Ambiguous processes, extraordinary processes, processes of confusion--each, or all of these are legitimate reasons for calling words irregular. The practice of etymologists will determine what definition is most convenient. With extraordinary processes we know nothing about the word. With ambiguous processes we are unable to make a choice. With processes of confusion we see the analogy, but, at the same time, see that it is a false one. s. 390. _Could._--With all persons who pronounce the _l_ this word is truly irregular. The Anglo-Saxon form is _cudhe_. The _-l_ is inserted by a process of confusion. _Can_, _cunne_, _canst_, _cunnon_, _cunnan_, _cudhe_, _cudhon_, _cudh_--such are the remaining forms in Anglo-Saxon. None of them {340} account for the _-l_. The presence of the _-l_ makes the word _could_ irregular. No reference to the allied languages accounts for it. Notwithstanding this, the presence of the _-l_ is accounted for. In _would_ and _should_ the _-l_ has a proper place. It is part of the original words, _will_ and _shall_. A false analogy looked upon _could_ in the same light. Hence a true irregularity; _provided that the_ L _be pronounced_. The L, however, is pronounced by few, and that only in pursuance to the spelling. This reduces the word _could_ to an irregularity, not of language, but only of orthography. That the mere ejection of the _-n_ in _can_, and that the mere lengthening of the vowel, are not irregularities, we learn from a knowledge of the processes that convert the Greek [Greek: odontos] (_odontos_) into [Greek: odous] (_odows_). s. 391. The verb _quoth_ is truly defective. It is found in only one tense, one number, and one person. It is the third person singular of the praeterite tense. It has the further peculiarity of preceding its pronoun. Instead of saying _he quoth_, we say _quoth he_. In Anglo-Saxon, however, it was not defective. It was found in the other tenses, in the other number, and in other moods. _Ic cwedhe_, _thu cwyst_, _he cwydh_. _Ic cwaedh_, _th['u] cwaedhe_, _he cwaedh_, _we cwaedon_, _ge cwaedon_, _hi cwaedon_. Imperative, _cwedh_. Participle, _gecweden_. In the Scandinavian it is current in all its forms. There, however, it means, not _to speak_ but to _sing_. As far as its conjugation goes, it is strong. As far as its class goes, it follows the form of _speak_, _spoke_. Like speak, its Anglo-Saxon form is in _ae_, as _cwaedh_. Like one of the forms of _speak_, its English form is in o, as _quoth_, _spoke_. The whole of the present chapter is indicative of the nature of irregularity, and of the elements that should enter into the definition of it, rather than exhaustive of the detail.