#Relative#: The general ME. relative is _þat_, representing all genders and cases (note to XV _i_ 4). Sometimes definition is gained by adding the personal pronoun: _þat... he (sche)_ = 'who'; _þat... it_ = 'which'; _þat... his_ = 'whose'; _þat ... him_ = 'whom', &c.; e.g. _a well, ~þat~ in the day ~it~ is so cold_ IX 5-6, cp. V 127 (note); _oon ~That~ with a spere was thirled ~his~ brest-boon_ 'one whose breast-bone was pierced with a spear', _Knight's Tale_ 1851. For the omission of _þat_ see note to XIII _a_ 36. In later texts, _which_, properly an interrogative, appears commonly as a relative, both with personal and impersonal antecedents, e.g. _Alceone... ~which~... him loveth_ XII _a_ 3 ff.; _þat steede... fro ~whilke~ þe feende fell_ XVI 13 f. Under the influence of French _lequel_, &c., _which_ is often compounded with the article _þe_, e.g. _a gret serpent... ~the which~ Bardus anon up drouh_ XII _b_ 72 f.; _no thing of newe, in ~the whiche~ the hereres myghten hauen... solace_ IX 275 f. Further compounding with _þat_ is not uncommon, e.g. _the queen of Amazoine, ~the whiche þat~ maketh hem to ben kept in cloos_ IX 190 f. More restricted is the relative use of _whos_, _whom_, which are originally interrogatives, though both are found very early in ME. as personal relatives. Examples of the objective after prepositions are: _my Lady, of ~quom~..._ VI 93; _God, fro ~whom~ ..._ IX 328 f.; _my Sone... in ~whome~_ XVI 81 f. The possessive occurs in _Seynt Magne... yn ~whos~ wurschyp_ I 90 f.; _I am ... the same, ~whos~ good_ XII _b_ 78 f.; and, compounded with the article, in _Morpheüs, ~the whos~ nature_ XII _a_ 113. The nominative _who_ retains its interrogative meaning, e.g. _But ~who~ ben more heretikis?_ XI _b_ 77 f.; or is used as an indefinite, e.g. _a tasse of grene stickes... to selle, ~who that~ wolde hem beie_ XII _b_ 22 ff.; but it is never used as a relative; and probably _what_ in XVI 174 is better taken as in apposition to _myghtis_ than as a true relative. § 13. VERB. Syntactically the most interesting point in the history of the ME. verb is the development of the compound tenses with _have_, _be_, _will_, _shall_, _may_, _might_, _mun_, _can_, _gan_. But the flexional forms of the simple tenses are most subject to local variation, and, being relatively common, afford good evidence of dialect. Throughout the period, despite the crossings and confusions that are to be expected in a time of uncertainty and experiment, the distinction between strong and weak verbs is maintained; and it will be convenient to deal first with the inflexions common to both classes, and then to notice the forms peculiar to one or the other.