simplification of adjective paradigms in eME

wa-, wo_-stems in OE

In OE there was alternation in u/o/w throughout the paradigm of a handful adjectives including nearu (narrow) and g`earu (ready, prepared). According to Wright: "§ 435 ... w became vocalized to u (later o) when final and before consonants in prehistoric OE. (§ 265); whence masc. nom. sing., neut. nom. ace. sing, gearu from [PGmc] *garw-az, -an ... § 436. Like gearu are declined basu, beasu, purple; calu, bald; cylu, spotted; fealu, fallow; geolu, yellow; hasu, heasu, grey, tawny ; mearu, tender; nearu, narrow; salu, sealu, dusky, dark."

These adjectives had stem endings that fluctuated between <u> (or <o>) and <w> throughout the strong declension paradigm:

The paradigms for basu, calu, cylu, fealu, g`earu, g`eolu, hasu, mearu are similar.

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wa-, wo_-stems in PC2 and Orm

Both PC2 and Orm have reflexes of OE nearu. PC2 has nareu sg strong while Orm has naru sg strong and narrwe pl. Lmn and AW mirror the PC2 form with nearow AW sg strong, nearewe AW sg weak, narewe Lmn sg weak.

Note that PC2 doesn't use the character <w>. The sound /w/ is routinely rendered as <u>. Given that the MED contains a few examples of strong singular forms with final <ew> (or <ow>), including AW nearow, the appropriate transcription of PC's final <eu> in eME is <ew>.

The reduction in complexity for the reflexes of adjective like nearu in eME, will produce a similar paradigm to that of go__d (see above). If we follow Orm, the sole difference we can expect for this type is that in the strong singular, the final <-w> of the stem becomes a <-u> (in the absence of a following <e>). If we follow PC2, Lmn & AW on the other hand, the resulting paradigm will not differ at all from the standard paradigm:

In the next section I'll investigate the reflexes of wa-, wo_-stem adjectives recorded in the MED prior to 1250, together with a few examples from later East Midland sources, e.g. Ch, before deciding the final shape of the paradigms in question, for both the core and optional eME grammar.

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wa-, wo_-stems in the MED

The following is a list of extracts from the MED, one for each of the wa-, wo_-stems found in OE (see above). These extracts focus on pre-1250 sources. I've inserted notes which I'll unpack in the following section.

basu, baswa

no MED entry

calu, calwa (caluw)

MED calwe

1230 Henricus..Willelmum le Calewe acc, weak (as expected) - name or term of address, NB -ewe; [1327 Gilbertus Calwe post-1250 but note weak (as expected)]

> ModE callow

cylu, cylwa (cylew)

no MED entry

MED related forculien darken by scorching

AW related forculet, forculiende not forcwul~ - supports kile as weak?

fealu, fealwa (fealewe)

MED falwe

Lmn ueldes falewe nom pl strong; Owl 1300 falew icumeþ of grene leue nom sg strong, NB -ew; [Ch falow nom sg strong, post-1250 but note -ow, twigges, falwe, rede and grene pl]

> ModE fallow

g`earo, g`earwa (g`earu, g`earowes)

MED ya_re

VH 1150 gearewe acc pl? NB -ew; BH 1175 y`earu nom sg strong; LH 1225 y`aru nom sg strong; AW y`arow nom sg strong, y`arowe pl?; 1250 y`eruh nom sg strong; Lmn y`eaerwe nom sg strong?, y`arewe/y`aerewe pl, y`aeru/y`aru/y`are/y`ar nom sg strong; 1250 gere/gare nom sg strong; PC1 gare nom sg strong; Owl y`arewe pl, y`are pl; NB - removal stem alternation pre-1250; Ch yare pl

> ModE yare

g`eolu, g`eolwa (g`elewum, g`ealewe)

MED yelwe

HA 1200 y%eoluwe blostma strong pl, NB -uwe; AW t`enne is hit y`eolow nom sg strong, NB -ow; LH 1225 t`e y`eolewe clad` weak, NB -ewe; TH 1200 hire winpel … maked geleu mid saffran nom sg strong, NB -eu - cp PC2 nareu; LH 1225 y`eluwe froggen pl, NB -uwe; 1175 Florentius: Geolofincg note -o where weak expected - combining form?; [Ch yelowe gooldes, nayles yelwe pl, post-1250 but note -owe]; 1159 Yolegreue note -e where weak expected - combining form?; 1221 Christina la Gelewe weak (as expected) - name, NB -ewe

> ModE yellow

hasu, haswa

no MED entry

MED related haswed dark in color, dusky,

ME *haswy, *hasi > ModE hawsey naut. > hazy?

mearu, mearwa (mearuwe)

MED meruw(e) no forms with stem vowel <a>

HA 1200 y%if t`anne t`e lichama mearuw si nom sg strong, NB -uw, hi beod` mearuwran cmp pl, y%enim t`a wyrt swa mearwe pl acc; AW hwil ha beod` mearewe nom pl strong, NB -ewe

nearu, nearwa (nearewe, nearewum, nearuwe)

MED narwe

PC2 caest t`at was... nareu nom sg strong, NB -eu; Orm t`att illke child... wass ley%y%d inn an full naru cribbe (f acc) sg strong, note -u where -we might be expected for f acc but all cases are merged in nom, narrwe stiy%hess pl (strong); PM 1175 Go we t`ane narewe pad` acc sg weak, NB -ewe; Lmn i t`on weie narewe (m acc) sg weak, NB -ewe; AW t`e parlurs least & nearewest nom pl (weak?), NB -ew-, t`et sterke dom... & se nearow nom sg strong (se = swa__), NB -ow te nearewe nom sg? weak, NB -ewe, t`ah y`e nearowe beon nom pl strong, NB -owe; 1250 t`ene neruwure ende of t`e horne acc sg cmp weak, NB -uw-; [Ch This clyfte was so narw sg strong, NB -w, narwest sup]; Tristrem 1300 t`e way was naru sg strong, NB -u

> ModE narrow

sealu, sealwa

MED salu

1400 salowe nom sg strong - earliest entry in MED

> ModE sallow

observations

What can we conclude from this?

1. Keep in mind that what we are looking for is either:
   1. <w> appearing at the end of the stem in a singular noun in a strong context, i.e. in the absence of a definite article, demonstrative adjective or possessive pronoun; or
   2. <w> dropped from a plural noun (in any context) or from a singular noun in a weak context, i.e. in the presence of a definite article, demonstrative adjective or possessive pronoun.
2. There is corroboration beyond PC2, AW and Lmn for the type narew narewe, i.e. a strong sg form ending in <-ew> and a weak/pl form ending in <-ewe>. This removal of stem alternation in found in six adjectives in pre-1250 sources.
3. Forms with an epenthetic vowel before <w> such as calewe, falew, falow, y`eoluwe, y`eolow, y`eolewe, y`eluwe, yelowe, Gelewe, meruw(e), mearuw, mearewe, narewe, nearewe are very common⁵. In fact they predominate. And they appear in the earliest MED examples, which is not surprising since the epenthetic vowel dates from the OE period: caluw, cylew, fealewe, g`earowes, g`elewum, mearuwe, nearewe i.a.
4. The case of y%are y%are in which the <w> is dropped entirely, appears to be unique. ⁶

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loss of alternation in wa-, wo_-stems in eME

The key, particularly in regard to the early stages of learning a language, is to offer the simplest route. This is where principles 3 & 4 come into play. The upshot is that while OE wa-, wo_-stems have a dual stem, their reflexes in the core grammar of eME, have a single stem.

In normalising the reflexes of wa-, wo_-stems, the approach is as follows:

1. we start with an adjective paradigm that we would expect to exhibit stem alternation, e.g. naru nar(e)we or y%aru y%ar(e)we;
2. in a pre-1250 text we find a form which removes the stem alternation for either the sg strong or weak/pl; e.g. naru sg strong > narew sg strong and y`ar(e)we pl > y`are pl;
3. via principle 3 the stem levelling of one form (e.g. pl) is extended to the remaining form (e.g. sg weak) within the paradigm; so y`are pl is extended to y`are sg weak;
4. courtesy of principle 4, the paradigm levelling of the majority of wa-, wo- stems can be extended to the remaining few words in that group; e.g. the narew narewe pattern is extended to salew salewe etc;

Thus we have:

pre-1250 removal of stem alternation:

1. <w> absent throughout: y`are pl

2. <w> in all forms: falew nom sg strong, y`eolow nom sg strong, [geleu nom sg strong], mearuw nom sg strong, nareu nom sg strong, nearow nom sg strong, [nerewe acc sg strong]³, caluw, cylew nom sg strong

via principle 3 - extend removal of stem alternation throughout paradigm:

y%are y%are, falew falewe, y%elew y%elewe, marew marewe, narew narewe, calew calewe, kilew kilewe⁴

via principle 4 - extend pattern of simplified paradigm to entire group:

salew salewe

special cases - via principle 4 but without ModE reflex:

basew basewe, hasew hasewe

The precise form of the ending in the reflexes of wa-, wo_-stems in the core grammar, i.e. <ew-> rather than <ow-/uw-> is determined by PC2, one of the two primary eME sources, with the support of Lmn, AW and Owl.

And that leads us back to the paradigms presented above for Orm on one hand and for PC2, Lmn and AW, on the other. This time they are rebranded as optional grammar and core grammar:

Similarly: falew, y%elew, marew, calew, kilew, salew, basew, hasew

The sole exception is:

See also the closely related wa- and wo_-stem nouns.

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irregular adverbs

A few adverbs in OE have no final <e>. The eME reflex may be indistinguishable from the corresponding adjective:

• fierr > fer

irregular comparatives in OE and ME

In OE most adjectives form the comparative and superlative with -ra and -ost respectively, e.g. bli_t`e happy > bli_t`ra happier, bli_t`ost happiest.

The comparative and superlative of adverbs were formed by adding -or and -ost respectively, e.g. faeg`ere fairly > faeg`ror more fairly, faeg`rost most fairly.

i-mutation

In OE, a small number of adjectives had i-mutation (aka umlaut) in their comparative forms. The most common of these are listed below, together with a selection of corresponding forms from the MED as well as the forms used in the core and optional eME grammars of this site:

bra_d, brae_dra/bra_dra, bra__dost

1300/1400 braddere, 1350/1384/1400 bradder, Ch brodder

core: bra__dere (< ModE broader + OE var bra_dra)

optional: braedre

eald, ieldra; A ald, aeldra, aeldest (lOE A a_ ae_ ae_)

PM 1200 elder (alder/eldre), Lmn eaeldre (elder), 1225 eldest, 1250 eldere, Ch elder

core: eldere

optional: eldre

feorr, fierra/fyrra, fierresta

PC1 firrer, AW firreste (e) w, (1198/1228 ferre w,) Ch ferreste w

core: ferrere

optional: firre

g`eong, g`iengra/g`ingra, g`ingest

PC1 gingre (lone <i> form in MED), Orm y%unngre, Lmn y`engestte (y`eongeste), 1250 gungere

core: y%ungere

optional: y%ingre

gre_at, gri_etra (MED: WS gry_ttra, A gre_ttra), gri_etest

Lmn greatere/graetere/grettere/graettere, AW grettre/greattre, 1300 grettere, Ch gretter, grettest

core: graetere

optional: grettre

lang, lengra, lengest

Orm lenngre adv, AW lengre, Lmn lengre lengere, HR 1175 laengre, VV/TH 1200 lengere, 1250 lengre adv, GE 1250 lengere adv; note - no langere/longer pre-1250

core: lengere

optional: lengre

sc`ort (eo/y), sc`yrtra, sc`yrtest

MED: scort/sceort, sceortra/scyrtra; BT: scort, scyrtre/sceortran and scortostan (note - scyrtre is more common);

VH 1150 scyrtre, HR 1175 sceortre (/o/?); next earliest cmp with <e> is 1335 schorter; it seems most likely that OE positive had /o/ vowel while comparative had /y/, though shert occurs 2/3 times in MED

core: scortere (< ModE shorter + pre-1250 sceortre)

optional: scirtre

strang, strengra, strengesta; adv strange, strangor, strangost

MED lOE: strengere

PC2 strengere, Lmn strengeste, AW strengre, Owl strengur, Ch strenger(e); no pre-1250 stronger/strangere cmp; earliest are Lmn 1300 strangere, Hav strangest, 1325 stranger and 1340 Ayb stranger

core: strengere

optional: strengre

The upshot is that only eldere, lengere and strengere retain the i-mutation in the core grammar. Five other adjectives - bra__d, fer, y%ung, graet and scort, retain the i-mutation in comparative forms in the optional grammar.

The list of irregular comparatives in eME is shorter for adverbs. OE had five adverbial comparative forms with mutated stem vowel and no ending: e_at`e i_et` easily, feorr fierr far, lange leng long, so_fte se_ft softly, and tulge tylg firmly. Two others - he_ah he_ar and ne_ah ne_ar are dealt with in the next section. Another pair have no positive form - ae_r formerly, si_t` later.

The adverbial counterparts of the comparative adjectives with i-mutation are not as easy to track down in Bosworth-Toller and the MED. 1449 broddir , the only comparative form for this adverb in the MED, is free of i-mutation. ... to be continued

stems with final <h>

he_ah, hi_ehra/hi_erra/he_ahra, hi_ehst (e_a/e_/y_)

Orm hehre, hehy%h`esst, PC1 hihste, Lmn hey`ere haehste, AW herre hehest, Ch heyy`ere heyy`est

core: he__gere, he__gest

optional: he__hre, he__hst

ne_ah, ne_ara, ni_ehst (A ne_h ne_orra ne_hst)

Orm nerre, Lmn nexte, AW neorre, nexte, Ch ne(e)r, next(e)

core & optional: ne__rre, ne__hst

The divergence between the comparative forms of ModE high and nigh: higher highest vs near next⁷, begins in eME. The MED has only one form matching Lmn hey`ere, Orm hehy%h`esst and AW hehest for ne__h before 1250 - ney`est. However the latter runs counter to the secondary eME sources and ModE, which drop the <e> of the superlative suffix<sup>8</sup>. Similarly, the additional eME form ne__rre which is supported by both Orm and AW, is challenged by neither ModE near(er) nor a putative pre-1250 form along the lines *ney`er⁹.

In short, ne__h replaces the final consonant of the stem (<h/g>) with an <r> in the comparative and drops the <e> of the suffix in the comparative and the superlative. This applies to both the core and optional grammars. he__h drops the <e> of the suffix in the superlative, in the optional grammar only.

The comparative of the corresponding adverbs are:

• he__ger he__gest (cf. Orm hey%h`esst, Lmn haxst , Owl herre, Ayb 1340 hey`ere, hey`est, Ch heyest/hyest; OE BT he_ar/he_gur), and
• ne__r ne__hst (cf. Orm ner, Lmn/AW neor, AW nest, Owl ne(o)r, Ch ne(e)r, next)