Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: Notes
General
Selections from Early Middle English, 1130-1250. Part 2: Notes
English literature -- Middle English, 1100-1500
Adjectives, which in OE. end in a vowel, have -e throughout, bliþe 24,
deore 236, deorne 148, ȝarue 224, hende 299, onimete 254, riche 33, 133,
wilde 43; those in #-ig# lose g, mihti 60, sori 103. Of the weak
declension are _s. n. m._ cristene 294, leofue 274, but heh 64, 205 is
not inflected, _s. n. f._ faire 287, _s. d. f._ bare 157 (deathe is
treated as _f._), _s. a. neut._ heaþene 295. Strong inflections are
_s. d. m._ heþene 205, _s. a. m._ goldene 257, stonene 222, wisne 214,
but lang, smal 217, strong 222 are uninflected. #mycel# is moche _s. n.
neut._ 181, mochele _s. d. m._ 26, _f._ 171, moche _s. a. m._ 220,
mochel _f._ 123, _neut._ 201: #āgen#, owe _s. d. f._ 201, owene _s. d.
neut._ 208. All adjectives have -e in all cases of the plural, except
wonder 35, noun used as adj., and ȝong 187, miswritten for ȝonge. #ān#
is _s. n._ an 64, on 59, 161, a 60, 63, _d._ one _m._ 203, on 140, 177,
_f._ 237, one _neut._ 33, _a._ ane _m._ 217, 223, 257, one 173, 214, an
_f._ 65, on _neut._ 240; #nān# is _s. n._ non 258, _a._ nanne _m._ 191,
no _f._ 50. Adjectives used as nouns with inflection are Bruttesse
_s. d. neut._ 225, 281, beste 238, Œnglisse 281. Of comparatives heoldre
187 is _pl. d._; the superlatives beste _s. n. m. wk._ 268 and faireste
_pl. n._ 7 are alone inflected.
The personal pronouns are ich, ihc 177, me, we, vs, þou, þe, ȝe, ȝeo 27,
53, 79, ȝou, ou 83. The pronoun of the third person is _s. n._ he _m._
21, ȝeo _f._ 67 (6), hit _neut._ 5, _d._ him _m._ 19, _a._ hine _m._ 18
(5), hire _f._ 67, 225, _pl. n._ hii 8 (21), _d._ heom 69, _a._ 188:
reflexive is him seolue 113; definitive, him seolf 209. Possessives are
_s. n._ min _m._ 32, mi 269, _f._ 181, _neut._ 178, _d._ min _m._ 83,
_f._ 201, mine _neut._ 22 (4), _a._ mine _f._ 149; _s. d._ þine _f._
171, _neut._ 186, _a._ þine _m._ 196, þin _neut._ 108, þi 165, _pl. n._
þine 167, 263, _d._ 156, _a._ 165; his 19, 99, 101; hire 224; vre 35;
ȝoure 26; hire 37 (6). The definite article is _s. n._ þe _m._ 29, _f._
224, þat _neut._ 36, 38, 128, _g._ þes _m._ 292, _d._ þan _m._ 1 (11),
þane 72, 144, þare _f._ 157 (with deathe, usually _m._), þan 103 (_m._
form with sihte _f._), _neut._ 1, 126, 238, _a._ þane _m._ 74 (7), þat
_neut._ 206, þe _instr._ 8, 184, _pl. n._ þe 7 &c.: þat is used
demonstratively 8, 45, 283. The compound demonstrative is _s. n._ þis
_neut._ 278, _d._ þis _f._ 117, þisse _neut._ 137, þisne 285 (miswritten
for þisse), _a._ þeos _f._ 215, þis _neut._ 178, 280, _pl. n._ þeos 18,
þes 7, _g._ þeos 112, _d._ 68, _a._ 69. The relatives are þat 7 &c., þe
57, þat . . . he, who, 21, wan _s. d._, whom 38. Interrogatives are wat
27, 264, 266, 270, woche _pl._ 53, with correlative soche 23, 291:
#ilca# is ilke _s. n. m._ 237, 275, _s. d. m._ 34, _f._ 103, _neut._
285. Indefinites are me 276; oþer _s. n. m._ 29, _a. neut._ 283, _pl.
n._ 164; anoþer 114; eche _s. d. m._ 203, _neut._ 21, 36, 280, ech 185;
euereche _s. d. f._ 129, euerech 221, euereche _neut._ 44; eni _s. a.
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