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Early Middle English for today

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optional grammar

There are a few grammatical features which are not found in the language description at grammar of Early Middle English, but which the user - particularly those familiar with OE, may wish to employ.

Note: the optional grammatical features outlined below, may appear in normalised versions of OE and ME texts, and in the weblog, but do not appear in Audrey and the attercop, part one of Englisc buten taeres (the first 800 words).

The optional grammar in brief:

  1. -e is added to a noun after a preposition;
  2. -w is added to the end of the stem in a handful of nouns, in gen/dat/pl; in nom sg -u replaces final -e;
  3. -ew is reduced to -w, at the end of the stem in a handful of nouns; in nom sg this becomes -u;
  4. final -(e)w is dropped, in three nouns, in nom sg;
  5. -h appears at the end of a handful of nouns, in place of -e, in nom sg only;
  6. a handful of common nouns do not add -es in their possessive form;
  7. in the preterite of class 4 and class 5 strong verbs, the stem vowel of the plural and 2nd person singular differs from that of the 1st and 3rd person singular - ae vs a4.
  8. -h is dropped from the end of the stem of the infinitive as well as the 1st person and plural present tense forms in strong contracted verbs; in classes 6 and 7 this also applies to 2nd and 3rd person present tense forms;
  9. -u appears at the end of a handful of adjectives, in place of -ew, when strong sg;
  10. a__n has an accusative form aenne;

nouns

add an -e after a preposition

In PC2 and Orm, singular nouns which normally end in a consonant, sometimes have an -e added to the end when they follow prepositions. Similarly, in Ch alongside bed, ship, fyr, child, lif we find to bedde, to shippe, on fire, with childe and especially on live.

This -e inflection is a marker of the dative case, just as -es marks the genitive (possessive) case and the plural forms.

This gives us a slightly extended noun paradigm in the optional grammar:

ModE
sg. nom./acc./dat. town
gen. (= poss.) town's
- -
pl. (all cases) towns
eME
sg. nom./acc. tu__n
gen. tu__nes
dat. tu__n or tu__ne
pl. (all cases) tu__nes

The dative was just as often uninflected in PC2 and Orm and was the exception in Ch. If you'd rather leave out the -e, then go right ahead. Undoubtedly many East Midlanders did just that, even in the mid-twelfth century.

Note - if -e is added to a noun after a preposition, and that noun normally ends in -en, -er or -el, the e which precedes the n/r/l may drop out; e.g. silfer/of silfre, minster/in t`e minstre.

which add or drop -w

These are nouns in which the stem ends in <w> in gen, dat and pl. The <w> becomes a <u> in nom sg if a consonant precedes (with two exceptions). Otherwise, the <w> is dropped and the preceding vowel is lengthened. Collectively these nouns are often referred to as wa-wo_-stems.

Optional grammar forms compared to the corresponding core grammar forms:

  1. a handful of nouns drop the e before w; final -w then becomes -u in nom sg; nouns of this type are badu badwes, baru barwes, saru sarwes, scadu scadwes, sinu sinwes;
  2. a quartet of nouns add w before final -e(s) in gen/dat/pl; final -e is replaced by -u in nom sg; nouns of this type are balu balwes, melu melwes, smeru smerwes, teru terwes;
  3. a further trio of nouns add w before final -e(s), and also shorten the long vowel of the root, in gen/dat/pl; nouns of this type are cne__ cnewes, le__ lewes, tre__ trewes12;
  4. a pair of nouns not only drop the e before w but also drop final -w in nom sg: laes laeswes, maed maedwes;
  5. one noun drops final -w and also lengthens and modifies the vowel in nom sg: strae strawes.

These differences can be illustrated more clearly in the following table:

wa-wo_-stems - optional vs core
eME optional ModE eME core
sg pl sg pl sg pl
badu badwes - (battle) - badew badewes
baru barwes - (grove) - barew barewes
saru sarwes - (device) - sarew sarewes
scadu scadwes shadow14 shadows scadew scadewes
sinu sinwes sinew sinews sinew sinewes
add w
balu balwes bale (evil, woe) bales bale bales
melu melwes meal (flour) meals mele meles
smeru smerwes smear (fat) smears smere smeres
teru terwes tar tars tere teres
and modify vowel
cne__ cnewes knee knees cne__ cne__s
le__ lewes lee (protection) lees le__ le__s
tre__ trewes tree trees tre__ tre__s
drop w
laes laeswes leasow (pasture) leasows laesew laesewes
maed maedwes meadow14 meadows maedew maedewes
and modify vowel
strae strawes straw straws straw strawes

which drop final -h if -e or -(e)s is added

A handful of nouns may end in -h in nom sg only. This -h is dropped when a plural or case marker - (e)s or e, is added. These nouns are1:

eME sg eME pl ModE sg ModE pl eME core
walh wales - (foreigner2) Wales wale/wales
marh mares mare (=steed3) mares mare/mares
selh seles seal seals sele/seles
ferh feres - (life/spirit) - fere/feres
feh fe__s fee (= money/property) fees fe__/fe__s
sco__h sco__s shoe shoes sco__/sco__s
slo__h slo__s slough (= swamp) sloughs slo__h/slo__ges
wo__h wo__s - (wrong) - wo__h/wo__ges
farh fares - (piglet) - farh/farges
elh eles elk elks elk/elkes
salh sales sallow (= willow) sallows salh/salges
halh hales haugh (= nook) haughs halh/halges
alh ales - (temple) - alh/alges
eh es - (horse) - eh/eges
horh hores - (phlegm) - horh/horges

irregular plurals - dual stems

In addition to the irregular plurals listed in the core grammar, these two dual-stem nouns are found in Orm and Lmn.

eME sg eME pl ModE sg ModE pl eME core
plural in -wen
wa__ wa__wen woe (misery) woes wa__/wa__s
plural in -nes
le__ le__nes11 lion lions lion/liones

unchanged possessives

A few possessives take no ending. These are mainly nouns of relation ending in <r> - fader, mo__der, suster, bro__t`er and dohter.

So ModE my father's house becomes eME mi__n fader hu__s.

Other unchanged possessives are lafdi__, herte and sa__wle.

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verbs

differentiation of preterite forms in class 4 and class 5 strong verbs

In the core grammar of englesaxe, the first three classes of strong verbs have two different stem vowels in the preterite. Classes 4 to 7 have a single stem vowel in the preterite.

In the optional grammar, class 4 and class 5 strong verbs also have two different stem vowels in the preterite4. In other words, the 2nd person singular and plural forms have a different stem vowel from that of the 1st and 3rd person singular forms - ae vs a. (In the core grammar, all preterite forms have the stem vowel a.)

When this differentiation is applied, the paradigms look like this:

  eME ModE
class infinitive past sg1/3 past pl past part. inf. past - past part.
4 stelen stal staelen istolen steal stole - stolen
5 y%efen y%af y%aefen iy%efen give gave - given

For more detail and examples, see normalisation issues.

contracted h-stem strong verbs

In the vast majority of strong verbs, the consonant at the end of the infinitive and present tense stem is carried throughout the paradigm. So for example, in ri__den s v1, the consonant <d> is found at the end of the stem in ri__den inf ri__de ri__dest ri__det` pr ra__d riden pt iriden p ptc.

In a group of sixteen strong verbs however, the consonant at the end of the infinitive and present tense stem in primitive Old English (pOE) was <h>, while the consonant at the end of the preterite plural and past participle forms, was <g> (or <ng>). In OE that <h> was usually dropped in the infinitive as well as the 1st person and plural present tense forms5. In some classes the preceding vowel was lengthened and/or modified. See OE contracted verbs for more detail.

To some extent those contracted OE forms continued into eME. However in a parallel development, the final <g> (or <ng>) of the preterite and past participle forms was sometimes extended to the infinitive and present tense forms in eME. Those forms with final <g> (or <ng>) pass into the core grammar of eME.

The core grammar contains only four contracted verbs - fle__n, se__n, slaen, flaen6. The optional grammar, contains a larger group based on the contracted OE Anglian forms:

  • s1 eME wri__en inf, wri__e wri__hst wri__ht` wri__en pr, wra__h wrigen iwrigen
    • similarly: li__en, ti__en, t`i__en
  • s2 eME te__n inf, te__ te__hst te__ht` te__n pr, taeh tugen itogen
    • similarly: fle__n
  • s5 eME se__n inf, se__ sehst seht` se__n pr, sah saegen isegen
    • similarly: fe__n, ple__n
  • s6 eME slaen7 inf, slae slahst slaht` slaen pr, slo__h slo__gen islagen/islay%en9
    • similarly: flaen, laen, t`waen
  • s7 eME fo__n inf, fo__ fo__st8 fo__t` fo__n pr, fe__ng fe__ngen ifangen
    • similarly: ho__n 10

The following qualify as additional eME forms via principle 2a in the optional grammar:

  • <h>-less: fle__t`, se__t`, slaet`
  • vowel change: sla__n, sla__t`
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adjectives

ending in u which changes to w when e is added

Final -u (weak) becomes -we (strong), e.g. naru narwe.

Bear in mind that the weak (or definite) form of the adjective is used after t`e, a demonstrative adjective or possessive pronoun. Out of this context, adjectives take the strong (or indefinite) form.

Generally the weak form of an adjective has an <e> added at the end. Adjectives accompanying plural nouns also add <e>. However a handful of adjectives, e.g. - naru (narrow), may have final -u when strong sg. This -u changes to -we when the adjective is weak or pl.

Here are two (normalised) examples from Orm which illustrate the distinction: in a__n ful naru cribbe but t`at narwe sti__h (that narrow path) and Drihtnes narwe sti__ges (the Lord's narrow paths).

Most of the adjectives in the table below follow the pattern observed in naru narwe above. They are variations of adjectival forms in the core grammar which end in <-ew> in a strong sg context and <-ewe> in a weak or pl context, e.g. narew narewe. The one exception is y%aru y%arwe for which the core grammar counterpart is y%are y%are (ready).

wa-wo_-stems - optional vs core
eME optional ModE eME core
strong sg weak/pl - strong sg weak/pl
-ew > -u and -ewe > -we
naru narwe narrow narew narewe
falu falwe fallow falew falewe
y%elu y%elwe yellow y%elew y%elewe
calu calwe callow calew calewe
salu salwe sallow salew salewe
maru marwe - (tender) marew marewe
kilu kilwe - (spotted) kilew kilewe
basu baswe - (purple) basew basewe
hasu haswe - (tawny) hasew hasewe
-e > -u/we
y%aru y%arwe ready y%are y%are

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indefinite article

changed form for accusative

a__n (a/an) becomes aenne when it is the object of a verb.13

So, for example: a__n ci__ld seht` y%ow but y%e__ sculen fi__nden aenne ci__ld

  1. for a full table with OE equivalents and examples from eME texts, see OE nouns ending in h;
  2. ModE walnut comes from late OE walhhnutu (foreign nut) > ME walnottes; the Wales were the foreigners;
  3. ModE mare has the vowel of eME marh (horse/steed) but the meaning of eME mere (mare);
  4. this option reflects the OE and Orm paradigms; the merging of preterite stems in classes 4 and 5 is found in PC2 and becomes common in later Middle English;
  5. the instability of <h> in these verbs began in OE; generally <h> was dropped in the infinitive and in the 1st person and plural present tense forms in OE, though there were exceptions; multiple instances of the retention and restoration of <h>, often as <g>, are found in the MED; for more detail, see the simplification of verb paradigms in eME
  6. se__n, slaen, two of the three contracted strong verbs which appear in the core grammar, are included here due to forms not included in the core grammar: sehst, seht` saegen; slahst slaht`, beside se__st, se__t`, sagen; slaest, slaet`.
  7. in class 6 strong contracted verbs, the root vowel of the infinitive and present tense forms changes to <ae> when the <h> drops; Orm has a parallel paradigm for slaen - sla__n sla__ sla__st sla__t` of which sla__n sla__t` qualify as additional eME forms;
  8. in class 7 contracted verbs, <h> is dropped in the 2nd and 3rd person present forms as well;
  9. class 6 contracted verbs have two past participle forms - one with <g> /G``/ and the other with <y%> /j/ at the end of the stem, e.g. islagen/islay%en;
  10. ho__n is problematic; there is no record in the OE corpus of present tense singular forms for ho_n; hangen, hangest, hanget` all qualify as additional eME forms, through ModE hang and several pre-1250 infinitive and present tense forms - underuongen, hongi, hangest, honged`, honget`, from sources which include Lmn and AW; accordingly, I would avoid forms such as *ho__ *ho__st *ho__t`.
  11. also gen; a complication inherited from Latin, via OE; in Latin the nominative case is leo, which many will know from the zodiac, while the genitive is leonis; an alternative with regular possessive and plural ending -es, is the additional eME form lion, introduced early from Anglo-Norman and found in Lmn, AW, SO and Ch;
  12. not included here is *t`e__ t`ewes; t`e_ow (with <w>) was a variant form in OE and all MED forms, including Orm & AW, have <w> (or <u>); <w> also survives in the ModE surname Thew;
  13. observed inconsistently in Orm, which has both an and aenne for the accusative, e.g. illc mann an peninng m acc y%aefe but y%e shulenn findenn aenne child nt acc; PC2 displays only an for the accusative;
  14. also - shade and mead poet.