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
For #w#, the scribe adds to the OE. symbol ƿ the French _uu_, which
occurs for the most part initially, as uureide 2, but medially in
þohuuethere 33, Noruuic 107; and for #sw#, #cw#, _su_, _cu_, as sua 3,
cuen 145. Once for #cw# he has French _qu_ in quarterne 59. In cusen
201, cosan 204, _s_ has been substituted for #r#, by influence of
#cēosan#, #cēas#, &c. An inorganic _n_ appears in conjunction with _d_
in bebiriend[en] 22, þolenden 87. In umwile 70, the prefix is O. Scand.
#um#; þumbes 56 (#þūma#) has inorganic _b_: in hauen, 131, #bb# has
passed through f, by analogy of #hafað#, to _u_; similarly liuen 98. #f#
between vowels is generally represented by _u_, as æuez 117, ræueres 83;
but hefed 56, yfel 29: it is also _u_ in æure 69, deoules 51, sturuen
75: it is assimilated in wimmen 53, lammasse 13. #t# is lost in efsones
156, and misplaced in sa`t´hleden 153: OE. #milts# is milce 4. #d# has
fallen off in þusen 66, and interchanged with þ in wurþen 17, wurthen
147. The contraction ⁊ = and 47, 198, but the _d_ as well as that of mid
142, 160 was evidently pronounced _t_ when followed by _te_ for þe. #þ#,
#ð#, #th# all occur indiscriminately; the last is French. #þ# of the
article þe is assimilated to a preceding _t_, as ð{at} te 3, þatte 8, æt
te 13, ⁊ te 5, and often, ⁊ to 111, 117, mid te 142, 160, but not after
_d_ in fand þe 90, nor in mid þemperice 160, wyd þemperice 162, where
the article coalesces with the noun. In wurtscipe 93, &c., wart 122, _t_
has displaced #þ#; while in wurscipe 11 #þ# has been lost: #þ# often
interchanged with _d_, as uuard 15, 176, 201, nowiderwardes 65,
fordfeorde 125, wyd 141, widuten 147. In bletcæd 198 (#bletsod#) _c_ is
written for #s#, as in emperice 141. #Sc# is [š], _sh_ in ship; so
sculde 7, scip 14, lundenisce 27, scort 60, scærpe 61, scæ 140, -scipe
11, &c. Voiced #s# is once written _z_, æuezmen 117.
The scribe uses _ch_, as often in Anglo-Norman, with the value of [k] to
represent #c#, #g#, as rachenteges 63 (#racente#, always with k
elsewhere in ME.), halechede 28 (#hālgode#), halechen 87 (#hālgan#),
folecheden 148 (#folgodon#), Burch 2, burch 163 (#burg#); being all the
instances of _ch_ which occur. But he also has _c_ with the same value
as folc, com, tocon, macod, &c., and _c_ for #č# (_ch_ in chin), which
may be assumed for ricemen 30, cæse 74, circe 78, ceste 60, cild 107,
cusen 201, cosan 204, -cestre 133, -rice 9, and for final ic.
Palatal #g# is mostly _i_, iaf 128, 129, 158, 205, iafen 44, aiauen 168
(#āgiefan#), ííuen 144, 158, iunge 178, iærd 78, 102, beionde 196, iæde
165, ieden 75 (#ge-ēodon#), but _g_ in gear 1, begæt 98, get 38, gæt 76,
gæde 58, bryniges 57. In sloghen 118 (#slōgon#) the guttural sound is
expressed.
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