GRAMMATICAL DETAILS.

I. Nouns.

1. Number.—The plural is generally formed by adding -es to the singular. Some few nouns make the plural in -en, as feren[^[49]] (companions), fon (foes), goren (spears), loten (features), sunen (sons), teten (teats), tren (trees), weden (garments), wunen (laws). The plurals of brother and child are brethere and childere. Der (deer), erf, orf (cattle), got (goat), neat (oxen), sep (sheep), scrud (garbs), wrim (reptiles), of the neuter gender, are uninflected in the plural. Winter, ger (year), and nigt (night), are plural as in Anglo-Saxon.

2. Gender.—As a general rule the names of inanimate things are of the neuter gender. The names of towns, however, are considered as masculine.

3. Case.—The genitive singular and plural of masculine and feminine nouns end in -es. Occasionally proper nouns form the genitive in -is. The means or instrument occasionally stands in the genitive without the preposition: 'deades driuen,' influenced by death; 'swerdes slagen,' slain of the sword; 'teres wet,' wet with tears. Cf. 'floures bred,' bread made with flour; 'bredes mel,' meal consisting of bread; 'wines drinc,' drink consisting of wine.

Corresponding to the modern word kinsmen we have such forms as 'daiges-ligt' (daylight), 'hines-folk' (servants), 'wifeskin' (women). The genitive is used adverbially, as newes, anew; liues, alive.

We have a few traces of the genitive in -e in the following examples: 'helle nigt,' l. [89] (hell's night); 'helle bale,' l. [2525] (hell's bale); 'sterre name,' l. [134] (star's name); 'safte same,' l. [349] (shame of form); 'werlde nigt,' l. [1318] (world's night).[^[50]]

The genitive of fader and moder is, as is very seldom the case in Early English writers, fadres and modres.

An n is often added to the final -e (representing an A.Sax. vowel-ending) in the nom., dat., and acc. of nouns. For examples, see p. xxi.

II. Adjectives.

1. Adjectives have a definite and an indefinite form; the former is used when the adjective is preceded by the definite article, a demonstrative adjective, or possessive pronoun.

Indef.	wis (wise),	god (good).
Def.	wise,	gode.

2. Number.—The plural is formed by the addition of e to the singular.

SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
fet (fat),	fette.
gret (great),	grete.
other,	othere.
tother,	tothere.

But the -e (pl.) is seldom added to the past participle of irregular verbs. This forms the plurals thes (oblique cases these), this (thise). Tho is the plural of that.

Cases.—One makes the genitive ones; as, 'ones bles,' of one colour. The gen. pl. -re occurs in ald-re (= alre), of all; as, 'hure aldre bale,' the bale of us all; 'here aldre heuedes,' the heads of them all.

Degrees of comparison.—The comparative ends in -ere (-er), the superlative in -este (est).[^[51]] Very few irregular forms occur in the present poem.

POSITIVE.	COMPARATIVE.	SUPERLATIVE.
ille,	werre.	——
lite,	lesse,	leist.
long,	leng, lengere,	——
	leng, lengere,
mikel,	mo, mor,	moste.
	mo, mor,
neg,	——	neste.
old,	eldere,	eldeste.

Numerals.—The Northumbrian forms in -nde have superseded the Southern ones in -the; as, seuende (seventh), egtende (eighth), tende (tenth).[^[52]]

III. Pronouns.

1. The first personal pronoun Ic is never found softened into Ich as in Laȝamon's Brut, the Ancren Riwle, and other Southern works. I is found only once or twice throughout the poem.

2. The first and second personal pronouns have a dual as well as a plural number; as, wit, we two; unc, us two; gunc, you two; gunker, of you two.

3. Hine (hin, in) (acc.) occasionally occurs, but more frequently him (dat.) does duty for it.

4. Ge, ghe,[^[53]] she, represents the A.Sax. héo (O.E. heo, ho, and hi). The curious form sge (= sye), as well as sche, occurs for she, the earliest instance of which is scæ in the A.Sax. Chronicle.

5. The neuter pronoun is written it and not hit, and is frequently used as a plural. It coalesces with the pronoun ge, ghe[^[54]] (she), and with the preterite of verbs terminating in -de or -te,[^[55]] and with some few irregular verbs; as, sagt (saw there), p. 37, l. [1301]. The curious form negt (in l. [3964], p. 112) = neg + it = nigh it.

6. The A.Sax. hi (they) is represented by he = hie.[^[56]] He is common enough in the Romance of Havelok the Dane.[^[57]]

The pronouns, as has already been shown, coalesce with the plural (acc.) is (them), and give us the compounds hes, he + them; wes, we + them;[^[58]] mes = me + hes = one + them.[^[59]]

Not satisfied with joining he (they) to the pronoun is, the author of this poem occasionally employs the more perplexing combination hem = he + hem, he, them.

bred kalueſ fleiſ, and flures bred,

Roasted calves' flesh, and flour-bread,

And buttere, hem ðo sondes bed,

And butter, he them the messengers offered.—(l. [1014].)

In ſichem feld ne fonde hem nogt,

In Shechem field found he them not.—(l. [1933].)

Ðo ſette ſundri hem to waken,

Then set sundry he them to watch.—(l. [2551].)

ðo ſeide ðuſ quanne hem cam dun,

Then said thus when he to them came down.—(l. [4022].)

In l. [2673] hem seems to stand for he + hem, they + them.

And hem ſeiden wið anſweren,[^[60]]

And they to them said in answer.

The Southern me, one (Fr. on), is absent from this poem as well as from the Ormulum; its place is supplied by man and men[^[61]] used with a verb in the singular number. ðe is frequently used as a relative pronoun as well as ðat, but uninflected; quo (who), quat (what), are interrogative; whether signifies which of two.

TABLE OF PRONOUNS.

	SINGULAR.
Nom.	Ic, I	ðu
Gen.	min	ðin
Dat.	me	ðe
Acc.	me	ðe


	DUAL.	PLURAL.	DUAL.	PLURAL.
Nom.	wit	we	——	ge
Gen.	——	ure	gunker	gure
Dat.	——	us	——	gu
Acc.	unc	us	gunc	gu

SINGULAR.

Nom.

ge, ghe (sge, sche)

Gen.

His

Hire

Is, His

Dat.

Him

Hire

Acc.

Hin
Him

Hire

PLURAL.

Masc.

Neut.

Interrogative.

Nom.

Quo

Gen.

Here

Quase
Was

Dat.

Hem

——

Acc.

Hem

Quam

The third personal pronoun is occasionally used reflexively; as him = himself. Self is used adjectively in the sense of own, very, and the form selven (from the A.Sax. sylfa) is joined to the personal pronouns; as ðeselven, himselven, etc.

The independent possessives are min, ðin, his (hise), hire (hers), ure (ours), gure (yours), here (theirs).[^[62]]

IV. Verbs.

Infinitive Mood.—The infinitive terminates in -en, which is seldom dropped.

There are no infinitives in -y or -ie, as in Southern English writers, nor do we find them in the Ormulum, or in Robert of Brunne's "Handlyng Synne," and they were, most probably, wholly unknown to the East Midland district.

The t in the 2nd pers. sing. pres. is occasionally dropped, as beas (= best), art, betes, beatest, findes, findest, etc.; but not in the preterite of regular verbs.

There are no instances of the 3rd pers. sing. present in -es in this poem.

The final e of the first and third persons (sing.) of the preterite tense is often dropped before a vowel or an h,[^[63]] and, in a few cases, through the carelessness of the scribe,[^[64]] it is unwritten before a consonant, where we should expect to, and do, find it in the majority of instances.

Some few strong verbs have become weak, as grapte (grasped, felt), gette (poured), smette (smote).

Imperative Mood.—Verbs forming the past tense in de or te take no inflexion in the 2nd pers. sing. imperative.

Participles.—1. The active or imperfect participle ends in -ende or -ande, the former being the Midland and the latter the Northumbrian form. The Southern affix is -inde, from which we have the modern -ing (O.E. -inge).

Our author rhymes specande with lockende, and in the Bestiary we find that the participle in -ande rhymes with an infinitive in -en,[^[65]] and this accounts for such forms as stinken = stinkende, brennen = brennende, in the present poem.

2. The passive or perfect participle of regular or weak verbs terminates in -ed; of irregular or strong verbs in -en. In bigote (begotten), funde (found), geue (given), the absence of the n is probably an error of the scribe.

3. The prefix i- or y- (A.S. ge-) is not of frequent occurrence either in this poem or in the Bestiary; in the former we have i-wreken (avenged), i-wrogt (wrought), ybiried (buried), y-oten (called); and in the latter we find i-digt (arranged).

There are two conjugations of verbs, regular (weak) and irregular (strong). The regular verbs form their past tense in -ede, -de, or -te; the past participle ends in -ed, -d, or -t. Irregular verbs form their past tense by a change of vowel, and the past participle terminates in -en.

CONJUGATION OF REGULAR VERBS.

I. Class. Infinitive Mood—Loven, love.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.
Singular.	Plural.
1. love,	1. loven,
2. lovest,	2. loven,
3. loveð.	3. loven.
PAST TENSE.
Singular.	Plural.
1. lovede,	1. loveden,
2. lovedest,	2. loveden,
3. lovede.	3. loveden.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.		PAST.
Singular.	Plural.	Singular.	Plural.
love,	loven.	lovede,	loveden.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Singular.	Plural.
	1st form.	2nd form.
2. love.	loveð,	love.[^[66]]

PARTICIPLES.

PRESENT OR ACTIVE.	PAST OR PASSIVE.
lovande, lovende,	loved.
lovande, lovende,

II. Class. Infinitive Mood—Heren, hear.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.		PAST.
Singular.	Plural.	Singular.	Plural.
1. here,	heren,	1. herde,	herden,
2. herest,	heren,	2. herdest,	herden,
3. hereð.	heren.	3. herde.	herden.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.		PAST.
Singular.	Plural.
here.	heren.	(Like the Indicative.)

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Singular.	Plural.
	1st form.	2nd form.
2. her.	hereð.	here.[^[67]]

PARTICIPLES.

PRESENT.	PAST.
herande herende	herd.
herande herende

III. Class. Infinitive Mood—Seken, seek.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.		PAST.
Singular.	Plural.	Singular.	Plural.
1. seke,	seken,	1. sogte,	sogten,
2. sekest,	seken,	2. sogtest,	sogten,
3. sekeð.	seken.	3. sogte.	sogten.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.		PAST.
Singular.	Plural.
seke.	seken.	(Like the Indicative.)

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Singular.	Plural.
	1st form.	2nd form.
2. sek.	sekeð.	seke.

PARTICIPLES.

PRESENT.	PAST.
sekande sekende	sogt.
sekande sekende

CONJUGATION OF IRREGULAR VERBS.

A. (no change of vowel in the plural preterite.)

Infinitive Mood—Holden, hold.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.		PAST.
Singular.	Plural.	Singular.	Plural.
1. holde,	holden,	1. held,	helden,
2. holdest,	holden,	2. helde,[^[68]]	helden,
3. holdeð.	holden.	3. held,	helden.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.		PAST.
Singular.	Plural.	Singular.	Plural.
holde.	holden.	helde.	helden.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Singular.	Plural.
	1st form.	2nd form.
2. hold.	holdeð.	holde.

PARTICIPLES.

PRESENT.	PAST.
holdande holdand	holden.
holdande holdand

B. (change of vowel in the preterite plural.)

Infinitive Mood—Helpen, help; singen, sing.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.
Singular.		Plural.
1. helpe,	singe,	helpen,	singen.
2. helpest,	singest,
3. helpeð.	singeð.

PAST.
Singular.		Plural.
1. halp,	sang,	holpen,	sungen.
2. holpe,[^[69]]	sunge,[^[69]]
3. halp.	sang.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.		PAST.
Singular.		Plural.
helpe,	singe.	holpen,	sungen.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Singular.		Plural.
		1st form.		2nd form.
2. help,	sing.	helpeð,	singeð.	helpe,	singe.

PARTICIPLES.

PRESENT.		PAST.
helpande,	singande,	holpen,	sungen.
helpende,	singende,

TABLE OF VERBS.

A.—Regular.

		Present.	Preterite.	Passive Participle.
Class I.		Loven (to love),	lovede,	loved.
		etc.	etc.	etc.

Class II.	(a)	Callen (call),	calde,	cald.
		Feden (feed),	fedde,	fed.
		Greden (cry),	gredde,	gred.
		Heren (hear),	herde,	herd.
		Leden (lead),	ledde,	led.
		Sriden (clothe),	sridde,	srid.
		Wenen (think),	wende,	wend.
		etc.	etc.	etc.

	(b)	Bimenen (lament),	bimente,	biment.
		Bitiden (betide),	bitidde,	bitid.
		Delen (divide),	delte,	delt.
		Demen (judge),	dempte,	dempt.
		Kepen (keep),	kepte,	kept.
		Wenden (go),	wente,	went.

Class III.		Bigen (buy),	bogte,	bogt.
		Biseken (beseech),	bisogte,	bisogt.
		Biteche (assign),	bitagte,	bitagt.
		Cachen (drive),	kagte,	kagt.
		Lachen (seize),	lagte,	lagt.
		Sellen (sell),	solde,	sold.
		Tellen (tell),	tolde,	told.
		Worchen (work),	wrogte,	wrogt.

B.—IRREGULAR VERBS.

DIVISION I.

Class I. (a)

Beren (bear),

bar,
bor,

boren.

Bidden (bid),

bad,

beden.

Bi-speken (speak),

bi-spac,

bi-speken.

Bigeten (beget),

bigat,

bigeten.
bigoten.

Breken (break),

brac,

broken.

Cumen (come),

cam,

cumen.
comen.

Eten (eat),

at,

eten.

Forgeten (forget),

forgat,

forgeten.

Giuen (give),

gaf,

geven.
given.

Nimen (take, go),

nam,

nomen.
numen.

Seren (shear),

——

soren.

Stelen (steal),

stal,

stolen.

Sweren (swear),

swor,

sworen.

Beten (beat),

bet,

beten.

Class II.

Bidden (ask, entreat),

bed,

boden.

Biheten
Heten

(promise),

bihet,
het,

bihoten.
hoten.

Drepen (slay),

——

dropen.

Fallen (fall),

fel,

fallen.

Forhelen (hide),

——

forholen.

Hingen (hang),

heng,

hangen.

Holden (hold),

held,

holden.

Lepen (leap),

lep,

lopen.

Leten (leave),

let,

leten.

Slepen (sleep),

slep,

slepen.

Wepen (weep),

wep,

wepen.

Wassen (wash),

weis,

wassen.

Waxen (wax),

wex,

waxen.

Wreken (avenge),

wrek,

wroken.
wreken.

Class III.

Dragen (draw),

drog,
drug,

dragen.
drogen.

Faren (go),

for,

faren.

Forsaken (forsake),

forsoc,

forsaken.

Graven (bury),

——

graven.

Slon (slay),

slog,
slug,

slagen.

Standen (stand),

stod,

standen.

Taken (take),

toc,

taken.

Waken (wake),

woc,

waken.

DIVISION II.

Class I.

At-winden (depart),

at-wond.

——

Abreden (awake),

abraid.

——

Bergen (protect),

barg,

borgen.
borwen.

Binden (bind),

bond,

bunden.

Bresten (burst),

brast,

brusten.
brosten.

Biginnen (begin),

bigan,

bigunnen.

Delven (buy),

dalf,

dolven.

Drinken (drink),

dranc,

drunken.

Figten (fight),

fagt,

fogten.

Finden (find),

fand,
fond,

funden.

Gelden (requite),

gald,
geald,

golden.
gulden.

Helpen (help),

halp,

holpen.

Melten (melt),

malt,

molten.

Scriðen (invite),

scroð.

——

Singen (sing),

sang,

sungen.

Sinken (sink),

sanc,

sunken.

Springen (spring),

sprong,

sprungen.

Sterfen (die),

starf,

storven.

Stingen (sting),

stong,

stungen.

Wergen (defend),

warg.

——

Werpen (throw),

warp,

worpen.

Ðresten (thrust),

ðrast.

——

Class II.

At-witen (go, depart),

atwot.

——

Biten (bite),

bot,

biten.

Driven (drive),

drof,

driven.

Gliden (glide),

glod,

gliden.

Risen (rise),

ros,

risen.

Sinen (shine),

son,

sinen.

Smiten (smite),

smot,

smiten.

Writen (write),

wrot,

writen.

Class III.

Beden (offer),

bed,
bead,

boden.

Crepen (creep),

crep,

cropen.

Chesen (choose),

ches,

chosen.

Dregen (suffer),

dreg,

drogen.

Flegen (fly),

fleg,
flew,

flogen.

Fleten (float),

flet,

floten.

Forlese (lose),

forles,
forleas,

forloren.

Scheten (shoot),

schet.

——

Segen (see),

seg,
sag,

sogen.
sowen.

Seðen (boil),

seð,

soden.

Stigen (ascend),

steg,

stigen.

Ten (go),

teg,

togen.

Ðen (thrive),

ðeg,

ðogen.

Anomalous Verbs.

Cunen (can), 3 pers. sing. can, pl. cunen, pret. cuðe, p.p. cuð.

Daren (dare), pres. pl. duren, pret. durste.

Mogen (may), 3 pers. sing. mai, pl. mogen, mowen, pret. migte (2 pers. pret. migt).

Mot (may), pret. muste.

Ogen (owe, ought), 3 pers. sing. og, pl. ogen, pret. ogte.

Sal (shall), 2 pers. sing. salt, pl. sulen, pret. sulde, pret. pl. sulden.

Witen (know), 3 pers. sing. wot, pret. wiste.

Wilen (will), pret. wulde; nile = will not; nolde = would not.

The verb ben, 'to be,' is conjugated after the following manner:—

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT.
Singular.		Plural.
1. am, 2. art, beas, best, 3. is, beð,		ben, arn[^[70]] (aren).

PAST.
Singular.		Plural.
1. was, 2. wore, 3. was,		weren, worn (woren, wore).

V. Adverbs.

The adverbs hence, thence, whence, do not occur, being superseded by the Norse forms heðen, ðeðen, queðen.

Adverbial Terminations.—Adverbs are formed from adjectives by the addition of e; as long (adj.), longe (adv.).

-um (dative) occurs in whilum and seldum.

-es (gen.) in lives, alive, newes, anew.

-en in abouten, aboven, binnen, biforen (foren), bisiden, uten, wiðouten.

VI. Prepositions.

Fro (Northumbrian fra) takes the place of the Southern fram (from), and til (unknown to Southern writers) occurs frequently for to.