These facts create difficulties in respect to the word these. Mr. Guest's view is, perhaps, the best; viz. that the plural element of the word is the letter e, and that this -e is the old English and Anglo-Saxon adjective plural; so that thes-e is formed from thes, as gode (=boni) is formed from god (=bonus).
The nominative plural in the Old English ended in e; as,
| Singular. | Plural. | |||||
| M. | F. | N. | M. | F. | N. | |
| God, | god, | god, | gode. | |||
In Old English MSS. this plural in -e is general. It occurs not only in adjectives and pronouns as a regular inflection, but even as a plural of the genitive his, that word being treated as a nominative singular; so that hise is formed from his, as sui from suus, or as eji might have been formed from ejus; provided that in the Latin language this last word had been mistaken for a nominative singular. The following examples are Mr. Guest's.
1. In these lay a gret multitude of syke men, blinde, crokid, and drye.
Wicliffe, Jon. v.
2. In all the orders foure is non that can
So much of dalliance and faire language,
He hadde ymade ful many a marriage—
His tippet was ay farsed ful of knives,
And pinnes for to given faire wives.