3. Possessive or genitive formed by his: Hannyball his mekill mycht (III. 232). Cf. also VI. 435, 446. Originally, as here, confined to proper names. A special example is in the reading of C (XVII. 940): Berwyk his toune; E Berwykis.
Adjectives.
1. There is no distinction in the Bruce between strong and weak adjectives, the latter in Chaucer being indicated by a final e, and used after the definite article, demonstrative and possessive pronouns, etc., nor is the plural similarly distinguished from the singular. In all these cases the Scots adjective is invariable; the final e, which often occurs, is of no grammatical significance. There is no difference between the gud Erll (X. 686) and the gude Erll (XX. 603), while the plural is gud werriours (XX. 416).
2. The only example of inflection is the form aller, genitive plural (er = -ra, A.S. eal-ra). It occurs once: throuch thar aller hale assent (I. 137).
3. The comparative and superlative are formed by adding ar or er (seldom ir) and est or ast. In words of two and more syllables mar (mair) and mast (maist) also occur. The same rule applies to adverbs. The final consonant of a monosyllable may be doubled: thikkest (VIII. 81), but also thikast (XVII. 156).
4. Change of vowel (Umlaut) appears in two cases—sterkar (E starkar) (XV. 491) and eldest (I. 51, IV. 71). Ill or evill is the Northern form for bad, compared with wer or war, werst (III. 192). Mor, for mar, occurs twice to rhyme with befor (X. 199, XII. 299). Er gives erar.
5. After the comparative comes usually than, which is always used by Rolle, but there are four examples of na—wes starkar fer na he (VI. 538), also III. 229, II. 519, X. 637.
Numerals.
1. Ane before a consonant sometimes becomes a: in a nycht and a day (III. 429). The tane and the ta are compounds of this numeral, with the old neuter thaet (thet) of the definite article, really thet-ane, thet-a. The former is a substantive, the latter an adjective: the tane suld be kyng (VI. 186), the ta part (III. 239). Similarly the tothir = thet othir (I. 7, etc.), which is throughout used for the ordinal “the second,” as formast is sometimes used for “the first”: Fule-hardyment the formast is, And the tothir is cowardis (VI. 337, 338).
2. Note thresum, fiffsum, sex sum, where “sum denotes conjunction” (Jamieson’s Dictionary), three, etc., together; half deill (A.S. dæl, a part); twa part = two parts; yneuch, singular (usually adverb), used for quantity, and ynew (enew), plural, for number. Cf. XX. 337, and I. 558.