wh enc e h e had marri e d his wife H is son

,
.

Edward was re are d at th e N orman cou rt and on ,

b e coming king of England in 1 04 2 b ro ught with ,

him many Fr ench nobl e s and pri e sts Th es e spok e .

French and th u s e arly b egan th e infl ue nc e of Nor

,

man French upon English This Fre nch influ ence

.
22 O UT L INE HI S TO R Y OF T HE EN GLISH LAN GUA G E

b e cam e more pow e rf ul at th e conqu e st of England

by William of N ormandy in 1 066 With William .

cam e mor e follow e rs and fri ends who spok e Fre nch ,

so that Fr e nch words slowly found th e ir way into

En gl ish Sp e e ch .

M e anwhil e English lost its lit erary position in

,

th e tro ub l e some e l e v e nth c entury L earnin g d e .

ca y e d
, schools w ere dying b ooks w e re s eldom ,

writte n Th e Chron ic le was continu e d at se v e ral

.

place s b ut only o n e manu script extends mu ch

,

b eyond th e N orman conqu e st This P eterboro ugh

.

Chro n icle is also o n e of th e f e w En glish works of

th e lat e r e l e venth c entu ry Unde r su ch circum
.

stance s English Sp eech chang e d more rapidly and

b e cam e mor e Simpl e in form In fl ec tion s w e r e
.

re du ce d in numb e r and irr e g ular forms gave plac e

,

to th e more regular This was e sp e cially tru e of

.

Anglian English which was to gain n ew impor

,

tanc e in th e n e w p e riod .

To s ummari ze th e O ld English p e riod T eu tonic ,

dial e cts w e r e b ro u ght to Britain at diff e re nt tim e s

b y th e Ju t e s S axons and Angl e s
, ,
Two of th e s e .

dial ects th e Anglian and th e S axon su cc e s

, ,

siv ely ros e to th e dignity of a lit e ra ry lang u age .

~

Each came in contact with Celtic and with L atin ,

 T HE OLD EN GLI SH PE RIO D 23

as a l earned lan gu ag e Anglian was also e sp e cially

.

a ff e cte d b y Danish and S axon English by N orman

,

Fr e nch . thus b e gan to ac q u ir e forei gn

words . It also progress e d som ewhat toward a
sim pl ification and regularization of th e in fle ction al
system .
 C HAPT E R II
MIDDLE E NGLI S H

TH E conqu e st by th e N ormans had no s uch e fie ct

on th e lan guage as th e conqu e st by th e T e utons .

Th e T eu tons b rou ght a lan gu ag e which r e plac e d

that of th e conqu e r e d Th e n e w conqu e rors spoke
.

N orman Fre nch for a tim e b ut gradually adopted

,

Englis h as th e Dane s had done b e fore th e m

,
.

This was in accord with th e policy of Wil liam

th e Conq u eror . H e disturb e d e xisting conditions
as little as possib l e . He claim e d th e throne on
a promis e of Edward th e Conf e ssor H e pr e s ente d
.

hims elf for el e ction b efore th e national assemb ly

( W ita n a ge m o t)
. H e took th e coronation oath of
En glish kings H e continu ed to u se English and
.

”
L atin in O Icial docu m ents It is b eli e ve d that h e
.

tri ed to l e arn th e spok e n langu age H e n eve r u s e d

.

Fre nch in o fiicial docu m e nts so far as pre serv e d

, ,

and h e made no atte mpt to displace th e moth er

tongu e .
26 OUTL INE HIS TO R Y OF TH E EN GL ISH L AN G UA GE

of Rich ard I ( 1 189 Th e La tin lit e rature

was th e olo gical as th e tr e atis e s of L anfranc ( d
,
.

Ans e lm ( d and J ohn of S alisb u ry ( d

. .

Math e matical tre atis e s w er e also written ,

as by Gerland (d .Ath elard of Bath ( twe lfth

c e ntury ) and Roge r Infans ( d
, O th er m ore .

re Neckh am s D e N a tu ris R eru m

’

g en e ral works a ,

Alf re d of England s E sop Map s La tin Poems,

’

,
’

’
and W ireker s B ru nellus .

Th e most important L atin lit erat ure was his

torical It incl u de d nu m erou s writ ers from vari
.

o us parts of England Th e re w e re Thomas of

.

Ely (d . Florence Of Worc e ster ( d .

S im e on of Durham ( d William of Malm e s

.

b ury ( d . Henry of H untin gdon ( d .

Geo fire y of Monmou th ( d Gira ld u s of Wal e s

.

(d. Th e s e are all important for th e his tory

of m ediaeval England .

Th e more direct infl u e nc e of th e N orman oc

cup atio n was a N orman Fr ench lite rature writ

te n in England .Th e re Philip d e Thaun wrote his

B es tia ire ( ab o u t a poem on animals and
th e ir characteristics The N orman French litera
.

ture was also his torical Ga im ar wrote a H is tory.

o the E n lis h E
f g Wace wrote B r utu s of n
g
 MI DDL E EN GLI SH 27

la n d ( 1 1 55) and th e Story of R ollo the N orm a n

Be noit d e S t Ma ur e th e Story of Troy
.
,

u t 11 84 and th e Story of N orm an d y

( a b o ) Th er e .

w e re num ero u s romanc e s also S om e of th e mor e .

important are Map s Qu es t of the Gr a il and L a n ce

’

lo t of the L a ke Th e Tris ta n s to ry was told b y

.

more than o n e po e t All th e s e w e re to influe nce

.

late r Englis h lite rature .

Meanwhil e En glish continue d to b e th e lan

,

gu age of th e p e opl e B e for e N orman Fre nch co uld

.

hav e a ecte d it and in parts of England l e ast

,

sub j e ct to s u ch infl u e nce it had b e com e gr e atly

,

simplifi e d Its infl e ctions w e re fe w e r Its syntax

. .

cam e to b e mor e and more lik e Mode rn En glish .

AS in O ld English th e s e chang e s w e r e most rapid

,

in th e north and le ast so in th e south Th e lan .

g u age of th e Midlands stood b e tw een thou gh ,

inclining to th e more rapid chang e s of th e n orth .

Th e only c e rtain e fie ct of Fre nch at this tim e was

on th e vocab ul ary Fr e nch words w e re gradually
.

Introduc ed as will b e shown in late r chapte rs

, .

Th e dial e cts of Middl e English are known b y

som ewhat n ew nam e s Th e Olde r S axon with
.
,

Ke ntish mad e u p S outhern E n glish

,
Th e old e r .

Northumb rian is n o w call e d North e rn During .

28 O UTL INE HIS TO R Y OF T HE EN GLI SH LAN G UA G E

this p eriod also N orth e rn English as spok en in ,

S cotland d e v elop e d into a n e w lite rary languag e

, ,

call e d L owland S cotch Th e olde r M e rcian n o w

.

b e cam e Midland En glish and is distin guis h e d as

,

E ast and W e st Midland Th e form e r w a s to

.

ass um e n ew 0 icial and literary r elations London

"

was n ow th e capital of England and London E n g ,

lish grad u all y b e cam e more and more East Midland

in character .

Th e advanc e of English toward a national

langua ge was steady as English and N ormans
,

b ecam e o n e p e opl e . This fu sion occ u rr e d e arli e r

’
than is ofte n suppos e d In 1 088 William s sons
.

h eld the ir n ew poss essions b y app ealin g to th e

loyalty of their English sub j e cts S u ch loyalty
.

d e pende d on th e growing un ion of th e rac e s and

th e disapp e aranc e of rac e hatr e d Walter Map
“
.

te lls u s that H e nry I ( 1 1 00 113 5)

— u nited th e two

p eopl e s in fir m accord Anoth er write r says

.

that in th e r e ign of H e nry II ( 1 1 54— 1 1 89 ) it was

scarc ely possib l e to distinguish f reem en of Norman
and English b irth A littl e late r a b ishop of N or
.

man b irth b lam e d anoth e r N orman b ishop b e cau se

h e cou ld not und e rstand En glish In th e thir
.

te en th c entu ry th e b ishop of Y ork r e fu sed positions

 MIDDL E EN GL IS H 29

in th e ch urch to thos e who co uld not Speak th e

langu a ge of th e p eople .

By th e end of th e tw elfth c e ntury En glish had

do ub tl ess b e com e th e spok en lang uage of all of .

for eign pare ntag e That is it was th e lang uage

.
,

of all th e pe opl e of England In addition th e .

,

le arn e d kn e w L atin and no doub t oft en spok e

,

French as w ell As to th e Midland dial e ct th e

.
,

ris e of th e u niv e rsiti e s b e lon gs to th e lat e r tw elfth

and e arly thirteenth ce ntu rie s B oth O xford and.

Camb rid ge w e re in th e Midland district Th e .

u niv e rsiti e s
,
th er e fore do ub tl e ss had a Significant
,

influe nc e in s trength e ning th e us e of Midland

among th e le arn e d class e s .

Th e f usion of E nglish and N ormans was

haste n e d b y political change s In 1 1 54 H enry
.

of Anjou b ecam e H enr y II of England By this .

change th e form er N orman rul e gav e plac e for ,

mor e than half a c entury to Ang evin kingship

,
.

Eve n N ormandy its elf was lost to th e e mpire in

1 2 04 Th e coming of th e An g e vins acqu aint e d E n g
.

lis h m en with anothe r Fre nch dial e ct It b rou ght

.

also a knowl e dg e of a large r French lite ratu re .

To this was soon add e d th e infl ue nc e of Parisian

French With thi s Parisian French En glishme n
.
30 O UTL INE HI S TO R Y OF T HE EN GLISH L AN G UA GE

b e cam e acqu aint e d at th e Univ ersity of Paris ,

wh e re th e y w e re taught by su ch gre at te ach e rs as

Ab e lard This Fre nch of Pa ris th e capital soon
.
, ,

cam e to hold a position Similar to that of Lo ndon

English It was r egard e d as th e stan d ard form
. .

From th e b e ginning of th e th irt ee nth c e ntury

a n e w nativ e lite ratu r e aros e in England La tin .

was still writte n and Fre nch occasionally

,
Bu t .

th e significant works of mor e original charac

te r w e re in En glish In th e sou thw e st th e pri est
.

L ayamon wrot e his B ru t b as e d on Wac e ( se e p

, .

b u t with m u ch matter from nativ e so ur c e s Th e .

form of th e po e m is also English Itslin e is b as e d

.

on th e O ld En glish alliterative lin e though with ,

occasional rim e To th e south also b e long th e

.

pros e A n cren R iwle or R ule of N un s th e L ives of

, ,

Sain ts and oth e r r e ligio u s pi e c e s

,
Th e re too .
, ,

we r e compos e d th e charming O wl a n d N igh tin gale ,

and th e po e tical romanc e s A lis aun d er A r thur a n d ,

M er lin , Richa rd the Lio n hea r ted -

.

Th e Mi dland r egion also h ad its literatu r e .

First is th e Ormu lum a lon g se rie s of v e rse homi

,

lie s writt e n e xpre ssly for En glis hme n Th e Gene .

sis a n d E xo d u s is a v e rs e paraphras e of parts of

tho se S criptu re b ooks Th e B es tia ry is an accou nt

.
 MIDDL E EN GLISH 31

of animals with an interpre tation of their r e al or

,

s uppos e d characte ristics Th e D eba te of the B od y

.

a n d the Sou l is a Spirit e d dialogu e which is con ,

c e iv e d as taking plac e j u st as th e so u l l e av e s its

e arthly hab itation To th e s e may b e add e d th e

.

romance of Floris an d B laun cheflur an int e re st ,

in g lov e story .

Toward th e last of th e tw elfth century lite ratu re

b e gan to app e ar in th e North e rn diale ct H e re .

w e re writt e n a s e ri e s of Sain ts Lives in v e rs e As

’
.

som e of th e se are from Fr e nch ori ginals th e y Show

that Fr e nch infl u e nc e had p e n e trate d to th e e x
tre m e nor th Y et th e langu age and str uctu r e a re
.

mainly d e scendants of th e olde r English sp e e ch of

N orthumb ria .

In th e thirte e nth c entury English partly regain e d

its po sition as an o cial langu age As note d b e
"

I .

for e L atin had largely displac e d English in Official

,

docum ents in th e tim e of Richard I French was .

first u s e d in su ch docu m ents in 12 1 5 th e ye ar of ,

Magna Charta At that tim e too it was e mploy e d

.
, ,

b y S t e ph e n L angton th e champion of chur ch and

,

English f ree dom against th e tyranny of John .

Ju st wh e n Fre nch b e came th e langu age of th e

cou rts is not known In b oth cas e s its u se m ay
.
32 OUTL IN E HI S TO R Y O F THE EN GL ISH L ANGUA G E

have b ee n d ue to th e u se of Fr e nch b e sid e s L atin ,

,

at th e unive rsiti es .

In any cas e En glish n ow appe ar e d in on e sig

n ific an t doc u m e nt Whe n th e Provisions of Cx
.

ford w e re wre ste d from th e u nwillin g H e nry III

in 1 2 58 th e y w ere proclaim e d to e v e ry shir e in
,

Englis h as w ell as in Fre nch and La tin This use

, .

of English may hav e b e e n a conce ssion to th e

popu lar u prising which had gaine d th e O xford b ill
of rights B e sid e s English s e e ms to hav e b ee n
.
,

u s e d familia rly at th e co urt of th e first Edward

( 1 2 7 4 A gain this sam e Edward so u ht to

, g
ins pire loyalty b y app e aling to th e lov e of th e
moth e r tongue In a su mmons to parliam e nt h e
“
.

sa id that th e Fr e nch king plann e d if his ab ility ,

shou ld corre spond with his iniqu itou s pu rpos e

( which G od pr e v e nt) to d e stroy th e English lan
,
”
gua ge wholly fr om th e e arth .

Th e fo u rte e nth c e ntu ry witn e sse d th e compl e te

asc ende ncy of English in p ub lic l ife Eve n th e
.

u s e of Fr e nch b y th e u pp e r class e s n o w b e gan to

se e m strange .Rob e r t of Glo u c e s te r r e marks on

En gland s p e cu liar position in this r e sp e ct Re
’
.

co unting th e story of th e Conque st and th e con ,

tin ue d us e of Fr e nch h e says , ,

34 OUTL INE H IS TORY O F THE EN GL ISH L AN GUA G E

This t e stimony is th e more significant for Trev isa,

shows hims e lf no b igot L ike Rob e rt of Glou c ester

.
,

h e thou ght knowl e dg e of a s e cond langu ag e a

g ood thing
. H e not e s that th e r e was a c e rtain

di sadvanta ge in not knowin g Fr ench and [i e if"

,
. .

they shall pass th e sea and travel in strange lands

,
”
and in many oth e r place s .

In th e sam e p e riod English cam e to b e th e lan

u ag e of o Icial life In 1 3 6 2 E d ward III first
g .

op e n e d Parliam e nt with an English sp ee ch In th e .

sam e ye ar h e or de re d that pl e adin gs in th e law

co ur ts shou ld b e in th e native tongu e English .

was first us e d in p etitions to Parliam ent in 13 86 .

Th e e arli e st En glish will pr e s e rv e d in L ondon b e

longs to th e n e xt ye ar O n e ye ar lat er th e e arlie st
.

statu te s of th e gu ilds w e r e s e nt to L ondon in th e

moth e r tongue Fr ench had b e gun to b e u sed in
.

corre spond enc e in 1 2 7 0 A privat e l ett e r of 1 3 9 9

.

shows that it had give n way to English In th e .

sam e y e ar H e nry I V acce pt e d th e crown in an

English Sp ee ch Thu s th e native langu age tri
.

u mph e d,
not only ov e r N orman Fre nch b ut ove r ,

th e traditional and conv e ntional u se of Fr e nch as

th e lang u a ge of half th e co u r ts of E urope .

There was n ow, als o th e first cl ear r ecognition

,
 MI DDL E EN GLIS H 35

of difieren t dial e cts of English sp ee ch This repre .

s e nts a n e w conscio u sne ss with r e gard to langu a ge .

B ed e had class e d English as simply o n e of th e

fiv e langu ag e s of Britain th e oth e rs b e ing British , ,

S cottish Pictish and L atin An O ld or Middl e

, ,
.

Englis h writ e r u s e d th e dial e ct of his o wn r e gion ,

with no thou ght of whe th e r it would b e u nd erstood

b y oth e r Englishme n In lik e mann e r a copyist
.

u su ally u s e d his own dial e ct no matte r what that ,

of th e original N o o n e tho ught of o n e dial e ct as

.

more corr e ct or im portant than anoth e r .

A distinct advance in linguistic conscious n e ss

appe ars in H igden He r e cogniz e d thre e gre at .

divisions of English as S o uth e rn North e rn and , , ,

”
Middle sp ee ch in th e mid dl e of th e land He .

adds :
“ M e n of th e e a s t wit h m en of th e w e s t as it w ere u n d er
‘

th e s am e p a t o f h e ave n acc o rd m o re in s o u n d in g of s p e ech

‘

r ,

th an m en o f th e no rth wit h m en o f th e s o u t h T h ere f o e it . r

is th t a M e rcia n s, th ta a re m en of M id d le E n gl n d
a , as it
w e re p ar tn e rs nd u nd
of th e e s, e r sta n d b tt
e er th e Sid e lan
gu ag e s N o th n
r d S u th n t h
er an o er , an N o th
r ern an d S o u th n er

u n d e rs t n d it h [ th "ot h
a e er
” e er .

This too is th e earli e st r e cognition of Midland

, ,

En glis h as th e form that was to b e com e national .

Y e t as e arly as this th e re was no id e a of one

36 O U TL INE H I S TO R Y O F TH E EN GLI S H L AN GUA G E

diale ct or form of sp e e ch b e comin g a standard for

th e whol e nation A consciou s choice wou ld have
.

b e e n n e ith e r natu ral nor e ff e ctiv e B u t b y Im con

.

sciou s proc e ss th e lan gu ag e of th e Midland district

g rad u ally approach e d national u se in lite rat u r e .

N ational lif e c ent ere d in L ondon national learn ,

in g in th e u nive rsitie s b oth in th e Midlands

,
.

Th e dial e ct of L ondon gradu ally b e cam e Midland

in characte r .In this dial ect a gr e at lite ratur e
spran g up e stab lishin g a fo rm for lit e rary art
,

which was constantly followe d b y oth e r write rs .

A lit e rary langu ag e th u s cam e to b e national in

characte r .

This do e s not m ean that th e d ifie ren t diale cts

c e as e d to b e writt e n Far l e ss mus t it b e sup
.

pos e d that th ey c e as e d to b e spok en e ven b y peo ,

p le of consid e rab l e l e arnin g Th e id

. e a of corr e ct
spok e n English was not to d e v elop u ntil c en
tu rie s aft e r this tim e B u t from this tim e o n e
.

lit e rary form of En glish pre vails and that form ,

was th e va rie ty call e d Midland .

Th e fo u rt e e nth c e ntu ry is th e b lossomin g tim e

of a n e w and original lite ratu r e To S ou th e rn
.

b elo n g nu m e ro u s important wo rks Rob e rt of .

Glou c e st er s Chro n icle has b e e n m e ntion e d

’
Two .
 MIDDL E EN GL I SH 37

oth e r inter e sting works a re th e L egen d of the H o ly

R oo d (or Cr oss) and th e Seven Sa ges a coll e ction
, ,

of tal e s H e re also Thomas Ch e st e r wrot e th e

.

romance s Octavia n L ibceus D escon u s and th e story

, ,

of L a unf a l The s e a re all m e trical Th e most

. .

’
important pros e works are Tre visa s translation of
H i gde n s Po lychro n icon and th e Ke ntish A yen bite
’

of In wit or R em orse of Con scien ce b y Da n Micha e l

,
.

To Kentish also b elong Shoreham s Poem s ’

.

North e rn is not b ehind in nu mb e r of wr it

in gs Th er e is th e Cursor M a n d i a ve rs e history
.
,

of th e wo rld ; th e Sur tees Psa lter and th e religiou s ,

writings of Richard Roll e Castl e ford s Chro n icle .

’

and th e M etrica l H om ilies indicate th e ir char acte r

b y th e i r titl e s Minot s P oem s a re national lyrics
.
’

of gre at e xc e ll e nc e Th e romanc e s a re e ve n more

.

nu m erou s as Tris trem Isum bras Floren ce of R om e

, , , ,

H orn Child e, E glam our, Octa vian , Iwain a n d

Ga wa in Y et som e of th e s e Show a mixtu re of
.

Midland forms and may possib ly b elon g sou th of

th e N orth e rn line .

By far th e gr e at e st lit e rat u re b elongs to th e

Midland district H e r e also th e romanc e s w e re
.

nu merou s S om e of th e b e st are H a velok A mis

.
,

an d A m iloun , E m a re, E a r l f
o Toulou se, Guy f
o
38 OUTL INE H I STO R Y O F THE EN GLISH LAN GU A G E

W a r wick Rob e rt
Manning translate d two Fre nch
.

works th e H a n d lin ge Sin ne or M a n u a l of Sins

, , ,

and La n gtof t s Chron icle ’

B oken h am wrote a .

s e ri e s of L egen d s of Sa in ts Myro som e Ins tru ctio ns

,

to P a rish P ries ts and Au d ela y oth e r P oems th e

, ,

las t two in th e W e st Midland re gion O f th e lat .

ter district th e most important po e t is th e a u thor

of Pea rl Sir Gawain a n d the Green K n igh t Clea n
, ,

n ess (i e . Chastity ) and P a tien ce

. Th e first tw o
,
.

Show u n us ual pow e r and b e au ty .

To th e Midland district also b elong th e fiv e

gr eat name s of this c e ntury Th e s e are Chau ce r .
,

incomparab l e maste r of literary art ; G ow e r his ,

frie nd who wrote th e Confessio A ma n tis Lang

,

land of th e P iers Plowma n among po e ts To

, ,
.

th e se we may add Wyclif th e r e form e r and , ,

the au thor of Man d ev ille s Tra vels among prose ’

writers All th e s e w e re original in a n ew s e ns e

. .

With th em too, a national lite rat ur e b e came fully

,

e stab lish e d .

Th e e xt e nt to which English was b e coming

national may b e s ee n from th e circu mstanc e s of
Chau c e r s car ee r A po e t of th e high e st ab ility h e
’
.
,

was e sp e cially conne cte d with th e cou rt A man .

of af f airs, h e was honore d b y th e king with h ig hl y

 MIDDL E EN GLISH 39

important offic e s Thou gh h e wrot e Fre nch in his

.

y o u th all his wo rk now p re s e rv e d to u s is in En

, g
lish He made no conscio u s choic e of o n e dial e ct
.

of English for h e u s e d th e langu age of his nativ e

,

city Lo ndon Y e t th e gre atn e ss of his work e stab

,
.

lish e d a high e r conc e ption of po e tic art For this .

re ason h e was Oopie d and imitate d in th e following

c entury som e tim e s e v e n late r From his time
,
.
,

the re fore a lang uag e of lite rary a r t cam e to b e

,

r e co gniz e d with lit e rary traditions s e parating it

,

som e what from th e langu ag e of pros e or ordinary

sp e e ch .

Th e victory of English as a national langu ag e

is prov e d by th e disu s e of Fre nch in work s writ
ten in En gland In Y orkshire Pe t er L an gtoft
.

composed his Fr e nch Chron icle in 1 3 07 Ab o u t .

th e sam e tim e N ichol e B ozon wrote his M oral

Ta les . Th e last consid e ra b l e Fr ench works w er e
G ow e r s M rour d e l om ne of 13 7 8 and his B a llad s
’ ’

, , ,

p erhaps som e what late r In ge ne ral how ev e r

.
, ,

from th e middl e of th e fo urte enth c entu ry as

“
,

Te n Brink says Fr e nch only prolong e d a partly

,
”1
artificial and partly starve d v itality .

Th e estab lishm e nt of Midland Engli s h a s the

1 E a rly E n glis h L iterature, p . 3 27 .
40 O UT L INE HI STO R Y or T HE EN GLIS H LAN GUA G E

n ational langu age is cl e are r p erhaps from th e lit , ,

e ra tu re of th e fifte e nth c e ntu ry In this time .

S ou th e rn English no longe r h eld a plac e in writ

in g . North e rn continu e d to b e u se d only as a
S cottish lite rary langu ag e of which w e shall tak e ,

accou nt in anoth e r plac e O n th e oth e r hand th e

.
,

literary traditions of Chau c e r w e r e carri e d on b y

O ccl ev e ( d 14 50) and Ly dgate ( d
. Th e .

controv e rsy b e tw ee n Wyclif and his oppon e nts le d

to th e use of th e langu ag e of th e p e opl e in contro
v ersial pros e Cap grav e wrote th e first Chron icle
.

in En glis h afte r that at P e te rb or ough had e nd e d

,

in 11 54 Forte scu e compos e d A bs o lu te an d L im ited

.

M on archy th e e arli e st tr e atis e on constitutional

,

gove rnm e nt .

Toward th e last of th e Middl e p e riod th e u se

of Midland English was gr e atly e xte nd e d b y th e
e sta b lishm e nt of printing in En land William
g .

Caxton b rou ght th e n e wly i n v e nted art to L ondon

ab ou t 14 7 0 H e hims e lf translat ed many b ooks
. .

He print e d th es e and many oth ers amon g th e m ,

nu me rou s Olde r works Printing gave a pow e rful

.

impuls e to th e spread of b ooks among th e p eopl e .

By it Midland gain e d th e a dvanta ge of an e s

tab lish ed form e asily re ad b y all Englishm en and
, ,
42 O UTL INE HIS TO RY or T HE EN GLI SH LAN GUA G E

th e s tory of its victo ry ov e r Fr e nch as a sp ok en

and writte n lan gua ge That language had b ee n
.

b ro ught in b y th e N ormans and contin u e d amon g

,

th e u ppe r cla s s e s b y th e An ge vin rul e B u t En g .

g lish ,
tho u h r e c e iving la rg e n u m b e rs of Fr e nch
g
words r e tained its T e u tonic stru cture and fin ally
,

gain e d compl e t e asc e nd e ncy At th e sam e tim e

.

N ors e influ enc e made sp e cial additions to th e word

stock D urin g th e pe riod th e pr oc e ss of sim plifica
.

tion contin u e d activ e As a r e s ult th e u n in flecte d

.
,

and analytic characte r of th e mode rn ton g ue was

practically r ea ch e d Durin g th e p e riod also Mid
.
, ,

land English of th e so u th e ast Midland r e gion b e

came th e lan gua ge of lit e ratu re and of national life .

S ide by Sid e with it literary S cotc h d eve loped from

,

the extreme N orthern of Edin b urgh .

 C HAPTE R III
THE MO ERN D LANGUAGE

TH E story of th e mod ern lan gu ag e is in o n e ,

s ens e quite simpl e NO conqu e st of England has

,
.

occurre d as in b oth p e riods pre c e ding Midland

,
.

English has r e main e d th e national langu age sub ,

j e ct to slight chang e s Y .e t Mod e rn English has

a history b y 11 6 m e ans u nimportant Ce rtain .

sub tl e r in flu e nc e s mu st b e chronicle d and c ertain

,

phas e s o f d e v e lopm e nt For som e of th e

'

n ew .

same proc e ss e s of simplifi cation hav e b ee n in

progress as in EIIgliSh of th e past thou gh b ring
,
’

ing ab ou t l e ss ra di cal change s in structure .

W e have alre ady m ention e d a growing con

sciou sn e ss with r e gard to lang u age That con .

sciou sn e ss b e cam e mor e pronou nc e d in th e mod e rn

pe riod . Caxton shows it in his pr efac e to th e

E neyd os H e th ere m entions two kinds of oriti
“
.

c ism of his work . He sp e aks of som e ge ntl e me n

which late b lam e d m e saying that in my tran sla
,

43
44 OU TL INE HI S TO RY O F T HE EN GL ISH LAN GUA G E

tions I had ove rcu rio u s te rms which coul d not b e

u nd e rstood of common p e opl e
“
and late r som e ,

hone st and gre at cl e rks have b e e n with m e and

de sir e d m e to writ e th e most cu rio us t e rms that
”
I co ul d find .

This wo ul d indicat e that Englishm e n w e r e al

r e ady o f tw o class e s in r e fere nce to th e ir native
tongu e S om e w e re for th e common and hom e ly
.
,

som e for th e n ew and strange S om e th ing of th e .

sam e sort app ears late r in th e criticism of S ir

Thomas Ely ot s Go vern our ( 153 1 ) for its strang e
’

’
te rms . Th e s e a re at l e ast e vid e nce of a n e w
fe el ing toward langu age The y Show a conscious .

ne ss regarding u sage hith e rto u nknown Le t us .

se e what this n e w attitu d e b ro u ght forth

“
All cl ass e s of critics wish e d to improve E n g
lis h as th ey said Each how ev e r had its own
,
.
, ,

way of r each ing th e e n d On e class propose d to .

b ring ab o u t th e r e s u lt b y larg e importations of

words from L atin Gre e k and th e Romanc e lan
, ,

g ua ge s Elyot in th e pre fac e to K n owled ge which

.
,

ma ke th a M a n W is e admits a d e finite p ur
pose to u se n e w words :
I i ent n ”
d ed , h e sa ys ,
“
to a u gm e n t ou r E n gli h ton gu
s e,

w h e re b y m en sh o uld x pe re ss m o re ab u n d an tly th th in g
e
 THE MO D E R N L AN GUA G E 45

th t t h y o iv d i th i h t ( wh f o l n gu g w
a e c n ce e n e r ear s e re re a a e as

o d in d ) h vin g wo d p t f th p u p o
r a e ,
a l o int r s a or e r se , a s a s er

p t o u t f G k L t in
re o y ot h ton g u int E n gli h
re e , a ,
o r an er e o s

as u ffi i nt ly
s o u t f y f th id ton gu i t
c e as o an o e sa es n o

noth ”
“
a er .

Elyot also sp e aks of oth

e r words late com e o u t

of Italy and France and made d enize ns amon g ,

In 1 581 G e orge P e ttie approv e d b orrowing

“
us .

from L atin in the s e words : It is ind e e d th e

r e ady way to e nrich o ur tongu e and mak e it
copiou s ; and it is th e way all tong ue s hav e
”
taken to e nrich th e ms e lve s A littl e more than .

a d ecad e late r N ash th e pamphl et eer d e fe nd e d , ,

his b orrowings from s e veral fore ign langu age s

on th e gro u nd that English containe d too many
monosyllab l e s .

A s e cond class of critics r e gard e d th e fashion

of b orrowing words as a corru ption of sp e e ch .

Thu s Roge r Ascham in his Toxop hilus ,

wou ld have m en write as th e common p e opl e

sp e ak In su pport of this h e q uote s th e couns el
“
.

of Aristotle He adds Many English writ e rs

.
,

have not done so b u t u sing stran ge words as , ,

Latin Fr e nch and Italian do mak e all things

, , ,
”
dark and hard Thomas Wilson in his A r te of
.
,

R hetoric was e v en mor e se ve re u pon th e

46 OUTLINE H IS TO RY or T HE EN GL I S H LAN GUA G E

u se of fore ign words . H e puts his e xc ell e nt

doctrin e th u s simply
“
Am on g all ot h
on t h i h o ld fi t b l n d
er les s s s s u rs e ear e ,

th t w n v
a e e y i n
er a k ff
h t
o n t m b t to p k i
ec an r er s, u s ea as s

co mm on ly iv d re ce So m e k . f f o u tl n d i h e see so ar or a s

E n gli h t h t t h y f o g t lto g t h
s a e t h i m oth l n g u g
r e a
” e er e r er s
’
a a e .

Many oth ers took th e sa m e view . Gascoigne

’
s
N o tes f
o In s tr uc tion c on cern in
g th e M akin g of E n g
lish Vers e ( 1 57 5) advis e s against th e use of words
of many syllab l e s H is r eason is th e more mono .
,

syllab l e s y ou u se th e tru e r Englishman y ou shall

,
”
s e e m and th e l e ss y o u shall sm ell of Italian
, In .

his e pistle at th e b e ginning of th e Shep her d s Ca l ’

en d a r E K supports th e s am e practice of
“
. .

S p ens e r H e prais e s th e po e t for r e storing

. as ,

to th e ir rightful h e ritage s u ch good and natu ral ,

English words as have b ee n long tim e o ut of us e ,

”
and almost cle an dish e rite d .

S p ens e r som e tim e s w ent too far in conse rvative

te ndency In th e Shep h erd s Ca len d ar h e u s e d
.
’

too many words that w e re cl early dial e ctal In .

th e Faerie Q u een e h e b orrow e d too fr e ely f rom

English of th e past H e did b oth how e ve r in .
, ,

opposition to th e e xtr em e b orrowing from fore i gn

sou rc es that was common Th e au thor of th e .
 T HE MOD E R N LAN GUA G E 47

A r te f o P o esie ( 1 589 )
E n glish w as also an oppo
ne nt of b orrowe d plum e s
Al b e it ,
p e rad v e nt u re s om m on it ion b e not
m al l
e s ad

imp er t in nt
e f or w e fin d in
,
o u r E n glish
writ e rs ma n y wo rd s
an d Sp ee c h e s am e n ab le ; an d y e sh all s e e in s o m e m a n y in k

h o r n t e rm s so ill aff ec t e d b r o u gh t in b y m en o f learn in g a s

-
, ,

p reach e rs an d sch o olm as t ers an d m a n y st ran g e t e rm s o f

,

oth er lan g u age s b y secre t arie s an d m erch a nt s an d t ravele rs ,

an d m a n y d ark wo rd s an d not u su al n or w ell so u n d in g ,

t h o u gh th ey b e d a ily sp o k e n at c o u r t
” .

Y et ach class of critics had its share in th e

e

d ev e lopm e nt of English Th e adoption of foreign .

and n ewly coin ed words wh e n carri e d to ex ,

tr e m e was ch e ck e d b y th e mor e cons e rvative

,

class . Th e latte r also str ength en e d the nativ e

e l e m e nts of voca b u lary and syntax A middle .

gro und b etwe en th e two was finally tak e n in

practice O n e of thos e who aptly sta te d th e
.

th e ory of this middl e grou nd was S ir Philip S id

ne
y
. In his D ef en ce o
f P o esie ( 1 5 81 ) h e notes th e

dive rs e vi e ws of write rs and critics and th e n says ,

of English : I know som e will say it is a min gl e d

langu ag e ; and why not so m u ch th e b e tte r taking ,
”
th e b e st of b oth th e oth e r .

In conn e ction with th e u nu su al b orrowin g of

words which was taking plac e we mu st re m e m ,
48 OUT LINE IH ST ORY O F T HE ENGLI SH L AN GUA G E

b e r th e multit u d e of n ew infl u enc e s on English

le tt e r s and l ife Indee d it was b e ca u s e of th e se
.
,

n e w infl u e nc e s that words as id e as w e re adopte d

, ,

into b ook s and sp e e ch It was th e c entu ry of th e

.

r e vival of l e arnin g With this cam e n e w teachin g

.

of th e classical lan gu age s in th e schools and more

fre qu e nt translation of classical b ooks It was .

th e tim e of mor e e xt e nde d int er co u rs e with Italy .

With this cam e a n e w r e adin g of Italian lit e ratur e

and ab undant translation from it It was th e.

pe riod O f first acq uaintanc e with th e lite rature s

of Ge rmany and th e Lo w Co u ntri e s and more ,

larg ely with that of S pain It was a tim e of

.

r e ne w e d and str e ngth e n e d int e rcour s e with th e

lite rature of Fr anc e Thro u gh this not only was
.

Fre nch lit e ratu r e more intimat ely known b ut ,

many b ooks of oth e r Romanc e nations w ere first

translate d into English .

It was th e c e ntu ry of th e Re formation of th e

English church . O wing to this En glish pre ach
in g b e cam e a n ew factor in lit e ratu r e and th e ,

En glish B ib l e a b ook of style as of morals It .

was th e c e ntury of gr eat maritim e proj e cts and th e

op ening of n e w wo rlds Me n s min d s w e r e b ro ad
.
’

e n e d an e w b y acqu aintanc e with r egions hith e rto

50 OUTL INE HIS TO RY OF THE EN GL IS H L AN G UAG E

and dictionari e s, b elong to the sam e time In .

1 582 Mulca ster pub lis h e d his E leme n tarie which ,

s upported th e u se of Englis h instead of L atin ,

propos e d a compl e te English dictionary, and prom

ise d a grammar of the languag e Th e latt e r h e .

di d not write b u t Bu llo kar s B rief Gr amm ar f or

’

E n glish app e ar e d In 1 586 All th e s e are e vid enc e s

.

of conscio u s e ort to improve th e langu age a n d

make it a b e tter medium of expre ssion .

Meanwhil e th e literatur e of England shows th e

e xte nt to which th e lang u ag e had b e com e stand

ard for th e whole cou ntry S o long as diff e re n t

.

dial ects w ere r e pre s e nted b y important works, a

grammar of th e language m u st have b e en on e of
a particular dial e ct or of all of th e m togeth e r
,
.

In this p e riod for th e first tim e cou ld b e pre pare d

, ,

a grammar of s tandard Englis h rathe r than of ,

Midland or S o u th e rn or N orth ern English For .

th e first time all u sage oth e r than that of th e

,

gre at writers was of small account A dictionary .

of standard u sag e cou ld also b e made Al l th e s e .

things indicate d the n e w u nity of national use .

 T HE MO D E R N LAN G UA GE 51

E N GLIS H OF T H E SEV E NTEEN T H AND E I G HTEE NTH

C ENTU RIE S
In this p e riod th e lingu is tic cons cio u sness em
p h asiz ed a n e w f e atur e of English This was .

a s u ppos e d instab ility of th e standa rd lan guage

alre ady in e xist e nc e It was s ee n that English
.

had change d som ewhat e v en in th e mode rn p eriod

,
.

As compare d with Chau ce r th e change s we re still ,

gre at er Th e y s e e m e d gr e at also wh en compare d

.
, ,

with classical Latin Eve n Caxton was su rpris e d

.

“
at the di e renc e b etw e en th e langu age of Chau ce r
and that of his own a ge In th e pre fac e to his
“
.

E n eyd os h e e xclaims W e Englishm e n b e b orn

,

u nd e r th e domination of th e moon which is n e v e r ,

”
ste adfast b u t e ve r wav e ring Impr e ss e d by th e
.

same fact Lord B ac on se t himse lf to translat e his

“
,

works into L atin He said, Th e s e mode rn lan

.

g uage s will at o n e tim e or oth e r play th e b ank

, ,
”1
ru ts with b oo k s
p .

Th e sam e id e a in oth e r cou ntrie s had le d to

variou s m e ans for pre v e nting chan ge In Italy .

acade mie s w e re e stab lishe d On e of th e se th e .

,

Acade mia d ella Cru sca had p u b lish e d a gre at dic

,

1 Pref ac e to th e E ss a ys, 162 3 .

52 O UT L INE HI S TO R Y OF T H E EN GLI SH L AN GUA G E

tion ary of Italian in 1 61 3 In England similar .

plans we re sugge ste d Th e e arli e st r e cord e d is

.

that of Edmu nd Bolton in 1 61 6 He propos e d a .

plan for a Royal Academy o n e part of which was

,

to be d evote d to lite ratu re Th e sch e m e is said to

.

have b e e n confirme d by Jam e s I in 1 62 4 b u t was ,

n ev er carri e d out, owing to his d e ath th e following

Th e proposal to found an acad e my was f re

qu e ntly mad e in th e n e xt h undr e d ye ars Milton .

may have had it in mind At l e ast h e wrot e in

.

th e hi gh e st t e rms of him who e nde avors by ,

pr e ce pt and b y r ul e s to p erp etuate that style and

,

idiom of sp ee ch and composition which have flour

ish e d in th e pur e st pe riods of th e langu a ge In
“
.

1 663 Dryd e n r e gr e tt e d that sp e aking so nob l e a

,

langu age as w e do w e hav e not a more c e rtain

,

m easu re of it as th ey have in Franc e wh e re th ey

, ,
”
have an acad e my e nacte d for that purpos e In .

1 67 9 too h e wish e d that th e r e might b e in

, ,

England th e sam e c ertainty of words and p urity

of phras e to which th e Italians first arrive d and ,
”
afte r th e m th e Fre nch .

In th e e ighte enth c ent ury S wift and Addison

b oth favor e d som e s u ch plan Addison u rge d .
 T HE MO D E R N LAN G UA G E 53

“
som ething lik e an acad e my that b y th e b e st ,

a u thoritie s and r ul e s drawn from th e analo gy of

lan gu age s Shall s e ttl e all controv e rsi e s b e twe e n
,

g rammar and idiom S

( p ec ta tor T h e fol ,

lowin g y e ar S wift wr ot e a pamphl e t in s u pport of

his ide a It b or e th e titl e P rep osa l f or Correctin g
.
, ,

Imp rovin g, an d A scer ta in in g the E n glis h Ton gu e .

Th e de sir e for an acad e my was partly owin g

to a n e w b orrowin g of Fre nch words This had .

r e s ult e d from a strong Fre nch infl ue nc e at th e

Re storation Dryd e n had not b ee n Slow to
u s e s u ch words Y e t h e thu s s e v e re ly criticis e d
“
.

e xtre m e b o rrowin g : I cannot approv e of th e ir

way of r efinin g who corru pt o ur En glish idiom b y
,

mixing it too mu ch with Fre nch That is a sophis .

tic ation of lang u ag e not an improv e m e nt of it ;

,

a tur nin g English into Fr ench rath e r than r e fining

English b y Fr e n o In th e sam e spirit B u tl e r
wrote a Sa tire o n our R id icu lous Imita tion of the
Fren ch . Th e Sp ecta tor e v en wish ed to “ prohib it
any French phrase s fr om b e coming cu rrent in this
kin gdom w h e n thos e of o u r own stamp are alto
,
”
e th e r as val u ab l e
g .

Th e wish for an acad emy cam e from th e con

se rv a tive s in langu ag e To su ch in flu e nces m u st
.
54 OUTL INE HI S TO R Y O F T HE EN GLISH L AN GUAG E

be adde d mak e rs of grammars and dictionaries

th e .

In 163 3 Charle s Bu tle r p u b lish e d his E n glish Gr am

m ar . In 1 640 that l eft in manu script by Be n Jon
son was first printed Th e making O i dictionarie s
.

also e nte re d on a n e w stag e Th os e of th e six

.

te e n th c e ntury had explaine d anoth e r lan guag e

b y English not English its e lf
,
In 1 61 6 a tr ue
.

English dictionary w as made by John Bullokar .

It was call e d an E n glish E xp ositor and in it

“
,
”
th e hard est words w e re interpre te d In 1 62 3 .

Co ck era m print e d an E n glis h D ic tiona rie and in ,

1 656 Blou nt pu b lish e d a G lossograp hia In 1658 .

Phillips n e ph e w of Milton issu e d his N ew W or ld

, ,

o
f W ord s a nearer
, approach to the dictionary of

All th e s e works were devoted to th e u nus ual

and th e difficul t words Of th e langu age Th e r e .

was no atte mpt to give common te rms or incl u de ,

a ll thos e b elon ing to English S till th e diction

g .

ary and grammar had a r egulariz ing and unifying

infl ue nc e Literary u sag e also had mad e consid e r
.
, ,

ab l e advance u pon that of th e Elizab ethan age .

Th e r e was more att ention to e very phase of d ic

tion This was als o owing to th e growth of th e
.

critical faculty .
 T HE MO D E R N L AN GUA GE 55

Th e d e sire for what was call e d fixity in lan

u ag e continu e d into th e e ightee nth c e ntu ry A
g .

n ew s e ns e for corr e ctn e ss in u sag e also d e v elop e d .

This is cl e ar from nu m e rou s e ssays on points of

diction in th e Sp ecta tor and s imilar periodicals .

An advanc e in dictionari e s was mad e b y Bailey .

He p ub lish e d an E tymo logical Dic tion ary in 1 72 1

( s e cond vol u m,
e which was m u ch mor e com
p le te as to common words than any pr e c e ding
“
.

”
G rammar s and Gu id e s to th e English tongu e
Show that English was taught in th e schools as
ne ve r b e fore Y e t th e re was still no au thoritativ e
.

guide to good English su ch as all could acc e pt

,
.

This lac k th e great lite rary critic S amu el ,

John son undertook to supply In 1 7 4 7 h e pub

,
.

lish e d a Plan for a n ew dictionary b y which h e

“
,
”
hop e d to fix (i e e stab lish ) th e English langu age
. . .

Th e D ic tion a ry was print e d in 1 7 55 and while not

,

all that J ohnson hop e d for was of great val u e in

,

regulating u sage It was pr e par e d by on e of re c

.

o gn iz e d r ep u tation .It gave th e b est us age from

th e Eli za b e than age to that of its app e aranc e It .

u s e d illu strativ e qu otations for the first tim e It

.

first add e d grammatica l r elations of words and ,

paid special attention to car e fu l de finitions It .

56 O UTLINE H IS TO R Y O F THE ENGLISH L AN GUA G E

gave fre qu e nt su gg e stions of prop er forms and it ,

was pre c e de d b y a grammar of th e lan gu age O n .

the s e acco unts th e n e w dictionary was accepte d as

a standard in a n ew s ense and b y all English sp eak -

ing p e opl e .

J ohnson s D ic tion ary b e cam e th e standard for

’

sp ell ing as w ell as literary u sage Q u e stions of .

orthogr aphy had b e e n consid e re d in th e Sixt ee nth

c e ntury .Th e works of S ir Thomas S mith a ,

privy co u ncilor and of B ullo ka r hav e b e e n m en

,

tio n e d. Th u s e arly th e sp elling of English was

f elt to b e st rangely at varianc e with pronu nci
ation Th us e arly the r e was a d e sire for some
.

thin g mor e rational Th e int e re st of th e e ighte enth

.

c entu ry how e ve r ce nte re d in a fixe d standard

, , ,

r athe r than in r e form of sp e lling L ord Che ste r

.

fie ld point e d o ut that th ere w e re two m e thods of

spe lling th e g e ntl e manly and th e p e dantic and
, ,

hop e d th e n ew dictionary wo uld e stab lish a Sin gl e

form T his J ohnson did s u pply and h e was g en er
.
,

ally follow e d Tho u gh th e re have b e e n som e

.

change s sinc e his tim e th e y h av e b e en Sim plifica

,

tions on th e b asis of his forms rath er than radical

,

modifications .

To th e infl uence of the dictionary mus t b e

58 OUTL INE HI S TO RY or THE EN GL ISH LAN GUA G E

and in this was follow e d b y th e dictionarie s of Pe rry

S he ridan and Walke r th e
mos t important of all From this tim e pronu nci .

ation has b een a part of all s u ch works Th ey .

have thus e ncourage d uniform ity and re strain e d ,

variation among e du cate d p e opl e .

Toward th e last of th e e ight e enth ce nt ury th e re

wa s a re action against th e more ornate and
L atiniz e d diction of th e e arlie r tim e Th e re su lt .

was a n e w Simplicity in words and to some e xte nt ,

in s ente nce stru cture Th e lite rary languag e thu s

.

gain e d in dire ctne ss, while losing nothing in

strength or b e au ty A minor infl uenc e is less to
.

b e comm e nde d It was th e too fre quent in tro d uc

.

tion of archaic words into li terat u re This archaic .

t ende ncy was d u e to th e r e vival of Olde r po e try, as

th e b allads S pens e r and th e Eliz ab e than dra m a
, , .

Compare f or e xample Col eridg e s A n cien t M ariner

’

, , ,

e specially th e first p ub lish e d form S uch arch a .

ism s howeve r have in ge n eral h eld b ut a tempo

, ,

rary plac e e ve n in literary u sag e

,
.

E N GL I S H I N T H E N I N E T EE N T H C E NT URY
Du rin g th e ni
n e t e enth century Englis h has
b een more un iform than in any pr e c e ding period .
 THE MOD E R N LAN GUA G E 59

For e xampl e th e forms of th e s trong or irre gu lar

,

ve rb hav e b e e n th e last to b e e stab lish e d Y e t .

the s e hav e b e com e practically invariab le in this

p e riod In th e e ight e e nth c entu ry Gray u s e d ha d
.

wro te in his L etters and J ohnson gave th e past

,

participle as written , writ or wro te All b u t th e

,
.

first have com e to b e distinctly illit e rate S o .

,

whil e J ohnson himself gav e ru n as past te ns e of

run in his grammar and u se d it himself in his
,

writin gs h e gave ra n in th e diction ary prop e r and

,

this form alon e has pre vail e d Th e spok e n lan .

g u ag e also has b e e n more u niform amon g e d u

c ate d p e opl e than in any pr e c e ding c e nt ury .

U niformi ty of literary English is d ue to many

infl ue nce s Firs t is th e e stab lish e d form of th e
.

lite rary langu age Again the re are th e cons e rva

.
,

tive infl ue nc e s of sc hools grammarians rh e to , ,

rician s, th e dictionari e s S u ch influ e nc e s do not

.

pre vent all chang e b ut th e y h inde r chang e s that

,

wou ld otherwise occu r more frequ e ntly .

O n th e othe r hand th e fondne ss for archaic

,

diction continu e d to some e xt e nt in th e e arly nin e

te en th c e ntu ry Compare th e first canto O f Byron s
’
.

Child e H arold th e Poem s of Ke ats and occasional

, ,

archaisms in T e nnyso n and Browning In gen .

60 O UTL INE HISTO R Y O F T HE EN GL I SH LAN GUA G E

e ral how e v er this t e nd e ncy has not a ff e ct e d pros e

, ,

or sp e e ch its elf Akin to this fondn e ss for archa

.

isms is a n e w u se of dial e ct in lite rature S om e .

thin g O f this sort has b e e n known f o r c e ntu rie s .

’
Chau ce r u s e d dial e ct in th e R eeve s Ta le S hak e ,

sp e are for s e ve ral characte rs Fi elding in To m ,

Jones In th e nin e te e nth c e nt ury th e p e culiaritie s

.

and qu aint s u gge stive n e ss of folk sp ee ch hav e b e e n -

mu ch more wi d e ly e mploye d Dial e ct has b ee n .

mad e a part of fiction dram a e v en po etry to an, ,

‘

e xt e nt n e v e r b e for e k n own Y e t d ial e ct in lit er a

.

t ure has natu rally not aff e cte d sp ee ch its e lf .

L O W L AN D SCOTCH

During Middle English as we have s ee n Low , ,

land S cotch b ecam e th e literary langu age of th e

S cotch peopl e W e m u st th u s consid e r En glish
.

b e yond th e b o u nds of England prope r S co tch .

continu e d to flou rish during th e Sixte enth ce ntury .

At its b eginning prin tin g was e stab lish e d at Edin

b u rgh and s e v e n of D unb ar s po e ms w e r e iss ue d
’

in 1 608 S cottish lite ratu re contin u e d in th e po

.
«

e try of G awain Do u glas

( d D avid Lin dsay .

(d . Jam es V I afterward Jame s I of E n g

,

land and oth e rs of le ss no te

,
.
 T HE MO D E R N L ANGUA G E 61

Th e r evival of l e arning and th e Re formation

af f e ct e d S cotland as th e y did England Durin g .

th e Sixte e nth c e ntu ry S cotch lite rat u re was gr e atly

influ e nce d b y that of En gland With th e u nion of .

th e crowns in 1 603 S cotch d e clin e d as a lit e rary

langu age Th e r e afte r S cotch writ e rs u s e d standard
.

English and took th e ir plac e with English au tho rs .

Th e e a rlie st to adopt th e lite rary lan gua ge of E n g

land was Dru mmond of H awth orn d on (d .

Th e f u rth e r u nion of th e kin gdoms in 1 7 0 7

st re ngth e ne d th e position of lite rary English
amon g th e S cotch .

Th e inte ns e nationality of th e S cotch again as

se rte d its elf in th e e ighte e nth c e ntu ry S cottish .

lite ratu r e was again re viv e d Th e r e vival b egan

.

with th e colle ction of th e old e r po e try of th e S cotch

p e ople by Watson Ramsay also a colle ctor wrote
.
, ,

th e first notab l e work in th e S cotch dial e ct th e ,

Gen tle Shep herd of 1 7 2 5

,
H e was follow e d b y
.

Ro b e rt F e rgus son ( 1 7 50 who pub lish e d

P o em s a ye ar b e for e h is d e ath Th e S cotch re .

v ival c u lminat e d in th e wor k of Ro b e rt B u rns ,

th e g re ate st po e t of S cotland Y e t e v e n B u rns did

.

not alway s u se p u re S cotch He som e tim e s wrote

.

lit erary English and Ofte n a mixtu r e of S cotch

,
62 O UTL INE HIS TO RY OF T HE EN GLIS H LAN GUA G E
and English B urns too has had no worthy suc
.
, ,

cessor though dial ect S cotch is still often written

, ,

e s p e cially in fiction .

E N GL I S H I N IRE L AN D

O wing to conqu est and grad u al settl e m e nt of

Ire land by Englishmen Englis h b e cam e th e stand
,
'

ard lan gIIage of that island Irish a Ce ltic lan .

,

gu ag e was thu s r e du ce d to a p e asant di ale ct

,
.

As e arly as th e e ightee nth centu ry literary m en ,

b orn and b ro u ght u p in Ireland ad opte d s tandard ,

English in th e ir writings Th e y are th ere fore

.

class e d with English write rs as in th e cas e of so ,

many S cotchm en It is only n e c essary to m e ntion

.

su ch name s as thos e of S wift G oldsmith B urke , , ,

S heridan and Moore From th e last of th e e igh

, .

te e n th c e ntu ry also e du cated Irishm e n have con

, ,

form e d th e ir pronu nciation to that of England .

Irish Englis h of dial e ct fiction is b ase d u pon th e

lang u ag e of th e illiterate This re pre s ents a l e ss
.

rapid de v elopm e nt of that form of English intro ’

d u ced at th e Cromw e llian conqu e st .

 T HE MO D E R N LAN G UA G E 63

AME RI CAN EN GL I S H
H is torically Am e rican English is b as ed u pon th e
,

langua ge of the time of coloni zation or that of th e ,

s ev ente enth century This fo u ndation of s even

.

te en th c e ntur y Englis h has b e e n various ly a ff e cted

- .

Th e vocab ulary has b een incre as ed b y som e com

mon words from th e la ngu ag e of th e Am erican
Indians From th e sam e source a mu ch larg e r
.

nu mb er of place names has also b e e n rec e iv e d

-
.

Again contact with th e French and S panish col

,

o n ie s has b ro u ght in som e words O th erwise the

.
,

s tandards of England we re accepted in Am e rica

du ring th e colonial period .

With th e s e paration from Great Britain came

some n e w influ enc es Th e langu ag e of gov e rnm e nt
.

and law b e cam e diffe rent in many particulars .

S ome words and idioms that h ad grown o b sol e te

in England continu e d to b e us e d in Am e rica For .

e xam pl e many sevente e nth c e nt u ry e xpr e ssions a r e

,
-

w ell known h e re tho u gh no longe r f OIm d in th e

,

moth e r co u ntry Th e re soon gre w u p too a sen

.
, ,

tim en t in favor of an Am e rican standard .

Emphasis of an Ame rican standard is e spe

c ially conn e cted with th e name of N oah W eb ster .
64 O UT LINE HIS TO R Y OF THE ENGL I SH N GUA G E
LA

In 1 7 89 he
printe d his D isserta tions on the E nglis h
L a n guage and d e dicate d th e m to Franklin
, In .

th e m h e propos e d an Am e rican standard in th e s e

“
words : AS an ind ep end e nt nation o ur honor re ,

qu ir e s us to have a syste m of o u r own in lan gu age

” ’
as w e ll as in gov ernm e nt W eb ste r s ide a O f an
.

Am e rican standar d incl u de d a modifi e d spe lling an ,

Am erican pronunciation and s u ch usa ge in words

,

and idioms as was fully e stab lish e d H e e xpre ss e d .

his views f u rth e r in a s erie s of dictionarie s from ,

that of 1806 to an A merican D ictio na ry in 1 82 8 .

In th e s e W eb ste r propos e d to do for Am e rican

En glis h what J ohn son had trie d to do for th e lan
u a e of England
g g .

’
e
W e b ster s vie ws r e garding an Am erican stand
a r d w e re not adopt e d b y all Wh e n answe ring
.

W eb ste r s l e tt e r of d e dication Franklin called

’

,
”
att ention to c e rtain innovations in Am erican
u sa ge which h e hop e d woul d b e corr e cte d It .

would s ee m th at h e h ad not wholly agre e d with

W eb ste r s patriotic proposal O th ers at any rate
’
.
, ,

wish e d to e mphasize th e e ss e ntial u nity of English

in th e two cou ntri e s Pick e ring th e first coll e ctor
.
,

of A m erica n ism s not e d what h e call e d th e

“corru ptions ” in o rde r to p re serve th e purity of
 66 OUTL INE HI S TO R Y O F T HE EN GL ISH LAN GUA G E
/
d in pronunciation W eb ster s insist enc e on an
.
’

Am e rican standard has b ee n some what modifie d ,

b u t no Am e rican dictionary fully adopts B ritish

us ag e . Th e s pok e n lan gu ag e, th e re fore diff e rs ,

f rom British English more than th e writte n .

Do ub tl e ss this will always b e so owing to th e ,

wid e s eparation O f th e two co untrie s Within .

this co u ntry howe v e r th e spoken lang u age is

, ,

more u niform among all class e s than in Gre at

Brita in . This is owing to popular ed u cation to ,

trav el and to e asy migration from on e part of

,

th e country to anoth e r Y e t th e b e ginnin gs of

.

what may b e consid e rab l e diffe re nce s in spe e ch

can b e found Th e illit e rate of Ne w En gland
.
,

th e u ppe r Mississippi V all e y and th e So u th s peak

,

somewhat mark e d dialects .

TH E SPRE AD O F E N GL I S H
On e
of th e facts not ye t fully emphasize d is
th e spr e ad of Englis h in all parts of th e
world At th e tim e of Eli z ab e th Englis h was
.

spoke n b y fiv e millions of pe ople It is to day .

-

th e langu ag e of far more than a hu ndred millions

in vario us co untrie s T his wide spr ead u s e has
.

r e s ulted from th e growth of th e British Empir e

 T HE MO D E R N LAN GUA G E 67

in Am e rica India Au stralia S o uth Africa and

, , , ,

fro m th e no l e ss Significant d ev e lopm ent of th e

Am e rican nation B e sid e s, English has spre ad to
.

many for eign countri e s as th e langu a ge of trade .

Finally th e lite rat ur e of England is re ad b y many

,

who do not sp e ak th e langu ag e .

Su ch wide spre ad u se may have gre at mom ent

in th e fu tu re . In his A u to biograp hy Franklin
e xpre s s e d th e opinion that English might som e

tim e b e s e cond only to Fre nch in ge n e ral u se .

Th e Opinion of Franklin has b een mor e than

re alize d English is n o w spok e n by more p e ople
.

than have e v e r b e for e u s e d a single homo ge n e ous

spe e ch Th e conclus ion is not far fe tch e d that it
.

may some time b e com e som e thing lik e a u niv ersal

tongue .

To sum up b rie fly th e mode rn p eriod has wit

,

n e sse d fewer ext e rnal chang e s than e ve r b efore . .

The r e has b een de v elopm e nt from within toward.

Simplicity and r egu larity This has b ee n owing to
.

a growing consciou sness re garding lang u age and

nu m ero us eff orts to re gulate it in many ways .

It is a period of grammars dictionarie s b oo ks

, ,

on th e u se of English, writte n and spok en It is .

th e p e riod of th e t e aching of th e moth e r tongu e in

68 O UTL INE HI S TO R Y OP T HE EN GL ISH LAN GUA GE

school and hom e Ab ov e all it is th e p e riod of

.

Ith e r e g u larizin g and re s tr a Im n

g infl u e nc e of a
gr e at lite rature All th e s e have had u ndo u b t e d

\
.

e ff e ct u pon th e sp e e ch. Finally a notab l e par t of

,

th e langu ag e histo ry in th e mod e rn p e riod is th e

g rowin g u se of English th r o u gho u t t h e world.

This has follow e d th e growth of th e B ritish Em

pir e and th e Am e rican nation and to a le ss , ,

de gre e, th e e xtension of trad e and trav el .

 II

CHA N G E S IN T H E FO RM S O F W O RD S

C HAPT ER I V
E NGL I SH S PELLI NG

To nd e rsta nd th e history of a langu age w e

u

mu st u nderstand th e chang e s in th e forms of

words For this p u rpos e w e mu st know som e
.

thin g o f th e Signs u s e d to r epre s ent sou nds W e.

b e gin th e n with English sp ellin g Our T e u tonic

.

anc e stors b rou ght to B ritain an alphab e t u s e d

among th e T e u to ns of th e continent This was .

c all e d b y th e m a r u nic alphab e t and e ach char

,

acte r a ru ne Th e r une s w e re b as e d u pon l e tt e rs

.

e mploy e d b
y G reeks and R o m an s f Y e t most of

th e m wo u ld not b e r ecogniz e d as Gre e k or Roman

to day Thes e ru n es th e English som e what modi
.

fied in orde r to r e pre s ent som e n e w s ou nds of

th e ir lan gu age .

Th e ru nic le tt e rs are still f OIm d in som e in

69
70 O UTL INE HI STO R Y OF T HE EN GL I SH L AN GUA G E
sc rip tio n s pon ston e or ivory which have b e e n
u

pre serve d from e arly tim e s S om e id e a of th e m

.

may b e gain e d from a Sin gl e nam e Th e po e t .

Cyn e w u lf u s e d th e ru n e s for his nam e in som e of

his po e ms thu s indicatin g th e ir au thorship Th e s e
,
.

ru nic l e tte rs and th e mod e rn form of th e name

may b e se t sid e b y sid e th u s : ,

h M MPh rr CY NEW ULF

It will b e s e e n at onc e that th e runic le tt e rs
a re scarc e ly to b e re cogniz e d as havin g any con

n ection with th e Roman l e tt e rs w e u se Y e t som e .

r e s e mb lanc e s can b e mad e o u t T urn th e E on its

.

Sid e and it is not u nlik e ou r l ette r of that nam e

,
.

T urn th e U and L u pside down and th e sam e will

b e tru e .Th e F has all th e strok e s of ou r l e tt e r ,

b ut th e cross strok e s Slant u pward and are of e qu al

l ength N has on e down strok e and th e cross of
.

o ur l e tte r b u t th e s e cond down strok e is gon e and

,

th e cross c uts th e down strok e inste ad of b e ing

join e d to its top Th e ru nic Y looks lik e a r unic
.

U with a T like part withi n

-
In fact th e Y was
.

mad e from th e U as th e vowe l y d e ve loped from

,

u in sp e e ch This is as far as w e can w ell go in

.

this word b ut som e oth e r ru n e s are nearly id e n

,
 EN GL ISH SPE LL IN G
tical with Roman l e tte rs All th e rune s d ifier in.

u sing strai ght lin e s for cu rv e s This may hav e .

b e e n d ue to th e gr e at e r e as e of cu ttin g on wood
or ston e .

Th e introdu ction of Christianity b ro u ght into

En gland th e Roman alphab e t as writte n in Ire
land. Y e t th e O ld r unic alphab e t l e ft its mark
in two le tt e rs w and a Si gn for th ( P)
,
Th e .

Roman alphab e t was in su icien t for th e so unds of

’

th e lang u age b u t q u antity was n e gl e ct e d e xc e pt

, ,

as it w as som e tim e s indicate d b y do ub lin g a vow e l

or by acc ent O th e rwis e sim ple vow e l sounds
.

w e r e r epr e s e nt ed b y simpl e charact e rs or th e liga

tur e ae For e ach di phthong two characters w e r e
.

u se d
.

S e v e ral consonants se rve d for two or more

sou nds Thu s f , th e characte rs for th (i e p and U)
. . .
,

and pe rhaps s s e rve d for b oth f and v th as in ,

t h ic k and th e s and z N denote d b oth 11 in in k

,
.

and in king as to day C was u s e d for k in cat

,
-
.

and cot thou gh k was occasionally e mploye d for th e

,

latte r H r epre s e nted our h and a sound lik e ch in

.

Ge rman ich .G was u s e d for consonantal y for g ,

in get and got and for sounds lik e ch and g in Ger

,

man a ch sa en , .
72 OUTL INE H IS TO RY O F T HE EN GLI SH LAN G UA GE

It will thu s b e s e e n that O ld English co u ld not

b e writt en qu ite phon e tically Y e t it was far .

more n early phon etic in its sp elling th an English

has e v e r b e e n sinc e Th e r e w e re no Sil e nt l e tte rs
. .

N o vowe l sound was e v e r re pre s e nte d b y more

than on e Sign or th e same two si gns for a d iph
,

thong Eight o f th e consonants w e re always pho

.

n e tic . Th e re w ere no comb inations for simpl e

sou nds as in o ur ch p h s h s ch th Long con
, , , , ,
.

sonants w e re us u ally do ub l e d though cg w er e u s e d ,

for gg Pronu nciation and Sp ellin g th e re fore

.
, ,

w e nt hand in hand as th ey hav e n eve r sinc e

done .

Th e b e st ide a of O ld English spe lling may

m H ’
b e gain e d from an e xa pl e e re is th e L ord s .

Praye r in W e st Saxon or S ou the rn En glish ,

U re Feed e r pu pe on , h e of on e c ar t , si pin n a m a geh algod .

Our Fa t h er t h o u t h a t in
,
h eav e n art, be th y n am e h all ow e d .

Toc u m e pin ric e . G e wurtSe Oin W ill a on h e of on e

[L et"c o m e th y k in g d o m .
[ "
L et b e th y w ill in h e av en

an d on eo r an p . Sy le us to d ee g urn e d aegh w aml ican h laf .

an d on e arth . G ive us to d ay
-
ou r d aily l o af .

An d f orgyf u s ur e gy ltas , swa w e f orgy f aci aelcum para

’'

An d f o r giv e us ou r t
g uil s, so w e f rgiv e e ach ( of ) h s e o t o
74 O UTL INE HIS TO RY OP T HE EN GLISH L AN GUA G E

but still indicat e d b y th e sp e lling as in n igh t righ t , ,

.

In Middle English, als o w h cam e to b e writte n for ,

En glis h h w .

f consonants peculiar to O ld En glish only

th e r unic Sign for th ( i e p) was r e tain e d n e arly . .

through th e p e riod tho ugh th also cam e into us e ,

.

In fact th e P contin ue d to b e u se d in script and

crip tion s into Mod e rn English In lat e Middle .

Englis h it lost its e xt ende d to p and was also ,

op e n e d ab ove lik e y Th e form r es e mb l e d y so .

m u ch that it is often incorre ctly r e ad as th e latt er

sound Compare th e w ell known lin e s on S hak e
.
-

speare s tomb ’

G o od tren d f or Jesu s sak e f orb e ar e

T o d igg th e d u s t e n clo as e d h ea re .

Blesse b e y ° 1
m an y sp are s h e s sto
t
t n e s,

urst b e An d n c h e y m ov e s my b o e s
t
.

Th e con f usion amon g vow e l s ou nds in Middl e

English was e ve n gr e ate r S uch d ifiere n t so unds .

In th in iption t i b ov h y lik h t i y d y f
I e sc r s a e t e -
e c arac e r n e an t o

h l t two lin
t e as Th f o m y y w es . onv ni nt b b vi tion
e r s e
,
t ere c e e a re a s

f
or th d th t
e an d w und tood d d Th y w n v
a , an e re s o ers an re a . e e re e er

ca ll d e y d e
y i ” om tim wh n d to d y Th
an t, on
as s e es e re a - a . e reas

f
or th i w of t n to onom i p
e r use as ie h lin th d
ec ze s ace , as n t e es ree an

fo i whi h i th in
ur , n cipt ion it lf th
n wo uld not h v b n oom
e sc r se e re a e ee r

f
or th ompl t wo d In th ond li f h in iption th i
e c e e r s. e se c ne o t e sc r e s

w itt n out x pt th t t d h li k d t g th th d own t ok

'

r e , e ce a an are n e o e e r, e s r e

o f t d o ing d uty f th fi t d own t o kor f 1 e rs s r e o 1

fl
.
 EN GL ISH SPE LLIN G 75

as thos e in t h e y th ere and in 10 lord w er e not

, , ,

distingu ish e d Th e fou r sou nds w e re in dicate d b y

.

e and 0 r e sp e ctiv e ly Th e lon g u so u nd as in

.
,

f ool was writt e n with English II or Fr e nch ou

,
.

S hort 11 was writte n u as in s un often 0 as in , , ,

comf ort . I and y w er e u s e d inte rchang e ab ly for

th e sam e so u nd Th e sam e diphthong was writt e n
.

with English en (ew ) or French u c an Doub ling, ,

.

of vow els to indicat e long q u antity b e came e xc e e d

in gly common in th e late r p e riod S u ch doub lin g .

accou nts for th e pre s ent sp e lling of words lik e

n e ed f ool b ook and many oth e rs
, , , .

O wing to Similar inaccu racy and conf usion in

b oth vow els and consonants a writ e r did not
always u se th e sam e Signs for th e sam e s ou nds .

In diff e r ent dial e cts th e re was still fu rth er lack of

u n iform i ty All th es e things point o u t th e Middle
.

English period as th e on e in which th e confu sion

and u nphon e tic characte r of English sp elling b e
can ie first thoro u ghly root e d .

Th e g en e ral characte r of Middl e English sp e ll

in g m a y b e s e e n from th e L ord s Pray e r in th e
’

W iclifite Bibl e Th e passag e r e pr e s e nts En glish

.

of th e last of th e fo urt ee nth ce ntury th e p e riod of ,

Chau ce r s writin gs
’
.
 76 O UTL INE HI STO R Y O F T HE EN GLISH L AN GUA G E
F adir ,
h ale wid b e pi n am e pi k in gd o m c o m e to é y ve
. .

F a th e r ,
o
h all we d b e th y n am e Th y k in g d o m c o m e
. G ive .

to us to d a y ou re e ch e d ay e s b r ee d . A n d f o r éy v e to u s c u re

to us to d - ay ou r e ach d ay ’
s b r e ad . An d f o r giv e to u s ou r

sy n n es, a s an d w e f o ré y v en to e ch o wy n ge us . An d le ed
n
s i s, as al so we f o r g iv e e ach ow in g us . An d lead

not us into t m t i e ac o un .
l

not us into t mp t t ione a .

In mode rn pe riod English sp elling has re

th e
tain e d to a gr e at e xte nt its Middl e En glish
, ,

N otwithstandin g radical change s of

i

charact e r .

so u nd it has r e main e d e ss entially u nphon e tic

, .

S om e furth e r confu sion has e ve n b e e n introd uc e d .

On e of th e two e and o sou nds of Middl e En glish

cam e to b e distin gu ish e d in th e e arly mod e rn
p e riod by th e sp e llin gs ea oa as to day in h e ad , ,
-
,

b oat Unf ortu nat ely th e Signs have b ee n k e pt

.
,

long afte r any n e ce ssary d istinction had d isap

p e are d Th e sam .e thin g has happ e n e d in oth e r
cas e s and th e conf usion b e twe e n sp elling and
,

pronu nciation has th u s b e e n incre as e d .

Th e r e sult is a div e r ge nc e b e tw e en p ron un

c iation and o ur so call e d orthography which is -
,

1 Luk e ix . 2 —3 . Not e th e re e t ntion O E b f or th , b ut

of . not th e
o
cr ss e d d Th e old g l o
er a s , as in y
g ve , f orgyv e , was s ill t u se d .
 EN GL I SH S PE LLING 77

u nknown in any oth e r langu age e xc e pt French .

For e xampl e i and y r e main for an origin al

,

Simple s ou nd which has b e com e a diphthong ,

while y is also consonantal Th e dou bl e d vow e l

.

o r e mains for s u ch diff ere nt so u nds as u in d o and

u in f ull ; compar e d oom loom b ook good

, O lder
, ,
.

ou r e pre s e nts not only th e diphthong in h ou s e b u t ,

th e Simpl e vow e l sou nds in t h r ough and c oun tr y .

S o unds n o w e xactly alik e r e tain many di ff e r ent ‘

sp ellin gs ; compare r ead f eed h e met e lief s eiz e

, , , , , ,

p eop le and th e u nstre ss e d sy llab l e s of sizar b ak er

, , ,

e lix ir f av or murmu r
, ,
.

Th e s e are only a f ew indications of disagree

m e nt b e tw e e n Sp e ech and sp ellin g in th e mod
e rn tongu e
. Consonant variations a re full y as
gre at or gr e ate r Th e facts mu st b e e sp ecially
,
.

note d in conn e ction w ith any attempt to trac e

a partic ular word thro ugh d i e re n t p eriods On e
° "

m u st l e arn to s e parate sou nd from sp ellin g or ,

inte rpr e t sou nd in Spit e of sp elling wh e n trac ,

in g words from olde r to mor e r e c e nt forms Th e .

story of English sp ellin g is th e story of arre ste d

de velopm e nt of a fossil form as th e visib l e Si gn
,

of a m u ch alte re d sp ee ch .

In on e oth er particu lar mode rn u sag e d iffe rs

78 O UTL INE H IS TO R Y O F T H E ENGLISH L AN G UA G E

from that of th e Old e st pe riod In O ld Eng

.

lish compou nds w e re r e g ularly writte n as on e

,

word In Middl e En glish this cu stom was par

.

tially giv e n u p . As a r e su lt th e langu age has

,

compou nds of two kinds som e with oth e rs with

, ,

o u t sign of u nion . G r e ate r r e gu larity in this

r esp e ct is highly d esirab le and an attempt to,

e nco u rag e it has b e e n mad e in o n e of o ur lat e r

Ame rican dictionarie s .

Early atte mpts at re form in English sp ellin g

have b e e n note d in th e sixt e e nth c entu ry In .

th e s e ve nte e nth c e nt u ry a similar proposal was

made by H ow ell of th e Fa m iliar L etters S ince
,
.

th e e stab lishm e nt of a standard form b y John

s on s D iction ary th e re have b ee n f ew modifications
’

exc e pt thos e Of W e b ste r B oth B ritish and Am e ri

.

can English have agr ee d to dis u se k of th e Old er c k

comb ination in su ch words as mu s ic f rolic ,
.

In th e past c e ntury a host of proposals for

fu rth e r re form hav e b e e n made most of th em b y ,

ignorant or misg u ide d e nthu siasts S om e mor e .

scholarly s ugge stions hav e r e su lte d in s u ch sh ort e r

forms as d efin it for d efi n it e program for p ro ,

g r a mm e t
,
h o for t h ou g h A .f e w s u ch modifi ed

forms n ow app e ar in Am e rican dictionarie s Th e .

 EN GL ISH S PE LLING 79

advantage s of furthe r rational chang e s are agre e d

u pon b
y scholars,
and th e old e r argu m e nts against

the m have long since b ee n m et Th e main diffi

.

cu lty is to b re ak down th e force of cu stom of ,

which f ew co u ld give any rational e xplanation .

 CH A P TE R V

THE ACCENT OF E NGLI SH W ORD S

TH E most important e l em ent In th e spok e n

form of words is acce nt In th e O ld English .

p e riod th e acce nt of words was that of all th e

T e u tonic lan gu age s It was an exp iratory stre ss
. .

It w as fix e d u pon a Sin gle syllab l e O f e ach word .

It ne ve r shifte d fr om on e infl e ct e d form to anoth e r ,

'
as in L atin le o eo n
’
—l
’
is a m o—’
ama vi Th e s e p e
, .

c u lia r ities of T e u tonic str e ss h av e re main e d in all

p e riods of En glish .

Be sid e s th e se th e laws O f T eu to nic acc ent may

b e b ri e fly s u mmariz e d :
( )
1 All u ncompo u nd e d words w e r e accented on

th e first syllab l e .

( )
2 C ompo u nd no u ns adj e ctiv e s
,
prono
,
u n s and
,

words d eriv e d fr om th e m w e re al so acc e nte d on

,

th e first syllab l e .

( )
3 C ompo u nd v e rb s and wor ds d e rive d fr om
th e m w ere accented on th e firs t syllab le Of th e
root .
82 OUTL INE HI S TO R Y O F T HE EN GLI SH LAN GUA G E

e nte ring th e lang uage in Old English tim e s .

S om e of co urs e alre ady conform ed to English

, ,

acce nt as Danish words which w e r e alre ad y

, ,

T e utonic B u t words O f L atin origin u su ally gave

.

u
p th e ir str e ss for that of English Example s are .

’ ” ’
ca l en d from ca len d ae ca s t e" castl e from ca st e1 ’

, , ,
’ ’
lu m d ea c on from d ia c onu s
,
.

Th e acc e nt of nativ e English words has re

mained p ractically th e sam e in all pe riods A .

f e w Slight modifications b e lon g to Middl e English

tim e s TO th e nu mb e r O f pre fix e s n e ve r acc ente d
.

in O ld English wa s adde d th e pr e fix un as in
u n h ap p y unl ov e l y
’ ’
In som e words th e pr e fix e s
,
.

’
al all arch and mis also lost stre ss Exampl e s
,
.

are al on e a l r ea d y al migh t y a l t h ou gh
’ ’ ’ ’ ’

,
arch b is h op
, , , ,
’
a rch d e a c on mis b e lief mis giv ing mistak e
,
’

,
’

,
’
.

In Middl e English too c erta in grou ps of words , ,

gre w togeth e r forming n e w words w hich retain e d

, ,

th e acc e nt of th e original gro u p Th e se are pre po .

sitio n al phras e s or l e ss commonly adve rb ial and , ,

’
pronominal grou ps Exampl e s a re ab ed on .

’ ’ ’
b e d ) b ef or e f orev er in d eed to d ay u p on W it hin
’ ’ ’
-
, , , , , , ,

h ereaf t er n ev e rt h ele s s w h oev e r m y self

’ ’ ’
.
, , ,

To the s e mu st b e add e d som e words in which

th e acc ent shifts as th e y a re u s e d in d if fer e nt
 TH E A CC E NT OF E NGLI SH W ORDS
Thu s fif t een wh e n u s e d
.

ways in th e s e nte nc e .
,
” ’
attrib u tiv ely as in fif t e en ye ars is acc e nte d
, ,

on th e first syllab le like an ordinary adj e ctiv e

“
.
,

Wh e n u se d withou t a nou n as h e is it ,

take s str e ss on th e last syllab l e SO also som e .

origin al phras e s as af t ern oon in s id e Y e t th e

, ,
.

re at majority of nativ e words show no chan ge

g
from th e original acc e nt which th e y b ore c entu ri e s
ago .

Th e Fre nch words e nt e ring Middl e English

had a d iff e rent acc e nt from En glish words Th e .

French acc ent was u pon th e last syllab l e O f a

word u nl e ss that syllab l e was a w e ak e H ad
,
.

su ch wo rds com e in gr e at n u mb e rs at any on e

time th e y might have mo d ifi e d th e English str e ss
, .

Th ey cam e gradually how e v e r a f ew at a tim e , , .

H ence th e y gen e rally co n f orm e d to no uns and

,

adj e ctive s on th e o n e Side or to verbs on th e ,

oth e r Co m pa re s u ch pa irs_ as ab isgntf abs entfi

.
,
’ ’
a b stract ab stract pre s ent pre s ent ’
— — ’
.
,

Th e majority of dissyllab ic words of Fr ench ori

in e nt e ring Middl e English adopt e d th e En lish
g g
acce nt Exampl e s Of no u ns and adj (_
.
—
3_ tiv e s are
c_

b ar on c oun t er e r min e j u s t ic e ma n ner p ris on

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

, , , , , ,
’ ’ ’ '
proph et stand ard trea s on tre a s ure S om e verb s
, , , .
84 O UTL INE H I S TO RY O F TH E EN GLISH LAN GUA G E

also followed nou ns and adj e ctive s as mea s ure ,

’

,
’

s um m on, c oun s e l h on or s uf f e r
’
O th ers follow e d
,
’

,
’
.

English v erb s as assail e sp y compl y ,

’

,
’

,
’
.

O n th e oth e r hand c e rtain dis syllab ic nouns and

adj e ctives b orro we d in th e Middl e p e riod have not
, ,

y e t ass u m e d initial str e ss In som e cas e s th e y .

may hav e b ee n infl u enc e d b y similar v e rb s O th .

e rs are not pop ular words and so hav e not e xp eri ,

e n c ed th e f u ll forc e of th e nativ e acc e nt Exampl e s .

’ ’ ’
are acc ount c onc eit d iv ine d is d a in e c lips e e scap e
’ ’ ’

, , , , ,

e xt ent in t e n t mi sta k e Off ens e

’ ’ ’ ’ ’

, refrain s urch arge

, , , ,

Th ere are also a f e w words from French phras e s ,

’ ’
as a d ieu ad roit apace Th e s e agre e with th e
'
, ,
.

nativ e grou p words in having stre ss on th e nou n

-
,

or principal el e m e nt .

Polysyllab ic words from Fre nch also conform e d

to English str e ss in gre at m e asu re In th em .
,

h ow e v e r a n e w factor e nt e re d
, S u ch words b ore .

a s econdary as w ell as a primary str e ss and

, ,

this h a d its e ff e ct in th e chang e This s e condary .

.

'

stre ss was u s ually on th e third from th e last syll a

b le e xc ept th e w e ak e
, In b e coming angliciz e d .

th e acc e nt u su ally shift e d to th e position of th e

’

s e condary str e ss in no u ns a nd adj e ctive s In .

words of thre e syllab le s this was to th e first as ,

 T HE ACCENT O F ENGLI SH W O RDS 5

in ac cid en t b ach elor In still long er words th e

’

,
’
.

’
shift did not r e ach th e first syllab l e as in aflin ity , ,

anniv er sary and th e re it Ofte n r e main e d Y e t in

’

,
.

som e of th e s e cas e s th e r e was a s e cond shift to th e

initial syllab l e as in mat rimon y nec e ss ar y or d i
,
’

,
’

,
’

nar y They th u s conform e d fully to En glish noun s

.

and adj e ctive s In som e c a seS no u ns and adj e ctiv e s

.

’
w e re prob ab ly in fl ue nc e d b y v erb s as accor d ant , ,

a cq uit tance b y th e v erb s accord ac q uit

’

,
’

,
’
.

Polysyllab ic v erb s follow th e principl e s al

r e ady e xplain e d Th ey r e tain str ess o u th e last.

syllab l e as ascertain d isapp ear ; or th e acc e nt

,
’

,
’

has Shift e d to th e position of an origin al s e conda ry

str e ss In th e latt e r cas e th e y are acc e nte d on th e
.

’ ’
fi rst syllab l e as con t emp lat e c om promis e o r on
, , ,

th e s e cond as affil iate

’

,
A third class has only par .

tially conf orm e d to nativ e laws H e re b elong .

’ '
wo rds like ab ol is h accu s t om ,
.

D uring th e mode rn p eriod th e sam e influ enc e s

hav e a fie cte d b orrow e d words Y e t a gre at e r n um .

b e r of l e arne d and literary words hav e b e en in

tro d u c e d than at any pr eviou s t im e S u ch words .

hav e ofte n not b e e n an gliciz e d in acce nt Exam .

pl e s are lat e Fr ench words as attack b urle s q ue ,

’

,
’

Fre qu e ntly L atin word s have

’ ’
caprice gazett e , .
86 OUTL IN E HIST OR Y OF T H E E NGLI SH LANGUA G E
also k e pt L atin str ess This is e sp e cially tru e O f
.

L atin prope r nam e s b ut also of som e common

,

words as ab d o men d eco rum O th e rs hav e fully

,
’

,
’
.

’ ’
conforme d to English acc ent as ed u cat or a g ita t or
, , ,
’
im itat or .

O ccasionally a word which has acqu ir e d native

str e ss has b ee n alt ere d to conform to fore ign
’
pron unciation An e xampl e is h ori z on originally
.
,

from Fr enc h and with acc ent e arly shifte d to th e

,

first syllab le O win g to su ppos e d b orrowing from

.

L atin th e acc ent is now on th e s e cond syllabl e

,
.

S u ch case s a re not common and do not r epres ent

th e u s u al t e nd ency S om e of the m w e r e p e rhaps
.

d u e to e arly m ak ers O f di ctionari e s who did not ,

u nd e rstand th e fundamental law s O f English stress .

 CH APTE R VI
PHONETI C CHANGE

TH E English acc ent is not only th e most im

portant ele m ent in pron im cia tion It is also a
.

f undam e ntal condition of many oth e r chang e s in

th e forms O f words . By reason o f its str ength
th e u nstr e ss e d parts O f words hav e t end e d to fall
away In fle ction al O r oth e r e ndings as w ell as
.
,

u nstr e ss e d pr e fix e s hav e th u s b e e n lost

, O wing to.

th e first most no u ns a n d adj e ctiv e s of tw o sylla

,

b l e s hav e b e com e monosyllab l e s O wing to th e

.

s e cond m any compo und v e rb s have lost an un

,
’

stre ss e d pr efix Exc e pt for two or three cases th e

.

Olde r pre fix ge ha s b een wholly lost

~
.

S u ch chang e s have b rought ab ou t a significant

Shorte ning of most class e s of words SO com .

mon was th e shortening of words that Eliz ab ethan

critic s Often complain e d of th e nu m e rous m on osyl
lables in th e lang u a ge L at e r a san er vi ew has
.

valu e d this monosyllab ic e l e m e nt for its s implicity

87
88 O UTL INE HIS TO RY O F T HE E NGLISH L ANGUA GE
and force Y e t th e fact of shorte nin g is a cl e ar
.

o n e wh e n w e compar e English with any infl e cted

language .

Apart from shortening b oth stre ss ed and n u

,

u nstr e ss e d parts of words hav e s u ff e r e d spe cial

chang e s W e pronou nce f ew words as th e y w e r e

.

prono unc e d in th e Old e r p eriods of English In .

ord er to u nd e rstan d th e s e alt erations in sp eech we

m u st consid e r b rie fly two kinds of chang e s Th e .

first are phon e tic chang es affecting individual

,

s ounds Th e s e cond are analogical chang e s af

.
,

f e ctin g words in th e ir r elation to oth e r words .

Phon etic change s have aff e ct e d b oth vow els

and cons onants in all pe riods W e shall consid er
.

som e of th e most important For compl e te tre at

.

m e nt in this plac e th e s ub j e ct is too complicat e d

,
.

W e shall b egin with co nsonants too sinc e th e y are

, ,

th e most sta b l e of spe e ch sou n ds -

Thus mos t
.
,

consonants are still p ronou nc ed practically as in

O ld Englis h Most O ld Englis h consonants are
.

also pre s e rve d to day O n th e oth e r hand som e

-
.
,

consonants and comb inations O f consonants hav e

b e e n m u ch alte re d Th e significant alterations O f
.

e ach period may b e b ri e fly s ummariz ed .

90 O UTL INE HI STO R Y O F T HE EN GLI SH LAN GUA G E

In u nstre ss e d syllab l e s ME c and g disapp ear e d .

from th e e ndings of s u ch wo rds as ligh t l y man y , ,

l e aving th e e ndings ly y so common in th e -

,
-
,

mod e rn tongu e In oth e r cas e s Old e r g b e cam e

.
,

w and lat e r a vowe l as in s orrow Final 3 5 which

, ,
.
,

had b een partly lost in late O ld En glish now dis ,

app e are d in many v e rb al forms .

Co n sonant chan ge s in Mode rn English hav e

mainly aff e ct e d comb inations of so unds .

Mn E . n
g , kn b e cam e
simpl e n though still writ ,

ten as in gnat kn igh t

, , .

Mn E wr also b e cam e r in so und tho ugh again

.
,

writte n as in write ,
.

Mn E s and a followin g y so u nd b e cam e s h as in

.
,

p as s ion p e n s ion ,nat ion and initially in , ,

s ur e s u gar ,
.

a
Mn Ea z iid a following y sound b e came zh , a s in
fi
’

us ual h os ier leisure, d ecision

, , .

In th e e ighteenth c e ntu ry t and a following

y sou nd b ecam e ch as in nature p ict ure At , ,
.

th e same tim e d and a y sou nd b e cam e a sou nd

like j as in v erd ure grand eur In th e mode rn
, ,
.

p e riod also a fin al b was lost in a f ew words like

, ,

lamb limb and a m e dial t in such as cas t le of te n

, , ,
.
 P HONETI C CHANG E 91

S om e minor chan ge s a re more or le ss ge n e ral

in all pe riods Th es e may b e illu strat e d with
.

o u t att e mptin g to indicat e th e partic u lar tim e O f

occu rrence For e xampl e a consonant produ ce d

.
,

b y b re ath only may b e com e voic e d .

A p or t has b e com e b or d as in lob st er c ob w eb , , ,

clod pr id e
,
.

An f or th has b e com e v or th hard as in of w it h , , ,

th e t h e n
,
.

Final 3 has b e com e 2 as in h as was Od d s h oe s

, , , , ,

s h ad es .

Fin al b d v z hav e b e com e p t f s in su ch

, , , , , ,

words as u n k empt b uilt b eref t lost as , , , ,

compa re d with comb b uild b ere av e los e , , , .

Consonants a re som e tim e s modifi e d to con

form to n e ighb oring sou nds .

An m b e cam e n as in H a n ts short e r form Of

, ,

Ha m p ton shire .

An f b e cam e m as in w oman originally

, , w if ( wif e
)
m an .

A th b e cam e f , as in S uf f olk, originally Southf olk .

B y th eOpposite chang e on e of two similar conso

nants b e com e s dissimilar A s e cond r has b e com e
1 as in marble p urp le, from marb re p urp re
, , , .
92 O UTL INE HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGL I SH L ANGUA GE

Again consonants a re som e tim e s adde d to

,

words transpos e d within th e m or los t e ntir ely

, , .

A or d has b e e n adde d as in empt y emb er

p , b , t, , , ,

e arn e st s ound ,
.

An r has b ee n transpos e d as in b ird gras s from , , ,

b rid ga rs ,
.

An s p was onc e p s as in wasp clasp , ,

.

Initial n has b e en lost from s u ch words as ad d er ,

auger .

Mor e commonl y a consonant has b ee n lost

by gradu ally shadin g ou t into a vow e l and th e n ,

disapp earin g in sp ee ch Exampl e s are tw o w h o .

, ,

talk calm wh e re w 1 are no lon ge r pronou nc e d

, , ,
.

SO aft e r vow els Middl e En glish g w th ems elv e s

, , ,

b e cam e vow els and th e two vow els th e n b e cam e

,

diphthongs Exampl e s are d ay wa y h ew law

.
, , , , ,

b rough t b l ow ,
In a f e w c ases o n e c on so n an t h as
.

b ee n sub stitu t e d for anoth e r tho u gh th e sp ellin g ,

may not Show th e chang e A d has b ee n sub sti .

tu ted for th in mur d er b ur d en ; an f has take n ,

th e plac e O f an Old e r gh sou nd as in c ough laugh , , ,

t ough Y et most s u ch minor chang e s occu r in

.

f e w words and a re not at varianc e with what has

,

b e e n said of consonant stab ility .

 P HONETI C CHANGE 3

TH E V O W E LS
Vowe l s ou nds in English not SO stab l e a re

as thos e of consonants Th e y are more op en and .

,

th e position O f th e vocal organs in makin g th e m

is mor e likely to alte r All lgng vow e ls have .

chan ge d characte r sinc e O ld En glish tim e s O f .

short vow els only e and i hav e in ge ne ral r e main ed

,
"
/

u nchang e d Th e histo ry of vow e l so unds is th e r e

.

fore on e of consid e rab l e alte rations sinc e o u r ,

T e u tonic fore fath e rs land e d in B ritain To tak e .

accou nt of th e m all wou ld b e impossib l e in this

plac e Y e t som e O f th e dir e ctions O f chang e are
.

important in tracin g id e ntity of words in dif fe re nt

p e r iods .

Th e lon g vow e ls of O ld English w e r e 5 as

in arm a as in care e as in t h e y i as in mach ine
' '

, , , ,

O as in n o u as in d oom y as G e rm an ii of griin
, , ,
’

g r ee n . Th e r e w e r e also tw o lon
g diphthongs Ca , ,

60 which b e gan with th e so u nds of as 6 ab ov e and

, , ,

e nd e d with th e vow el so u nd of b ut Th e s e d iph .

thon gs and 3; d e v elop e d e xactly lik e 5 E and i re

"

, ,

sp ectiv e l so that th e y may e asily b e class d with

y , e

th e lon g vow els .

If n ow we arrang e th e s e long so u nds in th e

94 OUTLINE HI S T OR Y O F T HE E NGLI SH L AN GUA G E

orde r of pitch w e may e asily illu strat e th e ge n e ral

,

dir e ctions O f chan ge in th e thr e e p e riods of En g

lish In this w e consid e r only th e normal dev elop
.

me nt of th e langu a ge of th e Midlands dial e ctal ,

1
English b ein g disre garde d .

OE . 16—17T H CE N T . 18- 19T H C ENT .

ai —a i
( my )
i,
6, é
5 7

o —e
i
'
/

( the y
j) i
6
/
/ i

M
“
58 , ( ea — [é "
"

f;

[a "

6 5
d oo m)
fi ( ii
an ( ho u s e ) an

This tab le shows that three change s had

tak e n plac e by th e b e ginning of Middle En glis h
time s O E y had lost its l ik e n e ss to G e rman ii
. .

and fell In with O E i O f mach in e Th e O E d iph . . .

thp p gs b e cam e simpl e sou nds lik e th e ir first ele

m ents O E 5 b e cam e low e r e d in pitch and was
. . .
,

pronou nc e d lik e 0 in lord a in a ll Th e ga p in ,

.

th e ME vow e ls mad e b y a b e coming was fill ed

.
9 , ,

1 As f ew gn dph on e tic
po ib l An 6 w ith t g si s ar e us e as ss e . a a

( é) p re nt op n o un d lik th t i th
re s e s an ;T3 p n e s e a n ere , ca re , an O e

s o un d lik th t i lo d T h b k t d vow l
e a w lon g o u n d
n r . e ra c e e e s are n e s s

f om h o t vow l
r s Th r m i to fill wh t wo uld oth w i b
e s . e se c a e n a er se e

gaps .
 P HONETI C CHA NGE 95

by a short a wh ich was l ength e n e d Th e lin e w as .

a gain compl e t e with o n e more so und than in O ld

,

En glish .

From Middl e to Mod ern En glish th e chan ge s

a re som e what mor e n u m e ro u s and in two d ire c ,
-

tions . Th e high pitch e d vowels have gon e still

-

high e r th e low pitch e d vow els still lowe r in

,
-

pitch By th e first ME
. b e cam e , ( th e.r e ) M E , .

e r e ) ros e to 6 ( th e y ) ey
é ( t h ME 6 ( th ) b e cam e i
,
.

( ma c hi n e
) M e anwhil e ME i had b e com e a di h
.
p .

thong still writte n i O r y b u t pronou nc e d n early

, ,

as a ( artistic) and i (h it) Clos ely u nite d By th e .

s e cond ME 6 b e came 6 ( no ) and ME 6 ( n 6) he

,
. .

cam e n In d oom in wh ich the O Spe lling is still

,

r e tain e d L ik e ME i ME ii b e cam e a diphthong

. .
,
.

made u p of a ( artistic) and Ti ( d oom ) spok e n ,

tog e th e r .

To fill th e gaps thu s ca u s e d n ew long 5 .

,

again d ev e lope d from short a and a n e w 0 from ,

variou s sou rce s as in th e words h ors e law c au s e

, , ,
.

In th e s e cond mode rn pe riod two Of th e high pitch e d -

vow els h ave gon e o n e ste p high e r Earli e r Mn E . .

é ( th e re) b e cam e 6 ( th ey ) and 6 ( th e y ) b e cam e i,

( m a c hin e ) .

Th e change s in th e long vow els will b e b e st

96 OUTL INE H I ST OR Y O F T HE E NGLI SH L AN GUA G E

appreciate d b y som e e xampl e s O f Mode rn E n glis h

words The s e w e may arrange u nd e r th e vow els
.

of th e old e st p eriod .

“
OE . i; y : ice , lif e, my , rime , wif e, wi s e ; d ive,
hi d e , b rid e, mic e .

OE . 6 ; 60 : f e e t , h e e l, queen s leeve ; f ree

, , gl ee ,
knee , s ee .

OE . ae ; ea t h ea l, h e at h , m e al, s ea, w r eat h ; e ast ,

le af , s h eaf , se am .

OE a . : b on e, f oam, gh ost , grov e, h om e, loa m , so,

toe .

0E . 6 : b oot , d oom, d o, f ood , gloom, s h oe too w oo

, , .

0E . a cow , h ou s e, h ow , loud , Ow l, s outh t own

, .

Th e Short vow els show a sch e m e at once sim

p le r and mor e complicat e d C e rtain Short vow e ls .

have b e e n fairly stab l e in all p eriods of English ;

oth e rs hav e chang e d th eir characte r mat erially .

Esp e cially th e Short vow els Show a gr e at e r infl ue nce

of n e ighb orin g sou nds For this r e ason th e y hav e .

b ee n l e ss lik e ly to contin ue th e ir d e v e lopm e nt with

u nvaryin r e u larity
g g .

Th e followin g tab l e will giv e som e id e a of th e

mor e r e gular d e ve lopm e nt of Sho rt vowels dotte d ,

lin e s showin g l e ss re gu lar chang e s

98 O UTL IN E HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGL I SH L AN GUA G E

Th ede ve lopm ent of th e u vow e l is p e cul iar as ,

compar e d with any of th e oth ers Th e Middle .

English so u nd O f 11 (f ull) has b e en re tain e d in only

a f e w words In th e s e it has b e e n k ept b y th e
.

influ e nc e of c e rtain consonants Example s a re f ull .

,

b ull p u ll w olf in th e last indicat e d b y o

, , ,
Th e .

mor e common d eve lopm e nt is not e asily indicate d

on th e tab l e By this Olde r 11 has lost all re al
.
,

conn e ction with u so unds and is prono unc e d lik e ,

th e SO call e d u of b ut
-
This is a vow e l with a .

pitch b e tw e e n e and a O n th e tab l e th e arrow .

su gge sts th e d ire ction O f chan ge .

Example s O f th e sho rt vow e ls a re as follows

OE . i; y : b ill, h i lt, sm ith , s till will ; , guilt, hill,
kin , sin .

OE . e ; eo z f ell, te ll, y ell we ll ;

,
h eaven , h ence ,
s eve n y e llow,
.

OE . as ea : ash , a sp , h a th , f a th om , m a sh ; r w,
n ar o

s h a d ow sparrow ,
.

OE . a : a rrow ca t fl a t h ave s a llo w s a lve

, , , , ,
.

OE .
9 : an d a n le h a n
g , g h a n d la n k,
m an r a n k , , , ,
.

OE . o : b o rro w b o x gossip fl oc k roc k

, , , ,
.

OE . u : f u ll, wo lf , woo l ; gu st, lun g ru n g rust , , ,

th us .
 P HONETI C C H ANGE 99

TH E DI P H T HO NGS

As to diphthon gs w e hav e Shown b y th e

,

tab l e that thos e of O ld English b e cam e simpl e

sou nds in Middle En glish In th e latte r p eriod
.

th e re d e ve lope d a n u m b e r of n e w diphthongs from

Simpl e vow els and following consonants which
b e cam e vowe ls . W e may th e re for e start with Mid
dle English diphthongs arrange d according to pitch
O f th e ir first el e m e nts .

\
M NE .

ei 5 ( they)

au

Oi Oi
—
41
( f ru it)

Of th e s e w e may say at onc e that oi is fr om

Fr ench th e o n e distinctive sound from that so u rce
, .

Th e last too (ui) was pro b ab ly n e v e r a tr ue d ip h

, ,

thong O n English soil At l e ast it was soon unite d

.

with th e iu diphthon g as in s uit or b e came simple

,

71 as in f ru it.

O therwise th e diphthon gs have be en much sim

100 OUTL INE HISTORY OF T HE E NGL I SH L A NGUA GE

lified in th e cou rs e of th eir history ME in and

p . .

e u incre as e d from Fr e nch 11 e au ie n cam e to e th e r

, , g , ,

as Mn E in (f ew ) Th e y have r e taine d th e ir sp ell

. .

ing ho we ve r as in f ew n ew mut e b e aut y lieu

, , , , , ,
.

ME ci and ai b e cam e o n e aft e r a tim e and late r

.
,

th e Simpl e s o u nd of 6 ( t h e y ) ME au with som e . .

,

e cam e 9 ( lor d ) as in ca u s e ough t Most

’ ’

o u s b , q u s
,
.

u nit e d with on and b e cam e 6 (n o ) as in k n ow , ,

g r o w . ME O i has
. r e main ed It Oft e n b e cam
. e a i
m
( y) how
,
e v e r as shown b
, y s u ch rim e s as j oin —fin e

in th e b e st po e ts O f th e e ight ee nth c e ntury .

From th e whol e diphthon gic syst e m of Middl e

English only two diphthongs have th u s b ee n pre
s e rve d Th ey are in (f ew ) and Oi ( b oil) Th e se
. .
,

with a i ( m y ) and au (h ou s e) which d e ve lop e d from ,

long vowe ls mak e up th e fou r principal diphthongs

,

O f Mod e rn En glish In addition c e rtain long v o w

.
,

e ls of e arli e r Mod e rn En glish hav e b e com e mor e or

l e ss diphthongic Th e b e st exampl e b e cau s e so

.
,

spo ke n b y all is th e form e r i (mach in e) b e fore r as

'

, ,

in d ear f ear In su ch words w e re ally say i ( h it)

,
.

and n e arly 11 O f b ut In British English th e for .

m er simpl e vow els i (mach in e ) e ( t h e y ) 6 (n o) i , , ,

( t h r ou g )h hav e b e com e diphthon g s This chang e .

is not u s ua l in Am e rica tho u gh s u ch vow els often ,

1 02 OUTL INE HIS TORY O F T HE E NGLISH L ANGUA G E

mainly th e oth e r way as alre ady shown in r egard

,

to c e rtain consonant sounds .

In oth e r wo rds th e proc e ss O f an gliciz ing b o r

,

rowed words has b ee n a strong o n e in all pe riods of

English O nly in late tim e s hav e e du cate d spe ak
.

e rs t en d e d to u se for e i gn pronu nciations of som e

fore ign d e riv e d words as O f prop e r nam e s O n th e

-
, .

oth e r hand English sp ellin g is largely a mixtu re of

,

foreign and native forms For this r e ason any

.

stu dy O f En glish so unds is mad e do ub ly di l cu lt

b y th e mu ltitu d e of antiqu at e d Signs r e pr e s e ntin g
th e m .

As in th e case of consonants c e rtain ge n e ral,

chang e s have a fie cte d vow e ls A f ew that hav e

.

l e ft p e rman e nt e fie cts on th e langu age mus t b e

m ention e d On e of th e mos t inte r estin g O f the se
.

is vow e l m u tation This w e still pre se rve as _a

.

pl ural Sign in ce rtain nou ns as man m en f oot f eet

—
,
—
, ,

mou s e—mic e S imilar m u tations howev e r w e re

.
, ,

onc e common in all clas se s O f words Knowing .

this w e may conn e ct words that might not othe r

,

wis e b e s e e n to hav e any conn e ction .

Mu tation e xampl e s may b e arrange d und er th e

variou s vow e ls of th eir pre s e nt forms , withou t
r e gard to thos e O f Old English :
 P HONETI C CHANG E 1 03

a : F ra n k —F re n ch , Wale s —Wel s h , y
Ca n t e rb ur —Ke n t ,
b an k —b en h f al l f e ll
,
c -
.

O: ov e rs e aves ; gold il
g , d f or e—fir st
, corn k ern el
-
.

u : fU ll—fill ,st t St in t
1us t list , -
u n — .

O —
d ole d e al w h Ol e —h e a l l,
od e— l ea d ,
.

oo z d oom d ee ,
m -
f ood —f ee d, b l oo —
d b leed .

ou : f oul pr oud —p rid e .

NO chan ge e xactly like th at o f m u tation has

a fie cte d vow e ls sinc e O ld English tim e s Ce rtain .

oth e r chang e s how e v e r occur with gre ate r or le ss

, ,

fr e quency in all p e riods Th e first O f th es e is .

Shor tening Eve n th e sp e lling Of s u ch words as

.

d ead d eat h b rea t h b een b lood b ook look shows

, , , , , , ,

that th e ir vow e ls w e re onc e long though all are ,

now short Th e v e rb s k eep

. sl eep have long ,

vow e ls in th e pre s ent b ut short vow els in th e ,

pas t t ense as k ep t s lept Words in which th e

, ,
.

vow e l was originally long b ut withou t indication ,

in th e spe lling are red h ot w et f at ten With

, , , , ,
.

h ot compar e h eat and with ten th e last part of ,

th ir t ee n
-
.

L en gth ening of short vow e ls has also occur r e d .

In many cases the se are r e gular le n gth e nin gs as ,

b e fore c e rtain consonant com b inations in old fi eld , ,

ch ild , fin d h oun d b eard b oar d climb

, L ength e n
, , , .
1 04 OUTL INE H IS TOR Y O F T HE E NGL ISH L A NGUAGE

in g h as also tak en plac e in su ch words as h az el ,

n ak e d w eas el ch ange d anger b ou n ce count all

, , , , , , ,

s mall . Most su ch chan ge s b elon g to O ld or Middl e

English b u t th e last two are mod e rn e xampl e s
, .

W e have Shown how O ld En glish diphthon gs

b e cam e Simpl e vow els and h o w Middl e En glish
,

1 11 b e cam e diphthongs in Mod e rn En glish

,
S im ilar .

change s may tak e plac e in any p eriod Tw o .

vow els not a diphthong may b e fu se d into on e in

, ,

pronu nciation Thu s th e words d on d of f are r e ally

.
,

a f u sing of d o on d o Off with d o in its Ol d e r s ens e

, ,

Th e words l or d h ea d Y or k also
’
of p u t plac e
‘
,
.
, ,

r e pr e s ent contraction of two vow e ls afte r th e loss

of an inte rve ning consonant .

V ow e ls may b e change d in characte r u nd er th e

infl u e nc e O f n e ighb orin g sou nds Thu s e ( men ) .

b e cam e i ( h it) b e for e a nasal consonant as in l ink , ,

s in ge s trin g A comparison of w on t w ith will

,
.
’
,

from which it is d e riv e d Shows th at th e i sou nd of

,

th e latte r has b ee n alt e r e d by th e pre c e d ing w .

O th e r minor alte rations might b e ill ustrate d .

U NS T R E SS E D SY LL AB L E S
Th e chan ge s SO far indicat e d hav e b e en those of
str e ss e d syllab l e s Unstre ss e d syllab l e s suff er e v e n
.
1 06 OUTL INE HI S T OR Y O F T HE E NGLISH L ANGUA GE

ward are from Olde r ad own aw ay w ard SO scorn , .

,

s cour a re from Old e r Fre nch forms with initial e .

S om e tim e s it is true b oth forms r e main as alon e

, , ,

lon e e scape—sca pe a ccoun t—c oun t

, , In oth e r cas e s
.
,

u nstr e ss e d syllab l e s hav e b e e n r e d u c e d b th loss

y e

of a me dial sound Thu s e l s e and h en ce a re fr om

.

e ll e s h e ne s
,
In the sam e way th e Olde r e ndings
.

-
es , e d of no u ns and v e rb s hav e b e e n r e du c e d to
-

th e Singl e consonants s = z ) and ( 1 .

Wh ere vow els in u nstre ss e d syllabl e s have not

b e e n e ntir e ly lost th e y hav e b e e n w e ak e ned or
,

ob sc u re d Thus th e u nstr e ss e d syllab l e s of vulgar

.
,

b ak e r elixir f av or mur mu r are all pronou nc e d

, , ,

alik e thou gh originally diff e re nt as Shown b y th e

,

Sp ellin g L ack of str ess has th u s b e en a factor in

.

many ch an ge s of English words Th e f ull e xplana .

tion Of thes e b elongs to a mor e elab orate treatis e .

 CH AP TE R V II

PHON ETI C change s are mainly d ue to ph ysiologi

cal relations Imp e rfe ct articu lation in e ach gen
.

e ra tio n accou nts for som e chang e s G re at e r e as e .

in sp e aking accounts for oth ers Words a re also

.

altere d by analogy or lik en e ss to oth e r words

,
.

In English with its fix e d and unphon e tic sp e ll

,

ing e v e n writte n forms hav e a ff e ct e d pronu ncia

,

tion e sp ecially O f l e arn e d words F or exampl e a

,
.
,

good many wor ds of French origin are n ow pro

n o u n ce d with th e English th O f t h ic k t hin S u ch ,
.

a re a ut h or ,auth orit y ap oth ecar y th eory th ron e

, , , ,

B arth olome w M atth ew In all th e s e Fr e nch th

, .
,

was a t sou nd and sp ellin g alon e has cau s e d th e m

,

to assu m e English th Compare th e e arlie r aut or

.

of Milton and a p otecarie O f Chau c er N ote also

,
.

that th e a b b re viate d forms O f B arth olomew and

Matt h e w a re B art ( B at ) and M at all showing the ,

original t Th e nam e s Th omas E sth er have re

.
,

siste d this analogy and a re still pronounced with t .

107
1 08 OU TLI NE HI ST OR Y O F T HE E NGL ISH LA NGUA G E

S imilar ana lo gie s acco unt for th e e arly p ro n un

c ia tio n Of G e rman
nam e s lik e Gottingen W iirtem ,

b e rg . Th e s e and oth e rs w e re printe d writte n and , ,

pronou nc e d witho u t modifie d vow els For se ve ral .

c e nturie s L atin was p rono u nce d afte r th e analogy

Of English words e xc e pt that th e L atin acc e nt w a s
,

r e tain e d All know that th e mistak e s in l earning

.

a for e ign lan gua ge a re d u e to th e influ e nce of th e

moth e r tongue with which w e are SO mu ch b e tte r
,

ac q uainte d .

B y th e opposite analogy for e ign nam e s once , ,

fu lly an gliciz e d hav e some tim e s b e e n mad e to con

,

form to fore ign mod els Thu s Cala is still pro .

,

n o u n ce d in En gland to rim e with P aris is u su ally ,

g iv e n a F r e nch pron u nciation in Am e rica In th e .

Elizab e than a ge R om e was pronounc e d l ik e room

, ,

as shown by th e w e ll known p un in Ju lius Caesa r -

.

By influ e nc e O f for e ign pron u nciation p e rhaps ,

partly of sp e lling it n o w rim e s with h om e Th e

,
.

sam e influe nc e acco unts for th e for eign acce nt of

M a d rid Milan , aft e r th ey had b ee n f ully an gliciz e d
’

,
’

as M ad rid M i lan Common words are l e ss ire

’

,
’
.

qu e ntly made fore ign b u t ch ivalr y onc e had th e ch ,

O f c h urch inste ad O f ch as in mod e rn Fre nch

,
.

“
More vital e e cts Of analogy hav e occur re d wh en
11 0 OUTLINE HI S T OR Y O F T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE

form howe ve r was u nu su ally common and this

, , ,

g e nitiv e in es
(
-
o u r 5 e s
) was e xt e nd e,d to prao
tically all nouns .

In th e plu ral a mor e sw e e pin g simplification too k

place Th e pl u ral ge nitive was far l e ss commonly
.

u s e d than th e Sin gu lar and was grad ually lost

, .

For similar r e asons th e dative also disappe ar e d .

Th es e w e re b oth r eplac e d by th e more common

nominative accu sativ e e nding in as This e ndin g
-
,
-
.

late r b e cam e e s and r e mains tod ay as s( e s) in

- -

th e pl urals of all b ut a f e w nou ns S u ch regu la ri .

za tio n and simplification has a fiec te d all in fle ction al

forms to a wond e rfu l d e gre e as we shall se e und e r ,

infle ction .

Analo gy has also aff e ct e d oth e r un stre sse d parts

Of many wo rds Thu s th e adverb ial s uffix 1y ,
.
-

thou gh e stab lish e d in O ld English in its Old e r form ,

was far l e ss common than tod ay It has Sinc e .

b e e n gre atly e xte nd e d in u s e and fr ee ly add e d to ,

b orrow e d as w e ll as nativ e words It e ven afie cts .

u sa ge at pr e s e nt U nd e r th e infl u e nc e of su ch
.

forms as s ec ond ly thir dly and oth ers fi rs t Ofte n

, , ,

b e com e s fir s t l y Th e common e st e nding of a d j e c

.

tiv e s y as in h appy h as also b ee n gradu ally e x

,
-
,

tended to many to whi ch it did not onc e b elong .

 ANAL O GY 111

Exampl e s O f b orrow e d words s o a ec te d are b almy ,

c on tr a ry p almy It has also indire ctly modifie d

,
.

oth e r e ndings as in th o rny j o lly ta rd y

, , ,
.

" "

Eve n fore ign su xe s wh e n fu lly a part O f ,

English have b e en u s e d in th e same way Co m

, .

"

pare th e French su xes age a rd in tilla ge cab

I -
,
-
, ,

b age sau s age d otard gizzar d

, , ,
Exampl e s of analogy .

in suifixe s might e asily b e mul tiplie d For instanc e .

,

th e nou n su x in g has modifi e d th e ori ginal e n d

I -

in gs O f pr e se nt participl e s and of som e no u ns It .

has also b ee n fre ely e xte nd e d to n e w words .

Ill ustrations of analo gy in s u ffixe s may b e par

alle le d b
y thos e in pr e fix e s Th e pr e fix a in a
. b id e ,

a ris e has b e e n e xt e nd e d to a ro u s e , a cc u rse It also .

r e pr e s e nts s e ve ral pre fixe s which have b e e n modi

fie d u nde r its infl u e nc e It com e s from O f in
.

a d own ; an d in a lon g ; ge in awa re , afi ord ; on in

awa y a f oot ; a t in a d o
, e n in a n oint .

Analogy some tim e s change s words so that th ey

s e em to have a relation to oth e rs with which th ey
hav e no r e al conne ction For e xample w ormwood
.
,

has nothin g to do with e ith e r w orm or w ood b u t ,

is a modification O f O E we rm o d Th e latter had . .

lost its m e aning and was modifi e d to giv e it a like

n e ss to w ell known words
-
.
112 OUT L INE HIS T OR Y OR T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE
S imilar chan ge s have Ofte n tak en plac e in
lan gu ag e Th e last parts O f b rid egro om a c orn
.
, ,

titm o us e, have b e e n modifi e d to conform to gro om ,

c o rn mo u s e
, Not unde rsta ndin g this law Of anal
.

ogy N oah W eb ster insiste d on sp ellin g th e first

,

b rid e go o m in his D ic tio na ry of 1 82 8 Th e word .

titmo us e e v e n forms a plural titm ic e y e t tit ,

m o us e is th e nam e O f a b ird th e last part of which ,

’
onc e m e ant littl e b ird ‘
.

B o rrow e d words are e v e n mor e lik e ly to b e

chan ge d in form Sinc e th ey do not r e adily sugge st
,

any m eaning j Th u s a sparagu s has b e come spa r

.
~
A

ro wgra ss SO c a u s e way f rontispi e ce p e nth o us e

.
, , ,

pic kax hav e b e e n similarly modifie d in the ir last

,

e l e m e nts b y wa y piece h o us e ax ,
S u ch alt e ra
, ,
.

tions a re Ofte n l u dicrou s and are re ad ily s e iz e d

u pon b y th e h umoris t Eve n Shak e spe ar e mak e s
.

Mistre ss Q uickly alte r h omici d e into h oney s e e d -

.

O the r e xampl e s O f Similar hu mor are found in

S h eridan s Mrs Malaprop and S hillab e r s Mrs
’ ’
. .

Partin gton .

A l e ss str ikin g form O f analogy m odifie s c e rtain

g rammatical forms B y it wo rds e ndin
.
g in s ( )
e s -

p ronou nc e d z ( e z ) hav e b ee n r e gard e d as pl u rals

and so u se d Compare alm s eave s , rich e s all
.
, ,
1 14 OUT LINE HI S TO R Y OF T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA G E

grammatical pa rtn e r Compare th e se kind O f

.
‘

’
knave s .

O th e r exampl e s Show similar infl uence An ad .

v e rb is plac e d imm e diate ly b e fore its verb for

e mphasis as In , str ongly u rge
‘
Unde r th e infl u
.
’

e nce of this ord e r an adv e rb is Oft e n place d b e tw e e n

,

to and its infinitiv e as in to strongly urg e

,
‘
SO .
’

’ ’ ’
S hak e sp e ar e s I ll b e f riend s with th e e shows th e
‘

’ ’
influ e nc e of s u ch e xpre ssions as w e ll b e f riend s .

Ev en th e s e e xampl e s giv e a Slight id e a O f h o w im

portant has b ee n th e influ e nc e of analo gy in th e
d e velopm e nt Of English sp ee ch Far from b ein g .

an unnatu ral influ enc e too analogy is b oth natural

, ,

and in evitab l e in all langua ge s .

 T H E E N G L IS H V O CA B U L A RY

CH APTE R V III
OLD ENGLI SH

WH E N Englishm e n cam e to Britain th e ir vocab

u lary was in th e main a homog e n e o u s on e It con
.

sist e d first of Te u tonic words common to Englis h

and th e oth e r langu age s of th e grou p Th e n th e re
.

w e re s u ch words as had b ee n forme d afte r th e

s e paration O f th e English fr om th e ir kinsm e n on
th e contin e nt Th e s e incl u d e d all b u t th e small e st
.

nu mb e r of wor ds . A very small n u mb e r had

alr e ady b e e n b orrow e d from th e Romans S om e .

of th e latte r are ch alk coulter crisp f uller ( of

, , ,

cloth) min t S aturd a y , sh ort

, , . Even thu s e arly
b e gan th e b orrowing from oth e r tong u e s .

Ho w larg e th e En glish vocab ulary was wh e n ,

our T e u tonic fath e rs cam e to B ritain cannot b e ,

known Th e adve ntu rou s characte r of th e p eople

.

is good proof that th ey had advanc e d b eyond th e

115
116 OUTL INE HIST ORY O F T HE E NGL ISH LANGUA GE

original ru de state The r e is som e r e ason to b elie ve

.

th ey alre ady had som e u nwritte n lit e ratur e What .

e v e r was tr u e a t this tim e b e for e th e clos e O f O ld

,

Englis h th e word stock was conside rab le Th e most

-
.

compl e te dictionary of O ld English contains some

forty thou sand words This is ab o u t th e n umb e r
.

in J ohnson s D ic tiona ry Th e latt e r by no m e ans

’
.

contain e d all En glis h words Of its tim e b u t th e ,

comparison will give some id e a O f th e d e velopment

of O ld En glish sp e e ch .

By what m e ans had th e English voc ab ul ary so

greatly incr e as e d ?Th e incre as e must b e d u e to
th e d e v elopm e nt O f th e peopl e and th e e nlarg e ,

m ent of th e ir ide as in many ways Th ey had .

e stab lis hed kingdoms in Britain Th es e had wag e d

.

many wars among th e ms e lve s first on e th e n anoth e r

,

aining s u pr e macy Th y had adopt e d th e re ligion

g . e

O f th e civiliz e d world and its literat u r e Th ey had .

protect e d th e ir land for many ye ars against th e

D an e s, and had finally r e c e iv e d larg e ad di tions to
th e ir nu mb ers f rom that rac e The y had come into
.

dir e ct inte rcour s e with France and had also r e ,

ce iv eii som e incr e as e O f pop ulation from that so u rc e .

All the s e infl uenc e s a ff e cted th e word stock of -

Englis hm en .
11 8 OUTL INE HI S TOR Y OE T HE E NGLISH L ANGUAG E
Many sumxes have also l eft no trac e in English
of to day Th e followin g words will give som e idea
-
.

of th e large r nu mb e r once in u se :
N oun su Ix e S : king d om -
, vix- e n , b a k- e r, c hild

th in k in g b um p kin b an t
h oo d , G o d - h ea d , -
,
-
,

ling kin d ne ss f rie n d s hip spin ste r

,
-
,
-
,
-
.

Adj e ctiv e su ix es gold en two f o ld h an d —f ul ch ild

"
- -
, , ,

like h ap le ss lik e ly h an d some f o r war d

,
-
,
-
,
-
,
-
,

h a rp y -

Ve rb al su xe s : f a st eu knowl e d ge clean se
I -
,
-
,
-
.

Th e most important v erb al s u ffix e s are wholly

lost and cannot the re for e b e illu strat e d Thu s
,
.

ca u sative and inchoativ e v e rb s w e re freely form ed

b y O ld Englis h sm fix es For e xampl e lay rais e se t .
, , , ,

a re cau sativ e v e rb s to lie ris e sit and w e r e onc e

, , , ,

form e d b y a su ix Th e only diff e r e nc e b etween

"’

th e v e rb s to d ay is in th e ir vowe ls — di eren ce s
°
-
,
M
re ally caus e d b y th e Sl l X sinc e lost B e sides l .
,

th e minor class e s of words as adve rb s and pro ,

no u ns w e re form e d to som e e xt e nt b y suflixes

,
.

Th e nativ e vocab ulary was gr eatly e xte nd e d in

its place n a m e s Th e most common of thes e are
-
.

known fr om th e nativ e e ndi ngs h am and ton - -

.

Examples are Dur h am Hors h am B righ ton Hor -

,
-
,
-
,
 OLD E NGL I SH 11 9

ton . Th e se suf fix e s are re du c e d forms of h ome ,

tow n and are e sp e cially common in nativ e s e ttle

,

me nts O th e r su xe s may b e class e d as thos e

"

. I

e as ily re cogn iz e d as ind e pend e nt words and those ,

which are main ly s u ffix e s .

O f th e first are field f ord lan d s t ead -

,
-
,
-
,
-
.

O f th e s econd b ury ( b orough ) b ourn e ( b urn )

,
-
,

b rook ,
’
h ith e harb or low
-
hill st oc k ( s t oke ) ,
’
-
,
’
-
,

s t ow wich ( w ic k )
,
-
.

H e r e may b e noted also th e English patronymic

’
e ndin g in g son of It occu rs in many nam e s
-
‘
.

su ch as B as in g H aring Man nin g It b elongs he re

, , .

b eca u s e it e nt e rs into many plac e nam e s Exampl e s -

.

a re B irm in g h am B uc k in g h am Wal s in g h a m
- -
,
- -
,
- -
.

Th e s e cond m e thod of incr e asing th e word stock -

within th e langu age was b y u nion of ind ep ende nt

words This me th od lik e th e oth e r was common
.
, ,

to all m e mb e rs of th e T e utonic group as also to ,

th e Ind o E u rop e an family -

S om e id e a of th e .

free dom with which su ch compo unds w er e form e d

may b e gaine d zh om th e following e xampl e s In '
.

th e larg e st dictionary of O ld En glish th e word

lan d is part of sixty thr e e comp ou nds Th e word -
.

e v en ,e v e nin g e nt e rs into tw e nty six s u ch com -

pounds and lif e into twe nty s even

,
-
.
12 0 OUTL IN E HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGL I SH L ANGUA GE

Th e xpre ssiv en e ss of s u ch compo u nd words may

e

b e gain e d from a f e w of th e m that have not b ee n

pre s e rv e d S uch a re lif e b u s y lif e care lif e d ay
.
-
,
-
,
-
,

’
lif e f ast
-
havin g life lif e ward gu ardian of lif e
‘
,
-
‘
,
’

lif e w ay lif e w ell

-
, livin g spring lif e win jo y of
-
‘
,
’
-
‘

life .
’
Th e se typical e xampl e s might b e gr eatly
incr e as e d in n um b e r Y e t it is still d i icult to
"

Sho w how lar ge and e f fe ctive th e old e r vocab u lary

r e ally was .

Th e r e was a third mor e indir e ct m eans of e n

la rgin g th e vocab ulary Chan ge of vow e l is char .

a cte ristic of c e rtain words in En glish as m a n —m en ,

.

The s e a re parts of o n e infl e ction Th e sam e .

chang e how e v e r occ urr e d in words which tho ugh

, , ,

from th e sam e r oot b e cam e e ntirely ind e p end e nt

,
.

Wh e n t hi s was so th e word stock was virtu ally -

incr eas e d by a conside rab l e numb e r of n ew forms .

Th e s e may b e illustrated b y su ch e xample s as ,

sale s ell —
d oleu d eal
tale t ell —
f ood — f eed
long l ength —
b lood — b leed

gr ow gr een ing
— i
go d g ld
l w
— r o
g
f ull fill -
c olo r

h u b —
t m t h imb le proud prid e—

—
lod e lead —
direct f oul ( )
d e fil e
12 2 OUTL INE H I S TO RY O F T HE ENGL ISH L ANGUA GE

The re w as no consciou s coining from foreign

mate rial as ofte n to day -
.

Th e first of s u ch b orrowing re s ulted from con

t act with th e Celts Tho u gh th e latt e r b ecam e .

s u b j e ct to th e T e utons som e of th e ir words fou nd ,

th eir w ay into sp ee ch and hav e r e maine d to th e

pr e s e nt Exampl e s are b an n oc k b rat mantl e
.
,
‘
,

ra g ,
late r child b r oc k crad le curse d ow n hill
’ ‘
,
’
, , , ,
’

d un d ark color
‘
matt ock I n addition som e
,
’
.

words of L atin origin s e e m to hav e com e in Celtic

forms S u ch are a lm s a s s Ch rist
.
, , .

Th e larg e st class of Ce ltic words in English

consists of nam e s for plac e s and natu ral Ob j e cts
in B ritain Th e s e re main e d among our anc e stors
.

mu ch as nam e s from th e lang uage s of th e N orth

Am erican In di ans have r e main e d in Am e rica .

S u ch Ce ltic nam e s are fo und in all parts of En g

land b u t e specially in th e north and w e st Th ey
,
.

are most common in S cotland and Ir e land Ex .

ampl e s are nam e s of rive rs as Avon Usk ( Ux) ; and , ,

mo untains as Pen B en N ote als o th e following

, , .

’
ab er mou th in Ab er d een , mou th of th e D ee,
’

, ,

and oth e rs .

Dum
’
d un protecte d place in Dun b ar D un d ee
,
‘
, , ,

b arton .
 OLD E NGLI SH 12 3

’
in ch , island in In ch cape
‘
,
.

in v er mou th of rive r in I nverara y I nver n ess

, ,
’
, .

kill church in Kild ar e Kilmarn oc k

, ,
’
, .

’
lla n,
sacre d plac e ch u rch in L lan d af f Llanf air
, , , .

With Celtic b orrowings cam e also a f e w L atin

words which had surviv e d among th e Celts S uch .

a r e la k e moun t p ort s tr eet wall w ic k win e

, , , , , , .

’
L atin ca stra camp also re main s in su ch nam e s
,
‘
,

as Ch es t er Win ch e st er Leicest er L an ca st er and

, , , ,

othe rs .

Th e most conside rab l e b orrowing from L atin

re sulte d from th e Christianization of Britain Y e t .

Christian t e ach e rs mad e no radical e fiorts to alt e r

English sp ee ch Th ey l e arn e d English and adapte d
.
,

native words to th e n ew id e as From th e m su ch .

words a s b le s s E aster gh ost God h e aven len t

, , , , , ,

acqu ire d th e Christian s ens e s th e y have sinc e

b orn e Ne w compou nds w e re also form e d as
.
,

Gospel L ad y d ay In fact Christian conc eptions

, .
,

w e re usu ally e xpre ss e d by English words rath er ,

than b y b orrowe d on e s Th e same w as tru e of .

conc eptions conn e cted with literatu re and m e dias

val stu die s S u ch te rms as arithm e tic g e om e try
.
, ,

astronomy grammar rh e toric mu sic me dicine

, , , , ,

mechanic s, were translated into Englis h .

1 24 OUTL INE HI S T OR Y O F T HE E NGL I SH L ANGUA G E

Notwithstanding this a num b e r of L atin words ,

grad u all
y b e cam e a pa rt of En lish sp e e ch
g S om e .

ide a of the m may b e gain e d fr om th e following

class e s :
Ch u rch words : all) a lta r a rch b is h op bish op c an
, , , ,

d le c h urch c owl cre e d d e a c on d evil f ont

, , , , , , ,

marty r mass minster monk n un organ

, , , , , ,

pall pope prie st psalm

, , s sh rin e temple , , , .

Tr ee and plant nam e s : b ee t box ch e rvil f e n n el , , , ,

lily m a llow
’
f eve rf e w gla d e n sword grass
,
‘ -
, , ,

mint m ul( b e rry) pa lm p ea p ea r p eppe r

, , , , , ,

p e riwinkl e pine plant plum p oppy savin e

, , , , , ,

sp e lt .

Animal nam es : c apon d o e lo b ste r muss e l pe a , , , ,

( cock ) p h oe
,nix tr o u t tu r tle ( dov e ) , , .

Miscellan e ou s : b u tter c ank er ca p ch e e s e ch e st , , , , ,

c oo k c opp e r c up dis h f an f e v e r fi d d l e f or k
, , , , , , , ,

im m in c h kiln kitc h e n lin en mat m ill m or

, , , , , ,
’
ta r m ust win e pan p il ch pi le pillow p in p it
‘
, , , , , , , ,

pitch plaste r pole punt sa ck s h am b le s sickle

, , , , , , ,

s ilk so ck sole strap tile tipp e t tun tunic

, , , , , , , .

Th e s e are all nouns as a re th e maj ority of b o r ,

row e d words in all lang u age s N am e s of thin gs .

a re mor e fr e q u e ntly b orrow e d than words of any

othe r character B e sid es a v ery f e w L atin verb s

.
,
12 6 OUTL INE HI S TORY OF T H E E NGLI SH L ANGUA G E

common in th e old Dan elaw b u t also occur in ,

oth er parts of England Danish place name s are .

-

e sp e cially indi cate d b w e ll known su rfix e s Tw

y
-
o .

of th es e are b y town as in D e rb y Grim s b y Whitb y

- ‘
,
’

, , ,

and th waite as in L angth wa ite Pe rsonal nam e s

-
,
.

of N ors e origin are thos e e n ding in son as Gib -

,

son,
J oh nson Th omson and many oth ers G iv en
, ,
.

nam e s as H arold also occur

, ,
.

Be fore th e clos e of O ld English th e infl u ence of ,

Norman French had b egu n More intimat e r el a . p

tions of England and France b elong to th e el eve nth

ce ntury Ev e n so e arly som e French words may
.

hav e b ee n introdu ce d Th e N orman Con qu e st

gre atly str ength e n e d su ch infl u enc e French words .

do not app ear in literatu re mu ch b efore th e Middle

p e riod ye t som e are fo und in th e Chron icle u nd e r
,

y ears Of th e e l e v e nth ce ntury Example s are .

’
a rb las t b as tard cas tle c an ce le re chanc ellor d ub
‘
, , , ,

strik e in conferring knighthood, pris o n , tower

,
’
.
 CHAP TE R IX

O A
THE V C B UL RY A OF MI DDLE ENGLI SH

TH E hi s tory of th e vocab ulary in O ld English is

mainly a sto ry of chang e s within th e native stock .

Th e additions from o u tsid e so u rc e s are very f ew .

Th e Middl e E nglish pe riod, on th e oth e r hand , is

one of a gr e at incre as e of words from fore ign
s ou rc e s New words continue d to b e made fr om
.

nativ e mat erial b ut this was no long e r th e only

,

important so urc e of supply Th e hab it of adopting

.

fore ign words b e cam e fully e s tab lish e d and was op

,

pose d b y none This b orrow e d e l e m ent th e r e fore

.
, ,

m u st r e ce ive a large r tre atm e nt than b e fore 1 1 00 .

Wh en th e b orrow e d e le m ent is th us e mphasized

w e sp eak of words as u s e d in lit e ratu r e or as th e y
,

a ppear in th e dictio n ary . Th e spok e n langu ag e

did not chang e rapidly or radically Th e peopl e.

continu e d to u se th e native e l e m ent mainly con ,

tinn e d to form n e w compou nds and u se nativ e pre

fixe s and s uffixe s This is cl e ar from th e u se of
.

less le arn e d writ e rs It is ev e n more c ertain from

.

12 7
12 8 OU TL I NE HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE

th e p e rsist e nc e of th e native e l e me nt in th e e ss e n
tials of grammatical str u ctu r e Th e in fle c tion al forms
.

re taine d w e re f rom th e native English Al l chang e s .

of infl e ction and most of thos e in syntax can b e

, ,

e xplain e d b y infl ue nc e s at work withi n th e lan gu ag e .

Y e t th e nativ e e l e m e nt was not stab l e Th e .

w e arin g away of u nstre ss e d pr e fixe s and e ndings

contin ue d By th e s e chan ge s all class e s of words
.

w e r e alte re d Esp e cially th e diff er enc e s b e twe e n

.

nou ns and adj e ctive s on th e one sid e and v erb s on ,

th e oth e r b e gan to disapp e ar

, .

N ot alone w e r e unstre ss ed el ements lost Eve n .

str e sse d pre fix e s w er e weak e ne d in m e aning and

Oft e n disapp e are d For e xampl e th e pr e fix o r
.
,

, , ,
’
withou t old e arly is r e cord e d in mor e than fifty
Old En glish no uns and adj e ctives In th e Middl e .

Englis h dictionary of Stratm an n th e re are o nl y

tw elv e. This s e e m s fairly to r e pre s e nt th e loss of
pr e fix e s in oth e r cas es O nly o n e pre fix was som e
.

what incre as e d in u se from th e falling toge th e r of

two o r thre e onc e difie ren t Th u s th e pre fix a .

O f Middl e E n glish r e pr e s e nts at l e ast fo u r of O ld

English a, on Of and som e time s ge Y e t a its e lf

, .

was m u ch re strict e d in u se and e mploye d in f e w

,

n e w compo u nds .
13 0 OU TL IN E HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGLIS H L ANGUA GE
Th e first may be ill u strated by
)
a
y onc e day s eye once loaf ivard
’ ’
da is , . lo rd , -
.
’

h u s s y onc e ho u s e wif e
’

ga rlic spe ar l ee k ’
-
, .
, .

la d y
’
1106 loaf kn e ad e r shire r e e v e ’
s h e rifi
‘

£
- -
, .
, .

b id a l
r , onc e b rid e fe ast
-
.
’
b arn b arl ey hou se
‘ -
’
, .

Exampl e s of th e s e cond class are d arlin g s tar ,

b oar d goss ip w oman th e first parts of which w ere

, , ,

onc e o ur words d ear s teer God wif e O ccasionally , , , .

wh en s uch a chang e take s place a n ew compound

is form e d to r eplac e th e old Thus h ouse wif e lif e .
-
,

like r e place d h uss y live ly, wh e n th e latter had lost

, ,

th eir e arlie r m e aning .

B u t whil e th e lang u age wa s losing some words ,

others w e re b e ing form e d Th ese n ew formations .

a re not e asily trac e d A word may hav e b ee n in .

e arly u se and not appe ar in O ld En glis h lit e ratu re

n o w pr e s erv e d Y e t in som e cas e s w e can se e a

.

cle ar exte nsion of th e word making pow er The -

.

e ndin gs in g of nouns
-
of adj e ctiv e s and l - -
y y , ,

of a dve rb s w e re more fr e quently u se d Verb s .

with th e su x 1 as ca ckle crack le h ob b le w e re

"

, , , ,

gre atly incre as e d in n umbe r perhaps throu gh ,

Norse influe nce Thus while th e vocab ulary was

.
,

b e ing decre as e d b y c e rtain losses, it was b e ing

 T HE VO CAB UL AR Y OF MID DLE E NGLI SH 13 1

incre as e d in oth e r ways Do ub tl ess th e gain in

. th e
native e l ement was gre at e r than th e los s .

M I DDL E EN GL I SH BORRO W I NG
Th e adoption of n e w words in Middl e English is
e sp e cially Significant Many Danish s ettl e rs w e re
.

still in th e co u ntry Th e N orman Conque st b ro u ght

.

a gov e rning class which u sed French for a tim e at

le ast Both th e se infl uence s appear in literatu re of
.

th e pe riod . In fact th e adoption of new words was

,

a common practic e of th e lang uage SO many .

words w ere b orrowe d that com pl e te lists can no

longe r b e giv en e ve n of thos e retain e d in mod e rn
,

En glish W e may how e ver give som e ide a of th e

.
, ,

kinds of words b orrow e d and of h o w th eir forms

som e times Sho w th e ir fore i gn origin .

Ju st how large was th e Norse ele ment cannot b e

c e rtainly kn own It wa s large r than at pre se nt
.
,

f or many su ch words hav e b ee n lost B ut e v e n.

scholars a re s om e tim e s p u z zle d by th e Similarity of

Norse and native English forms For e xample it .
,

would scarc ely b e thou ght that th e y th eir are , ,

from Nors e or that t ak e which agr ee s so fully in

,

grammatical forms with sh ak e and f orsak e cam e ,

from th e same source Y e t th e form of th e firs t

.
13 2 OUT LIN E HIS TO R Y O F T HE E NGL ISH L ANGUA GE

two prove s the m to b e b orrow ed and th e latte r did ,

not e xist in Englis h u ntil afte r th e Danish s e ttle

m ents More ov e r its m e aning was f ully s u ppli e d
.
,

b y an e nt ir e ly diff e re nt word n ow lost , .

In oth e r r e spects it is Often not e asy to d e te r

min e d iif e re n ces S om e tim e s form do es not assist
.

at all If s u ch words a re not found in literatu re

.

u ntil th e Middl e pe riod th ey may still hav e e x

,

iste d in English spe e ch b e fore th e coming of th e

Dan e s or e v e n in li te ratu r e n ow lost
,
O r s u ch .
,

a word may have b ee n le ss common in O ld

English and b ro u ght into gr ea t er promin e nc e b y
,

Danish u sa ge For e xampl e th e p re position till

.
,

app e ars rar ely in Old English and n eve r in th e ,

sou th It was common in N ors e and b e cam e so in

.
,

Middle English .

Again a word m ay b e English in form and have

,

a m e aning d ue to N ors e u sage This s ee ms to b e .

tru e of d ream th e form of which is English thou gh

, ,

th e only O ld English m e anin g was joy

’
As in ‘
.

Norse and Middle English it m e ans a vision in

sl e ep w e may rightly as sum e that th e latter sens e
,
’

was of N orse origin S o earl is English in form

.
,

bu t th e r e stricte d m e aning of no b l e man rul e r ‘

,

of a dis trict is N ors e ’

These examples Show
.
13 4 O UTL INE HIS TOR Y OF T HE E NGL ISH LA NGUA G E

of gov ernm e ntal words Y e t som e of th e latte r.

a re important : s u ch a re law out la w e ar l

( a titl e
, ) , ,

ra n s ac k originally to s e arch a hou se Som e

‘
,

oth ers a re still us ed in En gland as h ust in gs ,

w ape n t ak e rid in g
, divis ion of th e country
, .

Norse words a re not c onne cted with any p articu

lar trad e or occ upation O f two b elonging to th e
.

family sister is N or se in form, and h u s b an d on ce

,
’
m e ant hou se holde r .

Th e most n u m e rous b o rrowin gs in Middl e Eng

lish tim e s w er e fr om B en ch Th is is natu rally .

owing to th e n ew gove rning class in England .

Th e re was b eside s clos e in tercou rs e with Fr ench

people o n th e contin ent Finally th ere was a .

u nion of portions of France in o n e kingdom .

Th e ch urch also pass e d largely u nd e r Fre nch in

fluen ce . L iteratu re follow e d th e chu rch wh e n all ,

write rs and most r e ade r s w e re churchm e n For a .

tim e English and French w e re spoke n b y diff e r e nt

class e s and a French literature w s written on
,
a
English soil .

Y et f ew F rench words imm e diately app e ar e d

in native works Th e y cr e pt in a f e w at a tim e
.
, ,

as a f ew at a tim e sifte d into native sp e e ch For .

e xampl e , th e Saxon Ch ron icle e nding n e arly a c en ,

 THE VO CAB UL A R Y OE MIDDLE E NGLISH 13 5

tury a f ter th e Conqu e st ,contains l e ss than 2 0 com

mon Fre nch words Th e Orm u lu m with n early .
,

long lin e s contains l e ss than 3 0 Fre nch

,
’
words not incl u din g prop e r nam e s Laya m on s
,
.

B r ut with
,
long lin e s b ase d on a Fr ench
po e m doe s not contain 1 50 words from French
,
.

In all writings b efore 1 2 50 th e Fr e nch words

prob a bly do n o t exc e e d 500 In te xts b e fore 1 4 00 .

som e 3 4 00 Fre nch words hav e b e en fou nd b u t ,

e v e n this is not a larg e nu mb e r for a voca b u lary

of words in th e Old e st period .

Borrowings from French we r e from more than

a singl e d ial e ct Th e first cam e from N orthern
.

Fr e nch incl udin g N ormandy and Picardy whil e

, ,

late r word s from Ce ntral Fr ench w ere introd u ce d .

In many case s words from the two districts do not

diff e r mate rially in oth e rs a di ff e renc e is e asily
,

s ee n For e xampl e N orth e rn Fr ench had c

.
, k)
b e for e a and a u, wh e re Ce ntral Fre nch had ch
as in ch urch .

N orthern : c age, c ald o r n , ca pital

, ca rpente r, s
ca e,

c a tch , t
c a t le , c a use .

Ce ntral : ch a nge , ch an dler , c h an t

( ch au n t
) , ch arm ,

ch a rity , ch a e s .
13 6 OUTL INE H IS T OR Y OE T HE E NGLI SH LANGUAGE
S om e time s b oth forms of th e sam e word now
e xis t sid e by sid e as in
, th e following pair s
ron—c h a ld ron
c ald catch —ch as e
c apita l—c h apte r ca ttle c h a tte l -

In oth e r cas e s N orth e rn form s w e r e later displac ed

b y thos e from Ce ntral Fr e nch S o ch arity c h an
.
,

c e llo r took th e plac e of th e olde r cara te th c an ce lere , ,

with th e sam e m e aning Thu s e v en in Middl e

.
,

English tim e s N orman forms so m e tim % gav e way

,

b e for e what was conside re d mor e corre ct F re nch .

Th e r e a re oth e r signs of th e s e two dia l e cts of

Fr e nch Th u s ch b efore e and i r epr e s e nts N orth
.

ern Fr e nch c ( = s) in th e sam e position Ce ntral

, ,

Fr e nch S u ch words as ch e rish ch e rry chimn ey

.
, , ,

c h is e l a re th e r e for e of N orth e rn Fr e nch d e rivation .

N orthe rn French als o are catch and laun ch b e sid e ,

ch as e and lan c e fr om th e Ce ntral division .

N orthern Fr ench words also have w initially ,

wh er e th e corr e sponding Ce ntral words have g or gu .

S uch words are of T e u tonic origin o n e diale ct p re ,

s e rving w th e oth e r not Exampl e s are :

,
.

North ern waf e r wage r war warrior ward en,

:
, , , ,

warison warrant reward , ,

.

Ce ntral : gage guar dian guaran te e regar d

, , ,
.
13 8 O U TL INE HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGLISH L ANGUA GE

nticle c ar din al ch ape l clergy c o n fe ssor

c h a lice , c a , , , , ,

dis ciple gr ace h e rmit id o l litan y miracle n un

, , , , , , ,

n unn e ry , p a ra dis e pray preach pre la te proph e t

, , , , ,

proph e s y , purga tory , re ligion relic s ac rifi ce , s e rmon , , ,

saint spirit trinity

, , .

French additions in oth er classe s of words ma y

b e illus trated b y comparison W e shall tak e thos e .

of ( 1) war ( 2 ) name s of occu pations (3 ) words re

, ,

lating to the family and (4) thos e of addr ess , .

1 . English : fi gh t, sp ea r sword weap on , , .

French : a rms , a rm o r a ss a ult b ann e r b a ttle , , , ,

f o rtress lan c e m ail s ie ge sta n dard

, , , , .

2 . En glish : b ak er sh o em ak e r , smith , wagoner

, ,

weave r wh e elrigh t
,
.

Fre nch : b arb e r b utch e r carp en te r ch an dl e r

, , , ,

c u tler gro ce r , m a s on tail o r

, , .

3 . English : f ath e r m oth er b ro th er s is te r ( modi

, , ,

fied b y N orse ) son da ugh te r , , .

French : aun t un cle c ous in n eph e w, niece

, , , .

English : go o dm an go o d wif e gossip , , .

French : m a d am e mis ter mistr e ss ( miss ) sir

, , ,
.

too mu ch m ust not b e made of th e class e s

Y et
of words from any fore ign sou rce A wrong con .

ceptio n of s u ch b orrowings may e asily be gaine d .

 THE VO C AB UL A R Y O F MIDDL E E NGLI SH 13 9 .

For e xampl e in a list of 500 French words in

,

tro d uce d b e for e 1 2 50 Sixty fou r b elong to religion

,
-

and th e church twe nty eight to gove rnm e nt and

,
-

law tw e lve to war and chivalry

,
B ut th is
.

l e av e s almost 4 00 which cannot b e classifi e d .

B e side s th e large n umb e r b elonging to th e

,

church is largely d u e to th e class of writing s

e xamin e d .It does not n e cess arily repre sent th e
spee ch of Englishme n .

From words f ully incorporat e d into th e sp eech

m u st b e s e parat e d tho s e whi ch b elong e d largely
or wholly to b ooks Thes e w e re use d by translators
.

and writers intimat ely acqu ainte d with Fr e nch .

S uch p e rsons wrote for th e learned class and for ,

thos e who l e arn e d Fr ench in the schools To .

n e ith e r of th e se did th e u se of Fre nch words s e e m

strange B u t many s u ch words found no perm a
.

n e nt plac e in Englis h , and soon di sapp e are d e ve n

from b ooks .

Th e coming of th e N ormans mad e it in e vitab l e

that Fr ench nam e s should tak e root in England .

O f the s e th e most important are p erhaps surnam es /

Th e English had giv en b u t o n e nam e to son or
dau ghte r tho u gh th e p e rson might b e distingu ish e d
,

b y th e addition of th e father s name with th e en d

’
14 0 OUTL INE HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGL ISH LA NGUA G E

ing in g
-
Thus Alf r e d th e Gre at was c alled E lf red
.

E th elw ulf in g Alf re d son of ZE th elw ulf , Th e

‘
.
’

Normans on th e oth er hand followe d th e Roman c e

, ,

cu stom of adding a s e cond name to kn ight or co ur

tie r T his was usually from his place of b irth as
.
,

Ro b e rt B ru c e S u ch su rnam e s soon b e cam e th e

‘ ’
.

fashion in England as they hav e continu e d to b e ,

e v e r sinc e .

Th e fashion of s u rnam e s soon spr e ad among th e

common pe ople With th e m too th e place of .
, ,

b irth w a s not SI ic ie n tly distinctiv e and th e nam e

"

of th e occ upation was u s e d Thu s J ohn th e .

‘

s mit h b a ke r c ook or w e av er b e cam e J oh n S mith

’
, , , , ,

B a k e r Cook We aver Th e s e a re nativ e words b u t

, , .
,

Ta y lor M erch ant Clar k and oth e rs a re Fr e nch

, , ,

nam e s of occupations It is e vid ent that d escrip .

tiv e title s also b ecam e s u rnam e s O nly so can we .

accou nt for s u ch as Long S h ort L itt le S tron g , , , ,

Green S mart among native nam e s and B lun t

, , ,

Curtis M erry P e tt y Ru ss ell among thos e of Fr ench

, , ,

origin .

Fr ench influ enc e is also re sponsib l e for a large

nu mb er of give n nam e s Whil e Alf re d E d war d .
, ,

E dith E th e l a re En glish a large nu mb er of th e

, , ,

common e st giv e n nam e s are Fr e nch Compare .

14 2 O UTL INE H IS TOR Y O F T HE E NGL ISH L A NGUA GE

English must b e r e ckon e d that of L atin W e have .

m ention e d that L atin continu e d to b e written by

Englishm e n Far more was it the langu age of an
.

important lite rature constantly u se d b y scholars .

This was not so m u ch that of classical tim e s as ,

that of m e di ae val write rs th e Chu rch Fath ers , ,

and th e cl ergy O win g to this constant u se of

.

L atin many words from that lang uage w er e in tro

,

d uce d in to En glish .

Y e t it is not e asy to s e parate th e Latin e l em ent

from th e French sinc e L atin words w e re larg ely
,

made Fre nch in form For e xampl e th e O ld French.

,
’
ave ntu re adv e ntu r e u nde rtakin g e xis te d in
‘
, , ,

Middle En glish in that form an d in th e shorter

ventu re still pr e s erve d S oon after app e ars a d ven
,
.

ture which mu st b e of L atin origin as shown b y

,

th e d though th e re st of th e word is Fr e nch

,
So .

a d ve n t, a d ama ntin e a r e appar e ntly L atin with th e ,

e ndings us inus r e du c e d to what th e y had b e

-
,
-

come in oth e r French words A good many oth e r .

words a re also of L atin origin tho ugh u sually ,

modifie d b y pr e vailin g Fre nch forms .

Among minor b orrowings a re those fr om Italy

and th e Low Cou ntries Th e words d u ca t fio rin . , ,

pilgrim r epre s ent Italian , thou gh th e for ms are

,
 TH E VO CAB UL ARY O F MIDDLE E NGLI SH 1 43

French again Mor e distinctiv e Italian form s as

.
,

Cupid o Vu lc ano w e re u s e d b y Chau c e r b u t th ey

, , ,

prob ably n eve r b elonge d to th e Spok e n lan guage .

Dire ct contact with th e Lo w Co u ntri e s b e longs

to an e arly tim e In 1 2 60 H enry II I grante d
.

prot ection to all Ge rman m erchants and n ew ,

gu ilds w e r e form e d u nde r th e control of th e H an

se atic Le agu e English wool was s ent to Flande rs
.
,

to b e re tu rne d in woole n fab rics or e xchange d for

,

oth e r goods In 1 3 2 8 Edward III marrie d Philippa

.

of H ainault and ab ou t th e sam e tim e invite d

,

Fle mish w e ave rs to settl e in England O win g to

.

th e se influ enc e s som e L ow G e rman words w e r e

u ndo u b t e dly add e d to English
. Two of th e com
monest of th e s e a re b oy and gr oat Y e t th e Lo w
.

Cou ntry infl ue nce was not large at this ti m e .

 CHAPTE R X

THE MODERN ENGLI SH W ORD -

O
ST CK

AT the b e ginning of th e Mode rn p e riod th e

English vocab ulary had attain e d th e simplicity of
to day
-
. Final u nstre ss e d e and many m e dial e s ’

of th e sam e sort had b ee n lost in pron unciation .

As a res ul t words of two and thre e syllab les w e r e

,

re du c e d to on e and two r e sp ectively S uch words .

as love d ove l oved d in n ed had b e com e m on osyl

, , , ,

lab le s tho u gh still writte n with final or m e dial e as

,

at pre s e nt Forme r trisyllab l e s like ever y n eigh b or

.
, ,

w ere n ow dissyllab l e s B orrow e d words had suf

.

f e re d S imilar chang e s Th e vocab ulary thu s con

.

tain e d a larg e proportion of s impl e words .

Th e m e ans of growth within th e native stock

w ere th e sam e as in Middl e En glish Word com .

position was th e most important tho u gh com ,

poun ds w ere not so fr e qu e ntly u nite d into on e word

in th e written form This disguis e s th e exte nt to
.

which s uch composition is still carri e d Eve n our .

144
14 6 O UT L INE HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGLI SH LANGUA GE

to diff erence in str e ss or to oth er phon e tic cau se s

, .

For s u ch r easons old e r of , th an th rough to hav e

, , ,

split into th e pairs

—
oi off th an -
th en t —
h rough h o ough t r to—too

Each of th e s e is now an ind ep e nde nt word as ,

'

shown b y di erence in u se .

Anoth e r sign ificant m e ans of increasin g th e word

stock b elongs to th e Mod ern p e riod Wh e n words .

w ere so gr e atly simplifie d by th e loss of e ndin gs ,

th e re was rar ely any diff e re nc e in th e u n in flected

forms of nouns adj e ctiv e s and v erb s
,
For this , .

r e ason it was e asy to u se o n e part of sp ee ch for

anoth e r as nou n for adj e ctive or vice versa and
, , ,

e ith e r for a v e rb Th e res u lt was th e virtu al ih

.

cr e as e oi e ach of th e s e classe s of words .

This incr e as e will b e cl e ar from S om e e xampl e s .

1
Th e Olde r lan guag e h ad a no un loan a v e rb len d and , ,

a noun le n d er from th e v e rb In th e Mod e rn p e riod .

the noun loan b ecamea a erb and from it was mad e z

,

a n ew noun loan er The noun loan was also us e d .

as a virtu al adj e ctiv e in s u ch compo unds as loan

’
age n t . S imilarly the noun b oard plank , tab l e ,
‘
,

1 P ossib ly th e ve rb w as e arlie r o ow d f om No
b rr e r rse , b ut th e
c ommon use is mod n er , an d th e noun l t inly
oane r c e r a so .
 T HE M OD E RN E NGLI SH W ORD STOC K -
14 7

’
dev elop e d a v erb b oard go on ship and a nou n ,
‘
,

b oard er o n e who b oards

,
from th e first m e aning ,
’
.

From th e s e cond also de ve lop e d a v e rb b oard to ,

’
tak e m e als and nou n b oard er on e who ta k e s
, ,

m e als . Th e no un b o ard is u s e d as an adj e ctive in

’

s u ch compo un ds as b oard w alk Th e incr eas e in .

vocab ulary by this simple m e ans can scarcely b e

ove r e stimate d .

S ome what akin to this free use of o n e part of

spee ch for anoth e r is anoth e r change that a ff e cte d
c e rtain words Th e lack of infle ction of th e a dj ec
.

tive made it e asily possib l e for th e adj e ctiv e to b e

u s e d as a no u n From su ch fre qu ent u se some
.
,

adj e ctive s e ve n assu m e d th e pl ural s of no u ns and ,

so b e cam e n ew nou ns Exampl e s are b ett ers com

.
,

mon s e ld e rs n ece s s aries pa rticular s swe e ts ve ge

, , , , ,

tab les .

L ik e th e us e of a word in n ew function is th e
e xt e nsion of m e anin g which has com e in Mod e rn

English Wh e n a word acquire s a n e w m e aning

.
,

th e vocab u lary is incr e as e d j u st as tru ly as if a

n ew word had b e e n coin e d or b orrow e d
“
Su ch .

e xt ension of m e aning within th e Mod e rn period

has b ee n ve ry gre at By su ch proc e sse s too th e

.
, ,

e xpr e ssiv e n e ss of En glish has k e pt pac e with th e

14 8 OUTL INE HI S TOR Y O F T HE E NGL I SH L ANGUA GE

b road e ning and de e penin g of English thought and

feeling .

B oRRO m I N MOD E RN ENGL I SH

Th e b orrowin g of words in th e Mode rn pe riod
has b ee n far gr e ater than in any that has pre ce d e d .

B e n ch and L atin w e re still drawn u pon . Contact

with m any othe r nations b rought e ach its qu ota .

Th e re have b ee n spe cial tim e s wh en th e s e infl ue nc e s

have b e e n u nu s u ally stron g Th e e stab lishme nt of
.

p rinting in En gland gav e a n e w imp uls e to th e

tran slation of Fre nch and L atin b ooks With trans
.

lation many n e w words cam e into lit e rary u sag e .

Th e r evival of l e arn ing in th e S ixtee nth c e ntu ry

also hast en e d n e w b orrowings from L atin .

A fu rth e r Fre nch infl u e nce app e ars in th e s e ve n

te e n th c e ntu ry .The n Charle s I marrie d th e d au gh
ter of H e nry I V of Franc e and Fre nch mann ers
,

w ere m uch imitate d in England S uch Fre nch

.

in fl u enc e was e v e n stron ge r in th e r e ign of Charl e s

II as th e latte r had b e e n b rou ght u p at th e Fr e nch
,

co ur t . Eve n lite rature was gre atly a fie cte d b y

Fre nch models .

Fr e nch words b orrow e d in th e s e v e nteenth ce n

tury often show th e ir origin b y acc ent on th e last
1 50 OUTL INE H IS TOR Y O F T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE
mon whil e th e r e was also contac t with Spanish as
,

spoke n in th e Am e ricas Exampl e s of words dir ect .

from S panish are

alc ald e ( g
ori inally Ara b ic) casta ne ts h id algo , m a t , ,

a d or ;

articl es of m e rchandis e as in d igo s ass af ras s h erry

, , , ,

vanilla ;
nau tical t e rms as arma d a fl otilla ;
, ,

name s of animals as al liga tor armadillo, mos q uito ;

, ,

ab stract terms as p un c tilio p ecc a dillo

, , .

Th e Portugu e se e l e me nt is naturally not so larg e

as th e S panish Y e t th e re hav e b ee n important
.

comm e rcial r elations with Portugal or its colonie s .

A f ew s u ch Portu gu e s e words a re a uto d a f é b a - -

,

nana c o b ra, c o c oa O th e r Portu gu e se words a re

,
.

from India Africa an d Bra z il — co untri es s e ttl e d

, , ,

by th e Port u g ue s e or trading with th e m .

To Middl e English words of Lo w German origin

som e have b e en adde d in th e Mode rn p e riod Th e s e .

b elong to two class e s — thos e conn e cte d with com

,

m erc e and with nau tical a ff airs Th e first inclu d e s .

c annikin guild e r h ogsh e a d

, ,h o llan d j er kin link , , ,
‘
torch lins to c k spoo l swabb e r, wagon To th e sec
,
’

, ,
.

ond b elong s u ch words as ah oy , aloof , avas t, b oom,

 T HE M OD E RN E NGLI SH W O RD S TOC K -
51

d ec k
,
h oist, lash , ligh te r b arg e
‘ ’

, y ach t y awl Both

, .

class e s hav e com e to England b e cau s e of th e clos e

r e lations with th e Lo w Co u ntrie s in comm e rc e and
shipping int ere sts .

S ome f e w b orrowings hav e also com e from H igh

G erman and th e S candinavian lang u a ge s From .

th e form e r are c e rtain t e rms of mi n e ralogy a ,

scienc e e arly de ve lop e d in Ge rmany S uch are .

b is m u th b le n d e c o b alt gn e iss q uar tz s h ale z in c

, , , , , , .

Comm e rcial r elations are r e sponsi b le for m ee r

s ch au m f uc h s ia sp ruce b ee r
, , From mode rn S can
-
.

d in av ia n tong ue s come s u ch words as e id e r, ge ys ir ,

slo y d tun gs te n
,
.

Borrowing from th e more r e mote langu a ge s has

r e s u lte d from wide trav el and th e e xtend e d colo
,

nial relations of Englishm e n Eve n du ring Middle .

English som e su ch words had e nt er e d England b u t ,

u s u ally thro ugh oth e r lan g ua ge s In mode rn tim e s .

,

words of dir e ct importation from India are Chintz ,

j uggern a ut, j ungle From Persia com e b a zaa r, b orax

.
,

c a ra van d ivan ,
O f Balto Slavic origin are Cz ar
.
-
,

dro s ky kno u t m a z urk a p o lka uk a s e va mpire

, , , , , .

Words from H eb re w b egan to c om e ve ry early

through translations of th e S criptu r e s As th e s e .

translations w e re made more dir e ctly from L atin

1 52 O UTL INE HI S T OR Y OE T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE
and Gree k v ersions , w e may regard practically all
H eb re w words as dire ct b orrowings from thos e
langu ag e s S uch a re a lle luia am en b als am ch e ru b
.
, , , ,

c umm in e ph o d goph e r ( wood) p asch a l

, , O f Arab ic ,
.

origin in mode rn tim e s a re alkali alk oran a tta r , , ,

h arem h as h is h
,
Th e re are also many names as
.
,

e m ir ,f e llah , mos le m , s h e ik T u rkish b orrowings .

are b as h aw, b e y b os h c af ta n Cossa c k d ey j aniz a ry

, , , , , ,

o tto man .

O the r r e mote cou ntrie s fur nish small groups of

words From Hu ngary com e su ch as h uss ar s ab er
.
, ,

s h ako from Tartary kh an m ammoth Malay , , .

words are am uc k c o ck atoo gong guttape rch a j unk

, , , , .

From Chi na com e te a and name s of vario u s kinds ,

of tea ; from Au stralia b oom eran g kan garoo from , ,

Polyn e sia ta b oo tattoo to mark th e b ody fr om

, ,

Africa b eh e moth oas is gyps y

, , ,
.

Th e larg e st of th e minor b orrowe d e l e ments is

th e nativ e Am e rica n This is from th e langu ag e s
.

of th e original inhab itants of North and S ou th

Am erica From th e N orth Am e rican Indians com e
.

h om iny, mo ccas in mo os e oposs um pap o os e p em

, , , ,

mic an ra cc o on s ach e m s q ua w to b o ggan tom ah awk

, , , , , ,

wam pum Wigwa m M e xico has f urnish e d ca cao

, .
,

ch o cola te, c op al c o y o te j alap toma to Th e W e st

, , ,
.
1 54 OUTL INE HISTO R Y OE T HE E NGL ISH L ANGUA GE
te n sively Exampl e s of su ch b orrowe d pr efix e s are
.

an te anti bi dis e x in ter non re s e mi

su b s up er tran s ultra Th e y are fo und in su ch
words as an te room a nti Am e ri c an b icy cle, dis lik e ,
-
, ,

ex s h e rif f
-
in te rtwist non c on d u ctor r enew s e m i
, , , ,

we ekly sub way s upe rch arge trans f orm ultra

, , , ,

cle ri c a l Th e un ion of many of th e s e with nativ e

.

words shows that th e y hav e a living val u e to day -

.

Borrow e d su ffixe s a re more nu m e ro u s Thos e .

forming nou ns a re age ard ess —ist 1e t me nt -

,
-
,
-
, ,
-
,
-
,

-ry ,
as in tillage d runk ar d murd e re ss nih ilist , , , ,

pa triotism, b roo kle t f ulfi llm ent o utla wry Adj e ctiv e
, , .

su x es a re an
I a te ab 1e -
e se es que ic id e as
,
-
,
-
,
-
,
-
,
-
,
-
,

in E liz ab e th an nitrate e ata b le J oh ns on es e D an

, , , ,

tesque Ce ltic b ro mid e

,
Common v e rb su j fix e s are
,
.

-fy —
, iz e as in pu rif y galvaniz e
, ,
.

Th e incoming of n e w words at variou s tim e s

has had o n e cu rious r e sult Th e sam e word .

e tymologically has som e tim e s b ee n introd u c e d in v

" "

tw o th r ee or e ve n fo ur di ere n t forms
, , Thu s .

c aitifi c onc e it c o rp se, f rail are old e r forms of c ap

, , ,

tive conception c orps f ragile S ome dou b l e ts of a

, , ,
.

similar sort hav e also b een m ention ed on page 1 3 6 ,

b ut ther e are many oth e rs O f Gr e e k origin thou gh .

,

coming through other langu ages , are di am on d ad a -

 T HE M ODE RN E NGLI SH W O RD S TOCK -
1 55

m ant From H eb r w are

. e b alm —b alsam . Examples
of thr ee forms of th e sam e word a re

re al royal—regal
-
le al—lo y al—legal
Eve n four have com e at diff e re nt tim e s from
L atin dis cu s whil e th e latt e r is also a part of Eng
,

lish This o n e word th e re fore appears in fiv e

.
, ,

forms ,d is h d e s k d ais,dis c d is c u s
, , , .

S ome tim e s a late r b o rrowing displac e d an e arli e r .

Thu s Fr e nch an ge l displac e d Old English engel ,

b oth from L atin an gelu s S o O ld English fic san c t

.
, ,

from L atin ficus sanc tus wer e r e place d b y th e

, ,

French fig s aint O ld English Cris te n Chris tian

,
.
,
‘
,
’

has b e e n made to conform to th e L atin Ch ristianus ,

thou gh th e v e rb c h risten has b e e n influ enc e d o n ly

in th e spelling with ch In som e oth e r cas e s th e .

Spelling onl y has b een altere d Exampl e s are d eb t .

,

d o ub t alte re d from Old e r d e tte d o u te tho u gh with

, , ,

o u t chang e in pron u nciation D o ub l e forms d u e .

to th e sam e caus e are cord —c h ord c oun ter c omp te r ,

-
,

in d ite—in d i c t q uir e—c h o ir , rim e—rh ym e

, In each O f .

the s e pairs th e fir st form is th e olde r .

AS to m e aning b orrow e d v e rb s hav e u s u ally

,

b e e n thos e having no e xact equ ival ents in th e lan

guage Words , that is , hav e follow ed n ew thin gs
.
15 6 OUTLI NE HI S T OR Y O F T HE E NGLI SH LANGUA GE

or n e w id e as wh e n th e s e have th e ms elv e s b e e n b or
row e d .If a b orrow e d word w e r e synonymo u s
with a native word or fairly so on e of th e m has , ,

b e e n lost or modifi e d in m e aning L angu age as .

,

D e Q u inc e y says te nds to rid its elf of synonyms

, .

More e xactly langu age u s e s fairly synonymo u s

,

words for di ff e re nt pu rpos e s By this proc e ss also .

, ,

th e la ngu a ge has b e e n still f urth e r e nrich e d .

S u ch distinction in m e aning b e tw ee n native and

b orrow e d wo r ds is illu strat e d by th e conv e rsation
of Wamb a and Gu rth in S cott s Iva n hoe Th e
’
.

j e ste r th e r e Shows h ow English swin e b e cam e

French pork on th e ta b l e of th e N orman ; how ox
b e cam e b ee f ca lf b e cam e ve al and h e might have
, ,
1
add e d s h eep and d e e r b e cam e m utton and ve n ison
,
.

Th e re a re many Similar d ifie re n tiation s b etw ee n

English and b orrow e d words Exampl e s a re th e .

pairs ,

l—
stoo c airh b o ar d tab le
—

b e d —c ou ch limb—m e mb e r
lu c k—f or tu n e work—lab or
mild—gen tle wr etch e d—mis erab le
1
Th e nm ity b tw n th
e e ee e race s pic tu re d b y Sc ott lly b lo g
re a e n s

to an e ar li t im t h n th t f I
er e a a o va n hoe . C omp ar e wh t h b n
a as ee

s a id O f th f u ion f E n gli h
e s o s an d N o m a n on p
r s . 28 f . Th e u se
 1 58 OUTL IN E H I STOR Y O F T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE

Th e full assimilation of su ch words to En glish

is shown also hy th e mann e r in which th e y e nt er
into compo unds In b la ck gu ard lif e gu ard salt
.
-
,
-
,

c e lla r
, th e first part is English and th e se cond
Fr ench . I n ey e le t h o le h e ir lo om h ob b y h ors e
-
,
-
,
-
,

s cap e go a t th e ord e r of th e e l em e nts is e xactly re

-
,

v e rs e d S o b orrow e d words with nativ e pre fix e s

.

a re a ro un d , b e c a u s e f ore f ront, o u t cry ove r pow e r

- -
,
- -
,
-
,

n u ab le
-
.S ome with similar su i x es are aim less -
,

c o u rt s hip d u ke d o m d ain ti n e ss, f a lse hoo d , ge n ia l ly

-
,
-
,
- - -

p len ti f u l tro ub le som e

- -
.
,

Mu ch has b e en mad e of nu m e rical re lations of th e

two ele ments As to this dif f er ent r e sults may b e
.
,
” "

Ob tain e d b y d i eren t m e thods of com pu tation If .

th e words of th e dictionary are cou nt e d th e n u m ,

b e r of thos e b orrow e d will b e far in e xc e ss of th e

native In this way a native word that may b e
.

u se d a doz e n tim e s in a paragraph cou nts no mor e

than a word which th e ordinary sp e ak e r rarely or

n e ve r u se s Eve n if w e count th e words in tro d u c
.

in g n e w id e as th e b orrow e d el e m e nt in any late

writing may b e large But if w e e stimate words .

as actu ally u s e d in sp e akin g or writing giving ,

V cre dit to e ach word as often as it occu rs th e na ,

tive ele m e nt will b e far in e xc e ss of th e b orrow ed .

 T HE M ODE RN E NGLI SH WO RD S TOCK -
1 59

S om e ide a of s u ch pe rc entag e s of e ach class may

be gaine d from th e following tab l e
N AT IVE FO RE IG N N Am FORE IG N
86 14 P op e 80 20
90 10 Joh n on s 72 28
Hum e 73 27
G ib b on 70 30
M ul y ( B con
ac a a a

E y) ssa

T nny on
e s

In oth e r kinds of lit e ratu r e th e pe rc e ntage s wo uld

b e dif f e r ent. Works of scienc e philosophy and , ,

t e chnical tre atis e s natu rally Show th e large st p e r

c entage of b orrow e d words Bu t th e latt e r are as
.

val u ab l e in th e ir place as th e form e r S uch a .

langua ge as English is not a hodgepodge in its

word stock b ut wond e rf ully e xpr es sive in all re alm s
-
,

of thou ght and feeling .

 IV

SI M P L I F I CA T I O N O F E N G L IS H I NF L E CT I O NS

CH APTE R XI
I NFLECT I O NAL LEVELI NG

IN a pr eviou s part w e have shown h ow words

hav e b e e n s implifie d by change s in sou nds and by
losse s of u nstre ss e d e l e me nts W e hav e also s e e n
.

h ow th ey w e re som etim e s modifi e d b y th e infl ue nc e

call e d analogy W e a re n ow to see h ow b oth
.

cau se s e nt er e d mor e largely in simplif ying in fle c

tio n al forms onc e b elonging to th e lang uage .

Th e lang u ag e s of th e Indo E u rop ean family in

-
,

cl u din g English wer e onc e highly infle ct e d In all

,
.
,

too th e infl e ctions have b ee n mor e or le ss simpli

,

fied . For e xample th e re w e re onc e e ight cas e

,

forms for nouns adj e ctive s and prono uns Th e re

, ,
.

w e r e also thre e numb e rs for nou ns adj e ctiv e s pro , ,

nouns and v e rb s Th ere w e re s e v e ral diff er ent

, .

d e clensions for nouns and adj e ctive s Ther e w e re .

160
1 62 OU TL INE H IS TO R Y OE T H E E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE
apostrophe Adj e ctiv es hav e no infl e ction Pe r
. .

—
sonal pronouns alon e pr e s e rv e cas e forms whil e ,

d e monstrative s have di f fere nt pl u rals only Most .

v erb s have b ut fo u r in fle c tio n al forms a f e w fiv e , .

S o larg e ly have th e simplify ing influ e nc e s b een

e fie ctiv e .

Th e simplifying infl uenc e s are th e two alre ady

m entione d —phone tic chang e and analo gy The
,
.

first has b e en partic ularly strong u pon in flectio n al

e ndings b e ca u s e th e y hav e always b e e n u nstr e ss e d
,

in English O n th e latte r accou nt su ch syllab l e s

.

w e re e asily w e ak en e d and lost For exampl e e ve ry

.
,

final u nstre ss e d m b e cam e 11 Ev e ry unstre ss e d a

.
,

O and u b e ca m e e
,
Final n and late r final e re gu
.
, ,

larly disapp e ar e d .

The s e cond infl uenc e was e v e n more important .

I t has b rou ght s implicity b y e mphasizing r egu larity

and u niformity Mor e common forms hav e te nded
.

to re place th e le ss common more r e gu lar th e le ss

,

regular Th e te ndency which mak e s th e child say

.

—
m an m ans goo d—goo d e r give—give d has pr e vail e d
, , ,

in a mu ltitu d e of similar forms A d e cl ension w ith

.

a larg e r nu mb e r of nou ns has infl ue nc e d on e with a

s malle r numb e r A form common to two or more
.

cas e s has a ff ecte d that found only in on e .

 IN FL E C TI ONAL LE VE L ING 1 63

Not only nu mb e r o f forms b u t fr e qu ency of

,

u sage has b ee n infl ue ntial Th e vocative far l e ss

.
,

fre qu e nt than th e nominative had lost its s e parate ,

form in O ld English Th e accu sativ e which occu rs

.
,

more fr e qu ently than th e no minative in no uns ,

oft e n r e plac e d th e latte r In p e rsonal and som e

.

oth e r pronoun s th e dativ e was the mor e fr e qu e nt ,

and it r e place d th e accusative In v erb s th e third .

,

p e rson has b e en more influ ential than th e first or

s e cond O n th e oth e r hand ce rtain s tro ng v e rb s
.
, ,

owing to far more fr e que nt use hav e withsto od to ,

some e xtent th e re gularizing infl u enc e s of th e w e ak .

With s u ch forc es at work in English it is un

n e c e ssary to ass u me foreign infl u e nce s as aff e cting
infl e ctions S implification had b e gu n in O ld En g
.

lish b efore fore ign influ e nc e s w e re important In .

Middl e English th e langu ag e assume d its mod e rn

form in localitie s which Show l e ast for e i gn influ e nce .

Be sid e s su ch s implification has taken plac e in oth e r

,

T e u tonic langu age s littl e affe cte d fro m with ou t as ,

in D utch and D anish Th e r e al e f f ect of fo rei gn

.

influ e nc e was in de cr e asin g th e u se of English in

literatu re a n d th e schools As a r e sult cons e rvative
.
,

influ e nc e s w ere l e ss active and spe e ch itself was

,

mo re r e adily followe d .
1 64 OUT L IN E H I ST OR Y OE THE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE
Th e re is not a singl e infl e ction of th e m ode rn
tongu e which may not b e fully accou nte d for as a
dire ct d e sce ndant of native forms A f e w appare nt .

e xc eptions ,
th e prono u ns th e y th e ir and c e rtain
, ,

Fre nch pl urals of adj e c tiv e s in a f e w phras e s will ,

b e disc u ss e d in th e ir plac e O n th e oth e r hand

.
,

b orrowe d words with th e rare st e xc e ptions hav e

, ,

f ully ass u m e d native infl ections This co uld not .

have b ee n tru e if th e for e ign infl u e nc e was as gre at

as some tim e s su ppos e d .

S uch in fle ction al l ev eling as has tak e n place

shou ld not b e r e gard e d as u nfortu nat e W e hav e .

r e frain e d from u sing su ch t e rms as d ecay or b r eak

in g down of in fle ction s
’
l e st th ey Shou ld give a
,

wrong impr e ssion S implification has b e e n a natural

.

chan ge in all m e mb e rs of th e Indo—European family .

N or has th er e b e e n any loss of e xpre ssive pow er .

With simplification of infl e ctions th e r e hav e come

oth e r m e ans of e xpre ssing thou ght so that th e re ,

has b een no p e rman e nt loss En glish German

.
, ,

Fre nch Ita lian S panish are as e xpre ssiv e in an a

, ,

lytic forms as L at in or G re e k with th e ir fuller

infl ections .

It m u st b e r e me mb e r e d that all change s have

b e e n b rou ght ab o u t in th e most grad ual manner .
 CH APTE R XII

THE N UN O
OL D En glish nou ns b elong e d to two large class e s,
call e d stron g and w e ak S trong no u ns w ere of .

s eve ral vari e tie s b u t practically of three principal

,

forms accordin g to gende r Ge nder too was gram .

, ,

m atic al as in L atin or G e rman and not d ep end e nt

, ,

on sex as at pre s e nt S trong mascul ine s and n e u

.

te rs w ere alik e in all forms b ut on e th e nomin ativ e ,

accusativ e plu ral and w e re th us clos e ly associate d

,
.

W e ak nouns w e r e masculin e and fe minin e onl y ,

two neu te rs r e maining In addition to th e s e two .

larg e class e s the re w e r e som e f e w irregu lar no uns .

S ome of th es e are still pre s erv e d, b u t th ey will b e

tr e ated b y th e mse lv e s .

Th e p rincipal infl e ctions of O ld En glish nou ns

may b e re p re s ente d b y some words ve ry like th e ir
mode rn e q u ival e nts Th e se are d Om now doom.
, ,
’

’ ’ ’ ’
word word clif cliff glOf glove luf u lov e
‘
,
‘
, ,
‘
,
’ ’
oxa
‘
ox h eorte he art
,
Th e s e are plac e d in
‘
.

two grou ps accordin g to th e ir s ub s e qu e nt d eve lop

,

166
 T HE NOUN 1 67

m ent . Th e first contains strong masculin e s and

n e ut e rs ,
th e s e cond stron g fe minin e s and w eak
nouns .

NE U T .

Sg N v . . . A"
G .

D I . .

Pl N v A . . .

G .

D I . .

FE M .

Sg N V . . .
glOf
G . D A . . I glOf e.

Pl N . . V A . .
glois ( e)
G .
glOf a ( en a)
D I . . g lotum

If
xamine th e s e d e cl ensions clos ely we may
we e ,

se e how th e y w e r e lik e ly to d e velop owin g to ,

Similarity of forms and fre qu e ncy of u se Thu s .

thos e of th e first d e cl e nsion agr e e d in all b u t on e

form Th e N V A pl urals w e r e dif fere nt As
. . . . .

1vi tion m n nomin tiv vo tiv

Th e ab b re u tiv g ni a s ea a e, ca e , ac c sa e, e

tiv d tiv in t um nt l ( L tin b l tiv ) Th l t i impo t nt

e, a e, s r e a a a a e . e as s r a

synt ti lly b d if f f om h d tiv e only i d j tiv

ac ca d f w
ut ers r t e a n a ec e s an a e

p ono un Th vo tiv n v d iff f om th nomi tiv d m y

,

r s e ca e e er e rs r e na e , an a

g d d Fo m i p nth ommon
.

b die sre ar e l . r s n are es es a re ess c .

1 68 OUTL INE HI S TORY OE T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUAGE
all oth e r forms w e r e th e sam e th e s e also b e cam e ,
.

practically on e by th e b eginning of th e following

p e riod .

N ouns of th e s econd de cl e nsion fall into two

gro u ps in e ach of which the re is agr ee m e nt in all
,

forms e xc ept th e N V singu lar and plu ral Th e

. . .

tw o gro u ps w e r e also s imilar in th e ir G D A I . . . .

sing ulars th e ir D pl urals and often in th eir G

,
.
, .

pl u rals in en a Th e r e was thu s stron g b asis for

-
.

r eg ul arization of th e s e noun s and thi s also took ,

plac e b y Middl e En glish tim e s .

In b oth cas e s phon e tic and analo gical change s

assiste d th e union First final m b e cam e n in th e
.

dative pl u rals Ev ery unstre ss e d a and u b e cam e

.

e. Final 11 was gradu ally lost in all cas e s By .

analo gy also th e ge nitiv e in e s of th e fi rst d e clen

, ,
-

sion was e xte nd e d to most nouns of th e s e con d .

At th e same time th e N A plur al in as red u ce d . .

-
,

to e s b ecame th e common plural of all b u t a f ew

-
,

no uns Fi nally th e dativ e singul ar was grad ually

.

re plac e d b y th e nominativ e acc u sativ e -

.

By th e s e chang e s th e two d e cl ensions w e re re

d uc e d in e arly Middl e En glis h to th e following
simpl e forms G rammatical ge nd e r also d isap
.

ea re d
p .
170 OU TL I NE H I S TO R Y OE T HE E NGLI SH LANGUAGE
e of th e es e nding was lost th e final z sou nd again
-

’
,
-

b ec am e s after voic e l e ss consonants that is , aft e r ,

t p k f th
, , , ,
.

Th e se f e w chang e s b rin g us to th e mod e rn forms .

Th e s e are in ge n e ral d e cline d alik e though su ch ,

a state m e nt is strictly tru e for th e writt e n form

only In sp e ech th e re are thre e class e s of Mod ern
.

English no un s as follows ,

I II III

Sg N V . . . A . D . b oy lad rat ho rse fish ch urch

G . b oy ’
s l ad
’
s ra t’
s ho r se s
’
fi sh s
’
ch u rch s
’

Pl N V . . . A . D . b oy s lad s ra s t ho rs e s fi sh es ch u rch es

G . bo ys ’
lad s
’
ra s t ’
ho rs e s
’
fi sh es ’
ch urch es
’

N ouns of class I in a vow e l or voice d con en d

sonant and h ence add th e z sou nd in g e nitive sin
,
-

gu lar and th e plu ral Thos e of th e s e cond class .

e n d in a voic e l e ss consonant and add th e s so u nd -

.

Those of th e third r e pre se nt noun s e nding in an

s 2 sh ch or j sound, and th es e add th e syllab l e
, , , ,

-
e z ( iz ) writt e n es ,
.

W e hav e add e d ab ove th e apostroph e of th e

‘

writte n form thou gh of cou r se it has no plac e in

,

th e spok e n In th e latt e r th e ge nitiv e sin gular

.
,

and th e whole pl u ral are prono unc e d e xactly alike .

'

Th e apostroph e b e gan to b e u s e d as th e Sign of

 THE NOUN 1 71

an omitte d l e tt e r in th e s e ve nte e nth ce ntury It .

was not re gu larly part of th e no u n infl e ction until

th e e ight e e nth c e ntu ry Afte r it cam e to b e us e d
.

in th e ge nitive Sin gula r it was add e d to th e s Of

,

th e ge nitiv e pl ural Th e apostrophe is actu ally

.

misle ad ing in s u ch words of clas s III as fis h ch urch , ,

sinc e in the se th e g e nitive Sing ular has an add ed

syllab l e as truly as th e plu ral .

From th e ab ov e sch e m e th e re a re f ew div e r

e n c es e xc ept in c e rtain pl u rals to b e consid e r e d
g ,

lat e r N o u ns e nding in s som etim e s form the

.

ge nitive singular b y th e addition of th e apostroph e

only This irr egu larity is v e ry old In Middle
. .

English fore ign words e nding in s did not always

,

ass u m e in flec tion al e s in e ith e r ge nitive or plu ral

-
.

This was e specially tru e wh e n th e following word

b e gan with s Ce rtain phras e s of this sort still
.

’ ’ ’
r e main as ,
J e s us sak e c ons cie n ce sak e
,
’
.

Polysyllabl e s ofte n follow this form as in Achil ,

’
Th e Old e r form is also pr e s e rv e d in
’
le s wrath .

po e try . P urists how e ver insist on writing s

, ,
’

e v e n in th e s e cas e s Th e Short e r form w

. hil e ,

irr eg ular in on e s e ns e f ull y corr e sponds to that of

,

spe e ch .

In e arly Mod e rn En glish e sp e cially aft e r final ,

172 OU TL INE HI ST OR Y OE T HE E NGLI SH LANGUA GE
s his was ofte n u se d to e xpr e ss th e ge nitive This
,
.

was prob ab ly from a misu nde rstandin g of th e

origin of that form Und e r th e influ e nce of this
.

notion h er was som e tim e s add e d after fe minine

,

nou ns Compar e B en J onson s S ejanu s his Fall

.
’ ‘ ’

and B acon s Ve nu s h er glass

’ ‘
S u ch e xpre ssions .
’

may possib ly have b ee n infl uenc e d b y th e sort of

e mphasis giv e n wh e n th e p rono u n s u b j e ct is re

p e a te d aft e r th e no u n C ompar e s uch illit.e rat e

En glish as J ohn h e said .

’

Th e g e nitiv e e ndin g is add e d only to th e last

word of a syntactical grou p Compare E dwar d .
‘

’ ’ ’
th e Co n f e ssor s crown ‘
J one s an d Th ompson s
,
’ ’ ’
stor e ,
‘
th e man in th e moon s thornb u sh For .

p urpos e s of infle ction th e whol e gro up is tre ate d

as a sin gl e word This is on e of th e mos t c on ven
.

ie n t d e vice s of o ur mod e rn analytic tongu e .

With th e loss of distinctiv e e ndin gs for g ende r ,

natural g e nde r b as e d on sex b e came a n e c e ssity .

Gende r in Mod e rn English is th er e for e logical not ,

""

grammatical Eve n su Ixe s lost th e ir g end e r

.

r e lations Thu s e r, onc e masc ulin e now Si gn Ifie s

.
-
,

s impl e ag ency S o s ter th e corresponding fe mi

.
-
,

nine soon lost all ide a of sex relation This is

,
.

shown b y su ch words as tapster h u cks te r, gam este r ,

.
1 74 OUTL INE H IS TORY OE T HE E NGL ISH LAN GUA GE
u re som e tim e s re main u nchan ged in th e pl ural
a f te r n u m e rals S uch a re b ra ce b u sh e l, d o z en
'

.
, ,

f o o t m ile ton
, ,
.

A f e w words e nding in f or th still have plu rals

in v and voic e d th as wif e b ath In su ch words
, ,
.

final f th w e re onc e voice d b e fore any vocalic e n d

,

ing in singu lar or plural S u ch words h ave b ee n .

r egulariz e d in th e sin gul ar e xc e pt c alf in com ,

po u nds like c a lvesh ea d and most words in th e ,

pl u ral To th e f e w that r e tain Olde r plurals on e

.

b orrow e d word b e e f b e eve s has b ee n add e d

—
, Of, .

words with final s which onc e b e cam e a z so und

,
-

in a Similar way, only h o us e is l eft .

On e word oxen and th e po e tic ey e n r e pre s e nt

, ,

O ld English plurals in an Middle English e u -

,
-
.

This e ndin g has b e e n e xte nde d howe ve r to se v , ,

e ral to which it did not originally b elong as ,

b re th r en ch i ld re n kine ( from ki e n )
, ,
Al l th es e -
.

irre gu laritie s w e re naturally more n u me ro us in

e arlie r tim e s as in th e e arly Mod e rn pe riod
,
.

A f e w pl u rals with vow e ls di ff e r e nt from th e

sing ular also e xist as man m en S uch mu tation
,
-
.

of th e vow el was not a Sign of n u mb e r in O ld

English b ut b e cam e so late r O th er m u tations a re
, .

shown in f oot—f e e t mo us e—mice L ik e th e last

,
.
,
 T HE NOUN 175

archaic kin e is a mutat e d plu ral of c ow to which ,

-
e n ( me ) was lat e r add e d Th e Old e r pl ural b r e th .

re n Shows m u tation and add e d e n whil e b roth e rs -

,

is th e u su al form to day Anoth e r irr e gu lar plu ral

-
.
,

c h ild e r still som e tim e s h e ard , has b e com e child r en

,
-

b y analogy of b r eth ren .

A f ew words have two plu rals an old e r and ,

lat e r form as d ice dies from d ie and p e nce p e nnies

,
-
,
-

from p en ny Th e so calle d chan ge of y to ies in

.
-

plu rals is an irr e gularity of th e writte n form only .

Th e Old e r ie onc e fo u nd in b oth sing u lar and

,

pl ural was r e tain e d in th e latt er whil e it b e cam e

, ,

y in th e forme r S o plurals in oes for words en d

.

ing in o as n egro e s p o tato e s , are b y analogy of

, ,

su ch old er words as f o es, h o es L ate words e nding .

in 0 u su ally form th e ir plu rals in 3 only .

Th e sin gl e g enitive e nding for a grou p of words

has b e e n m e ntion e d A Simila r pl u ral of a grou p
.

also e xists as f o rge t m e nots, f o ur p e rcents two by

,
- - -
,
-

f o u rs
. In a group of no u n an d modifyin g e l e ment ,

th e no u n alon e tak e s th e pl ural Si gn wh eth e r ,

b e fore or afte r its modifi e r Exampl e s a re th e .

‘

’
Smith b roth ers tooth b rush e s
,
’
s o ns in law -
,
’
- -
,
’
‘
h an ge rs on sta te s gen e ral th e Miss e s S mith
,
’ ‘
,
’ ‘
.

Th e form e r class of pl u rals a ff e cts th e latte r, h o w

17 6 OUTL I NE HIS TO R Y OE T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE
’
e ve r and su ch plur als as c ourt m artials
,
th e
,
‘

Miss Sm i th s a re often he ard Compou nds with

.

ma n wo man pl u raliz e b oth words as m en f o lks

, , , ,

wom en write rs .

Th e r e are a f e w p h rase s in which an O ld Fr ench

adj e ctive r etains its s pl u ral b e sid e th e En glish
noun as lo rd s li eu tenan ts S u ch forms p r ob ab ly
,
.

n e ve r b elon ge d to pop u lar sp e e ch and e xist m ainly

,

in lite ratu r e or in mo re formal cou rt lang u age of

En gland O nly in lat e tim e s hav e f ore Ign pl urals
.

b e e n adopt e d with th e ir Sin gulars S u ch a re f o r

.

m u la—f ormulae in d ex—ind i ce s Th e te nd e ncy of th e

,
.

langu age is to rid itself of th e s e fore ign pl urals ,

or to e sta b lish a r egu lar form b e side th e irre gul ar .

Compare th e n e w pl ural in d exe s b e sid e old e r in d ic es .

17 8 OUTL INE HI S TO RY OE T HE E NGLI SH LAN GUA G E
ST R O NG ST RO N G AN D WEA K

Sin g u lar, god ,

‘
g ood ’
gre n e gree n
P l u ral, god e gré n e

Th e disappearance of final e as alre ady d escribe d ,

in nou ns l e ft th e adj e ctive withou t infle ction as

,

to d ay A f ew r elics of old e r u sage r e main An

-
. .

old genitive plu ral aller ( ald e r) occ urs in Chau c e r

, , .

S hakesp e are also us e d on e of its compou nds ald e r ,

’
li e f e st de ar e st of all
,
‘
Th e Fre nch pl u ral of a .

f e w adj e ctive s in c e rtain phrase s has b e e n m en

tion e d on pa ge 1 7 6 Th er e is no e vide nc e howe ve r
.
, ,

that s uch forms w e re a part of livin g sp e e ch Th e .

adj e ctive s an ( a) and th e will b e discus s ed under th e

words from which th ey a re d e rive d .

CO M P AR I SO N

Th e O ld English e ndings of comparisons wer e t a -

and Ost ( e st) Th e s e b e cam e t e (e r) and es t in Mid

-
.
- -

d le En glish and e r e st in th e Mod e rn pe riod

, ,
- Be .

side th e pre vailing forms w e r e c e rtain l e ss r e gular

on e s in th e Olde r la n gu age Thu s th e re w e r e com .

p ara tiv e s and s u pe rlatives with m u tation as ea rli er ,

s tro n g—str e n ge r—s tre n ge st Most of th e s e w e re re gu .

la riz ed b u t e ld e r—e ld e s t are m u tated forms of Old

,
.
 T HE ADJE C TIVE 179

B e tter—b est and leas t are similar mu tations of

le ss-

forms not preserv e d in th e positive .

“
A f ew original su p erlative s with an m su x -

were first r eg ulariz e d b y adding est Af t erward - .

this m est e nding was mad e most by infl ue nc e of

- -

th e adv erb m os t Exampl e s are f oremos t hind

.
,

m o st inm o st ou tm ost
, ,
S imilarly comparative s
.
,

which had lost comparativ e m e anin g w e re e xt e nd e d .

Exampl e s are f u rth erm ore—f urth e rmost u tte rm ore ,

u tte rm os t F orme r is a comparativ e b as e d on an

.

e arli e r s u perlativ e Th e old e r comparison of n ea r

.

was nigh —ne ar—next Th e c omparative th e n b e cam e

.

positive an d th e mod e rn forms ne ar—ne arer—ne ares t

,

w e re mad e .

Do ub l e form s of comparison lik e those of O ld ,,

n o w b e long to f a r, as f a r th e r—f arth e st f u rth e r—f u r ,

th est . Th e latte r is th e ol d e r and did not b e long to

f ar at all It b e cam e associat e d in m e aning with
.

f ar and u nde r its influ e nc e th e n ew forms w e r e

,

mad e Comparison with m o re and most b e gan In

.

Middle English It p e rhaps cam e to b e u se d b y

.

analogy of th e s e adve rb s with participl e s and words

not stric tly allowing comparison Afte rward th ey .

b eca me th e re gul ar for m for polysyllab ic a d j e c

1 80 O UTL INE H I S TOR Y O F T HE E NGLISH L ANGUA GE

N U ME RAL S
All nu m e rals are n o w adj e ctiv e s thou gh some of ,

th e m were nou ns in O ld English Th e n also the .

first thr ee w e re reg ularly infl e cte d o n e e ve n in ,

’
th e plu ral with th e m e anin g alon e only L ik e ‘
, .

adj e ctive s num e rals have lost all infl ection Th e

,
.

ind e finite articl e an (a with loss of final 11) is a w e ak

e n e d form of o n e wh e n it e xist e d in th e old e r for m

an . Dou b l e forms with loss of n as in an ( a) are

th e n egativ e non e ( no )
’
not on e , Our word o n e
‘
.

is a s e cond w e aken e d form from Middl e English

O n, o ne T h
.
’
e r e g ular d e v e lopm e nt of O E En .

app ears with long 0 in only alone a tone , ,

.

Th e nu m e rals two th re e had pl ural forms for all

,

gende rs Th e n e ut e r nominativ e accu sativ e s re

.
-

main in th e mod e rn forms In addition th e masou .

line of th e first is fou nd in twain and Of th e s e cond ,

in th ri c c th ir—ty th ir te en
-
, ,
The root of th e first
-

is also part of b e tw e en b e twixt

-
,Th e remaining
-
.

cardinals are natural d e v elopm e nts of th eir e arlie r

forms so far as th e y b e lon ge d to English S u ch
,
.

large num e rals as million b illion tri llion wer e b or

, ,

row e d from Fr e nch .

O f th e ordinals French s econd has displace d

,
 CHAPTE R XIV

PR ONO UNS

THE pronou ns hav e this special int erest that some

of th e m hav e sufie re d few er losse s than oth er words .

In O ld En glish th e y poss esse d th e only re lic of a

du al nu mb e r In th e Mode rn p e riod some of th e m
.

hav e pre s e rve d thr ee cas e forms wh e re nouns have -

,

k ept b ut two W e may b e st consid e r th e m in th e

.

s e v e ral cl ass e s to which th ey b elong .

PE RSON AL P RONOUNS
In O ld English th e p e rsonal pronoun s had th e
following form s :
F IRS T S E CO ND
MA SC . NE U T . FE M .

Sg . ?
‘

ic hé hit hio, h é o
Q 5 111 h iere ( hire)
Q H me De
P m e ( mec) 56 ( Oec) n
b ie e hit hie ( hi)
UP Z W it git
P un cer ince r
E H un c in c
un c ( un cit) in c ( in cit)
E we ge j ie ( hi)
fire (
'

IIse r ) eow er ( f w er) o hiera ( h ire , h eora)

H ( iow ) h im ( h eom)
'

IIs Eow
fis ( usic
) Eow ( So w ic
) hie ( )
hi
182
 PRONOUNS 1 83

Th es e forms w e re gre atly r e du c e d in lat e O ld and

e arly Middl e En glish In th e first two th e du al
.

e ntir ely disapp e are d . Th e dativ e accus ativ e b e cam e

-

on e b
y th e loss of th e Old e r acc u sativ e Th e last .

was also true of th e third p erson al pronoun e xc ept ,

that th e n euter acc usative h it displaced th e dative ,

l e aving h im a s masc u line only T his was d u e to

.

th e fact that th e nominativ e and accu sativ e of th e

ne ute r w e re alik e At th e sam e tim e a more dis
.

tin c tiv e fe minin e nominative Sh e from an old ,

de monstrative b e gan to app e ar and plu ral forms

, ,

from a similar sou rc e Th e latter th ey th e ir th e im

.
, ,

( th em),
from N or s e form s of th e d e monstrativ e ,

finally re place d th e olde r plu ral e nti rely e xc ept ,

p erhaps for th e diale ctal e m from old e r h e m

’
.

O the r change s follow e d Th e first p er s on Singu

.

lar lost its final consonant and b e cam e I In th e .

s econd p e rson pl ural th e initial consonant n ow y , ,

was e xte nde d to all forms Th e plural ye y ou

.
, ,

which had b eg un to b e u s e d for th e singular in

ce re moniou s addre ss r eplace d th e singular forms
,
.

Th e n th e dative accu sativ e y ou displac e d th e nomi

-

native owing to more fr e qu ent u se Th e form ye

,
.
,

with th e Old e r sin gulars th o u thine th ee hav e r e

, , ,

main e d in poe try and liturgical lang uage I n th e .

184 OU TLIN E HI S TOR Y OE THE E NGLI SH LAN GUA GE
third p erson h it lost its h and in Mode rn En glish ,

its was form e d b y analogy l e aving his as masc u lin e,

on ly Thu s th e pronouns assumed their pre s e nt

.

fo rms .

RE EL E xIv E s

O ld English u s e d th e
p e rsonal pronouns as re
flexiv e s and this u sage contin u ed in Mid dl e and
,

e arly Mod e rn En glish Whil e this was going on

.
,

th e dativ e acc u sative was stre ngth e n e d by th e in

- e

te nsive s elf This gav e s u ch forms as h ims elf it

.
,

s elf o urs e lve s th e latte r with th e nou n plu ral in s

, ,
.

L ike th es e my s e lf th y s elf w ere origin all y dativ e

, ,

acc usativ e b ut w e re mo di fi e d by analogy of my

, ,

th y .

PO SS E SS I VE S
O ld English poss essiv e s w e r e form e d from g eni
tiv es of th e first two personal prono u ns and for ,

th e third p erson f rom an old r e fl exive st em All .

w e r e infl e cted lik e adj e ctive s In Middle Englis h .

th e third personal poss e ssive dis app e ar e d and tw o ,

n e w on e s
( his h e r) w e r,
e form e d fro m th e g e nitiv e s
of th e third personal pronou n As alre ady noted , .

its is a Mod e rn English coinag e .

In Middl e English also poss e ssiv es lik e adj ec

, , ,

tive s, lost all i n fl e ction At th e sam e tim e final

.
 1 86 OUT L INE HI S TO R Y OE T HE E NGLI SH LANGUA GE
pl urals th os e and th es e , b e cam e
mod e rn rep re ou r

sen ta tiv es . Th e masculin e se modifi e d to th e b y ,

th e pre vailing initial consonant r e mains as our ,

irid e fin ite articl e Th e fe minine se o b e came sh e

.
,
/
and supplie d a n ew nominative for th e feminin e of
th e third p e r sonal pronou n .

Th e masculin e dativ e is fo und in one expr es sion

‘
for th e nonce This was e arlie r for th en on e s
.
’ ‘
,
’

in which th en r epre s ents olde r 6 mm and one s is ,

Th e toth e r pre se rv e s a w e ak en e d
’
b ase d on on e .
‘

form of th at (th et) with final t transfe rr e d to th e

,
’
following word In th e mor e th e b e tter and
.
‘

similar expre ssions th e is th e Old instru m ental

,

slightly modifie d A Middl e English thise an

.
,

olde r plural of this occu rs in su ch an e xpre s ,

’
sion as this hu ndre d ye ars
‘
.

A thir d d emonstrative of O ld English y on is , ,

still heard occasionally Com pare S hak e sp eare s .

’

‘
y on strang e r . O therwise th e adve rb y ond e r is
’

th e only r elic of it A pronou n of identity ilk

.
, ,

is n o w known in the phras e O f that ilk

’
Th e ‘
.

mann e r in which th e intensive pro noun s elf b e cam e

a part O f th e refle xive s has b e e n mention e d It .

also e nte re d into noun compo u nds , as s elf h elp -

,

s elf will
-
.
 P RONO UNS 1 87

I N TE RR O G ATI V E S

The s imple inte rrogativ e in O ld English had b ut

o n e form for b oth nu m b e rs and bu t tw o for g e nd e r , .

I t wa s infle cted as b elow

MA sc -FE M . .

N h wa . b we t
G . h we e

D . h wé m ( h w fim)
A . h w on e h waet
I . h wy

O f the se wh o wh os e wh o m have re mained in a

, , ,

p er s onal sense wh a t as ne u te r and wh y as an inte r

, ,

rogative adve rb Th e dative wh o m displac e d th e

.

accu sative as in oth e r pronouns S o th e n eu te r

,
.

accu sative wh a t b e cam e dative accu sative as in th e -

,

case of th e n eute r third p ers onal pronoun Two .

oth e r ind e clinab le interrogative s of O ld English

app e ar in wh ich wh e th e r, though th e latter has
,

lo s t interrogative force .

RELATIvE s

O ld English had a relative particl e which was ’

s d alon e or with a d emonstrative Th e d emon

u e .

stra tiv e co u ld also b e u sed as r e lativ e Th e r e la .

tive particle dis appeared in e arly Middle English

1 88 OU TL INE HI S T OR Y OE T HE E NGLISH LAN GUA GE
and th e n eu ter d e monstrative th a t took its place .

To th e se wh ich was add e d in th e Middle p e riod

and wh o in th e Mode rn Wh at occasionally e m .
,

ploye d as a relativ e in e arlie r English and to day -

b y th e illit e rat e n e ve r e stab lish e d its e lf in stand

,

ard usage With wh o as a re lative are of cours e

.

to b e r e ckone d its in fle cted forms wh os e wh om , , .

IND EFI N ITE S

Th e calle d interrogative s are in d efinite s u s e d
SO-

in asking qu e stions W h o wh at wh i ch are still

.
, ,

in d e fin ite s som e tim e s and alway s in th e ir com

,

po und forms as wh oso wh o eve r wh oso eve r, and

, ,

oth ers S ome othe r in d efinites are deriv e d from

.

adj e ctive s as som e, such each , of the Olde st time

, , .

S till oth e rs were from nouns as m an , which is still ,

occasionally indefinite and aught n augh t ,

To , .

th e s e w e re adde d in Middl e Englis h oth e r, b oth ,

many f e w little all e nough s everal certain the
, , , , , , ,

last two from Fre nch Th e se als o form compo und

.

in d e fin ite s as som eb o d y anoth er any thing and

, , , ,

thos e withou t Sign of union , as s om e on e each ,

oth er .
1 90 OUTL INE HIST OR Y OE T HE ENGLI SH LANGUA GE
such rare poetic forms as y
—c le p t, ’
call e d, of archaic
v e rs e
.

W e ak v e rb s w er e of two principal grou ps with ,

th e following e ndin gs In th e ir prin c ipal parts

PAS T PAST PAR T ICIPL E
I . ed e ed

(
‘
II . ode
j n de, ad e ) )“
od ud, ad

By th e r e gul ar change of O ( u a ) to e th e s e two , ,

class e s b e cam e on e in Midd l e English with th e e n d ,

ings e d e ( d e te ) for th e past and c d for th e past

-
,
-

participl e Th e loss of final e made th e p ast and

.

past participl e th e sam e for most v erb s Finally .

,

syn copation of e in pronu nciation b ro u ght w e ak

ve rb s to th e ir pres e nt forms U s u ally how eve r .
, ,

no syncopation of e took plac e af ter ste ms e nding

in t or d In th e s e cas es c d was still pronou nced
.
-

as a se parate syll ab l e .

The re are thu s two classe s of weak v erb s to day -

.

Th e great majority form th e ir past tens e and past .

participle with c d pronou nc e d d, or t wh en th e ste m

-
,

e nds in a voic e l e ss consonant A smalle r class still

.

re tains syl la b ic c d in b oth forms

-
Exampl e s of .

b oth mod e rn class e s are ,

I din —din n e d d e e m d ee me d dip d ippe d

.
,
-
,
-
.

II b o d e—b o d e d gre e t gree te d

.
,
-
.
 T HE VE RB 1 91

To th is simple de v e lopm e nt th er e are c e rtain vari

a tion s d ue to sp e cial cau s e s O lder v e rb s e nding .

in d or t som e tim e s ab sorb e d th e d e ntal su ffix l e av ,

in g no trac e b e hind S u ch b e cam e invariab l e in

.

"

f rm as rid b e t or th e y have a di e ren t vow e l

o , , ,

in th e past forms as b lee d b le d— A f ew change final .

,

d to t as b e n d—b en t
, In oth e r cas e s in fle ction al d
.

ft e r n m or l has b e com e t as in b u rn—b u rn t d re am

, , , ,

d re am t knee l kn elt
,
— .

A f e w v e rb s irr e gu lar in O ld English still r e tain

s uch irr e gu larity as b rin g—b ro ugh t s e ll— so ld
, A still , .

s
malle r n u mb e r s e e m irr e gu lar b e ca us e of short e n
ing of th e past vowel as flee—fle d h ea r—h e ard The , , .

e rb s h ave m ake c loth e h a v e lost a m e dial conso

’
‘

, ,_

n ant in th e pasts h a d m a d e c la d Su ch irre gu lar

, ,
.

we ak ve rb s t e nd to b e com e re g ular as shown b y ,

th e re gu lar f orm sb f b u rn d re am c lo th e, ligh t q uit , , , ,

wh e t b le n d b uild and oth e rs

, , ,
.

S trong v e rb s give the impr e ssion of gr e at irregu

la rity e ve n in O ld English Th e y b elong to seve n .

clas s e s d istin guish e d b y diff e r e nt v ow els in th e ir

, ,

principal parts O f th e s e most of th e m h ad fou r

.
,

th e pre se nt past singu l ar past pl ural and past

, , ,

participl e S o diff e r e nt w e re they from th e w e ak

.

v e rb s and so divid e d among the m selves that they

, ,
192 OUT LIN E HI S TOR Y OE T HE E NGLI SH L ANGUA GE
w e re e asily in flu e nce d b y analo gy Two th ird s .

of th e original thre e h undr e d hav e e ith e r b e cO I e

w e ak or hav e disapp e ar e d e ntir e ly Th e r e st b ax
.

b e en pr e s erve d b y fre qu e nt u se j u st as a f e w non

,
wa

like man—m en hav e r emain e d irre g ular .

Ev e n th e s trong v e rb s W hich have re m ain t d

hav e b een gr e atly sim plifi e d Th e fo ur ste ms h a e
.
t

b e com e thr e e ofte n two and som e tim e s o h

, , _.

Minor variations h ave also disapp e are d O n th e .

oth e r hand v erb s of o n e class have som e tim s

,
l

join e d anoth e r and occasionally phon e tic change

, s

hav e adde d div e rsity Th e history of su ch ch a n gr s

.

b elongs to mor e e la b orat e tr e atis e s W e shall h e re

.

note only som e of th e more common particu la r

Exampl e s of v e rb s with thre e ste ms a re ,

d rive d rove d rive n

— - — —
b d b a d e b i dd en
i
f re ez e f roz e fro z en
— -
s ake s oo k sh aken
h — h —

d ink d ran k d
r — — ru n k —
grow gr w grown
e —

s te al—sto le—sto len

Th e s e r e prese nt e ach of th e s e v e n original classes .

Thos e with tw o stems to d ay are ,

—
s hi n e s h one c g c ung
l in — l wak e w ok e
—

s oot s ot
h — h fig t ou g t
h — f h sta n d — st ood
b in d — b ound g e t — ot
g h ol d — h el d
1 94 O UTL IN E HI STO R Y OF T HE E NGL ISH L ANGUA GE
are archaic only thou gh th e infinitiv e of th e
,

firs t e xis ts in th e e xpr e ssion to wit Owe has b e .

come w eak O ugh t and must are n o w pre s e nt as

.

w e ll as past so that th ey have su ff e re d a s e cond

,

tim e the change which mad e them past pr e sents at -

first .

Fou r v e rb s w ere s till more irr egular than th e

stron g class e s These are b e d o go and will Th e
.
, , ,
.

first still has thr e e diff e rent roots am , b e , was G0 ,

.

has lost its old er past form and ass u me d anoth e r ,

went from th e v erb wen d Will and d o n ee d no

,
.

s pecial description .

VE RRAL IN F L E C TI ON
Th ein fl e ction of O ld English v erb s may b e s e en
’ ’
from that of d é m an , dee m and b in d an b ind , ,
‘
.

I n dicative
PR ESENT PAST
S tron g
bi den
b in d est
b in d eifi
b in dais

u
S b j unc i tv e
 T HE V E R B 19 5

Imp erative
PAST
n (bin d
bi d )
e

b in d an

b in d ail

I nfi itiv
n e

d eman b in dan

t
P ar iciples
d emen d e n n
b i de de ( ge) d é med ( ge) b un d en

S om e minor variations of c ertain verb s not are

he re inclu de d b u t th e sch e me is e xact e nough for

,

o u r pu rpos e s Most of th e in flectio n al Sim plifica

.

tion Since O ld English may b e accou nted for b y

th e u s u al chang e s Th e s e are th e chan ge of a to
.

th e loss of final 11 and th e n of final e In

’

e, , .

addition th e pre s ent third Sin gular of tod ay is

,

d e rive d from a N orth e rn form e nding in e s Y et -

.

th e olde r e th r e main s in po e try and li tu rgical

-

langu age Th e pr e s ent pl ural is from a Mid la n d

'

form in en which in Mid dl e English displac e d

-
, ,

th e e arli e r form and was th e n r e g ularly lost

, .

Th e pre s e nt su b j u nctiv e and th e infinitive w e r e

re du ce d to th e ir pre s e nt fo rms witho u t e n din g .

Th e imp e rativ e lost its first pl u ral and its s e cond ,

follow ed th e fo rm of th e pre s ent indicative pl ural .

1 96 O U T L I N E HI S T O R Y OE T H E E NGLI SH LANGUA GE
Th e nding of th e pre s ent participl e was r e plac e d
e

b y th e nou n su ix in g -
.

Th e two past t e ns e forms of strong v e rb s b e cam e

on e . S om e tim e s th e singul ar so m e tim m th e plu ral , ,

pre vaile d as in s ng sang s ung b e sid e c ling—clung

,
i — -
.

Th e past indicativ e sing ular assu m e d th e e ndin gs

of th e w e ak Singular Th e stron g past participl e
.

lost e n in many cas es whil e in som e it was

-
,

r e du ce d to n ( n e ) as in s een b orn d one

, , , .

To th e v erb al syste m th us r e du c e d w e re gradu ally

adde d th e compo u nd forms of tod ay Th e s e w e re .

made b y th e u se of independe nt v erb s which have ,

n o w b e com e a u xiliari e s In O ld En glish a com

.

'

pou nd passive was known and som e oth e r forms , ,

"

as a compou nd futu re w e re b e ginnin g to b e e stab

,

lish e d L ate r th e compou nd p e rfe cts aros e and

.
,

th e mode forms calle d pote ntial .

1 98 OUTL INE H IS T OR Y O E T HE E NGL ISH L ANGUA GE
no u ns n ee ds, and those e ndin g in way s as e nd way s -
,
.

Adve rb ial ge nitive s b y analogy are f orwards onc e, ,

twice, th rice An instru m e ntal of no u ns accou nts

.

for sore whilo m pie ce m e al Compou nd adv e rb s

, , .
,

from pre positions w ith adj e ctive s or no u ns are ,

along b e f ore to ge th e r awa y b e si d e to n igh t

, , A , , ,
-
.

f e w of a similar sort are from Fr e nch phras e s as ,

ap a rt p e rch a n ce
,
.

Adve rb s from pronouns are th e in n ever th e l ess - -

,

th e mor e th e b e tte r and th us wh en wh y Thos e

‘
,
.
, ,

O f plac e fall in to s e rie s answ e ring th e qu e stions

wh ere wh en ce wh ith er S u ch a re
, , ,
.
,

h e re- h e nce—hith e r th e re—th enc e—thith er

wh e re—wh ence—wh ith e r
Prono un compo unds are th eref ore th ere o f th e re , ,

upon, som ewh e r e and similar forms ,

.

In O ld En glish comparative s and sup erlative s of ,

ad j e ctiv e s co u ld b e us ed as adv e rb s witho u t chan ge

of form A f e w r emain as th e comparative s

.
,

h ard e r, n e are r and s u p erlativ e s in th e phras e s a t

,

b es t a t least
, O th erwise for gre ater cl e arn e ss ad
.
, ,

ve rb s are u su ally compare d with more and most .

Ne gativ e in te rrogative and a ih rm ative particl e s

, ,

are adve rb s in origin and use The common est .

 MINOR PA R T S O F S PEE CH SUMMA R Y , 19 9

O ld En glish n egative was still us e d in Middl e n e,

English In e arly Mod ern En glish this was r eplac e d

.

b y not a shorte r form of na ugh t ( no u gh t) An O ld

,
.

En glis h n fi also r e mains in rar e use with an a d

’
ective as in
j that is no good This no is also
‘
,
.

o ur common word of de nial tho u gh na y from N ors e ,

"'

also e xists Th e a irm ativ e particl e s yea yes are

.
, ,

of native origin ; so also th e interrogative s how,

wh en wh ence, wh ere, wh i th er, wh y
, .

PRE P O S ITI O NS
Prepositions w e r e originally adv erb s The s imple .

on e s pre s e rved are a t af te r f or f rom in , of on o u t

, , , , , , ,

ove r, to th ro ugh und e r wi th To th es e b y and till

, , ,
.

w er e added in Middl e English Com po und pr e po .

sition s a re from phras e s mad e u p of a pr e position

and e ith e r a no u n or pronoun or an adj e ctiv e or ,

adv erb of place O f th e first are a mong b e twee n

.
,

of th e s e cond ab ove b ef ore un d ern e ath , with in

, , , .

E xcept is an O ld Fr e nch participl e Th e lis t has .

b ee n m u ch incre as e d in mode rn times Many .

phras e s are compound pre positions tho u gh withou t ,

mark of u nion Examples a re as to, in resp ect to,

.

in accor d an c e with .
2 00 OUTL INE HI S T OR Y O F TH E E NGL ISH LANGUAGE
CONJUN C TI ONS

Conj u nctions also adve rb s in origin or som e

are ,

tim e s prono u ns as th e conj unction th at Exampl e s .

o i simpl e conj u nctions from O ld English a re a n d ,

f o r, if , th an th e n th at th o ugh s in ce so , ye t
, , , , Com ,
.

pou nd conj u nctions are b ec a us e b u t (n o w b e come a

,

monosyllab l e ) th e re f ore wh e ref ore To th e se hav e

, ,
.

b e e n add e d adv e rb ial phras e s in mo re mod ern tim e s ,

as f or as m uch notwith sta n d in g a s w ell as

, , .

IN TE RJ E C TI ONS
I nte rj e ctions not strictly a s e parate class of
are

words since any word or s ent e nc e may b e u s e d as

,

an inte rj e ction or e xclamation Ce rtain words con .

stan tly u s e d as int e rj e ctions are 10 w oe w e lawa y , , ,

wh at all of O ld English origin Alas is from French

, . .

O the rs are more mode rn .

S U MMAR Y
Th e chang e s in infl e ctions from O ld to Mod e rn
English may b e su mm e d u p in th e o n e word
simplification Th e r e duction in th e nu mb e r of
.

in fle c tio n al forms has b e e n v e ry gr eat Th e short .

c u ing of those that r e main b y loss of in flec tio n al

2 02 OUT L INE HI STOR Y OE T HE E NGLI SH LANGUAGE
English withou t b e lie ving that th e English lan
u ag e with its gr e at e r Simplicity is an e ve n b e tt e r
g , ,

m e diu m of e xpre ssion than at any tim e in th e

past .
 INDEX

Sub j t n m b g with pit l w d u d x mpl

ec s an d a es e in ca a s ; or s se as e a e s,

e xc ept p p n m wit m ll l tt titl f w k

ro er a put i
es , h s a e e rs ; es o or s a re n

q u t ti
o a m k on ar s.

b d 82
a e A ti l 1 7 8 186 r c es ,
A d my f Engl n d 51 A h m R og 45
, ,

ca e or a sc a e r,

A nt 80 f
, ,

cce A d l y 38 u e a

o n 112 ug 9 2
, .
,

ac r a er,

d m nt 142 Au t li n wo d i Engli h 152

,

a a a , s ra a r s n s ,

add 92
e r,

Ad di on Jo ph 52 55
s B il y N th n 55
se a e a a

Ad j tiv 17 7 omp i on f 178 ; B l Sl vi l m nt i Engli h

, , , , ,

ec e, c ar s o a tO- a c e e e n s
A ti l Num l
, ,

see r 151
c e, era s

ad v nt 142
e B b o u J oh n 4 1 ar r,

d v nt u b n 13 0
, ,

a e 142 re , ar

A d v b 19 7 B d 16 19
,

er e e,

B n d i tin R l
, ,

E lf i 2 0
r c,
” 25 e e c e u e,

E op ” 26 B noit 2 7 ”
Af i n wo d i Engli h 152 “B owulf 16 12 1
u
s ,
e ,

r ca r s n s e

ld li f t 1 7 8 f t 91
, , ,

a er e es b er e

Alf d King ”18 19

, ,

re bi d 2 3 7 r

Bl i Hugh 57
, , , ,

A li d 30
sa u n e r, a r,

Alph b t 1 5 69 ; ”Sp lli g Blo nt E d m und 54

,

a e se e e n u

Ami d Am iloun 3 7 b o t w in 12 5
, , , ,

s an a s a

Bo th iu 19
, ,

an , ar t 1 80 e s,

An logy 107 f ”162

.
,

a B k h m 38 o en a

An n R iwl 3 0 Bolton E d mund 52

, .
, ,

oro e,

ng l 1 55 Bo ow d wo d i Engli h 12
, ,

a e rr e r s n s

nt
,

Angl 13 ; lit tu f 16 2 2
, ,

es , 14 2 1 4 5 12 1 13 1 14 8 ;
era re o acc e

Angli i ing 102

, , , , , , ,

c z f 81 f o

Anglo S xon Old Engli h Bo on Ni h ol 3 9

.
, ,

-
a see s z c as ,

p 84
, ,

a ac e , b id l 13 0 r a

A b i l m nt i Eng”li h 152 b id g oom 1 12

,

“
ra c e e e n s r e r

A th u d M lin 3 0 B ow i ng Rob t 59
, ,

r r an er , r n , er ,

2 03
2 04 IND E x

B nnu ru a h ”
b r , 20 C yn wulf e ,
16, 7 0
b ild 9 1
u
Joh n 49 54 56
,

B ll k
u o ar , d ais y 13 0
b u d n 92 D n onqu t f Engl nd
, , , ,

r e a es , c es o a b y,
inf lu n on Engli h
,

b u i l 12 9
r a 20 ; e ce s se e
B u k E d mund 62 No
, ,

“
r e, rse

B utl C h l 54
,

e r, ar es , D a n ie l,
” 16
B utl S mu l 53
e r, a e d eac on 82
“D b t f th B od y
By on L o d 59
, ,

r r e a e o e an d th e
S oul 3 1
, ,
”
bb g d b t 155
,

ca 11
a e, e

C d mon 16 D i l t f Old Engli h

,

ae a ec s o s 13 ; of
C mpb ll J m 57 M id d l Engli h 2 7 3 6
, ,

a e a es , e s

u w y 112 D i tion i 54 57 64
, , ,

ca s e a c ar es,

C xton Willi m 4 1 4 3 5 1 Diph th o g 9 9

, , ,

a a n s,
C lti l m nt i Engli h 12 1 D i ti h f C to ”2 5
, , , ,

e c e e e n s s c s o a

C lt 10
, ,

e s, ( 10 11 , 104
Ch m 16 ”
ar s, d on , 104
C h u G o ff y 3 8 60
a ce r , e re d ot d 111
ar

C h t Th om 3 9 d o ub t 155
, , ,

es e r, as ,

Ch t fi ld L o d 56 D ougl G w in 60
,

es er e r a s, a a

C h in wo d i Engli h 152 m 13 2
, , ,

ese r s n s d re a

h o i 155 D ummond Willi m

, ,

c r, r a 61
C h i t 17 D yd n Joh 52 f
, ,
"
r s r e n

C h i ti n ity onv ion f Engli h Dunb Willi m 60

.
, , ,

r s a c e rs o s ar , a

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