The English Language Part 104

"It appears to have been popularly known, if not in East Anglia proper, at all events in the district immediately to the westward, since we find it in Orm, in an Eastern-Midland copy of the Rule of Nuns, saec. XIII., and in process of time in Suffolk. Various conjectures have been advanced as to the origin of this form, of which we have no certain examples before the thirteenth century.[72] We believe the true state of the case to have been as follows. It is well known that the Saxon dialects differ from the Gothic, Old-German, &c. in the form of the present indicative plural--making all three persons to end in _-a_ or _-ad_;_--we--[gh]e--hi--lufi-a_ (_-ad_). Schmeller and other German philologists observe that a nasal has been here elided, the true ancient form being _-and_, _-ant_, or _-ent_. Traces of this termination are found in the Cotton MS. of the Old Saxon Evangelical Harmony, and still more abundantly in the popular dialects of the Middle-Rhenish district from Cologne to the borders of Switzerland. These not only exhibit the full termination _-ent_, but also two modifications of it, one dropping the nasal and the other the dental. _E.g._:--

Pres. Indic. Plur. 1, 2, 3 liebent; " " lieb-et; " " lieb-en;

--the last exactly corresponding with the Mercian. It is remarkable that none of the above forms appear in cla.s.sical German compositions, while they abound in the Miracle-plays, vernacular sermons, and similar productions of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, specially addressed to the uneducated cla.s.ses. We may, therefore, reasonably conclude from a.n.a.logy that similar forms were popularly current in our midland counties, gradually insinuating themselves into the {535} written language. We have plenty of examples of similar phenomena. It would be difficult to find written instances of the p.r.o.nouns _scho_, or _she_, _their_, _you_, the auxiliaries _sal_, _suld_, &c., before the twelfth century; but their extensive prevalence in the thirteenth proves that they must have been popularly employed somewhere even in times which have left us no doc.u.mentary evidence of their existence."

I prefer to consider this termination as _-en_, a mere extension of the subjunctive form to the indicative.

2. An infinitive form in _-ie_; as to _sowie_, to _reapie_,--Wiltshire.

(Mr. Guest).

3. The participial form in _-and_; as _goand_, _slepand_,--Lincolnshire (?), Northumberland, Scotland.

4. The common use of the termination _-th_ in the third person present; _goeth_, _hath_, _speaketh_,--Devonshire.

5. Plural forms in _-en_; as _housen_,--Leicestershire and elsewhere.

6. Old preterite forms of certain verbs; as,

_Clom_, from _climb_, Hereford and elsewhere.

_Hove_, -- _heave_, ditto.

_Puck_, -- _pick_, ditto.

_Shuck_, -- _shook_, ditto.

_Squoze_, -- _squeeze_, ditto.

_Shew_, -- _sow_, Ess.e.x.

_Rep_, -- _reap_, ditto.

_Mew_, -- _mow_, ditto, &c.

The following changes (a few out of many) are matters not of grammar, but of p.r.o.nunciation:--

Ui for _oo_--_cuil_, _bluid_, for _cool_, _blood_,--c.u.mberland, Scotland.

Oy for _i_--_foyne_, _twoyne_, for _fine_, _twine_,--Cheshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk.

Oy for _oo_--_foyt_ for _foot_,--Halifax.

Oy for _o_--_noite_, _foil_, _coil_, _hoil_, for _note_, _foal_, _coal_, _hole_,--Halifax.

Oy for _a_--_loyne_ for _lane_,--Halifax.

Ooy for _oo_--_nooin_, _gooise_, _fooil_, _tooil_, for _noon_, _goose_, _fool_, _tool_,--Halifax. {536}

W inserted (with or without a modification)--as _spwort_, _scworn_, _whoam_, for _sport_, _scorn_, _home_,--c.u.mberland, West Riding of Yorkshire.

Ew for _oo_, or _yoo_--_tewn_ for _tune_,--Suffolk, Westmoreland.

Iv for _oo_, or _yoo_ when a vowel follows--as _Samivel_ for _Samuel_; _Emmanivel_ for _Emmanuel_. In all these we have seen a tendency to _diphthongal_ sounds.

In the following instances the practice is reversed, and instead of the vowel being made a diphthong, the diphthong becomes a vowel, as,

O for _oy_--_boh_ for _boy_, Suffolk, &c.

Oo for _ow_--_broon_ for _brown_,--Bilsdale.

Ee for _i_--_neet_ for _night_,--Cheshire.

O for _ou_--_bawn'_ for _bound_,--Westmoreland.

Of these the subst.i.tution of _oo_ for _ow_, and of _ee_ for _i_, are of importance in the questions of the Appendix.

[=E][=e] for _a_--_theere_ for _there_,--c.u.mberland.

[=E][=e] for _[)e]_--_reed_, _seeven_, for _red_, _seven_,--c.u.mberland, Craven.

[=A] for _[=o]_--_sair_, _mair_, _baith_, for _sore_, _more_, _both_,--c.u.mberland, Scotland.

[)A] for _[)o]_--_saft_ for _soft_,--Cheshire.

O for _[)a]_--_mon_ for _man_,--Cheshire. _Lond_ for _land_,--East-Anglian Semi-Saxon.

_Y_ inserted before a vowel--_styake_, _ryape_, for _stake_, _rope_,--Borrowdale; especially after _g_ (a point to be noticed), _gyarden_, _gyown_, for _garden_, _gown_,--Warwickshire, &c.; and at the beginning of a word, as _yat_, _yan_, for _ate_, _one_ (_ane_),--Westmoreland, Bilsdale.

_H_ inserted--_hafter_, _hoppen_, for _after_, _open_,--Westmoreland, &c.

_H_ omitted--_at_, _ard_, for _hat_, _hard_,--_Pa.s.sim_.

_Transition of Consonants._

_B_ for _v_--_Whitehebbon_ for _Whitehaven_,--Borrowdale.

_P_ for _b_--_poat_ for _boat_.--Welsh p.r.o.nunciation of many English words.

See the speeches of Sir Hugh Evans in Merry Wives of Windsor.

_V_ for _f_--_vind_ for _find_,--characteristic of Devonshire, Kent. {537}

_T_ for _d_ (final)--_deet_ for _deed_,--Borrowdale.

_T_ for _ch_ (_tsh_)--_fet_ for _fetch_,--Devonshire.

_D_ for _j_ (_dzh_)--_sled_ for _sledge_,--Hereford.

_D_ for _th_ (__)--_wid_=_with_; _tudder_=_the other_,--Borrowdale, Westmoreland. Initial (especially before a consonant)--_drash_, _droo_=_thrash_, _through_,--Devonshire, Wilts.

_K_ for _ch_ (_tsh_)--_thack_, _pick_, for _thatch_, _pitch_,--Westmoreland, Lincolnshire, Halifax.

_G_ for _j_ (_dzh_)--_brig_ for _bridge_--Lincolnshire, Hereford.

_G_ preserved from the Anglo-Saxon--_lig_, _lie_. Anglo-Saxon, _licgan_,--Lincolnshire, North of England.