Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore

by Elizabeth Mary Wright

(f) In the Sc. n.Cy. and Midl. dialects before ordinals used adverbially, as: Tom came in the second and Jack the third.

(g) In Irel. and most parts of Eng. before both, as: I will have the both of them.

(h) In w.Yks. before proper names, and in the sw. dialects whenever a proper name or title is preceded by an adj., as: T’Skipton, T’Hawes; the young squire Jones.

(i) In I.Ma. before an adj. when special stress is required, generally with inversion of verb and adj., as: the sick I am.

Nouns

Accidence: Nouns

The formation of the plural of nouns is practically the same as in the standard language, but a few points of deviation are worth notice. Nouns ending in þ which in the lit. language change þ to ð and take z in the plural, as pāþ, pāðz, generally retain the þ and take s in the plural in the dialects; similarly in Sc. and sw. dialects nouns ending in lf retain the f in the plural and take s. Nouns ending in st form their plural in əz, iz in the Midl. s. and sw. dialects, as bīst, beast, bīstəz, pōst, post, pōstəz. Very frequently, however, such nouns take a double plural, as bīstəzəz, postəzəz. A triple plural nestsəzəz, nests, is found in Sus. The only plurals in -n in the lit. language are oxen and the archaic form hosen. Brethren, children, and kine are double plurals. The list is much longer in the dialects and comprises: (a) Words which belonged to the weak declension in O.E.: æʃn, ashes, s.w.Cy.; bīn, bees, Irel. Chs.; īn, eyes, in general use in Sc. Irel. and Eng.; flīn, fleas, Midl.; pīzn, peas, Wxf. Eng. gen.; tōn, toes, Wxf. s.Chs. (b) Words which originally belonged to the strong or irregular declensions: brùðrən, brothers, Lei.; tʃīzn, cheeses, e.An. Dor.; klūtn, clouts, e.Yks.; vəzn, furze, Dor.; h)ɒuzn, houses, gen. in Eng. except n.Cy.; kīn, keys, Wil.; mɒuzn, mice, Glo. e.Dev.; nīzn, nests, s.Chs. Midl. e.An.; ōkn, oaks, Hrf.; pōzn, posts, Nhp. Shr. Glo. Hnt.; riksn, rushes, sw.Cy.; ʃūn, shoes, gen. in Sc. Irel. and Eng.; sistrən, sisters, Cai.; trīn, trees, Fif. Wxf.; tɒrvn, turfs, Sc.; wopsn, wasps, Hmp.; wenʃn, wenches, Glo. (c) Romance words to which the weak ending has been added: botln, bottles, sw.Dev.; klōzn, fields, Lei. Nhp. e.An.; feərin, fairies, e.Lan.; plēzn, places, Midl. sw.Cy.; primrōzn, primroses, Glo. Dev.

The plural form tʃildə(r, children, in general use in Irel. and Eng. is the regular form from the O.E. plural cildru. In the lit. language the r has ceased to be felt as a sign of the plural and the weak -n has been added. Certain nouns form their plural by change of vowel as in the literary language; these are: foot feet, goose geese, louse lice, man men, mouse mice, tooth teeth, woman women; breðə(r, bruðə(r, brother makes breðə(r in parts of Sc., n.Yks. Lan.; kau, cow, makes kai, Sc. n.Irel. n.Cy. n.Midl. sw.Cy. On the other hand fut, foot, makes futs e.Suf., lɒus, louse, lɒusəz, Abd. e.Sus. n.Dev., mɒus, mouse, mɒusəz, m.Bck. e.Sus.

Certain nouns have the singular and plural alike, as: as, ash, ashes, Sc. Irel. n.Cy. Midl.; tʃik, chicken, chickens, e.Sus.; tʃikn, ibid., Glo. Oxf. Ken. m.Sus. Som.; fɒul, fowl, fowls, Sc. Shr.; hors, horse, horses; and a few others; bīst, an animal of the ox tribe, has a collective plural bīs (biəs) in Sc. Yks. Lan. Midl. and sw.Cy. On the other hand, corn has a plural kornz, oats, in Sc.; ʃip, sheep, makes ʃips in War. Shr. Glo. Nouns expressing time, space, weight, measure, and number, when immediately preceded by a cardinal number, generally remain unchanged in the dialects of Sc. and Eng.

Double plurals are common in the dialects, for example: (a) əz, iz is added to the ordinary plural ending s, z, in: beləsəz, bellows, n. and nm.Sc. Irel. n.Cy. Midl. sw.Cy.; buədzəz, boards, Sus.; galəsəz, braces, n.Cy.; æmzəz, hames, sw.Cy.; keksəz, a plant, Midl. Ken. Sur. Dor.; ʃūzəz, shoes, Nrf. Dev.; sǭtsəz, sorts, Brks.; stepsəz, steps, w. and sw.Yks. w.Som.; þrīzəz, threes, tūzəz, twos, Brks. e.An.; toŋziz, tongs, w.Wil. w.Som. (b) z is added to the plural -n: brīknz, breeches, &c.; oksnz, oxen, w.Som.; plēzns, places, Not.; riksnz, rushes, Dev.; ʃūnz, shoes, Sc.; slōnz, sloes, Midl. e.Cy. sw.Cy. (c) s, əz is added to umlaut plurals: fīts, feet, Sc. se. Yks. Glo.; gīzəz, geese, Nhb.; mīzəz, mice, Ess. (d) tʃildə̄z, children, occurs in w.Yks. (e) The weak ending -n is sometimes added to the ordinary s, z: ǭzn, haws, Glo.; ipsn, hips, Oxf. n.Wil.; ɒksn, hocks, Ken. Dev. Cor.; nīzn, knees, s.Chs. (f) The weak plural ending is sometimes added to the umlaut plural: fītn, feet, e.An.; gīzn, geese, Suf.; kain, kine, Ayr. Gall. Wxf. n.Cy. Ken. Dev.; mīzn, mice, Cmb. Suf. Triple plurals occur in: ǭznz, haws, Glo.; ipsnz, hips, Oxf. n.Wil. In some nouns the plural form is used for the singular, as: ǭz, a haw, Oxf. Suf. Ess. Ken.; inz, an inn, Sc. n.Irel.; slōn, a sloe, Midl. s. and sw.Cy.; &c. In certain words the s of the stem has been taken as the sign of the plural, and a new singular formed without it, as: karitʃ, catechism, Fr. catéchèse, Sc. n.Yks.; ʃē, chaise, Yks. Lan. m.Bck. e.Sus.; hō, a single stocking, Sc. piz, a single pea, in Bch. Abd. is a survival of O.E. pise; in the lit. language a new singular has been formed, but cp. pease-pudding. Other examples of the formation of a new singular without s in the lit. language are: burial, O.E. byrgels; riddle, O.E. rǣdels; cherry, Fr. cerise; sherry, formerly sherris, Span. Xeres; skate, Du. schaats, Fr. échasse.