The English Language Part 109

3. Nearly the _whole_ of their _original_ area consisted in _kingdoms_ (or sub-kingdoms) ending in _-s.e.x_; viz., the districts just enumerated, and the kingdom of Wes_s.e.x_.

Hence they are--

_a._--_Considered with reference to their literary history._--They are dialects whereof the literary development began early, but ceased at the time of the Norman Conquest, being superseded by that of the central dialects (_Mercian_ so-called) of the island. The truth of this view depends on the truth of Mr. Guest's doctrine noticed in page 555. If true, it is by no means an isolated phaenomenon. In Holland the present Dutch is the descendant of some dialect (or dialects) which was uncultivated in the earlier periods of the language; whereas the Old Frisian, which was _then_ the written language, is _now_ represented by a provincial dialect only.

"In speaking of the Anglo-Saxon language, scholars universally intend that particular form of speech in which all the princ.i.p.al monuments of our most ancient literature are composed, and which, with very slight variations, is found in Beowulf and Caedmon, in the Exeter and Vercelli Codices, in the translation of the Gospels and Homilies, and in the works {557} of aelfred the Great. For all general purposes this nomenclature is sufficiently exact; and in this point of view, the prevalent dialect, which contains the greatest number of literary remains, may be fairly called the Anglo-Saxon language, of which all varying forms were dialects. It is, however, obvious that this is in fact an erroneous way of considering the subject; the utmost that can be a.s.serted is, that aelfred wrote his own language, viz., that which was current in Wess.e.x; and that this, having partly through the devastations of heathen enemies in other parts of the island, partly through the preponderance of the West-Saxon power and extinction of the other royal families, become the language of the one supreme court, soon became that of literature and the pulpit also."--Kemble. Phil. Trans. No.

35.

_b._--_Considered in respect to their political relations._--Subject to the influence of the _Wess.e.x_ portion of the so-called Heptarchy, rather than to the _Mercian_,

_c._--_Considered ethnologically_--_Saxon_ rather than _Angle_. The exceptions that lie against this cla.s.s will be noticed hereafter.

-- 704. _Kent_--_Theoretically_, Kent, is Jute rather than Saxon, and Saxon rather than Angle.

Celtic elements, probably, at the _minimum_.

Predominance of local terms compounded of the word _-hurst_; as, Pens_hurst_, Staple_hurst_, &c.

_Frisian hypothesis._--The following facts and statements (taken along with those of ---- 15-20, and ---- 129-131), pre-eminently require criticism.

1. Hengest the supposed father of the Kentish kingdom is a Frisian hero--Kemble's _Sachsische Stamtaffel_.

2. The dialect of the Durham Gospels and Ritual contain a probably Frisian form.

3. "The country called by the Anglo-Saxons Northumberland, and which may loosely be said to have extended from the Humber to Edinburgh, and from the North Sea to the hills of c.u.mberland, was peopled by tribes of Angles.

Such, at least, is the tradition reported by Beda, who adds that Kent was first settled by Jutes. Who these Jutes were is {558} not clearly ascertained, but from various circ.u.mstances it may be inferred that there was at least a considerable admixture of Frisians amongst them. Hengest, the supposed founder of the Kentish kingdom, is a Frisian hero, and Jutes, 'eotenas,' is a usual name for the Frisians in Beowulf. Beda, it is true, does not enumerate Frisians among the Teutonic races by which England was colonized, but this omission is repaired by the far more valuable evidence of Procopius, who, living at the time of some great invasion of Britain by the Germans, expressly numbers Frisians among the invaders. Now the Anglo-Saxon traditions themselves, however obscurely they may express it, point to a close connection between Kent and Northumberland: the latter country, according to these traditions, was colonized from Kent, and for a long time received its rulers or dukes from that kingdom. Without attaching to this legend more importance than it deserves, we may conclude that it a.s.serts an original communion between the tribes that settled in the two countries; and consequently, if any Frisic influence is found to operate in the one, it will be necessary to inquire whether a similar action can be detected in the other. This will be of some moment hereafter, when we enter upon a more detailed examination of the dialect. The most important peculiarity in which the Durham Evangeles and Ritual differ from the Psalter is the form of the infinitive mood in verbs. This in the Durham books is, with exception of one verb, bean, _esse_, invariably formed in _-a_, not in _-an_, the usual form in all the other Anglo-Saxon dialects.

Now this is also a peculiarity of the Frisic, and of the Old Norse, and is found in no other Germanic tongue; it is then an interesting inquiry whether the one or the other of these tongues is the origin of this peculiarity; whether, in short, it belongs to the old, the original Frisic form which prevailed in the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, or whether it is owing to Norse influence, acting in the ninth and tenth, through the establishment of Danish invaders and a Danish dynasty in the countries north of the Humber."--Kemble. Phil. Trans. No. 35.

The details necessary for either the verification or the overthrow of the doctrine of a similarity of origin between {559} portions of the Northumbrian[83] and portions of the Kentish population have yet to be worked out.

So have the _differentiae_ between the dialects of _Kent_, and the dialects of Sus_s.e.x_, Es_s.e.x_, Middle_s.e.x_, and Wes_s.e.x_.

_Probable Anglo-Saxon of Kent._--Codex Diplomaticus, No. 191.

-- 705. _Suss.e.x._--The characteristics are involved in those of Kent--thus, if Kent be simply Saxon the two counties have the same ethnological relation; whilst if Kent be Frisian or Jute(?) Suss.e.x may be either like or unlike.

_Hampshire._--_Theoretically_, Saxon rather than Angle, and West Saxon (Wess.e.x) rather than south, east, or Middle-Saxon.

Jute elements in either the Hants or Isle of Wight dialects, hitherto undiscovered. Probably, non-existent.

Present dialect certainly not the closest representative of the cla.s.sical Anglo-Saxon, _i. e._, the so-called _West_ Saxon.

_Berkshire._--Present dialect, probably, the closest representative of the cla.s.sical Anglo-Saxon.

_Cornwall._--Celtic elements at the _maximum_.

_Devonshire and West Somerset._--Present dialect strongly marked by the use of _z_ for _s_ (_Zomerzet_=_Somerset_).

Celtic elements probably considerable.

_Worcestershire._--The language of the Anglo-Saxon period is characterized by the exclusive, or nearly exclusive, use of _s_ in the forms _usse_ and _usses_ for _ure_ and _ures_. See Codex Diplomaticus, Nos. 95 and 97.

The affiliation of the present dialect has yet to be investigated.

_North Glostershire._--_Politically_, both North Gloster and Worcestershire are Mercian rather than West-Saxon.

Now the language of Layamon was North Gloster.

And one at least of the MSS. is supposed to represent this language.

Nevertheless its character is said to be West Saxon rather than Mercian.

What does this prove? Not that the West Saxon dialect {560} extended into Mercia, but that a political nomenclature is out of place in philology.

_The Welsh frontier._--_Herefordshire, &c._--Celtic elements. General character of the dialects, probably, that of the counties immediately to the east of them.

_Ess.e.x._--_Theoretically_, Saxon rather than Angle. No such distinction, however, is indicated by the ascertained characteristic of the Ess.e.x dialects as opposed to the East Anglian, Suffolk, and the Mercian.

_Hertfordshire._--I am not aware of any thing that distinguishes the South Hertfordshire form of speech from those of--

_Middles.e.x._--Here, as far as there are any characteristics at all, they are those of _Es_s.e.x. The use of _v_ for _w_, attributed (and partially due) to Londoners, occurs--not because there is any such thing as a London dialect, but because London is a town on the Ess.e.x side of Middles.e.x.

_Surrey._--The name (_Su rige_=_southern kingdom_) indicates an original political relation with the parts _north_ rather than _south_ of the Thames.

The evidence of the dialect is, probably, the other way.

-- 706. _Supposed East-Anglian and Saxon frontier._--For the area just noticed there are two lines of demarcation--one geographical, and one ethnological.

_a._ _Geographical._--The river Thames.

_b._ _Ethnological._--The line which separates Middle_s.e.x_ and Es_s.e.x_ (_so-called_ Saxon localities) from Herts and Suffolk (_so-called_ Angle localities).

Of these the first line involves an undeniable fact; the second a very doubtful one. No evidence has been adduced in favour of disconnecting Saxon Ess.e.x from Anglian Suffolk, nor yet for connecting it with Sus_s.e.x_ and Wes_s.e.x_. The termination _-s.e.x_ is an undoubted fact; the difference between the Saxons and Angles which it is supposed to indicate is an a.s.sumption.

-- 707. The dialects of the remaining counties have, probably, the transitional characters, indicated by their geographical position.

_Dorset_--Hants and Somerset. {561}

_Wilts._--Hants, Dorset, Somerset, Berks.

_Buckingham, Beds, Northampton._--These connect the two most convenient _provisional_ centres of the so-called West-Saxon of Alfred, &c., and mother-dialect of the present written English, viz.: Wantage and Stamford (or Huntingdon); and in doing this they connect dialects which, although placed in separate cla.s.ses (West-Saxon and Mercian), were, probably, more alike than many subdivisions of the same group.

To investigate the question as to the Mercian or West-Saxon origin of the present written English without previously stating whether the comparison be made between such extreme dialects as those of the New Forest, and the neighbourhood of Manchester, or such transitional ones as those of Windsor and Northampton is to reduce a real to a mere verbal discussion.

_Warwickshire, Staffordshire._--From their central position, probably transitional to both the north and south, and the east and west groups.

Celtic elements increasing.